The Game Maker's Apprentice


Book Description

The Game Maker's Apprentice shows you how to create nine exciting games using the wildly popular Game Maker game creation tool. This book covers a range of genres, including action, adventure, and puzzle games--complete with professional quality sound effects and visuals. It discusses game design theory and features practical examples of how this can be applied to making games that are more fun to play. Game Maker allows games to be created using a simple drag-and-drop interface, so you don't need to have any prior coding experience. It includes an optional programming language for adding advanced features to your games, when you feel ready to do so. You can obtain more information by visiting book.gamemaker.nl. The authors include the creator of the Game Maker tool and a former professional game programmer, so you'll glean understanding from their expertise.




The Game Maker's Companion


Book Description

The Game Maker's Companion is the long-awaited sequel to The Game Maker's Apprentice. This book picks up where the last book left off, advancing your game development journey with some seriously impressive gaming projects. This time you'll learn how to make professional-quality platform games with solid collision detection and slick control mechanisms and you'll get acquainted with a long-lost icon of platform gaming history on the way. You'll go on to discover techniques to add depth and believability to the characters and stories in your games, including The Monomyth, cut scene storyboarding, and character archetypes. This culminates in the creation of an original atmospheric platform-adventure which will take your GML programming skills to new heights. There's even a handy reference section at the back of the book which will be invaluable for adding common features to your own games. With contributions from four games industry professionals and a highly respected member of the Game Maker community, The Game Maker's Companion is another labor of love that will give you even more hours of enjoyment than the original. If you already own Game Maker, then you really must own this book as well.




GameMaker Language: An In-Depth Guide [Soft Cover]


Book Description

Are you ready to build a game? GameMaker Studio is a professional development engine used to build games like Hyper Light Drifter, Death's Gambit, Risk of Rain, Valdis Story, Hotline Miami, and many more. These great games show the power of this tool but the very best part of GameMaker Studio is that it's one of the best places for new indie game developers to begin their journey. It is where I started and I have loved every second of it. Helping you on this journey is my goal with this book. With this book you will learn about GameMaker Language Lexical Structure, Data Types and Values, Variables, Arrays and Data Structures, Expressions and Operators, Statements, Scripts, Objects, Events, Game Audio, Development Patterns and Tricks, Surfaces and Particles, HUD and GUI Layer, Box2D Physics, Online Multiplayer, and Artificial Intelligence. Thank you for your support!




GameMaker Programming By Example


Book Description

Master the development of 2D games by learning to use the powerful GameMaker Language and tools provided by the GameMaker: Studio workspace and engine! About This Book Rapidly develop games using the powerful yet easy easy-to to-use GameMaker: Studio engine Comprehensive: This is a comprehensive guide to help you learn and implement GameMaker's features. Go through step-by-step tutorials to design and develop unique games Who This Book Is For If you have at least some basic programming experience of JavaScript or any other C-like languages, then this book will be great for you. No experience beyond that is assumed. If you have no game development experience and are looking for a hobby, are an experienced game developer looking to master some advanced features, or fit anywhere in that spectrum, then you will find GameMaker: Studio and this book to be very useful in helping you create exciting games. What You Will Learn Understand the GameMaker: Studio interface and tools to quickly create the various assets used in your games Translate some of the GameMaker: Studio drag and drop functions to the GameMaker language Create games with random elements for exciting gameplay Use the basic GameMaker file I/O and encryption systems Utilize the GameMaker networking functions to create multiplayer games Give AI routines to your enemies to make challenging gameplay Create particle systems to give your game exciting graphics Understand the various debugging techniques available in GameMaker: Studio In Detail This book is excellent resource for developers with any level of experience of GameMaker. At the start, we'll provide an overview of the basic use of GameMaker: Studio, and show you how to set up a basic game where you handle input and collisions in a top-down perspective game. We continue on to showcase its more advanced features via six different example projects. The first example game demonstrates platforming with file I/O, followed by animation, views, and multiplayer networking. The next game illustrates AI and particle systems, while the final one will get you started with the built-in Box2D physics engine. By the end of this book, you have mastered lots of powerful techniques that can be utilized in various 2D games. Style and approach A This step-by-step guide that follows and with details ons different topics throughout the creation of various examples.




One Up


Book Description

What explains the massive worldwide success of video games such as Fortnite, Minecraft, and Pokémon Go? Game companies and their popularity are poorly understood and often ignored from the standpoint of traditional business strategy. Yet this industry generates billions in revenue by thinking creatively about digital distribution, free-to-play content, and phenomena like e-sports and live streaming. What lessons can we draw from its major successes and failures about the future of entertainment? One Up offers a pioneering empirical analysis of innovation and strategy in the video game industry to explain how it has evolved from a fringe activity to become a mainstream form of entertainment. Joost van Dreunen, a widely recognized industry expert with over twenty years of experience, analyzes how game makers, publishers, and platform holders have tackled strategic challenges to make the video game industry what it is today. Using more than three decades of rigorously compiled industry data, he demonstrates that video game companies flourish when they bring the same level of creativity to business strategy that they bring to game design. Filled with case studies of companies such as Activision Blizzard, Apple, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Microsoft, Nexon, Sony, Take-Two Interactive, Tencent, and Valve, this book forces us to rethink common misconceptions around the emergence of digital and mobile gaming. One Up is required reading for investors, creatives, managers, and anyone looking to learn about the major drivers of change and growth in contemporary entertainment.




Wandmaker


Book Description

Magical fiction from the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Wandmaker's Guidebook! Magic is real -- and it runs in the family -- in this charming fantasy adventure about a boy who must balance his magical education with the demands of big-brotherhood, perfect for fans of Jenny Nimmo and Angie Sage.Henry Leach the Eighth doesn't know it yet, but he's descended from a long line of wandmakers. That means he has inherited mysterious powers, a trunk full of strange artifacts... and a whole host of problems.His biggest problem at the moment, however, is his little sister, Brianna. She's always had a special talent for getting in his way. And she takes troublemaking to new heights when she's caught in the crossfire of Henry's first major spell!Heartfelt, funny, and imaginative, Wandmaker is sure to leave young readers spellbound.




Sailmaker's Apprentice


Book Description

Learn how to design, make, repair, improve, and maintain sails If you want to produce sturdy sails for daysailing and cruising, built of low-tech materials you can repair with a few simple tools, The Sailmaker's Apprentice can show you how. Emphasizing the handwork that distinguishes the highest-quality, most durable sails, sail pro Emiliano Marino tells you how to select a rig, introduces you to sail shape and theory, and then shows you -- step by step, with the help of over 700 detailed illustrations -- how to sew patches, hand sew rings, fix tears or frayed edges, and stitch seams, not to mention how to make your own sails, canvas sailcovers, and sailbags from scratch. A visual feast for the sailor as well as an indispensable guide for the mariner comprehensive apprenticeship, this hands-on reference is an illustrated tour of the world's rig and sail types, contemporary and historical.




Game Development with GameMaker Studio 2


Book Description

Create games from start to finish while learning game design and programming principles using the GameMaker Studio 2 game engine and GameMaker Language (GML). Game Development with GameMaker Studio 2 covers all aspects of game design and development from the initial idea to the final release, using an award-winning game engine. You learn how to create real-world video games based on classic and legendary video game genres. Each game project introduces and explains concepts of game development and design and coding principles, allowing you to build a wide set of skills while creating an exciting portfolio to kick-start a career in game development. Author Sebastiano Cossu teaches you to design levels in your games, draw sprites to populate your virtual worlds, program game objects for interaction with the player, incorporate custom music and sound effects, build GUIs for your menus and game interfaces, and support keyboard, mouse, and gamepad controls in your projects. He shows you how to build cross-platform games to run on all desktop platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac OS) and publish them on the most popular game stores such as Steam, GOG, Humble Store, and Itch.io. What You’ll Learn Create games for different genresMaster GameMaker Language (GML) programmingApply game design principlesDelve into game programming patterns Who This Book is For Video game enthusiasts interested in game development and design. No prior programming experience is required.




The Toymaker's Apprentice


Book Description

A gorgeously imagined Nutcracker retelling from award-winning author making her middle-grade debut Stefan Drosselmeyer is a reluctant apprentice to his toymaker father until the day his world is turned upside down. His father is kidnapped and Stefan is enlisted by his mysterious cousin, Christian Drosselmeyer, to find a mythical nut to save a princess who has been turned into a wooden doll. Embarking on a wild adventure through Germany, Stefan must save Boldavia’s princess and his own father from the fanatical Mouse Queen and her seven-headed Mouse Prince, both of whom have sworn to destroy the Drosselmeyer family. Based on the original inspiration for the Nutcracker ballet, Sherri L. Smith brings the Nutcracker Prince to life in this fascinating journey into a world of toymaking, magical curses, clockmaking guilds, talking mice and erudite squirrels.




The Cheesemaker's Apprentice


Book Description

DIVHow to Make Your Own Handcrafted Cheese/divDIVLearn to make cheese from the masters. Pick up the fundamentals of cheese making, and then gain behind-the-scenes insight from 19 interviews with industry experts. This apprenticeship will teach you to take control of your ingredients and processes. Your results will be delicious./divDIVInside:/divDIV· All the basics you need to get started: ingredients, equipment, taxonomy, techniques, process, and how it works/divDIV· 16 illustrated, step-by-step recipes—for fresh cheese, washed curd, grana-style, blue cheese, and more—that will build your skills/divDIV· In-depth interviews on everything from the microbiology of cheese to making it to selling it—how cheese works, and how to make it work for you/divDIV· Tricks of the trade from experts on mozzarella, Cheddar,Comté, Parmigiano Reggiano, Stilton, and more/divDIV· Tips on selecting, handling, storing, tasting, and pairing cheese, so it will be presented perfectly whether your goal is to make it at home, sell it, or simply enjoy it/div