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~ (Author) "It help to know where you're going before you get there, so that you can be prepared..." (more)
Key Phrases: Visual Basic, United States, Gameboy Advance (more...)
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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

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.


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
See all Editorial Reviews

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: 9.1 x 7.3 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 (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #547,019 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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More About the Author

Tom Meigs
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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It help to know where you're going before you get there, so that you can be prepared. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Visual Basic, United States, Gameboy Advance, The Sims Online, Disney Online, Magnet Island, Nokia N-Gage, Ultimate Baseball Online, Blade Runner, Electronic Arts, The Comedy Store, The Lord of the Rings
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Ultimate Game Design: Building Game Worlds
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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
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4.4 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Practical and solid book on building levels and games, May 19, 2004
"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!

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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
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.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars This book was excellent..., August 30, 2006
By Nicholas Yarsulik (Kansas City, KS) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Tom Meigs does a great job with this text. It goes over all of the concepts that you need to think about when designing your own levels, characters or even complete games. He includes many interviews with industry pro's that really "tell it like it is." The best part, I think though, is the last chapter where he gives some examples of the different episodes that have happened at the companies he has worked for. Man, stress can drive some people crazy.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent introductory book.
Tom Meigs, Ultimate Game Design: Building Game Worlds (McGraw-Hill, 2003)

While there's a decent amount of useful information here, the reader of books on game design... Read more
Published on July 26, 2005 by Robert P. Beveridge

1.0 out of 5 stars Ultimate waste of time!
Ambiguous content with statements such as light can be very useful... AND! This book is of no value to any one who is remotely interested in greating/building actual game worlds... Read more
Published on October 18, 2004 by PD

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great book for new and experience game designers
This book is very useful, it has provided many information not found elsewhere. I highly recommend this book. Read more
Published on September 26, 2003 by Woon Luong

4.0 out of 5 stars Very helpful because
I really liked the interviews with the game creators at Blizzard/Lucas/Sony and all. The sections on learning how to make up behavior helped out alot. Read more
Published on June 8, 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome new games book
I really recommend to this book everyone I meet that is interested in how games get made or if you want to make games yourself. As for me, I want to be a game artist. Read more
Published on May 25, 2003 by bduncanrad

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for anyone with a big interest in games
I'm trying to get started in games and have bought many books to help me out, but this one is by far my favorite. Read more
Published on May 25, 2003 by Sherry Martin

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for anyone with a big interest in games
I'm trying to get started in games and have bought many books to help me out, but this one is by far my favorite. Read more
Published on May 25, 2003 by Sherry Martin

5.0 out of 5 stars Best game design book so far...
I have been looking for a game design book that shows me examples of how to do stuff fast and not just talk about players that want this or that in their games. Read more
Published on May 25, 2003 by Sherry Martin

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