6 ms·

Full archives of Game Developer magazine

258 points by jamesbritt 13y ago

pmelendez 13y ago
First was Dr. Dobbs Journal and now GDM. My favourites magazines are all dead now :(
- damian2000 13y ago
  http://www.drdobbs.com/ http://www.drdobbs.com/ is still active though
  - e12e 13y ago
    Indeed, but it's not quite the same. Thanks for the reminder though -- every once in a while I remember to stop by, and there are always a few new interesting articles.
- njharman 13y ago
  They're not dead though. Gd, at least, has been set free and given perpetual life rather than locked away by its temporary owner. Temporary if you still believe the "limited time" clause has any legal weight.
meritt 13y ago
If you want to download all the PDFs to your current working directory: wget -rH -nd -Dubm-us.net -Apdf http://gdcvault.com/gdmag Edit: for the curious, the flags are: -r recursively retrieve all the links on the page -H span hosts (default would stay with gdcvault.com only) -nd don't replicate directory hierarchy, just download the files to cwd -D only download from ubm-us.net -A pdf extensions only
- jason_slack 13y ago
  I was just working on this: wget -r -A.pdf http://twvideo01.ubm-us.net/o1/vault/GD_Mag_Archives/ http://twvideo01.ubm-us.net/o1/vault/GD_Mag_Archives/ but getting a 403 (forbidden). Now I see I should have tried http://gdcvault.com/gdmag http://gdcvault.com/gdmag instead of copying the link from right clicking and saying "Save As" You do have a few more flags than I do. I should look those up. Edit: Thanks for expanding your post to explain all the flags. Very helpful.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
- jamesbritt 13y ago
  But consider using --limit-rate <some rate> or -w <some number of seconds> to add a delay so as not to bomb the server.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- cool100 13y ago
  On Windows there's Flashget 1.73 http://www.flashget.com/en/download.html http://www.flashget.com/en/download.html and Tools, Site Explorer dialog. It's much faster because it downloads multiple files simultaneously.
- blinkingled 13y ago
  DownThemAll works with Firefox cross platform. Right Click on the page and dta OneClick. Fast Filter .pdf, .zip covers all downloads.
  - froo 13y ago
    I was disappointed I couldn't find DownThemAll for Chrome but a quick check on the store found an equivalent plugin called DownloadAll.
- archagon 13y ago
  How big is the complete archive?
  - kawsper 13y ago
    3.34 Gb according to the torrent.
- reginaldjcooper 13y ago
  Safe downloading, everyone; remember to first check the ToS and don't change your user-agent for any reason.
- candydance 13y ago
  Consider grabbing the torrent[0] instead so as not to peg the gdcvault server. [0]: http://thepiratebay.sx/torrent/8940823/Game_Developer_Magazine_Complete_1994-2013_Archives http://thepiratebay.sx/torrent/8940823/Game_Developer_Magazi...
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
- JessicaSWilliam 13y ago
  My Uncle Easton just got a new gold Chevrolet Camaro Z28 by working parttime off of a macbook. helpful resources WORKS23.ℂℴm
  - chris_wot 13y ago
    Why is this account still active?
- NKCSS 13y ago
  Once the download is done, you might want to do: mv GDM_February_.pdf GDM_February_2010.pdf to make sure the nameing is consistent :)
- Tomis02 13y ago
  A cross-platform solution would be using Opera 12's sidebar, going to links, selecting all 'view' links and downloading all at once. Or use Opera to download the torrent.
  - ANTSANTS 13y ago
    Is Opera really more cross-platform than wget?
    - Tomis02 13y ago
      In my opinion it's easier to put Opera (12) on Windows than wget; also, it doubles as a torrent client. Older Opera versions (that still have this feature) had versions for a large number of OS-es.
      - clarry 13y ago
        Wget has already been ported to Windows, and because it's free software, you can try port it to any other OS. Opera, on the other hand, hasn't been ported to nearly as many OSen, and you don't get the source to help with the effort (plus it's much larger than a CLI file downloading utility). Your idea of cross-platform is weird.
- atilimcetin 13y ago
  Also here is the list of all pdfs: https://gist.github.com/schnabear/6657115/raw/9b8a2527cfeca631c5779de0c2e8582bf8a5514d/GDMAG https://gist.github.com/schnabear/6657115/raw/9b8a2527cfeca6... You can save this list to a file (e.g. GDMAG.txt) and run wget -c -i GDMAG.txt
- jamesbritt 13y ago
  BTW, there are also zip files with code and stuff: wget -c -w5 -rH -nd -Dubm-us.net -Azip http://gdcvault.com/gdmag to get those
hayksaakian 13y ago
Would be nice if I could search the contents.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
  - jason_slack 13y ago
    I can upload them all if people think it is helpful.
- sliverstorm 13y ago
  Free and posted in its entirety online, and you're still not happy eh?
  - hayksaakian 13y ago
    Don't get me wrong, i think its great, but I'm not going to browse hundreds of issues to read about specific topics I'm interested in.
    - chris_wot 13y ago
      That hole you're digging is getting deeper and deeper...
- e12e 13y ago
  eh, what about eg: https://www.google.com/search?q=site:http://twvideo01.ubm-us.net/o1/vault/GD_Mag_Archives/+postmortem https://www.google.com/search?q=site:http://twvideo01.ubm-us...
- xerophtye 13y ago
  That can be made =)i figured you could just convert the index pages to text and then make a search utility over it. PS: If anyone makes it, dont forget to post the link! (i don't mind making it myself but i got no server to host it on... Might make it on JS and post as a "static" website)
interstitial 13y ago
I found the quote on the first page of the first issue a little too relevant: “The true danger is when liberty is nibbled away, for expedience, and by parts.” —Edmund Burke
lstamour 13y ago
Huh. And I just discovered it and subscribed on my iPad last Fall. Oh well. :)
Groxx 13y ago
Especially since this collection isn't going to change, I'm confused as usual why they don't include a 'download them all' torrent link. Torrents are wonderful for things like this - reduced hosting costs, often significantly faster download rates, and nearly perfect resumeability even in cases of extremely bad internet connections. Win/win/win but very few do it.
- _pmf_ 13y ago
  Offering a torrent could be legally interpreted as giving up copyright for the work(s) offered by the torrent.
  - jwl 13y ago
    How could there be anything legal related to the method of file transfer?
  - Synaesthesia 13y ago
    Really? I did not know that. Can you tell us why?
    - chris_wot 13y ago
      It can't.
  - damien 13y ago
    What? That doesn't sound right... how does the distribution method affect copyright? Think of all the free software (with licenses dependent on copyright) that's made available over BitTorrent. Or World of Warcraft game updates, or humble bundle games, or ...
- Groxx 13y ago
  Ah, excellent, thanks candydance[1]: torrent is here http://thepiratebay.sx/torrent/8940823/Game_Developer_Magazine_Complete_1994-2013_Archives http://thepiratebay.sx/torrent/8940823/Game_Developer_Magazi... or the magnet if you don't care for ads with boobs: magnet:?xt=urn:btih:4396a06317a9a9d757a703a58fcba001c337adc3&dn=Game+Developer+Magazine+Complete+1994-2013+Archives&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.openbittorrent.com%3A80&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.publicbt.com%3A80&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.istole.it%3A6969&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.ccc.de%3A80&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Fopen.demonii.com%3A1337 It's even categorized by code/zine and year, nice work! My wget attempt was still running D: [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6531569 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6531569
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
photorized 13y ago
Thank you for this. What's interesting is how dramatically gaming improved between 1994 and 1999, and then it kinda became incremental. I also enjoyed being able to see how the graphic design (page layouts, colors, fonts) of the magazine itself has evolved. I wonder if current trends can be extrapolated.
CurtMonash 13y ago
Great magazine. If, like me, you lack the specialized knowledge to understand most of the articles, there was one monthly feature worth reading anyway -- a detailed postmortem of some multi-year, multi-discipline game development project.
JessicaSWilliam 13y ago
upto I looked at the check of $5108, I didnt believe that...my... friend woz like they say trully earning money part time on their apple labtop.. there aunt haz done this for only 22 months and as of now paid for the morgage on there condo and got a brand new Land Rover Range Rover. go to my blog ============================== = WWW.Works23.Com = =============================
- curiousDog 13y ago
  A sign of HNs growing popularity
johnrt 13y ago
my step dad just purchased Buick Enclave SUV by working parttime from a macbook... Discover More Here....fb29.ℂom
johnrt 13y ago
my step dad just purchased Buick Enclave SUV by working parttime from a macbook... Discover More Here....fb29.ℂom
rocky1138 13y ago
I think the most refreshing bit about this, besides the fact that it's a goldmine of free information (thanks!), is the fact that it's all laid out on one html page. It makes me think of what websites used to be like before ads and crazy designs took over.
joeconway 13y ago
I feel like I've discovered this a little too late. Does anyone have any good suggestions for other quality software based magazines?
- victorf 13y ago
  I'd like to know this too; where are the best software and software development periodicals of any format? I don't even know where to ask.
Kiro 13y ago
Where can I buy a physical subscription?
- phaus 13y ago
  Sadly, the magazine has shut down, so you can't.
  - Kiro 13y ago
    Too bad. It looked like a fantastic magazine but I would really like to read it in its physical form. Do you know any other game development magazines?
varelse 13y ago
Chris Hecker's articles on building a perspective correct texture mapper were awesome. In the late 90s, I used these articles to build a software renderer from the ground up in assembler and then added bilinear filtering at no additional charge. It was dancing on a Nintendo 64 at the time. Sadly, while it went on to get used in a couple obscure games, the HW company for which I created this went belly-up.

258 points by jamesbritt 13y ago

pmelendez 13y ago

First was Dr. Dobbs Journal and now GDM. My favourites magazines are all dead now :(

damian2000 13y ago
http://www.drdobbs.com/ http://www.drdobbs.com/ is still active though
- e12e 13y ago
  Indeed, but it's not quite the same. Thanks for the reminder though -- every once in a while I remember to stop by, and there are always a few new interesting articles.
njharman 13y ago
They're not dead though. Gd, at least, has been set free and given perpetual life rather than locked away by its temporary owner. Temporary if you still believe the "limited time" clause has any legal weight.

meritt 13y ago

If you want to download all the PDFs to your current working directory: wget -rH -nd -Dubm-us.net -Apdf http://gdcvault.com/gdmag Edit: for the curious, the flags are: -r recursively retrieve all the links on the page -H span hosts (default would stay with gdcvault.com only) -nd don't replicate directory hierarchy, just download the files to cwd -D only download from ubm-us.net -A pdf extensions only

jason_slack 13y ago
I was just working on this: wget -r -A.pdf http://twvideo01.ubm-us.net/o1/vault/GD_Mag_Archives/ http://twvideo01.ubm-us.net/o1/vault/GD_Mag_Archives/ but getting a 403 (forbidden). Now I see I should have tried http://gdcvault.com/gdmag http://gdcvault.com/gdmag instead of copying the link from right clicking and saying "Save As" You do have a few more flags than I do. I should look those up. Edit: Thanks for expanding your post to explain all the flags. Very helpful.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
jamesbritt 13y ago
But consider using --limit-rate <some rate> or -w <some number of seconds> to add a delay so as not to bomb the server.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
cool100 13y ago
On Windows there's Flashget 1.73 http://www.flashget.com/en/download.html http://www.flashget.com/en/download.html and Tools, Site Explorer dialog. It's much faster because it downloads multiple files simultaneously.
blinkingled 13y ago
DownThemAll works with Firefox cross platform. Right Click on the page and dta OneClick. Fast Filter .pdf, .zip covers all downloads.
- froo 13y ago
  I was disappointed I couldn't find DownThemAll for Chrome but a quick check on the store found an equivalent plugin called DownloadAll.
archagon 13y ago
How big is the complete archive?
- kawsper 13y ago
  3.34 Gb according to the torrent.
reginaldjcooper 13y ago
Safe downloading, everyone; remember to first check the ToS and don't change your user-agent for any reason.
candydance 13y ago
Consider grabbing the torrent[0] instead so as not to peg the gdcvault server. [0]: http://thepiratebay.sx/torrent/8940823/Game_Developer_Magazine_Complete_1994-2013_Archives http://thepiratebay.sx/torrent/8940823/Game_Developer_Magazi...
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
JessicaSWilliam 13y ago
My Uncle Easton just got a new gold Chevrolet Camaro Z28 by working parttime off of a macbook. helpful resources WORKS23.ℂℴm
- chris_wot 13y ago
  Why is this account still active?
NKCSS 13y ago
Once the download is done, you might want to do: mv GDM_February_.pdf GDM_February_2010.pdf to make sure the nameing is consistent :)
Tomis02 13y ago
A cross-platform solution would be using Opera 12's sidebar, going to links, selecting all 'view' links and downloading all at once. Or use Opera to download the torrent.
- ANTSANTS 13y ago
  Is Opera really more cross-platform than wget?
  - Tomis02 13y ago
    In my opinion it's easier to put Opera (12) on Windows than wget; also, it doubles as a torrent client. Older Opera versions (that still have this feature) had versions for a large number of OS-es.
    - clarry 13y ago
      Wget has already been ported to Windows, and because it's free software, you can try port it to any other OS. Opera, on the other hand, hasn't been ported to nearly as many OSen, and you don't get the source to help with the effort (plus it's much larger than a CLI file downloading utility). Your idea of cross-platform is weird.
atilimcetin 13y ago
Also here is the list of all pdfs: https://gist.github.com/schnabear/6657115/raw/9b8a2527cfeca631c5779de0c2e8582bf8a5514d/GDMAG https://gist.github.com/schnabear/6657115/raw/9b8a2527cfeca6... You can save this list to a file (e.g. GDMAG.txt) and run wget -c -i GDMAG.txt
jamesbritt 13y ago
BTW, there are also zip files with code and stuff: wget -c -w5 -rH -nd -Dubm-us.net -Azip http://gdcvault.com/gdmag to get those

hayksaakian 13y ago

Would be nice if I could search the contents.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
- jason_slack 13y ago
  I can upload them all if people think it is helpful.
sliverstorm 13y ago
Free and posted in its entirety online, and you're still not happy eh?
- hayksaakian 13y ago
  Don't get me wrong, i think its great, but I'm not going to browse hundreds of issues to read about specific topics I'm interested in.
  - chris_wot 13y ago
    That hole you're digging is getting deeper and deeper...
e12e 13y ago
eh, what about eg: https://www.google.com/search?q=site:http://twvideo01.ubm-us.net/o1/vault/GD_Mag_Archives/+postmortem https://www.google.com/search?q=site:http://twvideo01.ubm-us...
xerophtye 13y ago
That can be made =)i figured you could just convert the index pages to text and then make a search utility over it. PS: If anyone makes it, dont forget to post the link! (i don't mind making it myself but i got no server to host it on... Might make it on JS and post as a "static" website)

interstitial 13y ago

I found the quote on the first page of the first issue a little too relevant: “The true danger is when liberty is nibbled away, for expedience, and by parts.” —Edmund Burke

lstamour 13y ago

Huh. And I just discovered it and subscribed on my iPad last Fall. Oh well. :)

Groxx 13y ago

Especially since this collection isn't going to change, I'm confused as usual why they don't include a 'download them all' torrent link. Torrents are wonderful for things like this - reduced hosting costs, often significantly faster download rates, and nearly perfect resumeability even in cases of extremely bad internet connections. Win/win/win but very few do it.

_pmf_ 13y ago
Offering a torrent could be legally interpreted as giving up copyright for the work(s) offered by the torrent.
- jwl 13y ago
  How could there be anything legal related to the method of file transfer?
- Synaesthesia 13y ago
  Really? I did not know that. Can you tell us why?
  - chris_wot 13y ago
    It can't.
- damien 13y ago
  What? That doesn't sound right... how does the distribution method affect copyright? Think of all the free software (with licenses dependent on copyright) that's made available over BitTorrent. Or World of Warcraft game updates, or humble bundle games, or ...
Groxx 13y ago
Ah, excellent, thanks candydance[1]: torrent is here http://thepiratebay.sx/torrent/8940823/Game_Developer_Magazine_Complete_1994-2013_Archives http://thepiratebay.sx/torrent/8940823/Game_Developer_Magazi... or the magnet if you don't care for ads with boobs: magnet:?xt=urn:btih:4396a06317a9a9d757a703a58fcba001c337adc3&dn=Game+Developer+Magazine+Complete+1994-2013+Archives&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.openbittorrent.com%3A80&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.publicbt.com%3A80&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.istole.it%3A6969&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.ccc.de%3A80&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Fopen.demonii.com%3A1337 It's even categorized by code/zine and year, nice work! My wget attempt was still running D: [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6531569 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6531569

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

photorized 13y ago

Thank you for this. What's interesting is how dramatically gaming improved between 1994 and 1999, and then it kinda became incremental. I also enjoyed being able to see how the graphic design (page layouts, colors, fonts) of the magazine itself has evolved. I wonder if current trends can be extrapolated.

CurtMonash 13y ago

Great magazine. If, like me, you lack the specialized knowledge to understand most of the articles, there was one monthly feature worth reading anyway -- a detailed postmortem of some multi-year, multi-discipline game development project.

JessicaSWilliam 13y ago

upto I looked at the check of $5108, I didnt believe that...my... friend woz like they say trully earning money part time on their apple labtop.. there aunt haz done this for only 22 months and as of now paid for the morgage on there condo and got a brand new Land Rover Range Rover. go to my blog ============================== = WWW.Works23.Com = =============================

curiousDog 13y ago
A sign of HNs growing popularity

johnrt 13y ago

my step dad just purchased Buick Enclave SUV by working parttime from a macbook... Discover More Here....fb29.ℂom

johnrt 13y ago

my step dad just purchased Buick Enclave SUV by working parttime from a macbook... Discover More Here....fb29.ℂom

rocky1138 13y ago

I think the most refreshing bit about this, besides the fact that it's a goldmine of free information (thanks!), is the fact that it's all laid out on one html page. It makes me think of what websites used to be like before ads and crazy designs took over.

joeconway 13y ago

I feel like I've discovered this a little too late. Does anyone have any good suggestions for other quality software based magazines?

victorf 13y ago
I'd like to know this too; where are the best software and software development periodicals of any format? I don't even know where to ask.

Kiro 13y ago

Where can I buy a physical subscription?

phaus 13y ago
Sadly, the magazine has shut down, so you can't.
- Kiro 13y ago
  Too bad. It looked like a fantastic magazine but I would really like to read it in its physical form. Do you know any other game development magazines?

varelse 13y ago

Chris Hecker's articles on building a perspective correct texture mapper were awesome. In the late 90s, I used these articles to build a software renderer from the ground up in assembler and then added bilinear filtering at no additional charge. It was dancing on a Nintendo 64 at the time. Sadly, while it went on to get used in a couple obscure games, the HW company for which I created this went belly-up.