Blood, sweat, and tears have been poured into this title to provide cutting-edge graphics technology, stunning art assets, and dramatic surround sound. We've spent days (and nights) wrestling with new technologies to provide the player with a "playground" and "toy set" that was previously only the stuff of dreams.

Nonetheless, once you strip away the gloss, Crackdown boils down to a handful of gameplay linchpins, or what we term the "pillars of play". Take it from me that when charged with building such a grand gaming monument, it is vitally important to have absolute faith in the basic foundations! I was therefore very pleased to see that this book encourages you to identify these pillars (or game mechanics) and discover how a system of simple rules can combine in unique and compelling ways to create a spellbinding experience.

As you progress through the book you'll build a series of excellent games that you might never have even dreamed you could be capable of creating right now. The instructions are clear and concise, but also encourage you to experiment with your own designs. For example, your version of the captivating and original Koalabr8 game (Chapter 8) will almost certainly be a unique piece of software. The crazy devices you invent, and the way you lay out your levels, will certainly differ from mine. Watch out for Lazarus too (Chapter 4) - it may interest you to know that this eponymous hero first appeared in Jacob's student portfolio, and was partly responsible for securing his first programming job in the industry!