OUYA Game Development by Example: An all-inclusive, fun guide to making professional 3D games for the OUYA console

John Donovan

€32.99

4 (3 Ratings)

Paperback May 2014 268 pages Edition

John Donovan

€32.99

4 (3 Ratings)

Paperback May 2014 268 pages Edition

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Description

The OUYA console and development kit gives you the power to publish video games for the players, creating a console marketplace of the gamers, for the gamers, and by the gamers. Using the OUYA developer kit and the Unity3D game engine, even beginners with a captivating game idea can bring it to life with a hint of imagination. OUYA Game Development by Example uses a series of feature-based, step-by-step tutorials that teach beginners how to integrate essential elements into a game engine and then combine them to form a polished gaming experience.

Who is this book for?

Using this book, you can get started with creating games without any game development experience. This book is perfect for anyone that wants to make video games but is unsure of where to start. It covers elements of game design, art, and programming comprehensively, and the engine used throughout all of the tutorials is very beginner-friendly. No prior knowledge is assumed or required for the tutorials in this book.

What you will learn

Control camera functions, lighting, and appearance in a 3D game engine
Script gameplay in Unity3D in the C# programming language
Use the OUYA API to process input from controllers
Create longer games by coding, saving, and loading systems
Configure your computer to deploy code directly to the OUYA console
Improve the appearance of games with materials and textures
Implement inapp purchases in the game in order to monetize the game in a more effective manner

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W Boudville Jun 10, 2014

At first I thought Ouya [I'm not going to capitalise it all] was a software engine; not being a hardcore gameboy. But it is hardware! Wow! So used to reviewing books on software that this makes a refreshing change. What the text suggests is that getting the Ouya gives you a leg up in developing games of professional quality. A hardware IDE. On top of this sits the Unity3D engine and the book takes you into coding with C#.The first chapter is really more important than in some other books, because it orients you in the Ouya environment. Where the store that you can browse for games does not list prices! Quickly the book explains that for a game to make it into the store, it needs at least one free element. Like free play credits.There is an immediate dynamic tension here. You after all are likely reading the book to want to code successful games. That people will pay money to play. So really seeing the game store with no prices is not exactly encouraging.Now for the game store, the book cautions that "the games are often smaller and less expensive... because of the abundant indie presence". What this translates to is that a typical game is simply not as impressive. The book does not come right out and say this, but reading between the lines, that is what you get. The indie developers [and you aspire to be one of them] just don't have the financial wherewithal to underwrite a sophisticated and complex game.The book is somewhat pitched towards a new programmer. Because in part it introduces object oriented programming as a new concept. And I am not really sure why they chose C# instead of java or C++. But that's not a big deal. If indeed you don't know any of those languages, learning C# will certainly help you if you have to migrate to the others.The game development environment explicated later in the book looks simple enough. Like using the IDE to pick a shader and then having the means via a GUI to vary the shininess and specular colour. Very easy and intuitive. Plus, learning Unity's classes greatly speeds up the coding of your game.The text takes you all the way through to submitting a game to the Ouya store. What it does not discuss is the top level decision about whether you want to deal with Ouya in the first place. Professionally, Ouya is likely not where the money is; not where the big time is. Just be aware of that, once you parse thru all the book.

Amazon Verified review

Damir Arh Jul 28, 2014

One could easily say, this book is more than a bit from my usual field of expertise. I’m no game developer (the stuff I was doing while still in school doesn’t count) and I don’t own an OUYA. Well, at least I know a lot about C# which was used as the scripting language in the book. One could also say that because of that I am the target audience for the book.Still, even with my lack of previous experience, the book starts out really slow; too slow in my eyes. Though this should make it all that more suitable for complete beginners who have never programmed before. C# is explained from the very basics which is quite a challenge considering the small number of pages dedicated to this topic. As a side effect, there are a couple of inaccuracies and over-simplifications, but hopefully readers will grab a more in/depth book about C# and programming afterwards.Of course, most of the book focuses on Unity and gives a quite thorough overview of the basics through examples which make a lot of sense by the end of the book. The author’s experience with game development definitely shines through in these sample games. There’s also not much OUYA or Android specifics, except for the obvious setup of development environment and instruction on publishing and monetization options. I did get the feeling though, that the book focuses too much on step by step instructions and lacks a bit on the bigger picture, explaining why we’re actually doing all these things and how it works under the cover. Obviously, the reader will again have to find this information in a more advanced book.I liked a lot, how throughout the book there are many calls to action, giving the reader challenges to complete on his own. But still, this book can really serve only as the first step on the path to becoming a game developer, albeit a good one. The author is aware of that and therefore concludes with a couple of more advanced topics, such as development methodologies, source control, and architectural patterns; probably hoping to make the reader craving for more. I can sincerely recommend the book to anyone, trying to get a glimpse into the world of game development. It’s enough to see if that’s something for you and worth exploring further.

Sai Sep 25, 2014

Ouya as a game console was dead as soon as it was launched despite being one of the hottest Kickstarter programs in the day. But this book isn't about the hardware, it is about teaching or guiding you and me to the world of game development. Being a rockstar game developer has always been one of my dreams and this book would just be a good read, a stepping stone in the right direction.C# is the main language used for writing scripts for Unity. If you were a intermediate programmer, you'd probably want to skim through a few chapters covering the basics. For a beginning developer, it is a great book. The tasks/challenges at the end of the chapter are interesting and wold make you want to try them out. (atleast it did that to me). The instructions in the book are very concise and detailed but sometimes it leaves you feeling like a kid being told the same thing by a parent over and again. But again, the is no such thing as too much information.Overall this is a good beginners book to learn game development.

OUYA Game Development by Example: An all-inclusive, fun guide to making professional 3D games for the OUYA console

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