The first wave of Overwatch cinematics captured the imagination of millions of fans around the world. After the game released in 2016, Blizzard Entertainment embarked on a new mission to take cinematic storytelling to the next level. From the intense, action-packed rush of "Shooting Star" to the somber, noble ethos of "Honor and Glory," the creative team wanted to highlight a different side of the game's beloved heroes. In pursuit of their objectives, the crew added new artists in the mix, devised novel methods for making movies, and ventured into formats they hadn't tried before, such as in-game cinematics and stop-motion animation. Covering all the official Overwatch cinematics made from 2017-2020, including the Overwatch 2 announcement trailer, The Cinematic Art of Overwatch: Volume II showcases hundreds of pieces of never-before-seen artwork and documents the epic creative journey that Blizzard took to bring these films to life.

This book introduces the latest visual effects (VFX) techniques that can be applied to game programming. The usefulness of the physicality-based VFX techniques, such as water, fire, smoke, and wind, has been proven through active involvement and utilization in movies and images. However, they have yet to be extensively applied in the game industry, due to the high technical barriers. Readers of this book can learn not only the theories about the latest VFX techniques, but also the methodology of game programming, step by step. The practical VFX processing techniques introduced in this book will provide very helpful information to game programmers. Due to the lack of instructional books about VFX-related game programming, the demand for knowledge regarding these high-tech VFXs might be very high.

Let the iconic, retro-futuristic wasteland guide your tarot practice with this beautifully illustrated deck inspired by the massively popular Fallout franchise. Featuring deluxe custom artwork of iconic figures from the beloved Fallout franchise, this deck is a great way to enjoy the characters and lore of this popular video game. Containing both major and minor arcana, the set also comes with a comprehensive guidebook explaining each card's meaning, as well as simple spreads for easy readings. Packed in a sturdy, decorative gift box, this compelling tarot deck is perfect for Fallout fans and tarot enthusiasts alike.

Occupational segregation is an important issue and can be detrimental to women. There is a strong need for more women in science, engineering, and information technology, which are traditionally male dominated fields. Female representation in the computer gaming industry is a potential way to increase the presence of women in other computer-related fields. Gender Considerations and Influence in the Digital Media and Gaming Industry provides a collection of high-quality empirical studies and personal experiences of women working in male-dominated fields with a particular focus on the media and gaming industries. Providing insight on best methods for attracting and retaining women in these fields, this volume is a valuable reference for executives and members of professional bodies who wish to encourage women in their career progression.

Save the Magaambya! The heroes return to the Magaambya magic academy to find the villain they’d vanquished on a distant planet had set another scheme in motion long ago. Students and teachers have been twisted by evil magic, and the heroes must engage in legendary tests to gain the means to free them. While a monstrous foe thrashes through the Magaambya, it’s up to the heroes to save the school from utter destruction! “Shadows of the Ancients” is a Pathfinder adventure for four 18th-level characters by Saif Ansari. This adventure concludes the Strength of Thousands Adventure Path, a six-part, monthly campaign in which the heroes rise from humble students to influential teachers, and ultimately decide the fate of the Magaambya. This adventure provides guidance to tell stories that are like fables or set in truly unusual adventure locations, and concludes with a look at powerful monsters, magic, and abilities that only the mightiest Magaambyan heroes can claim! Each monthly full-color softcover Pathfinder Adventure Path volume contains an in-depth adventure scenario, stats for several new monsters, and support articles meant to give Game Masters additional material to expand their campaign. Pathfinder Adventure Path volumes use the Open Game License and work with both the Pathfinder RPG and the world’s oldest fantasy RPG.

Starting with the announcement trailer in 2014, Overwatch's award-winning cinematics captured the hearts of millions across the world, introducing them to a hopeful science fiction world where heroes are needed. Crafting these animated shorts required the Blizzard cinematics team to explore new ways of animated filmmaking with a bold new art style, more frequent releases, and intimate collaboration with the game team. The Cinematic Art of Overwatch chronicles this journey, featuring never-before-seen art and anecdotes that illustrate how Overwatch's richly imagined characters and world were brought to life through cinematic storytelling.

Who are we in simulated worlds? Will experiencing worlds that are not 'actual' change our ways of structuring thought? Can virtual worlds open up new possibilities to philosophize? Virtual Worlds as Philosophical Tools tries to answer these questions from a perspective that combines philosophy of technology with videogame design.

This book examines modern artificial intelligence to display how it may be applied to computer games. It spans the divide that exists between the academic research community working with advanced artificial intelligence and the games programming community which must create and release new and interesting games.

This volume presents an original framework for the study of video games that use visual materials and narrative conventions from ancient Greece and Rome. It focuses on the culturally rich continuum of ancient Greek and Roman games, treating them not just as representations, but as functional interactive products that require the player to interpret, communicate with and alter them. Tracking the movement of such concepts across different media, the study builds an interconnected picture of antiquity in video games within a wider transmedial environment. Ancient Greece and Rome in Videogames presents a wide array of games from several different genres, ranging from the blood-spilling violence of god-killing and gladiatorial combat to meticulous strategizing over virtual Roman Empires and often bizarre adventures in pseudo-ancient places. Readers encounter instances in which players become intimately engaged with the "epic mode" of spectacle in God of War, moments of negotiation with colonised lands in Rome: Total War and Imperium Romanum, and multi-layered narratives rich with ancient traditions in games such as Eleusis and Salammbo. The case study approach draws on close analysis of outstanding examples of the genre to uncover how both representation and gameplay function in such "ancient games".

Game design is a sibling discipline to software and Web design, but they're siblings that grew up in different houses. They have much more in common than their perceived distinction typically suggests, and user experience practitioners can realize enormous benefit by exploiting the solutions that games have found to the real problems of design. This book will show you how.

Amid the restless evil of Sanctuary, only the Horadrim-an ancient order of heroes and scholars-wield the knowledge needed to light the way for humanity. In the Book of Lorath, join Lorath Nahr, one of the last of the dwindling Horadrim, on a journey through Sanctuary's most powerful relics and the stories behind them. It is Lorath's hope that this volume will preserve his knowledge for all time . . . and pass it down to those who will inherit the fight against the Prime Evils. Direct from the Diablo (R) development team and award-winning author Matthew J. Kirby, this immersive, must-have compendium with all-new illustrations showcases the artifacts that have often been-and might yet be-the key to tipping the fate of the world.

A 3D user interface (3DUI) is an interface in which the user performs tasks in three dimensions. For example, interactions using hand/body gestures, interaction using a motion controller (e.g. Sony PlayStation Move), interaction with virtual reality devices using tracked motion controllers, etc. All these technologies which let a user interact in three dimensions are called 3D user interface technologies. These 3D user interfaces have the potential to make games more immersive & engaging and thus potentially provide a better user experience to gamers. Although 3D user interface technologies are available for games, it is unclear how their usage affects game play and if there are any user performance benefits. This book presents state of the art research on exploring 3D user interface technologies for improving video games. It also presents a review of research work done in this area and describes experiments focused on usage of stereoscopic 3D, head tracking, and hand gesture-based control in gaming scenarios. These experiments are systematic studies in gaming environments and are aimed at understanding the effect of the underlined 3D interface technology on the gaming experience of a user. Based on these experiments, several design guidelines are presented which can aid game designers in designing better immersive games.

The focus of this book is on three influential cognitive motives: achievement, affiliation, and power motivation. Incentive-based theories of achievement, affiliation and power motivation are the basis for competence-seeking behaviour, relationship-building, leadership, and resource-controlling behaviour in humans. In this book we show how these motives can be modelled and embedded in artificial agents to achieve behavioural diversity. Theoretical issues are addressed for representing and embedding computational models of motivation in rule-based agents, learning agents, crowds and evolution of motivated agents. Practical issues are addressed for defining games, mini-games or in-game scenarios for virtual worlds in which computer-controlled, motivated agents can participate alongside human players. The book is structured into four parts: game playing in virtual worlds by humans and agents; comparing human and artificial motives; game scenarios for motivated agents; and evolution and the future of motivated game-playing agents. It will provide game programmers, and those with an interest in artificial intelligence, with the knowledge required to develop diverse, believable game-playing agents for virtual worlds.