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The Game Maker's Apprentice: Game Development for Beginners [Paperback]

Jacob Habgood , Mark Overmars
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
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Book Description

24 July 2006 1590596153 978-1590596159 Pap/Cdr

The Game Makers Apprentice shows you how to create nine exciting games using the wildly popular Game Maker game creation tool. This book covers a range of genres, including action, adventure, and puzzle games complete with professional quality sound effects and visuals. It discusses game design theory and features practical examples of how this can be applied to making games that are more fun to play.

Game Maker allows games to be created using a simple drag-and-drop interface, so you don’t need to have any prior coding experience. It includes an optional programming language for adding advanced features to your games, when you feel ready to do so. You can obtain more information by visiting book.gamemaker.nl.

The authors include the creator of the Game Maker tool and a former professional game programmer, so you’ll glean understanding from their expertise. The book also includes a DVD containing Game Maker software and all of the game projects that are created in the book—plus a host of professional-quality graphics and sound effects that you can use in your own games.


Frequently Bought Together

The Game Maker's Apprentice: Game Development for Beginners + The Game Maker's Companion Book/CD Package + The Computer Game Design Course: Principles, Practices and Techniques for the Aspiring Game Designer
Price For All Three: £59.67

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Product details

  • Paperback: 310 pages
  • Publisher: APRESS; Pap/Cdr edition (24 July 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1590596153
  • ISBN-13: 978-1590596159
  • Product Dimensions: 18.5 x 2.5 x 23 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 40,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • See Complete Table of Contents

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Product Description

From the Author

Visit the book's website: book.gamemaker.nl

About the Author

Jacob Habgood worked in the UK Games Industry for seven years, writing console games for Gremlin Interactive and Infogrames/Atari. During this time he contributed to a wide range of titles and lead the programming teams on MicroMachines (PS2, X-Box and Game Cube) and Hogs of War (PlayStation). Jacob is now a doctoral student at the University of Nottingham, researching the educational potential of computer games.Mark Overmars is a full professor in Computer Science at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Here he heads the center for Advanced Gaming and Simulation. One of his research domains is computer games. He is one of the founders of the Utrecht Platform for Game Education and Research and teaches courses on computer game design at Utrecht University. Mark is the author of many software packages. In particular, he is the author of the Game Maker software package which will be used as development tool in this book.

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Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Game Maker's apprentice is an engaging and accessible introduction to the fascinating world of Computer Game design.
Each chapter uses a hands on approach, creating example games in the free Gamemaker software, that allows the reader to build up a broad toolkit of games design skills. New programming structures are introduced in a clear and simple way, always accompanied by examples.

I have used this book to teach Games design to secondary pupils and they have found it very entertaining as well as technically challenging.

I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anybody who would like to try designing their own games or would like to teach Games Design to a group of students. The methodologies and design approaches used are transferable to any other programming environment that the reader may wish to progress to at a later stage.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Makes learning fun! 11 July 2006
Format:Paperback
Together with the Gamemaker software, The Game Maker's Apprentice provides an excellent introduction to world of digital game making!

Contained in the book are several clear, step-by-step examples of of game construction, from simple shooter games to those with more sophisticated concepts. The examples are written to be accessible to anyone and no programming knowledge or skills are required to build interesting and fun digital games! Best of all, the text encourages game makers to experiment with concepts and build their own games!

Thoroughly recommended for any novice wishing to quickly and simply make their own games or to learn the basics of computer game programming!
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars a good book and tool! 19 July 2006
By Yi Yang
Format:Paperback
I think it's a good book not only for beginners but also for the designers who have no programming background to boarden their knowlege of programming. As game development is an iterative process,I suppose the Game Makers is also a good tools to build a prototype to test design ideas.The book teach

you step by step which will significantly facilitate learning.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent introduction to games programming 19 July 2007
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you are new to games programming then this is a book for you.

Each chapter has a different games to create or try-out (with the complete code on the enclosed CD just in case).

As you would expect each game is more complex to create than the last one, but the book contains very detailed explanations on why certain keys are used or objects included.

Those who are more familiar with the basics of game programming will still probably find the "game maker" engine extremely useful and perhaps better than some others on the market.

Only downside is that the enclosed game maker engine is not a registered version, and costs around £10 to convert it to the latest version.

Overall the book is a very good guide to games programming.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Introduction to Game Making 23 July 2009
By Venton
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is an absolute delight.
There is such enthusiasm flowing from the authors you get swept along on a fantastic adventure.
The step by step guide to creating games (using the included software) simply couldn't be any clearer. If you have any aptitude at all for making games you will find this book a revelation. By the end of the book (if not long before) you will not only be sparkling with ideas, but you will have the tools to bring them to life. I think this book will definitely be the starting point for many young game makers of the future.
I would like to meet the authors and shake them by the hand, this really is one of the best tutorial books I have come across on any subject.
If you have a kid who plays games, why not turn their enthusiasm into something more creative. Not only will they learn about making games, they will start to learn about programming computers and object oriented design - useful tools in the I.T. job market.
I used to be a game designer a long time ago, and I got this book for my ten year old son. He is downstairs now making another game and calling me to see his work - so much better than simply watching the TV. We really enjoyed working through the examples together.
If I had had this book when I was younger I would have thought I had died and gone to heaven. In my day I typed in buggy listings into a computer line by line and spent days trying to make it work. With game maker it is so much easier with a really friendly interface to click and drag objects around with. Plus, the games you make are really pretty good. You can even publish your games to the authors own web site (YoYo games) and get feedback from other players.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars I'm glad I took the apprenticeship 3 Oct 2009
Format:Paperback
I bought this book hoping it would help me to program with the GameMaker program and I wasn't dissapointed at all.It is very well written for people new to any sort of programming.Highly recommended.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Game Making Simplicity and Strength at its Best ! 24 July 2006
Format:Paperback
The Game Maker's Apprentice has to be one of my most eagerly awaited Computer Book purchases for quite sometime. The fabulous presentation and great use of terminology, really makes it a joy to read. Each chapter guides you through gently, in order to achieve more confidence into creating your own game or project. Each page is colourful and the beautiful illustrations brings things to life.

The book is accompanied by a great CD with all of the examples, resources and Game Maker itself, which is really easy to get into. Within no time at all, you'll get used to it's interface and workings. The tutorials start you off with the basics and progressively bring you to the wonderfully powerful Game Maker Language (GML). So not only can you create games using a Drag 'n' Drop interface, you can also use a powerful programming language as well. All of this is included in the unregistered version, but by paying an ever so reasonable registration fee, you unlock the full potential of Game Maker.

I used Game Maker to create my first ever PC game, Bugsy. The Game Maker Forum helped me out when I came across a problem or a bug I couldn't resolve. There a lots of games and projects created with this wonderful program. You will also find many other sites across the Internet that provide helpful advice and tutorials. Not forgetting the official Game Maker site run and hosted by Mark Overmars.

The books co-writer, Jacob Habgood, has made a marvellous job along side Mark, to make this a very interesting book indeed.

You might also be interested to know, that another book covering the Game Maker theme, Basic Game Design and Creation by Namu Swamy is available as well.
... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Nifty
This is a good book for any young ambitious game designer as it teaches you the ropes of the software in question 'Game Maker 8.0' which is included with the book. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Volkaiser
5.0 out of 5 stars The Game Maker's Apprentice: Game Development for Beginners Jacob...
Customer Video Review
Length: 7:25 Mins
Published 7 months ago by Mr. Graham Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars The Game Maker's Apprentice: Game Development for Beginners
Bought this book and CD as I'm looking to completely change my career and have also been a massive video games fan for many years. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Pbaker77
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Bought this for my nephew who is 11 and has autism, although a high-functioning individual. He has a good focus for program writing and previously to this purchase has been... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Binky
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good
I have this book on paperback, this is a good starting point for game making. I have made a game from this book and have one more in progress! V. good.
Published 13 months ago by Simon
3.0 out of 5 stars Not beginner
I bought the book on the notion that if you were a total beginner you would be able to understand all the chapters. First chapter was fine. Read more
Published 20 months ago by ej2moloney
4.0 out of 5 stars Great for any school library
This is a great accompaniment to Game Maker and, when teaching students game making, my able 13 and 14 year old students used to argue over who had the copy that was in the school... Read more
Published 22 months ago by ZRoss
5.0 out of 5 stars Great for beginners
This is a great piece of software for people trying to get into making games, on my game design course which I have just finished they started teaching us game maker at first... Read more
Published 24 months ago by Oliver Wright
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction to the hows and whys of game development
My eldest son (now 9) has always wanted to learn to program games and I struggled for a place to start for him (learning programming by keying in listings from C&VG is no longer a... Read more
Published on 10 Jan 2011 by Sue Reynolds
5.0 out of 5 stars great intro for 10 year son
My 10 year old son has really enjoyed this intro to software designs. It needed my husband to help him work through the book - but now he has the principle he can do this on his... Read more
Published on 13 Dec 2010 by S. Murdoch
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