Game optimization system

Abstract

A game optimization system is disclosed. The game optimization system may take the form of a game balancing engine that is able to both monitor and identify components of games that form dominant and/or weak strategies. If desired, the game optimization system may further make or suggest changes to the game in order to bring out-of-balance components into balance.

1 . A computer readable storage medium for use with a multi-component computer game, the computer readable storage medium comprising: 
 code for calculating actual usage of a game component within the computer game;    code for identifying an acceptable usage range for each game component; and    code for determining whether the actual usage of the game component is within the acceptable usage range.    
   
   
       2 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 1  further comprising code for identifying the game component as out-of-balance when the calculated actual usage is outside of the acceptable usage range.  
   
   
       3 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 2  further comprising code for weighting actual usage by degree of success.  
   
   
       4 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 3  wherein weighting actual usage by degree of success comprises identifying the actual usage by a given player and identifying the player's success in the computer game.  
   
   
       5 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 4  where identifying the player's success in the computer game comprises determining if the player won the game.  
   
   
       6 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 4  where identifying the player's success in the computer game comprises monitoring the player's progression through the game.  
   
   
       7 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 3  further comprising code for calculating relative expected usage.  
   
   
       8 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 1  further comprising code for automatically adjusting the game parameters when actual usage is outside of the acceptable usage range.  
   
   
       9 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 8  wherein the game component has a power level in the game and automatically adjusting the game parameters comprises altering the power level of the component.  
   
   
       10 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 9  wherein the game component has a cost and automatically adjusting the game parameters comprises altering the cost of the component.  
   
   
       11 . A method for identifying out-of-balance components in a computer game requiring players to make selections between multiple game components, the method comprising: 
 determining an individual player's actual usage of a game component;    calculating the player's relative expected usage of the game component;    identifying the player's rate of success in the game;    calculating a balance rating for a game component based on the players' actual usage, relative expected usage, and rate of success;    determining whether the balance rating is within the acceptable usage range; and    identifying the game component as being out-of-balance if the balance rating is outside of the acceptable usage range.    
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising altering the game if the component is identified as being out-of-balance.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 11  wherein calculating actual usage comprises identifying the component or components that are selected when a player selects between two or more components.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein calculating actual usage further comprises identifying the component or components that are not selected when a player selects between two or more components.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 11  wherein calculating the player's relative expected usage of the game component comprises identifying and counting the number of unique components played by the player during the game.  
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 11  wherein calculating the player's relative expected usage of the game component comprises determining the probability of the player owning the game component.  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 11  wherein calculating the player's relative expected usage of the game component comprises calculating the expected number of unique components owned by the player.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising normalizing the balance rating.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 11  wherein calculating the player's relative expected usage of the game component comprises mathematical analysis of a hypothetical hyper-balance game.  
   
   
       20 . A computer game optimization system comprising: 
 a computer game including multiple game components;    a first computer running the computer game;    a game balancing engine in electronic communication with the first computer, the game balancing engine being configured to collect data regarding usage of the game components in the computer game and identify out-of-balance components based on the collected data.    
   
   
       21 . The computer game optimization system of  claim 20  wherein the game balancing engine is further configured to automatically alter the game when out-of-balance components are identified.  
   
   
       22 . The computer game optimization system of  claim 20  further comprising a plurality of computers running the computer game, wherein the game balancing engine is in electronic communication with the plurality of computers and the game balancing engine is configured to identify out-of-balance components based on data collected from the plurality of computers.  
   
   
       23 . A business method comprising: 
 collecting data regarding player component selections by multiple players in a networked computer game; and    maintaining a database of component selection information.    
   
   
       24 . The business method of  claim 23  wherein maintaining a database of component selection information comprises identifying an actual usage of a component for a given player.  
   
   
       25 . The business method of  claim 24  wherein maintaining a database of component selection information comprises identifying a degree of success for the player.  
   
   
       26 . The business method of  claim 24  wherein maintaining a database of component selection information comprises identifying a relative expected usage of the component for the player.  
   
   
       27 . The business method of  claim 23  further comprising calculating a balance rating for a component in the networked computer game.  
   
   
       28 . The business method of  claim 27  further comprising comparing the balance rating for the component with an expected usage range for the component and identifying the component as out-of-balance if the balance rating is outside of the expected usage range.  
   
   
       29 . The business method of  claim 23  where the data is collected in real time, as the game is played.  
   
   
       30 . The business method of  claim 23  where the data is collected after the game has been released to the public.  
   
   
       31 . A computer game to be played by one or more players where the game comprises: 
 multiple selectable components, where players select between at least two different components during game play; and    a usage database configured to collect usage data and electronically communicate with a game balancing engine.    
   
   
       32 . A method for optimizing performance of a computer game employing multiple selectable game components and rules governing the cost and power associated with the use and acquisition of the components, the method comprising: 
 identifying a current game state;    hypothesizing a hypothetical game state in which all components are hyper-balanced;    incrementally altering the rules so as to create an altered game state; and    determining whether the altered game state more closely resembles the hypothetical game state than the current game state.    
   
   
       33 . The method of  claim 32  wherein identifying a current game state comprises monitoring game play by multiple game players and calculating each player's actual usage for a component.  
   
   
       34 . The method of  claim 33  wherein identifying a current game state further comprises calculating each player's rate of success in the game.  
   
   
       35 . The method of  claim 34  wherein identifying a current game state further comprises calculating a balance rating for the components.  
   
   
       36 . The method of  claim 35  further comprising determining an acceptable balance range for the component.  
   
   
       37 . The method of  claim 36 , where the acceptable balance range is determined by identifying an acceptable deviation from a hyper-balanced balance rating.  
   
   
       38 . The method of  claim 36 , further comprising determining an acceptable balance range for the component.  
   
   
       39 . A computer readable storage medium for optimizing performance of a computer game employing multiple selectable game components and rules governing the cost and power associated with the use and acquisition of the components, the computer readable storage medium comprising: 
 code for identifying a current game state;    code for hypothesizing a hypothetical game state;    code for incrementally altering the rules so as to create an altered game state; and    code for determining whether the altered game state more closely resembles the hypothetical game state than the current game state.    
   
   
       40 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 39  wherein the code for identifying a current game state comprises code for monitoring game play by multiple game players and code for calculating each player's actual usage for a component.  
   
   
       41 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 40  wherein the code for identifying a current game state further comprises code for calculating each player's rate of success in the game.  
   
   
       42 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 41  wherein the code for identifying a current game state further comprises code for calculating a balance rating for the component.  
   
   
       43 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 42  further comprising code for determining an acceptable balance range for the component.  
   
   
       44 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 43 , where the acceptable balance rating range is determined by identifying an acceptable deviation from a hyper-balanced balance rating.  
   
   
       45 . The method of  claim 43 , where the acceptable balance range is determined by identifying an acceptable deviation from a summary statistic of the components' balance ratings.