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Select the first letter of the word from the list above to jump to appropriate section
of the glossary. If the term you are looking for starts with a digit or symbol, choose the
'#' link.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- add [object model]
- An internal command to allow the addition of an object to the end of a association list.
- agent processor
- An agent is a piece of software that will perform complex tasks in the background either
on a specific set of triggers or in response to a user action. There are simple and
complex agents.
- analyser
- An analyser is a piece of software that converts an input set of objects into a
complexly structured set of objects in the internal parser language of the system.
- announce
- This is a communication command that allows the announcement of a public communication
from a hidden source. For example, a communication from a PA system.
- applicator
- An applicator is a piece of software that applies effects to an input set of objects to
take into account the current state of the game.
- ASCII [data files]
- A data format used in the game data files.
- assemble [object model] [player]
- This is an action command that allows the player to construct an object from it's
components.
- attach [object model] [player]
- This is an action command that allows the user to attach one object to another
externally. (using an attachment mechanism (glue, nails, ...)).
- authenticators
- A piece of software that ensures that the communications over the network are done by
allowed brokers.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- broker
- A piece of software that acts to transfer data across the network in an optimal manner.
- builders
- These are pieces of software that allow the construction of complex items from simple
representations. They manage the construction process as performed by the factories.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- capability
- A capability is the ability of an thing to perform a function.
- category
- A category is a collective grouping of a type of thing. For example a table could be
defined by a category.
- category name [data file]
- This is the name used in the category data files.
- close
- A communication command to allow the user to close a point to point communication
channel.
- command
- An instruction issued by the user to perform an action.
- command processor
- This is a piece of software that takes the input from the user, via the GUI, or from and
agent and processes that command. The command is parsed and then converted into an
internal representation that can be processed within the game core. The command processor
consists of input modules, applicators, parsers and analysers.
- connect
- A communication command to allow the user to connect to a broadcast channel for sending
and receiving.
- construct [object model]
- An internal command to create an object.
- contexts
- Contexts are used to describe a local environment. The most important environment is the
local context of the player. Other contexts include contexts for NPCs and areas of effect
for things such as explosions.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- data communications unit
- The data communications unit is a piece of software for the transfer of data across the
network. It also handles local storage of data and hides the actual location of the data
from the other software items. The data communications unit consists of builders,
factories, prefetchers, lockers, prototype caches, request brokers, savers and data io
units.
- data io units
- data io units are pieces of software that allow the transfer of data across the network
in a manner which hides the actual transfer technology from the software.
- destruct [object model]
- An internal command to destroy an object.
- disconnect
- A communication command to allow the user to disconnect from a broadcast channel.
- disassemble [object model] [player]
- This is an action command that allows the player to pull-apart an object into it's
component parts.
- distribute
- This is a communication command that allows a user to send a broadcast communication to
a communication channel.
- downgrade [object model] [player]
- To remove a component from a thing. Note that there are some components that cannot be
removed without destroying the thing.
- drama processor
- The drama processor is a piece of software that has a high level of control over the
game world. It determines how the world will interact with the players action on a global
basis to generate a drama of action within the game world.
- effect filters
- These are pieces of software that apply special effects to the data passed to them. For
example: the multicultural effects filter will convert the generic representation of world
data into a culturally specific representation.
- emote
- This is a communication command that allows the communication of states without the use
of words. for example "cry, like a baby".
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- factories
- These are pieces of software that construct simple objects from stored data in a given
location.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- game database
- This is the software module that holds the core data representing the world. There is a
local copy of this data in the client and a global master copy in the server.
- get [object model]
- An internal command to allow the retrieval of the value of an attribute or state of an
object.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- hit
- This is an action command that allows the player to strike one object with another.
Particularly useful in combat or to break down doors.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- inheritance [data file]
- a field name used in the category data file to indicate the type of relationship between
categories.
- insert (1) [object model] [player]
- This is an action command that allows a user to put one thing inside another thing.
- insert (2) [object model]
- An internal command to allow the insertion of an object into an association list.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- (empty)
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- (empty)
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- list
- This is a passive command that allows the player to list the games or worlds on the
current server.
- lockers
- lock processor
- The lock processor is a piece of software that manages object locking within the system.
- login
- This is a passive command that allows the player to join a game.
- login processor
- The login process grants access to the system, provides authentication and provides
facilities to facilitate the inter-communication between all the clients and servers on
the system.
- logout
- This is a passive command that allows the player to leave a game.
- look
- This is a passive command that allows the player to look at the current context or at a
particular object.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- move [object model] [player]
- This is an action command that allows a user to change the containment relationship
between objects across the containment hierarchy.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- Narrate
- This is a communication command that allows the user to send a long descriptive item of
text, voice or graphics.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- Open
- This is a communication command to allow the user to open a point to point communication
channel.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- personality processor
- The personality processor is a complex piece of software that attempts to provide the
attributes associated with a real person to create an AI style agent. The components of
personality modelled are: emotion, self-motivation, change over time, and social
relationships.
- pickup
- This is an action command that allows the player to pick up an object. (Or some other
object to do the same.)
- plot processor
- The plot processor is a complex piece of software that monitors events in the game world
and makes modifications to the events to drive a series of plot lines.
- prefetchers
- The prefetcher is a piece of software that manages the preloading of data. They are used
to speed up the response time across the network by loading data in the background using
algorithms to determine which preloads will save the most on response time.
- prototypes
- The prototype is a software object that represents a generic object within the game
world. To save response time and storage space these objects are held in memory and only
the differences for a specific item are recorded.
- prototype caches
- This is the memory area and software mechanism used to hold the prototypes.
- pull
- This is an action command that allows the user to pull on an object (or get something
else to do the same).
- push
- This is an action command that allows the user to push against an object (or get
something else to do the same).
- putdown
- This is an action command that allows the player to get rid of an object from their
person or command some other object to do the same.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- (empty)
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- remove (1) [object model] [player]
- This is an action command that allows the player to take an object out of a
containership relation. For example, remove a book from a bag.
- remove (2) [object model]
- An internal command to remove an object from an association list.
- representations
- request brokers
- This is a mechanism implemented in software to send generic requests across the data
network. I expect to use the CORBA (Common Object Request Broker) mechanism to simplify
the development process. This allows software agents to be sent across the network to
reduce network traffic. Note these agents are not the same as the agents I am using in
this terminology set because of a collision in terms between the software people and the
AI people. I have not yet decided on a term.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- savers
- These are pieces of software that manages the persistence of objects. The objects may be
stored locally or remotely.
- say
- This is a communication command that allows the player to send messages to all people
within the current range of communication. It is public and visible.
- send
- This is a communication command that allows the player to send communications on a point
to point communication channel.
- set [object model]
- An internal command to allow the setting of an attribute or state of an object.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- talk
- This is a communication command that allows the user to send a private, visible
communication to another player.
- things
- time processor
- The time processor keeps track of time within the game. It has a clock that keeps track
of world time and a schedular that fires scheduled events into the game. There is a local
clock on the client and a master clock for the server.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- unattach [object model] [player]
- This is an action command that allows the user to undo an attachment between two
objects.
- unicode [data files]
- A data file format used in the game data files.
- upgrade [object model] [player]
- To add a component to a thing. For example, adding a cap to a pen.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- view constructors
- The view generator is a piece of software that take the data and convert it into a
representation that can be displayed by a GUI. An example of a view generator is the
textual view generator. This software takes the representation of the world in objects and
converts it to a language set of data for display in a text field on a screen.
- view processor
- The view processor is a piece of software that converts the underlying representation of
the game data into a representation that can be processed by the GUI. The view processor
consists of effect filters and view constructors.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- whisper
- This is a communication command that allow the player to send a secret communication to
another player in the same space.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- (empty)
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- (empty)
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
- (empty)
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- (empty)
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