saved games, and choosing other options from the main menu, but also for communicat-
ing information to the player not readily apparent from their view of the game-world:
the player character’s health, currently equipped weapon, amount of ammo, number of
lives, score, and so forth.
Griefing: In a multi-player game, especially a massively multi-player online game,
griefing is when players go out of their way to ruin the play experience of other gamers.
This may be as simple as blocking a doorway so other players cannot travel through it,
or it may be as mean-spirited as actually killing them. Griefing is different from simple
competition, since “griefers” have little to gain by their actions beyond sadistic
satisfaction.
GUI: SeeGraphical User Interface.
Heads Up Display: A type of graphical user interface that is overlaid on top of the
player’s game-world view. This may include the player character’s health, a mini-map
of the area, or radar of some sort, and typically communicates vital information to which
the player must always have easy access. Heads up displays take their name from the
displays used by jet fighter pilots, which constantly convey crucial flying information to
those pilots while they are navigating the plane.See alsoGraphical User Interface.
High Concept: The most primitive form of a game idea, high concept describes a
game in the simplest terms. Unfortunately, high concept ideas have a bad reputation
because of their tendency to describe games that are best not developed. For example,
a high concept might attempt to merge disparate types of gameplay or setting into one
game, without regard to whether those different ideas will work well together. An
example might be making a first-person shooter with a turn-based strategy game, or a
wargame that includes a golf simulator. In these unfortunate cases, a high concept is
often synonymous with a “bad concept.”
HUD: SeeHeads Up Display.
IF: SeeInteractive Fiction.
IK: SeeInverse Kinematics.
Immersive: When discussed in the context of games, an immersive game is one that
tries to suck players into the world, making it as believable and consistent as possible,
while giving the players as many choices as possible. Typical of an immersive game is a
first-person viewpoint and a lack of “gamey” elements, such as blinking power-ups or
obtrusive GUIs and HUDs.
Input/Output: Often shortened to I/O, this refers to the systems a computer uses to
allow the player to input information (typically a keyboard and a mouse) in combination
with how it communicates information back out to the user (typically the monitor). In
terms of computer games, the I/O refers to the controls with which the player manipu-
lates the game and the way the game then communicates to the player the current
nature of the game-world.
Interactive: An interaction is when two systems, be they a human and a human, a
human and a computer, or a computer and a computer, are mutually active in a given
process. For instance, a television show is not interactive, since the television only out-
puts data and completely ignores whatever the user/audience does. A conversation
662 Glossary