System and method for simulating passive racing games in an online game

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10086261-B1
Application number	US-201414176041-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Feb 7, 2014
Priority date	Feb 7, 2014
Publication date	Oct 2, 2018
Grant date	Oct 2, 2018

Abstract

An online game is provided to players where players may participate in individual episodes of the online racing game. The individual episodes may include individual races within the racing game in which players control game entities through racecourses. User accounts comprising an indication of game entities associated with the players of the online game, an indication of a status of the player, and a game play metric associated with the player may be managed. Races in the online game may be synthesized by simulating participation by game entities of a player in individual synthetic episodes of the online game while the player is absent from the online game. A change in the game play metric of the player may be determined based on the performance of the first game entity in the race of the first synthetic episode.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system that simulates player participation in an online game while the player does not have an active communication session open with the online game, the system comprising:
one or more game servers comprising:
one or more physical processors configured by machine-readable instructions to:
facilitate player participation in individual episodes of an online racing game by performing operations in the online game in response to receiving commands transmitted over a network from one or more client computing platforms associated with players of the online game while the one or more client computing platforms have active communication sessions open with the one or more game servers, the individual episodes including individual races within the online racing game in which the players control game entities through racecourses;
manage player accounts, wherein the player accounts include an indication of game entities associated with the players of the online game, an indication of a status of an individual player, and a game play metric associated with the individual player, such that the user accounts include a first player account for a first player having an indication of a first game entity associated with the first player, an indication of a status of the first player, and an indication of a first game play metric associated with the first player;
present offers to the players, the offers including sets of one or more game entities usable in the online game, wherein the one or more game entities have associated user costs and one or more benefit parameters in the individual races, wherein the associated user costs vary with levels of the one or more benefit parameters;
synthesize races in the online game by:
(i) simulating participation by the first game entity in individual synthetic episodes of the online racing game while no client computing platform associated with the first player has an active communication session open with the one or more game servers, the simulation of a first synthetic episode including a race in which performance of the first game entity is determined stochastically; and
(ii) determining a change, caused by an outcome of the race in the first synthetic episode, in the first game play metric of the first player based on the performance of the first game entity in the race included in the first synthetic episode, wherein an amount of the change in the first game play metric of the first player caused by the outcome of the race varies with an amount of time between active communication sessions between any client computing platforms associated with the first player and the one or more game servers, and wherein the amount of the change increases with an increased level of a benefit parameter of the first game entity; and

update the first game play metric of the first player with the determined change in the first game play metric of the first player.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the performance of the first game entity is determined without input or control from the first player.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first game entity has one or more performance metrics, and the performance of the first game entity is determined by the one or more performance metrics of the first game entity.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to effectuate presentation of an indication of the change in the first game play metric of the first player in response to an indication that the first player has an active communication session open with the one or more game servers.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the amount of the change in the first game play metric decreases as an amount of time that the first player does not have an active communication session open with the one or more game servers increases.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first game play metric represents an indication of an amount of virtual currency held in credit for the first player.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first game play metric represents an indication of a rank of the first player compared to other players in the online racing game.

8. A method for simulating player participation in an online game while the player does not have an active communication session open with the online game, the method performed by one or more game servers comprising of one or more physical processors, the method comprising:
facilitating player participation in individual episodes of an online racing game by performing operations in the online game in response to receiving commands transmitted over a network from one or more client computing platforms associated with players of the online game while the one or more client computing platforms have active communication sessions open with the one or more game servers, the individual episodes including individual races within the online racing game in which the players control game entities through racecourses;
managing player accounts wherein the player accounts include an indication of game entities associated with the players of the online game, an indication of a status of an individual player, and a game play metric associated with the player, such that the user accounts include a first player account for a first player having an indication of a first game entity associated with the first player, an indication of a status of the first player, and an indication of a first game play metric associated with the first player;
presenting offers to the players, the offers including sets of one or more game entities usable in the online game, wherein the one or more game entities have associated user costs and one or more benefit parameters in the individual races, wherein the associated user costs vary with levels of the one or more benefit parameters;
synthesizing races in the online game by:
(i) simulating participation by the first game entity in individual synthetic episodes of the online racing game while no client computing platform associated with the first player has an active communication session open with the one or more game servers, the simulation of a first synthetic episode including a race in which performance of the first game entity is determined stochastically; and
(ii) determining a change, caused by an outcome of the race in the first synthetic episode, in the first game play metric of the first player based on the performance of the first game entity in the race included in the first synthetic episode, wherein an amount of the change in the first game play metric of the first player caused by the outcome of the race varies with an amount of time between active communication sessions between any client computing platforms associated with the first player and the one or more game servers, and wherein the amount of the change increases with an increased level of a benefit parameter of the first game entity; and
updating the first game play metric of the first player with the determined change in the first game play metric of the first player.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the performance of the first game entity is determined without input or control from the first player.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first game entity has one or more performance metrics and the performance of the first game entity is determined based on the one or more performance metrics of the first game entity.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising effectuating presentation of an indication of the change in first game play metric of the first player in response to an indication that the player has an active communication session open with the one or more game servers.

Assignees

• Kabam Inc

Inventors

• Kim John
• Lee Kevin
• Chanthasiriphan Kevin
• Martin Steven Andrew
• Kim William
• Parry William Christopher

Classifications

• A63F13/005 Primary

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A63F13/803 Primary

  Driving vehicles or craft, e.g. cars, airplanes, ships, robots or tanks · CPC title

• A63F2300/65

  for computing the condition of a game character · CPC title

• A63F13/57 Primary

  Simulating properties, behaviour or motion of objects in the game world, e.g. computing tyre load in a car race game (A63F13/56 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A63F13/56

  Computing the motion of game characters with respect to other game characters, game objects or elements of the game scene, e.g. for simulating the behaviour of a group of virtual soldiers or for path finding · CPC title