As with the first volume, the theme of the book includes everything having to do with game engine design and implementation. Specific topics of interest include rendering techniques, shaders, OpenGL / DirectX, physics / collision detection, mathematics, programming techniques, engine architecture, visibility determination, audio, user interface, input devices, memory management, artificial intelligence, resource organization, and cross-platform considerations. This list is not exhaustive, and the editors are happy to evaluate any idea that pertains to making game engines.

The full Call for Participation is available here.

With conventional CPU-based computing no longer scaling in performance and the world’s computational challenges increasing in complexity, the need for massively parallel processing has never been greater. GPUs have hundreds of cores capable of delivering transformative performance increases across a wide range of computational challenges. The rise of these multi-core architectures has raised the need to teach advanced programmers a new and essential skill: how to program massively parallel processors.

Among the book’s key features:

• First and only text that teaches how to program within a massively parallel environment
• Portions of the NVIDIA-provided content have been part of the curriculum at 300 universities worldwide
• Drafts of sections of the book have been tested and taught by Kirk at the University of Illinois
• Book utilizes OpenCL and CUDA C, the NVIDIA parallel computing language developed specifically for massively parallel environments

Programming Massively Parallel Processors: A Hands-on Approach is available to purchase from Amazon or directly from Elsevier.

The upcoming GPU Gems 2 book is now in press and the first copies will be available at GDC 2005 in San Francisco. Several pieces of sample material from GPU Gems 2 have been released. These include a Visual Table of Contents (shown at right, which will be inside the front cover), the foreword (by Tim Sweeney, Epic Games), the preface, and the contributor biographies.

A first sample chapter, Per-Pixel Displacement Mapping with Distance Functions, has also been released. (GPU Gems 2 Homepage.)

NVIDIA are looking for ideas from developers who are using GPUs in new ways to create stunning graphics and cutting-edge applications. Chapters should present techniques and ideas that are broadly useful to GPU programmers and can be integrated into their applications. GPU Gems II will have an increased focus on chapters exploring non-graphics applications of the computational capabilities of GPU hardware.

To participate, read the submission guidelines and send an e-mail to articlesubmissions@nvidia.com with your proposed chapter title as the subject line, and the required description in the e-mail body. The deadline for submissions is Monday, August 16, 2004.

GPU Gems: Programming Techniques, Tips, and Tricks for Real-Time Graphics was released last week at the Game Developers Conference 2004, and has been received very positively by the graphics community. GPU Gems was the bestselling book at the GDC bookstore, and is now available for purchase on several web sites, including Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Addison-Welsey. (GPU Gems: Programming Techniques, Tips, and Tricks for Real-Time Graphics. Randima Fernando, editor.)