Video games take players on a trip through ancient battlefields, to mythic worlds, and across galaxies. They provide players with a way to try on new identities and acquire vast superpowers. Video games also give people the chance to hit reset - to play again and again until they achieve a desired outcome. Their popularity has enabled them to grow far beyond their humble origins and to permeate other forms of popular culture, from comic books and graphic novels to films and television programs. Video games are universal. In 100 Greatest Video Game Franchises, editors Robert Mejia, Jaime Banks, and Aubrie Adams have assembled essays that identify, assess, and reveal the most important video games of all-time. Each entry makes a case for the game's cultural significance and why it deserves to be on the list, from its influence on other games to its impact on an international scale. In addition to providing information about the game developer and when the franchise was established, these entries explore the connections between the different video games, examining them across genre, theme, and content. This accessible collection of essays gives readers an opportunity to gauge their favorite video game franchises against the best of all time and argue how they each fit among the 100 greatest ever created. Whether casually looking up information on these games or eager to learn how franchises evolved over the years, readers will enjoy this entertaining and informative volume. Comprehensive and engaging, 100 Greatest Video Game Franchises will appeal to fans and scholars alike.

XNA 3.0 brings you the ability to create games that will run not just on the PC and Xbox 360, but also on the Zune mobile device. While creating games for Zune is, in many ways, similar to working on the other platforms, it also presents its own unique set of challenges and opportunities. Smaller screens, limited storage, and less processing power all affect the way you need to think about designing and implementing your games.

Zune Game Development Using XNA 3.0 is a comprehensive book that will guide you through the many aspects of XNA game development and their specific implementations on the Zune platform. The book addresses Zune game development concepts in detail and shows you how to apply them in practical, stepbystep examples, building complete, working XNA 3.0 examples along the way that you can download and play. What you'll learn Design practical games for the Zune. Discover the ways in which you can develop content for the Zune. Understand what makes the development of Zune games different from the development of PC and console games. Create Zune games, from the simple to the complex, with complete working examples for you to play and learn from. Use the XNA 3.0 Framework to play music from Zune's library and your own custom sounds to enrich your games. Understand how to take advantage of Zune's wireless system to create multi-player games. Who this book is for

This book is aimed at gaming enthusiasts with a good understanding of basic C# (the language underlying XNA) who want to create games for the Zune media player. Some knowledge of common game elements such as sprites, game loops, and animation would be helpful but is not required. (Readers looking for such a foundation can consultBeginning XNA 3.0 Game Programming for a comprehensive primer.)

How to Make a Movie on a Tight BudgetToday's indie film market is growing by leaps and bounds and filmmaker Rickey Bird and screenwriter and novelist Al Guevara are on a mission to help indie moviemakers everywhere. Bird and Guevara want to show aspiring filmmakers how to overcome common movie and video production problems: Not enough money for crews Over budget and likely making the wrong movie Can't get the attention of an indie studio Should have started with a short film to gain attention Amateur Movie & Video Production. Thousands of aspiring filmmakers are learning how to use cheaper, widely available filmmaking technology, and the craft of making movies from books pulled from bookstore and library shelves. Their work is totally DIY and they are the most creative people you will ever meet. Rickey Bird's Hectic Films is a Southern California enterprise building a filmmaking empire on a budget. His short films, feature films, micro docs and tutorials have landed in some of the biggest American film festivals and been seen online worldwide. The result? Millions of views worth of exposure from films online, in festivals and creative marketing literally on the street. His many projects have seen leading B actors like Hulk Hogan and Vernon Wells (Mad Max Road Warrior), make-up artists from the TV show Grimm, and stuntmen from the Call of Duty games. What you'll learn in this book: How planning and shooting a short film today can lead to a feature-length project tomorrow Everything you need to know about writing a movie project on a burger budget Tips on how to find locations and not get arrested Shooting tips galore for building exciting scenes Sound and film editing tips and all kinds of special effects wizardry, including puppetry Screenings, promotions, and juicy tips on film festival strategy If you liked books such as How to Shoot Video That Doesn't Suck, The Filmmaker's Handbook, or Rebel Without a Crew, you'll love Cheap Movie Tricks.

Discover how to build enhanced feature-filled games using the power of Luau programming by getting hands-on with creating a complete end-to-end game using Roblox Studio Key Features Leverage the tips and tricks covered in this game development book for writing advanced Roblox scripts Explore the capabilities of Roblox Luau to create complex games using user input, datastores, and user interfaces for all devices Each subject contains an additional exercise for the reader to experiment Book DescriptionRoblox is a game platform with over 47 million daily active users. Something unique to Roblox is that you're playing games made by other gamers! This means that you can make your own games, even if you have no experience. In addition, Roblox provides a free engine that allows you to create and publish a simple game in less than five minutes and get paid while at it. Most Roblox games require programming. This book starts with the basics of programming in Roblox Luau. Each chapter builds on the previous one, which eventually results in you mastering programming concepts in Lua. Next, the book teaches you complex technologies that you can implement in your game. Each concept is explained clearly and uses simple examples that show you how the technology is being used. This book contains additional exercises for you to experiment with the concepts you've learned. Using best practices, you will understand how to write and build complex systems such as databases, user input controls, and all device user interfaces. In addition, you will learn how to build an entire game from scratch. By the end of this book, you will be able to program complex systems in Roblox from the ground up by learning how to write code using Luau and create optimized code. What you will learn Understand and learn the basics of Roblox Luau Discover how to write efficient and optimized Luau code to avoid bad smells Explore how to optimize your game for PC, consoles, phones, and tablets Get up to speed with how to build databases using Luau Understand client and server functionalities and learn how to securely establish communication Discover how to build an advanced Roblox game from scratch Who this book is forThis book is for fairly experienced Roblox developers who have basic programming knowledge and want to take their skills to the next level with advanced concepts in a simple and effective way. Basic knowledge of Roblox, Roblox Studio, and Roblox Luau is recommended before getting started with this book. A short refresher is provided for those who have not used Roblox in a while.

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.

Learn to configure a Raspberry Pi into multiple different devices capable of playing retro games. Beyond theory, this book focuses heavily on projects-such as making a console to attach to a TV or computer display and making a tabletop arcade machine. It also teaches you how to install and use the Kodi media center on your retro game player. tart with the big-picture of the Raspberry Pi retro-gaming landscape and the wide range of exciting project opportunities that exist. You'll then discover the various retro-gaming emulation platforms, such as RetroPie and Recalbox, and how to work with ROM files. This book even goes a step further and teaches you how to create game ROMs from your old cartridges! You'll also study the types of game playing equipment people have made using Raspberry Pis and how to set up a Raspberry Pi with those devices. Retro-gaming enthusiasts are using the Pi to make a dizzying variety of game playing hardware. There are players that fit in an Altoids mint tin, players that look like classic systems, and players that let you choose from over 20,000 game titles. And there are emulators for every platform imaginable, and many models available online to download and make on a 3D printer or laser cutter. Raspberry Pi Retro Gaming includes everything you need to know about playing retro games on a Raspberry Pi and making cool machines that play thousands of retrogames. What You'll Learn Use Tinkercad to design your own cases Get your case 3D printed if you don't have a 3D printer Design parts for laser cutting or jigsaw cutting Solder and use electronics components, batteries, and power supplies Select and set up different kinds of displays Who This Book Is For Anyone interested in playing retrocomputer games and making their own retro-game players.

In the wake of a miraculous happening, it becomes apparent that hope lives on. There is a reason to go on fighting. The destruction of the Dark Hour may erase all memories of their days fighting together... but they will not forget.

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.

Quickly emerging from the fast-paced growth of mobile communications and wireless technologies, pervasive games take gaming away from the computer screen and back to the three-dimensional world. Now games can be designed to be played in public spaces like shopping malls, conferences, museums and other non-traditional game venues. Game designers need to understand how to use the world as a gamespace-and both the challenges and advantages of doing so. This book shows how to change the face of play-who plays, when and where they play and what that play means to all involved. The authors explore aspects of pervasive games that concern game designers: what makes these games compelling, what makes them possible today and how they are made. For game researchers, it provides a solid theoretical, philosophical and aesthetic understanding of the genre. Pervasive Games covers everything from theory and design to history and marketing.

This is the first textbook dedicated to explaining how artificial intelligence (AI) techniques can be used in and for games. After introductory chapters that explain the background and key techniques in AI and games, the authors explain how to use AI to play games, to generate content for games and to model players. The book will be suitable for undergraduate and graduate courses in games, artificial intelligence, design, human-computer interaction, and computational intelligence, and also for self-study by industrial game developers and practitioners. The authors have developed a website (http://www.gameaibook.org) that complements the material covered in the book with up-to-date exercises, lecture slides and reading.

The official art book for the video game Gears Tactics. Gears Tactics is the fast-paced, turn-based strategy game from one of the most-acclaimed video game franchises - Gears of War. Outnumbered and fighting for survival, recruit and command your squad to hunt down an evil mastermind who makes monsters. In this lavish book, the full development process of the characters, weapons, armor, enemies and environments of the game is uncovered. From initial sketches through to beautiful final production art, the evolution of Gears Tactics is revealed, accompanied by fascinating insight from the artists and developers. Take a step into the war-scarred world of Sera and experience Gears of War from a whole new perspective.

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.

Professor Odile Limpach gives independent developers everything they need to succeed in the world of video game publishing. The Publishing Challenge for Independent Video Game Developers: A Practical Guide defines what game publishing means for the indie developer and offers a concise framework to tackle the decision of whether to self-publish or not. Furthermore, the text establishes a catalogue of current known publishers with some salient characteristics and offers a list of useful publishing tools. Along with showcasing testimonials from several young and seasoned developers on their experiences with publishing and partners and recommendations from renown experts of the industry, this book offers tools, platforms, and guides to game publishing. Key features: Provides a broad overview of the game publishing market Explores criteria for choosing between a publishing partner or self-publishing Offers case studies and testimonials from indie game developers and publishers about the process. Professor Odile Limpach teaches economics and entrepreneurship at the Cologne Game Lab, TH Koeln (Technical University of Cologne). She is also co-founder of the Acceleration Program SpielFabrique 360 Degrees and works as a Strategic Consultant for games and serious game projects. Between 2007 and 2014, she was the managing director of the German entertainment software studio Ubisoft Blue Byte. Before, she was the managing director of Ubisoft GmbH. She graduated from business school Institut Commercial de Nancy in France and completed her MBA in the United States. Odile Limpach is also involved as a volunteer in the areas of vocational training and acts as a German partner for Games for Change Europe. Furthermore, she acts as an advisor (Conseiller du Commerce Exterieur) for the French Ministry for International Business Development.

Learn and implement game AI in Unity to build smart environments and enemies with A* pathfinding, finite state machines, behavior trees, and the NavMesh Key Features Explore the latest Unity features to make AI implementation in your game easier Build richer and more dynamic games using AI concepts such as behavior trees and navigation meshes Implement character behaviors and simulations using the Unity Machine Learning toolkit Book DescriptionDeveloping artificial intelligence (AI) for game characters in Unity has never been easier. Unity provides game and app developers with a variety of tools to implement AI, from basic techniques to cutting-edge machine learning-powered agents. Leveraging these tools via Unity's API or built-in features allows limitless possibilities when it comes to creating game worlds and characters. The updated fifth edition of Unity Artificial Intelligence Programming starts by breaking down AI into simple concepts. Using a variety of examples, the book then takes those concepts and walks you through actual implementations designed to highlight key concepts and features related to game AI in Unity. As you progress, you'll learn how to implement a finite state machine (FSM) to determine how your AI behaves, apply probability and randomness to make games less predictable, and implement a basic sensory system. Later, you'll understand how to set up a game map with a navigation mesh, incorporate movement through techniques such as A* pathfinding, and provide characters with decision-making abilities using behavior trees. By the end of this Unity book, you'll have the skills you need to bring together all the concepts and practical lessons you've learned to build an impressive vehicle battle game. What you will learn Understand the basics of AI in game design Create smarter game worlds and characters with C# programming Apply automated character movement using pathfinding algorithm behaviors Implement character decision-making algorithms using behavior trees Build believable and highly efficient artificial flocks and crowds Create sensory systems for your AI world Become well-versed with the basics of procedural content generation Explore the application of machine learning in Unity Who this book is forThis Unity artificial intelligence book is for Unity developers with a basic understanding of C# and the Unity Editor who want to expand their knowledge of AI Unity game development.

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.

Winner of the Forward Prize for Best First Collection Winner of the E. M. Forster Award Winner of the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature Shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize Shortlisted for the John Pollard Poetry Prize A Sunday Times, New Statesman and Telegraph Book of the Year 2019 'Every poem in this book is a marvel. Taken all together they make up a work of almost miraculous depth and beauty' Sally Rooney 'A poetry debut fit to compare with Seamus Heaney. This wonderful long poem is up there with the greats' Sunday Times When Stephen Sexton was young, video games were a way to slip through the looking glass; to be in two places at once; to be two people at once. In these poems about the death of his mother, this moving, otherworldly narrative takes us through the levels of Super Mario World, whose flowered landscapes bleed into our world, and ours, strange with loss, bleed into it. His remarkable debut is a daring exploration of memory, grief and the necessity of the unreal.

Create a fully featured application that's both sophisticated and engaging. This book provides a detailed guide in developing augmented reality games that can take advantage of the advanced capabilities of new iOS devices and code while also offering compatibility with still supported legacy devices. No programming experience is necessary as this book begins on the ground floor with basic programming concepts in Unity and builds to incorporating input from the real world to create interactive realities. You'll learn to program with the Unity 2017 development platform using C#. Recent announcements of increased AR capabilities on the latest iPhones and iPads show a clear dedication on Apple's part to this emerging market of immersive games and apps. Unity 2017 is the latest version of this industry leading development platform and C# is a ubiquitous programming language perfect for any programmer to begin with. Using the latest development technologies, Beginning iOS AR Game Development will show you how to program games that interact directly with the real world environment around the user for creative fantastic augmented reality experiences. What You'll Learn Download assets from the Unity store Create a scene in Unity 2017 Use physics and controls on mobile devices Who This Book Is For Beginner programmers and/or people new to developing games using Unity. It also serves as a great introduction to developing AR games and educators teaching the subject at high school or higher levels.

Learn to build a simple data-driven mobile game application using the power of Xamarin.Forms, ASP.NET, the Web API, and SignalR with this short book. In it you will build a cross-platform mobile application that targets both iOS and Android, connect your app with your database using Entity Framework, and implement real-time syncing functionality using SignalR. Understanding Game Application Development starts by giving you an overview of the development tools, an installation guide, and a list of prerequisites. You will learn how to manage application flow, create your workspace, and set up your database. Next, you will see how to access data for handling CRUD operations and define the necessary API endpoints. Further, you will build a mobile application with Xamarin.Forms, both in iOS and in Android. You will also understand the deployment and testing process as well as how to build a real-time leader board using ASP.NET MVC and SignalR. Finally, you will understand how to publish your source code on GitHub from Visual Studio 2017. What You Will Learn Understand the basic concept and fundamentals of the technologies used for building the applications Set up your development environment Create a SQL database from scratch Implement a data access layer Define REST service endpoints using the Web API Deploy, test, and debug iOS and Android applications Push your source code to GitHub Who This Book Is For .NET developers who want to jump on mobile application development with Xamarin and learn with practical examples.

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.

Distrust. Division. Disparity. Is our world in disrepair? Ethics and civics have always mattered, but perhaps they matter now more than ever before. Recently, with the rise of online teaching and movements like #PlayApartTogether, games have become increasingly acknowledged as platforms for civic deliberation and value sharing. We the Gamers explores these possibilities by examining how we connect, communicate, analyze, and discover when we play games. Combining research-based perspectives and current examples, this volume shows how games can be used in ethics, civics, and social studies education to inspire learning, critical thinking, and civic change. We the Gamers introduces and explores various educational frameworks through a range of games and interactive experiences including board and card games, online games, virtual reality and augmented reality games, and digital games like Minecraft, Executive Command, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, Fortnite, When Rivers Were Trails, Politicraft, Quandary, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The book systematically evaluates the types of skills, concepts, and knowledge needed for civic and ethical engagement, and details how games can foster these skills in classrooms, remote learning environments, and other educational settings. We the Gamers also explores the obstacles to learning with games and how to overcome those obstacles by encouraging equity and inclusion, care and compassion, and fairness and justice. Featuring helpful tips and case studies, We the Gamers shows teachers the strengths and limitations of games in helping students connect with civics and ethics, and imagines how we might repair and remake our world through gaming, together.

Develop and use bots in video gaming to automate game processes and see possible ways to avoid this kind of automation. This book explains how bots can be very helpful in games such as multiplayer online games, both for training your character and for automating repetitious game processes in order to start a competition with human opponents much faster. Some players might use bots for cheating or avoiding game rules to gain an advantage over opponents - a sophisticated form of hacking that includes some elements of artificial intelligence (AI). However, while Practical Video Game Bots considers these topics, it is not a cheater's guide. Rather, this book is an attempt to overcome the information vacuum regarding bot development in video game applications. Through the use of three case study game examples, it covers most methods and technologies that are used by bot developers, and the details of anti-cheating systems. This book provides answers and useful advice for topics such as process automation, reverse engineering, and network applications. Modern bot applications use technologies from all these domains. You will also consider the work mechanisms of different kinds of bots and will write simple prototypes. What You Will Learn Discover bots and apply them to game applications Use clicker bots with OS-level embedding data, output-device capture, and more Develop in-game bots, with process memory analysis and access Work with out-game bots, with network interception and embedding data Deal with input device emulation and OS-level interception data Who This Book Is For Those with some prior experience in game development and coding experience in Python, C++, and Windows APIs.

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.