Classic Game Design [OP]: From Pong to Pacman with Unity

by Franz Lanzinger

You too can learn to design and develop classic arcade video games like Pong, Pac-Man, Space Invaders, and Scramble. Collision detection, extra lives, power-ups, and countless other essential design elements were invented by the mostly anonymous designers at the early pioneering companies that produced these great games. In this book you’ll go step by step, using modern, free software tools such as Unity3D to create five games in the classic style, inspired by these Pong, Breakout, Space Invaders, Scramble, and Pac-Man. All the source code, art and sound sources for the projects are freely available on the companion DVD or at the book’s Web site. You’ll discover the fun of making your own games, putting in your own color graphics, adjusting the scoring, coding the AI, and creating the sound effects. You’ll gain a deep understanding of the roots of modern video game the classics of the seventies and eighties.



* Uses seven Unity3D projects to allow for quick experimentation with classic game concepts
* 4-color throughout with companion DVD that includes source code, art, and full projects
* Includes historical anecdotes direct from one of the fabled Atari coin-op programmers
* Detailed step-by-step instructions, dozens of exercises, and eight rules of classic game design
* Contains unique insights on applying classic game design concepts to modern games

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction

300 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2013

Reviews

[Ro Givens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used this text as a lab book for an undergradute game design course I taught in 2026. The first half of the course was divided into lecture and lab, and the second half was a larger project. All of the students in the course had at least 3 semesters of coding experience, so the book was probably a little too simple in some of the coding portions for them. However, I was really happy I chose this book and the students were able to jump right into working on games without spending an enormous amount of time teaching them Unity and C#, which most of them had never used. It left a lot more time to have lectures on general game design. There's also a good number of exercises in each project chapter.

The book would also be good for anyone who has limited coding experience. Technically you do not need any experience, but I imagine debugging could be a nightmare if you really come in with zero experience. I did end up giving supplementary instructions so that the students used TMP objects instead of textboxes and the new keyboard input system, as I was trying to avoid legacy code. I could not figure out how to easily replace the legacy buttons, so we did use those.

The book is very readable and the intro chapters give good context for the games. I would love to see a 3rd edition with updates for the current version of Unity, but everything in the text is functional. It also gives a good introduction to Blender, Audacity, and GIMP.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful walkthrough of classic games with implementation instructions using Unity, C#, blender and gimp. I thought it was very effective. I will be referring back to it.

[Tim Heard · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a college graduate with a Bachelor's Degree in Game Design currently in pursuit of a career within the video game industry, I find this book to be a solid introduction to Unity as well as Blender, GIMP, Audacity. Using classic arcade games from the late 1970s and early 1980s as examples, it goes over the basic uses of Unity's development tools involved in level design and programming, the first steps to making 3D models in Blender, the basic drawing/illustration techniques of GIMP, the simplest way to make basic sounds in Audacity, and how all four software can be used in unison to create basic games i.e, by saving the Blender, GIMP, and Audacity files within the project folders of Unity itself. Written for those who want to make video games but don't know where to begin and are under budget (meaning they may not be able to afford commercial software like Adobe Photoshop and Maya), the lessons and exercises give readers a basic foundation in game design and opportunities to expand on the basic formulas provided in this book.

As a means to provide the foundation, the author briefly goes over the history of Pong, Breakout, Space Invaders, Scramble, and Pac-Man; and has the reader build games modeled after these classics in terms of design and mechanics. Since Blender, GIMP, and Audacity are all free software like Unity, readers should be able to learn the very basics of 3D modeling, digital illustration, and sound design without the need to spend extra money, a plus for those on a tight budget. Based on the lesson structure, readers should be able to complete each individual lesson in less than a few hours. At the end of each lesson, the readers are provided exercises that would have them expand on the games they have built from scratch. After that, it would be in their hands to build upon what they have learned in their own games.

While this is a solid introductory book to game design with Unity, there are a few issues that I should address here. One issue is that it was written a year before Unity 4 was upgraded to Unity 5. A few features discussed in the book may be a little outdated but it should not pose too much of a problem for readers. Another issue is with saving Blender files within Unity projects. I'm not sure if it's because I have the Steam version of Blender, but in my experience, Unity could not find any Blender files I have saved in my projects. In order to proceed with the lessons, I worked around the issue by exporting the Blender meshes as .fbx files. Those with the same issue will have to use this method during the lessons.

Minor technical issues aside, I would recommend this book to first year video game design students and aspiring indie developers who are interested in Unity but are on a tight budget. It is also best suited to those who lack a strong background in 3D modeling, digital illustration, sound design, and programming since the material provided here should help give them a basic understanding of those areas of game development.

[Kim Heimbuch · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first glance, I noticed this book wasn’t very thick and I questioned the amount of detail that could possibly be provided that would help someone create a game. I couldn’t have been more wrong. For people unlike me, who own the thousands of dollars’ worth of software needed to create a video game, the authors have utilized and provided website links for free software on par with industry standards to help users afford to make a game on their own time and dime. The step-by-step instructions walk even beginners through the steps of each process and include instructions for both PC and Mac users.

“Yes, Blender has a monkey object built in. Her name is Suzanne.”

Read the full review at http://www.musingwithcrayolakym.com/b...

[Kim Heimbuch]

Review coming soon once posted at its original destination.