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Glossary.md

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Glossary

This page provides definitions for terms used by the game internally.

  • Agent - a world entity that can perform actions.

  • AkEvent - a Wwise sound event, Ak stands for Audiokinetic.

  • Archive - a proprietary data serialization format developed by Gazillion based on the underlying encoding used for protobufs.

  • Area - an arrangement of cells.

  • Area of Interest (AOI) - a part of the overall server-side simulation that needs to be replicated to a specific client.

  • Asset - a value of an asset type.

  • Asset Type - a enumerated type used by Calligraphy.

  • Avatar - an agent that can be controlled by players.

  • Badge - a flag that grants a player elevated privileges of some kind.

  • Behavior - a system that handles the AI of enemies and NPCs.

  • Billing - a service that handles interaction with the in-game store.

  • Blackout - a boundary within the game world within which entities are prohibited from spawning under normal circumstances.

  • Blueprint - a template for prototypes made in Calligraphy.

  • Calligraphy - a proprietary static game data framework developed by Gazillion.

  • Cell - the basic building block of the game world.

  • Character Level - the level of an entity used for unlocks.

  • Circle - a collection of players displayed in the social tab (friends, ignored, etc.).

  • Combat Level - the level of an entity used for combat calculations. In most cases is equal to character level.

  • Community - a collection of circles.

  • Condition - a buff or a debuff that can be applied to an entity.

  • Curve - a collection of numeric values.

  • Date Time - a number of milliseconds or microseconds elapsed since Jan 01 1970 00:00:00 GMT+0000. Also referred to as calendar time.

  • District - a static arrangement of cells.

  • Dynamic Combat Level (DCL) - a level scaling system that adjusts combat calculations based on the difference in combat level between the power user and its target.

  • Dynamic Random Area Generator (DRAG) - a system that handles procedural generation of the game world.

  • Encounter - a static arrangement of entities to be spawned as part of the overall population.

  • Endurance - the primary resource used for powers (e.g. spirit).

  • Entity - a dynamic game object. Each entity contains a collection of properties.

  • Eval - a system that evaluates formulas defined in static game data.

  • Field Group - a collection of field values belonging to a specific blueprint.

  • Front End Server (FES) - a server that acts as an intermediary between external connections and internal services.

  • Game Database - a proprietary static game data management system developed by Gazillion.

  • Game Instance Server (GIS) - a server that runs game instances.

  • Game Time - a number of milliseconds or microseconds elapsed since Sep 22 2012 09:31:18 GMT+0000.

  • Grouping Manager - a service that handles social and matchmaking features.

  • Guild - a supergroup.

  • Hotspot - a world entity that defines a boundary that triggers effects when entered by other world entities.

  • Hub - a region in which combat is prohibited (also known as a town in other Diablo-like games).

  • Data GUID - a 64-bit value representing a static data file that does not change between versions of the game.

  • Data Id - a 64-bit hash representing a static data file derived from its file path. If a file is moved in another version of the game, its DataId is going to be different.

  • Interest - data replicated to the client.

  • Inventory - a container for entities (avatars are also stored in inventories).

  • Item - a world entity that represents an item.

  • Keyword - a tag that can be applied to a power, such as physical, melee, area, etc.

  • Kismet - a visual scripting system that is part of Unreal Engine 3.

  • Live Tuning - a system that overrides some of the static data contained in the game database without changing it.

  • Locomotion - a system that handles the movement of world entities in the game world.

  • Mapped Power - an override of an existing power in the power library with another power. Used for talents that change powers and Rogue's stolen powers.

  • Marker - a definition for spawning objects that includes position and rotation.

  • MetaGame - a system that handles special game modes, such as PvP or X-Defense.

  • Missile - an agent that represents a projectile.

  • Mission - a quest.

  • Mixin - a field group that belongs to one of the fields contained in a prototype rather than the prototype itself.

  • Mux - a system used by the frontend server for routing messages to appropriate services.

  • Navi - a system that defines what sections of the game world are navigable.

  • Pak - a proprietary file storage format developed by Gazillion. Also known as GPAK.

  • Persistence - saving of the game state between sessions.

  • Player - an entity representing a player's account.

  • Player Manager - a service that manages connected players and transfers them between game instance servers as needed.

  • Population - a system that handles the spawning of world entities.

  • Power - an ability that can be used by an entity.

  • Private Instance (PI) - a region that only the player and their party members can visit.

  • Prop - a world entity that represents a background object in the game world.

  • Property - an attribute of an entity, such as its level, health, etc.

  • Property Collection - a collection of properties that can be aggregated with another collection.

  • Protobuf - Protocol Buffers, a data serialization technology developed by Google.

  • Prototype - an object representing a piece of static game data.

  • Public Combat Zone (PCZ) - a region shared by many players.

  • Region - a collection of areas.

  • Replication - a process that handles synchronization of the game state between a game instance server and all clients connected ot it.

  • RHStruct - a prototype embedded as a field of another prototype. Stands for right-hand struct.

  • Super Cell - a block of cells (such as 2x2) representing a single place.

  • Transition - a world entity that connects two places of the game world.

  • Varint - a variable-width unsigned integer that can take 1-10 bytes. This is the primary data type used for encoding in protobufs. See here for more information.

  • World Entity - an entity that can physically exist in a game world.

  • Wwise - Wave Works Interactive Sound Engine, audio middleware developed by Audiokinetic.

  • ZigZag - a way of encoding signed values in unsigned integers used in protobufs. See here for more information.