Gameloop inc2/12/2024 ![]() Pac-Man’s position gets updated based on the processed joystick input. When in a maze level, there are only a handful of objects to update in Pac-Man-the main character and the four ghosts. Once a quarter is inserted into the machine, it then asks the user to press Start to commence the actual game. When a Pac-Man arcade cabinet is not being played, it simply loops in a demo mode that tries to attract potential players. However, there are other inputs to consider: the coin slot that accepts quarters and the Start button. ![]() The primary input device in the arcade version of Pac-Man is a quad-directional joystick, which enables the player to control Pac-Man’s movement. But first, let’s look at how this style of game loop applies to the classic Namco arcade game Pac-Man. We’ll fill in these main parts of the game loop further as this chapter continues. And, of course, for an online multiplayer game, an additional output would be data sent to the other players over the Internet. The technical term for this is force feedback, and it, too, is another output that must be generated. Furthermore, most console games have “rumble” effects, where the controller begins to shake when something exciting happens in the game. ![]() But there are other outputs as well-for example, audio, including sound effects, music, and dialogue, is just as important as visual outputs. ![]() Later in this chapter, we will cover exactly how we might represent said game objects.Īs for generating outputs, the most computationally expensive output is typically the graphics, which may be 2D or 3D. This could be hundreds or even thousands of objects. Updating the game world involves going through everything that is active in the game and updating it as appropriate. So there are quite a few potential input options, depending on the particular game and hardware it’s running on. In certain types of mobile games, another input might be what’s visible by the camera, or perhaps GPS information. When a previous play is being viewed in replay mode, one of the inputs is the saved replay information. Or take the case of a sports game that supports instant replay. An important input for such a game is any data received over the Internet, because the state of the game world will directly be affected by this information. But those aren’t the only inputs to be considered any external input must be processed during this phase of the game loop.Īs one example, consider a game that supports online multiplayer. For instance, processing inputs clearly involves detecting any inputs from devices such as a keyboard, mouse, or controller. At a high level, a basic game loop might look like this: while game is runningĮach of these three phases has more depth than might be apparent at first glance. Traditional Game LoopĪ traditional game loop is broken up into three distinct phases: processing inputs, updating the game world, and generating outputs. Let’s first discuss the traditional game loop before exploring a more advanced formulation that’s designed for more modern hardware. There can be many variations of the game loop, depending on a number of factors, most notably the target hardware. If a game runs at 60 FPS ( frames per second), this means that the game loop completes 60 iterations every second. Most real-time games update several times per second: 30 and 60 are the two most common intervals. Each iteration of the game loop is known as a frame. It’s a loop because the game keeps doing a series of actions over and over again until the user quits. The game loop is the overall flow control for the entire game program. Game Programming Algorithms and Techniques: A Platform-Agnostic Approach
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