You're part of a new venture, an independent gaming company, and you are about to undertake your first development project. The client wants a serious game, one with instructional goals and assessment metrics. Or you may be in a position to green light such a project yourself, believing that it can advance your organization's mission and goals. This book provides a proven process to take an independent game project from start to finish. In order to build a successful game, you need to wear many hats. There are graphic artists, software engineers, designers, producers, marketers - all take part in the process at various (coordinated) stages, and the end result is hopefully a successful game. Veteran game producers and writers (Iuppa and Borst) cover all of these areas for you, with step by step instructions and checklists to get the work done. The final section of the book offers a series of case studies from REAL indy games that have been developed and launched succesfully, and show exactly how the principles outlined in the book can be applied to real world products. The book's associated author web site offers ancillary materials & references as well as serious game demos and presentations.

Professorial Dissertation from the year 2009 in the subject Computer Science - Theory, grade: 90, Tel-Hai Academic College, language: English, abstract: Strategy computer games are nowadays a very popular and exciting genre in the world of computer games. Many succeeding commercial games were developed since the end 1980's and contributed to the growth and interest in computer games in general and strategy games in particular. Games such as Command & Conquer(TM) series (by Westwood and EA Studios), Civilization(TM) series (by Sid Meier), Warcraft(TM) and StarCraft(TM) series (by Blizzard) entered to the computer games' hall of fame, thanks to their inventiveness, artificial intelligence challenge and visual effects that they offer. Almost every strategy computer game was based on the idea of an "electronic board game", a modern brother to the classic, "physical" board games such as chess, checkers, backgammon, hexxagon and more. An interesting issue is the fact that both the classic board games and the modern strategy computer games are sharing many of the key elements that make the players think and act strategically and tactically, according to the development of the game. This issue is the basis for the project, and discussed further in the next pages. It is common to divide strategy games into two main types: "Abstract strategy", where there is "perfect information" regard to the game's state. An example for an "Abstract strategy" is Chess. The other type is "Concrete strategy" where there is "incomplete information" regard to the game's state. This characteristic makes the game more interesting and surprising. An example for such a game is "Stratego". This project aims to serve as an open source code framework, written under Microsoft .NET, for easy creation and expansion of "abstract strategy" games by providing operational artificial intelligence algorithms and well-defined class libraries based on concepts taken from "the game theory" for decision making aspe

Build games with techniques and insights from a pro.

Design great Facebook, iOS, and Web games and learn from the experts what makes a game a hit. This book shows how to put into action the proven design and marketing techniques from the industry's best game designers, who all started on a small scale

Building on their breakthrough bestseller "Implementing Lean Software Development," the authors show software leaders how to quickly identify the biggest opportunities for improvement in their development organizations.

Over 100 game programmers were interviewed and provided their individual view on questions like: How did you get into the game industry? What mistakes did you make along the way? What is the secret to your success? What advice do you have for those just getting started?--cover.

Richard Rouse explores gameplay, one of the most important but least discussed elements of computer game design that makes a game compelling and entertaining. He focusses in detail on such topics as game balancing, storytelling, non-linearity, player motivations, input/output, artificial intelligence, level design and playtesting. included are in-depth interviews with top game designers.

An Overview SIMSOC (which is pronounced sim-sock and stands for simulated society) is the most versatile role-playing game in the world. It has been used by hundreds of thousands of people and tens of thousands of groups, in introductory sociology courses and business seminars, for firsthand understanding of the forces that determine success or failure in any group or society. Coordinators accustomed to the previous edition will find no cumbersome rule changes -- this edition is simpler yet broader than its predecessor. New to it are: Simpler, streamlined rules. Increased size levels so that SIMSOC exercises can accommodate up to ninety people. A way to simulate generating private capital through direct investment. Numerous options covering everything from cellular phones to e-mail, which can be used at the coordinator's discretion. Readings from professionals and popular authors like Robert Putnam and Nicholas Lemann to address issues important to sociologists and managers of complex organizations. Use SIMSOC is appropriate for any group that wants to learn the nature of group dynamics and leadership or social organization and control. Big businesses like MGM and Lucent Technologies, charitable organizations, and local governmental agencies have all found it a useful teaching tool for over thirty years, as have college- and graduate-level social science students. Required from You The coordinator must set up the game and collect and distribute various materials during it. Beyond that, he or she needs only to observe what is happening and focus post-game discussion and efforts on pertinent issues. General Parameters The SIMSOC Coordinator's Manual contains complete instructions and all the materials needed for play. Also required are: Participants: Groups of up to ninety for each SIMSOC exercise. Time: Fifty to ninety minutes, five to ten times, for a total of no less than about eight hours. Space: Ideally four separate rooms, but the game can also be run in one large or two medium-sized rooms. Equipment: Each player needs the SIMSOC Participant's Manual and a pencil. One Coordinator's Manual will be needed for each group of up to ninety participants. It can be obtained, for a $5.00 fee, by writing, on letterhead, to: The Free Press A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Faculty Service Desk 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 To learn more about our academic and professional resources, visit us online at www.SimonSaysacademic.com.