Table of Contents: Lazy Designer Book 3 – Exploration and Gameplay
I’m sure the crafty reader has figured out my plan, in regards to releasing the Table of Contents for the past books and there is no surprise that today, I reveal the contents of the third book in the Lazy Designer series.
Here’s the blurb:
Brent Knowles continues his Lazy Designer series with a look at exploration and gameplay. This book covers exploration, environment design, creatures, items, economies, rule system design, and progression systems.
Table of Contents
Chapter 9 Exploration
Exploring Environments
Game Types
Summary
Chapter 10 Creatures
Exploring Creatures
Game Types
Summary
Chapter 11 Items
Items
Finding Items
Crafting
Improving Items
Item Descriptions
Extending the Item System
Game Types
Summary
Chapter 12 More To Explore
Triggers and Waypoints
Audio
Stores and Economy
Other Objects
Game Types
Summary
Chapter 13 Progression
Creating the Underlying Rules System
Player Progression
Summary
Chapter 14 Special Abilities
The Ability System
Combat Abilities
Non-combat Abilities
Summary
Chapter 15 Gameplay
Exploring Gameplay
Movement and Control
Summary
Chapter 16 Combat
Combat
Difficulty Balancing
Combat Look and Feel
Summary
Chapter 17 System Design
Systems
Beyond Singleplayer (Mingleplayer)
Achievements
Downloadable Content
Summary
Thank You!
Links
Glossary
Also, for this week, “How To Script For Games “(an excerpt from Book 2) is available as a free download from Amazon.
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Buy in the UK Buy in Canada |
Buy in the UK Buy in Canada |
Buy in the UK Buy in Canada |
Brent Knowles
Former lead designer at BioWare (Dragon Age: Origins, Neverwinter Nights). Creator of Raiders of the Serpent Sea.
24 Comments
daniel imbellino
I’d like to learn game design myself, thanks for sharing :)
Brent Knowles
Cool, let me know if you have any questions.
David Forbes
Thanks! I am keenly interested in your books.
Brent Knowles
That’s great. If you have questions, let me know.
Michael Haupt
Looks like a topic covered thoroughly for game designers.
Shakthi Vadakkepat
For a gaming novice like me, it looks like a good read!
Mariam
The lazy designer book series looks quite promising for learning game design. What is the background knowledge that the book assumes the reader must have? Thanks
Brent Knowles
I think the books are fairly easy to read, I know some high schoolers (say) they have read them. If you are hesitant, I’d maybe dig around on my site here first, some of the sections in the series originated as blog posts (If you go here: http://blog.brentknowles.com/lazy-designer/ you will see an index of web articles).
If you think you are interested, I’d then move to the first book. They (I think) get progressively more complicated and start assuming some knowledge of the past books.
Take care,
Brent
Matthew Callahan
Great idea for a book series! I’ll have to check it out!
Kevin Morrice
I’m wondering if my 12-year-old son could appreciate this… He loves designing games but needs more skills.
Brent Knowles
Thanks!
Brent Knowles
Kevin, I’m not sure if he’ll get a lot out of the books at this age.
But a couple years ago I asked for some advice in regards to game programming stuff for my nephew.
http://blog.brentknowles.com/2011/12/09/giving-the-gift-of-programming-or-how-did-you-learn-to-code/
There were lots of cool programs and suggestions in the comments. The one program I use with my kids (both under 10) is Scratch (http://www.scratch.mit.edu/)). It might too simple for your son, but it actually lets you do quite a bit of stuff.
Brent Knowles
D’oh… noticed on another thread that he already uses Scratch!
HowardWBailey
Good stuff coming!
Brent Knowles
Thanks, Howard.
Ezekiel ogboko
You are really skillful Brent. Godspeed.
Laurinda
Wish this would have been available 10 yrs ago for my older son who would have really appreciated it then. Good Luck Brent – you are on the path to great success. :-)
Brent Knowles
Thanks, Laurinda. I definitely would have liked something like this 10 years ago too :)
Michael Smolensky
Your TOC looks like the book will offer readers valuable information. One observation: Omit this comma, “Brent Knowles, continues…” from the block quote immediately before the Table of Contents. And good luck!
Brent Knowles
Thanks, Michael, for the comment and the error!
Joseph Solares
Most of the best games seem to follow a formula. It looks like you are right on track with it. Everything makes perfect sense, though I never really thought about it in this systematic of a manner.
Brent Knowles
Thank you, Joseph.
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