game engine terminology

1. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
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 ‘Sales promotion method that (1) shows
the performance of a product in actual
use conditions, or (2) encourages trial purchase and
use of the product for evaluation by the customer.’
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/demo
ns tration.html
‘It i s sample code/graphics/audio that demonstrates
key elements of the proposed game. Depending on
the genre of the game this could be an entire game
level or part of one (FPS), a single race track with a
coupl e of cars (racing) or a few locations/rooms with
puzzles (point and click adventure game).’
http://www.obscure.co.uk/articles-2/preparing-a-game-
demo/
Demos are very important in production
practice as i t is what i s used to display the
qualities of the product to a party that is not
di rectly privy to the production of the game
i ts elf. When showing a game to a third
party, the s implest way to communicate the
deta ils of a games design and content is to
show them directly.
Demos may also be used as a way to di rectly
tes t a section of a game for bugs, although
for thi s purpose open betas are more
common.
Demos used to be commonly distributed by
compa nies via ‘demo discs’ that would be
included with video games magazines.

2. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
2
Beta ‘A beta test refers to the distribution of pre-release
game software to a s elect group of people so that
they can test the game in their own homes. The beta
vers ion of a game is as close to perfect as the
company can make i t, but any bugs, glitches or other
i s sues discovered in beta testing will usually be
a ddressed before the game's official release.’
http://www.techopedia.com/d efinition/27136/beta-test-gaming
The term beta refers to a part of a games
development where it is considered feature
compl ete, but i t still may contain bugs and
gl i tches. The testing aspect of a beta is
important in order to find and remove as
many unwanted bugs as possible and fix any
mi s takes in any aspect of the games levels,
game features or UI to reduce the chances of
an unintended negative experience for the
player.
During the battlefield 3 public beta test, a
gl i tch was discovered that caused the models
of the players to grow in size randomly, this
was fixed in the release of the games.

3. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
3
Alpha ‘Borrowed from traditional (i.e. non-games) software
development, Alpha designates a key stage in a game's
development. The definition of Alpha for traditional
software is, according to Wikipedia:
Alpha software can be unstable and could cause crashes or
data loss. [...] The alpha phase usually ends with a feature
freeze, indicating that no more features will be added to the
software. At this time, the software is said to be feature
complete.
In game development, the definition is a bit more blurry.
Yes, the exact definition of an Alpha may (and often will)
vary from one developer to another, and also from one
publisher to another. The Alpha build being a key
deliverable when you've got a publisher deal, you better be
crystal clear with the publisher about what needs to be
implemented in that build. This will avoid any surprises.
A game's Alpha build usually complies with the following
points:
 The game is playable from start to finish.
 All the game's features are implemented to at
least first pass quality.
 Some art may still be place holder.
 Crashing bugs may be present.
The important thing after is that after the Alpha build has
been approved, the developers should stop adding features.
However that's theory, and as projects tend to be late,
Alphas are usually not what they should be. As such, feature
implementation might still happen after the delivery of the
Alpha.’
http://technicalgamedesign.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/
alpha.html
Although video game alphas are somewhat
inconsistent in their definition, alphas are
i mportant to a game’s development, as it i s
the fi rst intermittent stage between
conception and release of the game where
the ga me is considered to be ‘playa ble’ and
therefore all progress to the game is added
to and built upon from this s tage.
Priori ties in this s tage include thorough
tes ting and improving game s tability,
features and mechanics, and removing
particularly major bugs and glitches that
hamper gameplay considerably (e.g. bugs
that impede progress, crashes, etc.).
DayZ as a standalone game was released on
Stea mworks as a n ‘early a ccess’ title as a n
open alpha game.

4. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
4
Pre-Alpha
‘Pre-Alpha i s a standard term to denote a number of
interim milestones between prototyping and alpha,
each of which includes new functionality and/or
game content. Pre-alphas often mandate
incremented improvements on a number of parallel
areas in a project, but rarely expect any one of those
areas to be complete. The exact content of each pre-alpha
is often an ongoing discussion between
producers on the team and those at the publisher.
Pre-alphas are usually followed by alpha, beta,
release candidate and gold master milestones.’
http://www.whatgamesare.com/pre-alpha.html
Pre-Alphas give developers the opportunity
to increment their designs, giving them a
greater ability to observe and test individual
mechanics and game elements to ensure
that they are implemented into the game as
intended.
Thi s pre alpha gameplay of ‘The Ave ngers’
was used as a reveal trailer for the game
whi le i t was in development.
Gold ‘The term "release to manufacturing", al so known as
"going gold", i s a term used when a software product
i s ready to be delivered or provided to the customer.
Thi s build may be digitally signed, allowing the end
user to verify the integrity and authenticity of the
software purchase. A copy of the RTM build known as
the "gold master" or GM i s sent for mass duplication.
RTM precedes general availability (GA), when the
product i s released to the public.’
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_c
ycle#Release_candidate
Whe n a game has ‘Gone Gold’ this means
that the game is now considered suitable for
release, and therefore means that the
developer is internally confident that it has
s ucce ssfully completed i ts game’s features
and removed the vast majority of bugs and
gl i tches in game.
It may be considered to be the final s tage of
the primary development of the game
(further support may later be included such
as game updates and downloadable content
release).

5. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
5
Debug ‘De bugging is the routine process of l ocating and
removing computer program bugs, errors or
abnormalities, which is methodically handled by
software programmers via debugging tools.
Debugging checks, detects and corrects errors or
bugs to allow proper program operation according to
s e t s pecifications.’
http://www.techopedia.com/definition/16373/debu
gging
Games often have debug modes included in
the code at some point, even up to and
including release versions of the game. This
i s useful for a production process because it
al lows a developer to instantly interface with
code from within the game to investigate
and remove bugs without being constrained
by the l imitations that the player of the final
vers ion.
Thi s is an image of the debugging console of
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, accessed
via outside software.
Automation ‘Automation enables an application's command
operations to be manipulated from outside that
application. The Cl ient for Windows provides
automation objects that can be manipulated from
programs built using programming environments
such as Microsoft Visual Basic (Version 3.0 or above),
Microsoft Visual C++, and Sybase PowerBuilder.
Important: The Cl ient for Windows OLE APIs are
tes ted using Microsoft Visual Basic and Microsoft
Vi sual C++ and the examples in this document are
Vi sual Basic and Visual C++ language examples. You
can us e other languages but the syntax and
techniques will differ. Check your language
documentation for OLE automation implementation
specifics for your environment.
To manipulate the Cl ient for Windows objects, you
need to know the properties and methods for each
obje ct.’
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/cmx/v8r3
m0/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.ibm.cliwin.doc%2Fdcmp
o012.htm
Automation allows for easier preliminary
tes ting of game software, and can mean that
a developer can detect bugs and glitches via
obvious errors and breaks in the game code
that occur during an automated test.
Automation does not necessarily allow for
tes ting extensive enough to detect certain
bugs and glitches that can occur in-game,
such as clipping through parts of the map, so
human testers will s till be needed to more
deeply experiment with faults in the game
software.

6. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
6
White-Box
Testing
‘White Box Testing (al so known as Clear Box Testing,
Open Box Testing, Glass Box Testing, Transparent Box
Tes ting, Code-Based Testing or Structural Testing) is a
software testing method in which the internal
s tructure/design/implementation of the item being
tes ted is known to the tester. The tester chooses
inputs to exercise paths through the code and
determines the appropriate outputs. Programming
know-how and the implementation knowledge is
es sential. White box testing is testing beyond the
user interface and into the nitty-gritty of a system.’
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/White_Box_T
es ting.html
Because White Box Testing involves a savvy
development member, i t has the advantage
of the tester being able to recognise how the
game functions, and therefore is more likely
to understand the underlying cause of a bug
or gl i tch that occurs during testing, and i s
capable of resolving the i ssue themselves.
Bug ‘In several usages in information technology,
a glitch (pronounced GLIHTCH ) is a sudden break in
function or continuity, sometimes of a transient
nature, with a varying degree of seriousness.’
‘ In a computer program, a glitch can be a bug that
i sn't encountered very often, resulting in a problem
that sometimes goes away because next time the
combi nation of e vents i s different.’
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/glitch
Bugs are an unwanted, but to a degree
i ne vitable part of any ga me’s development
process, where elements of the game code
may s top functioning as intended, or may
negatively affect gameplay. Generally
speaking, the larger the s cope of the game
being developed, the more bugs are likely to
occur, and extensive testing has to be done
by the developer to ensure that as few bugs
as possible exist in the final version of the
game (in particular, bugs that impede
progress of the game).
In Heavy Rain, there was a prompt that
al lowed you to call out for another character
in the game. A glitch allowed you to activate
the prompt during the in game cutscenes.

7. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
7
GAME
ENGINES
GAME
ENGINES
Vertex Shader ‘A ve rtex s hader i s a graphics processing function
used to add special effects to objects in a 3D
envi ronment by performing mathematical operations
on the objects' vertex data. Each vertex can be
defined by many different variables. For instance, a
vertex i s always defined by i ts location in a 3D
envi ronment using the x-, y-, and z- coordinates.’
http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/feature_vertexshade
r.html
Vertex shaders give a game developer the
abi lity to add a large variety of vi sual effects,
which are directly applied to objects. This is
useful in expanding the creative freedom of
the designer, and giving an opportunity for
the game to have a more distinctive vi sual
s tyle.
In thi s image, OpenGL is transforming an
rendering an teapot via a vertex shader
pipeline.
Pixel Shader ‘A Pi xe l Shader is a graphics function that calculates
effects on a per-pixel basis. Depending on resolution,
in excess of 2 mi llion pixels may need to be rendered,
l i t, shaded, and colored for each frame, at 60 frames
per second.’
http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/feature_pixelshader.
html
Per i ts namesake a pixel shader renders the
in-game environment pixel by pixel, which
grants the pixel shader the ability to be used
in 3d model based games and sprite based
2d games, the latter being unable to be
rendered by a vertex shader due to a lack of
vertices.
Thi s image is comparing visual fidelity of a
render between different pixel shader
configurations.
Post Processing ‘A pos t-processing effect is an effect that you want to
apply to the entire window after you have drawn the
enti re s cene. For instance, a common post-processing
effect i s to make your scene black and white, give it a
sepia tone to look l ike an old photograph, or blur the
s creen or to cre ate a bloom effect.’
http://rbwhitaker.wikidot.com/post-processing-effects
Pos t processing effects are used to add visual
fl a ir to a vi deo game’s visuals. There are a
wide variety of post processing effects and
they are often used in tandem for specific
purposes (for example, depth of field and
motion blur are often used to create a more
realistic environment, while bloom is used to
cre a te a more ‘ci nematic’ vi sual style).
Thi s is a comparison of two views in the free
to play MMO World of Tanks, showing a view
through a scope, one with a post processing
effect (depth of field) and one without.

8. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
8
Rendering ‘There are two major types of rendering, their chief
di fference being the speed at which images are
computed and finalized.
Real-Time Rendering: Real-Time Rendering i s
used most prominently in gaming and interactive
graphics, where images must be computed from
3D information at an incredibly rapid pace.
Offline or Pre-Rendering: Offl ine rendering is
used in situations where speed is less of an issue,
with calculations typically performed using multi-core
CPUs rather than dedicated graphics
hardware.’
http://3d.about.com/od/3d-101-The-
Bas ics/a/Rendering-Finalizing-The-3d-Image.htm
Rendering is a core element of any game, as
i t i s the process that provides a vi sual
element to the game, allowing any sort of
human-computer interaction to occur.
In video games, any gameplay i s rendered in
real -time, because in each frame what the
player sees i s determined by what the player
inputs into the system, such as camera
control s, or an action key. Some cut s cenes
are also real-time rendered (also called in-engine
cut scenes).
Pre-renders are used almost exclusively for
‘ci nematic’ cut s cenes, which depict events
that occur within the continuity of the game
that the player does not interact with.
Thi s picture shows two pre-renders of a car
model made in a modelling animation and
rendering software program called 3DS Max.
One i s of the base model, and the other is of
the model with textures and normal maps
applied.
Normal Map ‘A normal map is a way of adding high-resolution
deta il to a game ready (low resolution) model,
without drastically affecting the game's performance.
Normal maps are applied to an object exactly the
same way that you'd apply a two-dimensional diffuse
(color) map to your model, however instead of
conta ining simple color information a normal map is
conta ins information that can accurately describes
the surface slope of a 3D model with millions of
polygons.
Tha t “s lope information” i s cleve rly s tored i n each of
the normal map's three color channels (R,G,B), which,
when translated at render time, will tell the game-e
ngi ne which dire ction a ny give n face i s “pointing” in
3D space. Directionality is determined according to
the surface normal of a face, which i s a term you may
have heard in high-school geometry. (In case you've
forgotten, the term surface normal refers to the
di rectional vector that is perpendicular to any
Normal maps are useful for adding vi sual
deta il to objects without greatly affecting
performance; otherwise, adding details to a
model would involve increasing the number
of vertices on the model and manipulating
the xyz coordinates of the points. Therefore,
when the object would be rendered in game,
the engine needs to calculate the placement
of vi sual objects and textures based on a
greater number of coordinates, increasing
how long it takes to render.
A demonstration image showing the
di fference between various states of a 3d
model of a head – from l eft to right, a low
poly vers ion, a high poly version, and a low
poly vers ion with a normal map applied).

9. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
9
geometric surface.’
http://3d.about.com/od/3d-101-The-
Bas ics/tp/Current-Gen-Gameart-Workflow-What-Is-
Normal-Mapping.htm
Entity ‘In programming, engineering, and probably many
other contexts, the word is used to identify units,
whether concrete things or abstract ideas, that have
no ready name or label.
In some usages, an entity i s close in meaning
to object as it is used in object-oriented
programming . ‘
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/entity
Enti ties are the base of each individual in
ga me ‘object’ (such as non-player characters,
projectiles, and physical objects such as
boxes ) that are assigned properties by the
developer in the game engine. This is
important in games, as it allows for individual
‘obje cts’ to function consistently i n ga me,
and for each object to be able to behave
relative to each other.
UV Map
‘In cas e you're wondering, UV mapping stands for the
technique used to "wrap" a 2D image texture onto a
3D mesh. "U" and "V" are the name of the axes of a
plane, since "X", "Y" and "Z" are used for the
coordinates in the 3D space. For example: increasing
your "V" on a sphere might move you along a
longitude l ine (north or south), while increasing your
"U" might move you along a line of latitude (east or
wes t).
Another explanation can be gleaned from the
Blender manual. Imagine a paper 3D model of an
object, e.g. a sphere, that i s to be laid flat on a table.
Each of the 3D coordinates of the sphere can be
mapped to the 2D coordinate on the flat piece of
paper. Blender provides another view of the vertices
(coordinates) in the UV/Image Editor. You can select
and edit these 2D vertices just l ike in the 3D Editor
window. The purpose of this unwrapping of the
coordinates is just to map these coordinates to
images/pictures so that the 3D image can have a
realistic looking surface with textures derived from
UV maps are a useful tool for making objects
appear much more detailed than they
actually are (the detail coming from
additional vertices added to and manipulated
on the model). By using UV maps on models,
a developer can give those models any
des ired s tyle or appearance without
sacrificing performance, as the more ‘actual’
deta il is added to an object by the vertices,
the more points that an engine has to
calculate to render the object in real time.
An image showcasing the application of a UV
map to a model. The UV is in the lower right
corner, and the green lines show how the
application of the UV map to model is affect
by the shape of the model.

10. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
10
thes e images.’
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blender_3D:_Noob_to_
Pro/UV_Map_Basics
Procedural
Texture
‘When someone thinks of a texture, they probably
think of an image used to 'paint' a model in order to
give i t a certain appearance. This refers to bitmapped
textures, because the texture is made of pixels from
an actual bitmap image. These can be very realistic,
especially i f taken from photographs of actual
surfaces. However, one major restriction applies to
bitmapped textures: a bitmapped texture has a fixed
amount of detail. It cannot be scaled larger without
looking softer, i t will never yi eld any more detail than
what i s already captured in the pixels.
Procedural textures ta ke an entirely different
approach. Instead of creating an image by defining a
large, unchanging block of pixels, procedurals create
the texture from the ground up. This is where the
term 'procedural' comes from. The texture is defined
only by the procedure needed to create it. You only
need to give the computer a (relatively) small
formula, instead of a huge block of pixels. With this
formula, the computer is able to create the texture at
any s cale, in any orientation, extending as far as you
need.’
http://www.upvector.com/?section=Tutorials&subse
ction=Intro%20to%20Procedural%20Textures
Procedural textures are common in
modelling and mapping software, as they are
versatile for many objects. The advantage of
procedural textures is that they do not need
to be created exactly to the s ize and shape of
the model that they are applied to, which is
especially useful for models that are liable to
be modified and edited at any point, since
the texture is calculated by the dimensions of
the model.
Thi s image is showing a variety of simple
shapes with procedural textures applied to
them; in this case they are all using similar
wood-based procedural textures. This
showcases how the textures use formulas to
calculate how the texture will apply to the
surface of the model.

11. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
11
Physics ‘A physics engine i s general used to describe a
software program that is used to simulate physical
phenomena. One of the first uses of a physics engine
was for simulating where artillery shells would land
based on their weight, force behind the firing of the
shells, and angle of the firing. Since then, it has also
been used to help in the design of aircraft and
watercraft, as well as vehicles.
A phys ics engine is also used in computer video
games for s imulating various actions and reactions in
the game. Unlike physics engines used for vehicle and
ai rcraft design, however, the physic engines in video
games are used for more real time s imulations
instead of replicating physics encountered in the real
world. In other words, video games aren't concerned
with real-life simulations as much as they are about
being perceptually correct. In first person shooter
games, this can lead to cases where a player is shot in
the leg and dies, instead of just being injured. A
phys ics engine is designed to simulate the perception
of shooting and killing a target, not so much in where
the ta rget is hit or if it was a mortal wound or just a
flesh wound.’
http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/p/physics-engine.
htm
Phys ics are one of the most important
elements of any 3d game (and a good
number of 2d games). Physics engines in
games are necessary to give the world
bel ievable interactions between the game
world, the player, and objects in game.
Understanding the way that physics interact
i s vi tal in the designing stage of games, as the
developer always wants to avoid making
progress impossible for the player, which can
happen in particular when the game features
puzzles involving objects affected by physics.
Thi s is a demonstration of a physics engine in
action, based on a pyramid of stacked boxes.
One of the boxes near the base is removed,
caus ing the above boxes to fall and collide
with each other.
Collision ‘With the advent of 3D technologies in the past
several years, programmers have made radical
changes in how they program applications, especially
when regarding computer games. Collision detection
i s an essential part in 3D games. It ensures that the
game physics are relatively realistic, so that an object
does not cut through other objects or hovers when it
should fall. How well a game can detect collisions is
an integral part of the believability and enjoyment of
the game. A poorly implemented collision detection
sys tem can be a bane to a product, whereas an
Col l ision can be considered to be an
extension of the physics, as they both
influences each other. Collision in its most
bas ic form ensures that the player character
doe s not move ‘through’ objects in the
game, the floor, or through other players (in
the cas e of some multiplayer games).
Col l ision also influences the ways that in
game objects with physics properties
influence each other. For example, a group
of wooden boxes hit by an explosive may

12. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
12
excel lent implementation can produce amazing
results.
The two main parts in collision detection are
detecting whether or not a collision has happened,
and i f so, responding to the collision. Discovering if a
col l ision has occurred i s the basis of this problem.
Whi le responding to the collision is computationally
much easier than discovering a collision, it can still
pos e several problems in how objects are going to
react to each other. In modern computer games, if
the character runs into a wall, then the character will
either s top or will continue 'sliding' along the wall.
However, if this character comes up to a movable
box, then the character might s tart pushing the box
instead. Or consider a ball bouncing around in a
room. The ball is going to behave quite differently
than a person walking around in a room. ‘
http://www.edenwaith.com/products/pige/tutorials/
col l ision.php
break and fly off in various directions,
bouncing off of walls and other objects.
Thi s is an image of a collision occurring in
engine between two objects, the wall and a
model of a truck. The collision interacts with
the phys ics engine, causing the truck to be
deformed in areas where it has touched the
wal l.
Lighting ‘Working under the supervision of the lead lighting
arti st, this person creates lighting and shading
elements within game envi ronments and scenes.
Us ing software such as Maya or Lightwave, he or she
applies lighting effects to completed envi ronment
and character art that is consistent with i llustrated
concepts and level designs and ensures consistency
acros s all concurrent s cenes. The artist is concerned
with matching the lighting to interior environments,
noting where the artists have placed objects like
lamps, windows, or other sources of illumination.
Likewise, for exterior locations, the artist i s cognizant
of the time of day within the context of the story,
appropriately applying lighting effects to correspond
with the position of the sun, moon, or outdoor
s ources of light.’
Lighting i s one of the most major aspects of
des ign to consider when creating locations
and objects in a game. The application of
l ighting to an in game location can influence
the atmosphere, the believability, and the
flow of the game level. Lighting is also used
as a gameplay element, as developers can
manipulate the location and directions of
l ighting elements in game to direct the player
to where they can progress.
Thi s image shows a number of different
l ighting entities that can be used to illuminate
3d renders, including point lights, ball l ights,
spotlights, etc.

13. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
13
http://getinmedia.com/careers/lighting-artist
‘In a game design context, s imulated i llumination is
embedded in the vocabulary of the 3D modelling
software (Maya, 3D Studio Max, etc) used in game
production (Manovich, 2001)… ‘Ea ch s oftware
product contains algorithms that establish simulated
i l lumination. These algorithms have their own set of
as sumptions concerning how lighting is established or
s imulated, including shadow appearance and colour.’
http://gamestudies.org/0701/articles/elnasr_
niedenthal_knez_almeida_zupko
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 s creen. Remember though that Anti-Aliasing does
not actually smooth any edges of images it merely
fool s the eye. Like a lot of things they are only
des igned to be good enough’
http://www.pantherproducts.co.uk/index.php?pagei
d=antialiasing
Anti -aliasing is often an optional element
that can be toggled to improve a games
graphical fidelity, though they can also
dra s tically a ffect a game’s performance.
Generally speaking, a developer will want to
balance the amount of AA used in a game
with i ts performance.
An example of anti-aliasing using a text
cha ra cter as a n e xample. Where the ‘blocky’
sections of the ‘a’ are visible on the aliased
character, there is the anti-aliasing effect
applied on the other.
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 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 estimators and s chedulers. LOD identifies
how much information is known about a model
element at a given time. This "information richness"
grows as the project comes closer to breaking
The Level of Detail of an object is one of the
mos t important things to communicate
between a games designer and a modeller,
as the detail of an object needs to be
appropriate for the rest of the game, or it
wi l l risk looking out of place, or negatively
affect performance. Some games have
mul tiple LoD versions of models that can be
toggled in an options menu, to improve
Examples of the usage of LoD, using several

14. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
14
ground.’
http://www.vicosoftware.com/BIM-Level-of-
Deta il/tabid/89638/
performance. vers ions of a barrel. From left to right, is the
highest level of detail model to the lowest.
Animation ‘The animator uses a computer to generate a
sequence of s till images, that give the i llusion of
motion through three dimensional space when you
play them.
You require a 3D animation software, such as 3DMax
or Maya, and a good computer.
Instead of drawing every detail in the frame by hand,
you draw every frame using a computer! The
animator gives the software a s et of parameters that
des cribes how the elements should look and move,
something along the lines of:
"At frame #1 (a point in time) place the ball at
coordinates X1,Y1,Z1 (a point in space)."
"At frame #25 (1 second later) place the ball at
coordinates X2,Y2,Z2 (a second point in space)."
http://www.the-flying-animator.com/how-does-computer-
animation-work.html
Any object that is intended to move using i ts
own properties and scripts will need
animations to make its movements appear
feasible to the player. There are many
methods of creating animations and applying
them to objects, but the most important
thing to consider when creating an animation
i s how i t appears in real-time.
Thes e are some animation stages for a 3d
model from the game Postmortem. The
animation is focused on making the model
appear to fly by flapping it's 'wings'.
Sprite ‘Spri tes are 2D bitmaps that are drawn directly to a
render target without using the pipeline for
Sprites are the vi sual element of a 2d game
engine (similar to how models are the visual

15. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
15
trans formations, lighting or effects. Sprites are
commonly used to display information such as health
bars , number of lives, or text such as scores. Some
games, especially older games, are composed entirely
of s pri tes.’
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/
l ibrary/bb203919.aspx
element of a 3d game engine), although they
can be applied to 3d games via ui elements.
Unl ike models, sprites are not a consistent
element that i s modified directly to create
movement, but instead the sprite is replaced
in each frame of movement by another
spri te attached to the same object for each
frame of animation of the object.
Thi s is a s eries of still sprites for the main
character of Chrono Trigger. There is a
separate set of sprites for any individual
action that the main character can perform
during gameplay.
Scene ‘A s cene graph is a tree s tructure that tries to
s tructure the objects in a scene accordingly to
trans formations, textures, materials and much more
instead of just the geometrical representation of
objects l ike for example a quadtree does. All games
does contain a scene graph in some way, in the most
s imple form it could just be a root node and all other
re nde red objects as child nodes to the root node.’
http://www.gamerendering.com/category/scene-management/
Scenes are the method by which a game has
i ts locations and levels separate from each
other, with their own assets such as models,
textures, particles and scripts. Using this
method means that the game engine has less
information to load when the player enters
each particular scene of the game.
Thi s is a s creenshot of a level being designed
in a game engine. The drop down menus
l i sted on the right of the window make up the
s cene.

16. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
16
Library
‘In computing, a library i s a collection of s imilar
objects that are stored for occasional use - most
frequently, programs in source code or object
codeform, data files, scripts, templates, fonts, and
phys ical storage units such as tape cartridges. Here
are some common types of libraries.
1) A program library is a collection of (usually)
precompiled, reusable programming routines that a
programmer can "call" when writing code so that the
programmer doesn't have to write i t. A dynamic l ink
l ibrary (DLL) is one type of program library. Another
type of program library is a class library, whose
s tored routines are class definitions in object-oriented
programming (OOP). Graphical user
interface (GUI) components such as scroll bars,
buttons, and windowing routines are generally s tored
in a class library.
2) A s torage library i s a collection of physical storage
media such as tapes or disks and a way to access
them. A tape l ibrary, for example, contains tape
cartridges and a mechanism that moves them into
and out of the drive(s) where their content is read or
updated.
3) A data library i s the area of a data center (a
centralized area housing computer systems and
equipment) where storage media are archived.Online
service providers also sometimes refer to
a di rectory on a server containing files for
downloading a s a data library.’
http://searchsqlserver.techtarget.com/definition/libr
ary
Libraries are commonly associated with the
s cripting elements of game engines, such as
the us e of Java or C# s cripts. These l ibraries
speed up development by containing
information or routines that the developer
may not necessarily be inclined to create or
program themselves, and instead may make
use of libraries to bring up code elements
from s torage to use for a particular script or
enti ty property.

17. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
17
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
phys ical buttons, dials and levers. Also included are
al l input devices, such as a mouse, keyboard, touch
s creen, remote control and game controller.’
http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/53558/u
ser-interface
User interfaces are important for allowing
the player to even play the game, as without
a medium between the players control
sys tems (such as a gamepad or a mouse) and
the game engine there is no way of actually
control ling the game. UI elements are also a
useful way of communicating arbitrary
information to the player, such as tutorials or
the health bar.
Thi s is a s creenshot of Sid Meiyer's
Civi l isation V, a turn based strategy game.
The game features an extensive User
Interface, in the form of the buttons and
windows featured around the edge of the
s creen.
Frames ‘One of the most common benchmarks used in
measuring graphics performance of video game is the
game's frame rate or frames per second. Frame rates
in a video game reflect how often an image in the
game is refreshed to produce or give impression of
motion and i s typically measured in frames per
second or FPS. There are many different factors that
go into determining a game's frame rate, but the
result of a low frame rate is is often the same,
choppy, jumpy movement or frozen screens that
make it difficult to interact with a game. ‘
http://compactiongames.about.com/od/Overclockin
g-and-Performance/a/Understanding-And-
Optimizing-Video-Game-Frame-Rates.htm
Frames are the individual renders that the
console makes of the game based on
information relevant to the player, such as
where they are looking in game. The
amounts of frames that occur in a given time
frame are the most commonly used method
of measuring the performance of a game.
Fra me s don’t just affect the visual flow of
animation in games, but also the gameplay
aspect, as each frame also represents an
individual moment where the engine i s
capable of inputting an action from the
player, so the ability of the player to react to
game events is directly l inked (for example, a
game with an fps count of 30 has 30
opportunities per second to input a
command).
Thi s is a demonstration image of how frames
work in animation. Each individual 'car'
represents where a frame would be displayed
in between the previous and next one to
form an image of a continuous motion.

18. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
18
Concept ‘Every video game s tarts as a concept. FromSuper
Mario Bros. to Half-Life, a l l of the world’s most
successful games started as pen-and-paper ideas.
Before you can s tart designing levels, you need to
prepare a rough concept for your game.
The type of conce pt you’l l need to pre pare depends
on the type of vi de o ga me you’re i nterested in
developing. A large-scale RPG requires a lot more
planning than a basic side-scrolling arcade game or
a s implistic multiplayer fi rst person shooter.
Think of your concept as a one-page description of
your game. Your concept should outline the type of
ga me you’re cre a ting, i ts s tory, what s ets i t apart
from games that are already available, and the type
of audience that will enjoy i t.‘
https ://www.udemy.com/blog/make-a-video-game/
Al l games are created from a concept, as all
concepts are the ideas that influence what
the developer does with the game and how it
makes i t. Concepts are the fi rst s tage of
de ve lopment of any ga me and it’s ve ry
important to have strong concepts, because
i t i s likely that without a s trong concept the
game will either fail or not start production
at al l (this is especially true of larger
companies that need to ensure that
investors in their company are happy and
reassured about their investments).
Thi s is a page of concept art for a character in
Drakengard. This is later art, nearer to the
development of the game where the designs
are finalised, but there are still examples of
variance in the designs (the various hilts for
the sword).
Event ‘GameMaker uses what i s called an event driven
approach. This works as follows. 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.
For each object you must indicate to which events it
responds and what actions it must perform when the
event occurs. This may sound complicated but is
actually very easy. First of all, for most events the
object does not have to do anything. For the events
where something must be done you can use a very
s imple drag-and-drop approach to indicate the
actions.
‘Eve nts ’ as a term used i n game e ngines is a
specialised term used specifically in the
Game Maker program. In this case, an event
i s an arbitrary occurrence that is recognised
by the game engine, and based on how
objects in the game are manipulated by the
developer, may cause other actions to occur
in the game world.

19. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
19
In the middle of the object property form there is a
l i st of events to which the object must react. Initially
i t i s empty. You can add events to i t by pressing the
button labeled Add Event. A form wi ll appear with all
di fferent types of events. Here you select the event
you want to add. Sometimes a menu pops up with
extra choices. For example, for the keyboard event
you mus t s elect the key. ‘
http://gamemaker.info/en/manual/111_00
_events
Thi s image showcases the event system in
GameMaker. Fi rst an object in the s cene is
selected, then an action 'type'. The action
selected can be customised via attached
windows. This is classified as an 'event' by the
engine.
Pathfinding ‘Pathfinding is a complex process that we can split
down into three components: the spacial
representation, the goal estimation and the agent.
The spacial representation, also known as the graph,
i s a means to describe a network of inter-connected
walkable zones (roads, floors, …). The goal
es timation, known as anheuristic, is a general
representation to where might be the goal. This is a
mere estimation that i s needed to speed things up.
Finally, the agent is the one responsible to actually
searching through the spacial representation based
on the goal estimation.’
http://mgrenier.me/2011/06/pathfinding-concept-the-
basics/
Pathfinding is relevant in games that feature
independent npcs that move around in the
game world. Pathfinding allows entities
attempting to move from one location to
another to be directed around obstacles via a
series of points that are defined by a graph.
Thi s is an image of a pathfinding graph
overlayed onto a game level. Each dot
represents a point in the space where AI
recognises that approximate location as a
'val id target', which i t will move to or from to
reach a particular destination.