Gameplay, Emotions and Narrative
This book is devoted to emotional and narrative immersion in the experience of gameplay. The focus of our research is the complex interplay between the story and mechanics in digital games. Our goal is to demonstrate how the narrative and the ludic elements together can form unique player experiences. The volume is a collection of case studies involving close reading of selected independent titles, with focus placed on the themes, motifs and experimental approaches to gameplay present therein. ...
This book is devoted to emotional and narrative immersion in the experience of gameplay. The focus of our research is the complex interplay between the story and mechanics in digital games. Our goal is to demonstrate how the narrative and the ludic elements together can form unique player experiences. The volume is a collection of case studies involving close reading of selected independent titles, with focus placed on the themes, motifs and experimental approaches to gameplay present therein. ...
Beginning IntelliJ IDEA
Get started quickly with IntelliJ, from installation to configuration to working with the source code and more. This tutorial will show you how to leverage IntelliJ's tools to develop clean, efficient Java applications. Author Ted Hagos will first walk you through buidling your first Java applications using IntelliJ. Then, he'll show you how to analyze your application, top to bottom; using version control and tools that allow you expand your application for big data or data science applications and more. You'll also learn some of the IDE's advanced features to fully maximize your application's capabilities. The last portion of the book focuses on application testing and deployment, and language- and framework- specific guidelines. After reading this book and working through its freely available source code, you'll be up to speed with this powerful IDE for today's Java development. ...
Get started quickly with IntelliJ, from installation to configuration to working with the source code and more. This tutorial will show you how to leverage IntelliJ's tools to develop clean, efficient Java applications. Author Ted Hagos will first walk you through buidling your first Java applications using IntelliJ. Then, he'll show you how to analyze your application, top to bottom; using version control and tools that allow you expand your application for big data or data science applications and more. You'll also learn some of the IDE's advanced features to fully maximize your application's capabilities. The last portion of the book focuses on application testing and deployment, and language- and framework- specific guidelines. After reading this book and working through its freely available source code, you'll be up to speed with this powerful IDE for today's Java development. ...
SAP S/4HANA Systems in Hyperscaler Clouds
This book helps SAP architects and SAP Basis administrators deploy and operate SAP S/4HANA systems on the most common public cloud platforms. Market-leading cloud offerings are covered, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. You will gain an end-to-end understanding of the initial implementation of SAP S/4HANA systems on those platforms. You will learn how to move away from the big monolithic SAP ERP systems and arrive at an environment with a central SAP S/4HANA system as the digital core surrounded by cloud-native services. The book begins by introducing the core concepts of Hyperscaler cloud platforms that are relevant to SAP. You will learn about the architecture of SAP S/4HANA systems on public cloud platforms, with specific content provided for each of the major platforms. The book simplifies the deployment of SAP S/4HANA systems in public clouds by providing step-by-step instructions and helping you deal with the complexity of such a deployment. Con ...
This book helps SAP architects and SAP Basis administrators deploy and operate SAP S/4HANA systems on the most common public cloud platforms. Market-leading cloud offerings are covered, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. You will gain an end-to-end understanding of the initial implementation of SAP S/4HANA systems on those platforms. You will learn how to move away from the big monolithic SAP ERP systems and arrive at an environment with a central SAP S/4HANA system as the digital core surrounded by cloud-native services. The book begins by introducing the core concepts of Hyperscaler cloud platforms that are relevant to SAP. You will learn about the architecture of SAP S/4HANA systems on public cloud platforms, with specific content provided for each of the major platforms. The book simplifies the deployment of SAP S/4HANA systems in public clouds by providing step-by-step instructions and helping you deal with the complexity of such a deployment. Con ...
Analytics Optimization with Columnstore Indexes in Microsoft SQL Server
Meet the challenge of storing and accessing analytic data in SQL Server in a fast and performant manner. This book illustrates how columnstore indexes can provide an ideal solution for storing analytic data that leads to faster performing analytic queries and the ability to ask and answer business intelligence questions with alacrity. The book provides a complete walk through of columnstore indexing that encompasses an introduction, best practices, hands-on demonstrations, explanations of common mistakes, and presents a detailed architecture that is suitable for professionals of all skill levels. With little or no knowledge of columnstore indexing you can become proficient with columnstore indexes as used in SQL Server, and apply that knowledge in development, test, and production environments. This book serves as a comprehensive guide to the use of columnstore indexes and provides definitive guidelines. You will learn when columnstore indexes should be used, and the performance ga ...
Meet the challenge of storing and accessing analytic data in SQL Server in a fast and performant manner. This book illustrates how columnstore indexes can provide an ideal solution for storing analytic data that leads to faster performing analytic queries and the ability to ask and answer business intelligence questions with alacrity. The book provides a complete walk through of columnstore indexing that encompasses an introduction, best practices, hands-on demonstrations, explanations of common mistakes, and presents a detailed architecture that is suitable for professionals of all skill levels. With little or no knowledge of columnstore indexing you can become proficient with columnstore indexes as used in SQL Server, and apply that knowledge in development, test, and production environments. This book serves as a comprehensive guide to the use of columnstore indexes and provides definitive guidelines. You will learn when columnstore indexes should be used, and the performance ga ...
Introduction to Blender 3.0
Master the basics of 3D modeling for art, architecture, and design by exploring Blender 3.0. This book explains modeling, materials, lighting, painting, and more with Blender and other external tools. You will configure a 3D architectural environment and set up the workflow of an art and design project within Blender. You will use Blender's main tools - mesh modeling and sculpting - to create virtual objects and environments. And, you will explore building materials and light scenes, followed by drawing and virtual painting. Chapters cover rendering scenes and transforming them into 2D images or videos. You will learn to use Blender 3.0 for video editing as a compositor and video sequence editor (VSE or sequencer) with a wide range of effects available through the nodal system. On completing this book, you will have the knowledge to create art, design, and architecture with this 3D modeler. ...
Master the basics of 3D modeling for art, architecture, and design by exploring Blender 3.0. This book explains modeling, materials, lighting, painting, and more with Blender and other external tools. You will configure a 3D architectural environment and set up the workflow of an art and design project within Blender. You will use Blender's main tools - mesh modeling and sculpting - to create virtual objects and environments. And, you will explore building materials and light scenes, followed by drawing and virtual painting. Chapters cover rendering scenes and transforming them into 2D images or videos. You will learn to use Blender 3.0 for video editing as a compositor and video sequence editor (VSE or sequencer) with a wide range of effects available through the nodal system. On completing this book, you will have the knowledge to create art, design, and architecture with this 3D modeler. ...
Mastering Excel Through Projects
Master Excel in less than two weeks with this unique project-based book! Let's face it, we all master skills in our own way, but building a soup-to-nuts project is one of the best ways to make learning stick and get up to speed quickly. Whether you are just getting started with Excel or are an experienced user, this book will elevate your knowledge and skills. For a beginner, the micro examples in each chapter will warm you up before you dive into the projects. For experienced users, the projects, especially those with table setup considerations, will help you become more creative in your interactions with Excel. Readers will benefit from building eight unique projects, each covering a different topic, including a word game, a food nutrition ranking, a payroll (tax withholding) calculation, an encryption, a two-way table, a Kaplan-Meier analysis, a data analysis via a pivot table and the K-means Clustering data mining method. Through these projects, you will experience firsthand how ...
Master Excel in less than two weeks with this unique project-based book! Let's face it, we all master skills in our own way, but building a soup-to-nuts project is one of the best ways to make learning stick and get up to speed quickly. Whether you are just getting started with Excel or are an experienced user, this book will elevate your knowledge and skills. For a beginner, the micro examples in each chapter will warm you up before you dive into the projects. For experienced users, the projects, especially those with table setup considerations, will help you become more creative in your interactions with Excel. Readers will benefit from building eight unique projects, each covering a different topic, including a word game, a food nutrition ranking, a payroll (tax withholding) calculation, an encryption, a two-way table, a Kaplan-Meier analysis, a data analysis via a pivot table and the K-means Clustering data mining method. Through these projects, you will experience firsthand how ...
Adaptive Machine Learning Algorithms with Python
Learn to use adaptive algorithms to solve real-world streaming data problems. This book covers a multitude of data processing challenges, ranging from the simple to the complex. At each step, you will gain insight into real-world use cases, find solutions, explore code used to solve these problems, and create new algorithms for your own use. Authors Chanchal Chatterjee and Vwani P. Roychowdhury begin by introducing a common framework for creating adaptive algorithms, and demonstrating how to use it to address various streaming data issues. Examples range from using matrix functions to solve machine learning and data analysis problems to more critical edge computation problems. They handle time-varying, non-stationary data with minimal compute, memory, latency, and bandwidth. Upon finishing this book, you will have a solid understanding of how to solve adaptive machine learning and data analytics problems and be able to derive new algorithms for your own use cases. You will also c ...
Learn to use adaptive algorithms to solve real-world streaming data problems. This book covers a multitude of data processing challenges, ranging from the simple to the complex. At each step, you will gain insight into real-world use cases, find solutions, explore code used to solve these problems, and create new algorithms for your own use. Authors Chanchal Chatterjee and Vwani P. Roychowdhury begin by introducing a common framework for creating adaptive algorithms, and demonstrating how to use it to address various streaming data issues. Examples range from using matrix functions to solve machine learning and data analysis problems to more critical edge computation problems. They handle time-varying, non-stationary data with minimal compute, memory, latency, and bandwidth. Upon finishing this book, you will have a solid understanding of how to solve adaptive machine learning and data analytics problems and be able to derive new algorithms for your own use cases. You will also c ...
Operating Systems and Middleware
Suppose you sit down at your computer to check your email. One of the messages includes an attached document, which you are to edit. You click the attachment, and it opens up in another window. After you start editing the document, you realize you need to leave for a trip. You save the document in its partially edited state and shut down the computer to save energy while you are gone. Upon returning, you boot the computer back up, open the document, and continue editing. This scenario illustrates that computations interact. In fact, it demonstrates at least three kinds of interactions between computations. In each case, one computation provides data to another. First, your email program retrieves new mail from the server, using the Internet to bridge space. Second, your email program provides the attachment to the word processor, using the operating system's services to couple the two application pro grams. Third, the invocation of the word processor that is running before your trip ...
Suppose you sit down at your computer to check your email. One of the messages includes an attached document, which you are to edit. You click the attachment, and it opens up in another window. After you start editing the document, you realize you need to leave for a trip. You save the document in its partially edited state and shut down the computer to save energy while you are gone. Upon returning, you boot the computer back up, open the document, and continue editing. This scenario illustrates that computations interact. In fact, it demonstrates at least three kinds of interactions between computations. In each case, one computation provides data to another. First, your email program retrieves new mail from the server, using the Internet to bridge space. Second, your email program provides the attachment to the word processor, using the operating system's services to couple the two application pro grams. Third, the invocation of the word processor that is running before your trip ...
Game Design Research
Design research, or design studies as it is also called, has been gaining momentum as a field of academic inquiry since the beginning of 20th century. Originally, design research focused on design methods and processes but it has moved to cover more varied research questions related to design. Current research topics include, for example, how to study design and what methods can be used to study design along with the more fundamental questions such as what is design in the first place and what kinds of knowledge design research produces. The topics of design research have also become more wide and varied with active research on architecture, information systems, product, service, graphic, and interaction design to name a few. Game design research, however, has received surprisingly little attention regardless of the large body of work in the more general design research. The main aim of this book is to situate game design research within and alongside general design research. ...
Design research, or design studies as it is also called, has been gaining momentum as a field of academic inquiry since the beginning of 20th century. Originally, design research focused on design methods and processes but it has moved to cover more varied research questions related to design. Current research topics include, for example, how to study design and what methods can be used to study design along with the more fundamental questions such as what is design in the first place and what kinds of knowledge design research produces. The topics of design research have also become more wide and varied with active research on architecture, information systems, product, service, graphic, and interaction design to name a few. Game design research, however, has received surprisingly little attention regardless of the large body of work in the more general design research. The main aim of this book is to situate game design research within and alongside general design research. ...
Fundamentals of Deep Learning, 2nd Edition
We're in the midst of an AI research explosion. Deep learning has unlocked superhuman perception to power our push toward creating self-driving vehicles, defeating human experts at a variety of difficult games including Go, and even generating essays with shockingly coherent prose. But deciphering these breakthroughs often takes a PhD in machine learning and mathematics. The updated second edition of this book describes the intuition behind these innovations without jargon or complexity. Python-proficient programmers, software engineering professionals, and computer science majors will be able to reimplement these breakthroughs on their own and reason about them with a level of sophistication that rivals some of the best developers in the field. Learn the mathematics behind machine learning jargon; Examine the foundations of machine learning and neural networks; Manage problems that arise as you begin to make networks deeper; Build neural networks that analyze complex images; Per ...
We're in the midst of an AI research explosion. Deep learning has unlocked superhuman perception to power our push toward creating self-driving vehicles, defeating human experts at a variety of difficult games including Go, and even generating essays with shockingly coherent prose. But deciphering these breakthroughs often takes a PhD in machine learning and mathematics. The updated second edition of this book describes the intuition behind these innovations without jargon or complexity. Python-proficient programmers, software engineering professionals, and computer science majors will be able to reimplement these breakthroughs on their own and reason about them with a level of sophistication that rivals some of the best developers in the field. Learn the mathematics behind machine learning jargon; Examine the foundations of machine learning and neural networks; Manage problems that arise as you begin to make networks deeper; Build neural networks that analyze complex images; Per ...