AMIGA GAME MAKER'S MANUAL - WITH AMOS BASIC by Stephen Hill Reviewed by Michael D. Cox ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, this is my second review. I reviewed the AMOS Compiler on Issue 4. First, for the particulars. The book is published by SIGMA, which is based in the UK. It is a softbound book with approximately 402 pages and a sturdy spine. The ISBN number is 1-85058-230-0 and is copyrighted 1992 by Stephen Hill. Stephen Hill is also the author of "Sigma's best-selling GAME MAKER'S MANUAL FOR THE ATARI ST" for use with AMOS's predecessor STOS. He has apparently written numerous manuals and designed dozens of Amiga games. However, does this qualify him as a good writer? We shall see! The book starts with an introduction to some of AMOS's commands. If you are unfamiliar with AMOS, this is a good section, but I found it to be rather space wasting. The commands are explained in the AMOS manual, so why re-write the wheel? However, he does make an attempt to explain the different co-ordinate systems (hardware and screen) used by AMOS and the Amiga but I find that he falls a bit short of a good explanation. It is assumed that the reader already knows these co-ordinates so he comes out sounding vague. In the second chapter, Hill does an excellent job! This chapter is dedicated to designing a game. He gives a good explanation as to why you should design a game before you start to program and he gives some example pseudo-code that he later translates into AMOS code. The stages he goes through are simple and straightforward. For instance, you write down an idea for the game and then break it up into modular pieces that will deal with specific parts of the game such as joystick movement, collision detection and scoring. He also suggests not to worry about the graphics as they can always be polished later. I have found that to be quite true, especially if you draw as disgustingly as I do! Chapter 2 is well worth reading several times! Chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6 talk about certain types of games. He covers Arcade, adventure, RPG, and simulations. Again, Hill used his preachings in chapter 2 throughout these chapters to present an example of each genre to show how easy it is to design any game with the right planning. The only downfall is that he assumes either the reader is very familiar with tricks and techniques in programming or the reader can read his mind. He also forgets some optimization tips that he recommends in chapter 2. For example, insted of: A=A + 1 use Inc A but he occasionally uses the former. So, it seems as if he wrote different parts at different times and did not do a very thorough job of making sure everything agrees. Chapters 7, 8, & 9 cover scrolling, animation and sound and music, respectively. All in all, I think chapter 9 was rather useless as he more or less discusses the sound and music commands in AMOS. Not many tips are given so I think that anyone with the manual (and I hope we ALL have the manual) for AMOS should not have learned anything earth shattering. Chapter 7 and 8 are very well done except that he again assumes the reader has a deep knowledge of the AMAL and Screen commands. Personally, I would like to have seen more information on AMAL. Especially the collision detection which requires you to use the Synchro command. AMAL is very powerful and I have always felt that, with some more examples and explanations, I could do more with it. Hopefully, AMOS Pro and its online help will help me! All in all, the book is very well done. There are several spelling mistakes, one of which seems to be Lionet's name. He spells it Lionet and Lionette. You'd think that would not be a hard one! Is it worth the $35 I spent? I think so. However, those not as familiar with AMOS or programming may have some trouble grasping the ideas and flow of the code he uses. Chapter 2, again, is a must for the aspiring game designer and coder. If you wish to find a copy of this book in the USA, ask your local dealer if he uses MicroPace as a distributor. If so, have the dealer order it from them, as I did. If you are in the UK or nearby there, here is SIGMA's number and address: Sigma Press 1 South Oak Lane Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 6AR 0625-531035 (Voice) 0625-536800 (Fax) Phil South, who writes the AMOS Almanac column for Amiga Computing will have a book out called MASTERING AMIGA AMOS sometime soon. It will be published by Bruce Smith Books. I hope to get a copy and I will also review it, so stay tuned to the upcoming AmoNER disks!