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Books > Computing & IT > Computer software packages > Computer games
Sony's PlayStation revolutionised the videogame industry. It wasn't
the first home console, but it brought gaming to the masses in a
way few other systems at the time managed to do. Now, more than 25
years after its initial release there are over 10,000 games
spanning Sony's home and handheld consoles, and PlayStation leads
the way in console exclusives. With so many experiences and genres
to choose from, it can be daunting. But fear not! We've compiled
100 unmissable titles that no PlayStation fan's library should be
without. Some titles will challenge you and test your wits, others
provide simple escapism. Some will make you laugh, others may make
you cry - but each experience will be unforgettable. Inside you'll
also find behind-the-scenes features from the archives of Retro
Gamer, EDGE and GamesRadar, giving you insider info on the creation
of some of PlayStation's finest games, most enduring franchises and
iconic characters.
This book serves as an introduction to the level design process in
Unreal Engine 4. By working with a number of different components
within the Unreal Editor, readers will learn to create levels using
BSPs, create custom materials, create custom Blueprints complete
with events, import objects, create particle effects, create sound
effects and combine them to create a complete playable game level.
The book is designed to work step by step at the beginning of each
chapter, then allow the reader to complete similar tasks on their
own to show an understanding of the content. A companion website
with project files and additional information is included.
The collected essays in this volume focus on the presentation,
representation and interpretation of ancient violence - from war to
slavery, rape and murder - in the modern visual and performing
arts, with special attention to videogames and dance as well as the
more usual media of film, literature and theatre. Violence, fury
and the dread that they provoke are factors that appear frequently
in the ancient sources. The dark side of antiquity, so distant from
the ideal of purity and harmony that the classical heritage until
recently usually called forth, has repeatedly struck the
imagination of artists, writers and scholars across ages and
cultures. A global assembly of contributors, from Europe to Brazil
and from the US to New Zealand, consider historical and mythical
violence in Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus and the 2010 TV series of
the same name, in Ridley Scott's Gladiator, in the work of Lars von
Trier, and in Soviet ballet and the choreography of Martha Graham
and Anita Berber. Representations of Roman warfare appear in
videogames such as Ryse: Son of Rome and Total War, as well as
recent comics, and examples from both these media are analysed in
the volume. Finally, interviews with two artists offer insight into
the ways in which practitioners understand and engage with the
complex reception of these themes.
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Witch Trial
(Paperback)
Dan Henderson, Marc A Golombeck, Roby Sherman
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R692
Discovery Miles 6 920
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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How can video games challenge us to think more deeply about our
reality, faith, and community? Since the advent of video games in
the 1960s, they have become the common experience of everyone from
Gen-X to the Millennial and post-Millennial generations. While many
of today's clergy, parishioners, and theologians grew up gaming,
the church's stance regarding video games is one of, at best,
bemusement. This book takes seriously the idea that video games can
challenge us to think more deeply about our reality, divinity,
faith, and each other. It draws readers into a small, but growing,
conversation about models of incarnation and what it means to
distinguish between the virtual and the real. This book will
introduce readers to concepts and questions from the perspective of
a Christian systematic theologian who has been playing games since
he was four years old, and who has been writing, speaking, and
podcasting about this topic since 2010. It is an invitation into a
relatively new conversation about divinity, humanity, and
technology.
Based on 48 interviews and years of research, Game of X v.1: Xbox
tells the many stories of Microsoft's unlikely entry into the game
console business. In addition to the personal insights of the key
players in the story, Game of X includes many previously unreleased
documents that show what was going on behind the scenes. This is
the story of Xbox and Xbox Live. Key Features Based on 48
interviews and years of research, Game of X v.1: Xbox tells the
many stories of Microsoft's unlikely entry into the game console
business. In addition to the personal insights of the key players
in the story, Game of X includes many previously unreleased
documents that show what was going on behind the scenes. This is
the story of Xbox and Xbox Live.
This volume will convince readers that the swift ascent of the
tabletop role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons to worldwide
popularity in the 1970s and 1980s is "the most exciting event in
popular culture since the invention of the motion picture."
Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy presents twenty-one chapters by
different writers, all D&D aficionados but with starkly
different insights and points of view. It will be appreciated by
thoughtful fans of the game, including both those in their
thirties, forties, and fifties who have rediscovered the pastime
they loved as teenagers and the new teenage and college-student
D&D players who have grown up with gaming via computer and
console games and are now turning to D&D as a richer, fuller
gaming experience. The book is divided into three parts. The first,
"Heroic Tier: The Ethical Dungeon-Crawler," explores what D&D
has to teach us about ethics and about how results from the
philosophical study of morality can enrich and transform the game
itself. Authors argue that it's okay to play evil characters,
criticize the traditional and new systems of moral alignment, and
(from the perspective of those who love the game) tackle head-on
the recurring worries about whether the game has problems with
gender and racial stereotypes. Readers of Dungeons and Dragons and
Philosophy will become better players, better thinkers, better
dungeon-masters, and better people. Part II, "Paragon Tier: Planes
of Existence," arouses a new sense of wonder about both the real
world and the collaborative world game players create. Authors look
at such metaphysical questions as what separates magic from
science, how we express the inexpressible through collaborative
storytelling, and what the objects that populate Dungeons and
Dragons worlds can teach us about the equally fantastic objects
that surround us in the real world. The third part, "Epic Tier:
Leveling Up," is at the crossroads of philosophy and the exciting
new field of Game Studies. The writers investigate what makes a
game a game, whether D&D players are artists producing works of
art, whether D&D (as one of its inventors claimed) could
operate entirely without rules, how we can overcome the
philosophical divide between game and story, and what types of
minds take part in D&D.
Get up and running with Unity with the help of expert guidance for
addressing the performance issues encountered in Unity development
Key Features Discover solutions to common problems faced by .NET
developers while creating games in Unity Explore tips, tricks, best
practices, and advanced Unity coding techniques for creating
impressive games Understand how to program with C# code using
Unity's built-in modules and add engaging effects Book
DescriptionUnderstand what makes Unity the world's most widely used
real-time 3D development platform and explore its powerful features
for creating 3D and 2D games, as well as the Unity game engine and
the Microsoft Game Dev, including the Microsoft Azure Cloud and
Microsoft Azure PlayFab services, to create games. You will start
by getting acquainted with the Unity editor and the basic concepts
of Unity script programming with C#. You'll then learn how to use
C# code to work with Unity's built-in modules, such as UI,
animation, physics, video, and audio, and understand how to develop
a game with Unity and C#. As you progress through the chapters,
you'll cover advanced topics such as the math involved in computer
graphics and how to create a custom render pipeline in Unity with
the new Scriptable Render Pipeline, all while optimizing
performance in Unity. Along the way, you'll be introduced to
Microsoft Game Dev, Azure services, and Azure PlayFab, and using
the Unity3D PlayFab SDK to access the PlayFab API. By the end of
this Unity book, you'll have become familiar with the Unity engine
and be ready to develop your own games while also addressing the
performance issues that you could encounter in the development
process. What you will learn Get to grips with using the Unity
Editor Use C# scripts to work with Unity's built-in modules such as
UI, animation, physics, video, and audio Create a custom render
pipeline in Unity Engine with the latest Scriptable Render Pipeline
Write high-performance multithreaded code with the latest DOTS in
Unity Discover the Azure PlayFab Client library for C# in Unity
Understand how the asset management and serialization system within
Unity really works Explore some of the most commonly used profiler
tools in Unity development Who this book is forThe book is for
developers with intermediate .NET and C# programming experience who
are interested in learning game development with Unity. Basic
experience in C# programming is assumed.
Provides a clear and concise overview of how AI is used in game
development Gives a brief overview of the history of AI in games
Considers the different models, techniques and algorithms that are
used in creating game AI
Discover the power of Unreal Engine 5 and the MetaHuman Creator to
develop realistic digital characters, infusing them with full body
and facial animation Key Features * Create realistic characters
using the MetaHuman Creator using a mixture of preset and custom
tools * Import your character into Unreal Engine 5 to access more
editing options and begin animating it * Combine face and body
motion capturing to fully animate your digital humans Book
Description MetaHuman Creator (MHC) is an online, user-friendly 3D
design tool for creating highly realistic digital humans that can
be animated within Unreal Engine (UE) and enhanced with motion
capture technology. This means that filmmakers and game developers
now have access to a high quality, affordable solution that was
previously only available to specialist studios. This book will
focus on using UE5 and MHC from a filmmaker angle. Firstly, you'll
understand how to use the online MHC to create a digital character,
changing its facial structure, body type, and clothing. After that,
you'll learn all the necessary steps to bring the character into
UE5 and set it up for animation. Then, using an iPhone and a webcam
to capture face and body movements, you'll mix these motion capture
files, refine the animations using the MetaHuman Control Rig, and
save these takes to be reused and edited again within the Level
Sequencer. On top of that, you'll learn how to create a rendered
video file for film production using both the Level Sequencer and a
VR Cinematic Camera. By the end of this book, you'll have created
your own MetaHuman character, as well as face and body motion
capture data, and learned the necessary skills to give your future
projects further realism and creative control. What you will learn
* Create your own bespoke character using MHC * Develop custom
faces based on real people * Utilize Blueprints to take control of
your digital character * Retarget animations using the Unreal
Mannequin * Use DeepMotion and Live Link for complete body and face
animation * Use the Control Rig to refine animations * Export and
render your character Who This Book Is For This book is for
filmmakers and hobbyists who are planning to make a film using
Unreal Engine for the first time, having worked in live action or
purely digital media previously, either professionally or as a
hobby. No experience with Unreal Engine is required, however it is
useful to have some knowledge of 3D development applications and
concepts like wireframes, skin weights, transform tools, and motion
capture. It is recommended that you have access to an iPhone X (or
a later model). Alternatively, you can use a free or paid version
of Faceware, along with a basic webcam.
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