Video Game Position Sequences for Realistic Distant Animation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern video games struggle to maintain realism by rendering distant entities, as doing so becomes computationally inefficient, leading to a disparity with the real world.
Innovation Solution
Generate position sequences using indexed data structures that encode path data for animating entities in a virtual environment, incorporating position and connection data to efficiently animate movement along paths, even at a distance from the camera viewpoint.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If every entity is rendered irrespective of distance from the player, then realism is improved, but computational efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the virtual environment into multiple regions based on distance from the camera viewpoint. Entities in different regions are handled differently: distant entities are animated using pre-computed position sequences stored in data structures, while nearby entities are rendered in real-time. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by applying different processing strategies to different spatial segments.
Solution Approach 2:
Position sequences for entity movement are pre-computed and stored in indexed data structures during offline processing. These pre-computed sequences contain position data for entities at various distances, allowing the game to efficiently retrieve and play back animation data without real-time computational overhead. This preliminary action enables realistic animation of distant entities without impacting runtime performance.
2Productivity
If distant entities are not rendered, then computational efficiency is improved, but realism deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates simplified copies of entity position data for distant objects. Instead of rendering full 3D models of distant entities, the system uses position sequences that define key positions along entity paths. These position copies are sufficient to create the visual effect of distant entities (such as headlights) without requiring full geometric representation, thus maintaining realism while improving computational efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
Position sequences for distant entities are pre-computed and stored in indexed data structures before runtime. The sequences contain position information for entities at various distances along their paths. During game execution, the system retrieves these pre-computed sequences and plays them back, enabling realistic animation of distant entities without real-time computational overhead.
3Reliability
If position data for all entities is stored in memory, then animation quality is improved, but memory usage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments position data into multiple indexed regions in memory, with each region storing position sequences for entities at specific distance ranges. The indexed data structure allows the system to access only the relevant region based on the entity's distance from the camera. This segmentation reduces overall memory usage by organizing data efficiently and enabling selective access to only the position data needed for currently visible distant entities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent organizes position data in a multi-dimensional indexed structure where data is arranged by distance regions and entity identifiers. This dimensional organization allows efficient retrieval of position sequences without loading all entity data into memory simultaneously. The indexed structure enables the system to access specific position data regions on-demand, reducing peak memory usage while maintaining animation quality for distant entities.
Data Source
AI summary
A video game animation method comprises generating, for each of one or more entities to be animated, a position sequence for use in animating the movement of the entity along one or more paths in a virtual environment. The position sequence defines a position in the virtual environment at each of a plurality of time steps. Generating the position sequence comprises accessing one or more regions of position data, each region of position data comprising position data items for successive positions along a respective one of the one or more paths.