Cover -- Contents -- Introduction -- Chapter 1 Games and Game Design -- Game Talk: Genres, Platforms, and More -- Genre and Sub-Genre -- Production Type -- Platform -- Graphical Style -- Delivery Method -- Perspective -- The Anatomy of a Video Game -- The Engine -- The Assets -- The Rules -- The Stages of Game Development -- Basic Design and Brainstorming -- Prototyping -- Refining Design -- Engine Development -- Asset Creation -- Scripting -- Testing and Debugging -- Distribution and Marketing -- Game Design -- The Aim of Game Design -- The Game-Design Document (GDD) -- Title, Platform, and Audience -- Summary and Story -- Characters, Equipment, and Locations -- Conclusion -- Chapter 2 Game Software Development -- Project Management and Its Justifications -- Creating a Plan with RAMS -- Recyclability -- Abstractness -- Modularity -- Simplicity -- Development Methodologies -- The Waterfall Model: Linear Development -- The Waterfall Model: Pros and Cons -- The Agile Model: Iterative Development -- The Agile Model: Pros and Cons -- Agile Versus Waterfall: How to Proceed? -- Release Cycles -- Pre-Alpha -- Alpha -- Beta -- Release Candidate -- Gold Master -- Conclusion -- Chapter 3 Games Programming -- Games Programming in Depth -- Coding -- Scripting -- Visual Scripting -- Game Development With or Without Engines? -- Programming Paradigms in Game Development -- Object Orientation -- Going Further with Object Orientation -- Component-Based Design Paradigm -- OO Versus CBD -- Time, Events, and Actions -- Time -- Events and Actions -- Errors, Testing, and Debugging -- Conclusion -- Chapter 4 Game Math -- The Language of Numbers -- Coordinate Spaces -- Coordinate Space Fundamentals -- World and Local Coordinate Spaces -- Position, Orientation, and Scale -- Transformation -- Translation -- Rotation -- Scaling -- Transformation with Matrices.

Vectors: Direction and Movement -- "What's Our Vector, Victor?" -- Vector Addition and Multiplication -- Vector Normalization -- Vector Dot Product -- Solving Problems with Speed, Distance, and Time -- Conclusion -- Chapter 5 Graphics, Pixels, and Color -- Pixels: The Raw Unit of Graphics -- Resolution -- Aspect Ratio -- The Problems of Resolution and Aspect Ratio -- Differences in Resolution -- Differences in Aspect Ratio -- Conclusions About Pixels for Games -- Color: The Qualities of Images -- RGB: Color Does Not Exist? -- Hue, Saturation, and Value: Tints, Shades, and Tones -- Bit Depth -- Alpha Channels and Masks -- Image Formats: Lossless Versus Lossy -- Gamma and Gamma Correction -- Color Blending: Color Arithmetic -- Image Resampling -- Vector Images: Vector Versus Raster -- Images as Textures: Texels and UV Mapping -- Conclusion -- Chapter 6 Meshes, Rigging, and Animation -- The Mesh: Four Channels of Information -- The Geometry Channel -- The UV-Mapping Channel -- The Rigging Channel -- The Animation Channel -- Working with Meshes: Performance Optimization -- Minimize Polygon Count -- Optimize Topology -- Reduce UV-Mapping Seams -- Recycle Texture Space -- Establish Texel Density -- Optimize Models for Culling and Occlusion -- Create Meshes as Modules -- Reduce Animation Keyframes -- Conclusion -- Chapter 7 Lighting and Rendering -- The Components of Shading -- Form: Shape, Outline, and Structure -- Material and Texture -- Lighting -- Lighting: Direct and Indirect Illumination -- Direct Illumination -- Indirect Illumination -- Rules for Lighting -- Light Sources -- Calculating Direct and Indirect Illumination -- Light-Mapping: Illumination Through Textures -- Real-Time Lighting: Vertex-Based Versus Pixel-Based -- Normal Mapping -- Rendering Methods: Forward Versus Deferred -- Forward Rendering -- Deferred Rendering.

Learning from Lighting and Rendering -- Conclusion -- Chapter 8 Sound and Music -- Sound, Music, and Audio -- Sound -- Music -- Voice -- File Formats and Audio Workflows -- Loading and Streaming -- Loading -- Streaming -- 2D Versus 3D Audio -- 2D Sound -- 3D Sound -- Audio Tips and Tricks -- Beware of Over-Mixing -- Graphical Substitutes -- Intrusive Music -- Voice and Localization -- Conclusion -- Chapter 9 Special Effects and Post-Processing -- Creating Special Effects in Games -- Particle Systems -- The Particle -- The Emitter -- The Behavior -- Particle Properties -- Particle Scale -- Particle Transparency -- Particle Color -- Particle Systems in Summary -- Minimize Particle Systems -- What You See Is Not Always What You Get (WYSINAWYG) -- Disable Particles That Are Out of View -- Flip-Book Textures -- Procedural Geometry -- Ribbon Trails -- Post-Processing -- Blur -- Depth of Field -- Bloom. -- Vignettes and Vignetting -- Chromatic Effects -- Cel Shading -- Lens Flare -- Conclusion -- Chapter 10 Distribution, Publishing, and Marketing -- Marketing -- Press Releases -- Websites and Development Blogs -- Demos -- Videos and "Going Viral" -- Twitter, Facebook, and Micro-blogging -- Targeted Banner Advertising -- Sequels and Series -- Marketing in Summary -- Distribution and Publishing -- Retail Versus Digital -- DIY Versus Publishers -- DIY Digital Distribution -- Gaming Portals -- Walled Gardens -- Piracy and DRM -- Conclusion -- Appendix A: Going Further -- Designing -- Software Development and Project Management -- Programming and Development -- Option 1: Using an Existing Game Engine -- Option 2: Using a DIY Engine -- Graphics and Art -- Audio, Sound, and Music -- Further Reading -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- K-L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q-R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W-X.