If you’re one of those people that has often gotten stuck on a part in a game because you don’t know what to do, then look no further. A recent Sony coaching patent has been filed that intends to help coach players through certain parts of games once a certain time period has elapsed. According to the patent:
“It is common for video games to present challenges for players to figure out how to overcome.”
Difficulty can also run the gamut of various things, whether it’s an inability to get past a certain part of a game, or just user incompetence. For instance, in the lead-up to Cuphead’s release, at least one games journalist was unable to figure out the jump-dash ability, leaving him stuck on the tutorial for 26 minutes. To help these sorts of things, according to the patent, the game would do the following:
“The systems and methods generate a dedicated UI to replay the the recording with overlays, such as input selections received from the user.”
With gaming becoming a more casual hobby for many, there may be some people who are unable to figure out the timing on certain actions, especially on platformers. This sort of thing is what the Sony coaching patent is intended to address and help players with, whether they’re in single or multiplayer games. All of these, together, according to the patent, help guide the players towards improvement.
“Also, the dedicated UI includes hints on mechanics or situations to provide to the user to increase the skill level of the user.”
With luck, hopefully this Sony coaching patent will work well when it’s implemented and allow people who are having trouble with certain levels in video games to be able to have more fun, even on a part that they’re having issues with. If you want to read the full text of the patent for yourself, you can find the whole document by following this link.