Level Up covers the entire video game creation process Readers
will learn how to develop marketable ideas, learn what perils and
pitfalls await them during a game''s pre-production, production and
post-production stages Video games continue to be a growth market,
with sustained growth since 2006 despite the economic downturn.
2008 was a record year for game sales. Expert author Scott Rogers
is a veteran of the industry and has designed hits including God of
War, the SpongeBob Squarepants game series, and the venerable Pac
Man World. His recent talks at Game Developer Expo was featured on
sites including BoingBoing, Digg, and Slashdot. Demand for game
designers and developers has tripled since 2006 indeed.com It has
a unique approach with Scott''s tongue in cheek style, and "more
practice, less theory" approach will appeal to today''s readers who
want to get started quickly.
目錄:
Foreword by Danny Bilson. About the Author. Press Start!
Acknowledgments: Everything I Learned about Writing a Book. Level 1
Welcome, N00bs! A Brief History of Video Games. Game Genres. Who
Makes this Stuff? Programmer. Artist. Designer. Producer. Tester.
Composer. Sound Designer. Writer. Have You Thought about
Publishing? Product Manager. Creative Manager. Art Director.
Technical Director. And the Rest ... Level 1''s Universal Truths and
Clever Ideas. Level 2 Ideas Ideas: Where to Get Them and Where to
Stick Them. What do Gamers Want? Why I Hate "Fun." Brainstorming.
Breaking Writer''s Block. Level 2''s Universal Truths and Clever
Ideas. Level 3 Writing the Story. The Triangle of Weirdness. Time
to Wrap It Up. Creating Characters. A Few Pointers on Writing for
Kids of All Ages. Writing for Licenses. Level 3''s Universal Truths
and Clever Ideas. Level 4 You Can Design a Game, But Can You Do the
Paperwork? Writing the GDD, Step 1: The One-Sheet. ESRB Ratings.
Writing the GDD, Step 2: The Ten-Pager. The Rule of Threes.
Ten-Pager Outline. The Game Design Document and the Awful Truth
about Writing Them. Gameplay Progression. The Beat Chart. Above
All, Don''t Be a Schmuck. Level 4''s Universal Truths and Clever
Ideas. Level 5 The Three Cs, Part 1-Character. Personality: Do We
Really Need Another Badass? Let''s Get Personal. Finally, We Talk
about Gameplay. Why Walk When You Can Run? The Art of Doing
Nothing. Might as Well Jump. Hoists and Teeters. What Goes Up, Must
Fall Down. Me and My Shadow. The Water''s Fine... or Is It? Be Kind
to Our Four-Legged Friends. Using All of the Parts. We Are Not
Alone. Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood? Level 5''s Universal
Truths and Clever Ideas. Level 6 The Three Cs, Part 2-Camera. Get
It Right: Camera Views. First Person Camera. Third Person Camera.
Giving Up Control. So You''ve Decided to Let the Player Control the
Camera. So You''ve Decided to Not Let the Player Have Control Over
the Camera. So You''ve Decided to Let the Player Sometimes Have
Control Over the Camera. Two and a Half D. Isometric Camera.
Top-Down Camera. Special Case Cameras. Tunnel Vision. Camera Shot
Guide. Camera Angle Guide. Camera Movement Guide. Other Camera
Notes. Always Point the Camera to the Objective. Never Let the
Character Get Out of the Camera''s Sight. Multiple Player Cameras.
Level 6''s Universal Truths and Clever Ideas. Level 7 The Three Cs,
Part 3-Controls. Dance, Monkey, Dance. Character or Camera
Relative? Shake, Rattle and Roll. Level 7''s Universal Truths and
Clever Ideas. Level 8 Sign Language-HUD and Icon Design. Health
Bar. Targeting. Ammo Gauge. Inventory. Score. RadarMap.
Context-Sensitive Prompt. The Clean Screen. Icon Has Cheezburger?
Don''t Get QTE. HUDs, and Where to Stick ''Em. There Are Other
Screens Than the HUD. The Pause that Refreshes. A Final Word on
Fonts. Level 8''s Universal Truths and Clever Ideas. Level 9
Everything I Learned about Level Design, I Learned from Level 9.
The Top 10 Cliche Video Game Themes. The Name Game. Everything I
Learned about Level Design, I Learned from Disneyland. The Beat
Chart. Re-using Re-use. The Gary Gygax Memorial Mapping Section.
The Dave Arnenson Memorial Mapping Section. Wrapping Up Mapping.
Illusional Narrative. Gray Matters. Leave the Training Level for
Last. Level 9''s Universal Truths and Clever Ideas. Level 10 The
Elements of Combat. 400 Quatloos on the Newcomer! Now You have to
Kiss Me. On Moving. On Guarding. State of the Art Bang Bang. The
Best Gun for You. Run and Gun. Not Just Shooting. Dammit Jones,
Where Doesn''t It Hurt? Death: What is It Good For? Level 10''s
Universal Truths and Clever Ideas. Level 11 They All Want You Dead.
Bring on the Bad Guys. I Love Designing Enemies. I Hate You to
Pieces. Non-Enemy Enemies. How to Create the World''s Greatest Boss
Battle. Who''s the Boss? Size Matters. Location, Location, Location.
Why Not to Create the World''s Greatest Boss Battle. Level 11''s
Universal Truths and Clever Ideas. Level 12 The Nuts and Bolts of
Mechanics. Holy Death Trap! Time to Die. The Music of Mechanics. A
Nice Little Calm Spot. Riddle Me This. A Short Word on Minigames
and Microgames. Level 12''s Universal Truths and Clever Ideas. Level
13 Now You''re Playing with Power. "Love Thy Player". More Wealth
Than You Can Imagine! Level 13''s Universal Truths and Clever Ideas.
Level 14 Multiplayer-the More the Merrier. How Many is the Right
Number? MMORPGS, or Hell is Other People. Level 14''s Universal
Truths and Clever Ideas. Level 15 Some Notes on Music. Sounds Like
a Game to Me. Level 15''s Universal Truths and Clever Ideas. Level
16 Cutscenes, or No One''s Gonna Watch ''Em Anyway. How to Write a
Screenplay in Eight Easy Steps. Level 16''s Universal Truths and
Clever Ideas. Level 17 And Now the Hard Part. No One Cares about
Your Stupid Little World. Video Games is a Haaaard Business. What
to Do for an Encore? Level 17''s Universal Truths and Clever Ideas.
Continue? Bonus Level 1: The One-Sheet Sample. Bonus Level 2: The
Ten-Page Design Document Sample. Bonus Level 3: Game Design
Document Template. Bonus Level 4: The Medium-Sized List of Story
Themes. Bonus Level 5: The Big List of Environments. Bonus Level 6:
Mechanics and Hazards. Bonus Level 7: Enemy Design Template. Bonus
Level 8: Boss Design Template. Bonus Level 9: High Concept Pitch
Presentation. Achievement Unlocked: Exactly Like Making Chili.
Index.