Terminology
Engine
ODE
ODE (Open Dynamics Engine) - is an open physics engine distributed for free as a dynamically linked library. Its main components are an Absolute-Solid Dynamics system and a collision detection system.
A-Life
A-Life (Artificial Life) - artificial intelligence system. More About
Smart Terrain
A smart-terrain is a specific script class in the game, which is used to populate locations. Smarts organize jobs for NPS, implement logic for certain exclusive characters, respawn NPS and monsters, and organize emission shelters for NPS.
OpenAL
OpenAL (Open Audio Library) - cross-platform application programming interface (API) for working with audio data. A key feature is working with sound in 3D space and using EAX effects.
Object Types
Dynamic object
Any movable object (which can be displaced from its place regardless of the scripts)
Example:
Distinguishing features:
- Has a bone collision
Static object
Any static object at the level
Example (in this case, part of the collision level):
Distinguishing features:
- Does not have a bone collision
Progressive Meshes
One of the methods of dynamic level of detail
MU (Multiply Usage) Objects
Needed for automatic creation of LOD at compilation stage
HOM (Hierarchical Occlusion Mapping)
Sector
Sectors are a connected empty closed area bounded by static geometry and portals. In X-Ray 3D Engine, level geometry is not involved in sector creation, it uses HOM objects for this purpose.
Portal
Portals are "windows" through which (and only through which) an observer can see the insides of other sectors.
object_hud
HUD (Head-Up Display) - is a set of graphical interfaces and decorative elements located in the foreground and/or in the game world, which are designed to clearly and quickly convey to the player the necessary information from the game at a given point in time, without interfering with the gameplay experience.
In stalker modding, object_hud is a model in front of the player in the hands of the character. Usually it is a model of a weapon, grenades, etc.
Example:
Distinguishing features:
- Does not have a bone collision
object_world
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.
Example:
Distinguishing features:
- Has a bone collision
- Dynamic object
Animations
object_hud animations
Animations for the _hud object
Material
Material
In the X-Ray engine, game material is a set of surface properties, namely:
- texture
- shader used in the game
- shader used by the level compiler
- set of sounds of interaction with objects