Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatuses are described herein for providing an interactive application, such as a video game, with a hierarchy of avatar categories, each having a maximum and minimum progression value. Each avatar category may be associated with one or more avatars, items, and/or other portions of the interactive application. A beginner avatar category may be associated with a minimum progression value greater than an absolute minimum progression value and a maximum progression value lesser than an absolute maximum progression value. A second avatar category may be associated with a minimum and maximum progression value that are, respectively, lower and greater than that of the beginner avatar category. The interactive application may allow a user to select from the beginner avatar category and the second avatar category. An avatar category may be associated with game rewards.

Abstract: Aspects described herein may provide improved display of a fluid surface in a virtual environment. Adjusted pixel colors for pixels in the display may be computer based on surface shadow components and volumetric shadow components. A surface shadow component may be based on a shadow cast by objects onto the fluid surface. A volumetric shadow component may be based on a shadow cast by objects within a body of fluid. Visual effects may be adjusted based on the surface shadow components and volumetric shadow components, and an adjusted pixel color may be determined based on the adjusted visual effects.

Abstract: Methods and systems for providing user control of objects or vehicles simulated in a simulated environment or virtual world are described herein. The user control may include various types of touch controls that may be used by a player to move the object or vehicle in a direction and/or at a velocity. The user, in some embodiments, may be able to select which type of touch control is used in the user interface. In some arrangements, the touch control may include a touch zone arrangement that can be changed based on a condition of the virtual world or a player interaction with a user interface. Additionally, in some embodiments, the user control may include one or more controls for removing one or more statuses that may be received by the vehicle.

Abstract: Aspects described herein may provide improved water surface approximation by correcting a polygonal mesh (such as a projected grid mesh) at pixel and/or sub-pixel levels through application of a novel ray-casting method based on a modified version of Newton's method for finding roots. The ray-casting method may refine an initial condition determined based on the polygonal mesh and may iteratively develop a more accurate approximation of the water surface as described further herein. This improved approximation method may be suitable for both low-end and high-end GPUs. Due to lower computational complexity, the method may be utilized by low-end GPUs to improve quality while maintaining performance. The method may also be further enhanced with more advanced features such as low-cost multisampling anti-aliasing on higher-end GPUs to provide superior visualization of water surfaces and take full advantage of the additional processing power of such systems.

Abstract: Methods and systems for providing user control of objects or vehicles simulated in a simulated environment or virtual world are described herein. The user control may include various types of touch controls that may be used by a player to move the object or vehicle in a direction and/or at a velocity. The user, in some embodiments, may be able to select which type of touch control is used in the user interface. In some arrangements, the touch control may include a touch zone arrangement that can be changed based on a condition of the virtual world or a player interaction with a user interface. Additionally, in some embodiments, the user control may include one or more controls for removing one or more statuses that may be received by the vehicle.

Abstract: Methods, systems, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for dynamically determining and applying a zoom amount when entering a sniper mode are presented. In one or more embodiments, a computing device may provide a user interface that includes a controlled vehicle and a target vehicle. Subsequently, the computing device may receive a request to enter a sniper mode. In response to receiving the request to enter the sniper mode, the computing device may determine a zoom amount based on a size of the target vehicle and a distance from the controlled vehicle to the target vehicle. The computing device then may update the user interface based on the zoom amount to enter the sniper mode.

Abstract: Methods and systems for performing smart matchmaking in a massive multiplayer online game are described herein. A video game such as a vehicle-based combat game may include multiple types of vehicles, where each type of vehicle may progress through increasing tier levels. Different types of vehicles within the same tier may have different capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses. When performing matchmaking for a game session, a matchmaking server may use a battle level table defining permissible tiers of each type of vehicle allowed within a particular battle level, and may also limit the number of a specific type of vehicle allowed in any one game session. The battle table may provide an advantage to premium vehicles by limiting the tiers of other vehicles against which a similarly tiered premium vehicle may compete. Battle level difficulty may be adjusted by adjusting the ranges of permissible vehicles in each battle level.

Abstract: Methods and systems for providing user control of objects or vehicles simulated in a simulated environment or virtual world are described herein. The user control may include various types of touch controls that may be used by a player to move the object or vehicle in a direction and/or at a velocity. The user, in some embodiments, may be able to select which type of touch control is used in the user interface. In some arrangements, the touch control may include a touch zone arrangement that can be changed based on a condition of the virtual world or a player interaction with a user interface. Additionally, in some embodiments, the user control may include one or more controls for removing one or more statuses that may be received by the vehicle.

Abstract: Methods and systems for providing multiple viewing modes of a simulated environment are described herein. The different viewing modes may include a magnified view of the environment, an unmagnified view, and/or a magnified view combined with an unmagnified view. The different viewing modes may include a model of a user controlled object which mimics the movement of the user controlled object to provide the user with information regarding the positioning or orientation of the user controlled object with respect to the user's current view. In the different viewing modes, a potential damage indicator may be provided on a targeted object to indicate potential damage to the targeted object based on a current weapon selection.