This document is a glossary created by a student at Salford City College for a games design course. It contains definitions of 17 terms related to video game development, such as alpha, beta, debug, sprite, and physics. For each term, the student provided a short definition from an online source, described how the term relates to their own work, and included an image example when possible. The glossary was created as part of an assignment to research and explain key video game development concepts.

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:
Phillip
Norris -
Wynne
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
di s tributed demonstration
or preview 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
/Video_game_demo
A demo is a version of a game
where all features have not
been released, demos are
usually free these typically
show of what the game is
there to do.
Thi s shows a demo game where you can’t a ccess ce rtain things in the ga me
Beta Beta software refers to
computer software that is
undergoing testing and has
not yet been officially
released.
http://www.techterms.com/
definition/beta_software
Beta - this is a no fully
compl ete version of the game
where some bug fixes and
features have not been
compl etely implemented.
https ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAnrhVl_MgE
Mi ne craft “Building Game” Beta test

2. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
2
Alpha Alpha software is computer
software that is s till in the
early testing phase. It is
functional enough to be
used, but is unpolished and
often lacks many of the
features that will be
included in the final version
of the program.
http://www.techterms.com/
definition/alpha_software
Alpha – This stage of the
game is before Beta where
they have got a game that
works well but s till has quite
a lot of bugs in the game.
Fi rs t s tage of BeamNG drive in alpha s tate
Pre-Alpha The fi rst s tage of
development is known as
pre-production. During this
phase, story concepts are
wri tten, art i s concepted,
and the s tructure of the
project comes together.
http://gameindustry.about.c
om/od/glossary/fl/Alpha-
Game-Software-
Definition.htm
Pre-Alpha – this s tage of the
game is where they have a
game to show but have only
finished the story, concept
art and other small things.
Fi rs t test of Unreal
Tournament G.O.T.Y. Edition

3. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
3
Gold A game has "Gone Gold"
when the final master copy
has been produced at the
developer and sent off for
repl ication, packaging and
shipment. The game is not
yet released, but i t will
typically be around 2-3
weeks (sometimes less)
before i t begins appearing
on s tore shelves and online
pre-orders arriving at
doorsteps.
http://www.urbandictionary
.com/define.php?term=Gon
e%20Gold
Gone gold Is where a
company has sent of their
game to be mass produced
but not yet released.
A ga me the has “gone gold”
Debug Debugging is the routine
process of locating 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 et
specifications.
http://www.techopedia.com
/definition/16373/debuggin
g
Where you go through the
game and check for bugs
Certa in threads have gone wrong

4. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
4
Automation automatically controlled
operation of an apparatus,
process, or system by
mechanical or electronic
devices that take the place
of human labour
http://www.merriam-webs
ter.com/dictionary/aut
omation
Automatic control of
s ome thing so you don’t have
to do i t
A game where he has his factory automated

5. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
5
White-Box
Testing
White-box testing i s a
veri fication technique
software engineers can use
to examine if their
code works as expected. In
thi s chapter, we will explain
the fol lowing:
• a me thod for wri ting a set
of white-box test cases that
exerci se the paths in the
code
• the us e of e quivalence
parti tioning and boundary
value analysis to manage the
number of
tes t cases that need to be
wri tten and to examine
error-prone/extreme
“corne r” tes t cases
• how to me asure how
thoroughly the test cases
exerci se the code
http://agile.csc.ncsu.edu/SE
Materials/WhiteBox.pdf
Tes ting the game to see if you
can find any glitches.
A Whi te box test on a security team

6. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
6
Bug A fault in a computer system
or any phys ical entity
including humanoids.
http://www.urbandictionary
.com/define.php?term=bug
A fault in the game where i t
may not function correctly
C.O.D’s e xtended neck bug
GAME
ENGINES
GAME
ENGINES
Vertex
Shader
Vertex shaders can be used
to compl etely transform the
shape of an object, pixel
shaders are used to change
the appearance of the
pixels. Game developers
push the envelope for fast
graphics rendering and
determine the right balance
of vertex shading and pixel
shading.
www.pcmag.com/encyclope
dia/term/53754/vertex-shader
Vertex shaders completely
change the shape of an
object
Vertex shader on a teapot

7. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
7
Pixel Shader Useful for someone who
plays high-resolution games
or watches high-definition
movies on a computer, pixel
shading executes various
functions affecting how
pixels on a computer screen
wi l l display. Executed from a
computer's graphics card,
pixel shaders make many
special effects seen in
gaming and other vi sually
complex programs possible.
http://www.ehow.com/info
_8764308_pixel -
shading.html
Thi s effects where pixels end
up on the screen it makes
special effect and other
complex vi sual effects
Two pictures of the same area with different shaders
Post
Processing
A Pos t process shader is
typically a Pixel shader that
works on a quad rendered
acros s the entire screen. The
quad is textured with a copy
of the frame buffer; the
Pixel shader can then alter
and modify the rendered
output to create a variety of
effects, such as basic colour
modi fication to more
advanced processes such as
motion blur and bloom.
https ://developer.valvesoft
ware.com/wiki/Shader
The s teps on how to post process

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 Rendering is the process of
generating an image from a
model by means of
computer software.
Rendering is used in
architecture, simulators,
video games, movies and
television vi sual effects and
des ign visualization.
www.autodesk.com/renderi
ng
Rendering is where an image
i s generated on a s creen.
A rendered image of a mans face

9. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
9
Normal Map One of the most valuable
maps for a 3D artist is the
normal map. Rather than
having a colour range of
black to white, like a bump
map uses, normal maps
cons ist of red, green, and
blue. These RGB values
trans lates to x, y, and z
coordinates, allowing a 2D
image to represent depth.
Thi s way, a 3D application is
abl e to fake l ighting details
based on the colour
as sociated with the 3D
coordinate.
http://gamedevelopment.tu
tsplus.com/articles/gamede
v-glossary-what-is-a-normal-map--
gamedev-3893
A normal map is a map where
i t i s in 3D has an RGB colour
s cheme and is able to fake
l ighting details
Image with and without a normal map
Entity An enti ty can have zero or
more entity instances. For
example, children in family,
applicants on an application
form taxable events in a tax
period. Using entities you
can apply the same rules, or
col lect the same data, for
mul tiple instances of an
enti ty.
http://docs.oracle.com/html
/E27551_01/Content/Data%
20model/Define_an_entity.
htm
An enti ty i s an object in the
game that physics applys
Bar

10. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
10
Barrel entity in creation

11. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
11
UV Map Thi s means a shared vertex
can have different UV
coordinates in each of i ts
triangles, so adjacent
triangles can be cut apart
and positioned on different
areas of the texture map.
The UV Mapping process at
i ts s implest requires three
s teps: unwrapping the
mesh, creating the texture,
and applying the texture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
/UV_mapping
UV mapping is the 3d process
of making a 2d image, this
use the U and V axis which
correspond to the X and Y
axi s.
A UV map of a gorillas head

12. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
12
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,
marbl e, granite, metal,
s tone, and others. Usually,
the natural look of the
rendered result is achieved
by the usage of fractal noise
and turbulence functions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
/Procedural_texture
A Procedural Texture is an
i ma ge made to l ook like i t’s a
computer generated image
so you can import them into
games.
Thi s is procedural texture blending

13. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
13
Physics For other games, we must
pay attention to the
"complex" in "complex
phys ics system". Take Super
Mario Bros (for discussion
purposes, the original 8-bit
game). Here, the player is
primarily focused on Mario's
phys ical attributes: his
pos ition, velocity, and
potential range of motion.
The player's internal
dialogue will ask questions
l ike, "Can I make that jump?
How fast is that turtle shell
coming towards me?
Whoops, did I jump too
early to clear i t?".
http://www.fun-motion.
com/forums/showth
read.php?t=2649
Phys i cs is the games this is
thi s and that is that and this
does this while this i s doing
tha t, i t’s the part of the game
where everything you chose
as the physics will happen
Tes t of the games physics

14. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
14
Collision Col l ision detection is used to
detect the contact of objects
within your game.
http://relativity.net.au/gami
ng/java/SimpleCollisionDete
ction.html
When two entities collide
together
Simple representation of two sprites colliding
Lighting Bloom (sometimes referred
to as l ight bloom or glow) is
a computer graphics effect
used in video games, demos
and high dynamic range
rendering (HDR) to
reproduce an imaging
arti fact of real-world
cameras.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
/Bloom_(shader_effect)
A computers effect to show
shades and shadows
Lightings vi sual effect

15. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
15
AA – Anti-
Aliasing
In computer graphics,
antialiasing is a software
technique for diminishing
jaggies - s tairstep-like l ines
that should be smooth.
Jaggies occur because the
output device, the monitor
or printer, doesn't have a
high enough resolution to
represent a smooth line.
http://www.webopedia.com
/TERM/A/antialiasing.html
Thi s stops Jagged edges and
makes them smoothso they
don’t l ook uneven
The di fferent types of AA
LoD – Level
of Detail
Des cribes technology that is
used to save memory and
processing power by using
lower detail models or
textures for objects in the
di s tance. The Oblivion game
engine makes extensive use
of LOD, and the CS has some
functions to create and
manipulate LOD objects.
http://cs .elderscrolls.com/c
onstwiki/index.php/Glossary
The level of detail is how
much processing power the
computer uses to show
deta iled objects
The more triangles the higher quality the bunny will be

16. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
16
Animation the technique of
photographing successive
drawings or positions of
puppets or models to create
an i llusion of movement
when the film is shown as a
sequence.
https ://www.google.co.uk/?
gws _rd=ssl#safe=active&q=
Animation+definition
Automated frame by frame
images
Frames of a animation

17. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
17
Sprite A spri te is a bitmap graphic
that i s designed to be part of
a larger scene. 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 something you can
control it can either be a
moving image or a animated
object
Di fferent sprites of sonic
Scene A s cene graph is simply a
way of organising the scene.
It's generally done as some
sort of tree or graph
s tructure (as in, this sort of
graph).
http://www.reddit.com/r/ga
medev/comments/2d87tm/
s cene_graph_definition/
The surrounding area of the
map, eg in a rain forest a
des ert s cene will not fit
https ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBVuK9ZJhUI
Shows the s cene

18. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
18
Library a l ibrary i s just a collection
of api used to code with. a
l ibrary i s a subset of a game
engine
A col lection of code, a subset
of the engine
Steam workshop, where you can download content
UI A user interface, also called
a "UI" or s imply an
"interface," is the means in
which a person controls a
software application or
hardware device. A good
user interface provides a
"user-friendly" experience,
al lowing the user to interact
with the software or
hardware in a natural and
intuitive way.
http://www.techterms.com/
definition/user_interface
A ui i s something you control
so you can interact with the
game easily
https ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtfBflIbyOM
Flash, there user interface

19. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
19
Frames Frames per second (FPS) is a
uni t that measures display
device performance. It
cons ists of the number of
compl ete scans of the
di splay screen that occur
each second. This is the
number of times the image
on the s creen is refreshed
each second, or the rate at
which an imaging device
produces unique sequential
images called frames.
http://www.techopedia.com
/definition/7297/frames-per-
second-fps
Every image of the
anitmation
Concept A concept is a thought or
idea. If you're redecorating
your bedroom, you might
want to s tart with a concept
http://www.vocabulary.com
/dictionary/concept
An idea of something
BMW concept car

20. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
IG2 Task 1
20
Event something that happens or
i s regarded as happening; an
occurrence, especially one
of some importance.
http://dictionary.reference.c
om/browse/event
Something that happens at a
set point in time
League of legends Esports
Pathfinding a person who finds or makes
a path, way, route, etc.,
especially through a
previously unexplored or
untraveled wilderness. a
radar beacon beamed into a
ta rget area to provide
guidance for missiles
seeking the target.
http://dictionary.reference.c
om/browse/pathfinding
Fol lows routes and does not
explore
Kodu game lab path finding