Not that any of you here would know, but I was the author of the now canceled book "The Game Maker 8 Cookbook".

I stopped writing after the deadlines for the book started clashing with my college assignment deadlines (They only gave me 2 weeks to write a chapter, complete with examples and code)…

One of the reviewers mentioned that it was a pity that the book was canceled, due to it's more technical nature (It wasn't a beginners guide.)

Now that I've passed my first assignment for college and have some valuable time on my hands, I'm starting to write another book, but on my own terms.

I'm dropping the 'cookbook' style, and adopting a more linear type of book that has several 'sections' that are outlined like this:

1. Top-down Games

2. Platformers

3. 3D Games

4. Completing your games.

Section 1 will cover the basics of Game Maker, and teach the reader how to make sprites (No bundled resources here) and try to give a good first impression of Game Maker. (Not easy).

Section 2 will introduce the more advanced ideas to the reader, such as surfaces, and preparing them for Section 3, which deals with basic 3D games. However, with the 3D games I don't want the reader to think that a generic FPS is the only possibility, and so will introduce a 3D platformer instead (A conversion of the project made in Section 2 into a deeper environment).

Finally, Section 4 will cover the various ways of rounding off a game into a final release, including the creation of custom message boxes, HUD's for various situations, help-screens, etc. I'm still working on the complete structure, but so far, it looks promising.

As for the book I was working on, there's an entry in The Game Maker Blog about it's cancellation here.

Hopefully I'll get somewhere with this book. And I'd appreciate a firm telling off if I start thinking of quitting. [:p]