Basic 2D Game Development Concepts — Questions and Answers

Question 1: What triggers the action in your game and all GameMaker games, in general?

Events (Correct answer)
Objects
Variables
Sprites

Correct answer: Events

In game development, particularly in engines like GameMaker, 'Events' are the primary triggers for actions and behaviors within the game. An event is a specific occurrence, such as a key press, a collision, the start of a room, or an alarm going off, that causes a predefined set of actions or code to execute. This event-driven programming model is fundamental to how game logic is structured and executed.

Question 2: You enter the following information to establish a game's room size (dimensions):

Height and Width (Correct answer)
Shape
Background Size
Perimeter

Correct answer: Height and Width

The size or dimensions of a game's room (or scene, level) in a 2D environment are typically defined by its height and width. These two values establish the boundaries of the playable area, determining how much space objects can occupy and how much of the game world is visible to the player at any given time.

Question 3: From where do you choose a game object?

Inspector
Game Screen
Project Window
Hierarchy (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Hierarchy

Game engines are comprehensive software frameworks designed to facilitate game development. A core component of most game engines is a suite of 'Game Editors' or integrated development environments (IDEs) that provide visual tools for designing levels, managing assets, scripting behaviors, and configuring game settings. These editors streamline the creation process significantly.

Question 4: What do we name a game that Unity has already built for us?

Microgame (Correct answer)
Microproject
Practiceproject
Practicegame

Correct answer: Microgame

Unity provides pre-built, small-scale game projects designed to help new users learn the engine's features and workflows. These introductory projects are specifically named 'Microgames' and serve as guided tutorials to get started with game development in Unity, offering a hands-on learning experience.

Question 5: Additionally, game engines typically include:

Tools for Project Management
Tools for Engine Source
Tools for Game Editors (Correct answer)
Tools for Asset Creation

Correct answer: Tools for Game Editors

Question 6: The following benefits of gaming engines, with the exception of:

There is a community of knowledge because others are utilizing the engine.
Core functionality is provided so you can concentrate on what makes your game special.
May make it simpler for you to transfer your game from one gaming platform to another.
Gives you direct access to the hardware so you can get the best performance possible. (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Gives you direct access to the hardware so you can get the best performance possible.

While game engines offer many benefits like community support, core functionality, and cross-platform deployment, they typically abstract away direct hardware access. This abstraction simplifies development and ensures compatibility across various devices, but it means developers don't usually interact directly with the hardware at a low level for performance optimization; instead, the engine handles that.

Question 7: What are the names of the elements in the scene view in Unity?

Game Objects (Correct answer)
Game Models
Components
Game Assets

Correct answer: Game Objects

In Unity, the fundamental building blocks of any scene are called 'Game Objects.' These are containers for components, which define their behavior and appearance. Everything from characters and cameras to lights and empty containers exists in the scene as a GameObject, making them the core elements you interact with.

Basic 2D Game Development Concepts

What triggers the action in your game and all GameMaker games, in general?