Game Engine Architecture

Hailed as a "must-have textbook" (CHOICE, January 2010), the first edition of Game Engine Architecture provided readers with a complete guide to the theory and practice of game engine software development. Updating the content to match today’s landscape of game engine architecture, this second edition continues to thoroughly cover the major components that make up a typical commercial game engine.

New to the Second Edition

• Information on new topics, including the latest variant of the C++ programming language, C++11, and the architecture of the eighth generation of gaming consoles, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4
• New chapter on audio technology covering the fundamentals of the physics, mathematics, and technology that go into creating an AAA game audio engine
• Updated sections on multicore programming, pipelined CPU architecture and optimization, localization, pseudovectors and Grassman algebra, dual quaternions, SIMD vector math, memory alignment, and anti-aliasing
• Insight into the making of Naughty Dog’s latest hit, The Last of Us

The book presents the theory underlying various subsystems that comprise a commercial game engine as well as the data structures, algorithms, and software interfaces that are typically used to implement them. It primarily focuses on the engine itself, including a host of low-level foundation systems, the rendering engine, the collision system, the physics simulation, character animation, and audio. An in-depth discussion on the "gameplay foundation layer" delves into the game’s object model, world editor, event system, and scripting system. The text also touches on some aspects of gameplay programming, including player mechanics, cameras, and AI.

An awareness-building tool and a jumping-off point for further learning, Game Engine Architecture, Second Edition gives readers a solid understanding of both the theory and common practices employed within each of the engineering disciplines covered. The book will help readers on their journey through this fascinating and multifaceted field.

"... this book is the best of its kind, and you’re lucky to have found it. It covers the huge field of game engine architecture in a succinct, clear way, and expertly balances the breadth and depth of its coverage, offering enough detail that even a beginner can easily understand the concepts it presents. The author, Jason Gregory, is not only a world expert in his field; he’s a working programmer with production-quality knowledge and many shipped game projects under his belt. ... Jason is also an experienced educator who has taught in the top-ranked university game program in North America. ... the many detailed code samples and implementation examples in this book will help you understand just how the pieces come together in a great game. By helping you in this way, Jason’s book might just empower you to outstrip even the most audacious dreams of history’s best game designers and developers."
―From the Foreword by Richard Lemarchand

Praise for the First Edition:
A 2010 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title
"This course resource provides an excellent, comprehensive look at every major system and issue related to modern game development ... a must-have textbook for computer science, software engineering, or game programming majors, amateur hobbyists, game 'modders,' and game developers."
―A. Chen, CHOICE, January 2010

"... it looks like most of the critical areas and concepts are touched on. ... it looks like you’ll have some reasonably deep understanding of the elements that go into making a game engine. Quite an impressive work, and I know of nothing else in this area that is so detailed."
―Eric Haines, www.realtimerendering.com/blog/, July 2009

"Jason Gregory draws upon his many years of experience and expertise to create a complete and comprehensive textbook on the theory and practice of game engine software development. Informed and informative, replete with examples for every aspect of the game development process, and fully accessible to aspiring game engine developers as well as a very useful reference for even experienced technicians in the field, Game Engine Architecture is an invaluable, thoroughly ‘user friendly,’ and highly recommended core addition to personal, professional, and academic Computer Science reference and resource collections in general, as well as gaming engine design instructional reading lists in particular."
―The Midwest Book Review, September 2009

"The book contains a huge amount of data on specifics to consider when developing a game engine."
―Gamasutra.com, November 2009

"Game Engine Architecture by Jason Gregory has been named a finalist for the Game Developer's 2009 Front Line Award."
―PR Newswire, December 2009