Displaying game asset relationship in a game development environment

Abstract

Methods, systems, and software products are described that display relationships between game assets in a game development environment. In one implementation, a selection of a particular game asset is received, and a selection of a particular type of relationship is received to display for the selected game asset. The type of relationship may be a parent relationship, a child relationship, a category relationship, etc. Other game assets are then identified that have the selected relationship with the selected game asset. The other game assets that are identified are displayed to a user.

1 . A method of displaying relationships between game assets in a game development environment, the method comprising: 
 receiving a selection of a game asset;    receiving a selection of a type of relationship to display for the selected game asset;    identifying other game assets having the selected relationship with the selected game asset; and    displaying the other game assets having the selected relationship with the selected game asset.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein receiving a selection of a type of relationship comprises: 
 receiving a selection of a child relationship.    
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein displaying the other game assets comprises: 
 displaying the children of the selected game asset responsive to the selection of the child relationship.    
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein receiving a selection of a type of relationship comprises: 
 receiving a selection of a parent relationship.    
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein displaying the other game assets comprises: 
 displaying the parents of the selected game asset responsive to the selection of the parent relationship.    
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein identifying other game assets comprises: 
 processing an asset relationship management file to identify the other game assets having the selected relationship with the selected game asset.    
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein identifying other game assets comprises: 
 processing an asset relationship graph to identify the other game assets having the selected relationship with the selected game asset.    
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein displaying the other game assets comprises: 
 displaying the other game assets in a tree structure.    
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising: 
 providing a search window to allow the user to search for the selected game asset.    
   
   
       10 . A computer program product adapted to navigate through game assets logically based on relationships that the game assets have with one another, the computer program product comprising: 
 computer useable medium including a computer-readable program, wherein the computer-readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to: 
 display a first window displaying at least one game asset and a menu displaying a plurality of relationships between game assets, wherein the plurality of relationships includes at least a child relationship and a parent relationship;  
 receive a selection of a first game asset from the first window and a selection of the child relationship from the menu; and  
 display a second window displaying at least one other game asset having the child relationship with the selected first game asset.  
   
   
   
       11 . The computer program product of  claim 10  wherein the computer-readable program further causes the computer to: 
 receive a selection of a parent relationship from the menu; and    display the second window displaying at least one other game asset having the parent relationship with the selected first game asset.    
   
   
       12 . The computer program product of  claim 10  wherein the computer-readable program further causes the computer to: 
 receive a selection of a second game asset from the second window; and    display the second window displaying at least one other game asset having the child relationship with the selected second game asset.    
   
   
       13 . The computer program product of  claim 12  wherein the computer-readable program further causes the computer to: 
 receive a selection of the parent relationship from the menu; and    display the second window displaying at least one other game asset having the parent relationship with the selected second game asset.    
   
   
       14 . The computer program product of  claim 10  wherein the menu comprises a drop-down menu.  
   
   
       15 . The computer program product of  claim 10  wherein the computer-readable program further causes the computer to: 
 provide a search window to allow the user to search for the at least one game asset displayed in the first window.    
   
   
       16 . The computer program product of  claim 10  wherein the computer-readable program further causes the computer to: 
 display the at least one other game asset having the child relationship with the selected first game asset in a tree structure.    
   
   
       17 . A method of navigating through game assets in a game development environment, the method comprising: 
 providing a tool to select game assets in the game development environment; and    providing a tool to select relationships among the game assets in order to provide logical navigation through the game assets based on the relationships.    
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the logical navigation is based on relationships among the game assets regardless of the structure of the file system used to store the game assets.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the relationships include at least a child relationship and a parent relationship.  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 17  further comprising: 
 providing a search window to allow the user to search for game assets.