WO2005076190A1

WO2005076190A1 - Game method and its system for raising cyber animal characters using digital message data

Info

Publication number: WO2005076190A1
Application number: PCT/KR2005/000094
Authority: WO
Inventors: Dae-Ha Yoon
Original assignee: Dae-Ha Yoon
Priority date: 2004-02-05
Filing date: 2005-01-12
Publication date: 2005-08-18
Also published as: KR20060032574A

Abstract

The present invention implements a game method and system for causing users’ own cyber characters to be grown up and evolved through routine communication activities in which letter messages are transmitted and received through a wired/wireless terminal device such as a mobile phone terminal or personal computer. It is an object of the present invention to implement diversified and interesting games by creating the results of analyzing the letter messages according to phonemes and words and the analysis results for word arrangement and ratio into numerical data to utilize the numerical data as input data for the cyber character growth and evolution processes. According to the present invention for achieving the object, there is provided a game method for raising a cyber character by communicating a letter message over a wired/wireless network, method comprising the steps of receiving the letter data from a sender terminal device by a game service server; confirming a sender based on an identification number of the sender terminal device; anlyzing the received letter data; applying the analyzed result to a growth rule and increasing a capability value of character information of the sender in a character information database; updating the character information to an evolved character image when the character information conforms to a predetermined evolution rule; and transmitting the growth result of the character and the character image to the sender terminal device.

Description

GAME METHOD AND ITS SYSTEM FOR RAISING CYBER ANIMAL CHARACTERS USING DIGITAL MESSAGE DATA

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a game service for raising virtual characters through the medium of a message over wired/wireless Internet. More particularly, the present invention relates to a game method and system for causing cyber characters to be grown up and evolved by means of a message as input data when a user sends such a message to a desired person using a mobile phone terminal or personal computer subscribed to a cyber character raising game service. The present invention is directed to a game method in which letter data are decomposed into phonemes or a specific word is searched from the letter data to apply the count results to growth and evolution rules. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a game method for causing cyber characters to be grown up and evolved according to the hit count of a specific word or the counted number of phonemes after letters of the letter data that a service user wishes to send have been divided according to the phonemes, and to a system for realizing the method.

BACKGROUND ART There have been conventional devices for raising virtual characters, such as Damagochi, on a specialized terminal. In this case, however, the device is operated only on the specialized terminal. Therefore, the terminal should be additionally purchased and carried by hand. Further, only simple evolution through the button pressing can be made on the terminal. In recent years, as an Internet environment becomes better, there exist models in which a variety of virtual characters are downloaded through Internet such that they are raised under a system environment provided by a web server or both a web application and characters themselves are downloaded from the web server such that various kinds of characters are raised using the downloaded application. In the above models, however, the interest cannot be sufficiently aroused since a process of causing the virtual characters to be grown up is very simplified. Further, a user could not help easily feeling bored since he/she should cause the characters to be grown up through the repetition of limited patterns. Furthermore, the above models have difficulty in a safe operation of the services since there is no stable revenue model except the sales of items. In addition, current character raising games that are being provided through a mobile are greatly lacking in the diversity of characters or in artificial intelligence elements as well as have a game process or a logic with a less level of interest excitement. Moreover, since the games do not have any other revenue elements except the download fee, it is difficult for the games to become stable revenue models. Furthermore, a technique for transmitting message data (at a web/application based chatting messenger or the like) and providing a user with a feedback such as character or cyber money accumulation based on the transmitted message data is configured to comprise a system and technique for retrieving words themselves composing the transmission message from the word dictionary database owned by a service provider and providing the feedback to the user based on a rule prescribed in the dictionary. Accordingly, there are some problems in that every service provider should build the word dictionary database including a vast amount of words and continuously update a time-varying pattern of language, and in that the segmentation of words cannot be easily made when a user does not space the messages.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

TECHNICAL PROBLEM An object of the present invention is to implement diversified and interesting games by creating the results of analyzing letter messages according to phonemes and words and the analysis results for word arrangement and ratio into numerical data to utilize the numerical data as input data for the cyber character growth and evolution processes. Another object of the present invention is to implement diversified and interesting growth and evolution processes for cyber characters through the games by creating the results of analyzing letter messages according to phonemes and words and the analysis results for word arrangement and ratio into numerical data.

TECHNICAL SOLUTION According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a game method for raising a cyber character by communicating a letter message over a wired/wireless network, method comprising the steps of (a) receiving the letter data from a sender terminal device by a game service server; (b) confirming a sender based on an identification number of the sender terminal device; (c) analyzing the received letter data; (d) applying the analyzed result to a growth rule and increasing a capability value of character information of the sender in a character information database; (e) updating the character information to an evolved character image when the character information conforms to a predetermined evolution rule; and (f) transmitting the growth result of the character and the character image to the sender terminal device. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a game system for raising a cyber character by communicating a letter message over a wired/wireless network, comprising a wired/wireless terminal device subscribed to a game service; and a game service server for receiving the letter data from the terminal device, wherein the game service server comprises a letter data receiving module for receiving the letter data, a letter data analysis module for analyzing the received letter data, a character growth pattern application module for applying the analysis data for the letter data to a growth rule to update sender character information in a character information database with the growth result, and extracting a relevant character image from a character image database when the updated sender character information conforms to an evolution rule, and a character growth result transmitting module for transmitting the growth result and the character image to the wired/wireless terminal device of a sender. ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS According to the present invention, a game method and system is implemented for causing users' own cyber characters to be grown up and evolved through routine communication activities in which letter messages are transmitted and received through a wired/wireless terminal device such as a mobile phone terminal or personal computer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Fig. 1 illustrates an overall configuration of a system for providing game services according to the present invention. Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for operating the services according to the present invention. Fig. 3 illustrates a detailed configuration of a game service server shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 illustrates a detailed configuration of a phonemic analysis module shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process for the phonemic analysis module serving to analyze letter messages. Fig. 6 illustrates an overall phonemic analysis process according to the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 shows an example of an overall system according to the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the system includes subscriber terminals including wired terminal devices 100, ..., 109 such as personal computers (PCs) or mobile terminal devices 110, ..., 119 such as mobile phones, a wired/wireless Internet network 200, a game service server 300, a character information database 400, a character image database 500, and a communication server 600 for supporting an SMS service. If a sender forwards a letter message to a desired recipient using the wired terminal device 100 or mobile terminal device 110 which is subscribed to a cyber character raising game service, packets containing letter data are transmitted to the game service server 300 via the wired/wireless Internet network 200. The game service server 300 transmits the letter message to the receiving terminal 109 or 119. In general, the PC terminals are connected to the game service server 300 via a web server while the mobile terminals are connected to the game service server 300 via the communication server 600. In such a case, the communication server 600 may also have a function of the service server 300. The game service server 300 analyzes the received letter message to cause the subscriber's character to be grown up according to a growth rule and then updates the character information database 400 with the growth result. If the updated character information conforms to a predetermined evolution rule, the game service server 300 receives the evolved character from the character image database 500 and transmits the growth result and character image to the transmitting mobile terminal device 100 or wired terminal device 110. Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for operating a service according to the present invention. The transmitting terminal device 100 or 110 transmits a letter message to the game service server 300. A subscriber identification number and a program needed to drive the game are stored in the transmitting terminal device. The game service server 300 sends the received letter message along with a sender identification number to the communication server 600 such that the letter message is transmitted to the receiving mobile device 119 or to the wired terminal device 109 over the Internet. Then, the game service server 300 analyzes the letter message, applies the letter analysis result to a character capability value growth rule to increase a character capability value, and updates the sender character information in the character information database 400 with the growth result. At this time, if the character capability value conforms to the predetermined evolution rule, the game service server 300 extracts the image of the evolved character from the character image database 500 and sends the character capability value increase result and the evolved character image to the transmitting terminal device 100 or 110. Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of the service server 300. As shown in Fig. 3, the service server includes a letter data receiving module 310, a phoneme analysis module 320, a character growth pattern application module 330, a letter data transmitting module 340, and a character growth result transmitting module 350. Here, the letter message receiving module 310 extracts only a letter message from a packet containing the letter message sent by the user, and the phoneme analysis module 320 receives the letter message as input data and analyzing the received letter message. Then, the character growth pattern application module 330 applies an analysis result of the letter message to the growth rule to update the character information database 400. When the character has been evolved according to the evolution rule, the character growth pattern application module 330 extracts the evolved character from the character image database 500. The letter data transmitting module 340 sends the letter data to the receiving terminal devices 109 or 119 either via the communication server or over the Internet. The character growth result transmitting module 350 creates the character growth result and the evolved character image into packets and sends the packets to the wired/wireless terminal device 100 or 110 of the sender over the wired/wireless Internet network 200 to show the growth and evolution results. Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of the phoneme analysis module 320 for analyzing Korean phonemes. As shown in Fig. 4, the phoneme analysis module 320 includes a phoneme parsing module 321, a multiple phoneme parsing module 322, and a phoneme counting module 323. Here, the phoneme parsing module 321 decomposes a letter message into phonemes. For example, a message ' ^r³^ ^1 ' is decomposed into phonemes ' y , ' V ', ' ΪI \ ' TJ ', ' X ' and 'τl '. Then, the multiple phoneme parsing module 322 further changes consonant blends and diphthongs into short consonants and monophthong. For example, the message '^f^ ^ ' is again decomposed into phonemes ' t. ', ' } ' π ', ' π 'T', H ', ' ', 'T' and ' -) '. Then, the phoneme count module 323 counts the number of phonemes for each phoneme. For example, according to the count result, the message '* V^ ^ ' includes two ' π ', one ' ti ', one ' ', one ' } ', two ' -η ', and one 'T'. Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process applied to the phoneme analysis module for analyzing a letter message. First, the phoneme analysis module divides the letter message received from the transmitting terminal 100 or 110 into respective phonemes. Then, the phoneme analysis module once again divides multiple phonemes of the divided phonemes into single phonemes (e.g., ' TΓ -> "V and ' ^"T, 'τ| ' - 'T' and ' H '). Next, the phoneme analysis module counts the number of phonemes for each phoneme, counts the number of consonants/vowels, and counts the number of the initial/middle/final sounds so as to use the count result as input data for the predetermined growth rule application. The growth rule for use in the character growth pattern application module is determined to cause the character capability value to be increased and decreased according to the number of respective phonemes or the ratio thereof. For example, in a case where a rule that a force capability value of the character is increased according to the number of specific phonemes has been determined, the growth rule may be determined in such a manner that the force capability value of the character is increased by the number of the specific phonemes and other capability values, such as agility, intelligence and physical strength, of the character are increased or decreased according to the number of other phonemes, the ratio of the consonants and vowels, or the like. The evolution rule may be set in such a manner that an evolution level reaches a defined evolution stage when each of the capability values exceeds a predetermined set point. Alternatively, a manner in which the hit numbers of specific words in the letter message is counted to apply the growth or evolution rule to the hit number result may be employed in place of the phoneme analysis. Meanwhile, since the phoneme analysis module is based on a Unicode system, it is possible to decompose all the languages including English, Japanese, Chinese as well as Korean, which can be defined as a Unicode system, according to the range of Unicode and to again define the multiple phoneme parsing module 322 depending on the characteristics of the respective languages, such as the number of geminated consonants in Japanese, the number of radicals in Chinese, and the like. As an example, for the English language, the phoneme analysis module 320 may be composed of a phoneme parsing module 321, a consonant and vowel parsing module 322 for parsing consonants and vowels according to a capital or small English letter, and a phoneme count module 323. Here, the phoneme parsing module 321 divides the letter message into respective phonemes. For example, a message 'I am a Boy' is decomposed into T, 'a', 'm', 'a', 'B', 'o' and 'y\ Then, the consonant and vowel parsing module 322 may further classify the consonants and vowels for each of the capital and small letters. For example, the message 'I am a Boy' is further classified into T; 'B'; 'm' and 'y'; and 'a', 'a' and 'o', which are respectively referred to as a capital letter vowel classification, as a capital letter consonant classification, as small letter consonant classification, and as small letter vowel classification. Then, the phoneme count module 323 counts the number of respective phonemes. For example, according to the count result, the message, 'I am a Boy', includes one T, one 'B', one 'm', one 'y', two 'a', and one 'o', and alternatively includes two large letters and five small letters. Fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an overall phonemic analysis process according to the present invention. Although it has been described in the embodiment that the sender terminal device first sends a letter message to the game service server, which in turn receives the letter data and transmits the received letter data to the communication server, and the communication server sends the letter data back to the receiving terminal, such a manner that the transmitting terminal transmits the letter data to both the game service server and the receiving terminal may be employed. In such a case, since it is unnecessary to use the letter data transmitting module 340 of the game service server 300, communications from the sender to the recipient are made through the same route as in the conventional communications. Accordingly, this manner reduces traffics imposed on the game service server and does not affect a communication rate between the sender and recipient. Further, even though the game service server is out of order, there is a little trouble in playing the cyber character game, but the letter message communications between the sender and recipient cannot be affected at all. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY According to the present invention, when a user of a wired/wireless terminal device subscribed to a raising simulation game service wishes to forward letter data over the Internet or wireless telephone network, a service provider does not have to build a word dictionary database including a vast amount of words. Further, since phonemes or specific words are used as input data when a growth pattern is calculated, the processing speed is fast. Furthermore, even though the user forwards letter data that do not comply with the spelling system, the growth pattern can be calculated. In addition, unlike the conventional game manner in which meaningless button operations are repeated, a user can cause a variety of cyber characters to be grown up and evolved while transmitting a letter message to another person in real life. Therefore, there is an advantage in that the amusement, interest and educational effects obtained from the raising simulation games as well as strong attachment and collection desire for the characters evolving in various ways are aroused. Moreover, since the present invention utilizes a letter message, the profits obtained from the letter message transmission can overcome limitations of the revenue models inherent from the conventional character raising games such that a stable revenue source can be provided. From the foregoing, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the technical spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the present invention is not limited to the contents described in the preferred embodiment but to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A game method for raising a cyber character by communicating a letter message over a wired/wireless network, method comprising the steps of: (a) receiving the letter data from a sender terminal device by a game service server; (b) confirming a sender based on an identification number of the sender terminal device; (c) analyzing the received letter data; (d) applying the analyzed result to a growth rule and increasing a capability value of character information of the sender in a character information database; (e) updating the character information to an evolved character image when the character information conforms to a predetermined evolution rule; and (f) transmitting the growth result of the character and the character image to the sender terminal device.

2. A game method for causing a cyber character to be grown up and evolved by communicating a letter message over a wired/wireless network, comprising the steps of: (a) receiving letter data from a sender terminal device by a game service server; (b) confirming a sender based on an identification number of the sender terminal device; (c) transmitting the received letter data to a recipient terminal device; (d) analyzing the received letter data; (e) applying the analyzed result to a growth rule and increasing a capability value of character information of the sender in a character information database; (f) updating the character information to an evolved character image when the character information conforms to a predetermined evolution rule; and (g) transmitting the growth result of the character and the character image to the sender terminal device.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the step of analyzing the letter data comprises the step of: decomposing the received letter data into phonemes such that the number of decomposed phonemes, the number of consonants and vowels, the number of capital and small letters, or the total number of phonemes are used as an analysis result.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the step of analyzing the letter data comprising the step of: counting the hit numbers of specific words included in the received letter data to use the hit numbers as an analysis result.

5. A game system for raising a cyber character by communicating a letter message over a wired/wireless network, comprising: a wired/wireless terminal device subscribed to a game service; and a game service server for receiving the letter data from the terminal device, wherein the game service server comprises: a letter data receiving module for receiving the letter data; a letter data analysis module for analyzing the received letter data; a character growth pattern application module for applying the analysis data for the letter data to a growth rule to update sender character information in a character information database with the growth result, and extracting a relevant character image from a character image database when the updated sender character information conforms to an evolution rule; and a character growth result transmitting module for transmitting the growth result and the character image to the wired/wireless terminal device of a sender.

6. The system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the letter data analysis module comprises a phoneme analysis module for decomposing the received letter data into phonemes and calculating the number of decomposed phonemes, the number of consonants and vowels, the number of capital and small letters or the total number of phonemes, as an analysis result.

7. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the letter data analysis module counts the hit numbers of specific words in the received letter data and uses the hit numbers as an analysis result.