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3D Game
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A game with 3D artwork, especially a first-person scrolling action game.
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Animation
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A technique where successive still frames of a particular object
appear to constitute a seamless sequence of movements.
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Arcade Game
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A game with fast action where hand-eye coordination is the
primary skill needed to beat the game.
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Artificial Intelligence
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An algorithm by which the computer gives the illusion of thinking
like a human. Also, the action of a character in a game as it reacts
to other objects in the game.
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Bit
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The smallest unit that can carry information in a computer - this is
a base 2 number, equaling either 0 or 1.
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BitBlt
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BIT BLock Transfer, a bit string move, usually referring to
moving the bits that represent an image from memory to display.
Also known as a "blit".
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Bitmap
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Arrays of data specifying the color of each pixel in a rectangular
image of arbitrary size.
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Blit
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To copy an image (or part of an image) from one place to another.
See BitBlt.
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Boss Enemy
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The biggest bad guy that must be killed in order to complete a
level.
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Cheat Code
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A keyboard sequence which, when used, gives the player an
advantage in the game, for example infinite ammunition, infinite
lives, the ability to walk through walls, or fly.
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Cinematics
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An animated sequence at the beginning of a game, or animated
transition screens.
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Clipping
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Cutting off parts of lines and/or shapes (sprites) that exceed the
boundaries of a viewport or clipping region.
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Clipping Region
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Rectangular area that defines where objects will be clipped.
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Collision Detection
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Method of checking if two or more objects come in contact with
each other.
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Continue
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Another chance to play the game where you left off after you've
lost all your lives.
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Coordinate
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A location, or point in space, which may be addressed using
arbitrary units.
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Credits
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Listing of those involved in the development of a game, typically
including the programmer, artist, musician, and producer.
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Demo Mode
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A self-playing mode, showing off the features and artwork of a
game.
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Engine
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Code used as the basis for building a game, including the various
utilities and a skeleton game.
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Energy
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A scale representing how close a player is to death. Usually
energy declines as a player collides with enemies, and increases
when a player finds certain energy items, such as food.
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Episode
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One portion of a shareware game series. Most often the first
episode is used to interest the player in the game, while others are
used as incentives to encourage registering the game. Sometimes
different episodes have different plots.
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Fastgraph
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High performance programmer's graphics library.
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Fat Bit Editor
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A feature of an image editor that zooms in on an area of the
image, and displays the individual pixels larger for easier editing.
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First Person
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A type of game where the point of view is as if through the eyes of
the main character.
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Flipping
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Changing the display start address of video memory, so that a
completely new part of video memory is visible. Also known as
page flipping or page swapping.
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Frame
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A sequence of events ending in a page flip. Also known as an
animation frame.
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Frame Rate
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Speed of animation, usually expressed in frames per second.
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GIF
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An image file format where the image is compressed using LZW
compression.
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God Mode
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State of a game, usually triggered by a keystroke sequence, where
the player can not die, and may have other powers such as infinite
amunition or the ability to walk through walls. Also known as
cheat mode.
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Graphics Library
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Collection of functions that control the video ouput. Fastgraph is a
graphics library.
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Graphics Mode
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A PC mode where the screen is addressed in pixels.
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Hidden Page
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A page-shaped area of offscreen video memory.
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Hot Spot
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An active area of the screen, particularly one which causes some
action when a mouse cursor moves over it or clicks on it.
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Keyboard Handler
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Functions or routines for programming and working with a
keyboard. A low-level keyboard handler monitors keyboard
activity so that special keys and key combinations can be detected.
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Lamer
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A person who is not simply ignorant, but makes no effort to correct
his lack of knowledge.
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LCR
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Low Cost Retail software. Games sold in retail channels at a low price.
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Level
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One continuous section of an arcade game or other type of game.
The goal of a game is to beat all the levels.
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Level Editor
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A utility used for creating, viewing, and modifying levels.
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Life
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More accurately referred to as a death, the unit for counting how
many tries a player has before a game is finished.
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Mode X
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A 256-color planar or tweaked VGA graphics mode popularized
by Michael Abrash.
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NDA
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Non-disclosure agreement. A legal document signed by two parties
agreeing they will not disclose technical or financial secrets. An
NDA is not a substitute for trust.
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Offscreen video memory
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Available memory on the video card that is not currently visible on the
monitor screen. It is used for storage, animation, scrolling, and
special effects. See Hidden Page.
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One-Up
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An extra life, or the object that gives you an extra life.
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Page
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An area of video memory or system RAM which holds enough
data to fill the screen(or more) in the current graphics mode.
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Page Flipping
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An animation technique that consists of writing to offscreen video
memory, and then panning or flipping to that area. Also known as
page swapping.
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Palette
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In a 256-color VGA video mode, the colors which are available.
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Palette Entry
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One of the colors in the VGA palette, usually defined by its
entry number (0-255) and the values of its red, green and blue
components.
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Panning
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Changing the screen origin to a different point in video memory.
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Parallaxing
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An animation technique where where the background is drawn in
levels, and distant levels move at a slower speed than near levels,
giving the illusion of depth.
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PCX
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A popular image file format designed by Zsoft.
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Pixel
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The smallest addressable unit on a computer screen.
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Platform Game
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Side scrolling arcade game.
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Producer
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Someone who coordinates and supervises a game's development.
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Publisher
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Anybody who markets games.
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Registration Incentive
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A method of obtaining shareware registrations by offering
something of value for money, such as more levels.
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RLE
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An image stored using run-length encoding.
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Rendered artwork
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Artwork created in a rendering program. The features generally
include a 3D appearance caused by wire-framed objects, with textured
coverings, and light sources.
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Resizing
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Changing the coordinate limits of video memory.
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Resolution
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The number of pixels or character cells available on the screen.
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Retrace
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A total screen update, usually happening at the rate of about 60
frames per second.
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Royalties
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A method whereby a developer is paid for their work as a
percentage of either net or gross receipts.
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Score
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The cumulative number of points earned.
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Scoreboard
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A graphical representation of the score, along with other items
such as one-ups, energy and ammunition.
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Screen origin
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The pixel coordinates of the upper left corner of the screen.
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Scrolling
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Moving the screen smoothly an any direction.
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Segue
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(pronounced "seg-way") A transitional device that helps one
sequence flow smoothly into another. In a game, a segue usually
occurs between levels and involves storyline development, often
in the form of cinematics.
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Shareware
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A method of marketing software where a program is distributed
freely, and users may try it before paying for it.
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Shelfware
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Software sold through regular retail channels, especially when
marketed by an established commercial publishing house such as
Electronic Arts.
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Special Effect
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Any unusual or special visual image or sound or music.
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Sprite
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A bitmap of an arbitrary shape that can be moved across complex
backgrounds without flicker or damage to the background image.
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Sprite List
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Several related sprites, usually kept in a single file or buffer.
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Sprite Editor
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A program for creating, viewing, and modifying sprites.
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Storyline
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The setting for the game, including such things as an introduction
to the characters, their location, and the reason they do what they
do.
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Text Mode
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A PC video mode where the screen is addressed in rows and
columns of character cels. The default video mode of a PC when
running DOS.
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Tile
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An image, usually 16x16 or 32x32, which blitted in sequence with other
tiles to create levels.
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Tile Attribute
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A bit value used to specify the characteristics of a tile, such
as solid on top.
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Tile Library
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A collection of unique tiles used to build levels.
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Tile Editor
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A utility program used to create, view, and modify tiles.
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Tile Ripper
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A utility used to reduce one or several screens of artwork to
unique tiles.
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Timer
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A method of measuring the speed of the execution of instructions
so that animation can be controlled.
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Title Screen
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The opening screen of a computer game, which includes the title
and other information.
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Transition
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The sequence between levels, often consisting of storyline
development, special effects, or cinematics.
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Transparent
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Pixels in a rectangular blit which are not displayed, so that the
background shows through.
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Trilogy
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A method of marketing games, where a third of the game, known
as an episode, is distributed as shareware and the other two
episodes are registered or purchased directly from the
manufacturer.
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TSR
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Terminate and Stay Resident; a program that stays in memory
after it returns control to the operating system.
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VGA
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Video Graphics Array, any of a collection of video modes; also
the hardware that supports them.
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Visual Page
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The page that is currently visible on screen.
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Warp
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Moving to an area in a game level requiring a complete screen
redraw, for example going through a door or advancing to a new
level.
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