System and method for testing human interactive applications including computer games
Granted: November 9, 2006
Application Number:
20060253741
An interactive application testing system allows a human tester to operate an interactive application and record user inputs and outputs for later replay for a debugger. By synchronizing recordation of inputs and outputs, testing sessions can be easily replayed. Where the tester is a human user, a test session can be dynamic and respond to human user feedback of game events.
Analog stick input replacement for lengthy button push sequences and intuitive input for effecting character actions
Granted: November 9, 2006
Application Number:
20060252538
An interactive game programmed according to game rules including at least some game rules for mapping analog input movement to character actions for a character controlled by a player, the interactive game including program code to effect game state changes corresponding to moves made by a character controlled by the user, database or tables of operations wherein an operation represents a series of actions taken by a character in response to a particular user input using the analog input…
Computer simulation of body dynamics including a solver that solves in linear time for a set of constraints
Granted: September 28, 2006
Application Number:
20060217945
Computer simulation of the dynamics of rigid bodies interacting through collisions, stacks and joints is performed using a constraint-based system in which constraints are defined in terms of the positions of the bodies. Displacements caused by reaction forces necessary to ensure that the bodies comply with the position constraints can be calculated and can be done iteratively by updating equations defining the reaction forces and the displacements such that the computation time and…
Computer game with game saving including history data to allow for play reacquaintance upon restart of game
Granted: July 6, 2006
Application Number:
20060148571
In a computer game, game state is saved when indicated and a history of previous game play is also recorded. Upon resumption, the history of previous game play is presented to the user and the game does not accept user input to alter the replaying game sequence. Then, once the replay is at an end, the game resumes with user control and with the saved game state. In this manner, the user can be refamiliarized with the particular instance of the game that was saved before having to take…
System and method for providing user input to character animation
Granted: May 11, 2006
Application Number:
20060098015
The present invention provides a system that increases a user's control over character animation. Time-dependent signals are accepted from a user input device. The input is processed in real-time such that the user's input can be used to directly control the animation of an animated character. For example, the animation of a three-dimensional rendered character swinging a golf club in a golf game can be changed in mid-swing according to the user's operation of an input device. In general…
Motion sensor using dual camera inputs
Granted: December 8, 2005
Application Number:
20050270368
Motion sensing of a portable device using two cameras. A first camera is directed along a first viewing axis and a second camera is directed along a second viewing axis, different from the first viewing axis. The second viewing axis can be substantially opposite the first viewing axis. A motion processing module determines changes in images from the first camera and changes in images from the second camera. The motion processing module compares the direction of change determined from the…
Image rendering with multi-level Z-buffers
Granted: July 28, 2005
Application Number:
20050162435
In an image processor, images are rendered into a plurality of frame buffers and corresponding Z-buffers by depth and the plurality of frame buffers are later combined to form the rendered image. The rendering can be implemented in hardware, software or a combination, for real-time or near real-time rendering of images. The plurality of frame buffers can be processed in parallel using a plurality of frame processors. The rendering can be performed on a stream of polygons received in an…
Customizing players in a video game using morphing from morph targets and other elements
Granted: February 3, 2005
Application Number:
20050026685
In a video game, a player is allowed to create a character in the video game by selecting feature variables that define a character feature according to two or more target features and a feature variable. The target features can be are morph targets and the feature variable might represent relative distance of the player's desired feature relative to the morph targets. In a specific example, the player might be presented with two face shapes as morph targets and an input slider for a…
Systems and methods for playmaker control
Granted: January 6, 2005
Application Number:
20050003877
In an interactive, computer generated animation, a primary element is controlled by a user with a primary controller. A secondary element is controlled by the user with a secondary controller that generally includes a right analog stick. The secondary element is controlled by moving the stick. The secondary element may be controlled during occurrence of an event or prior to a scheduled event.
Representing colors in stored images using color tinting
Granted: December 23, 2004
Application Number:
20040257377
In an image processor, images are created, stored, manipulated and regenerated using color tinting, where color tinting applies component-to-color mapping from a color card to a plurality of component images, which are then combined to form a final image, tinted according to the content of the color card. In some instances, the color card might code one color for each of N components, in which case the final image might be the merging of each of N monochromatic component images colored…
Sequencing input control stick
Granted: November 25, 2004
Application Number:
20040233199
A method of controlling an animation character with a controller that includes determining a position of the controller and determining a current state of the animation character. A history of positions of the controller is determined and compared with a set of history patterns based upon the current state of the animation character. An animation sequence is initiated based upon any matched history patterns.
Methods and apparatus for playing video sequences while loading game data
Granted: November 18, 2004
Application Number:
20040229688
Frames of a video sequence are interleaved with game data in a file. When the game is played, the interleaved video frames and the game data may be read from the file where a video sequence corresponding to the video frames is played while the game data is being loaded. When the video sequence has finished, the game data that is needed for a game program has been loaded. In one embodiment, the file may be stored on a medium, such as a compact disk read-only memory (CDROM) or digital…
Systems and methods for simulating game state changes responsive to an interrupt condition
Granted: October 7, 2004
Application Number:
20040198480
A simulation module simulates events that may occur during a cautionary period based on, e.g., current relative position of vehicles, vehicle and driver attributes and current game statistics for vehicles, and compiles new statistics and attributes that are used in the resumed race. A full race simulation option and a partial race simulation option are also provided. For example, in a season mode, the simulation module simulates events that may occur during a race and compiles statistics…
Using shared files in a game console or computer for cross-game state sharing
Granted: June 24, 2004
Application Number:
20040121837
A method for enabling interaction with a shared game data file in a game device is provided. The method comprises: providing logic to perform one or more actions associated with the shared game data file; and providing logic to cause the game device to perform an action in the one or more actions with the shared game data file, the shared game data file allowing data associated with a first game in the shared game data file to affect actions in a second game.
Episodic delivery of content
Granted: May 27, 2004
Application Number:
20040102248
A system, method, and apparatus are provided that allow episodic delivery of entertainment content to a user. More specifically, an application module is created with episodic content technology, which can be purchased as a CD-ROM or downloaded from a remote server. The application module contains a current episode of the game and a technology shell to allow future episodes to be downloaded and executed. The entertainment content delivery system is implemented through a centralized…
System and method for providing user input to character animation
Granted: February 26, 2004
Application Number:
20040036673
The present invention provides a system that increases a user's control over character animation. Time-dependent signals are accepted from a user input device. The input is processed in real-time such that the user's input can be used to directly control the animation of an animated character. For example, the animation of a three-dimensional rendered character swinging a golf club in a golf game can be changed in mid-swing according to the user's operation of an input device. In general…
Systems and methods for implementing shader-driven compilation of rendering assets
Granted: January 1, 2004
Application Number:
20040003370
Art asset rendering systems and methods in which pre-processing is performed in a compilation process. Geometric data are processed in the compilation process with knowledge of associated shading programs. The data are converted into data structures targeted directly to a target hardware platform, and a code stream is assembled that describes the manipulations required to render these data structures. The compiler includes a front end configured to read the geometric data and attributes…
Systems and methods for simulating game state changes responsive to an interrupt condition
Granted: November 20, 2003
Application Number:
20030216161
A simulation module simulates events that may occur during a cautionary period based on, e.g., current relative position of vehicles, vehicle and driver attributes and current game statistics for vehicles, and compiles new statistics and attributes that are used in the resumed race. A full race simulation option and a partial race simulation option are also provided. For example, in a season mode, the simulation module simulates events that may occur during a race and compiles statistics…
USE IN COMPUTER GAMES OF VORONOI DIAGRAMS FOR PARTITIONING A GAMESPACE FOR ANALYSIS
Granted: May 1, 2003
Application Number:
20030083117
In a computer game, a game situation is analyzed using states of a plurality of game elements by determining a state for each of the plurality of game elements, generating a representation of a Voronoi diagram among the game elements using at least some of the game elements as Voronoi sites and performing an analysis of the game situation using the Voronoi diagram. The analysis can be spatial analysis and/or tactical analysis to determine a move of a computer-controlled entity based on…
Online gaming with prize incentives
Granted: June 13, 2002
Application Number:
20020072412
Systems, methods, and apparatus that provide an online gaming experience that is attractive to players and which provides an economic benefit to an application manufacturer or other party providing the online gaming system. In one embodiment, tokens are provided to players as currency to be used in the online gaming system of the present invention. The tokens may be issued for free, or they may issued for a fee associated with each token. In a further embodiment, an online currency…
