Information processing device, information processing method, and program

Abstract

To provide technology that reduces the effort required for users to configure settings related to synthesis. [Solution] An information processing device is provided, comprising: a storage unit for storing game objects owned by a user; a synthesis unit for performing a first synthesis of a source game object designated by the user and a material game object that can be synthesized with the source game object; and a display control unit for displaying a settings screen for setting a second synthesis between a source game object and a newly assigned material game object when predetermined conditions are met in the first synthesis performed by the synthesis unit and a material game object that can be synthesized with the source game object is newly assigned to the user.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] There is known a game in which the victory or defeat is determined by having a character owned by a user fight against an enemy character. Also, among a plurality of owned cards owned by a user, by combining game cards that form a predetermined combination (combining game cards), the ability value (parameter) of the character corresponding to the combined game card can be changed (Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In the game described in Patent Document 1, when a user synthesizes a plurality of characters owned by the user himself / herself, the user needs to select the plurality of characters to be synthesized by himself / herself, which is troublesome. In this regard, Patent Document 1 describes that for a card determined to be an unnecessary card, the card synthesis process may be automatically executed without depending on the user's operation input. However, since game specifications have become complex in recent years, even if a function of automatically synthesizing characters (cards) is used, various conditions need to be set according to the user's intention, such as setting characters to be synthesized and characters not to be synthesized. Also, since it is considered necessary to change the once-set conditions again according to the progress of the game, the user's effort is considered to be large.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a technology that reduces the effort required for users to configure settings related to synthesis. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An information processing device according to one aspect of the present invention includes: a storage unit for storing game objects owned by a user; a synthesis unit for performing a first synthesis of a source game object designated by the user and a material game object that can be synthesized with the source game object; and a display control unit for displaying a setting screen for setting a second synthesis between a source game object and a newly assigned material game object when predetermined conditions are met in the first synthesis performed by the synthesis unit and a material game object that can be synthesized with the source game object is newly assigned to the user. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a technology that reduces the effort required for users to configure settings related to synthesis. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This figure shows an example of the system configuration of the game system according to this embodiment. [Figure 2] This figure shows an example of the hardware configuration of a game server and terminal. [Figure 3] This figure shows an example of the functional block configuration of a game server. [Figure 4] This figure shows an example of a character settings database, a owned character management database, and an automatic synthesis settings database. [Figure 5] This diagram shows an example of the functional block configuration of a terminal. [Figure 6] This flowchart shows an example of the processing steps performed by the game server. [Figure 7] This figure shows an example of a screen transition to an automatically synthesized screen (Part 1). [Figure 8] This figure shows an example of a screen transition to an automatically synthesized screen (part 2). [Figure 9] This figure shows an example of a screen transition to an automatically synthesized screen (part 3). [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. In each drawing, components denoted by the same reference numerals have the same or similar configurations.

[0010] <System Configuration> Figure 1 shows an example of the system configuration of the game system 1 according to this embodiment. The game system 1 shown in Figure 1 comprises a game server 10 and a plurality of terminals 20. The game server 10 and the terminals 20 are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate via a communication network N such as the Internet, intranet, wireless LAN, or mobile communication.

[0011] The game server 10 is a device that performs some of the functions necessary for the terminal 20 to provide the game, such as managing various information about the player or executing some of the game's processing. The game server 10 may consist of one or more information processing devices or computers, or it may be configured using a virtual server (such as a cloud server).

[0012] Terminal 20 is an information processing device that provides the game to the player, and the player can execute the game according to this embodiment by operating Terminal 20. Terminal 20 is, for example, a computer such as a mobile phone (including a smartphone), tablet, personal computer, arcade game machine, or consumer game machine. Terminal 20 notifies the game server 10 of its own location detected using GPS (Global Positioning System) or the like.

[0013] <Game Overview> Next, an overview of the game provided by the game system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. In the game provided by the game system 1 (hereinafter referred to as "this game"), a player (which may also be referred to as a user) can obtain new characters and items by forming a deck with a character selected from a plurality of owned characters and clearing quests using the formed deck. In addition, the player can also obtain new characters and items by making a payment or the like.

[0014] Here, a quest is a term meaning a task that can be cleared by satisfying a predetermined set of conditions. Quests are generally sometimes also called explorations, tasks, and missions.

[0015] A deck is a term meaning a group formed by combining a plurality of characters. When executing a quest, the player selects a character having an ability suitable for clearing the quest to form a deck and execute the quest. The game server 10 can store a plurality of decks formed by the player, and the player can also select one deck from the plurality of stored decks and execute the quest when executing the quest. In the present embodiment, the player executing a quest may also be referred to as playing the quest.

[0016] A player who participates in a quest can clear the quest by satisfying the predetermined set of conditions. When the player clears the quest, a reward is given to the player or the story of this game progresses. The rewards include items, characters available for deck formation, and the like.

[0017] By synthesizing the characters and items owned by the player himself / herself, the player can improve the status of the character or transition to other more enhanced characters. Here, the characters and items may be referred to as "objects" or "game objects". Also, the status may be referred to as "parameters". Further, when a certain character "transitions" to another character, it may also be referred to as "changing", "mutating", "deriving", "evolving" or "deifying", etc. In this embodiment, "synthesizing" means combining two game objects to create one game object and applying another game object to a certain game object.

[0018] Synthesis is performed by synthesizing a character that is the base of synthesis (hereinafter referred to as the "synthesis source character") with another character (hereinafter referred to as the "material character") or item (hereinafter referred to as the "material item") that can be synthesized with the synthesis source character.

[0019] For example, when the player selects character A as the synthesis source character and character B as the material character, the status of character A is changed (or it transitions to another character), and character B disappears. Similarly, when the player selects character A as the synthesis source character and item X as the material item, the status of character A is changed (or it transitions to another character), and item X disappears.

[0020] When the synthesis source character transitions to another character by synthesis, the synthesis source character transitions to another character belonging to the same group as the synthesis source character. Here, the "group" means a group of characters composed of the character before the transition and the character after the transition.

[0021] The character after the transition may be described as a character with a different form from the character before the transition. In other words, "form" may mean the transition state of the character. For example, if the character before the transition was a character of form A, the character after the transition may be described as "a character that has transitioned to form B" or "a character of form B". Furthermore, there may be multiple characters after the transition. For example, there may be characters that have transitioned to form C and form D.

[0022] Furthermore, the character before the transition may be referred to as the base character, and the character after the transition may be referred to as the character that transitioned from the base character, or the character that the base character has changed (or mutated, evolved, or deified). Also, "group" may mean a group composed of the base character and the character that the base character has changed into.

[0023] There are two types of character synthesis: manual synthesis, where the player specifies the source character and material character (hereinafter referred to as "manual synthesis" or "first synthesis"), and automatic synthesis, where the game server 10 automatically selects the source character and material character according to pre-set conditions (hereinafter referred to as "automatic synthesis" or "second synthesis"). The screen for configuring automatic synthesis is called the "automatic settings screen." The automatic settings screen is displayed on the character display screen, etc., when the player presses a designated button. The automatic settings screen may also be referred to as the settings screen.

[0024] In this game, the game server 10 displays an automatic settings screen on the player's terminal 20 when predetermined conditions are met during manual synthesis performed by the player. More specifically, the game server 10 displays the automatic settings screen on terminal 20 at times when it is anticipated that the player may perform / change the settings for automatic synthesis, thereby assisting the player in smoothly configuring settings related to automatic synthesis.

[0025] <Hardware Configuration> Figure 2 shows an example of the hardware configuration of a game server 10 and a terminal 20. The game server 10 and terminal 20 have a processor 11 such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a GPU (Graphical Processing Unit), a storage device 12 such as memory, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and / or an SSD (Solid State Drive), a communication interface 13 for wired or wireless communication, an input device 14 for receiving input operations, and an output device 15 for outputting information. The input device 14 is, for example, a keyboard, a touch panel, a mouse and / or a microphone. The output device 15 is, for example, a display, a touch panel and / or a speaker.

[0026] <Functional Block Configuration> (Game Server) Figure 3 shows an example of the functional block configuration of the game server 10. The game server 10 includes a storage unit 100 and a game control unit 110. The storage unit 100 can be implemented using a storage device 12 provided by the game server 10. The game control unit 110 can be implemented by the processor 11 of the game server 10 executing a program stored in the storage device 12. This program can be stored in a storage medium. The storage medium on which the program is stored may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The non-transitory storage medium is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, a USB memory stick or a CD-ROM.

[0027] The memory unit 100 stores the character setting DB 100a, the owned character management DB 100b, and the automatic synthesis setting DB 100c.

[0028] Figure 4 shows an example of the character setting DB100a, owned character management DB100b, and automatic synthesis setting DB100c.

[0029] The Character Settings DB100a manages various settings related to the characters that appear in this game. The Character Settings DB100a stores the following associated values: a unique identifier for each character (Character ID), an identifier indicating the group to which the character belongs (Group ID), an identifier indicating the character's transition state (Form), the maximum level (Maximum Level), the maximum luck (Maximum Luck), the maximum HP (Hit Points) (Maximum HP), the maximum attack power (Maximum Attack Power), and the maximum speed (Maximum Speed).

[0030] The Character Ownership Management DB100b stores the characters owned by the player. The Character Ownership Management DB100b stores a unique identifier for the player who owns the character (Player ID), a unique identifier for the character (Character ID), and the character's current status (level, luck, HP (Hit Points), attack power, speed, etc.), all associated with each character. The Character Ownership Management DB100b may also be referred to as a character box for storing the characters owned by the player.

[0031] The automatic synthesis settings DB100c is a database that stores the settings related to automatic synthesis set by each player. The automatic synthesis settings DB100c stores an identifier that uniquely identifies the player (player ID), an identifier that uniquely identifies the group of characters to be configured (group ID), information indicating the form of the source characters to be synthesized when automatic synthesis is performed (automatic synthesis settings), and a history of the settings made by the player on the automatic settings screen (auxiliary history) when the automatic settings screen is displayed on the player's terminal 20 due to fulfilling predetermined conditions in manual synthesis.

[0032] Here, "Do not perform" in the automatic synthesis settings indicates that the player has selected not to perform automatic synthesis on the automatic settings screen. Similarly, "Perform (Form A)" in the automatic synthesis settings indicates that the player has selected a character with form A as the source character for synthesis from among multiple characters included in the same group on the automatic settings screen. The same applies to "Perform (Form B)" and "Perform (Form C)".

[0033] In the auxiliary history, "No history" indicates that the player has never met the predetermined conditions in a manual synthesis using characters belonging to the same group ID as the source characters, and therefore the automatic setting screen has never been displayed. "Select Do Not Perform" indicates that the player selected not to perform automatic synthesis on the automatic setting screen displayed after the predetermined conditions were met in the manual synthesis. "Select Perform (Form A)" indicates that the player set the automatic setting screen displayed after the predetermined conditions were met in the manual synthesis to perform automatic synthesis on characters with form A. In the example in Figure 4, "Select Do Not Perform" is recorded in the auxiliary history corresponding to group G02, which indicates that manual synthesis was performed on a source character belonging to group G02, and the player selected not to perform automatic synthesis on the automatic setting screen displayed as a result.

[0034] Returning to Figure 3, let's continue the explanation. The game control unit 110 provides various functions necessary to run this game. The game control unit 110 includes a synthesis unit 111 and a display control unit 112.

[0035] The synthesis unit 111 performs manual synthesis (first synthesis) between a source character specified by the player and a material character or material item (material game object) that can be synthesized with the source character.

[0036] When predetermined conditions are met during manual synthesis performed by the synthesis unit 111, the display control unit 112 displays an automatic setting screen for setting up automatic synthesis (second synthesis) between the source character and the newly assigned material character or material item (material game object) when the source character and the newly assigned material character or material item (material game object) are newly assigned to the player.

[0037] (terminal) Figure 5 shows an example of the functional block configuration of terminal 20. Terminal 20 includes a storage unit 200, a communication unit 201, a UI (User Interface) unit 202, and a game control unit 203. The storage unit 200 can be implemented using a storage device 12 provided by terminal 20. The communication unit 201, the UI unit 202, and the game control unit 203 can be implemented by the processor 11 of terminal 20 executing a program stored in the storage device 12. This program can be stored in a storage medium. The storage medium on which the program is stored may be a computer-readable non-temporary storage medium. The non-temporary storage medium is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, a USB memory or a CD-ROM.

[0038] The memory unit 200 stores the game data necessary for the game control unit 203 to run the game. The game data includes character image data, game scenarios, and the like.

[0039] The communication unit 201 has the function of performing various types of communication with the game server 10 using the communication IF 13.

[0040] The UI unit 202 has the function of receiving various inputs from the player and displaying various game screens on the display. The UI unit 202 also displays the game screen on the output device 15 (display) of the terminal 20 according to the instructions of the game server 10.

[0041] The game control unit 203 works in conjunction with the game server 10 to provide various functions necessary to run the game. For example, the game control unit 203 provides functions such as obtaining various information (icon image data, text data, etc.) from the game server 10 for drawing on the game screen.

[0042] Regarding the functional block configuration described above, it is also possible to configure the game control unit 203 of the terminal 20 to include all or part of the synthesis unit 111 and the display control unit 112 included in the game server 10.

[0043] <Processing Procedure> In the following description, when a character is synthesized using a source character and other characters belonging to the same group as the source character as material characters, a specific stat (e.g., Luck) among the source character's multiple stats will improve. Furthermore, when a quest is cleared with a deck containing a character whose specific stat value is above a predetermined value, the number of items obtained upon clearing the quest will increase compared to clearing the quest with a deck that does not contain a character whose specific stat value is above the predetermined value. Conversely, if the value of the specific stat is below the predetermined value, the number of items obtained upon clearing the quest will not change. Here, the predetermined value may be a specific value specified in advance. Also, "above the predetermined value" and "below the predetermined value" may be replaced with "upper limit" and "below the upper limit," respectively (the same applies to the following descriptions of predetermined conditions). Furthermore, the predetermined value or upper limit may differ for each character, as shown in the character setting DB100a (the same applies to the following descriptions of predetermined conditions). Note that the effect of the specific stat is merely a premise for the following description, and this embodiment is not limited to it. For example, the specific stat may be a stat whose value does not affect the execution of the quest in any way.

[0044] Furthermore, characters belonging to the same group include the character in form A, which is the character before the state transition, and the characters in form B and form C, which are the characters after the state transition.

[0045] Furthermore, if the source character's level is at its maximum, it is possible to transform the source character into a character with enhanced stats that belongs to the same group as the source character by using a special item or special character as material for synthesis.

[0046] Additionally, players may acquire one or more new characters upon completion of a quest. Characters acquired by the player will be stored in the player's character box (Owned Character Management DB100b) and added to the player's list of owned characters. There is a limit to the size of the character box (the number of characters a player can own).

[0047] Figure 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure performed by the game server 10. When the synthesis unit 111 receives a manual synthesis instruction from the player, it synthesizes the source character and the material character or material item (S10). Subsequently, the display control unit 112 determines whether the manual synthesis performed by the synthesis unit 111 satisfies predetermined conditions (S11). If the predetermined conditions are not met, the process is terminated; if the predetermined conditions are met, the automatic setting screen is displayed on the player's terminal 20 (S12).

[0048] (Specific examples of specified conditions) The following describes several specific examples of the predetermined conditions. The game server 10 may have all of these predetermined conditions or only some of them.

[0049] [Prescribed condition 1] The display control unit 112 may determine that a predetermined condition is met if the material character includes a specific material character (specific game object) set for each source character during manual synthesis performed by the synthesis unit 111, and then display the automatic setting screen.

[0050] A specific material character may belong to the same group as the original character being synthesized. In other words, a specific material character may be a character that, when synthesized, can improve a specific stat (for example, luck) among the multiple stats of the original character being synthesized.

[0051] As mentioned above, in this game, clearing a quest with a deck containing characters whose specific stats exceed a predetermined value increases the number of items obtained upon completion. Therefore, it is expected that players who manually synthesize a source character with specific material characters will then set up automatic synthesis to raise the source character's specific stats to their maximum value. Under predetermined condition 1, the automatic settings screen will be displayed automatically without the player having to manually access it, thus reducing the effort required from the player.

[0052] [Prescribed condition 2] The display control unit 112 may, when the predetermined condition 1 is met, further display the automatic setting screen if the specific material character described in predetermined condition 1 is available to the player in a specific event that the player can play.

[0053] A specific event may be a quest that is pre-configured on game server 10 as a quest to be implemented in the future (i.e., a quest that players will be able to play in the future).

[0054] According to predetermined condition 2, if predetermined condition 1 is met and the specific material character used for manual synthesis is a character that will be available in the future, the automatic setting screen will be displayed automatically. This prevents the automatic setting screen from being displayed unnecessarily when the material character is a character that will not be available in the future.

[0055] [Prescribed condition 3] The display control unit 112 may determine that a predetermined condition is met when, during manual synthesis performed by the synthesis unit 111, the value of a specific status among the multiple statuses of the source character increases as a result of synthesis, and then display the automatic setting screen.

[0056] As mentioned above, in this game, clearing a quest with a deck containing characters whose specific stats exceed a predetermined value increases the number of items obtained upon completion. Therefore, players who have manually increased the specific stats of the source characters through synthesis are expected to set up automatic synthesis in order to further improve the source characters' specific stats to above the predetermined value. According to predetermined condition 3, the automatic settings screen will be displayed automatically without the player having to manually access it, thus reducing the effort required from the player.

[0057] Furthermore, the display control unit 112 may, in the manual synthesis performed by the synthesis unit 111, determine that the predetermined conditions are not met if the value of the specific status after the increase is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, and may prevent the automatic setting screen from being displayed. Since it is considered unnecessary to perform automatic synthesis when the value of the specific status is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, it is possible to prevent the player from feeling annoyed by the display of the automatic setting screen.

[0058] [Conditional Condition 4] The display control unit 112 may, in manual synthesis performed by the synthesis unit 111, determine that a predetermined condition is met and display the automatic setting screen if the number of material characters required to bring a specific status among the multiple statuses of the source character to a predetermined value is greater than the number of free areas in the character box (the number of free areas in the storage unit 100 that can store game objects).

[0059] In this game, if the number of material characters required to raise a specific stat of the source character to a predetermined value is greater than the number of available slots in the character box, the player will not be able to raise the specific stat of the source character to the predetermined value in a single manual synthesis.

[0060] For example, let's assume that when one material character is synthesized with the source character, a specific stat increases by 1. Let's also assume that the current value of the specific stat is 1, and the maximum value of that stat is 30. In other words, to bring the specific stat of the source character to the predetermined value, the player needs to synthesize the source character with 29 material characters. If there are 10 empty slots in the character box, the player can only own a maximum of 10 material characters, so in a single manual synthesis, the specific stat of the source character can only be raised to a maximum of 11. In such a case, it is expected that the player will set up automatic synthesis and collect material characters by repeatedly clearing quests until the specific stat of the source character reaches the maximum value, or by repeatedly participating in character draws (gacha). Therefore, according to predetermined condition 4, the automatic settings screen will be displayed automatically without the player having to manually display the automatic settings screen, thus reducing the effort required from the player.

[0061] [Prescribed condition 5] The display control unit 112 may also display a screen on the synthesis settings screen that accepts the selection of which character to use as the source character for synthesis from among the characters belonging to the group of source characters used in the synthesis performed by the synthesis unit 111.

[0062] Specifically, the automatic synthesis screen may allow the player to select one of the following options for automatic synthesis: "Enable (Form A)", "Enable (Form B)", "Enable (Form C)", and "Do not enable". Furthermore, forms of characters not owned by the player may be displayed in a way that distinguishes them from owned characters, and selection may be disabled.

[0063] This makes it easier for players to select the source characters when setting up automatic synthesis.

[0064] Furthermore, if the automatic synthesis screen is set to "Do (Form A)", "Do (Form B)", or "Do (Form C)", when the player obtains a new character at the end of a quest, the obtained character may not be stored in the character box, but instead be automatically synthesized directly with the original character. Therefore, "automatic synthesis" may be described as a process that synthesizes characters assigned to a player without associating them with that player (in other words, a process that synthesizes newly obtained characters before they are stored in the player's character box).

[0065] [Prescribed condition 6] The display control unit 112 may determine that a predetermined condition is met and display the automatic setting screen if, in manual synthesis performed by the synthesis unit 111, the source character is transformed into another character belonging to the same group as the source character. In other words, the display control unit 112 may display the automatic setting screen if, as a result of manual synthesis, the source character is transformed into a character of form B or a character of form C. As mentioned above, the automatic synthesis screen may allow the player to select one of the following as the setting for automatic synthesis: "Enable (Form A)", "Enable (Form B)", "Enable (Form C)", and "Do not enable". In this case, if the player has previously selected "Enable (Form A)" on the automatic synthesis screen and then transforms a character of form A into form B, the player must manually open the automatic synthesis screen and change the setting to "Enable (Form B)" in order to automatically synthesize the character transformed into form B as the source character. In other words, under predetermined condition 5, the automatic settings screen will be displayed automatically without the player having to perform any operation to display the automatic settings screen, thus reducing the effort required from the player.

[0066] Furthermore, the display control unit 112 may determine that a predetermined condition is met and display the automatic setting screen if, in manual synthesis performed by the synthesis unit 111, the source character for synthesis transitions to another character belonging to the same group as the source character, and the player did not possess the same character as the transitioned other character before manual synthesis. In other words, the display control unit 112 may display the automatic setting screen if, as a result of manual synthesis, the source character transitions to a character of form B (or form C), and the player did not possess the character of form B (or form C) before manual synthesis. If the player already possesses one or more characters of form B (or form C) before manual synthesis, the player may have already set up automatic synthesis. Therefore, it becomes possible to display the automatic setting screen only at the timing when it is expected that the player will change the setting of automatic synthesis.

[0067] Furthermore, the display control unit 112 may determine that a predetermined condition is met and display the automatic setting screen if, in manual synthesis performed by the synthesis unit 111, the source character is transformed into another character belonging to the same group as the source character, and after manual synthesis, the player does not possess any characters identical to the source character before the transformation. In other words, the display control unit 112 may display the automatic setting screen if, as a result of manual synthesis, the source character (form A) is transformed into a character of form B (or a character of form C), and after manual synthesis, the player does not possess any characters of form A. Suppose the player possesses two or more characters of form A, and form A was set as the source character in automatic synthesis. In this state, if the player transforms one of the two or more characters into form B or C through manual synthesis, it is assumed that the player does not want to change the source character from form A. Therefore, it becomes possible to display the automatic setting screen only at the timing when it is expected that the player will change the automatic synthesis settings.

[0068] [Prescribed condition 7] The display control unit 112 may determine that a predetermined condition is not met if any of the characters belonging to the group of source characters used in the automatic synthesis performed by the synthesis unit 111 are already set as source characters in the automatic setting screen, and may prevent the automatic setting screen from being displayed.

[0069] For example, suppose that after manually synthesizing character A, the predetermined conditions are met and the automatic setting screen is displayed on the terminal 20 screen, or that the player displays the automatic setting screen for character A themselves when the predetermined conditions are not met, and the player sets the automatic synthesis to "do not" on that automatic setting screen. Then, suppose the player manually synthesizes character B, which belongs to the same group as character A. In this case, the display control unit 112 determines that the predetermined conditions are not met and prevents the automatic synthesis screen from being displayed on the terminal 20.

[0070] According to the specified condition 7, it becomes possible to prevent the player from feeling annoyed when the settings screen is displayed again even though automatic synthesis has already been set.

[0071] [Conditional Condition 8] The display control unit 112 may determine that the predetermined conditions are not met if, in the past, the group of source characters used in manual synthesis performed by the synthesis unit 111 has been set to perform automatic synthesis or not to perform automatic synthesis on the automatic setting screen, and may prevent the automatic setting screen from being displayed.

[0072] For example, suppose that after manually synthesizing character A, a predetermined condition is met and the automatic setting screen is displayed on the terminal 20 screen, or the player themselves displays the automatic setting screen for character A, and the player makes some setting (i.e., either "do" or "do not") regarding automatic synthesis on the automatic setting screen. Then, suppose the player performs manual synthesis on character B, which belongs to the same group as character A. In this case, the display control unit 112 determines that the predetermined condition is not met and prevents the automatic synthesis screen from being displayed on the terminal 20.

[0073] According to the specified condition 8, even though the settings related to automatic synthesis (to enable or disable automatic synthesis) have already been set, the settings screen will be displayed again, which can be annoying for the player.

[0074] [Prescribed condition 9] The display control unit 112 may, if the automatic setting screen that was previously displayed because a predetermined condition was met has been set not to perform automatic synthesis, and the source character used in the synthesis performed by the synthesis unit 111 is included in the group of characters for which the automatic synthesis was set not to perform, determine that the predetermined condition is not met and prevent the automatic setting screen from being displayed.

[0075] For example, suppose that after manually synthesizing character A, a predetermined condition is met and the automatic settings screen is displayed on terminal 20, and the player sets the automatic synthesis to "do not perform". Then, suppose the player manually synthesizes character B, which belongs to the same group as character A.

[0076] In this case, the display control unit 112 searches for the existence of a history in which the player selected "Do not" for the group to which character B belongs by referring to the "Auxiliary History" column of the automatic synthesis setting DB 100c. If there is a history in which the player selected "Do not," the display control unit 112 prevents the automatic synthesis screen from being displayed on the terminal 20. On the other hand, if there is no history in which the player selected "Do not," the display control unit 112 displays the automatic synthesis screen on the terminal 20 if a predetermined condition is met (for example, if any of predetermined conditions 1 to 6 are met).

[0077] According to predetermined condition 9, even though the setting screen has already been set to not perform automatic synthesis, it becomes possible to prevent the player from feeling annoyed when the setting screen is displayed again.

[0078] [Prescribed condition 10] The display control unit 112 may determine that the predetermined conditions are not met if the player has never reached a predetermined value for a specific status among the multiple statuses of a character they own or have owned in the past, whose value increases through synthesis, and may prevent the automatic setting screen from being displayed.

[0079] According to predetermined condition 10, if the player is not interested in bringing a specific status value to a predetermined value through synthesis, the settings screen can be hidden, thereby preventing the player from feeling annoyed.

[0080] <Screen display example> Figure 7 shows an example of a screen transition to the automatic synthesis screen (part 1). Figure 7 shows an example of a screen transition when the player displays the automatic synthesis screen themselves. Character screen A100 is a screen that displays the status of character M. When button B10 is pressed on character screen A100, automatic synthesis screen A101 is displayed, where the settings for automatic synthesis related to character M are made.

[0081] On the automatic synthesis screen A101, buttons for configuring automatic synthesis are displayed in area W101. Area W101 displays button B11 to select not to perform automatic synthesis, button B12 to select a character of form A from the same group as character M as the source character, button B13 to select a character of form B, and button B14 to select a character of form C. When the player selects one of buttons B11 to B14 and presses button B15, the automatic synthesis settings are completed and the screen transitions to screen A102.

[0082] Figure 8 shows an example of a screen transition to the automatic synthesis screen (part 2). Figure 8 shows an example of a screen transition when the automatic synthesis screen is displayed when the "predetermined condition 1" described above is met. Note that the character identical to the source character for synthesis is assumed to be the specific material character in "predetermined condition 1".

[0083] On the manual synthesis screen A200, the player selects character Q (C200) as the source character for synthesis, and material characters V (C201), Q (C202), and Y (C203) as material characters. When the synthesis start button B20 is pressed, material characters Q (C201), X (C202), and Y (C203) are synthesized with the source character Q (C200), and the synthesis result screen A201 is displayed. Here, on the manual synthesis screen A200, the material characters include a character Q identical to the source character Q. In other words, the material characters include a specific material character. Therefore, when button B21 is pressed on the synthesis result screen A201, the display control unit 112 determines that predetermined condition 1 is met and displays the automatic setting screen A202.

[0084] In area W202 of the automatic settings screen A202, there are buttons B22 to select not to perform automatic synthesis, B23 to select a character of form A from among characters belonging to the same group as character Q, B24 to select a character of form B, and B25 to select a character of form C. When the player selects one of buttons B22 to B25 and presses button B26, the automatic synthesis settings are completed. In other words, as shown in Figure 8, the automatic settings screen will be displayed automatically without the player having to perform the operation to open the automatic settings screen as shown in Figure 7.

[0085] Figure 9 shows an example of a screen transition to the automatic composition screen (part 3). Figure 9 shows an example of a screen transition when the automatic composition screen is displayed when the "predetermined condition 6" described above is met.

[0086] On the manual synthesis screen A200, the player selects character Q (C300) as the source character for synthesis, and characters X (C301) and Y (C302) as material characters. The manual synthesis screen A200 shows that as a result of manual synthesis, source character Q (C300) will transform (become divine) into character R (C303). When button B30 is pressed, screen A301 is displayed, showing the image and status of character R, which is the transformed version of character Q.

[0087] Here, because manual synthesis was performed, the source character Q transitioned to character R (that is, the source character transitioned to another character belonging to the same group as the source character). As a result, the display control unit 112 determines that the predetermined condition 6 is met and displays the automatic setting screen A302. Buttons B31 to B35 on the automatic setting screen A302 are the same as buttons B22 to B26 on the automatic setting screen A202 shown in Figure 8, so their explanation is omitted. As shown in Figure 9, the automatic setting screen will be displayed automatically without the player having to perform the operation to open the automatic setting screen as in Figure 7.

[0088] <Summary> According to the embodiment described above, the game server 10 displays an automatic settings screen on the player's terminal 20 when predetermined conditions are met during manual synthesis performed by the player. More specifically, the game server 10 displays the automatic settings screen on the terminal 20 at a time when it is anticipated that the player may perform / change the settings for automatic synthesis, thereby assisting the player in smoothly performing settings related to automatic synthesis. This makes it possible to reduce the effort required for the player to perform settings related to synthesis.

[0089] The embodiments described above are provided to facilitate understanding of the present invention and are not intended to limit its interpretation. The flowcharts, sequences, elements of the embodiments, and their arrangement, materials, conditions, shapes, and sizes described in the embodiments are not limited to those exemplified and can be modified as appropriate.

[0090] <Note> <Note 1> A memory unit that stores game objects owned by the user, A synthesis unit that performs a first synthesis between a source game object specified by the user and a material game object that can be synthesized with the source game object, When predetermined conditions are met in the first synthesis performed by the synthesis unit, and when a source game object and a material game object that can be synthesized are newly assigned to the user, a display control unit displays a settings screen for setting the second synthesis between the source game object and the newly assigned material game object. An information processing device having

[0091] According to Appendix 1, it will be possible to provide technology that reduces the effort required for users to configure settings related to synthesis.

[0092] <Note 2> The display control unit, in the first synthesis performed by the synthesis unit, displays the settings screen if the material game objects include a specific game object that is set for each source game object. The information processing device described in Appendix 1.

[0093] According to Appendix 2, the settings screen will be displayed if the material game object contains a specific game object that is set for each source game object, thus reducing the effort required for the user to manually access the settings screen.

[0094] <Note 3> The display control unit further displays the settings screen if the specific game object is available to the user in a specific event that the user can play. The information processing device described in Appendix 2.

[0095] According to Appendix 3, the settings screen will be displayed when a specific game object is available to the user through a specific event that the user can play, thus reducing the effort required for the user to access the settings screen themselves.

[0096] <Note 4> The display control unit, in the first synthesis performed by the synthesis unit, displays the settings screen if the value of a specific parameter among the multiple parameters of the source game object whose value increases due to the synthesis increases. An information processing device as described in any one of the appendices 1 to 3.

[0097] According to Appendix 4, the settings screen will be displayed when the value of a specific parameter of the source game object increases as a result of the first synthesis, thus reducing the effort required for the user to manually access the settings screen.

[0098] <Note 5> The display control unit, in the first synthesis performed by the synthesis unit, displays the settings screen if the number of material game objects required to bring a specific parameter whose value increases through synthesis to a predetermined value among the multiple parameters of the source game object is greater than the number of free areas in the storage unit where the game objects can be stored. An information processing device as described in any one of the appendices 1 to 4.

[0099] According to Appendix 5, the settings screen will be displayed according to the number of available spaces for storing game objects, thus reducing the effort required for users to manually access the settings screen.

[0100] <Note 6> The display control unit displays the settings screen when, in the first synthesis performed by the synthesis unit, the source game object transitions to another game object belonging to the same group as the source game object. An information processing device as described in any one of the appendices 1 to 5.

[0101] According to Appendix 6, the settings screen will be displayed when the source game object transitions to another game object belonging to the same group as the source game object, thus reducing the effort required for the user to manually access the settings screen.

[0102] <Note 7> The display control unit causes the settings screen to display a screen that accepts the selection of which game object to use as the source game object in the synthesis performed by the synthesis unit, from among the group of game objects belonging to the source game object in the synthesis. An information processing device as described in any one of the appendices 1 to 6.

[0103] According to Appendix 7, users will be able to specify the source game object themselves.

[0104] <Note 8> The display control unit shall not display the settings screen if any of the game objects belonging to the group of source game objects in the first synthesis performed by the synthesis unit are already set as source game objects in the settings screen. An information processing device as described in any one of the appendices 1 to 7.

[0105] According to Appendix 8, it becomes possible to prevent the settings screen from being displayed again even though the source game object for the second synthesis has already been set.

[0106] <Note 9> The display control unit, in the case where the setting screen displayed in the past because the predetermined conditions were met has been set not to perform the second synthesis, and the source game object for synthesis performed by the synthesis unit is included in the group of game objects for which the setting not to perform the second synthesis was set, the setting screen Do not display it. An information processing device as described in any one of the appendices 1 to 8.

[0107] According to Appendix 9, this prevents the settings screen from reappearing even if the user has previously set it not to perform automatic synthesis.

[0108] <Note 10> The display control unit, if the setting screen has previously been configured to either perform a second synthesis or not perform a second synthesis on the group of source game objects in the first synthesis performed by the synthesis unit, will not display the setting screen. An information processing device as described in any one of the appendices 1 to 9.

[0109] According to Appendix 10, it becomes possible to prevent the settings screen from being displayed again even though the source game object for the second synthesis has already been set.

[0110] <Note 11> The display control unit will not display the settings screen if the user has never reached a predetermined value for a specific parameter among the multiple parameters of a game object owned by the user, whose value increases through synthesis. An information processing device as described in any one of the appendices 1 to 10.

[0111] According to Appendix 11, it becomes possible to prevent the settings screen from being displayed even if the user does not wish to perform synthesis.

[0112] <Note 12> An information processing method performed by an information processing device, The steps include storing game objects owned by the user in the memory unit, The first step involves performing a synthesis of a source game object specified by the user and a material game object that can be synthesized with the source game object. If predetermined conditions are met in the first synthesis performed by the first synthesis step described above, and when a source game object and a material game object that can be synthesized are newly assigned to the user, a settings screen is displayed to configure settings for a second synthesis between the source game object and the newly assigned material game object. Information processing methods including

[0113] According to Appendix 12, it will be possible to provide technology that reduces the effort required for users to configure settings related to synthesis.

[0114] <Note 13> On the computer, The steps include storing game objects owned by the user in the memory unit, The first step involves performing a synthesis of a source game object specified by the user and a material game object that can be synthesized with the source game object. If predetermined conditions are met in the first synthesis performed by the first synthesis step described above, and when a source game object and a material game object that can be synthesized are newly assigned to the user, a settings screen is displayed to configure settings for a second synthesis between the source game object and the newly assigned material game object. A program to execute.

[0115] According to Appendix 13, it will be possible to provide technology that reduces the effort required for users to configure settings related to synthesis. [Explanation of symbols]

[0116] 1...Game system, 10...Game server, 11...Processor, 12...Storage device, 13...Communication interface, 14...Input device, 15...Output device, 20...Terminal, 100...Storage unit, 100a...Character setting DB, 100b...Owned character management DB, 100c...Automatic synthesis setting DB, 110...Game control unit, 111...Synthesis unit, 112...Display control unit, 200...Storage unit, 201...Communication unit, 202...UI unit, 203...Game control unit

Claims

[Claim 1] A memory unit that stores game objects owned by the user, A synthesis unit that performs a first synthesis between a source game object specified by the user and a material game object that can be synthesized with the source game object, When predetermined conditions are met in the first synthesis performed by the synthesis unit, and when a source game object and a material game object that can be synthesized are newly assigned to the user, a display control unit displays a settings screen for setting the second synthesis between the source game object and the newly assigned material game object. An information processing device having

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