Synopses & Reviews
Unreal Tournament Game Programming for Teens focuses on providing younger readers with a structured but entertaining way to learn how to develop their own simple computer games using Unreal Tournament (often sought after by instructors as a core engine for developing a variety of games). While it is not legal to develop games from scratch with Unreal Tournament, it is possible to start from what nearly amounts to scratch. This book will do just that. Readers will begin with the basics as they learn how to program and then quickly progress to creating basic games within the modification framework Unreal Tournament provides. This book begins with a ?stripped down? version of Unreal Tournament, which can easily be used in any context, but which omits the sometimes violent content of Unreal Tournament. This book provides a much needed classroom resource as it can be used as an introduction to programming and to game development. It provides programming instructors with an easy way to begin working with UnrealScript and supplies teachers involved in level design a way to acquaint students with Unreal Ed. It furnishes teachers in the graphical arts with a way to help students learn how to incorporate models into Unreal Tournament.
Synopsis
Unreal Tournament Game Programming for Teens provides you with a structured but entertaining way to learn how to develop your own simple computer games using Unreal Tournament. It addresses the fundamentals of computer programming by allowing you to work with UnrealScript and the Unreal Level Editor. You'll begin with programming basics and will then quickly progress to creating elementary events and games within the modification framework provided by Unreal Tournament. This book does not involve actual game play with Unreal Tournament, but rather focuses on how to derive classes from the classes in the Unreal Tournament class hierarchy, how to use features of the Unreal Level Editor, and how to work with the syntax of UnrealScript. Using the skills you develop as you work through the book, you can begin exploring how to program a number of events characteristic of Unreal Tournament.
Synopsis
"CD-ROM includes code examples for each project in the book; sample levels, meshes, and textures; supplemental files with example code"--P. [4] of cover.
About the Author
John P. Flynt, Ph.D., works in the software development industry, has taught at colleges and universities, and has authored courses and curricula for several college level game development programs. His academic background includes work in information technology, the social sciences, and the humanities. Among his previous books are "In the Mind of a Game," "Perl Power!," "UnrealScript Game Programming All in One," "Simulation and Event Modeling for Game Developers" (with co-author Ben Vinson), "Beginning Pre-Calculus for Game Developers," "Java Programming for the Absolute Beginner," "Beginning Math Concepts for Game Developers," and "Software Engineering for Game Developers." Among other engagements, he has been a speaker at game and educational conferences in San Antonio, LA, Atlanta, Austin, West Lafayette, and the 2004 Xtreme Game Developers Expo in Mountain View, CA. He has worked as a consultant on several curriculum development initiatives involving some of the largest proprietary colleges in the US and has taught literature, political science, computer science, and game development. He has been contracted by DeVry University as a game course developer, and DeVry has adopted Software Engineering for Game Developers for its national curriculum. John lives in the foothills near Boulder, Colorado. Brandon Booth wrote his first program on the Twelve Days of Christmas at the age of twelve. He wrote his first game on a TI graphing calculator, and when he was in high school, he was teaching himself how to program computers in Java. He graduated from high school with an International Baccalaureate diploma and decided to pursue dual degrees in applied mathematics and computer science at the University of Colorado, Boulder. While a student at CU, he has written a number of AI-based games for PCs. In other respects, he remains an avid player of games. His favorites include Final Fantasy, Guitar Hero, Kingdom Hearts, Guild Wars, Unreal Tournament, Half-life, and Worms Armageddon
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1. GETTING STARTED Unreal Ed and Unreal Tournament Viewing Unreal Tournament features CHAPTER 2. SETTING UP TO PROGRAM WITH UNREALSCRIPT Hello World with Unreal Script Variables Operators and operators The Guessing Game CHAPTER 3. BASIC PROGRAMMING ACTIVITIES Repetition Methods Arrays Classes CHAPTER 4 MODIFYING A WEAPON Inheritance Overloading Overriding Adding customized ammo Loading our work into the game CHAPTER 5 CREATING YOUR OWN LEVEL The floor plan Creating structures Adding textures Adding lights Adding events Trying it out CHAPTER 6 CREATING YOUR OWN MODEL WITH MILKSHAPE Staring with the model snowflake Modifying the model Customizing the texture Adding your work to a level Adding lights and events Playing in the snow CHAPTER 7 DEALING WITH PHYSICS THROUGH BUBBLE MAKING Vectors Iterators Rotators Adding bubbles CHAPTER 8 SCORING AND INTERACTION WITH WACK-A-MOLE Adding the models Setting up the level AI Setting up controls Voice and sound interaction Keeping score Winning and losing CHAPTER 9 GOING DEEPER WITH LASER TAG Working with physics and light Selecting targets Creating a beam Modifying controls Fire away! CHAPTER 10 SPACE SHOOTERS UNREAL STYLE Working with the level Programming the actions Implementing controls Making it happen CHAPTER 13 HACKY SACK JOE OR JOSEPHINE Understanding the loading the model Controlling events Making it happen