Partridge Allen. Real-Time Interactive 3D Games: Creating 3D Games in Macromedia Director 8.5 Shockwave Studio

Publisher: Sams. 2002. ISBN-10: 0672322854. ISBN-13: 978-0672322853. (621 p.).
The Dramatic Structure of Games - Building Blocks of Shockwave 3D Games - Putting Strategies into Action - Appendixes.Editorial Reviews.
Director 8.5 has fully embraced the 3-D online world and Real-Time Interactive 3D Games describes in detail how to build an immersive and exciting world using this rich and powerful tool. More than just an examples-according-to-feature book, it takes us on the journey of building a handful of finished products, from ideas scribbled on napkins through building and testing to marketing and selling a finished game.
This is a large book, with ample technical examples and code snippets to complement the discussion at hand. (Don't worry, it's all on the CD-ROM.) The author presents both a broad view-there are chapters devoted to properly designing the flow of the game and the design of the characters and their traits-as well as specific Director techniques. Screen shots accompany the majority of examples when appropriate, and code snippets are clearly formatted in a different font and are well commented on.
Structured around three main parts, Partridge's book first explores the "dramatic structure of games." This is less about how an interactive 3-D game is built than why one is built the way it is; this first part is worth the price of the book alone. There is insight here that goes far beyond the usual technical how-to guide.
Another section worth noting includes the chapters on 3-D character creation using 3ds max or Maya. Building, texturing, and animating low-resolution polygon characters is an art in itself, but successfully importing that data into Director and using the models would be nearly impossible without the vital insight given in this book.
3-D rendering on the fly? An environment for authoring first-person-shooter games? Low-polygon models with textures rendered dynamically? This is not your father's Macromedia Director. -Mike Caputo.
Product Description.
Real-Time Interactive 3D Games: Creating 3D Game in Macromedia Director 8.5/Shockwave Studio will teach developers how to create attention-grabbing real-time 3D games with Director 8.5/Shockwave Studio. The book is broken up into three parts: The first part demonstrates good character and environment design for interactive games. The second part presents a substantial set of tutorials on the use of 3D Lingo to program games. The final part teaches developers how to build strategy and surprise into their games to give the player the best experience possible. This structure mirrors the best game development practices and gives readers the skills to go out and develop games on their own. Along the way, Partridge shares some of his own experiences in game development.
This book provides an exciting blend of game design strategies, nuts-and-bolts programming tips, deeply detailed code samples, and richly developed games and demos. Real-Time Interactive 3D Games defines the role of narratives in games and is packed with valuable advice on a variety of topics, including tapping into the traditions of theater to make the games you develop more dramatic and tips for marketing your 3D game.The first part of the book demonstrates good character and environment design for interactive games. A substantial set of tutorials on the use of 3D Lingo to program games follows. Finally, you can follow along with Dr. Partridge and his team as they build a dramatic real-time interactive 3D game called 17 Keys. The structure mirrors the best game development practices to give you the skills to go out and develop games on your own.A detailed and practical guide to Shockwave 3D, including simulating physics for games and advanced control with modifiersBeyond just code, teaches game design procedures including developing treatments, specs and game interface design strategiesIntelligent game agents explained and demonstratedCameras, lights, models, shaders, textures, and animationSecrets to low-poly modeling for real-time gamesA fully developed real-time 3D game with explanations and commented code.