Collision Detection in Video Games

This chapter will describe several methods of detecting collision events within a 3D environment. It will also discuss some of the bounding volumes, and their intersection tests that can be used to contain the graphical representation of objects in a video game. The first part of the chapter will cover the use of Axially Aligned Bounding Boxes (AABBs) and Radial Collision Volumes. The use of hierarchies with bounding volumes will be discussed. The next section of the chapter will focus on Object Oriented Bounding Boxes (OOBs). The third section is concerned with the Gilbert-Johnson-Keerthi distance algorithm (GJK). The last three sections will focus on ways of optimizing the collision detection process by culling unnecessary intersection tests through the use of type lists, sorted lists and spatial partitioning.