Ultimate Game Design: Building Game Worlds [Paperback]

Tom Meigs (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0072228997 | ISBN-13: 978-0072228991 | Publication Date: May 27, 2003 | Edition: 1

Build games with techniques and insights from a pro. Author and game developer Tom Meigs shows you the finer points of world building and behavior scripting. Learn about level stubbing, lighting, prop and item placement, camera tricks, particle and effects systems, communication loops, Massively Multiplayer Online Games, and much more.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Filled with tips and techniques from veteran game designers at Sony, Blizzard, Disney, LucasArts, Activision, 3DO, and many others!

Plan, design, and create enthralling game environments complete with richly animated characters and objects by applying the expert techniques described in this one-of-a-kind resource. Veteran game developer Tom Meigs covers the foundations of game design, including previsualization, level stubbing and layout, lighting, texturing, behavior scripting, and using particles, and explains in detail each stage of game development and design. Each chapter features an in-depth interview with a game industry expert as well as case a study based on Tom's real-world experiences working on Sony PlayStation games and various other projects. Plus, you'll get priceless advice on how to get into the game development industry now with details on the different types of jobs available.

• Develop a comprehensive previsualization process for your game project
• Create topographic maps and reference drawings for level planning and layout
• Build up your game scenes with lighting, texturing, particles, effects, and audio
• Place actors, props, and items and tune specific camera details
• Learn about game design by genre--sports, fighting, RTS, role-playing, FPS, sims, MMOG, and others
• Script action events using JavaScript, Visual Basic, Python, Perl, and other tools
• Develop and design games for wireless devices including PDAs and mobile phones
• Implement a testing loop
• Learn how to avoid mistakes and set yourself up for success

About the Author

McGraw-Hill authors represent the leading experts in their fields and are dedicated to improving the lives, careers, and interests of readers worldwide

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media; 1 edition (May 27, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072228997
• ISBN-13: 978-0072228991
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,035,528 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical and solid book on building levels and games, May 19, 2004

By 

Marque Pierre Sondergaard (London, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ultimate Game Design: Building Game Worlds (Paperback)

"Ultimate Games Design" There seems to be no shortage of games design books, and they all claim to be the ultimate. All of them wants to deal primarily with the big fluffy ideas of the lead design - the overall idea of the game and so forth. Few of them has anything to say about the actual execution in terms of level design for example.

Untill now. Despite hating the title (and the colour scheme) of this book, I have to bow to the ultimate thing. This is as good a good as you will get right now about actually building game worlds - the level designs, the modelling, the texturing, the lighting and so forth. It also has one of the mandatory chapters on getting into the industry, where Tom Meigs goes beyond the usual war stories from the pros and repetitive listing of roles in the games industry, to actually offer the reader a good ammount of introspective questions to ponder and sage advice to gear up for the bumpy ride ahead.

So from hating it, this book has become one of my absolute favourites on games design. Well done Tom Meigs, whoever you are!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Peak on the other side, August 12, 2004

By 

erik turchin (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ultimate Game Design: Building Game Worlds (Paperback)

If your not in the gaming industry, but want to be, then this book will be a very valuable resource to you. For me, it was a welcome break from reading all software books. Which you must also do to get into gaming, or at least the art or programming jobs. This book reveals little known facts such as getting a job in the QA dept of a game company is a great way to get in if your not an artist or programmer. It also paints a picture of an industry that has its problems like anything else. Great chapters are included that discuss level mapping concepts and design techniques that are sure to boost ones though process as well as good interviews with key gaming gods. It simply does a great job at covering the gamut that is games. The author also gives you some good tips on what game developers "who hire" think like, cause he probably has done it. Must read for any potential game industry people. Harsh reality in many ways.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Geat book and helpful., September 24, 2011

By 

Daniel M. Macdonald "Animator." (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ultimate Game Design: Building Game Worlds (Paperback)

Great book and a great help in my studies. The CD was full of helpful tips. It helped studying game design and development.