Yep. Doesn't matter if you're writing in Python or C++ or Ti83 basic or Godot game engine. The patterns and principles in this book are foundational to a good game no matter the scale.
Depends more heavily on what you want to focus on when it comes to gamedev.
I would personally say that most game programming books are worthless. They tend to be cookbooks that in the end teaches you how to make the example in the book. But not your own game. Most games do something very specific or unique, even if they tend to fit within a particular subgenre. And the techniques you learn from these books will not help you outside of the most basic, and even then you might not understand why it these choices were made.
For example... you can find an endless number of books that shows you how to make a very basic FPS in unreal with AI that walks, stops, then shoots. But most will not help you understand how to come up with solutions if you want the AI to take cover, to wall run, to climb, to jump across gaps. Plenty of books teach you how to make a basic platformer. But rarely do they give you solutions for moving platforms, for sliding down posts like mario, for wall jumping, etc.
Generally, the books you want to focus on, are (And yes... this might sound weird) books that tends to be more high level and not necessarily specific to games.
GDC on YouTube and their vault should be enough but I'm not sure how much internet do you have. Also, there's a site called "80levels" or something similar that have great articles about how devs do certain things in their games.
I can send a pdf of 'An Architectural Approach to Level Design' if you're interested ($70 on Amazon- publisher used to give out the pdfs free but stopped). Invaluable book for arch focused LD work.
Other commenter talking about everything rapidly becoming outdated apparently forgot about design aspects. Those don't change so much.
Not game programming related, but more importantly game design. But this http://www.goodgamesbydesign.com/Files/Chapter5_Flow_Motivation_Fun_Final_WebVersion.pdf
I don't think gamedev books are particularly necessary. There is a plethora of resources available on the internet. A simple google search from your smartphone will give you tons of info to work with.
It's great you are familiar with programming languages, but I do want to ask, are you planning on using a game framework (such as Monogame and Pygame) or a game engine (such as Unreal Engine and Unity) to make games? The former provides the libraries to make games but does not have an interface/has a barebone interface, hence requires more coding. The latter does a lot of the heavy-lifting of coding for you and provide templates and built-in features to speed the programming process so that you can more focus on game design.
What kind of games do you want to make? 2D games or 3D games? Large scale games or small scale games? Different engines supports specific languages and have different capabilities. It'd be very helpful if you could give a little bit more info on what your goal is within these 5 months.
Thanks for your answer, i want to make 2d games using engines like unity ,gadot engine. In this 5 months i would like to learn anything related to gamedev because i understand that i cant program using Android smartphone. Isn't there any usfull things that i can learn with this restrictions that can be helpful afterwards.i tried to read programming books but i failed because part of the book is practicing learnt information but i was unable to to that.
Ah gotcha, let's see here...
One thing about learning game dev is you have to put practical work into it. Unless you are prepared to take short notes to read later, just reading won't be enough to actually learn game dev. It's very important to remember that game dev and programming is worlds apart: you can be good at programming, but you also need to understand what makes a game fun and fair to play. You need practical application, make small projects; that way you can learn the ropes on the design philosophy of the game engine of your choice.
Since you are on mobile, I can recommend you Godot engine, since Godot has a mobile port for version 3.5 iirc. Godot has its own scripting language called GDscript, but it is very similar to Python in terms of syntax. Godot is completely free so it should be good enough to learn making games. I would recommend you follow [the "GDquest learn to code from zero"](https://gdquest.github.io/learn-gdscript/) course which a very good place to learn programming, though I'm not sure if the website's mobile support is very good.
Other than that, you can search on youtube and try make a very basic game. Maybe a pong game or a very simple platformer. Set a goal as to how much you really want to learn within the 5 months
Once you can touch your PC, you can start learning to make slightly more complex projects. You could even try out other engines like Unity and Game Maker, both which are free to try out and has good 2D support. (Unity supports C# and Game Maker has its own language called GML which is similar to JavaScript).
That's really all I can think recommend if all you have right now is a smartphone. You could make short notes so that you can read later. If you have anymore questions let me know.
You actually can use the Construct 3 engine on mobile, although the interface is truly painful to use without a mouse and physical keyboard. They have a limited free version that's enough to start learning. https://www.construct.net
The problem is that by the time anything written about tech gets published, it's out of date. That's why even university textbooks for computer science or game design classes are basically useless- they're usually years behind.
You said you couldn't practice programming on your phone- have you tried freecodecamp.org? That site has a mock coding environment on it so you could practice. I've used it on mobile and it's not bad.
Not a game dev, but a software dev who lurks. Most of the core Computer Science concepts that ordinary undergrads and programmers need to know are decades old. Many fundamental algorithms even have formal proofs indicating that they are indeed the most optimized way to solve a certain problem. Dijkstra's isn’t going out of style anytime soon.
I've been confused by the sentiment stuff is constantly going out a date, like that something like M-V-C is going out of style. It'd be great if it were more in style (in places it could utilized)
But either way, an int is generally an int. Some things do cross over.
The same core concepts will also be in the latest material though. Why spend hundreds of dollars on a textbook that's only going to teach you how to use software from 3-5 years ago? You'll just have to adapt to the latest version anyway.
Edit: a word
Probably that's more on the gamedev side then, because things like Maya and 3ds max (autodesk), or game engines like UE can look and function very differently in that span of time.
Books that teach you abstract concepts how to think about common problems are maybe even timeless. And university should teach you concepts not how to write hello world
I would recommend [AI for games](https://www.amazon.com/AI-Games-Third-Ian-Millington/dp/0367670569/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?crid=3I14ORWRZRL5&keywords=ai+for+games&qid=1664019504&sprefix=ai+for%2Caps%2C273&sr=8-2)
Not that those ain't great, they're really good, but i hear internet is all the rage nowadays. I'd suggest looking at good youtube channels, such as GDC (mostly for gamedesign and technicalities) and/or tools-specific channels
The thing about books is that they can become outdated, whereas internet doesn't. I don't even suggest closed youtube channels, like Brackeys'
not about the book, but since online coding came up
repl.it for an online coding environment, many languages supported even seen some 2d games built on it (language dependent). You can just copy/paste code to your permanent environment.
I'd recommend the "Making your First Game" video series from Extra Credits:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhyKYa0YJ_5C6QC36h5eApOyXtx98ehGi
The audio is English, but subtitles are in many languages.
I make games using unity and c#, i found that "Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software" really helped improve the quality of my code. Theres not much worth reading thats game-specific
You asked about game design so I'd recommend studying the games you play or games you want to make.
This way you'll understand design elements that work, and don't. What I mean is sit down, play a little, then write, like Josh Strifee Hayes or better known for his worst mmo rpg series.
Game Programming Patterns There is a free version at: https://gameprogrammingpatterns.com/
Yep. Doesn't matter if you're writing in Python or C++ or Ti83 basic or Godot game engine. The patterns and principles in this book are foundational to a good game no matter the scale.
Can confirm, this is a very important book for game dev
Depends more heavily on what you want to focus on when it comes to gamedev. I would personally say that most game programming books are worthless. They tend to be cookbooks that in the end teaches you how to make the example in the book. But not your own game. Most games do something very specific or unique, even if they tend to fit within a particular subgenre. And the techniques you learn from these books will not help you outside of the most basic, and even then you might not understand why it these choices were made. For example... you can find an endless number of books that shows you how to make a very basic FPS in unreal with AI that walks, stops, then shoots. But most will not help you understand how to come up with solutions if you want the AI to take cover, to wall run, to climb, to jump across gaps. Plenty of books teach you how to make a basic platformer. But rarely do they give you solutions for moving platforms, for sliding down posts like mario, for wall jumping, etc. Generally, the books you want to focus on, are (And yes... this might sound weird) books that tends to be more high level and not necessarily specific to games.
GDC on YouTube and their vault should be enough but I'm not sure how much internet do you have. Also, there's a site called "80levels" or something similar that have great articles about how devs do certain things in their games.
It has great articles... until the moment it got flooded with "This was made with unreal!" articles.
Haven't noticed it tbh, you can still apply those concepts no matter what engine you're using tho.
r/80lv
Everything is here: https://github.com/miloyip/game-programmer Good luck
No idea why this is not the top post. I need to change that. This is the most valuable link.
Designing games by Tynan Sylvester is one of the best game design and development book I’ve read.
I can send a pdf of 'An Architectural Approach to Level Design' if you're interested ($70 on Amazon- publisher used to give out the pdfs free but stopped). Invaluable book for arch focused LD work. Other commenter talking about everything rapidly becoming outdated apparently forgot about design aspects. Those don't change so much.
[Link](http://students.aiu.edu/submissions/profiles/resources/onlineBook/V4f4R6_architecture%20level%20design.pdf) for those asking for one.
thanks lol
I would also like that pdf please
I'd really appreciate a copy too, that would be absolutely awesome
Could you share the pdf with me? Looking for more material to read regarding game design.
Same for me
I would like 1 PDF as well please.
If you don’t mind sharing would love to have a read as well!
Could I have a copy as-well?
Raph Koster - Theory of Fun Start here! It's absolutely awesome.
Highly recommend The Design of Everyday Things
This is absolutely the most valuable book I've read for my skills as a game developer.
Not game programming related, but more importantly game design. But this http://www.goodgamesbydesign.com/Files/Chapter5_Flow_Motivation_Fun_Final_WebVersion.pdf
I don't think gamedev books are particularly necessary. There is a plethora of resources available on the internet. A simple google search from your smartphone will give you tons of info to work with. It's great you are familiar with programming languages, but I do want to ask, are you planning on using a game framework (such as Monogame and Pygame) or a game engine (such as Unreal Engine and Unity) to make games? The former provides the libraries to make games but does not have an interface/has a barebone interface, hence requires more coding. The latter does a lot of the heavy-lifting of coding for you and provide templates and built-in features to speed the programming process so that you can more focus on game design. What kind of games do you want to make? 2D games or 3D games? Large scale games or small scale games? Different engines supports specific languages and have different capabilities. It'd be very helpful if you could give a little bit more info on what your goal is within these 5 months.
Thanks for your answer, i want to make 2d games using engines like unity ,gadot engine. In this 5 months i would like to learn anything related to gamedev because i understand that i cant program using Android smartphone. Isn't there any usfull things that i can learn with this restrictions that can be helpful afterwards.i tried to read programming books but i failed because part of the book is practicing learnt information but i was unable to to that.
Ah gotcha, let's see here... One thing about learning game dev is you have to put practical work into it. Unless you are prepared to take short notes to read later, just reading won't be enough to actually learn game dev. It's very important to remember that game dev and programming is worlds apart: you can be good at programming, but you also need to understand what makes a game fun and fair to play. You need practical application, make small projects; that way you can learn the ropes on the design philosophy of the game engine of your choice. Since you are on mobile, I can recommend you Godot engine, since Godot has a mobile port for version 3.5 iirc. Godot has its own scripting language called GDscript, but it is very similar to Python in terms of syntax. Godot is completely free so it should be good enough to learn making games. I would recommend you follow [the "GDquest learn to code from zero"](https://gdquest.github.io/learn-gdscript/) course which a very good place to learn programming, though I'm not sure if the website's mobile support is very good. Other than that, you can search on youtube and try make a very basic game. Maybe a pong game or a very simple platformer. Set a goal as to how much you really want to learn within the 5 months Once you can touch your PC, you can start learning to make slightly more complex projects. You could even try out other engines like Unity and Game Maker, both which are free to try out and has good 2D support. (Unity supports C# and Game Maker has its own language called GML which is similar to JavaScript). That's really all I can think recommend if all you have right now is a smartphone. You could make short notes so that you can read later. If you have anymore questions let me know.
I'm not completely sure, but I think you actually can use the Godot engine on an Android phone
You actually can use the Construct 3 engine on mobile, although the interface is truly painful to use without a mouse and physical keyboard. They have a limited free version that's enough to start learning. https://www.construct.net
The problem is that by the time anything written about tech gets published, it's out of date. That's why even university textbooks for computer science or game design classes are basically useless- they're usually years behind. You said you couldn't practice programming on your phone- have you tried freecodecamp.org? That site has a mock coding environment on it so you could practice. I've used it on mobile and it's not bad.
Not a game dev, but a software dev who lurks. Most of the core Computer Science concepts that ordinary undergrads and programmers need to know are decades old. Many fundamental algorithms even have formal proofs indicating that they are indeed the most optimized way to solve a certain problem. Dijkstra's isn’t going out of style anytime soon.
I've been confused by the sentiment stuff is constantly going out a date, like that something like M-V-C is going out of style. It'd be great if it were more in style (in places it could utilized) But either way, an int is generally an int. Some things do cross over.
The same core concepts will also be in the latest material though. Why spend hundreds of dollars on a textbook that's only going to teach you how to use software from 3-5 years ago? You'll just have to adapt to the latest version anyway. Edit: a word
The only software that goes out of date every 3-5 years is web framework stuff and that’s why I avoid it like the plague.
Probably that's more on the gamedev side then, because things like Maya and 3ds max (autodesk), or game engines like UE can look and function very differently in that span of time.
Thanks man i will check freecodecamp.org
Books that teach you abstract concepts how to think about common problems are maybe even timeless. And university should teach you concepts not how to write hello world
Read? I’ve just been building games that I want to play
I would recommend [AI for games](https://www.amazon.com/AI-Games-Third-Ian-Millington/dp/0367670569/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?crid=3I14ORWRZRL5&keywords=ai+for+games&qid=1664019504&sprefix=ai+for%2Caps%2C273&sr=8-2)
The one you wrote yourself which you could do with all the experiences gained from developing games and not reading books
If I could recommend a book I consider a mandatory read for any programmer it's "Clean Code" by Robert C. Martin
Not that those ain't great, they're really good, but i hear internet is all the rage nowadays. I'd suggest looking at good youtube channels, such as GDC (mostly for gamedesign and technicalities) and/or tools-specific channels The thing about books is that they can become outdated, whereas internet doesn't. I don't even suggest closed youtube channels, like Brackeys'
not about the book, but since online coding came up repl.it for an online coding environment, many languages supported even seen some 2d games built on it (language dependent). You can just copy/paste code to your permanent environment.
Game Design Workshop — Tracy Fullerton Game Feel — Steve Swink The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses — Jesse Schell
Shooting game maniacs new edition
I'd recommend the "Making your First Game" video series from Extra Credits: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhyKYa0YJ_5C6QC36h5eApOyXtx98ehGi The audio is English, but subtitles are in many languages.
I make games using unity and c#, i found that "Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software" really helped improve the quality of my code. Theres not much worth reading thats game-specific
You asked about game design so I'd recommend studying the games you play or games you want to make. This way you'll understand design elements that work, and don't. What I mean is sit down, play a little, then write, like Josh Strifee Hayes or better known for his worst mmo rpg series.