Using Unreal Engine 3, the authors teach aspiring game makers the fundamentals of designing a computer game. The only prerequisite is a basic working knowledge of computers and a desire to build an original game. To get the most out of the book, the authors recommend gathering up some friends and working through the book together as a team and with time limits, mimicking the key elements of real world commercial game development.
This book mirrors the curriculum used at CampGame, a six week summer program organized for high school students at The New York University and Arizona State University that has been running successfully for over five years. Students enter with no prior knowledge of game making whatsoever, and through the course of six intensive weeks, they finish as teams of budding game developers who have already completed fully functional games with their own designs, code, and art.
Unreal® is a registered trademark of Epic Games, Inc.
Copyright in the Unreal Development Kit, Unreal Tournament, and Unreal Engine 3 is owned by Epic Games. Content of those programs included in screen shots in this book is copyrighted by Epic Games and used with the permission of Epic Games.
Acknowledgments
Required Tools
Introduction: So You Want To Make Games
Design
Coming Up with a Plan
Level Design
Leading the Player with Lighting
Terrain
Managing Levels
Events and Triggers: What’s Kismet?
User Interfaces and Menus
Refining Your Work
Special Effects and Cutscenes
Animated Characters in Cutscenes
Art
Art, "The Unreal Way"
3D Design and Autodesk 3D Studio Max
2D Images and GIMP
Using Max with GIMP
Process and Methods
Making Better Materials
Props and Objects
Weapons
Cascade and Particle Systems
Character Rigging
Character Animation
The AnimTree Editor
Programming
Why Learn Unreal?
Introduction to Unreal Script
Mutators
Mods
Weapons and Characters
AI
Finishing Touches and UDK
Biography
Ashish Amresh leads the Computer Gaming curriculum initiatives at the School of Computing and Informatics at Arizona State University. He completed his MS in Computer Science from ASU in 2000, then worked in the video game industry as a graphics engineer programmer, and returned to ASU to work on his doctorate in Computer Science. While working on his doctoral degree, Amresh led the efforts in building the prototype that eventually resulted in the launching of the Decision Theatre at ASU in May 2005. In the same year he was awarded the Graduate College Teaching Excellence Award. Alex Okita is a professional computer game and film generalist with credits on games developed by Wideload Games, Inc., Bungie Software, Secret Level, Inc., Yukes Co, Midway Games and many more. He worked for four years as an Unreal Engine 3 technical director for Black Point Studios and continues to work as an Unreal Contract Artist/Programmer on cutting edge projects for high profile clients. Alex lives and works in the San Francisco Bay area.
Unreal Game Development teaches game makers the basics of designing a computer game, and requires only a basic knowledge of computers and a desire to create an original game to prove a successful handbook. From using 3D tools and 2D image-editing choices to programming and using design tools, this book teaches how to use Unreal Engine 3 to design a computer game, providing a step-by-step tutorial mirroring a curriculum used successfully at a six-week summer program for high school students that has been running for over five years. Very highly recommended!
--The Midwest Book Review