spawn · glossary
Glossary·
Every word spawn uses, A to Z. The companion's Glossary tab shows the same words, with a search.
| word | what it means |
|---|---|
| alpha | A whole game, with its own screens. Next: a way to play again, and sprites removed when they are done. |
| art pack | A matching cast of pictures, filled in one click in the Art room: player, things to collect, hazards. |
| background | What is behind everything in your game: just a color, a picture, or a sprite grown to fill the screen. A long scene scrolls with the camera and loops. |
| beacon | Your call for help when player two cannot fix it: two lines on what should happen and what happens instead, sent with this game's trail. |
| beta | A game that plays again and cleans up its sprites. Next: tidy code, labeled with comments. |
| blocks | Your code as pieces you drag and snap together. The same program as the text. |
| can it be won? | The map room's check: it tries your level with your game's own speed, jump and gravity and outlines anything a player cannot reach. |
| card | A screen of words between the parts of your game, like How to play or The end. It stays until the player presses SPACE. |
| checker | Reads your code every time it changes and gives your game a stage: prototype, alpha, beta or gold, or won't start. |
| co-op log | Every round with player two: what you asked and what you kept. Sent with your game only if you tick the box. |
| companion | This: spawn's help on your phone or tablet. Linked, it follows the studio. |
| console | Under Tools: what your game printed, what went wrong, and a line to check a value right now, like player.x. |
| cutscene | A short scene between the parts of your game: shots that play one after another, with words, and something moving across. SPACE skips it. |
| decoration | A picture you put on your game in Layout. It sits behind every sprite and touches nothing. |
| design lines | The five lines at the top of your code: name, goal, who you are, how you win, how you lose. |
| despawn | Take your game off Spawn Point for good. You can do it any time, from any computer you sign in on. |
| draw() | The function your game runs again and again, 30 times a second. Each run is one frame. |
| earlier copies | In the game menu: a copy of your game from every time you shared it, and from before anything big was thrown away. Open one to go back. |
| frame | One picture of your game. The game draws 30 a second, moving things a little each time. |
| function | A named set of steps you can run by its name, like draw() or createSprite(). |
| game speed | The menu in Tools (the wrench under the game) that slows it to half, slow or crawl while you test. The game you share is not changed. |
| gold | The checker's top stage: built the way finished games are built. |
| Hall of Fame | The games on the front of Spawn Point, picked for everyone to play. |
| hitbox | The invisible box that decides when two sprites touch. Hitboxes, under Tools, shows it. |
| keep or drop | How a change from player two arrives: line by line, each one yours to keep or drop before it goes in. |
| knob | A setting on 03 make with a slider, a color or a text box. Each knob is one line in your code. |
| level | One map of your game. The map room can add, remove and check them. |
| library | The pictures and sounds spawn gives you to use. Search them by word. |
| lobby | Every shared game on Spawn Point, open to you while you are signed in. |
| Mine | Your own pictures in the library: what you drew or uploaded. They follow you to your next game. |
| Piskel | The pixel art editor in the Art room, under Draw. |
| player two | Claude, the helper on the right side of the studio. It suggests changes as lines you keep or drop; it never changes your game on its own. |
| playtest | Play your game the way a player will. The Playtest button gives the game the whole middle. On 04 ship, Run the exact code plays it the way Spawn Point will. |
| prototype | A game that runs, with no start or end screen yet. Next: a start screen and an end. |
| room | Art, The map, Sound, The code or Layout: where you change one part of your game. Rooms open from 03 make. |
| Saved to the server | The button at the top right when your game is kept, ready on any computer. |
| share | Share my game puts your game in the lobby on Spawn Point and gives you its link. Update my link puts your latest changes on the same link. |
| slot | A place in your game waiting for a picture (in Art) or a sound (in Sound). |
| Spawn Point | Where games live once they leave the studio: the Hall of Fame on the front, the lobby, and a link for every game. |
| sprite | A thing in your game with a position, a size and a picture: the player, a coin, an enemy. |
| starter game | A game that already works, to start from. spawn has twenty-five, from Starter to Space 3D, plus Blank. |
| station | One of the four steps along the top of the studio: 01 pick, 02 design, 03 make, 04 ship. |
| strip | The row of tabs under your game: one for each level, card and cutscene, in order. A tab plays that part, and player two works on that part only. |
| student ID and PIN | How you sign in to spawn, glitch and launch: your student ID and your PIN. |
| text | Your code as typed JavaScript. The same program as the blocks. |
| tile | One square of a map: a wall, a coin, a spike, the start, the exit. |
| undo | Take back the last change. Under the game, or Ctrl+Z. Redo, beside it (or Ctrl+Y), puts it back. The number beside them opens your history: every change in words, with a button back to each. |
| variable | A name for a value that can change, like var score = 0;. |
| watch | Under Tools: a value kept on screen while the game runs, like player.y. |
| won't start | The game will not run as written. Fix the red items before you share. |
| x and y | Where something is on the 600 by 600 screen. x grows to the right, y grows downward. The middle is (300, 300). |