Yeah thats a constantly debated topic. I think you need to understand basic algebra and the concept of logic (if, or, and, etc) just to be able to code, and past that can only help. Coding in my experience usually has a lot more to do with logic, hence the reason you draw a flow chart of code...
I have book #3 and it is more on the game structure and designing games than on any realy solid code. So basically it teaches you how to put together games and design them, not code them, which I think is what you want. While it is a great book, and does show some coding stuff, it really is not...
that system sounds exactly like Natural Selection, not CS, no? And, nice quote from Jurassic Park Sulkdodds. (I must have watched that movie thousands of times when I was younger.)
That was really good, but too short. My only complaint is that the messages were displayed at pretty inconvienent times and therefore were sort of hard to read. Otherwise, good mapping, good music. I can't wait to see more.