Route navigation system within a game application environment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11235241-B2
Application number	US-201916539859-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 13, 2019
Priority date	Sep 30, 2015
Publication date	Feb 1, 2022
Grant date	Feb 1, 2022

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a route navigation system that can aid the user by providing navigational aids for navigating within a virtual game environment. The navigational aids can provide visual indications to the user within the game environment in order to help direct the character to navigation objects used for traversing the environment. The navigation information used for navigation within the game environment can be determined based on a route navigation grid. A navigation module can utilize the navigation grid to help users navigate characters within the game environments of the game application. The route navigation grid can be generated based on aggregated route information and telemetry data associated with a plurality of users of the game application. The route generation module can be configured to automatically generate navigation links between navigation nodes within game environment based on telemetric data sourced from users of the game application.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for route navigation within a game environment of a game application:
by a hardware processor configured with computer executable instructions,
executing a game application comprising a game environment and a navigation grid, the game environment comprising a plurality of navigation objects, wherein each navigation object is a structural element within the game environment that a virtual character can interact with using one or more defined types of movement actions, the navigation grid comprising a plurality of navigation links defining routes between the plurality of navigation objects, wherein each of the plurality of navigation objects is associated with one or more navigation links;
determining a start point based, at least in part, on a location of a virtual character within the game environment, wherein the game environment further comprises a destination point for the virtual character within the game environment;
determining an orientation of the virtual character within the game environment;
identifying a first set of navigation objects based, at least in part, on the location of the virtual character, the first set of navigation objects comprising one or more navigation objects of the plurality of navigation objects;
filtering the first set of navigation objects based, at least in part, on an orientation threshold associated with the orientation of the virtual character within the game environment to generate a first subset of active navigation objects comprising a subset of navigation objects of the first set;
determining a route between the start point and the destination point based, at least in part, on the navigation grid and one or more route determination factors, wherein the route comprises a first set of navigation links of the plurality of navigation links connecting the start point and the destination point within the navigation grid, and at least one selected active navigation object of the first subset of active navigation objects;
generating a first visual indication within the game environment identifying the at least one selected active navigation object of the first subset of active navigation objects; and
executing a first movement action based at least in part on received input to interact with the at least one selected active navigation object, wherein the virtual character uses the at least one selected active navigation object within the game environment in response to execution of the first movement action such that the virtual character traverses the at least one selected active navigation object to move from a first position within the game environment to a second position within the game environment.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of navigation objects each comprise an object type defining a type of interaction between the virtual character and the navigation object.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising updating the route based on a change of the orientation of the virtual character within the game environment.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising generating a second visual indication after the virtual character interacts with one of the at least one selected active navigation object associated with the first visual indication.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a second visual indication identifying a second selected active navigation objects of the first subset of active navigation objects.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the first visual indication and the second visual indication are associated with different determined routes.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the first visual indication and the second visual indication are associated with the same determined route.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the orientation threshold is based on the orientation of a user interface output to a user.

9. A computing system comprising:
a data store storage device configured to store computer readable instruction configured to execute a game application and a navigation grid comprising a plurality of navigation links defining routes between a plurality of navigation objects, wherein each of the plurality of navigation objects is associated with one or more navigation links and each navigation object is a structural element within a game environment that a virtual character can interact with using one or more defined types of movement actions;
a processor configured to execute the game application, the game application configured to generate a game environment including a plurality of navigation objects, the game application comprising a route navigation module configured to:
determine a start point based at least in part on a location of a virtual character within the game environment, wherein the game environment comprises a destination point for the virtual character within the game environment;
determine an orientation of the virtual character within the game environment;
identify a first set of navigation objects based, at least in part, on the location of the virtual character, the first set of navigation objects comprising one or more navigation objects of the plurality of navigation objects;
filter the first set of navigation objects based, at least in part, on an orientation threshold associated with the orientation of the virtual character within the game environment to generate a first subset of active navigation objects comprising a subset of navigation objects of the first set;
determine a route between the start point and the destination point based, at least in part, on the navigation grid and one or more route determination factors, wherein the route comprises a first set of navigation links of the plurality of navigation links connecting the start point and the destination point within the navigation grid, and at least one selected active navigation object of the first subset of active navigation objects; and
generate a first visual indication within the game environment identifying the at least one selected active navigation object of the first subset of active navigation objects; and
execute a first movement action based at least in part on received input to interact with the at least one active navigation object, wherein the virtual character uses the at least one active navigation object within the game environment in response to execution of the first movement action such that the virtual character traverses the at least one active navigation object to move from a first position within the game environment to a second position within the game environment.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the route navigation module is further configured to generate a second visual indication on a second selected active navigation object.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein each of the individual visual indications is associated with a different determined route.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the orientation threshold is based on the orientation of a user interface output to a user.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the navigation grid is generated based on telemetric navigation data provided by a plurality of users.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the game environment is a three dimensional environment or a two-dimensional environment.

15. The system of claim 9 , wherein the first visual indication modifies an appearance of the navigation object.

16. A non-transitory computer re

Assignees

• Electronic Arts Inc

Inventors

• Scheurwater Mark

Classifications

• 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

• A63F13/5375

  for graphically or textually suggesting an action, e.g. by displaying an arrow indicating a turn in a driving game · CPC title

• A63F13/67 Primary

  adaptively or by learning from player actions, e.g. skill level adjustment or by storing successful combat sequences for re-use · CPC title

• A63F13/537 Primary

  using indicators, e.g. showing the condition of a game character on screen · CPC title

• A63F13/23

  for interfacing with the game device, e.g. specific interfaces between game controller and console · CPC title