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 A demonstration of a product or technique http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/demo

A demo is a small part of the game that is usually released before the full game; it is to give people a gameplay experience before purchasing a game.

http://lazyreviewzzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Mafia-II-GamesCom-4-1280px-50p.jpg

This photo is part of gameplay in the Mafia 2 demoBeta a version of a product (such as a computer

program) that is almost finished and that is used for testinghttp://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beta

A version of the product that is much like the demo, however this is before the game is fully created. This is normal used to test he game for any bugs or crashes in the game and to also see what changes can be made in the game before release.

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/uk-videogames/2013/Pre-orders/d20130912-001_Amazon_LeftBB_FINAL._V356040032_.jpg

This is showing how to gain access to the Destiny beta.Alpha A very early version of a software product The alpha comes before the Beta. It is a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTaIk7akOUw

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

that may not contain all of the features that are planned for the final versionhttp://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/alpha_version.html

very early version of the game that users normally need to apply to be a part of or be a big part in games journalism. The alpha is not released to the public in this stage of development, the final product tends to be very different than in the alpha.

This is a video of Alpha Gameplay

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. This status comes before the alpha version, and is the first status given to a program.http://www.abbreviations.com/pre-alpha%20version

The Pre-Alpha is an extremely early edition of the game that rarely gets released out of the company who create the game. The pre-alpha version of the game may not even use textures as it is normally used to see if the gameplay works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNv9PbRxg14This is a video of Pre-Alpha Gameplay

Gold A game has "Gone Gold" when the final master copy has been produced at the developer and sent off for replication, packaging and shipment. The game is not yet released, but it will typically be around 2-3 weeks (sometimes less) before it begins appearing on store shelves and online pre-orders arriving at doorsteps. The term itself comes from the old practice of recordable CDs being manufactured with gold film. Hence the gold colored CD actually being the source, with no reference to copies sold as in the recording industry.http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Gone%20Gold

If a game goes gold, it means that the final product of the game has been created and is waiting to be shipped to retailers or sent to servers for download on software such as Steam or Origin. A few days after going gold they may send a copy to game critics and/or reviewers so that the reviews can be ready on launch.

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

Debug Debugging is the routine process of locating and removing computer program bugs, errors or abnormalities, which is methodically handled by software programmers via debugging tools http://www.techopedia.com/definition/16373/debugging

Debugging is the system that is used when a software searches through the game code either automatically or manually to find ‘bugs’ in the code that need to be fixed and it may also fix them without someone retyping that bit of the code.

http://media.askvg.com/articles/images3/Reveal_Hidden_Debug_Menu_Windows_Games.png

This is a debug menu to automatically debug the game.Automation the technique of making an apparatus, a

process, or a system operate automatically http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/automation

Automation is the system in a game where you have to wait a certain amount of time for an action to be completed. This is come in games like The Simpson’s Tapped Out, Clash of Clans and Farmville. In these games you may have to wait up to 24 hours for an action to be completed.

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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. http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/White_Box_Testing.html

White-Box testing is when a tester has full access to the code in the game and runs through the game using the code. This can be helpful to manually debug the code and to see if anything goes wrong without having to use textures in the game and it is easy to test early on in the development production.

http://www.softwaretestinggenius.com/photos/wbt1.JPG

This is the process of white-box testing in a game.Bug The definition of a bug is a minor setback,

problem or unexpected malfunction http://www.yourdictionary.com/glitch

A bug (also known as a glitch) is a usually a part of the coding which messes up a little bit. It can either be exploited by gamers to help them complete tasks quicker or some of them break the game and it does not let them progress any further.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3g2840zXKYThis is a video of the top 10 bugs in gaming.

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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

The Vertex Shader is the programmable Shader stage in the rendering pipeline that handles the processing of individual vertices http://www.opengl.org/wiki/Vertex_Shader

This helps to shade the object to give it a lot more depth.

http://web.media.mit.edu/~gordonw/OpenGL/images/teapot_vertexShader.jpg

This shows before and after a vertex shader in a game.Pixel Shader A programmable function in display adapters

that offers a graphics application programmer flexibility in rendering an image. http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/53754/vertex-shader

This give the pixels different shades so that the quality of the picture is a lot more clearer

http://assets.overclock.net.s3.amazonaws.com/4/4e/4e776cf7_vbattach2843.jpeg

This shows before and after a pixe shader on a game.

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

Post Processing

Unreal Engine provides Post Process Effects to allow artists and designers to tweak the overall look and feel of the scene. Examples of elements and effects include bloom (HDR blooming effect on bright objects), ambient occlusion, and tone mapping. https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Engine/Rendering/PostProcessEffects/index.html

Post Processing is when artists use different tools and effects like bloom to change how the game looks and it is used to either fit the style of the game more or to make the game a lot nicer looking.

http://gamingdead.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/vlcsnap.jpg

his shows before and after post processing that can be used in a game engine.

Rendering In 3-D graphic design, rendering is the process of add shading, color and lamination to a 2-D or 3-D wireframe in order to create life-like images on a screen. http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/rendering

Rendering is the action to make a character or environment look more realistic, it adds more colour and textures to the object and also gives the character a wireframe.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xRWshgWFcPA/UrAEX6J7CKI/AAAAAAAAEj4/aeqvg_CVlao/s1600/uncharted_2_among_thieves_8.jpg

Normal Map NormalMaps moves the lights and shadows on XYZ depending on RGB. http://blenderartists.org/forum/archive/index.php/t-256491.html

Normal maps are when the object is on a XYZ scale and it can be easily modified here using various different tools.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-6Yu-nTbUUThis is a video of someone explaining what normal maps are.

Entity Entity Systems (ES) are a software technique using Composition rather than Inheritance to build high-performance code-architectures,

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

using a structure similar to relational-databases and/or functional-programming. http://entity-systems.wikidot.com/

UV Map "UV mapping is the 3D modeling 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. http://www.makehuman.org/doc/node/considering_uv_mapping.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2-FfB9kRmEThis is a video on how to create a UV map in Blender

Procedural Texture

An algorithmic way of describing a texture. http://www.yourdictionary.com/procedural-texture

http://www.cprogramming.com/discussionarticles/images/blend-tex-scrn.gif

This picture shows the texture on a mountain.

Physics A physics engine is general used to describe a software program that is used to simulate physical phenomena. http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/p/p

The physics in a game shows the physical aspect of a game and it is commonly used to describe how a character or object moves within the

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0yvs6RJVVYThis is a video of the physics engine in use I Grand Theft Auto 4.

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

hysics-engine.htm game.

Collision Collision detection algorithmically calculates impact time by identifying two or more object intersection points http://www.techopedia.com/definition/4778/collision-detection

Collision is when an object meets another object, and then it is how they both react for each other. For instance if a football collides with a brick wall, the ball will bounce off and the wall will stay still.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuLpoJ9LUJcThis is a video showing off the collision detection I ‘The Next Car Game’

Lighting Smoothing the jagged appearance of diagonal lines in a bitmapped image. The pixels that surround the edges of the line are changed to varying shades of grey or colour in order to blend the sharp edge into the background. This technique is also called "dithering," but is usually known as anti-aliasing when applied to diagonal and curved lines. http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/37810/anti-aliasing

The lighting in a game shows is directed somewhere and it gives it a different atmosphere as it otherwise would have been.

http://www.dsogaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/winter01c.jpgThis photo shows off the lighting on the new CryEngine.

AA – Anti-Aliasing

Smoothing the jagged appearance of diagonal lines in a bitmapped image. The pixels that surround the edges of the line are changed to varying shades of gray or color in order to blend the sharp edge into the background. This technique is also called "dithering," but is usually known as anti-aliasing when applied to diagonal and curved lines. http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/37810/anti-aliasing

Anti-Aliasing is when a texture in a game is smoothed out a lot more and it gets rid of the jagged edges when zoomed.

http://images.eurogamer.net/articles//a/8/6/7/8/5/1/Saboteur_Aliasing_001.jpg.jpgThis shows the difference between anti-aliasing on ps3 and Xbox 360.

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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

The level of detail differs depending on how far away from the object you are. The closer you get to the object the more polygons it shows.

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/w/images/4/44/Lod_001.jpg

This shows the level of detail on a gun in Valve’s Team Fortress 2.

Animation As an art-form, game & interactive media is the creation of video games and interactive media programs through the use of advanced computer programming and animation techniques. http://www.animationcareerreview.com/animation-programs/gaming/game-animation

The animation is bringing the characters and environment to life. It takes the character and gives them movement. And with the environment it can animate the trees or grass to give it a sense of realism.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfnceZO1seQThis video is a tutorial showing how to animate on 2D software.

Sprite A sprite is a bitmap graphic that is designed to be part of a larger scene. It can either be a static image or an animated graphic http://www.techterms.com/definition/sprite

A game sprite is a very simple image that is created to be a character usually on a retro game. On it you can clearly see the pixels and they are created using bitmap imagery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRp7F_pCUn4This is a video tutorial on the creation of a sprite in a 2D game.

Scene A cut scene or event scene (sometimes in-game cinematic or in-game movie) is a sequence in a video game over which the player has no or only limited control, breaking up the gameplay and used to advance the plot, strengthen the main

A scene is a cutscene in a game which ties bits of gameplay together, they are usually used to keep the consumer in tone with the story with mostly no playability during these cutscenes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogYptnWnJkgThis is an example of cut scenes in Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls.

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

character's development, introduce characters, and provide background information, atmosphere, dialogue, and clues. Cut scenes often feature "on the fly" rendering, using the gameplay graphics to create scripted events. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutscene

Library Game Objects is a collection of 2D and 3D maths classes, and algorithms for helping in the creation of games with Python. Suitable for PyGame, but independent of it.

This is a library of objects and coding that will help create the game.

http://www.pyglet.org/

This is a website of where to download a game library.UI The way a person interacts with a computer,

tablet, smartphone or other electronic device. The user interface (UI) comprises the screen menus and icons, keyboard shortcuts, mouse and gesture movements, command language and online help, as well as physical buttons, dials and levers. Also included are all input devices, such as a mouse, keyboard, touch screen, remote control and game controller. http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/53558/user-interface

A UI in a game usually comes in the context of the health of your character, the map of the world that you are In and other information that the consumer may need.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tlagJbF9nQThis shows the upgrade in UI through windows upgrades.

FramesDefinition - What does Frames Per Second

Games run in frames. The viewing experience of a game depends on the

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXJh9ut2hrcThis is a video of a games critic debating on what frames are.

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

(FPS) mean?

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.http://www.techopedia.com/definition/7297/frames-per-second-fps

frames per second. Most games run at either 30-60 frames per second, however there is a lot of controversy on the amount of frames that certain games can run.

Concept It's a general idea about a thing or group of things, derived from specific instances or occurrences. http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/concept

A concept is an idea. This idea may be what the character should look like, act like, how the story should be, where the game should take place etc. This is usually these are devised early on in the game.

http://hqwallpapers.org/video-games-concept-art-destiny-wallpaper-18272/This is a picture of concept are in Destiny.

Event A thing that happens or takes place, especially one of importance. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/event

An event is something that happens in the game to further expand the story or gameplay without zoning the consumer out into a cut scene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIjg-YA4fV8This is a video of an event that happens in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

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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. 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 is the idea of showing where the game should take a certain object or player.

http://www.cognaxon.com/img/maze003.jpgThis is a picture of path finding in a maze game.

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