DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-6, 10-18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by US Patent No. 11,285,393 to Chemistruck.
With regard to claim 1, Chemistruck discloses a method for controlling a non-player character, comprising: obtaining a first sound level of a first sound and a first propagation distance of the first sound, the first sound made by a first player character at a first position in a virtual scene, the first sound level corresponding to a first movement of the first player character at the first position, and the first propagation distance being a propagation distance determined according to the first sound level (col. 2, line 24 – col. 3, line 9; col. 3, lines 22-31; col. 5, lines 34-59); when a distance between a non-player character (NPC) and the first player character is less than the first propagation distance and less than a preset hearing radius of the NPC, determining a sound level of the first sound heard by the NPC in the virtual scene according to the first sound level and the distance between the NPC and the first player character (col. 2, line 24 – col. 3, line 9; col. 5, lines 34-59; col. 7, lines 22-31, 40-46; col. 7, line 58-col. 8, line 10; col. 8, line 57-col. 9, line 14; wherein specifically in col. 8, lines 63-65 it states, “Further, an application may configure an NPE with varying abilities to hear sound and/or localize audio sources.” While this citation does not specifically state, “radius” one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that different hearing abilities would relate to different distances from the player and thus would be a radius out from them); and controlling, by a server, the NPC to perform a behavioral operation corresponding to the first sound when the sound level of the first sound hear by the NPC is grater than or equal to a first sound level threshold (col. 2, line 24 – col. 3, line 9; col. 5, lines 34-59; col. 7, lines 22-31, 40-46; col. 7, line 58-col. 8, line 10; col. 8, line 57-col. 9, line 14).
With regard to claim 2, Chemistruck discloses controlling the NPC to perform a first behavioral operation when the sound level of the first sound heard by the NPC is greater than or equal to the first sound level threshold and less than a second sound level threshold, wherein the first behavioral operation is a behavioral operation performed when the NPC is aware of a sound (col. 4, lines 20-34; col. 7, line 5 – col. 8, line 10; col. 8, line 57- col. 9, line 14).
With regard to claim 3, Chemistruck discloses controlling the NPC to perform a second behavioral operation when the sound level of the first sound heard by the NPC is greater than or equal to the second sound level threshold, wherein the second behavioral operation is a behavioral operation performed when the NPC discovers the first player character (col. 4, lines 20-34; col. 7, line 5 – col. 8, line 10; col. 8, line 57- col. 9, line 14).
With regard to claim 4, Chemistruck discloses controlling the NPC to move to the first position when the sound level of the first sound heard by the NPC is greater than or equal to the first sound level threshold and less than a second sound level threshold; or controlling the NPC to search for the first player character while moving to the first position when the sound level of the first sound heard by the NPC is greater than or equal to the first sound level threshold and less than the second sound level threshold (col. 4, lines 20-34; col. 7, line 5 – col. 8, line 10; col. 8, line 57- col. 9, line 14).
With regard to claim 5, Chemistruck discloses controlling the NPC to move in a direction away from the first player character or controlling the NPC to move in a direction of the first player character when the sound level of the first sound heard by the NPC is greater than or equal to the second sound level threshold; or controlling the NPC to perform an interactive operation with the first player character when the sound level of the first sound heard by the NPC is greater than or equal to the second sound level threshold (col. 4, lines 20-34; col. 7, line 5 – col. 8, line 10; col. 8, line 57- col. 9, line 14).
With regard to claim 6, Chemistruck discloses determining a residual sound level when the first sound propagates to a position of the NPC according to the first sound level and the distance between the NPC and the first player character; obtaining a sound level of an environmental noise at the position of the NPC; and determining the sound level of the first sound heard by the NPC according to the residual sound level and the sound level of the environmental noise (col. 3, lines 10-39).
With regard to claim 10, Chemistruck discloses wherein the determining the sound level of the first sound heard by the NPC according to the residual sound level and the sound level of the environmental noise comprises: determining the sound level of the first sound heard by the NPC to be equal to a difference between the residual sound level and the sound level of the environmental noise when the residual sound level is greater than the sound level of the environmental noise; or determining the sound level of the first sound heard by the NPC to be equal to the sound level of the environmental noise or to 0 when the residual sound level is less than or equal to the sound level of the environmental noise (col. 3, lines 10-39).
With regard to claim 11, Chemistruck discloses setting a preset hearing radius according to a character type of the NPC, wherein when the character type of the NPC is a hearing-sensitive character type, the preset hearing radius is set to a first value, and when the character type of the NPC is a hearing-insensitive character type, the preset hearing radius is set to a second value, wherein the first value is greater than the second value; or setting the preset hearing radius according to a current state of the NPC, wherein when the current state of the NPC is a state of not being harmed by an attack, the preset hearing radius is set to a third value, and when the current state of the NPC is a state of being harmed by an attack, the preset hearing radius is set to a fourth value, wherein the third value is greater than the fourth value; or setting the preset hearing radius according to a state of a skill of the NPC, wherein the skill is configured for increasing a hearing range of the NPC, when the skill is enabled, the preset hearing radius is set to a fifth value, and when the skill is not enabled, the preset hearing radius is set to a sixth value, wherein the fifth value is greater than the sixth value (col. 8, line 57 – col. 9, lines 14; col. 10, lines 10-30).
With regard to claim 12, Chemistruck discloses obtaining a second sound level of a second sound and a second propagation distance of the second sound in a process of controlling the NPC to perform the behavioral operation corresponding to the first sound, wherein the second sound is a sound made by a second player character at a second position in the virtual scene, the second sound level corresponding to a second movement of the second player character at the second position, and the second propagation distance is a propagation distance determined according to the second sound level; when a second distance between the NPC and the second player character is less than the second propagation distance and less than the preset hearing radius of the NPC, determining a sound level of the second sound heard by the NPC in the virtual scene according to the second sound level and the second distance between the NPC and the second player character; and controlling, by the server, the NPC to stop performing the behavioral operation corresponding to the first sound and controlling the NPC to perform a behavioral operation corresponding to the second sound when the sound level of the second sound heard by the NPC is greater than or equal to the first sound level threshold and greater than the sound level of the first sound heard by the NPC (col. 2, line 24 – col. 3, line 9; col. 3, lines 22-31; col. 5, lines 34-59; col. 7, lines 22-31, 40-46; col. 7, line 58-col. 8, line 10; col. 8, line 57-col. 9, line 14).
Claims 13-18 and 20 are mirror claims to claims 1-6 and are rejected in like manner.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-9 and 19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: with regard to claim 7, Chemistruck does not appear to disclose “each of the plural girds is preset with a corresponding sound level of environmental noise” as required by the claim. Claim 19 is a mirror to claim 7 and is found to have allowable subject matter for the same reasons. Claims 8 and 9 are dependent from claim 7 and thus allowable for that reason.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure can be found on the Notice of References Cited.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jay Liddle whose telephone number is (571)270-1226. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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/Jay Trent Liddle/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715