| Wah |
More formally called timbre modulation. It is your standard "wah-wah" effect that Jimi Hendrix and so many other guitarists hackneyed |
| WAN |
Wide Area Network. A network that spans a great distance, usually over a public network, such as telephone. WANs are typically 2 or more connected LANs. The Internet is the largest.
See Also: LAN |
| Warcraft |
One of the first mass market successes in the Real Time Strategy genre, War Craft pitted Orcs versus Humans in battle and resource management. This title originally came out around the time Westwood Studios made Dune, and Warcraft 2 around the time of Command & Conquer. |
| Wardell, Brad |
Brad Wardell is the founder of Stardock Systems, and the designer of Galactic Civilizations and one of the only video games everreleased for the ill-fated OS/2. In addition to his experience in games Brad makes skinning software for Windows. He is a champion for gameplay over graphics and has founded the Drengin Network a game ASP (Application Service Provider) to help make this vision a reality. |
| Warez |
Pirated software distributed over the Internet.
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| WAV File |
A file which stores audio information, saved with a ".wav" extension. WAV files are commonly used in big budget games because they provide excellent sound quality. But it takes a lot of data to provide such high quality sound. So WAV files are larger than those of other audio file formats. (Microsoft?s standard sound exchange format.) |
| Waveform |
The shape of any periodically oscillating wave |
| Wavetable Synthesis |
Synthesis that digitally stores the waveforms in a "wavetable" and then uses them to create sounds. This method is capable of producing very realistic sounds |
| WDL |
WDL stands for "World Definition Language". WDL scripting is used to make interaction in 3D game programming. WDL is used with the powerful "Acknex" game creation system created by Conitec at conitec.com. |
| White Noise |
Noise with completely random amplitude across all frequencies. Also known as Gaussian noise |
| Wholesaler |
A business that buys, warehouses, ships, invoices and sells to retailers without exclusivity. Contrast to a distributor which carries non-competing lines of products. |
| Williams, Roberta |
Roberta Williams is a game writer and developer for Sierra. She is known for adventure style games. Some of her works include Phantasmagoria and King?s Quest. |
| Windows |
Pertaining to a Graphical User Interface (GUI).
OR
A group of operating systems produced and published by Microsoft. Windows is currently one of the most popular computer platforms. Microsoft has created numerous versions of Windows. The oldest, Windows 1.0, was released in 1985.
Versions include:
*-Windows 1.0
*-Windows 2.0
*-Windows 3.0
*-Windows 3.1 // 1.0 - 3.1 are not really an OSs but more of a GUI for DOS
*-Windows 3.11 // 3.1 on steroids; made for networking
*-Windows 95 // introduces the current Windows look of today
*-Windows 98 // upgrade of 95, with more features. Introduced the Explorer look
*-Windows 98SE // second edition of 98. This version featured many bug fixes.
*-Windows NT // the first non-DOS based Windows, used primarily for networking and other business-related uses. NT stands for "New Technology"
*-Windows 2000 // aka NT5; The workstation/server OS)
*-Windows ME // the upgraded version of Windows 98, which contains a few additional features; Generally not considered a successful OS release
*-Windows XP // XP = eXPerience; Win2k on steroids; The DESKTOP look has also been updated to a more slim-line look
*-Windows XPe // Windows XP slimmed down for thin clients.
*-Windows CE // CE = Compact Edition; the operating system used for mobile devices. This OS runs popular devices such as "Pocket PC", and "Hand-Held PC".
*-PocketPC 2002 // WinCE 3.0 Fine tuned for Palm-like devices
For more info see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows
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| Windows |
1) Any graphical user interfaces 2) A group of operating systems published by Microsoft. Windows is currently one of the most popular computer platforms. Microsoft has created numerous versions of Windows, which include: * -Windows 1.0 * -Windows 2.0 * -Windows 3.0 * -Windows 3.1 (1.0 - 3.1 are not really an OSs but more of a GUI for DOS) * -Windows 3.11 (3.1 on steroids; made for networking) Note: Windows 95 - Me use DOS 7.0 as the underpinnings for the OS * -Windows 95 (introduces the current Windows look of today) * -Windows 98 (upgrade of 95, with more features. Intruduced the Explorer look) * -Windows 98SE (second edition of 98. This version featured many bug fixes.) * -Windows NT (the first non-DOS based Windows, used primarily for networking and other business-related uses. NT stands for "Networking Technology") * -Windows 2000 (aka NT5; The workstation/server OS) * -Windows ME (the upgraded version of Windows 98, which contains a few additional features; Generally not considered and OS) * -Windows XP (XP = eXPeriance; Win2k on steroids; The DESKTOP look has also been updated to a more slim-line look) * -Windows CE (CE = Compact Edition; the operating system used for mobile devices . This OS runs popular devices such as "Pocket PC", and "Hand-Held PC". ) * -PPC2002 (WinCE 3.0 Fine tuned for Palm-like devices) |
| Windows Console |
A Windows Console is basically a DOS prompt the opens under the Windows OS inside its own Window. In Windows 95/98, the Windows Console was truly a DOS prompt, which allowed the user to access the underlying DOS-powered operating system, where as in NT-Based Windows distributions, the console is enumerated, and has a bit less functionality than that of it?s predecessors. |
| Wings 3D |
An increasingly popular free modeling utility. It has a very nice interface, and doesn?t take much time to learn. It?s good for both high and low polygon models, but is not particularly well suited for entire scenes or rooms. http://www.wings3d.com/ |
| WinSock |
Windows Sockets. An API for sockets through windows, which provides TCP/IP network programming support |
| Wolfenstien 3D |
Critically acclaimed and the game that brought real-time first person game play to the masses, Wolfenstein 3D was a raycasting based engine set in Nazi Germany. Created by id Software and published by Apogee (now 3D Realms). |
| Word |
A word is usually the natural size of data that a processor works with. On early x86 systems, a word was 16 bits. On 32-bit systems, a word is 32 bits. (However, for compatibility with 8088 terminology, Windows uses "word" to mean 16 bits.) On 64-bit systems, a word is 64 bits, but often the operating system "word" is 32 bits for compatibility with existing 32-bit Unix systems. |
| Word |
Similar in context to byte, a word is string of bits of any length |
| Work-For-Hire |
A deal where a publisher pays a development team to do a specific set of work and all work done is owned by the publisher. These deals are normally initiated at the publishers request for a specific product, as opposed to the developer creating a spec and getting a deal on it. See Licensing Deal. |
| World |
World - Usually a series of similar levels that are grouped together into a mega-level. |
| Wrapper |
A set of code that creates an interface for another set of code. For instance there are many kinds of wrapper for DirectX which simplify initialization and other processes. |
| Wright, Will |
Will Wright is a co-founder of Maxis and is the creator of Sim City. Sim City was a revolutionary game that helped change peoples perceptions about what a game is. Will is also the creator of the wildly popular game The Sims. Will continues to ¡°think outside the box¡± and is currently working on The Sims Online. |
| Wu-antialiasing |
Antialiasing algorithm that extends the Bresenham-line by drawing additional (background-)blended pixels above and below each original pixel. What is considered "above" and "below" is decided by the direction of the plotting. Some implementations also blend the original pixels.
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