The Game Maker’s Companion: Game Development: The Journey Continues

The Game Maker’s Companion: Game Development: The Journey Continues

by Jacob Hagbood, Nana Nielsen, Martin Rijks, Kevin Crossley
Released October 2010
Publisher(s): Apress
ISBN: 9781430228264

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Book description

The Game Maker’s Companion is the long-awaited sequel to The Game Maker’s Apprentice. This book picks up where the last book left off, advancing your game development journey with some seriously impressive gaming projects. This time you’ll learn how to make professional-quality platform games with solid collision detection and slick control mechanisms and you’ll get acquainted with a long-lost icon of platform gaming history on the way.

You’ll go on to discover techniques to add depth and believability to the characters and stories in your games, including The Monomyth, cut scene storyboarding, and character archetypes. This culminates in the creation of an original atmospheric platform-adventure which will take your GML programming skills to new heights. There’s even a handy reference section at the back of the book which will be invaluable for adding common features to your own games.

With contributions from four games industry professionals and a highly respected member of the Game Maker community, The Game Maker’s Companion is another labor of love that will give you even more hours of enjoyment than the original. If you already own Game Maker, then you really must own this book as well.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Praise for The Game Maker’s Companion
  3. Title
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Dedication 1
  7. Contents at a Glance
  8. Contents
  9. Foreword
  10. About the Authors
  11. About the Artists
  12. About the Technical Reviewer
  13. Acknowledgments
  14. Introduction
  15. Part 1: Fishpod
    1. Chapter 1: Greetings, Game Maker
      1. Resources
      2. Instances and Objects
      3. Variables
        1. Local Instance Variables
        2. Variables in Other Instances
        3. Global Variables
      4. Coordinates and Angles
      5. Transparency
      6. Congratulations
    2. Chapter 2: Platform Beginnings: An Idea with Legs
      1. A Fish Called Pod
      2. Sprites
      3. Collision Masks
      4. Platform Objects
      5. Platform Waiting Room
      6. State Machines
      7. State Objects
      8. Collision
        1. Problem 1: Just Passing Through
        2. Problem 2: Get Your Inside Out
      9. Walk On
      10. Jump Up
      11. Fall Down
      12. Challenges
      13. Goals
      14. Finishing Touches
      15. Congratulations
  16. Part 2: Zool
    1. Chapter 3: Zool: Taking It to the Nth Dimension
      1. Designing a Ninjalien
      2. Long-Term Challenge
      3. Short-Term Challenges
      4. Ready-Baked Resources
      5. Kitchen Tiles
      6. An Alien State
      7. An Alien’s First Steps
        1. Marching Order
        2. Room with a View
      8. Crash Landing a Ninja
      9. Congratulations—Phase 1 Complete!
    2. Chapter 4: Empowerment: Sliding Ninjas
      1. Balance of Power
      2. Empowering Up
        1. You Cannae Break the Laws of Physics
        2. A Floating Garage Worker
      3. Underground, Overground
      4. Driven up the Walls
      5. Wall Polish
      6. Ramping Up
      7. Sliding Down
      8. Sound Movement
      9. Congratulations—Phase 2 Complete!
    3. Chapter 5: Krool’s Forces: Sweetening the Challenge
      1. Challenging Ingredients
      2. Reheated Resources
      3. Gotta Get ‘Em All
        1. Spoil Your Dinner
        2. A Solid Problem
      4. Health Hazards
        1. Spiky Fright
        2. Bitter Sweets
      5. Congratulations—Phase 3 Complete!
    4. Chapter 6: Fighting Talk: The Empower Strikes Back
      1. Ant Attack
        1. Splitting Headache
        2. Slide Kick
        3. Top Spinning
        4. Shooting Stars
      2. Uplifting Platforms
        1. Up and Down
        2. Left and Right
        3. Relativity
        4. Not So Solid Ground
      3. Parallax Universe
      4. Keeping Score
      5. Zoolaphobia
      6. Programming Memories
      7. Congratulations—100% Complete!
  17. Part 3: Shadows on Deck
    1. Chapter 7: Game Design: “Shadows on Deck”
      1. A Good Beginning
      2. The Hero
        1. Make Him Invisible
        2. Make Him Fantastic
        3. Make Him Mortal
        4. Flynn
      3. The Beginnings of a Story
      4. Game Play
        1. Mechanics of “Shadows on Deck”
        2. Challenges
      5. Difficulty
      6. Conclusion
    2. Chapter 8: Storytelling in Theory
      1. What Can a Story Do for My Game?
      2. Little or Big Story?
      3. Story Structures
        1. The Three-Act Structure
        2. The Hero’s Journey
        3. The Structures Working Together
      4. Pace
      5. Characters
        1. Hero
        2. The Rest of the Crew
        3. Filling Roles
        4. Traits
      6. Interactive Stories
        1. Branching
        2. Modifying Non-Player Character Behavior
        3. Changing Character Appearance
        4. Cosmetic Changes
      7. Tools to Tell a Story Inside a Game
      8. Conclusion: Where’s the Skip Button?
    3. Chapter 9: Storytelling Applied
      1. Applying the Theory to Shadows on Deck
        1. The Ordinary World
        2. The Call to Adventure
        3. The Refusal to the Call
        4. The Meeting with the Mentor
        5. Crossing the First Threshold
        6. Tests, Allies, and Enemies
        7. Approach to the Innermost Cave
        8. The Ordeal
        9. The Reward
        10. The Road Back
        11. The Resurrection
        12. Return with the Elixir
      2. Archetypes for Our Story
        1. Flynn
        2. Father
        3. Mother
        4. The Parrot Archibald
        5. The Pirate King
        6. Level Bosses
        7. Minor Characters
      3. Titles Tantrum
      4. Storytelling Tools for Shadows on Deck
        1. Clues
        2. Dialog
        3. Cut Scenes
      5. Conclusion
    4. Chapter 10: Of Mice and Pen: Pirate Art
      1. A Little Art History
      2. Shadows On Spec
      3. The Art Process
        1. Phase 1: Conceptual Design
        2. Phase 2: Asset Creation
        3. Phase 3: Art Integration
        4. We’ve Got It Covered
      4. Conclusion: Save Progress and Continue!
    5. Chapter 11: GML: From Ninja to Pirate
      1. GML Babel Fish
        1. Literal Translation
        2. Translation Tips
      2. The Power of Language
        1. A Global Evil
        2. Switching Sprites
        3. The Ninja Elbow Walk
        4. Scripts
        5. Delayed Lift
        6. Goodbye Ninja, Hello Pirate
      3. The Problem with Giants
        1. Move On Top
        2. Ignoring Ledges in the Air
        3. Empty Collisions
      4. Congratulations
    6. Chapter 12: Rogues’ Rendezvous: Vertically Sliced
      1. Animated Driving
        1. Best Foot Forward
        2. Over the Top
        3. Jump High, Fall Hard
        4. Half a Pixel
      2. Lights, Camera, Action!
        1. Pretty Useful Polly
        2. Numb Skulls
        3. Camera Focus
      3. Congratulations!
    7. Chapter 13: The Story Begins
      1. Emotivation
        1. Cutting the Scene
        2. Fetch the Popcorn
      2. Level Design
        1. Theory in Practice
        2. Progression
        3. Micro Curves
        4. Walkthrough
        5. Game Play Tweaking
      3. Traps and Puzzles
        1. Traps
        2. Puzzles
      4. Storytelling
        1. Mood
        2. Characters
        3. Bigger Story
      5. Implementing Dialogue
        1. Scripting Dialogues
        2. Punctuating Text
      6. Congratulations
      7. Final Words
  18. Part 4: Reference
    1. Chapter 14: Feature Reference
      1. 360-Degree Movement
      2. 360-Degree Shooting
      3. Cheat Codes
      4. Fancy Buttons
      5. Four- and Eight-Way Movement
      6. Grid Movement
      7. Homing Missiles
      8. Mini-Map
      9. Mouse Cursor
      10. Moving Through Rooms
      11. Orbiting Objects
      12. Patrolling Enemies
      13. Pausing the Game
      14. Pushing Boxes
      15. Scrolling Text (Horizontal)
      16. Scrolling Text (Vertical)
      17. Smoke Trail
      18. Smooth Motion
      19. Snap To Grid
      20. Toggle Music and Sound Effects
    2. Appendix: Rogues’ Rendezvous: Dialogue
  19. Index
  20. Important License Information

Product information

  • Title: The Game Maker’s Companion: Game Development: The Journey Continues
  • Author(s): Jacob Hagbood, Nana Nielsen, Martin Rijks, Kevin Crossley
  • Release date: October 2010
  • Publisher(s): Apress
  • ISBN: 9781430228264