Conditional NPC Following for Precise Player-Character Approach
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional game technologies make it difficult for users to control a player character to approach a non-player character according to their intention, as non-player characters often move in sync with the player character, leading to unintended operations.
Innovation Solution
A game processing method that allows users to control non-player characters to accompany or stop moving based on the player character's movements, with specific controls triggered by user inputs, including setting stop target positions and managing positional relationships to facilitate intended interactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If the non-player character moves together with the player character when the player character moves, then the non-player character accompanies the player character, but it becomes difficult for the user to bring the player character near to the non-player character according to user intention
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic switching between two control modes: automatic accompaniment mode (when player moves) and manual control mode (when player stops). This dynamic transition allows the system to adapt to different user intentions, resolving the contradiction between automated accompaniment and precise user control
Solution Approach 2:
The non-player character autonomously determines when to stop moving based on detecting that the player character has stopped, without requiring explicit user command. This self-service behavior simplifies user operation while maintaining control precision
2Stability of the object's composition
If the non-player character stops movement within a first range including the player character when the player character stops, then the positional relationship is maintained, but the user needs to perform additional operations to resume movement
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-positions the non-player character within the first range before the user needs to interact with it. By maintaining this preliminary positional relationship, the user can directly perform interaction operations without needing to first reposition characters, reducing operation complexity
3Productivity
If the player character is automatically moved to approach the non-player character when not operated, then the characters maintain proximity, but the user's intended operation may be interfered with
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the automatic movement function from the continuous control loop and activates it only during specific conditions (when player is stationary and not interacting). This selective extraction prevents automatic movement from interfering with user operations while maintaining character proximity during idle periods
Data Source
AI summary
An example of an information processing system performs a control for moving a non-player character so as to accompany a player character, and a control for stopping movement of the non-player character within a first range according to stop of movement of the player character. The information processing system executes a control corresponding to the non-player character according to a second operation input performed in a state where a predetermined positional relationship indicating that the player character and the non-player character are near to each other is satisfied. In a case where the player character resumes moving after having been stopped, if the player character is positioned within a second range including the first range, the non-player character does not resume moving along with the player character, and the non-player character resumes moving according to the player character moving out of the second range.