Mike Cook

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Next Level: Making Games That Make Themselves by Mike Cook explains the world of Automated Game Design (AGD). Dr. Cook is an English game designer and academic.

In this book, the author finds a nice balance between creative entertainment and rigorous algorithmic logic. Like many other occupations, Al is changing the gaming industry, and this is true for the gaming industry as well.

Mike Cook's Next Level makes the argument show more that the future of gamine lies in Generative Design. This technology can create systems that autonomously build games, including creating levels and interactions based on user experience.

The title is misleading, no one is going to learn how to make "games that make themselves" by reading this book. You'll get a nice, somewhat granular overview of the technology. You don't have to read the whole book to realize it though, the first chapters will tell you exactly that this not what it's about.

I enjoyed the deep dive into the autonomous architecture which is discussed. I've built some games previously, some for fun, some for work (but they were still fun) but my experience was different as we had no engines. I still play games, if my limited time permits me, but I enjoy mostly RPG's like Assassin's Creed and Red Dead Redemption.

The author goes into some philosophy discussion about the nature of creativity. It was an interesting, thoughtful and fair discussion. I'm not an artist and really don't know enough or heard enough discussion to form an opinion. All I know is that Al can make graphics for this blog that I couldn't dream of making even if I worked whole days on them.

This is not an easy read though. If you're not interested in the mechanics of Al, technical granularity, or game theory and a bit of math, you'd probably find this book boring. show less

The business world has drastically changed in the last few years. This book shows how to develop the inner strength and abilities to survive in the new global marketplace.

For many years, a central component of American business involved the concepts of Commitment and Loyalty. It was a time when a person could expect to spend their entire working career at one company. As long as the employee was willing to give the company the best years of their life, and not even think about going to show more another company that may be a better fit for the employee (keep dissenting opinions to yourself), the company will be there to take care of the employee. If you haven’t already learned, the hard way, that such a way of thinking no longer exists, you will.

The most important thing, in today’s world, is to learn to be adaptable, which involves several things. First of all, take personal responsibility for your own financial welfare; no one else will do it for you. Come up with your own personal vision; something more than simply "employment at my previous salary level." Technical competence and reputation are pretty self-explanatory. The last is collaborative competence. It doesn’t just involve how well you get along with others at work, but how well you bring value to the workplace. In the myriad of small and large interactions that make up the workplace, how willing are people to interact with you? If you can become something like the "go to" person, upper management will think long and hard before giving you a pink slip.

This book doesn’t try to lay blame for globalization, or look at "hot" industries in the coming years, but tries to show a new way of thinking so that a person in any industry can make themselves indispensable at work. It succeeds really well, and is very much worth reading. show less