Virtual Terrain Rendering With Target-Range Visibility Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional game systems fail to ensure adequate visibility in areas with low light, such as caves, as light sources only illuminate the immediate vicinity, leaving larger areas in darkness and hindering player exploration.
Innovation Solution
A game processing method that dynamically changes visibility by setting a target range in the virtual space, using mask data to render terrain objects within and outside this range with varying brightness, employing deferred rendering to create a natural transition between visible and non-visible areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If a light source is set in the virtual space, then the vicinity of the light source is brightened, but the desired range in the virtual space is not ensured to be bright
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating the rendering treatment for different spatial regions. Terrain objects within the target range are rendered with full light source reflection and normal brightness, while terrain objects outside the target range are rendered with reduced brightness or predetermined color. This creates a gradient visibility effect where the illuminated area transitions from fully visible near the light source to progressively less visible farther away, resolving the contradiction between local brightness enhancement and overall illuminated range coverage.
2Illumination intensity
If the entire virtual space is rendered with full brightness, then visibility is ensured everywhere, but the area outside the target range cannot be distinguished from the area within the target range
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements local quality by applying different rendering characteristics to different spatial zones. The target range receives full brightness treatment while areas outside the target range receive reduced brightness or color modification. This creates a visual gradient that preserves spatial information and allows players to distinguish between explored and unexplored areas, maintaining both visibility and spatial differentiation simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes color changes as a visual indicator for spatial differentiation. Terrain objects outside the target range are rendered with a predetermined color or with reduced brightness, creating a visual distinction from fully illuminated areas. This color/brightness modulation provides spatial information to players without completely obscuring the environment, resolving the contradiction between ensuring visibility and maintaining spatial distinction.
3Manufacturing precision
If mask data is generated for each pixel to determine visibility, then precise control of visible areas is achieved, but the rendering process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the virtual space into distinct regions based on the target range. Mask data is generated to segment terrain objects into those within the target range and those outside it. This segmentation approach enables precise control over which areas receive full brightness treatment and which receive reduced brightness, achieving accurate visibility control while managing rendering complexity through systematic spatial partitioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces mask data as an intermediary element that mediates between the light source position and the final rendering output. The mask data acts as a intermediate layer that determines which terrain objects receive full light reflection and which receive reduced brightness. This intermediary approach simplifies the rendering process by pre-calculating visibility regions before the actual rendering stage, reducing real-time computational complexity while maintaining precise visibility control.
Data Source
AI summary
An example of an information processing system sets a target range in a virtual space when a predetermined event occurs based on a game process. In a rendering process of rendering the virtual space, the information processing system renders a portion of at least some terrain objects in the virtual space included in the target range while reflecting a light source set in the virtual space, and render a portion thereof not included in the target range in a predetermined color or with reduced brightness.