Lewis brady engine terminology (edited version)

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
RESEARCHE
D TERM TO
YOUR OWN
PRODUCTIO
N
PRACTICE?
IMAGE SUPPORT (Provide
an image and/or video link
of said term being used in
a game)
VIDE
O
GA
MES
/
VIDE
O
GA
ME
TEST
ING
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 vers ion
of a game but
does not
include the
ful l game as i t
i s giving the
player a taste
of what the
game he is
playing would
be l ike and
mos t demos
produced are
free so
everyone is
abl e to test
the games
mechanics
and
gameplay.
1.)
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atch?v=z_JFDPCtXFY
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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
i s in i ts latest
s tages of
development
and i s just
having i ts final
minor tweaks
to improve
game before
being
released, and
as a result in
thi s the game
should have
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l i ttle 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
i t’s to be fully
released.
Alpha A working alpha state game i s the game i tself with all
the basic core concepts in place (and most likely some
s ti ll being developed or drawn up) allowing players the
bas e 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/?ins ideModal=1
An alpha
game is in its
early s tages of
development
and i s still
having major
updates to i t
and i s not
ready for
being fully
published.
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Pre-
Alpha
Pre-Alpha means that the game still has a s cheduled
l i st of code and assets to be written and created. The
ga me is buggy, i t lacks features, i t’s prone to cra shing
and performance i ssues. 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 s tage of
compl etion where i t can be described as “Alpha”.
https ://carmageddon.zendesk.com/hc/en-us
/articles/200416352-What-does-Pre-Alpha-mean-a
pre-alpha
game is in its
earliest stages
of
development
and i s having
game
changing
updates in
terms with
resolution
settings and
characters
models and
there i s little
of the game
that has been
added yet.
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Gold A golden mas ter, 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
mas ter follows several other s tages in the software
development process including the alpha, beta, and
release candidate s tages. The final release candidate
(RC) becomes the "release to manufacturing" (RTM)
vers ion, which i s also called the golden master.
http://www.techterms.com/definition/goldenmaster
Golden
mas ter is a
s tage in the
software
release cycl e
in which the
software is in
i ts full and
final
development
s tage and is
ready to be
del ivered to
the cus tomer
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om/wp-content/
uploads/2013/09/gol
dmaster.png
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or to be
published
commercially.
The term was
ini tially
coined by
Appl e
Computers to
specify
software
products that
have passed
the entire
production/d
evelopment
and testing
phases.
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 s tart with a problem,
i solate the source of the problem, and then fix i t. A
user of a program that does not know how to fix the
problem may learn enough about the problem to be
abl e to avoid i t until i t is permanently fi xed. When
someone says they've debugged a program or "worked
the bugs out" of a program, they imply that they fixed
i t so that the bugs no longer exist.
http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/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
sys tems are
tightly
coupled, as a
change in one
may cause
bugs to
emerge in
another.
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Autom
ation
Automation or automatic control, i s the use of various
control systems for operating equipment such as
machinery, processes in factories, boilers and heat
treating ovens, switching in telephone networks,
s teering 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.
Compl icated
sys tems, such
as modern
factories and
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ships use all
thes e
combined
techniques.
White-
Box
Tes tin
g
White-box testing i s a methodology used to ensure and
val idate the internal framework, mechanisms, objects
and components of a software application. White-box
tes ting verifies code according to design specifications
and uncovers application vulnerabilities.
http://www.techopedia.com/definition/3891/white-box-
testing
In white-box
tes ting an
internal
perspective of
the sys tem, as
wel l as
programming,
are used to
des ign tests.
The tes ter
chooses
inputs to
paths through
the code and
determines
the correct
outputs. This
i s analogous
to tes ting
nodes into in-ci
rcui t testing
(ICT).
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Bug In computer technology, a bug is a coding error in a
computer program. (Here we consider a program to
al so include the microcode that is manufactured into a
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 i s
released or during public beta testing, bugs are still apt
to be di scovered. 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.com/definition
/bug
A software
bug i s an fault
in a computer
program that
causes it to
produce an
incorrect
result, or to
behave in
unexpected
ways . Most
bugs compile
from mi s takes
made by
people in
either a
program's
source code,
or in
frameworks
and operating
sys tems used
by such
programs,
and a few are
caused by
compi lers
producing an
incorrect
code.
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GA Vertex
Shade
A programmable function in display adapters that
offers a graphics application programmer flexibility in
Vertex
shaders are
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ME
ENGI
NES
r rendering an image. The vertex shader is used to
trans form 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
al lows the original objects to be distorted or reshaped
in any manner.
http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/53754/ver
tex-shader
run once for
each vertex
given to the
graphics
processor.
The purpose
of thi s i s to
trans form
each of the
vertex's 3D
pos ition in
vi rtual space
to 2D
coordinates at
which it
appears on
the s creen.
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Pixel
Shade
r
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.ht
ml
Pixel shaders
range from
outputting
the same
color, to
applying a
l ighting value,
to doing
bump
mapping,
shadows and
trans lucency .
They can alter
the depth of
the fragment
or output
more than
one color if
mul tiple
render targets
are active at
once.
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Pos t
Proces
s ing
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
requi res 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_(shader_effect)
Pos t-processing
is
used mostly in
3D rendering,
especially for
video games.
Instead of
rendering 3D
objects to the
di splay, the
s cene is
rendered to a
buffer in the
memory of
the video
card. Pixel
shaders are
then used and
applied to the
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pos t-processing
fi l ters to the
image buffer
before
di splaying it
to the s creen.
Rende
ring
Rendering is the process of generating an image from a
model (or models in what collectively could be called a
scene fi l e), by means of computer programs. A s cene
fi l e contains objects in a s trictly defined language or
data structure; i t would contain geometry, viewpoint,
texture, l ighting, and shadinginformation as a
des cription of the vi rtual s cene.
http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/d
ocs /Rendering_(computer_graphics).html
Rendering is
one of the
topics of 3D
computer
graphics, In
the graphics
pipeline, i t 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.
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Norm
a l
Map
A normal map is usually used to fake high-res geometry
deta il 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
di rection each of the pixels on the low-poly model will
be facing, controlling how much l ighting each pixel will
receive, and thus creating the illusion of more surface
deta il or better curvature. The process of transferring
normals from the high-res model to the in-game model
i s often called baking.
http://tech-artists.org/wiki/Normal_Map
In 3D
computer
graphics,
normal
mapping is a
technique
used for
faking the
l ighting of
bumps and
dents an
implementati
on of bump
mapping. It i s
used to add
deta ils
without using
subtantially
more
polygons. A
common use
of thi s
technique is
to define the
appearance
and details of
a low polygon
model by
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generating a
normal map
from a height
map.
Enti ty An Enti ty Sys tem is s imply a game architecture, which
i s used to help you manage your game, no matter how
complex i t may need to be. Entity Systems help split up
your logic from your data, much the same way the
MVC des ign pattern helps you split your model from
your view-controller. An Entity System i s typically split
into three major parts: entities, components and
sys tems.
https ://github.com/miguelmartin75/anax/wiki/What-is
-an-Entity-System%3F
An enti ty
within a game
i s something
that exists in
i ts elf, actually
and has no
mas s within
the game. In
particular,
abs tractions
and legal
fictions are
usually
regarded as
enti ties.
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UV
Map
Thi s 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
permi ts
polygons that
make up a 3D
object to be
painted with
color from an
image. The
image is
cal led a UV
texture map,
but i t's just an
ordinary
image. The
UV mapping
process
involves
as signing
pixels in the
image to
surface
mappings on
the polygon,
thi s is usually
done by
copying a
triangle
shaped piece
of the image
map and
pas ting it onto
a triangle on
the object.
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Proce
dural
Textur
e
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
i s resolution independent and can create more precise
textures, especially i f there is great and varying depth
A procedural
texture i s a
computer-generated
image created
by us ing an
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to the objects being textured. Procedural textures may
be 2D or 3D. See texture mapping and volumetric
texture.
http://www.yourdictionary.com/procedural-texture
algorithm to
create a
realistic
representatio
n of natural
materials such
as wood,
marbl e,
grani te, metal
and s tone.
Phys ic
s
A phys ics engine is a s cripting method used for creating
the phys ics, or movement, in a project. This movement
can include jumping, side-motion, wall-jumping, and
more. Phys ics 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_Engines
A phys ics
engine is
computer
software that
provides an
approximate
s imulation of
certa in
phys ical
sys tems, 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.
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Col l isi
on
Col l ision detection comes in two forms, discrete and
continuous. Advanced engines support both, as they
have different properties. In general, continuous
col l ision detection is very expensive and only used
where it i s really needed. The majority of collision and
phys ics 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 s top a player from
walking partially through a wall or the floor, it just fixes
i t up after detecting that the player is partially in the
wal l/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.s tackexchange.com/questions/26501/
how-does-a-collision-engine-work
Col l ision
detection
refers to the
problem of
detecting the
intersection
of two or
several more
objects. While
the topic i s
often
as sociated
with i ts use in
video games
and other
phys ical
s imulations, it
al so has
applications in
robotics.
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Lightin
g
Simulated illumination is defined as the method by
which vi rtual 3D game environments are rendered
taking into account all lighting information i n the
s cene. Due to the flexibility of game rendering engines,
and the variety of game styles, we organize simulated
Lighting or
whats i s
normally to as
Global
i l lumination is
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i l lumination exhibited in games into a dimension
ranging from more abstract forms of l ight and colour
re pre sentation, e.g. “Rez” (United Game Arti sts, 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/elnasr_niedenth
al_knez_almeida_zupko
generally
used in 3D
computer
graphics that
are meant to
add more
realistic
l ighting to 3D
s cenes.
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AA –
Anti -
Aliasin
g
Smoothing the jagged appearance of diagonal lines in
a bitmapped image. The pixels that surround the edges
of the l ine 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 i s usually known as anti-aliasing when applied to
diagonal and curved lines.
http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/37810/ant
i -aliasing
Anti -aliasing
means
removing
components
that have a
higher
frequency
than i s able to
be properly
shown by the
recording
device. This
removal is
done before
sampling at a
lower
resolution.
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LoD –
Level
of
Deta il
One important component of this "language" is the
level of detail -- or the specificity required for a
particular element at a particular s tage of the project.
The level of detail for a BIM model must correspond to
the needs of the modeler, the project engineer, and
the es timators and s chedulers. LOD identifies how
much information is known about a model element at
a given time.
http://www.vicosoftware.com/BIM-Level-of-
Deta il/tabid/89638/
Level of detail
involves
decreasing
the
complexity of
a 3D object
as i t moves
away from
the viewer or
to the other
metrics such
as object
importance or
pos ition. Level
of deta il
techniques
increases the
efficiency of
rendering by
decreasing
the workload
on graphics
pipeline
s tages.
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Anima
tion
A s imulation 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
mul timediapresentations. 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/animation.html
Animation is
modeled and
manipulated
by an
animator. The
animator
usually starts
by creating a
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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
envi ronment.
the mesh is
then given an
internal
s tructure
cal led that
can be used
to control the
mesh by
weighting the
vertices.
Sprite A spri te is a bitmap graphic that is designed to be part
of a larger s cene. It can either be a s tatic image or an
animated graphic. Examples of spri tes 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/sprite
A spri te is a
two-dimensional
animation
that i s
integrated
into a scene.
Including
graphical
objects
handled
separately
from the
memory
bitmap of a
video display,
thi s now
includes
various
graphical
manners.
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Scene A cuts cene or event scene (sometimes in-game
cinematic or in-game movie) i s 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, s trengthen 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 vi sual
presentations
that run on a
computer.
The main goal
of a demo i s
to show off
programming
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ski lls.
Librar
y
A l ibrary i s 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.s tackexchange.com/questions/10770/
whats-the-difference-between-a-library-and-an-engine
A graphics
l ibrary i s a
program
l ibrary
des igned to
help in
rendering
computer
graphics to a
monitor. This
involves
providing
clearer
vers ions of
functions that
handle
rendering
ta sks.
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UI In information technology, the user interface (UI) is
everything designed into an information device with
which a human being may interact -- including display
s creen, keyboard, mouse, l ight pen, the appearance of
a desktop, illuminated characters, help messages, and
how an application program or a Web site invites
interaction and responds to i t.
http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/definition/user-interface
The us er
interface, in
the industrial
des ign is the
where
interactions
between
people and
computers
occur. The
goal of this i s
to effectively
operate
control of the
computer on
the us er's
end. Examples
of thi s
concept of
user
interfaces
include the
interactive
aspects of
computer
operating
sys tems,
operator
control s, and
process
control s.
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Frame
s
Data transmission term for variable-size packet of data
bi ts 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
al so be called a block or cell.
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/frame.h
In computer
networking, a
frame is a
digital data
transmission
uni t that
includes
frame
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tml synchronizati
on, a
sequence of
bi ts or
symbols
making it
pos sible for
the receiver
to detect the
beginning and
end of the
packet in the
s tream of
symbols or
bi ts .
Conce
pt
In metaphysics, and especially ontology, a concept is a
fundamental category of existence. In contemporary
phi losophy, there are at least three prevailing ways to
understand what concept i s.
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
s tyl ish,
beautiful,
wel l-designed
real time
artwork to be
added to the
game.
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Event An event, in a computing context, i s any identifiable
occurrence that has significance for system hardware
or software. Us er-generated events include keystrokes
and mouse clicks, among a wide variety of other
pos sibilities. System-generated events include program
loading and errors, also among a wide variety of other
pos sibilities.
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.)
atch?v=5v4Zbqn20hs
2.)
atch?v=8BnlKyWi1iA
Pathfi
nding
Pathfinding or pathing is the plotting, by a computer
application, of the shortest route between two points.
It i s 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
obs tacle, and
1.)
atch?v=sztPglYAdvE
2.)
atch?v=RSU6pZnzBUM

the mos t
frequent
example is
s trategy
games in
which the
player directs
uni ts around
obs tacles.
Pathfinding
has grown in
important
recently as
games and
thei r
envi ronments
have become
more
complex, and
as a result in
thi s many AI
packages
have been
developed.

Lewis brady engine terminology (edited version)

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