Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 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: Adam Crittenden

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 version of something such as computer software produced to demonstrate its capabilities or for use as a trial.http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/demo

A demo is an uncompleted version of a game that is generally released to the public so that they can play the game and see what it is like. Almost like it is given potential buyers knowledge on the game before they make the final decision to buy the game.A good game that I have knowledge with is Five Nights At Freddy’s. This is a point and click horror game that uses animatronics, sounds and jump scares to build tension. It gives you two of the nights in the demo that you can play to see if you like the game.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOztnsBPrAA

This image is relevant as it shows a game that is in it’s demo state.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

Beta A beta version of a program, game etc... is an unfinished version released to either the public a select few or whoever signs up to beta test it for bugs or glitches.http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Beta

A beta version of a game is generally used to find out any bugs and kinks in a game so that they can release it. The beta of a game is usually open to the public to play to test the game out, as the more people playing the game, the greater the chance of finding any bugs that are in a game. A good example would be the Battlefield 4 beta that was released so that people could both play the game, and look for game breaking bugs.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84Zk03clIas

This is relevant as it is showing a game that is in an open beta, showing it is letting anyone try it out.

Alpha The alpha of a game is the phase in which they begin to test software using white-box techniques. Alpha software can be unstable so is rarely released, but when it is, it is sent almost always purely as raw source code.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle

A game that is in its alpha stages is usually a game that select people can play as it is normally always undergoing testing to find anything wrong with the game.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IrGqmeF-_Y

This is relevant as it shows a game that is in it’s alpha build.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

Pre-Alpha A development status given to a program or application that is usually not feature complete, and is not usually released to the public. Developers are usually still deciding on what features the program should have at this status. http://www.abbreviations.com/pre-alpha%20version

A pre-alpha game is a game that is not even completely developed, or even thought up yet. This version of the game is rarely ever released to the public but when it is, it is so that the developers of the game can get some ideas of what they can implement by the community.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJrZkNVwNTs

This shows a game that is in a pre-alpha that has gameplay footage, which shows that people are allowed to try it out.

Gold A golden master, or GM, is the final version of a software program that is sent to manufacturing and is used to make retail copies of the software.http://www.techterms.com/definition/goldenmaster

A game that has gone gold is usually a game that is sent to be made, it is the final copy.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt3LIl8JJTg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejWf82doi8YBreakoid Golden Master

This is relevant as it is demonstrating a game that is in a golden master version.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

Debug In computers, to debug is to carry out the process of locating and fixing or bypassing bugs (errors) in computer program code or the engineering of a hardware device.http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/definition/debugging

When a game is being debugged, it is the state in which they are actually removing the bugs from a game, or if a game has a debug menu.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwoi26Eh24E

This is relevant as it is showing a game that has been put in debug mode.Automation In software testing, test

automation is the use of special software (separate from the software being tested) to control the execution of tests and the comparison of actual outcomes with predicted outcomes.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_automation

Automation is where different means are used to test a game.

This is relevant as it is showing a test automation circle.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

White-Box Testing

A software testing technique whereby explicit knowledge of the internal workings of the item being tested are used to select the test data. Unlike black box testing, white box testing uses specific knowledge of programming code to examine outputs.http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/White_Box_Testing.html

White-box testing is where it is being tested with extensive knowledge of the internal code that makes up the game. This is so someone who knows it all can go through the code and highlight any flaws in the game.

This shows the steps involved in white box testing.Bug An error in a structured system. It is

usually applied to electrical and computer systems.http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Glitch

A bug, or more commonly known, a glitch, is something wrong in a structured system. Lots of bugs in games can be relatively funny, and harmless to the gaming experience, though there can be some bugs that are game breaking, such as bugs that cause all of a players progress to be lost. This can be extremely annoying and crippling if it is in a game such as World of Warcraft, or GTA V.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YFVdgP2Dv4

This shows a glitch in a game, otherwise known as a bug.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

GAME ENGINES

GAME ENGINES

Vertex Shader

A programmable function in display adapters that offers graphics application programmer flexibility in rendering an image.http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/53754/vertex-shader

A vertex shader is something that can help the programmer in rendering an image, you can also make cool stuff.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KElJA_gieYQ

This shows a vertex shader tree diagram.Pixel Shader

A shader that operates on the level of individual pixels, used to generate complex visual effects.http://www.yourdictionary.com/pixel-shader

A pixel shader is something that can give greater detail to something you are trying to do, by working on the shading of each individual pixel.

This shows the difference of what happens after pixel shading.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

Post Processing

Processing after other processes have been completed.https://www.wordnik.com/words/post-processing

Post processing is done after all other processing has been done, to basically re-process someing.

This shows a bit of a game with and without post processing.Rendering The processing of an outline image

using colour and shading to make it appear solid and three-dimensional.http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/rendering

Rendering is used so that a shape can appear 3-D by using colours and shading. Also, it can be used with something where you generate structures in the distance.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nppDbXBaWdo

This shows the processes of rendering.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

Normal Map

In 3D computer graphics, normal mapping, or "Dot3 bump mapping", is a technique used for faking the lighting of bumps and dents.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_mapping

Normal mapping is where you map things and uses bumps to simulate lighting effects.

This picture shows stages of mapping, including normal mapping.Entity Entity Systems offer an approach to

object design that fits well with games, where requirements and behaviours need to be tweaked or swapped out constantly.http://shaun.boyblack.co.za/blog/2012/08/04/games-and-entity-systems/

Entity systems are where there is something that needs to be tweaked constantly.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRaJROHxckY

This diagram shows an entity chart.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

UV Map UV mapping controls the way the texture wraps onto the surface of the model.http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Mesh/What-does-UV-Mapping-do-exactly/td-p/1710229

UV mapping is used so that you can select how the texture wraps around whatever you want to place it on.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIvTUDgaXik

This diagram show the UV Mapping mesh.Procedural Texture

Procedural textures create the textures from the ground up.http://www.upvector.com/?section=Tutorials&subsection=Intro%20to%20Procedural%20Textures

Procedural textures are textures that are used to build an object from the ground up to the top.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkTIZ1GldgQ

This shows the procedural texture on an anvil.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

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

Physics in a game are where they try to get it as close to life as possible by bringing real life physics into a game. So a crumbly building crumbling, Water trickling down rocks, cars crushing into heaps of metal if they fall from the sky.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4nI2zutksM

This shows the game engine incorporating physics.Collision Collision detection typically refers

to the computational problem of detecting the intersection of two or more objects. While the topic is most often associated with its use in video games and other physical simulations, it also has applications in robotics.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collision_detection

Collision in games is where things actually collide. This makes a game more realistic as if there is water pouring from the sealing, you would expect that, if you placed something under it, it would hit the object and change its path, rather than just going through the object.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGh-Vh_NYO0

Collision in a game. This shows the collision boxes.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

Lighting Bloom (sometimes referred to as light bloom or glow) is a computer graphics effect used in video games, demos and high dynamic range rendering (HDR) to reproduce an imaging artifact of real-world cameras. The effect produces fringes (or feathers) of light extending from the borders of bright areas in an image, contributing to the illusion of an extremely bright light overwhelming the camera or eye capturing the scene.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom_(shader_effect)

Lighting in a game can be used to build atmosphere if it is a horror game, or just to light up a place. Most people would think that the lighting should be realistic, instead of a tiny light illuminating an entire room like it had no ceiling.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LgsEezzrgo

This diagram shows the lighting used by a game engine.

AA – Anti-Aliasing

In computer graphics, antialiasing is a software technique for diminishing jaggies - stairstep-like lines that should be smooth.http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/antialiasing.html

Anti-Aliasing is where, in a game, it is used so that edges of things look smoother when they are more zoomed in. This also makes it look better normally.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGoBzoHDrj0

This shows the difference on a before/after shot of zooming in on hair.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

LoD – Level of Detail

Level of detail is a general design term for video game landscapes in which closer objects are rendered with more polygons than objects that are farther away.http://www.techopedia.com/definition/11791/level-of-detail-lod

Level of detail in a game is how much detail is in an object, the more detail, usually, the better it will look, the less detail, the bigger the polygons.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaivEr7_RJs

This is showing differences in the level of detail.Animation A way of making a movie by using a

series of drawings, computer graphics, or photographs of objects (such as puppets or models) that are slightly different from one another.http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/animation

Animation in a game is where there is movement in a game. They are made in different frames so that they can capture every movement.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_2UhXJHz7Q

This shows the stages of animation.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

Sprite (Games, other than specified) an icon in a computer game which can be manoeuvred around the screen by means of a joystick, etc.http://www.thefreedictionary.com/sprite

A sprite in a game is usually a 2D character that is in a side scroller game, or a top down game, with not many movements/animations.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcmKPmj9yeE

This shows many different sprites for animation.Scene A Scene graph contains all of the

geometry of a particular scene. They are useful for representing translations, rotations and scales (along with other affine transformations) of objects relative to each other.http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5319282/game-engines-what-are-scene-graphs

A scene graph contains geometry for a particular thing.

This chart shows the sections of a game engine scene.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

Library The Unreal engine (or Source, or Quake) is designed to be used for FPS games (it could feasibly be used for other games, but you'd spend some time working against the engine). Ogre3d (or even Directx, SDL, or other common libraries) can be used to make any type of game, without having to rip out major parts of the code, or work around them.http://gamedev.stackexchange.com/questions/10770/whats-the-difference-between-a-library-and-an-engine

A library in a game holds all of the stuff of the game that you need.

This shows a game engine library.

UI The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is effective operation and control of the machine on the user's end, and feedback from the machine, which aids the operator in making operational decisions.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_interface

The UI in a game is basically the user interface. Tis allows whoever is using it to see what they are doing.

This picture shows a game engine UI.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

Frames A graphic panel in a display window, especially in a web browser, which encloses a self-contained section of data and permits multiple independent document viewing.http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/frame

The frames in a game are basically the pictures that make up the game.

This shows multiple frames in a game engine.Concept A concept of a game is the original

idea that has been thought up by the people that plan to make the game.

The concept is the very idea of a game.

This image shows a game engine concept plan.

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Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGNUnit 73: Sound For Computer GamesIG2 Task 1

Event A Game Event (will just call them Events) is anything of interest that happens while a Game is running. An explosion going off, the player being sighted by an enemy, an item being picked up – this are all events. Games often need some way to notify interested Game Entities when an event occurs and also make it possible for those entities to react to events of their interest in various ways. When this happens, we can say that a Game Entity is handling an event. The way a Game Entity handles and reacts to different events becomes a crucial aspect of that Entity behaviour.https://nicolasgoles.com/blog/2010/12/game-event-handling-part-1/

An event is something that triggers things in a game, like a proximity mine needs to be on an event, or if something is triggered to happen when you walk past it.

This diagram shows the events in a game engine.

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 is based heavily on Dijkstra's algorithm for finding the shortest path on a weighted graph.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathfinding

Pathfinding in a game is used mainly for enemies so that if the enemies are looking for you, they can pathfind around the objects that might be in the way.

This picture shows pathfinding.

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