JP2017131416A - User interface technique for determining attack skill to be delivered by fighter in match game executed by computing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To produce novel amusement by an action of manipulating a game by adopting an unprecedented novel user interface technique in a process in which a player manipulating a team in an attacking side determines an attack skill to be delivered.SOLUTION: An attack skill display ring is formed by delimiting a circumference into a plurality of divided areas and, when a fighter A implements an attack, names and symbols of respective attack skills are displayed on the divided areas one by one on the basis of information of a plurality of attack skills selected for the fighter A in a team organization record. A cursor representing a spot on the circumference repetitively rotates along the circumference. When the player operates to stop, the cursor is made to stop, and an attack skill ID corresponding to the name displayed on the divided area represented by the cursor is delivered to an attack effect calculation algorithm.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a user interface technology in a game executed by a computing system such as a mobile game, a PC online game, and an arcade game. For example, a self-team is formed by a plurality of fighters called monsters or characters. The present invention relates to a user interface technology intended to be applied to a computer game of a genre called a battle-type role-playing game in which a scene where a battle with an enemy team is played is a main game element.

  As is well known, in the popular battle type computer game, the monsters of the own team and the monsters of the enemy team repeatedly attack and defend, and the monsters of the team that fought favorably are strengthened or new monsters are acquired. Or

  In such a game, the ability characteristics of many types of monsters are different, and it is for the player to think about the strategy of which monsters and which monsters will form a sortie team to challenge the battle among the many monsters that are possessed pieces. Is an important element of the fun of the game. In addition, each monster is set so that it can use multiple types of attack techniques (skills) depending on their abilities, and the tactics of which attack technique to send out to the enemy team in the attack scene by the monster selected as the sortie team battles It will be an important factor for advantageous development.

As is well known, in the prominent games exemplified below, the user interface for the player to manipulate the game elements expressed as strategies or tactics in the above description is devised.
<Reference 1> Puzzle & Dragons (GungHo Online Entertainment Co., Ltd.)
<< Reference 2 >> Elemental Story (Cruise Corporation)
<< Reference 3 >> Wizard and Black Cat With (Colopla Inc.)

  The present invention adopts a novel user interface technology that has not been used in the process of determining the attack technique that a combatant will take out when the player who controls the team on the attack side creates a new fun by manipulating the game. It was created for the purpose of making it appear.

The core of this invention can be grasped as the invention of the method specified by the following items (1) to (10).
(1) It is a user interface method in a battle game executed by a computing system. (2) The system stores a combatant information register that organizes and describes information on a plurality of combatants that can be used by a player. (3) In the combatant information record book, a plurality of attack technique IDs for identifying multiple types of attack techniques that can be used by each combatant are described in association with each combatant. (4) The system performs the sort team selection process, causes the player to select a predetermined number of combatants from the entire set of available combatants, and for each selected combatant. Next, the player selects a predetermined number of combat techniques from the entire set of usable attack techniques, and creates and stores a team organization record book describing these selection information (5 The system executes the sortie team display process, and displays the representation of a plurality of combatants selected based on the information in the team organization record book in the own area of the game screen. (6) The system performs the attack preparation process And display the symbol of one combatant A who executes the attack among the combatants displayed in his area in the attack execution area and display a selector image around the symbol (7) selector The image includes an attack technique display ring and a rotating cursor ring arranged in a concentric layout. (8) The attack technique display ring is a ring in which the circumference is divided into a plurality of divided areas. When A performs an attack, the name and representation of each attack technique is based on the information on the plurality of attack techniques selected for combatant A in the team organization record book. (9) Rotation cursor ring is displayed so that the cursor for indicating a local area on the circumference repeats rotation along the circumference. (10) The system executes attack processing when the player operates the cursor stop operator, stops the rotating cursor, and displays it in the divided area indicated by the stopped cursor in the attack technique display ring. The attack technique ID corresponding to the name or representation that has been used

Conceptual diagram of team record book Specific examples of game screens Conceptual diagram of work data during an attack

Embodiments for carrying out the invention

=== Computing environment ===
A typical computing environment in which the invention is implemented is as follows. A game system developed by a business operator such as the applicant consists of a server program implemented on a server computer of a game service site and a client program (game) implemented on a smartphone, tablet terminal, personal computer, etc. of a person using the game service. It may be described as an app).

  As is well known, a game service site operated by a business operator after downloading and installing a game app distributed in an app store such as AppStore or GooglePlay to their smartphone or tablet terminal. By accessing and registering an account, a game can be executed on a client (smart phone, tablet terminal, etc.) by distributed computing using a server program and a client program (game application).

  The user interface method in the battle game that is the subject of the present invention, which will be described in detail below, can be implemented by a program running on the client of the player who operates the game in the above-described computing environment ( (Can also be performed offline). However, the present invention is not limited to such a form, and a design in which a server program is partly involved in the implementation of the user interface method is also possible. In addition, the present invention can be implemented in a computing environment such as a so-called PC online game or arcade game. Since these matters are well-known and common technical common knowledge obvious to those skilled in the art, they will not be described further.

=== Combatant Information Record ===
When a user plays a game on his / her smartphone or tablet terminal (sometimes referred to as a client, which has a game application for a battle game installed), a combatant information record book is stored in the client's memory. Existing.

  The combatant information record book is a record in which information relating to a plurality of combatants that can be used by a player to play a game is organized and described in association with combatant IDs. As with the well-known battle game, fighters with a wide variety of personalities are set, and the number of fighters available to the player increases or decreases as the game progresses, and the ability characteristics of each fighter change To do. Information about each such combatant is stored as a combatant information record book.

As a matter related to the core of the present invention, the combatant information record book describes a plurality of attack technique IDs for identifying a plurality of types of attack techniques that can be used by each combatant in association with each combatant. In addition, the number of attack techniques that individual combatants can bring to the battlefield during the sortie is described. In other words, the combatant information record book includes information that associates the following three items.
● Fighter ID
● Overall set of attack techniques that can be used (set of attack technique IDs)
● Number of attack techniques that can be brought into the battlefield

=== Sorting team selection process and team organization record book ===
When the player starts a battle, the game application on the client first executes a sortie team selection process. In this process, the player selects four combatants from the entire set of available fighters, and the entire set of usable attack techniques is determined for each of the selected four fighters. A predetermined number of combat techniques defined as “the number of attack techniques that can be brought into the battlefield” are selected by the player, and a team organization record book describing the selection information is created and stored.

  The concept of an example of the team organization record book is shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 1, Combatant 3 and Combatant 15 bring 3 attack techniques to the battlefield, Combatant 6 brings 4 attack techniques to the battlefield, and Combatant 12 brings 5 attack techniques to the battlefield. For example, it is described that the combatant 3 brings the attack technique 2, attack technique 6, and attack technique 8 to the battlefield. Note that the user interface for allowing the player to perform the above selection operation may be implemented in any way, and will not be described because it is implemented in various ways in existing games.

=== Sorting team display processing ===
The game application on the client executes the sorter team display process based on the contents of the team organization record book in accordance with the sorter team selection process. A specific example of the game screen displayed on the touch screen by this processing is shown in FIG. Note that some of the data required to display the content described below is described in advance in the game app, and some is delivered from the server by communication with the server program. Since the matter is obvious to those skilled in the art, description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in the game screen illustrated in FIG. 2, the representation of the four selected fighters is displayed in a side-by-side layout in the own area at the bottom of the screen, and a selector image and a stop button 51 are displayed as information. The four fighters displayed in the own area perform attacks one by one in a predetermined order one by one and receive an attack from the enemy team for each attack from the own area (a so-called CPU battle is an example) The game proceeds in the sequence of “Yes”.

  In the attack preparation process, the game application on the client displays the representation of one combatant (for example, combatant 3) who executes the attack among the four combatants displayed in the own area in the center of the selector image. Is displayed in the attack execution area.

=== Selector image ===
The selector image includes an attack technique display ring 52 and a rotating cursor ring 53 arranged in a concentric layout. The attack technique display ring 52 is a ring that divides the circumference into a plurality of divided areas. For example, when combatant 3 performs an attack, this combatant 3 brings in 3 attack techniques, so he adds a “miss” and equally divides the circumference into 4 areas, 3 of which The names of the three attack techniques are displayed one by one in one divided area, and “Miss” is displayed in the remaining one divided area. The attack technique display ring 52 is displayed in a stationary manner, so that the player can easily recognize the notation of the name of the attack technique and the mistake displayed in each divided area.

  The rotating cursor ring 53 along the inner periphery of the attack technique display ring 52 is composed of 24 dots arranged at equal intervals on the circumference, and one of the 24 dots is brightly lit, and its bright dot As a result, the bright dots appear to rotate in a certain direction. As such, display control is performed by processing of the game application. The display form of the rotating cursor ring 53 is the same as the recognized electrical display.

  A large circular stop button 51 is displayed next to the selector image. When the player taps on the stop button 51 while the bright dot of the rotating cursor ring 53 is rotating, the rotation of the bright dot is immediately stopped, and the dot that was shining at the time of tap detection continues to shine. . It should be noted that the stop button may be a hard button in an embodiment such as a PC online game or an arcade game.

  The game application on the client executes attack processing when the player operates the stop button 51, stops the rotating cursor, and is displayed in the divided area indicated by the stopped cursor on the attack technique display ring 53. The attack technique ID corresponding to the name or symbol is passed to the attack effect calculation algorithm. In this attack process, when the stopped cursor points to the specific division area, an event that the attack is unsuccessful is notified to the attack effect calculation algorithm.

  The concept of the work data in the above attack processing is shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, numbers 1 to 24 expressed at equal intervals along the horizontal axis indicate 24 dots of the rotating cursor ring 53. Immediately above, three types of attack technique IDs (2 and 6 and 8) that can be used by the combatant 3 and four equally divided areas assigned to one mistake are shown. (Corresponding to the attack technique display ring 52). When the cursor stops, the game application determines which area of the four-divided area the number of one lit dot belongs to, and reads the attack technique ID or mistake associated with that area , Notify the attack effect calculation algorithm.

  In FIG. 3, data about the combatant 6 is expressed immediately above the data of the combatant 3. The figure shows six equally divided areas to which four types of attack technique IDs (1, 4, 6, and 7) that can be used by the combatant 6 and two mistakes are assigned. Furthermore, five types of attack technique IDs (3, 5, 9, 16, and 11) that can be used by the combatant 12 and six equally divided areas assigned to one mistake are shown above. Furthermore, three types of attack technique IDs (12, 15, and 18) that can be used by the combatant 15 and four equally divided areas assigned to one mistake are shown above.

  When an attack is made by each combatant, the player looks at the rotating cursor with the contents of each divided area of the attack technique display ring 52 in mind, and presses the stop button when the cursor indicates the attack technique that should be activated now. Concentrate on tapping 51. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes it fails. This is the real pleasure of the game by the user interface technology according to the present invention. When the number of divisions of the attack technique display ring 52 is large, it becomes difficult to select a scheduled attack technique with the cursor. Considering this factor, it is necessary to consider fighters to be selected for the sortie team.

=== Stop history ring ===
As shown in FIG. 2, in the selector image, a stop history ring 54 is displayed on the outer periphery of the attack technique display ring 52, and there is data corresponding to the stop history ring 54 in the work data in FIG. 3.

  The game application on the client executes stop position recording processing during the entire period in which the four fighters displayed in the own area execute the attack. In this recording process, information related to the position indicated by the cursor stopped by the attack process is recorded as stop position history data, and the stop position is visually displayed on the stop history ring 54 based on the stop position history data. Contains.

  As a specific example, the stop history ring 54 is equally divided into 12 divided areas, and a predetermined stopped flag is recorded in the work data corresponding to the divided area designated by the cursor stopped by an attack. To do. As an example, if a stopped flag is already recorded in the divided area indicated by the cursor stopped by an attack, the flag is deleted. Then, by changing the color or texture of the displayed stop history ring 54 in accordance with the presence or absence of a flag in each divided area, the recorded history can be viewed by the player.

  The game application on the client executes the stop position determination process together with the position stop determination process described above, and gives a predetermined privilege to the sortie team when the recorded stop position history data satisfies a predetermined condition. To the game progression algorithm. For example, a privilege is granted when a stopped flag is recorded in all six divided areas. As a result, it is possible to add the real pleasure of devising the cursor stop operation for the purpose of acquiring a privilege over the entire period of the attack by the own team.

=== Other Embodiments ===
In addition, when the game application on the client is in a predetermined game progress state, a privilege mark is additionally displayed locally on the circumference when the attack technique display ring 52 is displayed (not illustrated in FIG. 2). When it is determined that the cursor stopped by the attack process indicates the privilege mark, a privilege is given to the fighter who executed the attack, and the event is notified to the game progress algorithm. This adds the pleasure of performing a cursor stop operation with a different meaning from the purpose of selecting an attack technique.

  Further, when the game application on the client is in a predetermined game progress state, the visibility of the attack technique display ring 52 and the rotary cursor ring 53 is lowered for a player who wants to operate the stop button 51 (cursor stop operation element). A process of additionally displaying image elements is executed. Similarly, when the game is in a predetermined game progress state, a process of changing the cursor rotation mode in the attack preparation process from the normal mode is executed. These processes make it easier or harder for the player to stop the rotating cursor at the target position, depending on the amount of damage that the enemy has received as a result of the enemy attack. Interestingness can be increased.

  As is clear from the above description, the range of the present invention covers a program installed in this client so that the above-described user interface technology is implemented in a player client (a computing system such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal). Is.

  51 ... Stop button 52 ... Attack technique display ring 53 ... Rotation cursor ring 54 ... Stop history ring

Claims (8)

The method specified by the following items (1) to (10).
(1) It is a user interface method in a battle game executed by a computing system. (2) The system stores a combatant information register that organizes and describes information on a plurality of combatants that can be used by a player. (3) In the combatant information record book, a plurality of attack technique IDs for identifying multiple types of attack techniques that can be used by each combatant are described in association with each combatant. (4) The system performs the sort team selection process, causes the player to select a predetermined number of combatants from the entire set of available combatants, and for each selected combatant. Next, the player selects a predetermined number of combat techniques from the entire set of usable attack techniques, and creates and stores a team organization record book describing these selection information (5 The system executes the sortie team display process, and displays the representation of a plurality of combatants selected based on the information in the team organization record book in the own area of the game screen. (6) The system performs the attack preparation process And display the symbol of one combatant A who executes the attack among the combatants displayed in his area in the attack execution area and display a selector image around the symbol (7) selector The image includes an attack technique display ring and a rotating cursor ring arranged in a concentric layout. (8) The attack technique display ring is a ring in which the circumference is divided into a plurality of divided areas. When A performs an attack, the name and representation of each attack technique is based on the information on the plurality of attack techniques selected for combatant A in the team organization record book. (9) Rotation cursor ring is displayed so that the cursor for indicating a local area on the circumference repeats rotation along the circumference. (10) The system executes attack processing when the player operates the cursor stop operator, stops the rotating cursor, and displays it in the divided area indicated by the stopped cursor in the attack technique display ring. The attack technique ID corresponding to the name or representation that has been used The method according to claim 1, which is specified by the following items (11) and (12).
(11) The system can be selected based on information about Combatant B described in the Combatant Information Record in the process of selecting the attack technique for the Combatant B selected by the player in the sorter team selection process (12) When the combatant B performs an attack in the attack preparation process, the system attacks according to the number of attack techniques selected for the combatant B. Determining the number of divisions in the trick display ring The method according to claim 1 or 2, which is specified by the following items (13) and (14).
(13) The system includes at least one specific divided area in which the name or representation of the attack technique is not displayed in the display of the attack technique display ring. (14) The system is stopped in the attack process. If the cursor points to the specific division area, notify the attack effect calculation algorithm that the attack was unsuccessful The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is specified by the following items (15) to (17).
(15) The selector image includes a stop history ring arranged in a layout that is concentric with the attack technique display ring and the rotation cursor ring. (16) The system includes a plurality of dispatch teams displayed in its own area. The stop position recording process is executed during the entire period in which the combatant executes the attack, and information on the position indicated by the cursor stopped by the attack process is recorded as stop position history data, and the stop history is based on the stop position history data Visually displaying the stop position on the ring (17) The system executes a stop position determination process, and gives a predetermined privilege to the sortie team when the recorded stop position history data satisfies a predetermined condition And notify the game progress algorithm of the event 5. The method according to claim 1, which is specified by the following item (18).
(18) When the system is in a predetermined game progress state, when displaying the attack technique display ring, the system additionally displays a privilege mark locally on the circumference, and the cursor stopped by the attack process displays the privilege mark. When it is determined that the instruction is given, a privilege is given to the combatant who executed the attack, and a process for notifying the game progress algorithm of the event is executed The method according to claim 1, which is specified by the following item (19).
(19) The system performs a process of additionally displaying an image element that reduces the visibility of the attack technique display ring and the rotation cursor ring for a player who wants to operate the cursor stop operator when the game progress is in a predetermined state. To do The method according to claim 1, which is specified by the following item (20).
(20) When the system is in a predetermined game progress state, the system executes a process of making the cursor rotation mode different from the normal mode in the attack preparation process   A program implemented in a computing system to implement the user interface method according to claim 1.