Distributed network architecture for introducing dynamic content into a synthetic environment

• US 20080287194A1
• Filed: 03/06/2008
• Published: 11/20/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trion World ABC LLC
• Original Assignee: Trion Worlds, Incorporated (Samarion SE)
• Inventors: Farina, Bryan Joseph, Lee, Robert Ernest, Van Caneghem, Jon Edward, Aldridge, David M., Maltzen, Jason A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,122,984 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/42
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/12 involving interaction between a plurality of game devices, e.g. transmisison or distribution systems protocols for networked virtual reality, networked games H04L29/06034
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/30 Interconnection arrangements between game servers and game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/352 involving special game server arrangements, e.g. regional servers connected to a national server or a plurality of servers managing partitions of the game world
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/60 Generating or modifying game content before or while executing the game program, e.g. authoring tools specially adapted for game development or game-integrated level editor
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6009 for importing or creating game content, e.g. authoring tools during game development, adapting content to different platforms, use of a scripting language to create content
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 3/006 based on simulated virtual individual or collective life forms, e.g. social simulations or particle swarm optimisation [PSO]

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention relate generally to computer-based simulations and synthetic environment generation, and more particularly, to a system, a computer-readable medium, a method and an apparatus for generating synthetic environments in a distributed architecture to, among other things, introduce dynamic content.

Claims

1. A method to facilitate massively multiplayer online games, the method comprising:

initializing game sub-processes independent from game management processes;

generating a synthetic environment through collaboration among the game sub-processes and the game management processes; and

implementing the game management processes to generate at least a portion of the synthetic environment during a period of inoperability of one or more of the game sub-processes.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

exchanging messages between the game sub-processes and the game management processes to generate the synthetic environment.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

implementing one or more physics servers as a subset of the game sub-processes, the game management processes being configured to operate independent of the one or more physics servers.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

implementing an artificial intelligence server process separate from the one or more physics servers.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein generating the synthetic environment further comprises:

implementing at least two different game management processes for at least two different clients; and

enabling the at least two different clients to access the synthetic environment,

wherein any of the at least two different clients can access the synthetic environment via any of the at least two different game management processes.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

generating a quasi aggregated process space.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein generating the quasi aggregated process space further comprises:

generating a common process space in which participants can interact for a first subset of data, the participants being associated with at least two different game management servers; and

generating separate process spaces for the participants for a second subset of data.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the first subset of data includes transaction-related data and the second subset of data includes geometry-related data.

9. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

managing transactions among participants to ensure that the transactions are atomic.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

scaling a quantity of sub-process servers independent of a quantity of game management process servers.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

scaling the quantity of sub-process servers responsive to a demand for the game sub-processes.

12. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

monitoring a loading of the game management process servers; and

scaling the quantity of sub-process servers as function of the loading.

13. A computer readable medium to facilitate massively multiplayer online games, the computer readable medium comprising executable instructions to:

initialize a game management process independent from one or more game sub-processes;

exchange messages via a network between a server implementing the game management process and servers implementing the one or more game sub-processes to generate a synthetic environment; and

perform the game management process to facilitate at least a portion of the synthetic environment independent of at least one of the servers implementing the one or more game sub-processes.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 13 wherein the executable instructions to exchange messages comprise executable instructions to:

establish communications between the server implementing the game management process and a subset of clients; and

facilitate interactions between the synthetic environment and the subset of clients,

wherein the subset of clients and other subsets of clients associated with other servers implementing other game management processes interact with the synthetic environment substantially simultaneously.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 13 wherein the executable instructions to perform the game management process comprise executable instructions to:

determine a portion of data associated with the synthetic environment changed; and

generate a compressed universal message for transmission to a client, the compressed universal message including an indication that the portion of the data changed.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 15 wherein the executable instructions to generate the compressed universal message further comprise executable instructions to:

generate an object including a plurality of property values arranged as a vector;

determine that a property value from the plurality of property values has been modified to identify a modified property value; and

form the compressed universal message to include the modified property value and an index into the vector.