Game Design : A Practical Approach

Game Design: A Practical Approach teaches new game designers, students, and hobbyists the fundamentals of game design through the design and creation of a simple game. Written by a veteran game designer, this book is packed with invaluable insights and tips. It also includes a variety of ?from the trenches? sidebars by some of the industry?s top game designers. The book introduces core game design concepts, from the most basic (what is a game? what are victory conditions?) to the more advanced (how do you balance play? what is risk-reward? how do you scale challenge?). Using the example game, the book covers the entire game design process from concept to delivery. The techniques covered are applicable across the PC and game console platforms. All of the game examples are delivered via a simplified Lua script and a robust DX9 game shell, allowing non-programmers /designers to implement each phase of the design process. After working through this book, new designers and non-programmer will be able to modify the example game and work to create their own game designs.

Paul Schuytema (Monmouth, IL) has been a professional game developer for over ten years and in that time spoke at the previous ten GDC conferences. He has produced and designed over twenty games. Schuytema wrote more than 200 professional articles and authored or co-authored over a dozen books. He teaches college-level creative writing and journalism, and he received the Governor¿s 2002 Entrepreneurial Success Award in Illinois. He is the primary scriptor for Magic Lantern.