Game Development: Web Resources
Searching on the Web
Searching the web for information requires you to have skills in research and in evaluating websites. Below are some credible websites that you might find helpful. When doing your own research on the web, try using some of the evaluation tips given on this page.
Website Evaluation
While conducting research on the web, it is imperative to evaluate the website in question for authority, documentation, currency, and bias. Doing so will ensure that you are using the most credible information possible to support your thesis.
Authority and Accuracy
Who produced the site? Are they a credible source? What is the purpose of the site? Why was it created? Is the person, organization, or group qualified to write this content? What is the domain of the URL?
- .com or.biz - a business or commercial website
- .edu - an educational institution
- .gov or .mil - a U.S. military or government website
- .net - a personal website
- .org - a website for a not-for-profit organization
Documentation
Is there adequate documentation for factual statements? Is the documentation reliable, verifiable from a second source? Is there enough information to cite this information in a paper (author, title, source, date)?
Currency
Is the information up to date? When was it created, or last edited? Are the links up to date or dead? Is the author using outdated statistics?
Objectivity and Bias
Is the document biased or slanted? Are there few or no logical errors such as appeal to authority or circular reasoning? If you found this information a printed source, would you trust it?
The Video Game Revolution (PBS)
A video from PBS, this show is the story of how a whimsical invention of the 1960s helped spawn the computer industry as we know it. Video games have influenced the way children live and play, forever altered the entertainment industry, and even affected the way wars are fought. See how it all began and find out what it means for the future.
The average video game player — or "gamer" — is 30 years old. That gamer isn't feeding quarters into an arcade machine, either. He (and increasingly, she) is playing on a home computer, having adventures under a different name and identity in an eternally existing cyberworld full of danger, romance, and thousands of other people pretending to be somebody else.
Information at The Video Game Revolution website at PBS includes:
- History of Gaming
- Inside the Games
- Impact of Gaming
- The Arcade
Useful Web Resources
Image: pacifictechcamps.com
- Alice : Learn to Program Interactive 3D GraphicsAlice v2.0 is a 3D authoring tool designed to help teach students from middle school to college levels introductory object-oriented programming. Site includes the free software available for Mac and Windows, documentation, research publications on using the software as a teaching tool, the 2006 textbook "Learning to Program with Alice," forums, and tutorials. In March 2006, Carnegie Mellon University entered a collaboration with Electronic Arts (maker of The Sims computer games) to develop version 3.0 of Alice.
- BlenderA recommended website by BCC Networking faculty, Blender is a free and open source 3D animation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, even video editing and game creation. Blender is cross-platform and runs equally well on Linux, Windows and Macintosh computers. Its interface uses OpenGL to provide a consistent experience.
- Entertainment Software Association (ESA)U.S. association exclusively dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of companies that publish computer and video games for video game consoles, personal computers, and the Internet. ESA offers a global content protection program, business and consumer research, government relations, and intellectual property protection efforts. Contains numerous articles, news and other information for those already in the video game industry and those aspiring to be.
- GamasutraThe online free version of Game Developer Magazine. Weekly articles on game design and threads for discussion.
- GDC VaultIn-depth design, technical and inspirational talks and slides from the influencers of the game development industry, taken from over 20 years of the worldwide Game Developers Conferences. The free content includes 778 sessions held at these conferences.
- International Game Developers Association (IGDA)Largest non-profit membership organization in the world serving all individuals who create games. Their mission is to..."advance the careers and enhance the lives of game developers by connecting members with their peers, promoting professional development, and advocating on issues that affect the developer community". They welcome students with a goal to become a game developer or a seasoned veterans.
- Kodu Game LabA recommended website by BCC Networking faculty, Kodu lets kids create games on the PC and Xbox via a simple visual programming language. Kodu can be used to teach creativity, problem solving, storytelling, as well as programming. Anyone can use Kodu to make a game, young children as well as adults with no design or programming skills.
- Make GamesThis site was founded to showcase game making tools and selected games that were created with them. Almost all commercial game making tools offer a free version (with limited functionality).
- MobyGamesCatalogs all relevant information - credits, screenshots, formats, and release info - about electronic games (computer, console, and arcade) on a game-by-game basis, and then offers up that information through flexible queries and "data mining". In layman's terms, it's a huge game database. MobyGames is the world's largest and most flexible electronic game documentation project in existence. The gaming public adds to, rates, and reviews the information. MobyGames is, literally, built by gamers.
- Torque 3DA recommended website by BCC Networking faculty, Torque 3D is a full source, open source solution built on the strengths of their Front Line Award-winning Torque Game Engine Advanced. Torque 3D has been re-architected for maximum flexibility and performance across a wide-range of hardware. Torque 3D comes equipped with a full suite of tools to allow users to produce high-quality games and simulations. Torque 3D supports Windows and Browser-based web deployment out of the box.
- Tuts+Leading publisher of online tutorials and courses for self-directed learners to develop creative skills in game development. Their tutorials are free - all 1600 of them - and based around specific projects. They include step-by-step written instructions and screenshots to help you practice and master the skills you need. Tuts+ courses are offered for a fee and include 300+ courses typically including a 2 to 3 hour video with expert instructors. Tuts+ is part of Envato, a privately owned Australian company that offers a number of creative websites with a global community.
- Unity 3DA recommended website by BCC Networking faculty, Unity is a development engine for the creation of 2D and 3D games and interactive content. It is a powerful rendering engine fully integrated with a complete set of intuitive tools and rapid workflows to create interactive 3D and 2D content; easy multiplatform publishing; thousands of quality, ready-made assets in the Asset Store and a knowledge-sharing community.