Take inspiration from the golden age of video games and learn how to write your own modern classics
Code the Classics Volume 1 not only tells the stories of some of the seminal video games of the 1970s and 1980s, but shows you how to create your own games inspired by them, following examples programmed by Raspberry Pi founder Eben Upton. In this book, you'll learn how to run and edit the games in this book by installing Python, Pygame Zero, and an IDE. You'll also:
- Get game design tips and tricks from the masters
- Learn how to code your own games with Pygame Zero
- Explore the code listings and find out how they work
You'll meet these vintage-inspired games, and learn from their code in between rounds of play:
- Boing!: all it took was a couple of lines and a dot, and gamers would be queuing up to play.
- Cavern: Enduringly popular, the platform game genre is still packed with creative possibilities.
- Infinite Bunner: Play around with the benefits that a top-down perspective can lend to the classic platform genre.
- Myriapod: Some shooters confine the gameplay to a single screen while limiting the player's movement. Restrictions can build challenge and difficulty, making for truly addictive gaming.
- Substitute Soccer: Top-down games of pinball-style soccer built a huge cult following and kicked off a sports genre that's still going strong.
David Crookes began his career as a journalist in 1994 as a freelance writer for Amstrad Action. He has since written and worked for regional newspapers, The Independent, BBC Radio 5 Live, gamesTM, Wireframe, and Retro Gamer, among many others. His previous books include Cloud Computing In Easy Steps and Facebook for Beginners In Easy Steps. He also curated Videogame Nation, an exhibition celebrating the rise of gaming, which toured the UK.
Andrew Gillett grew up with early computers such as the ZX Spectrum, and was writing simple programs from the age of five. Since then, he's worked on games that have sold millions, including Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, Kinectimals, and Kinect Disneyland Adventures. After working in the games industry for 13 years, he is now a computer science/programming tutor and indie developer.
Liz Upton was an award-winning journalist before becoming one of the co-founders of Raspberry Pi along with her husband Eben. She now works as Executive Director of Communications at Raspberry Pi. Liz plays the piano, collects and restores old fountain pens, and has an uncanny knack of getting toddlers to consume vegetables.
Eben Upton is the CEO of Raspberry Pi Ltd. He is responsible for the overall software and hardware architecture of Raspberry Pi computers and microcontrollers.
Dan Malone has been involved in the UK games industry for over 30 years and has been writing stories, games, designing characters, and drawing comics for most of his life. His work includes design and graphics on games from Speedball 2 and The Chaos Engine (Amiga/Atari ST) to character model design on SSX Blur (Nintendo Wii).
