Hamid-World

You love games but you don’t understand the mumbo jumbo? Here are some of the terms most commonly used by gamers around the world and their meanings.

A. SUB GENRE

1. FPS : FPS stands for First Person Shooter. The term FPS is used in action games played from a first person’s perspective, i.e. you play through the eyes of the character you control.

Eg : Half life is a FPS game.

2. TPS : TPS stands for Third Person Shooter. The term TPS is used in games where the character which is controlled is viewed from a distance, i.e. the camera seems to be behind the characters head.

Eg. : Max Payne is a TPS game.

3. RTS : RTS stands for Real Time Strategy. The term RTS is used in strategy games which are not turn based, i.e. the game continues playing irrespective of whether you make your move or not.

Eg. : Age of Empire is a RTS game.

4. SIM : Sim is short for simulation. The term sim or simulation is used for games that simulate reality.

Eg. : Flight simulator is a sim.

5. MMORPG OR MMO : MMORPG stands for Massive Multiplayer Online Role Play Games. The term MMO is used for online games that have many players playing simultaneously. The term RPG (Role Play Games) is used when players assume the role of a fictional character in a fantasy are combined with role play, MMORPG is born.

B. IN GAME TERMS

1. GAMEPLAY : Gameplay basically refers to anything you do in the game. The term gameplay is used to define the overall experience of the game with respect to the gamer.

Eg. : running, Shooting, Jumping etc all constitutes to gameplay.

2. HUD : HUD stands for Heads Up Display. It is usually the area on screen that contains the basic information about the character.

Eg. : Health, ammo, map etc are displayed on the HUD.

3. AI : AL stands for Artificial Intelligence. AI is basically the measure of the intelligence of characters in the game that are not under the user’s control.

Eg. : If you are shooting at bad guys in the game and they don’t duck for convers it shows poor AI.

4. BOT : BOT is short for robot. The term bot is used to refer to computer controlled characters in the game.

Eg. : During online play, if the teams are unbalanced, bots are used to fill the gap.

5. RESPAWN : RESPAWNING is the recreation of a game character after its death or destruction.

Eg. In counter strike, usually you cannot respawn until the end of the round where as in games such as Unreal you can respwan as soon as you die.

C. MISCELLANEWOUS TERMS

1. RL : RL stands for Real Life. This term is usually used by gamers to differentiate between the gaming chat and real life char.

Eg. I am an emperor here, but a student in RL.

2. CRACK : A crack is a small file or code developed by a cracker. A crack is used in pirated games to bypass its security.

3. PATCHES : Patches are small or medium size files which could be developed by the developer or cracker. Patches are minor updates used to improve a programme.

Eg. If a game has very high loading time, patches could be released to rectify this.

4. BUGS : A bug is an error in the game or malfunction in the gaming code.

Eg.: Hands becoming transparent, gun going inside walls, getting stuck at corners etc while playing a game are all bugs.

5. EXPANSION PACK : Expansion packs are an addition to existing games like extra level, new characters etc with the essence of the game till being the same. Expansion packs may or may not be dependent of the original.

6. PLATFORM : The different consoles on which a game can be played is called a platform.

Eg. : The commonly used platforms are PC, PS3, and Xbox.

7. LAG : This condition occurs usually during online play and is caused due to congested network or a slow systems. When your movements are slower than the others you are said to be lagging.

8. DEVELOPERS AND PUBLISHERS : A Develper is a company or an individual who has created the game from scratch and Publisher is the company or companies which sell the game to the public.