RESTORING GAMEPLAY BY REPLAYING PAST INPUTS

• US 20140194211A1
• Filed: 01/09/2013
• Published: 07/10/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Blizzard Entertainment Incorporated (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Blizzard Entertainment Incorporated (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Chimes, Carl, Lawrence, Dave, Dabiri, Alan, Anhalt, James, Sutton, Eric
• Granted Patent: US 9,089,777 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/43
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/44 involving timing of operations, e.g. performing an action within a time slot
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/493 Resuming a game, e.g. after pausing, malfunction or power failure
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/497 Partially or entirely replaying previous game actions
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/79 involving player-related data, e.g. identities, accounts, preferences or play histories
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/95 Storage media specially adapted for storing game information, e.g. video game cartridges

Abstract

Methods, computer-readable media, and computing devices are described herein for restoring gameplay by replaying past inputs. During gameplay, capture logic captures participant inputs that were received to change states of game objects. The capture logic stores the captured information in an electronic record of period(s) of the gameplay. After the period(s) of gameplay, replay logic receives a request to initiate subsequent gameplay beginning from a point in time from a period of past gameplay. The replay logic causes the subsequent gameplay to begin from the point at least in part by loading saved state information and replaying the captured participant inputs.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

storing one or more electronic records of at least a period of past gameplay, the one or more electronic records comprising captured participant inputs that occurred during the period of past gameplay;

wherein each of the participant inputs occurred at a corresponding time during the period of past gameplay;

wherein the captured participant inputs changed states of game objects during the period of past gameplay;

receiving a request to initiate subsequent gameplay beginning from a target point in time that occurred during the period of past gameplay;

wherein the target point is after a reload point;

wherein a first subset of the captured participant inputs occurred after the reload point and before the target point;

wherein a second subset of the captured participant inputs occurred after the reload point and after the target point;

causing the subsequent gameplay to begin from the target point at least in part by;

causing the game objects to assume states that the game objects were in at the reload point; and

replaying the first subset of the captured participant inputs;

wherein an amount of time that elapses between replaying each of the first subset of captured participant inputs is based, at least in part, on an amount of time that elapsed between occurrence of corresponding participant inputs during the period of past gameplay;

wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first subset of captured participant inputs comprises a directive to at least one of the game objects, and wherein, when carrying out the directive while replaying the first subset of the captured participant inputs, the at least one game object has a same effect, on at least one other game object that is concurrently carrying out at least one other directive, as did the at least one game object when the directive was carried out during the period of past gameplay.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first subset of captured participant inputs comprises a directive to at least one of the game objects at a particular time of the times of the captured participant inputs, and wherein at least one outcome of the directive depends on the particular time.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein, during the period of past gameplay:

gaps of different lengths of time occurred between two or more different pairs of consecutive inputs of the first subset of captured participant inputs, and

the two or more different pairs of consecutive inputs were from a single participant.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein differences in the lengths of time affect outcomes of the two or more different pairs of consecutive inputs, and wherein these outcomes are preserved while replaying the first subset of captured participant inputs.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein differences in the lengths of time affect timing of replaying the first subset of captured participant inputs.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the captured participant inputs comprise human participant inputs to a real-time strategy game.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the captured participant inputs comprise inputs caused by a human participant, further comprising, before completing the step of causing the subsequent gameplay to begin from the target point, substituting a machine-controlled participant for the human participant.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the captured participant inputs comprise inputs caused by a machine-controlled participant, further comprising, before completing the step of causing the subsequent gameplay to begin from the target point, substituting a human participant for the machine-controlled participant.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising causing display, to one or more candidate participants, of a simulation of one or more periods of past gameplay.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising causing display of a replay interface comprising one or more graphically indicated options which, when selected, cause skipping, during the simulation, to one or more other periods of the past gameplay.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising causing display of a replay interface comprising one or more graphically indicated options which, when selected, cause changing a speed that the simulation progresses.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising causing display, to one or more candidate participants, of:

a simulation of one or more periods of past gameplay during which visibility of the one or more candidate participants is limited based on an association between the one or more candidate participants and a particular team of two or more teams;

wherein the one or more periods of past gameplay occurred between two or more past participants on the two or more teams, and

wherein, during the one or more periods of past gameplay, visibility of one or more of the past participants was limited based on the particular team of the two or more teams to which the one or more past participants belonged.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising, before completing the step of causing the subsequent gameplay to begin from the target point, causing display, to one or more candidate participants and one or more candidate observers, of a simulation of one or more periods of past gameplay;

wherein, after causing the subsequent gameplay to begin from the target point;

causing the subsequent gameplay to be visible to at least one of the candidate observers;

preventing at least one of the candidate observers from inputting directives to any of the game objects; and

receiving directives to one or more game objects that are inputted by at least one of the candidate participants, and causing the one or more game objects to change states as the one or more game objects carry out the received directives.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising capturing inputs caused by one or more human participants during the period of past gameplay, and generating the one or more electronic records at least in part by periodically saving sets of states of game objects, wherein the one or more electronic records comprises a plurality of sets of states saved at a plurality of different times, and a plurality of sets of captured participant inputs that occurred between different times of the plurality of different times.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting a change in a rate at which participant input is provided by a particular participant during the period of gameplay and, in response to detecting the change, flagging a time of the change in the one or more electronic records.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining that the one or more electronic records has one or more flagged events, and causing display of a replay interface that graphically marks the one or more flagged events on a timeline that represents at least the period of past gameplay.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising synchronizing, on a plurality of client devices for a plurality of candidate participants, a simulation of one or more periods of the past gameplay.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the captured participant inputs comprise inputs caused by participants of two or more teams during the period of past gameplay, and wherein the step of causing the subsequent gameplay to begin comprises changing the two or more teams.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the captured participant inputs comprise inputs caused by two or more human participants during the period of past gameplay, and wherein the step of causing the subsequent gameplay to begin comprises:

removing at least one human participant of the two or more human participants, and

granting control over game objects previously controlled by the at least one human participant to at least one other human participant of the two or more human participants.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the captured participant inputs comprise inputs caused by one or more human participants during the period of past gameplay, and wherein the step of causing the subsequent gameplay to begin comprises:

adding at least one human participant, and

granting shared control over game objects previously controlled by the one or more human participants to both the one or more human participants and the at least one human participant.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising, before completing the step of causing the subsequent gameplay to begin from the target point, adding or removing game objects to be controlled by one or more candidate participants of the subsequent gameplay.

23. The method of claim 1, further comprising, before completing the step of causing the subsequent gameplay to begin from the target point, adding or removing resources to be spent by one or more candidate participants during the subsequent gameplay.

24. The method of claim 1, further comprising, before completing the step of causing the subsequent gameplay to begin from the target point, strengthening or weakening game objects to be controlled by one or more candidate participants during the subsequent gameplay.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the game objects is a particular object that, when triggered, causes gameplay to resume from a point in time before the particular object was triggered.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more electronic records is generated based at least in part on different portions of two or more instances of past gameplay, wherein the two or more instances of past gameplay resulted at least in part from previously causing one or more instances of past gameplay to begin from one or more points in one or more other instances of past gameplay that occurred after the one or more instances of past gameplay.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the game objects comprise characters, and wherein the participant inputs comprise directives to move, attack, or build with the characters.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the period of past gameplay is between two other periods of past gameplay that occurred during an instance of past gameplay, and wherein the one or more electronic records represents the instance of past gameplay.

29. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting occurrence of a randomized event as a result of one or more of the first subset of the captured participant inputs during the period of past gameplay;

in response to detecting the occurrence of the randomized event, storing, in the one or more electronic records, one or more variables that represent the randomized event; and

using the one or more variables to replicate the randomized event while replaying the first subset of the captured participant inputs.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein a past instance of gameplay occurred starting from the reload point and ending at a second point in time that is after the target point;

wherein the past instance of gameplay comprises the period of past gameplay.

31. The method of claim 1, wherein a past instance of gameplay occurred starting from a first point in time that is before the reload point and ending at a second point in time that is after the target point;

wherein the past instance of gameplay comprises the period of past gameplay.

38. The method of claim 1, further comprising tracking statistics about multiple instances of gameplay that have occurred based on a particular replay file, and scoring the particular replay file among a plurality of replay files based at least in part on the statistics.

39. The method of claim 1, further comprising tracking statistics about multiple instances of gameplay that have occurred based on a particular target point in a particular replay file, and scoring the particular target point among a plurality of target points in the particular replay file based at least in part on the statistics.

32. A method comprising:

storing one or more electronic records of at least a period of past gameplay, the one or more electronic records comprising;

saved states of game objects at a checkpoint in time during the period of past gameplay, and

captured participant inputs that affected one or more states of one or more of the game objects during the period of past gameplay, wherein the captured participant inputs comprise;

a first subset of inputs that occurred at times before the checkpoint,

a second subset of inputs that occurred at times after the checkpoint but before a second point in time during the period of past gameplay, and

a third subset of inputs that occurred at times after the second point in time;

receiving a request to initiate subsequent gameplay beginning from the second point in time;

causing the subsequent gameplay to begin from the second point at least in part by loading the captured states and replaying the second subset of inputs based at least in part on the times of the second subset of inputs;

wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein an amount of time that elapses between replaying each of the second subset of inputs is based, at least in part, on an amount of time that elapsed between occurrence of corresponding participant inputs during the period of past gameplay.

34. The method of claim 32, further comprising, before completing the step of causing the subsequent gameplay to begin from the second point, causing display of a simulated portion of the past gameplay that is based on replaying the second subset of inputs.

35. The method of claim 32, wherein replaying the second subset of inputs based at least in part on the times of the second subset of inputs comprises replying the second subset of inputs at times that are accelerated relative to the times of the second subset of inputs.

37. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions which, when executed, cause performance of the method recited in claim 32.

36. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions which, when executed, cause:

storing one or more electronic records of at least a period of past gameplay, the one or more electronic records comprising captured participant inputs that occurred during the period of past gameplay;

wherein each of the participant inputs occurred at a corresponding time during the period of past gameplay;

wherein the captured participant inputs changed states of game objects during the period of past gameplay;

receiving a request to initiate subsequent gameplay beginning from a target point in time that occurred during the period of past gameplay;

wherein the target point is after a reload point;

wherein a first subset of the captured participant inputs occurred after the reload point and before the target point;

wherein a second subset of the captured participant inputs occurred after the reload point and after the target point;

causing the subsequent gameplay to begin from the target point at least in part by;

causing the game objects to assume states that the game objects were in at the reload point; and

replaying the first subset of the captured participant inputs;

wherein an amount of time that elapses between replaying each of the first subset of captured participant inputs is based, at least in part, on an amount of time that elapsed between occurrence of corresponding participant inputs during the period of past gameplay.