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 Customer Reviews
Paul Hollywood, 05 Nov 2008
I am the Creative Director at one of the best games development studios in the world.
If you too want a career, or are just starting out, in the games industry as an artist this, book will get you there quicker.
Everything you need to know is in this one book, very clear and well explained tutorials.
If fact this book is so useful I wish it had been written when I started 20 years ago...
A must for any one interested in making game media, 04 Nov 2008
If you want to get into the game industry or just a hobbiest this is the book to have, Full of essential tips for beginners and experts alike. There are detailed tutorials on modelling, texturing and rendering including essential information on what to include in your portfolio and what art directors are looking for in candiates.
Combined with the books website I have seen a definate improvement in my modelling and am beginning to put together a portfolio of quality models.Its the best purchase I have made this year.
Best book for 3ds Max you will find, 02 Nov 2008
I have started reading the book and doing the tutorials. So far it's
explained everything really well especially with the reference pictures. I have already used 3ds Max before but reading this found shorcuts and loads i didn't know, if you are starting 3ds Max or already know how to use I definatly advise you to get it. *****
A must read., 20 Oct 2008
A must read for any artist wishing to enter the games industry. This book will help you develop the specific skills you will need to become a successful 3d game artist. The book has a variety of easy to follow tutorials that cover all the main aspects of creating content for games and will show you how to do this in an efficient and focused way. By the time you worked through this book you will have gained a valuable insight into workflows and techniques that are required in the games industry and should have developed your portfolio to show this off.
Highly Recommended, 20 Oct 2008
This is a great book, and highly recommended for anyone looking for an insight into the working practices of the games industry.
It contains everything you need to know to be able to produce high quality 3D models, with loads of really useful info, specifically relevant for games production.
There's a load of in-depth, and very easy to understand tutorials covering a wide range of topics. Initially guiding you through the basic fundamentals of low-poly modelling and texturing, through to more complex `next-gen' techniques such as normal mapping.
The 3D modelling aspect of the book focuses primarily on max but I found that many of the principles are relevant to all 3D packages
The DVD is also extremely useful, with relevant max files and example assets for all the tutorials, and tons of photo reference to allow you to jump straight in and make your own models!
This book will prove invaluable to any aspiring 3d artist and is full of useful information for anyone looking to develop a portfolio in order to get a job in the games industry.
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Customer Reviews
Paul Hollywood, 05 Nov 2008
I am the Creative Director at one of the best games development studios in the world.
If you too want a career, or are just starting out, in the games industry as an artist this, book will get you there quicker.
Everything you need to know is in this one book, very clear and well explained tutorials.
If fact this book is so useful I wish it had been written when I started 20 years ago...
A must for any one interested in making game media, 04 Nov 2008
If you want to get into the game industry or just a hobbiest this is the book to have, Full of essential tips for beginners and experts alike. There are detailed tutorials on modelling, texturing and rendering including essential information on what to include in your portfolio and what art directors are looking for in candiates.
Combined with the books website I have seen a definate improvement in my modelling and am beginning to put together a portfolio of quality models.Its the best purchase I have made this year.
Best book for 3ds Max you will find, 02 Nov 2008
I have started reading the book and doing the tutorials. So far it's
explained everything really well especially with the reference pictures. I have already used 3ds Max before but reading this found shorcuts and loads i didn't know, if you are starting 3ds Max or already know how to use I definatly advise you to get it. *****
A must read., 20 Oct 2008
A must read for any artist wishing to enter the games industry. This book will help you develop the specific skills you will need to become a successful 3d game artist. The book has a variety of easy to follow tutorials that cover all the main aspects of creating content for games and will show you how to do this in an efficient and focused way. By the time you worked through this book you will have gained a valuable insight into workflows and techniques that are required in the games industry and should have developed your portfolio to show this off.
Highly Recommended, 20 Oct 2008
This is a great book, and highly recommended for anyone looking for an insight into the working practices of the games industry.
It contains everything you need to know to be able to produce high quality 3D models, with loads of really useful info, specifically relevant for games production.
There's a load of in-depth, and very easy to understand tutorials covering a wide range of topics. Initially guiding you through the basic fundamentals of low-poly modelling and texturing, through to more complex `next-gen' techniques such as normal mapping.
The 3D modelling aspect of the book focuses primarily on max but I found that many of the principles are relevant to all 3D packages
The DVD is also extremely useful, with relevant max files and example assets for all the tutorials, and tons of photo reference to allow you to jump straight in and make your own models!
This book will prove invaluable to any aspiring 3d artist and is full of useful information for anyone looking to develop a portfolio in order to get a job in the games industry.
Great for getting into AS3 games, 30 Mar 2008
I have read G.R.'s old Director book and it helped me a lot then, so with no thought I put up a pre-order on this book. I knew if I was going to have a chance to learn AS3 as an old Lingo-dude, this was the time.
It arrived and I could see it was written in the exact same way as the old Lingo book. Though its about AS3.
If you are a designer or no top programmer, then this book is great, it will get you into AS3 fast!, and then you can always buy one of the other university books like "Advanced Actionscript 3 with Design Patterns".
But start with this. Its written in a great language and show the stuff that gets you there. Its not just about games, but a way of making AS3, which you will take with you into the other projects you make.
Thumbs up for Gary, also visit his book related website: http://www.flashgameu.com/
He writes tutorials and answer questions there.
Okay Book, 14 Feb 2008
This book contains some nice effects and has a good way of describing game physics.
The code is not object orientated and I would suggest other books to supplement this if you are new to AS3.
I get the feeling that the author has not adapted from AS1/AS2 and is not experienced in general computing. There are several bad practices in this book. These practices are the ones that stop AS and flash from being taken seriously.
An AS3 primer in sheeps clothing?, 05 Nov 2007
Although I have years of game programming experience, I had absolutely no AS3 experience at all - so I figured this book would be a good way to show me game techniques in AS3.
It starts off with a nice and easy introduction to AS3, covering the basics such as classes, packages, imports and splitting your scripts up. It then goes through a variety of "Game Elements" such as timers, keyboard and mouse interaction, collision and external data. This all makes sense and is well written, if a little sparse on the details in places. For example the first few chapters explain how the book is going to pretty much place the entire games into a single class, yet the "Game Element" scripts are written as pure functions meant to be dropped onto the timeline - I'd have preferred to see them as classes you could run stand-alone, but it's a minor detail.
Chapter 3 starts with the games proper, kicking off with a 'Matching Pairs of Cards' game. Gary quickly gets the basic game up and running, but it is nice that he didn't leave it here - instead he enhances the game with a timer, card reveal animation, scoring and sound effects. This is a good technique and one I appreciated.
Chapter 4 moved onto Memory games (think Simple Simon, Master Mind, etc) which seemed to serve more as a vessel for explaining how arrays work than a fully fledged game.
Chapter 5 is really about Time Based animation (vs. event/frame based). This is demonstrated via a simple shoot-em-up and a Breakout game. Both are extremely basic, which doesn't matter so much as they serve their purpose, but it would have been nice to see the Breakout game enhanced especially.
Chapter 6 is about bitmaps and manipulating them (demonstrated via a Sliding Puzzle and Jigsaw games). The Jigsaw game was disappointing in that it didn't cover how to make the pieces look like jigsaw pieces. But the bare essentials are there.
Chapter 7 introduces rotation and the math involved. It takes the Air Raid game from earlier and enhances it slightly, and also creates a basic Asteroids clone. Everything is done via pretty basic trig (sin/cos).
Chapter 8 shows off a "re-usable class" that creates a point burst effect. This is a good idea and to be honest should have been used more through-out the book (the idea, not the point-burst). This chapter also covers making a Bejewled style game - which I was pleased to see, because although simple on the surface there are a lot of logic steps involved, which are all covered. A few game modifications are suggested at the end, but not gone into.
Chapter 9 covers Word Games, which is pretty much a tutorial on using Strings and Text Fields. The resulting Hangman and Word Search games are somewhat lacking in the 'fun' factor, but useful primers all the same.
Chapter 10 is the 'Quiz Game' part - and it covers multiple choice quizes, extending them out to include pictures and a 'deluxe quiz' mode. The quiz data is all sucked in from an XML file, so a large portion of the chapter goes towards covering this.
Chapter 11 is a Platform Game. You control a character, you run and jump, collect a couple of items, land on a few baddies heads and try to find the exit. It's a very simple game and this is a tiny chapter overall in the book - which I found surprising given that platform games are generally extremely complex when done properly. This isn't really done properly and reads like filler to me. The levels are built entirely within the Flash IDE, block by block. Each block is then 'read' by the AS so a rudimentary collision system can be constructed. The hero and baddies are inserted and that's pretty much it. The jumping of the hero is particularly bad, the collision is also a little suspect. I imagine a younger wannabe Flash game developer would love to create a Flash Mario affair, but sadly this goes about it in entirely the wrong way. You get a platform game at the end of the chapter, sure, but it isn't a very good one.
The final Chapter covers two racing games. Both are overhead, one similar to Super Sprint, the other like the original GTA, but with a trash collector. The end result is quite fun, but I do still worry about the scalability of the approaches used in building each game.
Overall if you are either brand new to game development, or AS3 (or both!) then this book is a good starting place. It certainly won't answer all of your questions, and some of the techniques offered are definitely lacking in scalability - but you will have fun following the steps and making the games.
The downside is that if you have any game dev experience (even on just a casual basis) then the majority of the 'core game logic' offered here will have been relatively obvious to you anyway, and only the AS3 and Flash specific oddities will be relevant. You won't learn any advanced game making tricks - none of the games in the book ever have more than a handful of sprites moving at once. So if you wanted to re-create Geometry Wars for example you will probably run into serious CPU issues *fast* because you haven't been taught how to optimise Flash based games at all. This is most evident in the platform game chapter.
The Math offered is very rudimentary and you'll get only the most basic of results from it. I strongly recommend the Keith Peters book "Foundation AS3 Animation" - that deals with animation in much more detail, covering everything from decent collision to re-bound effects, gravity, rotation, intersection and real-world physics.
However AS3 Game Programming University is a good book. It's enjoyable to read, the source code is available online and Gary runs an interesting blog worth adding to your feed reader. I still can't help but feeling that the book serves more as a "Learn basic AS3 via some simple games", than a real game development book in its own right.
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Customer Reviews
Paul Hollywood, 05 Nov 2008
I am the Creative Director at one of the best games development studios in the world.
If you too want a career, or are just starting out, in the games industry as an artist this, book will get you there quicker.
Everything you need to know is in this one book, very clear and well explained tutorials.
If fact this book is so useful I wish it had been written when I started 20 years ago...
A must for any one interested in making game media, 04 Nov 2008
If you want to get into the game industry or just a hobbiest this is the book to have, Full of essential tips for beginners and experts alike. There are detailed tutorials on modelling, texturing and rendering including essential information on what to include in your portfolio and what art directors are looking for in candiates.
Combined with the books website I have seen a definate improvement in my modelling and am beginning to put together a portfolio of quality models.Its the best purchase I have made this year.
Best book for 3ds Max you will find, 02 Nov 2008
I have started reading the book and doing the tutorials. So far it's
explained everything really well especially with the reference pictures. I have already used 3ds Max before but reading this found shorcuts and loads i didn't know, if you are starting 3ds Max or already know how to use I definatly advise you to get it. *****
A must read., 20 Oct 2008
A must read for any artist wishing to enter the games industry. This book will help you develop the specific skills you will need to become a successful 3d game artist. The book has a variety of easy to follow tutorials that cover all the main aspects of creating content for games and will show you how to do this in an efficient and focused way. By the time you worked through this book you will have gained a valuable insight into workflows and techniques that are required in the games industry and should have developed your portfolio to show this off.
Highly Recommended, 20 Oct 2008
This is a great book, and highly recommended for anyone looking for an insight into the working practices of the games industry.
It contains everything you need to know to be able to produce high quality 3D models, with loads of really useful info, specifically relevant for games production.
There's a load of in-depth, and very easy to understand tutorials covering a wide range of topics. Initially guiding you through the basic fundamentals of low-poly modelling and texturing, through to more complex `next-gen' techniques such as normal mapping.
The 3D modelling aspect of the book focuses primarily on max but I found that many of the principles are relevant to all 3D packages
The DVD is also extremely useful, with relevant max files and example assets for all the tutorials, and tons of photo reference to allow you to jump straight in and make your own models!
This book will prove invaluable to any aspiring 3d artist and is full of useful information for anyone looking to develop a portfolio in order to get a job in the games industry.
Great for getting into AS3 games, 30 Mar 2008
I have read G.R.'s old Director book and it helped me a lot then, so with no thought I put up a pre-order on this book. I knew if I was going to have a chance to learn AS3 as an old Lingo-dude, this was the time.
It arrived and I could see it was written in the exact same way as the old Lingo book. Though its about AS3.
If you are a designer or no top programmer, then this book is great, it will get you into AS3 fast!, and then you can always buy one of the other university books like "Advanced Actionscript 3 with Design Patterns".
But start with this. Its written in a great language and show the stuff that gets you there. Its not just about games, but a way of making AS3, which you will take with you into the other projects you make.
Thumbs up for Gary, also visit his book related website: http://www.flashgameu.com/
He writes tutorials and answer questions there.
Okay Book, 14 Feb 2008
This book contains some nice effects and has a good way of describing game physics.
The code is not object orientated and I would suggest other books to supplement this if you are new to AS3.
I get the feeling that the author has not adapted from AS1/AS2 and is not experienced in general computing. There are several bad practices in this book. These practices are the ones that stop AS and flash from being taken seriously.
An AS3 primer in sheeps clothing?, 05 Nov 2007
Although I have years of game programming experience, I had absolutely no AS3 experience at all - so I figured this book would be a good way to show me game techniques in AS3.
It starts off with a nice and easy introduction to AS3, covering the basics such as classes, packages, imports and splitting your scripts up. It then goes through a variety of "Game Elements" such as timers, keyboard and mouse interaction, collision and external data. This all makes sense and is well written, if a little sparse on the details in places. For example the first few chapters explain how the book is going to pretty much place the entire games into a single class, yet the "Game Element" scripts are written as pure functions meant to be dropped onto the timeline - I'd have preferred to see them as classes you could run stand-alone, but it's a minor detail.
Chapter 3 starts with the games proper, kicking off with a 'Matching Pairs of Cards' game. Gary quickly gets the basic game up and running, but it is nice that he didn't leave it here - instead he enhances the game with a timer, card reveal animation, scoring and sound effects. This is a good technique and one I appreciated.
Chapter 4 moved onto Memory games (think Simple Simon, Master Mind, etc) which seemed to serve more as a vessel for explaining how arrays work than a fully fledged game.
Chapter 5 is really about Time Based animation (vs. event/frame based). This is demonstrated via a simple shoot-em-up and a Breakout game. Both are extremely basic, which doesn't matter so much as they serve their purpose, but it would have been nice to see the Breakout game enhanced especially.
Chapter 6 is about bitmaps and manipulating them (demonstrated via a Sliding Puzzle and Jigsaw games). The Jigsaw game was disappointing in that it didn't cover how to make the pieces look like jigsaw pieces. But the bare essentials are there.
Chapter 7 introduces rotation and the math involved. It takes the Air Raid game from earlier and enhances it slightly, and also creates a basic Asteroids clone. Everything is done via pretty basic trig (sin/cos).
Chapter 8 shows off a "re-usable class" that creates a point burst effect. This is a good idea and to be honest should have been used more through-out the book (the idea, not the point-burst). This chapter also covers making a Bejewled style game - which I was pleased to see, because although simple on the surface there are a lot of logic steps involved, which are all covered. A few game modifications are suggested at the end, but not gone into.
Chapter 9 covers Word Games, which is pretty much a tutorial on using Strings and Text Fields. The resulting Hangman and Word Search games are somewhat lacking in the 'fun' factor, but useful primers all the same.
Chapter 10 is the 'Quiz Game' part - and it covers multiple choice quizes, extending them out to include pictures and a 'deluxe quiz' mode. The quiz data is all sucked in from an XML file, so a large portion of the chapter goes towards covering this.
Chapter 11 is a Platform Game. You control a character, you run and jump, collect a couple of items, land on a few baddies heads and try to find the exit. It's a very simple game and this is a tiny chapter overall in the book - which I found surprising given that platform games are generally extremely complex when done properly. This isn't really done properly and reads like filler to me. The levels are built entirely within the Flash IDE, block by block. Each block is then 'read' by the AS so a rudimentary collision system can be constructed. The hero and baddies are inserted and that's pretty much it. The jumping of the hero is particularly bad, the collision is also a little suspect. I imagine a younger wannabe Flash game developer would love to create a Flash Mario affair, but sadly this goes about it in entirely the wrong way. You get a platform game at the end of the chapter, sure, but it isn't a very good one.
The final Chapter covers two racing games. Both are overhead, one similar to Super Sprint, the other like the original GTA, but with a trash collector. The end result is quite fun, but I do still worry about the scalability of the approaches used in building each game.
Overall if you are either brand new to game development, or AS3 (or both!) then this book is a good starting place. It certainly won't answer all of your questions, and some of the techniques offered are definitely lacking in scalability - but you will have fun following the steps and making the games.
The downside is that if you have any game dev experience (even on just a casual basis) then the majority of the 'core game logic' offered here will have been relatively obvious to you anyway, and only the AS3 and Flash specific oddities will be relevant. You won't learn any advanced game making tricks - none of the games in the book ever have more than a handful of sprites moving at once. So if you wanted to re-create Geometry Wars for example you will probably run into serious CPU issues *fast* because you haven't been taught how to optimise Flash based games at all. This is most evident in the platform game chapter.
The Math offered is very rudimentary and you'll get only the most basic of results from it. I strongly recommend the Keith Peters book "Foundation AS3 Animation" - that deals with animation in much more detail, covering everything from decent collision to re-bound effects, gravity, rotation, intersection and real-world physics.
However AS3 Game Programming University is a good book. It's enjoyable to read, the source code is available online and Gary runs an interesting blog worth adding to your feed reader. I still can't help but feeling that the book serves more as a "Learn basic AS3 via some simple games", than a real game development book in its own right.
An excellent introduction to games programming, 19 Jul 2007
If you are new to games programming then this is a book for you.
Each chapter has a different games to create or try-out (with the complete code on the enclosed CD just in case).
As you would expect each game is more complex to create than the last one, but the book contains very detailed explanations on why certain keys are used or objects included.
Those who are more familiar with the basics of game programming will still probably find the "game maker" engine extremely useful and perhaps better than some others on the market.
Only downside is that the enclosed game maker engine is not a registered version, and costs around £10 to convert it to the latest version.
Overall the book is a very good guide to games programming.
Game Making Simplicity and Strength at its Best ! , 24 Jul 2006
The Game Maker's Apprentice has to be one of my most eagerly awaited Computer Book purchases for quite sometime. The fabulous presentation and great use of terminology, really makes it a joy to read. Each chapter guides you through gently, in order to achieve more confidence into creating your own game or project. Each page is colourful and the beautiful illustrations brings things to life.
The book is accompanied by a great CD with all of the examples, resources and Game Maker itself, which is really easy to get into. Within no time at all, you'll get used to it's interface and workings. The tutorials start you off with the basics and progressively bring you to the wonderfully powerful Game Maker Language (GML). So not only can you create games using a Drag 'n' Drop interface, you can also use a powerful programming language as well. All of this is included in the unregistered version, but by paying an ever so reasonable registration fee, you unlock the full potential of Game Maker.
I used Game Maker to create my first ever PC game, Bugsy. The Game Maker Forum helped me out when I came across a problem or a bug I couldn't resolve. There a lots of games and projects created with this wonderful program. You will also find many other sites across the Internet that provide helpful advice and tutorials. Not forgetting the official Game Maker site run and hosted by Mark Overmars.
The books co-writer, Jacob Habgood, has made a marvellous job along side Mark, to make this a very interesting book indeed.
You might also be interested to know, that another book covering the Game Maker theme, Basic Game Design and Creation by Namu Swamy is available as well. This also brings you to the Game Maker stable to learn some very easy steps into the basics of game design without it appearing too boring or tiresome.
Your gaming ideas and projects start here !
a good book and tool!, 19 Jul 2006
I think it's a good book not only for beginners but also for the designers who have no programming background to boarden their knowlege of programming. As game development is an iterative process,I suppose the Game Makers is also a good tools to build a prototype to test design ideas.The book teach
you step by step which will significantly facilitate learning.
Makes learning fun!, 11 Jul 2006
Together with the Gamemaker software, The Game Maker's Apprentice provides an excellent introduction to world of digital game making!
Contained in the book are several clear, step-by-step examples of of game construction, from simple shooter games to those with more sophisticated concepts. The examples are written to be accessible to anyone and no programming knowledge or skills are required to build interesting and fun digital games! Best of all, the text encourages game makers to experiment with concepts and build their own games!
Thoroughly recommended for any novice wishing to quickly and simply make their own games or to learn the basics of computer game programming!
An excellent introduction to Computer Games design and programming., 18 Apr 2006
The Game Maker's apprentice is an engaging and accessible introduction to the fascinating world of Computer Game design.
Each chapter uses a hands on approach, creating example games in the free Gamemaker software, that allows the reader to build up a broad toolkit of games design skills. New programming structures are introduced in a clear and simple way, always accompanied by examples.
I have used this book to teach Games design to secondary pupils and they have found it very entertaining as well as technically challenging.
I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anybody who would like to try designing their own games or would like to teach Games Design to a group of students. The methodologies and design approaches used are transferable to any other programming environment that the reader may wish to progress to at a later stage.
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Customer Reviews
Paul Hollywood, 05 Nov 2008
I am the Creative Director at one of the best games development studios in the world.
If you too want a career, or are just starting out, in the games industry as an artist this, book will get you there quicker.
Everything you need to know is in this one book, very clear and well explained tutorials.
If fact this book is so useful I wish it had been written when I started 20 years ago...
A must for any one interested in making game media, 04 Nov 2008
If you want to get into the game industry or just a hobbiest this is the book to have, Full of essential tips for beginners and experts alike. There are detailed tutorials on modelling, texturing and rendering including essential information on what to include in your portfolio and what art directors are looking for in candiates.
Combined with the books website I have seen a definate improvement in my modelling and am beginning to put together a portfolio of quality models.Its the best purchase I have made this year.
Best book for 3ds Max you will find, 02 Nov 2008
I have started reading the book and doing the tutorials. So far it's
explained everything really well especially with the reference pictures. I have already used 3ds Max before but reading this found shorcuts and loads i didn't know, if you are starting 3ds Max or already know how to use I definatly advise you to get it. *****
A must read., 20 Oct 2008
A must read for any artist wishing to enter the games industry. This book will help you develop the specific skills you will need to become a successful 3d game artist. The book has a variety of easy to follow tutorials that cover all the main aspects of creating content for games and will show you how to do this in an efficient and focused way. By the time you worked through this book you will have gained a valuable insight into workflows and techniques that are required in the games industry and should have developed your portfolio to show this off.
Highly Recommended, 20 Oct 2008
This is a great book, and highly recommended for anyone looking for an insight into the working practices of the games industry.
It contains everything you need to know to be able to produce high quality 3D models, with loads of really useful info, specifically relevant for games production.
There's a load of in-depth, and very easy to understand tutorials covering a wide range of topics. Initially guiding you through the basic fundamentals of low-poly modelling and texturing, through to more complex `next-gen' techniques such as normal mapping.
The 3D modelling aspect of the book focuses primarily on max but I found that many of the principles are relevant to all 3D packages
The DVD is also extremely useful, with relevant max files and example assets for all the tutorials, and tons of photo reference to allow you to jump straight in and make your own models!
This book will prove invaluable to any aspiring 3d artist and is full of useful information for anyone looking to develop a portfolio in order to get a job in the games industry.
Great for getting into AS3 games, 30 Mar 2008
I have read G.R.'s old Director book and it helped me a lot then, so with no thought I put up a pre-order on this book. I knew if I was going to have a chance to learn AS3 as an old Lingo-dude, this was the time.
It arrived and I could see it was written in the exact same way as the old Lingo book. Though its about AS3.
If you are a designer or no top programmer, then this book is great, it will get you into AS3 fast!, and then you can always buy one of the other university books like "Advanced Actionscript 3 with Design Patterns".
But start with this. Its written in a great language and show the stuff that gets you there. Its not just about games, but a way of making AS3, which you will take with you into the other projects you make.
Thumbs up for Gary, also visit his book related website: http://www.flashgameu.com/
He writes tutorials and answer questions there.
Okay Book, 14 Feb 2008
This book contains some nice effects and has a good way of describing game physics.
The code is not object orientated and I would suggest other books to supplement this if you are new to AS3.
I get the feeling that the author has not adapted from AS1/AS2 and is not experienced in general computing. There are several bad practices in this book. These practices are the ones that stop AS and flash from being taken seriously.
An AS3 primer in sheeps clothing?, 05 Nov 2007
Although I have years of game programming experience, I had absolutely no AS3 experience at all - so I figured this book would be a good way to show me game techniques in AS3.
It starts off with a nice and easy introduction to AS3, covering the basics such as classes, packages, imports and splitting your scripts up. It then goes through a variety of "Game Elements" such as timers, keyboard and mouse interaction, collision and external data. This all makes sense and is well written, if a little sparse on the details in places. For example the first few chapters explain how the book is going to pretty much place the entire games into a single class, yet the "Game Element" scripts are written as pure functions meant to be dropped onto the timeline - I'd have preferred to see them as classes you could run stand-alone, but it's a minor detail.
Chapter 3 starts with the games proper, kicking off with a 'Matching Pairs of Cards' game. Gary quickly gets the basic game up and running, but it is nice that he didn't leave it here - instead he enhances the game with a timer, card reveal animation, scoring and sound effects. This is a good technique and one I appreciated.
Chapter 4 moved onto Memory games (think Simple Simon, Master Mind, etc) which seemed to serve more as a vessel for explaining how arrays work than a fully fledged game.
Chapter 5 is really about Time Based animation (vs. event/frame based). This is demonstrated via a simple shoot-em-up and a Breakout game. Both are extremely basic, which doesn't matter so much as they serve their purpose, but it would have been nice to see the Breakout game enhanced especially.
Chapter 6 is about bitmaps and manipulating them (demonstrated via a Sliding Puzzle and Jigsaw games). The Jigsaw game was disappointing in that it didn't cover how to make the pieces look like jigsaw pieces. But the bare essentials are there.
Chapter 7 introduces rotation and the math involved. It takes the Air Raid game from earlier and enhances it slightly, and also creates a basic Asteroids clone. Everything is done via pretty basic trig (sin/cos).
Chapter 8 shows off a "re-usable class" that creates a point burst effect. This is a good idea and to be honest should have been used more through-out the book (the idea, not the point-burst). This chapter also covers making a Bejewled style game - which I was pleased to see, because although simple on the surface there are a lot of logic steps involved, which are all covered. A few game modifications are suggested at the end, but not gone into.
Chapter 9 covers Word Games, which is pretty much a tutorial on using Strings and Text Fields. The resulting Hangman and Word Search games are somewhat lacking in the 'fun' factor, but useful primers all the same.
Chapter 10 is the 'Quiz Game' part - and it covers multiple choice quizes, extending them out to include pictures and a 'deluxe quiz' mode. The quiz data is all sucked in from an XML file, so a large portion of the chapter goes towards covering this.
Chapter 11 is a Platform Game. You control a character, you run and jump, collect a couple of items, land on a few baddies heads and try to find the exit. It's a very simple game and this is a tiny chapter overall in the book - which I found surprising given that platform games are generally extremely complex when done properly. This isn't really done properly and reads like filler to me. The levels are built entirely within the Flash IDE, block by block. Each block is then 'read' by the AS so a rudimentary collision system can be constructed. The hero and baddies are inserted and that's pretty much it. The jumping of the hero is particularly bad, the collision is also a little suspect. I imagine a younger wannabe Flash game developer would love to create a Flash Mario affair, but sadly this goes about it in entirely the wrong way. You get a platform game at the end of the chapter, sure, but it isn't a very good one.
The final Chapter covers two racing games. Both are overhead, one similar to Super Sprint, the other like the original GTA, but with a trash collector. The end result is quite fun, but I do still worry about the scalability of the approaches used in building each game.
Overall if you are either brand new to game development, or AS3 (or both!) then this book is a good starting place. It certainly won't answer all of your questions, and some of the techniques offered are definitely lacking in scalability - but you will have fun following the steps and making the games.
The downside is that if you have any game dev experience (even on just a casual basis) then the majority of the 'core game logic' offered here will have been relatively obvious to you anyway, and only the AS3 and Flash specific oddities will be relevant. You won't learn any advanced game making tricks - none of the games in the book ever have more than a handful of sprites moving at once. So if you wanted to re-create Geometry Wars for example you will probably run into serious CPU issues *fast* because you haven't been taught how to optimise Flash based games at all. This is most evident in the platform game chapter.
The Math offered is very rudimentary and you'll get only the most basic of results from it. I strongly recommend the Keith Peters book "Foundation AS3 Animation" - that deals with animation in much more detail, covering everything from decent collision to re-bound effects, gravity, rotation, intersection and real-world physics.
However AS3 Game Programming University is a good book. It's enjoyable to read, the source code is available online and Gary runs an interesting blog worth adding to your feed reader. I still can't help but feeling that the book serves more as a "Learn basic AS3 via some simple games", than a real game development book in its own right.
An excellent introduction to games programming, 19 Jul 2007
If you are new to games programming then this is a book for you.
Each chapter has a different games to create or try-out (with the complete code on the enclosed CD just in case).
As you would expect each game is more complex to create than the last one, but the book contains very detailed explanations on why certain keys are used or objects included.
Those who are more familiar with the basics of game programming will still probably find the "game maker" engine extremely useful and perhaps better than some others on the market.
Only downside is that the enclosed game maker engine is not a registered version, and costs around £10 to convert it to the latest version.
Overall the book is a very good guide to games programming.
Game Making Simplicity and Strength at its Best ! , 24 Jul 2006
The Game Maker's Apprentice has to be one of my most eagerly awaited Computer Book purchases for quite sometime. The fabulous presentation and great use of terminology, really makes it a joy to read. Each chapter guides you through gently, in order to achieve more confidence into creating your own game or project. Each page is colourful and the beautiful illustrations brings things to life.
The book is accompanied by a great CD with all of the examples, resources and Game Maker itself, which is really easy to get into. Within no time at all, you'll get used to it's interface and workings. The tutorials start you off with the basics and progressively bring you to the wonderfully powerful Game Maker Language (GML). So not only can you create games using a Drag 'n' Drop interface, you can also use a powerful programming language as well. All of this is included in the unregistered version, but by paying an ever so reasonable registration fee, you unlock the full potential of Game Maker.
I used Game Maker to create my first ever PC game, Bugsy. The Game Maker Forum helped me out when I came across a problem or a bug I couldn't resolve. There a lots of games and projects created with this wonderful program. You will also find many other sites across the Internet that provide helpful advice and tutorials. Not forgetting the official Game Maker site run and hosted by Mark Overmars.
The books co-writer, Jacob Habgood, has made a marvellous job along side Mark, to make this a very interesting book indeed.
You might also be interested to know, that another book covering the Game Maker theme, Basic Game Design and Creation by Namu Swamy is available as well. This also brings you to the Game Maker stable to learn some very easy steps into the basics of game design without it appearing too boring or tiresome.
Your gaming ideas and projects start here !
a good book and tool!, 19 Jul 2006
I think it's a good book not only for beginners but also for the designers who have no programming background to boarden their knowlege of programming. As game development is an iterative process,I suppose the Game Makers is also a good tools to build a prototype to test design ideas.The book teach
you step by step which will significantly facilitate learning.
Makes learning fun!, 11 Jul 2006
Together with the Gamemaker software, The Game Maker's Apprentice provides an excellent introduction to world of digital game making!
Contained in the book are several clear, step-by-step examples of of game construction, from simple shooter games to those with more sophisticated concepts. The examples are written to be accessible to anyone and no programming knowledge or skills are required to build interesting and fun digital games! Best of all, the text encourages game makers to experiment with concepts and build their own games!
Thoroughly recommended for any novice wishing to quickly and simply make their own games or to learn the basics of computer game programming!
An excellent introduction to Computer Games design and programming., 18 Apr 2006
The Game Maker's apprentice is an engaging and accessible introduction to the fascinating world of Computer Game design.
Each chapter uses a hands on approach, creating example games in the free Gamemaker software, that allows the reader to build up a broad toolkit of games design skills. New programming structures are introduced in a clear and simple way, always accompanied by examples.
I have used this book to teach Games design to secondary pupils and they have found it very entertaining as well as technically challenging.
I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anybody who would like to try designing their own games or would like to teach Games Design to a group of students. The methodologies and design approaches used are transferable to any other programming environment that the reader may wish to progress to at a later stage.
Great book!, 26 Aug 2008
I have to say this is a brilliant book. I would definately recommend it to anyone who is interested in XNA games development.
It covers a all the main features of XNA in detail and is very easy to understand.
Excellent, 16 Aug 2008
This book is just great. There is so much in there and it is so well organized that probably makes it the best XNA book around. More often than not you'll find yourself saying "wow, this is what I've been looking for".
Maybe this book is not for the absolute beginner since it doesn't follow the traditional "linear" approach usually seen in beginners books, but if you have a basic understanding of XNA you'll get along just fine. You can always check the tutorials on the author's website at www.riemers.net in order to get a solid base.
If I had to pick a single XNA reference, this book would be it.
Great XNA Book, 12 Aug 2008
Excellent book that guides the reader through the maze of xna following a great problem solving approach.
Very interesting even for those already follows the online tutorial.
Great book for both beginner and intermediate, 17 Jul 2008
I have followed Riemer's site pretty much as soon as he started publishing articles on XNA and loved all his on line tutorials as they gave a good base for those of us starting out and also enough for us to be getting on with once we got past those first early stages.
I am pleased to say that the book is no different in this achievement, each Recipe has enough detail and information for you to pickup the techniques.
I am also astounded as to how much is in here, from the basic data storage in XNA, on to cameras, game components, dealing with models and then onto the usage of vertices's, HLSL, the list goes on!
Great site, great book.
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Customer Reviews
Paul Hollywood, 05 Nov 2008
I am the Creative Director at one of the best games development studios in the world.
If you too want a career, or are just starting out, in the games industry as an artist this, book will get you there quicker.
Everything you need to know is in this one book, very clear and well explained tutorials.
If fact this book is so useful I wish it had been written when I started 20 years ago...
A must for any one interested in making game media, 04 Nov 2008
If you want to get into the game industry or just a hobbiest this is the book to have, Full of essential tips for beginners and experts alike. There are detailed tutorials on modelling, texturing and rendering including essential information on what to include in your portfolio and what art directors are looking for in candiates.
Combined with the books website I have seen a definate improvement in my modelling and am beginning to put together a portfolio of quality models.Its the best purchase I have made this year.
Best book for 3ds Max you will find, 02 Nov 2008
I have started reading the book and doing the tutorials. So far it's
explained everything really well especially with the reference pictures. I have already used 3ds Max before but reading this found shorcuts and loads i didn't know, if you are starting 3ds Max or already know how to use I definatly advise you to get it. *****
A must read., 20 Oct 2008
A must read for any artist wishing to enter the games industry. This book will help you develop the specific skills you will need to become a successful 3d game artist. The book has a variety of easy to follow tutorials that cover all the main aspects of creating content for games and will show you how to do this in an efficient and focused way. By the time you worked through this book you will have gained a valuable insight into workflows and techniques that are required in the games industry and should have developed your portfolio to show this off.
Highly Recommended, 20 Oct 2008
This is a great book, and highly recommended for anyone looking for an insight into the working practices of the games industry.
It contains everything you need to know to be able to produce high quality 3D models, with loads of really useful info, specifically relevant for games production.
There's a load of in-depth, and very easy to understand tutorials covering a wide range of topics. Initially guiding you through the basic fundamentals of low-poly modelling and texturing, through to more complex `next-gen' techniques such as normal mapping.
The 3D modelling aspect of the book focuses primarily on max but I found that many of the principles are relevant to all 3D packages
The DVD is also extremely useful, with relevant max files and example assets for all the tutorials, and tons of photo reference to allow you to jump straight in and make your own models!
This book will prove invaluable to any aspiring 3d artist and is full of useful information for anyone looking to develop a portfolio in order to get a job in the games industry.
Great for getting into AS3 games, 30 Mar 2008
I have read G.R.'s old Director book and it helped me a lot then, so with no thought I put up a pre-order on this book. I knew if I was going to have a chance to learn AS3 as an old Lingo-dude, this was the time.
It arrived and I could see it was written in the exact same way as the old Lingo book. Though its about AS3.
If you are a designer or no top programmer, then this book is great, it will get you into AS3 fast!, and then you can always buy one of the other university books like "Advanced Actionscript 3 with Design Patterns".
But start with this. Its written in a great language and show the stuff that gets you there. Its not just about games, but a way of making AS3, which you will take with you into the other projects you make.
Thumbs up for Gary, also visit his book related website: http://www.flashgameu.com/
He writes tutorials and answer questions there.
Okay Book, 14 Feb 2008
This book contains some nice effects and has a good way of describing game physics.
The code is not object orientated and I would suggest other books to supplement this if you are new to AS3.
I get the feeling that the author has not adapted from AS1/AS2 and is not experienced in general computing. There are several bad practices in this book. These practices are the ones that stop AS and flash from being taken seriously.
An AS3 primer in sheeps clothing?, 05 Nov 2007
Although I have years of game programming experience, I had absolutely no AS3 experience at all - so I figured this book would be a good way to show me game techniques in AS3.
It starts off with a nice and easy introduction to AS3, covering the basics such as classes, packages, imports and splitting your scripts up. It then goes through a variety of "Game Elements" such as timers, keyboard and mouse interaction, collision and external data. This all makes sense and is well written, if a little sparse on the details in places. For example the first few chapters explain how the book is going to pretty much place the entire games into a single class, yet the "Game Element" scripts are written as pure functions meant to be dropped onto the timeline - I'd have preferred to see them as classes you could run stand-alone, but it's a minor detail.
Chapter 3 starts with the games proper, kicking off with a 'Matching Pairs of Cards' game. Gary quickly gets the basic game up and running, but it is nice that he didn't leave it here - instead he enhances the game with a timer, card reveal animation, scoring and sound effects. This is a good technique and one I appreciated.
Chapter 4 moved onto Memory games (think Simple Simon, Master Mind, etc) which seemed to serve more as a vessel for explaining how arrays work than a fully fledged game.
Chapter 5 is really about Time Based animation (vs. event/frame based). This is demonstrated via a simple shoot-em-up and a Breakout game. Both are extremely basic, which doesn't matter so much as they serve their purpose, but it would have been nice to see the Breakout game enhanced especially.
Chapter 6 is about bitmaps and manipulating them (demonstrated via a Sliding Puzzle and Jigsaw games). The Jigsaw game was disappointing in that it didn't cover how to make the pieces look like jigsaw pieces. But the bare essentials are there.
Chapter 7 introduces rotation and the math involved. It takes the Air Raid game from earlier and enhances it slightly, and also creates a basic Asteroids clone. Everything is done via pretty basic trig (sin/cos).
Chapter 8 shows off a "re-usable class" that creates a point burst effect. This is a good idea and to be honest should have been used more through-out the book (the idea, not the point-burst). This chapter also covers making a Bejewled style game - which I was pleased to see, because although simple on the surface there are a lot of logic steps involved, which are all covered. A few game modifications are suggested at the end, but not gone into.
Chapter 9 covers Word Games, which is pretty much a tutorial on using Strings and Text Fields. The resulting Hangman and Word Search games are somewhat lacking in the 'fun' factor, but useful primers all the same.
Chapter 10 is the 'Quiz Game' part - and it covers multiple choice quizes, extending them out to include pictures and a 'deluxe quiz' mode. The quiz data is all sucked in from an XML file, so a large portion of the chapter goes towards covering this.
Chapter 11 is a Platform Game. You control a character, you run and jump, collect a couple of items, land on a few baddies heads and try to find the exit. It's a very simple game and this is a tiny chapter overall in the book - which I found surprising given that platform games are generally extremely complex when done properly. This isn't really done properly and reads like filler to me. The levels are built entirely within the Flash IDE, block by block. Each block is then 'read' by the AS so a rudimentary collision system can be constructed. The hero and baddies are inserted and that's pretty much it. The jumping of the hero is particularly bad, the collision is also a little suspect. I imagine a younger wannabe Flash game developer would love to create a Flash Mario affair, but sadly this goes about it in entirely the wrong way. You get a platform game at the end of the chapter, sure, but it isn't a very good one.
The final Chapter covers two racing games. Both are overhead, one similar to Super Sprint, the other like the original GTA, but with a trash collector. The end result is quite fun, but I do still worry about the scalability of the approaches used in building each game.
Overall if you are either brand new to game development, or AS3 (or both!) then this book is a good starting place. It certainly won't answer all of your questions, and some of the techniques offered are definitely lacking in scalability - but you will have fun following the steps and making the games.
The downside is that if you have any game dev experience (even on just a casual basis) then the majority of the 'core game logic' offered here will have been relatively obvious to you anyway, and only the AS3 and Flash specific oddities will be relevant. You won't learn any advanced game making tricks - none of the games in the book ever have more than a handful of sprites moving at once. So if you wanted to re-create Geometry Wars for example you will probably run into serious CPU issues *fast* because you haven't been taught how to optimise Flash based games at all. This is most evident in the platform game chapter.
The Math offered is very rudimentary and you'll get only the most basic of results from it. I strongly recommend the Keith Peters book "Foundation AS3 Animation" - that deals with animation in much more detail, covering everything from decent collision to re-bound effects, gravity, rotation, intersection and real-world physics.
However AS3 Game Programming University is a good book. It's enjoyable to read, the source code is available online and Gary runs an interesting blog worth adding to your feed reader. I still can't help but feeling that the book serves more as a "Learn basic AS3 via some simple games", than a real game development book in its own right.
An excellent introduction to games programming, 19 Jul 2007
If you are new to games programming then this is a book for you.
Each chapter has a different games to create or try-out (with the complete code on the enclosed CD just in case).
As you would expect each game is more complex to create than the last one, but the book contains very detailed explanations on why certain keys are used or objects included.
Those who are more familiar with the basics of game programming will still probably find the "game maker" engine extremely useful and perhaps better than some others on the market.
Only downside is that the enclosed game maker engine is not a registered version, and costs around £10 to convert it to the latest version.
Overall the book is a very good guide to games programming.
Game Making Simplicity and Strength at its Best ! , 24 Jul 2006
The Game Maker's Apprentice has to be one of my most eagerly awaited Computer Book purchases for quite sometime. The fabulous presentation and great use of terminology, really makes it a joy to read. Each chapter guides you through gently, in order to achieve more confidence into creating your own game or project. Each page is colourful and the beautiful illustrations brings things to life.
The book is accompanied by a great CD with all of the examples, resources and Game Maker itself, which is really easy to get into. Within no time at all, you'll get used to it's interface and workings. The tutorials start you off with the basics and progressively bring you to the wonderfully powerful Game Maker Language (GML). So not only can you create games using a Drag 'n' Drop interface, you can also use a powerful programming language as well. All of this is included in the unregistered version, but by paying an ever so reasonable registration fee, you unlock the full potential of Game Maker.
I used Game Maker to create my first ever PC game, Bugsy. The Game Maker Forum helped me out when I came across a problem or a bug I couldn't resolve. There a lots of games and projects created with this wonderful program. You will also find many other sites across the Internet that provide helpful advice and tutorials. Not forgetting the official Game Maker site run and hosted by Mark Overmars.
The books co-writer, Jacob Habgood, has made a marvellous job along side Mark, to make this a very interesting book indeed.
You might also be interested to know, that another book covering the Game Maker theme, Basic Game Design and Creation by Namu Swamy is available as well. This also brings you to the Game Maker stable to learn some very easy steps into the basics of game design without it appearing too boring or tiresome.
Your gaming ideas and projects start here !
a good book and tool!, 19 Jul 2006
I think it's a good book not only for beginners but also for the designers who have no programming background to boarden their knowlege of programming. As game development is an iterative process,I suppose the Game Makers is also a good tools to build a prototype to test design ideas.The book teach
you step by step which will significantly facilitate learning.
Makes learning fun!, 11 Jul 2006
Together with the Gamemaker software, The Game Maker's Apprentice provides an excellent introduction to world of digital game making!
Contained in the book are several clear, step-by-step examples of of game construction, from simple shooter games to those with more sophisticated concepts. The examples are written to be accessible to anyone and no programming knowledge or skills are required to build interesting and fun digital games! Best of all, the text encourages game makers to experiment with concepts and build their own games!
Thoroughly recommended for any novice wishing to quickly and simply make their own games or to learn the basics of computer game programming!
An excellent introduction to Computer Games design and programming., 18 Apr 2006
The Game Maker's apprentice is an engaging and accessible introduction to the fascinating world of Computer Game design.
Each chapter uses a hands on approach, creating example games in the free Gamemaker software, that allows the reader to build up a broad toolkit of games design skills. New programming structures are introduced in a clear and simple way, always accompanied by examples.
I have used this book to teach Games design to secondary pupils and they have found it very entertaining as well as technically challenging.
I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anybody who would like to try designing their own games or would like to teach Games Design to a group of students. The methodologies and design approaches used are transferable to any other programming environment that the reader may wish to progress to at a later stage.
Great book!, 26 Aug 2008
I have to say this is a brilliant book. I would definately recommend it to anyone who is interested in XNA games development.
It covers a all the main features of XNA in detail and is very easy to understand.
Excellent, 16 Aug 2008
This book is just great. There is so much in there and it is so well organized that probably makes it the best XNA book around. More often than not you'll find yourself saying "wow, this is what I've been looking for".
Maybe this book is not for the absolute beginner since it doesn't follow the traditional "linear" approach usually seen in beginners books, but if you have a basic understanding of XNA you'll get along just fine. You can always check the tutorials on the author's website at www.riemers.net in order to get a solid base.
If I had to pick a single XNA reference, this book would be it.
Great XNA Book, 12 Aug 2008
Excellent book that guides the reader through the maze of xna following a great problem solving approach.
Very interesting even for those already follows the online tutorial.
Great book for both beginner and intermediate, 17 Jul 2008
I have followed Riemer's site pretty much as soon as he started publishing articles on XNA and loved all his on line tutorials as they gave a good base for those of us starting out and also enough for us to be getting on with once we got past those first early stages.
I am pleased to say that the book is no different in this achievement, each Recipe has enough detail and information for you to pickup the techniques.
I am also astounded as to how much is in here, from the basic data storage in XNA, on to cameras, game components, dealing with models and then onto the usage of vertices's, HLSL, the list goes on!
Great site, great book.
Want to program games or graphics? Start here!, 25 Feb 2008
This book assumes no previous knowledge of C++ and starts from the bottom. Slowly, the book builds up your skills of C++ and by the end you will have a fairly good knowledge of the language as a whole.
Everything on the CD worked a dream, compiled fine.
The author has a very strong distaste for Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 as a compiler. I used that compiler through this book and I managed to get it to compile everything. The free compiler he supplies works fine for the examples too.
This is the first step to programming games, or other graphical applications. If you want to get into this area, I highly recommend this book!
good introduction to c++ but not to game programming, 23 Oct 2007
This book is an introduction to c++ rather than game programming. You won't be developing full-fledged games with graphics.
However, despite that criticism it is an interesting way to learn c++ and a pretty decent introduction to c++. The cdrom includes the code for all the programs, a development environment and a compiler. All the examples are text based games which can be coded up in a text editor
Very, very, very good, 24 Apr 2007
but a little confusing at times......i found myself reading the first chapter around 4 times while trying to grasp the basics....this book is not a replacement for a proper teacher, but is very good if your just starting out in the development industry.....also it only deals with programming for text based games, such as guess a number, or a basic hangman
Excellent beginner book, 13 Mar 2007
This book does an excellent job assuming no prior C++ experience. Although this book does not cover any graphical programming, it teaches a solid foundation of basic structures and principles that are necessary to create other more advanced programs. I see a lot of negative reviews here based on the above sentence, if this is the case then I think you purchased the wrong book. It is an easy mistake considering the amount of choice out there, I can only say in future maybe a little research on the book wouldn't go amiss. Overall, it is a very good place to begin as it takes a different approach to the regular "Teach Yourself..." type books.
Very Basic, 23 Oct 2006
The book does not teach a lot of game programming. I would say this book is a book about basic C++.
if you have C++ knowledge and want to learn game programming, I would not suggest this book. I was quite disappoited.
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Customer Reviews
Paul Hollywood, 05 Nov 2008
I am the Creative Director at one of the best games development studios in the world.
If you too want a career, or are just starting out, in the games industry as an artist this, book will get you there quicker.
Everything you need to know is in this one book, very clear and well explained tutorials.
If fact this book is so useful I wish it had been written when I started 20 years ago...
A must for any one interested in making game media, 04 Nov 2008
If you want to get into the game industry or just a hobbiest this is the book to have, Full of essential tips for beginners and experts alike. There are detailed tutorials on modelling, texturing and rendering including essential information on what to include in your portfolio and what art directors are looking for in candiates.
Combined with the books website I have seen a definate improvement in my modelling and am beginning to put together a portfolio of quality models.Its the best purchase I have made this year.
Best book for 3ds Max you will find, 02 Nov 2008
I have started reading the book and doing the tutorials. So far it's
explained everything really well especially with the reference pictures. I have already used 3ds Max before but reading this found shorcuts and loads i didn't know, if you are starting 3ds Max or already know how to use I definatly advise you to get it. *****
A must read., 20 Oct 2008
A must read for any artist wishing to enter the games industry. This book will help you develop the specific skills you will need to become a successful 3d game artist. The book has a variety of easy to follow tutorials that cover all the main aspects of creating content for games and will show you how to do this in an efficient and focused way. By the time you worked through this book you will have gained a valuable insight into workflows and techniques that are required in the games industry and should have developed your portfolio to show this off.
Highly Recommended, 20 Oct 2008
This is a great book, and highly recommended for anyone looking for an insight into the working practices of the games industry.
It contains everything you need to know to be able to produce high quality 3D models, with loads of really useful info, specifically relevant for games production.
There's a load of in-depth, and very easy to understand tutorials covering a wide range of topics. Initially guiding you through the basic fundamentals of low-poly modelling and texturing, through to more complex `next-gen' techniques such as normal mapping.
The 3D modelling aspect of the book focuses primarily on max but I found that many of the principles are relevant to all 3D packages
The DVD is also extremely useful, with relevant max files and example assets for all the tutorials, and tons of photo reference to allow you to jump straight in and make your own models!
This book will prove invaluable to any aspiring 3d artist and is full of useful information for anyone looking to develop a portfolio in order to get a job in the games industry.
Great for getting into AS3 games, 30 Mar 2008
I have read G.R.'s old Director book and it helped me a lot then, so with no thought I put up a pre-order on this book. I knew if I was going to have a chance to learn AS3 as an old Lingo-dude, this was the time.
It arrived and I could see it was written in the exact same way as the old Lingo book. Though its about AS3.
If you are a designer or no top programmer, then this book is great, it will get you into AS3 fast!, and then you can always buy one of the other university books like "Advanced Actionscript 3 with Design Patterns".
But start with this. Its written in a great language and show the stuff that gets you there. Its not just about games, but a way of making AS3, which you will take with you into the other projects you make.
Thumbs up for Gary, also visit his book related website: http://www.flashgameu.com/
He writes tutorials and answer questions there.
Okay Book, 14 Feb 2008
This book contains some nice effects and has a good way of describing game physics.
The code is not object orientated and I would suggest other books to supplement this if you are new to AS3.
I get the feeling that the author has not adapted from AS1/AS2 and is not experienced in general computing. There are several bad practices in this book. These practices are the ones that stop AS and flash from being taken seriously.
An AS3 primer in sheeps clothing?, 05 Nov 2007
Although I have years of game programming experience, I had absolutely no AS3 experience at all - so I figured this book would be a good way to show me game techniques in AS3.
It starts off with a nice and easy introduction to AS3, covering the basics such as classes, packages, imports and splitting your scripts up. It then goes through a variety of "Game Elements" such as timers, keyboard and mouse interaction, collision and external data. This all makes sense and is well written, if a little sparse on the details in places. For example the first few chapters explain how the book is going to pretty much place the entire games into a single class, yet the "Game Element" scripts are written as pure functions meant to be dropped onto the timeline - I'd have preferred to see them as classes you could run stand-alone, but it's a minor detail.
Chapter 3 starts with the games proper, kicking off with a 'Matching Pairs of Cards' game. Gary quickly gets the basic game up and running, but it is nice that he didn't leave it here - instead he enhances the game with a timer, card reveal animation, scoring and sound effects. This is a good technique and one I appreciated.
Chapter 4 moved onto Memory games (think Simple Simon, Master Mind, etc) which seemed to serve more as a vessel for explaining how arrays work than a fully fledged game.
Chapter 5 is really about Time Based animation (vs. event/frame based). This is demonstrated via a simple shoot-em-up and a Breakout game. Both are extremely basic, which doesn't matter so much as they serve their purpose, but it would have been nice to see the Breakout game enhanced especially.
Chapter 6 is about bitmaps and manipulating them (demonstrated via a Sliding Puzzle and Jigsaw games). The Jigsaw game was disappointing in that it didn't cover how to make the pieces look like jigsaw pieces. But the bare essentials are there.
Chapter 7 introduces rotation and the math involved. It takes the Air Raid game from earlier and enhances it slightly, and also creates a basic Asteroids clone. Everything is done via pretty basic trig (sin/cos).
Chapter 8 shows off a "re-usable class" that creates a point burst effect. This is a good idea and to be honest should have been used more through-out the book (the idea, not the point-burst). This chapter also covers making a Bejewled style game - which I was pleased to see, because although simple on the surface there are a lot of logic steps involved, which are all covered. A few game modifications are suggested at the end, but not gone into.
Chapter 9 covers Word Games, which is pretty much a tutorial on using Strings and Text Fields. The resulting Hangman and Word Search games are somewhat lacking in the 'fun' factor, but useful primers all the same.
Chapter 10 is the 'Quiz Game' part - and it covers multiple choice quizes, extending them out to include pictures and a 'deluxe quiz' mode. The quiz data is all sucked in from an XML file, so a large portion of the chapter goes towards covering this.
Chapter 11 is a Platform Game. You control a character, you run and jump, collect a couple of items, land on a few baddies heads and try to find the exit. It's a very simple game and this is a tiny chapter overall in the book - which I found surprising given that platform games are generally extremely complex when done properly. This isn't really done properly and reads like filler to me. The levels are built entirely within the Flash IDE, block by block. Each block is then 'read' by the AS so a rudimentary collision system can be constructed. The hero and baddies are inserted and that's pretty much it. The jumping of the hero is particularly bad, the collision is also a little suspect. I imagine a younger wannabe Flash game developer would love to create a Flash Mario affair, but sadly this goes about it in entirely the wrong way. You get a platform game at the end of the chapter, sure, but it isn't a very good one.
The final Chapter covers two racing games. Both are overhead, one similar to Super Sprint, the other like the original GTA, but with a trash collector. The end result is quite fun, but I do still worry about the scalability of the approaches used in building each game.
Overall if you are either brand new to game development, or AS3 (or both!) then this book is a good starting place. It certainly won't answer all of your questions, and some of the techniques offered are definitely lacking in scalability - but you will have fun following the steps and making the games.
The downside is that if you have any game dev experience (even on just a casual basis) then the majority of the 'core game logic' offered here will have been relatively obvious to you anyway, and only the AS3 and Flash specific oddities will be relevant. You won't learn any advanced game making tricks - none of the games in the book ever have more than a handful of sprites moving at once. So if you wanted to re-create Geometry Wars for example you will probably run into serious CPU issues *fast* because you haven't been taught how to optimise Flash based games at all. This is most evident in the platform game chapter.
The Math offered is very rudimentary and you'll get only the most basic of results from it. I strongly recommend the Keith Peters book "Foundation AS3 Animation" - that deals with animation in much more detail, covering everything from decent collision to re-bound effects, gravity, rotation, intersection and real-world physics.
However AS3 Game Programming University is a good book. It's enjoyable to read, the source code is available online and Gary runs an interesting blog worth adding to your feed reader. I still can't help but feeling that the book serves more as a "Learn basic AS3 via some simple games", than a real game development book in its own right.
An excellent introduction to games programming, 19 Jul 2007
If you are new to games programming then this is a book for you.
Each chapter has a different games to create or try-out (with the complete code on the enclosed CD just in case).
As you would expect each game is more complex to create than the last one, but the book contains very detailed explanations on why certain keys are used or objects included.
Those who are more familiar with the basics of game programming will still probably find the "game maker" engine extremely useful and perhaps better than some others on the market.
Only downside is that the enclosed game maker engine is not a registered version, and costs around £10 to convert it to the latest version.
Overall the book is a very good guide to games programming.
Game Making Simplicity and Strength at its Best ! , 24 Jul 2006
The Game Maker's Apprentice has to be one of my most eagerly awaited Computer Book purchases for quite sometime. The fabulous presentation and great use of terminology, really makes it a joy to read. Each chapter guides you through gently, in order to achieve more confidence into creating your own game or project. Each page is colourful and the beautiful illustrations brings things to life.
The book is accompanied by a great CD with all of the examples, resources and Game Maker itself, which is really easy to get into. Within no time at all, you'll get used to it's interface and workings. The tutorials start you off with the basics and progressively bring you to the wonderfully powerful Game Maker Language (GML). So not only can you create games using a Drag 'n' Drop interface, you can also use a powerful programming language as well. All of this is included in the unregistered version, but by paying an ever so reasonable registration fee, you unlock the full potential of Game Maker.
I used Game Maker to create my first ever PC game, Bugsy. The Game Maker Forum helped me out when I came across a problem or a bug I couldn't resolve. There a lots of games and projects created with this wonderful program. You will also find many other sites across the Internet that provide helpful advice and tutorials. Not forgetting the official Game Maker site run and hosted by Mark Overmars.
The books co-writer, Jacob Habgood, has made a marvellous job along side Mark, to make this a very interesting book indeed.
You might also be interested to know, that another book covering the Game Maker theme, Basic Game Design and Creation by Namu Swamy is available as well. This also brings you to the Game Maker stable to learn some very easy steps into the basics of game design without it appearing too boring or tiresome.
Your gaming ideas and projects start here !
a good book and tool!, 19 Jul 2006
I think it's a good book not only for beginners but also for the designers who have no programming background to boarden their knowlege of programming. As game development is an iterative process,I suppose the Game Makers is also a good tools to build a prototype to test design ideas.The book teach
you step by step which will significantly facilitate learning.
Makes learning fun!, 11 Jul 2006
Together with the Gamemaker software, The Game Maker's Apprentice provides an excellent introduction to world of digital game making!
Contained in the book are several clear, step-by-step examples of of game construction, from simple shooter games to those with more sophisticated concepts. The examples are written to be accessible to anyone and no programming knowledge or skills are required to build interesting and fun digital games! Best of all, the text encourages game makers to experiment with concepts and build their own games!
Thoroughly recommended for any novice wishing to quickly and simply make their own games or to learn the basics of computer game programming!
An excellent introduction to Computer Games design and programming., 18 Apr 2006
The Game Maker's apprentice is an engaging and accessible introduction to the fascinating world of Computer Game design.
Each chapter uses a hands on approach, creating example games in the free Gamemaker software, that allows the reader to build up a broad toolkit of games design skills. New programming structures are introduced in a clear and simple way, always accompanied by examples.
I have used this book to teach Games design to secondary pupils and they have found it very entertaining as well as technically challenging.
I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anybody who would like to try designing their own games or would like to teach Games Design to a group of students. The methodologies and design approaches used are transferable to any other programming environment that the reader may wish to progress to at a later stage.
Great book!, 26 Aug 2008
I have to say this is a brilliant book. I would definately recommend it to anyone who is interested in XNA games development.
It covers a all the main features of XNA in detail and is very easy to understand.
Excellent, 16 Aug 2008
This book is just great. There is so much in there and it is so well organized that probably makes it the best XNA book around. More often than not you'll find yourself saying "wow, this is what I've been looking for".
Maybe this book is not for the absolute beginner since it doesn't follow the traditional "linear" approach usually seen in beginners books, but if you have a basic understanding of XNA you'll get along just fine. You can always check the tutorials on the author's website at www.riemers.net in order to get a solid base.
If I had to pick a single XNA reference, this book would be it.
Great XNA Book, 12 Aug 2008
Excellent book that guides the reader through the maze of xna following a great problem solving approach.
Very interesting even for those already follows the online tutorial.
Great book for both beginner and intermediate, 17 Jul 2008
I have followed Riemer's site pretty much as soon as he started publishing articles on XNA and loved all his on line tutorials as they gave a good base for those of us starting out and also enough for us to be getting on with once we got past those first early stages.
I am pleased to say that the book is no different in this achievement, each Recipe has enough detail and information for you to pickup the techniques.
I am also astounded as to how much is in here, from the basic data storage in XNA, on to cameras, game components, dealing with models and then onto the usage of vertices's, HLSL, the list goes on!
Great site, great book.
Want to program games or graphics? Start here!, 25 Feb 2008
This book assumes no previous knowledge of C++ and starts from the bottom. Slowly, the book builds up your skills of C++ and by the end you will have a fairly good knowledge of the language as a whole.
Everything on the CD worked a dream, compiled fine.
The author has a very strong distaste for Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 as a compiler. I used that compiler through this book and I managed to get it to compile everything. The free compiler he supplies works fine for the examples too.
This is the first step to programming games, or other graphical applications. If you want to get into this area, I highly recommend this book!
good introduction to c++ but not to game programming, 23 Oct 2007
This book is an introduction to c++ rather than game programming. You won't be developing full-fledged games with graphics.
However, despite that criticism it is an interesting way to learn c++ and a pretty decent introduction to c++. The cdrom includes the code for all the programs, a development environment and a compiler. All the examples are text based games which can be coded up in a text editor
Very, very, very good, 24 Apr 2007
but a little confusing at times......i found myself reading the first chapter around 4 times while trying to grasp the basics....this book is not a replacement for a proper teacher, but is very good if your just starting out in the development industry.....also it only deals with programming for text based games, such as guess a number, or a basic hangman
Excellent beginner book, 13 Mar 2007
This book does an excellent job assuming no prior C++ experience. Although this book does not cover any graphical programming, it teaches a solid foundation of basic structures and principles that are necessary to create other more advanced programs. I see a lot of negative reviews here based on the above sentence, if this is the case then I think you purchased the wrong book. It is an easy mistake considering the amount of choice out there, I can only say in future maybe a little research on the book wouldn't go amiss. Overall, it is a very good place to begin as it takes a different approach to the regular "Teach Yourself..." type books.
Very Basic, 23 Oct 2006
The book does not teach a lot of game programming. I would say this book is a book about basic C++.
if you have C++ knowledge and want to learn game programming, I would not suggest this book. I was quite disappoited.
Recommended, 01 Feb 2008
The first half of the book contains all the information on the subject you could possibly ask for and is definitely a good read, especially for a beginner.
The second half of the book contains the projects which unfortunately you'll have to model yourself as the book does not go into 3D modelling. These are still quite fun to do and there is still quite a bit of scope to do your own thing using the supplied techniques. The projects include tutorials to create the textures entirely from scratch in Photoshop as an alternative to using just photomanips. The projects cover quite a bit of ground so it's likely you'll find something relating to your project.
This book is an excellent starting point for anyone serious about texturing for games. Even for those with some experience at it, you may still learn something from this book and it's often priced quite well so it's worth picking up.
It's alright., 17 Sep 2007
This book is great for beginners, and is a pleasent read, however I found some of the tutorials to be missleading or unclear and often was left with a very different result to the author of the book.
Because of this, I personally found this book a waste of money because I already knew most of the information it contained and what I baught it for mostly where the tutorials to improve my Photoshop Skills.
Forget the Dark Side, 13 Sep 2007
Couldn't begin to recommend this book enough, out of the several I've used to help me brush up on my skinning and 3D skills it's by far the best. It sure puts "The Dark side of games texturs" to shame, that's for sure. If you're getting into 3D or skinning, check it out.
Taught me to create my own great textures with no prior experience , 09 Jul 2007
I have been interested in game development for a while now, mainly within the level design, creating new maps etc. I am learning and using the Unreal engine at present. I spent many months learning how to create levels and getting the hang of the level editor, UnrealEd. However, I wanted to start creating new content, never before seen, so somebody playing on the level will not recognise any already used assets such as models and textures. So I then started learning how to create models to include in my levels.
This being all very well, but I desperately needed new textures to use on my models and within the level its self. Im not very good artistically and thought I would never be able to create good textures even using Photoshop, which I used to open, try to use, fail and quit again!
I could do a bit of everything else, so thought I may as well get a book and see if that can help.....even if it helps me create the most basic looking textures!
This book had good reviews and looked like what I wanted to learn to be able to texture my levels my self.
So once this book came I worked through all the tutorials right to the end. They were easy to follow, informative and quite fun. I even then imported them into UnrealEd to use them in mess about levels and they worked a treat.
I found the start of the book a little dull as it went though all the things to look at when creating art such as things being 3D and not just 2D etc, though I understand it was the theory so to speak, I literally just wanted to get into Photoshop and start "doing".....it took a little longer then I wanted to get to the "creating your first texture" part! However, this was just me and im sure many may disagree as learning all the fundamentals about how art is and why it is etc is needed for a base line?
Once you do start creating textures its great fun, as I thought I would never be able to do it well. I was surprised just how easy it can be to get fantastic results. Also the more effort and tweaking you put into a texture the better it looks.
Needless to say after reading this book, I am now creating good quality textures and know how to navigate Photoshop. Though no expert, its certainly made a huge difference in my work and now everything looks even more unique and original which was the overall goal.
However, just a few notes, I was hoping the book would cover UV laying out, but it doesn't, also best tools and methods used to import in and out of game engines and possible some examples of best methods? None of this is covered.
This book literally is just about creating textures in Photoshop and nothing more, though a fantastic book and I would not be were I am now without it, I think it could have done with just a little bit more info about other areas.....again just my opinion.
I would recommend this book for anyone starting of with texture creation. I would say maybe just a little bit of knowledge of Photoshop before hand may help as some parts in the earlier chapters presume you know what to do when asked.
I will certainly be keeping this book near by.
Fantastic Resource..., 01 Jan 2007
This is a quality book. Half of the book is dedicated to discussion on texture methods inside realtime engines, how different maps are used, and the different approaches required. There is a lot of emphasis of learning by eye, and the importance of visual awareness.
The second half is probably going to be the part that grabs you. Luke goes into the texture asset creation for three different staple scenarios (sci-fi, fantasy and urban, with clearly written details as to the workflow. My only quibble would be that during some of the tutorials sections, you are told what to do, but not why you are actually doing it, though when you read his creation method for the base metal texture, you can begin to appreciate how hard it would be to actually justify the steps with an explanation.
In all, this is an excellent resource for people who are a little daunted by the prospect of texturing, BUY IT! ;D
NOTE: There was a typo in the first edition that causes a texture to come up VERY different to Luke's. If you have an earlier edition, and encounter problems, Luke himself posted this on Amazon.com:
First edited by: Luke Ahearn "Luke Ahearn" (CA) on Feb 11, 2006
Last edited by: Luke Ahearn "Luke Ahearn" (CA) on Nov 28, 2006
Here are corrections for this edition:
- In chapter 5 (page 152 ) Creating Base Metal step 5 should read 70 instead of -70.
- When applying the spotlight at the end of step nine of this exercise
the spotlight should be round and go just beyond the image edges. Do
this by dragging out the handles.
- Also, in an early example of tiling there is a source image on the DVD
and it is the wrong one. This is the one you need.[...]
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