WO2024166837A1 - ゲーム装置及びプログラム - Google Patents

ゲーム装置及びプログラム Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2024166837A1
WO2024166837A1 PCT/JP2024/003599 JP2024003599W WO2024166837A1 WO 2024166837 A1 WO2024166837 A1 WO 2024166837A1 JP 2024003599 W JP2024003599 W JP 2024003599W WO 2024166837 A1 WO2024166837 A1 WO 2024166837A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
character
information
game
game device
characters
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Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
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PCT/JP2024/003599
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English (en)
French (fr)
Japanese (ja)
Inventor
大祐 坂本
有莉 岡本
江利果 安田
朝咲 村上
淳史 家鋪
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Bandai Co Ltd
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Bandai Co Ltd
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Bandai Co Ltd filed Critical Bandai Co Ltd
Publication of WO2024166837A1 publication Critical patent/WO2024166837A1/ja
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
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    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • A63F13/00—Video games, i.e. games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions
    • A63F13/55—Controlling game characters or game objects based on the game progress
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
    • G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
    • G07F17/32—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for games, toys, sports, or amusements
    • G07F17/3286—Type of games
    • G07F17/329—Regular and instant lottery, e.g. electronic scratch cards
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • A63F13/00—Video games, i.e. games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions
    • A63F13/50—Controlling the output signals based on the game progress
    • A63F13/52—Controlling the output signals based on the game progress involving aspects of the displayed game scene

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a game device and program, and in particular to an electronic game that involves the display of characters.
  • Patent Document 1 There is a game system that allows users to play a social game on their smartphone that brings together characters raised by various users, including users from a wide range of regions, by sending information about characters raised on the game device to a server via the smartphone.
  • the game system of Patent Document 1 also provides an element of excitement related to interaction by directly communicating information between two game devices, for example with a game device owned by a friend, and then executing an event in which characters developed on both game devices appear on one game device.
  • these interaction elements are provided independently in the game system described above, it is necessary to communicate with friends directly and with other users through an interaction game, for example, which is cumbersome.
  • the present invention aims to provide a game device and program that includes highly entertaining communication elements.
  • a game device is a game device that executes a game in which characters appear, and includes a display control means for displaying a first character related to the game executed on the game device on a display means, and a communication means capable of communicating using a first communication method for transmitting and receiving information with other game devices and a second communication method for transmitting and receiving information with an external device different from the other game devices, the communication means using the first communication method to obtain information related to a second character that appears in the game executed on the other game devices, and using the second communication method to obtain information related to a third character that appears in the game executed on one of the game devices from the external device, and the display control means causes a character selected from the second character and the third character to be displayed in a specified area during the game.
  • the present invention makes it possible to provide highly interesting communication elements.
  • FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a game system according to an embodiment and a modification of the present invention.
  • FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a game device 100 according to an embodiment and a modification of the present invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a server 200 according to an embodiment and a modification of the present invention.
  • FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an exchange game according to an embodiment and a modification of the present invention;
  • a flowchart illustrating an example of a social game process executed by the game device 100 according to an embodiment and a modification of the present invention.
  • FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of the data configuration of various information used in the game system according to the embodiment and the modified example of the present invention.
  • FIG. 13 is another diagram for explaining an exchange game according to an embodiment and a modification of the present invention.
  • FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an exchange game according to a third modified example of the present invention;
  • the embodiment described below is an example of the application of the present invention to a game device capable of playing a game in which characters are trained (hereinafter referred to as a training game), as an example of a game device.
  • a training game a game device capable of playing a game in which characters are trained
  • the present invention can be applied to any device that has a communication function and is capable of playing a game in which characters appear.
  • FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a game system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • a game device 100 is configured to be able to wirelessly communicate with other game devices 100 and a server 200.
  • the game device 100 is configured to be able to communicate using two types of communication methods, and transmits and receives information using different communication methods when communicating with other game devices 100 and when communicating with the server 200.
  • communication between the game device 100 and the server 200 is performed via an access point (AP) 300 and a network 400, which differs from communication performed directly between game devices 100.
  • the network 400 is described as a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet in order to realize interaction between users in various regions, but in another embodiment it may be a LAN.
  • WAN wide area network
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the game device 100.
  • the control unit 101 is a processor such as a CPU, and performs various controls including operational control of each piece of hardware equipped in the game device 100. Specifically, the control unit 101 performs the relevant controls by, for example, reading out necessary programs stored in the storage device 102, expanding them in the memory 103, and executing them.
  • the storage device 102 is a device capable of permanently storing information, such as a non-volatile memory.
  • the storage device 102 stores programs related to the operation of the game device 100 and programs for the training game executed in the game device 100, as well as parameter information required to realize various controls.
  • the storage device 102 also functions as a database of various data related to the training game (character DB 121 and item DB 122).
  • the memory 103 is a storage device used for temporary data storage, such as a volatile memory.
  • the memory 103 may be used not only as an area for expanding each program, but also as a storage area for temporarily storing data output during the operation of various hardware and various controls.
  • the character DB 121 is a database that manages, as records, information (character information) about characters that can be trained in the training game.
  • information character information
  • the user can train a character that grows through multiple growth stages.
  • the character is configured so that its appearance changes as the growth stage changes.
  • the character DB 121 manages, as records, various information about each appearance that a character can have at each growth stage. As shown in FIG.
  • the character information for one record is associated with a character ID 601 that uniquely identifies the character (its appearance), and includes graphics information 602 for drawing the appearance of the character, a growth stage 603 indicating the growth stage at which the character will have that appearance, and growth destination information 604 indicating the appearance to which the character can grow from that appearance.
  • the growth destination information 604 may store information about the corresponding character ID 601.
  • the item DB 122 is a database that manages, as records, information (item information) about items that can be worn by characters in the training game.
  • items can be worn by characters being trained.
  • the items may be, for example, items that can be acquired in the training game, or items that can be acquired in the form of DLC or the like by purchasing a specific product. As described above, the appearance of a character changes at each growth stage, and the number of items that can be worn increases as the growth stage progresses.
  • the item information for one record in the item DB 122 is associated with an item ID 611 that uniquely identifies the item, and includes graphics information 612 for drawing the appearance of the item, an attachment part 613 that indicates the part of the character that can wear the item, an attachment stage 614 that indicates the growth stage at which the item can be worn, and an item attribute 615 that indicates the attribute attached to the item, as shown in FIG. 6(b), for example.
  • the GPU 104 is a drawing device that executes various drawing processes related to the generation of display screens related to the game device 100.
  • the GPU 104 includes a GPU memory (not shown), and expands various graphics data read from the storage device 102, and performs predetermined calculations to generate various images (screens) related to the training game.
  • the screens and images generated by the GPU 104 are presented to the user by being displayed, for example, on a display 110 provided in the game device 100.
  • the display 110 is a device provided in the game device 100 that displays information, such as a liquid crystal display.
  • the operation I/F 105 is a user interface provided in the game device 100 that accepts operation input. When the operation I/F 105 detects that an operation input has been made, it outputs a control signal corresponding to the operation input to the control unit 101.
  • the operation I/F 105 includes operation members such as buttons provided on the exterior of the game device 100, various sensors, etc.
  • the operation I/F 105 includes a touch input detection sensor provided on the display 110.
  • the communication I/F 106 is a communication interface with an external device that the game device 100 has.
  • the game device 100 of this embodiment performs wireless information communication with other devices using two types of communication methods.
  • One communication method is ad-hoc mode communication (hereinafter referred to as ad-hoc communication) as a first communication method according to the present invention, in which the game device 100 and another game device 100 directly transmit and receive information between the devices, with one of the game device 100 acting as a host and the other connected to it, without the condition that the game device 100 is connected to the AP 300.
  • the other communication method is infrastructure mode communication (hereinafter referred to as infrastructure communication) as a second communication method according to the present invention, in which each game device 100 connects to an associated AP 300, and information is transmitted and received between the game device 100 and the server 200 via the AP 300 and the network 400.
  • infrastructure communication infrastructure mode communication
  • the two types of communication methods that the communication I/F 106 can use are described as ad-hoc communication and infrastructure communication, but it goes without saying that the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this and may include other types of communication.
  • Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the server 200 according to this embodiment. Note that in the following explanation, the hardware configuration that realizes the same functions as the game device 100 will be prefixed with "server” to clearly distinguish it from the configuration of the game device 100.
  • the server control unit 201 is a processor such as a CPU, and performs operation control of each piece of hardware equipped in the server 200, and control related to the realization of various functions including user management and exchange functions related to the training game. Specifically, the server control unit 201 performs the relevant control by, for example, reading out necessary programs stored in the server storage device 202, expanding them into the server memory 203, and executing them.
  • the server storage device 202 is a device capable of permanently storing information, such as a non-volatile memory or HDD.
  • the server storage device 202 stores an operating system for operating the server 200 and a program related to matching, as well as parameter information and various necessary data required to realize various controls.
  • the server storage device 202 also functions as a database of various data related to users who use the game device 100.
  • the server memory 203 is a storage device used for temporary data storage, such as a volatile memory.
  • the server memory 203 may be used not only as an area for developing each program, but also as a storage area for temporarily storing data output during the operation of various hardware and various controls.
  • the user DB 211 is a database that manages information (user information) relating to users who use the game device 100 as records.
  • the server 200 manages the progress of the training game on the game device 100 used by each user, and is configured to be shareable with other game devices 100.
  • User information relating to one record of the user DB 211 is associated with a user ID 621 that uniquely identifies the user, as shown in FIG. 6(c), for example, and includes a language setting 622 set on the game device 100 used by the user, and ghost information 623 relating to the character being trained by the user on the game device 100.
  • the user ID 621 can be unique information such as the individual identification number of the game device 100 used by the user.
  • the information on characters being developed on each game device 100 managed in user DB 211 indicates the state of the character being developed on the game device 100 at the time the information is received, and it is possible that the character being developed on the game device 100 may be different in a strict sense at the time the information is used on the server 200, etc.
  • the information on characters managed in user DB 211 is expressed as "ghosts" to refer to the appearance of a character being developed at a certain point in time, and is managed as ghost information 623.
  • ghost information 623 may include, for the character being developed, a character ID 631 indicating the appearance of the character, attachment information 632 indicating the attachment status of items to the character, and gender information 633 indicating the gender of the character.
  • the server communication I/F 204 is a communication interface with an external device provided to the server 200.
  • Information communication between the server communication I/F 204 and the external device may be performed via a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet, or via a LAN or the like.
  • Information communication performed by the server communication I/F 204 may be performed either wired or wirelessly.
  • the game is described as a character development game that provides elements of character development, communication between the user and the character, and interaction between characters as entertainment elements.
  • a development game is merely one type of game in which characters appear, and the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this.
  • the present invention is applicable to any game in which a character appears whose movements are controlled in response to operational inputs made by the user.
  • movement control is not limited to a user directly controlling a character, but also includes indirect changes in a character's actions and movements in response to changes in parameters or the environment as a result of an evaluation of an operational input made by the user.
  • a breeding game the user can breed a character by performing operational inputs related to caring for the character.
  • a breeding game starts, for example, with hatching an egg, and the character progresses through stages of growth by sequentially performing operational inputs related to the necessary care, presenting the character's growth as it changes appearance.
  • Characters are configured to be able to equip themselves with items, and users can equip their characters with items acquired in the training game to add decoration to the character's appearance.
  • the number of parts onto which items can be equipped increases as the character progresses through the growth stages, and until a certain growth stage is reached, only a certain number of parts onto which items can be equipped are available.
  • Attachable parts may include, for example, the character's head, face, torso, legs, and hands, and each of these parts may be configured to be able to equip hat items, eyeglass items, clothing items, shoe items, accessories (belongings), etc.
  • the training game is configured to be able to introduce characters trained by other users by communicating with an external device. For this reason, the game device 100 obtains information about characters being trained by other users via the communication I/F 106.
  • the communication I/F 106 is capable of communicating information using two types of communication methods, and can obtain information about characters using each of them. More specifically, the communication I/F 106 obtains information about characters being trained on other game devices 100 via ad-hoc communication from the other game devices 100. The communication I/F 106 also obtains information about characters being trained on any game device 100 that has previously been connected to the server 200 via infrastructure communication from the server 200.
  • a character being developed in the game device 100 is referred to as a "own character”
  • a character being developed in another game device 100 about which information is acquired from the other game device 100 through ad-hoc communication is referred to as a "friend character”
  • a character being developed in any game device 100 connected to the server 200 about which information is acquired from the server 200 through infrastructure communication is referred to as a "other user character” to make a clear distinction between the two.
  • the own character is a character whose movement is controlled in response to operation input by the user of the game device 100 in the development game executed in the game device 100.
  • the friend character is a character whose movement is controlled in response to operation input by the user of the game device 100 in the development game executed in the other game device 100 connected through ad-hoc communication.
  • the other user character is a character whose movement is controlled in response to operation input by the user of the game device 100 in the development game executed in any game device 100 connected to the server 200 through communication.
  • each game device 100 is configured to periodically connect to the server 200 via infrastructure communication, for example at a specified time, and upload information about the player's character being developed.
  • the uploaded information about the player's character is used to update the ghost information 623 of the user information managed for the corresponding user. Therefore, the game device 100 is configured to periodically upload to the server 200 the user information as well as the user ID, language setting, and information about the player's character (character ID, wearing information, gender information).
  • the owner information may be configured to include a user name 642 indicating the nickname set by the user in association with a user ID 641 that uniquely identifies the user, a language setting 643 indicating the display language set in the game device 100, a virtual residence setting 644 indicating the residence of the player's character in the game, and training character information 645 indicating information about the player's character, and may be stored in the storage device 102.
  • the training character information 645 includes a character ID 651 indicating the appearance of the player's character, attachment information 652 indicating items attached to the player's character, gender information 653 indicating the gender of the player's character, and parameters 654 of the player's character that may change depending on the training status.
  • each game device 100 When uploading information about the player's character, each game device 100 acquires information about other users' characters from the server 200 for use in the social game described below.
  • the server 200 receives information about the player's character from each game device 100, it randomly selects a predetermined number (e.g., a fixed number equal to or greater than 10) from the user information for users other than the user of that game device 100 that is managed in the user DB 211.
  • the server 200 transmits the language settings 622 and ghost information 623 of the selected number of pieces of user information to that game device 100 as information about other users' characters.
  • the control unit 101 registers these in the other user list, which serves as a second list according to the present invention.
  • the other user list is a list that manages information for displaying other user characters in the social game, and is stored, for example, in the storage device 102.
  • information about the friend character is acquired from the other game device 100 on the condition that the user has performed an operation input on the game device 100 to communicate with the other game device 100.
  • the game device 100 also transmits information about the player's character to the other game device 100 with which it is communicating.
  • the user with whom ghost information is shared in infrastructure communication is not necessarily an acquaintance or friend of the user who is developing the character related to the ghost information, so sharing information that can lead to the identification of the individual user, such as a nickname, is not preferable.
  • the information about other user characters transmitted from the server 200 does not include information that can lead to the identification of the individual user (user ID 641, user name 642).
  • ad-hoc communication basically transmits and receives information directly between game devices 100 in a state in which they can communicate with each other at the same time, so it is assumed that the user of the game device 100 and the user of the other game device 100 are acquaintances or friends.
  • the information about the characters transmitted and received between the game devices 100 in ad-hoc communication (information about friend characters/information about the player's own character) is configured differently from the information about other user characters acquired by each game device 100 in infrastructure communication. That is, in order to provide an element of interest that can be enjoyed between acquaintances and friends, the information exchanged in ad-hoc communication includes information such as the user's nickname. More specifically, the information about the characters transmitted and received in ad-hoc communication includes, for example, the user ID 641, user name 642, game device language setting 643, virtual residence setting 644, and character information 645 of the owner information managed by each game device 100.
  • the control unit 101 registers the information together with information about the date and time of reception in a friend list, which is the first list according to the present invention.
  • the friend list is a list that manages information for displaying friend characters in a social game, and is stored, for example, in the storage device 102.
  • the friend list and the other user list have different update conditions.
  • the friend list is configured to be able to manage information about friend characters related to up to eight users who communicated by ad-hoc communication.
  • the control unit 101 judges whether or not information about the same friend character has already been registered in the friend list. This judgment can be made, for example, by checking whether or not information having the same user ID has been registered in the friend list based on the user ID included in the received information. If information about the same friend character has already been registered, the control unit 101 updates the information about the same friend character registered in the friend list with the newly received information.
  • control unit 101 This allows a user who has previously performed ad-hoc communication to update information about a character (friend character) being trained to the latest state. If information about the same friend character has not been registered, the control unit 101 additionally registers the newly received information in the friend list. At this time, if information about up to eight friend characters has already been registered in the friend list, the control unit 101 replaces the information that was registered oldest in the friend list with the newly received information, thereby registering the friend character in the friend list.
  • the other user list is configured to be able to manage information relating to a predetermined number of other user characters received from the server 200.
  • the control unit 101 receives information relating to a predetermined number of other user characters through infrastructure communication, it registers the information in the other user list by replacing all information currently registered with that information. That is, in the game device 100 of this embodiment, all information in the other user list is updated every time infrastructure communication is performed. This is because, unlike friend characters, other user characters are not characters related to acquaintances, friends, etc. and therefore do not need to be retained for a long period of time, and frequent updates can provide the user with the excitement of playing a game with many users.
  • the other user list is also referenced when the social game described below is executed, and the information is used to display other user characters in the social game.
  • the information registered in the other user list does not need to be updated if the social game is not executed. Therefore, in one aspect, in order to reduce the amount of information sent and received in infrastructure communication and to reduce the amount of power consumed in communication, information regarding other user characters may be obtained from the server 200 on the condition that other user characters are displayed in the social game based on information registered in the other user list. This control may be achieved by not making a request from the game device 100 to send information regarding other user characters.
  • the training game of this embodiment allows the player to continue training one character, but also includes an element that allows the player to train a new generation of characters, born, for example, by marrying another character. This element keeps the user from getting bored and keeps them highly interested in the training game.
  • the game device 100 of this embodiment can execute a communication game in which a friend character being developed is displayed on the communication partner game device 100, and the friend character interacts with the player's character.
  • This communication game can therefore be used to marry the player's character and the friend character, unlocking the element of developing a new generation of characters.
  • the interest factor associated with such a communication game requires that the owner of the other communication partner game device 100 is nearby.
  • the characters that can be married are limited to those developed by close acquaintances or friends, the types of characters that can be born may be limited.
  • the game device 100 of this embodiment has a function for executing an exchange game to provide elements of exchange with various characters, including marriage with other characters.
  • the exchange game is configured to feature characters (friend characters, other user characters) whose information is registered in a friend list and other user list stored in advance, so that the game can be played even in offline situations.
  • the friend characters and other user characters displayed in the exchange game are limited to characters that have reached a predetermined growth stage.
  • the exchange game is configured to be playable on the condition that the player's own character has reached the predetermined growth stage.
  • the interaction game is played out using an interaction area as shown in FIG. 4.
  • the interaction area is composed of five areas, and different areas are displayed in sequence by inputting an operation related to area movement (area 401 ⁇ area 402 ⁇ area 403 ⁇ area 404 ⁇ area 405 ⁇ area 401 ⁇ ).
  • areas 401 ⁇ area 402 ⁇ area 403 ⁇ area 404 ⁇ area 405 ⁇ area 401 ⁇ characters selected from among friend characters whose information is registered in the friend list and other user characters whose information is registered in the other user list are placed separately in each area.
  • the selected character is placed in one of the areas, and is configured to be able to interact with the player's character in that area.
  • an effect is displayed in which the player's character moves into the social area.
  • One of the five areas, area 401 is provided with an entrance gate to the social area, and area 401 is controlled to be displayed at the start of the social game, and as shown in FIG. 7, the player's character 701 is first displayed in area 401 together with friend characters and other user characters placed in that area. If the user wishes to move the player's character 701 to another area, the user can perform an operation input related to area movement to move and display the player's character 701 in the next area in the display order (area 402 is next after area 401).
  • the actions of friend characters and other user characters placed in the interaction area are controlled without being based on operational input from the user using the game device 100.
  • the actions performed by friend characters and other user characters placed in the interaction area include actions accompanied by a greeting performance toward the player's character.
  • the greeting performance is displayed differently based on the language setting information associated with the friend character or other user character in order to convey to the user the interest of interacting with users from various countries. For example, for other user characters associated with an English language setting, a greeting performance including a speech bubble displaying "Hi! is displayed, and for other user characters associated with a French language setting, a greeting performance including a speech bubble displaying "Salut! is displayed.
  • the number of characters to be placed in the interaction area is predetermined, and in this embodiment, one friend character and ten other user characters are placed. Therefore, when playing an interaction game, the control unit 101 may, for example, select one piece of information by lottery from among the pieces of information registered in the friend list, and place one friend character corresponding to that information in a designated area. Also, when playing an interaction game, the control unit 101 may, for example, select ten pieces of information by lottery from among the pieces of information registered in the other user list, and place ten other user characters corresponding to that information in a designated area.
  • the control unit 101 selects characters to be placed in the interaction area. Specifically, the control unit 101 selects one of the friend characters whose information is registered in the friend list and ten of the other user characters whose information is registered in the other user list as characters to be placed in the interaction area (hereinafter referred to as visiting characters).
  • control unit 101 places the visiting character selected in S501 in the interaction area and displays a display showing the entire area of the interaction area.
  • control unit 101 displays an effect in which the player's character moves into the interaction area region 401.
  • control unit 101 determines whether the greeting display conditions are met for the visiting character placed in the displayed area. If the control unit 101 determines that the greeting display conditions are met, the process proceeds to S505. If the control unit 101 determines that the greeting display conditions are not met, the process proceeds to S506.
  • control unit 101 displays the greeting performance of the visiting character for which the conditions for displaying the greeting performance are met, based on the language setting information registered in the friend list or other user list.
  • control unit 101 determines whether or not an operation input related to area movement has been performed. If the control unit 101 determines that an operation input related to area movement has been performed, the process proceeds to S507, and if it determines that an operation input related to area movement has not been performed, the process returns to S504.
  • control unit 101 displays an effect in which the player's character moves to the next area in the area display order after the currently displayed interaction area, and returns the process to S504.
  • the game device of this embodiment can provide highly entertaining communication elements.
  • one friend character is always placed in the communication area, but the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, if only one friend character has information registered in the friend list, the same friend character will always be placed in the communication area, which may cause the user to feel uncomfortable. For this reason, whether or not to place a friend character in the communication area may be decided randomly by a lottery process each time the communication game is played.
  • the lottery process may be executed on the condition that new information about the friend character has been obtained through ad hoc communication after the previous lottery process was executed.
  • one friend character selected from the friend list as a visiting character is controlled to be the friend character whose information has been obtained most recently from another game device 100 using ad hoc communication.
  • the friend character becomes a character whose information has been obtained in the most recent ad hoc communication and which has been registered in the friend list.
  • a friend character that is in the user's impression (a character being developed by a friend who has recently played with the user) and that may have an appearance suitable for the time of the social game can be displayed in the social game.
  • the lottery process determines whether or not to select a friend character as a visiting character, on the condition that new information about the friend character has been acquired through ad hoc communication after the previous lottery process has been executed, as in embodiment 2, the friend character whose information was registered closer to the time when the social game is to be executed is selected as the visiting character.
  • the friend character has an appearance appropriate for the time when the social game is to be executed, which can increase the interest of the social game.
  • a friend character is not a character selected at random, for example by the server 200, like other user characters, but is a character whose information is acquired by the user's willingness to have the game device 100 communicate with other game devices 100 in ad hoc communication. In other words, the user is more likely to have a strong attachment to the friend character than to the other user character. Therefore, a display mode in which the friend character blends in with the other user characters as in Figure 4 may not provide the user with a favorable play experience.
  • a friend character and another user character when they are selected as visiting characters, they may be controlled to be displayed in different display modes.
  • the friend character in order to highlight the appearance of the friend character in the interaction area, after the interaction game starts and the player's character is displayed entering the interaction area, the friend character is displayed with a dance performance in which the friend character and the player's character dance together.
  • the dance performance transitions, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, and indicates that the friend character is a different character from the other user character.
  • the two other user characters 802 In the dance performance of FIG. 8, after two other user characters 802 and the player's character 801 are placed in the area 401 with the entrance gate (FIG. 8(a)), the two other user characters 802 temporarily exit the entrance gate (FIG.
  • the friend character 803 appears (FIG. 8(c)), and the display transitions to the content in which the player's character 801 and the friend character 803 dance together (FIG. 8(d)).
  • the two other user characters 802 that temporarily left are placed in the area 401 again and displayed together with the player's character 801.
  • the friend character 803 may appear only in the dance performance, or may be placed in the area 401 after the dance performance.
  • control unit 101 may perform control so that other user characters that meet predetermined conditions, among the other user characters selected as visiting characters, are placed in area 401.
  • an area attribute (theme park, sports stadium, etc.) is set for an interaction area or each region of an interaction area according to, for example, a building object or background object to be placed
  • a character associated with the area attribute among other user characters whose information is registered in the other user list may be selected as a visiting character.
  • a theme park area attribute is set for a certain area
  • other user characters equipped with items related to the theme park (items with the same theme, items for related characters, items with a theme color scheme, etc.) may be preferentially selected as other user characters to be placed in the area.
  • area attributes related to the event may be set.
  • control may be performed so that characters of other users equipped with items related to the event, items distributed/sold at the event, etc., are preferentially selected as visiting characters.
  • control may be such that when selecting visiting characters, other user characters that are not limited to those wearing items related to the area attribute, but have a language setting that corresponds to the area attribute (characters raised by a user in a region that corresponds to a specific region) or other user characters with a gender that corresponds to the area attribute, are preferentially selected.
  • a predetermined number of characters selected from friend characters and other user characters are placed in the communication area of the communication game being executed, but the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this.
  • characters hereinafter referred to as special characters
  • the special character may be a so-called collaboration character that is generated with the appearance of a character that appears in other content, for example, in a collaboration event with the other content.
  • Information about such special characters may be provided from the server 200 to the game device 100 separately from information about other users' characters, and may be referenced when an exchange game is executed on the game device 100.
  • the special character may be selected as a visiting character when an exchange game is executed within a predetermined period of time, for example, or may be controlled to be selected as a visiting character when a specific area in which an area attribute related to the special character is set is included in the exchange area.
  • a character selected by lottery processing from among other user characters whose information is registered in the other user list is determined as a visiting character, but the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this.
  • a character of a different gender from the player's character must be placed in the interaction area.
  • the interest element may not be provided in the executed interaction game.
  • an aspect in which all visiting characters are characters of the same gender as the player's character may give the user an unnatural impression. For this reason, when selecting a visiting character as a visiting character, the selection may be controlled so that an equal number of other user characters of each gender are included. Alternatively, the selection may be controlled so that a predetermined ratio of other user characters of each gender is included.
  • control of the proportion of other user characters included in visiting characters may be performed in a manner not limited to the gender of the character.
  • the number of characters included in visiting characters may be controlled based on various attributes defined for the character, such as the character's blood type, personality, appearance, items worn, and association with events held in the interaction area.
  • the information registered in the friend list and other user list is used only to display the character in the social game (determining the character's appearance), but the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this.
  • Information other than appearance registered in each list may be displayed on the display 110 in a manner that allows the user to confirm the contents. Since the friend list and other user list have different roles, the display of the information registered in each list may be controlled, for example, as follows:
  • the friend list stores information acquired when the game device 100 is subjected to ad-hoc communication between acquaintances, friends, etc. at the user's will. That is, allowing users to confirm the information registered in the friend list can be advantageous in terms of facilitating communication between the users.
  • the number of friend characters displayed is limited, and other user characters are displayed more. For this reason, the information registered in the friend list is controlled so that it can be displayed even when the social game is not being executed. For example, it is sufficient to control so that various information of the friend characters is displayed on a screen that can be transitioned to from a menu of the training game, etc.
  • the various information of the friend characters displayed in the friend list includes, for example, the user name 642, the language setting 643, the virtual residence setting 644, and the wearing information 652, the gender information 653, and the parameters 654 included in the training character information 645, which are received from the other game device 100 and managed as owner information in the other game device.
  • the other user list stores information about characters raised by users who are not necessarily acquaintances or friends.
  • the information registered in the other user list is not information received/sent through the user's will.
  • the other user characters whose information is registered in the other user list are characters whose appearances are not presented to the user unless they are selected as visiting characters and displayed in the social game. Therefore, even if information about characters whose appearances are not presented is presented to the user, it may confuse the user.
  • the other user list is expected to be updated more frequently than the friend list, even if the information can be confirmed after the social game ends, it may not be possible to display the information of the other user characters that the user desires.
  • the information registered in the other user list is controlled so that it can be displayed only while the social game is being executed. For example, it is sufficient to control so that various information about the other user characters arranged in the area included in the game screen of the social game is displayed in response to a predetermined operation input made when the game screen of the social game is displayed on the display 110.
  • the various information of other users' characters displayed in the other users' list includes, for example, only the language setting 643, and the wearing information 652 and gender information 653 included in the developed character information 645, from the information that was sent from one of the game devices 100 to the server 200 and was managed as owner information in that game device.
  • the information displayed in the other users' list includes fewer types of items than the information displayed in the friend list, and does not include information that could lead to the identification of individual users, as described above.
  • a game device for executing a game in which a character appears comprising: display control means for displaying a first character related to the game executed on the game device on a display means; and communication means capable of communicating using a first communication method for transmitting and receiving information with other game devices and a second communication method for transmitting and receiving information with an external device different from the other game devices, the communication means using the first communication method to obtain information related to a second character that appears in the game executed on the other game devices from the other game devices, and using the second communication method to obtain information related to a third character that appears in the game executed on one of the game devices from the external device, and the display control means for displaying a character selected from the second character and the third character in a specified area in the game.
  • the game device further comprising a lottery means for carrying out a lottery regarding whether or not to display the second character in the display of the specified area, and if the lottery result by the lottery means is a win, the selected characters include the second character.
  • the game device described in (7), in which the second character to be included in the selected characters when the lottery result is a win is the second character about which information has been most recently obtained from the other game device using the first communication method.
  • a game device according to any one of (6) to (8), wherein the display control means displays the second character and the third character in different display modes in the specified area.
  • a game device in which an area attribute is set for the specified area, and the display control means includes, in the selected characters, the third character associated with the area attribute set for the specified area.
  • the game device described in (11) in which the information about the third character includes at least information for identifying the character's appearance, and the display control means includes, among the selected characters, the third character having an appearance related to the area attribute set for the specified area.
  • a game device according to any one of (21) to (24), wherein the communication means acquires new information about the second character when communicating with the other game device using the first communication method, and the management means, if information about a character identical to the newly acquired information about the second character is registered in the first list, updates the information about the same character registered in the first list based on the newly acquired information about the second character, and, if information about a character identical to the newly acquired information about the second character is not registered in the first list, registers the newly acquired information about the second character in the first list.
  • a game device according to any one of (1) to (28), in which the second character and the third character displayed in the specified area are characters that have reached a specified stage of growth in the game.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
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  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
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  • Information Transfer Between Computers (AREA)
  • User Interface Of Digital Computer (AREA)
PCT/JP2024/003599 2023-02-08 2024-02-02 ゲーム装置及びプログラム Ceased WO2024166837A1 (ja)

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JP2010227455A (ja) * 2009-03-27 2010-10-14 Namco Bandai Games Inc プログラム、情報記憶媒体、ゲーム機、及びゲームシステム
JP2012213453A (ja) * 2011-03-31 2012-11-08 Konami Digital Entertainment Co Ltd ゲーム装置、ゲーム制御方法、ならびに、プログラム
JP2020006054A (ja) * 2018-07-11 2020-01-16 株式会社バンダイ ゲーム装置、プログラム及びゲームシステム

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JP2010227455A (ja) * 2009-03-27 2010-10-14 Namco Bandai Games Inc プログラム、情報記憶媒体、ゲーム機、及びゲームシステム
JP2012213453A (ja) * 2011-03-31 2012-11-08 Konami Digital Entertainment Co Ltd ゲーム装置、ゲーム制御方法、ならびに、プログラム
JP2020006054A (ja) * 2018-07-11 2020-01-16 株式会社バンダイ ゲーム装置、プログラム及びゲームシステム

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