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describing his method of timing visual loading queues with appropriate script queues when loading a randomly generated map. Other developers describe the necessity of an artificial loading timer despite technical advancement making modern loading times near-instantaneous to allow the player a smooth
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Other loading screens double as briefing screens, providing the user with information to read. This information may only be there for storytelling and/or entertainment or it can give the user information that is usable when the loading is complete, for example the mission goals in a game, or useful
340:
Variations such as the progress bar are sometimes programmed to inaccurately reflect the passage of time or extended during loading; opting instead for artificial pauses or stutters. This can be done in games for a multitude of reasons including encouraging players to engage with exposition during
488:
that give an introduction to the level while the game loads in the background. Normally, when the level is completely loaded, the remaining portion of the cutscene may be skipped. The video may not necessarily apply to what is happening in the level, as
354:
transition between gameplay segments. This technique also has grounds in the perceived perception of performance denoted by loading times. This perception of loading times can be altered by factors such as the movement of a progress bar.
258:
In early video games, the loading screen was also a chance for graphic artists to be creative without the technical limitations often required for the in-game graphics. Drawing utilities were also limited during this period.
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290:, a process which could take five minutes or more. Nowadays, most games are downloaded digitally, and therefore loaded off the hard drive meaning faster load times; however, some games are also loaded off of an
309:, representing an increase in loading time of about 13% over the same game without a loading screen. Recently, however, more powerful hardware has significantly diminished this effect.
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titles, to eliminate loading screens while traversing normally through the game, making them appear only when "teleporting" farther than the load distance (e.g. using
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time away from gameplay and providing the player with an immersive transition between scenes. One notable example of this practice being used is for the
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to show how much data has actually loaded. Others, recently, are not even a picture at all, and are a small video or have parts animated in real time.
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442:, Namco filed a patent in 1995 that prevented other companies from having playable mini-games on their loading screens, which expired in 2015. Recent
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Because the loading screen data itself needs to be read from the media, it actually can increase the overall loading time. For example, with a
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294:, faster than previous magnetic media, but still include loading screens to disguise the amount of time taken to initialize the game in
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Loading screens that disguise the length of time that a program takes to load were common when computer games were loaded from
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While loading screens remain commonplace in video games, background loading is now used in many games, especially
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has used playable mini-games during a loading screen. Examples include variations of their old arcade games (
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the loading screen is often a versus screen, which shows the fighters who will take part in the match.
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features a 4-player general knowledge quiz. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of THQ's
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Persson, Samantha. “Improving
Perceived Performance of Loading Screens through Animation.”
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The loading screen does not need to be a static picture. Some loading screens display a
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or for example) as loading screens when first booting up many of their early
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783:"Random, Interesting, Amazing Facts – Fun Quizzes and Trivia – Mental Floss"
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614:"According To Tech Developers, Computer Loading Bars Are Almost All Fake"
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which was more of a game finding screen rather than loading screen.
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article from CRASH issue 4; retrieved from CRASH The Online
Edition
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lets the player partake in a free-ride session on the test course.
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https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1333185/FULLTEXT01.pdf
515:, tape loading screens would often feature music in the form of a
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758:"The Point – The Patent That Gave Us 20 Years of Loading Screens"
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Image shown by a computer program while loading or initializing
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15:
247:, while the program is loading (moving program data from the
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later on, or that give tidbits about the game's universe.
589:"Yes, video game loading bars are fake, indie devs admit"
706:"2015: The Year We Get Loading Screen Mini-Games Back"
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making use of the machine's advanced SID sound chip.
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from the original on 2021-12-15 – via YouTube.
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134:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
806:"4 Sh***y Patents That Ruined Gaming – Fact Hunt"
458:has 2-player shootouts, while the game loads.
1315:
834:
8:
452:has the player shooting free-kicks solo and
446:games have "warm up" sessions. For example,
278:) or moving faster than the game can load.
50:Learn how and when to remove these messages
1322:
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1300:
841:
827:
819:
680:"A secret slice of loading screen history"
374:in their loading screen, notably the 1983
1254:List of graphical user interface elements
658:United States Patent and Trademark Office
212:Learn how and when to remove this message
194:Learn how and when to remove this message
87:of all important aspects of the article.
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428:releases. Even many years later, their
1544:Turns, rounds and time-keeping systems
83:Please consider expanding the lead to
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325:operating system, displaying progress
7:
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580:
132:adding citations to reliable sources
678:Campbell, Colin (13 January 2015).
730:Sirlin, David (27 February 2007).
14:
1772:Graphical user interface elements
654:"United States Patent #5,718,632"
392:. One well-known loader game was
305:game, the screen data takes up 6
31:This article has multiple issues.
804:Larry Bundy Jr (27 March 2016).
108:
61:
20:
704:Hoppe, David (9 January 2015).
119:needs additional citations for
75:may be too short to adequately
39:or discuss these issues on the
370:Some games have even included
85:provide an accessible overview
1:
495:sometimes shows news reports
1341:Glossary of video game terms
1001:Head-up display in computing
478:Some games like a number of
612:Piper, Grant (2023-07-14).
587:Jarvis, Matt (2023-06-30).
1795:
850:Graphical control elements
732:"The Trouble With Patents"
1338:
1572:Destructible environment
1289:Zoomable user interface
398:"the shop keepers quiz"
239:is a screen shown by a
1094:Client-side decoration
492:Red Faction: Guerrilla
326:
321:Loading screen of the
232:
1614:Procedural generation
1172:Breadcrumb navigation
396:. Another example is
320:
230:
1401:Non-player character
593:Rock, Paper, Shotgun
128:improve this article
1640:Movement techniques
1424:Collision detection
638:Linnaeus University
467:MX vs. ATV: Untamed
358:gameplay hints. In
255:) or initializing.
1721:Advance And Secure
1031:Progress indicator
1006:HUD in video games
349:, with programmer
343:real-time strategy
327:
233:
1777:Video game design
1759:
1758:
1736:Last man standing
1519:Scripted sequence
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1144:Window decoration
1099:Disclosure widget
903:Data input-output
864:Adjustment handle
499:events that will
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1751:King of the hill
1726:Capture the flag
1609:Persistent world
1577:Instance dungeon
1504:Random encounter
1499:Quick time event
1406:Player character
1365:Experience point
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1242:Related concepts
1223:Inspector window
1208:Alert dialog box
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1104:Frame / Fieldset
884:Hamburger button
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789:. Archived from
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756:O'Dwyer, Danny.
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241:computer program
231:A loading screen
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143:"Loading screen"
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787:mentalfloss.com
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572:"Rembrant + Co"
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557:Loading Screens
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243:, very often a
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70:This article's
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1647:Rocket jumping
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1454:Invisible wall
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1279:Widget toolkit
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1259:Layout manager
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1233:Palette window
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1182:Navigation bar
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879:Drop-down list
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793:on 2016-01-29.
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376:Skyline Attack
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360:fighting games
347:Age of Empires
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261:Melbourne Draw
237:loading screen
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79:the key points
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2:
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1741:New Game Plus
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1700:Single-player
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1661:Forms of play
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1539:Tank controls
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1534:Status effect
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1464:Line of sight
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1434:Dialogue tree
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1041:Splash screen
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989:Informational
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940:Toggle switch
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430:PlayStation 2
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394:Invade-a-Load
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282:Loading times
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1705:Speedrunning
1509:Replay value
1468:
1375:Critical hit
1228:Modal window
1160:Navigational
1036:Progress bar
1025:
996:Balloon help
955:Radio button
950:List builder
925:Cycle button
915:Color picker
874:Context menu
799:
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561:Ste Pickford
534:Title screen
513:Commodore 64
510:
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484:titles have
481:Call of Duty
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126:Please help
121:verification
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72:lead section
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33:Please help
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1693:Competitive
1688:Cooperative
1683:Multiplayer
1587:Bonus stage
1554:Fast travel
1249:File viewer
1218:File dialog
1167:Address bar
930:Date picker
461:NBA Live 08
455:NBA Live 10
426:PlayStation
390:ZX Spectrum
385:Joe Blade 2
351:Greg Street
333:or a timer
303:ZX Spectrum
276:fast travel
1766:Categories
1731:Deathmatch
1714:Game modes
1604:Open world
1514:Saved game
1484:Permadeath
1474:Paper doll
1439:Fog of war
1384:Characters
1348:Attributes
1331:Video game
1213:Dialog box
1077:Containers
1058:Status bar
965:Search box
623:2023-09-20
598:2023-09-20
540:References
313:Variations
268:open world
245:video game
154:newspapers
36:improve it
1673:Nonlinear
1626:Overworld
1444:Game over
1416:Mechanics
1274:Scrolling
1269:Mouseover
1177:Hyperlink
1151:Workspace
1089:Tree view
1084:Accordion
960:Scrollbar
935:Grid view
920:Combo box
736:Gamasutra
710:Gamasutra
559:essay by
486:cutscenes
474:Cutscenes
444:EA Sports
440:prior art
372:minigames
366:Minigames
335:countdown
307:kilobytes
184:June 2011
93:June 2011
77:summarize
42:talk page
1746:Survival
1668:Emergent
1652:Strafing
1619:Map seed
1599:Mini-map
1592:Minigame
1524:Spawning
1489:Power-up
1479:Password
1429:Cutscene
1333:concepts
1197:Special
1109:Menu bar
1046:Throbber
980:Text box
945:List box
910:Checkbox
894:Pie menu
810:Archived
762:GameSpot
640:, 2019.
523:See also
517:chiptune
435:Tekken 5
415:Galaxian
378:for the
1565:Scenery
1199:windows
1134:Toolbar
1119:Popover
1068:Tooltip
1053:Sidebar
1016:Infobar
975:Spinner
684:Polygon
511:On the
449:FIFA 11
421:Rally-X
388:on the
168:scholar
1678:Twitch
1631:Skybox
1355:Health
1139:Window
1124:Ribbon
970:Slider
869:Button
767:14 May
741:14 May
715:14 May
689:14 May
663:14 May
618:Medium
403:Dota 2
323:Ubuntu
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1582:Level
1529:Stats
1494:Quest
1370:Magic
1114:Panel
1063:Toast
1021:Label
507:Music
410:Namco
345:game
272:warps
175:JSTOR
161:books
1549:Warp
1459:Item
1391:Boss
1360:Life
1284:WIMP
1011:Icon
889:Menu
769:2015
743:2015
717:2015
691:2015
665:2015
382:and
249:disk
147:news
1449:HUD
1396:Bot
1129:Tab
418:or
400:in
296:RAM
274:or
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251:to
130:by
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