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

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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 dis 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/Game_demo

When a game demo is 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 above 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.

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

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Beta Beta testing comes after alpha testing and can be considered a form of external user acceptance

testing. 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 testing 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/Software_testing#Beta_testing

A beta is an almost complete 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

miss.

Above is 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. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_testing#Alpha_testing

An a lpha is usually an

in-house testing program which testers and developers use to

test the game for major gl itches and

bugs which may later

break the game completely.

This is a screenshot taken in the destiny a lpha. The alpha was releases to a group of testers and images of i t were leaked to the internet.

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

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Pre-Alpha Pre-a lpha refers to a ll activities performed during the software project before testing. These

activi ties can include requirements analysis, software des ign, software development, and unit testing. In typical open source development, there are

several types of pre-alpha vers ions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle

The pre-alpha build is any build before a lpha, these are

works in progress and are only usually seen by developers who use it to check codes and scripts wok as

intended.

Above is an image of Halo reach’s pre alpha, many changes in UI and game graphics and

mechanics can be seen. Gold The term "release to

manufacturing", a lso known as "going gold", is a term used when

a software product is ready to be del ivered or provided to the customer. This build may be digitally signed, allowing the end

user to verify the integrity and authenticity of the software purchase. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft

ware_release_life_cycle#Release_to_manufacturing

A gold version is a

final version which i s then sold to the

general public. While this is the final build it may be subject to later patches to fix

newly found bugs and errors .

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

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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 a llowing the

placement of s top points at specific places in the program,

and providing the ability to view the va lue of variables through the IDE rather than program output. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debug_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

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

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White-Box Testing

White-box testing i s a method of testing software that tests internal structures or workings of

an application, as opposed to i ts functionality. In white-box testing 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/White-box_testing

White box testing focuses on aspects of the code as opposed

to the code as a whole, this i s used improve and s treamline the code.

Different 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 describe a transient fault that

corrects i tself, and is therefore di fficult to troubleshoot. The term is 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

a l l types of systems including human organizations and nature. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glitch

A bug is 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 this glitch had been fixed

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

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GAME ENGINES

GAME ENGINES

Vertex Shader

Vertex shaders are run once for each vertex given to the graphics processor. The purpose is to

transform each vertex's 3D pos ition in vi rtual space to the 2D coordinate at which it appears on the screen (as well as a depth va lue 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/Shader#Vertex_shaders

Vertex turn numerical va lues 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.

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

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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 screen pixel as a colour va lue; more complex shaders with multiple inputs/outputs are also

possible. Pixel shaders range from a lways outputting the same

colour, to applying a l ighting

va lue, 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 targets are active. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shader#Pixel_shaders

Pixel shaders turn numerical values into actual visible pixels

with colour and organisation, di fferent pixels have di fferent related va lues.

This 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.

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

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Post Processing

Post-processing is commonly used in 3D rendering, especially for video games. Instead of

rendering 3D objects directly to the display, the scene is first rendered to a buffer in the memory of the video card. Pixel shaders are then used to apply

post-processing filters to the image buffer before displaying i t

to the screen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vid

eo_post-processing

Post 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.

This 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

scene file), by means of computer programs. Also, the results of such a model can be ca l led a rendering. A scene file conta ins objects i n 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

scene. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendering_(computer_graphics)

Rendering is a way of turning lines of code and numerical values into a vi rtual but

vis ible world. This is necessary to be able to see a game.

Above is an image of an unrendered 3d map, currently you can only see the wireframes and l ight sources

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

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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/Normal_mapping

Normal maps add deta il where previously none

would exist by creating an i llusion of l ight.

This 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, abstractions 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/Entity

In gaming an entity i s

any dynamic object not including the

player. Usually in the form of an NPC or i tem.

This is an image of traffic in GTA3. Each of the cars i s classed as a separate entity just as are the people inside

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games 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 is used to s implify building 3d objects by running a

program which will turn a 2d image into a 3d object, usually a terra in.

This 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 a lgorithm

intended to create a realistic

representation of natural elements such as wood, marble,

granite, metal, s tone, and others. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedural_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.

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

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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

observer. Typically, simulation phys ics is only a close

approximation to real physics,

and computation is performed us ing discrete va lues. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_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.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games 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 a lso has

applications in robotics. In addition to determining whether

two objects have collided,

col l ision detection systems may a lso calculate time of impact

(TOI), and report a contact manifold (the set of intersecting points). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collis 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 scene that ca lculates illumination for each pixel on a rendered image.

This is in contrast to other popular methods of lighting such as vertex lighting, which

ca lculates illumination at each vertex of a 3D model and then

interpolates the resulting va lues over the model's faces to

ca lculate the final per-pixel colour va lues. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Per-pixel_lighting

Lighting i s any

technique which brightens the screen. It i s sometimes used with shadows to

creat a more realistic game world.

This light map shows how l ighting i s used In a 3d environment. It shows how the visual light

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

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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

a l 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 scene; 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 scene must be at least twice as high as the fastest moving object. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te

mporal_anti-aliasing

Anti - a liasing 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.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games 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 visual 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/Level_of_detail

The level of detail commonly refers to the practice of

lowering a textures quality as the viewer moves further away.

This 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/Computer_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

typica lly measured in FPS (frames per second)

Some games will a llow you to see fps by a number in the corner, such as this fps co unter from

Skyrim.

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

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Sprite In computer graphics, a sprite (a lso known by other names; see Synonyms below) is a two-

dimensional image or animation that i s integrated into a larger scene. Initially including just graphical objects handled separately from the memory

bi tmap 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

This is an image of some 2d sprites used in a 2d ship flying game

Scene A cutscene or event scene (sometimes in-game cinematic or

in-game movie) is a sequence in a video game over which the player has no or only limited control , breaking up the

gameplay and used to advance the plot, s trengthen the main

character's development, introduce characters, and provide background information,

atmosphere, dialogue, and clues. Cutscenes often feature "on the

fly" rendering, using the gameplay graphics to create scripted events http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutscene

A video game cutscene is a part of

the game usually used to tell part of the s tory or introduce a particular enemy or

boss. I will typically be pre-rendered.

This image is from a cutscene in the game Dark souls. Although i t does not use many cutscenes i t does use both; pre rendered and in game cutscenes.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games 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. These 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 typica lly used to s tore this information.

This image is an example of a sound library which may be used for games or other s imilar media.

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

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UI In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of interface that a llows users to interact with

electronic devices through graphical icons and visual indicators such as secondary notation, 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

require commands to be typed on the keyboard. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gra

phical_user_interface

The User 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.

Salford City College Eccles Sixth Form Centre BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games 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 most often expressed in frames

per second (FPS) and is a lso

expressed in progressive scan monitors as hertz (Hz) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame_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 ca l led "solutions", and describe which 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 described in the left

column and A game concept, which is the idea behind a game.

This 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.

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

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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 their 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 entire game’s core

gameplay mechanic or i t could refer to a

scripted event which

i s something that is programmed to

happen.

The Walking Dead is 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 most 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 most modern video games. Pathfinding has grown in importance as games and their

environments have become more complex, and as a result, many AI software packages have

been developed to solve the problem.

Pathfinding is the

way an 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

obstacles.

The Elder Scrolls 5 Skyrim had an interesting function where the player could cast a spell

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

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathfinding#In_video_games

which would show them ta i paths to help them find thier own way around.