Game Studies
Here are recent ebooks that can get you started with game development and design:
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Game Design Workshop by ISBN: 9781138098770Publication Date: 2018Game Design Workshop puts you to work prototyping, playtesting, and revising your own games with time-tested methods and tools. These skills will provide the foundation for your career in any facet of the game industry including design, producing, programming, and visual design. -
Practical Game Design by ISBN: 1787122166Publication Date: 2018Practical Game Design covers the basics of game design one piece at a time. Starting with learning how to conceptualize a game idea and present it to the development team, you will gradually move on to devising a design plan for the whole project and adapting solutions from other games. You will also discover how to produce original game mechanics without relying on existing reference material, and test and eliminate anticipated design risks. You will then design elements that compose the playtime of a game, followed by making game mechanics, content, and interface accessible to all players. You will also find out how to simultaneously ensure that the gameplay mechanics and content are working as intended. -
Advanced Game Design by ISBN: 0134667603Publication Date: 2017In Advanced Game Design, pioneering game designer and instructor Michael Sellers situates game design practices in a strong theoretical framework of systems thinking, enabling designers to think more deeply and clearly about their work, so they can produce better, more engaging games for any device or platform. Sellers offers a deep unifying framework in which practical game design best practices and proven systems thinking theory reinforce each other, helping game designers understand what they are trying to accomplish and the best ways to achieve it. -
Mostly Codeless Game Development: New School Game Engines by ISBN: 1484229703Publication Date: 2017Get a head start in your game development career with this all-genre guide for absolute beginners. Whether you're into action games, role-playing games, or interactive fiction, we've got you covered. Mostly Codeless Game Development empowers new developers with little or no previous experience and presents all major areas of game development in a succinct, entertaining fashion. -
Learn Unity for Windows 10 Game Development by ISBN: 9781430267577Publication Date: 2016This book will take you through the process of creating a game for the Windows Phone market with a heavy emphasis placed on optimization and good design decisions. On your way, you will be introduced to key Unity concepts and functionality, weigh the pros and cons of various possibilities, and gain a good working knowledge of scripting in the Unity environment using both JavaScript and C#. -
Polished Game Development: From First Steps to Final Release by ISBN: 1484221222Publication Date: 2016Learn the things you need for a complete game, such as translations and tutorials, and improve the things you've already written to raise their standard to that of a professional level. This is a practical guide covering every discipline: art, music, writing, and code. In the case of the latter, code examples are included to demonstrate how to implement the functionality to make the game shine. Polished Game Development acts as a comprehensive checklist of everything your game should, and should not, do, in order to be as good as it possibly can. It is more than just a book on theoretical game design principles. Explains the difference between a pet project, and a professional one. -
Virtual Character Design for Games and Interactive Media by ISBN: 9781466598201Publication Date: 2015This book seeks to develop a series of critical frameworks to support the analysis and design of virtual characters. Virtual Character Design for Games and Interactive Media covers a breadth of topics to establish a relationship between pertinent artistic and scientific theories and good character design practice. Targeted at students, researchers, and professionals, the book aims to show how both character presentation and character performance can be enhanced through careful consideration of underlying theory. -
Building Levels in Unity by ISBN: 9781785282843Publication Date: 2015Create exciting 3D game worlds with UnityIn DetailUnity is a top industry choice, perfected for video game development, simulation creation, and environmental design. Its accessibility, flexible tuning, and fair licensing have made it the number one option for independent developers throughout the world.From the basics to a playable demo, this book will help you build levels in Unity with hands-on practices.
Here are recent ebooks that can get you started with virtual reality:
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Unreal Engine Virtual Reality Quick Start Guide by ISBN: 9781789617405Publication Date: 2019With this book, you will learn user experience design processes and create immersive gameplay experiences designed for entertainment and player comfort. Using the power of Unreal Engine 4's Blueprint visual scripting language, you will build player interaction and locomotion systems from scratch and use these flexible systems to create a sample game, as well as develop functional 2D and 3D user interfaces for players to interact with. And also learn the best practices for creating game art for virtual reality. Finally, you will learn how to test your application with your target audience and finalize your game for distribution. -
Google Daydream VR Cookbook by ISBN: 9780134845517Publication Date: 2018Google’s new ARCore and Daydream VR platforms enable you to deliver advanced augmented and virtual reality games and apps on a wide spectrum of modern Android devices. Now for the first time, there’s a comprehensive deep dive into both ARCore and Daydream for every Android developer and designer. Multi-award-winning AR/VR developer Sam Keene takes a hands-on approach, leading you through all aspects of the ARCore and Daydream frameworks and SDKs, with step-by-step tutorials and advice for building pro-quality AR/VR games and apps. -
Mastering Oculus Rift Development by ISBN: 9781786461155Publication Date: 2017In this book, you'll learn how to take advantage of this new medium by designing around each of its unique features. This book will demonstrate the Unity 5 game engine, one of most widely-used engines for VR development, and will take you through a comprehensive project that covers everything necessary to create and publish a complete VR experience for the Oculus Rift. You will also be able to identify the common perils and pitfalls of VR development to ensure that your audience has the most comfortable experience possible. -
Unity Virtual Reality Projects by ISBN: 9781783988556Publication Date: 2015You will learn how to use Unity to develop VR applications which can be experienced with devices such as the Oculus Rift or Google Cardboard. We will then learn how to engage with virtual worlds from a third person and first person character point of view. Furthermore, you will explore the technical considerations especially important and possibly unique to VR. The projects in the book will demonstrate how to build a variety of VR experiences. You will be diving into the Unity 3D game engine via the interactive Unity Editor as well as C-Sharp programming. -
Virtual Reality and Virtual Environments in 10 Lectures by ISBN: 1627058257Publication Date: 2015Our intention in this book is to give an introduction into the important issues regarding a series of related concepts of Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Virtual Environments. We do not attempt to go into any of these issues in depth but rather outline general principles and discuss them in a sense broad enough to provide sufficient foundations for a further study. In other words, we aim to provide a set of keywords to the reader in order give him a good starting point from which he could go on and explore any of these issues in detail.
Here are recent ebooks that can get you started with augmented reality:
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Unity 2018 Augmented Reality Projects by ISBN: 9781788838764Publication Date: 2018This book teaches you how to use Unity in order to develop AR applications which can be experienced with devices such as HoloLens and Daydream. You will learn to integrate, animate, and overlay 3D objects on your camera feed, before gradually moving on to implementing sensor-based AR applications. In addition to this, you will explore the technical considerations that are especially important and possibly unique to AR. The projects in the book demonstrate how you can build a variety of AR experiences, whilst also giving insights into C# programming as well as the Unity 3D game engine via the interactive Unity Editor. -
Augmented Reality for Developers by ISBN: 9781787286436Publication Date: 2017The book opens with an introduction to Augmented Reality, including markets, technologies, and development tools. You will begin by setting up your development machine for Android, iOS, and Windows development, learning the basics of using Unity and the Vuforia AR platform as well as the open source ARToolKit and Microsoft Mixed Reality Toolkit. You will also receive an introduction to Apple's ARKit and Google's ARCore! You will then focus on building AR applications, exploring a variety of recognition targeting methods. You will go through multiple complete projects illustrating key market sectors including business marketing, education, industrial training, and gaming. -
Augmented Reality Game Development by ISBN: 1787122883Publication Date: 2017This book will take you on a journey through building a location-based AR game that addresses the core technical concepts: GIS fundamentals, mobile device GPS, mapping, map textures in Unity, mobile device camera, camera textures in Unity, accessing location-based services, and other useful Unity tips. The technical material also discusses what is necessary for further development to create a multiplayer version of the game. At the end, you will be presented with troubleshooting techniques in case you get into trouble and need a little help. -
Virtual, Augmented Reality and Serious Games for Healthcare 1 by ISBN: 3642548164Publication Date: 2014There is a tremendous interest among researchers for the development of virtual, augmented reality and games technologies due to their widespread applications in medicine and healthcare. To date the major applications of these technologies include medical simulation, telemedicine, medical and healthcare training, pain control, visualisation aid for surgery, rehabilitation in cases such as stroke, phobia, and trauma therapies. Many recent studies have identified the benefits of using Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, or serious games in a variety of medical applications.
Here are recent ebooks that can get you started with mobile games:
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Learning Java by Building Android Games by ISBN: 9781788839150Publication Date: 2018This new and expanded second edition of Learning Java by Building Android Games shows you how to start building Android games from scratch. The difficulty level will grow steadily as you explore key Java topics, such as variables, loops, methods, object oriented programming, and design patterns, including code and examples that are written for Java 9 and Android P. -
Swift Game Development by ISBN: 9781788471152Publication Date: 2018The book starts by introducing Swift's best features – including its new ones for game development. Using SpriteKit, you will learn how to animate sprites and textures. Along the way, you will master physics, animations, and collision effects and how to build the UI aspects of a game. You will then work on creating a 3D game using the SceneKit framework. Further, we will look at how to add monetization and integrate Game Center. With iOS 12, we see the introduction of ARKit 2.0. This new version allows us to integrate shared experiences such as multiplayer augmented reality and persistent AR that is tied to a specific location so that the same information can be replicated on all connected devices. -
Location-Based Mobile Games" Design Perspectives by ISBN: 3319752561Publication Date: 2018This book approaches Location Based Mobile Games from a design perspective, investigating the peculiar traits that make them compelling contemporary practices and challenging fields of investigation. Relying on an interdisciplinary theoretical background and empirical studies, it delves into LBMGs’ intertwining theoretical assumptions and describes their translation into practice. The authors examine these games from different perspectives, exploring how they can impact the way we look at our surroundings, their influence on our social dimension, their ability to translate a wide range of information into a game experience, and the negotiations they activate by intertwining two realities. -
Mobile Game Development with Unity by ISBN: 9781491944745Publication Date: 2017This practical guide shows you how to create beautiful, interactive content for iOS and Android devices with the Unity game engine. -
Cross Over to HTML5: Game Development Use Your Programming Experience to Create Mobile Games by ISBN: 1484232917Publication Date: 2017Break into the most lucrative platform in the world by adding HTML5 game development to your current skillset. Zarrar Chishti has trained developers from a wide range of programming disciplines to cross over into HTML5 game development. Whatever your vocation, whether it be an Application Databases Systems developer or a Professional Web developer, with this book you will learn to evolve your current coding skills to become eligible for the biggest gaming platform in the world. -
Social, Casual and Mobile Games: The Changing Gaming Landscape by ISBN: 1501310593Publication Date: 2016Social, Casual and Mobile Games explores the rapidly changing gaming landscape and discusses the ludic, methodological, theoretical, economic, social and cultural challenges that these changes invoke. With chapters discussing locative games, the new freemium economic model, and gamer demographics, as well as close studies of specific games (including Candy Crush Saga, Angry Birds, and Ingress), this collection offers an insight into the changing nature of games and the impact that mobile media is having upon individuals and societies around the world.
Here are ebooks that can get you started with programming with
Here are some of the academic journals that USC Libraries subscribes to that are related to game studies, game development, etc.:
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Game Studies: The International Journal of Computer Game ResearchTo explore the rich cultural genre of games; to give scholars a peer-reviewed forum for their ideas and theories; to provide an academic channel for the ongoing discussions on games and gaming.
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Games and CultureGames and Culture peer-reviewed and published quarterly, is an international journal that promotes innovative theoretical and empirical research about games and culture within interactive media. The journal serves as a premiere outlet for ground-breaking work in the field of game studies and its scope includes the socio-cultural, political, and economic dimensions of gaming from a wide variety of perspectives.
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Media, Culture, & SocietyMedia, Culture & Society provides a major international forum for the presentation of research and discussion concerning the media, including the newer information and communication technologies, within their political, economic, cultural and historical contexts. The journal is interdisciplinary, regularly engaging with a wider range of issues in cultural and social analysis. Its focus is on substantive topics and on critique and innovation in theory and method.
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Computer Animation and Virtual WorldsComputer Animation and Virtual Worlds is the first journal to address the global thematic of the Virtual Worlds. These consist of computer animation, embodied agents, virtual environments, augmented reality, virtual life and visualisation. This hybrid journal is read by scientists, artists and technicians applying animation techniques.
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The Computer Games Journalhe Computer Games Journal is a worldwide, peer-reviewed publication providing knowledgeable, well-written articles from academics and practitioners that are relevant to the games industry. It aims to encourage and promote research into games development and the games industry as a whole. The journal publishes up-to-date research and opinions on current games development and industry issues, and also provides a format for airing ground-breaking dissertations and essays from computing and games students.
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IEEE Transactions on Computational Intelligence and AI in GamesThe IEEE Transactions on Computational Intelligence and AI in Games (T-CIAIG) publishes archival journal quality original papers in computational intelligence and related areas in artificial intelligence applied to games, including but not limited to videogames, mathematical games, human–computer interactions in games, and games involving physical objects. Emphasis is placed on the use of these methods to improve performance in and understanding of the dynamics of games, as well as gaining insight into the properties of the methods as applied to games. It also includes using games as a platform for building intelligent embedded agents for the real world. Papers connecting games to all areas of computational intelligence and traditional AI are considered.