Flocking Engine Target Position Modification for Mobile Game Clusters
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Solution Overview
Problem
Multi-player online video games on mobile devices face challenges in precise targeting due to touchscreen size constraints and clustered game elements, leading to inaccurate user interface interactions.
Innovation Solution
A flocking engine is employed to transparently modify target positions of player objects, aligning them with the user's mental model by iteratively separating close objects while adhering to predetermined constraints, ensuring precise selection without altering core skill behavior.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If existing targeting filters are used to reduce the number of potential targets, then the complexity of target selection is reduced, but the user loses the ability to target some potential targets
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the target selection process into multiple stages: initial target identification, constraint evaluation, and iterative position modification. By breaking down the complex targeting problem into manageable segments, the system reduces targeting complexity while preserving all original targeting options through systematic refinement of target positions against defined constraints.
2Measurement precision
If target positions are modified to align with user mental model, then targeting precision is improved, but the actual position of objects changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary virtual target position system that mediates between the user's mental model and the actual object positions. The virtual target positions are modified to align with user perception while the actual game objects remain unchanged, allowing precise targeting without compromising position accuracy through a decoupling mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter space by introducing virtual target positions as a separate layer from actual object positions. By modifying only the virtual target position parameters rather than actual object positions, the system achieves alignment with user mental models while preserving the integrity of actual object placement in the game world.
3Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If objects are separated to reduce clustering, then target distinguishability is improved, but the visual representation diverges from actual game state
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the target position modification function into a separate virtual layer, taking out the visual representation from the actual game state. By separating the virtual target positions from actual object positions, the system can improve target distinguishability through position adjustment without losing information about the actual game state, as both representations coexist independently.
Data Source
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AI summary
Systems, methods, and media are provided for improved targeting of an individual object among a plurality of objects in a mutli-player online video game. The video game may include plurality of objects located at various places at a given frame. At each frame, a position of the objects is identified. If a player object (except for the player object associated with the user) is within a predetermined radius of another player object, a target position of the player object is modified relative to other player objects. Next, the target position of the player object is modified towards its original position within the frame. This process is repeated for each player object until the corresponding player object is no longer within the predetermined radius of another player object or a violation of a constraints prevents the modification from being performed.