Techniques covered include state- and goal-based behavior, inter-agent communication, individual and group steering behaviors, team AI, graph theory, search, path planning and optimization, triggers, scripting, scripted finite state machines, perceptual modeling, goal evaluation, goal arbitration, and fuzzy logic.

    BUT NOT UNAIDED.Dark Souls is back and it's darker and more difficult than ever. This time death is certain. Every minute. The Dark Souls II Collector's Edition Guide is here to light a path through the darkness and to help free players from their wicked curse.From the same team that created the critically acclaimed Dark Souls guide comes the most anticipated strategy guide for the most unforgiving game of the year.Area Guide Walkthrough - detailed maps to guide you in exploring every inch of the game s huge world. Learn shortcuts that will not only save time but also reduce deaths by PvP invasion. Discover the most powerful weapons and useful treasures.Multiplayer Guide - Co-operation and survival or invasion and destruction all of the essential techniques are discussed. For new players, basic survival tactics are explained. For advanced players, the hidden technical details are revealed to keep them on the cutting edge.Enemy Analysis - To succeed, you must know your enemy. Elemental weaknesses, damage type weaknesses, lethal attacks, tactics for melee and ranged fighters, tactics for defeating foes using the terrain, story significance, item drops all will be revealed.Weapons & Equipment - Weapons, Armor and Magic are all covered in exhaustive detail. Full stats, locations, upgrade paths and usage strategies are provided so you can easily compare all of the options when choosing which equipment to use and how to upgrade your gear.Item Data - Complete item lists reveal every last consumable, accessory, upgrading material and offensive item. Quickly discover where to find each one, how to make the most of them, and how to defend yourself when they are used against you!Lore Index - A unique guide to help players unravel this dark, mysterious world of Dark Souls for themselves. The Lore Index guides players to find the clues they need to illuminate the truth, revealing as much as required while spoiling as little as possible. "

    Together, she and her siblings in the powerful Derexhi family form one of the most infamous and effective mercenary companies in the city, solving problems for the city's wealthy elite. Yet despite being the oldest child, Luma gets little respect—perhaps due to her half-elven heritage. When a job gone wrong lands Luma in the fearsome prison called the Hells, it's only the start of Luma's problems. For a new web of bloody power politics is growing in Magnimar, and it may be that those Luma trusts most have become her deadliest enemies...From visionary game designer and author Robin D. Laws comes a new urban fantasy adventure of murder, betrayal, and political intrigue set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

    Instead, he and Hrym live a high life as scoundrels, pulling cons and parting the weak from their gold. When a mysterious woman invites them along on a quest into the frozen north in pursuit of a legendary artifact, it seems like a prime opportunity to make some easy coin—especially if there’s a chance for a double-cross. Along with a hooded priest and a half-elven tracker, the team sets forth into a land of monsters, bandits, and ancient magic. As the miles wear on, however, Rodrick’s companions begin acting steadily stranger, leading both man and sword to wonder what exactly they’ve gotten themselves into...From Hugo Award-winner Tim Pratt, author of City of the Fallen Sky, comes a bold new tale of ice, magic, and questionable morality set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

    When Fisher disappeared from public view, Waitzkin's interest waned--until his own son Josh emerged as a chess prodigy.Searching for Bobby Fischer is the story of Fred Waitzkin and his son, from the moment six-year-old Josh first sits down at a chessboard until he competes for the national championship. Drawn into the insular, international network of chess, they must also navigate the difficult waters of their own relationship. All the while, Waitzskin searches for the elusive Bobby Fischer, whose myth still dominates the chess world and profoundly affects Waitzkin's dreams for his son.

    Take an experienced guide who'll help you constantly... from living through your first night, to hosting your own Minecraft server! Stephen O'Brien has been obsessing over Minecraft since its earliest betas. He's seen it all! Now, he'll take you deep inside craft and mine, cave and menagerie, farm and village. He'll reveal combat traps and tricks you needto know... take you deep inside hidden temples... teach you enchantments of unimaginable power... help you survive where few dare to go... help you OWN the infinite worlds of Minecraft! Get registered and get started NOWCustomize your experience: monstrous, peaceful, and moreHarvest resources, craft tools and shelters--let there be lightGrab your pickaxe: mine iron, gold, diamonds, and redstoneEscape (or defeat!) 14 types of hostile mobsGet friendly mobs on your side and build automated farmsBrew potions to cure ills, gain superpowers, and throw at enemiesTransform your shelter into a palace (or a secret underwater base)Create new worlds and master the fine art of terraformingLearn the secrets of redstone devices, and build incredible rail systemsPlay safely through The Nether and The EndDiscover mods that will blow your mindRun your own LAN games, adventures, and worldsProvides complete coverage of the PC and Mac versionsTips for using Minecraft on Xbox, iOS and AndroidBonus downloadable crafting guide available from the publisher's web site

    He knows that if parents place good video games into a learning system in their homes they can reap major benefits for their children and themselves. They can accelerate their children's language and cognitive growth." —James Paul Gee, Tashia Mogridge Professor of Reading, University of Wisconsin-MadisonMarc Prensky presents the case—profoundly counter-cultural but true nevertheless—that video and computer game playing, within limits, is actually very beneficial to today's "Digital Native" kids, who are using them to prepare themselves for life in the 21st century. The reason kids are so attracted to these games, Prensky says, is that they are learning about important "future" things, from collaboration, to prudent risk taking, to strategy formulation and execution, to complex moral and ethical decisions. Prensky's arguments are backed up by university PhD's studying not just violence, but games in their totality, as well as studies of gamers who have become successful corporate workers, entrepreneurs, leaders, doctors, lawyers, scientists and other professionals.Because most adults (including the critics) can't play the modern complex games themselves (and discount the opinions of the kids who do play them) they rely on secondhand sources of information, most of whom are sadly misinformed about both the putative harm and the true benefits of game-playing. This book is the antidote to those misinformed, bombastic sources, in the press and elsewhere. Full of common sense and practical information, it provides parents with a large number of techniques approaches they can use—both over time and right away—to improve both their understanding of games and their relationships with their kids. What You Will Learn The aim of this book is to give you a peek into the hidden world into which your kids disappear when they are playing games, and to help you as an adult—especially if you are a concerned parent or teacher—understand and appreciate just how much your kids are learning that is POSITIVE from their video and computer games.In the few short hours it takes to read this book, you will learn: What it feels like to be in the world of computer and video games; How to appreciate the breadth and depth of modern computer and video games and the ways they make your kids learn; How to understand the various USEFUL skills your game-playing your kids are acquiring; How to understand your own kids better and build better relationships using games as a base; And, most importantly, How to augment and improve what your kids are learning by HAVING CONVERSATIONS THAT THEY WANT TO HAVE about their games.

    Book that tell an extraordinary story about game design. Learn about terryfying presentation of International Gamers Nominee Pret-a-Porter. Learn how much time was needed to design Golden Geek Best Card Game nominee 51st State. Learn how kids helped designind Dice Tower nominee Robinson Crusoe...Read stories behind scenes. Learn about designing one of the most popular boardgames. You find them all in this one book.

    

    We buy shelves of thick books. We plan detailed adventures. We memorise rules.In Play Unsafe, Graham Walmsley explores what happens when you throw the serious stuff away: when you stop working, stop planning and start playing.This book explains how to make roleplaying less like work and more like play; stop killing other players' ideas and build on them instead; and put stories at the heart of your game.

    Learn how the team created the Mass Effect universe from Cinematics to Characters, Art, Audio, and more• BONUS Digital Guide Access - With interactive multiplayer maps and video strategy• See Mass Effect 3 like never before - Discover environments and parts of the game you won't see anywhere else. Panoramic views will leave you amazed With this guide you will: • Fight YOUR Way - Multiple approaches to every key battle• Dominate in Multiplayer - Comprehensive maps prepare you for battle and help you survive• Choose the Best Gear - Every weapon and piece of armor revealed, including mods and upgrades• Take Earth Back - Class breakdowns and build recommendations give you the advantage you need against the reapers• Avoid Spoilers - Special callouts strategically placed and text turned upside down at critical story moments ensure your experience won't be spoiled

    As star empires clash, these epic wars are won and lost by BattleMechs, 30-foot-tall humanoid metal titans bristling with lasers, autocannons and dozens of other lethal weapons; enough firepower to level entire city blocks. Your elite force of MechWarriors drives these juggernauts into battle, proudly holding your faction s flag high, intent on expanding the power and glory of your realm. At their beck and call are the support units of armored vehicles, power armored infantry, aerospace fighters and more, wielded by a MechWarrior's skillful command to aid him in ultimate victory. Will they become legends, or forgotten casualties? Only your skill and luck will determine their fate! October of 2006 sees the unveiling of a whole new look and presentation for Classic BattleTech. The basic rules and concepts of the game have not changed: thirty-foot tall metal titans of doom piloted by feudal MechWarrior knights firing lightning bolts, coherent lasers and autocannons in an orgy of destruction across a futuristic landscape of thousands of worlds. These concepts have made Classic BattleTech/MechWarrior one of the most successful science fiction lines ever created, spawning millions of sold MechWarrior PC games, almost a hundred full-length novels, more than ten million sold MechWarrior: Dark Age Collectable Miniatures Game figures, comic books, toys, a cartoon, virtual reality centers, over five-thousand fan-based websites and more. Yet it all began with the original board game, which still conveys all the best the universe has to offer, presented in a whole new way with the publication of the first in a new series of core rulebooks, Total Warfare. TOTAL WARFARE The product of more than twenty years of gaming experience, Total Warfare presents the rules of the Classic BattleTech game system as never before. For the first time, all the rules for various units that have a direct impact

    Featuring easy-to-follow and entertaining explanations of how spells are created and used in the game, along with original illustrations of the game's essential magical characters, this book shines a spotlight on the mystical side of D&D.The perfect jumping-on point for young fans of fantasy looking to give D&D a try, Wizards and Spells also features prompts to encourage creative problem-solving skills in the dangerous situations that may be encountered in a Dungeons & Dragons adventure.

    The guide also features complete abilities lists for all 17 dresspheres and special dresspheres. The abilities and status bonuses for all 60 Garment Grids are also revealed in this detailed section. All-inclusive bestiary uncovers everything gamers need to know about each fiend--strengths, weaknesses, and immunities, plus the items that can be stolen or attained by defeating these enemies. Extensive mini-game coverage and a flowchart that reveals every gameplay decision and its end result, so that players can master 100% of the game! Top notch boss strategy, area maps, accessory and item inventories, and much more!This Signature Series guide also features a special, two-sided poster with expanded coverage of the Alchemist, Lady Luck, and Gun Mage dresspheres.This title is available for sale in the U.S. and Canada only.

    Isiem is one such student, a promising young shadowcaller whose budding powers are the envy of his peers. Upon coming of age, he's dispatched on a diplomatic mission to the mountains of Devil's Perch, where he’s meant to assist the armies of devil-worshiping Cheliax in clearing out a tribe of monstrous winged humanoids. Yet as the body count rises and Isiem comes face to face with the people he's exterminating, lines begin to blur, and the shadowcaller must ask himself who the real monsters are...From Liane Merciel, critically acclaimed author of The River King's Road and Heaven's Needle, comes a fantastical tale of darkness and redemption set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.