Basic Game Design Books

[football52]

I have a fair understanding of the c++ language and was wondering what is the best book for basic 2D game development. I have never made a game of any time in fact I have never left the console window and alot of the books I find are for programmers that know the very basic of game design.

I had heard about SFML development book (http://www.amazon.com/SFML-Game-Development-Jan-Haller/dp/1849696845/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410232644&sr=8-1&keywords=sfml+development) but were exactly does it start out if you ahve read it?

Any recommendations are fine, I'd like to be able to start practicing making basic 2D games

[Z e r e o]

had heard about SFML development book (http://www.amazon.com/SFML-Game-Development-Jan-Haller/dp/1849696845/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410232644&sr=8-1&keywords=sfml+development) but were exactly does it start out if you ahve read it?

What do you mean by "Where does it start out"? If you are wondering what the learning structure and chapters looks like you can check these links to learn a bit more about the book.

This page gives a decent overview of what you will learn and some information regarding the authors and book. You can also grab a free sample from there to see if you like their writing style.
https://www.packtpub.com/game-development/sfml-game-development

Of course there is amazon to give a overview of the chapters (Click on the book to look inside)
http://www.amazon.com/SFML-Game-Development-Jan-Haller/dp/1849696845

From my personal experience with the book I absolutely loved it. One of the best 2D game development books out there in my opinion and is a must have for anyone that is interested in SFML. Though you will need to know advanced subjects in C++ like templates, all OOP principles, etc.



If you are looking for some more recommendations here is a short list of books that you might be interested in (Just listed general game programming books if you are interesting in something specific let me know).

General Purpose Game Programming Books
SFML Book - http://www.amazon.com/SFML-Game-Development-Jan-Haller/dp/1849696845

Game Coding Complete 4th Edition - http://www.amazon.com/Game-Coding-Complete-Fourth-Edition/dp/1133776574

Game Engine Architecture - http://www.amazon.com/Game-Engine-Architecture-Second-Edition/dp/1466560010/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

All Game Programming Gems Series books - http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Game%20Programming%20Gems

Programming Game AI by Example (Not general but still very good book) - http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Example-Wordware-Developers-Library/dp/1556220782/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410362994&sr=1-12&keywords=Game+programming


Those are some of the best ones I have read on general game programming. The easiest ones for beginners would be the SFML book and then Game Coding Complete (Though this one is harder for beginners to follow I would think).

Hopefully that helps give some ideas on what to get. There is really no "best" book for learning game development since it is mainly a bunch of different programming subjects all bundled together so there are many books that explain a certain subject of game development better then others but lack in other parts.

Anyways wish you the best of luck and if you are looking for some good books on certain aspects of game programming just let me know and can help give you some suggestions.