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: 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 You can demo the game without downloading or buying it.http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/demo

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

Alpha A very early version of a software product that may not contain all of the features that are planned for the final version.http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/alpha_version.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZBwC_KNdIE

Pre-Alpha Pre-alpha refers to all activities performed during the software project before testing. These activities can include requirements analysis, software design, software development, and unit testing.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp_g9dvqwY0

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

Gold The game has completed the development cycle and is off to be manufactured for sellinghttp://www.gamespot.com/forums/playstation-discussion-1000002/what-does-it-mean-when-a-game-goes-gold-26614050/

Debug Identify and remove errors from (computer hardware or softwarehttp://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/debug

I use this debugging process a lot because the script is never perfect

Automation The use of machines and technology to make processes run on their own without manpower.http://www.yourdictionary.com/automation

White-Box Testing

a method of testing software that tests internal structures or workings of an application, as opposed to its functionality (i.e. black-box testing).http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-box_testing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsK3mU5tdmY

Bug A malfunction of undetermined origin ina computer or other electronic device.http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bug

I have had several bugs in a game that I created. E.g. my character would fall through the ground and then spawn back on the ground and repeat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3g2840zXKY

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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 Vertex Shader is a GPU component and is 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.http://stackoverflow.com/questions/832545/what-are-vertex-and-pixel-shaders

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 stuff like lighting and bump mapping.http://stackoverflow.com/questions/832545/what-are-vertex-and-pixel-shaders

Post Processing

improves HDRhttp://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/263189-33-what-post-processing

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

Normal Map 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.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_mapping

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

Entity A dynamic object such as a non-player character or item.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity

I have created buildings in a landscape that I also created.

UV Map UV mapping is the 3D modelling process of making a 2D image representation of a 3D model's surface.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UV_mapping

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, stone, and others.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedural_texture

Physics 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

I have used physics in the games I have made to make boulders fall and bounce

Collision Collision detection typically refers to the computational problem of detecting the intersection of two or more objects.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collision_detection

I have used collision to make my character bump into things so that they fall over.

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

Lighting per-pixel lighting refers to any technique for lighting an image or scene that calculates illumination for each pixel on a rendered image.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Per-pixel_lighting

I have added light over a mountain into a landscape that I created.

AA – Anti-Aliasing

Anti-aliasing (AA) is the process of smoothing edges so they don’t appear jagged. The number associated with it (2x, 4x, 8x, 16x, 32x) is the number of samples taken to smooth it. to make it appear smoother, pixels around an area are added together then an average colour is foundhttp://www.answers.com/Q/What_does_anti_aliasing_mean

I have used this to make my character smooth in some areas.

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

This works on most game makers, I have used it to make more detailed grass and trees.

Animation 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.http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/413/game_art_and_animation_anintroduction.php

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

Sprite 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)

Scene A scene is a general data structure commonly used by vector-based graphics editing applications and modern computer games.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scene_graph

Library Libraries take care of key tasks of game programming. Some libraries can handle sound processing, input, and graphics rendering. Some can even handle some Ait asks such as pathfinding. There are even entire game engines that handle most of the tasks of game programming and only require coding game logic.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_programming#APIs_and_libraries

I have used the library of games maker to list all of the objects in my game.

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

UI Short for User Interface. Often related to games. Some games have the opportunity to install add-ons to change the user interface.http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=UI

Frames Frames per second (FPS) is a unit that measures display device performance. It consists of the number of complete scans of the display screen that occur each second. This is the number of times the image on the screen is refreshed each secondhttp://www.techopedia.com/definition/7297/frames-per-second-fps

The game I have created runs at a smooth speed.

Concept Concept art is a form of illustration used to convey an idea for use in (but not limited to) films, video games, animation, or comic books before it is put into the final product.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concept_art

I have created concept art for my character using illustrator.

Event Whenever something happens in the game the instances of the objects get events (kind of messages telling that something has happened). The instances can then react to these messages by executing certain actions.http://gamemaker.info/en/manual/111_00_events

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

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

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