MUD Game Programming


Book Description




Designing Virtual Worlds


Book Description

This text provides a comprehensive treatment of virtual world design from one of its pioneers. It covers everything from MUDs to MOOs to MMORPGs, from text-based to graphical VWs.




Secrets of the MUD Wizards


Book Description

Two MUD wizards with years of experience in playing and programming MUDs now teach readers how to play MUDs, create characters, and program new MUDs. Busey and Poirier walk readers through the process of telneting to a MUD, and explore the different kinds of MUDs, MOOs, and MUCKs in detail.




Multiplayer Game Programming


Book Description

The Practical Guide to Building Reliable Networked Multiplayer Games Networked multiplayer games are a multibillion dollar business: some games now attract tens of millions of players. In this practical, code-rich guide, Joshua Glazer and Sanjay Madhav guide you through every aspect of engineering them. Drawing on their immense experience as both game developers and instructors, the authors lead you through building a robust multiplayer architecture, and creating every engine-level system. You’ll learn through in-depth working code examples for two complete games: an action game and a real time strategy (RTS) game. First, Madhav and Glazer review the essentials of networking and network programming from the standpoint of game developers. Next, they walk through managing game data transmission, updating game objects across the network, and organizing the devices that join your game. You’ll learn how to ensure reliable performance despite the Internet’s inherent inconsistencies, and how to design game code for maximum security and scalability. The authors conclude by addressing two increasingly crucial issues: incorporating gamer services and hosting your games in the cloud. This guide’s content has been extensively tested through the authors’ multiplayer game programming courses at USC. It is equally valuable both to students and to working game programmers moving into networked games. Coverage includes How games have evolved to meet the challenges of networked environments Using Internet communication protocols and standards in game development Working with Berkeley Socket, the most widely used networking construct in multiplayer gaming Formatting game data for efficient Internet transmission Synchronizing states so all players share the same world Organizing networking topologies for large-scale games Overcoming latency and jitter problems that cause delays or lost data Scaling games without compromising performance Combating security vulnerabilities and software cheats Leveraging the networking functionality of the popular Unreal 4 and Unity game engines Integrating gamer services such as matchmaking, achievements, and leaderboards Running game servers in the cloud About the Website C++ source code for all examples is available at github.com/MultiplayerBook. Instructors will also find a full set of PowerPoint slides and a sample syllabus.




Beginning C# Game Programming


Book Description

Are you ready to try your hand at programming games using C#? "Beginning C# Game Programming" is your ideal introductory guidedesigned to jumpstart your experience with C# and DirectX 9. It includes the fundamental topics youll need to know and covers additional topics that youll find helpful along the way. Begin with a comprehensive look at programming with C#from the basics of classes to advanced topics such as polymorphism and abstraction. Then its on to DirectX 9 as you learn how to create a basic framework and a Direct3D device. Youll also cover DirectSound and DirectInput. Put your newfound knowledge to the test as you program a complete game!




Programming Game AI by Example


Book Description

This book describes in detail many of the AI techniques used in modern computer games, explicity shows how to implement these practical techniques within the framework of several game developers with a practical foundation to game AI.




Coding in Computers


Book Description

From typing your name to playing a song, everything you do on computers uses code. But how do computers understand what we’re telling them? This engaging title introduces young readers to programming languages, binary code, and the history of early programming.




Play Between Worlds


Book Description

A study of Everquest that provides a snapshot of multiplayer gaming culture, questions the truism that computer games are isolating and alienating, and offers insights into broader issues of work and play, gender identity, technology, and commercial culture. In Play Between Worlds, T. L. Taylor examines multiplayer gaming life as it is lived on the borders, in the gaps—as players slip in and out of complex social networks that cross online and offline space. Taylor questions the common assumption that playing computer games is an isolating and alienating activity indulged in by solitary teenage boys. Massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs), in which thousands of players participate in a virtual game world in real time, are in fact actively designed for sociability. Games like the popular Everquest, she argues, are fundamentally social spaces. Taylor's detailed look at Everquest offers a snapshot of multiplayer culture. Drawing on her own experience as an Everquest player (as a female Gnome Necromancer)—including her attendance at an Everquest Fan Faire, with its blurring of online—and offline life—and extensive research, Taylor not only shows us something about games but raises broader cultural issues. She considers "power gamers," who play in ways that seem closer to work, and examines our underlying notions of what constitutes play—and why play sometimes feels like work and may even be painful, repetitive, and boring. She looks at the women who play Everquest and finds they don't fit the narrow stereotype of women gamers, which may cast into doubt our standardized and preconceived ideas of femininity. And she explores the questions of who owns game space—what happens when emergent player culture confronts the major corporation behind the game.




Hands-On Unity 2021 Game Development


Book Description

Achieve mesmerizing game experiences using the latest Unity 2021 features by following a practical approach to building professional games Key FeaturesUnleash the capabilities of C# scripting to create UIs, graphics, game AI agents and moreExplore Unity's latest tools, including Universal Render Pipeline, Shader Graph, UI Toolkit, Visual Scripting, and VFX graph, to enhance graphics and animationBuild an AR experience using Unity’s AR FoundationBook Description Learning how to use Unity is the quickest way to creating a full game, but that’s not all you can do with this simple, yet comprehensive suite of video game development tools – Unity is just as useful for creating AR/VR experiences, complex simulations, real-time realistic rendering, films, and practical games for training and education. Hands-On Unity 2021 Game Development outlines a practical journey to creating your first full game from the ground up, building it step-by-step and applying your knowledge as you progress. Complete with hands-on tutorials and projects, this easy-to-follow guide will teach you how to develop the game using several Unity tools. As you advance, you will learn how to use the Unity engine, create simple scripts using C#, integrate graphics, sound, and animations, and manipulate physics to create interesting mechanics for your game. You’ll be able to apply all the knowledge that you gain to a real-world game. Later chapters will show you how to code a simple AI agent to challenge the user and use profiling tools to ensure that the code runs efficiently. Finally, you'll work with Unity's AR tools to create AR experiences for 3D apps and games. By the end of this Unity book, you will have created a complete game and built a solid foundation in using a wide variety of Unity tools. What you will learnExplore both C# and Visual Scripting tools to customize various aspects of a game, such as physics, gameplay, and the UIProgram rich shaders and effects using Unity's new Shader Graph and Universal Render PipelineImplement postprocessing to improve graphics quality with full-screen effectsCreate rich particle systems for your Unity games from scratch using VFX Graph and ShurikenAdd animations to your game using the Animator, Cinemachine, and TimelineUse the brand new UI Toolkit package to create user interfacesImplement game AI to control character behaviorWho this book is for This book is best suited for game developers looking to upgrade their knowledge and those who want to migrate their existing skills to the Unity game engine. Those with prior Unity knowledge will also benefit from the chapters exploring the latest features. While you’ll still able to follow along if you don’t have any programming experience, knowing the fundamentals of C# programming will help you get the most out of this book.




MMOs from the Inside Out


Book Description

This is an astonishing collection of ideas, information, and instruction from one of the true pioneers of Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games. MMOs from the Inside Out: The History, Design, Fun, and Art of Massively-Multiplayer Role-playing Games speaks to the designers and players of MMOs, taking it as axiomatic that such games are inspirational and boundless forces for good. The aim of this book is to enthuse an up-coming generation of designers, to inspire and educate players and designers-to-be, and to reinvigorate those already working in the field who might be wondering if it’s still all worthwhile. Playing MMOs is about fun, immersion, and identity. Creating MMOs is about imagination, expression, and art. MMOs are so packed with potential that today's examples are little more than small, pioneering colonies on the shore of a vast, uncharted continent. What wonders wait beyond the horizon? What treasures will explorers bring back to amaze us? MMOs from the Inside Out is for people with a spark of creativity: it pours gasoline on that spark. It: Explains what MMOs are, what they once were, and what they could – and should – become. Delves into why players play, and why designers design. Encourages, enthuses, enrages, engages, enlightens, envisions, and enchants. Doesn't tell you what to think, it tells you to think. What You Will Learn: Myriad ways to improve MMOs – and to decide for yourself whether these are improvements. What MMOs are; who plays them, and why. How MMOs became what they are, and what this means for what they will become. That you have it in you to make MMOs yourself. Whom This Book is For:MMOs from the Inside Out is a book for those who wish to know more about game design in general and MMO design in particular. It's for people who play MMOs, for people who design MMOs, and for people who study MMOs. It's for people with a yearning to see beyond the world around them and to make manifest the worlds of their imagination.