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Manuals and Guides
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Beginning 2D Games with Unity by Jared Halpern Follow a walkthrough of the Unity Engine and learn important 2D-centric lessons in scripting, working with image assets, animations, cameras, collision detection, and state management. In addition to the fundamentals, you'll learn best practices, helpful game-architectural patterns, and how to customize Unity to suit your needs, all in the context of building a working 2D game. While many books focus on 3D game creation with Unity, the easiest market for an independent developer to thrive in is 2D games. 2D games are generally cheaper to produce, more feasible for small teams, and more likely to be completed. If you live and breathe games and want to create them then 2D games are a great place to start. By focusing exclusively on 2D games and Unity's ever-expanding 2D workflow, this book gives aspiring independent game developers the tools they need to thrive. Various real-world examples of independent games are used to teach fundamental concepts of developing 2D games in Unity, using the very latest tools in Unity's updated 2D workflow. New all-digital channels for distribution, such as Nintendo eShop, XBox Live Marketplace, the Playstation Store, the App Store, Google Play, itch.io, Steam, and GOG.com have made it easier than ever to discover, buy, and sell games. The golden age of independent gaming is upon us, and there has never been a better time to get creative, roll up your sleeves, and build that game you've always dreamed about. Developing 2D Games with Unity can show you the way. What You'll Learn Delve deeply into useful 2D topics, such as sprites, tile slicing, and the brand new Tilemap feature. Build a working 2D RPG-style game as you learn. Construct a flexible and extensible game architecture using Unity-specific tools like Scriptable Objects, Cinemachine, and Prefabs. Take advantage of the streamlined 2D workflow provided by the Unity environment. Deploy games to desktop Who This Book Is For Hobbyists with some knowledge of programming, as well as seasoned programmers interested in learning to make games independent of a major studio.ISBN: 9781484237717
Publication Date: 2018-11-29
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The Craft and Science of Game Design by Philippe O'Connor The Craft and Science of Game Design: A Video Game Designer's Manual goes into the nuts and bolts of video game development from the perspective of a veteran designer with more than 20 years of experience in the industry. It covers the psychology and biology of why people play games and goes in depth on the techniques and tricks professional game designers use to be successful in game development. If you are looking to make a career in video games, or are already in the industry, the insights and hard-earned lessons contained in this book are sure to be useful at all levels of the profession. Originally from Canada, Phil O'Connor has been making video games all over the world since 1997. Phil has worked at some of the industry's largest studios on some of the biggest projects, including Far Cry 3 and Rainbow Six Siege. With credits on nearly 20 games, Phil has shared in this book some of the less-known details of being a game designer in today's video game industry, along with a breakdown of some of the skills to help professional designers shine.ISBN: 9781003097006
Publication Date: 2020-12-08
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Digital Lighting and Rendering by Jeremy Birn "[Digital] Lighting & Rendering teaches essential skills and concepts you can apply in any 3D rendering package, and includes tips and examples for Maya, LightWave 3D, Softimage XSI, 3D Studio MAX, Mental Ray, and other leading programs. But software is not the focus of this book - it's about what you can create." "Master Hollywood lighting techniques to produce professional results in any 3D package. Stage and frame your 3D animation for cinematic storytelling. Composite 3D models into real-world environments with perfectly matched illumination, shadows, and reflections. Render multilayer, multipass shots for professional visual effects production. Simulate the results of natural color temperatures, f-stops, and exposure times for photorealistic renderings. Understand the art and science behind raytracing, global illumination, radiosity, photon mapping, and caustics. Create rich texture maps that give flesh to your characters and local flavor to your 3D scenes."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights ReservedISBN: 0133439178
Publication Date: 2013
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Essential Skills in Character Rigging by Nicholas B. Zeman Character rigging is the method with which you create a system for animating a character. A rig is represented by two primary mechanics: the skeleton, consisting of hierarchical rotations to drive the motions, and a skin, or method of deforming the geometry that makes up the character model. Essential Skills in Character Rigging is a beginner's guide to learning and understanding the essential aspects of character setup, evaluation, skeletal construction, and deformation. Borrowing from the author's extensive experience in the field, it presents the primary theories, constructs, and objectives for constructing a basic rig from the ground up, just as it would be done in a professional studio. The book explains the basic elements of hierarchies, skeletons, kinematics, deformation, skinning, and creating relationships between nodes. It gives hands-on experience with taking a completed character model and setting it up with a skeleton with kinematics and soft-skin deformation. It also gives specific instructions on using inverse kinematics systems, and how to set up the essential mechanics of a human rig with these systems. All of these lessons are conducted using a simplistic, conversational style that keeps technical and mathematical jargon to a minimum. The book also includes video tutorials corresponding to specific modules. Essential Skills in Character Rigging takes aspiring character artists through the vital components in the process of taking a 3D character model and turning it into an animatable rig that is ready for production in film or games. It identifies the universal fundamentals at work behind character rigging, and the practical complexities of the process are broken down into simple steps that are easy to comprehend and execute.ISBN: 9781482235234
Publication Date: 2015-10-22
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Force: Character Design from Life Drawing by Mike Mattesi Design creative characters inspired by real people. Let Mike Mattesi show you how to use life drawing to discover the poses, features and personalities which form the basis of character and then build, develop and 'PUSH' your drawings to new heights of dramatic and visual impact for believable characters audiences can relate to. Packed with color illustrations and photographs of the models who inspired them. With step-by-step explanation of how the characters were developed and exercises for you to sharpen your skills this is everything you need to bring your characters to life.ISBN: 9781136139895
Publication Date: 2012-11-12
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The Game Production Handbook by Heather Maxwell Chandler The Game Production Handbook, Third Edition gives producers, leads, and studio managers all the information they need in order to successfully develop a game from concept to release-ready gold master. Fully revised and updated to reflect the rapidly evolving game development landscape, the third edition of this definitive and best-selling text covers pre-production, production, testing, and code release, as well as more specific topics including voiceovers, mo-cap shoots, marketing, localizations, managing external contractors, writing documentation, and project management practices. All-new material in the third edition includes new sections on mobile gaming and product management, an overview of useful production tools, and new interviews with industry professionals who offer an insider's view of successful game development as well as highly relevant real-world examples that contextualize the resources provided by the text. A detailed case study of a fictitious game project illustrates the production cycle, documentation, and other key production concepts. Accessible enough for beginners and comprehensive enough for experienced developers, The Game Production Handbook, Third Edition is an invaluable standalone text for students and professionals alike.Prepare students to successfully enter the exciting world of game development with The Game Production Handbook, Third Edition.New to the Third Edition: -Offers new interviews with industry experts who discuss insider knowledge and real world examples of what works and what doesn't work in game development.-Contains new sections on product management, audio as it relates to the production process, financing options, and the latest relevant production tools.ISBN: 1449688101
Publication Date: 2013-03-01
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Game User Experience and Player-Centered Design by Barbaros Bostan (Editor) This book provides an introduction and overview of the rapidly evolving topic of game user experience, presenting the new perspectives employed by researchers and the industry, and highlighting the recent empirical findings that illustrate the nature of it. The first section deals with cognition and player psychology, the second section includes new research on modeling and measuring player experience, the third section focuses on the impact of game user experience on game design processes and game development cycles, the fourth section presents player experience case studies on contemporary computer games, and the final section demonstrates the evolution of game user experience in the new era of VR and AR. The book is suitable for students and professionals with different disciplinary backgrounds such as computer science, game design, software engineering, psychology, interactive media, and many others.ISBN: 3030376427
Publication Date: 2020-04-07
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How to Make a Game by Minhaz-Us-Salakeen Fahme; Tanimul Haque Khan Get a head start on making your games efficiently by avoiding common design and development pitfalls. Video games combine art and programming; this unique position has opened up opportunities for many pitfalls. This book takes you through the fundamentals of game making and the usual mistakes and bad practices that can harm your games. We start with the common difficulties and challenges, ways to find the gaps, and game design. Next, we discuss game engines and other tools you need to choose while making a game, how you should choose them, and the design documents you need to make. We also cover simple but important tweaks in game mechanics as well as the look and feel of your game. We will also discuss conventions for naming, code structuring, project structuring, and coding. Your thought process will be guided in a way that you can look for the proper approach to make a successful game. The book sheds light upon how to improve the overall game experience and finalize the game for release. Along the journey, we will explore some interesting stories of games and mythology as well. By the end of the book, you will know about the basic life cycle of a game development process and how to not make a game. What You Will Learn Discover the fundamentals of game design See some intermediate coding tricks to make your games better Grasp the pitfalls to avoid while designing and programming games Master the different conventions and practices for file naming and structuring your projects Who This Book Is For People who want to make games. Basic programming experience is assumed.ISBN: 9781484269169
Publication Date: 2021-05-25
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Rigging for Games by Eyal Assaf Rigging for Games: A Primer for Technical Artists Using Maya and Python is not just another step-by-step manual of loosely related tutorials. Using characters from the video game Tin, it takes you through the real-world creative and technical process of rigging characters for video games and cinematics, allowing readers a complete inside look at a single project. You'll explore new ways to write scripts and create modular rigs using Maya and Python, and automate and speed up the rigging process in your creative pipeline. Finally, you'll learn the most efficient ways of exporting your rigs into the popular game engine Unity. This is the practical, start-to-finish rigging primer you've been waiting for! Enhance your skillset by learning how to efficiently rig characters using techniques applicable to both games and cinematics Keep up with all the action with behind-the-scenes images and code scripts Refine your rigging skills with tutorials and project files available on the companion websiteISBN: 9781317802938
Publication Date: 2015-11-19
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We Deserve Better Villains by Jai Kristjan We Deserve Better Villains is a highly accessible how-to guide for video game designers no matter what level of experience to understand what is needed to be successful in the development cycle of any video game from concept to supporting the game live. Each chapter outlines a period in a video games development cycle, what key concepts need to be on a designers mind and how they can work to improve themselves every step of the way. To help visualize the journey the chapters start with a section centered on the reader as a hero character in a fictitious adventure video game that faces the trials and tribulations of the development cycle to completing the game. We all deserve better games, better heroes and villains which starts with learning what it takes to survive in the game development system as a videogame designer. Key Features Accessible enough for novices, insightful enough for veteran game designers Allows readers of at any level of video game knowledge to connect with the struggle of making a video game Concepts are delivered in a short, specific approach followed with practical exercises to follow to getting the reader into action to improve their skills t;LI>Allows readers of at any level of video game knowledge to connect with the struggle of making a video game Concepts are delivered in a short, specific approach followed with practical exercises to follow to getting the reader into action to improve their skillsISBN: 9780367184797
Publication Date: 2019-07-24
