Hi there, do you know anything (rumors, plans ) for the publish of a book about JMonkey?
No. We have been mentioned in a book or two, but nothing bigger than that. I was hoping we could get O'Reilly or someone to do a book about jME when we hit release 1.0
I see, it's all in details though, it depends if an author is willing to dedicate some time to write a book, and if there's any need for the end readers to buy it, the most important publishers look at. Well, for jME at moment I can't complain about the wiki and the tutorials, but a book sometimes give a "deeper" knowledge of how things work (or maybe because I read articles on the fly while on the PC) XD.
Well, two thoughts:
If Ogre3D can have a book on its own, so can jMonkeyEngine! (in my opinion jME is (far }:-@ ) superior to Ogre3D… Second, a book does not necessarily means in depth. In the case of the Ogre book, it is really not much more than a buch of tutorials that you can find online anyway, besides it gets outdated very quickly.
I was also thinking about a book for jME some time ago, and I would like it a lot, but definitely it would had to be written by a real pro… (in contrast to some other engine books out there )
Anyway, I give my unconditional support for a book, or any kind of further documentation (and development :P) on jME…
Was thinking the same thing yesterday… but I guess it gets outdated very quickly?
I would buy it, especially if it was an O'Reilly book.
Well, since somebody mentioned this already let me say my two words.
I'm starting a PhD program this semester and I've planed to write a book about JME (I would talk to Renanse first, so here are my ideas for it).
I didn't talk to any publisher yet but I'll write it in english anyway (even if's going to be online only). Here are the topics:
Part I - knowledge base
1 - Introduction
Some words about game conception, design, programming and the roles in the process.
2 - Some basic concepts about computer graphics, concluding scene graphs.
3 - The JME API and architecture (practical scene graph)
4, 5 and some more - Exploration of the packages from a game programmer point of view, covering basics, textures, primitives, models, effects, transforms, controllers, etc.
Part II - Game examples explained
II.1 - Very simple (yet fun) game to start (didn't think of it yet)
II.2 - Simple player FPS
II.3 - Race Game - better designed Dirty Racers, from start to complete game, including physics
II.4 - Data-driven multiplayer game engine and fantasy RPG (or so) - ALMOST READY (the engine)!
This is my plan for now… But I'm not sure if I can get all the way to the finish all alone, and also if a book is worth the effort actually. I'll wait for some new responses and opinions (devs?) on the subject.
And regarding to some comments up on the topic: I'm not a REAL pro (from the industry), but I'm used to writing and I expect to get some help (early reviewers - devs and experienced people from here - I'll write the book for everybody here anyway).
PErick!, way to go! :mrgreen:
I really applaud you in your effort, I think it would be a terrific idea to do this. From the practical point of view, I think it would be wise to do this for the 2.0 release, and since writting such a book would take a while (hopefully more than the 2.0 release, and less than a year ;)) I think you would be better off that way.
Also, I think this might project jME to new frontiers. I think one thing that Ogre3D has done right is the marketability part of having an engine. (I have not made benchmarks, but I would expect jME to be competitive Vs Ogre3D). If we could make jME the de facto standard in 3D teaching, it would definitely pay off.
Finally, I think the community would be happy to help with every step… I cannot talk for everyone here, but I can tell you I would definitely take it seriously to help in anyway I could.
Cheers again! 
sounds awesome. feel free to bother me whenever you need anything (and i'm sure the other devs would say the same)
Sounds great, Perick. I had hoped to push more on the book idea after we got a few more games out there and had the engine more polished (v2, etc.) but no sense waiting if someone is ready to pick up the idea and run with it now. Definitely feel free to talk more about your plans here or via email.
I would be very willing to buy this book if it was aimed at reasonably experienced Java programmers with some 2D graphical knowledge. And it shouldn't spend too much time talking about game loops as it's not as advanced a topic enough to warrant more than a cursory coverage. The book should focus almost exclusively on jME's scene graph engine (including all the fancy stuff such as shaders), followed by jME-specific game object interaction topics, followed by other stuff such as sound and controls, again with a jME-specific focus.
We already have Killer Game Programming in Java, so we don't need to cover the non-jME stuff all over again.
I agree with Steve, skip the basics and get to the advanced topics. The user's guide in the wiki might be a good reference for that.
Also you might want to wait until jME 2.0 since many changes are going to take place.
So I'll sumarise chapter 2 and put it into the introduction… The other chapters were intended to cover the topics you two just mentioned.
I'll be starting all this (the writing part) next month. Any idea when the 2.0 will be on SVN or something? (I haven't been looking for it in the forum lately, so I'm not up to date). I'd definitely put 1.0 aside in favor of 2.0 on the book.
Any idea when the 2.0 will be on SVN or something?
Renanse said in another post an alpha release will be available somewhere around February
I know this is a very old thread but is there any more news regarding the book?
I'm not sure what has happened with the works in progress, (having completed my doctorate, I can guess 
) but I can tell you that I have started a book that is based upon the jME 2.0. I need a tool for the game development classes that I teach, and jME is the most appealing to me. I've used several other engines that are out there for my classes, and wasn't happy with them.
I'm relatively new to jME, but I'm becoming familiar with it very quickly. I will be writing more of a textbook than a resource/API book. Hopefully some will find it helpful!
Welcome to the forums
Good luck and keep us in touch (and ofc feel free to post questions…)
Ahhh Students. So full of promise… So lacking in results! I do remember I was going to rule the world with my online VRML supermarket as part of my dissertation. Hmmm… I'm still not quite the millionaire I'd intended!
Can I suggest that the JME community progresses a "JMonkey Engine Cookbook" ? This would break down in to a series of references, making authoring the book very easy (many contributors). Cookbooks usually contain a "basics" section, and then build on various techniques within the subject matter. Sections off the top of my head would include.
Modelling
Terrain modelling
Movement
Collision
Sound
AI??
I would buy it!
Richard,
Thanks for the topic list. I was planning to include all of them, even if it isn't in too much detail.
I'm considering going digital publishing for this book. Any objections?
Also, at this time, I plan to stick with jME 2.0. When 3.0 hits maturity, I will probably start on a version of the book for it. Again… any objections?
As a professor of digital entertianment/game programming, I hope to crank this out by the end of the year and use it with my classes. This is assuming I don't get overloaded with iPhone programming classes!
This is a great initiative. I really hope it takes off, because it would certainly increase jME scope. Then it can be used for classes at any University. I remember I learned about Ogre3D when I took a games programming class some years ago. The book was not even very good, and the API had changed a bit from what the book said, and still made people consider it for teaching! :-o
A jME book would be something many people would buy I imagine… I know I would. 