ABSTRACT

Nik Lever guides designers, animators and web developers through the art, animation and programming skills needed to produce games in Director for Internet, CD or DVD distribution. He moves from the introductory coverage of Lingo with explanations of how easily Director's programming language can be mastered, on to more advanced tips and tricks, including coverage of the Havok physics simulation system and 3D maths. All of this is presented in a non-technical language from the artist's viewpoint, written by a professional who makes his living designing successful games with this versatile package.

The free CD-Rom includes all the code and files you need to try out the tutorials and see exactly how each game was created. The website that accompanies the book www.niklever.net provides even more information to ensure you stay up to date with the latest technologies in this field.

chapter 1|19 pages

Your first game

part |1 pages

Section 1 Layout

chapter 2|11 pages

Images and computers

chapter 3|12 pages

The walk cycle

chapter 4|10 pages

Background art

part |1 pages

Section 2 Scripting

chapter 6|19 pages

So what is a variable?

chapter 7|23 pages

In tip-top condition

chapter 8|7 pages

Using loops

chapter 9|13 pages

Keep it modular

chapter 10|11 pages

Debugging

chapter 11|8 pages

Integrating with Flash

part |1 pages

Section 3 Putting it into practice

chapter 12|13 pages

Kids’ stuff

chapter 13|18 pages

Board games

chapter 14|19 pages

Quizzes

chapter 15|19 pages

Platformers

part |1 pages

Section 4 The third dimension

chapter 16|18 pages

Creating low-polygon characters

chapter 17|10 pages

3D basics

chapter 18|23 pages

What’s in a w3d file?

chapter 19|14 pages

3D techniques

chapter 20|14 pages

Using Havok