Book picks similar to
Game Anim: Video Game Animation Explained by Jonathan Cooper
games
game-dev
career
x-ipad-epub
JavaScript: The Good Parts
Douglas Crockford - 2008
This authoritative book scrapes away these bad features to reveal a subset of JavaScript that's more reliable, readable, and maintainable than the language as a whole--a subset you can use to create truly extensible and efficient code.Considered the JavaScript expert by many people in the development community, author Douglas Crockford identifies the abundance of good ideas that make JavaScript an outstanding object-oriented programming language-ideas such as functions, loose typing, dynamic objects, and an expressive object literal notation. Unfortunately, these good ideas are mixed in with bad and downright awful ideas, like a programming model based on global variables.When Java applets failed, JavaScript became the language of the Web by default, making its popularity almost completely independent of its qualities as a programming language. In JavaScript: The Good Parts, Crockford finally digs through the steaming pile of good intentions and blunders to give you a detailed look at all the genuinely elegant parts of JavaScript, including:SyntaxObjectsFunctionsInheritanceArraysRegular expressionsMethodsStyleBeautiful featuresThe real beauty? As you move ahead with the subset of JavaScript that this book presents, you'll also sidestep the need to unlearn all the bad parts. Of course, if you want to find out more about the bad parts and how to use them badly, simply consult any other JavaScript book.With JavaScript: The Good Parts, you'll discover a beautiful, elegant, lightweight and highly expressive language that lets you create effective code, whether you're managing object libraries or just trying to get Ajax to run fast. If you develop sites or applications for the Web, this book is an absolute must.
Laravel: Code Bright
Dayle Rees - 2013
At $29 and cheaper than a good pizza, you will get the book in its current partial form, along with all future chapters, updates, and fixes for free. As of the day I wrote this description, Code Bright had 130 pages and was just getting started. To give you some perspective on how detailed it is, Code Happy was 127 pages in its complete state. Want to know more? Carry on reading.Welcome back to Laravel. Last year I wrote a book about the Laravel PHP framework. It started as a collection of tutorials on my blog, and eventually became a full book. I definitely didn’t expect it to be as popular as it was. Code Happy has sold almost 3000 copies, and is considered to be one of the most valuable resourcesfor learning the Laravel framework.Code Bright is the spiritual successor to Code Happy. The framework has grown a lot in the past year, and has changed enough to merit a new title. With Code Bright I hope to improve on Code Happy with every way, my goal is, to once again, build the most comprehensive learning experience for the framework. Oh, and to still be funny. That’s very important to me.Laravel Code Bright will contain a complete learning experience for all of the framework’s features. The style of writing will make it approachable for beginners, and a wonderful reference resource for experienced developers alike.You see, people have told me that they enjoyed reading Code Happy, not only for its educational content, but for its humour, and for my down to earth writing style. This is very important to me. I like to write my books as if we were having a conversation in a bar.When I wrote Code Happy last year, I was simply a framework enthusiast. One of the first to share information about the framework. However, since then I have become a committed member of the core development team. Working directly with the framework author to make Laravel a wonderful experience for the developers of the world.One other important feature of both books, is that they are published while in progress. This means that the book is available in an incomplete state, but will grow over time into a complete title. All future updates will be provided for free.What this means is that I don’t have to worry about deadlines, or a fixed point of completion. It leads to less stress and better writing. If I think of a better way to explain something, I can go back and change it. In a sense, the book will never be completed. I can constantly add more information to it, until it becomes the perfect resource.Given that this time I am using the majority of my spare time to write the title (yes, I have a full time job too!), I have raised the price a little to justify my invested time. I was told by many of my past readers that they found the previous title very cheap for the resource that it grew into, so if you are worried about the new price, then let me remind you what you will get for your 29 bucks.The successor to Code Happy, seen by many as the #1 learning resource for the Laravel PHP framework.An unending source of information, chapters will be constantly added as needed until the book becomes a giant vault of framework knowledge.Comedy, and a little cheesy, but very friendly writing.
Final Fantasy X-2 Official Strategy Guide
Dan Birlew - 2003
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.
Beautiful Code: Leading Programmers Explain How They Think
Andy OramLincoln Stein - 2007
You will be able to look over the shoulder of major coding and design experts to see problems through their eyes.This is not simply another design patterns book, or another software engineering treatise on the right and wrong way to do things. The authors think aloud as they work through their project's architecture, the tradeoffs made in its construction, and when it was important to break rules. Beautiful Code is an opportunity for master coders to tell their story. All author royalties will be donated to Amnesty International.
Get Your Hands Dirty on Clean Architecture: A hands-on guide to creating clean web applications with code examples in Java
Tom Hombergs - 2019
Advanced Swift
Chris Eidhof - 2016
If you have read the Swift Programming Guide, and want to explore more, this book is for you.Swift is a great language for systems programming, but also lends itself for very high-level programming. We'll explore both high-level topics (for example, programming with generics and protocols), as well as low-level topics (for example, wrapping a C library and string internals).
The Art of Immersion: How the Digital Generation Is Remaking Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and the Way We Tell Stories
Frank Rose - 2011
Now, on YouTube and blogs and Facebook and Twitter, we are media. And while we watch more television than ever before, how we watch it is changing in ways we have barely slowed down to register. No longer content in our traditional role as couch potatoes, we approach television shows, movies, even advertising as invitations to participate—as experiences to immerse ourselves in at will. Wired contributing editor Frank Rose introduces us to the people who are reshaping media for a two-way world—people like Will Wright (The Sims), James Cameron (Avatar), Damon Lindelof (Lost), and dozens of others whose ideas are changing how we play, how we chill, and even how we think. The Art of Immersion is an eye-opening look at the shifting shape of entertainment today.
Art of Atari
Tim Lapetino - 2016
Since its formation in 1972, the company pioneered hundreds of iconic titles including Asteroids, Centipede, and Missile Command. In addition to hundreds of games created for arcades, home video systems, and computers, original artwork was specially commissioned to enhance the Atari experience, further enticing children and adults to embrace and enjoy the new era of electronic entertainment. The Art of Atari is the first official collection of such artwork. Sourced from private collections worldwide, this book spans over 40 years of the company's unique illustrations used in packaging, advertisements, catalogs, and more. Co-written by Robert V. Conte and Tim Lapetino, The Art of Atari includes behind-the-scenes details on how dozens of games featured within were conceived of, illustrated, approved (or rejected), and brought to life! Includes a special Foreword by New York Times bestseller Ernest Cline author of Armada and Ready Player One, soon to be a motion picture directed by Steven Spielberg. Whether you're a fan, collector, enthusiast, or new to the world of Atari, this book offers the most complete collection of Atari artwork ever produced! "For me, revisiting the beautiful artwork presented in this book is almost as good as taking a trip in Doc Brown's time machine back to that halcyon era at the dawn of the digital age. But be warned, viewing these images may leave you with an overwhelming desire to revisit the ancient pixelated battlefields they each depict as well." -- from the Foreword by Ernest Cline, author of READY PLAYER ONE
Making Games with Python & Pygame
Al Sweigart - 2012
Each chapter gives you the complete source code for a new game and teaches the programming concepts from these examples. The book is available under a Creative Commons license and can be downloaded in full for free from http: //inventwithpython.com/pygame This book was written to be understandable by kids as young as 10 to 12 years old, although it is great for anyone of any age who has some familiarity with Python.
Not All Fairy Tales Have Happy Endings: The rise and fall of Sierra On-Line
Ken Williams - 2020
The author, Ken Williams, founded Sierra On-Line Sierra with his wife Roberta who went on to create many of the company's best selling games. Sierra grew from just Ken and Roberta to over one thousand employees and a fan base that still exists today, despite the fact that the company was torn apart by criminal activities, scandal and corruption that resulted in jail sentences and the collapse of Sierra. This is the behind-the-scenes story of the rise and fall, as it could only be told by the ultimate insider.
Playing to Win: Becoming the Champion
David Sirlin - 2005
This book walks players through the entire process: how to choose a game and learn basic proficiency, how to break through the mental barriers that hold most players back, and how to handle the issues that top players face. It also includes a complete analysis of Sun Tzu's book The Art of War and its applications to games of today. These foundational concepts apply to virtually all competitive games, and even have some application to "real life." Trade paperback. 142 pages.
Programming in Lua
Roberto Ierusalimschy - 2001
Currently, Lua is being used in areas ranging from embedded systems to Web development and is widely spread in the game industry, where knowledge of Lua is an indisputable asset. "Programming in Lua" is the official book about the language, giving a solid base for any programmer who wants to use Lua. Authored by Roberto Ierusalimschy, the chief architect of the language, it covers all aspects of Lua 5---from the basics to its API with C---explaining how to make good use of its features and giving numerous code examples. "Programming in Lua" is targeted at people with some programming background, but does not assume any prior knowledge about Lua or other scripting languages. This Second Edition updates the text to Lua 5.1 and brings substantial new material, including numerous new examples, a detailed explanation of the new module system, and two new chapters centered on multiple states and garbage collection.
The Well-Played Game: A Player's Philosophy
Bernie DeKoven - 1978
De Koven's classic treatise on how human beings play together, first published in 1978, investigates many issues newly resonant in the era of video and computer games, including social gameplay and player modification. The digital game industry, now moving beyond its emphasis on graphic techniques to focus on player interaction, has much to learn from The Well-Played Game.De Koven explains that when players congratulate each other on a "well-played" game, they are expressing a unique and profound synthesis that combines the concepts of play (with its associations of playfulness and fun) and game (with its associations of rule-following). This, he tells us, yields a larger concept: the experience and expression of excellence. De Koven--affectionately and appreciatively hailed by Eric Zimmerman as "our shaman of play"--explores the experience of a well-played game, how we share it, and how we can experience it again; issues of cheating, fairness, keeping score, changing old games (why not change the rules in pursuit of new ways to play?), and making up new games; playing for keeps; and winning. His book belongs on the bookshelves of players who want to find a game in which they can play well, who are looking for others with whom they can play well, and who have discovered the relationship between the well-played game and the well-lived life.
Character Animation Crash Course!
Eric Goldberg - 2008
Classic animation techniques are analyzed and brought to life through thisunique book and its accompanying website companion that offers readers animated movie examples that show, in real time or frame-by-frame, the author's principles at work. Add to this Goldberg's discussions of classiccartoons and his witty, informative observations based on the wealth of knowledge he's gained during his 30-plus years in professional animation, and you have a tour-de-force guide to character animation with the classictouch.
How to Talk about Videogames
Ian Bogost - 2015
Games are part art and part appliance, part tableau and part toaster. In How to Talk about Videogames, leading critic Ian Bogost explores this paradox more thoroughly than any other author to date.Delving into popular, familiar games like Flappy Bird, Mirror’s Edge, Mario Kart, Scribblenauts, Ms. Pac-Man, FarmVille, Candy Crush Saga, Bully, Medal of Honor, Madden NFL, and more, Bogost posits that videogames are as much like appliances as they are like art and media. We don’t watch or read games like we do films and novels and paintings, nor do we perform them like we might dance or play football or Frisbee. Rather, we do something in-between with games. Games are devices we operate, so game critique is both serious cultural currency and self-parody. It is about figuring out what it means that a game works the way it does and then treating the way it works as if it were reasonable, when we know it isn’t.Noting that the term games criticism once struck him as preposterous, Bogost observes that the idea, taken too seriously, risks balkanizing games writing from the rest of culture, severing it from the “rivers and fields” that sustain it. As essential as it is, he calls for its pursuit to unfold in this spirit: “God save us from a future of games critics, gnawing on scraps like the zombies that fester in our objects of study.”