The Game Maker's Apprentice PDF
Preview The Game Maker's Apprentice
TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION™ The Game Maker’s Apprentice Game Development for Beginners Create PC games the easy way using Game Maker’s simple drag-and-drop interface Learn essential game design theory Make your games more fun! EE RR AA WW TT FF OO SS 88 DD Jacob Habgood AAKKEERR UU NNEEEESS!! MM OO EE and Mark Overmars TTHH GGAARRMMYYEET T HHIIANANTTGG E E YY99 GGAAMM WWIIVVEE RREE Foreword by Phil Wilson, CCDD DD EEOO CC the producer of the BAFTA award-winning Xbox 360™ game Crackdown. DDEESS AANN TT UU LL CC NN II cyAn yelloW MAgenTA BlAcK PAnTone 123 c Praise for The Game Maker’s Apprentice: Game Development for Beginners “Clearly written and illustrated—a superb introduction to interactive entertainment for our future generation of game creators.” —Ricki Martin World Art lead, electronic Arts u d e w. “Provides an excellent first step into game development; teaching game a es nn concepts, terminology, and logic.” e @k —Mark Swinhoe h ort by sn Senior Programmer, Sony computer entertainment europe d e as h urc “A wealth of game creation know-how, presented in a fun and p was interactive way.” ok bo —James graves his T game Programmer, circle Studio “A fun and accessible guide to design and programming for gamers who want to develop their own ideas.” —Dr. Judy Robertson lecturer in game Design, glasgow caledonian University this print for content only—size & color not accurate trim size = 7" x 9.125" spine = 0.78125" 336 page count For your convenience Apress has placed some of the front matter material after the index. Please use the Bookmarks and Contents at a Glance links to access them. Contents at a Glance Foreword .......................................................................xiv AbouttheAuthors ................................................................xvi AbouttheTechnicalReviewer .....................................................xvii AbouttheIllustrator .............................................................xviii Acknowledgments ...............................................................xix Introduction......................................................................xx PART 1 ■ ■ ■ Getting Started ■CHAPTER 1 WelcometoGameMaker .......................................3 ■CHAPTER 2 YourFirstGame:DevilishlyEasy ................................9 PART 2 ■ ■ ■ Action Games ■CHAPTER 3 MoreActions:AGalaxyofPossibilities .........................41 ■CHAPTER 4 TargetthePlayer:It’sFunBeingSquished .....................65 ■CHAPTER 5 GameDesign:InteractiveChallenges ..........................85 PART 3 ■ ■ ■ Level Design ■CHAPTER 6 InheritingEvents:MotherofPearl ............................101 ■CHAPTER 7 MazeGames:MoreCuteThingsinPeril .......................127 ■CHAPTER 8 GameDesign:LevelsandFeatures ...........................149 iv PART 4 ■ ■ ■ Multiplayer Games ■CHAPTER 9 CooperativeGames:FlyingPlanes ............................169 ■CHAPTER 10 CompetitiveGames:PlayingFairwithTanks ..................191 ■CHAPTER 11 GameDesign:BalanceinMultiplayerGames ..................211 PART 5 ■ ■ ■ Enemies and Intelligence ■CHAPTER 12 GML:BecomeaProgrammer .................................225 ■CHAPTER 13 CleverComputers:PlayingTic-Tac-Toe ........................245 ■CHAPTER 14 IntelligentBehavior:AnimatingtheDead ......................259 ■CHAPTER 15 FinalWords ..................................................291 ■BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................297 ■INDEX ......................................................................299 v P A R T 1 Getting Started W elcome to the world of game development. Playing games can be a lot of fun, but you’reabouttodiscoverwhymakingthemissomuchbetter! C H A P T E R 1 Welcome to Game Maker I fyou’relookingforanenjoyablewaytolearnhowtomakecomputergames,thenthisisthe bookforyou.Youdon’tneedadegreeincomputerscienceandyouwon’thavetoreadabook thesizeofatelephonedirectory—everythingyouneedisrighthere.Aslongasyoucanuse Windowswithoutbreakingintoacoldsweat,youhaveallthequalificationsyouneedtostart makingyourowngames.Inthechaptersahead,we’llshowyouhowtomakeninecomplete gamesandpassonsomeofourhard-earnedprofessionalexperienceingamedesignalongthe way.Already,youarejusttwochaptersawayfromcompletingyourfirstgameandhavetaken yourfirststepalongthepathofthegamemaker’sapprentice! Everytradehasitstools,andeverytradesmanknowshowtochoosetherighttoolforthe job.InthisbookwewillbecreatingallthegamesusingasoftwaretoolforWindowscalled GameMaker.GameMakerisidealforlearninggamedevelopmentasitallowsyoutostart makinggameswithouthavingtostudyacompletelynewlanguage.Thismakesthewhole learningexperiencealoteasierandallowsyoutoconcentrateoncreatinggreatgamedesigns ratherthangettingboggeddownwiththetechnicalitiesofprogramming.Nonetheless,pro- gramminglanguagescanoffermanyadvantagestoexperiencedusersandsoGameMaker alsoincludesitsownlanguage,whichisthereforyoutodiscoverwhenyoufeelreadytouseit. You’llbepleasedtohearthatthefreeLiteeditionofGameMakerisincludedontheCD accompanyingthisbook.Allthegamescanbemadeusingthisfreeedition;however,thereare somespecialeffectsinthelaterchaptersthatwillonlyworkwiththeProeditionofGame Maker.Ifyouwanttoupgradeyourcopyforthese,oranyoftheotherextrafeaturesthatit unlocks,youcandoitdirectlyfromwithintheprogramforaverysmallfee(currentlyUS$25). Installing the Software Youcan’tbeginmakingthegamesinthisbookuntilyouhavetheGameMakersoftware installedonyourPC.You’llfindtheinstallprogramintheProgramfolderontheCD,soinsert thedisc,navigatetotheProgramfolder,andstarttheprogramcalledgmaker_inst.exe.The formshowninFigure1-1shouldthenappearonthescreen. 3 4 CHAPTER 1 ■ WELCOME TO GAME MAKER Figure1-1.InstallGameMakerbyfollowingtheinstructionsonthescreen. ClickNextandfollowtheinstructionsastheyappear.Westronglyrecommendinstalling theprograminthedefaultdirectory. ■Note GameMakerrequiresafairlymodernPCrunningWindows2000,XP,Vista,orWindows7.You’ll needaDirectX-compatiblegraphicscardwithatleast32MBofmemoryandDirectX8orlaterinstalledon yourmachine.ADirectX-compatiblesoundcardisalsorequiredforsoundandmusic.Ifyourmachinedoes notmeettheserequirements,youmighthaveproblemsrunningGameMakerorthegamescreatedwithit. Don’tworryifallthistechno-babblemakesnosense—justtryitoutbecauseyou’renotlikelytohaveany problemsunlessyourPCisveryold.SeethereadmefileintheProgramfolderontheCDforfurtherdetails. GameMakershouldstartautomaticallyoncetheinstallationhascompleted.Youcanalso launchitdirectlyfromtheWindowsStartmenuorbydouble-clickingtheGameMakericon onyourdesktop.ThefirsttimeyourunGameMakeronanewcomputer,youwillbeaskedif youwanttoruntheprograminAdvancedmode(seeFigure1-2).ClickNoasitwillbeeasier tostickwiththeSimplemodeforthetimebeing—we’llshowyouhowtoswitchtoAdvanced modelateron. Figure1-2.ClickNoattheprompt,aswewanttostartbyusingSimplemode. CHAPTER 1 ■ WELCOME TO GAME MAKER 5 Upgrading ThefreeLiteeditionofGameMakerprovidedwiththisbookisfineforlearninghowtomake allthegamesinthisbook,butsomeofGameMaker’smoreexcitingfeaturesaredisabled unlessyouupgradetheprogramtotheProedition.Upgradingwillalsoallowyoutocreate moreprofessional-lookinggamesbyremovingtheGameMakerpop-upmessagethatappears atthestartofthegames.Untilyouupgrade,aremindermessagewillappeareachtimeyou runGameMaker,liketheoneshowninFigure1-3.ClickingContinueUsingtheLiteEdition willmakeitdisappear,butifyouuseGameMakeralot,westronglyencourageyoutoupgrade it.UpgradingwillsupportthefurtherdevelopmentofGameMakerandensuresthateveryone whousesitcancontinuetoenjoymakinggamesforyearstocome.Upgradingisveryeasy. SimplyclickthePurchaseProEditionOnlinebuttonontheremindermessageandfollowthe instructions. Figure1-3.SelectContinueUsingtheLiteEditiontostartworkingwithGameMakeror PurchaseProEditionOnlinetoupgradetotheProedition. The Global User Interface Ifeverythinghasgoneaccordingtoplan,thenyoushouldnowbelookingatthewindow showninFigure1-4.Ifnot,consultthereadmefileintheProgramfolderontheCDforpossible causesandfurtherinstructions.Ontherightsideofthemainwindowyouwillseeatutorial. Thereisnoneedtoworkyourwaythroughthistutorialasyouwilllearnallimportantaspects ofGameMakerinthisbook.SoclicktheHidebuttonbelowthetutorialfornow,andifyou don’twanttoseethetutorialagainthenremovethecheckmarknexttoShowthetutorialsat startup.ThefirsttimeyoustartGameMakereachdayyouwillalsoseetheGameMakerNews windowappear.Thisprovidesinformationaboutnewversions,resources,orcompetitions andsoisdefinitelyworthkeepinganeyeon.
Description:The list of books you might like
