John P. Flynt

Ben Vinson

Simulation games are unique. They have action, combat, management, and strategy. By definition a simulation is an imitation. So, computer simulation games are games that imitate a real-life situation. Another way to think about it is that simulation games attempt to recreate a past event. But games don't always stick to that definition, sometimes they attempt to create a situation that we may someday be faced with. Event modeling is the fundamental activity of examining a real-world event to determine precisely those aspects of the event that can be made the primary objectives of a software development effort. Such modeling is essential to the success of any game development effort, especially if it focuses on simulation. The reason for this is that no simulation program can hope to simulate every aspect of a real-world event. The simulation must be limited in some way, and a technique is at hand, through event modeling, to determine which aspects of the event will render the simulation project effective.

Simulation and Event Modeling for Game Developers

Perl is a flexible, open-source, and widely accessible scripting language used by systems administrators and others to automate their daily tasks. "Perl Power!: The Comprehensive Guide" will cover every aspect of the most up-to-date version of Perl including scalar data, lists, arrays, hashes, subroutines, files, directories, strings, and much more. Technical topics are explained clearly and concisely and end-of-chapter projects encourage the reader to program on their own. A detailed table of contents and a complete, well-organized index make this book a great reference tool. All code used in the book will be available for download on the companion website.

The Comprehensive Guide

Perl Power!

"In the Mind of a Game" provides a solid body of critical and theoretical material that furnishes the groundwork for academic, journalistic, and marketing writers on games, and focuses squarely on theory and criticism. It provides a core set of theoretical and critical writings that readers can draw upon as they write critical essays and other writings on games. This book is not simply an anthology of critical essays; it is a core set of writings that presents starting points for critical and commercial writers. It differs from current texts on the market by focusing on developing the critical theory that can be applied to computer game design and addressing a range of 14 central topic areas that can serve as a starting point for almost any academic or commercial writer. Included in this audience are teachers of literary, film, and game criticism, professional and academic critical writers, reviewers who participate non-professionally in Internet sites, and students oriented toward the arts and humanities seeking games as a topic of critical writing.

John P. Flynt

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