Lewis brady engine_terminology (edited version)
- 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: Lewis Brady 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. Demos are typically released by the game's publisher to help consumers get a feel of the game before deciding whether to buy the full version. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_demo A demo is a Short version of a game but does not include the full game as it is giving the player a taste of what the game he is playing would be like and most demos produced are free so everyone is able to test the games mechanics and gameplay. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =z_JFDPCtXFY 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =03bw6-V_M3o Beta Beta means that these games are still in development and are not yet in their final version. We are letting users test them out and give us their feedback so that we can make further improvements to make these games as effective and enjoyable as possible. https://help.lumosity.com/hc/en-us/ articles/202172720-What-are-beta-games- A beta game is in its latest stages of development and is just having its final minor tweaks to improve game before being released, and as a result in this the game should have little to know latency issues as I has been moved from alpha to beta, then when the developer thinks is has been improved to a substantial level he will decide when it’s to be fully released. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =b9ZykUaHBWE 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =Llz_ND9DgbY Alpha A working alpha state game is the game itself with all the basic core concepts in place (and most likely some still being developed or drawn up) allowing players the base freedoms that allow the game to resolve gameplay issues, early exploits, small bugs, major bugs, early balancing and many other issues that you wont see in a fully released game that does not state that its an alpha or beta state game. http://steamcommunity.com/app/255500/ discussions/0/630800445001699632/?insi deModal=1 An alpha game is in its early stages of development and is still having major updates to it and is not ready for being fully published. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =WgTQglGvNUs 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =6wYGQ2NWvIw Pre-Alpha Pre-Alpha means that the game still has a scheduled list of code and assets to be written and created. The game is buggy, it 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 stage of a pre-alpha game is in its earliest stages of development and is having game changing updates in terms with resolution settings and characters models and there is little of the game that has been added yet. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =TTaIk7akOUw 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =uQOPb9p3HTQ
- 2. completion where it can be described as “Alpha”. https://carmageddon.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/ articles/200416352-What-does-Pre- Alpha-mean- 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. The golden master follows several other stages in the software development process including the alpha, beta, and release candidate stages. The final release candidate (RC) becomes the "release to manufacturing" (RTM) version, which is also called the golden master. http://www.techterms.com/definition/gol denmaster Golden master is a stage in the software release cycle in which the software is in its full and final development stage and is ready to be delivered to the customer or to be published commercially. The term was initially coined by Apple Computers to specify software products that have passed the entire production/development and testing phases. 1.) http://wpuploads. appadvice.com/wp - content/uploads/2 013/09/goldmaste r.png 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =5Gvp9HRjwZw Debug Debugging is the process of locating and fixing or bypassing bugs (errors) in computer program code or the engineering of a hardware device. To debug a program or hardware device is to start with a problem, isolate the source of the problem, and then fix it. A user of a program that does not know how to fix the problem may learn enough about the problem to be able to avoid it until it is permanently fixed. When someone says they've debugged a program or "worked the bugs out" of a program, they imply that they fixed it so that the bugs no longer exist. http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.co m/definition/debugging Is a process of finding computer bugs, or defects, in a computer program or a piece of electronic hardware, making it behave in an unexpected manner. Debugging tends to be harder when various systems are tightly coupled, as a change in one may cause bugs to emerge in another. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =_uzSw_fb7NQ 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =IP0nMv_NI1s Automati on Automation or automatic control, is the use of various control systems for operating equipment such as machinery, processes in factories, boilers and heat treating ovens, switching in telephone networks, steering and stabilization of ships, aircraft and other applications with minimal or reduced human intervention. Some processes have been completely automated. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automation Automation has been achieved by various meathods including electrical, electronic and computers, usually in combination. Complicated systems, such as modern factories and ships use all these combined techniques. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =o4mPJMiX0mk 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =PljTAgGFYYo White-Box Testing White-box testing is a methodology used to ensure and validate the internal framework, mechanisms, objects and components of a software application. White-box testing verifies code according to design specifications and uncovers application vulnerabilities. http://www.techopedia.com/definition/38 91/white-box-testing In white-box testing an internal perspective of the system, as well as programming, are used to design tests. The tester chooses inputs to paths through the code and determines the correct outputs. This is analogous to testing nodes into in-circuit testing (ICT). 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =3CHRUAMIrVE 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =FTnjGxu5HPk Bug In computer technology, a bug is a coding error in a computer program. (Here we consider a program to also include the microcode that is manufactured into a A software bug is an fault in a computer program that causes it to produce an incorrect result, or to 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =jVPFM7H4Hug
- 3. microprocessor.) The process of finding bugs before program users do is called debugging, Debugging starts after the code is first written and continues in successive stages as code is combined with other units of programming to form a software product, such as an operating system or an application. After a product is released or during public beta testing, bugs are still apt to be discovered. When this occurs, users have to either find a way to avoid using the "buggy" code or get a patch from the originators of the code. http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.co m/definition/bug behave in unexpected ways. Most bugs compile from mistakes made by people in either a program's source code, or in frameworks and operating systems used by such programs, and a few are caused by compilers producing an incorrect code. 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =LgRsXlbftQY GAME ENGINES Vertex Shader A programmable function in display adapters that offers a graphics application programmer flexibility in rendering an image. The vertex shader is used to transform the attributes of vertices (points of a triangle) such as color, texture, position and direction from the original color space to the display space. It allows the original objects to be distorted or reshaped in any manner. http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/ter m/53754/vertex-shader Vertex shaders are run once for each vertex given to the graphics processor. The purpose of this is to transform each of the vertex's 3D positions into 2D coordinates at which it then appears on the screen. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =1G37-Yav2ZM 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =2ZNJ_KytrE4 Pixel Shader The name used to describe the method in which a GPU applies textures and renders pixels to the display. Pixel Shaders are used to give a more realistic look to objects, such as reflections. http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/P/Pixel _Shader.html Pixel shaders range from outputting the same color, to applying a lighting value, to doing bump mapping, shadows and translucency . They can alter the depth of the fragment or output more than one color if multiple render targets are active at once. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =utKHLHbShkk 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =Hni9oexEHyE Post Processin g Current generation gaming systems are able to render 3D graphics using floating point frame buffers, in order to produce HDR images. To produce the bloom effect, the HDR images in the frame buffer are convolved with a convolution kernel in a post-processing step, before converting to RGB space. The convolution step usually requires the use of a large gaussian kernel that is not practical for realtime graphics, causing the programmers to use approximation methods. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom_(shad er_effect) Post-processing is used mostly in 3D rendering, especially for video games. Instead of rendering 3D objects to the display, the scene is rendered to a buffer in the memory of the video card. Pixel shaders are then used and applied to the post-processing filters to the image buffer before displaying it to the screen. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =jXXe8-twFEY 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =wSsC1oOmZcY Rendering Rendering is the process of generating an image from a model (or models in what collectively could be called a scene file), by means of computer programs. A scene file contains objects in a strictly defined language or data structure; it would contain geometry, viewpoint, texture, lighting, and shadinginformation as a description of the virtual scene. http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve /wiki100k/docs/Rendering_(computer_gra phics).html Rendering is one of the topics of 3D computer graphics, In the graphics pipeline, it is the last step, giving the final appearance to the models and animation. With the increasing sophistication of computer graphics it has become a more of a important subject. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =EJXWLo__PUc 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =mqt3kPc0zik
- 4. Normal Map A normal map is usually used to fake high-res geometry detail on what is actually a low-res mesh. Each pixel of a normal map is used to transfer the normal that's on the high-res mesh onto the surface of the low-res mesh. The red, green, and blue channels of the texture are used to control the direction of each pixel's normal. The pixels in the normal map basically control what direction each of the pixels on the low-poly model will be facing, controlling how much lighting each pixel will receive, and thus creating the illusion of more surface detail or better curvature. The process of transferring normals from the high-res model to the in-game model is often called baking. http://tech-artists.org/wiki/Normal_Map In 3D computer graphics, normal mapping is a technique used for faking the lighting of bumps and dents an implementation of bump mapping. It is used to add details without using subtantially more polygons. A common use of this technique is to define the appearance and details of a low polygon model by generating a normal map from a height map. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =xrN5jgA8ia8 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =gWcfZAAHToU Entity An Entity System is simply a game architecture, which is used to help you manage your game, no matter how complex it may need to be. Entity Systems help split up your logic from your data, much the same way the MVC design pattern helps you split your model from your view-controller. An Entity System is typically split into three major parts: entities, components and systems. https://github.com/miguelmartin75/anax/ wiki/What-is-an-Entity-System%3F An entity within a game is something that exists in itself, actually and has no mass within the game. In particular, abstractions and legal fictions are usually regarded as entities. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =mHCm52LprVg 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =NiCB01F4jEs UV Map This process projects a texture map onto a 3D object. The letters "U" and "V" denote the axes of the 2D texture because "X", "Y" and "Z" are already used to denote the axes of the 3D object in model space. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UV_mapping UV mapping permits polygons that make up a 3D object to be painted with color from an image. The image is called a UV texture map, but it's just an ordinary image. The UV mapping process involves assigning pixels in the image to surface mappings on the polygon, this is usually done by copying a triangle shaped piece of the image map and pasting it onto a triangle on the object. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =iIvTUDgaXik 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =f2-FfB9kRmE Procedura l Texture An algorithmic way of describing a texture. Unlike a bitmapped texture, in which the texture is represented as a bitmap, a procedural texture describes the texture mathematically. Although not widely used, this method is resolution independent and can create more precise textures, especially if there is great and varying depth to the objects being textured. Procedural textures may be 2D or 3D. See texture mapping and volumetric texture. http://www.yourdictionary.com/procedura l-texture A procedural texture is a computer-generated image created by using an algorithm to create a realistic representation of natural materials such as wood, marble, granite, metal and stone. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =QpkpJ9Csrkk 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =_8CmR_5KXFo Physics A physics engine is a scripting method used for creating the physics, or movement, in a project. This movement can include jumping, side-motion, wall-jumping, and A physics engine is computer software that provides an approximate simulation of certain 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =3-XZ-LJC7_8
- 5. more. Physics engines are commonly designed once and used for many projects or borrowed by other users to save the time of recreating one. http://wiki.scratch.mit.edu/wiki/Physics_E ngines physical systems, such as rigid body dynamics, soft body dynamics and fluid dynamics, is of use in the domains of computer graphics, video games and film production. 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =9v4Mvm8k7sw Collision Collision detection comes in two forms, discrete and continuous. Advanced engines support both, as they have different properties. In general, continuous collision detection is very expensive and only used where it is really needed. The majority of collision and physics is handled using discrete methods. In discrete methods, objects will end up penetrating each other, and the physics engine then works to push them apart. So the engine does not actually stop a player from walking partially through a wall or the floor, it just fixes it up after detecting that the player is partially in the wall/floor. I'm going to focus on discrete collision detection here, since that's what I have the most experience implementing from scratch. http://gamedev.stackexchange.com/questi ons/26501/how-does-a-collision-engine-work Collision detection refers to the problem of detecting the intersection of two or several more objects. While the topic is often associated with its use in video games and other physical simulations, it also has applications in robotics. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =NGh-Vh_NYO0 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =PJZpDQMtOk8 Lighting Simulated illumination is defined as the method by which virtual 3D game environments are rendered taking into account all lighting information in the scene. Due to the flexibility of game rendering engines, and the variety of game styles, we organize simulated illumination exhibited in games into a dimension ranging from more abstract forms of light and colour representation, e.g. “Rez” (United Game Artists, 2002), through cel-shaded games, to those that approach photorealism (which incorporate a range of lighting that approximates the visual experience of real space). http://gamestudies.org/0701/articles/elna sr_niedenthal_knez_almeida_zupko Lighting or what is normally referred to as Global illumination is generally used in 3D computer graphics that are meant to add more realistic lighting to 3D scenes. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =YQw4YqutWsE 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =a5FzvJxhj_0 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/ter m/37810/anti-aliasing Anti-aliasing means removing components that have a higher frequency than is able to be properly shown by the recording device. This removal is done before sampling at a lower resolution. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =DY47bTEiGVM 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =DxAb2A9jeFg LoD – Level of Detail One important component of this "language" is the level of detail -- or the specificity required for a particular element at a particular stage of the project. The level of detail for a BIM model must correspond to the needs of the modeler, the project engineer, and the estimators Level of detail involves decreasing the complexity of a 3D object as it moves away from the viewer or to the other metrics such as object importance or position. Level of detail 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =I1wObzEm4_4 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v
- 6. and schedulers. LOD identifies how much information is known about a model element at a given time. http://www.vicosoftware.com/BIM-Level-of- Detail/tabid/89638/ techniques increases the efficiency of rendering by decreasing the workload on graphics pipeline stages. =VsI3JggyhpA Animation A simulation of movement created by displaying a series of pictures, or frames. Cartoons on television is one example of animation. Animation on computers is one of the chief ingredients of multimediapresentations. There are many software applications that enable you to create animations that you can display on a computer monitor. http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/ani mation.html Animation is modeled and manipulated by an animator. The animator usually starts by creating a 3D polygon mesh to manipulate. A mesh includes vertices that are connected by edges and faces, to give the appearance of form to a 3D object or environment. the mesh is then given an internal structure called that can be used to control the mesh by weighting the vertices. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =XYd3YZdpJTE 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =RkxKlkCV4xU 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. Examples of sprites include objects in 2D video games, icons that are part of an application user interface, and small images published on websites. http://www.techterms.com/definition/spri te A sprite is a two-dimensional animation that is integrated into a scene. Including graphical objects handled separately from the memory bitmap of a video display, this now includes various graphical manners. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =a3NBt3FjBm0 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =g0zfDs99z-E Scene A cutscene 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 character's development, introduce characters, and provide background information, atmosphere, dialogue, and clues. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutscene Scene is a computer art that specializes in producing demos, which are visual presentations that run on a computer. The main goal of a demo is to show off programming skills. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =ApKG87BM84U 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =Be9hhIIwwgQ Library A library is a useful framework to tackle a specific need within a game engine. A framework that entails the needs for a complete game is a game engine. http://gamedev.stackexchange.com/questi ons/10770/whats-the-difference-between-a- library-and-an-engine A graphics library is a program library designed to help in rendering computer graphics to a monitor. This involves providing clearer versions of functions that handle rendering tasks. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =IPGfrNQceT8 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =Ub_wf8wJAds UI In information technology, the user interface (UI) is everything designed into an information device with which a human being may interact -- including display screen, keyboard, mouse, light pen, the appearance of a desktop, illuminated characters, help messages, and how an application program or a Web site invites interaction and responds to it. http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/definition /user-interface The user interface, in the industrial design is the where interactions between people and computers occur. The goal of this is to effectively operate control of the computer on the user's end. Examples of this concept of user interfaces include the interactive aspects of computer operating systems, operator controls, and 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =gMZRwGqj6nM 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =d74O-b4g2ao
- 7. process controls. Frames Data transmission term for variable-size packet of data bits in a particular format and with codes (called flags) that mark the beginning and end of the packet. A frame generally contains its own control instructions, and information for addressing and error detection. Depending on the protocol of the network, it may be also be called a block or cell. http://www.businessdictionary.com/defini tion/frame.html In computer networking, a frame is a digital data transmission unit that includes frame synchronization, a sequence of bits or symbols making it possible for the receiver to detect the beginning and end of the packet in the stream of symbols or bits. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =vwWCyH2HfEU 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =AXHK1ntbe54 Concept In metaphysics, and especially ontology, a concept is a fundamental category of existence. In contemporary philosophy, there are at least three prevailing ways to understand what concept is. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concept The focus in making Concept has moved from squeezing as much out of the computer as possible to making stylish, beautiful, well-designed real time artwork to be added to the game. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =EM58x2RwXWQ 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =LOCMGR2WB00 Event An event, in a computing context, is any identifiable occurrence that has significance for system hardware or software. User-generated events include keystrokes and mouse clicks, among a wide variety of other possibilities. System-generated events include program loading and errors, also among a wide variety of other possibilities. http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/definition /event An event is an action or occurrence detected by the program that may be handled by the program. Events are handled with the program flow, that is, the program has one or more places where events are handled, frequently an event loop. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =5v4Zbqn20hs 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =8BnlKyWi1iA Pathfindin g 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 video games features the way in which a moving AI finds a path around an obstacle, and the most frequent example is strategy games in which the player directs units around obstacles. Pathfinding has grown in important recently as games and their environments have become more complex, and as a result in this many AI packages have been developed. 1.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =sztPglYAdvE 2.) https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =RSU6pZnzBUM