Game design essentials (paperback)

Learn Game Design Quickly and Easily

This full-color guide gives newcomers a solid foundation in the fundamentals of digital game design. From key design concepts to setting up gameplay navigation to understanding production pipelines, this is the perfect primer, with coverage that includes designing for consoles, PCs, TVs, smartphones, and tablets. If you"re an aspiring game artist, here"s your chance to learn the art, the technology, and the techniques you need to succeed in this exciting field.

Learn these game design essentials*and more:

• Game types, from action to educational to role-playing

• Core components*story, characters, props, animation

• How the playback system affects the visual design

• Animation, texture, lighting, sound, and 3D modeling

• The game design production pipeline, start to finish

• Modes, menus, adjusting gameplay, and other navigation basics

• Building levels, interfaces, and a Game Design Document (GDD)

• Life in the studio*interviews with industry pros

Learn about the art of creating game backgrounds to convey grandeur or complexity

Good audio and sound effects are an integral part of game creation

This striking Essentials book features:

• Chapter-opening learning objectives

• Step-by-step tutorials

• Four-color screenshots and illustrations

• Essentials and Beyond*summaries and additional suggested exercises

• Downloadable support files

Chapter 1 Game Design Origins 1

Chapter 2 Gameplay Styles 25

Chapter 3 Core Game Design Concepts 43

Chapter 4 Visual Design 81

Chapter 5 Detailed Development of Visuals 111

Chapter 6 Navigation and Interfaces 139

Chapter 7 Designing Levels and the Game Design Document 165

Chapter 8 Sound 185

Chapter 9 Job Descriptions, Game Tracking, and Legal Issues 203

Chapter 10 Distribution and Marketing 225

Appendix A Answers to Review Questions 249

Appendix B Education, Training, and Working in Games 255

Appendix C Game Design Document 275

Index 289