Speed-dependent suggested driving lines
First Claim
1. A system for assisting a player to control speed of a racer along a path in a video game, the system comprising:
- a speed determination module that determines the speed of the racer on the path;
a target speed calculator that calculates a target speed for each of a plurality of locations on a suggested driving line alone the path;
a suggested speed indicator computing module that generates a suggested speed indicator corresponding to each of the plurality of locations on the suggested driving line along the path, based on the determined speed of the racer on the path and the calculated target speed for the location on the suggested driving line along the path, wherein the suggested speed indicators indicate suggested levels of acceleration and deceleration and are selected from a plurality of progressive levels of acceleration indicators and a plurality of progressive levels of deceleration indicators; and
a display interface that communicates graphics information for displaying the suggested speed indicators on the suggested driving line in front of the racer.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In a video game or simulator, suggested speed indicators are computed along a suggested driving line on a path (e.g., a race track) and displayed in a simple, progressive, and user-friendly format. The displayed speed indicators are based on a racer'"'"'s current speed and target speeds attributed to individual locations along the suggested driving line on the path. The speed indicators provide a dynamic indication of where and how the player should slow down or speed up relative to their current speed as their racer travels along the path. The speed indicators are displayed (e.g., using color to represent different magnitudes of suggested acceleration and deceleration) along the suggested driving line in front of the racer so that the player can anticipate braking and acceleration actions as the path and the racer'"'"'s speed change.
15 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A system for assisting a player to control speed of a racer along a path in a video game, the system comprising:
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a speed determination module that determines the speed of the racer on the path; a target speed calculator that calculates a target speed for each of a plurality of locations on a suggested driving line alone the path; a suggested speed indicator computing module that generates a suggested speed indicator corresponding to each of the plurality of locations on the suggested driving line along the path, based on the determined speed of the racer on the path and the calculated target speed for the location on the suggested driving line along the path, wherein the suggested speed indicators indicate suggested levels of acceleration and deceleration and are selected from a plurality of progressive levels of acceleration indicators and a plurality of progressive levels of deceleration indicators; and a display interface that communicates graphics information for displaying the suggested speed indicators on the suggested driving line in front of the racer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method performed by a computing device with a processor for assisting a player to control speed a racer a a video game, the method comprising:
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displaying a suggested driving line along the path; determining a target speed at each of a plurality of locations along the suggested driving line; generating by the processor a suggested speed indicator for each of the plurality of locations along the suggested driving line based on the determined speed of the racer on the path and the target speed at each of the plurality of locations along the suggested driving line, and based on the difference between the determined speed of the racer on the path and the target speed at each of the plurality of locations along the suggested driving line, the suggested speed indicators indicating progressive levels of acceleration and progressive levels of deceleration; displaying a suggested speed indicator at each of the plurality of locations on the suggested driving line in front of the racer; and wherein each suggested speed indicator is associated with a color to indicate a suggested level of acceleration or deceleration at the locations along the suggested driving line for which the suggested speed indicators are generated, the colors of the suggested speed indicators forming a progressive color continuum indicative of the suggested level of acceleration or deceleration, the progressive color continuum comprising a finite plurality of colors. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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11. A method performed by a computing device with a processor, for assisting a player to control speed of a racer along a path in a video game, the method comprising:
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associating a color with a zero speed difference; specifying ranges of positive speed differences, each range having an associated color indicating magnitude of the positive speed differences of the range; specifying ranges of negative speed differences, each range having an associated color indicating magnitude of the negative speed differences of the range; determining a current speed of the racer; and for each of a plurality of locations along a suggested driving line, determining by the processor a target speed for the location along the suggested driving line; determining by the processor a speed difference for the location along the suggested driving line based on the target speed for the location and, for at least one of the locations, further based on the current speed; when the determined speed difference is positive, selecting by the processor the color associated with the range of positive speed differences that the determined speed difference is within; when the determined speed difference is negative, selecting by the processor the color associated with the range of negative speed differences that the determined speed difference is within; when the determined speed difference is zero, selecting by the processor the color associated with the zero speed difference; and displaying a speed indicator in the selected color in association with the location along the suggested driving line; wherein the colors indicate progressive levels of acceleration and deceleration needed to reach a target speed. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A computer system for assisting a player to control speed of a vehicle along a path in a video game, comprising:
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a memory storing computer-executable instructions of a module that determines a current speed of the vehicle on the path, determines a target speed for a location along a suggested driving line along the path, and determines a speed relationship between the current speed and the target speed; a module that when the speed relationship indicates that the vehicle needs to accelerate to reach the target speed, selects from a plurality of acceleration speed indicators a speed indicator that indicates a magnitude of acceleration derived from the speed relationship, each acceleration speed indicator indicating that the vehicle should accelerate at a different magnitude of acceleration; when the speed relationship indicates that the vehicle needs to decelerate to reach the target speed, selects from a plurality of deceleration speed indicators a speed indicator that indicates a magnitude of deceleration derived from the speed relationship, each deceleration speed indicator indicating that the vehicle should decelerate at a different magnitude of the deceleration; and when the speed relationship indicates that the vehicle is already at the target speed, selects a no acceleration or deceleration speed indicator; and a module that displays the selected speed indicator; and a processor for executing the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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Specification