Game Input with Delay – A Model of the Time Distribution for Selecting a Moving Target with a Mouse

Computer game player performance can degrade with delays from both the local system and network. Analytic models and simulations have the potential to enable exploration of player performance with delay as an alternative to time-intensive user studies. This paper presents an analytic model for the distributions of elapsed times for players doing a common game action – selecting a moving target with a mouse with delay – derived from results from prior user studies. We develop and validate our model, then demonstrate the use of our model via simulation, exploring player performance with different game configurations and delays.