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Introduction to Game Design, Prototyping, and Development: From Concept to Playable Game with Unity and C#
A hands-on book that explains concepts "by doing," Introduction to Game Design, Prototyping, and Development, Third Edition, takes readers through the process of making both paper and digital game prototypes. Rather than focusing on a single tutorial, as most Unity books have done, this book explores several small prototypes, reinforcing critical concepts through repetition from project to project. Author Jeremy Gibson Bond's approach creates a stable of "base projects" that serve as starters for readers looking to create their own games), while skipping the aspects of project creation (e.g. modeling, animation, etc.) that are less central to this book. Intermediate readers may browse this book for a tutorial that clarifies the specific prototyping or programming concept that they wish to learn.
This book begins with an introduction to general game design concepts and basic programing concepts. C# is the chosen language used in this book, and it is easy to learn and enforces good coding practices. Game prototyping and programming tutorials use Object-Oriented Programming (OOP), the standard for coding over the past 30+ years, in addition to the new Data-Oriented Technology Stack (DOTS) and Entity Component System (ECS), providing a well-rounded approach. Game development concepts covered help readers find further resources to expand their game design knowledge.
This book begins with an introduction to general game design concepts and basic programing concepts. C# is the chosen language used in this book, and it is easy to learn and enforces good coding practices. Game prototyping and programming tutorials use Object-Oriented Programming (OOP), the standard for coding over the past 30+ years, in addition to the new Data-Oriented Technology Stack (DOTS) and Entity Component System (ECS), providing a well-rounded approach. Game development concepts covered help readers find further resources to expand their game design knowledge.
1296 pages, Paperback
First published April 26, 2014
95 people are currently reading
422 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 29, 2015
This is the perfect book for someone wanting to start programming in Unity who has little or no programming experience.
There are some updates to the coding in the book which need to be done, but most are available on the author's website. There is one project which is out of date at this point, but he is working on an update for that section.
This book has three sections with different foci, which can be read in order or as needed depending on skill level.
The first section is mostly theoretical about the nature of games and how to make good and fun games. This is incredibly useful for new game designers and is a good refresher for those experienced in game design.
The second section is about Unity specifically, breaking down how Unity works, the types of coding you will need to be able to do in Unity, and the specifics of a wide range of different important structures and coding.
The third section is a series of increasingly complex game prototypes. These give a wide range of programming experience including a SCHMUP, a physics Castle Crasher/ Angry Birds type game, two card games, a 3 dimensional non-traditional FPS game, and a top-down dungeon exploration game.
None of the projects are very deep, but they give you a lot of tools you can use for your own projects.
The book is also full of references to other books and online resources you can use to further your understanding.
My one complaint about the book is that there are many references to structures which are "outside the scope of this book." All of them are things which it directs you to resources for learning, but as many of them are built into the structures of the games (LINQ for instance), it's a bit frustrating to be using something with only a bare understanding of it. But, that's a pretty small complaint in a book of this wide a breadth.
If you are looking for a book to give you a wide range of knowledge and understanding of Unity, this is the book for you.
If you have some game design experience in board, card, and tabletop games, this book is for you.
If you want in-depth understanding of a specific type of game structure, there are other books which would be better for you.
There are some updates to the coding in the book which need to be done, but most are available on the author's website. There is one project which is out of date at this point, but he is working on an update for that section.
This book has three sections with different foci, which can be read in order or as needed depending on skill level.
The first section is mostly theoretical about the nature of games and how to make good and fun games. This is incredibly useful for new game designers and is a good refresher for those experienced in game design.
The second section is about Unity specifically, breaking down how Unity works, the types of coding you will need to be able to do in Unity, and the specifics of a wide range of different important structures and coding.
The third section is a series of increasingly complex game prototypes. These give a wide range of programming experience including a SCHMUP, a physics Castle Crasher/ Angry Birds type game, two card games, a 3 dimensional non-traditional FPS game, and a top-down dungeon exploration game.
None of the projects are very deep, but they give you a lot of tools you can use for your own projects.
The book is also full of references to other books and online resources you can use to further your understanding.
My one complaint about the book is that there are many references to structures which are "outside the scope of this book." All of them are things which it directs you to resources for learning, but as many of them are built into the structures of the games (LINQ for instance), it's a bit frustrating to be using something with only a bare understanding of it. But, that's a pretty small complaint in a book of this wide a breadth.
If you are looking for a book to give you a wide range of knowledge and understanding of Unity, this is the book for you.
If you have some game design experience in board, card, and tabletop games, this book is for you.
If you want in-depth understanding of a specific type of game structure, there are other books which would be better for you.
August 14, 2021
A thorough coverage of game design and prototyping, and development in Unity. As the book gets longer and the projects get bigger, the "Whys" of the code start disappearing, but overall, pretty complete. Even though the book was targeting Unity 2017, all the examples still work in the latest version of Unity (2021.1.16f at this time)
October 9, 2022
Great Fundamental book for beginning with unity. The authors has great ability to explain the concepts. The book has various useful prototypes that you can get through it easily as you watch Youtube tutorials.
November 21, 2020
Keep the design and prototyping parts, skip the actual C# Unity content.
March 3, 2017
I found the game development aspects really interesting. On the whole I found it a good read which I oftenrefer back to.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews