JP2008036241A - Ranking setting system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ranking setting system by which all players can play a game while keeping a ranking chart in mind even if the game is one in which a large number of players participate, and which does not impede a chance for entering a higher rank of a player who frequently participates in the game. <P>SOLUTION: This ranking setting system is equipped with the ranking chart for which player characters (PC) and non-player characters (NPC) of specified numbers belong to one or more leagues being set for each class of a comprehensive ranking chart of a class structure. Then, a server is equipped with a logging-in status monitoring means. The logging-in status monitoring means can be constituted by being equipped with a means for eliminating PCs which are not logged in for a specified period of time or longer, and a means which makes the eliminated PCs revitalize to the league. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a player ranking setting system in a network game system in which a large number of players (users) can participate in an online game from a client computer via a communication network line such as the Internet.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various network game systems are provided in which a player can participate in an online game via a communication line such as the Internet from a client computer in which a client system program is installed. In these network game systems, a player gathers player characters and other characters from the standpoint of the owner or manager of a sports team such as soccer or baseball, forms a team, and plays against a team formed by another player or game server. And enjoy the progress of the game and the results of winning and losing. Players can improve the various ability values of each player character by practicing and training the player characters of their team, and as a result, improve the overall strength of their team and increase the winning rate in the game I can go.

  For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-255 discloses a technique related to a network game system of the above-described format, taking a soccer game as an example.

  In this type of game, a player operates a player character or kicks a ball by operating a button or lever of a client computer or a game terminal, that is, depending on whether the player's motor nerve or reflexes Unlike games where the outcome of wins and losses is affected, the game can be enjoyed intelligently by making full use of strategies and tactics, so it can be fully enjoyed not only by young people but also by ordinary adults. It is configured as follows.

  Hereinafter, “client computer” refers to a computer in which a client program of the network game system is installed in a general-purpose personal computer, a computer in which the client program is preinstalled, and a game terminal capable of executing processing of the client program It is used in the meaning including etc.

  Also, various game devices using computer control are known which have a function of ranking (ranking) players based on the results (results) played by the players. Generally, a player who has achieved a high score can post his / her name and nickname on the ranking chart along with the results of the game by entering his / her name and nickname at the end of the game. It is an attractive feature that allows players to recognize their skills.

  In recent years, with the advancement of communication network technology, in a system in which a game is progressed through a communication network by a server operated by a game maker, etc., and the result information is collected and ranked, the player is from all over the country or the whole world. Because you can participate in the same game, you can compete with many people for the results of the game. On the other hand, since many players participate in the popular game, the top players in the ranking are occupied by a certain level of skill, and beginners can easily post their results and names on the ranking chart. However, there was a problem that the beginner's interest in the ranking system did not come out.

  In consideration of such difficulties, players are divided into groups according to their skills, and assignments with different difficulty levels are set for each group, and rankings are determined within the group (for example, special No. 2003-135854 has been proposed.

  In addition, a ranking chart that sets rankings of player characters for which various parameters are set on the player side and non-player characters for which various parameters are set on the server side has a plurality of layers from upper to lower, and each layer has a predetermined level. In a ranking setting system in which one or more groups (leagues) to which a number of characters belong are set, a player character or a non-player character in the same group competes for a battle or game results, and based on the results, A ranking system has also been proposed in which the hierarchy to be ranked is determined. According to this ranking system, if the number of player characters or non-player characters constituting one group is set to a predetermined number that can be listed in the ranking chart, for example, about 10 to 20, the player affiliation Since you can always check your ranking on the ranking chart in the group you want to play, you can enhance the player's interest in the ranking system.

JP-A-2005-255 JP 2003-135854 A

  However, in the ranking system disclosed in Patent Literature 2, if the number of players in the same group divided into groups increases, there is a problem that the superiors in the group are fixed to some extent as in the past. . In addition, since a task with a difficulty level according to the skill of the player is given from the server and the game is played according to the setting of the task, there is a problem that it is not strictly the same game ranking system. .

  In addition, the ranking chart as described above has a hierarchical structure, a group (league) to which a predetermined number of player characters or non-player characters belong is set in each hierarchy, and the next ranking chart based on the game results in the group In the ranking system that determines the hierarchy set for the player, if a player who has earned a good performance and ranked high in the ranking does not participate in the game for a considerable period of time, there is room for a player who frequently participates in the game to enter the high ranking There was a problem of narrowing.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem, and even if the game is a game in which a large number of players participate in the game, all players can play while being aware of the ranking chart, It is an object of the present invention to provide a ranking setting system that does not hinder the opportunity of entering the higher rank for players participating in the.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the invention described in claim 1 includes a server connected to a communication network, and a client computer capable of transmitting and receiving information to and from the server via the communication network, and enters the server. In the network game system in which the server automatically executes a progress process of a game by a battle between played player characters, non-player characters, or the player character and the non-player character, the player character and the non-player character Is a ranking setting system that belongs to any one of the leagues set in the general ranking chart, and the general ranking chart includes a plurality of levels, one or more leagues set in each level, A predetermined number of the player characters belonging to the game, the non-player character, or the player character and the non-player character, and the server is configured based on the parameter of the player character set by the client computer. A game progress means for performing a game progress process, a game result generation means for generating result data of the game after completion of the game progress process by the game progress means, and the game of the game generated by the game result generation means Based on the result data, the in-league ranking chart updating means for updating the in-league ranking chart of the league to which the player character or the non-player character who played the game belongs, and the login status from the client computer are monitored. After the log-in status monitoring means and a predetermined number of times of progress of the game, the hierarchy in which the player character and the league to which the non-player character will belong next time is set based on the ranking information of the in-league ranking chart Hierarchy determining means, league determining means for determining the league to which the player character and the non-player character belong in the hierarchy determined by the hierarchy determining means, the overall ranking chart and the league ranking chart Storage means for storing.

  In the invention described in Sakkyu Express 1, the number of leagues set in each level of the overall ranking chart may be the same number of leagues arranged in all levels, or the number of leagues increases as the level goes down You may arrange in. Further, the number of player characters and / or non-player characters belonging to one league can be arbitrarily set to such an extent that the league rankings can be displayed as a list.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the ranking setting system according to the first aspect, the login status monitoring means includes the player character to which the player character has not been logged in from the client computer for a predetermined period of time. It is characterized in that it is excluded from the league and stored in a predetermined storage area, and one non-player character is newly added to the league from which the player character is excluded.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the ranking setting system according to the second aspect, when the client computer of the player character excluded from the league performs a login operation, the login status monitoring unit performs the login operation. The player character is revived and belongs to the league set in any of the layers below the set hierarchy, and the player character belongs to the restored league 1 One non-player character is excluded from the league.

  The invention according to claim 4 is connected to a client computer for setting a parameter of a player character so that information can be transmitted and received via a communication network, and the player characters entered from the client computer, non-player characters, or the A game progression process is automatically executed by a battle between a player character and the non-player character, and a predetermined number of the player characters, the non-player character, or the player character and the non-player character are divided into a plurality of layers. A server that belongs to any one of the leagues of a general ranking chart having one or more leagues set in each of the layers, and is the player set in the client computer A game progress means for performing the progress process of the game based on the parameters of the character, a game result generation means for generating result data of the game after completion of the progress process of the game by the game progress means, and the game result generation means Intra-league ranking chart updating means for updating the in-league ranking chart of the league to which the player character or non-player character who played the game belongs based on the result data of the generated game, and login from the client computer The login status monitoring means for monitoring the situation and the league to which the player character and the non-player character will belong next time are set based on the ranking information of the ranking chart in the league after the completion of the progress process of the game a predetermined number of times. Above Hierarchy determining means for determining a layer, league determining means for determining the league to which the player character and the non-player character belong in the hierarchy determined by the hierarchy determining means, the overall ranking chart, and the league Storage means for storing the ranking chart.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the server according to claim 4, wherein the login status monitoring means belongs to the player character that has not been logged in from the client computer for a predetermined period or more. It is characterized in that it is excluded from the league and stored in a predetermined storage area, and one non-player character is newly added to the league from which the player character is excluded.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the server according to claim 5, wherein the login status monitoring means is configured such that when the client computer of the player character excluded from the league performs a login operation, the player character The player character is revived and belongs to the league set in any of the layers below the set hierarchy, and the player character belongs to the restored league 1 One non-player character is excluded from the league.

  The invention according to claim 7 is connected to a client computer for setting parameters of a player character so that information can be transmitted and received via a communication network, and the player characters entered from the client computer, non-player characters, or the A game progression process is automatically executed by a battle between a player character and the non-player character, and a predetermined number of the player characters, the non-player character, or the player character and the non-player character are divided into a plurality of layers. A program for causing a computer to function as a server belonging to any of the leagues of a general ranking chart having one or more leagues set in each of the layers, A game progress means for performing the progress process of the game based on the parameters of the player character set by the client computer, and a game for generating the result data of the game after completion of the progress process of the game by the game progress means Intra-league ranking chart for updating the in-league ranking chart of the league to which the player character or non-player character who played the game belongs based on the result data of the game generated by the result generation means and the game result generation means Update means, login status monitoring means for monitoring the login status from the client computer, and after completion of the progress of the game a predetermined number of times, based on the ranking information in the league ranking chart, the player character and the A hierarchy determining means for determining the hierarchy in which the league to which the player character will belong next time is set, and a league for determining the league to which the player character and the non-player character belong within the hierarchy determined by the hierarchy determining means It is made to function as a memory | storage means to memorize | store the determination means, the said comprehensive ranking chart, and the said league ranking chart.

  The invention according to claim 8 is the program according to claim 7, wherein the login character monitoring means assigns the player character for which a login operation has not been performed from the client computer for a predetermined period or more to the player. It is excluded from the league to which the character belongs and is stored in a predetermined storage area, and functions as means for newly adding one non-player character to the league from which the player character is excluded. To do.

  Invention of Claim 9 is a program of Claim 8, Comprising: When the said client computer of the said player character which the said login situation monitoring means excluded from the said league performed login operation of the computer of Claim 8 , The player character is revived and belongs to the league set in any one of the layers below the set hierarchy, and the player character belongs to the revived league It is made to function as a means to exclude one said non-player character currently performed from the said league.

  According to the ranking setting system, server, and ranking setting program according to the present invention configured as described above, the overall ranking chart includes a plurality of tiers, one or more leagues set in each tier, and this league. A game progress means comprising a predetermined number of player characters belonging to, non-player characters, or these player characters and non-player characters, wherein the server performs a game progress process based on the player character parameters set on the client computer And a game result generating means for generating game result data after completion of the game progress processing by the game progress means, and a player character or non-player who played the game based on the game result data generated by the game result generating means Player character The league ranking chart updating means for updating the league ranking chart of the league to which the player belongs, the login status monitoring means for monitoring the login status from the client computer, Based on the ranking information, the hierarchy determining means for determining the hierarchy in which the next league to which the player character and the non-player character belong is set, and the player character and the non-player character belong within the hierarchy determined by the hierarchy determining means. Since it includes a league determination means for determining a league and a storage means for storing a general ranking chart and an in-league ranking chart, the player character and / or the non-player character belonging to each league Is a predetermined number that does not increase or decrease. Therefore, by setting this number to a number that can be easily displayed as a ranking, for example, about 10 to 20, each player can make his own at the end of the match. By checking the in-league ranking chart of the league to which you belong, you can feel that your results are always involved in the ranking setting system. Therefore, the player does not lose interest in the ranking setting system. The level to which the league to which you belong is located in the entire game participants including non-player characters depends on which level of the overall ranking chart the league to which your player character belongs is set. By confirming, it can be easily recognized.

  In addition, since tasks having different degrees of difficulty are not set in each hierarchy or each league, it is possible to strictly ensure the same setting conditions of the game system in which all players play.

  Furthermore, since the login status monitoring means monitors the login status from the client computer periodically or irregularly (for example, at the end of “one day” in the game system, at the end of one period, etc.), for example, frequently The game organizer gives a privilege to the user (player) who is logged in, or sends a notification to the server to log in to the player who has not logged in to the server for a long time To encourage participation in the game.

  Further, according to the ranking setting system, server, and ranking setting program according to an embodiment of the present invention, the login status monitoring means is assigned to a player character that has not been logged in from a client computer for a predetermined period of time. Since it is excluded from the league being stored and stored in a predetermined storage area, it can be configured with player character exclusion means for adding one non-player character to the league from which the player character is excluded. Ranking information of players who have not participated in the network game system for a long time (not logged in to the server) will remain in the general ranking chart and league ranking chart forever and participate in other frequent games Is not that inhibit the layers opportunity of higher rank containing of.

  Furthermore, according to the ranking setting system, the server, and the ranking setting program according to the embodiment of the present invention, when the client computer of the player character excluded from the league performs a login operation, the login status monitoring means The player character is revived and made to belong to a league set at any level below the league in which the player belonged, and one non-player character belonging to the restored league is assigned. Since it can be configured with a player character reviving means to be excluded from the league, the hierarchy in which the player character of that player is revived is determined according to the length of time from the time when it is excluded from the league until the next login to the server You can also. For example, when the excluded period is short, it can be restored to the original hierarchy, and as the excluded period becomes longer, it can be restored to a lower hierarchy.

  Hereinafter, in one embodiment of the present invention, a player forms a player character team (hereinafter referred to as a “PC team”) as a soccer team owner, and connects to a server via a network line such as the Internet to play a game. An example is a network game system that enters (registers for participation) and plays a battle game with a non-player character team (hereinafter referred to as “NPC team”) whose parameters are set by another player's PC team or server.

  FIG. 1 is a network connection diagram showing an example of a network configuration of the network game system in the present embodiment.

  In this embodiment, the player sets his / her own PC team by setting various necessary parameters with the client computer 3 in which the client program of the game system is installed.

  In FIG. 1, a large number of client computers 3 are connected to a server 2 via a communication network 1 such as the Internet. It should be noted that the server 2 is not limited to one, but may be configured with a plurality of computers as necessary to distribute the processing load or to back up various data generated in accordance with the game progress processing. You may do it. The player collects player characters (PCs) necessary for team management such as player characters, manager characters, coach characters, scout characters, etc., according to the client program installed in the client computer 3, and sets the parameters of each PC. It is possible to participate in the network game by forming a team and entering the server 2.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 4 indicates a terminal (general-purpose computer or the like) capable of transmitting / receiving information to / from the server 2 via the communication network 1 without installing a client program, and reference numeral 5 indicates communication via the base station 6. A portable terminal such as a mobile phone or PDA (Personal Digital Assistants) connected to the network 1 and capable of transmitting / receiving information to / from the server 2 via the communication network line 1 is shown. The network game system according to the present embodiment is configured so that the game situation and results can be viewed from these terminals 4 and portable terminals 5.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of the server 2 in the present embodiment. In the figure, the server 2 includes a processing unit 210, a communication unit 220, a storage unit 230, an operation unit 240, and an image / sound output unit 250. The server 2 also includes an interface circuit (I / F) 260 for transmitting / receiving information to / from an external device. The communication unit 220, the storage unit 230, the operation unit 240, and the image / sound output unit 250 include The interface circuit (I / F) 260 is connected to an external communication line 271, an external storage device 272, an input device 273 such as a keyboard and a mouse, and an image display device / audio output device 274 such as a display monitor and a speaker. ing. The interface circuit (I / F) 260 may be configured on a single board as shown, and corresponds to the communication unit 220, the storage unit 230, the operation unit 240, and the image / sound output unit 250, respectively. It may be configured independently.

  The processing unit 210 includes a timer 211 that measures the progress of time in the network game system according to the present embodiment, and a matching process between the PC teams entered in the server 2, the NPC teams, or the PC team and the NPC team (the mutual A schedule determination unit 212 for performing a process for determining the schedule of the match, and a parameter set for the PC team according to the schedule determined by the schedule determination unit 212. The game progress means 213 for performing the game progress process, the game image generation means 214 for generating game image data based on the game progress process of the game progress means 213, and the end of the game progress process by the game progress means 213 A game result generating means 215 for generating game result data later is provided.

  Further, the processing unit 210 generates the game image generation unit 214 according to the game image reproduction request signal transmitted from the client computer 3 or the terminals 4 and 5 shown in FIG. Game image reproduction display means 216 for reproducing the game image data and displaying it on the display device of the client computer 3 or the terminals 4 and 5, and after completion of the game image data reproduction processing by the game image reproduction display means 217, the client computer 3 Or the game result display means 217 which displays game result data on the display apparatus of the said terminals 4 and 5 is provided.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the processing unit 210 performs the game image in response to a reproduction processing end signal transmitted from the client computer 3 or the terminals 4 and 5 during the game image data reproduction processing by the game image reproduction display means 216. Reproduction processing end means 218 for forcibly terminating the data reproduction processing is provided. When the reproduction processing of the game image data is forcibly terminated by the reproduction processing end means 218, the game result display means 217 is activated and the game result data is displayed on the display device of the client computer 3 or the terminals 4 and 5 above. Processing to display is performed.

  Further, each time the progress processing of one game by the game progress means 213 ends, the processing unit 210 ranks the leagues to be described later of the league to which the PC team or NPC team that played the game belongs based on the result of the game. The league ranking chart updating means 201 that performs processing for updating the chart (232B), and each time a period ends, each team belongs to the next time based on the league ranking of the league ranking chart 232B at the end of the period. A hierarchy determining unit 202 that performs a process of determining a hierarchy of the league, and a league determining unit 203 that performs a process of determining a league to which each team belongs in the hierarchy determined by the hierarchy determining unit 202 are provided.

  The processing unit 210 further includes login status monitoring means 204 that monitors the login status from the client computer 3 to the server 2, which is a feature of the present invention. This login status monitoring means 204 is used to identify a PC team that has not been logged in from the client computer 3 to the server 2 for a predetermined period (for example, “3 years” as measured by the time progress of the game system in the present embodiment). A process of excluding the PC team from the league to which the PC team belongs and storing in an excluded PC team storage area in the RAM 232 described later is performed, and a process of newly adding one NPC team to the league excluded from the PC team is performed. When the player character exclusion means 204A and the client computer 3 of the PC team excluded from the league perform a login operation to the server 2, the league to which the PC team belonged before the PC team is excluded is set below The process of reviving and belonging to a league set at any level of It performs, and a player character revival means 204B to carry out the process of excluding one of NPC team that belongs to the league, which was the resurrection from the league. Details of the flow of processing by the player character exclusion unit 204A and the player character restoration unit 204B will be described later.

  The communication unit 220 connects the server 2 and the external communication line 271 via the interface circuit (I / F) 260 and controls transmission / reception of information between the client computer 3 or the terminals 4 and 5 and the server 2. I do.

  The storage unit 230 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 231 that is a read-only storage area in which a system program including a game program of the network game system in the present embodiment is stored, and an overall ranking chart 232A generated by the processing unit 210. In addition, data including an excluded PC team storage area 232C for storing data of the PC team excluded from the affiliation league by the league ranking chart 232B and the player character excluding means 204A is stored, and a work area for arithmetic processing of the processing unit 210 And a RAM (Random Access Memory) 232 that is a rewritable storage area.

  The storage unit 230 is connected to the external storage device 272 via the interface circuit (I / F) 260, and performs processing of referring to, reading, and rewriting data stored in the external storage device 272 according to the processing of the processing unit 210. Do. The external storage device 272 is constituted by an information storage medium drive device such as a hard disk drive device, and stores various databases including a game management database (DB) 272A. In the game management DB 272A, a player DB that stores player attribute information and various parameters information (M1) of the PC team set by the player, a schedule management that stores information such as match matching and schedule (M2), etc. DB, game progress DB in which basic image data, audio data, etc. (M3) used when the game image generation means 214 performs processing for generating game image data based on the game progress processing by the game progress means 213 are stored A storage area such as a ranking DB for storing ranking information and the like (M4) for performing player ranking (ranking) is provided. The game management DB 272A may be provided in the storage unit 230 of the server 2.

  The operation unit 240 connects the server 2 and an external input device (keyboard, mouse, touch pen, etc.) via the interface circuit (I / F) 260, and receives data input to the server 2 during maintenance of the server 2 or the like. Process to receive and analyze.

  The image / sound output unit 250 is connected to the server 2 and an image display device / sound output device such as an external display monitor or speaker via an interface circuit (I / F) 260, and the processing of the server 2 is visually and auditorily performed. Process to confirm automatically.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a data table (M1) stored (stored) in the player DB of the game management DB 272A. FIG. 3A shows various ability parameters of player characters belonging to the player's PC team. FIG. 3B shows an example of the data table of the PC team entered by the player in the server 2.

  The data table shown in FIG. 3A is stored for each player, and in the present embodiment, the player is configured to place a maximum of 20 player characters under control. Each player character has a player's name, age parameter, and mental ability parameters such as “contribution”, “command power”, “judgment”, “reading”, “mental power”, “wide field of view” ”,“ Attack Awareness ”,“ Defensive Awareness ”parameters and skill parameters such as“ Decisiveness ”,“ Pass ”,“ Cross ”,“ Dribble ”,“ Technique ”,“ FK (Free Kick) ” “Technology”, “Heading”, “Tackle”, “Passcut”, “Saving”, “High Cross”, “Jump” parameters, and physical parameters such as “Strength”, “Kick”, “ The parameters of “running power”, “instantaneous power”, “stamina” and the positioning parameters are “center appropriate”, “left side appropriate”, “right side appropriate”, “GK”, “CDF”, “ SD ”,“ DMF ”,“ SMF ”,“ AMF ”,“ FW ”,“ WING ”parameters and tactical ability parameters,“ Central Breakthrough ”,“ Side Attack ”,“ Counter ”,“ Pressing ” , “Offside” parameters are set. Further, at the right end of the table, data of “parameter total” and “parameter average” of all the above parameters except the age parameter are stored as reference values. These parameters can not be set freely by the player, but based on the parameters that are initially set for each player character, the player trains the player character to perform various exercises and training according to the client program. As a result, the ability value can be gradually increased.

  The data table shown in FIG. 3 (b) is stored for each league to which each PC team or NPC team belongs, and in the present embodiment, as a general rule, 16 PC teams or NPC teams belong to one league. ing. In this league data table, one record is set for each player. Each record has “Record No.”, “User ID”, “Player Name”, “Team Name”, “Director”, “Coach”, “Player (1)”, “Player (2)”,・ ・ ・, "Player (20)", "starter" to start in the game, "attack tactics", "defensive tactics", "system (formation)" and "other" setting data used in the game are stored Has been. Among these data, “user ID” and “password” are given by the player from the server 2 side when the player (user) first enters the server 2. The “player name” and “team name” can be arbitrarily set on the player side. The names of “director”, “coach” and “player (1)” to “player (20)” are set in advance in the game program or client program of the server 2.

  “Starter”, “Attack Tactics”, “Defensive Tactics”, “System” and “Others” are items that can be set arbitrarily by the player, and how to select these player characters and the tactics to use This is the greatest point of the game of the format as in this embodiment. For example, in this embodiment, in the “other” setting, “if the tie is lost or lost at the end of the first half, change the attack strategy in the second half to a counter” (setting A), If you win by more than 2 points, you can set a fine game plan, such as “Change player (1) to player (7) and change defensive tactics to zone press” (Setting B) It is configured as follows.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data table (M2) stored (stored) in the schedule management DB of the game management DB 272A. The data table shown in FIG. 4 is stored for each player, and in this embodiment, 16 teams including the player's PC team battle the home game and the away game in a round-robin battle. It is configured to end the first league by digesting 30 games up to Section 30.

  The PC team that has entered the server 2 determines the date and time of the match with the opponent by the processing of the schedule determination means 212 described in detail later. The schedule is determined so that the game will be played against 6 teams on the 1st of the real time, and 30 games will be consumed in 5 days of the real time to finish the first league. The entry to the next league is closed at 24:00 on the fifth day of one period, and the next schedule of the team entered on the next day (referred to as day 0) is determined and published on the server 2. Therefore, the first period is configured to end in 6 days of the real time from the 0th day to the 5th day, and the end of the first period, that is, the 6 days of the real time, "One year" on the network game system is defined.

  In FIG. 4, a data table (M2) is a data table for storing data of the first league (league name “L7010”) of the user ID “A0000001” and the team name “Dogs”. In this data table (M2), one record is set for each game. In each record, “day”, “hour”, “section”, “opposition team”, “score”, “losing points”, “winning / losing”, “winning points”, “score difference”, “ The data of “rank” and “progress” are stored based on the game progress processing by the game progress means 213.

  In the data table (M2) shown in FIG. 4, on the first day of the first league, the progress process of the game from the first section to the third section is finished, and the progress process of the game of the fourth section is performed. Indicates the state. In the bottom row of this data table (M2), the current grade information is tabulated, and “Dogs” has a total score of “6” when the section 3 is finished, and a total score of “Goals” is “ 3 ”, winning and losing are 2 wins and 0 losses and 1 minute, the score is“ 7 ”, the goal difference is“ +4 ”, and the ranking in the league is“ currently 4th ”. The rightmost column of the data table (M2) shows the progress of the game of each section.

  Further, the date when this player last logged into the server 2 from the client computer 3 is stored in the upper right corner of the data table (M2) shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the date of the last login is stored, but the date of the last logout may be stored.

  5 and 6 are diagrams illustrating an example of a data table stored (stored) in the RAM 232 of the storage unit 230 of the server 2, and FIG. 5 illustrates all of the data tables registered in the network game system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is an overall ranking chart 232A showing rankings of leagues (L1001 etc.), and FIG. 6 is an in-league ranking chart 232B showing rankings of teams belonging to one league composed of 16 teams (L7010 league in the illustrated example). It is.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the overall ranking of the PC team and the NPC team is disclosed as the ranking of the league to which each team belongs. The general ranking chart 232A is set in a hierarchical structure including hierarchical levels 1 to 7. Symbols such as L1001 in each hierarchy indicate one league set in the hierarchy, and in principle, 16 teams belong to each league.

  In this embodiment, one league (L1001) in the highest hierarchy 1, two leagues (L2001, L2002) in hierarchy 2, four leagues (L3001, L3002, L3003, L3004) in hierarchy 3, and so on. The league is arranged so as to double as it goes to. By arranging in this way, a ranking chart is formed in which it is not necessary to increase the number of hierarchies even if the number of registered teams increases. By the way, in this example, 8 leagues (L4001 to L4008) in level 4, 16 leagues (L5001 to L5016) in level 5, 32 leagues (L6001 to L6032) in level 6, and 64 leagues (L7001 to L7064) in level 7 Since it is arranged, it is possible to correspond to the rankings of 127 leagues and 2032 teams in 7 layers. Each team of the PC team and the NPC team is assigned to one of these leagues, and competes with the other 15 teams in the assigned league for ranking. Then, the rank of each team is changed based on the league ranking at the end of one period. In the present embodiment, among the teams belonging to the league of level 1, the lower 6 teams from 11th to 16th are demoted to level 2. For teams that belong to the leagues of Tier 2 to 6, the top 3 teams in the league ranking from 1st to 3rd place are promoted to the next higher level, and the lower 6 teams from 11th to 16th place Demote to the next lower level. Teams belonging to the league of level 7 are promoted to level 6 by the top three teams from 1st to 3rd. In addition, the hierarchy 8 shown with a broken line in FIG. 5 is a hierarchy in which the PC team of the player newly entered in the middle of the league game to be described later is arranged, and all the PC teams arranged in this hierarchy are in the next league. Promoted to 7. Further, even if the rank is lower in the hierarchy 7 at the end of the period, the rank is not demoted to the hierarchy 8. The number of leagues arranged in each hierarchy is not limited to the above example, and the same number of leagues may be arranged in each hierarchy. In addition, the number of teams to be promoted or demoted can be arbitrarily set according to the actual situation.

  In the present embodiment, the PC team newly entered in the server 2 before the start of the league match belongs to one of the leagues (L7001 to L7064) in the lowest layer of the general ranking chart 232A, that is, the hierarchy 7. It is configured. Therefore, before the service of the network game system in this embodiment is started, all leagues of all tiers are occupied by NPC teams, and players who have entered at the same time as the service start (PC team entry acceptance start) The PC team is replaced with the NPC team of any league in the tier 7.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of an in-league ranking chart 232B that stores the rankings of teams belonging to each league. This intra-league ranking chart 232B is stored for each league, and is updated every time a progress process of one game is finished by the intra-league ranking chart updating means 201 based on the progress process of the game by the game progress means 213. FIG. 6 shows an in-league ranking chart 232B at the time when the game of the third verse is finished in the first league L7010.

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of the client computer 3 in the present embodiment. In the figure, the client computer 3 includes a processing unit 310, a communication unit 320, a storage unit 330, an operation unit 340, an image output unit 350, and an audio output unit 360. The client computer 3 also includes an interface circuit (I / F) 370 for transmitting / receiving information to / from an external device, and includes a communication unit 320, a storage unit 330, an operation unit 340, an image output unit 350, and an audio output unit. Reference numeral 360 denotes an external communication line 381, an external storage device 382, an input device 383 such as a keyboard and a mouse, an image display device 384 such as a display monitor, and a sound such as a speaker via the interface circuit (I / F) 370. An output device 385 is connected. Note that the interface circuit (I / F) 370 may be configured on one substrate as illustrated, or may include a communication unit 320, a storage unit 330, an operation unit 340, an image output unit 350, and an audio output unit 360. It may be configured to correspond independently to each other.

  The processing unit 310 includes parameter setting means 311 for performing processing for setting various parameters of the PC team, and PC team training for improving various ability parameters by causing the player characters constituting the PC team to perform practice and training. Means 312, image display means 313 for displaying an image such as a game image on the image display device 384, and audio output means 314 for outputting sound from an audio output device 385 such as a speaker. Further, the processing unit 310 includes a game image reproduction request signal output unit 315 for requesting reproduction of a game image of a game for which the game progression processing by the game progression unit 213 of the server 2 is completed, and a game image reproduction of the game image of the server 2. A reproduction process end signal output unit 316 is provided for terminating the reproduction process by the game image reproduction display unit 216 when the display unit 216 is performing the reproduction process.

  The communication unit 320 connects the client computer 3 and an external communication line 381 via an interface circuit (I / F) 370 and performs processing for controlling transmission / reception of information between the server 2 and the client computer 3.

  The storage unit 330 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 331 that is a read-only storage area, and a rewritable storage area that stores a client program in the present embodiment and is used as a work area for arithmetic processing of the processing unit 310. And a RAM (Random Access Memory) 332. The storage unit 330 is connected to the external storage device 382 via the interface circuit (I / F) 370, and performs processing of referring to, reading, and rewriting data stored in the external storage device 382 in accordance with the processing of the processing unit 310. Do.

  The operation unit 340 connects the client computer 3 and an external input device (keyboard, mouse, touch pen, etc.) via an interface circuit (I / F) 370, and is connected to the client computer 3 by input operations of various parameters by a player. Receives and analyzes input data.

  The image output unit 350 connects the client computer 3 and an external image display device 384 via an interface circuit (I / F) 370 to display a replay image of the game, various setting screens, and the like on the image display device 384. Perform the process.

  The audio processing unit 360 connects the client computer 3 and an audio output device 385 such as an external speaker via an interface circuit (I / F) 370, and performs processing for outputting audio such as cheering of the spectators during the game. .

  Next, with reference to FIG. 8, the flow of processing of the server 2 from the entry of the game to the end of the first league in the embodiment of the network game system according to the present invention will be described.

  First, when the server 2 is activated (SA00), the timer 211 of the processing unit 210 of the server 2 is set to start time measurement (SA01), and it is searched whether there is a newly entered player (SA02). ). When there is a newly entered player, the server 2 determines the user ID and password of the newly entered player, transmits the user ID and password to the client computer 3 of the player via the communication network 1 and FIG. The data table (M1) shown in (a) and FIG. 3 (b) is created, and the player information of the player is registered (stored) in the player DB of the game management DB 272A (SA03).

  Next, the server 2 waits for the time of matching the next game (combination of opponents) to determine the game schedule (SA04), closes the new entry at the set time, and determines the schedule of the processing unit 210. The means 212 is operated to determine the game schedule (SA05).

  The procedure by which the schedule determination means 212 determines the game schedule will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, in the network game system of the present embodiment, the time is counted as one year (1 period) with the time of 6 days from the 0th to the 5th real time.

  FIG. 9A is a time table showing a schedule determination method in principle. At the beginning of the start of this network game system, the start of the service is announced for a certain period (about 1 week to 1 month in real time), and new entries for the first period (first year) are invited. The server 2 closes the new entry at 04:00 on the 5th of the game time, and performs a process of registering the player information of the player who has entered by this time in the player DB. The PC team of the player who entered in the first period is assigned to any league (L7001 to L7064) belonging to the hierarchy 7 of the general ranking chart 232A shown in FIG.

  The server 2 creates and publishes a schedule table (time table) as shown in FIG. 9A for each player on year 0 of game time. Actually, the name of the opponent's team is written in the sections 1 to 30 in FIG. 9A. Since one league is composed of 16 teams in principle, one team will play the remaining 15 teams in the home game and away game. Therefore, 30 leagues (30 games) will be played in the first league game. Compete for ranking.

  FIGS. 9B to 9F show a processing method when a new player enters the server 2 in the middle of a certain league.

  FIG. 9B shows a time table when a new entry is made after 0:00 on the 0th day of N year. Players newly entered after 0:00 on the 0th day of N year are closed at 24:00 on the 0th day of N year, and the process of player registration and game schedule determination is performed. The schedule determined as shown in FIG. 9B is made public as the Nth league on the 1st of N years. A league of 12 teams is formed by the PC teams entered during this day and the NPC teams as necessary, and the battles from the first to the twenty-second rounds are performed on the schedule shown in FIG. 9B. The league consisting of these 12 teams is arranged in level 8 of the general ranking chart 232A shown in FIG. 5, and all PC teams are promoted to level 7 in the next league. If a league of 13 teams is configured, the total number of games is 24 games, but one team is always absent when other teams are playing, as shown in the time table of FIG. 9B. Since the game cannot be digested, 12 leagues make up the league.

  FIG. 9C shows a time table when a new entry is made after 0:00 on the first day of N years. Players newly entered after 0:00 on the 1st day of N year are closed at 24:00 on the 1st day of N year, and the process of player registration and game schedule determination is performed. The schedule determined as shown in FIG. 9C is made public as the Nth league on the 2nd N years. A league of 10 teams is formed by the PC teams entered during this day and the NPC teams as necessary, and the battles from the 1st to the 18th verses are performed on the schedule shown in FIG. 9C. Similarly to the 12 team leagues, the 10 team leagues are arranged on the level 8 of the general ranking chart 232A shown in FIG. 5, and all the PC teams are promoted to the level 7 in the next league.

  FIG. 9D shows a time table when a new entry is made after 2:00 on the second day of N year. Players newly entered after 2:00 on the second day of N year are closed at 24:00 on the second day of N year, and the process of player registration and game schedule determination is performed. The schedule determined as shown in FIG. 9 (d) will be released as the Nth league on the 3rd of N years. A league of 6 teams is formed by the PC teams entered during this day and the NPC teams as necessary, and the battles from the first to the tenth verses are performed on the schedule shown in FIG. 9 (d). Similarly to the 12 teams and the 10 teams, the 6 teams are arranged on the level 8 of the general ranking chart 232A shown in FIG. 5. All the PC teams are promoted to the level 7 in the next league.

  FIG. 9 (e) shows a time table when a new entry is made after 3:00 on the third day of N year. Players newly entered after 3:00 on the third day of N year are closed at 24:00 on the third day of N year, and player registration and game schedule determination processing are performed. The schedule determined as shown in FIG. 9 (e) will be released as the Nth league on the 4th of N years. The PC teams entered during the day and the NPC teams as needed form a four-team league, and the battles in the first to sixth verses are played on the schedule shown in FIG. 9 (e). Like the 12 teams, the 10 teams, and the 6 teams, the four team leagues are arranged in the level 8 of the general ranking chart 232A shown in FIG. 5, and all the PC teams are promoted to the level 7 in the next league. .

  FIG. 9F shows a time table when a new entry is made after 4:00 on the fourth day of N year. Players newly entered after 4:00 on the 4th day of N year are closed at 24:00 on 4th day of N year, and player registration and game schedule determination processing are performed. The schedule determined as shown in FIG. 9 (f) is made public as the Nth league as soon as the game schedule determination process ends on the 4th year of N years. The PC teams entered during the day and the NPC teams as needed form a four-team league, and the battles in the first to sixth sections are played on the schedule shown in FIG. 9 (f). Similarly to the above 12 teams and less leagues, the four team leagues are arranged in level 8 of the general ranking chart 232A shown in FIG. 5. In the next league, all PC teams are promoted to level 7. .

  Players newly entered after 5:00 on the 5th of N year are closed at 24:00 on the 5th of N year, and player registration and game schedule determination are performed. This schedule is the same as that in FIG. 9 (a) with N as the 0th year, and will be released as the (N + 1) th league on the 0th of N + 1. A 16-team league is formed by the PC teams entered during this day and the NPC teams as necessary, and the battles from the 1st to the 30th are played on the same schedule as shown in FIG. . The league consisting of 16 teams is arranged in the hierarchy 7 of the general ranking chart 232A shown in FIG. 5 from the beginning.

  Returning to FIG. 8, when the schedule determination unit 212 performs the schedule determination process (SA05) as described above, and performs the process of disclosing the determined game schedule (SA06), the game start time is waited for ( SA07). When the game start time comes (affirmative determination is made in step SA07), the game progression means 213 performs a process of automatically advancing the game based on the parameters set for each PC team and NPC team (SA08). ).

  Next, based on the game progress process (SA08) by the game progress means 213, the game image generation means 214 performs a process of generating game image data (SA09).

  When the game progress process (SA08) by the game progress means 213 is completed, the game result generation means 216 performs a process of generating game result data (SA10). Next, a process is performed to determine whether or not all scheduled game progress processes have been completed (SA11). If there is a game for which the progress process has not been completed, the league ranking chart updating means 201 updates the league. A process of updating the inner ranking chart 232B is performed (SA12), and the process returns to step SA07 to wait for the start time of the next game. When all the game progress processes have been completed, the league ranking chart updating means 201 updates the league ranking chart 232B to determine the league ranking chart 232B for that period (SA13). Is terminated (SA13).

  Next, with reference to FIG. 10 thru | or FIG. 15, the flow of the procedure of the game condition confirmation and game result confirmation by the player in this embodiment is demonstrated. FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 are sequence charts showing an example of a procedure in which the client computer 3 or the terminals 4 and 5 browses the playback image and game result of the game for which the progress process has been completed. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display displayed on the image display device 384 or the like of the client computer 3 or the terminals 4 and 5 in each of the above procedures.

  Hereinafter, although the procedure for browsing the replay image and the game result of the game by the client computer 3 will be mainly described, the procedure by the terminals 4 and 5 is the same.

  FIG. 10 is a sequence chart showing a procedure for confirming the game result after viewing the reproduced image of the game image data by the client computer 3.

  First, in order to connect the client computer 3 to the website of the server 2 via the communication network 1, the player transmits the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the website from the client computer 3 to the server 2 (ST01). When the server 2 receives the URL transmitted from the client computer 3, the server 2 performs a process of acquiring the login screen 384A shown in FIG. 12A and transmitting it to the client computer 3 in order to identify the player (SS01). When the login screen 384A is displayed on the image display device 384 of the client computer 3, the player inputs the user ID from the position of the cursor 393 in the “user ID” input frame 391 and inputs the “password” in accordance with the instruction on the login screen 384A. A password is input from the position of the cursor 393 in the frame 392 (see FIG. 12B). After performing the operation of inputting the user ID and password, the player performs an operation of pressing a “login” button 390 displayed at the lower part of the login screen 384A shown in FIG. 12B (ST02). By this operation, the user ID and password are transmitted to the server 2.

  The server 2 refers to the player DB of the game management DB 272A and checks the user ID and password received from the client computer 3 with the user ID and password registered (stored) in the player DB, thereby performing user authentication processing. Perform (SS02). When the user authentication process (SS02) is successful, the server 2 acquires a main menu screen 384B as shown in FIG. 13A (SS03) and performs a process of transmitting it to the client computer 3. Here, when the user authentication process fails, the process of transmitting the login screen 384A is performed again.

  A main menu screen 384B as shown in FIG. 13A is displayed on the image display device 384 of the client computer 3. A player name display section 394 is prepared at the upper left of the main menu screen 384B, and “Sega-chan” as the player name is displayed between “Welcome” and “Mr.”. The player performs an operation of selecting a target item from the item group 395 of the main menu screen 384B displayed on the image display device 384 and pressing the “Send” button 396 displayed at the bottom of the main menu screen 384B (ST03). . The item is selected, for example, by moving the square fill 395A displayed at the left end of each item using the up and down direction keys or the like, and the item is selected by default. As shown in Fig. 5, the item "Change team settings" is selected. When the down key is pressed once from the state of FIG. 13 (a), the fill 395A moves down by one and the item “Team match status / result” is selected as shown in FIG. 13 (b). . In the state of FIG. 13B, a game image reproduction request signal is transmitted to the server 2 by performing an operation of pressing a “Send” button 396 at the bottom of the screen 384B. The selection of the “team game situation / result” item and the “send” button are game image reproduction request signal output means in this embodiment, and a game image reproduction request signal is transmitted to the server 2 by performing the operation. Is done. The “logout” button 397 in the upper right of the main menu screen 384B is used when the connection with the server 2 is released.

  Upon receiving the game image reproduction request signal, the server 2 refers to the schedule management DB of the game management DB 272A, acquires a game selection screen 384C as shown in FIG. 14A (SS04), and transmits it to the client computer 3 To do. The player fills a game 398A to be viewed from the game list 398 on the game selection screen 384C displayed on the image display device 384, selects the game by moving 398A, and presses the “Send” button at the bottom of the screen 384C ( ST04). By this operation, a game selection signal is transmitted to the server 2. In addition, in this game selection screen 384C, since the image data of the game before a game (start) is not produced | generated by the server 2, it is comprised so that a player cannot select.

  When the server 2 receives the game selection signal, the server 2 acquires the selected game image data 232A from the RAM 232 of the storage unit 230, and performs a reproduction process of the game image data 232A by the game image reproduction display means 217 (SS05). The reproduced image is transmitted to the client computer 3. The player views the replay image 401 of the game on the replay image display screen 384D shown in FIG. 14B displayed on the image display device 384 (ST05). On the display unit 400 in the upper center of the game image display screen 384D, games such as the period (first period), league name (L7010), section (first section), battle team name ("Dogs" and "Cats"), etc. The information that identifies is displayed. The “view result” button 399 displayed on the upper left of the screen 384D will be described later.

  When the reproduction processing of the game image data 232A is completed, the server 2 acquires the game result data 232C from the RAM 232 of the storage unit 230, operates the game result display unit 219, and transmits the game result data 232C to the client computer 3 ( SS06). The player confirms the game result on the game result confirmation screen 384E shown in FIG. 15A displayed on the image display device 384 (ST06).

  In the match result confirmation screen 384E, a large match result is displayed in the match result display portion 402 in the center of the screen 384E, and in the example shown in FIG. 15A, the team “Dogs” of the player has won 3 to 1. In the win / loss display section 403 below the match result display section 402, “You Win! (You win)” is displayed.

  After confirming the game result, the player performs an operation of pressing the “return to game selection screen” button 404 or the “logout” button 397 displayed on the upper right of the game result confirmation screen 384E (ST07). When the player performs an operation of pressing the “return to game selection screen” button 404 as a continuation operation (ST07), a continuation operation signal is transmitted to the server 2, and the server 2 performs continuation processing (SS07) as shown in FIG. ) Is transmitted to the client computer 3, and the player repeats the above-described steps ST04 to ST07, and similarly, the server 2 repeats the steps SS05 to SS07. In FIG. 15B, “Section 1”, which was “End of game” in FIG. 14A, is “Confirmed”, and “Section 4”, which was “In game”, is “Game”. “Section 2”, which has been updated to “End” and ended the earliest among the unconfirmed matches by default, is selected.

  When the player performs an operation of pressing the “logout” button 397 as an end operation (ST07), an end operation signal is transmitted to the server 2, and the server 2 performs an end process (SS07). 3 is released.

  FIG. 11 is a sequence chart showing a procedure for interrupting the reproduced image of the game image data halfway by the client computer 3 and confirming the game result.

  11, ST11 to ST14 which are operation procedures of the client computer 3 or the terminals 4 and 5 and SS11 to SS15 which are processing procedures of the server 2 are respectively the operation procedures of ST01 to ST04 described in FIG. And since it is the same procedure as the process procedure of SS01 thru | or SS05, description is abbreviate | omitted.

  When the client computer 3 receives the reproduction image transmitted by the server SS15 procedure (same as the SS05 procedure of FIG. 10), the image display device 384 displays a reproduction image display screen 384D as shown in FIG. The reproduced image 401 is displayed at the center of the screen 384D. A “view result” button 399, which is a playback process end button, is displayed on the upper left of the playback image display screen 384D. When the player performs an operation of pressing the “view result” button 399 (ST15), a reproduction processing end signal is transmitted to the server 2. This “view result” button 399 serves as the reproduction processing signal output means 317 in the present embodiment.

  When the server 2 receives the reproduction processing end signal, the server 2 operates the reproduction processing end unit 209 of the processing unit 210 to forcibly end the reproduction processing of the game image data 232A, and the game result is read from the RAM 232 of the storage unit 230. The data 232C is acquired, the game result display means 219 is operated, and the game result data 232C is transmitted to the client computer 3 (SS16). The player confirms the game result on the game result confirmation screen 384E shown in FIG. 15A displayed on the image display device 384 (ST16). The procedure of ST16 is the same as the procedure of ST06 in FIG.

  Since the operation procedure of ST17 by the client computer 3 or the terminals 4 and 5 and the processing procedure of SS17 by the server 2 are the same as the operation procedure of ST07 and SS07 described in FIG. 10, respectively. Description is omitted.

  Next, referring to FIG. 16, the player team exclusion means 204A of the login status monitoring means 204 of the processing unit 210 excludes the PC team of the client computer 3 that has not logged in to the server 2 for a predetermined period from the affiliation league. A flow of processing to be stored in a predetermined storage area will be described.

  In the present embodiment, the player character exclusion unit 204A operates when one period ends (SB00). The player character exclusion unit 204A performs processing for confirming the date data of the last login with reference to the data table (M2) shown in FIG. 4 stored in the schedule management DB of the game management DB 272A for all PC teams. (SB01).

  Next, the player character exclusion unit 204A performs a calculation process of subtracting the date data of the last login confirmed in step SB01 from the date data at the end of the period in which the timer 211 is measuring, and the difference is performed in this embodiment. The process which converts into the time progress of the game system in a form is performed, and the process which determines whether the difference is more than "3 years" on a game is performed (SB02). If a negative determination is made in step SB02, the process proceeds to step SB05, and the process ends.

  If an affirmative determination is made in step SB02, the process proceeds to step SB03 to perform processing for excluding data of the PC team from the league to which the PC team belongs, and excluding data of the excluded PC team from the RAM 232 Processing to be stored in the PC team storage area is performed. At this time, the exclusion flag set in the predetermined area of the player information (M1) stored in the player DB of the game management DB 272A indicates a value “1” indicating that the PC team is excluded from the league. Is stored.

  Subsequently, the player character excluding means 204A performs a process of newly adding one NPC team to the league excluding the PC team (SB04), and ends the process (SB05).

  By performing such processing, the player character exclusion unit 204A has not logged in to the server 2 for a long period of time (in this embodiment, “3 years” on the game), that is, confirms the progress of the game. Since the player's PC team is excluded from the affiliation league, the player's PC team who frequently participates in the game is not hindered from being promoted to a higher rank.

  In the present embodiment, an example in which the determination period for determining whether or not to exclude the PC team is set to “3 years” in the game has been shown, but it goes without saying that it can be arbitrarily set according to the actual situation. Further, the interval at which the player character exclusion unit 204A is operated is not limited to the end of one period (every “1 year” in the game), but may be set, for example, every “1 day” in real time.

  Next, referring to FIG. 17 to FIG. 19, the PC teams excluded from the league by the player character revival unit 204A of the login status monitoring unit 204 of the processing unit 210 are set in the general ranking chart 232A. The flow of the process of reviving and belonging to that league will be explained.

  FIG. 17 shows the operations on the client computer 3 side and the server 2 side from when the player of the PC team excluded from the league requests the server 2 to return to the league until the server 2 permits the recovery to the league. FIG. 18 is a sequence chart showing the flow of processing, and FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing for determining the hierarchy and league for the server 2 to restore the PC team excluded from the league. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen display displayed on the image display apparatus 384 of the client computer 3 in 17 procedures.

  In FIG. 17, the player of the PC team excluded from the league (including the case of not knowing the exclusion) connects the client computer 3 to the website of the server 2 via the communication network 1. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the website is transmitted from the client computer 3 to the server 2 (ST21). When the server 2 receives the URL transmitted from the client computer 3, the server 2 performs a process of acquiring the login screen 384A shown in FIG. 12A and transmitting it to the client computer 3 in order to identify the player (SS21). When the login screen 384A is displayed on the image display device 384 of the client computer 3, the player inputs the user ID from the position of the cursor 393 in the “user ID” input frame 391 and inputs the “password” in accordance with the instruction on the login screen 384A. A password is input from the position of the cursor 393 in the frame 392 (see FIG. 12B). After performing the operation of inputting the user ID and password, the player performs an operation of pressing the “login” button 390 displayed at the lower part of the login screen 384A shown in FIG. 12B (ST22). By this operation, the user ID and password are transmitted to the server 2. Note that the operations (ST21, ST22) on the client computer 3 and the processing (SS21) on the server 2 side so far are the same as the operations and processing of step ST01, step ST02, and step SS01 described in FIG.

  The server 2 refers to the player DB of the game management DB 272A and checks the user ID and password received from the client computer 3 with the user ID and password registered (stored) in the player DB, thereby performing user authentication processing. And confirm that “1” is stored in the exclusion flag (SS02). Subsequently, since the server 2 confirms that the PC team of the client computer 3 who has logged in is excluded from the league, it is not the main menu screen (see SS03 in FIG. 10) that is normally acquired (when not excluded). The league revival selection screen 384F as shown in FIG. 19A is acquired (SS23) and transmitted to the client computer 3.

  The image display device 384 of the client computer 3 displays a league revival selection screen 384F shown in FIG. In the display area 405 at the top center of the league revival selection screen, “Your team“ Dogs ”has been excluded from the league because you have not logged in for three years. And a message indicating that the league to which the player belongs before being excluded is L4002. In addition, a message “Do you want to return to the league?” Is displayed in the lower area, and a “Yes” button 407 and a “No” button 408 can be selected. The “Yes” button 407 is a means for transmitting a league reactivation request signal to the server 2. When the player confirms the display of the league revival selection screen 384F and presses the “Yes” button 407 (ST23), a league revival request signal is transmitted to the server 2.

  Upon receiving the league restoration request signal, the server 2 operates the player character restoration means 204B to perform a process of determining a hierarchy and league for restoring the excluded PC team (SS24). FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing for the player character reviving means 204B to determine the hierarchy and league for reviving the excluded PC team. In FIG. 18, when the player character restoration means 204B is activated (SC00), the data of the excluded PC team is acquired from the excluded PC team storage area 232C (SC01). Next, the player character revival means 204B performs a process of setting the tier to which the excluded PC team belonged as the designated tier for which the league after revival is set (SC02), and proceeds to step SC03. move on.

  In step SC03, it is determined whether or not there is a recoverable league in the designated hierarchy set in step SC02. In the present embodiment, the determination as to whether there is a recoverable league in a certain hierarchy is configured to determine whether there is a league including an NPC team in the league set in the specified hierarchy. Yes. That is, if all leagues set in a certain hierarchy are occupied by the PC team, a negative determination is made in step SC03. If a negative determination is made in step SC03, a process for setting the designated hierarchy one level lower is performed (SC04), and the process returns to step SC03 again. These processes are repeated until an affirmative determination is made in step SC03. If an affirmative determination is made in step SC03, the excluded PC team is restored to the league set in the designated hierarchy and is assigned (SC05), and the process is terminated (SC06).

  Returning to FIG. 17, when the league for restoring the PC team excluded by the processing of the player character restoration means 204B is determined, the server 2 obtains the league restoration permission screen 384G as shown in FIG. (SS25), and processing to transmit to the client computer 3 is performed. The league display permission screen 384G is displayed on the image display device 384 of the client computer 3, and the message “Your team“ Dogs ”has been restored to the league name: L4004” is displayed in the display area 409 in the center of the screen 384G. In this example, it can be confirmed that the player has been restored to the league of L4004 set in the same hierarchy 4 as L4002 before being excluded.

  After confirming the affiliation league (L4004) after the revival, the player presses the “go to main menu screen” button 410 displayed at the bottom of the league revival permission screen 384G or the “logout” button 397 at the upper right of the screen 384G. (ST24). When the player performs an operation of pressing the “go to main menu screen” button 410 as a continuation operation (ST24), a continuation operation signal is transmitted to the server 2, and the server 2 performs continuation processing (SS26) as shown in FIG. Is transmitted to the client computer 3, and the player performs a desired operation from the main menu screen 384B.

  When the player performs an operation of pressing the “logout” button 397 as an end operation (ST24), an end operation signal is transmitted to the server 2, the server 2 performs an end process (SS26), and the server 2 and the client computer 3 is released.

  As described above, according to the ranking setting system, the server, and the ranking setting program according to the present invention, the overall ranking chart 232A includes a plurality of hierarchies (hierarchies 1 to 7) and one or more that are set in each hierarchy. And a predetermined number of player characters (PC team), non-player characters (NPC team), or player characters and non-player characters belonging to this league, and a server 2 is based on the game progress means 213 that performs the progress process of the game, the game result generation means 215 that generates the result data 232C of the game after the completion of the progress process of the game, and the result data 232C of the game that is generated Player character or non-player who played the match In-league ranking chart updating means 201 for updating the in-league ranking chart 232B of the league to which the layer character belongs, and the ranking information of the in-league ranking chart 232B after the completion of the progress process of a predetermined number of times (for example, 30 games in one period). Based on (ranking in league), the hierarchy determining means 202 for determining the hierarchy in which the league to which the player character and the non-player character belong next time is set, and the player character and the non-player character within the hierarchy determined by the hierarchy determining means 202 Since each of the league determination means 203 for determining the league to which the player character belongs and storage means (RAM 232 of the storage unit 230) for storing the general ranking chart 232A and the league ranking chart 232B are provided. Since the number of player characters and / or non-player characters belonging to is a predetermined number and does not increase or decrease, this number is a number that can be easily displayed as a ranking, for example, a number of about 10 to 20 (for example, In the above embodiment, each player is always involved in the ranking setting system by checking the league ranking chart 232B of the league to which each player belongs at the end of the match. You can feel what you are doing. Therefore, the player does not lose interest in the ranking setting system. It should be noted that the level to which the league to which the player belongs belongs is located at the level of all the game participants including the non-player characters, which level of the general ranking chart 232A the league to which the player character belongs is set. By confirming, it can be easily recognized.

  In addition, since tasks having different degrees of difficulty are not set in each hierarchy or each league, it is possible to strictly ensure the same setting conditions of the game system in which all players play.

  Further, the login status monitoring unit 204 may check the login status from the client computer 3 periodically or irregularly (for example, at the end of “1 day” in the game system, at the end of one period (“1 year”), etc.). For example, the game organizer gives a privilege to a user (player) who logs in frequently, or for a player who has not logged in to the server 2 for a long time, Notifications that prompt users to log in can be sent to encourage participation in the game.

  Further, according to the ranking setting system, server, and ranking setting program according to one embodiment of the present invention, the login status monitoring means 204 is a client computer for a predetermined period or longer (in the above embodiment, “3 years or more” in the game). The player character (PC team) that has not been logged in from 3 is excluded from the league to which the player character belongs and stored in a predetermined storage area (for example, the excluded PC team storage area 232C). The player character exclusion means 204A for newly adding one non-player character (NPC team) to the league from which the game is excluded can be configured, so that it has not participated in the network game system for a long time (logged in to the server). Not) Ranking information of the ear is forever enjoyed them overall ranking chart 232A and the league in the rankings chart 232B, is not that inhibit the chance of entering the top ranks of the players who are participating in other frequent game.

  Furthermore, according to the ranking setting system, the server, and the ranking setting program according to the embodiment of the present invention, the login status monitoring unit 204 performs the login operation by the client computer 3 of the player character (PC team) excluded from the league. When the player character belongs, the player character is revived and belongs to a league set in any hierarchy below the set hierarchy, and the player character belongs to the restored league. Since the player character revival means 204B for excluding one non-player character (NPC team) from the league can be provided, it can be configured according to the length of the period from the exclusion from the league until the next login to the server 2 The player's player key It is also possible to determine the hierarchy to revive the Rakuta. For example, when the excluded period is short, it can be restored to the original hierarchy, and as the excluded period becomes longer, it can be restored to a lower hierarchy.

1 is a network connection diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the server by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the data table memorize | stored in player DB of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the data table memorize | stored in the schedule management DB of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the data table memorize | stored in ranking DB of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the data table memorize | stored in ranking DB of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the client computer by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the flow of a process of the server in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the process of the schedule determination means by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence chart for demonstrating the operation procedure of a client computer and the process sequence of a server by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence chart for demonstrating the operation procedure of a client computer and the process sequence of a server by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the screen displayed on the display apparatus of the client computer by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the screen displayed on the display apparatus of the client computer by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the screen displayed on the display apparatus of the client computer by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the screen displayed on the display apparatus of the client computer by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the flow of a process of the player character exclusion means by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence chart for demonstrating the operation procedure of a client computer and the process sequence of a server by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the flow of a process of the player character restoration means by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the screen displayed on the display apparatus of the client computer by one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Communication network 2 Server 3 Client computer 4, 5 Terminal 201 League ranking chart update means 202 Hierarchy determination means 203 League determination means 204 Login status monitoring means 204A Player character exclusion means 204B Player character restoration means 210 Processing unit 211 Timer 212 Schedule Determination means 213 Match progress means 214 Match image generation means 215 Match result generation means 216 Match image reproduction display means 217 Match result display means 218 Playback processing end means 220 Communication section 230 Storage section 231 ROM
232 RAM
232A General ranking chart 232B In-league ranking chart 232C Excluded PC team storage means 384 Display device 384A Login screen 384B Main menu screen 384C Match selection screen 384D Played image display screen 384E Match result confirmation screen 384F League reversion selection screen 384G League reversion permission screen

Claims (9)

A server connected to a communication network; and a client computer capable of transmitting / receiving information to / from the server via the communication network, the player characters entered in the server, the non-player characters, or the player character and the non-player Ranking in which the server character and the non-player character belong to one of the leagues set in the general ranking chart in the network game system in which the server automatically executes a game progress process by a battle with the player character A configuration system,
The overall ranking chart is
Multiple hierarchies,
One or more leagues set in each of the layers;
A predetermined number of the player characters belonging to the league, the non-player character or the player character and the non-player character;
With
The server
Match progress means for performing progress processing of the match based on parameters of the player character set in the client computer;
Match result generating means for generating the result data of the match after completion of the progress process of the match by the match progress means;
In-league ranking chart updating means for updating the in-league ranking chart of the league to which the player character or non-player character who played the game based on the result data of the match generated by the match result generating means,
Login status monitoring means for monitoring the login status from the client computer;
A hierarchy determining means for determining the hierarchy in which a league to which the player character and the non-player character belong next time is set based on ranking information of the in-league ranking chart after a predetermined number of times of progress of the game;
League determining means for determining the league to which the player character and the non-player character belong in the hierarchy determined by the hierarchy determining means;
Storage means for storing the general ranking chart and the league ranking chart;
The ranking setting system characterized by comprising.   The login status monitoring means excludes the player character that has not been logged in from the client computer for a predetermined period or more from the league to which the player character belongs and stores the player character in a predetermined storage area. 2. The ranking setting system according to claim 1, further comprising player character excluding means for newly adding the one non-player character to the league from which is excluded.   When the client computer of the player character excluded from the league performs a login operation, the log-in status monitoring means is one of the tiers below the tier in which the league to which the player character belongs is set. And a player character reviving means for reviving and belonging to the league set to the league and excluding one non-player character belonging to the revived league from the league. The ranking setting system according to claim 2. It connects to the client computer which sets the parameter of a player character so that information transmission / reception is possible via a communication network, and the player characters entered from the client computer, non-player characters, or the player character and the non-player character A game progress process by battle is automatically executed, and a predetermined number of the player characters, the non-player characters, or the player characters and the non-player characters are set to a plurality of levels and each level 1 A server that belongs to any one of the leagues of the general ranking chart including the above leagues,
Match progress means for performing progress processing of the match based on parameters of the player character set in the client computer;
Match result generating means for generating the result data of the match after completion of the progress process of the match by the match progress means;
In-league ranking chart updating means for updating the in-league ranking chart of the league to which the player character or non-player character who played the game based on the result data of the match generated by the match result generating means,
Login status monitoring means for monitoring the login status from the client computer;
A hierarchy determining means for determining the hierarchy in which a league to which the player character and the non-player character belong next time is set based on ranking information of the in-league ranking chart after a predetermined number of times of progress of the game;
League determining means for determining the league to which the player character and the non-player character belong in the hierarchy determined by the hierarchy determining means;
Storage means for storing the general ranking chart and the league ranking chart;
The server characterized by comprising.   The login status monitoring means excludes the player character that has not been logged in from the client computer for a predetermined period or more from the league to which the player character belongs and stores the player character in a predetermined storage area. 5. The server according to claim 4, further comprising player character exclusion means for newly adding one non-player character to the league from which is excluded.   When the client computer of the player character excluded from the league performs a login operation, the log-in status monitoring means is one of the tiers below the tier in which the league to which the player character belongs is set. And a player character reviving means for reviving and belonging to the league set to the league and excluding one non-player character belonging to the revived league from the league. The server according to claim 5. It connects to the client computer which sets the parameter of a player character so that information transmission / reception is possible via a communication network, and the player characters entered from the client computer, non-player characters, or the player character and the non-player character A game progress process by battle is automatically executed, and a predetermined number of the player characters, the non-player characters, or the player characters and the non-player characters are set to a plurality of levels and each level 1 A program for causing a computer to function as a server belonging to any of the leagues of the general ranking chart including the above leagues,
The computer,
Match progress means for performing progress processing of the match based on parameters of the player character set in the client computer;
Game result generating means for generating result data of the game after completion of the game progress processing by the game progress means;
In-league ranking chart updating means for updating the in-league ranking chart of the league to which the player character or non-player character who played the game based on the result data of the game generated by the game result generating means,
Login status monitoring means for monitoring the login status from the client computer;
A hierarchy determining means for determining the hierarchy where the player character and the league to which the non-player character belongs next is set based on the ranking information of the in-league ranking chart after completion of the progress process of the game of a predetermined number of times;
League determining means for determining the league to which the player character and the non-player character belong in the hierarchy determined by the hierarchy determining means;
Storage means for storing the overall ranking chart and the league ranking chart;
Ranking setting program characterized by functioning as The computer,
The login status monitoring means excludes the player character that has not been logged in from the client computer for a predetermined period or more from the league to which the player character belongs and stores the player character in a predetermined storage area. 8. The ranking setting program according to claim 7, wherein the ranking setting program is caused to function as a player character excluding unit that newly adds the one non-player character to the league from which is excluded. 9. The computer,
When the client computer of the player character excluded from the league performs a login operation, the login status monitoring means is one of the tiers below the tier in which the league to which the player character belongs is set. The player character is revived and belonged to the league set to 1 and the non-player character belonging to the revived league is excluded from the league as a player character reviving means. 9. The ranking setting program according to claim 8, wherein the ranking setting program is characterized in that:

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