Your essential guide to Fortnite, the biggest game of the year, combining info on Battle Royale and Save the World modes into the ultimate one-stop winner's manual. Inside, there are crucial combat tips, Save the World survival advice, building instructions and tons of Battle Royale secrets, plus loads of stunning screenshots. It's everything you need to be the last one standing! * Combat essentials section, all about weapons, tactics and sneaky tricks. * Dedicated sections on how to create the deadliest traps andstructures. * Profiles of the best tools and weapons, and where to find them. * Suitable for complete beginners, but full of advanced info, too. * Special tips encourage co-operative play with info on communication.

Ready to give your design skills a real boost? This eye-opening book helps you explore the design structure behind most of today's hit video games. You'll learn principles and practices for crafting games that generate emotionally charged experiences - a combination of elegant game mechanics, compelling fiction, and pace that fully immerses players. In clear and approachable prose, design pro Tynan Sylvester also looks at the day-to-day process necessary to keep your project on track, including how to work with a team, and how to avoid creative dead ends. Packed with examples, this book will change your perception of game design. Create game mechanics to trigger a range of emotions and provide a variety of play Explore several options for combining narrative with interactivity Build interactions that let multiplayer gamers get into each other's heads Motivate players through rewards that align with the rest of the game Establish a metaphor vocabulary to help players learn which design aspects are game mechanics Plan, test, and analyze your design through iteration rather than deciding everything up front Learn how your game's market positioning will affect your design

2D games are hugely popular across a wide range of platforms and the ideal place to start if you're new to game development. With Learn 2D Game Development with C#, you'll learn your way around the universal building blocks of game development, and how to put them together to create a real working game. C# is increasingly becoming the language of choice for new game developers. Productive and easier to learn than C++, C# lets you get your games working quickly and safely without worrying about tricky low-level details like memory management. This book uses MonoGame, an open source framework that's powerful, free to use and easy to handle, to further reduce low-level details, meaning you can concentrate on the most interesting and universal aspects of a game development: frame, camera, objects and particles, sprites, and the logic and simple physics that determines how they interact. In each chapter, you'll explore one of these key elements of game development in the context of a working game, learn how to implement the example for yourself, and integrate it into your own game library. At the end of the book, you'll put everything you've learned together to build your first full working game! And what's more, MonoGame is designed for maximum cross-platform support, so once you've mastered the fundamentals in this book, you'll be ready to explore and publish games on a wide range of platforms including Windows 8, MAC OSX, Windows Phone, iOS, Android, and Playstation Mobile. Whether you're starting a new hobby or considering a career in game development, Learn 2D Game Development with C# is the ideal place to start.

Want to create sophisticated games and graphics-intensive apps? Learn OpenGL ES gets you started immediately with OpenGL ES. After mastering the basics of OpenGL ES itself, you will quickly find yourself writing and building game apps, without having to learn about object oriented programming techniques. This book demonstrates the use of a powerful open-source modeling tool, Blender. You will be guided, step by step, through the development of Tank Fence, a dynamic, interactive 3D game. Along the way you'll gain skills in building apps with Eclipse and the Android SDK or NDK, rendering graphics using hardware acceleration, and multithreading for performance and responsiveness. iOS developers will also find this book's information invaluable when writing their apps. You'll learn everything you need to know about: Creating simple, efficient game UIs Designing the basic building blocks of an exciting, interactive 3D game Pulling all the elements together with Blender, a powerful open-source tool for modeling, animation, rendering, compositing, video editing, and game creation Taking the next big step using custom and inbuilt functions, texturing, shading, light sources, and more Refining your mobile game app through collision detection, player-room-obstacle classes, and storage classes Doing all this efficiently on mobile devices with limited resources and processing

Beginning Android C++ Game Development introduces general and Android game developers like you to Android's powerful Native Development Kit (NDK). The Android NDK platform allows you to build the most sophisticated, complex and best performing game apps that leverage C++. In short, you learn to build professional looking and performing game apps like the book's case study, Droid Runner. In this book, you'll learn all the major aspects of game design and programming using the Android NDK and be ready to submit your first professional video game app to Google Play and Amazon Appstore for today's Android smartphones and tablet users to download and play. The techniques contained in this book have been learned by the author, Bruce Sutherland, over a seven-year career which has involved programming on several AAA titles. Versions of these techniques have been used towards shipping game titles on hardware sold by all of the major console manufacturers: Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.What you'll learn * How to build your first real-world quality game app for Android smartphones and tablets using the power of the Android C++ APIs as found in the NDK * How to do professional level, quality game design, starting the Droid Runner case study that's used throughout this book to illustrate the key concepts * How to build a game engine * How to write a renderer * How to build the Droid Runner game app with entities, game levels and collisions * How to insert perspectives using cameras and more *How to create or integrate audio into your game app * How to submit to the Android app stores like Google Play and Amazon Appstore Who this book is for This book is for game developers looking to get into Android development for the first time, as well as Android game developers who have never used the Native Development Kit (NDK).

Game Anim teaches the technical and artistic fundamentals of video game animation and goes further to provide practical advice and industry insights to help you become a rounded and successful game animator. Covering every stage of game production from the animator's perspective, it is packed with the lessons learned from working on a variety of game types in both in-game and cinematic roles in animator, lead, and director positions. These have been successful across multiple studios regardless of team, size and culture. The 2nd edition includes a new chapter on 2D and Pixel Art Animation, an enhanced mocap chapter covering the latest developments in Motion Matching, and even more interviews with top professionals in the field. Game Anim provides essential guidance to those looking to break into the industry and successful animators wishing to take the next step in their career. Key Features * 20 Years of Insight: Accumulated knowledge from 2 decades of experience in all areas of game animation. * The 5 Fundamentals: Reinterprets the classic 12 animation principles and sets out 5 new fundamentals for great game animation. * Animator Interviews: Notable game animators offer behind-the-scenes stories, tips, and advice. * Free Animation Rig: Free "AZRI" maya rig, tutorials and other resources on the accompanying website: www.gameanim.com/book

The ultimate football adventure story from the world's greatest football duo, The F2 When the evil Galaxico aliens steal the game of football from planet Earth, it's up to Jez and Billy (and the help of their trusty time machines) to assemble the greatest team to have ever played the beautiful game in the hope of stealing it back! From the 1958 World Cup Final, to the year 3000, The F2 travel through time and call upon some of heroes of footballs past, present and future to help in their quest to reinstate the joys of playing the game. With cameos from Pele, Steven Gerrard, Cristiano Ronaldo (and his granddaughter from the future, Julia Ronaldo!), this is a wonderful football story of good vs evil!

Learn how to market for your indie game, even with a small budget and limited resources. For those who want to earn a regular income from making indie games, marketing can be nearly as vital to the success of the game as the game itself. A Practical Guide to Indie Game Marketing provides you with the tools needed to build visibility and sell your game. With special focus on developers with small budgets and limited staff and resources, this book is packed with recommendations and techniques that you can put to use immediately. As a seasoned marketing professional, author Joel Dreskin provides insight into practical, real-world experiences from marketing numerous successful games and also shares tips on mistakes to avoid. Presented in an easy to read format, A Practical Guide to Indie Game Marketing includes information on establishing an audience and increasing visibility so you can build successes with your studio and games. Through case studies, examples, guidelines and tips, you will learn best practices for developing plans for your game launches, PR, community engagement, channel promotions and more Sample timelines help you determine how long in advance of a launch to prepare your first public communications, when to announce your game, as well as recommended timing for releasing different game assets Book also includes marketing checklist 'cheat sheets', dos and don'ts and additional resources

Make ten simple, casual games, and learn a ton of GML coding along the way. Each of these games is the kind you can play when you have a minute or two free, and are great for playing on your PC, or exported to HTML5 or Android. Each game in Practical GameMaker Projects has its own chapter that explains the process of making each game, along with sketches, screenshots, coding, explanations, and tips. For each game there is a YYZ project file of the completed game that is ready to load and play. Also, all resources are available so you can make the game as you follow along in the book. To take full advantage of this book and the accompanying resources and project files, a Creator, Developer or Educational version of GameMaker Studio 2 is required. You can still gain a lot from this book if you have the free version of GameMaker Studio 2, but note that the free version doesn't allow the importation of YYZ project files used in the book, and has other limitations such as a limit on how many resources you can create. Each chapter has an introduction that explains what the aim of the game is, followed by a design and coding section which will cover the coding of the game. You're free to re-use code in your own projects, both free and paid. At the end of each chapter there is a things-to-try page that gives you five things to add to the game to improve its playability or appearance - pushing you a little to improve your planning and GML skills. What You'll Learn Build ten game applications using GameMaker Studio 2 Use the GameMaker Markup Language along the way Master the concepts behind each of the ten game apps Design and code for each of the ten game examples Try some add-ons for each of the ten games Who This Book Is For Game developers with at least some prior game development experience. GameMaker Studio experience recommended, but not required.

<> Learn On-Demand TV, DVRs, Music, Games, Books, and More! With My Digital Entertainment for Seniors, you'll discover easy ways to access and experience entertainment using today's technology, without getting confused or bogged down with techno-babble-and without spending a fortune. This easy-to-follow guide covers all aspects of entertainment-movies, TV shows, radio, music, newspapers and magazines, books, and more-whether you're using a computer, mobile device, or other technology. Specifically, you'll: Get acquainted with all forms of digital entertainment that are available in everyday life, including on-demand TV shows, movies, music and radio programming, podcasts, eBooks and audiobooks, digital editions of newspapers and magazines, YouTube videos, and interactive games.Discover the difference between streaming and downloading content from the Internet to your computer or mobile device. Learn what equipment you'll need and how to use this equipment, no matter how tech-savvy you are-or aren't. Find out how to watch, listen to, and read what you want, when you want it, on your TV, desktop computer, notebook computer, smartphone, tablet, eBook reader, or gaming console. Learn what types of entertainment are available to use on eBook readers, digital video recorders, digital music players, high-definition television sets, cable/satellite TV service providers, what types of entertainment are readily available via the Internet, and how to use your computer, smartphone or tablet as an entertainment device. Find ways to stay safe and protect yourself from identity theft or online crime when surfing the Internet, shopping online, playing games, doing online banking, and handling other Internet-related tasks.

Developing computer games is a perfect way to learn how to program in modern programming languages. This book teaches how to program in C# through the creation of computer games - and without requiring any previous programming experience. Contrary to most programming books, van Toll, Egges, and Fokker do not organize the presentation according to programming language constructs, but instead use the structure and elements of computer games as a framework. For instance, there are chapters on dealing with player input, game objects, game worlds, game states, levels, animation, physics, and intelligence. The reader will be guided through the development of four games showing the various aspects of game development. Starting with a simple shooting game, the authors move on to puzzle games consisting of multiple levels, and conclude the book by developing a full-fledged platform game with animation, game physics, and intelligent enemies. They show a number of commonly used techniques in games, such as drawing layers of sprites, rotating, scaling and animating sprites, dealing with physics, handling interaction between game objects, and creating pleasing visual effects. At the same time, they provide a thorough introduction to C# and object-oriented programming, introducing step by step important programming concepts such as loops, methods, classes, collections, and exception handling. This second edition includes a few notable updates. First of all, the book and all example programs are now based on the library MonoGame 3.6, instead of the obsolete XNA Game Studio. Second, instead of explaining how the example programs work, the text now invites readers to write these programs themselves, with clearly marked reference points throughout the text. Third, the book now makes a clearer distinction between general (C#) programming concepts and concepts that are specific to game development. Fourth, the most important programming concepts are now summarized in convenient "Quick Reference" boxes, which replace the syntax diagrams of the first edition. Finally, the updated exercises are now grouped per chapter and can be found at the end of each chapter, allowing readers to test their knowledge more directly. The book is also designed to be used as a basis for a game-oriented programming course. Supplementary materials for organizing such a course are available on an accompanying web site, which also includes all example programs, game sprites, sounds, and the solutions to all exercises.

From the text adventures of Zork, to the arcade game of Pac-Man, to the corridors of Doom, and on to the city streets of Grand Theft Auto IV, the maze has often been used as a space to trap and confuse players in their navigation of gameworlds. However, the maze as a construction on the landscape has a long history before the invention of the videogame. By examining the change in the maze from the landscapes of open spaces and closed gardens through to the screen of the videogame, both mazes and labyrinths are discussed in terms of historical reference, alongside the author's personal experiences of walking and playing these structures. This book shows how our cultural experiences of real world maze landscapes may have changed, and how we negotiate videogame worlds along the various paths and meanings they so often create for us.

"Gamers at Work is a critical resource for new and experienced business leadersfor anyone who feels unprepared for the demanding and seemingly insurmountable trials ahead of them." Peter Molyneux OBE, founder, Lionhead Studios

"Gamers at Work explores every imaginable subtlety of the video-game industry through the fascinating stories of those who took the risks and reaped the rewards." Hal Halpin, president, Entertainment Consumers Association "This is the sort of book that can tear the most hardcore gamers away from their PCs, Macs, or consoles for a few hours of rewarding reading." North County Times "Gamers at Work is truly an invaluable resource that's well worth adding to your personal library." Wii Love It

There are few companies in the video-game industry that have withstood the test of time; most startups exit as quickly as they enter. In Gamers at Work: Stories Behind the Games People Play, the countless challenges of building successful video-game developers and publishers in this unstable industry are explored through interviews containing entertaining stories, humorous anecdotes, and lessons learned the hard way.

Gamers at Work presents an inside look at how 18 industry leaders play the odds, seize opportunities, and transform small businesses into great businesses. Here, in Gamers at Work, you will find their stories replete with their personal struggles, corporate intrigue, and insights into strategy, leadership, and management.

Gamers at Work: Explores the formation of entertainment software companies from the perspectives of successful founders who played the odds Provides insight into why experienced professionals sacrifice the comfort of gainful employment for the uncertainty and risk of the startup Shares the experiences and lessons that shape the lives, decisions, and struggles of entrepreneurs in this volatile business

Featured Entrepreneurs: Trip Hawkins, Electronic Arts (Madden NFL) Nolan Bushnell, Atari (Pong) Wild Bill Stealey, MicroProse Software (Sid Meier's Civilization) Tony Goodman, Ensemble Studios (Age of Empires) Feargus Urquhart, Obsidian Entertainment (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II) Tim Cain, Troika Games (Arcanum, Vampire: the MasqueradeBloodlines) Warren Spector, Junction Point Studios (Disney Epic Mickey) Doug & Gary Carlston, Broderbund Software (Prince of Persia, Carmen Sandiego) Don Daglow, Stormfront Studios (Neverwinter Nights, Tony La Russa Baseball) John Smedley, Verant Interactive (EverQuest, PlanetSide) Ken Williams, Sierra On-Line (King's Quest, Leisure Suit Larry) Lorne Lanning, Oddworld Inhabitants (Oddworld) Chris Ulm, Appy Entertainment (FaceFighter, Trucks & Skulls) Tobi Saulnier, 1st Playable (Kung Zhu, Yogi Bear) Christopher Weaver, Bethesda Softworks (The Elder Scrolls) Jason Rubin, Naughty Dog (Crash Bandicoot, Uncharted) Ted Price, Insomniac Games (Spyro, Resistance)

Other books in the Apress At Work Series: Coders at Work, Seibel, 978-1-4302-1948-4 Venture Capitalists at Work, Shah & Shah, 978-1-4302-3837-9 CIOs at Work, Yourdon, 978-1-4302-3554-5 CTOs at Work, Donaldson, Seigel, & Donaldson, 978-1-4302-3593-4 Founders at Work, Livingston, 978-1-4302-1078-8 European Founders at Work, Santos, 978-1-4302-3906-2 Women Leaders at Work, Ghaffari, 978-1-4302-3729-7 Advertisers at Work, Tuten, 978-1-4302-3828-7 What you'll learn How to lead and execute strategy as an entrepreneur About developing meaningful, long-term business relationships Recognize strategic opportunities and threats How and when to take the next step without compromising principles About balancing dreams with practical considerations To avoidthe pitfalls that can trigger disaster To learn from mistakes and make informed course corrections

Who this book is for

Software professionals or managers, usually working in the video games industry Game developers interested in starting an independent studio Gamers who are interested in the history of games and game studios Table of Contents 1. Trip Hawkins Electronic Arts, 3DO, Digital Chocolate 2. Nolan Bushnell Atari 3. Wild Bill Stealey MicroProse Software 4. Tony Goodman Ensemble Studios 5. Feargus Urquhart Obsidian Entertainment 6. Tim Cain Troika Games 7. Warren Spector Junction Point Studios 8. Doug & Gary Carlston Broderbund Software 9. Don Daglow Stormfront Studios 10. John Smedley Verant Interactive 11. Ken Williams Sierra On-Line 12. Lorne Lanning Oddworld Inhabitants 13. Chris Ulm Malibu Comics, High Moon Studios, Appy Entertainment 14. Tobi Saulnier 1st Playable Productions 15. Christopher Weaver Bethesda Softworks 16. Jason Rubin Naughty Dog 17. Ted Price Insomniac Games

This new edition provides step-by-step instruction on modern 3D graphics shader programming in OpenGL with Java, along with its theoretical foundations. It is appropriate both for computer science graphics courses, and for professionals interested in mastering 3D graphics skills. It has been designed in a 4-color, "teach-yourself" format with numerous examples that the reader can run just as presented. Every shader stage is explored, from the basics of modeling, textures, lighting, shadows, etc., through advanced techniques such as tessellation, normal mapping, noise maps, as well as new chapters on simulating water, stereoscopy, and ray tracing. FEATURES Covers modern OpenGL 4.0+ shader programming in Java, with instructions for both PC/Windows and Macintosh Illustrates every technique with running code examples. Everything needed to install the libraries, and complete source code for each example Includes step-by-step instruction for using each GLSL programmable pipeline stage (vertex, tessellation, geometry, and fragment) Explores practical examples for modeling, lighting and shadows (including soft shadows), terrain, water, and 3D materials such as wood and marble Adds new chapters on simulating water, stereoscopy, and ray tracing with compute shaders Explains how to optimize code with tools such as Nvidia's Nsight debugger Includes companion files with code, object models, figures, and more

This thoroughly researched reference work provides a comprehensive guide to popular and obscure video games of the 1970s and early 1980s, covering virtually every official United States release for programmable home game consoles of the pre-Nintendo NES era. Included are the following systems: Adventure Vision, APF MP1000, Arcadia 2001, Astrocade, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800, ColecoVision, Fairchild Channel F, Intellivision, Microvision, Odyssey, Odyssey2, RCA Studio II, Telstar Arcade, and Vectrex. Organized alphabetically by console brand, each chapter includes a history and description of the game system, followed by substantive, encyclopedia-style entries for every game released for that console, regardless of when the game was produced. Each video game entry includes publisher/developer information and the release year, along with a detailed description and, frequently, the author's critique. A glossary provides a helpful guide to the classic video game genres and terms referenced throughout the work. An appendix lists a number of ""homebrew"" titles that have been created by fans and amateur programmers and are available for download or purchase.

Program 3D Games in C++: The #1 Language at Top Game Studios Worldwide C++ remains the key language at many leading game development studios. Since it's used throughout their enormous code bases, studios use it to maintain and improve their games, and look for it constantly when hiring new developers. Game Programming in C++ is a practical, hands-on approach to programming 3D video games in C++. Modeled on Sanjay Madhav's game programming courses at USC, it's fun, easy, practical, hands-on, and complete. Step by step, you'll learn to use C++ in all facets of real-world game programming, including 2D and 3D graphics, physics, AI, audio, user interfaces, and much more. You'll hone real-world skills through practical exercises, and deepen your expertise through start-to-finish projects that grow in complexity as you build your skills. Throughout, Madhav pays special attention to demystifying the math that all professional game developers need to know. Set up your C++ development tools quickly, and get started Implement basic 2D graphics, game updates, vectors, and game physics Build more intelligent games with widely used AI algorithms Implement 3D graphics with OpenGL, shaders, matrices, and transformations Integrate and mix audio, including 3D positional audio Detect collisions of objects in a 3D environment Efficiently respond to player input Build user interfaces, including Head-Up Displays (HUDs) Improve graphics quality with anisotropic filtering and deferred shading Load and save levels and binary game data Whether you're a working developer or a student with prior knowledge of C++ and data structures, Game Programming in C++ will prepare you to solve real problems with C++ in roles throughout the game development lifecycle. You'll master the language that top studios are hiring for-and that's a proven route to success.

Beginning 3D Game Development with Unity is perfect for those who would like tocome 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 gameincluding 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. 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 integratea 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. Table of Contents Exploring the Genre Unity UIBasics andGetting Started ScriptingGetting your Feet Wet Terrain GenerationCreating 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

Through the stories of gaming's greatest innovations and most beloved creations, journalist Harold Goldberg captures the creativity, controversy--and passion--behind the videogame's meteoric rise to the top of the pop-culture pantheon.
Over the last fifty years, video games have grown from curiosities to fads to trends to one of the world's most popular forms of mass entertainment. But as the gaming industry grows in numerous directions and everyone talks about the advance of the moment, few explore and seek to understand the forces behind this profound evolution. How did we get from Space Invaders to Grand Theft Auto? How exactly did gaming become a $50 billion industry and a dominant pop culture form? What are the stories, the people, the innovations, and the fascinations behind this incredible growth?
Through extensive interviews with gaming's greatest innovators, both its icons and those unfairly forgotten by history, All Your Base Are Belong To Us sets out to answer these questions, exposing the creativity, odd theories--and passion--behind the twenty-first century's fastest-growing medium.
Go inside the creation of:
Grand Theft Auto * World of Warcraft * Bioshock * Kings Quest * Bejeweled * Madden Football * Super Mario Brothers * Myst * Pong * Donkey Kong * Crash Bandicoot * The 7th Guest * Tetris * Shadow Complex * Everquest * The Sims * And many more

Game AI Pro3: Collected Wisdom of Game AI Professionals presents state-of-the-art tips, tricks, and techniques drawn from developers of shipped commercial games as well as some of the best-known academics in the field. This book acts as a toolbox of proven techniques coupled with the newest advances in game AI. These techniques can be applied to almost any game and include topics such as behavior trees, utility theory, path planning, character behavior, and tactical reasoning. KEY FEATURES Contains 42 chapters from 50 of the game industry's top developers and researchers. Provides real-life case studies of game AI in published commercial games. Covers a wide range of AI in games, with topics applicable to almost any game. Includes downloadable demos and/or source code, available at http://www.gameaipro.com SECTION EDITORS Neil Kirby General Wisdom Alex Champandard Architecture Nathan Sturtevant Movement and Pathfinding Damian Isla Character Behavior Kevin Dill Tactics and Strategy; Odds and Ends

The media vampire has roots throughout the world, far beyond the shores of the usual Dracula-inspired Anglo-American archetypes. Depending on text and context, the vampire is a figure of anxiety and comfort, humor and fear, desire and revulsion. These dichotomies gesture the enduring prevalence of the vampire in mass culture; it can no longer articulate a single feeling or response, bound by time and geography, but is many things to many people. With a global perspective, this collection of essays offers something new and different: a much needed counter-narrative of the vampire's evolution in popular culture. Divided by geography, this text emphasizes the vampiric as a globetrotting citizen du monde rather than an isolated monster.

Featuring interviews with the creators of 31 popular video games-including Grand Theft Auto, Strider, Maximum Carnage and Pitfall-this book gives a behind-the-scenes look at the origins of some of the most enjoyable and iconic adventure games of all time. Interviewees recount the endless hours of painstaking development, the challenges of working with mega-publishers, the growth of the adventure genre, and reveal the creative processes that produced some of the industry's biggest hits, cult classics and indie successes.

In the vein of their cult-classic dark fantasy titles Demon's Souls (2009) and the Dark Souls franchise (2011, 2014, 2016), game developers FromSoftware released the bleak Gothic horror Bloodborne in 2015. Players are cast in the role of hunters in a hostile land, probing the shadowy city of Yharnam in search of "paleblood." The game achieved iconic status as both a horror and an action title for its rich lore and for the continuity of story elements through all aspects of game design. This first full-length study examines Bloodborne's themes of dangerous knowledge and fatal pride and its aesthetics in the context other works on game studies, horror and the Gothic. The book's three parts focus on lore and narrative, the game's nightmarish world, and its mechanics.