Retro Game Programming: Unleashed for the Masses

February 23, 2005 - Course Technology/ Premier Press gear up to release the latest in Andre Lemothe's best selling Game Programming series. This exiting new book dubbed Retro Game Programming: Unleashed for the Masses, teaches the reader everything that they need to build exiting video games on vintage 8-bit machines. Readers will learn everything from how to setup their vintage computer system to squeezing advanced graphics and sounds into your game.

Apart from the explanations provided in the book, the companion website of the book will mentor you through the process of building video games from start to finish with downloadable audio and video tutorials.

The books website will also help readers to gain international notoriety. Readers can upload the games that they make for others to play or they can buy, sell and trade games made by the retro community.

There will be regular "Retro Code" competitions where programmers can compete to win the title of best Retro coder of the month and the year.

This is the first book of this kind to be written about game programming on any vintage machine in almost 20 years. No one book has ever been written to teach game programming on all four video game systems covered in the book which are the Apple II, Commodore 64, Atari 400/800 and the TRS-80 Color Computer 2.

The book will be available for sale March 8th on amazon.com and will be in bookstores March 22nd. Pre orders are available now from amazon.com and courseptr.com check it out your will not be disappointed.

> From the author:

"I think that this book is important because the fundamentals of programming must not be forgotten. A programmer was once something you where... a way of life if you will. Indeed we are a peculiar people but that is only because we would push our mind to its outer limits through the mental exercise that programming really is.

My goal is to introduce the fundamentals of the Zen of programming using vintage computer systems. There are already a lot of hardcore hackers out there but there are a lot more people who's only knowledge of assembly language programming is that it is hard and they cannot do it.

There is virtually nothing in this world that we cannot do, there are only things we have not learned to do yet or are not strong enough to do yet.

Once we are given the path to learn or to get stronger there is no limit to what we can do.

The goal of the book is to give people that path to becoming knowledgeable, strong programmers."

Book info

Retro Game Programming: Unleashed for the Masses

By Earl Carey

ISBN: 1-59200-906-9

Available on March 22, 2005 in book stores, March 8 on amazon.com and the Game Developers Conference (350 pages)

Description

"Retro Game Programming" is the gateway to the inner sanctums of game programming, past and present. It is designed to make retro game programming easy for anyone to learn. The staggering advances from the arcade games of yesterday to today's realistic computer games may seem daunting. When you conquer the underlying principles of retro game programming, however, you are on your way to understanding the complexities of modern game programming-by mastering the past, you are more likely to understand the present. The machines studied in this book are a part of a great legacy that began the journey leading us to the mind-blowing capabilities of today's computers. By studying the programming concepts used to create these classic games you will develop solid programming techniques that you can apply to more modern machines and software. What better way to accomplish that task than to start at the beginning-with the games that launched the video game craze!

Features:

• Geared towards the beginner level retro game programming enthusiast who wants to learn the basics of game programming through the study of both the historical and technical aspects of retro gaming.

• Written in clear and straightforward language that breaks down retro game programming concepts into their simplest forms, making programming more complex and modern games less intimidating.

• Companion website features all of the software and programming tools needed for each retro machine featured in the book as well as all of the retro games created in the book.

• Allows the reader to become a part of the retro game programming community and promotes the preservation of retro game programming history and techniques.

Author Bio

Earl Carey started programming on the TRS-80 Color Computer at the age of 5. He programmed for a number of years on the TRS-80 and the Apple ][ before making the jump to the PC where he created numerous C/C++, Visual Basic and assembly programs including a solution to the Y2k program he wrote in 1998. The start that retro game programming gave him has led to a fulfilling career as a computer programmer and graphic artist. He is currently the chief graphic artist/programmer of Capital City Marketing in sunny Nassau, Bahamas.

For more information contact Earl Carey at retrocode@hotmail.com.