Book Review: The Blender GameKit, 2nd Ed.

The history of computer games is traced back to the autumn of 1961 when two MIT scientists developed such an application on DEC PDP-1 computer in MIT,Cambridge, Massachusetts. This was the first computer equipped with a cathode ray tube monitor and a keyboard. Other notable years include 1980 when Pac Man was released, success of QUAKE in 1996 and launch of Sony PS2 and Microsoft Xbox and their advanced versions into current decade.

Another category which is having a wide following in current times is the massively multiplayer online game (also called MMOG or simply MMO) is a computer game where hundreds or larger numbers play simultaneously. Examples of these include Toontown Online, Pirates of the Caribbean Online, RuneScape and Second Life.

There is an extensive list of game engines written in C++ programming language for most of them. These allow the game designer to easily code a game quickly without building from scratch.

Blender is the free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems under the GNU Public License. The book under review, serves as a guide for the beginner through advanced game designers using this fully integrated 3D creation suite. This is a four-colour book including a CD having editable and playable Blender games,all files for the tutorials and Blender V2.48 for Windows,Mac OSX, and Linux.

Among the topics covered in this book is the introduction to 3D and Game Engines, Blender Basics, discussion of game concepts/games in pumpkin run, pin ball, subracer-an underwater racing game,the flying buddha memory game, “Yo Frankie!” Open Game Project, cooking basic network setups for using Blender on a network (using a matching Python installation). The book also includes a reference for the Blender Game Engine.

One of the interesting chapters in this book discusses the use of armatures in game character animation. Assuming the modelling of the character and armature is made using the correct coordinate system the game creator has to take care when working with bones, basic layout, mesh deformation vertex groups, creating a walk cycle before finally putting game logic on the armature object itself rather than on the mesh.

There are a large number of example games which can be edited for having a better understanding of the concepts as well as to use the Blender suite for more effective and advanced games.

With the large number of editable games and inputs from professional Blender artists, the book is a useful read for game designers/creators looking to use the Blender game engine.