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Learning Stencyl 3.x Game Development Beginner's Guide: A Fast-Paced, Hands-On Guide for Developing a Feature-Complete Video Game on Almost Any Desktop Computer, Without Writing a Single Line of Code
A step-by-step, practical tutorial with a no-nonsense approach. The book starts by showing readers how to create a playable game that is fully-functioning, then moves on to demonstrate how to fine-tune the game with eye-catching graphics techniques, audio-effects and more.This book is for indie and existing game developers and those who want to get started with game development using Stencyl. Some understanding of Objective-C, C++, and game development basics is recommended. People with some programming experience may also find this book useful.
309 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 21, 2013
Have a Go, Hero...
I've spent some enjoyable moments over the last two weeks working through Packt Publishing's "Learning Stencyl 3.x Game Development: Beginner's Guide". This is a great book for teachers who want to do more with game design and development in their classroom, but aren't that well versed with coding and programming.
I've been using Stencyl, off and on, with students for two years now. It has still managed to elude me up to this point. I had done the crash course and watched plenty of YouTube Videos. None of it helped. My students would ask me questions, and I would feel clueless. I think that they were starting to see through my Socrative responses, "That is a problem. What have you tried? Hmm, perhaps you could Google it..."
This book promises to: "guide you through learning the essential skills that are required to create your own video games without knowing how to write computer code. We're going to start with a blank screen and, before we reach the end of the book, we'll have developed a complete game, ready for publishing. We won't stop with just the basics in place� we're going all the way, right through to including many of the important features that we would expect to find in a professional production!" (Learning Stencyl 3.x Game Development Beginner's Guide (Kindle Locations 500-503). Packt Publishing.)
It did not disappoint. Each section is set up like a well planned lesson. There's a hook, where we look at what we'll be doing and why, often identifying a problem in the game we're developing along with the book. Next, it's "Time for Action", which is a step by step tutorial of how to apply this particular skill in your game. Then, we review in the "What just Happened?" section. Finally, it's time to "Have a Go, Hero". where you practice the skill.
In the end, I'm not only excited to teach Stencyl this year but also to start developing some of my own epistemic games for my classroom and my colleagues!
If you are teaching Game Design in your classroom, you need to consider adding Stencyl to your application library. And I highly recommend adding "Learning Stencyl 3.x Game Development: Beginner's Guide" to your personal or classroom library.
Final notes:
"Learning Stencyl 3.x Game Development: Beginner's Guide" does assume you are using Stencyl 3.x. According to the Stencyl Web Site, Stencyl 3.0 is currently only available to paid customers through a closed beta program. I successfully completed this book using Stencyl 2.1.0. There were about two discrepancies between these application versions throughout the book. I'll post a guide to overcoming said discrepancies in about a week.
I've spent some enjoyable moments over the last two weeks working through Packt Publishing's "Learning Stencyl 3.x Game Development: Beginner's Guide". This is a great book for teachers who want to do more with game design and development in their classroom, but aren't that well versed with coding and programming.
I've been using Stencyl, off and on, with students for two years now. It has still managed to elude me up to this point. I had done the crash course and watched plenty of YouTube Videos. None of it helped. My students would ask me questions, and I would feel clueless. I think that they were starting to see through my Socrative responses, "That is a problem. What have you tried? Hmm, perhaps you could Google it..."
This book promises to: "guide you through learning the essential skills that are required to create your own video games without knowing how to write computer code. We're going to start with a blank screen and, before we reach the end of the book, we'll have developed a complete game, ready for publishing. We won't stop with just the basics in place� we're going all the way, right through to including many of the important features that we would expect to find in a professional production!" (Learning Stencyl 3.x Game Development Beginner's Guide (Kindle Locations 500-503). Packt Publishing.)
It did not disappoint. Each section is set up like a well planned lesson. There's a hook, where we look at what we'll be doing and why, often identifying a problem in the game we're developing along with the book. Next, it's "Time for Action", which is a step by step tutorial of how to apply this particular skill in your game. Then, we review in the "What just Happened?" section. Finally, it's time to "Have a Go, Hero". where you practice the skill.
In the end, I'm not only excited to teach Stencyl this year but also to start developing some of my own epistemic games for my classroom and my colleagues!
If you are teaching Game Design in your classroom, you need to consider adding Stencyl to your application library. And I highly recommend adding "Learning Stencyl 3.x Game Development: Beginner's Guide" to your personal or classroom library.
Final notes:
"Learning Stencyl 3.x Game Development: Beginner's Guide" does assume you are using Stencyl 3.x. According to the Stencyl Web Site, Stencyl 3.0 is currently only available to paid customers through a closed beta program. I successfully completed this book using Stencyl 2.1.0. There were about two discrepancies between these application versions throughout the book. I'll post a guide to overcoming said discrepancies in about a week.
August 16, 2013
Learning Stencyl 3x Game Development Beginner guide is a very detailed book covering all the needed topics on how to use Stencyl and make your first game.
This book is a great introduction to the software but it also give some good coverage of the key concepts in general Game Development, like Behaviours, Collisions, Animations and sound.
The Chapter on polishing the game touches on quite a few unique problems that game developers face regularly, like pausing the game , creating menus and level progression.
The final chapter on Mobile games touch on all the mobile only features and how to use and implement these.
Over all it was a good read and I enjoyed it, I would possibly recommend this book as an introduction to game programming for teens or kids that would like to get started in game development. Stencyl is more visually oriented, which makes it easier for even non programmers to use. If you want to use Stencyl for a commercial project this book would be a great introduction to how concepts are presented in Stencyl and how to use it.
This book is a great introduction to the software but it also give some good coverage of the key concepts in general Game Development, like Behaviours, Collisions, Animations and sound.
The Chapter on polishing the game touches on quite a few unique problems that game developers face regularly, like pausing the game , creating menus and level progression.
The final chapter on Mobile games touch on all the mobile only features and how to use and implement these.
Over all it was a good read and I enjoyed it, I would possibly recommend this book as an introduction to game programming for teens or kids that would like to get started in game development. Stencyl is more visually oriented, which makes it easier for even non programmers to use. If you want to use Stencyl for a commercial project this book would be a great introduction to how concepts are presented in Stencyl and how to use it.
August 18, 2013
Just finished up a read of a great new book on Stencyl the game engine I am using for my game . The book is called Learning Stencyl 3 game Development. As a first time coder and longtime game maker, it’s a great book with a lot of really helpful material. Not only will it walk you through the basics but if you are ambitious there are a lot of tutorials which can really expand not just your knowledge of Stencyl but game making in general. A really nice touch is the addition of contact points to some of the major web based game publishers with advice on how to get your game published.
All in all it’s a very good read and a worthwhile addition to any Stencyler’s library. Check out my site above for a demo of a game made in the Stencyl engine and check out the book for some great insights!
-Tim
All in all it’s a very good read and a worthwhile addition to any Stencyler’s library. Check out my site above for a demo of a game made in the Stencyl engine and check out the book for some great insights!
-Tim
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