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3D Game Programming for Kids: Create Interactive Worlds with JavaScript
Printed in full color.
You know what's even better than playing games? Creating your own. Even if you're an absolute beginner, this book will teach you how to make your own online games with interactive examples. You'll learn programming using nothing more than a browser, and see cool, 3D results as you type. You'll learn real-world programming skills in a real programming JavaScript, the language of the web. You'll be amazed at what you can do as you build interactive worlds and fun games.
You'll jump right in and write games and simulations while learning programming fundamentals. You'll use the ICE Code Editor, which was created especially for this book to make it easy for you to get started with JavaScript programming. With the ICE Editor, you'll see the results of your work right away. Want a red donut? You can make hundreds of them, spinning around like crazy right next to the code you just typed.
You'll do hands-on coding in every chapter. You'll start by building simple animated shapes, then make your own player--who can do cartwheels! You'll learn how to build your own games from start to finish, including a monster eating fruit, a cave puzzle, and rafting on a river. You'll animate simple shapes to create a model of the solar system, and make your own website so that you can show off your games with your friends. If you just want to make games, jump to the lessons focusing on projects. To understand some of the theory better or if you need some help with functions, turn to the chapters that explain the programming concepts. We'll walk you carefully through all the math needed to bring games to life.
Best of all, you get to create awesome games and say, "I made this!"
You know what's even better than playing games? Creating your own. Even if you're an absolute beginner, this book will teach you how to make your own online games with interactive examples. You'll learn programming using nothing more than a browser, and see cool, 3D results as you type. You'll learn real-world programming skills in a real programming JavaScript, the language of the web. You'll be amazed at what you can do as you build interactive worlds and fun games.
You'll jump right in and write games and simulations while learning programming fundamentals. You'll use the ICE Code Editor, which was created especially for this book to make it easy for you to get started with JavaScript programming. With the ICE Editor, you'll see the results of your work right away. Want a red donut? You can make hundreds of them, spinning around like crazy right next to the code you just typed.
You'll do hands-on coding in every chapter. You'll start by building simple animated shapes, then make your own player--who can do cartwheels! You'll learn how to build your own games from start to finish, including a monster eating fruit, a cave puzzle, and rafting on a river. You'll animate simple shapes to create a model of the solar system, and make your own website so that you can show off your games with your friends. If you just want to make games, jump to the lessons focusing on projects. To understand some of the theory better or if you need some help with functions, turn to the chapters that explain the programming concepts. We'll walk you carefully through all the math needed to bring games to life.
Best of all, you get to create awesome games and say, "I made this!"
- GenresProgrammingNonfiction
308 pages, Paperback
First published July 22, 2013
8 people are currently reading
71 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 25, 2014
Like for many, my introduction to computers and computer programming came about with the advent of the home computer in the early 1980s. By keying in programs that were contributed by fellow enthusiasts and printed in the plethora of home computing books and magazines that were available, users were able to develop their interests in computer programming and gain valuable programming and debugging skills.
With the aim of promoting interest in computer programming among younger readers, this book harks back to those days by encouraging its readers to 'type in' and experiment with short but fun, interesting and complete game programs.
The games are all written in JavaScript and run in a browser. A link to simple browser-based interactive development environment is provided. External 3D and physics libraries are used, so the focus is very much on programming gameplay, using high-level 3D abstractions, rather than the details of 3D graphics programming per-se.
The games serve as vehicles for an introduction to simple program design techniques, including abstraction using functions and objects, and their application using JavaScript. In addition the games are used to introduce a variety of concepts and techniques that arise in 3D and games programming.
Throughout the text, the reader is offered pragmatic advice and, facilitated by the author’s selection of an interpreted language, is encouraged to experiment with and extend the code. Usefully, early on, the book offers advice on what to do when things don’t work as expected, including how to use the JavaScript console to try to find coding errors and how to reset the IDE.
The book is written in a clear but chatty style. Each chapter has a short description of its learning objectives and, where appropriate, simple sketches are used to help describe and reinforce ideas and concepts. Embedded sections are used to expand upon tips and warnings that emerge during the chapter without interrupting the flow of the main text. Chapters that involve game development evolve the code over the course of the chapter, but an appendix contains complete code listings for each game, serving as a useful reference. The final chapter includes a very brief description of the world wide web and describes practical ways in which readers can share their games on the web.
The book has a supporting website, which includes downloadable source code, though I think that maximum benefit will be gained by those readers that actually type the code.
As its title suggests, this book is aimed at younger readers, however even as an older reader with
several years programming experience, I found it an enjoyable read, learned a few new things and had fun playing with the code.
Reviewed by: Dr Patrick Hill CEng MBCS CITP FIAP MIEEE
With the aim of promoting interest in computer programming among younger readers, this book harks back to those days by encouraging its readers to 'type in' and experiment with short but fun, interesting and complete game programs.
The games are all written in JavaScript and run in a browser. A link to simple browser-based interactive development environment is provided. External 3D and physics libraries are used, so the focus is very much on programming gameplay, using high-level 3D abstractions, rather than the details of 3D graphics programming per-se.
The games serve as vehicles for an introduction to simple program design techniques, including abstraction using functions and objects, and their application using JavaScript. In addition the games are used to introduce a variety of concepts and techniques that arise in 3D and games programming.
Throughout the text, the reader is offered pragmatic advice and, facilitated by the author’s selection of an interpreted language, is encouraged to experiment with and extend the code. Usefully, early on, the book offers advice on what to do when things don’t work as expected, including how to use the JavaScript console to try to find coding errors and how to reset the IDE.
The book is written in a clear but chatty style. Each chapter has a short description of its learning objectives and, where appropriate, simple sketches are used to help describe and reinforce ideas and concepts. Embedded sections are used to expand upon tips and warnings that emerge during the chapter without interrupting the flow of the main text. Chapters that involve game development evolve the code over the course of the chapter, but an appendix contains complete code listings for each game, serving as a useful reference. The final chapter includes a very brief description of the world wide web and describes practical ways in which readers can share their games on the web.
The book has a supporting website, which includes downloadable source code, though I think that maximum benefit will be gained by those readers that actually type the code.
As its title suggests, this book is aimed at younger readers, however even as an older reader with
several years programming experience, I found it an enjoyable read, learned a few new things and had fun playing with the code.
Reviewed by: Dr Patrick Hill CEng MBCS CITP FIAP MIEEE
June 26, 2022
I want to learn Python.
April 16, 2017
Perfect for the coding beginner!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews