This book is intended for people that have some background in DirectX8 or DirectX9 programming and want to upgrade their knowledge to DirectX 10. At some point this book will be available on paper and we would appreciate it if you would buy this version. We would be delighted if readers of this book would provide us with feedback that we could use to clarify, add or improve parts of the book before it goes to print. Every proof-reader will be mentioned in this foreword and will make it therefore also into the print version.
The book as it is now is the result of a project that started more than two years ago before the release of DirectX 10. The authors were hanging out on some beta forums and we came to the conclusion that there is a need for a DirectX 10 book on shader programming. Then "real-life" kicked in. Some of us got dragged to do work on-site (Wolfgang was working on GTA IV in Edinburgh, than later at Midnight Club Los Angeles, Niko was flying around all over the place, Ralph was busy shipping Spellforce 2 and preparing Battleforge) and the whole process slowed down ... a lot. We restarted it two times and for the second time, Jason Zink came on board and ... saved the day of the rest of us :-) ... he took over the project management and the coordination with the gamedev.net crew, layed out large chunks of text and "motivated" all of us to finally finish what we had begun. Thanks Jason!!
Finally the authors have to thank all the people that helped to complete this book. We have to thank Remedy Entertainment for the screenshots for the cover. The upcoming game Alan Wake looks fantastic and we are looking forward to playing it. The authors would like to thank the gamedev.net crew who custom build this home for our book project. Our special thanks goes out to our families who had to spend many evenings and weekends during the last two years without us.
The Authors
P.S: plans for a new revision targeting DirectX 11 are on their way. Please contact wolf@shaderx.com with comments, questions and suggestions.