Weather profiles
First Claim
11. A data structure stored on a computer readable medium, said data structure identifying weather for simulation in a computer game, comprising:
- for each of a plurality of cells in a first two-dimensional grid, a first data field storing weather information corresponding to an area of predetermined size in a simulated geographical environment of the computer game, said each first data field comprising a plurality of sub-data fields, each sub-field defining a weather layer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems for providing dynamic weather simulation in a computer gaming environment are disclosed. Weather may be user-specified, computer simulated, based on periodic updates of real-world weather conditions, or based on a pre-existing or user-created weather profile. A weather profile may include a data structure that stores weather over a location neutral geographical space, which may subsequently be applied dynamically to any selected geographical space in a simulated environment. To dynamically simulate weather while conserving computer resources, a weather simulation manager may periodically alter temperature and dew point values and determine whether to render or dissipate clouds based on the current temperature and dew point values.
17 Citations
20 Claims
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11. A data structure stored on a computer readable medium, said data structure identifying weather for simulation in a computer game, comprising:
for each of a plurality of cells in a first two-dimensional grid, a first data field storing weather information corresponding to an area of predetermined size in a simulated geographical environment of the computer game, said each first data field comprising a plurality of sub-data fields, each sub-field defining a weather layer. - View Dependent Claims (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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15-1. The data structure of claim 12, wherein a first sub-field comprises a surface condition layer storing atmospheric pressure data, surface temperature data, dew point data, height data, surface wind speed data, surface wind direction data, surface wind gust data, surface wind variance data, surface wind shear data, and surface turbulence data.
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20. A computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions for graphically depicting weather defined in a pre-existing weather profile to a simulated geographical environment in a computer game, comprising:
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a) reading a data structure storing predefined location neutral weather information, wherein the data structure comprises a plurality of weather layers for each cell in a two-dimensional array, wherein each cell corresponds to a simulated geographic area of predetermined size, and wherein the plurality of weather layers are selected from a set of layer types including a surface condition layer, a cloud layer, a temperature layer, a wind layer, and a visibility layer;
b) applying the weather layers read from the data structure to a grid within the simulated geographical environment of the computer game centered on a user'"'"'s starting position within the computer game; and
c) graphically depicting weather in the computer game, wherein the graphically depicted weather corresponds to the weather layers of a cell in which the user is currently located within the grid.
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Specification