Acknowledgments

Looking at the final draft of this book I can't help but be surprised and proud of its quality. What many people don't realize is that a project of this magnitude can't be brought about by just one person. Actually, this book is the combined effort of many people, some of whom have done as much work as the author himself, and all of whom have brought their own brand of expertise to the task. So I have many people to thank:

Wendy Katz, for your amazing work. Thanks to your great edits, suggestions, and comments, my chapters look like an intelligent person wrote them!

Eric Dolecki, for doing a magnificent job with the figures and screenshots for this book, turning my scribbled instructions into clear illustrations, thanks a lot!

Robert Firebaugh, for the phenomenal graphics you created to go with the games in this book, and for the very informative chapter on the graphical approach in games.

Mike Grundvig, for developing ElectroServer, miscellaneous server-side scripts, and for writing the appendix on multiuser gaming. Not to mention your great suggestions and guidance for good code structure.

Derek Baird, for your contribution of music and sound effects for the games in this book, and content for the Sound chapter.

Branden Hall, for your wddx_mx.as file, which is a great asset to multiplayer gaming.

I am grateful for the support and contributions of the entire Peachpit Press crew and production team, especially Wendy Sharp, Marjorie Baer, Lisa Brazieal, David Van Ness, Elissa Rabellino, and Rebecca Plunkett. I also want to acknowledge Kurt Wolken of Wolken Communica for the cover design and Bentley Wolfe of Macromedia for his sharp-eyed technical verifications.

Support and encouragement of friends and family have enabled me to gain the experience and determination needed to write this book. A big all-around thank you to mom, dad, Grambo, my grandparents, and Janie. Of course I also need to acknowledge the smaller creatures (even though they can't read), Free, Chance, Hayes, and Ross you furry guys provide a frequent and welcome distraction. And finally, to Kelly, my amazing wife and constant source of inspiration: thank you for being my toughest critic and yet my biggest supporter.