Author: Jason Schreier File Type: epub Developing video gamesheros journey or fools errand? The creative and technical logistics that go into building todays hottest games can be more harrowing and complex than the games themselves, often seeming like an endless maze or a bottomless abyss. In Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, Jason Schreier takes readers on a fascinating odyssey behind the scenes of video game development, where the creator may be a team of 600 overworked underdogs or a solitary geek genius. Exploring the artistic challenges, technical impossibilities, marketplace demands, and Donkey Kong-sized monkey wrenches thrown into the works by corporate, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels reveals how bringing any game to completion is more than Sisypheanits nothing short of miraculous. Taking some of the most popular, bestselling recent games, Schreier immerses readers in the hellfire of the development process, whether its RPG studio Biowares challenge to beat an impossible schedule and overcome countless technical nightmares to build Dragon Age Inquisition indie developer Eric Barones single-handed efforts to grow country-life RPG Stardew Valley from one mans vision into a multi-million-dollar franchise or Bungie spinning out from their corporate overlords at Microsoft to create Destiny, a brand new universe that they hoped would become as iconic as Star Wars and Lord of the Ringseven as it nearly ripped their studio apart. Documenting the round-the-clock crunches, buggy-eyed burnout, and last-minute saves, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is a journey through development helland ultimately a tribute to the dedicated diehards and unsung heroes who scale mountains of obstacles in their quests to create the best games imaginable. **Review Necessary to read by the end, my only complaint about Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is that there wasnt more to read. (Forbes.com) Making video games is one ofmost transformative,exciting things Ive done in mytwo decades as a freelance writer. Making videogames is also anexcruciatingjourneyintoHellmouth itself. Jason Schreiers wonderfulbookcaptures boththe excitement and the hell. Here, at long last, isagripping, intelligentglimpsebehind a thick (and needlessly secretive)creativecurtain. (Tom Bissell,author ofExtra LivesandApostle,and writer on theGears of War,Uncharted, andBattlefieldfranchises) A meticulously researched, well-written, and painful at times account of many developers and studios highs and lows. May need to make it required reading for the developers at my studio. (Cliff Bleszinski, creator of Gears of War and founder of Boss Key Productions) The stories in this book make for a fascinating and remarkably complete pantheon of just about every common despair and every joy related to game development. (Rami Ismail, cofounder of Vlambeer and developer of Nuclear Throne) Jason Schreier brilliantly exposes the truth about how video games are made. Brutal, honest, yet ultimately uplifting Ive been gaming for thirty years, yet I was surprised by every page. Turns out what I didnt know about my favorite hobby could fill a book. This book! Cant recommend it enough to any serious fan of this generations greatest new art form. (Adam Conover, executive producer and host of truTVs Adam Ruins Everything) ...his enthusiasm is contagious even if youve never played one of these games, youll be riveted by the account of how they came to be. (Booklist) Schreier covers the notoriously secretive gaming industry and he knows it well He also clearly respects [the] developers and their achievements, and treats their rueful tales of selfless struggle with an admiring deferencea useful survey of the landscape of game production at this cultural moment. (GQ) Schreier sets each scene with admirable prowess, giving the reader just enough information to feel the weight of each story. For anyone who has ever wondered how some of the most successful games are made, this book is a real eye-opener At its heart, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is an ode to the people who put every fiber of their being into making memorable experiences for gamers all over the world. (Fiction Southeast) From the Back Cover The creative and technical logistics that go into building todays hottest games can be more fraught with challenges and complex than the games themselves, often seeming like an endless maze or a bottomless abyss. In Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, Jason Schreier takes readers on a fascinating odyssey behind the scenes of video game development, where the creator may be a team of six hundred overworked underdogs or a solitary geek genius. Exploring the artistic challenges, technical impossibilities, marketplace demands, and Donkey Kongsized monkey wrenches thrown into the works by corporate, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels reveals how bringing any game to completion is more than Sisypheanits nothing short of miraculous. Examining some of the bestselling games and most infamous failures, Schreier immerses readers in the hellfire of the development process, whether its RPG studio BioWares challenge to beat an impossible schedule and overcome countless technical nightmares to build Dragon Age Inquisition indie developer Eric Barones single-handed efforts to grow country-life RPG Stardew Valley from one mans vision into a multimillion-dollar franchise or Bungie employees spinning out from their corporate overlords at Microsoft to create Destiny, a brand-new universe that they hoped would become as iconic as Star Wars and Lord of the Ringseven as it nearly ripped their studio apart. Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is a journey through development helland ultimately a tribute to the dedicated diehards and unsung heroes who scale mountains of obstacles in their quests to create the best games imaginable.

Author: Rosemary Lloyd File Type: pdf In nineteenth-century Paris, Charles Baudelaire provoked the excoriations of critics and was legally banned for corrupting public morality, yet he was a key influence on many later thinkers and writers, including Marcel Proust, Walter Benjamin, and T. S. Eliot. Baudelaires life was as controversial and vivid as his works, as Rosemary Lloyd reveals in Charles Baudelaire, a succinct yet learned recounting.Lloyd argues that Baudelaires writings and life were intimately intertwinedand both were powerfully informed by contemporaneous political events, from his participation in the 1848 Revolution to the public morality codes that banned his controversial writings, such as Les fleurs du mal. The book traces the influence of these events and other political moments in his poems and essays and analyzes his works in this new light. Lloyd also examines the links between Baudelaires works and cultural movements of the time, from the rise and fall of Romanticism to symbolism, and explores his groundbreaking translations of Edgar Allan Poes writings into French.Baudelaires tumultuous personal life figures large here, too, as Lloyd draws out fascinating aspects of his personality and daily life through analysis of archival writings of his friends and acquaintances. The book also documents his battles with syphilis and drug addiction, which ultimately resulted in his death. An engrossing and wholly readable biography, Charles Baudelaire will be essential for scholars and Baudelaire admirers alike. ** In nineteenth-century Paris, Charles Baudelaire provoked the excoriations of critics and was legally banned for corrupting public morality, yet he was a key influence on many later thinkers and writers, including Marcel Proust, Walter Benjamin, and T. S. Eliot. Baudelaires life was as controversial and vivid as his works, as Rosemary Lloyd reveals in Charles Baudelaire, a succinct yet learned recounting.Lloyd argues that Baudelaires writings and life were intimately intertwinedand both were powerfully informed by contemporaneous political events, from his participation in the 1848 Revolution to the public morality codes that banned his controversial writings, such as Les fleurs du mal. The book traces the influence of these events and other political moments in his poems and essays and analyzes his works in this new light. Lloyd also examines the links between Baudelaires works and cultural movements of the time, from the rise and fall of Romanticism to symbolism, and explores his groundbreaking translations of Edgar Allan Poes writings into French.Baudelaires tumultuous personal life figures large here, too, as Lloyd draws out fascinating aspects of his personality and daily life through analysis of archival writings of his friends and acquaintances. The book also documents his battles with syphilis and drug addiction, which ultimately resulted in his death. An engrossing and wholly readable biography, Charles Baudelaire will be essential for scholars and Baudelaire admirers alike. **Review. . . draws on the standard biographies of Baudelaire, but her emphasis on the poets diaries, letters and reviews of exhibitions, as well as his unsuccessful projects for novels and plays, shakes up commonplace legends about his life and work . . . [a] well-balanced portrait . . . a fine introduction. Times Literary Supplement (Times Literary Supplement) The particular achievement of the book lies in the skill with which Baudelaires life and his creative and critical writing are brought together . . . an admirable introduction to the complexity of Baudelaires mind and personality, to the development of his views on the nature and function of creative writing and to the wonders of his imagination. Australian Book Review (Australian Book Review) This compact but masterful critical biography offers an excellent study and teaching tool with a wealth of original insights. It has much to offer anyone interested in the birth of Modernism in art or literature and more generally anyone with an interest in French cultural history in the nineteenth century. *H-France Review * (H-France Review) A highly regarded critic and author of books on Baudelaire, Mallarme, and other topics, Rosemary Lloyd here gives us a solid and very interesting study of Charles Baudelaire within the context of his personal life and journey, his fascination with poetry, the visual arts, art criticism, and translation, and his place in the political, social, and cultural arenas of nineteenth-century France and especially Paris. This is a critical study geared for both an academic and a general public, and with this dual audience in mind, Lloyd manages to succeedand succeed extremely well. This reviewer figured that she would skim the book for review but found herself reading every word, studying the numerous photographs and illustrations that so enhance the text, and feeling depressed when both Baudelaires life and this book came to an end . . . a delightfully written and interesting study. The Oscholars (The Oscholars) About the Author Rosemary Lloyd is affiliate professor at the University of Adelaide and the Rudy Professor Emerita at Indiana University. She is the author of many books, including Mallarme The Poet and His Circle, Baudelaires World, and Shimmering in a Transformed Light Writing the Still Life.