Game Engine Terminology

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: Patryk

Kleczkowski

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 A game demo is a freely distributed 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 ful l version.

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

A demo can be very useful in terms of showing your product off to your customer before one buys i t, having a demo attached

to a ful l game when it releases can help build up trust in customers and increase sales, s ince people will be able to try out your product before putting

the money forward. This therefore allows for the game to

be easier to access. Of course the

demo must be limited in some way so that a full game needs to

be bought.



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Beta A quality-control technique in which

hardware or software is subjected to tria l in the environment for which it was designed, usually after debugging by the manufacturer and immediately

prior to marketing.

http://dictionary.reference.com/brow

se/beta+test

Beta is done usually after the

Alpha, i t can be used by the game developer to test out their game with their customers for any bugs/problems before releasing a

ful l version of the product. This therefore allows for a better

game and better user experience.

Alpha An early test of a new or updated

software or hardware conducted by the developers or manufacturers prior to beta-testing by potential users

http://dictionary.reference.com/brow

se/alpha%20test

Alpha can be used to test out the game on the public before releasing i t as a full copy, this therefore usually a llows for

better testing and thus less bugs and problems when the game

launches, i t’s a win, win scenario for both the customer and the developer.



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Pre-Alpha Pre-Alpha means that the game still

has a scheduled list of code and assets to be wri tten and created. The game is buggy, i t lacks features, it’s prone to crashing and performance issues.

There will be issues with the frame-rate of the game, and things that work

in one release being a bit broken in

the next. Pre-Alpha means that the game has not yet reached the s tage of

completion where i t can be described as “Alpha”. https ://carmageddon.zendesk.com/hc

/en-us/articles/200416352-What-does-Pre-Alpha-mean-

Pre-a lpha can be used to show of

an early game concept at some kind of a big show like E3 to build up hype and show how the game ini tially looks. This can help in

marketing as well as in gaining va luable feedback.

Gold Gold master is the final game's build that i s used as a master for production of the game. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_ga

me_development

Gold level status is a level of a development where the game is nearly ready to be released and only final testing has to be done.



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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

Debugging is necessary to be

done in order to make sure that the game produced won’t come out buggy and unplayable. This therefore, if done will guarantee

better user experience and therefore better initial opinions

of the game and most likely

better sales, this combined with things like the a lpha and beta

early access can allow for a bug and problem free game upon release.

Automatio

n

Convert (a process or facility) to be

operated by largely automatic equipment

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/automate

Automation within video games

can a llow a game developer to ei ther automate some kind of a mechanic within the game which

therefore offers easier development (for example

testing something a thousand times automatically) and in many cases a better game and a better experience for the user.



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White-Box

Testing

1. White-box testing (also known as

clear box testing, glass box testing, transparent box testing, and s tructural testing) is a method of testing software that tests internal

s tructures or workings of an application, as opposed to i ts

functionality (i .e. black-box testing).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-

box_testing

White box testing can be used to

plan out everything within the engine and make sure that the ini tial idea was correct, this therefore allows for saving time

(s ince we can get rid of errors much earlier when nothing is

lost) and it also allows for

flexibility in changing the initial idea.

Bug A software bug is an error,

flaw, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that causes i t to produce an incorrect or unexpected result, or to behave in unintended

ways . Most bugs arise from mistakes and errors made by people in either a program's source code or i ts design, or in frameworks and operating systems used by such programs, and a few are

caused by compilers producing incorrect code. A program that

conta ins a large number of bugs,

and/or bugs that seriously interfere with i ts functionality, is said to

be buggy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_bug

A bug is an error within the game

which usually occurs after making an error in the game code. A bug needs to be fixed before the release in order to provide a

good game and a good experience that the users paid for. Doing things like white box testing, a lpha and beta testing as wel l as Q&A checks can help

prevent any bugs getting through and thus create a good game.



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GAME ENGINES GAME ENGINES

Vertex

Shader

1. The vertex shader i s used to transform

the attributes of vertices (points of a triangle) such as color, texture, pos ition and direction from the original color space to the display

space. It allows the original objects to be distorted or reshaped in any

manner.

www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/

53754/vertex-shader

The vertex shader can be used to

change entire textures and coloring schemes for something within the engine after things like white box testing is complete.

The vertex shader can a llow for quicker work on level design and

therefore allow for spending

more time on things like actual planning and devising the level

i tself which in the end will usually yield a better level.

Pixel

Shader

1. The pixel shader is another

programmable function that allows flexibility in shading an

individual pixel. Whereas

vertex shaders can be used to completely transform the shape of an

object, pixel shaders are used to change the appearance of the pixels. www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/

53754/vertex-shader

The pixel shader can be used to

change the color of individual l i ttle pixels within a texture which

can a llow for easy modification if

one is needed, this can save time and resources since if mistake is

made we will not need to switch out an entire texture out.



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Post

Processing

The term post-

processing (or postproc for short) is used in the video/film business for quality-improvement image processing (specifically digital image

processing) methods used in video playback devices, (such as stand-

a lone DVD-Video players), and video

players software and transcoding software. It is a lso

commonly used in real-time 3D rendering (such as in video games) to add additional effects.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_post-processing

Post processing can be done for

the game to look better after i ts development has been completed. This therefore will result in a better looking and a

more pleasing game and will usually yield better sales of the

product in the end, therefore

post processing should a lways be done to ensure the best product

possible.



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Rendering Rendering is the process of generating

an image from a 2D or 3D model (or models in what collectively could be ca l led a scene file), by means of computer programs. Also, the results

of such a model can be called a rendering. A scene file contains

objects in a strictly defined language

or data structure; it would contain geometry, viewpoint, texture, lighting,

and shading information as a description of the vi rtual scene. The data contained in the scene file is then passed to a rendering program to be

processed and output to a digital image or raster graphics image file.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendering_(computer_graphics)

Rendering is done in 2 stages, it is

done in between the development stages to see if there are any errors in the development stage that just has

been completed, and it is a lso done to the entire game once

everything is done and the game

can be released, rendering puts the objects into the world of the

game and therefore a llow for the game to initially exist. This is a necessity to be done in game development and therefore will

be used a lot in practice.



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Normal

Map

In 3D computer graphics, normal

mapping, or "Dot3 bump mapping", is a technique used for faking the l ighting of bumps and dents – an implementation of bump mapping. It

i s used to add details without using more polygons. A common use of this

technique is to greatly enhance the

appearance and details of a low polygon model by generating a normal

map from a high polygon model or height map. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_

mapping#Normal_mapping_in_video_games

A game is always l imited in some

ways , in this case the polygons. There can only be a certain amount of detail in something before the combined detail of

everything will start to bring down the performance of the

game because of the overload of

deta il. Things like dot3 bump mapping can therefore be used

to increase the detail and thus the quality of a game but not increase the polygon count within objects, and thus also

keeping the performance good and s table. This allows therefore

for a better looking game that is a lso still playable and smooth in practice.



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Entity In computer games and game engines,

enti ty i s a dynamic object such as a non-player character or i tem. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity

In a video game entities will be

created, there will always be some entity objects, and most of the time some entity NPC’s which wi l l enrich and ‘create’ the game

i tself.



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UV Map UV mapping is the 3D modelling

process of making a 2D image representation of a 3D model." 3D models are graphed in 3D space using X, Y and Z axis to describe width (X),

height (Y) and Depth (Z) coordinates of the 3d scene or 'world'.

www.makehuman.org/doc/node/considering_uv_mapping.html

UV mapping will need to be done

i f there is a need to present something 3D as 2D within the game.



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Procedural

Texture

A procedural texture is a computer-

generated image created using an a lgorithm 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 fractal noise and

turbulence functions.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedural_texture

Procedural texture can be used in

order to achieve a better looking environment within a video game, this creates a better looking game up close and makes

the world feel more alive and the player feel more immersed.

Physics Computer animation physics or game

phys ics 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 phys ics is only a close approximation to rea l physics, and computation is performed using discrete values

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

hys ics

Phys ics are required within a

video game for the game to feel rea listic to the player playing the

game, dependant on the genre of

the game created there might be di fferent requirement for the

particular physics, for example in a s imulation game the physics might need to be much better than in a casual game. However

there must always be some kind of phys ics so that the player

won’t feel a lienated by the game.



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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 its use in video

games and other physical simulations, i t a lso has applications in robotics. In

addition to determining whether two

objects have collided, collision detection systems may also ca lculate

time of impact (TOI), and report a contact manifold (the set of intersecting points). Collision response deals with simulating what happens

when a collision is detected

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

Col l ision detection is done so that

the game can function properly, col l ision needs to happen with a lot of things, for example in an FPS game the bullets can’t go

through the wall, they need to col l ide with i t and bounce off it. It

i s crucial to get elements like

col l ision to be done right otherwise the game might feel

very bad and i t might also affect the mechanics of the game in a wrong way.



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Lighting How the l ightning works and is set up

within a video game.

Lightning, again, dependant on

the genre of the game being created needs to be different but s ti ll exist, l ightning will a ffect things like the mood of the

player, the atmosphere and in many cases the mechanics of the

game itself. It i s then very

necessary to get the lightning done right so that i t composes

i tself with the game and feels natural, this will make the game much better to play and create a good user experience.

AA – Anti-

Aliasing

Smoothing the jagged appearance of

diagonal lines in a bitmapped image. The pixels that surround the edges of

the l ine are changed to varying shades of gray or color in order to blend the sharp edge into the background.

www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/37810/anti -aliasing

Anti -Aliasing can be used within

the game to smooth the jagged edges on the game. To provide a

better user experience it is necessary to include such an option within the options menu so that users with better

computers can get the game to look and feel better.



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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 s tages, 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_deta il

Options for different level of

deta ils will be necessary in order to a l low different specs of computers to s till be able to play the game without losing out

massively on the performance, level of detail can also be used to

save some polygons on longer

dis tances and therefore improve the performance of the game

overa ll.

Animation The technique of photographing

successive drawings or positions of

puppets or models to create an i l lusion of movement when the film is

shown as a sequence

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/d

efinition/english/animation

Animation is a necessity to be done in order for the game to

work.



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Sprite In computer graphics, a sprite (also

known by other name) is a two-dimensional image or animation that i s integrated into a larger scene. Ini tially including just graphical objects

handled separately from the memory bi tmap of a video display, this now

includes various manners of graphical

overlays .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprite_(computer_graphics)

Spri tes are the basics of a 2D

game, while 3D games get their models done in things like Lightwave, 2D sprites can be done in engine and much

quicker, anything within a 2D game world such as objects,

NPC’s or the player i tself is a

spri te.

Scene A scene is the basic base for building a

game onto within the game engine The scene is where we create the game, on i t we put everything that wi ll find i ts way to the final vers ion of the game.



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Library A l ibrary in terms of video games are a

lot of assets sorted into a library from which the user can then pick out of

The l ibrary is created so that the

game can be developed with easily accessible assets throughout the development process.

UI The user interface, in the industrial

des ign field of human–machine interaction, i s the space where

interactions between humans and machines occur. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_int

erface

The user interface i s important to get right, without i t the users of the game will have problems with

control ling the game.



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Frames A video or movie frame is a single

picture or still shot, that i s shown as part of a larger video or movie. Many s ingle pictures are run in succession to produce what appears to be a

seamless piece of film or videotape. Each frame can be selected on its own

to print out a s ingle photograph.

http://presentationsoft.about.com/od

/uvw/g/95video-frame-definition.htm

Each frame has a picture in it,

when played in an order i t will create the sense of moving, a minimum of 24 FPS i s required for the human eye to see it as a

movie rather than as a slideshow, frames are mainly used in

animation.



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Concept Concept document, game proposal, or

game plan is a more detailed document than the pitch document. This includes all the information produced about the game. This

includes the high concept, game's genre, gameplay description, features,

setting, s tory, target audience,

hardware platforms, estimated schedule, marketing analysis, team

requirements, and risk analysis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_development

Concept i s necessary in order to

know what you want to do with the video game you’re planning to produce, without a good plan, you wi l l not know how to manage

your team and your resources, and on what aspects of the game

to focus on fi rst and which of

these aspects are most important. A concept therefore

a l lows you for smooth development process which results in a better game in the end.

Event An event i s something that is

programmed by the video game developer that happens within the

game world once the player does

something

An event can help drive narrative

within a video game and help its mechanics.



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Pathfinding Pathfinding in the context of video

games concerns the way in which a moving entity finds a path around an obstacle; the most frequent context i s rea l -time strategy games (in which the

player directs units around a play area conta ining obstacles), but forms of this

are found in most modern video

games.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathfinding#In_video_games

Pathfinding is necessary in order

to get a fluid AI done within the game, without good pathfinding the entire game concept might be ruined by terrible AI running

into walls.

Game Engine Terminology

Education

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