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This article is about computer game content. For other uses, see Gib.

Gibs (pronounced /ˈdʒɪbz/; occasionally pronounced with a hard 'G' sound /ˈɡɪbz/), short for giblets^[1] is a humorous term referring to the variably-sized body parts, fragments, and offal produced when non-player characters or game players are damaged or killed in computer games. Adrian Carmack has been credited for coining the term "gibs".

[edit] Use in games

Gibs from OpenQuartz game

Gibs feature prominently in many shooter games where gameplay generally focuses on killing large numbers of enemies. One of the first games in which gibs appeared was Smash TV (1990),^{[citation needed]} although they were also a feature of the pioneering first-person shooter Doom (1993) and have been a mainstay of gaming titles ever since.

The use of "gib" is reserved for instances when a game character has been killed with such force that their body is reduced to a slurry of flesh and blood. In some games, the resulting gibs disappear after a short period to improve game performance by decreasing the number of objects that the game engine must render.

As well as describing the fragments as gibs, the word may be used as a verb, and killing a game character in this manner is to "gib" them. "Gib", and the related term "frag", are most commonly used in multiplayer deathmatches, where human player characters primarily kill one another rather than non-player characters. Introduced first in Quake, some games feature an Instagib gameplay mod or mutator in which a hit on an opponent results in instantaneous "gibbing". When a "gibbing" happens in the past tense it is know as being "gibbed," "he got gibbed!"

There has been a decline of the use of simple gibs in games due to the development of ragdoll physics, which is better able to represent the effects of high-powered attacks. Many modern games that retain gibbing use dynamic ragdolls that can separate bodies into gibs that the physics system can then control. Some games even include jointed limbs as gibs to add to the dynamic effect of gibbing.

[edit] References

^ Mahood, Andy (26 January 2006). "Half-Life 2 on Steroids (PC)". Modify (GameSpy) (12). http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/pc/half-life-2/682881p1.html. Retrieved February 27, 2008. "Yes, gibbing (turning your opponent into giblets) is another Substance feature that radically alters the gameplay canvas because even a few well-placed pistol rounds can redecorate surrounding walls with Quentin Tarantino-style blood and tissue".

[edit] See also

[0] Mahood, Andy (26 January 2006). "Half-Life 2 on Steroids (PC)". Modify (GameSpy) (12). http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/pc/half-life-2/682881p1.html. Retrieved February 27, 2008. "Yes, gibbing (turning your opponent into giblets) is another Substance feature that radically alters the gameplay canvas because even a few well-placed pistol rounds can redecorate surrounding walls with Quentin Tarantino-style blood and tissue".

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