Designing 3D Games That Sell

The back cover of this title says it is for "beginner to intermediate" users, which is not to be taken as including computer novices. Readers are assumed to be familiar with the "technology and construction of a computer game". If you know something about game construction and are interested in selling your creations, this is what you need: a book that discusses business plan issues at a serious level without requiring a degree in business administration, commerce, or whatever.
 
The first half of the book is about breaking into the game industry, product design, marketing and promotion, cost and funding issues, drawing up a game proposal, and negotiating a deal. Even though oriented to the game developer, the advice and information here is worth reading by anyone interested in marketing software. I have not seen any other computer text that discusses business practicalities at all, let alone so well.
 
The second half of the book is about making a 3D game. There is no discussion of programming languages, such as C. This part is both a tutorial and reference built around Genesis 3D and other tools for game creation (all on the companion CD). The depth of technical detail is very good, but the presentation is concise. In short, readers are expected to have some under-standing of the technical side of game construction.
 
The companion CD contains Genesis 3D, Reality Factory (requires a 3D hardware accelerator), Goldtree Tools, MilkShape 3D, TrueSpace 2 and other useful material.

Luke Ahearn: Designing 3D Games that Sell! ISBN 1-58450-043-3 Published by Charles River Media,  406 pp. + CD,  RRP $110.00 incl. GST

MCSE Win2000

Course texts for various vendor certification examinations are big business. There is a wide range to choose from, but matching material for instructors is not so plentiful.
 
Osborne/McGraw-Hill publishes the Syngress certification titles, which are designed primarily as course texts but serve also as resources for self-teaching. Osborne is now publishing companion instructors' packs to match the study guides.

An example of the format is the material that covers Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer exams 70-240 (Windows 2000 Accelerated), which cover installation, configuration, and administration of Windows 2000 Professional and Server, and implementation and administration of network infrastructure.
 
There are three elements: the study guide, a test-yourself text, and an instructor's pack. Each has a companion CD. The study guide is designed primarily for classroom training; it is a hardcover book of over 1500 pages and the complete text is on a companion CD as an e-book. Apart from the "two-minute" drills that follow each lesson, the CD contains CertTrainer (a review of each exam objective); ExamSim (an exam simulation); video clips that provide "walk-throughs" of various system configuration elements; and a "Lab Q&A" that presents more complex questions than candidates would meet in an examination.

The "Test Yourself" volume is based on the premise that practice makes perfect. It presents some 700 exam questions with detailed answers; the content is arranged by subject, which enables the reader to focus on particular topics. A companion CD contains audio reviews, video clips, and a complete practice exam with annotated answers designed to point out where the student might have gone wrong. These two volumes come in a boxed set, which offers some saving on the price.

MCSE Windows 2000 Accelerated Study Guide Published by Osborne/McGraw-Hill Hardcover, 1528 pp. + CD Test Yourself MCSE Windows 2000 Accelerated Published by Osborne/McGraw-Hill Paperback, 612 pp. + CD The two volumes are in a boxed set, ISBN 0-07-21290-6,  RRP $157.95 incl. GST

The instructor's pack is designed to assist instructors with lecture outlines, discussion notes, exercises, and questions designed for the assessment of student progress. Throughout the text are "teaching tips" that offer practical advice both on technique and specific knowledge the instructor should have at the time of presenting particular topics.

A companion CD contains specialised software that generates tests with automatic grading and enables instructors to create their own test profiles from some 250 questions that range over varying degrees of difficulty. The tests are fully networkable, and PowerPoint slides of illustrations from the Study Guide are also included.

For instructors who are selected for their technical knowledge rather than their teaching skills this should be a valuable guide and tool. It also caters for the experienced trainer whose skills are on the teaching rather than the technical side.

Guides For the Busy Executive

Titles from Redmond Technology Press are not seen much in Australia. Amongst them is a series, Effective Executive's Guide to .... Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and so on. I'm not sure if "effective executives" is the intended audience, or if the books are effective guides for executives. The ones I have seen are certainly effective guides, and are suitable for people who are in managerial positions. They are designed to teach a limited - but important - range of "core skills", and assumes the reader is a business person who uses a computer that runs Windows.
 
In the Guide to Word 2000 seven "core skills" are discussed: the basics; formatting documents; using writing tools (spell/grammar checker etc.); use of tables, columns, headers, footers, and page breaks; styles, templates, and outlines; "professional effects" (cross references, footnotes, tables of contents, indexes, and inserting diagrams/images); and document distribution (print and electronic, and using e-mail). The author avoids technical discussion as much as possible, concentrating on delivering concise information about how to do the things. Along the way there is some useful advice on practical aspects of writing business documents. 
I was taken by the sensible comment on grammar checkers: "Can you rely on the grammar checker? Most of the time, probably. But the grammar checker is no substitute for a classic grammar text . ". The author goes on to recommend some suitable texts, including one that is out of print, but can be found "in some used bookstores" - which illustrates the point. However, the book is a sensible and useful guide to Microsoft Word for people who write business documents, and contains some sound advice on writing style and presentation.

What worries me is the local price, in the order of $90 (including GST and import duty); it is little wonder that few booksellers carry the line. Even with freight added it probably costs less than half that to buy from one of the American online booksellers.

Pat Coleman: Effective Executive's Guide to Word 2002 ISBN 1-931150-03-6 Published by Redmond Technology Press, 248 pp.

There are three other titles in the series that I have seen: Guide to Outlook 2002, Guide to Excel 2002, and Guide to PowerPoint 2002. They follow the same format, focusing on essential core skills - without getting too technical-and providing practical advice relevant to the business user. The PowerPoint title in particular is useful for its discussions of the strengths and limitations of various chart types. The Excel title is also strong on practical application in the business environment.