Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
atomic challenge
A challenge that the player faces immediately during play. One
of the lowest-level challenges in the
hierarchy of challenges
. A challenge that is not
composed of other subchallenges.
attract loop
A continuously cycling noninteractive demonstration on an arcade
game designed to attract the attention of passersby.
attributes
Data values that describe one or more qualities of a character or unit.
These may be symbolic, numeric, or collections of data. For descriptions of the dif-
ferent kinds of attributes, see
characterization attributes
,
status attributes
,
functional
attributes
, and
cosmetic attributes
.
augmented reality
A form of computerized interaction in which computer-pre-
sented data and input mechanisms are combined with real-world events. The
computer is said to augment the player's experience of the real world.
avatar
A fictional character in a game with whom the player identifies as the per-
sonification of herself within the game world. The character need not be human; it
may even be a vehicle.
avatar-based interaction model
An
interaction model
in which the player is repre-
sented by a single character, vehicle, or other entity in the game world. The key point
of this relationship is that the player may influence the game world only through the
avatar and, therefore, only those regions of the game world where the avatar is
present.
backgrounder
A document that describes the personality, attitudes, and other
characteristics of a game character.
balance
In a player-versus-player game, the design task of making the game fair to
all players. In a player-versus-environment game, the design task of managing the
difficulty level of the game.
boss
A large and particularly difficult challenge that must be overcome, typically
the last one required in order to complete a
level
of a game.
bot
An artificially intelligent opponent, usually in a first-person shooter, that play-
ers may implement as a modification to the game.
branching story
An interactive story whose plot is preplanned by the designer but
may take alternative paths as a result of actions the player takes.
camera model
The point of view ordinarily adopted by the game's
virtual camera
when displaying the
game world
, along with instructions about how the camera
should behave during play. The camera model is one component of a
gameplay
mode
. Some camera models include artificial intelligence that attempt to make the
camera move automatically to show the scene from a particularly desirable
