Game Development Essentials: An Introduction - Book Review
Post by trog @ 01:17pm 20/10/11 | Comments
We check out the newly released Game Development Essentials: An Introduction, Third Edition, by Jeannie Novak!
When you want to create your own game, you instantly think Google will have all those right answers, and you spend many hours trawling through the hundreds and thousands of web pages with little bytes of info throughout, until you have a large collaboration of information from a variety of sources. But what if life could be easier, and what if all that information you’re looking for, from how to design your characters to team responsibilities. Well, that is where the Game Development Essentials: An Introduction, Third Edition by Jeannie Novak comes into play.
When it comes to finding information in this day and age, the internet has allowed us to search through billions of articles in under minutes, and a lot of people have forgotten about the medium that helped thousands of people before, books. When it comes to developing a game, you want the most precise and helpful information out there, and what better place to look then a book designed by game developers for game developers.
A book that has every little bit of information needed, and in a broad and easy to understand way, with the added benefit of a more advance read if you’re eager. Jeannie Novak has made a book that covers every inch of the game development process, and in such a way that anyone can pick it up and read, without worry of not understanding the ever complex process of creating games.
From the get go, the third edition of Game Development Essentials: An Introduction offers a thorough and insightful introduction to the game development industry. It begins with an elegant introduction on how we came to game development, and then moves on to examine content creation and the development of story and characters, gameplay, level design, interface design, and audio. The book then concludes with chapters on project management, team roles and responsibilities, development tools and cycles, marketing and community management, and the future of game development.
Each section of the book deals with certain areas of game development, with great focus on each part. Each chapter entails a stepping stone to the end development cycle, where you are able to have a completed idea of your own. Within each chapter scenarios are given, examples are shown, and ideas are born. Every chapter has something that can be used by any game developer, young or old. What makes this book even more fantastic, is that it allows students studying game degrees in universities to better equip themselves with what the industry requires and keep up to date and current with the ever growing technology filled industry.
What I enjoyed the most about reading Game Development Essentials: An Introduction is that I could actually use it in one of my university projects, which was such an advantage when at some points I didn’t quite know what to do. This book gives the tools to the users, and explains in detail how each part works and why it works like that. With case studies, interviews, quotes, and anecdotes contributed by people actually in the gaming field, it helps to branch a better understanding of the development cycle, and allow beginners to fully appreciate what it is they are about to begin.
The absolute best thing about this book is not just what is included in the pages of information, but also what you can take away from it. These kinds of books usually offer so much good information, which you can sometimes find yourself overwhelmed and unable to know what to do. But with how engaging and well written it is, you won’t ever feel daunted by the scope of it all. What is even better is the DVD that comes with the book, loaded with goodies including games engines, game art software trials, game demos, mobile apps and videos, and accessibility games.
This book is well worth the read, and I can not only recommend it to anyone who is wanting to start game development, but also to the more senior of the industry, as you can be surprised at what it contains.
Our reviewer Eorl is currently studying a Bachelor of Games Development and is primarily interested in game design aspects such as developing characters, stories and levels.
When it comes to finding information in this day and age, the internet has allowed us to search through billions of articles in under minutes, and a lot of people have forgotten about the medium that helped thousands of people before, books. When it comes to developing a game, you want the most precise and helpful information out there, and what better place to look then a book designed by game developers for game developers.
A book that has every little bit of information needed, and in a broad and easy to understand way, with the added benefit of a more advance read if you’re eager. Jeannie Novak has made a book that covers every inch of the game development process, and in such a way that anyone can pick it up and read, without worry of not understanding the ever complex process of creating games.
From the get go, the third edition of Game Development Essentials: An Introduction offers a thorough and insightful introduction to the game development industry. It begins with an elegant introduction on how we came to game development, and then moves on to examine content creation and the development of story and characters, gameplay, level design, interface design, and audio. The book then concludes with chapters on project management, team roles and responsibilities, development tools and cycles, marketing and community management, and the future of game development.
Each section of the book deals with certain areas of game development, with great focus on each part. Each chapter entails a stepping stone to the end development cycle, where you are able to have a completed idea of your own. Within each chapter scenarios are given, examples are shown, and ideas are born. Every chapter has something that can be used by any game developer, young or old. What makes this book even more fantastic, is that it allows students studying game degrees in universities to better equip themselves with what the industry requires and keep up to date and current with the ever growing technology filled industry.
What I enjoyed the most about reading Game Development Essentials: An Introduction is that I could actually use it in one of my university projects, which was such an advantage when at some points I didn’t quite know what to do. This book gives the tools to the users, and explains in detail how each part works and why it works like that. With case studies, interviews, quotes, and anecdotes contributed by people actually in the gaming field, it helps to branch a better understanding of the development cycle, and allow beginners to fully appreciate what it is they are about to begin.
The absolute best thing about this book is not just what is included in the pages of information, but also what you can take away from it. These kinds of books usually offer so much good information, which you can sometimes find yourself overwhelmed and unable to know what to do. But with how engaging and well written it is, you won’t ever feel daunted by the scope of it all. What is even better is the DVD that comes with the book, loaded with goodies including games engines, game art software trials, game demos, mobile apps and videos, and accessibility games.
This book is well worth the read, and I can not only recommend it to anyone who is wanting to start game development, but also to the more senior of the industry, as you can be surprised at what it contains.
Our reviewer Eorl is currently studying a Bachelor of Games Development and is primarily interested in game design aspects such as developing characters, stories and levels.
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