So am browsing the Unity3D forums and noticed that not one but two people (blogs) are hosting book giveaway contests!

ABitGames Dev Blog are giving away 6 copies of Unity 3.x Game Development Essentials and Unity iOS Essentials.

Link: http://abitgames.com/2012/blog/great-unity-books-giveaway-contest/

Will Goldstone, the author of Unity 3.x Game Development Essentials, is also holding a giveaway for his book.

Link: http://www.willgoldstone.com/blog/2012/01/win-free-copies-of-unity-3-x-game-development-essentials-book/

So head on over to those blogs and join some contests (I did, I want to win myself a copy of Unity 3.x Game Development Essentials, since I have the first edition and find it quite helpful).

Move quickly, their contest ends of February 15 (day after Valentine’s?)

Note: I am not affiliated with any of the aforementioned blogs and authors.

I am currently reading “Unity iOS Essentials”, which I won from ManiacDev’s book giveaway contest.

And so far, I find that this book seems to be all over the place and it inspires to be a Game Design book.

Why made me think so? Well, Chapter 1 is about Planning Ahead for an Unity iOS Game, it starts out pretty clear, it aims to give the readers a little heads up before they start their game, it mentions considerations such as terrain, lighting, audio, etc. And then it got to the Let’s Get Started part, which is pretty much the author make all sorts of game design suggestions, and sometimes he would suggest something and not really explain why, such as he said that Fog is not such a great idea, and he suggests that we use particles instead, but why? Why isn’t fog a good idea? He even mentioned that it adds ambiance, so why isn’t it a good idea? Also there is a whole chunk that he talks about teleportation (wut? o.O), which provides means for players to travel across our large levels. He could have ended that bit there, but he goes on to suggest different ways of doing teleportation, warp gates, trains, what nots. And then after being distracted by all those really not important stuff, he starts talking about culling. Now, culling is important (even the author says so). But the reader could have skipped that part (okay, at least I almost skipped that part because I was skipping the trying to skip the teleportation part).

Chapter 2 is called iOS Performance Guide, but like Chapter 1, instead of getting right down to it (the performance guide), he starts the chapter with different kinds of games that the reader can make. And briefly mention skybox and how we’re supposed to use a cube with reversed normals instead of the one that Unity came with (again, no explanation whatsoever on why we shouldn’t use the Unity one). And then some bits about how we should do our terrain (not the technical part, the design part of making a terrain). Some more bits about different game genres.And then suddenly, Unified Graphic Architecture and the other stuff that actually seems like the iOS Performance Guide.

Chapter 3 is called Advanced Game Concepts, but really the things covered in the chapter is not very advanced, it’s stuff about menus, interface, screen sizes, accelerometer, shaders and organizing your assets.

Chapter 4 is called Flyby Background. Can’t say anything about it, because I skipped it.

I’m after Chapter 5 because it’s about Scalable GUIs, which I happen to be working on right now. So far, it’s understandable, pretty easy to follow. But the way the code bits are edited makes it somewhat unreadable. Oh and don’t expect the code to work as is.

That’s where I am right now, there are still four more chapters that I haven’t read yet.

So far, my comment is, it’s all over the place.

Link: http://www.packtpub.com/unity-3d-essentials-for-ios-games/book

“Cocos2d for iPhone 1 Game Development Cookbook” is written by Nathan Burba (@nathanburba).

According to the description, it has “over 90 recipes for iOS 2D game development using cocos2d”. and just by looking at it’s Table of Contents, you’d see that this book covers a lot of topics (some advanced techniques that other cocos2d books have not covered). It also provides solutions to some common problems that we developers might encounter during Cocos2d iOS development.

Like in Chapter 1, it covers graphics, but unlike other books that would only teach you how to make sprites and spritesheets, this book even teaches you how to use apply mipmapping so that that when you scale up or down a sprite it wouldn’t look pixelated. It also has a recipe for a cool technique by swapping palettes so that even with limited amount of art, you can create various versions of a sprite (a single baseball player texture can have be used to create different baseball players with different colored shirts and pants etc). Chapter 1 also answers some questions that you might encounter while working on your game, such as how to I play a video clip of my company’s logo or my game’s cutscene (playing video files recipe). It also covers how to render 3D objects, drawing OpenGL primitives, particles, etc.

Chapter 2 is all about User Input on iOS devices, including the usual (tap, hold, drag), making virtual buttons (creating an analog stick recipe and directional pad recipe) and using the accelerometer. One really cool (for me) recipe that’s also included is gestures (you’d be able to tell what shape the user drew on the screen)!

Chapter 3 is about Files and Data. In making games, we’d need ways to store data (just us score, or level design, etc) and this chapter covers different ways for us to do this. This chapter has recipes for reading plist, json, xml data files, it also includes recipes about archiving objects, saving data using plist, SQLite, Core Data, etc.

Chapter 4 is about physics. Cocos2d has two physics engines that we can use Box2d and Chipmunk. This book only covers Box2d (which is the engine that Angry Birds used), it includes detailed explanations and recipes on how to set up your Box2d environment and simulating physics properties. it even includes a recipe on how to make a car drive up a bumpy hill road!

Chapter 5 is about Scenes and Menus. It also includes how to create buttons and labels (with fancy shadow effects even)! It also has a recipe for wrapping the UIKIT and using it in our Cocos2d game.

Chapter 6 is all about Audio: how to play background sound effects, play music, using the iPod music library. But the really fun bits about this chapter is it even teaches you how to record audio, create a MIDI synthesizer, and to top it all off, it even covers spech recognition and text to speech! Imagine all the games and apps that you can make with those things.

Chapter 7 covers AI, including waypoints, flocking using boids and A* pathfinding. it also teaches you how to run lua scripts and use lua scripts for dialog trees.

Chapter 8 is called Tips, Tools and Ports, and sure enough it includes information about tools that can be used for our Cocos2d game development. Best part, it also includes detailed step by step instructions of how to put your game on the AppStore!

Overall this is a good book with a lot of useful and varied information that have not been covered in other books (and are often lacking in online tutorials). Also

the best thing about this book is it comes with complete working code and detailed explanations on how the code works.

Except some of the topics covered in this book are a bit advanced, so this book is not recommended for beginners, basic Objective C and Cocos2d knowledge is required.

Also the author, Nathan is also very active in the Cocos2d forums, if you have any questions about the book you can just ask him, and he almost always responds immediately.

So if you’re interested to learn new things about Cocos2d iOS development, do check it out! Also if you are interested in this book, I am holding a giveaway contest (where I am giving away 3-4 copies of the book), join now (it’s only until this Wednesday). For more details read my previous blog post (http://purplelilgirl.tumblr.com/post/15713172087/cocos2d-for-iphone-1-game-development-cookbook-giveaway)

Link: http://www.packtpub.com/cocos2d-for-iphone-1-game-development-cookbook/book

UPDATE: This contest is now closed

Like I mentioned in my previous post, Packt published a new Cocos2d book and they asked me to hold a giveaway contest. I’m holding it both here and in the Cocos2d forums (http://www.cocos2d-iphone.org/forum/topic/28099).

So here it is, rules, rules:

• Just visit the Packt book page http://www.packtpub.com/cocos2d-for-iphone-1-game-development-cookbook/book and list one particular feature that makes you want to own the book, and list it as a comment EDIT: here (tumblr blog) or cocos2d forum thread (http://www.cocos2d-iphone.org/forum/topic/28099) or tweet me (@purplelilgirl) or email me (purplelittlegirl@yahoo.com)
• Also tweet the Packt book link: “New book on cocos2d game development: http://www.packtpub.com/cocos2d-for-iphone-1-game-development-cookbook/book”.

• I will select a winner using random.org :)

• Contest ends on 12 Noon Pacific Standard Time January 18th.

There, pretty simple right? :)

Also ManiacDev is also holding a book giveaway contest, he is giving away Unity3D and iOS books. If you guys are interested you can check out his blog: http://maniacdev.com/2012/01/giveaway-get-a-unity-3d-or-ios-book-there-will-be-6-winners-enter-here/

That’s about it :)

Packt recently released a new Cocos2d book: “Cocos2d for iPhone 1 Game Development Cookbook” by Nathan Burba.

Overview of Cocos2d for iPhone 1 Game Development Cookbook

• Discover advanced Cocos2d, OpenGL ES, and iOS techniques spanning all areas of the game development process
• Learn how to create top-down isometric games, side-scrolling platformers, and games with realistic lighting
• Full of fun and engaging recipes with modular libraries that can be plugged into your project
• Over 90 recipes for iOS 2D game development using cocos2d

Link: http://www.packtpub.com/cocos2d-for-iphone-1-game-development-cookbook/book

Packt has launched its 6th Annual OS Awards. This would be a great opportunity for you and all other members of your community to nominate your favorite OS project.

Link: http://www.packtpub.com/open-source-awards-home

So Packt Publishing recently released a couple of iPhone and iOS books:

iPhone JavaScript Cookbook

Link: http://www.packtpub.com/iphone-javascript-cookbook/book

Core Data iOS Essentials
 

Link: http://www.packtpub.com/core-data-ios-essentials/book

Cocoa and Objective-C Cookbook

Link: http://www.packtpub.com/cocoa-and-objective-c-cookbook/book

And the wonderful people that had been giving me free books, asked me to hold a giveaway contest, so that well, you guys can get them too.

How to join? All you have to do is visit the 3 book pages and mention one feature about a particular book that makes you want to own it.

You can leave a reply here on Tumblr (using reply or Disqus comments) or tweet me (@purplelilgirl).

So um yeah, that’s it. I will be giving away one of each book. :)

Overview of iPhone JavaScript Cookbook

• Build web applications for iPhone with a native look feel using only JavaScript, CSS, and XHTML
• Develop applications faster using frameworks
• Integrate videos, sound, and images into your iPhone applications
• Work with data using SQL and AJAX
• Write code to integrate your own applications with famous websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr
• These practical recipes include code and screenshots offering a clear step-by-step guide using different frameworks
• eBook available as PDF and ePub downloads.

Link: http://www.packtpub.com/iphone-javascript-cookbook/book

Overview of Core Data iOS Essentials

• Covers the essential skills you need for working with Core Data in your applications.
• Particularly focused on developing fast, light weight data-driven iOS applications.
• Builds a complete example application. Every technique is shown in context.
• Completely practical with clear, step-by-step instructions.
• eBook available as PDF and ePub downloads.

Link: http://www.packtpub.com/core-data-ios-essentials/book

Overview of Cocoa and Objective-C Cookbook

• Develop Cocoa applications using advanced UI concepts
• Implement the latest Objective-C features and incorporate them into your applications
• Debug Cocoa applications using advanced tools and techniques
• Add advanced animation and multimedia to your Cocoa applications
• eBook available as PDF and ePub downloads.

Link: http://www.packtpub.com/cocoa-and-objective-c-cookbook/book

Throughout July Packt Publishing will be celebrating the release of its 50^th Oracle book - cementing its reputation as one of the leading publishers in Oracle books.

To mark this milestone Packt is offering the following discounts:

·         20% off all Oracle print books

·         30% off all Oracle eBooks

Packt first started publishing Oracle books in 2006, and has since published best-sellers such as Getting Started With Oracle SOA Suite 11g R1 – A Hands-On Tutorial, Oracle Coherence 3.5 and Oracle Fusion Middleware Patterns.  And with more than 20 exciting new Oracle titles scheduled for 2011 this current success is only set to increase.

Packt owes much of its success to its print-on-demand mantra which not only allows it to produce books on specialist areas, but enables a quick response to new developments in technology – which was recently demonstrated with Packt publishing the first ever book on GoldenGate, the Oracle GoldenGate 11g Implementer’s guide.

Packt’s entire range of Oracle books is also available via PacktLib, Packt’s Online Library, and as part of Packt’s celebrations it’s offering you the chance to win a year’s subscription to PacktLib worth $220 click here for details: http://www.packtpub.com/article/50th-oracle-book-offer

For further information on this, and other books published by Packt Publishing, please visit www.PacktPub.com

Packt Open Source has this week announced a series of discounts on its selection of best selling Open Source books. Readers will be offered exclusive discounts off the cover price of selected print books and eBooks for a limited period only. 

So far in 2011, Packt Open Source announced in March that its donations to Open Source projects has surpassed the $300,000 mark, while in April insight into various projects was offered during the ‘Believe in Open Source’ campaign and July’s series of discounts continue this trend of Packt showing its commitment to the Open Source community.

The Packt Open Source books included in this exclusive discount offer include well known books such as JBoss AS 5 Performance Tuning, PHP jQuery Cookbook, Drupal 7 Module Development and Blender Lighting and Rendering, amongst others.

“This special discount showcases a host of Packt Open Source topics and allows readers to purchase some of our most well renowned books at an exclusive price” said Packt Open Source Marketing Executive Julian Copes. “

To ensure you do not miss this fantastic offer, visit the special discount page now, where you can view the extensive list of books included in the offer and access an array of related articles that were written by the authors.

The exclusive discounts are available from 4^th July 2011. To find out more, please visit the Packt website.

This is an excerpt of my previous blog post.

This book is written by Ryan Henson Creighton aka Cassie the 5 yr old game developer’s dad. This book is about 380 something pages, and it takes you through Unity from the basics (as in what Unity is, what you can and cannot do *hint* MMOs unless you are really popular and has like a hundred friends or something). And then he teaches through examples, hence the title of the book. He also gives readers programming basics. All in all, the author is actually quite a fun read, because of his wit and humor, and it is nothing like my Computer Programming 1 professor, who tends to drone.

Overall, I think this book is easy read, it’s not intimidating in such a way that it bombards you with information, code bits that you can’t even begin to grasp. I think that beginners, even those who have “never coded before” would find this book easy to digest, and might even be able to “build fun games”.

For those who are interested in the book, you can check it here. The book actual offers samples codes and projects that you can download even if you haven’t bought the book, here.