How to Make a Game: Go From Idea to Publication Avoiding the Common Pitfalls Along the Way

✍ Scribed by Minhaz-Us-Salakeen Fahme

• Publisher: Apress
• Year: 2021
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 291
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Beginner level users

✦ Table of Contents

Table of Contents
About the Authors
About the Technical Reviewers
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: Don’t
Defining a Game
Basic Components
Making Your Game
The Don’ts
Chapter 2: The Fault in Our Stars
Let’s Go Back to the Start
Thoughtful Playing
Diving Deep
Chapter 3: Don’t Reinvent the Wheel
Let’s Jog The Memory
Game-Making Tools
Graphics Engine
Physics Engine
Pathfinding
Auto-Rigging
Choosing a Programming Language
Summary
Chapter 4: Choose Your Arsenal
The First Mistake
Unity
Games Made with Unity
Ori and the Blind Forest
Cuphead
HearthStone
Call of Duty: Mobile
Comments
Unreal Engine
Games Made with Unreal Engine
Fortnite
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Comments
Godot
Comments
Verdict
Chapter 5: It’s All in My Head: Writing a Game Design Document
Introducing the GDD
Game Design: Mudwash
Philosophy
Feature List
Gameworld
Development Ideas
Overall Aesthetics
Gameplay Mechanics and Systems
Working with GDDs
Game Design Document: Endora- Relics of The Ancients
Characters
Story
Theme and Story Progression
Gameplay
Goals
Skills
Items
Level Design
Controls
Progression and Challenge
Achievements
Art Style
Music and Sounds
Technical Description
Monetization
Fragile Memory, Process, and Future
Chapter 6: A Stitch in Time Saves Nine
Project Structure
The First Way
Third-Party Assets
Plugins
Editor
Streaming Assets
v1.0
Scripts
2D Assets
3D Assets
Prefabs
Scene
Scenes/Maps
Scenes/UI
Publishing Content
The Second Way
Code Patterns
MVC
View
Model
Controller
Single Responsibility
Input Handler
Motion Handler
Animation Handler
Collision Handler
Putting the Pieces Together
Drawbacks
Conventions
Who’s Going to Call It?
What Does It Do?
What’s the Output?
What’s the Input?
The Benefit
Asset Optimization
Text Files
Audio Files
Compression
Long Tail
Repeating Loop
Unity Settings
Image Files
Common Mistakes
Resolution
Compression
Unity Settings
A Disorganized Army Is As Good As A Dead One
Chapter 7: Git Good
What Is Version Control?
Do We Really Need It?
Version Control with Game Development
What Is GitHub?
What Is CI/CD?
Chapter 8: Get Smart: Good Programming Practices
Hard Code
Loops
Booleans
Return
Avoiding Try-Catch
Arrays vs. Lists
Use TextMeshPro over Text
Unity-Specific Conventions
More Good Practices
Chapter 9: Game Design - The Three Musketeers!
Dissecting Games
Gameplay
Story
Sound
But, But...What About Graphics?
The Fourth Musketeer
Chapter 10: Game Feels and Effects
Sound
Controls
Haptics
Visual Effects
Screen Shake
Particle Effects
Physics
Things That Can Go Wrong
Chapter 11: Help!
Player Types
Difficulty Settings
Rewards vs. Punishment
What Did They Do?
What Went Wrong?
So How Do We Fix It?
Let’s Fix XCOM2
Game Mechanics: Jumping
Game Mechanics: Health
Game Mechanics: Movement
The Cavalry Will Arrive
Chapter 12: Input Matters
What Is Cognitive Mapping?
So What’s the Problem?
Chapter 13: Choosing a Platform
Input Matters: The Return and The Overnight Success
The Budget
Your Audience
Technical Issues
Chapter 14: Game Testing and Publishing - The Great Filter
Where Are They?
The Great Filter
Basic Steps of Game Testing
Unit Testing
Alpha Testing
Beta Testing
Hidden Traps Regarding Game Testing
The Lazy Developer
It’s Working Fine Here
The Developer Bias
The Nice Guy
Jealousy
The Bug Is Small and Hard to Catch
The Boring Job
It’s Going to Work Out by Itself
Make Up Your Mind
Restarting Every Time from Zero
Graphics
Stop Waiting
Influencers vs. Game Streamers
Game Marketing Strategies
A Few Things to Make/Have
Getting the Best Out of Your Platform
Game Engines and Dev Communities
Communication Hacks
Marketing Through an Agency
Pricing
Chapter 15: Game Over - The Myth of Sisyphus
The Nature of “Game”
There’s No Golden Apple
Costly to Make, Costly to Get
It Can Break Your Heart and Also Break You
Money Matters
Finding Funding
Surviving Artists
The Lone Wolf
The Pack Survives?
From Art to Business
Following Paths (Lack of Originality)
The Winner Takes All
The Core Loop and Sisyphus
Index