Unit: 4
GAMING PLATFORMS AND
FRAMEWORKS:
2D And 3D Game Development
Using Flash, DirectX, Java, Python,
Game Engines – DX
Studio, Unity.
 
 
 
Describe how do you know if
DirectX is using hardware
acceleration or software
rendering?
One of the easiest test you can
run to test what DirectX is
capable of doing on your
machine is the DirectX
Diagnostic tool. You can get to
it my selecting "Run" from the
Start menu and typing:
dxdiag.exe
Under the "Display" tab, if your
hardware does not support
acceleration the Disable/Enable
button will be disabled for the
type of acceleration.
 
Identify the use of DirectX?
DirectX is an application
program interface (API) for
creating and managing graphic
images and multimedia effects
in applications such as games
or active Web pages that will
run in Microsoft's Windows
operating systems.
It is a technology that helps
create the special visual and
audio effects that come with
games. It can help your
computer get more
performance out of demanding
multimedia programs such as
games and movies.
Here are answers to some
common questions about
DirectX.
 
What are the different parts
of DirectX?

Direct3D. This helps make
three-dimensional animation
possible on your computer
monitor. Direct3D is designed
to provide a powerful link
between your computer's video
card and software programs
that can show three-
dimensional (3-D) objects. The
faster your computer can
process animation, the more
realistic the 3-D objects, light,
and motion on your monitor
will appear to be.
 

DirectDraw. This helps
produce two-dimensional (2-D)
 visual effects. Your computer's
video card and many software
programs use DirectDraw to
communicate with one another
before sending the finished
visual image to the monitor.
Computer games, 2-D graphics
packages, and Windows system
features all use DirectDraw.
 

DirectSound. This boosts
the performance of audio
effects on your computer and
makes many subtle effects in
audio mixing and playback
possible. It provides a link
between software programs
and the hardware on your
computer. DirectSound
provides multimedia software
programs, such as games and
movies, with hardware
acceleration, mixing
capabilities, and access to the
sound card.
 
Point out what is OpenGL.
OpenGL (Open Graphics
Library[3]) is a cross-
language, cross-platform applic
ation programming
interface (API) for
rendering 2D and 3D vector
graphics. The API is typically
used to interact with a graphics
processing unit (GPU), to
achieve hardware-accelerated r
endering.
 
 
Summarize the advantages that
OpenGL have over Microsoft’s
proprietary Direct3D.
 Direct3D is a proprietary API
designed by Microsoft
Corporation that provides a
standardized API for hardware 3D
acceleration on the Windows
platform. Direct3D is
implemented, like OpenGL on the
same platform, in the display
driver.
 
OpenGL is an open
standard Application
Programming Interface that
provides a number of functions
for the rendering of 2D and 3D
graphics. An implementation is
available on most
modern operating systems.
Following is a comparison of the
two APIs, structured around
various considerations mostly
relevant to game development.
 
 
 
Discuss the support provided
by Java for gaming.
Game programmers also
commonly use Java, because
Java supports multithreading
and sockets. Multithreading
uses less memory and makes
the most of available CPU,
without blocking the user out
when heavy processes are
running in the background.
Sockets help in building
multiplayer games. Plus, Java
runs on a virtual machine, so
your game will be easier to
distribute.
Java was used to make games
like Angry Birds Chrome for
mobile devices. It also powers
the RPG Maker engine that
indie companies have used to
make RPG games like the
Aveyond series, Barkley, and
Eternal Eden.
The Unity 3D Engine accepts
Javascript. A WebGL-enabled
Java engine like PlayCanvas,
developed at MIT, lets users
work simultaneously on the
game via an online browser and
publish to multiple platforms.
There are plenty of directions
to take if you learn Java. 
Explain what is XNA?
A development and runtime
environment from Microsoft for
creating and playing games on
the Xbox, Windows and
Windows Phone. ... Games are
executed under a Common
Language Runtime (CLR)
engine specialized for gaming
(see CLR and . NET
Framework). XNA originally
stood for "Xbox New
Architecture."
 
Illustrate about cross platform.
The developers use the cross-
platform mobile development
solutions to develop the mobile
application once and run it on
many platforms. Many of these
cross-platform solutions are
still under research and
development. Also, these
solutions are based on different
approaches such as Cross-
Compilation approach, Virtual
Machine approach, and Web-
Based approach. There are
many survey papers about the
cross-platform mobile
development solutions but they
do not include the most recent
approaches, including
Component-Based approach,
Cloud-Based approach, and
Merged approach.
 
Generalize gaming consoles.
Video game consoles in
chronological order, which
includes all known home video
game consoles after the first
generation, from the first
console, Magnavox Odyssey,
to the first ever ROM cartridge-
based console Fairchild
Channel F, ranging from the
major video game companies
such
as Magnavox, Atari, Fairchild, I
ntellivision
Entertainment, Coleco, Nintend
o, Sega, NEC, 3DO, SNK, Son
y, and Microsoft to modern
market consoles.
This list is divided into console
generations which are named
based on the dominant console
type of the era, though not all
consoles of those eras are of
the same type. Some eras are
referred to based on how many
bits a major console could
process. The "128-bit era"
(sixth generation) was the final
 era in which this practice was
widespread.
 
Show the different operating
systems for smart phones.

Android OS (Google
Inc.) ...

Bada (Samsung
Electronics) ...

BlackBerry OS (Research
In Motion) ...

iPhone OS / iOS (Apple) ...

MeeGo OS (Nokia and Intel)
...

Palm OS (Garnet OS) ...

Symbian OS (Nokia) ...

webOS (Palm/HP)
 
Generalize the purpose of
integrated development
environment in game
development.
A Game Engine (game
environment) is a
specialized development
environment for creating
video games. The features one
provides depends on the type
and the granularity of control
allowed by the underlying
framework.
 
 
Assess what are game
engines.
A game engine is the software
that provides game creators
with the necessary set of
features to build games quickly
and efficiently.
 
A game engine is a framework
for game development that
supports and brings together
several core areas. You can
import art and assets, 2D and
3D, from other software, such
as Maya or 3s Max or
Photoshop; assemble those
assets into scenes and
environments; add lighting,
audio, special effects, physics
and animation, interactivity,
and gameplay logic; and edit,
debug and optimize the content
for your target platforms.
 
Identify the reason why
Adventure Game Studio mostly
suits
adventure games?
Adventure Game
Studio (AGS) is an open
source[1][2] development tool
that is primarily used to
create graphic adventure
games.[3] It is aimed at
intermediate-level game
designers, and combines
an Integrated development
environment (IDE) for setting
up most aspects of the game
with a scripting language based
on C (programming
language) to process the game
logic.
 
Discuss open source game
platforms.
. Godot
Spring Engine:
Panda 3D
Cocos2d-
id Tech 4 -x: