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AppGameKit Classic Chat / AGK Book?

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Impetus73
12
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Joined: 28th Aug 2011
Location: Volda, Norway
Posted: 14th May 2012 19:18 Edited at: 14th May 2012 19:19
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Anyone knowing the timeline for the new Hands on AppGameKit programming book?

Seems like they are finishing it up, and expect it to pass 700 pages! I can't wait to get my hands on it, to really get a grip on all the commands.

Link to the author:

http://www.digital-skills.co.uk/

Edit.. How do I change the name of the post? it says AKG, instead og AppGameKit, haha

----------------
AGK user - novice
Did Amiga / AMOS programming in the 90's, just started programming again with AGK.
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Paul Johnston
TGC Developer
21
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Joined: 16th Nov 2002
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: 14th May 2012 19:39
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Fixed the title for you, I don't know about the book.
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LeeBamber
TGC Lead Developer
24
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Joined: 21st Jan 2000
Location: England
Posted: 16th May 2012 00:32
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I will be driving up to the frozen middle bit of Scotland in a month or three to receive the final print of the book if all goes well. I had the pleasure of reading a few chapters on my last visit and you are in for a real treat. Alistair is a top draw author and Hands On AppGameKit BASIC will be THE de facto learning aid, not only for users who want a printed companion while they are coding their apps, but for absolute beginners who want to take their first steps into the world of programming, one lesson at a time.

The good news is that Alistair delayed production so he could add the latest commands from build 107 so you'll be getting up to date help on every single command. I will tweet and post when I have more news for you.

I drink tea, and in my spare time I write software.
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Ancient Lady
Valued Member
20
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Joined: 17th Mar 2004
Location: Anchorage, Alaska, USA
Posted: 16th May 2012 00:59
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Is there any chance this book will be made available for electronic viewing in any of the various ebook formats?

I love ePub format, I have it working on all my platforms.

Cheers,
Ancient Lady
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LeeBamber
TGC Lead Developer
24
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Location: England
Posted: 16th May 2012 04:26
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I think Alistair will run it as a physical product for a while. He rightly fears the piracy methods out there to crack just about every e-reader style document currently on sale which means once your book goes electronic, those pesky pirates appear - arg shivers! With a book, pirates get a bit tired after photocopying 700 pages into their scanner, and then spending half a day uploading it, only for the end user to complain about the inferior scan quality

I drink tea, and in my spare time I write software.
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Ancient Lady
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Location: Anchorage, Alaska, USA
Posted: 16th May 2012 17:17
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I totally understand.

I do like books (the paper kind) for reference. You can put bookmarks in lots of places and jump back and forth.

I haven't found an ebook reader (on any platform) that handles that well.

But I like the convenience of carrying many books in a small space (especially when traveling).

Cheers,
Ancient Lady
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MrValentine
AGK Backer
13
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Joined: 5th Dec 2010
Playing: FFVII
Posted: 17th May 2012 01:09 Edited at: 17th May 2012 01:13
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Hopefully the fonting will be sufficient, its the main reason I prefer PDF over physical... reading books is a joy but for visually impaired readers its a bit of a neck ache...

Lee ... Special exception? pretty please... [ you can knock my name in the first pages or all of them I like this approach marking a user out into non drm products ]

Otherwise... I guess AppGameKit remains out of my reach as I was hoping for a digital copy... I hold my HandsOnDarkBacisPro v1+2 very dearly and I bought the pdf's I see no reason to distribute as for me those copies are mine and I paid for them... [pirates be gone!]

Then again, how about a digital copy which sits inside an application which uses the same login as the forum/website/web store with page slider at the bottom and zoom with panning... I would pay the same price for it as the physical copy... minus postage...

EDIT

Typos corrected in bold

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Alien Menace
AGK Developer
19
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Joined: 11th Jan 2005
Location: Earth (just visiting)
Posted: 18th May 2012 09:04
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I fear the ridiculous cost of shipping a book to the USA. I'll have to wait for the electronic format.

Apps published: 3
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MarcoBruti
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Location: Caput Mundi
Posted: 18th May 2012 17:59
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Alien Menace,
and the ridiculous cost to ship books from USA to Europe? In fact Amazon has got stores in Europe too in order to avoid change and transport costs.
The ideal would be that Digital Skills signed some agreement with publishers to print and distribute the book directly in the States.
Do you think it is feasible? When Lee will drive to Scotland (brrr...), I think you could ask Alistair if he could do that...
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LeeBamber
TGC Lead Developer
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Location: England
Posted: 19th May 2012 01:22
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Will do

I drink tea, and in my spare time I write software.
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AgentSam
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Location: Virtual Space
Posted: 19th May 2012 02:27
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I might consider buying this book in digital format. Preferably just a PDF that I can use for reading both on my laptop and desktop PC.

I would not buy it as a printed book, ever.

No digital version available? Shrug.. moving on.
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polomint
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Location: Lancashire, United Kingdom
Posted: 19th May 2012 10:59
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Aye, I'd like it as a pdf too, so I can read it on my PB,

Blackberry App Development & ZX Spectrum Game Development.
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Impetus73
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Location: Volda, Norway
Posted: 19th May 2012 12:39
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I guess it comes down to how many books he need to sell to cover his expenses making the book, before he start selling it digitally, and thereby endangering his sales from piracy... The more people that buy the book, the sooner it will happen, maybe we should buy 2 each...

I'm wondering how he will tackle upgrades to 3D and more 2D commands later, if he has the book in printed form only. Maybe another volume next year?

----------------
AGK user - novice
Did Amiga / AMOS programming in the 90's, just started programming again with AGK.
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MrValentine
AGK Backer
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Playing: FFVII
Posted: 19th May 2012 13:16
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Why not give us both with the book?

I still like my idea of it being locked into a purpose built app

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AgentSam
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Posted: 19th May 2012 13:50
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I would give the author (and publisher) this advice:
Instead of fearing the pirates, trust your customers.

And - if you don't have what the customers want (a digital version), you're not making those sales.
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DazzyF
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Posted: 19th May 2012 17:18
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I think I will be buying this upon release, it will be like me replacement commodore 64 programmers reference guide lol

www.dazzyscds.co.uk
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