This book provides a comprehensive and practically minded introduction into serious games for law enforcement agencies. Serious games offer wide ranging benefits for law enforcement with applications from professional trainings to command-level decision making to the preparation for crises events. This book explains the conceptual foundations of virtual and augmented reality, gamification and simulation. It further offers practical guidance on the process of serious games development from user requirements elicitation to evaluation. The chapters are intended to provide principles, as well as hands-on knowledge to plan, design, test and apply serious games successfully in a law enforcement environment. A diverse set of case studies showcases the enormous variety that is possible in serious game designs and application areas and offers insights into concrete design decisions, design processes, benefits and challenges. The book is meant for law enforcement professionals interested in commissioning their own serious games as well as game designers interested in collaborative pedagogy and serious games for the law enforcement and security sector.

Vintage Games explores the most influential videogames of all time, including Super Mario Bros., Grand Theft Auto III, Doom, The Sims and many more. Drawing on interviews as well as the authors own lifelong experience with videogames, the book discusses each game's development, predecessors, critical reception, and influence on the industry. It also features hundreds of full-color screenshots and images, including rare photos of game boxes and other materials. Vintage Games is the ideal book for game enthusiasts and professionals who desire a broader understanding of the history of videogames and their evolution from a niche to a global market.
*Explores the gameplay, history, development, and influence of the most important videogames of all time
*Includes material from interviews, contemporary reviews, manuals, and other primary and secondary sources
*Identifies and analyzes the key concepts behind each videogame
*Features hundreds of exclusive, full-color images

Discover how to create a simple game environment in Blender 3D, from modeling and texturing game assets, to placing them in a scene. You'll export and import game assets as well as look at open-source game engines that will work with your game assets. Creating Game Environments in Blender 3D introduces the power of Blender 3D when creating a low poly game environment. The book starts by discussing the basics of game terminology, such as knowing the difference between low poly and high poly assets and the types of game you're likely to work on. You'll also take a brief look at Blender's background and installation. The following chapters talk about the process for creating a simple game environment. This is discussed in detail along with a sample project. These chapters discuss the common tools for starting a game environment and the methods for enhancing your game environment, such as color fundamentals. The final chapter shows how you can export the game assets you created in Blender, how you can import game assets in Blender, and how to evaluate the different game engines available. This book shows you the exciting side of creating a game environment while showing the power of Blender. After reading it, you will feel confident about creating a game environment. What You Will Learn Use Blender to create low poly game environments Work with the common Blender tools for game environment design and development Discover how to use Blender features in depth Compare the Eevee and Cycles game engines Who This Book Is For Game environment artists who want to use Blender 3D to create a game environment. Some previous exposure to game design and development would be helpful, but not required.

In the last few years, Android has progressed with the debut of better fonts, new User Interface and Experience (UI/UX) APIs, tablet considerations, multi-touch capabilities, multi-tasking, faster performance, improved battery management techniques, and now Google TV Android Apps for the Android game app developer repertoire. With actionable real-world source, Pro Android Games, Second Edition shows you how to build more sophisticated and addictive Android games, by leveraging the power of these recent advancements found in the new Android Jelly Beans development platform as well as those you've counted on in earlier releases. Multi-touch code gives these games and their players dynamic input and exchange ability, for a more realistic arcade game experience. Faster and better performance offers game players a more seamless, fun arcade experience like never before on Android. There is also improved native C/C++ integration with Android's NDK as well, which makes coding, compiling, and converting both productive and efficient with gains in app performance. Pro Android Games, Second Edition features the following improvements: Updates to the latest version of the Android SDK, NKD, plus the latest Eclipse IDE. Greater focus on tablets the ever changing device resolutions, and hardware specs. Native game development and hardware accelerated graphics. Bigger and Better Real World Engines, such as Quake I and II Plus an oldie from the previous edition: Doom Coverage of the new smart TV APIs (Google TV), UI, UX, multi-touch and multi-tasking features available with Android Jelly Bean. A look into the future with augmented reality Advanced techniques for improving your game playing experience including better multi-tasking, improved performance optimization, battery management and more. A Quake 3D-like game app case study You'll definitely have fun, and perhaps you'll even make some money. Enjoy What you'll learn Key advanced Android gaming techniques using the new Android SDK and NDK How to add and integrate multi-touch How to use Bluetooth controllers (Zeemote) More gaming tricks and tips, such as hybrid 3D graphics with OpenGL and JNI How to port, augment a 3D shooter Doom-like game app using OpenGL How to build a 3D shooter game like Quake and Quake II How and where to best deploy these game apps Who this book is for This book is for savvy Android app developers who are looking for professional or advanced techniques for porting, augmenting and building 3D game apps that are complex, fun and lucrative.

The Unreal UDK features Epic's award-winning Unreal Engine 3, used to create bestselling games such as Infinity Blade for iOS, and popular console games like Borderlands and Bioshock. Now, you can build your own Unreal game for the iOS platform. Beginning iOS 3D Unreal Games Development covers using the Unreal UDK game creation system to create 3D games for the iOS platform, which includes the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.Specifically, this book covers: * UnrealScript programming language, going beyond the limitations of the visual Kismet scripting language * The Unreal UDK code framework, basic UDK tools and other UDK items needed to build a game * Various author-created game frameworks are presented and are used to illustrate the UnrealScript programming language and user input methods specific to the iOS mobile platform What you'll learn * What the UnrealScript programming language is and does * The basic Unreal UDK base code framework * What the basic Unreal tools used to make a game * What the key parts of the Unreal engine such as the physics engine * How to do the fundamentals of 3D games programming, including basic 3D math * What are the the basic frameworks of many different types of games * How to use the provided source code to build your own games using the frameworks as a reference Who this book is for Game programmers, both professional and hobbyists, interested in developing 3D games for the iOS platform using the Unreal UDK. Additionally, students using the Unreal UDK in their coursework.Finally, game designers who are not experienced programmers but are interested in learning enough about UnrealScript and the Unreal UDK to make small changes to game code created by contracted programmers (For example: changing code to increase the health of a player or change the message displayed when a player dies).

Delve into the concepts of physically based rendering (PBR) using Allegorithmic's Substance Painter. This book covers the integration of PBR textures with various 3D modeling and rendering packages as well as with the Unreal Engine 4 game engine. Beginning PBR Texturing covers all aspects of the software and guides you in implementing its incredible possibilities, including using materials, masks, and baking. Integration with both internal and popular external rendering engines is covered. This book teaches you the skills you need to use the texturing tool that is recognized by studios worldwide. You will know tips and tricks to implement the pipeline and speed up your workflow. What You Will Learn Know the fundamentals of PBR-based texturing from the ground up Create production-ready textured models from scratch Integrate PBR textures with standard 3D modeling and rendering applications Create portfolio-ready renders using offline renderers Who This Book Is For Beginners in the fields of 3D animation, computer graphics, and game technology

Master the fundamental programming skills needed to create your own computer games in GameMaker. This book shows how to use GameMaker to build and publish cross-platform games. Each chapter covers a certain programming element, including layers, variables, and so on. You will also learn how to design levels in your games, draw sprites to populate your virtual worlds, and build GUIs for your menus and game interfaces. GameMaker Fundamentals also provides a thorough introduction to the GameMaker Language (GML). Practical example projects reinforce the concept discussed in each chapter. On completing this book, you will have a thorough understanding of how to create games from scratch using game design and programming principles using GameMaker and GML. What You Will Learn Review core programming features required for sound knowledge of GameMaker Master how to combine GML to orchestrate game actions Utilize GameMaker's layers to create exciting games Set up player control Who Is This Book For Those new to GameMaker or game programming in general; it assumes no prior knowledge or skill set.

This book explores how virtual place-based learning and research has been interpreted and incorporated into learning environments both within and across disciplinary perspectives. Contributing authors highlight the ways in which they have employed a variety of methodologies to engage students in the virtual exploration of place. In the process, they focus on the approaches they have used to bring the real world closer through virtual exploration. Chapters examine how the resources of the urban environment have been tapped to design student research projects within the context of an interdisciplinary course. In this way, authors highlight how virtual place-based learning has employed the tools of mapping and data visualization, information literacy, game design, digital storytelling, and the creation of non-fiction VR documentaries. This book makes a valuable contribution to the literature, offering a model of how the study of place can be employed in creative ways to enhance interdisciplinary learning.

Virtual reality is quickly becoming the next medium to communicate your ideas. Once siloed in make-believe world of science fiction, virtual reality can now touch any aspect of your life. This book shows you how to create original virtual reality content using the Unity game engine and the Virtual Reality Tool Kit. By the end of the book you'll be creating your own virtual reality experience using the fundamental building blocks within. You'll start by reviewing spatial computing, an emerging field that encompasses self-driving cars to space exploration. You'll also create your own virtual reality environments for use on headsets such as those from Oculus and HTC. Using the Unity3D game engine and the Virtual Reality Toolkit on a computer or laptop, you will walk through the fundamentals of virtual reality with as little code as possible. That is the beauty of Unity and the Virtual Reality Toolkit. You will discover how to use buttons in a virtual space, gaze-tracking for user input, and physics for enabling interaction between a human and a virtual space. From game design to education to healthcare to human resources, virtual reality offers new and creative ways to engage users, students, patients, customers, and more. Not a coding book, Virtual Reality with VRTK4 shows that you don't need to be a computer or graphics whiz to begin creating your own virtual reality experiences. What You'll Learn Grasp Virtual Reality Toolkit and its interaction with Unity3D Explore the fundamental science of virtual reality Review the inner workings of Unity3D and its integration with VRTK Understand the big picture of C# coding in Unity3D Incorporate head and hand movement into virtual experiences Who This Book Is For Creative professionals or students who are familiar with computer design programs and want to begin prototyping their own original virtual reality work as quickly as possible.

This book will provide you with a comprehensive guide to developing games for both the Windows Mobile platform and the Windows Phone using the industry standard programming languages C# and VB .NET. You will be walked through every aspect of developing for the Windows Mobile platform-from setting up your development environment for the first time to creating advanced 3D graphics. Finally, you'll learn how you can make your applications available to others, whether distributing for free or selling online. Using extensive code samples throughout, you'll gather all the information needed to create your own games and distribute them successfully for others to enjoy. Aimed primarily at C# developers, almost everything in the book can be used in VB .NET too. For those areas where this is not the case, workarounds are suggested so that VB .NET developers are still able to use the techniques described.

This book covers the state-of-the-art in digital games research and development for anyone working with or studying digital games and those who are considering entering into this rapidly growing industry. Many books have been published that sufficiently describe popular topics in digital games; however, until now there has not been a comprehensive book that draws the traditional and emerging facets of gaming together across multiple disciplines within a single volume.

Videogames were once made with a vast range of tools and technologies, but in recent years a small number of commercially available 'game engines' have reached an unprecedented level of dominance in the global videogame industry. In particular, the Unity game engine has penetrated all scales of videogame development, from the large studio to the hobbyist bedroom, such that over half of all new videogames are reportedly being made with Unity. This book provides an urgently needed critical analysis of Unity as 'cultural software' that facilitates particular production workflows, design methodologies, and software literacies. Building on long-standing methods in media and cultural studies, and drawing on interviews with a range of videogame developers, Benjamin Nicoll and Brendan Keogh argue that Unity deploys a discourse of democratization to draw users into its 'circuits of cultural software'. For scholars of media production, software culture, and platform studies, this book provides a framework and language to better articulate the increasingly dominant role of software tools in cultural production. For videogame developers, educators, and students, it provides critical and historical grounding for a tool that is widely used yet rarely analysed from a cultural angle.

Build engaging programs for the BBC micro:bit using Microsoft's MakeCode web editor. Using this open source platform, you'll learn to program in an accessible way that easily translates into real-world programming. BBC micro:bit Recipes is a practical guide with a problem-solving approach. It provides exact solutions for common application development problems for the micro:bit using MakeCode. You'll discover and apply techniques that can be used to build simple games with sprites, keep score, and control game play. The micro:bit is a small programmable device that is a cross between a very small computer and a programmable embedded board. It is easy to program, extremely versatile, and designed with young learners in mind. In particular, it is designed to be easy for people who have never programmed before. By the end of this book, you'll have the foundation to build programs with the Microsoft MakeCode editor and use and process data with built-in sensors, such as accelerometer, compass, temperature, touch, and light. You'll also see how to work with communication protocols, such as Serial, I2C, and SPI and how to use variables, loops, logic, arrays, math and functions to easily solve problems. What You'll Learn Display text, images, and animations on the micro:bit display Connect external sensors and process data Make and play music through speakers and headphones Use Bluetooth service to communicate with Smartphones and tablets Who This Book Is For Those who are interested in learning to program the BBC micro:bit with Microsoft MakeCode. The difficulty level falls from beginner to intermediate level.

This book explores how gamification techniques are used to leverage users' natural desires for achievement, competition, collaboration, learning and more. Compared to other books on this topic, it gives more than just an introduction and develops the readers understanding through frameworks and models, based on research to make it easier to develop gamified systems. The concept of gamification achieved increased popularity in 2010 when a number of softwares and services started explaining their products as a 'gamification' design. Gamification Mindset explains how game elements and mechanics are important, how video games are learning systems and examines how video game aesthetics are vital in the development of gamification. The book will challenge some common beliefs when it comes to gamifications' abilities to immerse and change the user's intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. Gamification Mindset aims to develop new models in gamification to enable easier gamification scenarios. It is a comprehensive analysis and discussion about gamification and serves as a useful tool, since it acquaints readers with gamification and how to use it, through illustrated practical theoretical models. Academic researchers, students, educators and professional game and gamification designers will find this book invaluable.

This is the first of two comprehensive volumes that provide a thorough and multi-faceted research into the emerging field of augmented reality games and consider a wide range of its major issues. These first ever research monographs on augmented reality games have been written by a team of 70 leading researchers, practitioners and artists from 20 countries. In Volume I, the phenomenon of the Pokemon GO game is analysed in theoretical, cultural and conceptual contexts, with emphasis on its nature and the educational use of the game in children and adolescents. Game transfer phenomena, motives for playing Pokemon GO, players' experiences and memorable moments, social interaction, long-term engagement, health implications and many other issues raised by the Pokemon GO game are systematically examined and discussed. Augmented Reality Games I is essential reading not only for researchers, practitioners, game developers and artists, but also for students (graduates and undergraduates) and all those interested in the rapidly developing area of augmented reality games.

The journey continues with this ALL NEW volume in the Game Programming Gems series! As with the first two volumes, a dynamic group of some of the best game programmers in the industry have generously joined together to share their insights and techniques. Their ready-to-use ideas, tips, and solutions, will help save hours of programming time, prevent redundancy, and leave you with more time to add cutting-edge features to your own games. Covering all the key areas of game development, this invaluable resource delves deep into the problems often encountered by programmers, and provides practical, valid solutions. Each section is edited by an expert in the field to ensure that the ideas are original, accurate, and useful for a variety of game development projects. In addition to covering Mathematics, Graphics, General Programming, Audio, and Artificial Intelligence, Game Programming Gems 3 also includes an all new section on Network and Multiplayer games. This is a must-have reference, and series, for every game developer. If you are just getting started, this book offers a true cross-section of the challenges youA-ll face, and provides a variety of additional references to help you find all the resources you need to advance your skills and knowledge. If youA-re an expert already, youA-ll find new ideas and techniques to help save plenty of valuable programming time.

It's time to stop thinking that shaders are magical. You can use shaders to turn data into stunning visual effects, and get your hands dirty by building your own shader with this step-by-step introduction to shader development for game and graphics developers. Learn how to make shaders that move, tint, light up, and look awesome, all without cracking open a math textbook. Practical Shader Development teaches the theory behind how shaders work. The book also shows you how to apply that theory to create eye-popping visual effects. You'll learn to profile and optimize those effects to make sure your projects keep running quickly with all their new visuals. You'll learn good theory, good practices, and without getting bogged down in the math. Author Kyle Halladay explains the fundamentals of shader development through simple examples and hands-on experiments. He teaches you how to find performance issues in shaders you are using and then how to fix them. Kyle explains (and contrasts) how to use the knowledge learned from this book in three of the most popular game engines today. What You'll Learn Understand what shaders are and how they work Get up to speed on the nuts and bolts of writing vertex and fragment shaders Utilize color blending and know how blend equations work Know the coordinate spaces used when rendering real-time computer graphics Use simple math to animate characters, simulate lights, and create a wide variety of visual effects Find and fix performance problems in shaders See how three popular game engines (Unity, UE4, Godot) handle shaders Who This Book Is For Programmers who are interested in writing their own shaders but do not know where to start, anyone who has ever seen shader code on a forum and wished they knew how to modify it just a little bit to fit into their own projects, and game developers who are tired of using the default shaders found in the game engines they are using. The book is especially useful for those who have been put off by existing shader tutorials which introduce complex math and graphics theory before ever getting something on the screen.

This book offers a perspective into a phenomenon becoming more and more common: AAA developers 'going indie'. Written through the personal story of the author finding his way into the AAA games space, only to retreat back to indie games and consulting work and finding a new-old life making games for himself, and finding fulfillment in doing so. It is both a word of warning to creatives seeking a corporation and a call for disillusioned developers to break free and do something wild, creative, and unexpected. It is critical of common industry issues such as structural crunch, health issues, work life balance, and more, but is also a personal story of mismatched needs in doing creative work. Key Features Under-explored viewpoint of the games industry, someone who worked for years to 'break in', then worked for years to 'break out'. Offers a unique look at making an indie game life both financially and mentally feasible. Encourages developers sitting on the fence to take the plunge.

Location-based games emerged in the early 2000s following the commercialisation of GPS and artistic experimentation with 'locative media' technologies. Location-based games are played in everyday public spaces using GPS and networked, mobile technologies to track their players' location. This book traces the evolution of location-based gaming, from its emergence as a marginal practice to its recent popularisation through smartphone apps like Pokemon Go and its incorporation into 'smart city' strategies. Drawing on this history and an analysis of the scholarly and mainstream literature on location-based games, Leorke unpacks the key claims made about them. These claims position location-based games as alternately enriching or diminishing their players' engagement with the people and places they encounter through the game. Through rich case studies and interviews with location-based game designers and players, Leorke tests out and challenges these celebratory and pessimistic discourses. He argues for a more grounded approach to researching location-based games and their impact on public space that reflects the ideologies, lived experiences, and institutional imperatives that circulate around their design and performance. By situating location-based games within broader debates about the role of play and digitisation in public life, Location-Based Gaming offers an original and timely account of location-based gaming and its growing prominence.

In Respawn Colin Milburn examines the connections between video games, hacking, and science fiction that galvanize technological activism and technological communities. Discussing a wide range of games, from Portal and Final Fantasy VII to Super Mario Sunshine and Shadow of the Colossus, Milburn illustrates how they impact the lives of gamers and non-gamers alike. They also serve as resources for critique, resistance, and insurgency, offering a space for players and hacktivist groups such as Anonymous to challenge obstinate systems and experiment with alternative futures. Providing an essential walkthrough guide to our digital culture and its high-tech controversies, Milburn shows how games and playable media spawn new modes of engagement in a computerized world.

This book offers a comprehensive examination of the theory, research, and practice of the use of digital games in second and foreign language teaching and learning (L2TL). It explores how to harness the enthusiasm, engagement, and motivation that digital gaming can inspire by adopting a gameful L2TL approach that encompasses game-enhanced, game-informed, and game-based practice. The first part of the book situates gameful L2TL in the global practices of informal learnful L2 gaming and in the theories of play and games which are then applied throughout the discussion of gameful L2TL practice that follows. This includes analysis of practices of digital game-enhanced L2TL design (the use of vernacular, commercial games), game-informed L2TL design (gamification and the general application of gameful principles to L2 pedagogy), and game-based L2TL design (the creation of digital games purposed for L2 learning). Designed as a guide for researchers and teachers, the book also offers fresh insights for scholars of applied linguistics, second language acquisition, L2 pedagogy, computer-assisted language learning (CALL), game studies, and game design that will open pathways to future developments in the field.