(Part 3) Best computer & video game strategy guides according to redditors
We found 3,128 Reddit comments discussing the best computer & video game strategy guides. We ranked the 830 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 41-60. You can also go back to the previous section.
I'm really torn on this whole Greenlight thing.
I read Anna Anthropy's book Rise of the Videogame Zinesters recently, and in it, she makes the case that gaming is reaching a point where it's becoming an accessible medium at a hobbyist level. It used to be that you had to be a master programmer or artist or have a team of people funded by a company to make a game, but now we're reaching a place where tools are bridging skill gaps and almost anyone can make games.
She compares it to other media (e.g. writing, video), where accessibility opened up the platform and allowed for a huge plurality of narratives, thoughts, and experiences -- a point touched on in the video when talking about YouTube. An open medium gives us tons of crap, yes, but it also allows people to make games and tell stories that are different and individual and that wouldn't otherwise get made.
And I can definitely understand the value in that. There are a lot of brilliant people out there with a lot of compelling ideas and experiences, and it's great that games are finally reaching a point where they can be used to capture and express those on an individual level. It's going to lead to more diverse narratives and mechanics.
But I struggle with Greenlight because I find myself at odds with what I think and what I want.
Truth is, I really like Steam, and I really like that it is more limited in what it offers. I benefit from that in the implicit assurance of quality that's offered, as well as in my ability to parse what I want from a finite set of options. If I want to get a racing game, I can compare a small number of them, rather than having to sift through hundreds of similar-looking entries, and when I buy that game, I can be reasonably certain that it's going to be a complete game, run decently well, and have a minimum set of production values. And even when that isn't the case, Steam is slick enough that it's easy to see that as the exception rather than the rule.
As a customer, Steam works well for me, and I worry what a massive influx of games would do it. On the other hand, I definitely want access to some of that influx through the convenience of my favorite digital distribution platform, and I, deep down, really do think that that influx should be able to be accessed even if I don't want it.
Greenlight seems like an attempt at that, but it's one that seems half-assed and cursory. Even with dozens of professional reviews, news articles, and videos covering a well-known game, people still struggle all the time with whether or not it's worth their purchase (just look at all the heming and hawing that goes on over a $5 AAA game any time there's a Steam sale). Yet, with Greenlight, we're expecting people to make snap judgments of a game's worth and quality using a couple of promo shots and paragraphs, and we're doing it by popularity which, as reddit regularly shows, isn't always a great metric. It seems reductive, and seems to favor things that many smaller games are less likely to have (e.g. great graphics). A submission could have amazing writing and an incredible story, but if it doesn't have a look good or have a well-known fanbase/personality backing it up, it's probably going to be dead in the water on Greenlight. The whole system feels like an improper response ("beauty contest") to the problem at hand (plenty of fish in the sea).
I don't really know where I'm going with all of this other than that Greenlight is confusing to me because I'm not sure what to think. I really like the idea of openness and accessibility, I definitely see both the benefits and drawbacks of not having that, and I'm stuck pondering a bunch of different implementation issues when I consider how things could be changed. I also think the whole thing would be easier if we weren't so damn reliant on Steam in the first place. I'm thinking maybe the answer isn't in letting every game into Steam but instead getting some of us out of it and into Desura, GOG, and other platforms. The games want to go where the gamers are, and right now we're sitting behind the walls and loving it.
> Bungie literally named the archetypes
If you look at the D1 strategy guide, they actually had it then but it was not implemented to the degree that it is now. There is actually an image on the Amazon page that shows it.
There are a few things in D2 that remind me of early development D1...
Yep, there's a few in fact. Some based on WotC too.
EDIT: I did not know about that last one though. November 2018, pretty recent.
There are a multitude of threads about Kill All Normies being a pretty bad source here. You might be able to glean some points from it, but I'd suggest going further into the sources it cites, rather than the book itself.
James Desborough's Inside Gamergate: A Social History of the Gamer Revolt is very much an insider's view of the whole affair, though is probably (and obviously) biased in one direction.
In specific regard to discrimination, look into #NotYourShield, covered in Desborough's book, which was a specific response to the allegation that GamerGate was racist, sexist, homophobic etc and entirely made up of straight white men, in which minorities of various types who agreed with the movement declared their support for GamerGate.
Try these sites:
Riemers,
XNAResources,
RBWhitaker.
As for books I've found this one to be the most helpful.
The XCOM 2 tie-in novel, that explains what happens between the games, and gives us a rough time when XCOM failed.
Also, Dr Vahlen had a hidden base in an active volcano before she "disappeared completely" so, a mad German scientist with a secret base in an active volcano ...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/XCOM-2-Resurrection-Greg-Keyes/dp/1608877124/
Then the guidebook's cheating territory, too? https://www.amazon.com/Pok%C3%A9mon-Sun-Moon-Official-Collectors/dp/0744017483/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484015998&sr=8-1&keywords=pokemon+sun+moon+guide
If using any info ever to play a game is cheating, then it seems you're out of touch with what defines cheating.
Book was done by James Desboroug and is on amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074PC6318/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502315711
The creator of Dys4ia (and Mighty Jill Off, and other games, Anna Anthropy) actually wrote a book related to this subject, called Rise of the Videogame Zinesters: How Freaks, Normals, Amateurs, Artists, Dreamers, Drop-outs, Queers, Housewives, and People Like You Are Taking Back an Art Form. Which I haven't read, but I'm sure will interest you.
Worth mentioning is that "Playing with Power" is MUCH cheaper on Amazon than on Gamestop
It's 1,100 pages long.
Those are really cool. Hadn't heard of any of them, but looked them up. From left to right it looks like they're:
Unfortunately I can't tell what this artwork is from and there's no title to look up for it. Maybe OP can chime in with the title of that one?Edit: Took me a bit to recognize it but it's Bioshock Infinite. So I bet the the hardcover of this book has the colored sleeve with the embossed version we see in the pic on the book cover itself: The Art of Bioshock Infinite
Read this:
Inside Gamergate
Note: No affiliation to author - just liked book.
The Art of Game Design - Jesse Schell
very few illistrations (if thats what your into). All theory, it's the go to book for game design
http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Game-Design-lenses/dp/0123694965
Level Up - Scott Rogers.
My personal favourite. Easy to read.
http://www.amazon.com/Level-Up-Guide-Great-Design/dp/047068867X
https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Gamergate-Social-History-Revolt-ebook/dp/B074PC6318
It's originally from this book.
http://www.amazon.com/Extra-Lives-Video-Games-Matter/dp/0307474313/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420850831&sr=8-1&keywords=extra+lives
It's a collection of essays written by Tom Bissell that tries to explain what makes video games so captivating. I read a few years back an remembering enjoying it. The chapter on Resident Evil really captured what made that special. He also writes a chapter about how he did a bunch of coke and played GTAIV for 40 hours straight.
I like the Box, but wow that's an expensive Player's Guide. I thought for $129.99 you'd also get both games, but you don't.
Last Player's Guide I purcahsed for a game was for Banjo-Tooie back in 2000. :P
Thanks! :)
So the book is available here if you're interested. Someone has uploaded the list of games here if you just want to see what games are in the book. I also actually have a website letsplay1001.com as an alternative place to keep track of the games I've played but it's been hard to keep the YT series up and keep the website up to date (and admittedly it's a little out of date right now).
I feel obligated to link to the book on proc gen, co written by the creator of Dwarf Fortress.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1498799191/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_WXb5BbJ35M53M
It isn’t a coincidence how you feel about it.
The first book has been mentioned before. Dormans, the co-author of the second book, is the developer of Unexplored.
I've read both books and I highly recommend them.
Get [this] (https://www.amazon.com/Halo-Mythos-Guide-Story/dp/1681193566). Seriously. It is a comprehensive guide to every important piece of lore introduced from 2001 to 2016.
Also make sure you are doing your reading on Halopedia and not Halo wiki :)
There is this.
This one was just released:
BGG redid their mechanics classification system based on this book.
https://www.amazon.com/Building-Blocks-Tabletop-Game-Design/dp/1138365491
This is one of my favorite game design books and it focuses on procgen. It’s edited by the guy who made Dwarf Fortress and most of the authors are practitioners rather than researchers which is a perspective I like.
I'm still holding my hope that the upcoming XCOM 2 Novel (not to be confused with the pre-XCOM 2 launch novel XCOM 2: Resurrection) ties into what the not-yet-confirmed-but-I'd-be-damned-if-I-don't-believe-it's-real expansion is about.
> the Resistance gains new allies in fighting a new powerful alien enemy force
As vague as it can be, but I'd be surprised if "new allies" refers to plain old humans. At the very least give me Vahlen-certified gene-modded human monsters, to get some closure of what happened to Big Sky, Vahlen and her maimed team after the Alien Nest.
---------
Btw, aside from smaller DLCs, XCOM related content seems to be always initially planned for November or close-by.
The only one that doesn't fit as tidily in the list is the console port of XCOM 2, on September 2016, but if I had to roll the dice, I'd say we have a 90% chance to hit an expansion on November.
Here it is
https://imgur.com/a/E6iuQzI
The book is called: Rise of the Videogame Zinesters: How Freaks, Normals, Amateurs, Artists, Dreamers, Drop-outs, Queers, Housewives, and People Like You Are Taking Back an Art Form
Link to amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/Rise-Videogame-Zinesters-Drop-outs-Housewives/dp/1609803728
The citation is from the first chapter, the file I found had no pagination.
Luckily for you, there are quite a few resources full of info on the Halo Canon. Whatever you're looking for, you'll find here.
As far as youtuber's go, there are two main ones that I'm aware of. I'm sure there are more, and if anybody would PM me or comment below, I'll add them to the list.
------
Edit: After some quick googling, I've discovered that there is a fan-made Halo RPG called Halo Mythic, which has its own subreddit at /r/HaloMythic/
Full Disclaimer: Traviss is a good writer, regardless of what people say. However, she hurts her talents by not doing any of her own research into the Universe she's writing for. Rather than have 343i staff give her a list of canon details to include. That's just a recipe for disaster.
My Opinion:
Personally, I would avoid Glasslands at all costs. That book - while written very well in terms of structure and how it tells it's story - is basically an entire inconsistency all by itself. Practically the whole book. All the way from how the characters are portrayed to referencing historical events in Halo. It's a real head ache.
The other two stories are more secluded and don't try to fill in that many gaps in the Halo Universe. They basically try to rap up their own personal stories for the most part with minor additions to the Halo Universe.
Now, for my final thoughts.
As it stands, I'd say Halo: Thursday War is worth a read. However, Mortal Dictata is kind'a just there to finish the Trilogies story and it's very... drawn out; it's still good by itself though. Glasslands is chalked so full of so many inconsistencies that it's not worth picking up simply to disregard a huge amount of the story details it contains.
The best part about all of this though, is that Halo: Mythos contains an excellent summary of the entire Halo Universe and the Kilo Five trilogy; without the many inconsistencies. You really don't even have to read any of the Kilo Five Trilogy because of Halo Mythos.
Spend your money on that instead.
Also $14.99 for the Paperback Edition
> so dont worry if you have lots of food and wood but not much gold.
This is rather misleading. Gold is the one resource that you should have, if anything, since using that is easy, by making more units (or being able to make units slightly later, one can re-boom and/or increase f/w gathering really fast, which is not the case with gold, which = map control/relics) or buying f/w/s when urgently needed.
___
Mostly the reason of having unused resources is based on non-optimal booming (I am assuming it is doable for you to use resources to the limit, until one res becomes critical, as you should be able to), of having unneeded amounts of farmers or lumberjacks. Too often while eg. 3 TC booming, the w/f ratio is off by a lot.
I've tried to learn good booming lately and watched some recs of good Ara pocket and/or BF booms, and it is quite amazing how accurate (+/-1) the experts keep to the exactly needed amounts of lumberjacks based on how many TCs they have booming, and whether they intend to go heavy castle age (often food-based pushes, eg. kts predominantly) or straight to Imperial.
Here are my pointers that I've observed: (they coincide exactly with Andre D.Ferreira's ebook numbers, from which I factually got these, the recs just strengthened my understanding of these) link to ebook
So 1st priority in a Boom is to get the farmer amount to 6xTC-amount, after of which any additional farmers should have a purpose in unit-production capability (eg. kts from one stable is 7f/7g for non-huns). Heavy food-based armies tend to reach 40 farmers but 32 is often bare minimum, as it is near to the Handcart optimal research amount. link with WB/HC explanation
EDIT: about the number of wood villagers you need to make a farm every 25 secs, the time of training a villager.
(in 3 TC boom that is usually 2 TCs, with 3rd either producing gold/stoneminers or wood cutters if looking to add 4th TC) and NO MORE THAN THAT. Likewise in 4 TC straight booms a ~22-24w was usual. In recs I observed ~13-15 on wood for direct 3 TC booms, and this amount never grew over this number, until it becomes necessary to start reseeding the farms, which without 2nd farm tech is usually around ~28-29 mins (which, by the way, is the a usual Imperial time for direct no-castle-army boom). This is usually done by stopping farm production at a required amount and during Imperialing adding 1-2 TCs to make woodcutters. That brings the next pointer:
Like seriously. Two people have written two separate books which contain loads of stuff, well presented, critique checked and they charge 10$ only for it.
Here you come and you want to charge for a fast castle build order. 11
Edit:
I would recommend this book to beginner/intermediate level players. Well presented ideas in great detail.
This book was written by Chris quite long back. Those who don't know, Chris is a top player from Canada and had a great rivalry with Daut during their most active days (2005-10). Some of the build orders and meta might be outdated now but most of it is still very relevant.
He writes about video games too. I highly recommend Extra Lives.
https://www.amazon.com/Pokémon-Sun-Moon-Official-Collectors/dp/0744017866
Hey dude! I'll chime in here if that's okay, I've been getting some Xbox owners in my family some stuff this year too. :)
I've nailed down a few great ones that I'm really excited to see them open up, and I think an awesome trifecta I landed on is "Bioshock: the Collection", "Skyrim Special Edition", and "Assassin's Creed: the Ezio Collection".
It's a nice group of FPS action, third-person action, and sense of giant RPG adventure, but any one of them alone will be awesome!
I'd also recommend looking into a couple fun books, if you're interested? For instance, you've got "Halo: Mythos", which is a fully illustrated, beautiful 200 page in-depth Halo universe guide that just came out recently. It's only ~$22 on Amazon, hardcover, and I think that would be an amazing gift!
There's also some cool clothing and accessories on this site, J!nx that might be worth browsing.
(P.S. I've been obsessed the last couple of weeks with vetting christmas gifts, and I'm happy to hang out with you here and shoot ideas back and forth until we land on something!)
Might I suggest some of Brad Glasgow's articles? He's a really good guy.
Talking to him is probably a good idea. He's done loads of research into GG and would probably be happy to help. He's @Brad_Glasgow on Twitter...
http://www.gameobjective.com/2016/11/21/no-gamergate-is-not-right-wing/
http://www.gameobjective.com/2017/02/28/academic-paper-finds-gamergate-supporters-not-significantly-different-average/
http://www.gameobjective.com/2017/02/14/gaming-boys-club/
http://www.gameobjective.com/2016/11/21/anatomy-of-a-hoax/
Have a read of Jim Desborough's book too (I think it's free with Kindle Unlimited) for the other side of the story:
https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Gamergate-Social-History-Revolt-ebook/dp/B074PC6318/
Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter by Tom Bissell is going to be required reading. As others have posted here, YouTube is where most of the games crit and dissection is happening.
You might have a look at some of these:
https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Video-Game-Industry-Developers/dp/0415828287
https://www.amazon.com/Extra-Lives-Video-Games-Matter/dp/0307474313/
https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Sweat-Pixels-Triumphant-Turbulent/dp/0062651234/
https://www.amazon.com/Changing-Game-Transforming-Future-Business-ebook/dp/B001I8QVJC/
https://www.amazon.com/Gamers-Work-Stories-Behind-People/dp/1430233516/
https://www.amazon.com/Innovation-Marketing-Video-Game-Industry-ebook/dp/B01G2BOQGY/
https://www.amazon.com/Total-Engagement-Virtual-Changing-Businesses/dp/142214657X/
Better yet, they're releasing a new Prima Guidebook for it.
I myself ordered the Collector's Edition yesterday, expecting it to be in tomorrow :D
http://www.amazon.com/Elder-Scrolls-Legendary-Collectors-Official/dp/030789701X
You can find a lot of art and music for free, just need to do some checking into the attribution requirements. My favorite site for this is opengameart.org.
That plus a Unity3D free (unity3d.com) and you should be ready to go.
Make sure to learn the C# way of doing things for the games, since most of the good plugins will be written in C#
I taught myself the programming aspects of it through youtube, google, and the scripting api.
I've only put out one minor game so far, and got some help on the art, but it wasn't too hard.
The hard part comes in when you want to have servers or interact with other APIs, then you are looking at a longer commitment and much more tweeking, since you have more than one debug point.
Start early on the habit of using state machines (http://jessewarden.com/2012/07/finite-state-machines-in-game-development.html). The first game you make will probably be a lot of spaghetti, but making a few really quickly, then starting over will help you understand a lot more about it.
for design i'd recommend Level Up! (http://www.amazon.com/Level-Up-Guide-Great-Design/dp/047068867X) as it is really good at explaining the why of game design as well as the mechanics.
Lastly, don't be afraid of copying something at first, there is always a game like the one you are making. Put something together that you, and your friends, enjoy then try something a bit more novel next time. You won't make the next great thing on your first try.
Hello, and welcome to /r/tabletopgamedesign!
I can see in the comments that you are keeping your idea intentionally close the vest. You don't need to worry about people "stealing" your ideas - that really doesn't happen for three reasons:
Eventually, you will need other people to help make your game into a reality, whether it's working with a publisher, a manufacturer, or even emailing your art to [email protected] to print them at your local store. Careful! A rogue Staples employee / aspiring game designer might steal your stuff! /s
If you really don't want to share, nobody here can force you, but the quality of advice we can provide will be much lower. FWIW, I'm not just walking the walk - I have a website for my game, IntraSolar that anyone can visit and download the rulebook for. I'll also be releasing a print-n-play version sometime soon!
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My #1 piece of advice, however, is that nobody will design your game for you. Game design itself is not a game in that there are no set rules, pieces, or paths. Your path is your own, and will be more rewarding if you take initiative and purposefully move down it, rather than waiting around for someone to guide you.
For now, I can at least share with you some very high-level information that should help get you started. Looking at your user history, I'm going to assume that you have no-to-little experience with tabletop gaming, but this also could be a completely incorrect assumption.
Books to Read
Games to Play
I'm going to recommend some boardgame staples. Many of these games are older, but all of them have been very well received in the boardgaming community and have valuable lessons to teach if you haven't played them.
There are many other great games out there, many of which are heavier than this, but considering that you are (likely) new to the hobby, this is a great starting point.
Podcasts to Absorb
You can also find them on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Blogs to Follow
Creators to Watch
These last two are more videogame-focused but still contain relevant & great ideas / discussions.
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There are so many other great games and resources out there that I couldn't possibly hope to put together a comprehensive list, but these are my top picks for beginners. I frequently listen / watch / read many items on this list myself on a daily basis.
Good luck on your journey, and I hope you open a window into your prototype soon!
This is more geared toward board games, but as far as analog mechanisms are concerned, you can't do better than board games.
https://www.amazon.com/Building-Blocks-Tabletop-Game-Design/dp/1138365491
Reminds me of this book. No points for guessing who wrote it.
http://www.amazon.com/Halo-Mythos-Guide-Story/dp/1681193566/ref=wl_mb_wl_huc_mrai_1_dp
this as well
I'll start off with some titles that might not be so apparent:
Unexpected Fundamentals
These 2 books provide much needed information about making reusable patterns and objects. These are life saving things! They are not language dependent. You need to know how to do these patterns, and it shouldn't be too hard to figure out how to implement them in your chosen language.
 
Good General book
 
This book is great if you're going to make a browser based game
 
General Knowledge books
 
Provide a working moveable 3D model with C++ and DirectX, Very cool.
 
More general game base building
 
Working product results books, little if any modification needed
Releasing in a couple months (hopefully) 2 Very good books using C++ to develop by.
 
Not presented in the best manner but still noteworthy:
 
I used to love XNA...but now it's not feasible for commercial development. If you're a beginner to game design...starting out with XNA might actually be useful. It's easy to pickup and put out a working product. XNA is C#
 
 
Working product books, modification needed to make run on current systems
Provides a working FPS game in C++ on DirectX 9. Good for some starting out knowledge for an FPS
 
Good for 3D Terrain rendering in DX9...however much of this is outdated...some concepts still apply, and it's not the worst idea to see a working example.
 
TLDR: Click links starting at top, buy, read, profit
This is not Unity, but it is C#. In my opinion, it is one of the better XNA books out there. XNA 4.0 Game Development by Example: Beginner's Guide by Kurt Jaegers
[Andre's Book] (https://www.amazon.com/Basics-Age-Empires-Journey-Friends-ebook/dp/B01F12NJDQ/ref=pd_sim_351_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=8PCWYFBN3BSGQFTA50YV)
And I agree that Andre's book is much more helpful for any HD player 1400-2000 rating. Very well organized and all information is all cited.
this is not a review, this is an excerpt from a book
(a book that crowdfunded a whoppping 1.6k lol)
gamergate: still not knowing what a review is all these years later
One of the best resources out there, especially for Patreon supporters. I found this book to go hand-in-hand with this, I'd even go as far to say it's a must read, with great examples and modern practices.
https://www.amazon.com/Multiplayer-Game-Programming-Architecting-Networked/dp/0134034309
Extra Lives by Tom Bissell is pretty good. I'd recommend checking it out.
In the Warcraft novels, [Warcraft spoilers](#s "it's explained that her age is due to some fel magic used by Guldan. He was rapidly aging young orcs to create his horde army.") I highly suggest reading "Rise of the Horde" by Christie Golden for anyone looking for more backstory regarding the orcs, Draenor and the founding of The Dark Portal.
If memory serves correctly, he was Terron'gor in Rise of the Horde.
https://www.amazon.com/Building-Blocks-Tabletop-Game-Design/dp/1138365491/
Xcom Resurrection, "Bridging the narrative between EW and X2". Breaks the lore at points like how shield bearers are deployed before they're canonically rolled out... but it's good if you overlook them. https://www.amazon.com/XCOM-2-Resurrection-Greg-Keyes/dp/1608877124
​
There's a sequel, Escalation. Haven't read it yet but it looks good.
http://www.amazon.ca/XCOM-2-Resurrection-Greg-Keyes/dp/1608877124
Ayup.
Ana Anthropy, Rise of the Videogame Zinesters - Ana is a trans woman who writes more about game creation than gaming community, but I think she's awesome.
Here's two reviews (for now): https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Gamergate-Social-History-Revolt-ebook/dp/B074PC6318/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504230992&sr=8-1&keywords=inside+gamergate
For those who are curious, Milo's "Dangerous" has around 25K sales between hardcover and kindle editions.
Zoe Quinn's "Crash Override" has around 1500 sales between hardcover and kindle.
Grim Jim's "Inside GamerGate" has around 230 sales between paperback and kindle.
All of these numbers taken from novelrank, which pretty much only cares about Amazon sales (ignoring all brick and mortar sales, sales direct from the publisher, and kickstarter/patreon/whatever preorders).
It is a different way of making games for sure.. Takes a lot of practice. I have spent the last 8 months doing almost nothing but multiplayer programming. I have some random videos about various aspects on it. I will just link some content here. In addition, I have just created a UDP framework for making multiplayer games. It simplifies writing your buffers and handles connection management (something you must do manually when using UDP).
​
GloomyNet Intro (Ongoing Series):
https://youtu.be/7GRh3bjG9zY
​
Talk about a lot of essential multiplayer concepts here:
https://youtu.be/9dNIy_mXUU4
​
THE MULTIPLAYER BOOK (In C++ but lots of useful concepts):
https://www.amazon.com/Multiplayer-Game-Programming-Architecting-Networked/dp/0134034309/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539322352&sr=8-1&keywords=multiplayer+game+programming
​
THE BLOG POSTS FOR MULTIPLAYER:
https://gafferongames.com/
​
You will need to learn about data types, buffers, UDP (unless you are planning to do a smaller game.. you can use TCP). Learn about reliable packets, unreliable packets, and then... you can start..
​
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Its a really good question - with many good answers (and many bad). Pardon my brevity:
http://brewhouse.io/2015/10/14/game-programming-design-patterns.html
https://www.amazon.com/Multiplayer-Game-Programming-Architecting-Networked/dp/0134034309
This are some sources that helped me understand how to create online games, warning: it's a rabbit hole, don't lose the focus on your game:
https://www.amazon.com/Multiplayer-Game-Programming-Architecting-Networked/dp/0134034309
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9X4lysFr64&feature=youtu.be&t=1852
www.gabrielgambetta.com/client-server-game-architecture.html
https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Latency_Compensating_Methods_in_Client/Server_In-game_Protocol_Design_and_Optimization
https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014345/I-Shot-You-First-Networking
https://api.unrealengine.com/udk/Three/NetworkingOverview.html
http://fabiensanglard.net/quakeSource/johnc-log.aug.htm
It's long but you could watch this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0iKFASurHk
Also if you want to read the books, here is the order in which you should.
[World of Warcraft: Dawn of the Aspects] (http://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Richard-A-Knaak/dp/147676137X)
[Warcraft: War of the Ancients #1: The Well of Eternity] (http://www.amazon.com/Warcraft-War-Ancients-Well-Eternity/dp/0743471199)
[Warcraft: War of the Ancients #2: The Demon Soul] (http://www.amazon.com/Warcraft-War-Ancients-Demon-Soul/dp/0743471202)
[Warcraft: War of the Ancients #3: The Sundering] (http://www.amazon.com/Warcraft-War-Ancients-Sundering-Bk/dp/0743471210)
[World of Warcraft: Rise of the Horde] (http://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Rise-Horde-No/dp/0743471385)
[Warcraft: The Last Guardian] (http://www.amazon.com/Last-Guardian-Warcraft-Book-No-3/dp/0671041517)
[World of Warcraft: Tide of Darkness] (http://www.amazon.com/Tide-Darkness-Warcraft-Aaron-Rosenberg/dp/1416539905)
[World of Warcraft: Beyond the Dark Portal] (http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Dark-Portal-World-Warcraft/dp/1416550860)
[Warcraft: Day of the Dragon: Day of the Dragon] (http://www.amazon.com/Day-Dragon-WarCraft-Book-No-1/dp/0671041525)
[Warcraft: Lord of the Clans] (http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Clans-Warcraft-Book-2/dp/0743426908)
Warcraft: Of Blood and Honor
[World of Warcraft: Arthas: Rise of the Lich King] (http://www.amazon.com/Christie-Golden-World-Warcraft-Arthas/dp/B00320J28G)
[World of Warcraft: Cycle of Hatred: Cycle of Hatred] (http://www.amazon.com/Cycle-Hatred-World-Warcraft-Bk/dp/0743471369/)
[World of Warcraft: Night of the Dragon] (http://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Richard-A-Knaak/dp/0743471377)
[World of Warcraft: Stormrage] (http://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Stormrage-Richard-Knaak/dp/1439189463)
[World of Warcraft: The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm] (http://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Shattering-Book-Cataclysm/dp/1439172749)
[World of Warcraft: Wolfheart] (http://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Wolfheart-Richard-Knaak/dp/1451605765)
[World of Warcraft: Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects] (http://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Thrall-Twilight-Aspects/dp/143919663X)
[World of Warcraft: Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War] (http://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Jaina-Proudmoore-Tides/dp/1451697910)
[World of Warcraft: Vol'jin: Shadows of the Horde] (http://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Voljin-Shadows-Horde/dp/1476702977)
[World of Warcraft: War Crimes] (http://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Crimes-Christie-Golden/dp/1451684487)
Limited hard cover edition here.
Product Description
The Destiny Limited Edition Strategy Guide from BradyGames, is the ultimate collectible for every player and fan.
Each limited edition guide includes two high-quality lithographs depicting Destiny artwork produced by artists at Bungie, both enclosed in a custom linen-textured sleeve.
A premium, double-sided dust jacket highlights a unique cover design on the exterior, as well as gorgeous artwork on the interior surface.
Beneath the special dust jacket, each hardbound cover features one of three exclusive artwork designs based on Destiny’splayable classes: Hunter, Warlock, and Titan. Each design incorporates deluxe print treatments and foil stamping, creating a must-have collectible for Destiny fans.
Bonus three-panel foldout displays a large-format Director’s Map and high-level armor for each character class.
All of the expert strategy, analysis, and data contained in the Signature Series guide, including the following:
100% campaign walkthrough with strategy for every Strike.
Full multiplayer coverage.
Exclusive illustrated maps available only in the official guide.
Weapon and Enemy data.
While browsing I found this listing, apparently it is the Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon: Official Collector's Edition Guide (Which is 30$ in a separate listing) and includes other stuff. Apparently there are limited quantities and once it's sold out that is it. Thoughts on this, as well as pricing? RIP your wallet if you plan on getting this, in addition to the Sun/Moon Steelcase Book and the Sun/Moon N3DS XL.
The art I got from the collectors guide for Sun and Moon (Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon: Official Collector's Edition Guide https://www.amazon.com/dp/0744017483/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_vsQLAb74P6SWM)
The guide comes with 8 prints of some concept art from the game. Are very nice prints too!
As for the frames I got them from IKEA. They are 16x20in frames (KNOPPANG is the name of the model for it) with some clear scrap booking tabs to help keep the images from sliding around as the mat creates too much of a gap between the backing and the glass. Was a lot of work but man do they look great.
Well, it's the follow-up to this book from last year, the reviews of which aren't exactly flattering. Sounds like a rather mediocre cash-in.
There hasa been a confirmed list of the 17 games:
9, Mario Bros.
from the amazon uk listing
Those artworks were included in the Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon: Official Strategy Guide Collector's Vault.
Your criticisms are valid; Limbo was a puzzle game with few mechanics and limited player engagement. Compared to other puzzle titles it is lacking (it's no Portal, for sure); compared to other games released in 2010, it is not involving. Limbo is a short experience (two to five hours), and it's exceptionally short for the money ($15 on release). Your criticism reminds me of Will Freeman's review in The Guardian, where he calls the game a "traditional platform-jumping puzzle title" and notes "much of its brilliance is the work of smoke and mirrors".
Yet I think the criticisms are only touching on part of what made Limbo an interesting experience.
The limited mechanics and world interactivity reminded me of Another World (or Out Of This World, depending). Playing Limbo took me back a step to several games of yesteryear, reminded me of them, and showed me what an experience like that could be like remodeled in a new engine.
I thought the grayscale presentation was a striking choice, given how graphically-driven modern games tend to be. I liked the minimalist feel of the environment, and I thought the game did a good job of establishing and sticking to the tone set by the art. The game feels very, very lonely, as though the boy is trapped between worlds, much as the title would suggest.
The use of lighting was key; when you're working in grays all you really have is light and shadow, so you've got to make the most of it. There's a scene where you're holding on to a bug that's trying to fly up towards the light, but the leg you're on breaks, trapping you once again; later, when you encounter the spinning blades, lighting reflects them at massive size in shadows behind you, making them seem even more fearsome and lethal than they already are. I thought this was very nicely done.
I thought the sound design was spot on, from the gentle sounds of wind or water, to the more rumbling background tone that sets in when you first encounter the stabbing arms of the spider-creature. Sound also really made the "HOTEL" sign scene for me, as you can hear and see electrical transformers exploding as you try to cross the letters. This does a great job of adding to the tension.
In terms of story, the game gives you nothing to speak of; there were some promotional materials that read "Uncertain of his sister's fate, a boy enters Limbo" - but that's it. The game doesn't otherwise explain itself. As I played I felt the journey was the important and transformative element, more so than any "reward" at the end, and I felt that way right up until the final shot.
As an older human, I've attended my share of funerals. I've lost family over the years. I'm dreading when I first lose a friend or lover, and I can't even consider how I'd feel to lose a parent, let alone a sibling that I've known since they were born. I do know each loss takes part of me with them - the dead keep the parts of me I've given to them.
I had felt like the boy was already dead early into the game, but when you get to the final scene, and she's there - there's this pause, and the boy does not approach. What can you say? You've come all this way; are you even sure this is what you want? Did you make this trip because you were unable to come to terms with your loss, unable to achieve peace? How did the boy even start this journey? There's a visual of the boy breaking to pieces as you go through the final jump -- was this emblematic of his heart shattering when his sister died? Does his literal falling to pieces give us his reason for being here?
The last scene takes place in the same sort of forest as the opening. Post-credits, if you watch all the way through, the background remains on the same shot - though no bodies are present, and we can hear the buzzing of flies. Did the sister die there? Did the brother die there? Did he kill himself in an effort to find her, to be reunited? There's room for speculation and interpretation.
I thought quite a bit about the end of Limbo, and about death, and about family. I had a strong emotional response to the work; I found it impactful, meaningful. The game teased quite a lot out of me - I'm over 4,200 characters into my reply and I feel like I could still go on at some length.
Not bad for a two-hour title.
I measure Limbo's "goodness" by the impact it had on me, and how often I thought of it, or of how I still think of it, so I've no doubts at all - it is a good game.
But I'm evaluating by a different set of criteria than the mechanical, too.
---
One extra thought.
There's a pretty fine read out there called "1,001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die". It covers video games from the late 1970s up through very early 2010. Snippets about each title were written by a battery of reviewers, many of them British (allowing access to perspective on titles that might not have made it across the pond, such as PC titles released only on the ZX Sinclair and the like).
When they chose to include a game it was because something about the title was unique, special, innovative, or trend-setting. In some cases they might add a second or third title in a series while skipping the original; in others, they add obscure games I'd never heard of, though I consider myself well versed.
Point is, part of their consideration includes the time and place in which a title existed. As an example, Asteroids (1979) was an important title in gaming history, a landmark title for its era, though almost no aspect of it holds up today.
Limbo may be something of that order. When it was released in 2010 it was a special sort of title. It reached 3rd overall on XBLA that year. (The top two were a little more conventional; Dead Rising 2 took the #1 spot, and Trials HD had #2. #4 went to another indie darling - Castle Crashers.)
Despite the short runtime and relatively high launch price, Limbo connected with a great many people. And it got a whole lot of words out of me on an otherwise sleepy Tuesday morning, nearly six years after it's release.
Limbo was a good game.
I'm assuming he doesn't know how to program. I looked at amazon, and this book looked like the right idea: http://www.amazon.com/Learning-C-Programming-Unity-3D/dp/1466586524/
Unity is a very approachable game engine that is popular among small game studios and large ones (Blizzard made Hearthstone with it). C# is a solid language that is used widely in industry, so it will look good on his resume.
I do know of this book.
https://www.amazon.com/Procedural-Generation-Design-Tanya-Short/dp/1498799191
But I don't know how it is. I've actually been meaning to ask about it here one of these days. It has the great Tarn Adams of Dwarf Fortress name on it but I don't know how much of him is actually in it. And I honestly don't put much trust in amazon reviews anymore.
If this is a topic that interests you I highly recommend Procedural Generation in Game Design by Tanya Short and Tarn Adams. It's a collection is essays by devs about procedural elements and how they interact with and influence design.
I think this is the one being referenced.
It seems to take place decades after XCOM1 (maybe commander was cryogen, "now that we have our best weapon", could be the command center or the commannder himself).
Which could mean that the forces seen in XCOM1 could be a scout force? And that invasion occurs following the events of XCOM1.
They're actually releasing a book that might explain some of the missing time: http://www.amazon.ca/XCOM-2-Resurrection-Greg-Keyes/dp/1608877124
There's this official novel for XCOM 2 which is enjoyable given the appropriate level of expectations. It's official prequel for the game.
https://www.amazon.com/XCOM-2-Resurrection-Greg-Keyes/dp/1608877124
Edit:
Xcom 2 tosses out most events from previous games in more ways than one. But to get the most of the book and the game, you'll want to brush up on the main characters from XCOM EU: Shen, Bradford, Vahlen, and Van Doorn.
http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Raymond_Shen_(EU2012)
http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Bradford_(EU2012)
http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Vahlen_(EU2012)
http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Peter_Van_Doorn_(EU2012)
I second the recommendation for XNA 4.0: Game Development by Example. It helped me out greatly and keeps things fresh by having the reader build multiple mini games, instead of one larger game.
This is probably the most comprehensive and complete tutorial on making a platformer that you will find but you will need to pay a subscription to watch. Check out the first video anyway and you might get an idea if its worth while.
This book has a pretty decent platformer tutorial as well. Also goes through making a tile based editor for your levels.
I didn't get the Expanded version, but bought the original (it was discounted if you purchased it with the game).
The guide is helpful. It also came with some nice stuff (e.g. gigantic map), and it's nice to skim through casually (and looks pretty cool on a bookshelf or coffee table), so I would say it boils down to a want vs. need. Do you have the extra $30 where it won't adversely affect your ability to pay your bills? If so, then go for it. If it's going to put you in a bind, then maybe hold off until you have the flexibility.
Thanks for the links everyone! I also managed to find some more resources:
BOOKS
BLOGS
I bought this one: https://www.amazon.com/Multiplayer-Game-Programming-Architecting-Networked/dp/0134034309/
It is pretty solid and goes into depth on both RTS and FPS games which require different ways of thinking about how to manage latency, packet loss, and other dynamics.
There is this book that might help:
https://www.amazon.com/Multiplayer-Game-Programming-Architecting-Networked/dp/0134034309/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497045503&sr=8-1&keywords=multiplayer+game+programming
but this is general and not specific for GameMaker. As I recall GameMaker has some tutorial on this stuff but I am not sure.
Here it is. Bought it on sale for $35.
Assuming that it's the exact same poster that comes with the Skyrim Legendary Edition Guide, the poster likely isn't worth much unfortunately..
Good find nevertheless though! It's fun to find items like that.
Tomorrow, according to Amazon! It actually looks really cool. I think I'm going to get it. Not necessarily for the game help, I just like reading all the stuff and seeing the screenshots :)
I don't know enough about the first book on the list to comment on that hahah, sorry! The book "The Art of Game Design: A book of lenses" is supposed to be pretty good according to the reviews on Amazon along with the editorial reviews.
I would also look more into "The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design" up there on the list. I only just checked these books our briefly (except for the first three and the Masters of Doom) so I don't know a lot.
I'm also adding this one to the list: Level Up!: The Guide to Great Video Game Design. It looks pretty promising and I've seen it suggested before!
Good luck!
Game Design by Bob Bates covers a bird's-eye view of general game theory and the process of game development from beginning to end. It's very "readable" and gives you context to help you understand how your development process can help aid your particular design paradigm that you decide upon. If I recall correctly, it also goes over a lot of the different type of design documents that are often used in the industry.
Depending on how much textbook you can stomach, Software Engineering for Game Developers by John Flynt and Omar Salem is an interesting take on the whole game design angle by delving entirely into the source code development. It follows an actual game created by the authors and the entire process used from beginning to end in designing the engine. The game itself was shitty, but the code was immaculate and the process certainly gave me a lot to mull over and cherry pick for my own projects. Be warned, however, this book is as dry as a road trip in the Sahara and twice as long.
Besides these two, I can also definitely recommend Level Up! and The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses as previously recommended elsewhere in this topic.
Level up!: The Guide to Great Video Game Design I see this in B&N every time I go there but i never have money to buy it, I've looked through it and it looks pretty nice.
Level Up! by Scott Rogers - a great look at adventure game design.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/047068867X?pc_redir=1410179486&robot_redir=1
It's not the best to start with because two of the characters come from a previous book.
I recommend starting with the [WarCraft Archive] (http://www.amazon.com/WarCraft-Archive-WORLD-OF-WARCRAFT/dp/1416525823). It has four books in it:
You can get all 4 of those books individually, but if you're going to read War of the Ancients, read at least Day of the Dragon first.
From there, read War of the Ancients (it's a trilogy, but they have a "single print" edition).
And as a stand alone, read Rise of the Horde! It tells the story of the original Horde and how the developed on Draenor. Makes a lot of the events in WoD make more sense.
From there, there are tons of books, I can't say they are all good, but I've not been disappointed in any of them. But those are what I started with, in that order, and it gave me a MUCH better sense of the lore pre-Warcraft III.
My beard is indestructible and it purs like a kitty :D
I smite my enemies with my metal head bang of justice. Making them beg for mercy with how awesome my beard is.
Don't believe me? See for yourself! - http://static-cdn.jtvnw.net/jtv_user_pictures/panel-39460441-image-668c1092422e4985-320.jpeg
It may or may not also shoot magic missiles. Why? Because i'm a god damn wizard!
We are RAOA. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0744015634/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2XVELFL5JY4QJ&coliid=I1OUSP3Z3H63TD
Buy the Vanilla Strategy Guide. There are 2 high-quality litographies in there I also hanged on my Wall. Won't disappoint!
Not mobile link
Is this the same guide as http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0744015634/ref=pd_aw_sims_1?pi=SY115
yeah..i got it last year together with the Pokemon Sun..from my local seller.
Here is the link for the Amazon ones (exactly the same with mine):
https://www.amazon.com/Pok%C3%A9mon-Sun-Moon-Official-Collectors/dp/0744017483/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1511859303&sr=1-7&keywords=pokemon+sun
It's a good mix of gameplay tips (including speed running stuff) and retrospective information. Easily one of the best games related books I own. The nes one is just as good.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/074401767X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_OcG-Ab2RVATPN
Aim higher.
Sun and Moon strategy guide
Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon: Official Strategy Guide Collector's Vault https://www.amazon.com/dp/0744017866/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_ZOjxyb3NVAVNG
You might want to check out this book.
something like This?
In our mechanism book we call this "End-Game Bonuses".
("VIC-06 End-Game Bonuses" to be precise. Defined as "Players earn bonus Victory Points at the end of the game")
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1138365491
We also have a discussion on the difference between public goals and private goals in this chapter, but keep them under the same classification.
First off, thank you for mentioning the book - the Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design - that Geoff and I wrote. It's now available for pre-order, and should be out some time this summer. https://www.amazon.com/Building-Blocks-Tabletop-Game-Design/dp/1138365491/ It will offer readers a shortcut for learning about lots of mechanisms, and will help trace how basic ideas like Worker Placement get elaborated on by later designs.
​
I loved the too-brief conversation about playtesting that happened towards the end. To me, playtesting is the most opaque part of the craft and work of game design. I'm hoping to write my next book on the subject to help shed more light on how it works. From interviews and preliminary research, one thing I'm learning is that there are many ways to do it, and lots of different types of playtesting. The practice itself evolves along with the design.
​
​
I'll be honest I don't find books helpful. I start a project and Google problems as they arise. I will say don't buy this
https://www.amazon.ca/Learning-C-Programming-Unity-3D/dp/1466586524/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1468826475&sr=8-3&keywords=c%23+unity
I bought it, am into my second game, haven't used a bit of information from this piece of crap book.
I have looked at a few books, though I feel a tad overwhelmed by the sheer volume of C# books out there. I am not interested in just Unity though, I don't want to use it as a crutch and want to be able to make programs/games outside of it as well. Here are a few I picked out that seemed good via reviews.
The C# Players Guide
Microsoft Visual C# 2012 Step-By-Step
Beginning Visual C# 2012 Programming
Unity Game Development in 24-Hours Sams Teach yourself
Sams Teach Yourself C# 2010 in 24 hours
Pro Unity Game Development with C#
C# Programming Cookbook for Unity3D
Learnign C# Programming With Unity 3D
> I have no prior knowledge of programming, so learning to program is going to be interesting in itself. The game I'm creating is in C#.
Unity is a great way to learn basic programming concepts. Some folks have used this book and reported good results:
https://www.amazon.com/Learning-C-Programming-Unity-3D/dp/1466586524
Enjoy your new hobby! 25 years ago, my passion for making games got me into programming, and I got a new career out of it. It took me only 6 months of self-taught programming before I got my first job as a programmer.
I liked this book very much, learning C# through programming in Unity:
https://www.amazon.com/Learning-C-Programming-Unity-3D/dp/1466586524/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505392281&sr=8-1&keywords=unity3d+c%23
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0672336960/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1466586524/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Have both. Helped me greatly. I only had some slight knowledge of programming prior to.
(EDIT: I just discovered "An Architectural Approach to Level Design" by Christopher W. Totten mentionned below and it looks great)
Hello, I don't know any book on "general" level principles (which exist, as any experimented LD can confirm).
Most books focus on specific genres (mostly 3D games) and tiny details about those genres (3d models, textures, sounds, etc.). I don't know any book encompassing various common genres (including 2d platformers, puzzle games) and dealing with common issues: how to introduce new objects, how to teach the player how to use them, how to balance difficulty progression, how to add multiples layer of goals and complexity, approaches to procedural LD...
The closest I've found is this blog: http://critical-gaming.squarespace.com/gamedesign101/
There are many other interesting articles on gamasutra.
This book by Tanya Short is specifically about procedural content generation.
Thanks! Glad they're helpful to some people, just trying to do stuff that would have been helpful to me starting off. As far as next talks:
Jason and I did chapters in this book, which came out recently: https://www.amazon.com/Procedural-Generation-Design-Tanya-Short/dp/1498799191
We also did a more academic style paper on the sultan history generation system:
http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=3110574
My next talk will probably be on map generation system in general, and maybe the sultan dungeon map generation subsystem in particular. I was thinking roguelike celebration, but it overlaps with my annunal vacation week this year. So maybe next year!
This was recently released: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1138595306/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0 . Haven't looked at it yet myself, but it's the same author as https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1498799191/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1 which is quite good.
This one here :P
Some attempt at a happy ending that ties into a theme.
Not sure if you guys have ever come across "Anna Anthropy". But she is a transgender video game developer who wrote a really interesting book on her life and career:
http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Videogame-Zinesters-Drop-outs-Housewives/dp/1609803728
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Anthropy
"Rise of the Videogame Zinesters" is a fun, inspiring read. Not only does it feel good to see a feminist viewpoint in the game development community, but what she has to say about design, career, and artistic choices is really good as well. What she has to say is useful to anyone in a creative field, in my opinion.
This is definitely the course we're on, and it definitely sucks.
Still, we can either look at it as an inevitability or try to fight against it. And there are still champions out there fighting for a more democratized culture of games creation. I see no reason to resign ourselves to that fate yet - though it's almost certainly far too late for the current blockbuster AAA environment.
>I mean... the obscurus itself is pretty vague... its just a giant lashing demon cloud thing...
Uh huh. Okay, so you're right in that it's pretty strong, but if that's all wearing going by it isn't much. There isn't enough information available to argue for or against the Obscurus.
>idk if those chief feats are admissible? wouldn't the most poplar canon chief be in game halo chief?
I fail to understand what you mean. Are you questioning the validity of the canon I presented?
The first scan comes from the game manual, the second is an excerpt from a short story published by Microsoft and written by a senior Bungie employee and writer.
Everything else except the adrenaline excerpt (which comes from Karen Traviss' Kilo-5 trilogy which was a novel series whose canon was used extensively to set up Halo 4) came from The Fall of Reach, which was the prequel to Combat Evolved and was released a month before the game, thereby making it the source material technically.
I recommend perusing the Halo Mythos if you have any doubts regarding Halo canon.
>AK doesn't penetrate... armor is like clothes... it envelops the target just like in the video and bypasses things like armor, clothing, and durability... it just kills you.
But what about inanimate objects used as cover? That's also like armor.
https://www.amazon.com/Halo-Mythos-Guide-Story/dp/1681193566
Buy her this book it's amazing and has everything in it + more will make a great Christmas present :)
If you're ever inclined to read up on it, but don't want to buy like twenty novels you don't have time to read, I'd highly recommend getting Halo Mythos, which is a beautiful coffee table sized book that pretty well summarizes all the important stuff from the Forerunners up through the beginning of Halo Wars 2.
XNA 4.0 Game Development by Example - One such example in the book takes you step by step in making a scrolling 2d tank shooting game.
It's in C# using (obviously) the XNA framework, so it's real easy to pick up.
The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master
Programming Language Pragmatics
XNA 4.0 Game Development by Example: Beginner's Guide
The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering
here
standard edition: https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1911015230/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=all&tag=nisa-20&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER
collectors edition: https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1911015222/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=all&tag=nisa-20&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER
The e-book "Basics of Age Empires 2" is a good source of every aspect of that game for competitive play. So if he likes to play aoe2 then it's definitely worth considering. Even if he doesn't play this game in particular, the thought processes described could still be relevant to other rts games.
> Maybe you can write a better article?
I'd have to write a damn book to describe all what happened. (As some already did, like https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Gamergate-Social-History-Revolt-ebook/dp/B074PC6318)
Archives for the links in comments:
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If you have 2 players outside the bound you mean? There are a number of different strategies for that. None of which you'll find in reddit or on youtube. If you're interested, this book is a half decent starting point https://www.amazon.com/Multiplayer-Game-Programming-Architecting-Networked/dp/0134034309
I read through Multiplayer Game Programming, which covers a pretty generic approach to 'locked timestep' netcode. From that, I was able to build out a basic server/client framework to really grasp the concepts. I enjoyed the book and the approach of writing the system from scratch (figuring out RTT's, how far ahead the server should run, etc). FWIW, I built out my client/server experiment simply using Node and socket.io - you could probably do something similar.
I'd also suggest checking out the recent Overwatch Netcode/ECS GDD talk (around 22:30), which covers the same basic premise as the above mentioned book uses.
The article in that link's also by Tom Bissell, whose book, Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter, is an excellent (if sometimes pretentious) book that definitely talks about games the way truegaming thinks about them. At the very least, it'll help us defend our hobby from the General Population.
(It also includes the CliffyB piece as a chapter somewhere in there.)
Not 100% on topic, but I absolutely loved the book Extra Lives. It talks about gamers as well as game devs, and the writing has a very unique and honest style.
Games, like movies, have examples of both great and terrible stories. It should be made clear that i'm not talking about any sort of arcade style multiplayer games here. You probably have no investment in your multiplayer COD character. You don't collapse emotionally when he is obliterated by a grenade from across the map. If you want to judge games based on their stories, then you need to recognize which games are actually narratives, and which games are simply entertaining echo chambers. A game is an interactive algorithm which a user derives entertainment from. A narrative tells a cohesive and engaging story.
I think one thing that makes games stand out is their ability to establish agency with the gamer. Agency is basically what makes you give a shit about what's happening. It means the person experiencing the game has actual emotional investment in the characters. It is the degree to which the gamer associates themselves with the character they are manipulating. Agency takes time and effort to establish. Movies can do a good job of making characters likable and establishing attachments with the audience, but the audience has no real investment beyond that. They haven't done anything besides just watching.
In a game, however, the character is a reflection of the gamer. When a player is properly engaged, there is mentally no difference between himself and his character. When the player's character dies in a game, the player says "I died." not "My character died." This indicates a kind of agency not seen in movies. Some of the best games are good because they are great at maintaining agency. They avoid things that break agency, like allowing the main character to die, or having him do something completely unbelievable. Breaking agency not only degrades the story being conveyed, but also makes players less invested and less likely to want to continue playing. When do you usually stop playing an intense single player game? Odds are it's right after you die in the game. This is because the agency is broken. But some games can at least partially mitigate this effect. In Bioshock Infinite, when Booker's health is depleted, he doesn't just die and pop up again at an earlier time. He goes unconscious as Elizabeth presumably drags him off to a safe place and revives him. Additionally, time is not interrupted. Enemies who were slain moments before are still dead. The creators have not only maintained agency, but they have strengthened the player's emotional attachment to Elizabeth as a character.
The difficulty in telling a narrative within the context of an interactive game lies in the free will of the agent, the player. This is where narratives in games fail. The trademark of games is that they allow the player to write some portions of the narrative themselves. Unfortunately, players are, for the most part, pretty shitty writers, so they need some help. When a game relinquishes control of the narrative to the player, it has to make sure the narrative is not ruined. But this sometimes means compromising agency. Going back to Bioshock Infinite, if the player meets Elizabeth and decides he just wants to kill her, then the narrative would be pretty much derailed. There might be a compelling narrative that involves Booker killing Elizabeth right when he sees her, but it's certainly not one that the creators want to tell or are prepared to tell. The game instead opts to break agency to preserve the narrative. Elizabeth doesn't bat an eye when you unload a shotgun in her direction.
So while games are not inherently better or worse at telling a story than film, they do possess tools which are not available in film, and have potential to be much, much better. But games as a storytelling device are new and immature, as were movies in their infancy. At first people were entertained simply by moving pictures, only later did people discover their potential to tell a story. Videogames are currently in the same boat. People have been so engrossed with what videogames are that they are only just discovering what videogames can do, which is convey a story that engages the player far more effectively than a movie ever could. A "bad" videogame is simply a case of wasted potential.
Edit: A great read on the subject is called Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter.
I produce a talk show about gaming culture from a retrospective, analytical focus that covers different subcultures, collections, and play history each episode. (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpnBpHVI5tHdXvlSVlVqO6ggUWCrU4ICQ). There's a lot of reminiscing about game culture before today's current state and I made it to fill the missing hole you're asking for. I definitely want to see more content that treats gaming culture with a broader respect instead of hyper-topical news stories and marketing that will be completely irrelevant within weeks. All my interviews are meant to be evergreen. If you're interested, check out the Heather or Rocco episode.
Outside my own work, the only great Games Literature I've read is Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307474313?keywords=Extra%20Lives&qid=1449403420&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1
That's what I have been thinking. It originally came out in November of 2011. That Winter Sale I think it was 33% off at best, so I am expecting to see something like that now.
I did go ahead and by the Hardcover Legendary Collector's Edition guide. Both because I don't like it will get much cheaper than 35% off and I couldn't resist 1134 pages of full color Skyrim, hardcover, with one of those nice lace type of bookmark things.
I don't really buy guides anymore since this whole internet thing. But I had the Morrowind guide when it came out and the nostalgia coupled with how pretty this book was... I couldn't resist.
Also if you are going to play on PC, take some time to look into what mods you might want to run. I am compiling a huge list of what my PC can handle.
http://www.amazon.com/Elder-Scrolls-Legendary-Collectors-Official/dp/030789701X
31.53?
If you want to be a good writer, you have to read.
If you want to be a good game designer, you have to play.
But if you are gonna play... then learn to make them too:
Good book on Game Design: Level Up by Scott Rogers
Design your own games easy: GameMaker and I suggest the book The Game Maker's Apprentice or Stencyl or even App Inventor for Android
I'm currently working on my first game, and got this book and I cannot recommend it enough. It has a full template and example of a GDD and walks you through how to do it, and what you need to consider. Don't worry you don't need to buy it, I just flicked through the preview copy amazon puts online and it's available, obviously a few pages are missing here and there, but it gives you a good idea, it starts at page 68. Give it a quick read, I hope it helps!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Level-Up-Guide-Great-Design/dp/047068867X
Do your own:
http://www.amazon.com/Game-Design-Workshop-Second-Edition/dp/0240809742
http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Game-Design-lenses/dp/0123694965/ref=pd_sim_b_1
http://www.amazon.com/Challenges-Game-Designers-Brenda-Brathwaite/dp/158450580X/ref=pd_sim_b_2
http://www.amazon.com/Level-Up-Guide-Great-Design/dp/047068867X/ref=pd_sim_b_2
http://www.amazon.com/David-Perry-Game-Design-Brainstorming/dp/1584506687/ref=pd_sim_b_13
Suprised no-one mentioned this yet (or i just didnt see it) here you go: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/047068867X?pc_redir=1405307632&robot_redir=1 We refer to this as the games bible. It covers almost all aspects of preproduction and provides very good examples. You can probably get the pdf for free somewhere around the net.
Draenor is what Outlands was ~30 years ago. This is what Outlands looked like before the Orcs drank demon blood and corrupted the land.
If you are interested in finding out more about Draenor / WoD, I'd highly recommend reading Rise of the Horde. It's a really good book, and does a great job of explaining what happened on Draenor before the Orcs and Draenei arrived on Azeroth.
I saw that book but it looks like it is book #4 on amazon?
https://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Rise-Horde-No/dp/0743471385
You must have never read a single book of Warcraft. Rise of the Horde which was likely the inspiration of this movie was a god damn good book with complex characters and serious stakes. I enjoyed it a lot.
There is a Collector's edition strategy guide that I'm sure has some cool art/screens plus a ton of info (obviously). Amazon has it cheaper than Gamestop.
http://www.amazon.com/Destiny-Limited-Edition-Strategy-Guide/dp/0744015634/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1409898705&sr=8-10&keywords=destiny
EDIT: Product Details:
The Destiny Limited Edition Strategy Guide from BradyGames, is the ultimate collectible for every player and fan.
Each limited edition guide includes two high-quality lithographs depicting Destiny artwork produced by artists at Bungie, both enclosed in a custom linen-textured sleeve.
A premium, double-sided dust jacket highlights a unique cover design on the exterior, as well as gorgeous artwork on the interior surface.
Beneath the special dust jacket, each hardbound cover features one of three exclusive artwork designs based on Destiny's playable classes: Hunter, Warlock, and Titan. Each design incorporates deluxe print treatments and foil stamping, creating a must-have collectible for Destiny fans.
All of the expert strategy, analysis, and data contained in the Signature Series guide, including the following:
100% campaign walkthrough with strategy for every Strike.
Full multiplayer coverage.
Exclusive illustrated maps available only in the official guide.
Weapon and Enemy data.
I bought a special edition GTAV manual just for the lithograph and for the art pieces in the middle. I wonder if the Destiny collectors edition guidebook
Has that.
Edit: has two lithographs
Destiny Limited Edition Strategy Guide https://www.amazon.com/dp/0744015634/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_843Qub0GK4HYJ
(I think that art book would be better)
This is what I got
https://www.amazon.com/Pok%C3%A9mon-Sun-Moon-Official-Collectors/dp/0744017483/ref=pd_sim_14_7?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=2199ENP1SJS9924SA02W
You can get the collectors edition guide on Amazon for a good price:
https://www.amazon.com/Pok%C3%A9mon-Sun-Moon-Official-Collectors/dp/0744017483/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482344187&sr=8-1&keywords=pokemon+sun+and+moon+guide
I have it and would recommend it. The other gift you could get is an "IOU" for the complete pokedex guide that is coming out in January/February.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0744017483/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Holy crap that price is absurd. I already have https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0744017483/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 preordered and just don't see the benefit of the vault. Want it as a collector but not at that price.
No but holy shit that looks amazing! I may have to pickup the physical copy of that one. I got the Playing With Power: Nintendo NES Classics back when i came out a few months ago. Its a damn good book as well, but this Ultimate Guide seems to blow it out of the water.
i recently found a cheap NES Mini and consider getting a guide since i don't have the time to re-learn and find everything again.
i found these 2 guides
'Playing With Power: Nintendo NES Classics' - https://www.amazon.com/Playing-Power-Nintendo-NES-Classics/dp/074401767X/
'NES Classic: The Ultimate Guide: Tips, tricks and strategies to all 30 games' - https://www.amazon.com/NES-Classic-Ultimate-tricks-strategies/dp/1540331814
 
any recommendations?
This is not exactly what you are talking about, but it's got walk-throughs for a bunch of games. I remember buying some of the guides for the walk-throughs back in the day, especially Zelda.
Nintendo Book
direct amazon link (not a personal reference link like some reddit scumbags do)
https://amzn.com/074401767X
Hi there, NotSoG!
Thanks for sharing your submission with /r/Nintendo, but unfortunately I've had to remove it because it breaks our rules. Specifically:
You can also link the other amazon links in the comments/text post.
Thanks for your understanding! For more info, check out our full list of rules. If you have any further questions or want some advice about your submission, please feel free to [message us](https://www\.reddit\.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fnintendo&subject=About my removed submission&message=I'm writing to you about the following submission: https://www.reddit.com/r/nintendo/comments/52q6o9/pokemon_sunmoon_official_collectors_vault_edition/. %0D%0DMy issue is...)!
Take care!
It's been lowered on Amazon USA: https://www.amazon.com/Pokémon-Sun-Moon-Official-Collector/dp/0744017866
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0744017866/ref=pd_aw_sbs_14_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=ZG74MB0SGKDG3E6Z3PZE
It came back to my mind after browsing through 1001 Videogames You Must Play Before You Die, or rather this interactive list. I don't have a warm spot for JRPGs as a genre since they seem so very grindy and prone to excessive length and my standards for video game narratives have only gone up, but probably I have space for one good JPRG still.
At one point in time I wanted to play all the games in this book: https://www.amazon.com/1001-Video-Games-Must-Before/dp/0789320908
Rather than just listing my favourites, I would like to point you to 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die.
After a long time of video game abstinence it helped me to get back on track. If I now start a project I use it to research similar games of the genre. Although not quite up to date anymore (~2010) it is a great place to get started ...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0789320908/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&sr=&qid=
> Building Blocks of tabletop Game Design
Your comment got me curious so I checked Amazon. It looks like a very large percentage of the book is available for preview Here https://www.amazon.com/Building-Blocks-Tabletop-Game-Design/dp/1138365491. Gonna definitely read some myself!
Building blocks of Tabletop Game Design.
Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design by Geoffrey Engelstein is a books that lists a lot of common rule structures for board games. Its useful to reference when design board games. Each chapter lists a number of ways other games tackle design problems and mentions numerous examples of games and their specific implementation.
Here's a podcast where they talk about the book!
Some will say learn c# before you learn unity. I say learn c# while using unity. https://www.amazon.com/Learning-C-Programming-Unity-3D/dp/1466586524
3dmotive has a great series called Introduction to unity, the guy is very thorough, in fact most of 3dmotive's tutorial series on unity seem to be good.
Plenty of good yt tuts also and lots of practice. The best way is to add your own stuff to a finished tutorial or to try to do it a different way. Learning to learn unity is probably a skill unto itself since there are so many facets of unity to explore, like animation, programming, ui, sound and maybe 3d modeling(some tools exist that actually let you do this within unity)
Maybe switch to boo scripting ;), nah just kidding no one uses boo. JS is also popular but c# is the language of choice for most.
Like most things practice and practice within a few months you'll be teaching others or creating games. My first success following a tutorial was Lynda's c# scripting tutorial, the tutor goes through creating a little 3d platformer. It's not all that great in terms of being able to use her code line for line to sell a game, but it does help you finish a simple 3d game and feeling accomplished(don't ask my why I feel this is something important to do).
If you are a self-learner online is the best way to learn programming and Unity. It's significantly cheaper and paced as fast as you want to go. With that said, learning the basics of proficient programming and Unity is what you would consider an Associate's Degree in college.
You'll need to learn C#, 3D modeling (Blender is free), basics of 3D animation, 3D texturing and painting and of course game programming too. Imagine this as a college degree, you'd have Intro to C# programming, C# programming in Unity, Intro to Blender, Blender to Unity Pipeline, etc.
A good way to get started is simply set up a scene in Unity and build and model an interactive room. Model all your own assets, texture them, and make it interactive. It will force you to be resourceful and takes a more learn-as-you-go approach.
I highly recommend a premium tutorial service like DigitalTutors.com if you can afford it at $30 a month (Udemy is okay but the quality of most of their tutorials are still pretty amateur). YouTube is also a great resource for free tutorials.
You can also go on Amazon and buy pretty comprehensive books if you prefer. Like this http://www.amazon.com/Learning-C-Programming-Unity-3D/dp/1466586524
I've tried learning C# from watching youtube tutorials, but all I end up doing is mindlessly copying what they're doing, and I might understand what they're doing, but I can't replicate it myself.
I'm using a book to learn C# now, and it's a bit heavy, but it is MUCH needed. Learning about classes, functions, int vs float vs double etc. is really important if you want to understand code.
And trust me, just making a script for controlling your player smoothly in a shooter game could be 50+ lines of code (although you could make a rugged, simpler one with less code).
This is the book I'm using:
http://www.amazon.com/Learning-C-Programming-Unity-3D/dp/1466586524
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1466586524/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321933168/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
These have helped me out immensely
There is also a great chapter on his methods in the book Procedural Game Design.
https://www.amazon.com/Procedural-Generation-Design-Tanya-Short/dp/1498799191/ref=nodl_
It's covered in the book. If you're like me, and don't care to read it, you can listen to this guy read/summarize it.
But the quick summary is that the game effectively picks up right after the resistance gets the ship in working order.
In short it tells how remaining XCOM comes together and joins up with some resistance fighters and acquires the new Skyranger and the mobile base they use in XCOM 2. It has a lot of background information about the world. Many of the familiar faces like Shen, Vahlen, Bradford are in the book and some of the new faces as that are coming in XCOM 2.
This is the book: http://www.amazon.com/XCOM-2-Resurrection-Greg-Keyes/dp/1608877124/1
I don't know - I feel like I'm expressing myself badly here.
None of what you are suggesting are bad things. They're all sort of... no-brainers, but I just keep watching these scandals pop up and then fade out, over and over again... it breeds cynicism, I suppose, but I can't help but feel that we must be missing something, or that there's some other way of working at this.
I think part of it is this:
> And improving that relationship by fixing the content coming from the content creator is something I feel is extremely important.
because I just have no faith left in the games industry, much like I have little faith in the movie industry to improve itself, much like I have little faith in the music industry to improve itself. When you strap creativity onto a structure revolving around profit, I honestly don't think that is an avenue we want to be shoring up. The relationship of power between a consumer and a producer in our capitalist system is not equal. I would love to say that things like Bioware finally writing in a gay male NPC is progress, but the very fact that this bafflingly lukewarm tokenism is held up as an example of progressive games-writing is problematic in and of itself.
As to your points about the unique nature of the videogaming community, I believe that it's not specific to the medium, or at least not caused by the medium. It's very, very easy to trace the isolated, gender-segregated history of the tech and games industry, and how that reflects on a) what kinds of games are made and b) who those games are sold to, which leads to c) who gets inspired to make what kinds of games.
Have you read Anna Anthropy's Rise of the Videogame Zinesters? She calls for creation outside of capitalist systems of games-making. It reads more like a manifesto, which I think is a good thing, and ends in with a Twine tutorial. I think you would enjoy it.
eta: In hindsight I think this is a better way of articulating my point.
> we all contribute to the gaming industry by purchasing certain games we choose/enjoy
implies that all games arrive through the capitalist system, and I think that that's not true and also not the best way of doing things. And I would encourage alternatives as a way of trying to encourage or create less toxic communities revolving around games.
The creator of this also just published a book that came out like last week.
http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Videogame-Zinesters-Drop-outs-Housewives/dp/1609803728
xiaorobear wrote:
The creator of Dys4ia (and Mighty Jill Off, and other games, Anna Anthropy) actually wrote a book related to this subject, called Rise of the Videogame Zinesters: How Freaks, Normals, Amateurs, Artists, Dreamers, Drop-outs, Queers, Housewives, and People Like You Are Taking Back an Art Form. Which I haven't read, but I'm sure will interest you.
Oh snap, was this the book? https://www.amazon.com/Halo-Mythos-Guide-Story/dp/1681193566#immersive-view_1482686547816
They're receiving updates to implement what XNA already has (plus a little extra). Books like this exist for XNA and the knowledge is 95% transferable to Monogame. Beginning out, books like these help a lot and will help drive success.
This one for basic C# and OOP.
Beginning Visual C# 2010
O'Reilly has great reference books.
C# 4.0 in a Nutshell: The Definitive Reference
From there you can learn Mono for Android (and iOS)
Professional Android Programming with Mono for Android and .NET/C#
While learning XNA game development by example,
XNA 4.0 Game Development by Example: Beginner's Guide
And by detail...
Learning XNA 4.0: Game Development for the PC, Xbox 360, and Windows Phone 7
Paper https://www.amazon.com/dp/1911015230/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_G5HNybMPYS43G
I have this one in good condition:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1911015230/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_wpKRDbGTRD64M?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
It’s not worth much, so I’d prefer to swap it for something. Do you have any games or anything you’d be looking to swap?
It's only a 100 page guide, I'd just get the Piggyback guide from Amazon, unless you're really in love with the artwork on the shorter Nintendo guide book:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1911015230/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1911015230/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The paperback edition is also now available!:)
Non-CE also available : https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1911015230/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
So far there's a review here, and the two reviews from Feage and dogao.
Thank you for your opinion :)
And if you're worried about getting noobed into oblivion just pick one or two good build orders (probably the two most useful ones are one of feudal rush and getting to castle in ~15-16min.), and you're ahead of at least half of the players (on steam at least!).
There's also a book out there, Basics of Age of Empires 2, which is pretty good as a learning source.
A great book in my opinion
https://www.amazon.com/Basics-Age-Empires-Journey-Friends-ebook/dp/B01F12NJDQ
or Chris book https://www.amazon.com/Keys-1vs1-Age-Empires-Conquerors-ebook/dp/B00AM34QCI/ref=pd_sim_351_1/157-8259578-5648625?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PJ4KPQ3KQQEWWY3FQH1C
what about this? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F12NJDQ/ref=nav_timeline_asin?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
That artworks been around a lot longer then Hearthstone, hell it was the cover of Rise of the Horde, But right in the title they said it was a study so did they copy it? well... that's kinda the idea.
here you go. i think this is what you were looking for. its posted on gamestop too but over there is 35$ (i personally would buy this is i wasnt working part-time and going to college). http://www.amazon.com/Destiny-Limited-Strategy-Guide-BradyGames/dp/0744015634/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409875042&sr=1-1&keywords=destiny+guide
This book is excellent and relatively new: https://www.amazon.com/Procedural-Generation-Design-Tanya-Short/dp/1498799191
> I don't have to read critical reviews since I played the game myself.
Clearly you do. You want to know why people like it? Read positive reviews. That makes logical sense. And simply playing something isn't always enough to form your entire opinion on it, sometimes other people can illuminate aspects of the game or ways of viewing it that you previously hadn't.
That's why I told you to do some reading.
> Dark Souls isn't really a survival game, so I don't know why you put it in the same category as the other games.
If you paid attention to my post you'd notice that Far Cry 2 is more than just survival, it's about the unforgiving difficulty level and obtuse instructions, which is where it's comparable to Dark Souls.
> Anyway, difficult games where the objective is to survive have been around a long time. Silent Hill is a survival game.
So have roguelikes. That doesn't mean that roguelikes didn't become trendy over the past few years. Because they did, regardless of how long the genre has been around.