This book covers the distinguishing characteristics and tropes of visual novels (VNs) as choice-based games and analyzes VNs like 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors; Hatoful Boyfriend; and Monster Prom, some of the best examples of the genre as illustrations. The author covers structuring branching narrative and plot, designing impactful and compelling choices, writing entertaining relationships and character interactions, understanding the importance of a VN's prose, and planning a VN's overall narrative design and story delivery. The book contains exercises at the end of chapters to practice the techniques discussed. By the end of the book, if the reader finishes all the exercises, they may have several portfolio pieces or a significant portion of their own VN project designed. Features: Discusses different aspects and genres of VNs, what makes them enjoyable, and successful techniques developers can incorporate into their own games Analyzes various VNs and choice-based games that use these successful techniques Shares tips from developers on portfolio pieces, hiring a team to work on VNs, and plotting and outlining VNs Branching Story, Unlocked Dialogue: Designing and Writing Visual Novels is a valuable resource for developers and narrative designers interested in working on VNs. The book will show them how they can design their own VN projects, design branching narratives, develop entertaining plots and relationships, design impactful and compelling choices, and write prose that's a pleasure to read.

In this book, John Hunt and Chris Loftus take you through the core technologies that make up the Enterprise Edition of the Java 2 platform (J2EE). They cover all the aspects of J2EE that both professionals and students need to know to build multi-tier enterprise applications in Java - the technologies, the design methodology and design patterns. Whether you are a professional or student, this book will help equip you with the skills you need to build enterprise wide applications in Java. Key Topics Includes design issues using J2EE patterns Covers all parts of the enterprise application J2EE Uses an integrated example that spans the chapters to be built up by the reader More accessible and less daunting than a lot of the competition A coherent whole, rather than independent separate chapters (as with some rivals) Features and Benefits Provides an overview of J2EE technologies and their benefits. Discusses architectural design issues using J2EE patterns. Looks at the issues of designing and building multi-tier J2EE applications. Includes fully worked examples, built up throughout the book, which enable you to quickly develop your own multi-tier applications. About the Authors: Dr. John Hunt is Technical Director at JayDeeTechnology Ltd. He runs industrial courses, including server-side Java technologies. He also leads development projects for government and blue chip organisations using Java, J2EE, XML and C#. Chris Loftus is a Teaching Fellow at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He has taught Java-based courses, including J2EE, both in university and industry.

Foundations of Fuzzy Control: A Practical Approach, 2nd Edition has been significantly revised and updated, with two new chapters on Gain Scheduling Control and Neurofuzzy Modelling. It focuses on the PID (Proportional, Integral, Derivative) type controller which is the most widely used in industry and systematically analyses several fuzzy PID control systems and adaptive control mechanisms. This new edition covers the basics of fuzzy control and builds a solid foundation for the design of fuzzy controllers, by creating links to established linear and nonlinear control theory. Advanced topics are also introduced and in particular, common sense geometry is emphasised. Key features * Sets out practical worked through problems, examples and case studies to illustrate each type of control system * Accompanied by a website hosting downloadable MATLAB programs * Accompanied by an online course on Fuzzy Control which is taught by the author. Students can access further material and enrol at the companion website Foundations of Fuzzy Control: A Practical Approach, 2nd Edition is an invaluable resource for researchers, practitioners, and students in engineering. It is especially relevant for engineers working with automatic control of mechanical, electrical, or chemical systems.

Entity Information Life Cycle for Big Data walks you through the ins and outs of managing entity information so you can successfully achieve master data management (MDM) in the era of big data. This book explains big data's impact on MDM and the critical role of entity information management system (EIMS) in successful MDM. Expert authors Dr. John R. Talburt and Dr. Yinle Zhou provide a thorough background in the principles of managing the entity information life cycle and provide practical tips and techniques for implementing an EIMS, strategies for exploiting distributed processing to handle big data for EIMS, and examples from real applications. Additional material on the theory of EIIM and methods for assessing and evaluating EIMS performance also make this book appropriate for use as a textbook in courses on entity and identity management, data management, customer relationship management (CRM), and related topics.

George Landow's widely acclaimed Hypertext was the first book to bring together the worlds of literary theory and computer technology. Landow was one of the first scholars to explore the implications of giving readers instant, easy access to a virtual library of sources as well as unprecedented control of what and how they read. In hypermedia, Landow saw a strikingly literal embodiment of many major points of contemporary literary theory, particularly Derrida's idea of "de-centering" and Barthes's conception of the "readerly" versus "writerly" text.

From Intermedia to Microcosm, Storyspace, and the World Wide Web, Landow offers specific information about the kinds of hypertext, different modes of linking, attitudes toward technology, and the proliferation of pornography and gambling on the Internet. For the third edition he includes new material on developing Internet-related technologies, considering in particular their increasingly global reach and the social and political implications of this trend as viewed from a postcolonial perspective. He also discusses blogs, interactive film, and the relation of hypermedia to games. Thoroughly expanded and updated, this pioneering work continues to be the "ur-text" of hypertext studies.

Role-play as a Heritage Practice is the first book to examine physically performed role-enactments, such as live-action role-play (LARP), tabletop role-playing games (TRPG), and hobbyist historical reenactment (RH), from a combined game studies and heritage studies perspective. Demonstrating that non-digital role-plays, such as TRPG and LARP, share many features with RH, the book contends that all three may be considered as heritage practices. Studying these role-plays as three distinct genres of playful, participatory and performative forms of engagement with cultural heritage, Mochocki demonstrates how an exploration of the affordances of each genre can be valuable. Showing that a player's engagement with history or heritage material is always multi-layered, the book clarifies that the layers may be conceptualised simultaneously as types of heritage authenticity and as types of in-game immersion. It is also made clear that RH, TRPG and LARP share commonalities with a multitude of other media, including video games, historical fiction and film. Existing within, and contributing to, the fiction and non-fiction mediasphere, these role-enactments are shaped by the same large-scale narratives and discourses that persons, families, communities, and nations use to build memory and identity. Role-play as a Heritage Practice will be of great interest to academics and students engaged in the study of heritage, memory, nostalgia, role-playing, historical games, performance, fans and transmedia narratology.

Introduction to Computational Engineering with MATLAB (R) aims to teach readers how to use MATLAB programming to solve numerical engineering problems. The book focuses on computational engineering with the objective of helping engineering students improve their numerical problem-solving skills. The book cuts a middle path between undergraduate texts that simply focus on programming and advanced mathematical texts that skip over foundational concepts, feature cryptic mathematical expressions, and do not provide sufficient support for novices. Although this book covers some advanced topics, readers do not need prior computer programming experience or an advanced mathematical background. Instead, the focus is on learning how to leverage the computer and software environment to do the hard work. The problem areas discussed are related to data-driven engineering, statistics, linear algebra, and numerical methods. Some example problems discussed touch on robotics, control systems, and machine learning. Features: Demonstrates through algorithms and code segments how numeric problems are solved with only a few lines of MATLAB code Quickly teaches students the basics and gets them started programming interesting problems as soon as possible No prior computer programming experience or advanced math skills required Suitable for students at undergraduate level who have prior knowledge of college algebra, trigonometry, and are enrolled in Calculus I MATLAB script files, functions, and datasets used in examples are available for download from http://www.routledge.com/9781032221410.

Discusses the design goals and key features switch/router manufacturers consider when designing their products Explains the design and architectural considerations, as well as the typical processes and steps used to build practical switch/routers Describes the components of a switch/router that are used in configuring, managing, and monitoring it Discusses the advantages of using Ethernet in today's networks and why Ethernet continues to play a bigger role in Local Area Network (LAN), Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), and Wide Area Network (WAN) design Describes typical networking applications of switch/routers, particularly, in enterprise and Internet service provider (ISP) networks

This book features a collection of high-quality, peer-reviewed research papers presented at the 7th International Conference on Innovations in Computer Science & Engineering (ICICSE 2019), held at Guru Nanak Institutions, Hyderabad, India, on 16-17 August 2019. Written by researchers from academia and industry, the book discusses a wide variety of industrial, engineering, and scientific applications of the emerging techniques in the field of computer science.

In this textbook the author takes as inspiration recent breakthroughs in game playing to explain how and why deep reinforcement learning works. In particular he shows why two-person games of tactics and strategy fascinate scientists, programmers, and game enthusiasts and unite them in a common goal: to create artificial intelligence (AI). After an introduction to the core concepts, environment, and communities of intelligence and games, the book is organized into chapters on reinforcement learning, heuristic planning, adaptive sampling, function approximation, and self-play. The author takes a hands-on approach throughout, with Python code examples and exercises that help the reader understand how AI learns to play. He also supports the main text with detailed pointers to online machine learning frameworks, technical details for AlphaGo, notes on how to play and program Go and chess, and a comprehensive bibliography. The content is class-tested and suitable for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses on artificial intelligence and games. It's also appropriate for self-study by professionals engaged with applications of machine learning and with games development. Finally it's valuable for any reader engaged with the philosophical implications of artificial and general intelligence, games represent a modern Turing test of the power and limitations of AI.

Introduction to Computational Engineering with MATLAB (R) aims to teach readers how to use MATLAB programming to solve numerical engineering problems. The book focuses on computational engineering with the objective of helping engineering students improve their numerical problem-solving skills. The book cuts a middle path between undergraduate texts that simply focus on programming and advanced mathematical texts that skip over foundational concepts, feature cryptic mathematical expressions, and do not provide sufficient support for novices. Although this book covers some advanced topics, readers do not need prior computer programming experience or an advanced mathematical background. Instead, the focus is on learning how to leverage the computer and software environment to do the hard work. The problem areas discussed are related to data-driven engineering, statistics, linear algebra, and numerical methods. Some example problems discussed touch on robotics, control systems, and machine learning. Features: Demonstrates through algorithms and code segments how numeric problems are solved with only a few lines of MATLAB code Quickly teaches students the basics and gets them started programming interesting problems as soon as possible No prior computer programming experience or advanced math skills required Suitable for students at undergraduate level who have prior knowledge of college algebra, trigonometry, and are enrolled in Calculus I MATLAB script files, functions, and datasets used in examples are available for download from http://www.routledge.com/9781032221410.

The purpose of the 10th ACIS International Conference on Software Engineering Artificial Intelligence, Networking and Parallel/Distributed Computing (SNPD rd 2009), held in Daegu, Korea on May 27-29, 2009, the 3 International Workshop st on e-Activity (IWEA 2009) and the 1 International Workshop on Enterprise Architecture Challenges and Responses (WEACR 2009) is to aim at bringing together researchers and scientist, businessmen and entrepreneurs, teachers and students to discuss the numerous fields of computer science, and to share ideas and information in a meaningful way. Our conference officers selected the best 24 papers from those papers accepted for presentation at the conference in order to publish them in this volume. The papers were chosen based on review scores submitted by members of the program committee, and underwent further rounds of rigorous review. In chapter 1, Igor Crk and Chris Gniady propose a network-aware energy m- agement mechanism that provides a low-cost solution that can significantly reduce energy consumption in the entire system while maintaining responsiveness of local interactive workloads. Their dynamic mechanisms reduce the decision delay before the disk is spun-up, reduce the number of erroneous spin-ups in local wo- stations, decrease the network bandwidth, and reduce the energy consumption of individual drives. In chapter 2, Yoshihito Saito and Tokuro Matsuo describe a task allocation mechanism and its performance concerning with software developing. They run simulations and discuss the results in terms of effective strategies of task allocation.

Although the field of texture processing is now well-established, research in this area remains predominantly restricted to texture analysis and simple and approximate static textures.

This comprehensive text/reference presents a survey of the state of the art in multidimensional, physically-correct visual texture modeling. Starting from basic principles and building upon the fundamentals to the latest advanced methods, the book brings together research from computer vision, pattern recognition, computer graphics, virtual and augmented reality. The text assumes a graduate-level understanding of statistics and probability theory, and a knowledge of basic computer graphics principles, but is accessible to newcomers to the field.

Topics and features: reviews the entire process of texture synthesis, including material appearance representation, measurement, analysis, compression, modeling, editing, visualization, and perceptual evaluation; explains the derivation of the most common representations of visual texture, discussing their properties, advantages, and limitations; describes a range of techniques for the measurement of visual texture, including BRDF, SVBRDF, BTF and BSSRDF; investigates the visualization of textural information, from texture mapping and mip-mapping to illumination- and view-dependent data interpolation; examines techniques for perceptual validation and analysis, covering both standard pixel-wise similarity measures and also methods of visual psychophysics; reviews the applications of visual textures, from visual scene analysis in image processing and medical applications, to high-quality visualizations for cultural heritage and the automotive industry.

Researchers, lecturers, students and practitioners will all find this book an invaluable reference on the rapidly developing new field of texture modeling.

Wireless Public Safety Networks, Volume One: Overview and Challenges presents the latest advances in the wireless Public Safety Networks (PSNs) field, the networks established by authorities to either prepare the population for an eminent catastrophe, or as support during crisis and normalization phases. Maintaining communication capabilities in a disaster scenario is crucial for avoiding loss of lives and damages to property. Wireless Public Safety Networks examines past communication failures that have directly contributed to the loss of lives. This book will give readers a broad view of the PSNs field, analyzing the benefits PSNs may bring to society, the main challenges related to the establishment and maintenance of these networks, the latest advancements in the field, and future perspectives.

The Paradox of Transgression in Games looks at transgressive games as an aesthetic experience, tackling how players respond to game content that shocks, disturbs, and distresses, and how contemporary video games can evoke intense emotional reactions. The book delves into the commercial success of many controversial videogames: although such games may appear shocking for the observing bystander, playing them is experienced as deeply rewarding for the player. Drawing on qualitative player studies and approaches from media aesthetics theory, the book challenges the perception of games as innocent entertainment, and examines the range of emotional, moral, and intellectual experiences of players. As they explore what players consider transgressive, the authors ask whether there is something about the gameplay situation that works to mitigate the sense of transgression, stressing gameplay as an aesthetic experience. Anchoring the aesthetic game experience both in play studies as well as in aesthetic theory, this book will be an essential resource for scholars and students of game studies, aesthetics, media studies, philosophy of art, and emotions.

This book explores hybrid play as a site of interdisciplinary activity-one that is capable of generating new forms of mobility, communication, subjects, and artistic expression as well as new ways of interacting with and understanding the world. The chapters in this collection explore hybrid making, hybrid subjects, and hybrid spaces, generating interesting conversations about the past, current and future nature of hybrid play. Together, the authors offer important insights into how place and space are co-constructed through play; how, when, and for what reasons people occupy hybrid spaces; and how cultural practices shape elements of play and vice versa. A diverse group of scholars and practitioners provides a rich interdisciplinary perspective, which will be of great interest to those working in the areas of games studies, media studies, communication, gender studies, and media arts.

CMDB Systems: Making Change Work in the Age of Cloud and Agile shows you how an integrated database across all areas of an organization's information system can help make organizations more efficient reduce challenges during change management and reduce total cost of ownership (TCO). In addition, this valuable reference provides guidelines that will enable you to avoid the pitfalls that cause CMDB projects to fail and actually shorten the time required to achieve an implementation of a CMDB. Drawing upon extensive experience and using illustrative real world examples, Rick Sturm, Dennis Drogseth and Dan Twing discuss: Unique insights from extensive industry exposure, research and consulting on the evolution of CMDB/CMS technology and ongoing dialog with the vendor community in terms of current and future CMDB/CMS design and plans Proven and structured best practices for CMDB deployments Clear and documented insights into the impacts of cloud computing and other advances on CMDB/CMS futures

The second edition of Disney Stories: Getting to Digital will be of interest to lovers of Disney history and also to lovers of Hollywood history in general. The first edition was planned as a short history of the companies evolution from analog storytelling to a digital online presence that closed the chapter on early Disney films with the release of the groundbreaking Snow White. The purpose of the new edition is to bring to readers a more complete view of the analog-digital story by including three new chapters on film that cover key developments from the live-animation hybrids of the 1940s to CAPS and CGI in the 1990s and VR in the 2010s. It also includes in the discussion of cross-media storytelling the acquisition of the exceptional story property, Star Wars, and discusses how Disney has brought the epic into the Disney Master Narrative by creating Galaxy's Edge in its US theme parks. Krystina Madej's engaging portrayal of the long history of Disney's love affair with storytelling and technology brings to life the larger focus of innovation in creating characters and stories that captivate an audience, and together with Newton Lee's detailed experience of Disney during the crucial 1995-2005 era when digital innovation in online and games was at its height in the company, makes for a fast-paced captivating read. Disney Stories first edition explored the history of Disney, both analog and digital. It described in detail how Walt Disney used inventive and often ground-breaking approaches in the use of sound, color, depth, and the psychology of characters to move the animation genre from short visual gags to feature-length films with meaningful stories that engaged audience's hearts as well as tickled their funny bones. It showed Walt's comprehensive approach to engaging the public across all media as he built the Disney Master Narrative by using products, books, comics, public engagements, fan groups such as the Mickey Mouse club, TV, and, of course, Disneyland, his theme park. Finally it showed how, after his passing, the company continued to embrace Walt's enthusiasm for using new technology to engage audiences through their commitment to innovation in digital worlds. It describes in detail the innovative storybook CD-ROMs, their extensive online presence, the software they used and created for MMORGs such as Toontown, and the use of production methods such as agile methodology. This new edition provides insight on major developments in Disney films that moved them into the digital world.

Learn how to program JavaScript while creating interactive audio applications with JavaScript for Sound Artists: Learn to Code With the Web Audio API! William Turner and Steve Leonard showcase the basics of JavaScript language programing so that readers can learn how to build browser based audio applications, such as music synthesizers and drum machines. The companion website offers further opportunity for growth. Web Audio API instruction includes oscillators, audio file loading and playback, basic audio manipulation, panning and time. This book encompasses all of the basic features of JavaScript with aspects of the Web Audio API to heighten the capability of any browser. Key Features Uses the readers existing knowledge of audio technology to facilitate learning how to program using JavaScript. The teaching will be done through a series of annotated examples and explanations. Downloadable code examples and links to additional reference material included on the books companion website. This book makes learning programming more approachable to nonprofessional programmers The context of teaching JavaScript for the creative audio community in this manner does not exist anywhere else in the market and uses example-based teaching

Learn how to program JavaScript while creating interactive audio applications with JavaScript for Sound Artists: Learn to Code With the Web Audio API! William Turner and Steve Leonard showcase the basics of JavaScript language programing so that readers can learn how to build browser based audio applications, such as music synthesizers and drum machines. The companion website offers further opportunity for growth. Web Audio API instruction includes oscillators, audio file loading and playback, basic audio manipulation, panning and time. This book encompasses all of the basic features of JavaScript with aspects of the Web Audio API to heighten the capability of any browser. Key Features Uses the readers existing knowledge of audio technology to facilitate learning how to program using JavaScript. The teaching will be done through a series of annotated examples and explanations. Downloadable code examples and links to additional reference material included on the books companion website. This book makes learning programming more approachable to nonprofessional programmers The context of teaching JavaScript for the creative audio community in this manner does not exist anywhere else in the market and uses example-based teaching

This book provides a broad description of the development and (computational) application of many-electron approaches from a multidisciplinary perspective. In the context of studying many-electron systems Computer Science, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics are all intimately interconnected. However, beyond a handful of communities working at the interface between these disciplines, there is still a marked separation of subjects. This book seeks to offer a common platform for possible exchanges between the various fields and to introduce the reader to perspectives for potential further developments across the disciplines. The rapid advances of modern technology will inevitably require substantial improvements in the approaches currently used, which will in turn make exchanges between disciplines indispensable. In essence this book is one of the very first attempts at an interdisciplinary approach to the many-electron problem.

Analyses a variety of approaches to development and publishing, across a multitude of platforms and genres, to provide a new vision for the next twenty years of game development. Considers technical advances in adjacent markets and how they will impact the games industry over the next twenty years. Includes insightful interviews from leading game and entertainment industry figures.

Locating Imagination in Popular Culture offers a multi-disciplinary account of the ways in which popular culture, tourism and notions of place intertwine in an environment characterized by ongoing processes of globalization, digitization and an increasingly ubiquitous nature of multi-media. Centred around the concept of imagination, the authors demonstrate how popular culture and media are becoming increasingly important in the ways in which places and localities are imagined, and how they also subsequently stimulate a desire to visit the actual places in which people's favourite stories are set. With examples drawn from around the globe, the book offers a unique study of the role of narratives conveyed through media in stimulating and reflecting desire in tourism. This book will have appeal in a wide variety of academic disciplines, ranging from media and cultural studies to fan- and tourism studies, cultural geography, literary studies and cultural sociology.

Artificial Intelligence Techniques in IoT Sensor Networks is a technical book which can be read by researchers, academicians, students and professionals interested in artificial intelligence (AI), sensor networks and Internet of Things (IoT). This book is intended to develop a shared understanding of applications of AI techniques in the present and near term. The book maps the technical impacts of AI technologies, applications and their implications on the design of solutions for sensor networks. This text introduces researchers and aspiring academicians to the latest developments and trends in AI applications for sensor networks in a clear and well-organized manner. It is mainly useful for research scholars in sensor networks and AI techniques. In addition, professionals and practitioners working on the design of real-time applications for sensor networks may benefit directly from this book. Moreover, graduate and master's students of any departments related to AI, IoT and sensor networks can find this book fascinating for developing expert systems or real-time applications. This book is written in a simple and easy language, discussing the fundamentals, which relieves the requirement of having early backgrounds in the field. From this expectation and experience, many libraries will be interested in owning copies of this work.

This book offers critical perspectives on the digital 'iconic', exploring how the notion of the iconic is re-appropriated and re-made online, and the consequences for humanity and society. Examining cross-cultural case studies of iconic images in digital spaces, the author offers original and critical analyses, theories and perspectives on the notion of the 'iconic', and on its movement, re-appropriation and meaning making on digital platforms. A carefully curated selection of case studies illustrates topics such as phantom memory; martyrdom; denigration and pornographic recoding; digital games as simulacra; and memes as 'artification'. Situating the notion of the iconic firmly within contemporary cultures, the author takes a thematic approach to investigate the iconic as an unstable and unfinished phenomenon online as it travels through platforms temporally and spatially. The book will be an important resource for academics and students in the areas of media and communications, digital culture, cultural studies, visual communication, visual culture, journalism studies and digital humanities.