Filled with tips and techniques from veteran game designers at Sony, Blizzard, Disney, LucasArts, Activision, 3DO, and many others!

Plan, design, and create enthralling game environments complete with richly animated characters and objects by applying the expert techniques described in this one-of-a-kind resource. Veteran game developer Tom Meigs covers the foundations of game design, including previsualization, level stubbing and layout, lighting, texturing, behavior scripting, and using particles, and explains in detail each stage of game development and design. Each chapter features an in-depth interview with a game industry expert as well as case a study based on Tom's real-world experiences working on Sony PlayStation games and various other projects. Plus, you'll get priceless advice on how to get into the game development industry now with details on the different types of jobs available.

* Develop a comprehensive previsualization process for your game project
* Create topographic maps and reference drawings for level planning and layout
* Build up your game scenes with lighting, texturing, particles, effects, and audio
* Place actors, props, and items and tune specific camera details
* Learn about game design by genre — sports, fighting, RTS, role-playing, FPS, sims, MMOG, and others
* Script action events using JavaScript, Visual Basic, Python, Perl, and other tools
* Develop and design games for wireless devices including PDAs and mobile phones
* Implement a testing loop
* Learn how to avoid mistakes and set yourself up for success