System and method for virtual navigation in a gaming environment
AssigneeTake-Two Interactive Software, Inc.
InventorsSimon Parr, David Hynd
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method for managing and pathfinding using a coarse graph of low-level nodes representing the virtual world of a gaming environment.
Claims20
A computer-implemented method for virtual navigation in a road network of a gaming environment, the road network of the gaming environment being represented by a low-level graph comprising one or more low-level nodes joined by links, the method comprising:
- generating, from the low-level graph of the road network of the gaming environment, a coarse graph of the road network of the gaming environment;
- determining, using the coarse graph of the road network of the gaming environment, a path from a start node to a target node, wherein the path comprises coarse graph nodes;
- and
- generating, from said path comprising coarse graph nodes, a full route from the start node to the target node, wherein the full route comprises low-level nodes.
A non-transitory nonvolatile computer program product comprising a processor-readable medium having a sequence of instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to execute virtual navigation, of one or more non-player characters, in a road network of a gaming environment, the road network of the gaming environment being represented by a low-level graph comprising one or more low-level nodes joined by links, the sequence of instructions comprising:
- instructions for generating, from the low-level graph of the road network of the gaming environment, a coarse graph of the road network of the gaming environment;
- instructions for determining, using the coarse graph of the road network of the gaming environment, a path from a start node to a target node, wherein the path comprises coarse graph nodes;
- and
- instructions for generating, from said path comprising coarse graph nodes, a full route from the start node to the target node, wherein the full route comprises low-level nodes.
A computer-based system for virtual navigation, of one or more non-player characters, in a road network of a gaming environment, the road network of the gaming environment being represented by a low-level graph comprising one or more low-level nodes joined by links, the system comprising:
- a server for managing the virtual navigation of the one or more non-player characters;
- and
- one or more player consoles in operable communication with the server over a network, each player console comprising a gaming platform for executing the gaming environment,
- wherein said server generates, from the low-level graph of the road network of the gaming environment, a coarse graph of the road network of the gaming environment, wherein said server determines, using the coarse graph of the road network of the gaming environment, a path from a start node to a target node, wherein the path comprises coarse graph nodes, and wherein said server generates, from said path comprising coarse graph nodes, a full route from the start node to the target node, wherein the full route comprises low-level nodes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.