6 exercises — game tick, delta time, fixed timestep, physics broad/narrow phase, frame rate, VSync, and adaptive sync vocabulary.
0 / 6 completed
1 / 6
Fill in the blank: "At 60 FPS, each frame has a ______ of 16.7ms."
A frame budget is the total time available to produce one frame at a target frame rate: at 60 FPS, 1000ms ÷ 60 ≈ 16.7ms. Everything the game does that frame — input polling, gameplay logic, physics, animation, rendering — must fit within that budget, or the frame rate drops.
Related vocabulary: "This frame is over budget" means the frame took longer than the target time. "Profiling shows the physics step is eating 8ms of the 16.7ms budget" identifies where the time is going.
2 / 6
Which statement correctly distinguishes `Update` from `FixedUpdate` in the standard game loop model?
`Update` runs once per rendered frame — if the game runs at 144 FPS, `Update` runs 144 times per second; at 30 FPS, only 30 times. This makes it correct for input polling and animation triggers, but unsuitable for raw physics math (frame-rate-dependent results).
`FixedUpdate` (or "the fixed timestep" / "game tick" in engine-agnostic terms) runs at a constant rate — commonly 50Hz — regardless of render frame rate. Physics engines rely on a consistent, small timestep to remain numerically stable, so movement code involving forces or `Rigidbody` velocity belongs here.
A frame that renders at 144 FPS may only see a physics tick update once every 2-3 frames — that's expected and correct.
3 / 6
Why is this line correct practice: "Multiply velocity by `deltaTime` to ensure frame-rate-independent movement"?
`deltaTime` (also called "delta time" or "frame time") is the elapsed real time since the previous frame, typically in seconds. If an object should move at 5 units/second, the correct per-frame update is position += velocity * deltaTime — at 60 FPS, `deltaTime` ≈ 0.0167, so the object moves 5 × 0.0167 ≈ 0.083 units that frame; at 30 FPS, `deltaTime` ≈ 0.033, moving 0.167 units — twice as far per frame, but the same total distance per second.
Without multiplying by `deltaTime`, a naive position += velocity would make objects move faster on high-refresh-rate monitors and slower on low ones — a frame-rate-dependent bug.
4 / 6
Which pair correctly describes the two phases of a typical physics collision detection step?
The broad phase uses cheap approximations — axis-aligned bounding boxes (AABBs), spatial hashing, or a bounding-volume hierarchy — to quickly discard object pairs that obviously cannot be touching, reducing an O(n²) all-pairs check to a much smaller candidate set.
The narrow phase then runs precise (and more expensive) geometric algorithms — like GJK/EPA for convex shapes — on the surviving candidate pairs to determine actual contact points, penetration depth, and collision normals.
This two-phase structure is standard vocabulary across nearly every physics engine (Box2D, PhysX, Bullet, Unity's PhysX integration) — "broad phase" and "narrow phase" are the terms used in profiler breakdowns and physics engine documentation.
5 / 6
A teammate says: "We enabled adaptive sync so players stop seeing tearing, but without the input lag of full VSync." What are they describing?
Adaptive sync (the generic term; branded as FreeSync by AMD and G-Sync by NVIDIA) makes the monitor's refresh rate follow the game's frame rate dynamically, rather than forcing the game to match a fixed refresh rate. This eliminates screen tearing (where a frame is drawn partway through a monitor refresh, showing two frames spliced together) without the input latency penalty that traditional VSync can add, because VSync often forces the game to wait for the next fixed refresh interval.
Related terms: target frame time (the frame budget the game aims for), frame pacing (delivering frames at consistent intervals, not just a high average FPS), and stutter (a frame that takes noticeably longer than its neighbours, perceived as a hitch).
6 / 6
Fill in the blank: "Physics updates at a fixed 50Hz ______ of the render rate."
Correct phrase: "Physics updates at a fixed 50Hz regardless of the render rate" — meaning the physics tick rate stays constant (50Hz) no matter whether the game is rendering at 30, 60, or 240 FPS. This is the core property of a fixed timestep: it decouples physics simulation stability from the variability of render frame rate.
This English pattern — "X happens at a fixed rate, regardless of Y" — is common in engine documentation and profiler explanations. Contrast with a variable-timestep system, which would recompute physics using the actual (variable) frame `deltaTime` each frame — simpler, but less numerically stable for physics.
What does the "Game Loop Vocabulary — Game Engine Language Exercises" exercise cover?
Practise game loop vocabulary in English: Update vs FixedUpdate, delta time, frame budget, broad/narrow phase collision, VSync, and adaptive sync.
Is this exercise free to use?
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How many questions are in "Game Loop Vocabulary — Game Engine Language Exercises"?
This exercise has 6 questions. Each one gives instant feedback with an explanation, so you can see exactly why an answer is right or wrong.
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Can I retry this exercise?
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Is this exercise suitable for beginners?
This exercise assumes basic familiarity with IT terminology. If a term feels unfamiliar, check the site Glossary for a plain-English definition before attempting the questions.
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