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TopFidelity
Fidelity, in a gaming context, is often affirmed as the accuracy with which a virtual world approximates reality (Alexander, Brunyé, Sidman, & Weil, 2005). This definition is broad with reason. Petridis et al. (2012) unravels fidelity for their engine selection framework into two categories, namely audiovisual and functional fidelity. Petridis et al. (2012) respectively explain these categories under the activities of: (a) rendering, animation, and sound; and (b) scripting, supported AI techniques and physics. Alexander et al. (2005) confirm this categorisation, summarising the three functional fidelity activities as simulation accuracy; and add a psychological fidelity category, with emotional content, noise, and time pressure as its properties. Alexander et al. (2005) further elaborate on psychological fidelity as the extent to which the game is able to elicit similar psychological responses a player would experience when confronted with a similar real-world environment. In a systematic literature review on the success factors of serious games (Ravyse, Blignaut, Leendertz, & Woolner, 2017), the authors note that non-player character (NPC) response can be placed alongside simulation accuracy as an added property of functional fidelity. McMahan, Bowman, Zielinski, and Brady (2012) propose that, with the widespread accessibility of gesture-controlled consoles and games, interaction fidelity with the property, which this article terms as locomotive precision, is also part of the overall depiction of fidelity. Interaction fidelity also includes navigational freedom, or the process of wayfinding and navigation during gameplay (Harrington, 2011). Navigational freedom is noteworthy because it has a significant combinatorial effect, with visual fidelity, on learning with serious games (Harrington, 2011). Figure 1 gives a visual summary of the literature pertaining to fidelity in the context of digital games.