Wydawca: Packt Publishing
Alan R. Stagner
Unity is a game development engine that is fully integrated with a complete set of intuitive tools and rapid workflows used to create interactive 3D content. Multiplayer games have long been a staple of video games, and online multiplayer games have seen an explosion in popularity in recent years. Unity provides a unique platform for independent developers to create the most in-demand multiplayer experiences, from relaxing social MMOs to adrenaline-pumping competitive shooters.A practical guide to writing a variety of online multiplayer games with the Unity game engine, using a multitude of networking middleware from player-hosted games to standalone dedicated servers to cloud multiplayer technology. You can create a wide variety of online games with the Unity 4 as well as Unity 3 Engine.You will learn all the skills needed to make any multiplayer game you can think of using this practical guide. We break down complex multiplayer games into basic components, for different kinds of games, whether they be large multi-user environments or small 8-player action games. You will get started by learning networking technologies for a variety of situations with a Pong game, and also host a game server and learn to connect to it.Then, we will show you how to structure your game logic to work in a multiplayer environment. We will cover how to implement client-side game logic for player-hosted games and server-side game logic for MMO-style games, as well as how to deal with network latency, unreliability, and security.You will then gain an understanding of the Photon Server while creating a star collector game; and later, the Player.IO by creating a multiplayer RTS prototype game. You will also learn using PubNub with Unity by creating a chatbox application. Unity Multiplayer Games will help you learn how to use the most popular networking middleware available for Unity, from peer-oriented setups to dedicated server technology.
Francesco Sapio
With the increasing interest in game development, it's essential to design and implement a UI that reflects the game settings and shows the right information to the player. The Unity system is used to create complex and aesthetically pleasing user interfaces in order to give a professional look and feel to a game. Although the new Unity UI system is powerful and quite easy to use, by integrating it with C# scripts, it's possible to realize the potential of this system and bring an impressive UI to games.This guide is an invaluable collection of recipes if you are planning to use Unity to develop a game. Starting with the basic concepts of the UI components, we’ll take you all the way through to creating complex interfaces by including animations and dynamics elements.Based on real-world problems, these recipes will start by showing you how to make common UI elements such as counters and healthbars. You will then get a walkthrough of how to manage time using timers, and will learn how to format them. You will move on to decorating and animating the UI elements to vivify them and give them a professional touch. Furthermore, you will be guided into the 3D UI world and into HUD scripting. Finally, you will discover how to implement complex minimaps in the interface.
Jonathan Linowes
What is consumer “virtual reality�? Wearing a head-mounted display you view stereoscopic 3D scenes. You can look around by moving your head, and walk around using hand controls or motion sensors. You are engaged in a fully immersive experience. On the other hand, Unity is a powerful game development engine that provides a rich set of features such as visual lighting, materials, physics, audio, special effects, and animation for creating 2D and 3D games. Unity 5 has become the leading platform for building virtual reality games, applications and experiences for this new generation of consumer VR devices.Using a practical and project-based approach, this book will educate you about the specifics of virtual reality development in Unity.You will learn how to use Unity to develop VR applications which can be experienced with devices such as the Oculus Rift or Google Cardboard. We will then learn how to engage with virtual worlds from a third person and first person character point of view. Furthermore, you will explore the technical considerations especially important and possibly unique to VR. The projects in the book will demonstrate how to build a variety of VR experiences. You will be diving into the Unity 3D game engine via the interactive Unity Editor as well as C-Sharp programming.By the end of the book, you will be equipped to develop rich, interactive virtual reality experiences using Unity.So, let's get to it!
Jonathan Linowes
Unity has become the leading platform for building virtual reality games, applications, and experiences for this new generation of consumer VR devices. Unity Virtual Reality Projects walks you through a series of hands-on tutorials and in-depth discussions on using the Unity game engine to develop VR applications. With its practical and project-based approach, this book will get you up to speed with the specifics of VR development in Unity. You will learn how to use Unity to develop VR applications that can be experienced with devices such as Oculus, Daydream, and Vive. Among the many topics and projects, you will explore gaze-based versus hand-controller input, world space UI canvases, locomotion and teleportation, software design patterns, 360-degree media, timeline animation, and multiplayer networking. You will learn about the Unity 3D game engine via the interactive Unity Editor, and you will also learn about C# programming. By the end of the book, you will be fully equipped to develop rich, interactive VR experiences using Unity.
Unleashing the Power of Data with Trusted AI. A guide for board members and executives
Wendy Turner-Williams
Written by a distinguished leader and innovator who has been instrumental in spearheading digital, cloud, and AI transformations across global brands, Unleashing the Power of Data with Trusted AI is an indispensable resource that will make you AI-ready.This comprehensive guide is designed to meet the urgent need for clarity and to give you actionable insights into today's rapidly evolving landscape of AI and its fundamental driver - data. You’ll delve into the exciting world of AI and its integration with data, uncover its significance, ethical considerations, and strategic applications with real-life success stories from industry giants like Starbucks, Netflix, and Siemens. You’ll also witness first-hand how the integration of data and AI has reshaped markets and elevated customer experiences, and discover the future of generative AI based on several surveys and case studies. You’ll gain an understanding of how AI has evolved across industries, empowering decision-making and fostering innovation. Tailored for board members, executives, innovators, and tech enthusiasts, this immersive guide will reshape your understanding of data and AI synergy.By the end of this guide, you’ll be able to lead your teams, customers, partners, and organizations confidently and responsibly in the era of AI.
Jeff Hendrickson, Travis Wissink
UX analytics is a field that recognizes the significance of understanding human behavior and emotions in designing user experiences. It goes beyond mere metrics and embraces a people-centric approach. With the help of this comprehensive guide, you’ll acquire essential skills, knowledge, and techniques to establish a top-notch UX analytics practice.Unleashing the Power of UX Analytics will equip you with the strategies and tactics necessary to effectively collect, analyze, and interpret data, empowering you to make informed decisions that enhance the overall user experience. It emphasizes the importance of empathy in comprehending user needs and desires, enabling you to create meaningful and impactful design solutions. As you advance, this book walks you through the entire UX analytics process, from setting goals and defining key performance indicators (KPIs) to implementing various research methods and tools. You'll gain insights into user interview best practices, usability testing, and techniques for gathering qualitative and quantitative data.Armed with the knowledge of data analysis and interpretation, you'll be able to uncover patterns, trends, and user preferences to make data-driven decisions.
Greg Beaumont
Microsoft Power BI is the ultimate solution for businesses looking to make data-driven decisions and unlock the full potential of their data. Unleashing Your Data with Power BI Machine Learning and OpenAI is designed for data scientists and BI professionals seeking to improve their existing solutions and workloads using AI. The book explains the intricacies of the subject by using a workshop-style data story for data ingestion, data modeling, analytics, and predictive analytics with Power BI machine learning. Along the way, you’ll learn about AI features, AI visuals, R/Python integration, and OpenAI integration. The workshop-style content allows you to practice all your learnings in real-life challenges and gain hands-on experience. Additionally, you’ll gain an understanding of AI/ML, step by step, with replicable examples and references. From enhancing data visualizations to building SaaS Power BI ML models, and integrating Azure OpenAI, this book will help you unlock new capabilities in Power BI.By the end of this book, you’ll be well-equipped to build ML models in Power BI, plan projects for both BI and ML, understand R/Python visuals with Power BI, and introduce OpenAI to enhance your analytics solutions.
Michael Burton, Ellie Altomare
Photopea is a comprehensive image and photo editing design tool that provides essential features and capabilities comparable to Adobe Photoshop. This book covers the latest version of Photopea, featuring step-by-step instructions for image editing, improving and enhancing designs with text and effects, and creating eye-catching projects for print and the web.The first part of this book will teach you how to navigate the workspace, use the best tools for specific tasks and projects, and make perfect selections. You’ll also discover how to remove backgrounds, merge and/or add objects, and adjust colors to create impressive images. Later, you’ll explore layers and compositing techniques, and get hands on with retouching images like a pro. The book will demonstrate how to create collages and use brushes, color wheels, and swatches for drawing and painting. You’ll also learn how to apply impressive text to images to create posters, flyers, and logos.By the end of this book, you'll have learned how to retouch, paint, enhance, and manipulate images; how to use templates provided by Photopea; and finally, how to apply your skills to projects.
Keith Bourne, Shahul Es
Generative AI is helping organizations tap into their data in new ways, with RAG combining the strengths of LLMs with internal data for more intelligent and relevant AI applications. The author harnesses his decade of ML experience in this book to equip you with the strategic insights and technical expertise needed when using RAG to drive transformative outcomes.The book explores RAG’s role in enhancing organizational operations by blending theoretical foundations with practical techniques. You’ll work with detailed coding examples using tools such as LangChain and Chroma’s vector database to gain hands-on experience in integrating RAG into AI systems. The chapters contain real-world case studies and sample applications that highlight RAG’s diverse use cases, from search engines to chatbots. You’ll learn proven methods for managing vector databases, optimizing data retrieval, effective prompt engineering, and quantitatively evaluating performance. The book also takes you through advanced integrations of RAG with cutting-edge AI agents and emerging non-LLM technologies.By the end of this book, you’ll be able to successfully deploy RAG in business settings, address common challenges, and push the boundaries of what’s possible with this revolutionary AI technique.*Email sign-up and proof of purchase required
Keith Bourne
Developing AI agents that remember, adapt, and reason over complex knowledge isn’t a distant vision anymore; it’s happening now with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). This second edition of the bestselling guide leads you to the forefront of agentic system design, showing you how to build intelligent, explainable, and context-aware applications powered by RAG pipelines.You’ll master the building blocks of agentic memory, including semantic caches, procedural learning with LangMem, and the emerging CoALA framework for cognitive agents. You’ll also learn how to integrate GraphRAG with tools such as Neo4j to create deeply contextualized AI responses grounded in ontology-driven data.This book walks you through real implementations of working, episodic, semantic, and procedural memory using vector stores, prompting strategies, and feedback loops to create systems that continuously learn and refine their behavior. With hands-on code and production-ready patterns, you’ll be ready to build advanced AI systems that not only generate answers but also learn, recall, and evolve.Written by a seasoned AI educator and engineer, this book blends conceptual clarity with practical insight, offering both foundational knowledge and cutting-edge tools for modern AI development.*Email sign-up and proof of purchase required
Wladislav Cugunov
Unlocking the Power of Auto-GPT and Its Plugins reveals how Auto-GPT is transforming the way we work and live, by breaking down complex goals into manageable subtasks and intelligently utilizing the internet and other tools. With a background as a self-taught full stack developer and key contributor to Auto-GPT’s Inner Team, the author blends unconventional thinking with practical expertise to make Auto-GPT and its plugins accessible to developers at all levels.This book explores the potential of Auto-GPT and its associated plugins through practical applications. Beginning with an introduction to Auto-GPT, it guides you through setup, utilization, and the art of prompt generation. You'll gain a deep understanding of the various plugin types and how to create them. The book also offers expert guidance on developing AI applications such as chat assistants, research aides, and speech companions, while covering advanced topics such as Docker configuration, continuous mode operation, and integrating your own LLM with Auto-GPT.By the end of this book, you'll be equipped with the knowledge and skills needed for AI application development, plugin creation, setup procedures, and advanced Auto-GPT features to fuel your AI journey.
Gilbert Mizrahi, Daniel Serfaty
Unlocking the Secrets of Prompt Engineering is your key to mastering the art of AI-driven writing. This book propels you into the world of large language models (LLMs), empowering you to create and apply prompts effectively for diverse applications, from revolutionizing content creation and chatbots to coding assistance.Starting with the fundamentals of prompt engineering, this guide provides a solid foundation in LLM prompts, their components, and applications. Through practical examples and use cases, you'll discover how LLMs can be used for generating product descriptions, personalized emails, social media posts, and even creative writing projects like fiction and poetry. The book covers advanced use cases such as creating and promoting podcasts, integrating LLMs with other tools, and using AI for chatbot development. But that’s not all. You'll also delve into the ethical considerations, best practices, and limitations of using LLM prompts as you experiment and optimize your approach for best results.By the end of this book, you'll have unlocked the full potential of AI in writing and content creation to generate ideas, overcome writer's block, boost productivity, and improve communication skills.
Richard J. Moore, Richard Moore
Unreal Development Kit (UDK) is the free version of the award-winning Unreal Engine 3. It is used to create a wide variety of games ranging from amateur to professional standard next generation AAA titles.This book will show you exactly how to create an enjoyable and immersive game environment using the UDK. You will learn how to implement, level design, lighting, environmental effects, movement, terrain, map creation, item placement, kismet, materials and complex event sequences.You will work through the level design process from navigating round the editor to learning how to develop a fully playable environment. You will quickly master all of the engine’s key tools that are accessible through Unreal Engine 3. You will then start putting together your first level using step-by-step instructions. Next we will implement real world features such as dynamic lighting and shadows, particle effects, physics, terrain, item placement and advanced AI/bot pathing. Finally you will learn how to use UDK’s cutting edge high level scripting. By the end of this book you will be equipped with the skills to create an entertaining and imaginative game world.
Thomas Mooney
UDK is a free, world class game editing tool and being so powerful it can be daunting to learn. This guide offers an excellent set of targeted recipes to help game artists get up to speed with game designing in UDK.Unreal Development Kit Game Design Cookbook contains everything you need to jumpstart your game design efforts. The lessons are aimed squarely at the artist's field of production, with recipes on asset handling, creating content within the editor, animation and visual scripting to get the content working in gameplay.Unreal Game Development Kit Game Design Cookbook exposes how real-time environments are built using UDK tools. Key features are examined ñ assets, animation, light, materials, game controls, user interface, special effects, and game interactivity - with the view of making UDK technically accessible so users can transcend technique and focus on their creative design process. The book has well prepared recipes for level designers and artists of all levels. It covers core design tools and processes in the editor, particularly setting up characters, UI approaches, configuration and scripting gameplay. It is a technical guide that allows game artists to go beyond just creating assets, and it includes creative, extensive demonstrations that extend on mere functionality.
Rachel Cordone
Unreal Development Kit is the free edition of Unreal Engine—the largest game engine in existence with hundreds of shipped commercial titles. The Unreal Engine is a very powerful tool for game development but with something so complex it's hard to know where to start.This book will teach you how to use the UnrealScript language to create your own games with the Unreal Development Kit by using an example game that you can create and play for yourself. It breaks down the UnrealScript language into easy to follow chapters that will quickly bring you up to speed with UnrealScript game programming.Unreal Development Kit Game Programming with UnrealScript takes you through the UnrealScript language for the Unreal Development Kit. It starts by walking through a project setup and setting up programs to write and browse code. It then takes you through using variables, functions, and custom classes to alter the game's behavior and create our own functionality. The use and creation of Kismet is also covered. Later, using replication to create and test multiplayer games is discussed. The book closes with code optimization and error handling as well as a few of the less common but useful features of UnrealScript.
Jie Feng, Peter Newton
Unreal Engine is a powerful game development engine that provides rich functionalities to create 2D and 3D games. Developers have the opportunity to build cross-platform mobile and desktop games from scratch. This book will show you how to apply artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to your Unreal project using blueprints as your scripting language. You will start with an introduction to AI, and learn how it is applied to gaming. Then you'll jump right in and create a simple AI bot and apply basic behaviors to allow it to move randomly. As you progress, you'll find out how to implement randomness and probability traits. Using NavMesh, you will impart navigation components such as character movement, MoveTo nodes, settings, and world objects, and implement Behavior Trees. At the end of the book, you will troubleshoot any issues that might crop up while building the game.
Satheesh PV, Satheesh P.V
Unreal Engine 4 is a complete suite of game development tools that gives you power to develop your game and seamlessly deploy it to iOS and Android devices. It can be used for the development of simple 2D games or even stunning high-end visuals. Unreal Engine features a high degree of portability and is a tool used by many game developers today.This book will introduce you to the most popular game development tool called Unreal Engine 4 with hands-on instructions for building stunning video games. You will begin by creating a new project or prototype by learning the essentials of Unreal Engine by getting familiar with the UI and Content Browser. Next, we'll import a sample asset from Autodesk 3ds max and learn more about Material Editor. After that we will learn more about Post Process. From there we will continue to learn more about Blueprints, Lights, UMG, C++ and more.
Rachel Cordone
Unreal Engine is a popular game engine used by developers for building high-end 2D and 3D games. This book is a practical guide designed to help you get started with Unreal Engine 4 and confidently develop interactive games.You’ll begin with a quick introduction to the Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) ecosystem. Next, you’ll learn how to create Blueprints and C++ code to define your game's functionality. As you progress, you’ll cover the core systems of UE4 such as Unreal Motion Graphics (UMG), Animation Blueprints, and behaviour trees to further build on your game development knowledge. The concluding chapters will then help you learn how to use replication to create multiplayer games.By the end of this book, you will be well-versed with UE4 and have developed the skills you need to use the framework for developing and deploying robust and intuitive games.
William Sherif, Stephen Whittle
Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) is a complete suite of game development tools made by game developers, for game developers. With more than 100 practical recipes, this book is a guide showcasing techniques to use the power of C++ scripting while developing games with UE4. It will start with adding and editing C++ classes from within the Unreal Editor. It will delve into one of Unreal's primary strengths, the ability for designers to customize programmer-developed actors and components. It will help you understand the benefits of when and how to use C++ as the scripting tool. With a blend of task-oriented recipes, this book will provide actionable information about scripting games with UE4, and manipulating the game and the development environment using C++. Towards the end of the book, you will be empowered to become a top-notch developer with Unreal Engine 4 using C++ as the scripting language.
Brais Brenlla Ramos, John P. Doran
Unreal Engine 4 is a powerful game engine, one which has seen a recent boost in widespread adoption thanks to its ease of use and the powerful rendering pipeline that it packs. Seeing as how it's relatively easy to create stunning presentations and visuals, Unreal has quickly become a strong contender in industries where this kind of software had been previously denied entry.With that in mind, this book aims to help you get the most out of Unreal Engine 4 - from creating awe-inspiring graphics to delivering optimized experiences to your users. This is possible thanks to a mixture of hands-on experience with real materials and the theory behind them. You will immediately know how to create that material that you want to display, and you'll also end up with the knowledge that will let you know how to control it.All of this will be done without losing sight of two key components of any real-time application - optimization, and efficiency. The materials that you create will be light and efficient, and they will vary depending on your target platform. You'll know which techniques can be used in any kind of device and which ones should be kept to high-end machines, giving you the confidence to tackle any material-related task that you can imagine. Hop onboard and discover how!
Kevin Mack, Robert Ruud
Unreal Engine 4 is a powerful tool for developing VR games and applications. With its visual scripting language, Blueprint, and built-in support for all major VR headsets, it's a perfect tool for designers, artists, and engineers to realize their visions in VR.This book will guide you step-by-step through a series of projects that teach essential concepts and techniques for VR development in UE4. You will begin by learning how to think about (and design for) VR and then proceed to set up a development environment. A series of practical projects follows, taking you through essential VR concepts. Through these exercises, you'll learn how to set up UE4 projects that run effectively in VR, how to build player locomotion schemes, and how to use hand controllers to interact with the world. You'll then move on to create user interfaces in 3D space, use the editor's VR mode to build environments directly in VR, and profile/optimize worlds you've built. Finally, you'll explore more advanced topics, such as displaying stereo media in VR, networking in Unreal, and using plugins to extend the engine.Throughout, this book focuses on creating a deeper understanding of why the relevant tools and techniques work as they do, so you can use the techniques and concepts learned here as a springboard for further learning and exploration in VR.
Benjamin Carnall
With Unreal Engine 4 being made free to use, for any keen game developer it is quickly becoming the most popular game engine in today’s development industry. The engine offers a rich feature set that can be customized and built upon through the use of C++. This book will cover how to work with Unreal Engine’s tool set all the way from the basics of the editor and the visual scripting system blueprint to the in-depth low-level creation of content using C++.This book will provide you with the skills you need to create feature-rich, captivating, and refined game titles with Unreal Engine 4. This book will take you through the creation of four unique game projects, designed so that you will be ready to apply the engine’s rich development capabilities. You will learn not only to take advantage of the visual tools of the engine, but also the vast and powerful programming feature set of Unreal Engine 4.
John P. Doran, William Sherif, Stephen Whittle
Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) is a popular and award-winning game engine that powers some of the most popular games. A truly powerful tool for game development, there has never been a better time to use it for both commercial and independent projects. With more than 100 recipes, this book shows how to unleash the power of C++ while developing games with Unreal Engine.This book takes you on a journey to jumpstart your C++ and UE4 development skills. You will start off by setting up UE4 for C++ development and learn how to work with Visual Studio, a popular code editor. You will learn how to create C++ classes and structs the Unreal way. This will be followed by exploring memory management, smart pointers, and debugging your code. You will then learn how to make your own Actors and Components through code and how to handle input and collision events. You will also get exposure to many elements of game development including creating user interfaces, artificial intelligence, and writing code with networked play in mind. You will also learn how to add on to the Unreal Editor itself. With a range of task-oriented recipes, this book provides actionable information about writing code for games with UE4 using C++. By the end of the book, you will be empowered to become a top-notch developer with UE4 using C++ as your scripting language!
Tyson Butler-Boschma, Manea Castet
Written by multi-award-winning Unreal generalist Tyson J. Butler-Boschma, Founder and Creative Director of Toybox Games Studios, this book addresses common challenges you face when advancing your expertise in lighting, environment design, and cinematic storytelling. The chapters help you move quickly from mastering core skills to exploring the most innovative Unreal Engine 5 features, such as Lumen, ray tracing, Nanite, and Chaos Physics, to craft professional-quality immersive scenes and experiences.Packed with actionable insights and step-by-step workflows, this hands-on guide teaches you how to optimize performance without sacrificing visual fidelity, use Unreal’s built-in tools to create interactive environments, and implement cutting-edge techniques to enhance storytelling and interactivity. Each chapter features practical examples and troubleshooting tips to help you overcome real-world obstacles and bring your creative visions to life.By the end of this book, you’ll be fully equipped to design visually stunning, high-performance projects in Unreal Engine 5.*Email sign-up and proof of purchase required