place_of_birth tim sweeney 
Video game development is the process ___MASK58___ creating a video game . Development is undertaken by a game developer , which may range from one person to a large business . Traditional commercial PC and console games are normally funded by a publisher and take several years to develop . Indie games can take less time and can be produced cheaply by individuals and small developers . The indie game industry has seen a rise in recent years with the growth ___MASK58___ new online distribution systems and the mobile game market . First - person shooter ( FPS ) is a video game genre which is centered on gun and projectile weapon - based combat through a first - person perspective ; that is , the player experiences the action through the eyes ___MASK58___ the protagonist . The first - person shooter shares common traits with other shooter games , which in turn fall under the heading action game . From the genre ' s inception , advanced 3D or pseudo - 3D graphics have challenged hardware development , and multiplayer gaming has been integral . C ++ ( pronounced " ___MASK50___ plus plus ") is a general - purpose programming language . It has imperative , object - oriented and generic programming features , while also providing facilities for low - level memory manipulation . A game engine is a software framework designed for the creation and development ___MASK58___ video games . Developers use them to create games for consoles , mobile devices and personal computers . The core functionality typically provided by a game engine includes a rendering engine ( renderer ) for 2D or 3D graphics , a physics engine or collision detection ( and collision response ), sound , scripting , animation , artificial intelligence , networking , streaming , memory management , threading , localization support , scene graph , and may include video support for cinematics . The process ___MASK58___ game development is often economized , in large part , by reusing / adapting the same game engine to create different games , or to make it easier to " port " games to multiple platforms . The Unreal Engine is a game engine developed by Epic Games , first showcased in the 1998 first - person shooter game " Unreal ". Although primarily developed for first - person shooters , it has been successfully used in a variety ___MASK58___ other genres , including stealth , MMORPGs , and other RPGs . With its code written in C ++, the Unreal Engine features a high degree ___MASK58___ portability and is a tool used by many game developers today . ___MASK63___ is the seventh largest municipality in North Carolina . ___MASK63___ is in Wake and Chatham counties in the U . S . state ___MASK58___ North Carolina . Located almost entirely in Wake County , it is the second largest municipality in that county and the third largest municipality in The Triangle after ___MASK98___ and Durham . The town ' s population was 135 , 234 as ___MASK58___ the 2010 census ( an increase ___MASK58___ 43 . 1 % since 2000 ), making it the largest town and seventh largest municipality statewide . The U . S . Census Bureau estimates the town ' s population to be 151 , 088 as ___MASK58___ July 1 , 2013 . ___MASK63___ is currently the second most populous incorporated town ( behind only Gilbert , Arizona ) in the United States . According to the US Census Bureau , ___MASK63___ was the 5th fastest growing municipality in the United States between September 1 , 2006 , and September 1 , 2007 . ___MASK63___ is often considered one ___MASK58___ the safest places to live in the US , due to its extremely low crime rate at just 84 violent crimes per 100 , 000 residents . Charlotte , the largest city in North Carolina , has a violent crime rate ___MASK58___ 648 violent crimes per 100 , 000 residents , almost 8 times higher than ___MASK63___ . ZZT is an ANSI character - based video game , created in 1991 by Tim Sweeney ___MASK58___ ___MASK90___ Computer Systems , which later became Epic MegaGames in 1992 and finally Epic Games in 1999 . " ZZT " itself is not an acronym for anything ; its title was chosen so it would always appear at the bottom ___MASK58___ newsgroup listings . Epic Games , Inc . ( formerly ___MASK90___ Computer Systems and later Epic MegaGames , Inc .) is an American video game development company based in Cary , North Carolina , partially owned by Tencent . Founded in 1991 , they are best known for their Unreal Engine technology , which has powered their popular in - house " Unreal ", " Gears of War " and " Infinity Blade " series of games . Tencent Holdings Limited is a Chinese investment holding company whose subsidiaries provide ___MASK77___ , entertainment , internet and ___MASK19___ phone value - added services and operate online advertising services in ___MASK60___ . Its headquarters are in Nanshan District , Shenzhen . A video game is an electronic game that involves human or animal interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device such as a TV screen or computer monitor . The word " video " in " video game " traditionally referred to a raster display device , but as ___MASK58___ the 2000s , it implies any type ___MASK58___ display device that can produce two - or three - dimensional images . Some theorists categorize video games as an art form , but this designation is controversial . Tim Sweeney ( born in 1970 ) is an American computer game programmer and the founder ___MASK58___ Epic Games , being best known for his work on ZZT and the Unreal Engine . Sweeney established Epic as a shareware company while he was a student majoring in mechanical engineering at the University ___MASK58___ Maryland . He said that he had been interested in game development and computer programming since he was 10 years old , and finally started making games out ___MASK58___ his parents ' basement where he lived . Epic got its start when Sweeney created ZZT , the company ' s first game , released as a shareware in 1991 . In interviews Sweeney has credited that game success with fueling the early growth ___MASK58___ his company . Sweeney worked on Epic ' s Unreal Engine , used in the Unreal series ___MASK58___ first - person shooters and multiple other video games . In 2005 , Sweeney attended Wake Tech Community College Digital Game Xpo as a guest speaker . He showed a demo ___MASK58___ the Unreal Engine and talked about 3D Buzz ' s book `` Mastering Unreal Technology : The Art ___MASK58___ Level Design '' . On February 9 , 2012 , Sweeney was inducted into the Academy ___MASK58___ Interactive Arts & Sciences ( AIAS ) Hall ___MASK58___ Fame for his technological innovations in the gaming industry . On July 10 , 2013 , Tim and the co - founder ___MASK58___ Epic Games , Mark Rein , were named Development Legends at the Develop Industry Excellence Awards .