Books

If you are from those who like to have something physically by your side when you are in the middle of programming you might want to take a look at some of the following books about Allegro. You should be able to order them from any big book store using their ISBN code. Or you can use book search engines like BookButler to compare prices in different internet online shops and buy immediately.

Books teaching Allegro 5

Allegro 5 - Programmation de jeux en C ou C++

Title: Allegro 5 - Programmation de jeux en C ou C++
ISBN code: 978-2-7460-9386-7
Author: Frédéric Drouillon
Available in: French

Some words from the author: I swear that I am very happy to have achieved this piece of work. For me the Allegro cross-platform game programming library is like a friend. I have been with her since 1998 when version 3.13 began. I have never had the time to get to know all of her secrets but, in fact, this is probably for the best and even after all this time there still remains something to discover. I have always dreamed of being able to help in her technical development but in this I have not succeeded. And so I remain contemplative and I have done what I can: a book in French which I hope will make her better known.

Books teaching Allegro 4

Game Programming All in One

Title: Game Programming All in One, Second Edition
ISBN code: 1598632892
Author: Jonathan Harbour
Available in: English

Some words from the author: I’m really thrilled about this book, eager to see it in print, because the language, compiler, game library, everything about it is so cool. Did I mention that this book will come with a free compiler/editor/IDE? We’re packaging Dev-C++ with it, along with Allegro. Free they may be, but I’ve done more in the first 50 pages with these tools than most “DirectX” books cover in 500 pages. For those of you who are big GBA fans, you’ll definitely want to buy this book! I’m using the same compiler and editor (for the most part, lacking the ARM tools, of course). Dev-C++ is simply amazing!

Oh, one more thing, you’ll be able to run the sample programs on any operating system! How many books can claim that? I’m talking about Windows 9x/2k/Xp, Linux, Mac OS X, BeOS, FreeBSD, Solaris, Darwin, Irix, and on and on. I’m including on the CD-ROM, source code project support for Visual C++, Dev-C++, and KDevelop (Linux). It is so great being able to compile and run your own games on Windows or Linux without changing a line of code, and it’s all plain vanilla C, easy to follow, easy to understand. I know you will love it, because I’m having a blast writing it!

Spielprogrammierung

Title: Spielprogrammierung
ISBN code: 3826680758
Author: Lennart Steinke
Available in: German

Some words from the author: The book has 4 major parts: design, coding basics, roleplaying games and advanced topics. The design part (ca. 130 pages) covers creativity techniques, writing a design doc, balancing games and gameplay elements.

The coding basics part (ca. 340 pages) gives you some, well, basic knowledge. How to use compilers, linkers and make. Loading images, using keyboard / mouse and joystick with Allegro. Using timers, the gui, etc. During this part some basic games are designed, like a simple “Simon” like memory game, a quiz game (using the Allegro GUI) and some demos introducing sprites, animation and sounds.

The roleplaying games part (ca. 150 pages) introduces tiles, scrolling of tilebased worlds, etc. At the end of the chapter the demo game is pretty similar to a one player Gauntlet. You can use magic, there are enemies trying to get you, you need to find keys, potions and treasure chests - and finally the exit to the next level.

The advanced tech part (ca. 150 pages) discusses isometric games, particle systems, blending effects, page transitions, A* pathfinding, Lua scripting and Interviews with some developers either using Allegro or extending Allegro (Sirocco, Ben Davis, Johan Peitz, Richard Phipps, Bob Ohannessian and Paul Pridham).

Programmare un video gioco passo per passo con Allegro.h

Title: Programmare un video gioco passo per passo con Allegro.h
Author: Bartolomeo Davide Bertinetto
Available in: Italian

Some words from the author: As you might gather from reading the title of this e-book, in it you will find all the components needed to write code for a videogame of the shooter genre, one step after the other. You won’t need an advanced knowledge of the C language in order to complete this very simple game, just a good amount of strong will, following each of the planned phases. The end result is assured, covering the handling of the graphics, the audio system, the player input (keyboard and joystick), the collision system and much more.

You won’t even need to compile the Allegro library, since the book makes reference to a version of Dev-C++ with Allegro.h precompiled, which you can download from the website of the author, along with all the sources and the book itself.

Every single line of code is carefully commented, in order to make each step as clear as possible. The beginner has only to download all of the material and start practicing to build his first, true, videogame.