Multi-Player Game Object Targeting with Dynamic Flocking Separation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Multi-player online video games on mobile devices face challenges in precise targeting due to small screen sizes and clustered game elements, leading to inaccurate user interactions and limitations in UI effectiveness.
Innovation Solution
A flocking engine is employed to transparently separate close-together player objects, allowing a selection algorithm to distinguish individual objects more precisely by iteratively adjusting their positions within game frames while adhering to predetermined constraints.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If targeting filters are used to reduce the number of potential targets, then the selection process becomes easier, but the user loses the ability to target some potential targets
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic target position adjustments that occur in real-time based on user interaction state. When a user hovers over or clicks a target, the system dynamically recalculates and adjusts the positions of surrounding targets to optimize selection accuracy. This dynamic behavior allows the system to adapt to different user intentions without permanently restricting targeting options, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes spatial parameters of target objects by adjusting their displayed positions and selection radii based on user interaction. When a user attempts to select a target, the system modifies the position parameters of nearby targets to reduce overlap and improve selection precision. This parameter adjustment allows users to access all potential targets while making the selection process easier, without permanently filtering out any targets.
2Measurement precision
If target positions are adjusted to align with user mental model, then targeting precision improves, but the actual position of targets changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves the position contradiction by operating in a visual dimension rather than altering the fundamental game logic position. The system creates a visual offset between the displayed target position (what the user sees and interacts with) and the logical position (where the target actually exists in game space). This dimensional separation allows the UI to present targets in a user-friendly mental model while preserving the actual game mechanics integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary layer between the user interface and the game logic. This intermediary handles the translation between user-perceived target positions and actual game target positions. The flocking engine acts as a mediator that adjusts visual representations without changing the underlying game state, allowing precision improvement in the UI layer while maintaining accuracy in the game logic layer.
3Reliability
If skills are modified to effect all possible targets in an area, then accuracy issues are mitigated, but the core behavior of the skill is altered
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the targeting function from the skill execution function. Instead of modifying skill behavior to handle accuracy issues, the system separates target selection (handled by the flocking engine) from skill application. This segmentation allows the skill to maintain its core behavior while the targeting system independently ensures accurate target selection, preserving skill integrity while improving reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The flocking engine serves as an intermediary between user input and skill execution. It processes target selection independently before passing the selected target to the skill system. This intermediary layer ensures that only accurately selected targets receive skill effects, maintaining skill reliability without requiring modifications to skill behavior or increasing overall system complexity.
Data Source
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 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.