Unit 20 – Computer Game Platforms & Technology – Software Technology Platform dependency: dependent; independent Operating systems: for PC/Macintosh, eg Windows, Linux, Mac OS; for hand held, eg Windows CE, Palm OS; for mobile, eg Symbian OS (Nokia N-Gage), BREW, Mophun Drivers: soundcard driver; graphics card driver; network interface controller (NIC) Application software: interpreted languages for games (Java, J2ME, C#); compiled languages for games (C++); object-oriented (C++, C#, Java, J2SE, J2ME); scripting, eg Lingo, UnrealScript, QuakeC, Maya Embedded Language, ActionScript, JavaScript Graphical API: OpenGL; OpenGL ES; DirectX Sound API: OpenAL; Java Sound API Television: conditional access; iTV; ETV Unit 20 – Computer Game Platforms & Technology – Software Technology

What is an operating system? An operating system is the most important software that runs on a computer. It manages the computer's memory and processes, as well as all of its software and hardware. It also allows you to communicate with the computer without knowing how to speak the computer's language.  Without an operating system, a computer is useless. Examples include: Windows Linux Mac OS Android IOS

Group Task – Gaming features Split into 4 groups and list the general and specialist gaming features these operating systems have: Xbox One PS4 Windows 10 IOS and Android

So what is platform dependency and independence? Platform independence is where the software can run on any hardware platform and any software platform. Platform dependent is where the software needs a certain type of hardware and/or operating system to work. Can PlayStation games work on an Xbox? Can PlayStation VR games run without the headset? Do iPhone/Ipad/IOS games run on a Samsung Galaxy? Do IOS games run on all apple hardware? Can PS4 games run on PS2?

So what is platform dependency and independence? Cont. So what’s an example of Platform Independency? JAVA Programs Images Video Audio Platform independence is anything that doesn’t require a specific piece of hardware or software to run. With software this means that you can run the code of a program with little or no modification on multiple platforms. Keep in mind that nothing is "perfectly" platform independent. An argument could be made that multiplatform games when only small modifications take place between versions are to a degree platform independent.

Unit 20 – Computer Game Platforms & Technology – Software Technology Task 1: Introduce what an Operating Systems(OS) is. List the latest Operating Systems(OS) for PC, Apple Mac, Iphone/Ipad, Samsung Galaxy S9, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Include a screenshot. At a basic level what is each OS able to do? E.g Browse the internet, open applications, text message, answer a call etc. Does the OS have any special functions for games? How do we play games on the OS? Can we download more games to the OS? How? Explain. Discuss the difference between Platform Dependency and Independence. Include examples of each. Consider how games take advantage of specific hardware. Include advantages and disadvantages of each. Include reference’s as always. This PP available at jamestedder.net