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 game demo is a freely distributed piece of an upcoming or recently released video game. Companies release demos to show what they have put in the game.

We would use this to show off our products we would make, so that employers would be able to see a sample of our work.

http://media.gamestats.com/gg/image/object/640/640063/OfficialXboxMagazine_DVDDisc_issue-02boxart_160w.jpg

Beta a quality-control technique in which hardware or software is subjected to trial in the environment for which it was designed, usually after debugging by the manufacturer and immediately prior to marketing.http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/beta+test

We would use this to make sure there are no bugs and just for a quality assurance.

http://86bb71d19d3bcb79effc-d9e6924a0395cb1b5b9f03b7640d26eb.r91.cf1.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/warface-beta-download-artwork.jpg

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

Alpha Well, an alpha test is performed by the programmers themselves to ensure they got everything right in their eyes so right now the Facebook alpha game is out technically from scratch done by the company… A beta test is the second phase of software testing in which a sampling of the intended audience tries the product out and gives feedback (in games, feedback might be on forums or complaints, But in the new Firefox beta 4.0 (the new version being tested: from the original Mozilla Firefox) you can give straight feedback to the Firefox company

It would help me find out what works well and to see what people’s first thoughts are about the game.

http://www.gamespot.com/videos/destiny-alpha-overview/2300-6419784/

Pre-Alpha Pre-Alpha is like mega early version of the game, before everything is finalized. Beta is when the game is coming along and everything is sort of finalized and it's during a stage when bugs and errors are being ironed out.http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/440511.page

I would use this to make sure everything in the game functioned properly and to make sure there were no obvious bugs in the game.

http://media.indiedb.com/images/articles/1/125/124538/auto/prealpha_1.jpg

Gold When games goes into the final copies We would use this for when the game is fully finished and the game is fully ready in codes wise and would mean it has gone into full design.

http://brutalgamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/duke_gold1.png

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

Debug A debug is to identify and remove errors in the game. This comes most commonly in debug software to remove programmed bugs and errors.

We would use this to make sure the game ran smoothly and wasn’t any problems.

http://vlabworks.com/sites/default/files/default_images/eclipse-main.png

Automation This is when a game effect such as a particle effect happening by themselves and it usually happens when you reach a certain part. The testing of automation is generally playing thought the game making sure stuff will happen on it

We would use automation to make stuff happen automatically without any computer action needed and we would need automation so that stuff would run by themselves

http://www.bobalden.com/ti/jul97_coding.jpg

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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

White-Box testing is a method of testing software that tests internal structures or workings of an application, as opposed to its functionality

We would use this to test the games functionality

http://h71000.www7.hp.com/doc/73final/4518/zk-4069.gif

Bug A bug is a type of glitch which gets through when the game is fully released such as with Skate 3

We wouldn’t use bugs because players would be able to abuse it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaptqA_sqVA

GAME ENGINES

Vertex Shader Vertex shaders are run once for each vertex given to the graphics processor. The purpose is to transform each vertex's 3D position in virtual space to the 2D coordinate at which it appears on the screen.

We would use this to add extra detail onto stuff such as horses

http://www.3dvelocity.com/reviews/6800ultra/technology/displacement.jpg

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

GAME ENGINES

Pixel Shader Pixel shaders, also known as fragment shaders, compute colour and other attributes of each fragment. The simplest kinds of pixel shaders output one screen pixel as a colour value; more complex shaders with multiple inputs/outputs are also possible. Pixel shaders range from always outputting the same colour, to applying a lighting value, to doing bump mapping, shadows, specular highlights, translucency and other phenomena. They can alter the depth of the fragment.

We would use this add extra detail into environments

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

Post Processing

The PostProcessVolume is a special type of volume that can be added to a level and, because Unreal Engine 4 does not make use of post processing chains, these volumes are currently the only way to manipulate post processing parameters. The new system is not complete and we will expose some programmability, but we want the common cases to be handled very well by the system. This makes it easier for artists/designers to use the system and for programmers to optimize it.https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Engine/Rendering/PostProcessEffects/index.html

We would use this to add more detail into our work

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

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.

We would use this to make the game look smooth and clean

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

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

Normal Map A 2D texture map is an image added to a 3D model that provides a higher level of detail, wrapping around whatever 3D art you have to apply or modify certain attributes like colour, transparency, shininess, reflection, and higher detail.http://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/articles/gamedev-glossary-what-is-a-normal-map--gamedev-3893

We would use this to make a higher detail in our maps

http://docs.unity3d.com/uploads/Main/Bumpmap1.pngEntity Suppose there is a drawing function. This would be a "System" that

iterates through all entities that have both a physical and a visible component, and draws them.

We would use this to add stuff like buildings into our maps

http://entitygames.net/assets/griffinFeature.pngUV Map UV mapping is the 3D modeling process of making a 2D image

representation of a 3D model's surface.We would use this to start plotting out characters and that

http://goanna.cs.rmit.edu.au/~gl/teaching/Interactive3D/

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

2012/images/uv-unwrap.jpgProcedural 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.

We would use this to make like a pattern for the floor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedural_texture#mediaviewer/File:Procedural_Texture.jpg

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 values.

We would try to make sure the physics are good so that the game doesn’t end up with stuff flying

http://img.gamefaqs.net/screens/9/8/b/gfs_49160_2_1.jpg

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

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.

We would make sure the collision is good so that the player doesn’t end up going through walls

http://www.swankworld.net/Games/PC/bigrigs/bigrigclip.jpg

Lighting The way the game lights the game up so that there is light within the game.

We would use lighting so that we have shadows in the game which makes it so we have a bit of detail

http://gamingbolt.com/wp-content/gallery/best-lighting-in-games/killzone-2-lighting.jpg

AA – Anti-Aliasing

Anti-Aliasing is a method of fooling the eye that a jagged edge is really smooth. Anti-Aliasing is often referred in games and on graphics cards. In games especially the chance to smooth edges of the images goes a long way to creating a realistic 3D image on the screen. Remember though that Anti-Aliasing does not actually smooth any edges of images it merely fools the eye. Like a lot of things they are only designed to be good enough. If you can't tell the difference then that's fine. Let’s take a look at the example below to demonstrate the effects of Anti-Aliasing.http://www.pantherproducts.co.uk/index.php?pageid=antialiasing

We would use this to make edges in the game look smoother and not too jagged when the user is playing

http://solidlystated.com/content/2011/06/divinity2-anti-aliasing.jpg

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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. Generally speaking, the level of detail is dictated by the game's system requirements. Given the power of modern processors, very little degradation in the level of detail is noticeable anymore.http://www.techopedia.com/definition/11791/level-of-detail-lod

We would make sure the level of detail can vary so that many different users can play the game

http://www.opensg.org/projects/opensg/raw-attachment/wiki/Tutorial/OpenSG1/NodeCores/lod.png

Animation Animation is when something happens like a running animation which shows the player, or AI moving around, animation is used a lot in games because of their important

We would use this so that characters in the game is animated

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ShzTj-UlO4E/UImpvEbBsfI/AAAAAAAAACQ/pbCHygxn1gM/s1600/AttackAnimationBreakdown.jpg

Sprite A sprite is an entity which is controlled by usually the play or an AI We would only use this in a 2D game so that the user had some type of control in the game

http://themechanicalmaniacs.com/sprites/misc/rockchinesesprites.gif

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

Scene A short cut of something like a cinematic or a cut scene. This is a part that would be usually used in a cut scene

http://www.freegreatpicture.com/cat/photo-181Library Is used in 2D game engines and is used to store assets for the game We would use this

to store the game assets for a 2D game

http://www.graphic-buffet.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/torque-2d-game-development-engine.jpg

UI A UI is a user interface which can vary from main menus to level up screens depending on the game, like for example a pause menu.

We would use this so that there is somewhere, where the player can pause to

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

http://www.caydenmcleod.com/gallery/game/set-01/set-01.png

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.

We would try to attain high frames so it doesn’t seem like the game is lagging or being slow.

http://i.imgur.com/dteRPwI.jpgConcept 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.

We would use this so that we have a base idea for characters

http://rashanimations.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/robot1.jpg

Event A event will happen in the engine such as a automation and stuff is set up using

We would use to make sure the user won’t lose interest in the game

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E54ako2f1IE

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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.

We would use this to make sure there is paths the AI can go to.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rU86za56P-M/T8lA5OxQXZI/AAAAAAAAAP8/A1yCUiULGWI/s1600/Waypoint.jpg

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