Information processing device and program

Abstract

To provide an effective user interface for selecting a support character in a game to play a stage selected from one or a plurality of candidate stages prepared beforehand using a support character that another user owns.SOLUTION: An information processing device receives selection of a play object stage to be played from a user, and presents one or a plurality of candidate characters that are candidates to be selected as a support character when the play object stage is played to the user that has selected the play object stage in a display mode determined according to relationships between the play object stage and each of the candidate characters.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device and a program for executing a game-related process. [Background technology]

[0002] In a game in which multiple users each play a pre-prepared stage, there is known a game in which each user can use not only their own character but also characters owned by other users as support characters when playing the game. (For example, see Patent Document 1.) In such games, when a user plays the game, the user may select a support character that the user wishes to use from among a number of candidates. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2017-164218 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the above-described conventional technology, it is common for different characters to be suited to play on different stages. However, when a user selects a support character, it is not always clear which support character is suited to the stage they are about to play.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and one of its objectives is to provide an information processing device and program that can provide an effective user interface for selecting support characters in a game played using support characters owned by other users. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An information processing device according to one aspect of the present invention is an information processing device that executes processing related to a game in which a plurality of users each possess at least one of a plurality of types of characters and play a stage selected from one or more pre-prepared candidate stages using a playable character selected from among the characters possessed by the user and a support character selected from among the characters possessed by other users, and is characterized by including: a stage acceptance means that accepts a selection of a target stage to be played from one of the candidate stages from one of the plurality of users; and a candidate character presentation means that presents one or more candidate characters that are candidates for selection as the support character when playing the target stage to the user who selected the target stage, and presents the multiple candidate characters in a display mode determined depending on the relationship between the target stage and each of the candidate characters.

[0007] A program according to one aspect of the present invention is a program for causing a computer to function as follows: a stage receiving means for receiving, from one of the plurality of users, a selection of a target stage to be played from among the candidate stages; and a candidate character presenting means for presenting, to the user who selected the target stage, one or more candidate characters that are candidates for selection as the support character when playing the target stage, the candidate characters in a display manner determined according to the relationship between the target stage and each of the candidate characters. This program may be provided by being stored on a computer-readable, non-transitory information storage medium. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a configuration block diagram showing the overall configuration of an information processing system including an information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing functions of the information processing system. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a support character selection screen according to information about characters to be used in the stage to be played. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of related information for each stage. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a support character selection screen according to related information of the stage to be played. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0010] Fig. 1 is a configuration block diagram showing the overall configuration of an information processing system 1. As shown in Fig. 1, the information processing system 1 includes a plurality of client devices 10, each of which functions as an information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and a server device 20. Each client device 10 is connected to the server device 20 via a communication network such as the Internet.

[0011] Each client device 10 is an information processing device such as a smartphone, tablet, or personal computer, and includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, a communication unit 13, and an interface unit 14. The client device 10 is also connected to an operation input device 15 and a display device 16. In this embodiment, the client device 10 is used by each user who plays a game provided by the information processing system 1.

[0012] The control unit 11 includes at least one processor and executes various information processes in accordance with programs stored in the storage unit 12. Specific examples of the processes executed by the control unit 11 will be described later. The storage unit 12 includes at least one memory device such as RAM and stores the programs executed by the control unit 11 and data to be processed by the programs. The communication unit 13 is an interface for connecting to a communication network wirelessly or via a wire. Each client device 10 is communicatively connected to the server device 20 via this communication unit 13.

[0013] The interface unit 14 is connected to the operation input device 15 and the display device 16 wirelessly or via a wired connection, and transmits and receives various data to and from these devices. Specifically, the interface unit 14 receives, from the operation input device 15, a control signal indicating the content of the operation input performed by the player to the operation input device 15. The interface unit 14 also transmits, to the display device 16, a video signal indicating the content of the video to be presented to the player.

[0014] The operation input device 15 is configured to include, for example, a touch sensor, operation buttons, etc., and receives operation input from the player and transmits a control signal indicating the content of the input to the client device 10. The display device 16 is a liquid crystal panel or the like, and displays an image corresponding to a video signal received from the client device 10 on a display screen to present to the player. Note that the operation input device 15 and the display device 16 may be configured integrally with the client device 10, for example, by being arranged on the surface of the housing of the client device 10.

[0015] The server device 20 is an information processing device such as a server computer, and includes a control unit 21, a storage unit 22, and a communication unit 23. The server device 20 executes processing related to the game provided by the information processing system 1.

[0016] The control unit 21 includes at least one processor and executes various information processes in accordance with programs stored in the storage unit 22. Specific examples of the processes executed by the control unit 21 will be described later. The storage unit 22 includes at least one memory device such as RAM and stores the programs executed by the control unit 21 and the data to be processed by the programs. The communication unit 23 is an interface for connecting to a communication network wirelessly or via a wire. The communication unit 23 communicatively connects the server device 20 to each client device 10.

[0017] Here, an overview of the game provided by the information processing system 1 will be described. This game is assumed to be a game that can be played by multiple users simultaneously, such as a social game or an online game. In this game, each user owns at least one character from among multiple types of characters prepared in advance in the game. Then, the user plays a prepared stage of the game using a character selected from the characters they own. Hereinafter, the characters prepared in advance in the game are referred to as appearing characters, and the characters owned by each user are referred to as owned characters. Furthermore, a character used by a user when playing any stage of the game is referred to as a used character.

[0018] A user's owned character is a character that the user has acquired in the game and has the right to use. Each user can acquire a character by fulfilling certain conditions in the game, such as clearing a specific stage, and after acquiring the character, can use that character in their own gameplay as a owned character. Each user may also acquire one of the characters through an in-game lottery or by purchasing it for a fee. Note that multiple users may own the same type of character, or one user may own multiple characters of the same type.

[0019] In this embodiment, each user may play a stage of the game using both a character selected from their own characters and a character selected from characters owned by other users. Hereinafter, such a character selected from characters owned by other users will be referred to as a support character.

[0020] In this game, multiple stages are prepared in advance for playing. A stage is a unit of the game that is played by each user in one play session. The user selects the stage to be played and the character to be used in that stage, and then begins playing the game for that stage. In this embodiment, once a user starts playing a certain stage, they cannot change the character selected before starting the stage until they finish playing that stage. However, after finishing playing that stage or if they stop playing a stage they have already started, they may be able to select a different character and play the same stage from the beginning. Furthermore, a user may be able to temporarily pause play of one stage and resume the paused stage from the state at the time of the pause. Furthermore, multiple stages may be played in parallel, for example, by pausing play of one stage and playing another stage using a different character.

[0021] The content of the game played in each stage may vary and is not particularly limited. However, it is desirable that the difficulty of the game content in each stage varies depending on the relationship between the stage and the type of character used. For example, the characters appearing in this game may have different characteristics, not just having different parameter values ​​representing strength, but also belonging to one of multiple attributes or possessing several skills (special abilities).

[0022] Meanwhile, each stage is set with conditions that affect the advantages or disadvantages of the characters used, depending on the enemy characters that appear in that stage and the game content of that stage. For example, characters with a certain attribute may be advantageous in one stage, while characters with that attribute may be disadvantaged in another stage. Also, depending on the stage, characters with certain skills may be effective, while other skills may not affect the gameplay of that stage. As such, various characteristics are assigned to each character that appears, and different characteristics are assigned to each stage, so the difficulty of clearing that stage varies greatly depending on the combination of the stage and the character used. When starting play of each stage, the user considers the characteristics of the stage and the characteristics of the selectable characters and selects the character that is best suited to play that stage as the character to use. This allows the user to enjoy not only the gameplay within each stage, but also the element of selecting which character from among the characters they own as the character to use as part of the game.

[0023] However, as the number of characters and stages increases, it becomes difficult for users to understand the characteristics of the stage and characters they want to play, which can complicate the process of selecting a character to use. In particular, when selecting a support character from among characters owned by other users, there is a possibility that a character of a type that the user does not own and whose characteristics are not fully understood will be selected as a selection candidate. Therefore, the information processing system 1 according to this embodiment is provided with an interface that presents information to assist each user in selecting a support character. This will be described in detail below.

[0024] The functions realized by each device in the information processing system 1 according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to the functional block diagram in Fig. 2. Note that, here, one of the multiple client devices 10 will be designated as a noted client device 10n, and its functions will be described, but it is assumed that the other client devices 10 also have similar functions. In addition, hereinafter, a user who uses the noted client device 10n will be referred to as a noted user.

[0025] The noted client device 10n functionally includes a stage selection operation receiving unit 31, a support character selection operation receiving unit 32, a use character selection operation receiving unit 33, and a game processing execution unit 34. These functions are realized by the control unit 11 of the noted client device 10n executing a program stored in the storage unit 12. The server device 20 functionally includes a candidate character notification unit 41 and a game control unit 42. These functions are realized by the control unit 21 of the server device 20 executing a program stored in the storage unit 22. These programs may be provided to each device via a communication network such as the Internet, or may be provided to each device by being stored on a computer-readable information storage medium such as an optical disc.

[0026] The stage selection operation receiving unit 31 of the noted client device 10n receives an operation from the noted user to select a stage to be played (hereinafter referred to as a stage selection operation). The stage to be played is a stage that the noted user is about to play. Specifically, the stage selection operation receiving unit 31 queries the game control unit 42 of the server device 20 to obtain information on one or more candidate stages that the noted user can play at that time. Then, based on the obtained information, a list of candidate stages is presented to the noted user. The noted user performs a stage selection operation to specify the stage to be played by selecting a stage that the noted user wishes to play from the presented candidate stages. For example, this stage selection operation may be an operation of specifying a stage by tapping on one of the stages displayed on the screen of the display device 16.

[0027] The support character selection operation receiving unit 32 of the noted client device 10n receives from the noted user a selection operation for a support character to be used in playing the play target stage selected by the stage selection operation (hereinafter referred to as a support character selection operation). Specifically, when the play target stage is selected, the support character selection operation receiving unit 32 presents to the noted user candidate characters to be selected as support characters. The noted user selects a support character to be used in playing the play target stage from the presented candidate characters. As with the stage selection operation, the support character selection operation may be an operation of tapping or otherwise specifying one of the multiple candidate characters displayed in a list.

[0028] Candidate characters for support characters are notified by the candidate character notification unit 41 of the server device 20. The candidate character notification unit 41 notifies each client device 10 of a list of candidate characters in response to a request from the client device 10. The list of candidate characters notified by the candidate character notification unit 41 to each client device 10 may be different for each user. For example, if a friendship relationship is established between the users using the information processing system 1, the candidate character notification unit 41 randomly selects characters owned by users set as friends of the user using the requesting client device 10 and notifies them as candidate characters. Characters owned by other users who are not friends may also be randomly selected and notified as candidate characters. Note that each user may pre-register characters owned by the user that he or she allows other users to use as support characters. In this case, the candidate character notification unit 41 acquires information about characters registered by each user as support characters, and when notifying candidate characters, notifies candidate characters selected from the characters registered by each user. In this embodiment, the candidate character notification unit 41 randomly selects and notifies candidate characters regardless of the stage to be played.

[0029] In this embodiment, the support character selection operation receiving unit 32 presents a plurality of candidate characters to the noted user in a display manner determined according to the relationship between the play target stage and each candidate character, in order to assist the noted user in selecting a support character. Note that the "display manner" in this embodiment refers to the display order, display color, display size, presence or absence of additional image display (including effects), etc. of the candidate characters. Specific examples of this display manner will be described in detail later.

[0030] The character selection operation receiving unit 33 of the noted client device 10n receives from the noted user an operation to select a character other than a support character from among the characters to be used in playing the play target stage selected by the stage selection operation (hereinafter referred to as a character selection operation). The character selection operation is an operation to select a character to be used from among the characters owned by the noted user. Note that if multiple characters are to be used to play one stage, the noted user must select multiple characters to be used. In this case, the noted user may be able to register in advance a character set (deck) that brings together multiple characters that the noted user wants to use together. If a character set has been registered in advance, the noted user can select multiple characters to be used all at once simply by selecting the registered character set.

[0031] The noted client device 10n may first accept either the use character selection operation or the support character selection operation from the noted user. However, in order to present the candidate characters to the noted user in a display mode corresponding to the play target stage, the support character selection operation accepting unit 32 accepts the support character selection operation after accepting the stage selection operation and specifying the play target stage.

[0032] A game for the selected stage is started after a stage to be played is selected by the stage selection operation receiving unit 31 and a character to be used is selected by the support character selection operation receiving unit 32 and the use character selection operation receiving unit 33. The game processing execution unit 34 of the target client device 10n cooperates with the game control unit 42 of the server device 20 to execute game processing for the selected stage.

[0033] Specifically, for example, the game processing execution unit 34 acquires information about the game of the selected stage, such as enemy characters that appear in that stage, from the game control unit 42. Then, based on the acquired information, the game screen is rendered and displayed on the screen of the display device 16. The game processing execution unit 34 also accepts game operations related to the game from the user of interest. These game operations may include operations to instruct the behavior of the character used during the game of that stage. The game processing execution unit 34 progresses the game in accordance with the game operations accepted from the user of interest and notifies the game control unit 42 of the results.

[0034] The processing related to the game progress may be executed on the client device 10 side or on the server device 20 side. When the processing related to the game progress is executed on the client device 10 side, the game processing execution unit 34 executes processing to progress the game in accordance with the user's game operations, and when the game in a target stage is completed, transmits the game results for that stage to the game control unit 42 of the server device 20. On the other hand, when the processing related to the game progress is executed on the server device 20 side, the game processing execution unit 34 transmits the content of the game operations received from the target user to the server device 20 each time. The game control unit 42 of the server device 20 executes processing to progress the game in accordance with the content of the received game operations, and transmits a display instruction to the client device 10 including information to be presented to the user as a result. The game processing execution unit 34 of the client device 10 displays content according to the received display instruction on the screen of the display device 16. The game progresses by repeating such processing. Furthermore, the processing related to the game progress may be shared and executed by both the client device 10 and the server device 20, rather than being executed by only one device. In either case, after the user selects the stage to be played and the character to be used and starts the game for the stage to be played, the game for that stage progresses without changing the character to be used, and when the game for that stage ends, information regarding the result of the game is notified to the game control unit 42 of the server device 20.

[0035] Below, a specific example of the display mode when the support character selection operation receiving unit 32 presents candidate support characters to the user of interest will be described. As described above, the support character selection operation receiving unit 32 displays a screen presenting multiple candidate characters on the display device 16 in a display mode determined according to the relationship between the play target stage and each of the candidate characters. Hereinafter, the screen presenting multiple candidate characters and receiving the selection of a support character from among them will be referred to as the support character selection screen.

[0036] As a first example, the support character selection operation receiving unit 32 may preferentially display, on the support character selection screen, candidate characters that have been used by other users in the past to play the target stage, making it easier to select candidate characters suitable for use in the target stage.

[0037] In this example, the support character selection operation receiving unit 32 receives information about characters used when the user of the information processing system 1 played the play target stage in the past. (hereinafter referred to as "used character information") is acquired from the server device 20. Then, the candidate characters are presented in a display mode determined according to the used character information.

[0038] The used character information may be information that identifies characters that have been used particularly frequently among characters that have actually been used in past plays on the play target stage. The used character information may also include information regarding the frequency of use of each character that has been used in plays on the play target stage (i.e., the number of times that each character has been used in a predetermined period of time in the past). The information regarding the frequency of use may be information that indicates the numerical value of the frequency of use itself, or may be information that indicates the ranking of each character when it is sorted in order of frequency of use.

[0039] In order to provide such used character information, the game control unit 42 of the server device 20 records information relating the stage on which the game was played and the type of character used in that play each time a game is played by each user. Then, based on the recorded information, the characters most frequently used in plays on each stage are tallied and recorded for each predetermined period. When displaying a list of candidate characters, the support character selection operation reception unit 32 makes an inquiry to the server device 20 including information specifying the stage to be played, and obtains used character information in response to this inquiry. Note that the frequency of use of a character here does not simply represent a number indicating the number of times it has been used, but rather represents the number of times the character has been used to clear the game on the stage to be played. By including characters that were frequently used when clearing the target stage in the used character information, characters that are expected to be more effective in clearing the stage can be presented to the user of interest.

[0040] If a character identified by the used character information is present among the candidate characters, the support character selection operation receiving unit 32 displays that character with a high priority. Furthermore, if there are multiple characters identified by the used character information, those characters may be displayed in descending order of frequency of use. FIG. 3 shows an example of a support character selection screen that displays characters used by other users with a high priority. In this example, the "Everyone's Cleared Characters" column displays characters that are frequently used to clear the target stage, and these characters are displayed in a manner that prioritizes them over characters in the "Other" column.

[0041] As a second example, the support character selection operation receiving unit 32 may present candidate characters in a display mode determined according to the relationship between the related information set for the play target stage and each of the multiple candidate characters. Here, the related information is associated with each of the selectable stages and is information used to identify a character suitable for playing that stage. Specifically, the related information may be information identifying a character's skill that is advantageous for playing each stage. Furthermore, information indicating the importance of that skill (the degree to which that skill is necessary for clearing the stage) may be associated with the related information. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of such related information.

[0042] In this example, the support character selection operation receiving unit 32 sends an inquiry to the server device 20, including information identifying the play target stage, and obtains related information for the play target stage in response to the inquiry. Then, candidate characters possessing skills included in the related information are displayed with a higher priority. Furthermore, if the related information includes multiple skills, candidate characters possessing more important skills may be displayed with a higher priority. FIG. 5 shows an example of a support character selection screen that prioritizes displaying candidate characters possessing more important skills. In this example, the "Main Gimmick-Compatible Characters" column displays characters possessing skills (here, "Skill 1" and "Skill 3") that are effective in clearing the play target stage, while the "Other" column displays characters that do not possess such skills. Furthermore, this example shows a display example in which "Skill 3" is more important for clearing the play target stage than "Skill 1," and the more important "Skill 3" is displayed with a higher priority than "Skill 1."

[0043] It should be noted that the specific examples described above may be applied in combination. For example, the support character selection operation receiving unit 32 may display candidate characters in the support character selection screen in the following order: first, a "characters that can be cleared by everyone" column, then a "characters compatible with main gimmicks" column, and then an "other" column.

[0044] The support character selection operation receiving unit 32 may also group candidate characters based on criteria other than those described above and display each candidate character separately for each group. For example, the support character selection operation receiving unit 32 may display characters owned by users who have established a friendship relationship with the target user separately from characters owned by users who do not have a friendship relationship with the target user. Furthermore, candidate characters that have been selected as support characters but cannot be selected as support characters again may be displayed separately from selectable candidate characters. In such cases, the support character selection operation receiving unit 32 may also preferentially display frequently used characters or characters possessing important skills within each group.

[0045] The support character selection operation receiving unit 32 may also switch between the support character selection screen, whose display mode is determined according to the target stage described above, and the support character selection screen, whose display mode is independent of the target stage, in response to an instruction from the noted user. Specifically, the selection screen may include an interface, such as a button, for receiving an instruction from the noted user to sort the candidate characters according to given criteria. The noted user may also want to select a support character based on their own preferences. In such cases, by sorting the candidate characters according to criteria specified by the noted user, the user can select a character as a support character other than the character determined based on the character information and related information. The support character selection screen may also include an interface for narrowing down and displaying only candidate characters that meet given criteria, such as characters possessing specific skills. In this case, even when only candidate characters that meet the criteria specified by the noted user are displayed, the support character selection operation receiving unit 32 may determine the priority of the candidate characters to be displayed according to the same criteria as described above. In the examples of FIGS. 3 and 5, an interface (attribute button) for narrowing down the candidate characters by attribute is included.

[0046] According to the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment described above, when selecting a support character, candidate characters to be selected are presented in a manner that corresponds to their relationship with the play target stage that the user is about to play, making it easier for the user to select a support character.

[0047] Note that the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to those described above. For example, the screen contents in the above description are merely exemplary, and the client device 10 may present candidate characters for support characters to the user in various ways. For example, in the above description, candidate characters that are expected to be suitable for use in the stage to be played, such as candidate characters that are frequently used or candidate characters that have important skills, are displayed with high priority. However, instead of or in addition to this, candidate characters that are expected to be suitable for use in the stage to be played may be highlighted by being displayed with a background color different from other candidate characters or by being displayed in a larger size than other candidate characters.

[0048] Furthermore, in the above description, at least a portion of the processing to be executed by each of the client device 10 and the server device 20 may be distributed and executed by multiple devices. At least a portion of the processing to be executed by the client device 10 may be executed by the server device 20, and conversely, at least a portion of the processing to be executed by the server device 20 may be executed by the client device 10. In particular, the server device 20, rather than the client device 10, may determine the display mode in which the candidate characters are to be presented to the user. In this case, the server device 20 determines the display order and background color of each candidate character, controls the presentation to the user, and the client device 10 renders the support character selection screen in accordance with instructions received from the server device 20. [Explanation of symbols]

[0049] 1 Information processing system, 10 Client device, 11 Control unit, 12 Storage unit, 13 Communication unit, 14 interface unit, 15 operation input device, 16 display device, 20 server device, 21 control unit, 22 memory unit, 23 communication unit, 31 stage selection operation reception unit, 32 support character selection operation reception unit, 33 use character selection operation reception unit, 34 game processing execution unit, 41 candidate character notification unit, 42 game control unit.

Claims

1. An information processing device that executes processing related to a game in which a plurality of users each own at least one of a plurality of types of characters, and a stage selected from one or a plurality of pre-prepared candidate stages is played using a character to be used selected from among the characters owned by the user and a support character selected from among characters owned by other users, a stage receiving means for receiving a selection of a play target stage from one of the plurality of users, the play target stage being selected from among the candidate stages; a candidate character presenting means for presenting one or more candidate characters to be selected as the support character when playing the play target stage to a user who has selected the play target stage, the candidate character presenting means presenting the plurality of candidate characters in a display mode determined according to a relationship between the play target stage and each of the candidate characters; 10. An information processing device comprising:

2. 2. The information processing device according to claim 1, further comprising a used character acquisition means for acquiring used character information relating to characters used when the plurality of users played the play target stage in the past; The candidate character presenting means presents the plurality of candidate characters in a display mode determined according to the use character information.

1. An information processing device comprising:

3. 3. The information processing device according to claim 2, The used character information includes information regarding the frequency of use of each of the used characters, The candidate character presentation means presents the plurality of candidate characters in order of frequency of use.

1. An information processing device comprising:

4. 4. The information processing device according to claim 1, each of the plurality of stages is associated with related information used to identify a character suitable for playing the stage; The candidate character presentation means presents the plurality of candidate characters in a display mode determined according to a relationship between related information set for the play target stage and each of the plurality of candidate characters.

1. An information processing device comprising:

5. 5. The information processing device according to claim 1, The candidate character presenting means switches between presenting the candidate characters in a display mode determined depending on a relationship between the play target stage and each of the plurality of candidate characters and presenting the candidate characters in a display mode independent of the play target stage, in response to an instruction from a user who has selected the play target stage.

1. An information processing device comprising:

6. A computer that executes processing related to a game in which a plurality of users each own at least one of a plurality of types of characters, and a stage selected from one or a plurality of candidate stages prepared in advance is played using a character to be used selected from among the characters owned by the user and a support character selected from among characters owned by other users, a stage receiving means for receiving a selection of a play target stage from one of the plurality of users, the play target stage being selected from among the candidate stages; a candidate character presenting means for presenting one or more candidate characters to be selected as the support character when playing the play target stage to a user who has selected the play target stage, the candidate character presenting means presenting the plurality of candidate characters in a display mode determined according to a relationship between the play target stage and each of the candidate characters; A program to function as a

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