Behavior Tree Synchronization via Significant Node Extraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing solutions for synchronizing characters across different instances of a virtual space are inflexible and bandwidth-intensive, leading to choppy interactions and poor animation due to the need for extensive network traffic and storage of complex behavior trees.
Innovation Solution
A system that selectively shares significant nodes and edges from behavior trees, allowing client computing platforms to locally determine and synchronize object states, reducing bandwidth requirements and minimizing the likelihood of objects becoming out-of-sync.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If all behavior tree nodes and edges are shared across network instances, then synchronization accuracy is improved, but bandwidth consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the significant nodes and edges from the complete behavior tree and transmits them over the network. Non-significant nodes are determined locally on each client without requiring network transmission, thereby reducing bandwidth consumption while maintaining essential synchronization.
Solution Approach 2:
The behavior tree is segmented into significant and non-significant portions. Significant nodes (such as those representing critical game events like attacks or interactions) are synchronized across the network, while non-significant nodes are handled locally, creating a segmented approach to data transmission.
2Productivity
If behavior trees are compressed to reduce bandwidth, then transmission efficiency is improved, but decompression time increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of compressing the entire behavior tree, the patent extracts only the essential significant nodes and edges for transmission. This avoids the computational overhead of compression and decompression while still reducing the amount of data that needs to be transmitted over the network.
3Reliability
If behavior trees are updated frequently to maintain synchronization, then synchronization accuracy is improved, but network traffic increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent updates only the significant nodes and edges that have changed, rather than transmitting entire behavior trees on every update. This selective extraction approach maintains synchronization accuracy for critical elements while dramatically reducing the frequency and volume of network traffic.
4Speed
If behavior trees are stored in full on each client, then access speed is improved, but storage requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
Each client stores a complete local copy of the behavior tree structure for fast access to non-significant nodes, while only significant nodes are maintained in synchronized state through network transmission. This segmentation allows fast local access without requiring full synchronization of all data.
Data Source
AI summary
Objects in a virtual space may need to be synchronized between different instances (or different expressions of an instance) of the virtual space that are separated spatially. Objects include characters. Different expressions may be associated with different users and different client computing platforms that are connected by a network. The actions of the same character in two expressions of the same instance of the virtual space may not be synchronized due to network delay, lag, latency, or other delays, or due to joining a session already in progress. Responsive to a determination that an object is not synchronized, a sequence of subsequent states is determined that will result in the object being synchronized.