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Game Development vocabulary · Physics & Animation

Hitbox

Meaning in game development, with examples

/ˈhɪtbɑːks/nounCommon term

In game development, hitbox means: An invisible shape around a character, or part of one, that the game uses to decide whether an attack or bullet has hit. It is often simpler than the visible model.

In Turkish: hitbox, isabet kutusu, vuruş alanı

How it is used

Very common in fighting games and shooters, where players complain about hitboxes being too big or inconsistent. Some teams call the area that can take damage the hurtbox and the attacking area the hitbox. Developers turn on a debug view to see them.

Example sentences

  1. The sword's hitbox lasts two frames longer than the animation, so it feels unfair.

  2. Headshots didn't register because the head hitbox was offset.

Common collocations

  • head hitbox
  • hitbox size
  • show hitboxes
  • hitbox and hurtbox
  • collision detectionThe part of a game that checks whether two objects touch or overlap, for example a bullet hitting an enemy or the player landing on a platform.
  • raycastA check in which the game sends an invisible straight line from a point in a direction to find what it hits first. It is used for shooting, line of sight and ground detection.
  • game feelHow responsive and satisfying it feels to control a game moment to moment, created by things like input timing, animation, camera shake, sound and visual effects.
  • balanceTo adjust numbers and rules, such as damage, costs and cooldowns, so that no weapon, character or strategy is too strong or too weak compared with the others.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Physics & Animation

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