Alan Thorn – författare

Get ahead of the game with Unity 4.The Unity engine is the tool of choice for many indie and AAA game developers. Unity 4 Fundamentals gives readers a head start on the road to game development by offering beginners a comprehensive, step by step introduction to the latest Unity 4 engine. The author takes a theory-to-practice approach to demonstrate what Unity 4 has to offer which includes: Asset management tools Real-time lighting and lightmapping Particle systems Navigation and pathfinding

Part of the new Foundations of Game Development Series!Almost every video game on the market today is powered by a game engine. But, what is a game engine? What does it do? How are they useful to both developers and the game? And how are they made? These, and other important engine related questions, are explored and discussed in this book. In clear and concise language, this book examines through examples and exercises both the design and implementation of a video game engine. Specifically, it focuses on the core components of a game engine, audio and sound systems, file and resource management, graphics and optimization techniques, scripting and physics, and much more. Suitable for students, hobbyists, and independent developers, this no-nonsense book helps fine-tune an understanding of solid engine design and implementation for creating games that sell.

Godot is a rapidly growing free and open-source game engine for creating 2D and 3D games, and interactive applications on many platforms, including desktop and mobile. There has been intense interest in this engine among game developers worldwide. This tutorial book offers an accessible, easy-to-follow and fun introduction to Godot Engine 4 for game developers, both complete newcomers and migrators from alternative game engines, like Unity and Unreal. This book practically explores the process of setting up the Godot software for the first time, creating 2D and 3D scenes with interactive elements, and using the GDScript language to create common gameplay elements, like first-person controls. Overall, this technical book offers a structured and friendly introduction to many of Godot’s impressive features to help you get started at making games as an indie game developer. This book explores nodes, scenes, hierarchies, import workflows, scripting, animations, user interfaces, working with resources, and creating gameplay elements, among others.

Godot is a rapidly growing free and open-source game engine for creating 2D and 3D games, and interactive applications on many platforms, including desktop and mobile. There has been intense interest in this engine among game developers worldwide. This tutorial book offers an accessible, easy-to-follow and fun introduction to Godot Engine 4 for game developers, both complete newcomers and migrators from alternative game engines, like Unity and Unreal. This book practically explores the process of setting up the Godot software for the first time, creating 2D and 3D scenes with interactive elements, and using the GDScript language to create common gameplay elements, like first-person controls. Overall, this technical book offers a structured and friendly introduction to many of Godot’s impressive features to help you get started at making games as an indie game developer. This book explores nodes, scenes, hierarchies, import workflows, scripting, animations, user interfaces, working with resources, and creating gameplay elements, among others.

Godot is a rapidly growing free and open-source game engine for creating 2D and 3D games, and interactive applications on many platforms, including desktop and mobile. There has been intense interest in this engine among game developers worldwide. This tutorial book offers an accessible, easy-to-follow and fun introduction to Godot Engine 4 for game developers, both complete newcomers and migrators from alternative game engines, like Unity and Unreal. This book practically explores the process of setting up the Godot software for the first time, creating 2D and 3D scenes with interactive elements, and using the GDScript language to create common gameplay elements, like first-person controls. Overall, this technical book offers a structured and friendly introduction to many of Godot's impressive features to help you get started at making games as an indie game developer. This book explores nodes, scenes, hierarchies, import workflows, scripting, animations, user interfaces, working with resources, and creating gameplay elements, among others.

Godot is a rapidly growing free and open-source game engine for creating 2D and 3D games, and interactive applications on many platforms, including desktop and mobile. There has been intense interest in this engine among game developers worldwide. This tutorial book offers an accessible, easy-to-follow and fun introduction to Godot Engine 4 for game developers, both complete newcomers and migrators from alternative game engines, like Unity and Unreal. This book practically explores the process of setting up the Godot software for the first time, creating 2D and 3D scenes with interactive elements, and using the GDScript language to create common gameplay elements, like first-person controls. Overall, this technical book offers a structured and friendly introduction to many of Godot's impressive features to help you get started at making games as an indie game developer. This book explores nodes, scenes, hierarchies, import workflows, scripting, animations, user interfaces, working with resources, and creating gameplay elements, among others.

Get ahead of the game with Unity 4.

The Unity engine is the tool of choice for many indie and AAA game developers. Unity 4 Fundamentals gives readers a head start on the road to game development by offering beginners a comprehensive, step by step introduction to the latest Unity 4 engine. The author takes a theory-to-practice approach to demonstrate what Unity 4 has to offer which includes:

Asset management tools

Real-time lighting and lightmapping

Particle systems

Navigation and pathfinding

Get ahead of the game with Unity 4.

The Unity engine is the tool of choice for many indie and AAA game developers. Unity 4 Fundamentals gives readers a head start on the road to game development by offering beginners a comprehensive, step by step introduction to the latest Unity 4 engine. The author takes a theory-to-practice approach to demonstrate what Unity 4 has to offer which includes:

Asset management tools

Real-time lighting and lightmapping

Particle systems

Navigation and pathfinding

Looking to become more efficient using Unity? How to Cheat in Unity 5 takes a no-nonsense approach to help you achieve fast and effective results with Unity 5. Geared towards the intermediate user, HTC in Unity 5 provides content beyond what an introductory book offers, and allows you to work more quickly and powerfully in Unity. Packed full with easy-to-follow methods to get the most from Unity, this book explores time-saving features for interface customization and scene management, along with productivity-enhancing ways to work with rendering and optimization. In addition, this book features a companion website at www.alanthorn.net, where you can download the book‘s companion files and also watch bonus tutorial video content.Learn bite-sized tips and tricks for effective Unity workflowsBecome a more powerful Unity user through interface customizationEnhance your productivity with rendering tricks, better scene organization and moreBetter understand Unity asset and import workflowsLearn techniques to save you time and money during development

Get ahead of the game with Unity 4.The Unity engine is the tool of choice for many indie and AAA game developers. Unity 4 Fundamentals gives readers a head start on the road to game development by offering beginners a comprehensive, step by step introduction to the latest Unity 4 engine. The author takes a theory-to-practice approach to demonstrate what Unity 4 has to offer which includes:Asset management toolsReal-time lighting and lightmappingParticle systemsNavigation and pathfinding

Blender is a vast and customizable 3D-modeling application used by many artists across creative industries, from television to games. This newest book, in Alan Thorn’s How to Cheat series, offers insightful and bite-sized power-tips to help you develop Blender mastery. More than five hundred figures illustrate interesting shortcuts and clever ways to improve your Blender workflow. A companion website at http://www.alanthorn.net provides bonus content, including videos and resources to help sharpen your skills further. How to Cheat in Blender 2.7x is for Blender users of all levels, offering time-saving tips and powerful techniques to increase your productivity.Key FeaturesBite-sized tips and tricks that can be read in any orderIllustrated examples and step-by-step guides for improving your workflow Explores practical applications and real-world contexts Demonstrates "lesser-known" and unconventional tipsImproves your efficiency and workflow

Looking to become more efficient using Unity?How to Cheat in Unity 5 takes a no-nonsense approach to help you achieve fast and effective results with Unity 5. Geared towards the intermediate user, HTC in Unity 5 provides content beyond what an introductory book offers, and allows you to work more quickly and powerfully in Unity. Packed full with easy-to-follow methods to get the most from Unity, this book explores time-saving features for interface customization and scene management, along with productivity-enhancing ways to work with rendering and optimization. In addition, this book features a companion website at www.alanthorn.net, where you can download the book’s companion files and also watch bonus tutorial video content. Learn bite-sized tips and tricks for effective Unity workflows Become a more powerful Unity user through interface customization Enhance your productivity with rendering tricks, better scene organization and more Better understand Unity asset and import workflows Learn techniques to save you time and money during development

Looking to become more efficient using Unity?

How to Cheat in Unity 5 takes a no-nonsense approach to help you achieve fast and effective results with Unity 5. Geared towards the intermediate user, HTC in Unity 5 provides content beyond what an introductory book offers, and allows you to work more quickly and powerfully in Unity. Packed full with easy-to-follow methods to get the most from Unity, this book explores time-saving features for interface customization and scene management, along with productivity-enhancing ways to work with rendering and optimization. In addition, this book features a companion website at www.alanthorn.net, where you can download the book’s companion files and also watch bonus tutorial video content.

Learn bite-sized tips and tricks for effective Unity workflows

Become a more powerful Unity user through interface customization

Enhance your productivity with rendering tricks, better scene organization and more

Better understand Unity asset and import workflows

Learn techniques to save you time and money during development

Looking to become more efficient using Unity?

How to Cheat in Unity 5 takes a no-nonsense approach to help you achieve fast and effective results with Unity 5. Geared towards the intermediate user, HTC in Unity 5 provides content beyond what an introductory book offers, and allows you to work more quickly and powerfully in Unity. Packed full with easy-to-follow methods to get the most from Unity, this book explores time-saving features for interface customization and scene management, along with productivity-enhancing ways to work with rendering and optimization. In addition, this book features a companion website at www.alanthorn.net, where you can download the book’s companion files and also watch bonus tutorial video content.

Learn bite-sized tips and tricks for effective Unity workflows

Become a more powerful Unity user through interface customization

Enhance your productivity with rendering tricks, better scene organization and more

Better understand Unity asset and import workflows

Learn techniques to save you time and money during development

Blender is a vast and customizable 3D-modeling application used by many artists across creative industries, from television to games. This newest book, in Alan Thorn’s How to Cheat series, offers insightful and bite-sized power-tips to help you develop Blender mastery. More than five hundred figures illustrate interesting shortcuts and clever ways to improve your Blender workflow. A companion website at http://www.alanthorn.net provides bonus content, including videos and resources to help sharpen your skills further. How to Cheat in Blender 2.7x is for Blender users of all levels, offering time-saving tips and powerful techniques to increase your productivity.

Key Features

Bite-sized tips and tricks that can be read in any orderIllustrated examples and step-by-step guides for improving your workflow Explores practical applications and real-world contexts Demonstrates "lesser-known" and unconventional tipsImproves your efficiency and workflow

2D games are everywhere, from mobile devices and websites to game consoles and PCs. In Learn Unity for 2D Game Development, targeted at both game development newcomers and established developers, experienced game developer Alan Thorn shows you how to use the powerful Unity engine to create fun and imaginative 2D games.

2D games are everywhere, from mobile devices and websites to game consoles and PCs. Timeless and popular, 2D games represent a substantial segment of the games market.

In Learn Unity for 2D Game Development, targeted at both game development newcomers and established developers, experienced game developer Alan Thorn shows you how to use the powerful Unity engine to create fun and imaginative 2D games. 

Written in clear and accessible language, Learn Unity for 2D Game Development will show you how to set up a step-by-step 2D workflow in Unity, how to build and import textures, how to configure and work with cameras, how to establish pixel-perfect ratios, and all of this so you can put that infrastructure to work in a real, playable game. Then the final chapters show you how to put what you''ve already made to work in creating a card-matching game, plus you''ll learn how to optimize your game for mobile devices.

In Pro Unity Game Development with C#, Alan Thorn, author of Learn Unity for 2D Game Development and experienced game developer, takes you through the complete C# workflow for developing a cross-platform first person shooter in Unity. C# is the most popular programming language for experienced Unity developers, helping them get the most out of what Unity offers. If you''re already using C# with Unity and you want to take the next step in becoming an experienced, professional-level game developer, this is the book you need.

Whether you are a student, an indie developer, or a season game dev professional, you''ll find helpful C# examples of how to build intelligent enemies, create event systems and GUIs, develop save-game states, and lots more.

You''ll understand and apply powerful programming concepts such as singleton classes, component based design, resolution independence, delegates, and event driven programming.

By the end of the book, you will have a complete first person shooter game up and running with Unity. Plus you''ll be equipped with the know-how and techniques needed to deploy your own professional-grade C# games.

If you already know a bit of C# and you want to improve your Unity skills, this is just the right book for you.

In Pro Unity Game Development with C#, Alan Thorn, author of Learn Unity for 2D Game Development and experienced game developer, takes you through the complete C# workflow for developing a cross-platform first person shooter in Unity.

Are you a Unity developer looking to switch to the Godot engine quickly? If so, this no-nonsense book is your guide to mastering the most popular open-source game engine. Godot is a completely free game engine for creating high-quality 2D and 3D games that can be launched on multiple platforms. You'll see how to transition seamlessly from Unity to Godot, getting up and running quickly and effectively, using practical case studies. In addition to building functional worlds from meshes and physical interactions, you'll work with reusable assets, such as textures. The book then moves on to lighting and rendering 2D and 3D scenes with baked and real-time lighting. You'll also work with navigation and path-finding for NPCs, and see how to create save-game states with JSON. With Moving from Unity to Godot you’ll be ready to create amazing 2D and 3D games that will supercharge your business. What You Will LearnExplorethe similarities and differences between Unity and GodotMaximize the benefits from Unity and GodotCreate believable game world and characters with GodotMaster the unique aspects of C# coding in GodotWho This Book is ForDevelopers familiar with Unity who want to master another game engine, such as Godot.

Are you a Unity developer looking to switch to the Godot engine quickly? If so, this no-nonsense book is your guide to mastering the most popular open-source game engine. 

Godot is a completely free game engine for creating high-quality 2D and 3D games that can be launched on multiple platforms. You''ll see how to transition seamlessly from Unity to Godot, getting up and running quickly and effectively, using practical case studies. In addition to building functional worlds from meshes and physical interactions, you''ll work with reusable assets, such as textures. 

The book then moves on to lighting and rendering 2D and 3D scenes with baked and real-time lighting. You''ll also work with navigation and path-finding for NPCs, and see how to create save-game states with JSON. With Moving from Unity to Godot you’ll be ready to create amazing 2D and 3D games that will supercharge your business. 

What You Will Learn

Explorethe similarities and differences between Unity and GodotMaximize the benefits from Unity and GodotCreate believable game world and characters with GodotMaster the unique aspects of C# coding in Godot

Who This Book is For

Developers familiar with Unity who want to master another game engine, such as Godot.

Blender is a vast and customizable 3D-modeling application used by many artists across creative industries, from television to games. This newest book, in Alan Thorn’s How to Cheat series, offers insightful and bite-sized power-tips to help you develop Blender mastery. More than five hundred figures illustrate interesting shortcuts and clever ways to improve your Blender workflow. A companion website at http://www.alanthorn.net provides bonus content, including videos and resources to help sharpen your skills further. How to Cheat in Blender 2.7x is for Blender users of all levels, offering time-saving tips and powerful techniques to increase your productivity.Key FeaturesBite-sized tips and tricks that can be read in any orderIllustrated examples and step-by-step guides for improving your workflow Explores practical applications and real-world contexts Demonstrates "lesser-known" and unconventional tipsImproves your efficiency and workflow

Blender is a vast and customizable 3D-modeling application used by many artists across creative industries, from television to games. This newest book, in Alan Thorn’s How to Cheat series, offers insightful and bite-sized power-tips to help you develop Blender mastery. More than five hundred figures illustrate interesting shortcuts and clever ways to improve your Blender workflow. A companion website at http://www.alanthorn.net provides bonus content, including videos and resources to help sharpen your skills further. How to Cheat in Blender 2.7x is for Blender users of all levels, offering time-saving tips and powerful techniques to increase your productivity.

Key Features

Bite-sized tips and tricks that can be read in any orderIllustrated examples and step-by-step guides for improving your workflow Explores practical applications and real-world contexts Demonstrates "lesser-known" and unconventional tipsImproves your efficiency and workflow

Introduction to Game Programming with C++ explores the world of game development with a focus on C++. This book begins with an explanation of the basics of mathematics as it relates to game programming, covers the fundamentals of C++, and describes a number of algorithms commonly used in games. In addition, it discusses several libraries that can help you manage graphics, add audio, and create installation software so you can get started on the path to making both 2D and 3D games.With this book understand the basics of programming in C++, including working with variables, constants, arrays, conditional statements, pointers, and functions learn how to use the ClanLib library to make 2D games discover how the OGRE graphics library can be used to implement particle systems and other effects in 3D games find out how to integrate sound and music into your game.

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Create amazing games with solid gameplay features, using a professional-grade workflow inside the Unity engine!Key FeaturesBecome a Unity master by creating a practical, in-depth game-development project with UnityUse advanced C# scripting to unlock the complete potential of Unity 5Use Version Control to Effectively Manage and Scale your workflowBook DescriptionMastering Unity 5.x is for developers wishing to optimize the features of Unity 5.x. With an in-depth focus on a practical project, learn all about Unity architecture and impressive animation techniques. With this book, produce fun games with confidence.What you will learnPreparation and Asset-ConfiguringLevel Design and StructurePlayer Controls - MovementPlayer Controls – Typing & HealthEnemies and Artificial IntelligenceProject Management & Version ControlPersistent Data – Load and Save Game StatesPerformance, Optimization, Mobiles, and MoreWho this book is forIf you are a Unity developer who now wants to develop and deploy interesting games by leveraging the new features of Unity 5.x, then this is the book for you. Basic knowledge of C# programming is assumed.

An example-based practical guide to get you up and running with Unity 5.x

About This Book

The most updated resource on Unity 5.x with comprehensive discussion on all the new features of Unity 5.xUnderstand the core concepts surrounding Unity5 game development with this power-packed hands-on guideBrush up your existing game development skills and create games that have a brilliant gameplay using the excellent examples from this book

Who This Book Is For

The ideal target audience for this book would be game developers. They need not have previous experience with Unity since this book will cover all the basics about game development with unity. This would also be a very good resource for Unity developers who want to brush up their basic Unity skills and also get up and running with creating interesting games with Unity 5.x.

What You Will Learn

Understand core Unity concepts, such as game objects, components, and scenesLearn level design techniques for building immersive and interesting worldsLearn to make functional games with C# scriptingUse the toolset creatively to build games of different themes and stylesLearn to handle player controls and input functionalityDive into the process of working with terrains and world-creation toolsImport custom content into Unity from third-party tools, such as Maya and BlenderGet to grips with making both 2D and 3D games

In Detail

Unity is an exciting and popular engine in the game industry. Throughout this book, you''ll learn how to use Unity by making four fun game projects, from shooters and platformers to exploration and adventure games.

Unity 5 By Example is an easy-to-follow guide for quickly learning how to use Unity in practical context, step by step, by making real-world game projects. Even if you have no previous experience of Unity, this book will help you understand the toolset in depth. You''ll learn how to create a time-critical collection game, a twin-stick space shooter, a platformer, and an action-fest game with intelligent enemies. In clear and accessible prose, this book will present you with step-by-step tutorials for making four interesting games in Unity 5 and explain all the fundamental concepts along the way. Starting from the ground up and moving toward an intermediate level, this book will help you establish a strong foundation in making games with Unity 5.

Style and approach

This book would be a very unique resource for any game developer who wants to get up and running with Unity. The unique example based approach will take you through the most basic games towards the more complex ones and will gradually build your skill level.