Game Program Act Tendency Counter for NPC Influence
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional video games limit the influence of a player character on non-player characters to one at a time, failing to simulate the real-world scenario where one person can influence multiple individuals, and the influence is not accurately represented based on proximity or relationships.
Innovation Solution
A game program and apparatus that allow a player character's actions to influence multiple non-player characters by using act number counters and act tendency values, which are updated at predetermined times based on the player character's actions, simulating a trend in the game world and reflecting real-world relationships.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the player character influences only one non-player character at a time, then the control logic is simple, but the realism and player engagement are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the influence mechanism into discrete components: act number counters for each act tendency, act tendency values for each non-player character, and predetermined timing intervals. This segmentation allows the system to track multiple influences simultaneously while maintaining manageable complexity through modular data structures and processing steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-establishing act number counters for each act tendency and pre-defining the relationships between player acts and non-player characters. The counters are updated in advance at predetermined timings, so that when influence needs to be applied, the data is already prepared and ready for processing.
2Speed
If the player character's act immediately influences all non-player characters, then the responsiveness is high, but the natural progression of social trends is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic action by updating act tendency values at predetermined timings rather than continuously or immediately. This periodic update mechanism simulates the natural pace at which social trends develop and propagate in real-world scenarios, where influences accumulate and manifest over time intervals rather than instantaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary counting of acts in act number counters before applying the actual influence. This preliminary accumulation phase allows the system to track the frequency and intensity of player acts over time, and only after sufficient accumulation does the influence propagate to non-player characters, mimicking the gradual nature of social trend adoption.
3Measurement precision
If the system tracks act tendencies for all non-player characters continuously, then the accuracy of influence measurement is high, but the processing load increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system reduces processing load by updating act tendency values only at predetermined timings rather than continuously monitoring and processing every change. This periodic update approach maintains measurement precision for tracking act tendencies while significantly reducing the frequency of computational operations and data processing requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by selectively updating act tendency values only when predetermined timing conditions are met, rather than processing every possible change in real-time. This approach maintains sufficient measurement accuracy for the game's needs while avoiding the excessive processing burden of continuous real-time analysis of all non-player character states.
Data Source
AI summary
Each time a player character performs a boom triggering act, “1” is added to the corresponding act number counter provided for each non-player character. The value of each act number counter is periodically added to a boom value provided for each non-player character. When a boom value reaches an upper limit, the corresponding non-player character performs an act related to the boom triggering act performed by the player character. Thus, the act of each non-player character is changed in accordance with the act performed by the player character in the game world, which provides the player with a fresh feeling that the act performed by the player character set a trend in the game world.