Weather profiles
First Claim
1. A tangible computer readable medium, other than a modulated data signal, storing computer executable instructions, which when executed perform a computer-assisted method of graphically depicting weather defined in a pre-existing weather profile to a simulated geographical environment in a computer game, comprising:
- a) a computer reading a data structure storing predefined location neutral weather information, wherein the data structure comprises weather information for each of a plurality of cells in a multi-dimensional array, and wherein the weather information for each cell comprises a plurality of layers of weather information;
b) the computer applying the weather information read from the data structure to a grid within the simulated geographical environment of the computer game based on a user'"'"'s starting position within the computer game; and
c) the computer graphically depicting weather in the computer game based on a current position of the user within the grid.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
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.
23 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A tangible computer readable medium, other than a modulated data signal, storing computer executable instructions, which when executed perform a computer-assisted method of 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) a computer reading a data structure storing predefined location neutral weather information, wherein the data structure comprises weather information for each of a plurality of cells in a multi-dimensional array, and wherein the weather information for each cell comprises a plurality of layers of weather information; b) the computer applying the weather information read from the data structure to a grid within the simulated geographical environment of the computer game based on a user'"'"'s starting position within the computer game; and c) the computer graphically depicting weather in the computer game based on a current position of the user within the grid. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A tangible computer readable medium, other than a modulated data signal, storing computer executable instructions for performing a computer-assisted method of 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) a computer reading a data structure storing predefined location neutral weather information, wherein the data structure comprises weather information for each of a plurality of cells in a multi-dimensional array, and wherein the multi-dimensional array comprises a three dimensional array, wherein the first and second dimensions correspond to geographic location, and the third dimension corresponds to time; b) the computer applying the weather information read from the data structure to a grid within the simulated geographical environment of the computer game based on a user'"'"'s starting position within the computer game; and c) the computer graphically depicting weather in the computer game based on a current position of the user within the grid. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. A data structure stored on a tangible computer readable medium, said data structure, when executed on a computer, identifies weather for simulation in a computer game, comprising:
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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-data field defining a different weather layer, wherein upon a computer executing the data structure, weather based on the stored data is rendered on a display screen for presentation to a user based on the user'"'"'s starting position within the computer game. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A tangible computer readable medium, other than a modulated data signal, 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) a computer executing the computer executable instructions by 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) the computer 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) the computer 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