Dynamic Graph Asset Pipeline for Runtime Game Adaptation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current game development technologies lack a dynamic method for creating and handling multimedia assets, particularly in video games, where assets must adapt to changing game environments and user interactions, which is not effectively served by traditional asset pipelines.
Innovation Solution
The integration of dynamic graph structures with visual programming, allowing for the creation and modification of audio, video, and animation assets at runtime, enabling the use of dynamic playable assets that can be connected and modified during gameplay to create complex behaviors and adapt to changing conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional asset pipelines are used, then asset creation is simplified for non-programmers, but assets cannot adapt dynamically to changing game environments and user interactions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic asset pipelines where asset graphs can be modified at runtime based on game events and user interactions. The system transitions from static asset definitions to dynamic structures that can add, remove, and reconfigure asset nodes and edges during gameplay, enabling assets to adapt to changing conditions without requiring complex manual reconfiguration
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary asset graph system that sits between the traditional asset pipeline and the game engine. This intermediary layer enables dynamic modification of asset relationships and configurations without directly complicating the core asset creation tools, acting as a buffer that provides adaptability while preserving the simplicity of the underlying asset pipeline
2Adaptability or versatility
If dynamic modification of assets at runtime is enabled, then complex behaviors can be created in response to user interactions, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the asset system into modular graph nodes and edges that can be independently configured and modified. Each asset is represented as a discrete node in a directed graph, allowing individual assets and their relationships to be dynamically adjusted without affecting the entire system, thereby enabling complex behaviors through simple, manageable components
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables dynamic modification of asset graph parameters such as node properties, edge connections, and asset configurations at runtime. By allowing these parameters to change in response to game events and user interactions, the system achieves behavior flexibility without requiring fundamental architectural changes, maintaining relative system simplicity
Data Source
AI summary
A system includes a memory, processors, and an asset player module configured to identify a playable asset configuration for a first playable asset, including a first graph configuration identifying processing nodes and edges, each node in the graph configuration represents a media processing component configured to modify media inputs to generate a media output, construct a graph in the memory based on the first graph configuration, receive a first set of media inputs, execute the media processing components in an order based on the graph configuration and using the first set of media inputs as the one or more input media components, based on said executing, generate a media output configured to be played by a conventional media player, alter the graph at runtime, thereby changing the media processing components identified within the graph, and execute the media processing components of the graph after the altering.