Node-Based Story Map for Multiplayer Game Narrative Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional multiplayer gaming systems struggle to provide a natural and flexible story experience due to exponential growth of decision trees and character responses, making it difficult to manage interactive and social gaming experiences that integrate well with scripted programs like TV shows.
Innovation Solution
An interactive gaming platform with a node-based story map and artificial intelligence server that allows characters to change over time based on player interactions, using rule sets for dialogue and behavior, and enabling players to customize the game experience, including elements created by viewers, to create a dynamic and engaging virtual game space.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional multiplayer gaming systems use traditional decision tree structures for storytelling, then the story experience becomes rigid and difficult to manage, but the system complexity remains controllable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the story map into discrete nodes representing specific story points, characters, and events. Each node contains structured data about story elements and their relationships, allowing the complex narrative to be divided into manageable, independent units that can be individually managed and modified without affecting the entire story structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from traditional linear or tree-based story structures to a node-based graph structure that adds dimensional complexity. Nodes can represent multiple story elements simultaneously (characters, events, locations) and establish multidirectional relationships, enabling flexible narrative paths without exponential growth in system complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the system allows characters to change and respond dynamically to player interactions, then the storytelling becomes more natural and engaging, but the management of character responses becomes exponentially more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-defines character rules, dialogue options, and response behaviors within each story node before gameplay begins. Characters have predetermined response patterns and dialogue trees associated with specific story points, allowing dynamic character interactions during gameplay while maintaining manageable complexity through advance preparation of response options.
Solution Approach 2:
The story map nodes act as intermediaries between player actions and character responses. When players interact with characters, the system routes these interactions through the appropriate story nodes, which contain the predefined character responses and dialogue. This intermediary layer manages the complexity of character AI by consolidating response logic in centralized node definitions rather than distributed character scripts.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the game integrates social aspects of television with interactivity of video games, then the gaming experience becomes more engaging, but the system architecture becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges television's social viewing experience with video game interactivity by enabling multiple players to simultaneously interact with the same story map nodes and characters. The system combines passive storytelling (like TV) with active player choice (like games), allowing groups of players to collectively influence narrative progression while maintaining a shared viewing experience that preserves social interaction.
Solution Approach 2:
The story map nodes serve multiple functions simultaneously: they represent narrative plot points, define character behaviors, track player decisions, and manage story progression. This multi-functionality reduces system complexity by consolidating what would otherwise require separate systems for narrative management, character AI, and gameplay mechanics into a unified node-based architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for providing an interactive gaming experience. The system is configured to generate a virtual game space accessible by at least two player devices, provide access of the virtual game space to the at least two player devices, receive one or more commands for controlling objects in the virtual game space from among the at least two player devices, aggregate actions taken by the objects in the virtual game space responsive to the received one or more commands, determine that the aggregate of the actions corresponds to a trigger event, identify that the trigger event corresponds to progression to a next phase of the multiplayer game, update the virtual game space to include one or more sets of game attributes corresponding to the next phase, generate an updated game display, and transmit the updated game display to the at least two player devices.