HN Books @HNBooksMonth

Nice! You probably know of this link "Get started making music"[0] and I found it pretty cool.

What do you think of "The Sims Game Design Documents"[1]? Could you recommend other similar resources?

I guess what really strikes a chord with me is the arc, not only "in" the game, but of the journey to make the game. One book I enjoyed on an emotional level was "The Making of Prince of Persia"[2] by Jordan Mechner. I also enjoyed "Masters of Doom"[3] by David Kushner, but more on the merit of good research, which I really respect. I don't want a montage, I want the story with the suffering and tribulations.

Do you know of similar content?

[0]: https://learningmusic.ableton.com/

[1]: https://donhopkins.com/home/TheSimsDesignDocuments/

[2]: https://www.amazon.com/Making-Prince-Persia-Journals-1985-19...

[3]: https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cult...

I can give you the names of a handful of books that might be useful. Some are more technical, some less so. Some are more about personalities, some about the business aspects of things, some more about the actual technology. I don't really have time to try and categorize them all, so here's a big dump of the ones I have and/or am familiar with that seem at least somewhat related.

The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering - https://www.amazon.com/Mythical-Man-Month-Software-Engineeri...

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution - https://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Computer-Revolution-Steven-Le...

The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage - https://www.amazon.com/Cuckoos-Egg-Tracking-Computer-Espiona...

Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet - https://www.amazon.com/Where-Wizards-Stay-Up-Late/dp/0684832...

Open: How Compaq Ended IBM's PC Domination and Helped Invent Modern Computing - https://www.amazon.com/Open-Compaq-Domination-Helped-Computi...

Decline and Fall of the American Programmer - https://www.amazon.com/Decline-American-Programmer-Yourdon-1...

Rise and Resurrection of the American Programmer - https://www.amazon.com/dp/013121831X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&key...

Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can't Get a Date - https://www.amazon.com/Robert-X-Cringely/dp/0887308554/ref=s...

Softwar: An Intimate Portrait of Larry Ellison and Oracle - https://www.amazon.com/Softwar-Intimate-Portrait-Ellison-Ora...

Winners, Losers & Microsoft - https://www.amazon.com/Winners-Losers-Microsoft-Competition-...

Microsoft Secrets - https://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Secrets-audiobook/dp/B019G2...

The Friendly Orange Glow: The Untold Story of the PLATO System and the Dawn of Cyberculture - https://www.amazon.com/The-Friendly-Orange-Glow-audiobook/dp...

Troublemakers: Silicon Valley's Coming of Age - https://www.amazon.com/Troublemakers-Silicon-Valleys-Coming-...

Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire - https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Drive-Making-Microsoft-Empire/dp...

Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture - https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cult...

The Supermen: The Story of Seymour Cray and The Technical Wizards Behind the Supercomputer - https://www.amazon.com/Supermen-Seymour-Technical-Wizards-Su...

Bitwise: A Life in Code - https://www.amazon.com/Bitwise-Life-Code-David-Auerbach/dp/1...

Gates - https://www.amazon.com/Gates-Microsofts-Reinvented-Industry-...

We Are The Nerds - https://www.amazon.com/We-Are-Nerds-audiobook/dp/B07H5Q5JGS/...

A People's History of Computing In The United States - https://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-Computing-United-Stat...

Fire In The Valley: The Birth and Death of the Personal Computer - https://www.amazon.com/Fire-in-Valley-audiobook/dp/B071YYZJG...

How The Internet Happened: From Netscape to the iPhone - https://www.amazon.com/How-Internet-Happened-Netscape-iPhone...

Steve Jobs - https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-Isaacson/dp/1451648...

The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation - https://www.amazon.com/Idea-Factory-Great-American-Innovatio...

Coders - https://www.amazon.com/Coders-Making-Tribe-Remaking-World/dp...

Dreaming in Code: Two Dozen Programmers, Three Years, 4,732 Bugs, and One Quest for Transcendent Software - https://www.amazon.com/Dreaming-in-Code-Scott-Rosenberg-audi...

The Pentagon's Brain: An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top-Secret Military Research Agency - https://www.amazon.com/Pentagons-Brain-Uncensored-Americas-T...

The Imagineers of War: The Untold Story of DARPA, the Pentagon Agency That Changed the World - https://www.amazon.com/Imagineers-War-Untold-Pentagon-Change...

The Technical and Social History of Software Engineering - https://www.amazon.com/Technical-Social-History-Software-Eng...

Also...

"The Mother of All Demos" by Doug Englebart - https://youtu.be/yJDv-zdhzMY

"Jobs vs Gates" - https://www.amazon.com/Jobs-Vs-Gates-Hippie-Nerd/dp/B077KB96...

"Welcome to Macintosh" - https://www.amazon.com/Welcome-Macintosh-Guy-Kawasaki/dp/B00...

"Pirates of Silicon Valley" - https://www.amazon.com/Pirates-Silicon-Valley-Noah-Wyle/dp/B...

"Jobs" - https://www.amazon.com/Jobs-Ashton-Kutcher/dp/B00GME2NCG/ref...

And while not a documentary, or meant to be totally historically accurate, the TV show "Halt and Catch Fire" captures a lot of the feel of the early days of the PC era, through to the advent of the Internet era.

https://www.amazon.com/I-O/dp/B00KCXJCEK/ref=sr_1_1?crid=U6Z...

And there's a ton of Macintosh history stuff captured at:

https://www.folklore.org/

Patrick Collison, co-founder of Stripe, keeps a cool reading list with tons of books, color coded by the impact they had on him. He's clearly a voracious reader on a wide range of topics. I happened to find it yesterday and found tons of books and authors to add to my Amazon wishlists: https://patrickcollison.com/bookshelf

If you're interested in games / startup stories, I have to recommend Masters of Doom, about the early days of id. It's thrilling and exciting to read: https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cult... - It's also in the news that USA has ordered a pilot for a TV adaptation. Here's hoping it's good!

⬐ backslash_16

Masters of Doom is such a fun, good book. I ended up power reading a few summers ago.

If you grew up playing Doom, and all the other shareware games like Hexen, Heretic, etc... reading about Id Software's start and history is more interesting than I ever thought it would be.

Another book that drew me in was "Blood, Sweat, and Pixels". It's a collection of short-ish game creation stories packaged into a book. Really candid interviews and writing.

⬐ pimmen

Masters of Doom had a much bigger impact on me then I thought it would. Can really recommend it!

⬐ anderspitman

One of very few books I've read twice and intend to read again in the future.

⬐ ElCapitanMarkla

I read that a year or two ago and find myself quite often thinking about it. It really is very good

⬐ tossaway127

Keep in mind, he claims to have read about half the books on the list and it's not clear which half...

⬐ robodale

I've read Master's of Doom 4 times...and loved each time through it.

⬐ wenxin

love this list

⬐ bemmu

Sivers also has a list: https://sivers.org/book

Making Prince of Persia is terrific. I'd also recommend Masters of Doom, a book about the heyday of id Software.

https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cult...

If you liked this and haven't read it yet definitely check out Masters of Doom![0]

It's about the two John's (Carmack and Romero) and how they created Doom, Quake et al. and why id Software broke up eventually. Very fascinating, highly recommended book!

[0]: https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cult...

The book "Masters of Doom" (https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cult...) covers a lot of the early days of id Software and is a great read, both from historical and motivational angle.

⬐ robodale

I HIGHLY recommend reading this book. I've had it since ~2004, and read it 6 or 7 times. It's such an enjoyable experience, and if you develop software and/or software companies...still very relevant.

⬐ huhtenberg

It's a superb book - interesting, well researched, easy to read and, above all, provides a background for understanding how Carmack and Romero each ended up where they are now.

⬐ nailer

Also shatters the popular idea of Carmack as a nerd (he breaks into a high school and steals computers as a youth) an Romero as a bro (he's writing a bunch of games, compression tools and other useful bits and pieces)

⬐ mattfrasernz

+1 - This book actually rekindled my love for gaming and reminded me of the passion for computers that contributed to me deciding to become a developer in the first place.

Carmack is such a boss. If your interest is piqued every time you hear about him, make sure to read Masters of Doom:

http://amzn.com/0812972155

⬐ Cyph0n

I listened to the audiobook for around 15 minutes and just couldn't see what's so good about it. I think it was the reader's tone and voice (Wil Wheaton) that made it sound... is "rad" the word? I might try reading it in eBook form instead.

⬐ eco

I didn't like Wil Wheaton's reading of Ready Player One either. The main character came off as, I don't know, whiney I guess. I have nothing against Wil Wheaton himself. The reading just didn't do it for me.

Masters of Doom is a great book though. I read it a couple years back. I recommend picking up a copy if the audiobook isn't working out.

⬐ NoahTheDuke

> The main character came off as, I don't know, whiney I guess.

Well, the main character is whiny, and I found the book to be terrible, so I don't think your opinion is too off base.

⬐ thearn4

I feel the same way. Which is odd considering how many people suggested it on /r/audiobooks. But I found the nostalgia pandering to be a bit much.

⬐ riffraff

hear hear. I cannot honestly understand why that book is so popular.

⬐ madaxe_again

Shit, I just blew coffee all over my laptop at reading that Wil Wheaton voiced it. I wouldn't be able to hear anything but a starry-eyed Mary Sue Crusher rendition of the book. Nothing against the dude but the association is strong.

Read it. It's worthwhile.

⬐ kbenson

Is that because that's just the primary association you still have for him, or because that's just what came to mind? I'm wondering because Wil Wheaton has had quite a bit of positive exposure over the last decade, enough so that even while I don't really follow the stuff he does all that closely (or at all), I still hear about it enough that my primary association for him is no longer the ST:TNG character

⬐ PretzelPirate

I read the ebook. I skipped a lot of it and just read the interesting parts. I would recommend skimming it.

⬐ fossuser

It was probably the voice that was annoying - I read the paper copy and really enjoyed it. If you like books like Hackers, Crypto, Soul of a New Machine, What the Dormouse said etc. you'll probably like it.

⬐ JustSomeNobody

Ugh! Thanks for the warning. I can't stand Wil Wheaton.

⬐ theinternetman

Was so disappointed to find out he did the audio book version. Unlistenable

⬐ ndesaulniers

Give it another chance. It's worthwhile.

⬐ dylan-m

I found it fun to listen to, but the author had this weird habit of foreshadowing everything as if there was always some huge earth-shattering reveal around the corner.

"And this wouldn't be their last obstacle moving in to the lake house … [Next chapter]: Also, John stubbed his toe on a door."

Between that and Wil's enthusiastic reading — buying in to each and every one of those sure-to-be-disappointing wind-ups — it was kind of exasperating. But I'd say it's worth it, regardless. I'd agree it's probably way better as an eBook. There was lots of interesting stuff, and some glorious nostalgia :)

⬐ Kiro

I just finished this book 5 minutes ago. Can't recommend it enough.

⬐ phodo

You might also enjoy the Blizzard book:

Stay Awhile and Listen: How Two Blizzards Unleashed Diablo and Forged a Video-Game Empire [1]

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Stay-Awhile-Listen-Blizzards-Video-Gam...

⬐ douche

Great book. I wish there was more literature in this vein. Some other fun reads from the Blizzard team at http://www.codeofhonor.com/blog/

⬐ phodo

Here are a couple of additional things to read if you liked those: * Jordan Mechner - of Prince of Persia / Karateka [1] * Ready Player One - fiction - but in the same vein [2]

[1] Jordan's website w general links: http://www.jordanmechner.com/

The Making of Karateka - 1982- 1985 : http://www.amazon.com/Making-Karateka-Journals-1982-1985/dp/...

The Making of Prince of Persia - Journals 1985-1993: http://www.amazon.com/Making-Prince-Persia-Journals-1985/dp/...

[2] Ready Player One - http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-Ernest-Cline/dp/03078...

⬐ prezjordan

My single favorite non-fiction work. (Probably better than any fiction I've read, too) Even if you're not a gamer, this book has such a great story and has so much to offer when it comes to software development in general.

⬐ pjc50

You may also like "Racing the beam", which is not so long on human interest but has a lot of great technical, social and business perspective on the Atari era.

⬐ markpapadakis

Same here. I read this every year -- it motivates me like no other work or fiction or reality. I bought a few copies for friends, and it seems to have similar effects on them. I can't recommend it enough.

If you want to learn more about the genesis of Doom/id software, Masters of Doom is a fantastic read (also an amazing audiobook narrated by Wil Wheaton).

http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cultu...

Just finished Masters of Doom on the plane Sunday. Fantastic read. I highly recommend it to all software folks, even if you're not a gamer. Tons of a highly relevant stories and accounts in there.

http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cultu...

⬐ kevando

Incredible read. I also recommend the audio version, read by Will Wheaton

⬐ WA

I agree. I devoured it in two afternoons and found it quite motivational in terms of a business book.

Here, there were a handful of programmers, experimenting with different pricing models (shareware vs. retail), dictating their terms to publishers, starting ethical and legal discussions (Columbine Highschool shooting related to violent computer games? Export laws of software, especially violent computer games to Germany), helping Microsoft to establish Windows as a gaming platform (by making Doom a Direct X game) and so on.

They not only made games, they established a genre and nobody had a clue what the future would look like.

⬐ laumars

Slight nitpick, but Doom was a DOS game and it's DirectX port (Doom95) was written by Microsoft, not ID Software.

In fact the developer a MS who wrote of Doom95 is another famous name in the world of gaming; Gabe Newell (who has obviously since left Microsoft).

The reason I nitpick is because ID Software have always been pro-OpenGL rather than favouring Dx3D. What's more, most of their earlier games (I've not played anything since QIII) have been ported to other platforms by ID Software themselves and often not even developed on Windows PCs to begin with. So I think Gabe really deserves the credit (or criticism hehe) for kick starting the Windows/DirectX culture we see now.

Which is ironic as Gabe is now -in my opinion at least- the biggest threat Microsoft faces for the future of Windows games. But that's another topic entirely :)

This is very fitting since I started reading "Masters of DOOM" book just a couple days ago. Haven't been able to put it down. Great read about the two Johns and the story of id Software.

http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cultu...

Not a movie, but Masters of Doom is a great book about the rise of ID Software (http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cultu...)

Obligatory mention of "Masters of DOOM", the biography of Johns Carmack and Romero:

http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cultu...

Like reading iWoz... a lot of stories of brilliant engineering at an elite level.

⬐ WA

This book is absolutely fantastic. I devoured it in 2 afternoons, unable to do anything else. More exciting than some fictional thriller.

⬐ None

None

⬐ mg74

Seconded!

And I can recommend the audio version, Wil Wheaton does a great job.

Carmack, Romero and two other guys were making $60K a month from Commander Keen in its shareware format. That's after Apogee's 60% cut.

[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commander_Keen

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cultu... - highly recommended, really good read

There has, is, and will continue to be. Seeing that Carmack practically invented the FPS genre over 20 years ago and he's still writing games today, I view him as a mythical figure.

http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cultu...

If you have not yet read "Masters of Doom", I strongly advise any aspiring hackerpreneur to read it. It's an enthralling and easy read and details the early day of id, including the releases of their breakout hits "Commander Keen", "Wolfenstein 3D", "Doom", and "Quake", as well as the fall of Romero, following his departure from id, particularly with the "Daikatana" flop.

http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cultu...

I read it when it was new 8 years ago, and I think I'm probably due for another reading, myself.

⬐ pestaa

One of my favorite books. Almost makes me wish I was born at a different time and place.

Even the Super Mario Warner Bros 4 rewrite Carmack made is two days older than me.

⬐ incision

>Almost makes me wish I was born at a different time and place.

I've often found myself feeling the same way.

Thing is, we're in no danger of running out of things to invent or advance. There's effectively just as much uncharted territory for us as there was for anyone else. We even have the benefit of standing on their shoulders to achieve perspectives they couldn't realize.

⬐ pestaa

This is true, hence my use of "almost".

On the other hand, there is a lot magic to eating pizzas and sipping diet cokes in the house by the lake only to play and make games.

I just no longer see myself being able to be blessed by that privilege.

⬐ mgkimsal

what's stopping you? there's people doing that even today in 2012.

⬐ yesimahuman

Even if you don't like games and you like startups, this is a great book. These guys took their passion and made something awesome. And they bootstrapped it AFAIK.

⬐ Auguste

I read this book around a year ago, and it's one of my favourites. If you've been enjoying the recent Warcraft[1] and Starcraft[2] blog posts from Patrick Wyatt, you'll love Masters of Doom. It doesn't focus on the technical details as much, but it's an excellent story.

[1] http://www.codeofhonor.com/blog/tag/warcraft

[2] http://www.codeofhonor.com/blog/tag/starcraft

If anyone's interested in reading a book about the history of id Software, Carmack, and Romero I recommend Masters of Doom (http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cultu...). I finished it last week and it was a great read.

Recommended reading: http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cultu...

Also check out John Romero's interview on Matt Chat (#51-55): http://www.youtube.com/user/blacklily8

⬐ kn0thing

That was the book that convinced me to start a startup with Steve. He'd let me borrow his copy of it, which is on his shelf to this day (I'm crashing at his place this week and just saw it). Can't recommend it enough. It's not brilliantly written, but it's written well enough - and the story, well...

⬐ loganfrederick

I have to second this. Reading Masters of Doom right after it came out during my freshman year of high school really shaped my interests and world views for the rest of my life. The two lead characters of Romero and Carmack were so realistic and yet larger-than-life that I just knew I had to be a part of something big and relevant.

⬐ phoboslab

Full audio of the Romero interview: http://armchairarcade.com/matt/podcasts/romero_full.mp3

Interesting stuff. I was surprised by how much technical knowledge Romero actually has. He talks about the challenges of programming for CGA vs. EGA in the (pre) Commander Keen days.

⬐ cubicle67

Here's another worth reading http://slashdot.org/games/99/10/15/1012230.shtml

⬐ samlittlewood

"If you want to set off and go develop some grand new thing, you don't need millions of dollars of capitalization. You need enough pizza and Diet Coke to stick in your refrigerator, a cheap PC to work on and the dedication to go through with it."

Yep, I loved that - cracked up every time he pointed out a bug.

A great book on Romero and Carmack's journey at id: http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cultu...

Kind of unrelated, but the second time I watched it I was struck by the fact that there's hardly any cursing by John Romero or anyone watching him play.