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Book Description

Build rich, high production value mobile games and distribute them across different platforms with Buildbox

About This Book

  • Create captivating 2D & 2.5D (isometric) video games for all platforms
  • Leverage Buildbox to monetize and prepare your games for distribution
  • This step-by-step tutorial will get you generating complex and media rich games with no coding experience

Who This Book Is For

This book caters to those who have an interest or desire to create their own mobile games either as a hobbyist or who are looking to enhance their skills as a professional games developer. No coding experience is required.

What You Will Learn

  • Create the illusion of a 3D background in your game using parallax
  • Add advanced controls and obstacles to our first world
  • Develop assets (graphic and audio) for the Buildbox engine
  • Design games based on the capabilities and limitations of Buildbox and their target platforms
  • Compile and distribute video games on various channels such as Steam, iOS store, Android stores, and the Mac App Store
  • Optimize your games to get the absolute best quality within platform restrictions
  • Conquer common issues experienced with Buildbox development

In Detail

Buildbox is an “any skill level” development platform to develop video games with no coding experience. It also exports these games to be compiled for any platform (from Windows to Mac to iOS to Android and Blackberry) all using the same graphic user interface.

Using an example as a tutorial, we will relate the driving principles and you’ll see how you can implement these principles to develop any games on the platform. We begin by setting expectations and providing a brief overview of the software. But it’s not long before you “dive in” to creating your first video game. You will actually have a playable level (“world”) by the end of the second chapter.

Later on, you’ll learn everything from basic graphics creation to advanced world design while you refine your first game, called “Ramblin’ Rover.” All along the way, you will see how certain functions could be used in tandem to create other types of games; hoping to spark imagination. We will follow the principles and process of monetization through ads and in-game rewards.

Lastly, we will go through the process of exporting, compiling, and preparing your storefront to sell the games you will eventually create.

Style and approach

This book follows a tutorial-based approach that teaches through examples, while also providing the necessary principles to enable you to abstract these principles into any game you want to make.

Downloading the example code for this book. You can download the example code files for all Packt books you have purchased from your account at http://www.PacktPub.com. If you purchased this book elsewhere, you can visit http://www.PacktPub.com/support and register to have the code file.

Table of Contents

  1. Buildbox 2.x Game Development
    1. Buildbox 2.x Game Development
    2. Credits
    3. Disclaimer
    4. Foreword
    5. About the Author
    6. About the Reviewer
    7. www.PacktPub.com
      1. Why subscribe?
    8. Preface
      1. What this book covers
      2. What you need for this book
      3. Who this book is for
      4. Conventions
      5. Reader feedback
      6. Customer support
        1. Downloading the color images of this book
        2. Errata
        3. Piracy
        4. Questions
    9. 1. So, You Want to Develop a Video Game?
      1. What Buildbox can (and can't) do
      2. Limitations of games based on platforms
        1. The platforms for Buildbox games
      3. Defining some terminology
      4. The equipment and software you'll need
        1. Complete specifications of the development environment
          1. PC (primary development machine)
          2. Mac (for xCode compiling only)
        2. Distribution channel memberships
      5. Tour of the Buildbox interface
        1. The welcome screen
        2. The Creator screen
          1. Basic settings
          2. Gameplay settings
          3. World settings
          4. Menu settings
        3. The world editor
          1. The scene editor
          2. The game field (the stage)
          3. Object parameters
          4. The library
          5. Additional buttons
        4. The Game Mind Map
        5. The Atlas screen
        6. The Game Preview screen
      6. Summary
    10. 2. Orientation
      1. Using the Game Mind Map
        1. Making a game over screen
          1. Changing your game fonts
          2. Setting up a navigation button
      2. Altering the template game
        1. Working with graphic assets
        2. Working with scenes
          1. Working with worlds
      3. Summary
    11. 3. Your First Game – Ramblin' Rover, Part 1
      1. Keeping things organized
        1. Naming conventions
        2. Directory structure
      2. Creating the game structure
      3. The initial Game Mind Map
      4. Placeholder objects and initial stage setup
        1. Connections and parenting (the basics)
        2. Stage borders (the game frame)
      5. Preparing graphic assets for use in Buildbox
        1. What exactly is a PNG file?
        2. What bit-ratings mean
          1. So, the rule is...
        3. Image sequences
        4. Recommended software for graphics assets
      6. Setting up our rover
      7. Creating our backgrounds
        1. A summary of backgrounds and parallax
      8. Collisions and obstacles
        1. Placing the ground
          1. Collisions and collision actions
          2. Creating more instances
      9. Working with scenes
      10. Setting up testing controls
      11. Testing and adjusting physics
        1. Making the game easier to test
        2. Adjusting the physics
      12. Adding a new scene
      13. Summary
    12. 4. Advanced World Design – Ramblin' Rover, Part 2
      1. Making the rover jump
      2. Physics obstacles
      3. Making a loop
      4. Making a secret level
        1. Logic and effect assets
        2. A whole new world
        3. Dynamic obstacles - part 1
      5. Rewards and pickups
      6. Different worlds = different physics?
        1. Gliese 581D
          1. Start
          2. Bumps
          3. Lava jump
          4. Moosquatch 001
          5. Teeter secret portal
          6. Bump jump
          7. Conveyer chop
          8. Shaman Moosquatch
          9. Gliese secret level
        2. Kepler 186F
          1. Start
          2. Basic jump
          3. Floating alien
          4. Walking alien
          5. Massive Mech
          6. Tunnel_001
          7. Tunnel002
          8. Kepler secret level
      7. Summary
    13. 5. Menus, UIs, Sound, and More! – Ramblin' Rover, Part 3
      1. We got a fever, and the only cure is more rovers!
        1. What in the heck did we just do?
      2. Damage and health
      3. Creating a starting flag
      4. Organizing your scenes
      5. Menus and UIs
        1. Game Field UIs
          1. Setting up controls
          2. Dynamic text (score indicators)
        2. Game Over UIs
          1. How to animate a menu
            1. Computer animation 101
            2. Animating the open
        3. The Start UI (splash screen)
        4. Main Menu and Worlds UIs
        5. Character selection (Rover selection) UI
        6. Finishing up our Menu UIs
          1. The Info UI
          2. Pause UI
          3. How to play UI
      6. Music and sound effects
        1. Adding a musical soundtrack to your game
        2. Adding sound effects
      7. Summary
    14. 6. Monetization – Ramblin' Rover, Part 4
      1. Separating a customer from their money
        1. Free game, or paid game?
        2. To have ads, or not to have ads?
        3. Coin store
      2. Implementing advertising
        1. Signing up with a provider
        2. Linking Buildbox to a provider
        3. What are banners and interstitials?
        4. Assigning ads to UIs
      3. Building a coin shop (part 1)
        1. Adding video rewards
      4. Summary
    15. 7. Exporting and Compiling for Various Platforms – Ramblin' Rover, Finale
      1. Optimizing game assets
      2. Signing up for distribution
        1. Google Play (Android part 1)
        2. Amazon App Store (Android part 2)
        3. Apple (iOS and Mac – iTunes)
        4. Windows store and Steam
      3. Finalizing project settings and exporting
        1. Exporting and compiling for Apple iOS
          1. Finalizing your dev settings on your Mac and iTunes Connect
          2. The actual build and upload to iTunes
          3. Final setup in iTunes Connect
          4. In-App Purchases I
            1. 1.0 prepare for submission
            2. Build
            3. General app information
            4. In-App Purchases II - and creating a revised version of the app
            5. Game center
            6. App review information
            7. Version release
        2. Exporting and compiling for Google Play
          1. Compiling in Eclipse
          2. Finalizing Google Play
            1. Uploading the APK
            2. The Store Listing
            3. Content rating
            4. In-App products
            5. Game Details
            6. Achievements
        3. Exporting and compiling for Amazon App Store
        4. Exporting and compiling for the Windows store
          1. Compiling with Visual Studio
        5. Exporting and compiling for Steam
          1. Adjusting your game for Steam
        6. Compiling for Steam using Visual Studio
          1. Final Steam notes
      4. Summary
    16. 8. Building Other Popular Game Types
      1. Isometric (2.5D) games with Buildbox
      2. Abstract games (such as Color Switch)
      3. Flappy Bird – style games
      4. Running shooter and platformer games
      5. Space shooters
      6. 360 shooter games
      7. Maze chompers (such as Pac Man)
        1. Roaming enemies
      8. Summary
    17. 9. Buildbox Tips and Tricks
      1. Graphics optimization checklist
        1. Tips for reducing graphics load
      2. Music and sound optimization
      3. Game template quick reference
      4. Platform restrictions
      5. Troubleshooting games
      6. OMG... are we really done?!!
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