This book deals with the topic of interactivity from an overall point-of-view. Its 400 pages are divided in 4 parts. The first one is dedicated to the fundamentals concepts of interactivity. The second one provides many design tips using real-world examples of successful and flawed applications interfaces. From these examples, the third part lays down a general theory of interactivity, completed by an historical perspective of the software industry in the fourth part (including the way it gather
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Keywords : interactivity, design, theory
This large 500 pages book dissects the various aspects of Game Design: brainstorming for ideas, what players are seeking, artificial intelligence, storytelling, writing Game Design Document... Written by industry veteran Richard Rouse III (who designed the action-horror games The Suffering, among others), this book is full of wise and relevant advices for Game Designers, whether they are working alone as indies or in a big team. The originality of this book lies in the in-depth interviews of fam
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Keywords : game design, analysis, richard rouse III, centipede, sims, ed logg
The first (self-published) edition of a book later know as "The Art of Interactive Design". This book deals with the topic of interactivity from an overall point-of-view. Its 400 pages are divided in 4 parts. The first one is dedicated to the fundamentals concepts of interactivity. The second one provides many design tips using real-world examples of successful and flawed applications interfaces. From these examples, the third part lays down a general theory of interactivity, comp
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Keywords : interactivity, design, theory
Most Game Design books tend to illustrate their ideas with some "case studies" coming from industry professionals. This books pushes this idea to the extreme: its 470 pages are solely dedicated to interviews with video game industry professionals. Over 200 professionals are interviewed, mostly American ones, ranging from unknown people to celebrities like Richard Garriott, David Perry, Sid Meier and Peter Molyneux. The advices and tips they give are both insightful and inspiring, and g
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Keywords : game design, professional tips, industry, interview
The french written reference about the history of videogames. This must-have book has know five different editions between 1997 and 2012. It details the story of many famous videogames thanks to interviews with their designers: Pong, Tomb Raider, Tetris, Doom, Myst, Sim City, etc. The book also have a background story with the life of Philippe Ulrich, famous french game designer and founder of Cryo, who have lived through all the stages of the videogames history. A very interesting read wi
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Keywords : history, france
The first edition of a book that will later become the french written reference about the history of videogames under the title "La Saga des Jeux Vidéo". This must-have book has known five different editions between 1997 and 2012. It details the story of many famous videogames thanks to interviews with their designers: Pong, Tomb Raider, Tetris, Doom, Myst, Sim City, etc. The book also have a background story with the life of Philippe Ulrich, famous french game designer and
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Keywords : history, france, philippe ulrich
This book explains in very clear way and with a lot of pictures how to use "Build", the level editing software for the game Duke Nukem 3D (3D Realms, 1996). Over 300 pages, this handbook details all the features of the tool, from basic usage (interface, adding textures, sprites, etc.) to the most complex topics (using "sectors effectors", adding new objects and enemies to the game, etc.). It also offers a wide selection of case studies (how to create sliding doors, elevators,
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Keywords : level design, level editor, duke nukem 3d, modding
A 750 pages reference handbook for anyone trying to learn the tools used to create new levels and to modify existing content of the games Doom, Doom II, Heretic and Heven. The book features many images, and it's explained with texts accessible to beginners, although some chapters are also dealing with advanced topics for experts.
Keywords : modding, level editor, doom, doom II, heretic, hexen
The book that founded (1938) the study of games in the humanities. The author states that games is an essential part of human culture, so he explores the role of game in societies. The concept of "magic circle", nowadays popular among researchers and game designers, comes from this book. Alongside with "Man, Play and Games", this is a book that any researcher working on games should read...This dutch-written book was first translated into English in 1949, and this translation
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Keywords : anthropology, sociology, definition
One of the first (if not the first) book dedicated to the design process of video games, written by the famous American game designer Chris Crawford. Despite its age, the content of this book is still very interesting and applicable today, which show how thoughtful its author was about the creative process of games. The book gives some very practical game design tips (elements of a game, balance, list of steps of the game design process, etc.) and some other general tips (how to educate yourself
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Keywords : game design, tips, creation, first book