Video Game Developer Glossary "P"

Glossary by George Spanos with Special thanks to Xan

Suggest a term here

Pitch Shifting:

Pitch shifting is accomplished in the audio realm within a digital audio workstation. At it's most basic form pitch shifting or "pitching" is used by the sound designer to alter the pitch of an asset. The pitch can either be adjusted to be higher or lower. It can be used when creating monster voices, or any other time when altering the pitch of a recording is required.

Play Testing:

This involves playing a game with the goal of improving its immersion and fun factor. Play testing is necessary to improve a game and make it more enjoyable and fun.

Post-Mortem:

A post mortem is usually conducted after a game is finished and has shipped. All members of the development team are to write up a document that outlines three major details: what went right, what went wrong, and what could be improved the next time. It is a necessary part of game development and hopefully will shine the light on problem areas in the development cycle so that they can be improved for the next game.

Pre-Production:

This is the very first phase in a game's development cycle. This is where game designers are (hopefully) writing out the design documents that will form the basis for the gameplay. Other important parts of the game should also be completed in the pre-production phase such as story, team member selection, budgeting, and scheduling for production.

Production:

This phase in a development cycle occurs right after the pre-production phase. The production phase can last anywhere from six months to 5 + years. It really depends on the game's needs and production schedule. This is where the heavy lifting gets done. Programming, art, animation, level design, sound, and game testing all occur during this phase.

Profit sharing:

This is when some companies will share their profits with their employees. The amount of profit sharing can vary greatly and is often used to attract top talent in the competitive video game market.

Programmer:

Sometimes called "coder" or "code monkey" or "engineer", this person is responsible for coding the game's software.

Publisher:

A publisher is a company that pays for the creation, manufacturing, advertising, and distribution of a game. Sometimes developers can also be publishers. This is seen in many independent game development studios. Publishers often retain a lot of creative control over a game title.

[A]    [B]    [C]    [D]    [E]    [F]    [G]    [H]    [I]    [J]    [K]    [L]    [M]    [N]    [O]    [P]