Given that Game Guru (either version) is intended for an audience of people who are not experts in 3D technologies, there are a lot of names and acronyms that get thrown around, but never defined.

I want to learn about these technologies, but it is often hard to find information without at least understanding what the acronym stands for. Often as I read forum posts I write these down so I can research.

In Lee's recent #4 discussion on GGMax I wrote down a few... MSAA, FXAA, assimp, LuaSocket, GLTF.......

It would be helpful for those of us who are not all that 3D savvy if these could be explained when mentioned.

That's what google is for.

@Amen... I know that but there are times when the definition of the acronym would help us less fortunate better understand the posts.

That's the beauty of GG for non experts in 3D technologies … You don't actually need to know.

"That's the beauty of GG for non experts in 3D technologies … You don't actually need to know."

Phhsstt! I keep hearing this! Why would you say that? Because of the DLC's? Because of TGC store or Stock assets? Sure if you want to accomplish what joe shmoe next door did. But can't really agree. I think this saying regarding GG has been two fold-- a good crutch for quick and dirty game makers, who give GG a bad rep wherever they post their games, and a crutch to the engine in that pros who want to make higher tier games don't look at GG at all. I'm not mad- but this suggestion gets old after my short observation of these forums. LOL I can make an ALL text game in GG on a completely empty map!! Working on it- so you're right!

In your credit-- It does help to have the stock models, scripts, DLC and a store available to get some assets off from- but they will never be exactly what a person is looking for- sure some are close, and quite nice. Some are remarkable. But often you need to re-work those that are close anyhow if you want a fully customized look. And anybody using any engine has access to model sales sites.

So the only time GG will produce any kind of game nearing a true professional level is when there is a game development team that comes together / that is well versed at modeling custom models, and high level scripters along with sound and graphics artists that can spend a good amount of time at it without distractions. I would say a 3-4 party team made of specialists could get the job done in a year or so. While the models you can pick up from stock, DLC or store might shorten that time somewhat. Would I spend the time trying this in 32 bit GG?! Not even close. So pro feature games in GG have some wait time even before we could make a statement that "you don't really need to know!"

Now, if one person can do all those specialized tasks-- that works in GG-- great! What time frame are we talking now? I prefer to script-- monkey / red neck script -- hashing it out as best I can, FAR from perfect, and often not complete. So concentrating on scripts, I don't like to stop to find sounds, make videos, redraw model textures, rotate objects, or ask a friend if he could model something in GG-- because the truth is that he can't. Blender doesn't load or export .X models without twisting it's arm around. They simply aren't interested in all that work. This friend is interested in the next mega hit in Unreal. But at least MAX should support other types.

I'm not saying this to complain or gripe, I'm just saying this as a reality. Of course there are a few millionaire single party game developers out there. It's possible. Those guys really where dedicated!! And the one's I know of made 2d games. Know of any in GG?

@GubbyBlips
Nice long post but it has nothing to do with the OP's question.
Not knowing what MSAA, FXAA, assimp, LuaSocket, GLTF means does not prevent a beginner from creating a game.
If you want to go advanced then Like Amen says you would learn and probably Google what they mean.
Not really sure what the rant is about ?

Yh, like that popular 2D game Minecraft :p

Lee only gets a short amount of time and already goes over... He's not going to have time to explain every acronym (also the examples given are not Lee taking shortcuts, it's what they are normally called)

If you spend any real time looking at making games most of those terms or product names will be a doddle.

MSAA, FXAA antialising types there's many about. Even gamers who do not make games will tend to get these terms drummed into them.
Assimp is ahem the name of a program.
NOt sure about luasocket, might be a made up term by Lee for something possibly (or just something I have never encountered)
GLTF is a model format. I only found this one out a short while ago, as I don't do lots of 3D stuff generally, just when I need to.

But yeah, a quick look on Google will normally give you the answers if you do not know them.

So, you (that's a generic "you", so could be anyone) install a brand new game and run it for the first time. You decide to go to Options and adjust some of the settings as you have a kickin' PC and you want to make sure you've maxed everything out. There, you encounter things like SOA, MSAA, FXAA, and many others. Guess what? The game you bought isn't going to give you any definitions, either. If you want to know what you're about to adjust, you're going to have to Google the term. If a game isn't going to tell you what these things are, why should a game development tool? Even a game development tool that claims to be an "easy game maker"? I would especially NOT expect that for a game development tool because, if you're going to be developing a game, you should be willing to learn a thing or two about game development. And these terms are part of it all.

As the others have said, these are common terms if you develop games, heck they're common terms of you even play games, they really don't need defining

Yes.
The only definition we need, is to define ggMax ? "awesome sauce" comes to mind.

Will this help you?

assimp - Open-Asset-Importer-Library Repository

LuaSocket is a Lua extension library that is composed by two parts: a C core
that provides support for the TCP and UDP transport layers, and a set of Lua
modules that add support for functionality commonly needed by applications

glTF - Graphics Library Transmission Forma

MSAA - Multisample anti-aliasing

FXAA - Fast approximate anti-aliasing

I didn't use google to search for these acronyms; I used DuckDuckGo. I have a lot of time on my hands. :LOL: