Game Lesson
When you hear someone discuss or play a video game, they will say certain words that will make a non-gamer feel lost, as if they are speaking in a secret code language.
Other fields such as sports, art, and music have words that only specific people in that world will understand. The video game media have three kinds of terms, being game developer, in-game, and gamers terms.
This is the last part of the three-part post on video game terms. This will focus on eight common terms that game creators all use in making a video game and in the industry. If you are going to learn how video games are made, these terms will give a little knowledge in the field.
Post Discussion Categories
- Eight Common Terms In Game Development
- Game Mechanics
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Non-Playable Character (NPC)
- Frames-Per-Second (FPS)
- Trigger
- Polish
- Minimum Valuable Product (MVP)
- Quality of Life
Learn about the game industry terms below
Eight Terms In Game Development
1. Game Mechanics
A major feature in a video game that creates a part of the gameplay.
Gameplay makes up the overall experience of what the player does, combined with the rules and systems a game contains. It is broken down into individual features called a game mechanic. Mechanics are the main features and actions the player will do in a game. Examples of mechanics are platforming, combat, puzzle solving, crafting, and gaining experience points.
They all can be more specific, such as the many ways you can platform in a game. Jumping, climbing, using ladders, using platforms, and gliding are all examples of platforming.
Example 1
It goes even further; Super Mario 64 has the different ways you can jump.
Example 2
Forest Temple Gale Boomerang has many uses.
Some can be added on top of another, to give more depth. An example is The Gale Boomerang in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princes. It is used for attacking, extinguishing torches, retrieving something far away, and has a wind effect to objects for puzzle solving and navigation.
Another form of a mechanic are the big features in gameplay, like Jak and Daxter’s eco abilities and mouthful mode in Kirby and the Forgotten Land. A game mechanic can be the thing that makes someone liking a game, and helps it stand out from others. I think the best gameplay is when all of the mechanics are working together really well, and the player enjoys them.
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
An asset that performs actions only from scripted data.
Artificial Intelligence is basically the brain of a program or asset in a video game, that gives them behaviors. From player button inputs to a loading screen, everything in a game needs code to function. It’s what causes a character (NPC or not) to perform actions on screen.
AI is executed from reading scripts (the written code), and it follows them based on circumstances. A good example is scrolling through menus. The script is read when you select that section and moves to another script or line of code. This will take you to the next step in the menu.
Game engines allow you to make your own scripts and have tools like behavior trees. These make it easier for programmers and designers to see the behaviors and understand what is going on with the AI.
Example
This has me showing a behavior tree and explaining what is going on.
One of my teachers said “computers are only as smart as you make them”. The more functions you want an AI to do, the more code is needed for the tasks.
3. Non-Playable Character (NPC)
Characters that are not controlled by the player.
Non-playable characters means any character in a game, the player will never be in control over. The examples are people you speak to, item shop salesmen, party members, and enemies. Their AI is to make them feel like real people, by the dialog they are given and walking around doing errands.
NPCs can be helpful by: giving the player advice on progressing in a game, telling you how to do something, giving you side quest, and buying/selling. Just like television shows and movies, NPCs are the main cast, the side characters and background crowds too. They are there to make a world more realistic, less empty, and to make up the story.
Xenoblade Chronicles have something called the Affinity Chart. This shows the relationship with the NPCs and the team, by communicating with them and fulfilling their quest. This gives the NPC’s more depth and character.
4. Frames Per Second (FPS)
The speed of how a game flows during gameplay.
Frames Per Second is how well a game runs from seeing the speed and flow by frames. Anything digital has frames per second like cameras and computers. Still images are captured rapidly by frames and combines them together to make something move.
FPS is always active when the device is turned ON and the common levels are 25fps, 30fps, 50fps, 60fps, 80fps, and 120fps. Video games uses frames per second or Frame Rate for the entire game, with frame rate levels between mostly 30fps and 60fps.
Example
The more frames a game or an animation has, the smoother everything will move/run.
Some games have an option to select better visuals or better performance/FPS.
Game’s frame rates are affected from cutscenes and gameplay moments. This will cause a game to increase and decrease its frames continually and fps never goes above its max frame rate number. Intense graphics rendering on screen and a lot of characters moving around are examples that can affect frame rate.
The drastic frame changes can cause the inputs from a player (especially online) to give Lag feedback. Lag is a term from part one of this thee-part series.
5. Triggers
An unlocked action that is activated from completing a required task.
Achievement systems are triggers that appear when the mission is completed
Have you ever played a game and a screen pop up that says “Blank has been unlocked, or blank is now available” well that is an example of a game trigger. Triggers are actions that are suddenly activated by following the requirements of a specific task. For example, collecting a red ring in Sonic Generations, to get artwork or music. Rewarding triggers are the most obvious ones, however there are more ways triggers are used.
Some are: distance focus, collecting focus, doing button inputs, going up a level, completing a quest, activating a cutscene and loading screen, activating a switch, reaching a checkpoint and losing a life, all involves a trigger. When the task is done, code locates what is unlocked or activated and tells the game.
Example 1
The Legend of Zelda has an audio that plays to tell the player they did something correct.
The Legend of Zelda Trigger sound effect/ The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Version
Example 2
Most triggers are invisible to the player, and they can work together too. An easy example is collecting one coin in Super Mario games.
Super Mario Coin Collecting Triggers
- When Mario gets close enough the coin disappears.
- Adds one to his total coin count.
- A sound effect is played.
- Particle effect appears.
- When it’s the one-hundred coin, you’ll earn an extra life.
6. Game Polish
Tweaking and improving a game’s appearance and overall performance
Polishing a game is fixing anything that is wrong (like bugs) before its release. Video game development has stages up to its completion, and polish is after the Alpha and Beta stages with major testing. Game polish is more of cleaning and checking if everything is working properly.
Example
A game example of what unpolish looks like.
The polish phase is a development team’s last chance to work on the game. This is really important because once a game is out for the consumer, ITS OUT. A gamer expects a video game to be bug free with no glitches, period. When you see the technical errors it’s because the team had to hurry and didn’t have enough time to fully polish their game.
Video game delays are more common now and are expected by gamers.
The only way they can increase the polish time, is to announce a game delay because people will expect it to be for sale on the planned date. A delayed game is when the release time changes to a further date and no one wants that, because the wait is longer. I think delaying a game is always a good idea. It can make the game better with less issues.
7. Minimum Valuable Product (MVP)
A stage of a game’s most basic form of gameplay.
Minimum valuable product is a term in business, but inside game development it is slightly different. If you take a game and break it down to its simplest gameplay, that is the MVP. When I say simplest, I really mean simple. The only necessary feature you need is a win/lose scenario. This means what does the player do to win, and one lose scenario on how the player can lose. This really depends on the game itself and its genre.
The other thing you need is to have something that’s playable in the engine. A minimum valuable product does not need any art assets, music, or any specific features. I will give two examples of a game’s MVP from two different genres.
Pokémon
Pokémon is an RPG and here is the MVP.
Yeah, this is all you need to start a turn-base RPG when it comes to combat. The requirements are two texts, a selection menu to attack, numbers to represent health, damage amount for the attack, and winning and losing. No experience points, no weaknesses or resistance, no Pokémon model, no status effects, no items, none of that.
Splatoon
Splatoon is a shooter and here is the MVP.
Splatoon is unique with its gameplay, but that is all you need. It’s tricky with this game because of the ink mechanic. In its simplest form, you need: a 3d shape, a weapon, movement, damage of the weapon, a bullet visual, and health to decrease. This is what all shooters are based on, and Splatoon gets its identity from adding the ink as ammo and traversing.
I think the modes in Splatoon have their own MVP because of the win/lose scenario. Losing in a Turf War is different than losing in Story mode, but they all have dying involved when losing health. Games build off and expand from the minimum valuable product, to create the gameplay we see in the finished product.
8. Quality of Life
An Enhancement to video game features for improving the experience.
Are there some things in a game you wish was easier to do, so it won’t be too difficult or annoying? I am talking about little things like better menu navigation or having quick travel to closer locations. Quality of life can make that possible. Its taking features and editing or adding something to improve them. Everyone calls them Quality of Life Changes.
Having them always makes a game better, for the player’s convenience. No more going to a pc in a Pokémon center, no more mapping the Light Speed Dash and Bounce Jump to the same button in Sonic Adventure 2, No More weapon breaking in Breath of the Wild. That last one is a joke, but these are examples of quality-of-life changes.
Example
This is a fan made Quality of Life improvements to the Kingdom Hearts games.
The changes are really seen in a Remaster, Remake and Fan Mods. Its rare to see these changes for a new game in updates. The developers just have to be careful that the changes won’t break the game. What is interesting about QOL is the future games of a series. They will add these features to the new game from what they saw from the old ones.
Example
Mega Man X2 and forward has the dash already available from the start. In the first game retrieving the leg armor part allowed you to do the same thing.
That is the end of my three-part series of post that focus on video game terms. I gave information from my perspective on what they all mean. If you want to know more, you should research them yourself, because each term can be discussed even further in individual post.
These terms should have given you knowledge about gamers, video games and their development. Tell me in the comments which part is your favorite, and what game do you want to see quality of life changes.
Make sure to read the first and second part of the terms.
Common Terms That Game Players Say https://gameonken.com/common-terms-that-video-game-players-say/
Common Terms That Games Use https://gameonken.com/common-terms-that-games-use/
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Thanks for your blog, nice to read. Do not stop.
Thanks a lot. I try to make it fun and easy to understand, it’s hard for me sometimes. I have older post on the main site. You and anyone else can follow my Facebook page to see when I will post a new one. It’s located at the bottom of the website.