Unleash your creativity and bring your game ideas to life with How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself. Written by games industry veteran Matt Hackett, this inspirational and motivational guide takes you through the process of discovering your passion, picking the right game engine, and finding the fun in your unique game. Filled with advice, personal anecdotes, handmade illustrations, and quotes from renowned game developers, this book is the ultimate resource for creative folks looking to make their own video game. It’s a lean, practical guide that gives you the tough love and encouragement you need to ship your game! Let’s get started.

The Structure of Game Design is designed to help aspiring and existing game designers turn their ideas into working games. Creating a game involves understanding the core foundational elements of all types of games from paper-based games to the latest video games. By understanding how these core principles work in all types of games, you can apply these same principles to design your own game. Games are about goals, structure, play and fun. While everyone will always have their own idea of what might be “fun”, any game designer can maximize player enjoyment through meaningful choices that offer various risks and rewards. Such challenges, combined with rules and limitations, force players to overcome obstacles and problems using a variety of skills including dexterity, puzzle solving, intelligence, and strategy. Essentially games allow players to venture forth into new worlds and overcome problems in a safe but exciting environment that allows them to triumph in the end. Just as playing games have proven popular around the world to all ages, genders, and cultures, so has game designing proven equally popular. Games can challenge players to make the best move, solve puzzles, engage in combat, manage resources, and tell stories. By understanding how randomness, psychology, and balance can change the way games play, readers can decide what game elements are best for their own game creation. Whether your goal is to make money, learn something new, make a social statement, improve on an existing game idea, or challenge your artistic, programming, or design skills, game design can be just as much fun as game playing. By knowing the parts of a game, how they work, how they interact, and why they’re fun, you can use your knowledge to turn any idea into a game that others can play and enjoy.

A technology book for kids! Do you want to create 3D digital games that'll impress your friends, family, and even yourself? This book shows you how to use Alice, a free 3D game programming environment, to make seriously cool video games you'll have as much fun building as you will playing! Create your own adventure—recreate your favorite story by giving the characters new choices and writing your own ending When zombies attack—make your very own escape room maze and attempt to defeat the enemy before it defeats you Technology Requirements: Hardware – PC or tablet with internet connection running Windows® 7 or higher or Mac with internet connection running Mac OS X® 10.7 or higher Software – Alice–a free programming platform that can be downloaded at alice.org.

Design, build, and publish an iOS game from scratch using the stunning features of iOS 9 About This Book Create storyboards in Xcode from concept to code and design Chalk out your game's overall navigation and structure Work with 2D and 3D game development tools Who This Book Is For This book is intended for game developers who wish to develop 2D and 3D games for iPhone and iPad. If you are a developer from another platform, or game engine such as Android or Unity, a current iOS developer wishing to learn more about Swift and the latest features of iOS 9, or even if you are new to game development, then this book is for you. Some prior programming knowledge is recommended, but not required. What You Will Learn Familiarise yourself with both basic and advanced Swift game development code Understand the structure and flow of a typical iOS app Work with the SpriteKit framework to make 2D games, sprites, and overlays Discover 3D game development with SceneKit Visually design levels and game assets with XCode 7's latest features Explore the concept of component-based structuring with iOS 9's Gameplaykit Beta test and publish your game with iTunes Connect In Detail Game development has always been a combination of programming and art, and mobile game development is no exception to this rule. The iOS platform has been both a staple in the ever-growing mobile game market, as well as a launching point for many game developers (hobby and career-wise). The features and frameworks available in iOS 9 continue to cater to the synergy of design and computer engineering, using tools that allow developers to take a game idea from concept to application in record time. Whether you are new to iOS and game development as a whole, or are an experienced programmer wanting to learn the latest features of the platform, iOS 9 Game Development Essentials will provide you with crucial insight into this widely used platform. Starting with the Swift programming language, this book gets the ball rolling with code concepts and game-centric code samples right from the get-go, giving you get a solid understanding of Apple's cutting-edge programming language. The book takes you through iOS game development concepts and introduces the various frameworks that allow you to develop robust, reusable, and intelligent game components in both 2D and 3D game environments. Style and approach This book is a step-by-step guide into the code and concepts of iOS apps. Each chapter contains diagrams that showcase the features of the platform, along with code samples from Apple and code samples exclusive to this book.

Do you find yourself sat at home wishing you could be in your favorite video game? Or dream of a time when you pretended you were Sailor Moon? Or do you want to embody your Dungeons and Dragons character for real? What’s holding you back? Maybe you need to introduced to cosplay! Cosplay is a phenomenon that is taking over the world. If you haven’t seen it yet, have you not been looking at social media? Cosplay is a mix of exciting craft skills, heady escapism and passion for pop culture that lets you be whoever you want, whenever you want. Cosplay has made its way into TV shows and documentaries, been included as part of film premieres and video game launches, it’s even referenced in the comics, manga and media it comes from! Talk about meta. But what is this super popular hobby? Well, pick up this book, and it’s twin A Guide to Movie and TV Cosplay, to get all the answers. Because it’s more than just dressing up, promise. With a little bit of help from this handy, dandy guide to cosplay, you can get stuck in. Learn about the history of the hobby (it’s been around longer than you’d think!), where it came from and how it got to be the way it is now, get your head around making and designing costumes, find out how about all the amazing skills people are using to make these costumes, and perhaps even try a few yourself. Who knows, you might be rocking out as Astro Boy, Chris Redfield or All Might at the next big comic con! So why not give it a try and play make believe for a day.

In the competitive world of video game writing and narrative design, developers are losing permanent positions while freelancing careers are on the rise. Many developers don’t understand how to seize these freelancing opportunities, such as understanding the business of freelancing, how to go about finding work, how to establish strong relationships with clients, and how to sustain themselves as freelancers. Freelance Video Game Writing: The Life & Business of the Digital Mercenary for Hire offers developers guidance on achieving their freelancing goals as telecommuters. Dr. Toiya Kristen Finley presents practical insight into the profession and how to further enhance your freelancing business, whether you are a newcomer in the field or an experienced freelancer. Key Features: Two sections covering the life of the freelancer and the freelance business Fifteen interviews from narrative designers, game writers, and other developers on topics from maintaining a healthy work–life balance to figuring out your rates to working a full-time job and freelancing on the side A comprehensive list of definitions with which freelancers need to be familiar Exercises to help augment your understanding of freelancing and improve your business

Yours"re no idiot, of course. Yours"re always looking for a way to make some easy money-and you figure gambling canrs"t be that hard. But yours"ve discovered that some things are easier said than won ... Donrs"t cancel that trip to Vegas! Let The Complete Idiotrs"s Guidereg; to Gambling Like a Pro, Third Edition, give you a (winning) hand-with surefire strategies for winning at blackjack, the slots, roulette, and more. In this Complete Idiotrs"s Guidereg;, you get: --An idiot-proof introduction to the psychology of gambling. --Superlative strategies to increase your odds of winning-no matter what your game is. --Expert advice on how to play poker and other card games-and what it takes to win. --A fool-friendly explanation of the mathematics of gambling.