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Game Maker Glossary

The document provides definitions and explanations of common game development terms. It explains that sprites are 2D images that float above other elements, assets include game resources like images and sounds, and discusses pixel art, aliasing, and the use of power of 2 dimensions for textures. It also covers initializing values, the x,y coordinate system, variable and constant declarations, camel case naming conventions, common symbols, basic math operators, debugging with console.log, and data types and conditional statements.

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James Allan
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31 views6 pages

Game Maker Glossary

The document provides definitions and explanations of common game development terms. It explains that sprites are 2D images that float above other elements, assets include game resources like images and sounds, and discusses pixel art, aliasing, and the use of power of 2 dimensions for textures. It also covers initializing values, the x,y coordinate system, variable and constant declarations, camel case naming conventions, common symbols, basic math operators, debugging with console.log, and data types and conditional statements.

Uploaded by

James Allan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Game​ ​Making​ ​Glossary

Useful​ ​Notes,​ ​Hints​ ​and​ ​Tips

General​ ​Terms
Sprite
A​ ​2D​ ​or​ ​two​ ​dimensional​ ​image​ ​or​ ​animation​ ​that​ ​is​ ​handled​ ​separately​ ​from​ ​the​ ​main​ ​video
display.​ ​This​ ​was​ ​handled​ ​by​ ​hardware​ ​in​ ​the​ ​early​ ​days​ ​to​ ​improve​ ​game​ ​performance.​ ​They
were​ ​called​ ​“sprites”​ ​because​ ​they​ ​“float”​ ​above​ ​everything​ ​else​ ​like​ ​fairies​ ​or​ ​sprites​ ​:)

Assets
Refers​ ​to​ ​images,​ ​sprites,​ ​sound​ ​effects,​ ​music,​ ​etc.​ ​used​ ​in​ ​the​ ​presentation​ ​of​ ​your​ ​game.

8Bit​ ​or​ ​16Bit


A​ ​retro​ ​or​ ​old​ ​style​ ​“pixel​ ​art”​ ​where​ ​you​ ​can​ ​see​ ​the​ ​squares​ ​or​ ​pixels​ ​making​ ​up​ ​an​ ​image.
Generally​ ​there​ ​no​ ​anti-aliasing​ ​(see​ ​below)​ ​ ​with​ ​images​ ​appearing​ ​to​ ​have​ ​“jaggies”.

Aliasing/​ ​Anti-aliasing
Refers​ ​to​ ​the​ ​appearance​ ​of​ ​images​ ​on​ ​screen​ ​-​ ​jaggies​ ​or​ ​smooth

Power​ ​of​ ​2s


Although​ ​not​ ​necessary​ ​today,​ ​it​ ​was​ ​key​ ​for​ ​improving​ ​performance​ ​in​ ​early​ ​gaming​ ​systems
and​ ​is​ ​still​ ​used​ ​in​ ​3D​ ​texture​ ​maps​ ​for​ ​games.
Example:​ ​2,​ ​4,​ ​8,​ ​16,​ ​32,​ ​64,​ ​128,​ ​256,​ ​512,​ ​1024,​ ​etc.

Example​ ​of​ ​a​ ​32​ ​wide​ ​by​ ​32​ ​high​ ​sprite:

Instantiate
Establish​ ​or​ ​to​ ​‘make’.​ ​In​ ​our​ ​case​ ​to​ ​bring​ ​a​ ​thing​ ​into​ ​existence​ ​or​ ​to​ ​make​ ​it​ ​‘real’​ ​for​ ​the​ ​first
time.
Initialize
Setting​ ​up​ ​the​ ​start​ ​position.​ ​Usually​ ​setting​ ​all​ ​the​ ​key​ ​values​ ​for​ ​the​ ​game​ ​which​ ​will​ ​be
changed​ ​as​ ​the​ ​game​ ​progresses​ ​and​ ​receives​ ​player​ ​input.​ ​For​ ​example,​ ​the​ ​High​ ​Score
variable​ ​will​ ​be​ ​set​ ​to​ ​the​ ​value​ ​of​ ​0​ ​(zero)​ ​at​ ​the​ ​beginning​ ​of​ ​the​ ​game​ ​until​ ​the​ ​player​ ​scores.

Coordinate​ ​System​ ​(x,​ ​y)


To​ ​find​ ​a​ ​specific​ ​point​ ​on​ ​a​ ​game​ ​or​ ​computer​ ​screen,​ ​you​ ​use​ ​x​ ​and​ ​y​ ​coordinates
usually​ ​written​ ​as​ ​(120,​ ​15).​ ​X​ ​will​ ​always​ ​come​ ​first​ ​and​ ​represents​ ​the​ ​horizontal
position​ ​(across)​ ​with​ ​Y​ ​representing​ ​the​ ​vertical​ ​(up​ ​and​ ​down)​ ​position.

The​ ​origin​ ​or​ ​anchor​ ​point​ ​is​ ​in​ ​the​ ​upper​ ​left​ ​hand​ ​corner​ ​and​ ​represents​ ​(0,​ ​0).
Loaded​ ​images​ ​and​ ​sprites​ ​use​ ​the​ ​same​ ​system​ ​to​ ​determine​ ​their​ ​origin​ ​point.
Variable:​ ​Read/Write
Example:​ ​ ​var​ ​variableName;
As​ ​the​ ​name​ ​suggests,​ ​the​ ​value​ ​held​ ​by​ ​a​ ​variable​ ​can​ ​be​ ​changed​ ​or​ ​updated.
A​ ​variable​ ​can​ ​hold​ ​either​ ​a​ ​Alpha​ ​or​ ​Numeric​ ​value​ ​meaning​ ​a​ ​string​ ​of​ ​text​ ​or​ ​a​ ​number.
var​ ​saySomething​ ​=​ ​“This​ ​is​ ​a​ ​string​ ​of​ ​letters​ ​or​ ​text.”;

var​ ​numberOfLives​ ​=​ ​3;

Constant:​​ ​Read​ ​Only


Example:​ ​const​ ​CONSTANT_NAME
A​ ​constant​ ​never​ ​changes​ ​and​ ​should​ ​only​ ​ever​ ​have​ ​it’s​ ​set​ ​value​ ​read.​ ​For​ ​example:
Capacity​ ​of​ ​a​ ​carrying​ ​bag​ ​will​ ​always​ ​be​ ​12.​ ​It​ ​will​ ​not​ ​get​ ​smaller​ ​or​ ​bigger​ ​once​ ​it’s
capacity​ ​has​ ​been​ ​set.

Camel​ ​Case
Assists​ ​in​ ​legibility​ ​in​ ​keywords,​ ​object​ ​or​ ​variable​ ​names.
For​ ​example:
var​ ​variablethatmatters = var​ ​variableThatMatters

Javascript​ ​and​ ​Phaser​ ​keys​ ​(keywords)​ ​use​ ​this​ ​approach​ ​to​ ​letter​ ​case​ ​and​ ​is​ ​the
source​ ​of​ ​the​ ​most​ ​common​ ​code​ ​errors.​ ​Always​ ​check​ ​that​ ​you​ ​have​ ​the​ ​correct​ ​case
for​ ​keys.
Common​ ​symbols
(​ ​)​​ ​Brackets​ ​or​ ​Round​ ​Brackets​ ​or​ ​Parentheses
{​ ​}​​ ​Curling​ ​Brackets​ ​or​ ​Braces
[​ ​]​​ ​Square​ ​Brackets​ ​or​ ​Brackets

<​ ​>​​ ​Chevrons​ ​or​ ​Angle​ ​Brackets

!​​ ​in​ ​front​ ​of​ ​a​ ​statement​ ​or​ ​value​ ​means​ ​“if​ ​this​ ​is​ ​false”

=​​ ​ ​make​ ​it​ ​equal​ ​to​ ​(e.g.​ ​x​ ​=​ ​Null​​ ​means​ ​x​ ​now​ ​holds​ ​the​ ​value​ ​Null);
==​​ ​ ​is​ ​it​ ​equal​ ​to​ ​(compare​ ​the​ ​values)​ ​(e.g.​ ​Null​ ​==​ ​Undefined​ ​is​ ​true)
===​​ ​ ​is​ ​it​ ​strictly​ ​equal​ ​to​ ​(strict​ ​comparison​ ​of​ ​the​ ​values)​ ​(e.g.​ ​Null​ ​===​ ​Undefined​ ​is
false)

//​​ ​is​ ​one​ ​method​ ​of​ ​commenting​ ​out​ ​a​ ​line​ ​and​ ​is​ ​ignored​ ​by​ ​the​ ​program
/*​​ ​this​ ​is​ ​also​ ​a​ ​method​ ​of​ ​commenting​ ​but​ ​be​ ​sure​ ​to​ ​close​ ​with​ *​ /

“​​ ​double​ ​quote​ ​-​ ​this​ ​is​ ​a​ ​string​ ​of​ ​text​ ​”
‘​​ ​single​ ​quote​ ​-​ ​this​ ​is​ ​a​ ​string​ ​of​ ​text​ ​’
Math​ ​-​ ​adding​ ​and​ ​subtracting

+​​ ​ ​is​ ​addition


-​​ ​is​ ​subtraction
Start​ ​by​ ​creating​ ​a​ ​variable​ ​that​ ​=​ ​zero​ ​and​ ​add​ ​1​ ​to​ ​it:
var​ ​count​ ​=​ ​0;
count​ ​=​ ​count​ ​+​ ​1;​//​ ​count​ ​will​ ​now​ ​=​ ​1;

We​ ​can​ ​simplify​ ​this​ ​a​ ​bit:


count​ ​+=​ ​1;​//​ ​this​ ​does​ ​the​ ​same​ ​as​ ​count​ ​=​ ​count​ ​+​ ​1;

if​ ​all​ ​we​ ​want​ ​to​ ​do​ ​is​ ​incremented​ ​by​ ​1​ ​each​ ​time​ ​we​ ​can​ ​write​ ​it​ ​like​ ​this:
count​ ​++;
This​ ​last​ ​approach​ ​will​ ​be​ ​used​ ​a​ ​lot​ ​in​ ​conditional​ ​statements​ ​and​ ​operations.

Subtraction​ ​works​ ​exactly​ ​the​ ​same​ ​way:


count​ ​=​ ​count​ ​-​ ​1;
count​ ​-=​ ​1;
Count--;

Debugging
Console.log();​​ ​allows​ ​us​ ​to​ ​send​ ​messages​ ​to​ ​the​ ​browser​ ​console​ ​window.
It​ ​can​ ​simply​ ​be​ ​text​ ​like:​ ​console.log(“Hello​ ​there”);
Or​ ​pass​ ​the​ ​current​ ​value​ ​of​ ​a​ ​variable:​ ​console.log(“score​ ​=​ ​“+​ ​this.score);
Objects​ ​&​ ​Functions

Data​ ​Types
String​​ ​-​ ​Is​ ​an​ ​Alpha​ ​value​ ​or​ ​letters​ ​(non-numbers)​ ​and​ ​is​ ​repreaseted​ ​by​ ​placing​ ​the
string​ ​in​ ​quotes​ ​(either​ ​single​ ​or​ ​double):

var​ ​textString​ ​=​ ​“This​ ​is​ ​a​ ​string​ ​data​ ​type.”;

Integer​​ ​-​ ​Is​ ​a​ ​Numeric​ ​value​ ​or​ ​a​ ​number​ ​(non-letters)​ ​and​ ​is​ ​NOT​ ​placed​ ​in​ ​quotes​ ​and
can​ ​have​ ​math​ ​operations​ ​applied​ ​to​ ​them:

var​ ​numberValue​ ​=​ ​256;

Boolean​​ ​-​ ​True​ ​or​ ​False.​ ​The​ ​value​ ​can​ ​only​ ​be​ ​one​ ​or​ ​the​ ​other:

var​ ​isGreen​ ​=​ ​True;

Conditional​ ​Statement​ ​(If​ ​Else​ ​Statement)


If​ ​starts​ ​with​ ​a​ ​condition​ ​which​ ​if​ ​True​,​ ​runs​ ​the​ ​code​ ​(expression)​ ​in​ ​Curly​ ​Braces.
If​ ​the​ ​condition​ ​is​ ​False​,​ ​then​ ​the​ ​code​ ​(expression)​ ​after​ ​Else​ ​is​ ​run.

If​(condition​ ​is​ ​true){


run​ ​this​ ​code;//​ ​expression
}​else​{
run​ ​this​ ​code;//​ ​expression
}

Another​ ​way​ ​you​ ​can​ ​write​ ​it​ ​is​ ​to​ ​use​ ​the​ ​Question​ ​Mark​​ ​(​?​)

function(value){
this.x​ ​=​ ​value​ ​?​ ​value:​ ​1;//​ ​if​ ​value​ ​is​ ​true​ ​?​ ​then​ ​it​ ​equals​ ​value:​ ​if​ ​false​ ​let​ ​it​ ​equal​ ​1
}

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