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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In claim 1 line 12, the conditional statement “when in a second range” renders the claim indefinite. Grammatically, the word “when” is used to refer to a time of occurrence of a future situation that is expected to occur. However, the claim does not lay any groundwork that explains how the condition of “when in a second range” could be expected to occur during execution of a program. Although the second range is claimed with reference to a first range set, it is not claimed how or in what manner, such as by what processing steps, the program might transition to or enter a state of being “in a second range”. It is also unclear whether “a second range” should be corrected to “a second range set” to be consistent with how a “first range set” is defined. Appropriate correction is required.
In claim 1 lines 12-13, the limitation “present is a separate small region” is both grammatically incorrect and contributes ambiguity to the scope of the claim. It appears the words “is a” following “present” should be deleted. Additionally, the word “separate” is an adjective meaning distinct, standing apart or not joined to anything else. However, the claim fails to specify what the small region must be separate or distinct from. For example, it is unclear whether the small region must be separate from a second range, separate from a first and second range or separate as judged based on some other criteria. Appropriate correction is required.
Independent claims 9, 17 and 23 contain the same issues discussed with respect to claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1, 6, 8-9, 14, 16-17, 22-23 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN 111714895 A to Cheng.
Re claim 1, Cheng discloses A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a game program that, when executed, causes one or more processors of an information processing apparatus to execute information processing
The abstract describes Cheng as a game data processing method, computer readable medium and storage device wherein processing reduces the memory occupied by the size of a voxel file and improves memory utilization efficiency.
comprising: storing, in a storage medium, terrain volume data representing a terrain in a virtual space and holding voxel data indicating the presence of the terrain for each voxel included in a voxel space set in the virtual space;
Under the “Specific implementation examples” heading, in the fifth paragraph, Cheng describes that a voxel file stores descriptions of various terrain resource data in a game scene including outdoor terrain such as grass, mountains, rivers, houses, and walls. A voxel is defined as the minimum representation unit of the 3D space, or in other words it is the minimum 3D space division in the game. The voxel file can be used for walking, flying, controlling a camera, and collision detection.
The description of Fig. 1 contemplates that each voxel in the game might be a cuboid.
The description of step 102 in the paragraph beginning “In the above step 102, for pre-dividing…” indicates that game scenes are generated corresponding to voxel files. In certain game scenes, only a portion of a voxel grid is required – an example given is only requiring a height value for a terrain that can be represented as a single layer. Using only a portion of a voxel grid can save memory for certain types of game scenes.
Voxel files can also be modified based on certain portions of a game terrain that are disallowed for player or non-player character access. In the paragraph beginning with “In some scenarios, step 306, specifically further comprises: step 306-2”, it is described that in some game scenes, it may be undesirable to allow players to enter and see empty areas formed by a map edge.
when an event occurs with respect to the terrain, based on a player's operation input, updating the voxel data such that the voxel data indicates the absence of the terrain for at least a portion of voxels included in a first range set based on a location of the occurrence of the event, with respect to the terrain volume data,
In the paragraph beginning with “In some scenarios, step 306, specifically further comprises … step 306-2”, it is described that in some game scenes that may be navigated by a player, a voxel file is modified to prevent the player from moving to an area in the scene that would expose an empty area of a map edge. In this scenario, resource data corresponding to an invalid terrain level position in the voxel file is deleted. To accomplish this, a cover layer can be created resulting in a mask layer that comprises resource level position data except the invalid terrain level position data.
and when in a second range including at least the first range, present is a separate small region that includes contiguous voxels having voxel data indicating the presence of the terrain and has a size smaller than a reference, updating the voxel data of the voxels included in the small region such that the voxel data of the voxels included in the small region indicates the absence of the terrain; and generating an image of the virtual space by rendering at least a polygon mesh representing a surface of the terrain, based on the terrain volume data.
The description of steps 306-1 and 306-2 indicates that, when a player navigates to a portion of a scene comprising an empty area of a map edge, the voxel file is modified by creating a cover layer of the game scene, wherein a mask layer comprises the resource level position data except the invalid terrain level position data. Step 306-1-2 explains that terrain under the mask layer belongs to the invalid terrain and that, for the purpose of exporting, only the area under the cover layer is exported and used in a game scene. Fig. 4 shows a game scene diagram after the subsequent rendering that can be presented to the player.
Re claims 9, 17 and 23, refer to the rejection of claim 1.
Re claims 6, 8, 14, 16, 22, 28, as discussed prior, when a player navigates to a portion of a scene comprising an empty area of a map edge (corresponding to the claimed absence of terrain or “the air in the virtual space”), the voxel file is modified to create a mask layer that comprises terrain position data having invalid terrain level position data removed, and a game scene is created from the modified voxel file.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/STEVEN J HYLINSKI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715
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