Patent ID: 7806777

Claim:
A computer-implemented method, comprising: receiving user input directed to manipulation of virtual equipment in an interactive computer game, the virtual equipment being manipulated through the user's interaction with an associated representation; determining a change in a user's skill level for interaction with the virtual equipment in response to the received user input; and adapting a virtual equipment model having one or more variables associated with the virtual equipment to reflect the determined change in user skill level, the virtual equipment model governing how the virtual equipment behaves in response to the user's interaction with the representation, and where the adapting comprises: if the change indicates that the user's skill level has increased, decreasing a sweet spot for a variable of the virtual equipment model; and if the change indicates that the user's skill level has decreased, increasing the sweet spot for the variable of the virtual equipment model, where the sweet spot is an area of a curve for the variable where the area is based on a degree of deviation from an ideal value for the variable.