Technical - Books

Adobe Flash 11 Stage3D (Molehill) Game Programming Beginner's Guide

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:40:47 +0000

Adobe’s Stage3D (Molehill) is a set of 3D APIs that has brought 3D to the Flash platform. Being a completely new technology, there were almost no resources to get you acquainted with this revolutionary platform, until now.

This book will show you how to make your very own next-gen 3D games in Flash. If you have ever dreamed of writing your own console-style 3d game in Flash, get ready to be blown away by the hardware accelerated power of Stage3D. This book will lead you step-by-step through the process of programming a 3D game in Actionscript 3 using this exciting new technology. Filled with examples, pictures and source code, this is a practical and fun-to-read guide that will benefit both 3D programming beginners and expert game developers alike.

Starting with simple tasks like setting up Flash to render a simple 3d shape, each chapter presents a deeper and more complete videogame as an example project. Right from a simple tech demo, your game will grow to become a finished product - your very own playable 3d game filled with animation, special effects, sounds, and tons of action. The goal of this book is to teach you how to program a complete game in Molehill that has a beginning, middle, and game over.

As you progress further into your epic quest, you will learn all sorts of useful tricks such as ways to create eye-catching special effects using textures, special blend modes for transparent particle systems, fantastic vertex and fragment programs that are used to craft beautiful shaders and much more. You will learn how to upload the geometry of your 3D models to video RAM for ultra-fast rendering. You will dive into the magical art of AGAL shader programming. You will learn optimization tricks to achieve blazingly fast frame rate even at full screen resolutions. With each chapter, you will “level up” your game programming skills, earning the title of Molehill Master – you will be able to honestly call yourself a 3D game programmer.

This book is written for beginners by a veteran game developer. It will become your trusty companion filled with the knowledge you need to make your very own 3D games in Flash.

Cocos2d for iPhone 1 Game Development Cookbook

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:57:49 +0000

Cocos2d for iPhone is a robust but simple-to-use 2D game framework for iPhone. It is easy to use, fast, flexible, free, and Appstore approved. More than 2500 AppStore games already use it, including many best-seller games. Do you want to take your cocos2d game development skills to the next level and become more professional in cocos2d game design?

Cocos2d for iPhone 1 Game Development Cookbook will help you reach that next level. You will find over 100 recipes here that explain everything from the drawing of a single sprite to AI pathfinding and advanced networking. Full working examples are emphasized.

Starting with the first chapter, Graphics, you will be taken through every major topic of game development. You will find both simple and complex recipes in the book.

Each recipe is either a solution to a common problem (playing video files, accelerometer steering) or a cool advanced technique (3D rendering, textured polygons).

This cookbook will have you creating professional quality iOS games quickly with its breadth of working example code.

Unreal Development Kit Game Programming with UnrealScript: Beginner's Guide

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:56:45 +0000

Unreal Development Kit is the free edition of Unreal Engine—the largest game engine in existence with hundreds of shipped commercial titles. The Unreal Engine is a very powerful tool for game development but with something so complex it's hard to know where to start.

This book will teach you how to use the UnrealScript language to create your own games with the Unreal Development Kit by using an example game that you can create and play for yourself. It breaks down the UnrealScript language into easy to follow chapters that will quickly bring you up to speed with UnrealScript game programming.

Unreal Development Kit Game Programming with UnrealScript takes you through the UnrealScript language for the Unreal Development Kit. It starts by walking through a project setup and setting up programs to write and browse code. It then takes you through using variables, functions, and custom classes to alter the game's behavior and create our own functionality. The use and creation of Kismet is also covered. Later, using replication to create and test multiplayer games is discussed. The book closes with code optimization and error handling as well as a few of the less common but useful features of UnrealScript

Android NDK Beginner's Guide

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:55:23 +0000

Android NDK is all about injecting high performance into your apps. Exploit the maximum power of these mobile devices using high-performance and portable code.

This book will show you how to create C/C++ enabled applications and integrate them with Java. You will learn how to access native API and port libraries used in some of the most successful Android applications.

Using this practical step-by-step tutorial, highlighted with comments and tricks, discover how to run C/C++ code embedded in a Java application or in a standalone application. You will create a real native application starting from project creation through to full implementation of native API and the porting of existing third-party libraries. You will discover OpenGL ES and OpenSL ES, which are becoming the new standard in mobility. You will also understand how to access keyboard and input peripherals and how to read accelerometer or orientation sensors. Finally, you will dive into more advanced topics such as debugging and troubleshooting applications. By the end of the book, you should know the key elements to enable you to start exploiting the power and portability of native code.

Android 3.0 Animations: Beginner's Guide

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:52:31 +0000

An enjoyable, understandable, and eye-catching user interface is a key part of getting users to love your app. Users today expect a polished multimedia experience on their mobile device, and animation is a core part of that. The Android operating system is at the forefront of tablet and smartphone technology, and there is a plethora of opportunities for developing exciting applications with animation.

Android 3.0 Animations Beginner’s Guide will introduce each of the most popular animation techniques to you. Using step-by-step instructions, you will learn how to create interactive dynamic forms, moving graphics, and 3D motion.

You will be taken on a journey from simple stop motion animations and fades, through to moving input forms, then on to 3D motion and game graphics.

In this book, you will create standalone animated graphics, three-dimensional lifts, fades, and spins. You will become adept at moving and transforming form data to bring boring old input forms and displays to life. Learn how game programmers create fast animations on the fly, and also build live wallpapers to liven up your users’ home-screens!

If you are tired of writing lifeless interfaces and want to add some animated excitement, this is the book for you!

XNA 4.0 Game Development by Example: Beginner's Guide - Visual Basic Edition

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:50:53 +0000

XNA Game Studio enables hobbyists and independent game developers to easily create video games, and now gives that power to Visual Basic developers. XNA lets you bring your creations to life on Windows, the Xbox 360 and the Windows Phone platforms. The latest release of XNA has added support to Visual Basic and therefore, Visual Basic developers now have the power to give life to their creativity with XNA.

This book covers both the concepts and the implementations necessary to get you started on bringing your own creations to life with XNA. It presents four different games, including a puzzler, space shooter, multi-axis shoot 'em up, and a jump-and-run platformer. Each game introduces new concepts and techniques to build a solid foundation for your own ideas and creativity.

This book details the creation of four games, all in different styles, from start to finish using Visual Basic and the Microsoft XNA framework. Beginning with the basics of drawing images to the screen, the book then incrementally introduces sprite animation, particles, sound effects, tile-based maps, and path finding. It then explores combining XNA with Windows Forms to build an interactive map editor, and builds a platform-style game using the editor-generated maps. Finally, the book covers the considerations necessary for deploying your games to the Xbox 360 platform.

By the end of the book, you will have a solid foundation of game development concepts and techniques as well as working sample games to extend and innovate upon. You will have the knowledge necessary to create games that you can complete without an army of fellow game developers at your back.

A step-by-step tutorial for using Visual Basic with Microsoft XNA to create four different styles of video games.

Flash Development for Android Cookbook

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:36:07 +0000

Flash has now arrived to Android — the fastest growing smartphone platform. This offers massive opportunities for Flash developers who want to get into mobile development. At the same time, working on smartphones will introduce new challenges and issues that Flash developers may not be familiar with.

The Flash Development for Android Cookbook enables Flash developers to branch out into Android mobile applications through a set of essential, easily demonstrable recipes. It takes you through the entire development workflow: from setting up a local development environment, to developing and testing your application, to compiling for distribution to the ever-growing Android Market.

The Flash Development for Android Cookbook starts off with recipes that cover development environment configuration as well as mobile project creation and conversion. It then moves on to exciting topics such as the use of touch and gestures, responding to device movement in 3D space, working with multimedia, and handling application layout. Essential tasks such as tapping into native processes and manipulating the file system are also covered. We then move on to some cool advanced stuff such as Android-specific device permissions, application debugging and optimization techniques, and the packaging and distribution options available on the mobile Android platform.

In a nutshell, this cookbook enables you to get quickly up to speed with mobile Android development using the Flash Platform in ways that are meaningful and immediately applicable to the rapidly growing area of mobile application development.

Take your Flash applications beyond the desktop and into the emerging world of mobile application development.

UDK Game Development

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 14:57:00 +0000

Discover the versatility and simplicity of the highly popular, powerful Unreal Development Kit (UDK) game development engine with the clear, project-based approach in UDK GAME DEVELOPMENT. This comprehensive, step-by-step book assumes the reader has no previous experience with the UDK engine. The book's thorough presentation guides readers from an initial introduction to the capabilities of this suite of professional-grade tools to proficiency, confidence and mastery of the UDK technology.Readers learn to maximize the capabilities of this increasingly popular game engine that powers so many of today's high powered games for a variety of popular platforms. The book uses a clear writing style to present all of the details necessary to develop confidence with the UDK, including the world editor and its user interface -- Unreal Script -- importing geometry from third-party applications, managing game assets, real-time lighting, and cinematics. The book also focuses on project-based training by walking readers through the implementation of a game using the UDK. This concise and approachable introduction helps readers jumpstart their careers as they learn to develop outstanding UDK-based games that stand apart.

Beginning iOS 3D Unreal Games Development

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 14:56:15 +0000

The Unreal UDK features Epic's award-winning Unreal Engine 3, used to create bestselling games such as Infinity Blade for iOS, and popular console games like Borderlands and Bioshock. Now, you can build your own Unreal game for the iOS platform.

Beginning iOS 3D Unreal Games Development covers using the Unreal UDK game creation system to create 3D games for the iOS platform, which includes the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

Specifically, this book covers:

UnrealScript programming language, going beyond the limitations of the visual Kismet scripting language
The Unreal UDK code framework, basic UDK tools and other UDK items needed to build a game
Various author-created game frameworks are presented and are used to illustrate the UnrealScript programming language and user input methods specific to the iOS mobile platform

What you’ll learn

What the UnrealScript programming language is and does
The basic Unreal UDK base code framework
What the basic Unreal tools used to make a game
What the key parts of the Unreal engine such as the physics engine
How to do the fundamentals of 3D games programming, including basic 3D math
What are the the basic frameworks of many different types of games
How to use the provided source code to build your own games using the frameworks as a reference

Who this book is for

Game programmers, both professional and hobbyists, interested in developing 3D games for the iOS platform using the Unreal UDK. Additionally, students using the Unreal UDK in their coursework. Finally, game designers who are not experienced programmers but are interested in learning enough about UnrealScript and the Unreal UDK to make small changes to game code created by contracted programmers (For example: changing code to increase the health of a player or change the message displayed when a player dies).

Beginning iOS 3D Unreal Games Development

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 14:56:06 +0000

Beginning iOS 3D Unreal Games Development covers using the Unreal UDK game creation system to create 3D games for the iOS platform, which includes the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

Specifically, this book covers:

UnrealScript programming language, going beyond the limitations of the visual Kismet scripting language
The Unreal UDK code framework, basic UDK tools and other UDK items needed to build a game
Various author-created game frameworks are presented and are used to illustrate the UnrealScript programming language and user input methods specific to the iOS mobile platform

What you’ll learn

What the UnrealScript programming language is and does
The basic Unreal UDK base code framework
What the basic Unreal tools used to make a game
What the key parts of the Unreal engine such as the physics engine
How to do the fundamentals of 3D games programming, including basic 3D math
What are the the basic frameworks of many different types of games
How to use the provided source code to build your own games using the frameworks as a reference

Who this book is for

Unreal Game Development

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 14:53:49 +0000

This book outlines a six-week course in video game development. It's based on summer courses (CampGame) given at ASU and NYU for high school students and uses the Unreal Engine 3 as the basis for creating a game. This book will be a great tool for anyone interested in getting introduced to making games that does not have prior experience. It is good for high school students, college students, and people interested in making games as independents/hobbyists.

CryENGINE 3 Cookbook

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 14:47:40 +0000

Written in a cookbook style, this book offers solutions using a recipe based approach. Each recipe contains step-by-step instructions followed by an analysis of what was done in each task and other useful information. The cookbook approach means you can dive into whatever recipes you want in no particular order. The CryENGINE3 Cookbook is written to be accessible to all developers currently using the CryENGINE3. It also explores the depth and power of the CryENGINE3 and is a useful guide to follow when becoming familiar with this award winning middle-ware game engine. This book is written with the casual and professional developer in mind. Fundamental knowledge of some Digital Content Creation Tools, like Photoshop and 3d Studio Max is required. The Software Development Kit version of the CryENGINE is used for all examples, so the reader should have a version of the development kit to follow the recipes contained in this book.

Unity 3D Game Development by Example Beginner’s Guide: LITE

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 14:46:19 +0000

A practical, hands on tutorial written in a fun, informal way. Step-by-step instructions tell you exactly what to do to get results in Unity. Clear explanations mean you will understand how it works and be able to work on your own games too. The book is suitable for anybody who wants to create games in Unity. You don’t need a programming background. If you love playing games and want to try your hand at creating them, this book is the place to start.

Unity 3 Blueprints - A Practical Guide to Indie Games Development

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 14:45:11 +0000

Unity3 is an amazing game development tool being used around the world by professional, indie and bedroom game developers. This hands-on blueprints book is designed to get to the heart of Unity 3 development by showing you how to create 4 classic games with a Unity twist. All the code and the high quality game art assets are available from the Deep Pixel website so you can build the games yourself or customize your own projects! This book is aimed at indie game developers and artists who want to develop winning video games. This book will assume no prior knowledge of Unity or game creation in general, but you should be comfortable in development environments and have some knowledge of scripting (a refresher will be provided). This book uses JavaScript as the example language. Games: Match the Pairs, Top-Down Shooter, Tower Defense, Marble Madness. Play all the games and download all the code now from the Deep Pixel website.

Unity 3.x Game Development by Example Beginner's Guide

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 14:44:21 +0000

The book takes a clear, step-by-step approach to building small, simple game projects. It focuses on short, attainable goals so that the reader can finish something, instead of trying to create a complex RPG or open-world game that never sees the light of day. This book encourages readers hungry for knowledge. It does not go into gory detail about how every little knob and dial functions – that's what the software manual is for! Rather, this book is the fastest path from zero to finished game using the Unity game engine. If you've ever wanted to develop games, but have never felt "smart" enough to deal with complex programming, this book is for you. It's also a great kick-start for developers coming from other tools like Flash, Unreal Engine, and Game Maker Pro.

Creating Games with Unity and Maya: How to Develop Fun and Marketable 3D Games

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 14:43:24 +0000

Unity brings you ever closer to the "author once, deploy anywhere" dream. With its multiplatform capabilities, you can target desktop, web, mobile devices, and consoles using a single development engine. Little wonder that Unity has quickly become the #1 game engine out there.

Mastering Unity is absolutely essential in an increasingly competitive games market where agility is expected, yet until now practical tutorials were nearly impossible to find.

Creating Games with Unity and Maya gives you with an end-to-end solution for Unity game development with Maya. Written by a twelve-year veteran of the 3D animation and games industry and professor of 3D animation, this book takes you step-by-step through the process of developing an entire game from scratch-including coding, art, production, and deployment.

This accessible guide provides a "non-programmer" entry point to the world of game creation. Aspiring developers with little or no coding experience will learn character development in Maya, scripts, GUI interface, and first- and third-person interactions.

--Unity is HOT! It's the #1 game engine out there, and it's taken the game world by storm. Documentation is hard to find. Focal to the rescue. Learn Unity from the ground up. Build a game with no previous scripting knowledge, and make a game that's fun.

--Authoritative - Author, Adam Watkins, is a 12 year veteran and author of several books and over 100 articles on 3D Animation. His students are the winners of multiple national and international animation awards and festivals. With this experience comes great insight into the best ways to learn 3D art and gaming concepts.

--Accessible to All Unity users (artists and programmers) - the author comes from an art background. He animated for many years before working in games. This provides a "non-programmer" entry point to the world of game creation.

--Complete - this volume provides instruction from game inception to completion and delivery. The 3D creation and export begins, but applied functionality and delivery complete the book. In the course of the book, the reader will create effective and efficient 3D assets from scratch using Maya (including characters). Then, use these assets to create a functioning game complete with scripts, GUI interfaces, and first and third person interactions.

--Companion website includes: original versions of the images, all completed files from the tutorials, important links, and all code from the book.

Beginning 3D Game Development with Unity: All-in-one, multi-platform game development

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 14:41:55 +0000

Beginning 3D Game Development with Unity is perfect for those who would like to come to grips with programming Unity. You may be an artist who has learned 3D tools such as 3ds Max, Maya, or Cinema 4D, or you may come from 2D tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator. On the other hand, you may just want to familiarize yourself with programming games and the latest ideas in game production.

This book introduces key game production concepts in an artist-friendly way, and rapidly teaches the basic scripting skills you'll need with Unity. It goes on to show how you, as an independent game artist, can create casual interactive adventure games in the style of Telltale's Tales of Monkey Island, while also giving you a firm foundation in game logic and design.

The first part of the book explains the logic involved in game interaction, and soon has you creating game assets through simple examples that you can build upon and gradually expand.
In the second part, you'll build the foundations of a point-and-click style first-person adventure game—including reusable state management scripts, load/save functionality, a robust inventory system, and a bonus feature: a dynamically configured maze and mini-map.
With the help of the provided 2D and 3D content, you'll learn to evaluate and deal with challenges in bite-sized pieces as the project progresses, gaining valuable problem-solving skills in interactive design.

By the end of the book, you will be able to actively use the Unity 3D game engine, having learned the necessary workflows to utilize your own assets. You will also have an assortment of reusable scripts and art assets with which to build future games.

What you’ll learn

How to build interactive games that work on a variety of platforms
Take the tour around Unity user interface fundamentals, scripting and more
Create a test environment and gain control over functionality, cursor control, action objects, state management, object metadata, message text and more
What is inventory logic and how to manage it
How to handle 3D object visibility, effects and other special cases
How to handle variety of menus and levels in your games development
How to handle characters, scrollers, and more
How to create or integrate a story/walkthrough

Who this book is for

Students or artists familiar with tools such as 3ds Max or Maya who want to create games for mobile platforms, computers, or consoles, but with little or no experience in scripting or the logic behind games development.

Exploring the Genre
Unity UI—Basics and Getting Started
Scripting—Getting your Feet Wet
Terrain Generation—Creating a Test Environment
Navigation and Introduction to Functionality
Cursor Control
Action Objects
Managing State
Object Metadata
Message Text
Inventory Logic
Managing the Inventory
Finishing the Basic Functionality
Getting Down to the Game
Maze and Final Sequence
Menus and Levels
Beyond the Basics
Appendix A: Shader Graphs
Appendix B: Keyboard Key Names
Appendix C: Final Sequence Outline

Unity Game Development Essentials

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 14:41:09 +0000

This book follows an informal, demystifying approach to the world of game development with the Unity game engine. With no prior knowledge of game development or 3D required, you will learn from scratch, taking each concept at a time working up to a full 3D mini-game. You'll learn scripting with JavaScript and master the Unity development environment with easy to follow stepwise tasks. The printed version of the book is in black and white, but a full color version of the images is available for download here. The eBook version, available from Packt, is in full color. If you're a designer or animator who wishes to take their first steps into game development, or if you've simply spent many hours sitting in front of video games, with ideas bubbling away in the back of your mind, Unity and this book should be your starting point. No prior knowledge of game production is required, inviting you to simply bring with you a passion for making great games.

Game Development with Unity

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 14:40:13 +0000

GAME DEVELOPMENT WITH UNITY shows you how to use the Unity game engine, a multiplatform engine and editor in one, to build games that can be played on just about any platform available, from the web to the Wii and even on smartphones. Unity's simple interface, friendly development environment, and wide-ranging support of all popular gaming platforms make it perfect for new developers or those looking to create games with an easy, efficient, and inexpensive game engine. Throughout the book you'll learn all the important interface commands, how to set up and organize your project, and all the basics of getting a 3D game up and running, from character importation to scripting to audio. Basic game and level design theory are taught in tandem with specific skills so you can build your game development skill set. The book is divided into five parts, with each chapter within a part covering a single concept, and new concepts are taught using step-by-step tutorials and questions, as well as through a comprehensive game project built throughout the book. GAME DEVELOPMENT WITH UNITY covers everything from building game assets, to adding interactivity, to polishing your finished game and publishing it, and provides you with all the information you need to create your own games using Unity.

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 14:39:37 +0000

Technical - Books

Adobe Flash 11 Stage3D (Molehill) Game Programming Beginner's Guide

Cocos2d for iPhone 1 Game Development Cookbook

Unreal Development Kit Game Programming with UnrealScript: Beginner's Guide

Android NDK Beginner's Guide

Android 3.0 Animations: Beginner's Guide

XNA 4.0 Game Development by Example: Beginner's Guide - Visual Basic Edition

Flash Development for Android Cookbook

UDK Game Development

Beginning iOS 3D Unreal Games Development

What you’ll learn

Who this book is for

Beginning iOS 3D Unreal Games Development

What you’ll learn

Who this book is for

Unreal Game Development

CryENGINE 3 Cookbook

Unity 3D Game Development by Example Beginner’s Guide: LITE

Unity 3 Blueprints - A Practical Guide to Indie Games Development

Unity 3.x Game Development by Example Beginner's Guide

Creating Games with Unity and Maya: How to Develop Fun and Marketable 3D Games

Beginning 3D Game Development with Unity: All-in-one, multi-platform game development

What you’ll learn

Who this book is for

Table of Contents

Unity Game Development Essentials

Game Development with Unity