   Opengl Book Question
  I have the OpenGL Super Bible book, and I couldnt follow thorugh well because it didnt get into opengl with windows till the end and I just didnt care for the book, I was wondering if the book "OpenGL Game Programming" is a good book to start out with for opengl w/ OpenGL, I saw a bad rating of the book yet a good one so i dont know if it is good. The person who gave it a bad rateing said it was "a waste of his money", and "if you want to program games nto cross platform only windows, it better to use DirectX instead of following this book"; I know the DirectX vs. OpenGL questions are the most worn out and make you want to rip your eyes out question ever about API's , but what do you think?   
  Well, the thing is, you don't really need to get into OpenGL with Windows-specific stuff for what the book is trying to teach. I have the OpenGL Superbible, and it's good for teaching the theory involved in graphics, but there are so many typos and mis-information in it that I don't blame you for not wanting to use it. I've taken a short look at OpenGL Game Programming, and I wasn't really all that impressed.   ;  Thanks, what about the Red Book, do you knwo what book will really tell me how a aplication that uses opengl and windows works and what it means because I need some help. And do you think it is better if I want to make games for jsut windows to use DirectX.Thanks a lot!!!!~Mad_Koder   ;  Maybe somday you will wanna make cross platform games :)I don't know much about directx, but to me OpenGL seems easier at first glance, the only thing that might be confusing in the beginning is the window setup and such(but there are libraries that can wrap all this for you, eg. GLUT). I got a copy of "OpenGL game programming" and it starts with explaining all this window creation stuff. I can't really tell if its a good book tho, cuz I didnt need it yet.   ;  I havnt gotten a lot of feedback; I want a book that explains windows and opengl because I haev no clue what all the commands do and wrok such as HDC or something.Is Beginning OpenGL Game Programming or OpenGL Game Programming (which by the way by the same author Astle Hawkins) better if neither what book is the best, what about The Red Book (AKA Opengl Programmers Guide)? The thing i want to learn more about is mainly how windows interacts with opengl to make opengl functions let it draw on the win32 windows screen.   ;  I learned from the Red Book, and it was very good and easy to follow.(Plus, it's free online)   ;  Woah, you found it free online, man you gotta hook me up!!If you would, please give me the link and feel free to give other free E-book links,or just .txt files of computer books links.Thanks a ton!!! ......seriously its that vidal for me to find links like that.... "A TON"~Mad_Koder   ;  First up, you can get read the Red Book online here.  The Blue Book (which is the OpenGL reference manual), is available from here.  I don't think there are any other complete e-books like this about OpenGL available for free online...As for what you're looking for (explanations of how Windows stuff works with it), the Super Bible, Red Book and Blue Book make no mention of any of that.  The Hawkins/Astle books you mention do have some explanations of the Windows based code, but (if memory serves) their explanations tend more toward "you need this code, but don't worry too much about what it's doing."My recommendation for you would be to use the Red Book, one of the Hawkins/Astle books, or the NeHe Tutorials to learn how to write stuff in OpenGL and consult the MSDN documentation to look up the Windows-specific code and datatypes to figure out what they're doing.You could also go get a book specifically about the Win32 API (like Petzold's book), but I don't think any of those books will really go into the OpenGL side of things...-Auron   ;  The free version of the Red Book available online (such as here) is an older edition, but for basics it's still useful.EDIT: Got beat, but at least mine's a direct link ;)   ;Quote:Original post by AuronAs for what you're looking for (explanations of how Windows stuff works with it), the Super Bible, Red Book and Blue Book make no mention of any of that.  -AuronErr, the SuperBible has 3 whole sections devoted to specifically dealing with Windows, Mac, and Linux.   