Class Hours: 9:40 – 2:05
Mr. Cronin
Mr. Bohmann
Quizzes on Friday morning. 15% of your grade are the quizzes, typically 9 new, 1 review, and 1 extra credit question from our articles.
This years Sat / Act prep work comes from “100 Most Common SAT Words” by Quizlet. As we are using their list to pull from you are able to use their free study tools. Make a free account so you add the new words to your Study Bank. As the weeks go by and you are studying from this ever-growing word bank, you will find that your vocabulary (speaking and retention) has improved.
The weekly latin root comes from “42 Most Common Latin Roots”.
Sat / Act prep
- Condescending – patronizing. “He made a condescending comment to the clerk at the DMV after he stood in line for hours. He had had enough.”
- Conditional – provisional, contingent. “Susie was accepted to Syracuse University conditionally; she had to pass her final semester of high school with good grades to be sure.”
- Conformist – follower of customs. “Chris was a conformist, he knew to take his hat off when at the wedding.”
Latin Root of the week
- Con, com – together, joined. “The project was complete when both students uploaded their assets.”
Game Design / Unreal
- On Component Hit is an event which fires when our character shoots or runs into an object.
- Destroy Actor is the function we use to remove an actor from the game level. We often use it when a power item has been “collected”, but we can remove actors based on time and other triggers.
- Events are nodes that are called to begin execution of code within the Event Graph. Events allow Blueprints to perform a series of actions – they start the code running. Some events include:
- Event Hit
- Event Begin Play
- Event Tick
- (Hint – they are red)
- Custom Events can be created by the Game Programmer to extend the functionality of Unreal. You can name these events anything you wish, and your code can call these events to help drive your game.
- The Event Graph is where we use Blueprints node-based system to program our Video Games.
- Nodes are objects such as events, function calls, flow control operations, variables, etc. that can be used in graphs to define the functionality. These are the individual boxes we create to build our programs in Unreal.
- A Sequence is a Blueprint node that allows the flow of the program to follow a linear order. Do this, than do that, than do that…etc. We used a sequence when we wanted the KillZ to pause…and then restart.
- A Delay is a node which does exactly what it sounds like it would – delays the code from firing. We can use delays when we want certain bits of a program to “wait” before it runs. For example when a door opens by a motion sensor we may want it to wait open for 5 seconds before it closes. We used a delay node in our game to pause the KillZ for 2 seconds before it continued.
- A Timeline is used to create data changes over time. Creating keyframes in the timeline and combining with an output track allows data to be generated which can connect to the position of a KillZ, or the position of a Balloon, or the rotation of a coin, etc.
- Alpha Testing is the first phase of software testing, and is typically done with users in the organization. Other users will test games to attempt to find flaws, or other playability issues. It is done early in a design process to get quick feedback, so designers can improve their game.
- Beta Testing is the second phase of software testing in which a sampling of the intended audience tries the game, typically the public. It is important to see how general users / game players interact with your game.
General Design
- A drawing has one–point perspective when it contains only one vanishing point on the horizon line. This type of perspective is typically used for images of roads, railway tracks, and hallways getting smaller as they move off into the distance.
- A drawing has two-point perspective when it contains two vanishing points on a horizon line. Two–point perspective drawings are often used in architectural drawings and interior designs; they can be used for drawings of both interiors and exteriors.
- Sound Design is the process of recording, acquiring, manipulating or generating audio elements to create an intended aural experience. Sound Designers are tasked with creating the soundscape so Skyrim sound like Skyrim, Stranger Things sounds like Stranger Things, to really put the viewer in the production. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including film making, television production, video game development, sound recording, etc. There is even a “Sonic Arts” specialization at Champlain College you can add to your degree program.