Summerly, R.K. and Harrison, L.A. 2026. A Rhythmanalysis of Collision Detection in Action Games: How is the Player's Understanding of Diegesis Informed by Rhythm and Real-Time Collision Detection? BDiGRA 2026. Cardiff, Wales 30 Jun - 01 Jul 2026
| Title | A Rhythmanalysis of Collision Detection in Action Games: How is the Player's Understanding of Diegesis Informed by Rhythm and Real-Time Collision Detection? |
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| Authors | Summerly, R.K. and Harrison, L.A. |
| Type | Conference paper |
| Abstract | Fighting games and rhythm games are two popular genres of action games, games in which real-time input is tracked and assessed by the game system. While not all are programmed to a musical track, use of signal and singalong listening (Huron, 2002; (Chion and Gorbman, 2018) are essential to how the player interacts with and understands the game world in both genres. To do this the paper employs technical discussion of collision detection (how virtual objects intersect, and thus, interact (Schwarzl, 2012; Ericson, 2005)) alongside Lefevbre’s (2004) rhythmanalysis, which looks at how we use musical listening and rhythmic understanding in everyday life, to unify discussion of how players experience and interpret both rhythm (time) and collision detection (space) in their understanding of game goals and the diegesis. Although there is literature that explores the role of rhythm in learning and everyday action (Bégel et al, 2017; Alvarez-Molina et al., 2023; Collins, 2013; Thaut and Mcintosh, 2014; Thaut, 2015; Costello, 2016), both fighting and rhythm games are relatively peripheral and underexplored in academia regarding how they use rhythm and collision detection together to help construct the diegesis (or fictional world) of a game (Walton, 1993). This paper seeks to conduct a rhythmanalysis of collision detection in these action games that examines how real-time player input is organised or performed in space and time to help inform players about the diegesis of the game and vice versa. |
| Keywords | fiction |
| diegesis | |
| rhythm games | |
| rhythm | |
| fighting games | |
| collision detection | |
| action game | |
| modes of listening | |
| Year | 2026 |
| Conference | BDiGRA 2026 |