Game Development Basic GD Vocabulary Modeling Assets Assets
Game Development Basic GD Vocabulary
Modeling: -Assets • Assets are anything that must be created in an external software like 3 ds Max, Photoshop, ZBrush, etc. Assets can be models, textures, sound effects, animations, and much more. Any aspect or feature that can improve a game or digital project.
Modeling for Games: The modeling process for games is very similar to the modeling process in film, but when modeling for games it is important to consider the polygon count of the model and keeping the polygons as Quads or Triangles.
Triangle: A triangle is a single three -sided polygon of a 3 d model. Each polygon in a 3 d model will be “triangulated” when it is imported into a game engine.
Quad: A quad is a single four-sided polygon of a 3 d model. It’s important to remember that a quad is made up of two triangles.
Texturing: Texturing for Games: The texturing process for games is very similar to the texturing process in film, but when texturing for games it is important to consider texture resolution and what types of maps must be used to get a certain look or effect.
Texture Resolution: Texture resolution is the dimensions of your texture.
Bump Map: Bump maps are a great way to give an object the illusion of depth or relief without increasing render time. Using the black, white and grey data stored in a bump map, the surface properties of the object will be altered by the value given.
Specular Map: A specular map is used to add “shininess” to an object. Dark colors of the image provide little to no shininess to the model, while light colors provide more shininess.
Alpha Map: Alpha maps are also known as transparency maps and they are used to make areas of a model more transparent. They are usually grayscale images. The darkest areas of the map will provide zero transparency and the lightest areas will be transparent. Some examples of where these maps are commonly used are hair, cloth, plants and windows.
Emissive Map: An emissive map is a map that will provide a glow affect if the engine supports it. These maps can be any color. However, dark areas of the map will provide little to no glow
Tiling Textures: Tiling textures are textures that can be applied to a model and repeated infinitely in one or more directions. Tiling textures are typically used on surfaces like walls and terrains that would be difficult to texture by hand. It’s a good idea to create multiple variations of tiling textures to create a more interesting look of the game. The same brick texture on multiple buildings would look very odd.
Decals: Decals are textures with transparent properties that can be applied to surfaces in the game to help break up bare and uninteresting area of the game. Some examples of decals in a game would be bullet impacts, blood splatter, posters, trash, and stains.
Animation: Animation for Games: Animation in games is very similar to film. The models will be rigged to skeletons and animated with key frames. However, games have a much higher need for looping animations and one-off animations.
Rigging: When rigging assets for games, you are creating controls, bones and more, and the ability for the asset to be animated.
One-Off Animations: One-Off animations are animations that represent and specific action or movement of an object or character. For example, a character swinging a bat or throwing a ball.
Looping Animations: Looping animations are animations that can be looped multiple times without the player noticing. For example, a walk or run cycle.
Socket: A socket is a bone or dummy object attached to the skeleton/rig that can be used to attach secondary models. For example, when a character picks up a sword and it attaches itself to the character’s back.
Programming: Game Engine: These engines are the systems for creating and developing your games. Most popular game engines use a software framework that lets game developers bring in assets, create functionality and publish their game for play. Popular game engines include the Unity game engine, Unreal game engine, Cry. ENGINE and more.
Game Loop: The game loop is what lets a game run smoothly whethere is input from a player or not.
Game State: This can be considered part of a game’s internal logic and defines an object at that particular time and keeps track of items such as timers, kills and rounds. A game’s internal logic is one of the most important parts of any game’s development
GUI: The Graphical User Interface are the elements that a player sees when playing. The interface can consist of remaining ammo and time, touch-screen buttons, points and much more.
Player Input: The name pretty much says it all on this one, but it’s key to know when talking about game development. Player input is how the player’s controls interact with the game. The input can be via mouse, controller, keyboard or touch screen and may differ from device to device.
AI: Artificial Intelligence is the computer’s logic when making decisions in a game.
Waypoints: Waypoints are a quick and powerful way to create a simple model of a level that an AI can understand.
Scripting: There are common scripting languages for games, c++, c#, Java and more, and scripting is an essential part of game programming. An understanding of the languages and how scripting is connected to all parts of game programming will help in your game development skills.
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