Game Developer's Open Source Handbook

Description

With the cost of game development increasing regularly, studios are looking for innovative ways to reduce their budgets without compromising quality. At the same time, developers are looking toward more complex and customizable software, tools, and libraries to build truly next-generation games. These goals have traditionally been mutually exclusive, but open source software can solve both problems by providing game developers with free,
high-quality tools and libraries for every aspect of the development process. Graphics, audio, physics, networking, and movie playback code are all available for the taking; developed, written, tested, and ready to use. This software is complemented by a wide range of end-user tools for both the programmer and artist including graphic editors, IDEs, MIDI sequencers, and 3D editors.

The Game Developer's Open Source Handbook uncovers this world of open source software and teaches management and game developers what code is available, where to get it, how to incorporate it into existing processes, and, most important, how to adhere to the license agreements for redistribution. The book is for all game developers, especially the "Indies," who want to use the wealth of free software in their own games to help increase the scope of the technology available and reduce the fi nancial burden. Members of the Linux fraternity will also fi nd it a useful insight into the methods by which these libraries can be applied into constructing a game. In addition, the book will be required reading for the producers and systems analysts of game studios who want to see the big picture.
This must-have resource introduces a new world of software, and a new way of developing games for the 21st Century.

FEATURES:

* Details the Free software and Open Source ideologies
    * Covers the open source development tools that can be used in the game development process
    * Covers open source code that can be compiled into a game to provide features like any other form of middleware
    * Includes source code to highlight typical use cases and demonstrate integration issues
    * Details each library with a home page URL, developer information, platform(s) supported, features, license(s), latest version (or last known stable), integration details, dependencies, warnings, caveats, commentary of the software and community information
    * Provides legal explanations about the obligations the management team needs to know

CONTENTS:

Part I: Getting Started; Chapter 1: First Steps; Chapter 2: Planning for Your Project; Part II: Production; Chapter 3: Developing your Game's Brand; Chapter : User Interfaces; Chapter 5: Character Animations; Chapter 6: Special Effects; Chapter 7: Dynamic Graphics; Chapter 8: Automating Tasks; Part III: Portrait of Popular Games; Chapter 9: Jigsaw Puzzle Animals Edition; Chapter 10: Fruit Smash; Chapter 11: Electro Air Hockey; Chapter 12: Mini Golf Gold; Chapter 13: Mah Jong Jade Expedition; Chapter 14: Tankore; Appendix A: About the CD-ROM; Index