Nintendo Co., Ltd.

Brian McNeely

Rory A Johnston

Dean Russell

Yukimi Shimura

Steven Petofalvi

Yoonjoon Lee

Kunitake Aoki

Philip Brodsky

A touch-based computer graphics user interface enhances a stylus pen with virtual suction to create a virtual vacuum or suction tool. The virtual tool may simulate a physical world suction tool and/or provide capabilities not available in the real world. The virtual suction tool allows the user to feel as if he or she has transcended the boundary between the virtual world and the real world by physically holding in his or her hand an object that is able to interact with and virtually attract and contain items (e.g., objects with characteristics and behaviors) removed from or expellable into the virtual world. The resulting highly intuitive user interface provides fun and exciting video game play and has other applications as well.

Enhanced virtual suction tool

There are both flat and sloped ground surfaces on which the game characters traverse. In areas where a sloped surface changes angle (i.e. where a sloped surface connects to a flat surface), a transitional method has been created to make the adjoining textures on the top surface area of the ground blend together seamlessly. A unique texture is used for this purpose. This texture uses the same material as the flat 'ground trim' texture seen on the top of every surface. The texture has a diagonally drawn alpha mask that blends from completely transparent to completely opaque from the bottom right corner of the texture to the top left corner. When this texture is drawn at the ends of each sloped surface where they change angle, the combination of the color channels and the alpha mask line up with adjoining textures to blend them together and create a seamless visual transition.

Method and apparatus for constructing virtual sloped landscapes in computer graphics and animation

In-game characters select the proper animation to use depending on the state of the terrain on which they are currently moving. In this specific case the character chooses an animation depending on the angle of the ground on which it is walking. The method involves real-time determination of the ground angle which is then used to choose the most desirable animation from a closed set of pre-created animations. The animation set consists of animations rendered with the character moving on flat terrain, as well as animations rendered of the character moving uphill and downhill (separately) at pre-determined angles. In this game an animation set consisted of the following animations: 0 degrees, 15 degrees uphill, 30 degrees uphill, 45 degrees uphill, 15 degrees downhill, 30 degrees downhill, 45 degrees downhill). Drawing of the animation is offset to give the best appearance relative to the ground angle.

Real-time terrain animation selection

A method and apparatus that utilizes techniques for modifying the game space of a video game displayed on a display screen by inserting structural elements which become part of the game space and can interact with various game characters.

Growing community of inventors

Redmond, WA, United States of America

Brian McNeely