JP6380472B2 - Information processing apparatus and game program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a game event of a network game, and more particularly to a game event control technique for which a holding period is limited.

  The use of smartphones as game terminals as well as communication terminals has become common. A network game popular with smartphones is provided by accessing a platform built on a game server from a smartphone web browser. Network games often have contents that emphasize character development, cooperation and competition with other players, and collection of cards and items.

In a network game, a “game event” may be held for a limited time. In the game event, benefits such as weapons and items are given by clearing a predetermined mission such as defeating a boss character. There are game events that a player can enjoy alone, and there are game events where a plurality of players cooperate to achieve a mission.
Game management companies hold regular game events. The player strengthens the character by clearing the game event and acquiring a privilege.

Japanese Patent No. 5621879

  A new user who has registered as a player after a time has passed since the release of the network game has no opportunity to play a game event whose duration has already ended (hereinafter referred to as “past event”). In addition, since game events foster the world view of network games, if the number of past events increases, new players may have difficulty understanding such a view of the world. If the number of new player registrations decreases, the base of the network game does not widen and eventually becomes inactive.

  The present invention has been completed on the basis of the above problem recognition, and its main object is to provide a game event control technique that is easy for even a new player to participate in a network game.

An information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes an event storage that stores a player registration unit that receives registration of a player for a computer game, a game event that is executed as part of the computer game, and a game event holding period in association with each other. And an event execution unit that executes a game event for registered players during the holding period.
The event execution unit gives an execution right to a player who has registered after the end of the event period, even if it is a past event that is a game event after the end of the event period.

  It should be noted that any combination of the above-described constituent elements and a conversion of the expression of the present invention between a method, an apparatus, a system, a recording medium, a computer program, etc. are also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

  According to the present invention, it becomes easy to promote participation of a new player in a network game.

It is a hardware block diagram of a game system. It is a screen figure of an event start screen. It is a functional block diagram of a game system. It is a data structure figure of an event storage part. It is a data structure figure of a player data storage part. It is a screen figure of an event selection screen.

In the present embodiment, description will be made assuming a role-playing network game (hereinafter referred to as “game G”) in which characters are raised while clearing various game events. In order to participate in the game G, the player needs to register as a player in the game server. The game server executes various game events after setting a holding period. The game event is associated with a mission clear authorization condition (hereinafter referred to as “clear condition”) and a privilege granted when the clear condition is satisfied. The privilege may be anything that can enhance the ability of the character, such as a weapon / armor, an item for enhancing the ability, a lottery right for a useful item (hereinafter referred to as “gacha ticket”).
In the following, description will be made centering on game event execution control.

FIG. 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of the game system 100.
In the game system 100, a game server 102 and a plurality of game terminals 104 a, 104 b, 104 c... 104 n (hereinafter collectively referred to as “game terminal 104” when collectively referred to or not particularly distinguished) via the Internet 106. Connected. The game terminal 104 in the present embodiment is assumed to be a smartphone. The game terminal 104 may be a portable game machine or a general-purpose computer such as a laptop PC. The game terminal 104 and the Internet 106 are wirelessly connected, but may be wired. A unique ID called a player ID is given in advance to the game player. The game server 102 provides a game to each game terminal 104.

FIG. 2 is a screen diagram of the event start screen 150.
The event start screen 150 is displayed on the game terminal 104. The event start screen 150 includes a status area 152 and an event information area 154 in addition to a main area 160 for executing a game effect.
The status area 152 shows the state of the character held by the player, such as the level and hit points. The event information area 154 shows the contents of the game event. The game event shown on the event start screen 150 in FIG. 2 has the content of adventuring “Aura Dungeon (015)”, and the privilege obtained when the mission is achieved is a protective gear “Chain Mail”. When the player completes the mission, he / she can obtain a chainmail, which further strengthens the possessed character.

  After the player selects a game event to be executed (described later with reference to FIG. 6), a player who forms an adventure together with the party button 156 displayed in the main area 160 of the event start screen 150 (hereinafter referred to as a player) , Called “Friend Player”). When the update button 158 is tapped, the face of the party button 156 changes.

  The fellow player may be a player who is registered as a “friend” in SNS (Social Networking Service), or a nearby player may be listed as a candidate by GPS (Global Positioning System). The fellow player does not need to participate in the game event in real time, and the character possessed by the fellow player may participate as NPC (Non Player Character), that is, AI (Artificial Intelligence).

A player performs a game event alone or with a fellow player. The game server 102 prepares various game events as needed and notifies the game terminal 104 of the event. Each game event has a story, and the world view of the game G is fostered by sequentially holding a plurality of game events. When the world view of the game G is nurtured, a sense of solidarity and sharedness is born among players who enjoy it.
The game event is an opportunity for the player to develop characters and also an episode that spins the world view (story) of the game.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the game system 100.
As described above, the game system 100 includes the game server 102 and the game terminal 104. Each component of the game terminal 104 and the game server 102 includes an arithmetic unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and various coprocessors, a storage device such as a memory and a storage, and hardware including a wired or wireless communication line connecting them. This is realized by software that is stored in a storage device and supplies processing instructions to an arithmetic unit. The computer program may be constituted by a device driver, an operating system, various application programs located in an upper layer thereof, and a library that provides a common function to these programs. Each block described below is not a hardware unit configuration but a functional unit block.
The game server 102 may be configured to include a web server, and the game terminal 104 may be configured to include a portable communication terminal and a web browser installed therein.

(Game server 102)
The game server 102 includes a communication unit 108, a data processing unit 110, and a data storage unit 112.
The communication unit 108 is in charge of communication processing with the game terminal 104 via the Internet 106. The data storage unit 112 stores various data. The data processing unit 110 executes various processes based on the data acquired by the communication unit 108 and the data stored in the data storage unit 112. The data processing unit 110 also functions as an interface between the communication unit 108 and the data storage unit 112. In addition to the game program, the data storage unit 112 stores information indicating the play state of each player.

The data storage unit 112 includes an event storage unit 130 and a player data storage unit 136.
The event storage unit 130 stores various settings related to game events. Details of the event storage unit 130 will be described later with reference to FIG. The player data storage unit 136 stores information indicating the play state of each player, in particular, the play state of the game event. Details of the player data storage 136 will be described later with reference to FIG.

The data processing unit 110 includes a player registration unit 126 and a game execution unit 114.
The player registration unit 126 receives player registration from the game terminal 104 via the communication unit 108. When player registration is requested, the player registration unit 126 gives a player ID to the player and registers it in the player data storage unit 136.

The game execution unit 114 controls the progress of the game. The game execution unit 114 performs a win / loss determination when playing against an enemy character in accordance with the character attributes of the character held by the player. The character attribute here is a general term for parameters that affect the battle with the enemy character, such as hit points, attack power, defense power, agility, movement speed, possible attack range, and type of technique.
The game execution unit 114 includes an event execution unit 128. The event execution unit 128 executes a game event with reference to each data in the event storage unit 130 and the player data storage unit 136 (described later).

(Game terminal 104)
The game terminal 104 includes a user interface unit 118, a communication unit 116, a data processing unit 120, and a data storage unit 122.
The user interface unit 118 receives operations from the player via the touch panel, and is also in charge of processing related to the user interface such as image display and audio output. The communication unit 116 is in charge of communication processing with the game server 102 and other game terminals 104 via the Internet 106. The data storage unit 122 stores various data. The data processing unit 120 executes various processes based on data acquired by the user interface unit 118 and the communication unit 116 and data stored in the data storage unit 122. The data processing unit 120 also functions as an interface for the user interface unit 118, the communication unit 116, and the data storage unit 122.

The data processing unit 120 includes a game execution unit 132. The game execution unit 132 controls the progress of the game in cooperation with the game server 102. The game execution unit 132 of the game terminal 104 may be formed as a software module that is downloaded from the game server 102 as part of the function of the game execution unit 114.
The communication unit 116 acquires various game information from the game server 102, and the data processing unit 120 causes the user interface unit 118 to display a game screen. In addition, the user interface unit 118 detects various inputs by the user, and the data processing unit 120 notifies the game server 102 of input information via the communication unit 116. In response to this input information, the game execution unit 114 of the game server 102 controls the progress of the game in cooperation with the game execution unit 132 of the game terminal 104.

  The user interface unit 118 includes an input unit 124 that receives input from the player, and an output unit 134 that outputs various information such as images and sounds to the player. The input unit 124 mainly detects a player's touch operation on the screen as an input.

FIG. 4 is a data structure diagram of the event storage unit 130.
A game event is identified by an event ID. The administrator of the game server 102 registers setting information for the game event together with the event ID at an arbitrary timing. A game event is associated with a start date and an end date, a clear condition, and a privilege.

  The game event of event ID: 001 shown in FIG. 4 (hereinafter referred to as “game event (001)”) is held from January 1, 2015 to January 3, 2015. “Defeat Boss A”. The player searches for the boss A which is an enemy character together with one or the fellow players, confronts this, and clears the game event (001) by defeating the boss A. When the game event (001) is cleared, a “gacha ticket” is awarded as a privilege to the player who defeated the boss A or all the parties.

  The game event (002) has a holding period (from February 10, 2015 to February 20, 2015) set after the game event (001). The player who has cleared the game event (001) again challenges a new mission when the game event (002) is held. In this way, by sequentially clearing the game events, the players develop characters while sharing the world view of the game G.

  The game event (015) corresponds to the game event “Aura Dungeon” described with reference to FIG. The holding period of the game event (015) is from May 20, 2016 to June 8, 2016, and the privilege obtained at the time of clearing is “chain mail”.

FIG. 5 is a data structure diagram of the player data storage unit 136.
As described above, the player is identified by the player ID. The player is associated with a player registration date, a played game event, and a friend's player ID. For example, a player with player ID: 001 (hereinafter referred to as “player (001)”) is registered as a player on December 7, 2014, and has a number of game events (001), game events (002), and the like. Experience playing game events.
FIG. 5 shows whether or not the game event has been cleared, but whether or not it has been played. Other information such as whether or not the game event has been cleared and how long it took to clear the game event may be registered.

  Player (001) is set as a friend with player (002) and player (003). For this reason, the player (001) is also set as a friend in the record of the player (002) and the player (003).

  The player (001) is registered as a player on December 7, 2014, before the end date (January 3, 2015, see FIG. 4) of the oldest game event (001). Therefore, the player (001) can participate in the game event (001), and the player (001) has actually played the game event (001).

  The player (002) is registered as a player on February 1, 2015 after the end date of the game event (001). Since the game event (001) is a past event for the player (002), the player (002) has no experience in playing the game event (001). However, in the game system 100 in the present embodiment, an opportunity to play a past event is also given (details will be described later).

  When past events cannot be played, there is a large disparity between the new player (012) and the existing player who clears many past events and strengthens the character (hereinafter referred to as “old player”) (001). Arise. The disparity here is an information disparity and a training disparity. If the development gap between the new player and the old player is too large, it may be a hindrance to new player registration.

  Since the old player (001) has participated since the first game event (001), he is familiar with the game story and world view. On the other hand, since the new player (012) has not played many past events, it is difficult to understand the world view of the game. The player (001) may be similar to a viewer who has watched a series of dramas from the first time, and the player (012) may be similar to a viewer who has begun watching dramas from the middle.

  Moreover, it is considered that the old player (001) has acquired various benefits by clearing many game events. For this reason, the player (012) is greatly inferior to the player (001) in terms of training including equipment. If the breeding gap is large, the new player (012) may find it difficult to catch up with the old player (001), and the game G may be avoided. Furthermore, there is a possibility that the new game event (015) has to be set to be difficult so that even an old player (001) can be satisfied. In this case, it may be very difficult for the player (012) who is inferior in equipment to clear the game event (015).

  In the present embodiment, such a problem is addressed by giving the player (012) the opportunity to play past events. According to FIG. 5, the player (012) has a play experience of a game event (001) that cannot be played. This is because the event execution unit 128 gives the player (012) an opportunity to execute the past event (001). The past event control method will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

FIG. 6 is a screen diagram of the event selection screen 138.
The event selection screen 138 is displayed on the game terminal 104. FIG. 6 is a screen displayed on the game terminal 104 of the player (012) on May 22, 2016. The player (012) has just registered as a player on May 1, 2015 (see FIG. 5).

The event selection screen 138 includes a held event information area 140 and a past event display area 142. The held event information area 140 shows a game event being held. Since the game event (015) “Aura Dungeon” is held from May 20, 2016 to June 8, 2016 (see FIG. 4), the play date (May 22, 2016) is during the holding period. In the held event information area 140, a game event (015) selection button 144a is displayed. When the player (012) touches the selection button 144a, the output unit 134 displays the event start screen 150 shown in FIG. The event execution unit 128 provides game data of the game event (012) to the player (012).
The game execution unit 114 (event execution unit 128) of the game server 102 and the game execution unit 132 of the game terminal 104 cooperate to execute a game event (015).

In the past event display area 142, past events are displayed side by side in chronological order of the date and time of the event. In FIG. 6, the selection buttons 144 from the oldest game event (001) to the game event (003) are displayed. The player can display the selection button 144 after the game event (004) by touching the page switching button 146.
Only newly registered players (012) are given the opportunity to play past events whose holding period has ended before registration.

  During the holding of the game event, the holding event information area 140 is displayed to all players. On the other hand, the content of the past event display area 142 differs depending on the player. The event execution unit 128 compares the end date of the game event with the registration date of the player, and provides the game event as a past event when the registration date is later than the end date.

  When the player (012) touches the past event selection button 144 in the past event display area 142, the event execution unit 128 provides the game data of the selected game event to the player (012). In the past event display area 142, only past event selection buttons 144 having the oldest date and time among past events that have not been played are in a selectable state. In the case of FIG. 6, only the past event (001) can be selected.

  When the player touches the selection button 144b corresponding to the game event (001), the event execution unit 128 starts an execution program for the game event (001) for the player (012). The player (012) can enjoy the past event (001) by accessing the execution program of the game event (001).

The player (012) may recruit fellow players when executing past events. The player (012) may call on another player who is set as a friend to join. For example, the player (012) may transmit invitation data for inviting participation in the past event (001) to the friend player (001). The invitation data including the player ID: 012 and the event ID: 001 is transmitted to the game server 102, and the game server 102 transmits the invitation data to the game terminal 104 of the player (001). When receiving the invitation data, the output unit 134 of the game terminal 104 notifies the reception of the invitation on the screen. When the invited player (001) replies that he / she receives the invitation, the event execution unit 128 gives the old player (001) the access right (participation right) to the past event (001) for the player (012). Give. As a result, the player (001) can enjoy the past event (001) together with the player (012).
The past event (001) is executed for the newly registered player (012), but if invited by the newly registered player (012), the old player (001) can also participate in the past event (001).

Thus, the player (012) can play with the cooperation of the old player (001) even in the past event. Even a past event whose holding period has ended can be played under the same conditions as at the time of holding, and the same privilege can be obtained even when the mission is achieved.
The old player (001) also has the advantage of being able to enjoy the nostalgic past event (001) again.

  When the player (012) clears the past event (001), the player (012) can obtain a gacha ticket which is a privilege of the past event (001). Therefore, the newly-registered player (012) can also obtain the benefit of the gacha ticket obtained when the old player (001) clears the game event (001). When the past event (001) is cleared, the gacha ticket as the privilege may be given not only to the player (012) but also to the player (001).

When the new player (012) plays the past event (001), the event execution unit 128 updates the play history of the player (012) in the player data storage unit 136. When the player (012) clears the past event (001), the output unit 134 displays the selection button 144c of the past event (002) in a selectable manner. In this way, the player (012) can play the past events in order according to the holding order.
The cleared past event (001) selection button 144 b is deleted from the past event display area 142. Even if the past event (001) cannot be cleared, if the past event (001) is played even once, the past event (002) may be set to be playable.

  A skip button 148 is displayed next to the selection button 144b. When the player (012) selects the skip button 148, the past event (001) is skipped. Also at this time, the output unit 134 displays the selection button 144c for the past event (002) in a selectable manner. The skipped past event (001) selection button 144 b is deleted from the past event display area 142.

  In summary, the player (012) can play all past events, but the execution order follows the past event order. The player (012) can skip the past event and select the next past event, but is not given the right to execute the past event once skipped.

  Usually, the first game event to be held has a low level of difficulty and modest benefits. On the other hand, game events to be held later have high difficulty, and powerful items are often given as benefits. If you clear a relatively new past event and get powerful items, you may be able to easily clear an old past event. Therefore, if the past events can be executed in an arbitrary order, the game balance may be lost.

In addition, if a plurality of past events are sequentially executed in accordance with the holding order, a new player can accurately recognize the game story and the world view. In other words, by matching the execution order of past events to the holding order, it is possible for new players to relive the play history of old players.
Since past events are not limited to a holding period, even if a new player intensively clears past events, the disparity with the old player can be reduced while understanding the story of the game G. In other words, since the new player can forcibly cultivate characters, the old player does not have to feel unfair.

  In addition, since past events can be arbitrarily skipped, it is not necessary to play all past events. Thereby, it is easy to maintain the willingness of a new player to play. Since past events that were skipped cannot be played, it is necessary for the player to develop a strategy for selecting past events, such as which past events to play, whether to skip, and what items to aim for. There is, and game nature improves.

The game system 100 has been described above based on the embodiment.
According to the present embodiment, even in a long-seller network game, it is possible to perform game event control in which a new player can easily participate. A newly participating player can forcibly cultivate a character while understanding the world view of the game by sequentially playing past events. There is also a merit that old players can enjoy old past events again when invited by new players.

  Even if a new player has a difficult game event, it is easy to participate in the game G with peace of mind if the cooperation of an old player can be obtained. The old player can not only easily recommend the favorite game G to other players, but also can spread friendships through cooperation with the opponent who recommended the game G. Increasing the motivation for the old player to recommend the game G contributes to the expansion of the game G play population. It is also possible to create a game community in which a plurality of old players actively help newly registered players to grow new players together.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment and modification, A component can be deform | transformed and embodied in the range which does not deviate from a summary. Various inventions may be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the above embodiments and modifications. Moreover, you may delete some components from all the components shown by the said embodiment and modification.

Although it has been described that the game system 100 is configured by a plurality of game terminals 104 and one game server 102, some of the functions of the game terminal 104 may be realized by the game server 102, or the functions of the game server 102 may be A part may be assigned to the game terminal 104. In addition, a third device other than the game server 102 or the game terminal 104 may bear a part of the function.
A set of each function of the game terminal 104 and each function of the game server 102 described in FIG. 3 can be generally grasped as one “information processing apparatus”. How to allocate a plurality of functions necessary for realizing the present invention to one or a plurality of hardware depends on the processing capability of each hardware, the specifications required for the game system 100, and the like. It only has to be decided.

  Depending on the game event, the participation conditions for the fellow players may be set. For example, there may be a game event in which only friends can participate as fellow players, and there may be a game event in which anyone can become a fellow player.

  The old player may be able to set participation conditions for past events. For example, when a fellow player is recruited for the past event (002), the event execution unit 128 of the game server 102 is notified whenever it joins, and when a newly registered player executes the past event (002), event execution is performed. The unit 128 may notify the alert that the fellow player is recruiting. At this time, the old player may actually participate in the past event, or may participate by proxy by sending an NPC reflecting the status of the possessed character.

  In the present embodiment, the game event end date is compared with the player registration date, and when the registration date is later than the end date, the game event is set as a past event. As a modification, the start date of the game event may be compared with the registration date, or the registration date may be compared with an arbitrary date (for example, an intermediate date) during the holding period. Alternatively, a game event that has not been played even if the registration date is earlier than the end date of the game event may be regarded as a past event.

  Some past events may not be reproducible due to management reasons, for example, changes in game specifications. In that case, an alternative event of the past event may be prepared. For example, when the past event D for obtaining the privilege X is abolished, an equivalent game event E for obtaining the privilege X may be provided as “an alternative event for the past event D”.

  Newly registered players may not be able to keep the same player as a fellow player. The event execution unit 128 records in which game event each player has become a friend, and when the new player F and the old player G form a party in the past event for a predetermined number of times, the player F You may restrict | limit exchange so that the player G cannot be a friend player. According to such a control method, it is possible to promote the expansion of the play population by encouraging various exchanges between players.

  All past events may be skippable or there may be past events that cannot be skipped. For example, skipping may be prohibited for important game events in story development.

  The privilege obtained in the past event may be given only to a newly registered player, or may be given to both a newly registered player and a registered player who supports the newly registered player. If it is a privilege that can be divided, it may be divided and distributed. If a registered player cannot clear a past event during an actual event and has not acquired a privilege, it will be a re-challenge opportunity for the registered player to acquire a privilege that he / she missed. It becomes a motivation to support the player.

Game event holding periods may partially overlap. For example, the game event I may be started before the game event H ends.
Although it has been described that past events are executed in the order in which they are held, the execution order may be changed exceptionally. In particular, as long as the continuity of the story and the game balance are not affected, there may be room for changing the execution order of the game events.
In this embodiment, the game event executed as a part of the computer game has been described. However, the technical idea of the present invention can be applied to a plurality of network games whose holding periods (executable periods) are limited.

  100 game system, 102 game server, 104 game terminal, 106 internet, 108 communication unit, 110 data processing unit, 112 data storage unit, 114 game execution unit, 116 communication unit, 118 user interface unit, 120 data processing unit, 122 data Storage unit, 124 input unit, 126 player registration unit, 128 event execution unit, 130 event storage unit, 132 game execution unit, 134 output unit, 136 player data storage unit, 138 event selection screen, 140 event information area, 142 past Event display area, 144 selection button, 146 page switching button, 148 skip button, 150 event start screen, 152 status area, 154 event information area, 156 party button, 158 update Button, 160 main area.

Claims (6)

A player registration unit for accepting registration of the player for the computer game;
A game event executed as a part of the computer game, and an event storage unit that stores an association period of the game event;
An event execution unit that executes the game event for registered players in the holding period,
The information processing apparatus, wherein the event execution unit gives an execution right to a player registered after the end of the holding period even if the event is a past event that is a game event after the end of the holding period. The event storage unit further stores a game condition clear condition and a privilege granted when the clear condition is satisfied in association with the game event,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the event execution unit gives a privilege to a player who satisfies a clear condition for a past event.   The said event execution part gives the execution right sequentially according to the holding order of these past events with respect to the player who registered after the holding period of several past events ends. The information processing apparatus described.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the event execution unit causes the designated past event to be skipped when instructed to skip any past event among the plurality of past events.   When the event execution unit grants the execution right of the past event to the first player registered after the past event holding period, the second player was able to play the past event during the past event holding period. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a right to participate in the past event is given in cooperation with the first player. A function of accepting registration of a player for a computer game;
A function for storing a game event executed as a part of the computer game in association with a holding period of the game event;
A function of executing the game event for registered players in the holding period;
A game program for causing a computer to exhibit a function of giving an execution right to a player registered after the end of the holding period, even if it is a past event that is a game event after the end of the holding period.

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