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Glossary
primary sound: Sound of an actual
interaction. (11)
primitives: Regular shapes and objects that
are used to assemble more complex shapes
or objects; standard building blocks used to
create other objects. (9, 10)
principles of design: Govern how to
effectively combine the elements of art to
compose a pleasing work of art. (9)
production: Stage at which specialists such
as artist, programmers, sound engineers, and
other team members build all of the parts for
a game and put them together to create a fully
functioning game. (1)
project evaluation and review technique
(PERT) diagram: Diagram that maps
milestones for a project and the estimated
completion time for each milestone. (1)
proof of concept: Main function of a prototype;
shows that the concept can work. (1)
proportion: Size of an object in relation to
other objects around it. (9)
protagonist: Main character of a story. (2)
prototype: Very basic version of the game to
test that the concept can be constructed. (1)
prototyping: Iterative step in the design
process that tests the system to discover
errors. (13)
provisional approval: Approval has been
given to start the project, but only to a point
before additional approval must be obtained
to finish the project. (1)
proximity: How closely objects are
arranged. (9)
pseudo code: Similar to, but not actual
computer code. (12)
public domain: Applies to any work for
which the copyright term has expired. (10)
puzzle: Mental challenges whereby a player
must find a solution to a problem. (7)
puzzle design specifications document:
Document that is a smaller version of the
governing game design document (GGDD). (7)
Q
quality-assurance (QA) team: Team that
does functionality testing and playability
testing continuously to find and report all the
errors in a game. (1)
queuing: Lining up or waiting in line. (13)
R
radial symmetry: Equal in length from a
center point. (9)
raster images: Record the location and color
of each picture element (pixel) of the image;
made up of “dots.” (10)
rasterize: Existing image is converted into a
raster image. (10)
ready to market (RTM): When all testing and
tuning are complete, the game is finalized. (1)
recon: Ability to spy on an opponent; short
for reconnaissance. (6)
reconstructive simulation: Attempt to
duplicate a situation by reverse engineering
the end result. (13)
recording device: Piece of equipment that
takes electronic signals from a microphone
and stores them on media. (8)
recursion: When a method calls itself as part
of the solution. (7)
recursive puzzle: Contains the solution as
part of the puzzle; also called self-reference
puzzle. (7)
Red Book standard: Refers to specifications
for the physical properties of compact discs
and for the digital audio on the discs. (8)
red herring: Task that takes a player in the
wrong direction. (5)