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I've learned c++ and understand most of it (There are a few parts i dont get but i just read over that again and i understand it). I have a book that has taught me the very basics of game programming. Its almost like reading the same book over again!!! Now i want to learn how to make a 3d third person shooter game. Thats my main goal. But i dont know of any games that actually teach you the concepts of the 3d third person shooter games (Although they do teach how to make a guessing game, but thats pretty lame, now i want to get in the more advanced stuff). What are some good books that would help me what i want to learn.

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— good target and realistic question: a 3D third‑person shooter combines a lot of subsystems, so pick a learning route up front. Two practical paths work well: (A) learn by integrating libraries and writing components (math, renderer or OpenGL/DirectX calls, collision, animation, AI), or (B) learn by modifying a real C++ engine (Unreal Engine has C++ templates for third‑person/shooter). If you want deep understanding, build small systems yourself; if you want a playable game sooner, study an engine and its sample projects.

Useful books to study (by topic)

  • 3D Math Primer for Graphics and Game Development — Fletcher Dunn & Ian Parberry. Practical vectors, matrices, quaternions.
  • Real‑Time Rendering — Tomas Akenine‑Möller, Eric Haines, Naty Hoffman. The graphics pipeline and modern shader concepts.
  • Game Engine Architecture — Jason Gregory. Subsystems, asset flows, C++ engine design.
  • Real‑Time Collision Detection — Christer Ericson. Bounding volumes, swept tests, spatial structures.
  • Game Physics Engine Development — Ian Millington. Building a physics solver and integration strategies.
  • Programming Game AI by Example — Mat Buckland. Common AI patterns for shooters.
  • Game Programming Gems (series) — Mark DeLoura (ed.). Practical recipes and tricks from many devs.

Concrete, minimal project plan

  1. Master the 3D math.
  2. Prototype a character controller (capsule collision, movement).
  3. Add a third‑person camera (spring/smooth follow + collision avoidance).
  4. Implement simple weapons (start with hitscan raycasts).
  5. Add animation blending and a basic state machine; then enemy AI.
  6. Integrate physics, audio, and polish.

Practical tips

  • Prototype with primitive shapes and iterate.
  • Use Bullet/PhysX for physics, Assimp or glTF for assets, FMOD/OpenAL for sound.
  • Keep scope tiny: ship a combat demo before a full level.
  • Read engine source (open projects or sample code) to see patterns in real code.

posted a related link in this thread; use those community threads for tutorials and sample projects, then map the book material onto small prototypes.

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Member Avatar for nwhitfield

line 6
starts on letter 5,
i meant to say books

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