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9781584505198

Creating Casual Games for Profit & Fun

by
  • ISBN13:

    9781584505198

  • ISBN10:

    1584505192

  • Edition: 1st
  • Format: Paperback
  • Copyright: 2007-02-13
  • Publisher: Cengage Learning
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Summary

Thousands of game enthusiasts and would-be developers want to break into the games industry, but don't know where or how to get started. Creating your own casual games could be the secret door you're looking for. These small, downloadable games delivered through distributors (Real-One Arcade, Shockwave.com, Oberon Media, MSN Games, Pogo, etc.), have exploded into a multi-billion dollar industry, providing one of the last remaining avenues for breaking into the field with a minimal investment.

Author Biography

Allen Partridge is Director of the Applied Media and Simulation Games Center at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgmentsp. xiii
Introductionp. xv
About the Authorp. xxiii
Designing and Developing a Casual Gamep. 1
Casual Game Design Basicsp. 3
Easy to Learn, Tough to Masterp. 6
Qualities of a Casual Gamep. 7
Cognitive Process of Challenge and Rewardp. 10
Hook to Sellp. 20
Integrated Context-Based Helpp. 26
Spare Me the Questionp. 26
Instant Gratificationp. 29
Navigation Conventionsp. 33
Progress Indicatorsp. 33
Modes of Playp. 38
Bells and Whistlesp. 43
File Save and Loadp. 43
Top Scoresp. 45
Make a Match-Three Puzzlep. 46
Open Director and Create a New Project Filep. 47
Create Graphicsp. 47
Write the Codep. 50
Summaryp. 73
Developing a Casual Gamep. 75
Developing an Ideap. 77
Narrativep. 78
Interactionsp. 83
Plan the Integration of Interaction and Narrativep. 85
Writing a Treatmentp. 86
Titlep. 86
Authorp. 87
Studiop. 87
Genrep. 87
Audiencep. 87
Related Productsp. 88
Conceptp. 89
Walk-Througghp. 89
Gameplayp. 89
Environmentp. 89
Charactersp. 90
Tokensp. 91
Interface/Chromep. 93
Rulesp. 93
Legalp. 94
Film Conventionsp. 95
Writing Strategiesp. 96
Pitching the Gamep. 96
Storyboarding the Flowp. 97
Anticipating the User's Needsp. 99
Making Sense of the Dynamicsp. 100
Identifying the Interactionsp. 102
What Happens When?p. 106
Converting the Interaction Matrix to Technical Specificationsp. 106
Critical Juncture: To Code or Not to Codep. 107
Project Schedulingp. 108
Professional Practice: Margaret Wallace on Games and Storiesp. 108
Summaryp. 111
Minimal Programming Approachp. 113
Casual Games that Require Little Programmingp. 115
Image-Find Gamesp. 116
Simple Puzzle Gamesp. 118
Create a Mouse-Triggered Eventp. 120
Open Flash and Create a New Documentp. 121
Make a Buttonp. 121
Name the Button Instance and Add a Script to the Framep. 122
Basic Navigation or Narrative Gamesp. 123
Developing a Point and Click Casual Game in Flashp. 124
Flash Advantagesp. 125
Flash Limitationsp. 125
Packaging Flash Engines for Prime Timep. 126
Case Study: Aunt Abbie's Best In Showp. 129
Ideap. 129
Conceptp. 130
Treatmentp. 131
Storyboard/Flow Diagramp. 136
Interaction Matrixp. 137
Handling Minimal Interactions with Minimal Programmingp. 137
Simple Navigation with Minimal Programmingp. 137
Mock-Up Some Placeholder Imagesp. 137
Set-Up the Time Line for the Opening Fadep. 140
Add a Sound to the Time Linep. 143
Transition to the Game Title Screenp. 144
Transition to the Launch Screenp. 146
Summaryp. 147
Code Till you Dropp. 149
Developing a Heavily Coded Game in Directorp. 151
Using magicRes to Reset the Screen Resolutionp. 151
Fundamental Programming Conceptsp. 155
Variable Assignmentp. 155
Sequencep. 157
Eventsp. 158
Add Game Subroutines and Contentp. 159
Listsp. 166
Objectsp. 168
Packaging a Director Engine for Prime Timep. 168
Designing an Architecturep. 172
Defining Core Objectsp. 173
Defining Precedence and Hierarchyp. 175
Avoiding Pitfalls and Bogus Callsp. 178
A Simple Approach to Save and Loadp. 181
Summaryp. 183
RAD for Fun and Profitp. 185
Using RAD Strategies to Serve the Marketp. 186
Integrating the Audience into the Design and Review Processp. 187
Always a Working Prototypep. 188
When is RAD the Right Course of Action?p. 189
When is RAD the Wrong Approach?p. 190
RAD Mythsp. 191
RAD Maximsp. 191
Know the Actual Cost and Benefitp. 193
RAD Implementationp. 193
Object-Oriented Programming When the Payoff Is Clearp. 194
Sometimes a Procedural Approach Makes More Sensep. 194
Apply Common Sensep. 195
Case Study: Iterative Prototyping with RADp. 196
Object-Oriented Programming in ActionScriptp. 220
Summaryp. 243
Understanding the Market and the Business Modelp. 245
Games in the Marketp. 247
Popular Genresp. 249
Match-Three Dynastyp. 250
Arcades and Shootersp. 252
Word and Triviap. 252
Strategy and Simsp. 253
Mahjong, Card, and Board Gamesp. 253
Appeal and Limitationsp. 255
Stick to the Genrep. 255
The Importance of Easep. 256
Professional Practice: Brian Robbins & the Casual Futurep. 257
Summaryp. 260
Audiencep. 261
Demographicsp. 263
Who Will Play Your Games?p. 264
Why Will They Play Your Games?p. 265
Understanding Mass Appealp. 267
Anticipating Demassificationp. 267
Professional Practice: Adriano Parrotta, Emotion & Audiencep. 268
Summaryp. 272
The Business Modelp. 273
Downloadable Casual Gamesp. 275
Going it Alonep. 276
Understanding the Systemp. 278
Alternative Distribution Pathsp. 281
From Airplanes to Handheldsp. 281
Conventional CD Publicationp. 282
Professional Practice: Andy Phelps on Image and Communityp. 282
Summaryp. 288
Distributors and Portalsp. 289
The Major Distributors and Portalsp. 291
RealArcadep. 291
Shockwave.comp. 292
MSN Gamesp. 293
Pogop. 293
Arcade Townp. 293
Try Mediap. 293
Developer Distributorsp. 294
Oberon Gamesp. 294
Big Fish Gamesp. 294
Reflexive Arcadep. 295
PopCap Gamesp. 295
iWinp. 295
Summaryp. 295
About the CD-ROMp. 297
Indexp. 299
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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