Glossary

Contains descriptions of various S.T.A.L.K.E.R. related terms used in modding and in X-Ray Engine.

AI

Term Definition
Offline Simulation of life in any given radius from the player will be calculated by a simplified formula
Online Simulating life within any given radius of the player will be completely calculated
A-Life Simulates the life of the game world as an independent ecosystem
Anim Point Key positions in which the animation should be played
Finite State Machine Common and convenient technique for programming the behavior of bots (NPCs) in computer games.
Goal Oriented Action Planning AI design technique in which a chain of behaviors of agents (NPCs, abstract entities, "living" obstacles) is automatically selected in real time to satisfy a goal.
Motivation Graph Decision-making method described in AI Game Programming Wisdom 2, which, according to the authors, is something between Decision Trees and Neural Networks.
Graph Point Monsters and stalkers in offline move on graph points
Gulag Gulags control a set of stalkers together by assigning them each tasks by task priority. For example a gulag could contain tasks for patrolling an area and sitting at a campfire. The priority of these tasks will mean that the first stalker "caught" by the gulag (that is, the first stalker to be given over to the gulag's control) will patrol the area with subsequent caught stalkers simply sitting at a fire. A stalker is "caught" by a gulag be entering the associated "Smart Terrain".
gvid (game_vertex_id) Graph Point index
lvid (level_vertex_id) Part of *.ai. Ai grid node
Smart Cover A system designed to control the behavior of NPCs when using cover.
Smart Terrain Area which, when entered by a stalker, "captures" that stalker and assigns them tasks to perform. These tasks are allocated by the smart terrain's controlling Gulag.
Space Restrictor An object that defines zones with special properties or restrictions in the game space.
Way Point A predetermined point on the map that serves as a reference point for NPCs. Waypoints indicate their movement pattern or where they should go.
Info Portion It is a piece of information that can be passed between characters, saved in quests, or used for AI decision making.

Animations

Term Definition
*_hud animation Animations for the *_hud object
Motion Mark Time intervals in the animation in which something happens
Motion Reference Reference to the animation library (*.omf)

Coding

Term Definition
Luabind Luabind is a library that helps you create bindings between C++ and Lua. It has the ability to expose functions and classes, written in C++, to Lua. It will also supply the functionality to define classes in lua and let them derive from other lua classes or C++ classes. Lua classes can override virtual functions from their C++ base classes. It is written towards Lua 5.x, and does not work with Lua 4.
LuaJIT LuaJIT is a Just-In-Time Compiler (JIT) for the Lua programming language. Anomaly uses LuaJIT 2.0.4

Compilers

Term Definition
xrAI AI Compiler
xrDO Detail Object Compiler
xrLC Level Compiler

Materials

Term Definition
Game Material Responsible for the physical feature of the surface (friction, damping & etc.).

Objects

Term Definition
Dynamic Object An object that uses bones
Multiply Usage Object Needed for automatic creation of LOD at compilation stage
*_hud *_hud is a model in front of the player in the hands of the character. Usually it is a model of a weapon, grenades, hands.
*_world *_world is a model in-game world (NPC weapons, 3rd-person view). The difference from the *_hud model is that the *_world must have a collision to calculate the interaction with the game.
Progressive Meshes One of the methods of dynamic level of detail. Only for Dynamic Objects.
Static Object Static object
Detail Object Static object (grass, rocks, debris and other landscape details) with high optimization to display a large number of small objects without significant performance loss.
Scene Object An object in the SDK that represents a reference object that uses a model to visualize and interact with the environment.
Light Source Object Light source
Sound Source Object Sound source
Sound Environment Object
Glow Object Glow object
Fog Volume Object A object to simulate dynamic volumetric fog, smoke and other gaseous effects.
Sound Occluder Mesh Geometry for calculating sound propagation.
Custom Data Parameters (in *.ltx format) written directly into the object.

Joint Types

Term Definition
Rigid Joint type that completely restricts all transformations.
Cloth Ball joint . Allows rotation in all directions, but without translation.
Joint Universal joint. Automatically selects the optimal physical connection type based on constraint analysis (between Hinge and FullControl(partially constrained axes)).
Wheel Hinge-2 joint. Allows rotation around the first axis (suspension axis) and rotation around the second axis (wheel axis).
Slider Slider joint. Allows movement along one axis only.

Optimization

Term Definition
Portal A portal between the two sectors.
Sector Sector is part of Portal Rendering. An area or section of virtual space that contains objects and geometry for rendering. Sectors help organize the scene, allowing you to control visibility and performance, especially in large worlds.

Shaders

Term Definition
Compile Shader Shader used by the Level Compiler. Specifies to the compiler the features of the final game level geometry. The source geometry, depending on the compiler shader, may have different features.
Engine Shader Shader responsible for the visual appearance of the surface.

Particles

Term Definition
Particle Effect Single Particle Effect.
Particle Group Particle Effects Group