Book Image

Buildbox 2.x Game Development

By : Ty Audronis
Book Image

Buildbox 2.x Game Development

By: Ty Audronis

Overview of this book

Buildbox is an “any skill level” development platform to develop video games with no coding experience. It also exports these games to be compiled for any platform (from Windows to Mac to iOS to Android and Blackberry) all using the same graphic user interface. Using an example as a tutorial, we will relate the driving principles and you’ll see how you can implement these principles to develop any games on the platform. We begin by setting expectations and providing a brief overview of the software. But it’s not long before you “dive in” to creating your first video game. You will actually have a playable level (“world”) by the end of the second chapter. Later on, you’ll learn everything from basic graphics creation to advanced world design while you refine your first game, called “Ramblin’ Rover.” All along the way, you will see how certain functions could be used in tandem to create other types of games; hoping to spark imagination. We will follow the principles and process of monetization through ads and in-game rewards. Lastly, we will go through the process of exporting, compiling, and preparing your storefront to sell the games you will eventually create.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
Buildbox 2.x Game Development
Credits
Disclaimer
Foreword
About the Author
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Preface

Defining some terminology


Before we dive into the interface, and dive further into what we're going to cover in this book, let's clear up some terms (such as distribution channels and platforms):

  • Asset: Any element used in your project. An asset can be anything from a graphic to a sound effect MP3.
  • Project: The Buildbox file used to create the game.
  • Element: The use of a visual asset within Buildbox, for example, a button on a menu screen is considered an element.
  • Animation: The movement of an element within Buildbox.
  • Animated element: An element consisting of an image sequence giving the appearance of animation, for instance, a running sequence (known as a walk cycle) on the main character to show them running when moving.
  • Physics: A type of animation within Buildbox allowing movement based on environmental parameters (falling with gravity, bouncing with collisions, and so on).
  • Export: A set of files generated by Buildbox.
  • Compile: The act of taking exported files from Buildbox and creating an executable program (or app) from those exported files.
  • Compiler: Software used to compile.
  • Platform: A system that will run your compiled program or application, for example, an iOS device or a Windows computer.
  • Distribution channel: The location where customers will be able to find your compiled game and download it, for example, Google Play, iTunes, Windows Store, Steam, and so on.
  • UI: The user interface. This includes menus, buttons, score counters, anything the user interacts with or can derive information from.