U.S. Patent No. 9,744,461: System and method for object weakpoint generation
Issued August 29, 2017, to Epic Games, Inc.
Filed: June 15, 2016 (claiming priority to June 3, 2014)
Ever wonder where you should hit something in game for maximum effect? This patent could help.
Overview:
U.S. Patent No. 9,744,461 (the ‘461 patent) relates to dynamic generation of weak points and strong points on video game objects. The ‘461 patent details identifying, from the game camera, several points on the surface of a game object that a player is interacting with, comparing them, and finding the best point by distance and generating a strong point or a weak point at that point. The best point is selected through factors like least distance from the player and distance from the previous point. The strong or weak point is in relation to the object being struck by the player, resulting in non-destructive effect (like adding hit points or a buff to the object) or a destructive effect.
The ‘461 patent could allow for more varied resource gathering for players in games with lots of resource gathering, rather than hitting the same point over and over. This patent can also likely be seen exemplified in the popular game Fortnite, where a “Weakpoint Vision” upgrade provides players with an indicator which moves as the player hits the resource to be gathered. If the player hits the object on the indicator, quicker resource gathering is possible.
Abstract:
Systems and methods are provided for dynamic calculation of weakpoints in objects during gameplay. A player strikes an object and a weakpoint appears somewhere on the surface of the object. If the player strikes that weakpoint, the weakpoint disappears, and the amount of damage imparted to the object is some multiple (or factor) of the normal damage imparted. The player’s camera position and direction is used to find points on the surface of the object that was struck. The position and direction of the player’s camera is used to ensure that the player will be able to see any weakpoint that might be created. The points on the object are recorded. The recorded points are compared against each other and the best point is chosen based on certain criteria.
Illustrative Claims:
- A computer implemented method for dynamically generating a strongpoint on an object surface during computer gameplay, comprising: receiving, by at least one computer processor, a camera position and a direction of a player in a computer game based on a player interaction with an object; identifying, by the at least one computer processor, a plurality of points on a surface of the object based on information from the camera position towards the object; comparing, by the at least one computer processor, each of the plurality of points against one another; determining, by the at least one computer processor, a best point from the comparing, wherein the best point is chosen based on at least one of distance from a center of the player’s screen, distance from any previous strongpoints, and direction of a normal of the surface struck by a physic trace; and generating, by the at least one computer processor, a strongpoint on the surface of the object based on the best point, wherein the strongpoint, when struck by the player, results in a non-destructive effect to the object.
- A computer implemented method for dynamically generating a weakpoint on an object surface during computer gameplay, comprising: receiving, by at least one computer processor, a calculation request for a weakpoint based on interaction by a player with an object during a computer game; determining, based on a profile associated with the player, by the at least one computer processor, one or more of a weakpoint, a weakpoint location, weakpoint number, and weakpoint chaining based on at least one of: a level associated with the player, a use of cheat codes by the player, and an assessment of the player’s history with a genre or type associated with the computer game; calculating the weakpoint based on the determining.