Dynamic Update Rate Adjustment for Multiplayer Game Objects
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for multiplayer network gaming face challenges in accommodating a large number of players due to bandwidth limitations, leading to potential lag and delays in game updates.
Innovation Solution
A method where update rates for objects in a virtual spatial field are dynamically adjusted based on their distance from a client-specified update locus, with objects sorted and grouped into cohorts to prioritize updates, reducing bandwidth usage while maintaining a smooth gaming experience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If update rates for all objects are maintained at high frequency, then gaming experience quality is improved, but bandwidth consumption increases linearly with player count
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating update rates based on spatial proximity to the update locus. Objects closer to the update locus receive higher update rates while distant objects receive lower update rates. This creates a spatial gradient of update quality that maintains gaming experience for nearby objects while reducing bandwidth consumption for distant objects, directly resolving the contradiction between quality and bandwidth usage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamics by making update rates adaptive rather than static. Update rates are dynamically adjusted based on the relative positions of objects and the update locus, which changes as players move through the game world. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to optimize bandwidth usage in real-time while maintaining quality where needed, resolving the contradiction between consistent quality and variable bandwidth consumption.
2Loss of energy
If update rates are reduced to conserve bandwidth, then bandwidth consumption decreases, but lag and delay increase adversely impacting user experience
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by concentrating bandwidth resources on objects that are most relevant to the player's current view (near the update locus) while reducing resources for distant objects. This ensures that critical updates experience minimal lag and delay, while less critical distant objects can tolerate reduced update rates, thus reducing overall bandwidth consumption without significantly impacting user experience.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements partial action by providing high-quality updates only for a subset of objects (those near the update locus) rather than uniformly for all objects. This partial focus allows the system to maintain low latency for critical objects while accepting reduced update quality for distant objects, effectively managing the trade-off between bandwidth consumption and lag/delay.
3Measurement precision
If high update rates are maintained for all objects, then object position accuracy is improved, but data transmission requirements become unsustainable for large player counts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing high measurement precision (update accuracy) only for objects near the update locus while accepting lower precision for distant objects. This spatial differentiation of precision levels maintains sustainable data transmission volumes even with large player counts, as the majority of objects can tolerate reduced update frequencies without significantly impacting the core gaming experience.
Data Source
AI summary
In a server-implemented video game, a method for providing updates to a remote client regarding a plurality of objects located in a virtual space of the video game. The method comprises operations of receiving an update locus from the remote client, the update locus indicating a client-specified position within the virtual space of the video game; determining a distance of each of the plurality of objects from the update locus; determining an update rate for each of the plurality of objects based upon their determined distances; and sending updates regarding each of the plurality of objects to the remote client according to the determined update rates.