Sony has published a patent that talks of amending in-game difficulty levels in real time as a player perhaps struggles or succeeds with certain elements
Thing is, it’s fucking easy to dispute this patent because of how many other games already do something extremely similar. Adaptive difficulty isn’t a novel idea. That they think they can patent it shows how broken that system is.
On a side note, the site had this other gem: New Sony Patent Will Let You Replay A Game From Any Point Possible. From the name, I thought they were patenting savestates, like those you do with emulators. But nope, it’s dumber and more convoluted than that, closely tied to streaming, somehow.
I think the “novel way” in this case is the idea that games can look at your data from other games to adjust difficulty. So if you do well in God of War, the AI difficulty in the new Devil May Cry could get harder. Ditto the other way around.
I would say it’s a newish idea. I don’t see it as particularly innovative, though. We just don’t do it NOW because it’s stupid.
That seems extremely stupid. As long as devs are incapable of making standardized difficulty settings, this will be a nightmare. I beat the first Horizon on the hardest difficulty, and had to turn the difficulty down on Forbidden West. If they decided to adjust the difficulty based on my performance in the first game, I wouldn’t have gotten more than a couple hours in.
Absolutely. There are a lot of solid reasons that people should be kept in control of their own difficulty levels.
I refuse to purchase or play Fromsoft games anymore if I don’t have access to mods, despite absolutely loving their storytelling style. Why? Anyone who reads this immediately knows why.
Thing is, it’s fucking easy to dispute this patent because of how many other games already do something extremely similar. Adaptive difficulty isn’t a novel idea. That they think they can patent it shows how broken that system is.
On a side note, the site had this other gem: New Sony Patent Will Let You Replay A Game From Any Point Possible. From the name, I thought they were patenting savestates, like those you do with emulators. But nope, it’s dumber and more convoluted than that, closely tied to streaming, somehow.
Anyway, fuck Sony and this patent bullshit
afaik software patents get awards based on the implementation details. So Sony could get a patent if they implemented this behavior in a novel way.
Although I do agree with you this is a basic feature in many games and that sold be recognized.
I think the “novel way” in this case is the idea that games can look at your data from other games to adjust difficulty. So if you do well in God of War, the AI difficulty in the new Devil May Cry could get harder. Ditto the other way around.
I would say it’s a newish idea. I don’t see it as particularly innovative, though. We just don’t do it NOW because it’s stupid.
That seems extremely stupid. As long as devs are incapable of making standardized difficulty settings, this will be a nightmare. I beat the first Horizon on the hardest difficulty, and had to turn the difficulty down on Forbidden West. If they decided to adjust the difficulty based on my performance in the first game, I wouldn’t have gotten more than a couple hours in.
Absolutely. There are a lot of solid reasons that people should be kept in control of their own difficulty levels.
I refuse to purchase or play Fromsoft games anymore if I don’t have access to mods, despite absolutely loving their storytelling style. Why? Anyone who reads this immediately knows why.