e-Book AdvancED Game Design with Flash

eBook Details:
    Paperback: 500 pages
    Publisher: Apress Press; 1st Edition (September 6, 2010)
    Language: English
    ISBN-10: 1430227397
    ISBN-13: 978-1430227397

eBook Description:
AdvancED Game Design with Flash by Apress Press

Creating games in Flash is a never-ending journey of exploration, learning, and most of all, fun. Once you’ve mastered the basics, a new world is opened up to you, enabling you to take your existing skills to the next level
and discover new skills that will in turn open new doors. This book is a direct continuation of Foundation Game Design with Flash, and is a complete point-by-point roundup of the most important skills a Flash game designer needs to know. You’ll increase your ActionScript knowledge and your game design skills while creating some excellent example games. You’ll learn advanced collision detection skills; professional AI and pathfinding; and how to load and save game data, create destructible environments, and build and switch game levels.

    Each chapter highlights a new advanced technique illustrated by practical examples.
    Examples of games are given in a variety of genres, all of which take an object-oriented programming approach.
    Advanced game design topics are covered, including vector-based collision reaction, pathfinding, billiard ball physics, and modeling game data.

What you’ll learn

    How to use vectors to figure out where objects are going and how they should react to collisions
    Pixel-perfect collision detection for irregular shapes using hitTest and bitmapData
    How to use design patterns and abstract data models to manage complex games efficiently
    How to create advanced enemy AI systems using pathfinding strategies in grid-based environments
    How to use XML to load and save game data
    How to use sound and music in games and create particle effects using blitting

Who this book is for

This book is for experienced Flash and ActionScript 3.0 developers who want to take their game design skills to a professional level. Readers should have a solid background in object-oriented ActionScript 3.0 programming, and may have attempted game projects of their own. If you have read Foundation Game Design with Flash, then this book will be a natural next step for you. The book covers game design strategies and techniques common to many game design platforms-not just Flash-and will help you create top-quality games that are quick to build and easy to maintain.

This book is part of friends of ED’s ‘AdvancED’ series

The AdvancED series picks up where the Foundation series leaves off. You are expected to have a good understanding of your chosen technology before you start, and your aim is to continue your journey to become a better user of that technology. The series continues the step-by-step approach, taking you through all of the more advanced aspects of the technology, with detailed coverage to make sure that you understand each topic completely before moving on. Throughout the book, you will be creating complete applications along with compiling case study applications that run across multiple chapters and topics. By the end of the book, you will be an expert on your chosen topic.

About the Author

Rex van der Spuy is a freelance multimedia designer specializing in Flash game design, interface design and ActionScript programming, as well as standards-based XHTML+CSS+DOM website design.

He migrated to the multimedia industry from an earlier career in film and television, having graduated with a BFA in Film/Video from York University (Toronto) in 1993 and spending a number of years working as an independent producer and freelance cameraman. He has designed Flash games and done interactive interface programming for clients such as Agency Interactive (Dallas,) Scottish Power (Edinburgh,) DC Interact (London,) Draught Associates (London) and the Bank of Montreal (Canada.) He also builds game engines and interactive interfaces for museum installations for PixelProject (Cape Town.) In addition, he taught advanced courses in Flash Game Design and Shockwave 3D Game Design for the Canadian School of India (Bangalore, India) and produced two online guide books to Flash Game Design and ActionScript programming (available for free download from his website, www.kaleidoscope-multimedia.com).

Rex is a also a proponent of standards-based, W3C compliant accessible XHTML coding. He has produced hand-coded websites for Meon Villa, Conran Events, Apax.com, the British-German Association (UK) and the Europan 8 architecture competition, all meeting strict W3C guidelines and accessibility requirements.

In his spare time, Rex has done a considerable amount of technical and fiction writing and maintains a semi-professional musical career as a performer on the sitar. Rex currently divides his time equally between Canada, India and South Africa and works on consulting and software development projects for clients in India, North America and the UK.