Enhanced method and apparatus for selecting and rendering performance data

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10293258-B2
Application number	US-201715420897-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 31, 2017
Priority date	Aug 19, 2005
Publication date	May 21, 2019
Grant date	May 21, 2019

Abstract

Enhanced methodology and apparatus for use in a multi-player video game for generating a array of user selectable options for choosing real or computer generated users to play with and/or compete against. For example, in a simulated multiple driver racing game application, the user of a computing device is presented with an option for selecting any of various “ghost data” packages for downloading over a communication network such as the Internet. For example, the user may be presented with the option of selecting one of an array of ghost data packages to race against such as the top five buddies of the user with highest scores, five buddies with scores similar to a user's own score, and teams/groups of various varieties. A simulated race in a computing device initially occurs with objects and a playing field of relatively low graphic complexity, limited by constraints of the system's processing power and the associated limited number of polygons that can be processed per second, the resolution of the screen, etc. A more powerful rendering of such objects/playing field thereafter takes place in a server after the ghost/performance data is collected and uploaded.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A computer system comprising:
an input device that is used to provide input to a video game that includes a plurality of virtual objects located in a virtual space of the video game; and
a processing system that includes at least one hardware processor coupled to electronic memory, the processing system programmed to:
execute the video game;
perform, over a first period of time, a first render process as part of the video game to generate images of the virtual space from a first perspective that follows a first virtual object of the plurality of virtual objects during execution of the video game, the generated images for display on a display screen;
accept, via the input device and while the generated images are being displayed on the display screen, input to control where the first virtual object of the plurality of virtual objects is located within the virtual space of the video game;
during execution of the video game, record gameplay data that is based on the accepted input, the gameplay data usable for recreating where the first virtual object is located within the virtual space; and
perform, over a second period of time, a second render process that generates movie data that includes a plurality of images generated by the second render process, the second render process performed (a) using the recorded gameplay data to generate the plurality of images, (b) using at least a second perspective that is different from the first perspective used in the first render process, the second perspective showing different areas of the virtual space than the first perspective, and (c) without using further gameplay input that controls the first virtual object, where contents of the movie data are reproducible without re-use of the video game, the first render process, or the second render process,

wherein an amount of time for the first and second time periods is different.

2. The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the processing system includes first processing resources and second processing resources, the first processing resources performing the first render process and the second processing resources performing the second render process.

3. The computer system of claim 2 , further comprising a first transceiver associated with the first processing resources and a second transceiver associated with the second processing resources, wherein the recorded gameplay data is communicated, via an electronic data communications network that is coupled to both the first transceiver and the second transceiver, to the second processing resources for performance of the second render process.

4. The computer system of claim 1 , further comprising a transceiver, wherein the processing system is further configured to transmit, using the transceiver, the movie data to a separate computing device to be played by the separate computing device, where the second computing device is not configured to execute the video game, the first render process, or the second render process.

5. The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the contents of the movie data are encoded using a video compression process.

6. The computer system of claim 5 , wherein the movie data is a single file that is stored to non-transitory storage of the computer system after generation thereof.

7. The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the second render process is performed using higher graphical complexity than the first render process.

8. The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the second render process uses second recorded gameplay data that is recorded as a result of executing another instance of the video game, to create the plurality of images that are part of the movie data.

9. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the second recorded gameplay data and the recorded gameplay data include data generated as a result of following different virtual objects during different instances of performance of the first render process for the video game.

10. A computing system for generating video content based on recorded interactions with a virtual three-dimensional world of a video game, comprising:
an electronic memory storage device configured to store previously recorded video game data generated as part of video game rendering process that generates images in accordance with input provided via an input device while a first user plays the video game, the video game rendering process being performed over a first period of time, the generated images being of images of the virtual three-dimensional world that are generated by using a first virtual camera perspective, the previously recorded video game data based at least in part on input provided via the input device used to control the first virtual object during the video game, the previously recorded video game data including data for recreating at least a location of the first virtual object in the virtual three-dimensional world;
a processing system that includes at least one hardware processor coupled to electronic memory, the processing system configured to:
perform, over a second period of time, a movie rendering process to generate a plurality of images, the movie rendering process performed (a) using the previously recorded video game data stored in the electronic memory storage device, (b) using at least a second virtual camera perspective that is different from the first virtual camera perspective that was used in the video game rendering process, the second virtual camera perspective showing different areas of the virtual three-dimensional world than the first virtual camera perspective, and (c) without using further gameplay control input for the first virtual object; and
encode movie data using the plurality of images, where contents of the movie data are reproducible without the use of the video game rendering process or the movie rendering process,

wherein an amount of time for the first and second time periods is different for rendering for corresponding gameplay of the video game.

11. The computing system of claim 10 , further comprising an electronic communication device configured to communicate with other computing devices over an electronic communications network,
wherein the processing system is further configured to transmit, using the electronic communication device, the encoded movie data to a different computing device for reproduction thereon without requiring the use of the video game rendering process or the movie rendering process.

12. The computing system of claim 10 , wherein the encoded movie data is a single file that is stored to non-transitory storage of the computer system after generation thereof.

13. The computing system of claim 10 , wherein the movie rendering process is performed using higher graphical complexity than the video game rendering process.

14. The computing system of claim 10 , wherein the movie rendering process includes generation of graphical elements that where not generated during the video game rendering process.

15. The computing system of claim 10 , wherein the movie rendering process uses at least two different instances of previously recorded video game data to create the plurality of images, where one of the at least two different instances of previously recorded video game data is the previously recorded video game data.

16. The computing system of claim 15 , wherein the at least two different instances of previously recorded video game data are based on different users controlling different virtual objects within the same instance of the virtual three-dimensional world.

17. The comput

Assignees

• Nintendo Co Ltd

Inventors

• Smith Darren C

Classifications

• A63F13/95

  Storage media specially adapted for storing game information, e.g. video game cartridges · CPC title

• A63F13/5258

  by dynamically adapting the position of the virtual camera to keep a game object or game character in its viewing frustum, e.g. for tracking a character or a ball · CPC title

• A63F13/323

  between game devices with different hardware characteristics, e.g. hand-held game devices connectable to game consoles or arcade machines · CPC title

• A63F13/63

  by the player, e.g. authoring using a level editor · CPC title

• A63F13/00

  Video games, i.e. games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions · CPC title