Acknowledgments | p. xiii |
Introduction | p. xv |
About the Author | p. xxiii |
Designing and Developing a Casual Game | p. 1 |
Casual Game Design Basics | p. 3 |
Easy to Learn, Tough to Master | p. 6 |
Qualities of a Casual Game | p. 7 |
Cognitive Process of Challenge and Reward | p. 10 |
Hook to Sell | p. 20 |
Integrated Context-Based Help | p. 26 |
Spare Me the Question | p. 26 |
Instant Gratification | p. 29 |
Navigation Conventions | p. 33 |
Progress Indicators | p. 33 |
Modes of Play | p. 38 |
Bells and Whistles | p. 43 |
File Save and Load | p. 43 |
Top Scores | p. 45 |
Make a Match-Three Puzzle | p. 46 |
Open Director and Create a New Project File | p. 47 |
Create Graphics | p. 47 |
Write the Code | p. 50 |
Summary | p. 73 |
Developing a Casual Game | p. 75 |
Developing an Idea | p. 77 |
Narrative | p. 78 |
Interactions | p. 83 |
Plan the Integration of Interaction and Narrative | p. 85 |
Writing a Treatment | p. 86 |
Title | p. 86 |
Author | p. 87 |
Studio | p. 87 |
Genre | p. 87 |
Audience | p. 87 |
Related Products | p. 88 |
Concept | p. 89 |
Walk-Througgh | p. 89 |
Gameplay | p. 89 |
Environment | p. 89 |
Characters | p. 90 |
Tokens | p. 91 |
Interface/Chrome | p. 93 |
Rules | p. 93 |
Legal | p. 94 |
Film Conventions | p. 95 |
Writing Strategies | p. 96 |
Pitching the Game | p. 96 |
Storyboarding the Flow | p. 97 |
Anticipating the User's Needs | p. 99 |
Making Sense of the Dynamics | p. 100 |
Identifying the Interactions | p. 102 |
What Happens When? | p. 106 |
Converting the Interaction Matrix to Technical Specifications | p. 106 |
Critical Juncture: To Code or Not to Code | p. 107 |
Project Scheduling | p. 108 |
Professional Practice: Margaret Wallace on Games and Stories | p. 108 |
Summary | p. 111 |
Minimal Programming Approach | p. 113 |
Casual Games that Require Little Programming | p. 115 |
Image-Find Games | p. 116 |
Simple Puzzle Games | p. 118 |
Create a Mouse-Triggered Event | p. 120 |
Open Flash and Create a New Document | p. 121 |
Make a Button | p. 121 |
Name the Button Instance and Add a Script to the Frame | p. 122 |
Basic Navigation or Narrative Games | p. 123 |
Developing a Point and Click Casual Game in Flash | p. 124 |
Flash Advantages | p. 125 |
Flash Limitations | p. 125 |
Packaging Flash Engines for Prime Time | p. 126 |
Case Study: Aunt Abbie's Best In Show | p. 129 |
Idea | p. 129 |
Concept | p. 130 |
Treatment | p. 131 |
Storyboard/Flow Diagram | p. 136 |
Interaction Matrix | p. 137 |
Handling Minimal Interactions with Minimal Programming | p. 137 |
Simple Navigation with Minimal Programming | p. 137 |
Mock-Up Some Placeholder Images | p. 137 |
Set-Up the Time Line for the Opening Fade | p. 140 |
Add a Sound to the Time Line | p. 143 |
Transition to the Game Title Screen | p. 144 |
Transition to the Launch Screen | p. 146 |
Summary | p. 147 |
Code Till you Drop | p. 149 |
Developing a Heavily Coded Game in Director | p. 151 |
Using magicRes to Reset the Screen Resolution | p. 151 |
Fundamental Programming Concepts | p. 155 |
Variable Assignment | p. 155 |
Sequence | p. 157 |
Events | p. 158 |
Add Game Subroutines and Content | p. 159 |
Lists | p. 166 |
Objects | p. 168 |
Packaging a Director Engine for Prime Time | p. 168 |
Designing an Architecture | p. 172 |
Defining Core Objects | p. 173 |
Defining Precedence and Hierarchy | p. 175 |
Avoiding Pitfalls and Bogus Calls | p. 178 |
A Simple Approach to Save and Load | p. 181 |
Summary | p. 183 |
RAD for Fun and Profit | p. 185 |
Using RAD Strategies to Serve the Market | p. 186 |
Integrating the Audience into the Design and Review Process | p. 187 |
Always a Working Prototype | p. 188 |
When is RAD the Right Course of Action? | p. 189 |
When is RAD the Wrong Approach? | p. 190 |
RAD Myths | p. 191 |
RAD Maxims | p. 191 |
Know the Actual Cost and Benefit | p. 193 |
RAD Implementation | p. 193 |
Object-Oriented Programming When the Payoff Is Clear | p. 194 |
Sometimes a Procedural Approach Makes More Sense | p. 194 |
Apply Common Sense | p. 195 |
Case Study: Iterative Prototyping with RAD | p. 196 |
Object-Oriented Programming in ActionScript | p. 220 |
Summary | p. 243 |
Understanding the Market and the Business Model | p. 245 |
Games in the Market | p. 247 |
Popular Genres | p. 249 |
Match-Three Dynasty | p. 250 |
Arcades and Shooters | p. 252 |
Word and Trivia | p. 252 |
Strategy and Sims | p. 253 |
Mahjong, Card, and Board Games | p. 253 |
Appeal and Limitations | p. 255 |
Stick to the Genre | p. 255 |
The Importance of Ease | p. 256 |
Professional Practice: Brian Robbins & the Casual Future | p. 257 |
Summary | p. 260 |
Audience | p. 261 |
Demographics | p. 263 |
Who Will Play Your Games? | p. 264 |
Why Will They Play Your Games? | p. 265 |
Understanding Mass Appeal | p. 267 |
Anticipating Demassification | p. 267 |
Professional Practice: Adriano Parrotta, Emotion & Audience | p. 268 |
Summary | p. 272 |
The Business Model | p. 273 |
Downloadable Casual Games | p. 275 |
Going it Alone | p. 276 |
Understanding the System | p. 278 |
Alternative Distribution Paths | p. 281 |
From Airplanes to Handhelds | p. 281 |
Conventional CD Publication | p. 282 |
Professional Practice: Andy Phelps on Image and Community | p. 282 |
Summary | p. 288 |
Distributors and Portals | p. 289 |
The Major Distributors and Portals | p. 291 |
RealArcade | p. 291 |
Shockwave.com | p. 292 |
MSN Games | p. 293 |
Pogo | p. 293 |
Arcade Town | p. 293 |
Try Media | p. 293 |
Developer Distributors | p. 294 |
Oberon Games | p. 294 |
Big Fish Games | p. 294 |
Reflexive Arcade | p. 295 |
PopCap Games | p. 295 |
iWin | p. 295 |
Summary | p. 295 |
About the CD-ROM | p. 297 |
Index | p. 299 |
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