Engineterminoligy finished

Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
1
Name:
Brandon
McNamara
RESEARCHED DEFINITION DESCRIBE THE
RELEVANCE OF THE
RESEARCHED
TERM TO YOUR
OWN
PRODUCTION
PRACTICE?
IMAGE SUPPORT
VIDEO
GAMES /
VIDEO
GAME
TESTING
Demo A game demo is a freely
di s tributed 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/Ga
me_demo
When a game demo
i s released it gives
potential buyers a
chance to test the
game, this i s a
gamble however as
players could dislike
the game after the
demo.
The a bove image is a screen cap of the s team store’s demo page, from here a user can
download a playable short demo of a game.

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2
Beta Beta testing comes after alpha
tes ting and can be considered a
form of external user acceptance
tes ting. Versions of the software,
known as beta versions, are
released to a limited audience
outs ide of the programming
team. The software is released to
groups of people so that further
tes ting can ensure the product
has few faults or bugs.
Sometimes, beta versions are
made available to the open
public to increase the feedback
field to a maximal number of
future users.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft
ware_testing#Beta_testing
A beta is an almost
compl ete version of
the game which is
released to testers or
the general public to
gauge interest and
find bugs and glitches
an inner team may
mi s s.
Above i s a picture of the minecraft beta which lasted over a year and ad millions of players.
Alpha Alpha testing is s imulated or
actual operational testing by
potential users/customers or an
independent test team at the
developers' site. Alpha testing is
often employed for off-the-shelf
software as a form of internal
acceptance testing, before the
software goes to beta testing.
ware_testing#Alpha_testing
An alpha is usually an
in-house testing
program which
tes ters and
developers use to
tes t the game for
major gl itches and
bugs which may later
break the game
compl etely.
Thi s is a s creenshot taken in the destiny alpha. The alpha was releases to a group of testers
and images of i t were leaked to the internet.

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3
Pre-Alpha Pre-alpha refers to all activities
performed during the software
project before testing. These
activi ties can include
requi rements analysis, software
des ign, software development,
and unit testing. In typical open
source development, there are
several types of pre-alpha
vers ions.
ware_release_life_cycle
The pre-alpha build is
any build before
alpha, these are
works in progress and
are only usually seen
by developers who
use it to check codes
and s cripts wok as
intended.
Above i s a n image of Halo re ach’s pre alpha, many changes in UI a nd game graphics a nd
mechanics can be seen.
Gold The term "release to
manufacturing", also known as
"going gold", is a term used when
a software product is ready to be
del ivered or provided to the
cus tomer. This build may be
digitally signed, allowing the end
user to verify the integrity and
authenticity of the software
purchase.
ware_release_life_cycle#Release
_to_manufacturing
A gold version is a
final version which i s
then sold to the
general public. While
thi s is the final build it
may be subject to
later patches to fix
newly found bugs and
errors .

IG2 Task 1
4
Debug Debug code is computer code
introduced to a computer
program to test for errors or to
help determine the cause of an
error. It can be as simple as an
echo command to print the value
of a variable at certain points of a
program. Modern integrated
development environments
sometimes render this
unnecessary by allowing the
placement of s top points at
specific places in the program,
and providing the ability to view
the value of variables through
the IDE rather than program
output.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deb
ug_code
Debbugging refers to
the practice of
Running a debug
code into the coding
of the game to test
the game and remove
any bugs
The image above is a debug code which can be run into a code to fix any errors or mistakes.
Automation

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5
White-Box
Testing
White-box testing i s a method of
tes ting software that tests
internal structures or workings of
an application, as opposed to i ts
functionality. In white-box
tes ting an internal perspective of
the system, as well as
programming skills, are used to
des ign test cases. The tester
chooses inputs to exercise paths
through the code and determine
the appropriate outputs. This is
analogous to testing nodes in a
ci rcui t.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whi
te-box_testing
White box testing
focuses on aspects of
the code as opposed
to the code as a
whol e, this i s used
improve and
s treamline the code.
Di fferent coloured box testing with their meaning, these refer to the testers knowledge of
the software being tested.
Bug A bug or gl itch i s a short-lived
fault in a system. It is often used
to des cribe a transient fault that
corrects i tself, and is therefore
di fficult to troubleshoot. The
term i s particularly common in
the computing and electronics
industries, and in circuit bending,
as well as among players of video
games, although it is applied to
al l types of systems including
human organizations and nature.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glit
ch
A bug i s a glitch in the
code which may beak
the way the game
works later on.
The above image is of a glitch/bug in the battlefield 3 beta, by the full release of the game
thi s glitch had been fixed

IG2 Task 1
6
GAME
ENGINES
GAME
ENGINES
Vertex
Shader
Vertex shaders are run once for
each vertex given to the graphics
processor. The purpose i s to
trans form each vertex's 3D
pos ition in vi rtual space to the 2D
coordinate at which it appears on
the s creen (as well as a depth
value for the Z-buffer). Vertex
shaders can manipulate
properties such as position,
colour and texture coordinate,
but cannot create new vertices.
The output of the vertex shader
goes to the next stage in the
pipeline, which is either a
geometry shader i f present, or
the ras terizer. Vertex shaders can
enable powerful control over the
deta ils of position, movement,
l ighting, and colour in any scene
involving 3D models
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sha
der#Vertex_shaders
Vertex turn numerical
values into 3d
Polygons and shapes
computing s ize shape
and colour. These are
needed to see
anything in a 3d
world.
The above image is of an object in a vertex shader, the higher quality model is the vertex
shaded model.

IG2 Task 1
7
Pixel Shader Pixel shaders, also known as
fragment shaders, compute
colour and other attributes of
each fragment. The simplest
kinds of pixel shaders output one
s creen pixel as a colour value;
more complex shaders with
mul tiple inputs/outputs are also
pos sible. Pixel shaders range
from always outputting the same
colour, to applying a l ighting
value, to doing bump mapping,
shadows, specular highlights,
trans lucency and other
phenomena. They can alter the
depth of the fragment (for Z-buffering),
or output more than
one colour i f multiple render
ta rgets are active.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sha
der#Pixel_shaders
Pixel shaders turn
numerical values into
actual visible pixels
with colour and
organisation,
di fferent pixels have
di fferent related
values.
Thi s image shows what difference a pixel shader can make. You can see that the right side is
much higher quality and has higher quality textures.

IG2 Task 1
8
Post
Processing
Pos t-processing is commonly
used in 3D rendering, especially
for video games. Instead of
rendering 3D objects directly to
the di splay, the scene is first
rendered to a buffer in the
memory of the video card. Pixel
shaders are then used to apply
pos t-processing filters to the
image buffer before displaying i t
to the s creen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vid
eo_post-processing
Pos t processing Is the
process of adding
objects and code to a
pre-rendered 3d
world. This is
necessary to see the
impact certain things
wi l l have on the game
world as a whole.
Thi s image is from world of tanks and shows what the world looks like before and after post
processing.
Rendering Rendering is the process of
generating an image from a 2D or
3D model (or models in what
col lectively could be called a
s cene file), by means of
computer programs. Also, the
results of such a model can be
cal led a rendering. A s cene file
conta ins objects in a s trictly
defined language or data
s tructure; it would contain
geometry, viewpoint, texture,
l ighting, and shading information
as a description of the vi rtual
s cene.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren
dering_(computer_graphics)
Rendering is a way of
turning lines of code
and numerical values
into a vi rtual but
vi s ible world. This is
necessary to be able
to see a game.
Above i s an image of an unrendered 3d map, currently you can only see the wireframes and
l ight sources

IG2 Task 1
9
Normal Map In 3D computer graphics, normal
mapping, or "Dot3 bump
mapping", i s a technique used for
faking the lighting of bumps and
dents – an implementation of
bump mapping. It is used to add
deta ils without using more
polygons. A common use of this
technique is to greatly enhance
the appearance and details of a
low polygon model by generating
a normal map from a high
polygon model or height map.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nor
mal_mapping
Normal maps add
deta il where
previously none
would exist by
creating an i llusion of
l ight.
Thi s in an image of a normal map for a metal panel. The different colours show where light
should hit and where shadow should be created.
Entity An enti ty i s something that exists
in i tself, actually or
hypothetically. It need not be of
material existence. In particular,
abs tractions and legal fictions are
usually regarded as entities. In
general, there is also no
presumption that an entity i s
animate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enti
ty
In gaming an entity i s
any dynamic object
not including the
player. Usually in the
form of an NPC or
item.
Thi s is an image of traffic in GTA3. Each of the cars i s classed as a separate entity just as are
the people inside

IG2 Task 1
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UV Map UV mapping is the 3D modelling
process of making a 2D image
representation of a 3D model's
surface.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UV_
mapping
A UV map i s used to
s implify building 3d
objects by running a
program which will
turn a 2d image into a
3d object, usually a
terrain.
Thi s is an image of the uv map of a gorilla and the 3d object i t creates.
Procedural
Texture
A procedural texture is a
computer-generated image
created using an algorithm
intended to create a realistic
representation of natural
elements such as wood, marble,
grani te, metal, s tone, and others.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro
cedural_texture
Procedural textures
are textures which
are generated during
the game to create
di fferent textures and
prevent the same
texture being used
repeatedly.
The game above, overgrowth, uses procedural textures to create the ground and buildings.

IG2 Task 1
11
Physics Computer animation physics or
game physics involves the
introduction of the laws of
phys ics into a simulation or game
engine, particularly in 3D
computer graphics, for the
purpose of making the effects
appear more real to the
obs erver. Typically, simulation
phys ics is only a close
approximation to real physics,
and computation is performed
us ing discrete values.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ga
me_physics
In games physics is
usually used to
emulate real life
phys ics. While in
some games this i s
used as a gimmick in
others it is used as an
integral part of
gameplay.
The above gam, Armadillo Run, was a game based entirely on using physics to achieve a goal.
The phsics in this had to be perfect and intuitive as to make the game playable.

IG2 Task 1
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Collision Col l ision detection typically
refers to the computational
problem of detecting the
intersection of two or more
objects. While the topic is most
often associated with its use in
video games and other physical
s imulations, it also has
applications in robotics. In
addition to determining whether
two objects have collided,
col l ision detection systems may
al so calculate time of impact
(TOI), and report a contact
manifold (the s et of intersecting
points).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colli
s ion_detection
Col l ision is when wo
objects hit each
other. Col lision is
used to detect many
things in games such
as bullet Impacts, car
crashes and even
when the player is
touching the ground.
The above image shows a diagram of collision. You can see that the two sprites cross over
and this is the collision zone.
Lighting In computer graphics, per-pixel
l ighting refers to any technique
for l ighting an image or s cene
that calculates illumination for
each pixel on a rendered image.
Thi s is in contrast to other
popular methods of lighting such
as vertex lighting, which
calculates illumination at each
vertex of a 3D model and then
interpolates the resulting values
over the model's faces to
calculate the final per-pixel
colour values.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Per-pixel_
lighting
Lighting i s any
technique which
brightens the s creen.
It i s sometimes used
with shadows to
creat a more realistic
game world.
Thi s light map shows how l ighting i s used In a 3d environment. It shows how the vi sual light

IG2 Task 1
13
source is supplemented to make it look realistic.
AA – Anti-
Aliasing
Temporal anti-aliasing seeks to
reduce or remove the effects of
temporal aliasing. Temporal
al iasing i s caused by the sampling
rate (i .e. number of frames per
second) of a scene being too low
compared to the transformation
speed of objects inside of the
s cene; this causes objects to
appear to jump or appear at a
location instead of giving the
impression of smoothly moving
towards them. To avoid aliasing
arti facts altogether, the sampling
rate of a s cene must be at least
twice as high as the fastest
moving object.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te
mporal_anti-aliasing
Anti - aliasing reduces
the jumps and
s tutters associated
with low frame rate
by adding a small
amount of blur to the
edges of moving
enti ties.
The above image shows a line, both aliased and Anti-Aliased. While both l ines are the same
resolution, from far away the aliased l ine would look lower quality.

IG2 Task 1
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LoD – Level
of Detail
In computer graphics, accounting
for level of detail involves
decreasing the complexity of a
3D object representation as i t
moves away from the viewer or
according to other metrics such
as object importance, viewpoint-relative
speed or position. Level
of deta il techniques increases the
efficiency of rendering by
decreasing the workload on
graphics pipeline stages, usually
vertex transformations. The
reduced vi sual quality of the
model is often unnoticed
because of the small effect on
object appearance when distant
or moving fast.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev
el_of_detail
The level of detail
commonly refers to
the practice of
lowering a textures
quality as the viewer
moves further away.
Thi s image represents the quality of a 3d mesh as the player moves further away.
Animation Computer animation, or CGI
animation, is the process used
for generating animated images
by us ing computer graphics. The
more general term computer-generated
imagery encompasses
both s tatic scenes and dynamic
images while computer
animation only refers to moving
images.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co
mputer_animation
Animation in gaming
refers to movement,
an animate object is a
moving one. This
usually involves
phys ics o some kind.
In video games the
animation rate is
typically measured in
FPS (frames per
second)
Some games will allow you to see fps by a number in the corner, such as this fps counter from
Skyrim.

IG2 Task 1
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Sprite In computer graphics, a sprite
(al so known by other names; see
Synonyms below) is a two-dimensional
image or animation
that i s integrated into a larger
s cene. Initially including just
graphical objects handled
separately from the memory
bitmap of a video display, this
now includes various manners of
graphical overlays.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spri
te_(computer_graphics)
A spri te is a 2d Image
which is usually put
into 2d games, but
can sometimes be
seen in 3d games fo
faraway objects or
characters
Thi s is an image of some 2d sprites used in a 2d ship flying game
Scene A cuts cene 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, s trengthen the main
character's development,
introduce characters, and
provide background information,
atmosphere, dialogue, and clues.
Cuts cenes often feature "on the
fly" rendering, using the
gameplay graphics to create
s cripted events
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cut
s cene
A video game
cuts cene i s a part of
the game usually
used to tell part of
the s tory or introduce
a particular enemy or
bos s. I will typically
be pre-rendered.
Thi s image is from a cutscene in the game Dark souls. Although i t does not use many
cuts cenes i t does use both; pre rendered and in game cutscenes.

IG2 Task 1
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Library 3D graphics have become so
popular, particularly in video
games, that specialized APIs
(application programming
interfaces) have been created to
ease the processes in all stages of
computer graphics generation.
Thes e APIs have also proved vi tal
to computer graphics hardware
manufacturers, as they provide a
way for programmers to access
the hardware in an abstract way,
whi le s till taking advantage of the
special hardware of any specific
graphics card.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List
_of_3D_graphics_libraries
A l ibrary i s typically
an archive of assets
and data used in the
game, from code to
3d models and
sounds a library is
typically used to s tore
thi s information.
Thi s image is an example of a sound library which may be used for games or other s imilar
media.

IG2 Task 1
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UI In computing, a graphical user
interface is a type of interface
that allows users to interact with
electronic devices through
graphical icons and visual
indicators such as secondary
nota tion, as opposed to text-based
interfaces, typed
command labels or text
navigation. GUIs were introduced
in reaction to the perceived
s teep learning curve of
command-line interfaces which
requi re commands to be typed
on the keyboard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gra
phical_user_interface
The Us er interface is
any part of a game
that the user
interacts with
di rectly. this is usually
in the form of menus
and displays.
The above image is the user interface from the game Diablo 3. It is made to be easy to
understand and use.

IG2 Task 1
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Frames Frame rate, also known as frame
frequency and frames per second
, i s the frequency (rate) at which
an imaging device produces
unique consecutive images called
frames. The term applies equally
wel l to film and video cameras,
computer graphics, and motion
capture systems. Frame rate is
mos t often expressed in frames
per second (FPS) and is also
expressed in progressive scan
monitors as hertz (Hz)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fra
me_rate
Frames and
framerate usually
refer to the speed at
which the game runs
and how smooth the
animation is.
In the above image you can see that the livestreamer has the choice of what fps to s tream at.
Concept In game theory, a solution
concept is a formal rule for
predicting how a game will be
played. These predictions are
cal led "solutions", and describe
whi ch strategies will be adopted
by players and, therefore, the
result of the game. The most
commonly used solution
concepts are equilibrium
concepts, most famously Nash
equilibrium.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solu
tion_concept
In gaming the term
concept can actually
be used to describe
two things:Solution
concept which is well
des cribed in the l eft
column and A game
concept, which is the
idea behind a game.
Thi s image is concept art for the game Xcom Enemy Unknown. Concept art can be a good
indicator as to the original concept and plan of the game.

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Event In video games, a quick time
event (QTE) i s a method of
context-sensitive gameplay in
which the player performs
actions on the control device
shortly after the appearance of
an on-screen prompt. It allows
for l imited control of the game
character during cut scenes or
cinematic sequences in the
game. Performing the prompted
action improperly or not at all
results in the character's failure
at thei r task and often in an
immediate game over.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qui
ck_time_event
An event can also
have two different
meanings in games.
Fi rs tly the
aforementioned QTEs
(quick time events)
which can be an
e nti re game’s core
gameplay mechanic
or i t could refer to a
s cripted event which
i s something that is
programmed to
happen.
The Walking Dead i s a good example of a game which relied on QTEs as a core gameplay
mechanic.
Pathfinding Pathfinding in the context of
video games concerns the way in
which a moving entity finds a
path around an obstacle; the
mos t frequent context is real-time
s trategy games (in which
the player directs units around a
play area containing obstacles),
but forms of this are found in
mos t modern video games.
Pathfinding has grown in
importance as games and their
envi ronments have become
more complex, and as a result,
many AI software packages have
been developed to solve the
problem.
Pathfinding is the
wa y a n AI finds it’s
way around a 3d
world. Bad
pathfinding in a game
wi l l often lead to AIs
getting lost and
running into
obs tacles.
The Elder Scrolls 5 Skyrim had an interesting function where the player could cast a spell

IG2 Task 1
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat
hfinding#In_video_games
which would show them ta i paths to help them find thier own way around.

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