GAD 1
[Type text]
Glossary
Game Art
and Design I
Curriculum
2010
March 30, 2007
GAD 1
[Type text]
Glossary
Glossary of Terms
2D Games – Games that use graphics created in 2D graphic software and are usually produced
by an X and Y array of pixels. 2D games have a flat appearance.
2.5D Games – Games that use graphics created in 2D graphic software, but where the illusion of
3D is created by using design techniques such as parallax projection and top-down
perspective.
3D Modeling - The process of developing 3D assets using a 3D software package.
Aliasing – A 2D graphic that has a jagged edge due to limited number of pixels.
Alignment Game - Players attempt to align up objects and/or arrange objects into specific
patterns.
Ambient Light – Light that is scattered from various objects in which no discernable source is
evident.
Antagonist – Is the person or some other force that works against the main character.
Anti-Aliasing - A technique of smoothing out the appearance of the jagged edges by picking
colors between the object color and the background and making a smoother transition
along those edges by putting those colors at each jagged edge
Art Designer – Person responsible for the visual elements of the game.
Audio Engineer – Person responsible the sounds, musical score, background music and ambient
sounds used in the game.
March 30, 2007
GAD 1
[Type text]
Glossary
Backlight – A light located behind the subject which helps separate objects from the
background, giving a more defined space.
Balance Factor - Determines the degree and direction in which the head and/or hips swing out
from their original vertical alignments when a biped bends over.
Biped – A 3D model that walks on two legs.
Bitmap – A 2D graphic created by the use of small blocks of color (pixels) arranged in rows.
Bones - Structural objects that are located within a polygonal mesh and aid in the movement of
the object.
Bromley, Martin – Given credit for creating of one of the original game paths in 1951 with the
launch of SEGA.
March 30, 2007
GAD 1
[Type text]
Glossary
Bump Mapping – A process used in 3D modeling programs to simulate bumps or wrinkles on
the surface of an object. Bump mapping does not involve increasing the number of
polygons of the object, but rather alters the shading parameters to create the illusion of
bumps.
Cartesian Coordinates – Points are defined with respect to their location within an X, Y, and Z
world. Cartesian coordinates are used to specify vertices, edges and polygons when
designing a 3D model.
Casual Player – The average game player as opposed to hard core players.
Closed Game System – The rules of the game are a closed environment where there is no
outside exchange.
Cloud Computing – Internet-based computing. Computer games are housed on Internet and
provides a new consumption and delivery model for games.
Cinematics - The fully rendered movies used for intros and 'cut-scenes.
Competitive Analysis – Illustrates to the publisher how your game idea compares to the
competition and explains why your game will have a competitive advantage.
Console – An electronic hardware device consisting of computer memory, a graphics card and
ports for attaching game controllers. Examples include the Wii, Xbox 360, and
Playstation III.
Convexity – The process of varying the level of difficulty of a game level or between levels.
March 30, 2007
GAD 1
[Type text]
Glossary
Cooperative Play – Involves two or more players who cooperate against the game system.
Decision Tree – A map showing all of the possible choices involved in a game.
Depth of Field - Determined by the camera-to-subject distance and is a measure of how near or
far the subject appears to be. Animators use depth of field effect for two purposes. The
first is to reinforce the illusion of depth in the scene and the second reason is to focus
your attention on the items or actors they feel are most important.
DirectX – Graphic card software developed by MicroSoft® and found in the Xbox 360 game
console.
Displacement Mapping – The use of a texture of height map to create an effect where the actual
geometric positions of points over a textured surface are displaced.
Douglas, A.S. Dr. – Professor at the University of Cambridge who created the first graphical
computer game.
Easter eggs - Hidden areas in a game containing messages such as the level designers' names or
pictures, or political or humorous messages.
Edge – A line connecting 2 vertices.
EEPROM – Solid state storage used in early handheld game devices.
March 30, 2007
GAD 1
[Type text]
Glossary
ESRB – Entertainment Software Rating Board sets the standards for video games to help parents
to select games suitable for children.
Explicit Rules – Rules that control the formal structure of the game. These rules are written
the instruction page.
Facial Motion Capture - The recording of different facial features useful for animating
emotions such as smiling, grimacing, and showing anger.
Field of View (FOV) – Is exactly what is in the camera’s view.
Fill Light – The light create by the ambience of other lights as they reflect throughout the scene.
The fill light softens the scene and helps remove unwanted shadows.
First-person Camera - Shows the world as if the player had a camera attached at eye level.
First Person Shooter (FPS) – A video game where the player shoots or fires bullets against a
computer generated object or an avatar representing another player.
Fixed Camera - The camera does not move at all and the system displays the player's character
in a succession of still shots.
Formal Game Elements – The parts of a game that includes the players, objectives, procedure
rules, probability, resources, conflict, and boundaries.
Game Concept - The background, backstory and developing story that occur during a game.
Game Concept Document – Pitches your game idea to a game company to see if the would be
interested in developing and marketing your game.
Game Design Document (GDD) – A long, in-depth document that shows the publisher your
game in detail with sketches, design of any special game elements and the rules of play.
Game Engine – Software that simplifies the development process and produce games in
different platforms.
Game Proposal Document – A well thought-out and prepared proposal of a game which
includes a game overview, game treatment, competitive analysis, budget, and schedule.
Game Tester – Person responsible for testing and analyzing the game for defects, glitches and
bugs.
Game Treatment – The primary selling tool which quickly orients the publisher to your game
and includes your game’s unique selling points, genre and platform.
March 30, 2007
GAD 1
[Type text]
Glossary
Game Writer – Person responsible for the storyline of the game.
Gantt chart – A type of bar chart that shows a project schedule (pipeline) for the development
of a video game.
German Style Board Game – Also known as a European-style board game. The main
characteristics include a board that is created as the game progressing making each game
a new experience, keeping all players involved until the end of the game, and a limited
amount of time to complete a game usually under one hour.
Group Brainstorming – Process where members of a group generate ideas as a team without
regards to the value of any given idea. The purpose is to create a list of
possible options or choices.
Hard Core Player – A person who plays games over many long sessions and have desires to
extend existing games creatively. These players have higher frustrations levels.
Hero’s Journey - A basic story format used by many game designer which includes (a) the
departure, (b) the initiation, and (c) the return.
Hook - A unique or must-have feature in a game that will attract players simply because they
haven’t experienced them before.
Higginbotham, William – Head of the Brookhaven National laboratory that created Tennis for
Two to entertain visitors. Tennis for Two later served as the model for Pong.
Hop and Bop – A platform game where enemies are defeated by jumping on their heads.
Icon – A small 2D graphic used to create hyperlinks in Window’s software or to act as a unique
graphic to initiate a game.
Illuminated Texture – Textures that have a lighting effect such as self-illumination and seem to
glow. Examples of objects with illuminated textures would include frosted glass.
Implicit Rules – Rules that are unwritten and unbinding. These rules are usually stated at the
beginning of the game. Good sportsmanship is an example.
Individual Brainstorming – When you write down every idea that pops into your head to help
generate a list of options or choices.
Inverse Kinematics - Determines the range of motion in order to achieve a desired pose or
movement (walking, running, or standing idle).
March 30, 2007
GAD 1
[Type text]
Glossary
Interactive Camera – A camera system that is somewhat automated and the player can partially
control where the camera is pointing.
Interface Designer – Person in charge of making sure the interface in appropriate for the game
player.
Isometric - A method for the visual representation of three-dimensional objects in two
dimensions in which the angles between the projection of the x, y, and z axes are all the
same, or 120°.
Key Light – The primary light source in the scene.
Lens Effects Lighting – Any of a number of lighting effects such as halos, glow, and particles
created through the process of rendering.
Level Designer – The person who creates the game levels from the design document.
LOD – Level of detail. Used by game designers to reduce the polygons in a scene.
Luminance – Refers to the transparency and opacity of objects to allow light to filter through in
subdued ways.
Masking – A technique where only the pixels you want to see of your sprite are drawn and the
others are disregarded. Creating an outline around the sprite to aid in collision.
Mental Fun – Games that improve our mental skills and intelligence.
Mesh – The outline shape or wireframe created by all of the vertices, edges and polygons.
Metagame – Refers to the game beyond the basic game. Features tactics that lie outside the
intended game use that exploits errors in programming.
MIP Mapping - (MIP stands for the Latin multim im parvo, meaning "many things in a small
space.") In a 3D video game, the game engine, via the graphics card, assigns a higher
resolution textures to a character that is close to the camera and reassigns lower
resolution textures as the character moves away from the camera to improve the
efficiency of the graphic card. MIP mapping saves processor time and improves anti
March 30, 2007
GAD 1
[Type text]
Glossary
aliasing by allowing the computer to start with pre-filtered, pre-scaled textures at the
most appropriate resolution for each frame.
MMOG – Massively multiplayer online game consisting of thousands of players from around
the world playing at the same time.
MMORPG – Massively multiplayer online role-playing game.
MMORTS – Massively multiplayer online real-time strategy game.
MMOFP - Massively multiplayer online first-person shooter game.
MOD – A game modification usually created by game players. Some game company’s release
toolkits to help players to create the modifications.
Motion Capture – An advanced technological process of recording the location of various
points in a character and applying the movements onto a 3D model.
Mood – Refers to the meaning of colors that are responses to visual stimuli.
Multilateral Competition – A game structure in which three or more players directly compete.
This pattern is typical of multiplayer games such as board games.
NPC – Non-playing character
Normal – A normal is located underneath each polygon in a 3D mesh. The normals are used to
calculate the angle of light coming from each light and alters the polygon to become
lighter of darker.
March 30, 2007
GAD 1
[Type text]
Glossary
Normal Mapping – An advanced technique used by 3D game designers to assign visual
characteristics of a high polygon count character to a low polygon count character. A
normal calculates the normal angels from the high polygon character and assigns the
values to the low polygon count character.
NURBS – Non-uniform rational basis splines is an advance technique to create 3D shapes using
curves and surfaces. Most often used for organic and freeform shapes.
Non-zero Sum Game – A game where individual players neither win nor lose, but creates a
situation where all of the players (team) can benefit. In non-zero sum games points are
awarded and the group who earns the most points usually wins.
Object – A term used in 2D game graphics to describe a character or asset that has events and
actions assigned.
Octree Structure – A process used by game engines dividing the game level into a series of 8
cubes. The numbers of polygons are calculated within each cube and if the number of
polygons exceeds some pre-determined number, the cube is divided again. When a
game’s camera intersects an octree cube, all of the polygons within the cube are
processed.
Opacity Mapping – The use of black and white maps to hide certain parts of an image.
Open game system – A game environment consisting of a group of players across several games
and many different game sessions.
OpenGL – Free, open source graphic card software used to process graphic information.
March 30, 2007
GAD 1
[Type text]
Glossary
Parallax Mapping – An enhancement of the bump mapping or normal mapping techniques that
works by displacing the texture coordinates at a point on the polygon giving the illusion
of depth.
Parallel projection - Axonometric or top-down perspective intentionally producing an illusion
of depth.
Patch Modeling – Process of creating 3D models using a series of planes that can be joined
together.
PC – Player character
PERT Chart – An organizational tool, developed by the Navy, to help manage large projects.
Physical Fun – Games where movement plays a significant role such as dancing or hand-eye
coordination.
Pipeline – The general flow of events of the game design and creation process to make sure that
all required parts are completed on time and within budget.
Point Light – A light that emits light in all directions, cannot be focused, but can cast shadows.
Can be thought of a bare light bulb.
Polar Coordinates – A two-dimensional coordinate system where a point is defined from a
fixed point and an angle from a fixed direction. The polar coordinate system is often used
in 2D games to define the direction of gravity or missile.
Polygon – a square-shaped plane that consists of at least 4 vertices and two more triangles.
Polygon Count – The actual number of polygons (or triangles) that an object contains. Important
to game design because most graphic cards are rated by the number of polygons per
second that can be processed or rendered.
Polygon Culling – The process of eliminating 3D polygons that lie outside the viewer’s
(camera’s) field of vision to increase processing speed. 3D game engines do not process
the objects that lie behind the camera.
Premise – The time, place, and characters that move the game forward.
March 30, 2007
GAD 1
[Type text]
Glossary
Primitive – Basic geometric shapes like spheres, cylinders or cones that are the building blocks
of more complex 3D objects.
Probability – The randomness that is built into the game. Examples of ways to add randomness
would be the use of dice, spinner, shuffling a deck of cards, assigning health, or the use
of a random number generator.
Programmer – A software engineer concerned with the core mechanics of the game.
Progressive Action – The procedures that define how the players move through the game such
as select a card off of the top of the deck or players taking turns.
Protagonist – Is the main character and is usually presented with a problem that drives the
game.
Quadruped - Character that walks on four legs.
Rank Order – Process or prioritizing numerically a generated list of ideas.
Resolving Action – Procedures that help to bring a conclusion to the game and includes how
much health a player has or how many points are needed to advance to the next level.
Resources – Includes items such as money, houses, territory or player health that play the same
role as resources do in real life.
Rigging – The process of adding bones to a mesh in order to create movement usually with the
help of inverse kinematics (IK).
Role-Playing Game - A genre in which each player controls an avatar that interacts with other
players, completes tasks to gain experience and acquires items.
Run and gun – Side-scrolling platform games that attempt to combine platform games with
shoot ‘em up games
Serious Games – Games that educate teach or help the player to learn a new skill.
Shadows – The area of darkness created when light does not bend around objects. In the 3D
world, shadows work hand-in-hand with light for an overall effect. Shadows help to
ground objects and prevent the illusion that the object is floating.
Side-Scroller Camera - Shows the world from the side and are more common in 2D games than
3D games.
Social Fun - Games that use storytelling and tap into the human desire for social interaction
Spot Light – A light that can have its shape adjusted and points into a particular direction.
March 30, 2007
GAD 1
[Type text]
Glossary
Sprite – A term used in 2D game graphics that refers to a small, 2D game character or asset.
Sprites do not usually have any actions associated with them.
Starting Action – The procedures that get the game into play such as shuffling the cards or the
distribution of money.
Storyboard – A series of connected pictures that tells a continuous story about the flow of
events and levels of a proposed game.
Social Fun – Games that use storytelling and have social interaction.
Texel – A pixel within a texture image; a unit of textured space.
Texture – Term used to describe the 2D material, image or surface that is applied to mesh.
Third-Person Camera - Shows the world from an over-the-shoulder view, the player can
actually see the character in the camera view.
Tracking Camera – A camera that follows the character’s movements.
Turn-Based Strategy (TBS) – Game separated into well-defined and visible parts or rounds.
The player in a turn-based game is usually allowed time to consider the results of a turn
before taking actions.
Unilateral Competition – Where two or more players compete against one player. An example
would be dodge ball.
UVW Coordinates – The variables assigned to the positional coordinates of a texture in much
the same way as X, Y, and Z coordinate variables describe positions of polygonal
vertices.
UVW Unwrapping – The process of removing the default texture of a 3D object to create a 2D
image that can be brought into a 2D graphic package. The graphic artists
can create and develop the 2D texture which will later be reassigned to the 3D object.
UVW Wrapping – The technique of applying a 2D image onto a 3D object. The texture can be
moved or rotated to achieve the correct placement of the texture.
March 30, 2007
GAD 1
[Type text]
Glossary
Vector Graphic – A 2D graphic created using algorithms to calculate the X and Y locations of
vertices.
Vertex – A single point in 3D space.
Virtual Reality – (VR) The simulation of reality through technology.
Volume Light – A light that filters through fog, dust or smoke in which you can actually see the
rays of light creating a cylinder.
Zero Sum Game – A game between two players that results in only one player winning. The
player who wins is assigned +1 points and the player who losses is assigned -1 point.
The sum of the points of both players equals 0. Examples include Tic-Tac-Toe, Checkers,
and Fox and Geese.
March 30, 2007