Basic 2D Game Development Concepts Flashcards

What triggers the action in your game and all GameMaker games, in general?

Answer: Events

In game development, particularly in engines like GameMaker, 'Events' are the primary triggers for actions and behaviors within the game. An event is a specific occurrence, such as a key press, a collision, the start of a room, or an alarm going off, that causes a predefined set of actions or code to execute. This event-driven programming model is fundamental to how game logic is structured and executed.

You enter the following information to establish a game's room size (dimensions):

Answer: Height and Width

The size or dimensions of a game's room (or scene, level) in a 2D environment are typically defined by its height and width. These two values establish the boundaries of the playable area, determining how much space objects can occupy and how much of the game world is visible to the player at any given time.

From where do you choose a game object?

Answer: Hierarchy

Game engines are comprehensive software frameworks designed to facilitate game development. A core component of most game engines is a suite of 'Game Editors' or integrated development environments (IDEs) that provide visual tools for designing levels, managing assets, scripting behaviors, and configuring game settings. These editors streamline the creation process significantly.

What do we name a game that Unity has already built for us?

Answer: Microgame

Unity provides pre-built, small-scale game projects designed to help new users learn the engine's features and workflows. These introductory projects are specifically named 'Microgames' and serve as guided tutorials to get started with game development in Unity, offering a hands-on learning experience.

Additionally, game engines typically include:

Answer: Tools for Game Editors

Game engines are comprehensive software frameworks designed to facilitate game development. A core component of most game engines is a suite of 'Game Editors' or integrated development environments (IDEs) that provide visual tools for designing levels, managing assets, scripting behaviors, and configuring game settings. These editors streamline the creation process significantly.

The following benefits of gaming engines, with the exception of:

Answer: Gives you direct access to the hardware so you can get the best performance possible.

While game engines offer many benefits like community support, core functionality, and cross-platform deployment, they typically abstract away direct hardware access. This abstraction simplifies development and ensures compatibility across various devices, but it means developers don't usually interact directly with the hardware at a low level for performance optimization; instead, the engine handles that.

What are the names of the elements in the scene view in Unity?

Answer: Game Objects

In Unity, the fundamental building blocks of any scene are called 'Game Objects.' These are containers for components, which define their behavior and appearance. Everything from characters and cameras to lights and empty containers exists in the scene as a GameObject, making them the core elements you interact with.