PHP Game Programming (book)
Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 4:43 am
"PHP Game Programming" by Matt Rutledge - Rating: 3/10
This is actually the book that made me think about a reviews section. I was initially drawn to this book when I was wanting to learn PHP game programming (to supplement Halls' tutorials), mostly because it is the only book out there on the subject that I am aware of.
Stay away from this book! It is outdated, so the object-oriented PHP is going to act quite differently than today. There is also a large issue with database usage. Why Rutledge decided to skimp on the explanation of using relational databases, I will never know. It is no small part of the subject, and almost everything you do when coding a PHP game relies on MySQL, or another relational database. For much of the book, the author uses flat files, which are not robust or scalable. Maybe when the book was written a PHP game could only be expected to have a handful of users, but times have changed, and there is really no valid reason to not start with a full relational database. If you don't, you are only making it harder on yourself later.
Also, what would likely be considered the major draw of the book, the section on PHP MMOs, is short with a very simplistic example game called "Kiddy Kartel". It is a very basic crime game. The problems here is that it only has extremely simplistic gameplay (not really even enough to consider it a full game) and it is also the first section of the book that brings up relational databases, so if you are not already familiar with them, this will all be confusing. The example project also uses a custom game library that the author does not explain, and instead only offers as a download on some website that was not available when I tried to go to it. The game is not complete by any stretch of the imagination, and the author simply says things like "you should see how this is done now, and should be able to expand it".
I am glad that I didn't waste money on this book, considering that I read it on Safari Books Online. Halls's tutorials have much more info than this book, use MySQL from the start and don't use custom libraries. Anything else you may need for custom features can usually be pulled off the internet.
This is actually the book that made me think about a reviews section. I was initially drawn to this book when I was wanting to learn PHP game programming (to supplement Halls' tutorials), mostly because it is the only book out there on the subject that I am aware of.
Stay away from this book! It is outdated, so the object-oriented PHP is going to act quite differently than today. There is also a large issue with database usage. Why Rutledge decided to skimp on the explanation of using relational databases, I will never know. It is no small part of the subject, and almost everything you do when coding a PHP game relies on MySQL, or another relational database. For much of the book, the author uses flat files, which are not robust or scalable. Maybe when the book was written a PHP game could only be expected to have a handful of users, but times have changed, and there is really no valid reason to not start with a full relational database. If you don't, you are only making it harder on yourself later.
Also, what would likely be considered the major draw of the book, the section on PHP MMOs, is short with a very simplistic example game called "Kiddy Kartel". It is a very basic crime game. The problems here is that it only has extremely simplistic gameplay (not really even enough to consider it a full game) and it is also the first section of the book that brings up relational databases, so if you are not already familiar with them, this will all be confusing. The example project also uses a custom game library that the author does not explain, and instead only offers as a download on some website that was not available when I tried to go to it. The game is not complete by any stretch of the imagination, and the author simply says things like "you should see how this is done now, and should be able to expand it".
I am glad that I didn't waste money on this book, considering that I read it on Safari Books Online. Halls's tutorials have much more info than this book, use MySQL from the start and don't use custom libraries. Anything else you may need for custom features can usually be pulled off the internet.
