Game Design Books

I bought this book because I love to paint with photoshop. This book teaches you everything you should need to succeed in digital painting. While having some experience already in the area of digital painting with photoshop, I was a beginner and after reading the book through from start to finish before applying Seegmiller's techniques, I got alot better and now I can finish a painting that's really beautiful and gets good ratings, I even have a couple fans of my art now!

I wasn't sure at first if I would actually need this book since I'm a more traditional artist who creates oil paintings. However, my styles are expanding and I wanted to try and create some digital art from my drawings, instead of transferring them to canvas. I've been doing a lot more contemporary, some might call it "pop art" work, and it's hard to find the colors I need in oil paint. This book is very well written and descriptive. I feel it is a valuable addition to my library and recommend it for anyone who even does a little drawing. It can help transform your work into different dimensions you may never have dreamed of. Hope this helps.

This is probably the best digital illustration book that I have come across. Like all instruction books, the author skips steps and leaves you wondering sometimes about how he got from one step to the next. However, art is a personal activity that no one can really tell you how to do, so info like there is in this book is valuable.

Print in full color, it gives you a lot of ideas, it makes me wanna do more things!!

This book is a wonderful resource for beginners and non-beginners. I totally recommend getting it because it is easy to follow along, and also has pictures to show you the process, along with the explanation.

Reviewed by: Scott A. Lowe

OVERVIEW:

Flash Out of the Box is a gentle introduction to the core functionality of Flash that maintains a pace the seasoned web programmer would find acceptable while not losing those who are new to Flash. Although O'Reilly Media acknowledges the book as being "Ideal for all readers -- including programmers" it is best suited for those who are going to commit to the Flash environment and need to learn its strengths in a quick and structured manner.

EVALUATION:

Written by Robert Hoekman, Jr., Flash Out of the Box is laid out in a format that permits the reader to stay focused on the point being made without one's eye having to deal with competing or redundant information. In part, this is an O'Reilly hallmark in that special care is placed on structure. For instance, supportive information is placed in a shaded area, separate from the central text. This permits the advanced reader to rapidly scan through the chapter without missing the key information. On the other hand, the new user benefits by this format by not being overloaded by new concepts.

For instance, Chapter 3 discusses animation by dividing the total process into individual, linear sections. In the obligatory discussion of managing text there is a side section defining "Synchronization", which is necessary information but is also a slight tangent from the topic. By separating the process into sections and then sub-dividing the section with support material sidebars the beginner can proceed in a slow, methodical pace and the veteran can bounce through chapters with ease.

Hoekman also utilizes the sidebars as launching points to future avenues of learning and potentially vital resources. For example, when discussing "Animation Transitions" in Chapter 6, the subject ends with examples being limited to simple graphic animations. However, there is a note at the end introducing the API (application programming interface), which addresses the question of advanced capability down the road. In general, the author takes care in leaving the user pointed in the right direction once they have exhausted the materials in the book.

In some sense, the content of the book parallels that of most books written about Flash and therefore seems almost cliché in its approach. Topics covered include the usual "how to" sections from drawing boxes and using the ruler to creating a quiz and importing video. However, there is a layer of content that makes Flash Out of The Box two books in one. This becomes evident in the second half of the book where Action Scripts and Behaviors are blended into the exercises. By the time the reader gets three-fourths of the way through the book (the section covering importing video) there is a full comparison of Flash with and without action script. Effectively, a new user can make a first pass at studying the lessons, from beginning to end, and then come back weeks later to learn the more intermediate level of Flash in a context that is familiar. In addition, the advanced programmer or advanced graphics user who is new to the Flash environment can ramp up to speed very quickly.

The book ends with overview sections on placing Flash on hand-held devices and CD-ROM's, a compressed look at Components, and an index listing on-line resources. Unfortunately, the included CD, which is labeled "Contains exercises from the book", really is little more than a disk containing some of the material and evaluation copies of the Macromedia products. Conceivably, there is enough evaluation software to get the reader thought the book without having to purchase a license. Still, the bonus CD is a little thin in what it provides, with no cut-and-paste shortcuts, but at least the basic pieces are there for the exercises. The reader will have to really do the exercises to gain the benefit of learning. Of course, if that is the only real negative aspect to this book then there really aren't any.

CONCLUSION

Flash Out of The Box is essentially two books in one. It is the ideal rapid-guide for the advanced user/programmer who is new to flash as well as a multi-level learning tool for the beginner. Robert Hoekman provides a focused, linear path of learning that sticks. The acknowledgements state that Tim O'Reilly himself kept a close eye on the production of this book -- and it shows.

"Flash - Out of the Box" by Robert Hoekman, Jr. (published by O' Reilly Media, Inc. Seabastopol). What a great metaphor name for a great self-help book to teach people to think "out of the box" creating art and animation like a child finger painting. Learning "Macromedia Flash" with the guidance of this book is as easy as a child finger painting. A child doesn't have to know how to read to be creative. I still don't know how to read this book intelligently to quote it; but, I can follow it enough to know the "A" button is the "A" button. And, when the "A" button has a word that I have no idea how to pronounce - I still can click on it and make it produce a beautiful finger painting.



If you want to speak Geekease - then go back to college. If you want to jump in head first and learn "Macromedia Flash" software - pick up this book. Robert Hoekman, Jr. wrote he thought he was writing "Flash - Out of the Box" for the beginner remembering to introduce the language as if he was learning Flash for the first time Doing so, he learned terms all over again as they have evolved into new terms along with software's ever changing technology.



I personally found that after reading the explanations of how and why Flash worked with the many metaphors Mr. Hoekman uses I learned Geekease in spite of myself. I learned valuable acronym language that is used in most popular design software that I self-taught myself, yet never knew what that termed meant. Mr. Hoekman refers to this book as "Alignment for Unlicensed Chiropractors." It is because of all the "bone structures" you will learn to apply to your work. Naturally, you will carry them through to all the software you already know. So, it is not just "Flash" software you will learn - it is the bones of graphic design. He brings back the simple childlike A, B, C's of time-saving techniques like "just lay out the graphic design" then go back and fill in the text and message instead of stressing over the text and trying to adjust the layout to fit it later. He takes you step-by-step with pictures of rulers and guides to create a simple box to a triangle morph movie. Then
you will understand the thought process and be doing pictures of your mother-in-law into a monkey in no time.



"Flash - Out of the Box" will guide even a person like me who did not know how to spell Macromedia how to purchase and load your software, click on your first box picture, create a movie time-line, to loading your work into a web-site. Mr. Hoekman's use of humor and simple layman's term explanations makes this book a must if you really want to lean the popular Macromedia graphic software bones. All you need is a desire to remember to finger paint again.

Carole Ann Morton
Member, D-Mag.org

This book is good at getting you up and running on some very useful areas of Flash. But there are a number of flaws in the exercises it has you go through that makes it frustrating, and reduces the amount you learn.

The book says to open some files provided on the CD, but when you go on to follow the instructions in the exercises, what you are asked to do has already been done, so you can't do the exercise.

In other cases when you run the exercise, it does nothing, even when you were not asked to do much (so it's not user error), so now you can't continue, meaning your learning experience has been reduced.

Overall the book is useful, is only about 70 - 80% complete, in terms of everything working the way it should. Buy it used and you will get your money's worth.

This beginning flash book allows users to delve right into creating useful flash projects. The author assumes the reader has some familiarity with the toolbars and their functions and therefore only touches on this a little in the beginning. I feel most intro flash books spend way too much time on this.

The author is very good about explaining the best and most efficient way to do things and the reasons for them. He presents an intro to Actionscripting which gives the reader useful code to use in future projects. I appreciate his emphasis on using best coding practices.

His chapter on video in flash was something interesting since I haven't had experience with it. He covers importing and compressing video and how to use it most efficiently. With all of his importing and exporting back and forth, however, it did get a little confusing.

By the end of the book there is a great deal of code given in regards to loading external assets so I'd say this book does have a steep learning curve.

All in all, this is a good book for those who want to get the ball running and create things fast.

I bought this book because I was sick of looking at Flash books that spent the first 40 pages naming all of the components of the Flash workspace without actually having me DO anything. Those books are boring and unhelpful because the vocabulary doesn't mean anything if you aren't actually working in Flash.

Flash out of the Box (FotB) dives right in and gets you started working! Instead of learning WHERE all of the tools are, you actually use them! IT is a much more interesting way to learn a new piece of software. It also introduces some key concepts, such as nested timelines, that other books don't discuss.

This method has a downside, though... The chapters advance very quickly and may cause inexperienced computer users to become lost. I found some of the chapters to be very info-dense; I would have to read and re-read sections in order to understand what I was doing. The book assumes that you know your way around the computer quite well, so it is not for novices.

My 2 biggest complaints about the book are this: (1) it is for Flash MX 2004 and some of the methods that are used will not work in previous version of Flash (so, if you have Flash MX, you will have to skip over some things). (2) It does not always explain the concepts very well, which means that you need to have another book nearby to use as a reference. For example, you create an animated movie clip, but it isn't clear when or why you would use a movie clip symbol.

Overall, I would say it is a good starter book for saavy computer users who want to dive in and learn Flash fundamentals quickly. However, if you plan to really do any serious work in Flash, you will find that you need another book to teach you things that this book doesn't cover. It is NOT a book for novices!

Plain and simple this book is about the code! Some of the authors have interesting perspectives (Brain Limond) but when it really comes down to it, who cares!

The real value of this book is knee deep in the minds of the people who wrote the actionscript for the tutorials.
Pick it apart, and get in to the head of each of these authors and there you will find the price of the book worth every penny you may have had to pinch to purchase this very expensive book.

The coding style that Erik Natzke talks about and demonstrates in this book is priceless.

So bottom line if your a actionscript junky and you got the IQ to dive into someone else's mind I just don't see how you could not love this book!

This is the coolest book I have ever seen, unlike any other book out there. Includes tutorials, background information, and more. If you love Flash, this book must be in your collection.

Code samples and tutorials from different Flash artists, including individual influences and perspectives. Some of the artists are way out there. The code is consistently understandable if you really spend the time with the tutorials, and you have a basic ActionScript knowledge. This book is cool.

this is not a actionscript book or a book that explains the features about the flash program. It's only a book that will give you an idea about how other designers (not masters that means a lot of years of experience) face their proyects and how they solve them. So it's very interesting if you want to know their process and some new tricks. I recommend it.

The tutorials worked through in this book are really up close and detailed, and absolutely nothing is skipped: each chapter begins with instructions on what size to create your canvas, and finishes by telling you to export your final .swf file. In between you have not only detailed descriptions, but also loads of screenshots, and every line of ActionScript code file typed out. The book also comes with an accompanying CD containing not just every .fla used in the book, but also video interviews with some of the designers, and if the static printed screenshots in the book aren't enough for you, then just sit back and watch the amazing animated walkthroughs on how to build your movie in the application itself. So if you don't feel like lugging the massive 500+ page book around with you when you go somewhere, just pop the CD into your pocket and you've got everything you need.

The book continues in the fine tradition of its predecessor, but now, in response to user demands apparently, there is a brand new element to be found at the end of each chapter: Headnotes. This is a small section in which we are told how to expand the example we have just worked through, or how we can alter it slightly to get a totally different result. So if for example, the tutorial walks you through an effect that makes use of the cursor's X position to control a horizontal slide of some sort, the headnotes might suggest making use of both the X AND Y properties of the cursor to create an object that seems to rotate in 3D. It's things like this that mean the book is not just a set of 15 set, un-changeable effects that you can't do much with, without looking like you're ripping off the creator, which some people may mistakenly believe when merely skimming through the book. The headnotes invite your mind to look at the examples not as one complete contained effect, but rather one end result that was achieved by using a whole range of possible techniques within Flash, and that it is these individual techniques that your mind should be looking to and combining when wanting to create any other effects of your own.

Although this book is aimed at people who are "at the summit" and is written by some of the leading Flash designers in the world, it is a book that absolutely every Flash user (and a whole bunch of non-Flash users) of every skill level will enjoy immensely. The whole book is written in easy-to-understand terms, without ever once being patronising. This is not only an excellent book on how to learn to work with a fairly advanced level of Flash, but it is also an excellent standalone design book.

The best book for learning pattern making and as a reference when you are working in the industry!

i never received my item because they were sending it to the wrong address and i guess someone took it. They then promised to give me a refund which i haven't recieved yet either but it's only been a couple of days. I hope i at least get that back!

I find this book very informative. It contains info on every aspect of making clothing. I do not think that this book is expensive for the info it has in it. I have spend hundredths of dollars on books that where a waste of money, this book is worth every dime. Len

I am a fashion design student and this is my favorite book ever for pattern making. I strongly recommend it to anyone serious about pattern making and design.

This book is just what I was looking for. Now I can design what I want to make and this book can show me how to draft the pattern. I love it.

This is an extremely well written text. The examples are clear, and it manages to cover a lot of ground. In my opinion, this book is far better than many of the other collision detection and game-development texts.

Nowhere else will you find as good a reference on shape intersection tests and closest point computations. Ericson covers these topics swiftly and efficiently within the early sections, a task which often occupies the entirety of many lesser books. The coverage of the Gilbert-Johnson-Keerthi algorithm is likewise top-notch.

My main gripe with the book is the chapter on GPU optimization. Its placement didn't seem very logical, and the techniques it contains are quite out of date as of 2007. Fortunately, the rest of the book is so good that it can be easily forgiven.

Overall: Highly recommended.

The first half of this book explains the most popular collision detection functions. The collisions presented are mostly in 3D, but there are also some 2D versions. You can use Amazon's "Search Inside" option and take a look at the content table, which shows a large variety of shape vs shape tests. Most of the functions are explained using advanced math, and that's ok because there is no other way to show were the concepts of the book come from. There is an introductory chapter on the math used in the book, but it isn't enough. In my opinion it would have been better to remove that chapter and add some more explanations and algorithms on dynamic collisions.

Most of the second half of the book deals with the different structures to optimize collision detection queries, showing pros and cons for all of them, so the developer can select the one that best fits it's project. The last part of the book is on hardware optimizations.

I agree with other reviewers the CD doesn't bring enough code, and no executable code at all. What one finds in the CD are the pieces of code exactly as they are printed in the sheets, sorted in files by chapter. In my opinion that presentation makes the author look like he is just adapting the algorithms from other papers. Having runnable code is not just a fancy feature, but a necessity for programmers. With compilable code one can see how it works, getting a better idea of how the algorithms are integrated in the actual graphical engine, and it's also a proof the code has no bugs (otherwise reveals them). I'm removing 1 star only because of this reason, hoping a new edition will enhance the content.

This book saves a lot of research, time and money. Just compare this table of collision tests: http://www.realtimerendering.com/int/ with the book's content. You will see that many of these tests are explained and included in the book (and there are some more not in that table). This book is a great compilation of those algorithms which are pretty dispersed in papers and books.

Two things stand out about this author: 1) he drives every discussion toward performance issues, and 2) he provides just enough source code for a developer like me to lock in the concepts. That's a great combo that makes this book a hands-down winner.

I've never worked in gaming. I've been doing CAD/CAE/CAM, mostly with Java and CATIA v4 / STEP data, for ten years. I'm currently involved in a robotics planning project, where I've been able to model all the kinematics of an 8-DOF robot system, but the scale of the collision detection challenges has overwhelmed me...until reading this book.

I've read MANY collision detection books over the years and this is by far the best one i've seen to teach programmers how to LEARN collision detection from basic tests to highly advanced algorithms.

This book does more than collision.

Don't get me wrong -- it does all of the collision you'll likely need in any kind of current game, in good detail, with derivation of why it works, including source code. However, it also serves as an excellent primer in game geometry for anyone who might not have an intuitive understanding of what a closed manifold mesh is, or why the separating axis theorem works, or why T junctions are a problem.

I'm pretty well versed in the field, and I use this book as a comprehensive reference, and I love it. But even if you're a newcomer, you need this book, because it contains everything you need to know! And, conversely, if you don't know what's in this book, you won't have the success you want.

I lost my floorcloth books in Katrina and this is the only one that I'm going to replace. I don't need anything else! The authors give you ideas for simple and more difficult floorcloths. Their instructions for various techniques are precise and easy to follow. The other reviewer was right, saying that she would be using the ideas from this book for years!

I love making my own decorations but I like to finish projects that look tasteful and as nice (or better) than anything I could buy. You can't go wrong with this book, whether you are just starting out or looking for a larger challenge. There are some easier projects as well as ones that are more difficult. You could spend years using this book and not run out of ideas. Plenty of full-color photos, step by step directions and techniques. Worth every penny you spend on this one!

I love making my own decorations but I like to finish projects that look tasteful and as nice (or better) than anything I could buy. You can't go wrong with this book, whether you are just starting out or looking for a larger challenge. There are some easier projects as well as ones that are more difficult. You could spend years using this book and not run out of ideas. Plenty of full-color photos, step by step directions and techniques. Worth every penny you spend on this one!

I borrowed this book from a friend and had to buy a copy for myself. It gets your right-brain in high gear. If you're looking for the cutesy, folksy arts & crafts flowing out of China these days, forget this one. But if you like to create and like the unique, this is it. Even if you've never did a cloth before, this book will show you step by step and lead you to create a work of art!

I love making my own decorations but I like to finish projects that look tasteful and as nice (or better) than anything I could buy. You can't go wrong with this book, whether you are just starting out or looking for a larger challenge. There are some easier projects as well as ones that are more difficult. You could spend years using this book and not run out of ideas. Plenty of full-color photos, step by step directions and techniques. Worth every penny you spend on this one!

This a hilarious, and wonderful book from one of the legends of game audio. Full of gems of wisdom about getting things done in the game business. If you have an interest in game soundtracks, learn from the master!

I found this book in the bargain bin at a local book store. I play music and am interested in recording.

I found the book entertaining mostly because the character of the author really shines through. He seems like a kind of Hunter S. Thompson of this small and fairly obscure musical niche.

He drops lots of names and there are many inside jokes. One can get a bit lost in all of the people who pass through the book. I found some nuggets of wisdom about music and dealing with people and mostly I was entertained.

I think Mr. Sanger would be an entertaining person to have a drink with.

This book is categorized under games and audio and for this reason anyone looking to get into game audio may mistake it for a how-to (although George does offer a how-to section later in the book.) Said duped person would be disappointed to find out that The Fat Man's book is more of a living history of the industry, rather than one of the "extreme" technical guides.

On the other hand, those who read it will be delighted how George communicates his acquired philosophy and knowledge in such a fun and practical manner. The book is kind of like a career survival guide.

Sounds confusing, eh?

Being a musician and a game dev enthusiast, I really enjoyed the book. He nailed the attitude that you should have (or adopt) to be successful at doing something you love to do. Anyone interested in music, interactive entertainment or making a living in a fledgling industry should seek it out and soak it up.

Reviewing this book is very easy. If you ever played Wing Commander or 7th Guest or 11th Hour, you know the Fatman. You know what he is capable of. But you don't know his story... This book is a great modern story told by the Fatman himself, a story with ups and downs, with drama and comedy and heroic american moments, and even better, its all a true story. If you ever wonder what does it mean to be a game composer, a music composer, a musician, even more than that, to live your dream, read this book. It won't teach you how to be the best in the business, it will teach you that whatever you do, put your heart in it. The Fatman has been around computer games since the beginning, and hopefully he will continue in this field till the end. Long live the Fatman... this book really inspired me to follow my dream and be a musician.

Whether you're a newbie to the music industry trying to get a leg up on your career, a hardened gamer who has seen and done it all, or someone who's just in the mood for a good laugh -- you owe it to yourself to buy this book! George, "The Fat Man", Sanger is one-of-a-kind and tells a story like no other. You may even learn something from his life-lessons along the way. I know I did!

David Rippy
Ensemble Studios

One summer, I audited a graphic design course with absolutely no graphic design background. Completely unfamiliar with Adobe Photoshop, I purchased this book, hoping that I would be able to learn something about the program.

I learned so much more than I ever expected to from this book. The colorful pages and the engaging tone of the author makes this book a great tool. I consider myself 100% competent with Photoshop after reading this book cover to cover. But there is nothing in this book that makes that necessary - other than the fact that it is that interesting. It starts out with the most basic concepts, and slowly details all the ropes of the program.

Three years later, I always refer back to this book (as it is well organized and descriptive). I have also gone on to purchase numerous other books in the series as a result of my positive experience with this one. I highly recommend this book.

I know a little more about Photoshop than they average Joe. But after reading this book, I feel like a begginer. There are so many things in here that are new to me that I wish I had this book sooner. I found Colin because he donates his time to several websites, not his own, and gives tips. He really does not need to do this. All he has to do is sell his book. The only reason I did not give him 5 stars is because he really needed to include a disk that had the examples and pictures he uses as examples. But even without those, this is a very good book to learn Photoshop with.

This book is good for beginners I guess, and teaches you noting else but the basics. I think the manual that comes with your software gives you as much. A big let down. It should be named "how to start with photoshop and nothing else." It shows you couple of tricks at the end of the book but no explanations, tools used nor process but vage descriptions. Like that is a secret you'll find in a book named "How to do Everything with photoshop CS2." Save your money and just play with photoshop without this book. You'll speed you learning.

I think this book has excellent details and instructions for learning Photoshop, but the one thing it doesn't have is a disc or website listed to download the images used in the examples. It is harder to learn the steps when you don't have the images the book uses, so I only give it three stars.

I usually get skeptical when I see titles promising everything, but this book delivers!
Colin has hit on each detail of Photoshop CS2.
I've been using Photoshop since v2.0 and it wasn't until now, I realized that I've been doing things the hard way. Colin's explanations of tools like History Brush and Art History Brush will make my day to day work much easier and make me more efficient. Chapter 5 Advanced Layer Techniques and Chapter 6 Demystifying Channels are two must reads. I found myself really exploring the possibilities after reading these chapters. It was like having the same energy as when a child gets a new toy for Christmas.
The book is layed out in a logical format and it's an easy read for any experience level designer, with step by step descriptions and nice graphics and screenshots.
The bonus section with a behind the scenes look into techniques from other pros is a great inspiration to all designers.
I recommend this book as a great addition to any Photoshop users library. There's something for everyone in this book.

Considering Cinnamon has such an in-depth grasp on gaming at his young age, I certainly recommend this book. I also recommend continuing to keep an eye on anything he produces in the future.

There are other books that use game creation to teach basic Java. This, in my opinion, is by far the best. I came across it at the Stanford book store and was taken by many of the retro games and hooked by Cinnamon's elegant programming.

After my first CS course, I wanted I a resource to "stretch" my knowledge. Programming Video Games for the Evil Genius spotlights 8 games,each divided into segments. Once assembled, the real fun starts with variations and more complex AI.

I am impressed the range of experience the book provides. I finished the the "racing track" project in a few hours, but have spent over two weeks on the bomb diffuser game, creating my own version from Cinnamon's basic instructions.

This book is on-spot for new to moderate level programmers. In fact, I think it would be an excellent supplemental text for high school or college CS courses.

I recommend Programming Video Games for the Evil Genius without reservation.

Programming Video Games for the Evil Genius

If your goal is world domination or to design the hottest chick in the world of video games and you are older than 15, this is NOT the book for you. While the title is catchy enough to warrant a read-through, the information is thin, at best, and the writing style is clearly meant for someone who is looking to enter the wonderful world of game programming.
Ideally, this would be a great book for one of those computer camps that so many kids seem to end up in every summer.

This is a great book if you know what you are getting - a text that teaches you the basics of Java in parallel with simple game programming. In that sense it is somewhat mislabeled. This is great for high schoolers and up who are interested in both subjects, and is particularly good for people who don't have the patience to go through Core Java(TM), Volume I--Fundamentals (8th Edition) (Sun Core Series), which is the best book on Java programming on the market, in my opinion. The games are pretty simple, so you won't get bored with the details, but there is enough meat here that you will learn something. However, don't expect to get excited by the results of the simple games that you write either. When you're through, you'll have some idea of how to think like a game programmer and have a basic understanding of Java. Once you do understand Core Java and this book, you might want to check out Killer Game Programming in Java, which is the best book out there on game programming specifically in the Java language, even three years after it was published.

To teenagers ready to conquer cyberspace: this book reveals the secrets to making video games happen your way through programming tips anyone can master with a little practice. If you're the type of game player who always has ideas about how to make video games better - or even create your own games (with the possibilities of financial rewards) - Ian Cinnamon has the right stuff to help you make your game ideas happen. This is someone who's been turning computer skills into video gaming reality for almost half his life, so he gets it, inside and out.

To parents of future digital explorers: this book teaches young minds how to think critically, how to think digitally, how to plan, how to strategize, how to create rapport with others through a game's computer interface and how to command attention while commanding computers -- all in the context of having fun helping others have fun. It's an excellent introduction to programming, even for novices. Those willing to spend some time with Ian Cinnamon's clearly written book will gain enduring lessons in the art and science of digital communications through games. But this isn't just a book about programming or video games; it's a book that can foster the critical skill of motivating others through entertainment.

"Programming Video Games for the Evil Genius" is one door into the future -- a world ten or fifteen or twenty years from now when competitive advantages are synonymous with computer mastery. And there is no better way to grow in computer literacy than to have fun creating and modifying video games.

Tom Meigs does a great job with this text. It goes over all of the concepts that you need to think about when designing your own levels, characters or even complete games. He includes many interviews with industry pro's that really "tell it like it is." The best part, I think though, is the last chapter where he gives some examples of the different episodes that have happened at the companies he has worked for. Man, stress can drive some people crazy.

"Ultimate Games Design" There seems to be no shortage of games design books, and they all claim to be the ultimate. All of them wants to deal primarily with the big fluffy ideas of the lead design - the overall idea of the game and so forth. Few of them has anything to say about the actual execution in terms of level design for example.

Untill now. Despite hating the title (and the colour scheme) of this book, I have to bow to the ultimate thing. This is as good a good as you will get right now about actually building game worlds - the level designs, the modelling, the texturing, the lighting and so forth. It also has one of the mandatory chapters on getting into the industry, where Tom Meigs goes beyond the usual war stories from the pros and repetitive listing of roles in the games industry, to actually offer the reader a good ammount of introspective questions to ponder and sage advice to gear up for the bumpy ride ahead.

So from hating it, this book has become one of my absolute favourites on games design. Well done Tom Meigs, whoever you are!

Tom Meigs, Ultimate Game Design: Building Game Worlds (McGraw-Hill, 2003)

While there's a decent amount of useful information here, the reader of books on game design has seen a good deal of it before in other game design books. If it's your first game design book, it will likely be quite helpful to you; those who have read two or three other general books on game design are likely to only get anything out of the interviews.

Ambiguous content with statements such as light can be very useful... AND! This book is of no value to any one who is remotely interested in greating/building actual game worlds. You would be better off giving the book a miss and check the forums out on the internet. I am gutted that I made the mistake of reading and believing the comments made on the books contents which now seems obvious these were placed by the authors friends and relatives. It's a pity Amazon do not accept returns! As such the book is destined for the bin.

If your not in the gaming industry, but want to be, then this book will be a very valuable resource to you. For me, it was a welcome break from reading all software books. Which you must also do to get into gaming, or at least the art or programming jobs. This book reveals little known facts such as getting a job in the QA dept of a game company is a great way to get in if your not an artist or programmer. It also paints a picture of an industry that has its problems like anything else. Great chapters are included that discuss level mapping concepts and design techniques that are sure to boost ones though process as well as good interviews with key gaming gods. It simply does a great job at covering the gamut that is games. The author also gives you some good tips on what game developers "who hire" think like, cause he probably has done it. Must read for any potential game industry people. Harsh reality in many ways.