daryl bates engine terminology finished

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

1

Produce a glossary of terms specific to the methods and principles of Video Game Design and Video Game Terms. Using a provided template, you must research and gather definitions specific to provided glossary terms. Any definitions must be referenced with the URL link of the website you have obtained the definition. You must also, where possible, provide specific details of how researched definitions relate to your own production practice. Name: RESEARCHED DEFINITION (provide short

internet researched definition and URL

link)

DESCRIBE THE RELEVANCE OF THE RESEARCHED TERM TO YOUR

OWN PRODUCTION PRACTICE?

IMAGE SUPPORT (Provide an image and/or video link of said term being used in a game)

VIDEO GAMES / VIDEO GAME TESTING

Demo (Demo (video games)) A game demo is a freely dis tributed demonstration or preview of an upcoming or recently released video game.

Demos are typically released by the game's publisher to help consumers get a feel of the

game before deciding whether to buy the full

vers ion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_demo

If we make a demo of our game we can show others a quick snip-it of our creation. This will help generate buzz

and hopefully grantee buyers.

This is an example of a demo, a demo disc from the good old days of the PS2.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

2

Beta Beta's are just a test for developers.

They want to see how well their game works when randoms are playing it, find out if they got anything wrong

before they sell it ect. Some betas do look at your playing

habits inside the game, and send details on your playing back to the developer. It lets them check whether

you’re playing the game the way they intended. A large amount of beta feedback is also relayed through

forums and questionnaires. You can probably find the relevant forum in Google if you want to provide feedback

to the developer. In short, it lets the see if they messed

anything up, or need to make anything better, and fix it before people actually pay for the game.

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110421155200AAjBaBn

We could place our game into beta and

a l low people to play our game and tell us what they think. This will help with finding bugs and it will also help us get an idea of what people think of our

game.

This is a picture that was a advertisement for the beta of the game Destiny.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

3

Alpha In independent games, or just "Indie"

Games, The alpha stage is a low cost release to gain popularity before the game is released as a retail copy. http://johngreasygamer.hubpages.com/question/228316/what-is-the-alpha-stage-in-video-games-and-their-testing

The a lpha stage will be useful to test

out our game mechanics and the game in general.

This is a picture of someone downloading the a lpha for the game

destiny. Pre-Alpha Pre-Alpha is a standard term to denote

a number of interim milestones between prototyping and alpha, each of which includes new functionality

and/or game content. http://www.whatgamesare.com/pre-alpha.html

This will be used to help us test out the

game engine before we go deeper into

production.

This is a screen shot of the pre-alpha of Minecraft.

Gold Bas ically, when a game goes "gold", the beta-testing phase has been successful and passed, therefore allowing the game to be

duplicated/produced and published for retail sa le. https ://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qi

d=20070607052358AAxntHM

The gold stage will be extremely useful because i t would signify the end of production and tell us that our creation

is a success.

This is a picture of the retailed version of the game Destiny.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

4

Debug Debugging is a methodical process of finding

and reducing the number of bugs, or defects, in a computer program or a piece of electronic hardware, thus making i t behave as expected. Debugging tends to be harder when various

subsystems are tightly coupled, as changes in one may cause bugs to emerge in another.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debugging

This stage i s a key s tage because i t

a l lows us to play through the game and fix any problems we come across, making the game an overall better experience.

This is a screen cap of someone going through the debugging

process.

Automation The use or introduction of automatic equipment in a manufacturing or other process or faci lity. https ://www.google.co.uk/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=oJUJVJf5KeOq8wfb14GYDA#q=what+is+automation

(google definition)

This would be where we add game mechanics (by the use of scripts), a very useful procedure in the whole creation process.

This is a picture giving an explanation of what automation is.

White-Box Testing

Also known as glass box, s tructural, clear box and open box testing. A software testing technique whereby explicit knowledge of the

internal workings of the i tem being tested are used to select the test data.

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/White_

Box_Testing.html

This will be useful to test out our programming to see if it a ll works, and i f not. Fix it.

This is a picture explaining the process of white-box testing.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

5

Bug Sometimes called a glitch, a bug is just

something wrong with the program. Sometimes it might be not serious maybe something like when you prone

on the ground, you might be displayed incorrectly. And sometimes it might be serious, like in Call of Duty 4 (recently

fixed) you used to be able to dodge headshots by leaning, even though a bullet would hit your face, the game

would register it as a miss. https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080622111127AAsXob5

Understanding this term will be useful

so that we can understand and identify problems we experience or is reported to us during beta testing.

This is a picture of bug that was found in the game Battlefield.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

6

GAME ENGINES GAME ENGINES

Vertex

Shader

A Vertex Shader i s also GPU component and is

a lso programmed using a specific assembly-like language, like pixel shaders, but are oriented to the scene geometry and can do things like adding cartoony silhouette edges to objects,

etc. http://s tackoverflow.com/questions/832545/

what-are-vertex-and-pixel-shaders

This will be useful to us so that we can

make objects in our game look more rea listic (or not), in other words making objects look like we want.

This is a picture of a vertex shader on a surface.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

7

Pixel

Shader

A Pixel Shader is a GPU (Graphic Processing

Unit) component that can be programmed to operate on a per pixel basis and take care of s tuff l ike lighting and bump mapping. http://s tackoverflow.com/questions/832545/

what-are-vertex-and-pixel-shaders

Similar to vertex this will help us make

environments look l ike we want.

This a picture of a pixel shader demonstrating it’s capabilities.

Post Processing

It the effects you see in games like: Depth of Field - Blur landscapes in the distance or close up l ike Camera Out of Focus.

Motion Blur - Blurs screen movement to give games a more "movie feel" during fast motion.

HDR - High Dynamic Range Lighting - Lighting of environment changes according to were the camera view is (Inside/Outside) Colour Correction and Clamping - Seems to

l imit the range of colours to give a more rea listic feel or washed out feel. Looks to be all GPU intensive (Shaders) and can

s tress graphics cards a lot more at higher resolutions. Coli McRae DiRT is a good example

of Post Proccesing intensive game which can chug on even the newest cards at extreme resolutions. http://forum.notebookreview.com/gaming-software-graphics-cards/192383-what-

postprocessing.html

This is helpful to help the game look more visually appealing and create a smoother running scene, by creating a

blur on further away textures.

This is a picture of scene before post processing and after post processing.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

8

Rendering Rendering is the process of

generating an image from a 2D or 3D model (or models in what collectively could be called a scene file), by means of computer programs. Also, the results of such a model can be called a rendering. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendering_(computer_graphics)

This will be useful to help us create and

introduce objects and characters into the game engine.

This picture shows the rendering screen of a game working within i t’s game engine.

Normal Map

Normal mapping used to re -detail simplified meshes. In 3D computer graphics, normal

mapping, or "Dot3 bump mapping", is a technique used for faking the lighting of bumps and dents – an implementation of bump mapping. It i s used to add details without using

more polygons. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_mapping

We can use this to polish over noticeable imperfections and make the

game look better.

This is a picture of a normal map before it has been applied.

Entity Enti ty-component-system (ECS) is a software

architecture pattern that implements concepts from Composition over inheritance using a

database-like s tructure. Common ECS approaches are highly compatible with Data-

driven programming techniques, and the two approaches are often combined. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity_component_system

Enti ties will be used to life and

intelligence to in game AI.

This is a picture explaining what entity i s.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

9

UV Map UV Texturing i s how you texture inside of

Blender. It can be quite difficult, so this tutorial wi l l help you learn the basics of unwrapping/texturing simple meshes. You will a lso learn the basic techniques in unwrapping

complex textures. http://bgetutorials.wordpress.com/2007/12/1

8/uv-texturing-mapping/

This will be useful to add textures to 3d

objects.

This is a picture of a UV map before i t has been applied to an

object, in this case the face of an NPC.

Procedural Texture

A procedural texture is a computer-generated image created using an algorithm intended to create a realistic representation of natural elements such as wood, marble, granite, metal,

s tone, and others. Usually, the natural look of the rendered result is achieved by the usage of

fracta l noise and turbulence functions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedural_texture

This will be useful to help the game run a lot smoother by only generating complex images when required.

This is a picture of procedural textures that have been wrapped

around balls.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

10

Physics Computer animation physics or game physics

involves the introduction of the laws of physics into a simulation or game engine, particularly in 3D computer graphics, for the purpose of making the effects appear more real to the

observer. Typically, simulation physics is only a close approximation to real physics, and

computation is performed using discrete

va lues. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_physics

Phys ics will be useful to implement real

l i fe aspects into our game such as gravi ty.

This is a picture a game where a car i s drifting, demonstrating the phys ics that have been added to the games engine.

Collision Col l ision detection typically refers to the computational problem of detecting the

intersection of two or more objects. While the topic i s most often associated with i ts use in video games and other physical simulations, i t

a lso has applications in robotics. In addition to determining whether two objects have

col l ided, collision detection systems may a lso ca lculate time of impact (TOI), and report a contact manifold (the set of intersecting points). Collision response deals with

s imulating what happens when a collision is detected (see physics engine, ragdoll physics). Solving collision detection problems requires

extensive use of concepts from linear algebra and computational geometry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collision_detection

Col l isions will be useful to stop objects passing through each other and

a l lowing hit boxes to be created so that game mechanics will work.

This is a picture of s tacked blocks falling down, implying that a col l ision has occurred making the blocks fall.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

11

Lighting Lighting is one of the most important and influential elements in environments. It has the power to make or break the visuals, theme and atmosphere. http://www.moddb.com/tutorials/lighting-in-game-environments-the-hows-and-whys

Lighting i s one of the most useful

aspects of creation. Applying lighting can make mediocre textures look high end, with no l ighting high end textures look mediocre.

This is a picture of someone applying light to a scene in the unity game engine.

AA – Anti-

Aliasing Anti-Aliasing is a term used lots when selling graphics cards, but what exactly

is Anti-Aliasing? We look deeper into the reasoning behind Anti-Aliasing and why we need it in the first place. There

are varying types of anti-aliasing producing different results and different levels of performance hit.

http://www.pantherproducts.co.uk/index.php?pageid=antialiasing

This will be useful to fix broken

textures that may appear due to insufficient or incompatible aspect

ratios.

This is a picture of a scene before and after anti analysing.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

12

LoD – Level

of Detail In computer graphics, accounting

for level of detail involves decreasing the complexity of a 3D object representation as it moves away from the viewer or according to other metrics such as object importance, viewpoint-relative speed or position. Level of detail techniques increases the efficiency of rendering by decreasing the workload on graphics pipeline stages, usually

vertex transformations. The reduced visual quality of the model is often unnoticed because of the small effect on object appearance when distant or moving fast. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Level_of_detail

This will be useful to allow the game

engine to run smoother since i t is loading less detailed images for the further away objects, AI or landscape.

This is a scene demonstrating the level of detail that has been applied.

Animation Art and animation in video games refers to how things

physically look, which includes everything from the packaging on a retail video game, to the

texture of the skin on each character, to the graphical user

interface, to the way a character rolls her ankle when she walks. It does not include how the

game-playing device or controller (the hardware) looks.

http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/413/game_art_and_animation_an_introduction.php

This is useful to help finish off the

games visual appeal, textures and landscapes may look beautiful but

without animation the movement of the AI and, possibly, objects will ruin

the game.

This is a picture of someone animating a character.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

13

Sprite 1. In computer graphics, a sprite (also known by other

names; see Synonyms below) is

a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene. Initially including

just graphical objects handled separately from the memory

bitmap of a video display, this now includes various manners of graphical overlays. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprite_(computer_graphics)

Spri tes are useful i f we would like to

create a 2D s idescrolling game, so that the game engine doesn’t struggle loading complex 3d models.

This is a picture of sprite form the game maker game engine.

Scene Scenes contain the objects of your game. They can be used to create a main menu, individual

levels, and anything else. Think of each unique

Scene file as a unique level. In each Scene, you wi l l place your environments, obstacles, and

decorations, essentially designing and building your game in pieces. http://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/CreatingScenes .html

This will be useful because this is the area where the objects and

characters/AI will live. Without the

scene, there is no game.

This a picture of an in game scene.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

14

Library In computer science, a library i s a collection of

non-volatile resources used by programs on a computer, often to develop software. These may include configuration data, documentation, help data, message templates,

pre-wri tten code and subroutines, classes, va lues or type specifications. In IBM's OS/360

and i ts successors they are referred to as

parti tioned data sets. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_(computi

ng)

A l ibrary wi ll be useful to help us keep

a l l of the game files together and organised in one place.

This is a picture of a library in a game engine.

UI User interface design in games differs

from other UI design because it

involves an additional element -- fiction.

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/AnthonyStonehouse/20140227/211823/

User_interface_design_in_video_gam

es.php

This is the first place the player comes into contact with the game. This will be

useful to us so that we can create an appeling interface that keeps the player playing.

This is a picture of the user interface from the unity game engine.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

15

Frames Frame rate, also known as frame frequency

and frames per second (FPS), is the frequency (rate) at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames. The term applies equally well to film and video

cameras, computer graphics, and motion capture systems. Frame rate is most often

expressed in frames per second (FPS) and is

a lso expressed in progressive scan monitors as hertz (Hz).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame_rate

These are used to help us monitor the

speed the game is running at. We hope to achieve a solid 60FPS or above.

This picture demonstrates the difference between 30fps and

60fps . Concept In game theory, a solution concept i s a formal

rule for predicting how a game will be played. These predictions are called "solutions", and describe which strategies will be adopted by players and, therefore, the result of the game.

The most commonly used solution concepts are equilibrium concepts, most famously Nash equilibrium.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solution_concept

This is useful to allow us to generate

ideas on how we would like the game to play, without this the gameplay would be choppy and incomplete.

This is a concept picture for a video game.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre

BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games IG2 Task 1

16

Event So, what are events? Basically, these are

discreet moments in the game loop where things are made to happen based on what you have programmed for them. You see GameMaker: Studio works with cycles of these

events - from the moment a room is started to the moment it is finished there is a game loop

running where every s tep (a step is a moment

in game time, governed by the room speed setting) a series of events are run, and you can

choose to place code or DnD actions in your instances that respond to these events. http://docs.yoyogames.com/source/dadiospice/000_us ing%20gamemaker/events/index.htm

l

Events are useful to keep the game

running smoothly, by activation events i t triggers certain bits of code/script to a l low/make the game continue instead of doing nothing or maybe crashing.

(Al lowing a constant flow)

This is a picture showing how the code for triggering an event works .

Pathfinding Pathfinding or pathing is the plotting, by a computer application, of the shortest route

between two points. It is a more practical variant on solving mazes. This field of research i s based heavily on Dijkstra's algorithm for

finding the shortest path on a weighted graph. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathfinding

If the game scene is a complicated layout, the AI is going to require a

complex pathfinding in order for i t to smartly move around the map.

This is a picture of the path of a AI, intelligently avoiding objects.