Recommended Reading: ``IT'S BEHIND YOU: the making of a computer game'' by Bob Pape

The book being  recommended is ``IT'S BEHIND YOU: the  making of a computer game'' by  Bob Pape.  It
may be found here:
http://www.bizzley.com

This book is different from previous recommendations as it is an autobiography.  It covers the story
of the  writer as he delves  in to the world  of computing, learns his  first programming languages,
writes his first  softwares, and eventually becomes a  paid game developer for the  ZX Spectrum home
computer, starting with porting  ``Rampage'' and then focusing on his ``R-Type''  port, which is the
subject of most  of the book.  The  work has a fair amount  of technical details that  will sate the
curious  who wonder  how to  develop games  on  older home  computers, but  this is  largely a  work
describing the what instead of the how of  game development, along with the bureaucracy and scheming
involved.

It is a very  interesting look into the world of home computer  game development from decades passed
and is sure to interest anyone wondering what things were like in that time and also shock them with
the nature  of the practices  then found to  be commonplace.   A main criticism  of the book  is its
typesetting regarding word spacing and hyphenation, which can become distracting during the reading,
but is not  necessarily egregious.  This is  not a particularly long  book, so it is  best suited to
light reading during a vacation or over a weekend.
.