JP2010167251A5 - - Google Patents

Description

Game program, recording medium recording the game program, and computer executing the game program

  The present invention relates to a game program that has a wired or wireless data communication function and can enjoy a game while performing data communication with another player who operates another game device having the data communication function. The present invention relates to a recording medium on which a program is recorded and a computer that executes the game program.

  Today, various types of games are proposed and commercialized, including table games such as Go and Shogi. For example, in Japanese Patent No. 3942753, in a fighting game enjoyed with an arcade game machine (hereinafter referred to as an “arcade game machine”), not only a game character controlled by a computer is played, but also operations of other players are performed. A fighting game that can be played against a game character is described.

  In this publication, one type of game board is provided inside the case, while a game screen and operation members are arranged on the front side and the back side of the case, respectively, and two players are displayed on the game screen. A game is described in which a character (a game character fighting as a substitute for each player) is operated to fight each other by causing each game character to attack and defeat.

  In a fighting game on an arcade game machine, a plurality of game characters are prepared, the player selects one game character, and the player operates the game character (hereinafter referred to as a “player character”). A game in which the game is cleared when a plurality of game characters controlled by a computer (hereinafter referred to as “enemy characters”) are controlled in order and all enemy characters are defeated. Based on games. Japanese Patent No. 3942753 discloses a configuration in which another player can participate as an opponent in a fighting game performed by one player in the same housing in order to increase the operating rate of the arcade game machine.

  Since the arcade game machine described in the publication has only one game board inside the casing, a mode in which one player plays against an enemy character controlled by a computer (standardly provided in an arcade game machine). In this mode, hereinafter, this mode is referred to as “arcade mode”.) When a game is being enjoyed in this mode, there is a hardware restriction that other players cannot enjoy the same fighting game in the arcade mode.

  For this reason, if someone else has previously enjoyed a fighting game in the arcade mode and another person has inserted a coin into the arcade game machine, the previous player will enter a fighting field where he is playing against an enemy character controlled by the computer. An enemy character operated by a subsequent player is made to appear as an opponent, a battle with an enemy character controlled by a computer (hereinafter referred to as “CPU battle”) is interrupted, and an enemy character operated by a subsequent player A process of so-called “intrusion” forcing a battle with the player (hereinafter referred to as a “player battle”) is performed so that both players can enjoy the same fighting game.

  Also, in recent years, a plurality of arcade game machines having data communication functions are connected to each other via a communication line such as a LAN (Local Area Network), and players who operate the arcade game machines battle each other in the same fighting game. The fighting game system to be commercialized has been commercialized and installed in many game centers.

  The arcade game machine applied to this fighting game system is linked with another arcade game machine, and a mode (link mode) in which the player of the arcade game machine and the player of the other arcade game machine face each other by intrusion A mode (single mode) in which only the arcade mode can be enjoyed without being linked to the arcade game machine is selectable.

  In the game center, a plurality of arcade game machines are connected to each other via a LAN within a predetermined number of units, and the above-mentioned fighting game system is constructed by setting the mode of each arcade game machine to the link mode. The

  In this fighting game system, when a player inserts a coin into one of the arcade game machines and starts the fighting game, if the fighting game is not already played on another arcade game machine, the player can play the fighting game in the arcade mode. Will do. When a player who is one of the arcade game machines (the previous player) has already played a fighting game in the arcade mode, another player inserts coins into the other arcade game machine and starts the fighting game. The other arcade game machine is automatically linked to the previous arcade game machine, and the battle with the other player intrudes into the arcade mode performed by the previous player.

  In this fighting game system, a plurality of arcade game machines of the same model are linked by data communication to the arcade game machine described in Japanese Patent No. 3942753, and three or more players are within a predetermined number range. The difference is that players can play against each other by intruding.

  Since the process of “intrusion” in the above fighting game system is a process in which a player battle suddenly interrupts during a CPU battle, for example, a compelling battle with an unknown player gives a fresh taste to the progress of the fighting game. It has the effects of the game, and the player can enjoy the development of fighting that is different from CPU fighting by playing against humans, and can acquire the operation technique, and today it is widely adopted for fighting games in general. Yes.

  However, “intrusion” in the above-mentioned fighting game system does not form a fighting body at all for a player who is challenging a fighting game for the first time or a beginner of a fighting game when the invading player is an advanced player or a skilled player. There is an inconvenience that it will be defeated and you will be raised. This inconvenience becomes an obstacle from the viewpoint of population increase of fighting game players, which is not preferable.

  In the above-mentioned Japanese Patent No. 3942753, in order to solve the inconvenience, a refusal right to refuse a player battle that has intruded into the previous player was given, and there was a later player's intrusion while the previous player played a CPU. When the previous player exercises the right of refusal, a configuration has been proposed in which the subsequent player waits for a battle with the previous player until the CPU battle ends.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-93305 discloses that two identical arcade game machines capable of independently playing a battle game in arcade mode are connected to each other so that data communication is possible, and coins are inserted into both arcade game machines. A battle game system is described in which both arcade game machines are shifted to a cooperative game mode when a battle game is started. In the same publication, when a battle game in the arcade mode is being performed on one arcade game machine, coins are inserted into the other arcade game machine and the battle game is started, both arcade game machines A configuration has been proposed in which “intrusion” processing is performed during a period in which the processing of the CPU battle in the arcade mode is not hindered, and the battle game in the arcade mode that the player enjoys on one arcade game machine is not hindered by “intrusion” .

  Specifically, when a battle game is started on one arcade game machine, the other arcade game machine ends the CPU battle in the arc selection mode, for example, during the period during which the battle is being selected on the mode selection screen. One of the arcade game machines is subjected to a player battle application process (application for “intrusion”) during a period when the CPU battle is not being executed, such as a period during which the CPU battle is being performed, and one of the arcade game machines is However, for example, when the CPU battle in the arcade mode is finished and the production until the next CPU battle is being performed, the application of “intrusion” is accepted, and otherwise, the application of “intrusion” is not accepted. A configuration is proposed.

Japanese Patent No. 3942753 JP 2008-93305 A

  By the way, with the spread of home game machines, fighting games enjoyed on arcade game machines are commercialized as game software for home game machines (hereinafter referred to as “home game software”). Also, in recent years, with home-use game consoles having a standard wired or wireless data communication function, home game software has not only played against CPUs but also data via a network line. There is an increasing number of software that is equipped with a mode in which a player can play against other players of home-use game machines that are communicably connected.

  The CPU game in the home game software is a mode in which the player enjoys the game alone without using the data communication function, so it is called “offline mode”, and the player battle is performed remotely by using the data communication function. Since this mode is for enjoying the same game as other players on the ground, it is called “online mode”.

  A state in which a large number of players perform the same home game software in the online mode with a home game machine is a game system in which a large number of home game machines are connected to each other via a network line so as to be able to perform data communication with each other. It can be said that This game system is similar to the fighting game system in the game center described above from the viewpoint of hardware.

  However, the fighting game system of the game center cannot be played during the time zone when the game center does not provide services or when there is no player using the fighting game system. It is always possible to play the same home video game software in online mode as someone in a large number of players all over the world, and you can play online mode with other players as much as you like while at home. There are also differences.

  Due to the above differences, in the online mode of home game software, generally, each player is allowed to enter a game space virtually constructed by the above game system using a home game machine, and is desired on the game space. A player battle processing program is created based on the idea of searching for opponents and making them fight. Since this processing program is different from the CPU battle processing program that does not require the process of determining the opponent by performing data communication, in the conventional home video game software, the offline mode and the online mode are used as the battle mode. Are provided independently, and the player can select one of the modes and enjoy the battle game.

  That is, the conventional home game software is configured such that the player always selects either the offline mode (CPU battle) or the online mode (player battle) before starting the battle game. For this reason, when the player selects the online mode, the player cannot immediately battle, and must wait until the opponent matching process is completed. Matching process of the opponent is a game server connected to the network line and managing the online game, each player sets a match condition and requests a search for the opponent, and the game server sets the match condition from each player. This is a process of determining a combination that matches the battle conditions based on the match.

  The home game machine of each player is in a standby state until the match condition is set by the player and the match processing of the opponent is requested from the game server until the matching result is transmitted from the game server. Since this waiting time is indefinite, if the opponent is not easily found, the player will wait for a long time until the game starts, and in the online mode, this waiting time gives the player stress. .

  It has been proposed to allow the player to play a mini game during the waiting time to relieve the stress with respect to the waiting time in such an online mode (see the above-mentioned Japanese Patent No. 3942753), and a home game adopting this method Software is also commercialized. However, the mini game is much simpler than the main game, and does not provide an effect that can sufficiently relieve the stress of the player.

  In addition, the conventional home video game software has an offline mode (CPU battle) and an online mode (player battle) which are independent of each other, and thus does not have a mutually related configuration. It is not possible to intrude, and it is not possible to perform a battle production called “intrusion” as in the above-described fighting game system of the game center. Accordingly, in the game industry, fighting games that have gained popularity with arcade game machines are often commercialized as home game software, but conventional home game software has experienced arcade game machines. The player cannot enjoy a fighting game with the same feeling as an arcade game machine.

  The problem with the above-mentioned home game software is not limited to the game genre of the fighting game, but is a partner who advances a game with a computer or another player as an opponent or in cooperation (hereinafter referred to as “cooperator”). It is a game software or game device that enjoys a game as a game software or game device that has an offline mode and an online mode and that can enjoy the game only in either mode.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in a game having an offline mode and an online mode, enjoy the game in a mode in which the game progress in the offline mode and the game progress in the online mode are combined. An object of the present invention is to provide a game program that can be recorded, a recording medium that records the game program, and a computer that executes the game program.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a game program comprising: an operation information receiving unit that receives operation information of an operation unit by a player; a game server and another computer connected to a network; Control of the game progress without using information acquired by data communication with the other computer using communication control means for performing data communication and operation information of the operation means received by the operation information receiving means Second control for controlling the progress of the game by using the operation information of the operation means received by the operation information receiving means and the information acquired by data communication with the other computer. The other computer to be a partner of data communication is determined via the game progress control means and the game server. If the other computer is determined by the communication partner determination processing means during a period when the game progress is controlled by the communication partner determination processing means and the first game progress control means, the first game progress The game progress controlled by the control means is interrupted, and the game progress controlled by the second game progress control means using the information acquired by data communication with the other computer determined. It is characterized by functioning as a game progress switching means for switching (claim 1).

  2. The game program according to claim 1, wherein the communication partner determination processing means transmits a first matching request for the other computer to be a partner of data communication to the game server, and the first game. A communication connection is established when there is a communication connection request from the other computer in response to the first matching request during a period in which the progress of the game is controlled by the progress control means. A first communication connection process to be determined as an opponent, and a second matching request for requesting transmission of information of the other computer making the first matching request, to the game server, and the first game Another period for the second matching request received from the game server during a period when the game progress is controlled by the progress control means. Based on the information of the computer, a communication connection request is made to the other computer to establish a communication connection, and a second communication connection process for determining the other computer as a data communication partner is executed. 2).

Further, in the game program according to claim 2, the communication partner determination processing means may perform at least a part of the first communication connection process and a part of the second communication connection process at different timings. (Claim 3). 4. The game program according to claim 3, wherein the first game progress control means controls the game progress using the operation information of the operation means received by the operation information receiving means for a predetermined period. The communication partner determination processing means establishes a communication connection when there is a communication connection request from the other computer in response to the first matching request in the first communication connection process during the predetermined period. The process of determining the other computer as the other party of data communication is performed, and during the period excluding the predetermined period, the communication with the other computer making the first matching request in the second communication connection process is performed. A process for establishing a communication connection by making a connection request and determining the other computer as a data communication partner may be performed.

Further, in the game program according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the computer, the game progress according to the second game progress control means is switched by the game progress switching means is completed, the second was interrupted It may be further functioned as a game restarting means for restarting the game progress by one game progress control means.

Further, in the game program according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the first, one or more of the matching condition to the second matching request is received as the operation information of the operation means by the operation information receiving means It is preferable that the communication partner determination processing means determine the other computer that matches the matching condition as a data communication partner.

  The game program according to claim 6, wherein the matching condition relates to a game play skill of another player who is a player of the other computer in the game controlled by the second game progress control means. Conditions may be included (claim 7).

  Further, in the game program according to claim 7, when the communication partner determination processing unit cannot determine the other computer that matches the matching condition, the communication partner determination processing unit is changed so as to relax at least a part of the matching condition. It is good to transmit to the said game server again, and to determine said other computer which suits the matching conditions after a change as a partner of data communication (Claim 8).

The game program according to any one of claims 2 to 8, wherein the communication partner determination processing means includes the first communication connection process received as operation information of the operation means by the operation information receiving means, and the One or both of the first communication connection process and the second communication connection process may be executed based on setting information indicating whether to execute each of the second communication connection processes. ).

The game program according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the communication partner determination processing means is the partner of the data communication received as operation information of the operation means by the operation information receiving means. Based on the setting information of the period during which it is prohibited to determine another computer, the data communication partner becomes a partner during the period in which the game progress is controlled by the first game progress control means excluding this prohibited period. The other computer may be determined (claim 10).

  The game program according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the first game progress control means participates in the player not via a network based on operation information of the operation means by the player. The second game progress control means controls the operation information of the operation means by the player and other by another player who is a player of the other computer that is a partner of data communication. The progress of the game in which the player and the other player participate via the network may be controlled based on the operation information of the operation means.

The game program according to claim 11 , wherein the game is a battle game in which winning or losing is determined according to a predetermined rule, and the first game progress control means controls the opponent of the player. In addition, based on the operation information of the operation means by the player and the control information of the opponent, the progress of the first competitive game with the first game progress control means as the opponent for the player The second game progress control means controls the operation information of the operation means by the player and other operation means by another player who is a player of the other computer that is a partner of data communication. Based on the operation information, the progress of the second battle game with the other player as an opponent may be controlled with respect to the player (claim 12).

  The game program according to claim 12, wherein the first and second competitive games include a game character operated by the player and a first game character controlled by the first game progress control means, The second game character operated by the other player may appear in the game space, and may be a battle game in which the game characters compete with each other for attack and defense. 13).

  Further, in the game program according to claim 1, the communication partner determination processing unit becomes a partner of data communication when a request for starting matching is received as operation information of the operation unit by the operation information receiving unit. A first matching request for another computer is transmitted to the game server, and when there is a communication connection request from the other computer in response to the first matching request, a communication connection is established. And a second matching request for requesting transmission of information of the other computer making the first matching request to the game server, and the first game progress In response to the second matching request received from the game server during a period when the game progress is controlled by the control means. And a process of establishing a communication connection by making a communication connection request to the other computer based on the information of the other computer and determining the other computer as a data communication partner. .

Further, in the game program according to claim 1, the communication partner determination processing unit searches for a partner of data communication when the operation information receiving unit receives a matching start request as operation information of the operation unit. A second matching request for transmitting the information of the other computer is transmitted to the game server, and the other computer based on the information of the other computer with respect to the second matching request received from the game server. A communication connection request is established to establish a communication connection, and a process of determining the other computer as a data communication partner and a first matching request for requesting the other computer as a data communication partner are sent to the game server. During the period in which the game progress is controlled by the first game progress control means. It is preferable to execute a process of establishing a communication connection when there is a communication connection request from the other computer in response to the matching request, and determining the other computer as a data communication partner.

  A recording medium provided by the second aspect of the present invention is a computer-readable recording medium in which the game program according to any one of claims 1 to 15 is recorded (claim 16).

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, a computer is a computer for executing the game program according to any one of claims 1 to 15 (claim 17).

  According to the present invention, when another computer to be a data communication partner is determined by the communication partner determination processing unit via the game server during the period in which the game progress is controlled by the first game progress control unit, Since the game progress controlled by the first game progress control means is interrupted and switched to the determined online game progress by the second game progress control means, the player can proceed with the first game progress. The game progress can be enjoyed by combining the game progress by the control means and the game progress by the second game progress control means, and is fresher than the game progress by only the first game progress control means or the second game progress control means. You can enjoy some games.

  In particular, in the case of a battle game, another player who operates another computer on the network by the second game progress control means is selected as the opponent while the game is being executed by the computer by the first game progress control means. The game progress can be interrupted, so that it is possible to produce the same effect as “intrusion” in the fighting game system of the game center, and the player can enjoy not only fresh taste but also an unexpected match game .

  In addition, a player who has played a fighting game system in a game center can entertain a fighting game with the same feeling as that of the fighting game system using a home game device.

  Further, in a game in which the game progress is controlled by the second game progress control means, a waiting time occurs until another computer as a partner of data communication is found, causing stress to the player. When the game progress is controlled by the control means, another computer as an opponent is automatically searched and the game progress controlled by the second game progress control means is interrupted, so that the player can wait for the above-mentioned waiting time. The player's stress can be reduced.

  Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description given below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of an online game system. It is a figure which shows an example of a main menu screen. It is a figure which shows an example of a status edit screen. It is a figure which shows the edit item displayed on a window in the arcade stand-by setting etc. of a status edit screen. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the game device in the offline battle | competition of a fighting game. It is a figure which shows an example of the confrontation screen which made the player character and the enemy character confront. It is a figure which shows an example of the fighting screen which shows a fighting scene. It is a figure which shows an example of the result screen which shows a battle result. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the game device by the side of the host in the network battle mode of a fighting game. It is a figure which shows an example of a lobby screen. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the game device by the side of the guest in the network battle mode of a fighting game. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the matching process in a matching server. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the game device by the side of a host in arcade standby ON mode. It is a figure which shows an example of the fighting screen which shows the fighting scene in arcade standby ON mode. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the game device by the side of a guest in arcade standby ON mode. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the passive matching of the game device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the status edit screen displayed with the game device which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the content displayed on a window for each edit item of the status edit screen shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the passive matching of the game device which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the active matching of the game device which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the content displayed on a window by each edit item of the status edit screen displayed with the game device which concerns on 4th Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the passive matching of the game device which concerns on 4th Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the active matching of the game device which concerns on 4th Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The game genre to which the present invention is applied is not limited to a battle game, but in the following description, a battle type fighting game will be described as an example.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an online game system. An online game system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is constructed for a specific fighting fighting game having an online fighting function represented by “Street Fighter (registered trademark)”, for example, A plurality of game apparatuses 3 (hereinafter simply referred to as “game apparatus 3”) and a game server 4 are included. The game apparatus 3 corresponds to the computer of the present invention.

  In the following description, in order to distinguish between the game device operated by the player A and the game device operated by the player B, the former game device is denoted by “3A” as necessary. The description will be made assuming that the code is “3B”.

  A fighting type fighting game is generally a player (player) and a computer (specifically, a CPU in the game device used by the player), or a plurality of players (mainly two players) operated by each player (mainly two players). ) In the form of drawing out martial arts or a similar type, and winning or losing according to a predetermined rule on the game, the present invention is not limited to a fighting type fighting game, This is a battle game of a type in which a computer or a plurality of players battle each other on a video game, and can be widely applied to a battle game having an online battle function.

  Each game device 3 and game server 4 are connected to a network line 2. Each game device 3 and game server 4 have a function of performing data communication with each other via the network line 2. In each game apparatus 3, a recording medium 5 in which a game program of a specific fighting type fighting game having an online fighting function (hereinafter, abbreviated as “fighting game”) and game data used in the game program are recorded. The game program and the game data necessary for the RAM 311c in each game apparatus 3 are read from the recording medium 5 and the CPU 311a executes the game program so that a fighting game can be enjoyed.

  In the first embodiment, as an example of a fighting game, a fighting game improved so that a fighting game mounted on an arcade game machine can be enjoyed even with a home game device will be described.

  In the fighting game according to the first embodiment, as described later, a battle mode (CPU in which a game character operated by the player A is played against a game character controlled by a computer (the CPU 311a of the game device 3A operated by the player A)). A battle mode in which a game character operated by the player A is played against a game character operated by another player B (a player who performs a fighting game on another game device 3B connected via the network line 2). Mode (player battle mode).

  The former battle mode corresponds to the “arcade mode” in the above-described arcade game machine. Therefore, hereinafter, the battle mode based on the CPU battle is referred to as an “arcade mode”. The latter battle mode corresponds to the battle in the online mode in the above-described home game machine. Accordingly, the battle mode by the player battle is referred to as “network battle mode” in the following because the battle with other players is via the network line 2. Since the former match mode corresponds to a match in offline mode, and the latter match mode corresponds to a match in online mode, the former match mode is set to “offline match mode” and the latter match mode is set to “online match”. It can also be called “mode”.

  The recording medium 5 is a recording medium using a disk medium such as a DVD-ROM or a CD-ROM. The recording medium 5 stores a game program in both the above-described arcade mode (offline battle mode) and network battle mode (online battle mode) and various data necessary for executing the game program.

  The game apparatus 3 has a game apparatus main body 31 having a data communication function, an operation controller 32, a display 33, and a network adapter 34 as a basic configuration, and a memory card 6 for storing game data as required is a game apparatus main body 31. It is attached to. The operation controller 32, the display 33, and the network adapter 34 are connected to the game apparatus main body 31 by a dedicated cable.

  The game apparatus body 31 is generally a home-use game machine such as “Wii (registered trademark)” or “PlayStation (registered trademark)”. For example, a portable game machine such as “PlayStation Portable (registered trademark)” or “Nintendo DS (registered trademark)” may be used. When a portable game machine is used, the operation controller 32 and the display 33 are not necessary because the monitor and the operation member are integrally provided.

  In the first embodiment, the game apparatus main body 31 is provided with a wired data communication function. However, the game apparatus main body 31 may be provided with a wireless data communication function like a portable game machine. In this case, it is necessary to provide a router for wireless LAN in place of the network adapter 34.

  The operation controller 32 is an operation member for inputting operation information of the player to the game apparatus main body 31, and an operation controller dedicated to a game machine is usually used. The operation controller 32 is provided with a known cross key 321, joystick 322, four operation buttons 323 of A, B, X, and Y, an R button 324, and an L button 325. In the following description, when it is necessary to distinguish the operation buttons A, B, X, and Y, they are referred to as an A button 323a, a B button 323b, an X button 323x, and a Y button 323y.

  The cross key 321 and the joystick 322 function as operation members for designating a direction in which the game character (player character) operated by the player is moved in the game space when the fighting game is being executed. In addition, the four operation buttons 323, the R button 324, and the L button 325 function as operation members for causing the player character to perform a specific attack or defense. When performing various operations such as preparatory work before executing a fighting game or viewing status information of a game character using various menu screens, the cross key 321 and the joystick 322 are mainly items displayed on the menu screen. Functions as an operation member for selecting (equivalent to movement of the cursor display), and the four operation buttons 323, R button 324, and L button 325 mainly determine the selected item, and shift to the operation of the item. It functions as an operating member for making it happen.

  For example, the “Arcade Mode” and “Network Battle Mode” battle modes are selected from selection items displayed on the main menu screen, as will be described later. The selection operation in this case is performed with the cross key 321 or the joystick 322, and the selection determination operation is performed with the A button 323a.

  Further, in the fighting game according to the first embodiment, as will be described later, when a fighting game is being performed in the arcade mode, a process of waiting for an opponent for performing a player battle in the background is performed, and the opponent When a game is found, a function for interrupting the fighting game in the arcade mode and shifting to a network battle with the opponent (hereinafter, this function is referred to as an “arcade mode standby function”) is provided. The arcade mode standby function incorporates the player battle process in the network battle mode in the CPU battle process in the arcade mode, and produces the same effect as “intrusion” in the arcade game machine.

  The player can select whether to use the arcade mode standby function, and the selection operation can be performed by moving from the main menu screen to the status editing screen. In the status editing screen, a plurality of editing items and selection items are displayed in the same manner as in the main menu screen, and the player selects a desired item by an item selection operation using the cross key 321 or the joystick 322 and an item determination operation using the A button 323a. Set. The details of the selection / determination operation on the main menu screen and the status editing screen will be described later.

As the display 33, a television receiver is generally used, but a monitor in a computer system can also be used. When a television receiver is used, the pair of speakers 33a and 33a of the television receiver are used for sound output (sound effect output). However, when a monitor without a speaker is used, the game apparatus main body 31 is sounded. speakers for output is externally connected. The network adapter 34 is a device for connecting the game apparatus body 31 to the network line 2.

As the game apparatus body 31, when using a portable game machine, the game apparatus main body 31, the operation controller 32, the display 3 3及 beauty wireless LAN module (not shown) is integrally incorporated in the game machine Therefore, it is not necessary to use the operation controller 32, the display 33, and the network adapter 34 as shown in FIG.

  The game apparatus main body 31 includes a control unit 311, a drawing processing unit 312, an audio processing unit 313, a disk drive unit 314, a memory card connection unit 315, an I / O interface unit 316, and the like. A drawing processing unit 312, an audio processing unit 313, an I / O interface unit 316, and the like are connected to the control unit 311. The I / O interface unit 316 is further connected to a disk drive unit 314, a memory card connection unit 315, an operation controller. 32, a display 33, a network adapter 34, and the like are connected.

In the game apparatus 3, the game program and game data are read into the RAM 311 c from the recording medium 5 mounted in the game apparatus main body 31 by the disk drive unit 314, and the CPU 311 a executes the game program so that the player can enjoy the game contents. be able to. The player can advance the game by operating the cross key 321 or the joystick 322 of the operation controller 32, the four operation buttons 323, the R button 324, and the L button 325.

  Note that the game program of the fighting game includes a plurality of independent programs and a plurality of programs associated with each other. These programs include, for example, a program for controlling the line connection with the game server 4 in the network battle mode, and data transmission / reception with the game server 4 or with another game device 3 that is an opponent. Includes a program for controlling.

  Further, for example, a program for executing a battle process (a program for a battle process) includes a plurality of programs created by dividing a battle process into a plurality of battle modes and battle stages in a battle game. ing. Each time a battle mode or a battle stage is selected, the battle processing program and the game data necessary for the processing of the selected battle mode or battle stage are read from the recording medium 5 into the RAM 311c (loading is performed). CPU 311a is configured to execute the battle processing program.

  For example, in the arcade mode, a desired game character is selected from a plurality of (for example, 30) game characters (for example, fighters in the game space) prepared by the player A, and the game character (player character) is selected. Is a mode in which the game is cleared when a predetermined number (for example, eight) of the game characters (enemy characters) operated by the CPU 311a are operated in order and all the battles are won. In the arcade mode, for example, eight enemy characters with which the player character battles are randomly selected from a plurality of game characters, and programmed so that the strength of the enemy character increases as the order is later.

  The battle between the player character and the enemy character in the arcade mode is called a “stage”, and the enemy character changes for each stage. Therefore, the battle processing program and game data necessary for the battle process of the stage are recorded immediately before the battle of each stage. 5 is loaded into the RAM 311c, and at the same time as the loading is completed, the player performs a battle in each stage by executing the battle processing program loaded by the CPU 311a.

  On the other hand, in the network battle mode, there is no concept of clearing the game when a predetermined number of enemy characters are defeated continuously, and the game server 4 keeps the game until the player stops the battle in the network battle mode. The battle with other matched players can be repeated. Also in this case, immediately before starting a battle with another player, the battle processing program and game data relating to the game character (enemy character) operated by the other player are loaded from the recording medium 5 into the RAM 311c, and the loading ends. At the same time, by executing the battle processing program loaded by the CPU 311a, both players will play a network battle.

  The control unit 311 includes a microcomputer that controls the overall operation of the game apparatus main body 31. The microcomputer includes a CPU 311a, a ROM 311b, and a RAM 311c, and these members are connected to each other via a bus line.

  The CPU 311a performs overall control of the game progress by executing a game program read from the recording medium 5 to the RAM 311c by the disk drive unit 314. The ROM 311b stores a basic program indicating basic functions of the game apparatus 3 such as the above-described game program and game data loading function, a procedure for reading the game program and game data recorded on the recording medium 5, and the like. . The RAM 311c provides an area for storing a game program and game data read from the recording medium 5 by the disk drive unit 314, and a work area necessary for the CPU 311a to execute the game program.

  When the recording medium 5 is loaded in the disk drive unit 314, the CPU 311a operates the disk drive unit 314 according to the basic program stored in the ROM 311b, reads the game program and game data from the recording medium 5 into the RAM 311c, and sets the game start state. The game program and game data at this time may be selected by the player in a desired manner of play, such as selecting various game modes prepared for the fighting game, or selecting whether or not to use the above-described arcade mode standby function. In this case, the “game start state” refers to a state in which the game apparatus body 31 performs necessary preparation work in order to enjoy a desired fighting game.

  In the battle process in the arcade mode, when an operation signal is input from the operation controller 32 by the player, the CPU 311a performs a fight process based on the operation signal according to the CPU battle game program (each of the player character and the enemy character). (Processing such as attack / defense action and hit determination). Then, the CPU 311 a causes the drawing processing unit 312 to create a three-dimensional game progress screen corresponding to the fight processing result, and causes the sound processing unit 313 to generate sound effects and transfer them to the display 33.

  On the other hand, in the battle process in the network battle mode, the CPU 311a transmits the operation signal of the player A input from the operation controller 32 via the network line 2 to the game device 3B of the player B who is the opponent, and the game. An operation signal of the player B is received from the device 3B, and a fighting process based on both operation signals is performed according to a game program for network battle. Then, the CPU 311 a causes the drawing processing unit 312 to create a three-dimensional game progress screen according to the fight processing result, causes the sound processing unit 313 to generate a sound effect, and transfers the sound effect to the display 33. On the display 33, a three-dimensional game progress screen is displayed and a sound effect is output from the speaker 33a.

  The drawing processing unit 312 performs a drawing process of a game screen to be displayed on the display 33. The drawing processing unit 312 is provided with a VRAM (not shown), and the drawing processing unit 312 displays, for example, an image of a game screen of one frame based on a drawing command input from the CPU 311a every 1/60 seconds. Create on VRAM. The drawing command transmitted from the CPU 311a is, for example, information on the result of the battle process described above in the battle process. In order to select a menu screen or an item in the process of causing the player to select a mode or view a status instead of the battle process. This is information for instructing a selection screen.

Drawing processing unit 312, based on the drawing command input from the CPU 311a, the process necessary for the drawing (for example, the establishment of such successive movements of attack possibility, the determination of the effectiveness of attack / defense, changes such as physical strength value Calculation processing is also performed, and drawing processing is performed on the VRAM based on the processing result. The image of the game screen of each frame drawn in the VRAM is converted to a video signal every 1/60 seconds, for example, and output to the display 33.

  The sound processing unit 313 generates sound effects and BGM to be output from the speaker 33a. The sound processing unit 313 reads sound data such as sound effects or BGM from the RAM 311c based on a sound generation command input from the CPU 311a, performs predetermined processing and D / A conversion processing, and then outputs them to the display 33. To do.

  The disk drive unit 314 is a unit for reading a game program and game data recorded on the recording medium 5. The disk drive unit 314 reads the game program and game data specified from the recording medium 5 into the RAM 311c based on a loading command from the CPU 311a (a read command specifying the game program and game data to be loaded).

  The memory card connection unit 315 is a unit for writing / reading information relating to game progress to / from the memory card 6. When a “save data” command is issued from the player while the game is in progress or at the end of the game, the CPU 311a sends information related to the game progress to the memory card 6 via the memory card connection unit 315 (this information includes, for example, Information on the type of game character set, competition results, various benefits such as points and items acquired, etc.) is stored.

  The I / O interface unit 316 transmits the game program and game data read by the disk drive unit 314 and the memory card connection unit 315, an operation signal from the operation controller 32, etc. to the control unit 311, and from the control unit 311. The video signal, the audio signal, and the like are transmitted to the display 33. In the network battle mode, the I / O interface unit 316 transmits data to and from the game server 4 and other game devices 3 via the network line 2 and the network adapter 34.

  The game server 4 is configured by one or a plurality of computers connected to the network line 2, and performs a matching process for a battle through the network of each game apparatus 3.

  In other words, the game server 4 provides information on other players that meet the battle conditions desired by each player to a large number of players who wish to battle via the network. The specific contents of the matching process will be described later. In the following description, the game server 4 is referred to as “matching server 4”.

The matching server 4 includes a CPU 41, ROM 42, RAM 43, hard disk device 44, and I / F (Interface) 45. ROM42, RAM43 and I / F45
Are connected by a bus line 46. The hard disk device 44 is connected to the CPU 41 via the I / F 45 and the bus line 46.

  The CPU 41 executes the above matching process. The ROM 42 stores a processing program for causing the CPU 41 to perform matching processing and data necessary for matching processing. This processing program conforms to, for example, a basic program indicating a procedure for reading data recorded in the hard disk device 44, a communication control program for communicating with each game device 3, and a battle condition provided by each player. A search program for searching for other players is stored.

  The RAM 43 provides a work area necessary for the CPU 41 to execute a processing program for matching processing. The I / F 45 transmits data read from the hard disk device 44 to each game device 3 via the network line 2 or receives data transmitted from each game device 3 and transmits the data to the CPU 41. Interface.

  The network line 2 is a communication line that connects the matching server 4 and the plurality of game apparatuses 3 so that they can communicate with each other. In the first embodiment, for example, an Internet line is applied.

  Next, the basic battle mode arcade mode and network battle mode provided in the fighting game according to the present invention will be described.

  When a recording medium 5 (for example, a DVD-ROM or a CD-ROM) on which a fighting game is recorded is attached to the game apparatus main body 31, the disc drive unit 314 has the player of the fighting game out of the game programs recorded on the recording medium 5. A game program for performing the preparatory work is loaded onto the RAM 311c, and the CPU 311a executes the game program, and the main menu screen 7 having the configuration shown in FIG.

  The main menu screen 7 includes a mode list display 71 for selecting a game mode arranged on the left side, a status display 72 showing game conditions set by the player arranged on the right side, and a main list arranged on the lower right side. A guidance display 73 indicating how to operate the operation controller 32 on the menu screen 7 is included.

  In the mode list display 71, a plurality of game modes are arranged vertically. In addition to the arcade mode, the network battle mode, etc., for example, a training mode for players to practice martial arts, and a challenge to challenge the enemy character by specifying a specific CPU battle enemy character. The game mode includes a mode for browsing the game character (player character) operated by the player (a variety of data such as battle history, battle results, acquired items, points, and other benefits). .

  The status display 72 includes items indicating the handle name of the game character selected by the player, titles and icons set in the game character, and items indicating the setting contents of the arcade mode standby function. The setting content of the arcade mode standby function is an item of the arcade standby setting shown in FIG.

In the guidance display 73, if the A button 32 3 a is pressed, it is determined to process the selected item, and if the B button 32 3 b is pressed, the previous state of the main menu screen 7 (for example, title It is shown that the status can be edited by pressing the R button 324 after returning to (display of the screen).

A cursor is displayed on the uppermost mode item in the mode list display 71 to indicate that the mode item is a selection candidate. The cursor display is, for example, reverse display of the entire item or highlight display of the item frame. The player can move the cursor display position of the mode list display 71 upward or downward by operating the up and down keys of the cross key 321 of the operation controller 32. When the player moves the cursor display to a desired mode item and then presses the A button 32 3 a, the mode item is determined.

For example, when the cursor display is moved to “Arcade Mode” and the A button 32 3 a is pressed, the player can play a fighting game in the arcade mode (corresponding to the offline mode), and the cursor display is displayed in “Network Battle Mode”. Is moved and the A button 32 3 a is pressed, the player can play a fighting game in the network battle mode (corresponding to the online mode). Note that game modes other than the arcade mode and the network battle mode are not particularly relevant to the present invention, and thus description of those game modes is omitted.

  On the other hand, when the player presses the R button 324 in the display state of the main menu screen 7, the game screen is switched to the status editing screen 8 shown in FIG. On the status edit screen 8, the title and icon of the status display 72 and the content of the arcade mode standby function can be set.

  In the fighting game in the arcade mode in which the arcade standby is set to OFF, the player performs a fighting game including only the CPU battle in which the CPU 311a operates the enemy character. On the other hand, the fighting game in the arcade mode in which the arcade standby is set to ON corresponds to the gist of the game device according to the present invention, and as described later, the player combines the CPU battle and the player battle (network battle). It is possible to perform a fighting game in which a new game development is performed.

  In the following explanation, in order to distinguish whether or not arcade standby is set, the arcade mode in which arcade standby is set to OFF is called “arcade standby OFF mode” and arcade standby is set to ON as necessary. The arcade mode is called “arcade standby ON mode”.

  In the mode list display 71 of the main menu screen 7, an arcade mode and a network battle mode are prepared as game modes. If the arcade standby is set to ON in the status edit screen 8 to be described later, the arcade mode displayed in the mode list display 71 operates as the “arcade standby ON mode”, and the arcade standby is set to ON. Otherwise, the arcade mode displayed in the mode list display 71 operates as an arcade standby OFF mode. Therefore, the player can enjoy the fighting game by selecting one of the “arcade standby OFF mode”, “arcade standby ON mode”, and “network battle mode”.

  In the arcade standby OFF mode and the network battle mode, it is not possible to enjoy a fighting game in which a CPU battle and a player battle (network battle) are mixed. In particular, as seen in a fighting game system (a fighting game system in which a plurality of arcade game machines are connected to each other via a LAN) arranged in a game center, one player (the previous player) is either When another player (later player) starts a battle game on another arcade game machine while playing a CPU battle with an arcade game machine, the player who is the next player in the CPU battle played by the previous player is used as an opponent. It is not possible to enjoy the development of a fighting game such as intruding, that is, switching a CPU battle to a player battle.

  However, in the arcade standby ON mode, when another player B waiting in the background is found while the player A is playing a CPU battle, the CPU battle is interrupted and a network battle with the other player B is performed. Therefore, it can be said that the arcade standby ON mode is a new game mode in which a CPU battle and a player battle different from the arcade standby OFF mode and the network battle mode are mixed.

  In this arcade standby ON mode, an effect similar to “intrusion” in an arcade game machine can be performed, and a home game device 3 can also be used for a player who is experiencing a fighting game system at a game center. There is an effect that a fighting game can be enjoyed with the same feeling as the system.

  The status edit screen 8 shown in FIG. 3 has contents in which the mode list display 71 of the main menu screen 7 shown in FIG. 2 is replaced with an edit list display 81 in which seven edit items are vertically arranged. The edit list display 81 includes edit items of “title set”, “icon set”, “arcade standby setting”, “round setting”, “time setting”, “search priority setting”, and “language priority setting”. ing. “Title set” and “icon set” are items for editing the contents of the title column and icon column of the status display 72. On the other hand, “Arcade standby setting” is an item for setting whether or not to wait for an arcade during a battle in the arcade mode (ON / OFF). “Round setting”, “Time setting”, “Search priority setting” and “Language priority setting” is an item for setting an opponent matching condition in the matching process performed by the matching server 4 in the arcade standby.

The method for selecting an edit item in the edit list display 81 is the same as the method for selecting a mode item in the mode list display 71. When the “title set” edit item is selected by the A button 32 3 a, a list of a plurality of titles prepared in advance is displayed, and the player can select a desired item in the same manner as the mode item selection method in the mode list display 71. “Title” can be set. Further, when the edit item of “icon set” is selected by the A button 32 3 a, a list of a plurality of icons prepared in advance is displayed, and the player can use the same method as the mode item selection method in the mode list display 71. Can set a desired icon. The set title and icon are displayed in the title and icon fields of the status display 72, respectively.

In addition, when any of “Arcade standby setting”, “Round setting”, “Time setting”, “Search priority setting”, and “Language priority setting” is selected by the A button 32 3 a, the selected editing item A window for editing work is displayed beside it. FIG. 4 shows the contents displayed in the window for each editing item, and the selection item column in FIG. 4 is displayed in the window. The editing operation of each editing item is for the player to select and set a desired item from among a plurality of items prepared in advance.

  In “Arcade standby setting”, three types of items “OFF”, “Rank match” and “Player match” are prepared. “OFF” is an item for setting (OFF) not to wait for an arcade. , “Rank match” or “player match” is an item that is set (ON) so that it waits for an arcade (arcade standby ON mode). When “OFF” is set, the battle process in the arcade mode becomes the above-described arcade standby OFF mode. On the other hand, when “rank match” or “player match” is set, the battle processing in the arcade mode is the battle processing in the arcade standby ON mode in which the player battle is interrupted in the above-described CPU battle mode.

  “Round setting” is an edit item for setting the number of rounds for determining victory or defeat in the player battle. In the “round setting”, for example, three types of items “1 time”, “3 times”, and “5 times” are prepared. “Time setting” is an editing item for setting the time of one round. In the “time setting”, for example, three types of items “30 seconds”, “60 seconds”, and “99 seconds” are prepared. “Search priority setting” is an edit item for setting an item to be prioritized as a search condition in the matching process in the matching server 4. In the “search priority setting”, for example, four items of “search speed”, “connection quality”, “same strength as myself”, and “stronger than myself” are prepared. The search speed and connection quality are based on the communication speed and communication quality with the opponent. On the other hand, “same strength as me” and “stronger than me” are based on the fighting skill of the opponent against me as a priority condition.

  The fighting skills are compared using, for example, battle points set for each player. The battle point is a numerical value calculated based on, for example, a battle result or a skill evaluation of an attack technique. The skill evaluation of the attack technique is an evaluation value determined by, for example, the success rate or the number of successes of a predetermined number of consecutive attack techniques.

  In the matching process in the matching server 4, players who access the matching server 4 are divided into a player who creates a session (game device 3) and a player who participates in the created session (game device 3). A session means a unit of online battle constituted by a plurality of (two in the first embodiment) game devices 3 connected via the network line 2, and is a unit in which the matching server 4 manages the number of online battles. It will be. A player who creates a session is a subject who plans the session and seeks participants, so it is called a “host”, and a player who participates in the session is called a “guest” with respect to the host.

  Assuming that the host battle point is HBP and the guest battle point is GBP, for example, if −1000 ≦ (GBP−HBP) ≦ 1000, the guest strength is determined to be about the same as the host strength. If 1000 <(GBP−HBP) ≦ 2000, the guest is determined to be stronger than the host. When “search speed” or “connection quality” is set, the strength of the opponent is “not specified”.

  “Language priority setting” is an edit item for setting a language to be prioritized with respect to a language in a chat function used when a player battles with another player. In “Language preference setting”, in addition to “All” (equivalent to no specification), there are five or more representative languages including “Japanese”, “English”, “Italian”, “German”, etc. It is prepared.

When a window is opened with each setting item of “Arcade standby setting” to “Language priority setting”, a cursor is displayed on the first item among a plurality of items displayed in the window. In the example of FIG. 4, the cursor display is performed with an underline. The player can move the cursor display position in the window to the left or right by operating the left and right keys of the cross key 321 of the operation controller 32. When the player moves the cursor display to a desired item and then presses the A button 32 3 a, the item is set. The set item is displayed in the item indicating the set content of the standby state in the status display 72.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the offline battle processing procedure of the game apparatus 3. This flowchart is a processing procedure executed in the arcade standby OFF mode and the arcade standby ON mode. That is, this is a processing procedure that is executed when the player selects “Arcade Mode” on the main menu screen 7 with the arcade standby setting set to either OFF or ON. The arcade standby ON mode is a mode in which, in addition to the offline battle processing, passive matching (FIG. 13) and active matching (FIG. 15) described later are performed in parallel to perform online battle.

  First, an opening process is performed such as allowing the player to select various battle conditions such as a game character, the difficulty level of the battle, the number of rounds, and the round time (S1). Thereafter, after the counter i for counting the number of battles is set to “1” (S2), an enemy character operated by the i-th CPU 311a is determined (S3), and a screen showing the content of the i-th battle is displayed on the display 33. It is displayed (S4). This screen is, for example, a confrontation screen 9 in which the game character (player character) PA selected by the player and the i-th enemy character PB are confronted as shown in FIG. On the confrontation screen 9, images of the faces of the player character PA and the enemy character PB are displayed, and the names of fighters “XXX” and “YYY” are displayed below the player character PA and the enemy character PB, respectively.

  Subsequently, a game program and game data necessary for the battle process with the i-th enemy character are loaded from the recording medium 5 into the RAM 311c (loop process of S5 and S6). Note that the display of the facing screen 9 on the display 33 is also performed during the loading. When the loading is completed (S6: YES), the confrontation screen 9 of the display 33 is switched to, for example, a fighting screen 10 showing a fighting scene as shown in FIG. 7, and the CPU battle process is started (S7). .

  The fighting screen 10 displays a player character PA and an enemy character PB that are three-dimensionally displayed in the background indicating the fighting field, and the player character PA responds to the attack technique according to the operation signal of the player A input from the operation controller 32. Or perform defensive techniques. On the other hand, the enemy character PB performs an action of delivering an attack technique or a defense technique in accordance with an operation signal output from the CPU 311a. A time display 101 indicating the remaining round time is displayed at the upper center of the fighting screen 10, and the physical strength gauge 102a of the player character PA and the physical strength gauge 102b of the enemy character PB are displayed in bar display on both sides thereof. When the player character PA receives damage, the length of the physical strength gauge 102a decreases toward the time display 101 by an amount corresponding to the amount of damage. The same applies to the physical strength gauge 102b, and the length of the gauge decreases toward the time display 101 according to the damage amount of the enemy character PB.

  When the round time displayed on the time display 101 becomes “0”, the battle is over, but when the physical strength gauge of the player character PA or the enemy character PB becomes “0” before the round time becomes “0”, The match ends. In this case, the character whose physical strength gauge is “0” is “KO lost”. On the other hand, if the physical strength gauges of the player character PA and the enemy character PB remain when the round time becomes “0”, the longer physical strength gauge (the one with the remaining physical strength) becomes “win”.

  Also, if the match is set to 1 round in the round setting, if you win once, you will “win” that match. If you set 3 rounds, if you win twice, you will win the match. "If it is a match set for 5 rounds, if you win three times first, you have won the match.

  The battle process started in step S7 is executed until the battle is over according to the above-described rules for winning or losing, and when the battle is over (S8; YES), the fight screen 10 on the display 33 is, for example, as shown in FIG. Is switched to the result screen 11 showing the result of the battle (S9). On the result screen 11, the image and name of the winner character (the image and name XXX of the player character PA on the result screen 11) are displayed together with the characters “WIN”.

  Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the winner is the player A (whether or not the player character PA is the winner) (S10). If the winner is not the player A (S10: NO), the process proceeds to step S14. A predetermined “game over process” is performed. In this game over process, for example, after a predetermined effect image including a game over character is displayed on the display 33, the player selects whether or not to continue, and if the continue is not selected, the main menu screen 7 It is the process which returns to.

  On the other hand, if the player A is a winner (S10: YES), it is further determined whether or not the counter i is a predetermined number n (for example, 8 players) (S11). If i <n (S11: NO), the counter i is incremented by 1 (S12), the process returns to step S3, and a CPU battle with the next enemy character is performed. Thereafter, whenever the player A defeats the enemy character PB and wins, the processing of steps S3 to S12 is repeated, and when the player A defeats eight enemy characters PB in succession (S11: YES), the process proceeds to step S13. Then, a predetermined “game clear process” is performed. This game clear process is, for example, a process of displaying a predetermined ending screen including the game clear character on the display 33 and then returning to the title screen (not shown).

  Next, a processing procedure of the game apparatus 3 in the network battle mode of the fighting game will be described.

  When the network battle mode is selected on the main menu screen, a menu screen in the network battle mode is displayed on the display 33. This menu includes items for session creation and session search. The session creation is a mode in which the player (game device 3) that requested the session creation becomes a host and waits for an opponent to appear (see FIG. 9). The session search is a mode in which the player who requested the session search (game device 3) as a guest searches for the game device 3 that has created a session (host) and applies for a battle (see FIG. 11).

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the game apparatus 3 in the network battle mode from the standpoint that the player participates as a host. In the description of the flowchart of FIG. 9, the player and game device on the host side are referred to as “player A” and “game device 3A”, respectively, and the player (other player) and game device on the guest side are referred to as “player B”. This will be described as “game device 3B”.

First, the player A is subjected to a process for obtaining matching conditions for the opponent necessary for the matching process of the matching server 4 (loop of S21 to S23). In this process, the player A is asked for the same conditions as the “round setting”, “time setting”, “search priority setting”, and “language priority setting” conditions on the status editing screen 8 described above. Is a process for setting. If the player A presses the B button 32 3 b during this process (S23: YES), the network battle mode process is terminated and the process returns to the main menu screen 7.

  When the opponent's condition (matching condition) is set (S22: YES), connection processing to the matching server 4 is performed (S24, S25 loop), and when the line is connected to the matching server 4 (S25: YES), a request for creating a session (first condition) together with information such as the opponent's conditions (conditions such as the number of rounds, time, search priority, language priority) set by the player A and the battle points possessed by the player A Is sent to the matching server 4 (S26). At this time, the IP address of the game device 3A of the player A is also transmitted to the matching server 4 so that an application for a battle (communication) can be made from another game device 3B on the guest side (player B). Needless to say.

  When a session creation request is made, the lobby screen 12 shown in FIG. 10 is displayed on the display 33 (S27), and the player waits for an opponent (loop in S27 to S29). The waiting state of the opponent at this time is the other player B (guest) who is willing to play against the session created by the player A (host) among the other players B (guest) connected to the matching server 4. Is waiting for access to the game device 3A of the player A (host) to apply for a match.

  The lobby screen 12 is a screen that displays information of the host (player A) and information of the opponent (guest: player B) who has accepted the competition application. Therefore, the waiting state for the opponent is a state in which only the host enters the lobby and no guest enters the room.

  On the lobby screen 12, information on the player A (host) is displayed in the upper part, and information on the player B (guest) who applied for the battle is displayed in the lower part. In the state waiting for the opponent, only the information of the player A (host) is displayed in the upper row, and the lower row is blank.

When the player A presses the B button 32 3 b while waiting for an opponent (S29: YES), the player leaves the lobby (exits). Accordingly, a session end process is performed (S30), the network battle mode process ends, and the screen returns to the main menu screen 7.

  On the other hand, if an application for a match from the guest player B (game device 3B) is received (session establishment of the game devices 3A and 3B) (S28: YES), this means that the guest has entered the lobby. Then, information of the opponent (guest) is displayed on the lobby screen 12 (S31). In the first embodiment, only one guest who has been accepted for a match can enter the lobby created by one host.

Note that the player A leaves the lobby by pressing the B button 32 3 b, but as a result, there is no host who planned a battle in the lobby, so the session is also lost. Accordingly, when the B button 32 3 b is pressed by the player A in the display state of the lobby screen 12 (S32: YES), a session end process such as a session end notification is performed from the game device 3 to the matching server 4 (S33). ), The network battle mode process ends, and the screen returns to the main menu screen 7. The matching server 4 deletes the session that has been notified of the end of the session.

  The game apparatus 3A of the player A and the game apparatus 3B of the opponent player B are prepared to start a battle, such as determining the stage for the battle and selecting a player character to be used by each player. Then (S34: YES), the confrontation screen 9 shown in FIG. 6 is displayed (S35), and the game program and game data necessary for the battle process with the enemy character operated by the other player B who is the opponent are displayed. The data is loaded from the recording medium 5 into the RAM 311c (S36). When the loading is completed, the confrontation screen 9 of the display 33 is switched to the fighting screen 10 shown in FIG. 7, and the player battle process is started (S37).

  In the battle process in the network battle mode, the operation signals of the players A and B input from the operation controllers 32 of the game apparatuses 3A and 3B are communicated with each other between the two game apparatuses 3A and 3B connected to the line. The only difference from the battle process in the arcade mode described above is that the fighting action of the player character PA and the enemy character PB is controlled using the operation signals of both players A and B. Accordingly, in steps S37 to S39, a battle process similar to the battle process described in steps S7 to S9 in the flowchart of FIG. 5 is performed.

When the network battle ends and the result screen 11 is displayed on the display 33, the process returns to step S31, and the result screen 11 is switched to the lobby screen 12. Further, when each player performs an operation for requesting a rematch on the lobby screen 12 (S32: NO), the processes of steps S34 to S39 are performed again by the same players. On the other hand, when the B button 32 3 b is pressed on the lobby screen 12 (S32: YES), a session end process is performed (S33), the network battle mode process ends, and the main menu screen 7 is restored. Further, the communication connection between the game apparatuses 3A and 3B is also disconnected by the session end process. Communication between the matching server 4 and the game apparatus 3 is maintained at least until the network battle mode is terminated.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the game apparatus 3 in the network battle mode from the standpoint when the player participates as a guest.

  In the description of the flowchart of FIG. 11, in contrast to the flowchart of FIG. 9, the guest player and the game device are referred to as “player A” and “game device 3A”, respectively, and the host player (other players) ) And the game device will be described as “player B” and “game device 3B”, respectively. Further, in the flowchart of FIG. 11, the processing contents of steps S41 to S45 are the same as steps S21 to S25 of the flowchart of FIG. Therefore, hereinafter, the processing from step S46 will be described.

  When the opponent's conditions are set (S42: YES) and the line is connected to the matching server 4 (S45: YES), the opponent's conditions set by the player A (number of rounds, time, search priority, language priority) Etc.) and a session search request (second matching request) are transmitted to the matching server 4 (S46). Communication between the matching server 4 and the game apparatus 3 is maintained at least until the network battle mode is terminated.

  The session search request is a request for obtaining a list from the game server 4 by extracting a session that matches the match condition of the player A from among a large number of sessions created in the game server 4. When a session search request is made, a screen (search result list screen) showing a session search result is displayed on the display 33 (S47). This search result list screen displays search results as a list, and the display mode is similar to the lobby screen 12 shown in FIG. 10 (a list in which only host information is arranged). However, the search result list screen is not an image of the state of the opponent who has entered the lobby like the lobby screen. Although not shown, the list displayed on the search result list screen is an edited version of the list received from the matching server 4. The list received from the matching server 4 matches only the opponent's condition requested by the guest side (player A), and it is unknown whether or not it matches the competition condition requested by the host side (player B). It is a thing. That is, it is unclear whether the guest (player A) matches the battle condition requested by the host (player B). Therefore, the list editing is performed to extract the hosts that satisfy the host-side battle condition among the hosts in the list received from the matching server 4. As a result, the information displayed on the search result list screen is only the information of the host that matches the match conditions of the guest side (player A) and the host side (player B). Since there is no data until the search result list is transmitted from the matching server 4, the list of session search results is naturally not displayed on the search result list screen.

When the player A presses the B button 32 3 b on the search result list screen (S49: YES), the network battle mode process is terminated and the process returns to the main menu screen 7. On the other hand, when session search result information is received from the matching server 4 and the information is displayed in a list on the search result list screen, the search result list screen functions as a selection screen for the player A to select an opponent. . The player A operates the up / down direction keys of the cross key 321 and the A button 32 3 a to select a desired opponent from the player B (host) displayed as a list.

When the player A moves the cursor display to a desired player B on the search result list screen and presses the A button 32 3 a, a battle application process is performed on the game apparatus 3B of the player B (S48: YES, S50). Then, when it is received that the game application is accepted by the game device 3B of the player B (session establishment of the game devices 3A and 3B) (S51: YES), the battle is established, and the search result list screen on the display 33 is displayed in the lobby. The screen is switched to the screen 12 (S52). That is, this process corresponds to entering the lobby of a session created by the host.

  If the application is rejected by the player B who has applied for a match (S51: NO), the process returns to step S47, where the player A selects another player B as the opponent and performs the same application process. Will do. This process is repeated until a host that accepts the battle application is found (loop process of S47 to S51).

  The processing in steps S52 to S60 after the lobby screen 12 is displayed on the display 33 of the game apparatus 3A of the player A indicates the battle processing in the network battle mode. Since the game progresses in the same processing procedure in the guest game device 3A and the host game device 3B that are competing in the network battle mode, the processes in steps S52 to S60 are performed in steps S31 to S39 in the flowchart of FIG. Corresponds to each process, and the contents are the same. Therefore, the description of the processing in steps S52 to S60 is omitted.

  Next, the processing procedure of the matching process in the matching server 4 will be described using the flowchart of FIG.

  The matching server 4 monitors a session creation request or session search request from the game device 3 (loop of S61 to S63), and each time there is a session creation request or session search request, The response process is always performed by performing a loop process according to the processing procedure of steps S61 to S66.

  That is, when a session creation request is made from any of a large number of game apparatuses 3 connected to the network line 2 (S61: YES), the CPU 41 receives the game apparatus 3 (the game apparatus 3 of the player serving as the host). A session is created using the information related to the host to be transmitted (information such as the title of the player and battle points) and the conditions related to the battle conditions, and is stored in the hard disk device 44 (S62).

  Further, when there is a session search request from any of a large number of game devices 3 connected to the network line 2 (S63: YES), the CPU 41 starts from the game device 3 (game device 3 of the player as a guest). A session in the hard disk device 44 is searched using the conditions regarding the battle conditions to be transmitted (S64), and a list of sessions that match the battle conditions is created and transmitted to the game apparatus 3 (S66).

  Although omitted in the flowchart of FIG. 12, when a session end notification is received from the host, processing for deleting the session from the list of sessions in the hard disk device 44 is performed.

  Next, a processing procedure of the game apparatus 3 in the arcade standby ON mode of the fighting game will be described.

  In the arcade standby ON mode, the processing of the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 13 and 15 is performed in parallel with the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. Since the flowchart of FIG. 5 has been described, the processing of the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 13 and 15 will be described below.

Flowcharts shown in FIGS. 13 and 15 performs processing to search for an opponent in network play in the background while CPU competition (offline battle processing of FIG. 5), is found its opponent, CPU competition (Fig. 5 shows a process of interrupting (5 offline battle processing) and switching to a network battle with the opponent.

  In the arcade standby ON mode, the CPU 311a automatically performs the opponent determination process that was manually performed by the player in the network battle mode. As described above, the opponent determination method in the network battle mode includes a case where the player becomes a host and a case where the player becomes a guest.

  In the arcade standby ON mode, the CPU 311a executes processing for searching for an opponent with the player serving as a host and processing for searching for an opponent with the player serving as a guest. Specifically, in the former case, the CPU 311a requests the matching server 4 to create a session and performs a process of accepting the battle for the guest who has applied for the battle. In the latter case, the CPU 311a The server 4 is requested to search for a session, a host to which a match is applied is determined from the result of the session search, and a process for applying a match to the host is performed.

In the process of searching for an opponent in the arcade standby ON mode, the process of searching for the former opponent is called “passive matching”, and the process of searching for the other opponent is called “active matching”. In the arcade standby ON mode, both passive matching and active matching are performed.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the passive matching processing procedure of the game apparatus 3. In the description of the flowchart of FIG. 13, the player and game device on the host side are referred to as “player A” and “game device 3A”, respectively, and the player (other player) on the guest side and the game device are referred to as “player B”, respectively. This will be described as “game device 3B”.

  In the arcade standby ON mode, first, connection processing to the matching server 4 is performed (S70, loop of S71), and when the line is connected to the matching server 4 (S71: YES), the opponent set by the player is determined. A request for session creation is transmitted to the matching server 4 together with information such as conditions (conditions such as the number of rounds, time, search priority, language priority) and battle points owned by the player (S72). At the time of this transmission, the IP address of the game apparatus 3A of the player A is also transmitted to the matching server 4 so that an application for a battle (communication) can be made from another game apparatus 3B on the guest side (player B).

  When a session creation request is made, the processes in steps S2 to S8 in the flowchart of FIG. 5 (the process from the determination of the opponent of the i-th CPU match to the end of the CPU match with the opponent) are being executed. It is determined whether or not there is (S73), and if it is being executed (S73: YES), it is determined whether or not there is an application for a match from the game device 3B of another player B (guest) for the created session. (S74).

  Note that in the arcade standby ON mode, the fighting screen during the CPU battle is basically the same as the fighting screen 10 shown in FIG. 7, but as shown in FIG. This is different from the arcade standby OFF mode in that an icon 103 indicating that it is present is displayed. Thereby, it can be seen that the player A is playing a battle game (offline battle) in the arcade standby ON mode.

  If there is no application for a match from the game device 3B of another player B during the processes of steps S2 to S8 (S74: NO), the process proceeds to step S80, and the arcade mode (that is, the offline match process shown in FIG. 5) is completed. If it has not been completed (S80: NO), the process returns to step S73, and steps S73 to S80 described above are repeated. On the other hand, when the arcade mode ends (S80: YES), the processing in the arcade standby ON mode using passive matching is also ended.

  If there is an application for a match from the game device 3B of another player B during the processing of steps S2 to S8 (session establishment of the game devices 3A and 3B) (S74: YES), the processing of steps S2 to S8 (currently performed) The offline battle process in FIG. 5 is interrupted (S75), and the online battle process with the player B is performed (S76). The process to be interrupted differs depending on the timing of receiving the battle application, but is, for example, an indication that the opponent has appeared, storage of information on the opponent of the i-th CPU battle in the RAM 311c, or the like.

Also, the online battle processing performed in step S76 is the same as the battle process in the step S 31 ~S38 of the flowchart shown in FIG. Therefore, the description of the battle process in step S76 is omitted.

  When the online battle process ends, the interrupted CPU battle restart process is performed (S77), and the process returns to step S72. The restart process is, for example, reading from the RAM 311c of information on the opponent of the i-th CPU match, and the restart process is started from step S3, for example. Note that the timing of the restart process is not limited to step S3, and any other suitable timing can be selected.

For example, in the case of 3 rounds, if the match between the player A and the other player B is started by online battle while the player A is in the second round CPU battle (offline battle) with the i = 3 opponent, the CPU battle is i = 3 th like are remembers while being interrupted. Thereafter, after the online battle with another player is completed, i = 3 is reset, and the CPU battle between the player A and the i = 3 opponent is started again from the first round. In other words, if the CPU match is interrupted while winning or losing is determined, the CPU match is resumed from the first round, although it is the same opponent. In addition, it is not restricted to 1st Embodiment like the said example, You may make it restart from the time of interrupting.

  On the other hand, if the processes in steps S2 to S8 are not being executed (S73: NO), it is determined whether or not there is an application for a match from the game device 3B of another player B (guest) for the created session. (S78). If there is a match application (S78: YES), after notifying the game device 3B that the application is not accepted to the game device 3B of the other player B who has applied for the match (S79), the process proceeds to step S80 described above. If there is no match application (S78: NO), the process proceeds to step S80 described above without performing the process of step S79.

  As described above, in the passive matching, the opponent's application is accepted during the processing period from the determination of the opponent of the i-th CPU battle to the end of the CPU battle with the opponent, and in the other processing periods, Do not accept the other party's application. That is, the online battle is not interrupted.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the active matching processing procedure of the game apparatus 3. In the description of the flowchart of FIG. 15, the guest player and game device are “player A” and “game device 3 A”, respectively, and the host player (other player) and game device are “player B”, respectively. This will be described as “game device 3B”.

  In the arcade standby ON mode, whether or not the processing of steps S4 to S6 in the flowchart of FIG. 5 (processing from display of the confrontation screen 9 to loading of data for processing of the i-th CPU battle) is being executed. Is determined (S81), and if it is being executed (S81: YES), it is determined whether or not a list of session search results is received from the matching server 4 (S82), and if a list is received (S82). : YES), a session for applying for a battle is determined from the list after the list editing process in S92, which will be described later, and an application for the battle is made to the game device 3B of the host of the session (S83). If there is information on a plurality of hosts in the list, for example, an application is made to the host at the top as an opponent. Or you may determine at random.

Then, when the battle is accepted by the host (player B: game device 3B) who applied for the battle (S84: YES), the processing of steps S4 to S6 (offline battle processing shown in FIG. 5) is interrupted (S85). The online battle process with the player B is performed (S86). When the online battle process is completed, the interrupted CPU battle restart process is performed (S87), and the process proceeds to step S93. Processing in step S85~S87 are the same as steps S 75 to S 77 in FIG. 13 flowchart, a description thereof will be omitted.

  In step S93, it is determined whether or not the arcade mode (offline battle process shown in FIG. 5) has ended. If not (S93: NO), the process returns to step S81, and steps S81 to S93 are repeated. On the other hand, when the arcade mode is ended (S93: YES), the active matching process is also ended.

On the other hand, when the process of steps S4 to S6 is not in progress (S81: NO), even if the process is being processed, the session search list has not been received (S82: NO), and the match application has not been accepted by the host (S84: NO), the process proceeds to step S88, whether the battle processing of the CPU competition (offline match) has ended is determined, if not completed (S88: NO), the step S93 described above Transition to processing.

  When the CPU battle process is completed in step S88 (S88: YES), the matching server 4 is requested to obtain a session search list that matches the match conditions of the player A (S89). When a list of sessions is transmitted from the matching server 4 (S90: YES), it is determined whether or not the processing of steps S9 and S10 in the flowchart of FIG. Is determined (S91), and if the process is being executed (S91: YES), after the list is edited (S92), the process proceeds to step S93 described above. Note that this list editing is the same processing as the list editing performed in the network battle mode described above, and a description thereof will be omitted. The communication between the matching server 4 and the game apparatus 3A is maintained at least until the network battle mode is terminated.

  As described above, in the active matching, in the i-th CPU battle, the opponent's application is applied during the processing period in which no operation by the player is accepted from the display of the battle screen 9 until the data for the CPU battle process is loaded. Do not apply for opponents during other processing periods. In addition, during the period when the player's operation is not accepted (after completion of the battle process of S7), the list transmission request and list editing to the matching server 4 are performed, and the transmission request is not performed during other processing periods. This is to reduce the processing load on the CPU 311a as much as possible.

  As described above, the arcade standby OFF mode is a mode in which the game is cleared when the player A continuously battles with a predetermined number of enemy characters PB controlled by the CPU 311a and defeats all enemy characters PB. However, in the arcade standby ON mode, the opponent of the network battle is matched during the specific period of the offline battle process shown in FIG. 5, and when the opponent is determined by the matching, the CPU battle is interrupted, and the opponent Switch to network battle with. Further, when the network battle ends, the interrupted CPU battle is resumed.

In other words, in the arcade standby ON mode, the opponent (player B) that is waiting for the network battle is determined while the player A is continuously fighting the enemy characters PB controlled by the predetermined number of CPUs 311a. (When appearing), even during the battle with the enemy character PB, it is interrupted, and after the network battle with the opponent is performed and the network battle is performed, the enemy character controlled by the CPU 311a at the time of the suspension It can be said that it is a mode for resuming the battle with the PB.

  In the arcade standby ON mode, the more players continuously win the CPU battle in the arcade mode, the more opportunities for the player battle in the network battle mode to interrupt, and the battle game is more surprising and fresh than the arcade standby OFF mode. Can enjoy.

  In addition, in the arcade standby ON mode, as shown in FIG. 5, the timing for accepting a match application by passive matching (a player match interruption period) is the processing period from S2 to S8, and a match application by active matching is possible. The timing (a period during which the player battle can be interrupted) is the processing period of S4 to S6. Therefore, in the arcade standby ON mode, the player battle is interrupted in an intrusive manner at an unpredictable timing while the player is enjoying the battle game with the enemy character PB controlled by the CPU 311a. When experiencing a fighting game system, there is an effect that the fighting game can be enjoyed with the same feeling as the intrusion in the fighting game system of the game center.

  Conventionally, when a player wants to play a player, the network battle mode must be selected. In the network battle mode, an indefinite waiting time is generated until an opponent is determined, which causes stress on the player. In the arcade standby ON mode, there is also an effect that the player can play the game without giving stress due to the standby time.

In the first embodiment, since the timing of accepting a match application by passive matching and the timing of a match application to the host by active matching are shifted, the CPU 311a allows the player to distribute the processing load for searching for opponents. the player match-up can be interrupted by the intrusion of form at the timing can not be predicted in the middle of enjoying a competitive game of the control to the enemy character PB of. Further, since the list transmission request to the matching server 4 and the list editing are performed during a period when the player's operation is not accepted (after the battle process in S7 is completed), the processing load is further distributed.

  Note that the timing of accepting a passive matching session creation request and battle application, the active matching battle application, the list transmission request, and the list editing timing are not limited to the period described in the first embodiment.

  In the first embodiment, whether the arcade mode is the arcade standby ON mode or the arcade standby OFF mode must be switched in the arcade standby setting before selecting the arcade mode on the main menu screen 7. However, switching (ON / OFF) may be set during the arcade standby ON mode and during the arcade standby OFF mode. For example, the setting screen may be displayed in accordance with the operation of the controller 32 by the player during the display of the effect screen or in the case of a third round or fifth round match, such as during an interval period between rounds. In addition, it may be possible to set whether to execute active matching and passive matching (ON / OFF).

Second Embodiment
The second embodiment is different from the configuration of the first embodiment described above, for example, in a configuration in which interruption of a player battle (online battle) during pause is prohibited during a CPU battle (offline battle) in the arcade standby ON mode. Hereinafter, a configuration different from the first embodiment will be mainly described.

  Pause is a well-known technique in which the progress of a game is paused during the game by pressing a pause start / release button, and the battle process itself is paused during the pause in the second embodiment. For this reason, the input of the operation controller 32 for the progress of the game (for operating the character, etc.) is not accepted during the pause. Further, during the pause, for example, the game screen immediately before the start of the pause is continuously displayed on the display 33. After the pause is released, the battle process is resumed, the input of the operation controller 32 for progressing the game is accepted, and the game progresses again. Note that the pause start / release button in the second embodiment is provided in the operation controller 32, although not shown.

  In the arcade standby ON mode, when the player presses a pause start / release button (not shown) of the operation controller 32 during the battle process (offline battle) in step S7 in the flowchart of FIG. The battle process in step S7 is paused to enter a pause state. Further, when the player presses the pause start / release button again during the pause, the game apparatus 3 resumes the battle process in step S7 as described above. Thereby, the game proceeds again.

  In the second embodiment, the start of a pause is accepted only during the battle process of step S7 in FIG. 5, and the start of a pause is not accepted when an opponent is selected or when a battle result is displayed, but is accepted. You may do it.

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a passive matching processing procedure of the game apparatus 3 according to the second embodiment. In the description of the flowchart of FIG. 16, the player and game device on the host side are referred to as “player A” and “game device 3A”, respectively, and the player (other player) on the guest side and the game device are referred to as “player B”, respectively. This will be described as “game device 3B”. Further, steps S101 to S104 are the same as the processes of steps S70 to S73 in the flowchart of FIG. 13, and steps S106 to S112 are the same as the processes of steps S74 to S80 in the flowchart of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 16, when the game apparatus 3A determines that the processes in steps S2 to S8 in the flowchart of FIG. 5 are being executed (S104: YES), it determines whether or not it is in a pause (S105). . This determination is performed using, for example, pause flag information. The pause flag is set to ON information when the pause start / release button is pressed by the player A during the battle process of step S7 in the flowchart of FIG. 5, and the pause start / release button is pressed again. OFF information is set in a state where the pause is released. These setting processes are performed by the game apparatus 3A. The information on the pause flag corresponds to the setting information for the prohibited period of the present invention.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the processes in steps S2 to S8 are not being executed (S104: NO), the process proceeds to step S110, and there is an application for a match from the game device 3B of another player B (guest) for the created session. It is determined whether or not.

  If it is determined that the game apparatus 3A is not in a pause (S105: NO), the process proceeds to step S106. On the other hand, if it is determined that it is in a pause (S105: YES), the process proceeds to step S110, and it is determined whether or not there is an application for a match from the game device 3B of another player B (guest) for the created session. . If there is no match application (S110: NO), the process proceeds to step S112. If there is a match application (S110: YES), the game apparatus 3B of the other player B who has applied for the match will not accept the application. It transmits to game device 3B (S111). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S112.

  Thereby, even in the arcade standby ON mode, interruption of the player battle (online battle) is prohibited during the pause. The active matching of the second embodiment is the same process as the flowchart shown in FIG. 15 of the first embodiment, and the match application is not performed during the match process of step S7 shown in FIG. There is no process for banning competition applications. However, when an active matching battle application is performed during the battle processing in step S7 shown in FIG. 5, for example, the above-described pause flag information may be used to prohibit the battle application during the pause.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, since interruption of a player battle (online battle) during pause is prohibited, it is possible to prevent an interruption at an unpredictable timing during a pause when a game is not being played. The pause includes a case where the user does not want to proceed with the game such as a call in the real world and having to leave the front of the display 33, but the invention according to the second embodiment is such a game progression. This is especially effective when you don't want to let them.

<Third Embodiment>
In the third embodiment, the player can arbitrarily set the interruptable period of the player battle (online battle) in the arcade standby ON mode, and can accept the match application by passive matching according to the set interruptible period. It differs from the above-described first embodiment in the configuration in which the timing (interval where players can be interrupted) and the timing when players can apply for active matching (interval where players can be interrupted) vary. Hereinafter, a configuration different from the first embodiment will be mainly described.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a status editing screen 800 displayed on the game apparatus 3 according to the third embodiment. In the status editing screen 800 of the third embodiment, the player can set the title of the status display 720, the icon, and the content of the arcade mode standby function as in the first embodiment. The contents (editing items) of the arcade mode standby function include the same items as those in the first embodiment of “arcade standby setting”, “round setting”, “time setting”, “search priority setting”, and “language priority setting”. In addition, there are items of “waiting period setting” and “standby round setting”. Setting of these items can be similar to the first embodiment by operating the controller 3 2.

As in the first embodiment, the A button 32 3 a allows the “Arcade standby setting”, “Round setting”, “Standby waiting period setting”, “Standby waiting round setting”, “Time setting”, “Search priority setting”, and When one of the “language priority settings” is selected, a window for editing work is displayed next to the selected editing item. FIG. 18 shows the contents displayed in the window for each editing item, and the selection item column in FIG. 18 is displayed in the window. The editing operation of each editing item is for the player to select and set a desired item from among a plurality of items prepared in advance.

“Standby period setting” is an item for editing the interruptable period of the player battle in the arcade mode standby ON mode. The “waiting period setting” includes items “before the battle”, “during the battle”, and “after the battle”. “Before the battle” is an item for setting whether to permit interruption (ON / OFF) during the period before the start of the CPU battle (offline battle). “During battle” is an item for setting whether to permit interruption during a CPU battle (ON / OFF). “After Battle” is an item for setting whether to permit interruption (ON / OFF) during the period after the CPU battle is over. Switching of ON / OFF setting of each item, after moving by operating the left and right direction keys of the operation controller 3 2 of the cross key 321 the cursor in the appropriate fields, performed by operating the up and down direction keys of the cross key 321 .

  FIG. 18 illustrates a state in which “before the battle” is set to ON and the others are set to OFF. Also, in “waiting period setting”, only items that are set to ON are valid regardless of the position of the cursor. The position of the cursor is used only for switching ON / OFF of each item.

  The “standby round setting” is an item for editing the number of rounds that can be interrupted in a player battle in the arcade mode standby ON mode. In the third embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the player continues to win and the CPU battle is held up to the 8th round, but the “standby round setting” is up to the 8th round in any round (online This item is used to edit whether the match is to be interrupted.

  The “standby round setting” includes items “all rounds” and “up to m rounds” (m = 1,..., 8). "All rounds" is an item that enables interruption at any time until the 1st to 8th rounds of the CPU battle are completed. “Up to the m-th round” is an item that enables interruption until the 1-m round of the CPU battle.

Player operates the left and right direction keys of the operation controller 3 2 of the cross key 321 by moving the cursor to the appropriate item can alternatively on the effective set one of these two items. The number round of "up to m round" m, after a valid setting the appropriate item by moving the cursor can be changed by operating the up and down direction keys of the operation controller 3 2 of the cross key 321 (increase or decrease). FIG. 18 illustrates a state in which “all rounds” where the cursor is positioned are set to be valid. Accordingly, the information on the standby period setting and the standby round setting is equivalent to the setting information of the period prohibited by the present invention.

  FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing a passive matching processing procedure of the game apparatus 3 according to the third embodiment. In the description of the flowchart of FIG. 19, the player and game device on the host side are referred to as “player A” and “game device 3A”, respectively, and the player on the guest side (other players) and the game device are referred to as “player B”. This will be described as “game device 3B”. Further, steps S121 to S123 are the same as the processes of steps S70 to S72 in the flowchart of FIG. 13, and steps S126 to S132 are the same as the processes of steps S74 to S80 in the flowchart of FIG.

The timing (period) at which a match application from another player B (game device 3B) by passive matching according to the third embodiment can be accepted is the maximum processing period of steps S2 to S12 in the flowchart of FIG. Also, an acceptable duration of this competition application, as shown in the process of step S12 4, S12 5, "standby period setting", is varied based on "standby enable round setting".

  As shown in FIG. 19, after making a session creation request to the matching server (S123), the game device 3A determines whether or not the period condition is satisfied (S124). That is, in the process of step S124, it is determined whether or not it is within a possible period of accepting a battle application from another player B (game device 3B) (player battle interruption). This period condition is based on the ON / OFF setting of the items “before the battle”, “during the battle”, and “after the battle” of “waiting period setting”.

  Specifically, in the process of the flowchart of FIG. 5, the period condition is established when the processes corresponding to “before battle”, “during battle”, and “after battle” are being executed. Is determined. In the third embodiment, “before the battle” corresponds to the processing of steps S2 to S6 in the flowchart of FIG. 5, and “during the battle” corresponds to the processing of steps S7 and S8 in the flowchart of FIG. Corresponds to the processing of steps S9 to S12 in the flowchart of FIG.

  For example, when all of “Before the match”, “Being a match”, and “After the match” are set to ON, the game apparatus 3A determines that “the process of S2 to S12 is being executed” as the period condition. . Further, when only “before the battle” is set to ON, the game apparatus 3A determines that “the processing in S2 to S6” is being performed as a period condition.

  If the game apparatus 3A determines that the period condition is not satisfied (S124: NO), the game apparatus 3A proceeds to step S130, and applies for a match from the game apparatus 3B of another player B (guest) for the created session. It is determined whether or not there is. And if there is no battle application (S130: NO), it will transfer to step S132. On the other hand, if there is a match application (S130: YES), it is determined that it is not a period during which the player match can be interrupted, and a notification indicating that the request is not accepted is transmitted to the game device 3B of the player B who has applied for the match (S131). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S132.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the period condition is satisfied (S124: YES), the game device 3A determines whether or not the battle condition is satisfied (S125). That is, in the process of step S125, it is determined whether or not the current number of rounds of the CPU battle is within a round of battles (within a period) during which the player battle can be interrupted.

  This round condition is based on items that are set to be valid from “all rounds” and “up to m rounds” in “standby round setting”. For example, when “all rounds” is set to be valid, the game apparatus 3A determines that “within the period of 1 to 8 rounds” is a round condition. Further, when “up to m rounds” is set to be effective, the game apparatus 3A determines that “within the period of 1 to m rounds” is the round condition.

  For example, a counter i (see FIG. 5) for counting the number of battles may be used as information for specifying how many rounds the current CPU battle is.

Game apparatus 3A, round the condition is determined to you are satisfied (S125: YES), the process proceeds to step S126, there is a sign of the competition from the game device 3B of the other player B (guest) for the session that was created It is determined whether or not. Then, as in the first embodiment, if there is an application for a match from the game device 3B of the player B (S126: YES), the player battle process (S127 to S128) is performed, and if there is no match application (S126: NO) ), The process proceeds to step S132.

On the other hand, when the game apparatus 3A determines that the rounding condition is not satisfied (S125: NO ), the game apparatus 3A proceeds to step S130, and the game apparatus 3B of the other player B (guest) applies for the created session. It is determined whether or not there is. And if there is no battle application (S130: NO), it will transfer to step S132. On the other hand, if there is a battle application (S130: YES), it is transmitted that the application is not accepted to the game device 3B of the player B who has applied for the battle, assuming that the round condition is not satisfied (S131). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S132.

  FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing an active matching processing procedure of the game apparatus 3 according to the third embodiment. In the description of the flowchart of FIG. 20, the guest player and game device are “player A” and “game device 3 A”, respectively, and the host player (other player) and game device are “player B”, respectively. This will be described as “game device 3B”. Steps S143 to S154 are the same as steps S82 to S93 in the flowchart of FIG.

  The timing (period) during which a match application can be made to another player B (game device 3B) by active matching according to the third embodiment is the maximum processing period of steps S4 to S6 in the flowchart of FIG. Further, the period during which the battle application can be applied fluctuates based on “waiting period setting” and “waiting round setting” as shown in the processes of steps S141 and S142.

  As shown in FIG. 20, the game device 3A determines whether or not the period condition is satisfied (S141). That is, in the process of step S141, it is determined whether or not it is within a possible period for a battle application to another player B (player battle interruption). This period condition is based on ON / OFF setting of the items “before battle”, “during battle”, and “after battle” of “waiting period setting” as in the above-described passive matching. Specifically, in the process of the flowchart of FIG. 5, the period condition is established when the processes corresponding to “before battle”, “during battle”, and “after battle” are being executed. Is determined. Since the processes corresponding to “before the battle”, “during the battle”, and “after the battle” are the same as those described above, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  Here, the period in which the player can apply for a match with another player in the third embodiment is included in the process period of steps S4 to S6 in the flowchart of FIG. 5, that is, the "pre-match" period as described above. . Therefore, even if “during battle” and “after battle” are set to ON, no battle application is made. That is, regardless of the setting contents of “during battle” and “after battle”, if “before battle” is set to OFF, a battle application is not made, and it is always determined that the process of step S141 is not established (NO). A period condition is set for. On the other hand, when “before the battle” is set to ON, the period condition is “processing in S4 to S6” regardless of the setting contents of “during battle” and “after battle”.

  If it is determined that the period condition is not satisfied (S141: NO), the game apparatus 3A determines that it is not a period during which the player battle can be interrupted, and does not apply to another player B (game apparatus 3B) for a battle step. The process proceeds to S149.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the period condition is satisfied (S141: YES), the game device 3A determines whether the round condition is satisfied (S142). In other words, in the process of step S142, it is determined whether or not the current number of rounds of the CPU battle is within the round (in a period) during which the player battle can be interrupted, as in the above-described passive matching. This round condition is a condition based on the items that are validly set in “all rounds” and “up to m rounds” of “standby round setting” as in the case of the above-described passive matching, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted. .

  Moreover, as information which specifies how many times the current CPU battle is, as described above, for example, a counter i (see FIG. 5) for counting the number of battles may be used.

  If the game device 3A determines that the battle condition is not satisfied (S142: NO), the game device 3A assumes that the number of battles that can be interrupted by the player battle is not interrupted, and does not apply to another player B (game device 3B) for the battle. The process proceeds to S149.

  On the other hand, when the game apparatus 3A determines that the battle condition is satisfied (S142: YES), the list after the list editing process is received if the list is received (S143: YES) as in the first embodiment. An application for a match is made from the list (S144). Thereafter, when an application for a battle is accepted (S145: YES), a player battle process (S146 to S148) is performed.

  As described above, in the third embodiment, since the player can arbitrarily set the interruptable period of the player battle in the arcade standby ON mode, it is possible to wait for the player battle interrupt at a desired timing of the player.

  For example, if interrupted in the middle of the 3rd round CPU match of the 3rd round setting, the CPU battle must be restarted with the same opponent again after the end of the player battle, but some players hate the redo match In some cases. In such a case, it is possible to avoid redoing the battle by setting only “before the battle” and “after the battle” of the “waiting period setting” to be set to ON and not permitting the interruption of the “during battle”. be able to.

  Further, for example, if the number of rounds is increased by winning in the CPU battle (approaching the final 8th round), some players may want to concentrate on the CPU battle. In such a case, it is possible to concentrate on the CPU battle after the m-th round by enabling the “up to m-th round” of the “standby round setting” and setting the interrupt not permitted after the m-th round. .

  In the third embodiment, the application for the player match in the active matching is made only “before the battle” due to the processing load or the like, but it may be made “during the battle” or “after the battle”.

  In the third embodiment, the “standby ready period setting” and “standby round setting” can be edited (set) on the status edit screen 800 before execution of the arcade standby ON mode. It may be possible to edit while executing the mode. For example, during the pause, the status editing screen shown in FIG. 18 regarding “standby setting” and “standby round setting” may be displayed on the display 33 and the operation of the operation controller 32 related to these settings may be accepted. . After the pause is released, the above-described process may be performed under the period condition and the battle condition based on the changed contents.

  Pause is a well-known technique in which the progress of a game is paused during a match by pressing a pause start / release button, and the battle process itself is paused during the pause of the third embodiment. For this reason, the input of the operation controller 32 for the progress of the game (for operating the character, etc.) is not accepted during the pause. Further, during the pause, for example, the game screen immediately before the start of the pause is continuously displayed on the display 33. After the pause is released, the battle process is resumed, and the input from the operation controller 32 for the progress of the game (for example, for operating the character) is also accepted, and the game proceeds again. Pause start / release switching can be performed, for example, by a player pressing a pause start / release button (not shown) of the operation controller 32.

<Fourth embodiment>
In the fourth embodiment, the player can arbitrarily set the interruptable period of the player battle (online battle) in the arcade standby ON mode, and the passive matching process is executed (ON / OFF) according to the set interruptible period. OFF) timing (player battle interruption possible period) and active matching processing execution (ON / OFF) timing (player battle interruption possible period) are different from the first embodiment described above.

  Also in the game apparatus 3 according to the fourth embodiment, the same status edit screen 800 as in the third embodiment shown in FIG. 17 is displayed, and the player displays the status display 720 by the status edit screen 800 as in the first embodiment. You can set the title, icon and content of the arcade mode standby function. Since the operation contents for the editing work on the status editing screen 800 are the same as those described in the third embodiment, the description thereof is omitted here.

In the fourth embodiment, "Arcade standby settings" by operating the player of the A button 32 3 a status editing screen 800 shown in FIG. 17, "round setting", "standby period setting", "waiting possible round setting" When any one of “time setting”, “search priority setting”, and “language priority setting” is selected, a window for editing shown in FIG. 21 is displayed next to the selected editing item. FIG. 21 shows the contents displayed in the window for each edit item, and the selection item column in the figure is displayed in a window. The editing operation of each editing item is for the player to select and set a desired item from among a plurality of items prepared in advance.

“Standby period setting” is an item for editing the interruptable period of the player battle in the arcade mode standby ON mode, as in the third embodiment. However, in the “standby period setting” of the fourth embodiment, there is no “post-match” item of the third embodiment, but only “pre-match” and “during battle” items. Since each item is the same as in the third embodiment, description thereof is omitted. Switching of ON / OFF setting of each item, as in the third embodiment, after moving by operating the left and right direction keys of the operation controller 3 2 of the cross key 321 the cursor in the appropriate fields, upper and lower cross key 321 This can be done by operating the direction keys.

  FIG. 21 illustrates a state in which “before a battle” is set to ON and “during a battle” is set to OFF. In “waiting period setting”, only the items set to ON are valid regardless of the position of the cursor. The position of the cursor is used only for switching ON / OFF of each item.

As in the third embodiment, the “standby round setting” is an item for editing the number of rounds that can be interrupted by a player battle in the arcade mode standby ON mode. As in the third embodiment, “standby round setting” includes items “all rounds” and “up to m rounds” (m = 1,..., 8). Since each item is the same as in the third embodiment, description thereof is omitted. The player, as in the third embodiment, by operating the left and right direction keys of the operation controller 3 2 of the cross key 321 by moving the cursor to the appropriate item, alternatively enable setting either of these two items Can be. The number m round of "up to m round", as in the third embodiment, after the valid setting the appropriate item by moving a cursor, change by operating the up and down direction keys of the operation controller 3 2 of the cross key 321 (Increase or decrease) FIG. 21 shows a state in which “all rounds” where the cursor is positioned are set to be valid. Accordingly, the information on the standby period setting and the standby round setting is equivalent to the setting information of the period prohibited by the present invention, as in the third embodiment.

  FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing a passive matching processing procedure of the game apparatus 3 according to the fourth embodiment. In the description of the flowchart of FIG. 22, the player and game device on the host side are “player A” and “game device 3A”, respectively, and the player (other player) and game device on the guest side are “player B”, respectively. This will be described as “game device 3B”. Steps S161 to S163 are the same as the processes of steps S70 to S72 in the flowchart of FIG. 13, and steps S166 to S172 are the same as the processes of steps S74 to S80 in the flowchart of FIG.

  Unlike the third embodiment, the timing (period) at which a match application from another player B (game device 3B) by passive matching according to the fourth embodiment can be accepted is the process of steps S7 and S8 in the flowchart of FIG. It becomes a fixed period (refer to step S165) ("matching").

  Further, the passive matching process of the fourth embodiment is not always executed during the arcade standby ON mode as in the first embodiment, but is based on “standby setting period” and “standby round setting”. Execution is switched (ON / OFF switched).

  Specifically, it is executed from the start of execution of the arcade standby ON mode only when “during battle” of “waiting period setting” is set to ON, regardless of the setting content of “before battle”. This is because the period during which a match application can be accepted is fixed to “during battle”, so even if the passive matching process is executed during the period when “before match” is set to ON, the match application will not be accepted. It is. On the other hand, if “matching” is set to OFF, the passive matching process is not executed during the arcade standby ON mode regardless of the setting “before match”.

  In addition, when “up to m rounds” in the “standby round setting” is valid, the passive matching process is ended (OFF) when the game is in the arcade standby ON mode and after the m + 1 round. This is because the period during which the match application can be accepted is “until the m-th round”, so that even if the passive matching process is executed after the m + 1 round, the match application is not accepted. Specifically, this will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 22, after making a session creation request to the matching server (S163), the game device 3A determines whether or not the round-off conditions are satisfied (S164). In step S164, similarly to the process of step S125 of the third embodiment, it is determined whether or not the number of rounds of the current CPU battle (offline battle) is within the rounds where the player battle can be interrupted. As in the third embodiment, this round condition is a condition based on items that are set validly among “all rounds” and “up to m rounds” in “standby rounds setting”, and detailed description thereof is omitted. To do. In addition, as information which specifies how many times the current CPU battle is, a counter i (see FIG. 5) for counting the number of battles may be used as described above.

  If it is determined that the battle condition is not satisfied (S164: NO), the game apparatus 3A ends the process because the number of battles that can be interrupted by the player battle is not reached.

On the other hand, when the game apparatus 3A determines that the battle condition is satisfied (S164: YES), it determines whether or not the processes of steps S7 and S8 in the flowchart of FIG. 5 are being executed (S165). If the game device 3A determines that the processes of steps S7 and S8 are being executed (S165: YES), whether or not there is an application for a match from the game device 3B of another player B (guest) for the created session. Is determined (S166). If there is no match application (S166: NO), the process proceeds to step S172. If there is a match application (S166: YES), the player battle process (S167 to S169) is performed as in the first embodiment.
To do.

  If the game apparatus 3A determines that the processes of steps S7 and S8 are not being executed (S165: NO), the game apparatus 3A moves to step S170, and the game apparatus 3B of another player B (guest) for the created session. It is determined whether or not there is a match application. And if there is no match application (S170: NO), it will transfer to step S172, and if there is a match application (S170: YES), it will transmit that application is not received to the game apparatus 3B of the player B who had a match application. (S171). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S172.

Figure 2 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the game apparatus 3 of active matching according to the fourth embodiment. In the description of the flowchart of FIG. 2 3, the guest side of the player and the game apparatus respectively as "player A" and a "game apparatus 3A", the host side of the player (the other player) game devices each "player B" And “game device 3B”. Further, the process of FIG. 2. 3, description thereof will be omitted since it is identical to the processing of the flowchart of FIG. 15 except the processing in steps S1 8 1. Further, description Step 1 8 1 treatment also determination processing similar round conditions as step S164 of FIG. 22 will be omitted.

  As in the first embodiment, the timing (period) at which a match application to another player B (game device 3B) by active matching according to the fourth embodiment can be made is the same as the process of steps S4 to S6 in the flowchart of FIG. The fixed period included in “Before the battle” (see step S182).

  Further, the active matching process of the fourth embodiment is not always executed during the arcade standby ON mode as in the first embodiment, but is executed based on “standby setting period” and “standby round setting”. Is switched (ON / OFF switching).

  Specifically, the active matching process is executed from the start of execution of the arcade standby ON mode only when “pre-match” in “waiting period setting” is set to ON, regardless of the setting content of “matching”. The This is because the period during which the battle application can be applied is fixed to “before the battle”, so that the battle application is not performed even if the active matching process is executed during the period in which “before the battle” is set to ON. On the other hand, when “before battle” is set to OFF, the active matching process is not executed regardless of the setting of “during battle”.

  In addition, when “up to m rounds” of “standby round setting” is set to valid, the active matching process is ended (OFF) when the arcade standby ON mode is in progress and after m + 1 rounds. . This is because, as in the case of passive matching, the period during which a match application can be made is “until the m-th round”, so that even if the active matching process is executed after the m + 1 round, the match application is not made.

  As described above, in the fourth embodiment, during the arcade standby ON mode, “before match” of “waiting period setting” is set to ON and active matching processing is executed (ON), and “pre-match (steps S4 to S4- The application for the match is made during the period of “S6”, the passive matching process is executed with “ON” set to ON, and the application for the match is made during the period of “matching (steps S7, S8)”. Acceptance is performed. By switching between execution of passive matching and active matching, it is possible to wait for a player battle interruption at a desired timing of the player.

  Further, in the fourth embodiment, during the arcade standby ON mode, “until m-th round” of “standby round setting” is set to ON, and execution of active matching and passive matching processes after m + 1 round is ended (OFF). The Even by switching between the execution of passive matching and active matching, it is possible to wait for an interruption of a player battle only at a desired timing of the player.

  For example, if interrupted in the middle of the 3rd round CPU match of the 3rd round setting, the CPU battle must be restarted with the same opponent again after the end of the player battle, but some players hate the redo match In some cases. In such a case, it is possible to avoid replaying the battle by setting only “before the battle” of “waiting period setting” to “ON” and not allowing the “during battle” interruption.

  Further, for example, if the number of rounds is increased by winning in the CPU battle (approaching the final 8th round), some players may want to concentrate on the CPU battle. In such a case, it is possible to concentrate on the CPU battle after the m-th round by enabling the “up to m-th round” of the “standby round setting” and setting the interrupt not permitted after the m-th round. .

In the fourth embodiment, the status editing screen 80 0 before ON mode execution waiting Arcade, "standby period setting", but can be edited (setting) of "waiting possible round setting" Arcade standby ON mode It may be possible to edit during execution. For example, as described in the third embodiment, during the pause, the status editing screen shown in FIG. 21 is displayed on the display 33 with respect to “standby period setting” and “standby round setting”, and the operation controller related to these settings is displayed. 32 operations may be accepted.

  After the pause is released, the above-described process may be performed under the period condition and the battle condition based on the changed contents. For example, as described in the third embodiment, the pause start / release switching can be performed by the player pressing a pause start / release button (not shown) of the operation controller 32.

  In addition, if the passive matching process and active matching process are switched to the start of execution due to ON / OFF switching of “Before the battle” and “Being a match” in the “Waiting period setting” during pause, each process after the pause is released You can start from the beginning. When the passive matching process and the active matching process are switched to the end of execution, each process may be forcibly stopped (terminated) after the pause is released.

  In the “waiting period setting” of the third embodiment and the fourth embodiment, the items “before the battle”, “during the battle”, and “after the battle” are provided, but are not particularly limited thereto. For example, “in character selection” may be provided. “Character selected” is an item in which a period during which the player selects a character to be used in the CPU battle is a period during which the player battle can be interrupted. When “Character selected” is set to ON, the period condition is “being processed in S1” in the flowchart of FIG.

In the "standby you can round setting" in the third and fourth embodiments, although the item "all round" and "up to m round" are provided, but the present invention is not particularly limited thereto, e.g. “After the nth round” (n = 1,..., 8) may be provided. “After the n-th round” is an item in which the period from the n-th round of the CPU battle (offline battle) to the eighth round is a possible period for interrupting the player battle (online battle).

  Furthermore, in the third embodiment and the fourth embodiment, both “standby possible period setting” and “standby possible round setting” are provided. However, only one of them may be provided.

  In the third embodiment and the fourth embodiment, the player can arbitrarily set the interruptable period of the player battle by editing the “standby possible period setting” and the “standby ready round setting”. It is not limited, and the player may be able to set a more detailed period.

  In the above first to fourth embodiments, when the opponent's condition (for example, strength request) is specified, matching is not established unless both the host and the guest agree, but in this case, In order to prevent unnecessarily hampering matching due to reasons such as extremely high or low battle point values, a toggle operation is provided for priority setting of the opponent's desired strength to reduce the frequency of matching failure. It is good to do so.

  For example, when there is no matching session as a result of active matching, the toggle action is set to “no designation” as the opponent's strength preference at the next active matching. After that, if matching occurs even once, the opponent's strength preference is returned to the original (player setting) value. Thereby, it is possible to avoid a state in which matching is not performed at all.

  Moreover, in said 1st-4th embodiment, although communication between game apparatuses 3 is performing well-known peer to peer communication, it is not limited to this communication form. For example, a known communication form via a game server may be used.

  In the first to fourth embodiments described above, a one-on-one battle-type fighting game has been described as an example, but a multiplayer-to-multiplayer battle game may be used. In addition, the game is not limited to a battle game. For example, a character operated by a plurality of players or a character controlled by a CPU, such as “Monster Hunter (registered trademark)”, forms a team and cooperates in the same quest (the purpose of the game). It can also be applied to adventure games that achieve the above. In short, the present invention is not limited to game genres in which other players matched by the online mode are opponents, and can be widely applied to game software having an offline mode and an online mode.

  Moreover, in said 1st-4th embodiment, although the network battle mode was provided, if there is an arcade standby function, there may not be a network battle mode. Further, if there is a network battle mode (active session search function), the configuration may be such that only active matching and passive matching are performed without performing both active passing and passive matching. Conversely, if there is a network battle mode (passive session creation function), a configuration in which only active matching is executed may be used.

  In the first to fourth embodiments described above, the game device for home use has been described, but the arcade game machine described above is also connected to an unspecified number of other game machines via a network line so that data communication is possible, Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to an arcade game machine in which a player of another game machine can be matched as an opponent or a collaborator to enjoy the game.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Online game system 2 Network line 3 Video game apparatus 31 Game apparatus main body 311 Control part 312 Drawing process part 313 Audio | voice process part 314 Disk drive unit 315 Memory card connection unit 316 I / O interface part 32 Operation controller 321 Four-way key 322 Joystick 323 Operation Button 324 R button 325 L button 33 Display 33a Speaker 34 Network adapter 4 Game server (matching server)
41 CPU
42 ROM
43 RAM
44 Hard disk device 45 I / F
5 recording medium body 6 memory card 7 main menu screen 8 status editing screen 9 facing screen 10 fighting screen 11 result screen 12 lobby screen A, B player PA player character PB enemy character

Claims (17)

Computer
Operation information receiving means for receiving operation information of the operation means by the player;
Communication control means for performing data communication with each other between the game server and other computers connected to the network;
First game progress control means for controlling the progress of the game using the operation information of the operation means received by the operation information receiving means without using the information acquired by data communication with the other computer;
Second game progress control means for controlling game progress using operation information of the operation means received by the operation information receiving means and information acquired by data communication with the other computer;
Communication partner determination processing means for determining the other computer to be a partner of data communication via the game server;
If the other computer is determined by the communication partner determination processing means during the period in which the game progress is controlled by the first game progress control means, the game controlled by the first game progress control means A game progress switching means for interrupting the progress and switching to a game progress controlled by the second game progress control means using information determined by data communication with the other computer,
A game program that works. The communication partner determination processing means
A first matching request for requesting the other computer as a partner of data communication is transmitted to the game server, and the first matching request is transmitted during a period in which the game progress is controlled by the first game progress control means. A first communication connection process for establishing a communication connection when there is a communication connection request from the other computer, and determining the other computer as a data communication partner;
A period in which a second matching request for requesting transmission of information of the other computer making the first matching request is transmitted to the game server, and the game progress is controlled by the first game progress control means In addition, based on the information of the other computer with respect to the second matching request received from the game server, a communication connection request is made to the other computer to establish a communication connection, and the other computer is connected to the other party of data communication. Executing a second communication connection process to be determined,
The game program according to claim 1.   The game program according to claim 2, wherein the communication partner determination processing unit performs at least a part of the first communication connection process and a part of the second communication connection process at different timings. The first game progress control means controls the game progress using the operation information of the operation means received by the operation information receiving means during a predetermined period,
The communication partner determination processing means establishes a communication connection when there is a communication connection request from the other computer for the first matching request in the first communication connection process during the predetermined period, The process of determining the other computer as the other party of data communication is performed, and the communication connection is established with the other computer that has made the first matching request in the second communication connection process during the period excluding the predetermined period. 4. The game program according to claim 3, wherein a process for establishing a communication connection by making a request and determining the other computer as a data communication partner is performed. The computer,
Wherein the game progress by the game progress switching the second game progress control means is switched by means ends, to further function as a game resuming means for resuming the game progress according to the first game progress control means is interrupted, wherein Item 5. A game program according to any one of Items 1 to 4. The first and second matching requests include one or more matching conditions received as operation information of the operation means by the operation information receiving means,
The communication partner determination processing means determines the matching condition said other computers compatible with the data communication partner, a game program according to claims 2 to 4.   The game program according to claim 6, wherein the matching condition includes a condition relating to a game play skill of another player who is a player of the other computer in a game controlled by the second game progress control means. .   When the communication partner determination processing unit cannot determine the other computer that matches the matching condition, the communication partner determination processing unit changes the condition so as to relax at least a part of the matching condition, and transmits it again to the game server. The game program according to claim 7, wherein the other computer that matches the matching condition is determined as a data communication partner. The communication partner determination processing means
Based on the setting information as to whether to execute each of the first communication connection process and the second communication connection process received as operation information of the operation means by the operation information receiving means, the first communication connection process The game program according to any one of claims 2 to 8, wherein one or both of a communication connection process and a second communication connection process are executed. The communication partner determination processing means
Based on the setting information of the period during which it is prohibited to determine the other computer that is the partner of the data communication, which is received as the operation information of the operation means by the operation information receiving means, the period excluding the prohibition period is excluded. The game program according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the other computer to be a partner of the data communication is determined during a period in which the game progress is controlled by the first game progress control means. The first game progress control means controls the progress of a game in which the player participates not via a network based on operation information of the operation means by the player.
The second game progress control means includes the operation information of the operation means by the player and the operation information of other operation means by another player who is a player of the other computer that is a partner of data communication. Based on controlling the progress of the game in which the player and the other player participate via the network,
The game program according to claim 1. The game is a battle game in which winning or losing is determined according to a predetermined rule,
The first game progress control means controls the player's opponent and controls the player based on operation information of the operation means by the player and control information of the opponent. Controlling the progress of the first battle game with the first game progress control means as the opponent;
The second game progress control means includes the operation information of the operation means by the player and the operation information of other operation means by another player who is a player of the other computer that is a partner of data communication. Based on the player, controlling the progress of a second battle game with the other player as the opponent,
The game program according to claim 11.   The first and second competitive games include a game character operated by the player, a first game character controlled by the first game progress control means, or a second game operated by the other player. The game program according to claim 12, wherein the game program is a battle game in which a character appears on the game space and the two game characters attack and defend each other to compete for victory or defeat. The communication partner determination processing means
When a matching start request is received as operation information of the operation means by the operation information receiving means, a first matching request for requesting the other computer to be a partner of data communication is transmitted to the game server, and the first A process of establishing a communication connection when there is a communication connection request from the other computer in response to one matching request, and determining the other computer as a data communication partner;
A period in which a second matching request for requesting transmission of information of the other computer making the first matching request is transmitted to the game server, and the game progress is controlled by the first game progress control means In addition, based on the information of the other computer with respect to the second matching request received from the game server, a communication connection request is made to the other computer to establish a communication connection, and the other computer is connected to the other party of data communication. And processing to decide on
The game program according to claim 1. The communication partner determination processing means
When a matching start request is received as operation information of the operation means by the operation information receiving means, a second matching request for requesting transmission of information of the other computer seeking a partner of data communication is sent to the game server. Based on the information of the other computer with respect to the second matching request received from the game server, a communication connection request is made to the other computer to establish a communication connection, and the other computer is made to perform data communication. The process of deciding on the other party,
A first matching request for requesting the other computer as a partner of data communication is transmitted to the game server, and the first matching request is transmitted during a period in which the game progress is controlled by the first game progress control means. A communication connection is established when there is a communication connection request from the other computer, and the process of determining the other computer as a data communication partner is executed.
The game program according to claim 1.   A computer-readable recording medium on which the game program according to any one of claims 1 to 15 is recorded.   A computer that executes the game program according to claim 1.

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