3D Game Programming for Kids

Book Description

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 language: 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!”

Q&A with Chris Strom, author of 3D Game Programming for Kids

Why did you write 3D Game Programming for Kids?

Like many programmers, I wanted to share my love of programming with my own kids as well as the next generation of programmers. I chose to wrap the message in the deliciousness of 3D gaming because that is what most kids (of all ages) want to create.

Let’s face it, no one learns to program because they think programming sounds like fun. Never in the history of the world was somebody sitting around the house or playing outside when the thought suddenly struck them that, “Hey, I think I’d like to learn programming, it sounds fun!” No, we all learn to program because we want to create something amazing.

And for the vast majority of kids, learning programming is something to do in order to create incredible games or weird simulations. My hope is that this book will enable kids of all ages to invent those things. And, if they fall in love with programming itself, I would not mind in the least!

Why JavaScript? Why not Python or some other language?

JavaScript makes so much sense for this book; it would have been a crime to try it in a different language. The initial reason that I opted for JavaScript was I wanted no barrier to getting started. Learning to program is hard enough without the initial pain and frustration of installing languages and tools. With JavaScript (and the ICE Code Editor web page) all a new programmer needs is a browser. In the Internet age, what could be simpler?

Most kids won’t want to hear this, but I also opted for JavaScript because it is extremely practical. It is the language of the web—web sites, web pages, web applications, and mobile applications are all built with JavaScript. People who know JavaScript are well prepared for the digital future. Being practical does have some advantages—like being able to share games and embed them on your own web sites!

And I have to admit that I love programming JavaScript. I have been programming JavaScript myself for years and never tire of it. I love it all the more for the incredible tools and libraries that have sprung up around it recently—especially the amazing Three.js library that we use throughout the book.

What kind of games will I be able to make with this book?

The book includes a nice variety of game types. Much of the first half of the book is spent creating a 3D player in a 3D world with a focus on making it as realistic and playable as possible. After that, we learn space simulations, puzzle games, mini-games, and games that simulate real-world physics. Some games include scoring, others a countdown timer, and some a little of both. Even though the name of the book includes “3D,” we also spend time on two dimensional games (think Super Mario Brothers). About the only thing we will not talk about is a multiplayer game—maybe that’s something for another book!

We won’t go into great detail about all of these things—this is a getting started book. But you should see enough to know how to start building these on your own. I cannot wait to see what you create!

Will I learn enough to be able to move on to other programming languages?

Absolutely! Programming languages are like spoken languages—there are lots of both kinds of languages and the more you learn, the better you get at learning. This book covers a ton of programming knowledge in addition to describing games and 3D concepts. Much of what you learn about JavaScript will be of use as you explore other programming languages.

That said, JavaScript is a fantastic first language to learn. It is the language of the web and you can use it to do an amazing variety of things — from creating web pages, to making web applications, to making games, to even programming robots! You could program only JavaScript for years and still learn something new every day, which is what makes programming so much fun!

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Project: Creating Simple Shapes
Chapter 2. Playing with the Console and Finding What’s Broken
Chapter 3. Project: Making an Avatar
Chapter 4. Project: Moving Avatars
Chapter 5. Functions: Use and Use Again
Chapter 6. Project: Moving Hands and Feet
Chapter 7. A Closer Look at JavaScript Fundamentals
Chapter 8. Project: Turning Our Avatar
Chapter 9. What’s All That Other Code?
Chapter 10. Project: Collisions
Chapter 11. Project: Fruit Hunt
Chapter 12. Working with Lights and Materials
Chapter 13. Project: Build Your Own Solar System
Chapter 14. Project: Phases of the Moon
Chapter 15. Project: The Purple Fruit Monster Game
Chapter 16. Project: Tilt-a-Board
Chapter 17. Project: Learning about JavaScript Objects
Chapter 18. Project: Cave Puzzle
Chapter 19. Project: Multilevel Game
Chapter 20. Project: River Rafting
Chapter 21. Getting Code on the Web

中文：

书名：3D Game Programming for Kids

你知道什么比玩游戏更好吗？创造属于你自己的。即使你是一个绝对的初学者，这本书也会教你如何用互动的例子制作自己的在线游戏。你将只使用浏览器学习编程，并在打字时看到很酷的3D结果。你将用一种真正的编程语言来学习现实世界的编程技能：网络语言–脚本。当你构建互动世界和有趣的游戏时，你会惊讶于你所能做的事情。

在学习编程基础知识的同时，您将直接开始编写游戏和模拟程序。您将使用ICE代码编辑器，它是专门为本书创建的，使您可以轻松地开始使用JavaScript编程。使用ICE编辑器，您将立即看到您的工作结果。想要一个红色甜甜圈吗？你可以制作成百上千个这样的代码，就在你刚刚输入的代码旁边疯狂地旋转。

你将在每一章中亲自动手编写代码。你将从构建简单的动画形状开始，然后制作你自己的会翻筋斗的球员！你将自始至终学习如何构建自己的游戏，包括吃水果的怪物、洞穴拼图和在河上漂流。你将用动画制作简单的形状来创建一个太阳系模型，并制作你自己的网站，这样你就可以和你的朋友们展示你的游戏。如果你只是想做游戏，那就跳到专注于项目的课程。要更好地理解一些理论，或者如果您需要一些函数方面的帮助，请转到解释编程概念的章节。我们将仔细地为您讲解将游戏带入生活所需的所有数学运算。

最棒的是，你可以创建很棒的游戏，然后说，这是我做的！

克里斯·斯特罗姆(Chris Strom)问答， 适合儿童的3D游戏编程

Why did you write 适合儿童的3D游戏编程？

像许多程序员一样，我想和我自己的孩子以及下一代程序员分享我对编程的热爱。我选择用3D游戏的美味来包装这一信息，因为这是大多数孩子(各个年龄段)想要创造的。

让我们面对现实吧，没有人学习编程是因为他们认为编程听起来很有趣。在世界历史上，从来没有一个人坐在房子里或在外面玩耍时突然有这样的想法：“嘿，我想我想学编程，听起来很有趣！”不，我们都学习编程是因为我们想创造一些令人惊叹的东西。

对于大多数孩子来说，学习编程是为了创造令人难以置信的游戏或奇怪的模拟。我希望这本书能让所有年龄段的孩子都能发明这些东西。而且，如果他们爱上编程本身，我一点也不会介意！

为什么选择使用Java脚本？为什么不用Python或其他语言呢？

对于这本书来说，JavaScript非常有意义；如果用另一种语言来尝试它，那将是一种犯罪。我选择使用JavaScript的最初原因是我不想有任何障碍。学习编程已经够难的了，没有安装语言和工具的最初痛苦和挫折。有了JavaScript(和ICE代码编辑器网页)，新程序员所需要的只是一个浏览器。在互联网时代，还有什么比这更简单的呢？

大多数孩子不会想听到这个，但我也选择了JavaScript，因为它是 extremely 很实用。它是Web的语言–网站、网页、Web应用程序和移动应用程序都是用JavaScript构建的。了解JavaScript的人已经为数字化的未来做好了充分的准备。实用确实有一些优势–比如能够分享游戏，并将它们嵌入到你自己的网站上！

我必须承认，我喜欢编写Java脚本。多年来，我一直在自己编写Java脚本，而且从未厌倦过。我更喜欢它，因为最近围绕它涌现出了令人难以置信的工具和库–特别是我们在整本书中使用的令人惊叹的Three.js库。

我能用这本书做什么游戏呢？

这本书包括了各种各样的游戏类型。该书前半部分的大部分内容是在3D世界中创建3D播放器，重点是使其尽可能逼真和可玩。在那之后，我们学习空间模拟、益智游戏、迷你游戏和模拟真实世界物理的游戏。有些游戏包括计分，有些游戏有倒计时计时器，有些游戏两者兼而有之。尽管这本书的名字包括了“3D”，但我们也花时间在二维游戏上(想想超级马里奥兄弟)。关于我们唯一不会谈论的是多人游戏–也许这是另一本书的内容！

我们不会详细讨论所有这些事情–这是一本入门读物。但你应该看到足够多的东西，知道如何开始自己建造这些东西。我迫不及待地想看看你创造了什么！

我是否学到了足够的知识，能够转向其他编程语言？

绝对一点儿没错!编程语言就像口语–这两种语言都有很多，你学得越多，你学得就越好。这本书除了描述游戏和3D概念外，还涵盖了大量的编程知识。当您探索其他编程语言时，您所学到的许多关于JavaScript的知识都将是有用的。

这就是说，JavaScript是一门很棒的学习第一语言。它是网络的语言，你可以用它来做各种各样的事情–从创建网页，到制作网络应用程序，到制作游戏，甚至是给机器人编程！您可以多年来只编写Java脚本，但仍然每天学习新的东西，这就是编程如此有趣的原因！

目录表

第1章.项目：创建简单形状
第2章：玩游戏机，找出损坏的地方
第三章项目：制作一个阿凡达
Chapter 4. Project: Moving Avatars
Chapter 5. Functions: Use and Use Again
第6章项目：移动手脚
第7章.更详细地了解Java基础知识
第八章项目：将我们的阿凡达
第九章。其他的代码是什么？
第十章项目：碰撞
第11章.项目：寻找水果
第12章.使用灯光和材质
第13章项目：建造你自己的太阳系
第十四章：项目：月相
第15章项目：紫果怪兽游戏
Chapter 16. Project: Tilt-a-Board
Chapter 17. Project: Learning about JavaScript Objects
Chapter 18. Project: Cave Puzzle
第十九章项目：多层博弈
Chapter 20. Project: River Rafting
第二十一章。在Web上获取代码