Game program, game processing method, information processing system, and information processing device.

Abstract

We will run a game that can be enjoyed even by players who are unfamiliar with game controls. [Solution] The information processing system automatically and continuously moves the player character within the virtual space. Based on the player's input, the information processing system calculates evaluation parameters corresponding to multiple candidate player character actions, and determines one of the candidates as the player character action based on these evaluation parameters. In response to the input, the information processing system causes the player character to perform the player character action determined based on the evaluation parameters. After the player character has performed the player character action, the information processing system continuously moves the player character.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a game program, a game processing method, an information processing system, and an information processing device that operate a player character in a game based on an input by a player.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, game processing has been performed to automatically move a player character and jump the player character in response to an input by a player (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] For a player who is not used to game operations, it may be difficult to perform game operations by inputting at an appropriate timing, and there has been a risk that such a player cannot enjoy the game.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a game program, a game processing method, an information processing system, and an information processing device that can execute a game that even a player who is not used to game operations can enjoy.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following configurations (1) to (18).

[0007] (1) An example of the present invention is a game program executed on a computer of an information processing device. The game program causes the computer to function as an automatic movement means, a player character movement determination means, and a player character movement means. The automatic movement means automatically and continuously moves the player character within a virtual space. The player character movement determination means calculates evaluation parameters corresponding to multiple candidates for player character movements to be performed by the player character based on the input from the player, and determines one of the candidates as the player character movement based on these evaluation parameters. The player character movement means causes the player character to perform the player character movement determined based on the evaluation parameters. The automatic movement means further automatically and continuously moves the player character after the player character has performed the player character movement.

[0008] According to the configuration described in (1) above, for example, the player character can be operated in a way that minimizes any disadvantages in the game, so even players unfamiliar with game controls can enjoy the game.

[0009] (2) In the configuration described in (1) above, the game program may further enable the computer to function as an automatic movement stopping means. The automatic movement stopping means stops the player character's movement by the automatic movement means when the player character reaches a position in the virtual space that satisfies the stopping conditions as a result of movement by the automatic movement means.

[0010] According to the configuration described in (2) above, it is possible to minimize any disadvantages in the game, making it easier for players unfamiliar with game controls to enjoy the game.

[0011] (3) In the configuration of (1) or (2) above, the player character's movement may be the player character's jumping movement.

[0012] According to the configuration described in (3) above, the player character can be made to move in a way that minimizes any disadvantage in the game when the player character jumps.

[0013] (4) In the configuration described in (3) above, the jump action may be a jump action in the direction of the player character's movement by the automatic movement means.

[0014] According to the configuration described in (4) above, the player character can be moved in the same direction by jumping as by automatic movement.

[0015] (5) In the configuration described in (4) above, the evaluation parameters may be calculated based on the trajectories of multiple jumps that are candidates for the player character's movement.

[0016] According to the configuration described in (5) above, it is possible to obtain evaluation parameters that can determine, for example, whether or not the player character falls into a valley, or whether or not they collide with an enemy character, and thus accurately determine whether or not a disadvantage occurs in the game based on these evaluation parameters.

[0017] (6) In the configuration described in (5) above, the evaluation parameters may be calculated based on the presence or absence and / or position of each of the multiple jumps that are candidates for the player character's movement.

[0018] According to the configuration described in (6) above, evaluation parameters can be obtained that can determine whether or not the player character falls into the valley, or whether or not the player character can land in an advantageous position, and therefore, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not a disadvantage occurs in the game based on these evaluation parameters.

[0019] (7) In any of the configurations (1) to (6) above, the automatic movement means may move the player character toward the position of the goal in the virtual space.

[0020] According to the configuration (7) above, even by a jump action, the player character can be moved so as to approach the position of the goal.

[0021] (8) In any of the configurations (1) to (7) above, the player character action determination means may determine one of a plurality of candidates as the player character action based further on the input time of the operation input.

[0022] According to the configuration (8) above, it is possible to cause the player character to perform an action while reflecting the player's intention while minimizing the occurrence of disadvantages in the game.

[0023] (9) In any of the configurations (1) to (8) above, the player character action determination means may calculate evaluation parameters corresponding to each of the plurality of candidates based on the results of operating the player character based on each of the plurality of candidates.

[0024] According to the configuration (9) above, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not a disadvantage in the game occurs based on the evaluation parameters.

[0025] (10) In any of the configurations (1) to (9) above, the player character action determination means calculates evaluation parameters corresponding to each of the plurality of candidates based on an index related to the degree to which the player is advantageous in the game as a result of operating the player character based on each of the plurality of candidates, and among the evaluation parameters, a candidate corresponding to the evaluation parameter indicating that the player character is advantageous in the game may be determined as the player character action.

[0026] According to the configuration described in (10) above, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not a disadvantage occurs in the game based on the evaluation parameters.

[0027] (11) In the configuration described in (10) above, the indicator may be one that determines whether it is more advantageous in the game for the player character to be in a situation with a platform as a result of the player character's actions, compared to the situation for the player character to be without a platform.

[0028] According to the configuration described in (11) above, evaluation parameters can be obtained that can determine whether or not the player character falls into a valley, and therefore, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not a disadvantage occurs in the game based on these evaluation parameters.

[0029] (12) In the configuration of (10) or (11) above, the indicator may be one that determines whether a situation in which the player character acquires an item as a result of performing an action is more advantageous in the game than a situation in which the player character does not acquire an item.

[0030] According to the configuration described in (12) above, evaluation parameters can be obtained that can determine whether or not an item can be acquired, and therefore, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not a disadvantage will occur in the game based on these evaluation parameters.

[0031] (13) In any of the configurations described in (10) to (12) above, the indicator may be one in which a situation in which the player character acts upon a predetermined object in the virtual space as a result of the player character's actions is considered more advantageous in the game than a situation in which the player character does not act upon the predetermined object.

[0032] According to the configuration described in (13) above, evaluation parameters can be obtained that can determine whether or not the player character can interact with an object, and therefore, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not a disadvantage occurs in the game based on these evaluation parameters.

[0033] (14) In any of the configurations (10) to (13) above, the indicator may be one in which the higher the position reached by the player character as a result of the player character's actions, the more advantageous it is in the game.

[0034] According to the configuration described in (14) above, evaluation parameters can be obtained that can determine whether or not the player character can land in a position advantageous in the game, and therefore, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not a disadvantage in the game will occur based on these evaluation parameters.

[0035] (15) In any of the configurations (1) to (14) above, the player character action determination means may include an action candidate recalculation means. If the evaluation parameters for all candidates do not satisfy the actionable conditions, the action candidate recalculation means does not determine a player character action from among the candidates. Furthermore, after the player character's movement, which has been continued by the automatic movement means, has continued for a predetermined time, the player character action determination means recalculates the evaluation parameters corresponding to each of the multiple candidates based on the game situation at that time. If at least one of the recalculated evaluation parameters satisfies the actionable conditions, the player character action determination means determines one of the candidates corresponding to the evaluation parameter that satisfies the actionable conditions as the player character action.

[0036] According to the configuration described in (15) above, the possibility of in-game disadvantages can be further reduced.

[0037] (16) In the configuration of (15) above, if the evaluation parameters for all candidates do not satisfy the conditions for operation, the player character action determination means may determine the player character action using the action candidate recalculation means if the game conditions are met, and if the game conditions are not met, it may determine one of the candidates as the player character action without the player character being moved by the automatic movement means.

[0038] According to the configuration described in (16) above, the possibility of in-game disadvantages occurring is reduced under certain conditions, making it easier for players unfamiliar with game controls to enjoy the game, while also preventing the game from becoming too easy.

[0039] (17) In the configuration of (16) above, the game conditions may include at least one of the following: the player character has made a predetermined number of mistakes; and the game difficulty, which is selected and set from among multiple difficulty levels, is less than or equal to a predetermined difficulty level.

[0040] According to the configuration described in (17) above, it is possible to reduce the possibility of a disadvantage in the game when the player character makes a mistake, or when the selected difficulty level is below a predetermined difficulty level, or in any other case where it can be inferred that the player is unfamiliar with the game controls.

[0041] (18) In the configuration of (16) above, the game conditions may include at least one of the following: that a predetermined time has not elapsed since the player character entered a state of making a mistake, and that the distance traveled by the automatic movement means since the player character entered that state has not yet exceeded a predetermined distance.

[0042] According to the configuration described in (18) above, it is possible to reduce the possibility of a disadvantage in the game for a certain period after the player character makes a mistake, and to prevent the game from becoming too easy after that period.

[0043] Another example of the present invention may be an information processing device (e.g., a terminal device or server) or an information processing system (e.g., a game system) that comprises all or part of the means described in (1) to (18) above. Another example of the present invention may be an information processing method (e.g., a game processing method) that is performed in (1) to (18) above. [Effects of the Invention]

[0044] According to the above game program, game processing method, information processing system, or information processing device, it is possible to run a game that can be enjoyed even by players unfamiliar with game operation. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0045] [Figure 1] Block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the information processing system in this embodiment. [Figure 2] Block diagram showing an example of server configuration. [Figure 3] Block diagram showing an example of terminal device configuration. [Figure 4] This diagram shows an example of a game image displayed on the screen during gameplay. [Figure 5] This diagram shows an example of a game image where the player character is in the middle of a jumping motion. [Figure 6] This figure shows examples of each candidate trajectory in this embodiment. [Figure 7] This diagram shows an example of a candidate trajectory in a given game situation. [Figure 8] Figure 7 shows an example of the evaluation score calculated for each candidate trajectory in the game situation shown. [Figure 9] This diagram shows an example of a game situation where the second condition is met. [Figure 10] This diagram shows an example of the player character's behavior when the conditions for execution are not met for each candidate trajectory at the time a jump command is input. [Figure 11] This diagram illustrates an example of how the execution trajectory changes after the start of a jump. [Figure 12] This diagram shows an example of various types of data used in information processing within an information processing system. [Figure 13] A flowchart illustrating an example of the game processing flow performed by a terminal device. [Figure 14] Figure 13 shows a subflowchart illustrating an example of the detailed flow of the player character control process in step S14. [Figure 15] Figure 13 shows a subflowchart illustrating an example of the detailed flow of the player character control process in step S14. [Figure 16] A subflowchart showing an example of a detailed flow of the trajectory determination process in step S17 shown in Figure 14 or step S22 shown in Figure 15. [Figure 17] A subflowchart showing an example of a detailed flow of the trajectory change process in step S14, as shown in Figure 14. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0046] [1. Configuration of the Information Processing System] The following describes the information processing system, game program, and game processing method according to this embodiment. First, the overall configuration of the information processing system according to this embodiment and the configuration of the terminal devices and servers included in the information processing system will be described. Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the information processing system in this embodiment. As shown in Figure 1, the information processing system includes a server 1 and one or more terminal devices (in the example shown in Figure 1, terminal device 2). These servers 1 and terminal devices 2 are connectable to a network 3 such as the Internet and / or a mobile communication network. Server 1 and terminal devices 2 can communicate with each other via the network 3.

[0047] Server 1 is a server that provides services related to applications (specifically, game applications) executed on terminal device 2. In this embodiment, Server 1 is a game server for running games on terminal device 2 and provides an environment for executing game processing on terminal device 2. For example, in response to a request from terminal device 2 that is executing game processing, Server 1 executes game processing as necessary and sends data corresponding to the request to terminal device 2 (see Figure 1).

[0048] Terminal device 2 is an example of an information processing device owned by the user, such as a smartphone, a portable or stationary game console, a mobile phone, a tablet device, a personal computer, or a wearable device. Terminal device 2 is capable of executing a game program (e.g., a game application) for the game provided by server 1. Note that each terminal device included in the information processing system may be of the same type of information processing device or of different types.

[0049] (Specific example of Server 1 configuration) Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of Server 1. Each component of Server 1 shown in Figure 2 is realized by one or more information processing devices. Here, in this specification, "server" refers to a single information processing device (i.e., a server device), and also to the entire group of server devices (i.e., a server system) if the functions of that server are realized by multiple server devices. In other words, "server" can be a server device or a server system. If a server system includes multiple information processing devices, each information processing device may be located in the same place or in different places. The hardware configuration of Server 1 in this embodiment may be the same as the hardware configuration for conventional servers.

[0050] As shown in Figure 2, Server 1 comprises a processing unit 11 and a storage unit 12. The processing unit 11 is electrically connected to each of the parts 12 to 15 of Server 1. The processing unit 11 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit, in other words, a processor) and memory. In Server 1, various information processing is performed by the CPU using memory to execute programs stored in the storage unit 12. The storage unit 12 is any storage device accessible by the processing unit 11. The storage unit 12 stores programs executed in the processing unit 11, data used for information processing by the processing unit 11, and data obtained by said information processing. In this embodiment, the storage unit 12 stores at least a program for game processing executed on the server side for game processing executed in the terminal device 2.

[0051] Server 1 includes a communication unit 13. The communication unit 13 is connected to network 3 and has the function of communicating with other devices (for example, terminal device 2) via network 3. The processing unit 11 uses the communication unit 13 to send information to the other devices and to receive information from the other devices. Server 1 also includes an input unit 14 and a display unit 15 as input / output interfaces.

[0052] (Specific example of the configuration of terminal device 2) Figure 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of terminal device 2. As shown in Figure 3, terminal device 2 comprises a processing unit 21 and a storage unit 22. The processing unit 21 is electrically connected to each of the parts 22 to 25 of terminal device 2. The processing unit 21 has a CPU (in other words, a processor) and memory. In terminal device 2, various information processing is performed by the CPU using memory to execute a program (more specifically, a game program) stored in the storage unit 22. The storage unit 22 stores the program executed in the processing unit 21, the data used for information processing by the processing unit 21, and the data obtained by said information processing. The storage unit 22 may be a storage medium built into the main unit of terminal device 2 (specifically, the device in which the processing unit 21 is installed), or it may be a storage medium that can be attached to and detached from the main unit (for example, a card storage medium). Note that the above program may be downloaded from server 1 to terminal device 2 and stored in the main unit.

[0053] The terminal device 2 includes an input unit 23. The input unit 23 outputs data based on user input to the processing unit 21. The processing unit 21 determines the content of user input based on the data from the input unit 23. The input unit 23 may be any input device that accepts user input. In this embodiment, the input unit 23 includes a touch panel provided on the screen of the display unit 24, which will be described later. In addition to (or instead of) the touch panel, the input unit 23 may also include buttons and / or inertial sensors (e.g., acceleration sensors and gyroscopes), an audio input unit (e.g., a microphone), a video input unit (e.g., a camera), etc. The input unit 23 may be an input device provided on the main unit of the terminal device 2, or it may be a separate input device (e.g., a game controller).

[0054] The terminal device 2 includes a display unit 24. The display unit 24 displays images (for example, game images, etc.) generated by information processing performed in the processing unit 21 of the terminal device 2. The display unit 24 may be a display device provided on the main unit of the terminal device 2, or it may be a separate display device. The terminal device 2 may also include a speaker, microphone, and / or camera, etc.

[0055] Terminal device 2 includes a communication unit 25. In this embodiment, the communication unit 25 has the function of connecting to a mobile communication network and performing communication. That is, terminal device 2 (specifically, processing unit 21) connects to network 3 via the mobile communication network using the communication unit 25 (in other words, via the communication unit 25) and communicates with other devices (for example, server 1, etc.). Processing unit 21 uses the communication unit 25 to transmit information to the other devices and to receive information from the other devices. The configuration of the communication unit for terminal device 2 to perform communication via network 3 is arbitrary. For example, the communication unit 25 may have the function of connecting to a wireless LAN using a Wi-Fi® certified communication module, or it may have both the function of connecting to a mobile communication network and the function of connecting to a wireless LAN.

[0056] [2. Overview of processing in information processing systems] The following describes the general processing performed in the information processing system according to this embodiment. In this embodiment, a game is executed within a game application run in the information processing system in which a player character operated by a player (i.e., the user of terminal device 2) appears in a virtual space within the game (for example, a game field). In this embodiment, there is one player in the game, and one player character appears in the game field. However, in other embodiments, a multiplayer game may be executed in which multiple player characters operated by multiple players appear in the game field.

[0057] Figure 4 shows an example of a game image displayed on the display unit 24 during gameplay. In this embodiment, the terminal device 2 controls the player character 31 to move automatically in a predetermined direction (to the right in Figure 4). In other words, when the game starts, the player character 31 moves in the predetermined direction without any input from the player. The terminal device 2 also scrolls the area of ​​the game field that is displayed on the display unit 24 in accordance with the movement of the player character 31 (see Figure 4). That is, as the player character 31 moves to the right in the game field, the image within the display area scrolls from right to left.

[0058] The phrase "moves automatically" above means that no input is required for the player character to move during that movement, and does not mean that no input related to movement is given at all. For example, the player character may start moving automatically in response to a command input from the player (e.g., an input to start the game or an input to start the player character moving automatically).

[0059] In this embodiment, the terminal device 2 continuously moves the player character in a predetermined direction. Here, "continuously" does not mean that the player character must be moving continuously for the entire duration of the game, but rather includes a mode in which the player character's movement is continuous for at least a certain period of time during the game. In other words, a mode in which the player character is controlled to temporarily stop while moving can also be described as "continuously moving the player character." For example, in this embodiment, the player character may temporarily stop when the stopping conditions described later are met. Also, for example, a continuously moving player character may temporarily stop if it gets caught on another object, temporarily stop in response to an attack from an enemy, or temporarily stop when performing a predetermined action at a predetermined position for game effects, etc.

[0060] In this embodiment, the player character moves from the starting position on the game field (for example, the player character's position at the start of the game) towards the goal position on the game field through the automatic movement described above. That is, the predetermined direction of the player's movement is the direction from the player character's position towards the goal position. In this embodiment, a horizontal scrolling game is used as an example, and the case where the player character automatically moves to the right is described, but the direction of the player character's movement may be the vertical direction of the screen or the depth direction of the screen. The direction of the player character's movement may change depending on the game situation during the game (for example, when the stage changes). In other embodiments, the direction of the player character's movement does not always have to coincide with the direction toward the goal position, and the player character may temporarily move in a direction different from the direction toward the goal position during the game. Also, in other embodiments, the game image does not have to scroll.

[0061] The goal location may be, for example, a specific location on the game field (for example, a location where a specific object such as a flag or building representing the goal is placed), or any location within a specific area on the game field. Furthermore, multiple goal locations may be set on the game field, and the player character may move sequentially towards these multiple goal locations. In other embodiments, the goal location may not be defined on the game field, and the terminal device 2 may automatically move the player character on the game field until a predetermined game termination condition (for example, a game clear condition) is met.

[0062] In this embodiment, the player character moves at a constant speed, but in other embodiments, the player character's movement speed does not have to be constant. Furthermore, the player character's appearance may change or the effects displayed on the player character may change while moving.

[0063] In other embodiments, the terminal device 2 may also cause the player character to perform other actions automatically in addition to movement while it is automatically moving the player character as described above. For example, the player character may be controlled to move while simultaneously performing actions such as overcoming small steps or obstacles, or picking up nearby items.

[0064] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the terminal device 2 causes the player character 31 to perform a jump action in response to a predetermined jump instruction input from the player (for example, an input by touching the screen of the display unit 24). Figure 5 shows an example of a game image when the player character 31 is performing a jump action. In this embodiment, the player character 31 is considered to have made a mistake if it falls into a valley in the game field (for example, the valley 32 shown in Figure 5) or collides with an enemy character (for example, the enemy character 33 shown in Figure 7). During the game, the player causes the player character 31 to perform jump actions as appropriate to prevent the automatically moving player character 31 from falling into valleys in the game field or colliding with enemy characters, and moves the player character to the goal position. After the player character finishes jumping (i.e., after the player character lands from the jump), if the player character is not in a state of having made a mistake due to the jump action, the terminal device 2 resumes the automatic movement control in the predetermined direction described above.

[0065] Furthermore, in this embodiment, a player character that has made a mistake is controlled to return to the recovery position by automatic movement control. Once the player character returns to the recovery position, it is controlled to return from the mistaken state to the state where it has not made a mistake. The recovery position may be, for example, the position of a checkpoint set on the game field, or it may be the position just before the valley if the player character has fallen into a valley and made a mistake. Also, during the period when the player character in the mistaken state returns to the recovery position, the player character is displayed in a different display manner than when it is not in the mistaken state. For example, during the above period, the player character may be displayed semi-transparently or displayed as if it were inside a soap bubble. Also, if the player character makes a mistake, for example, the number of playable turns may be reduced by 1, and the game may end when the number of playable turns reaches 0.

[0066] The following describes the jumping motion of the player character. In this embodiment, the terminal device 2 controls the jumping motion of the player character in response to the jump command input, so as to minimize any disadvantages to the player in the game. Specifically, it adjusts the trajectory of the player character's jump (for example, the height and / or distance of the jump) so as to minimize any disadvantages to the game, such as the player character falling into a ravine or colliding with an enemy character. For example, in the example shown in Figure 5, if the player inputs a jump command when the player character 31 is positioned in front of the ravine 32, the terminal device 2 causes the player character 31 to perform a jump on a trajectory that allows it to jump over the ravine 32 (see Figure 5).

[0067] In this embodiment, multiple candidate trajectories for jumping (hereinafter referred to as "candidate trajectories") are provided, and the terminal device 2 selects one from the multiple candidate trajectories and causes the player character to perform a jump based on the selected candidate trajectory. Specifically, when the player inputs a jump command, the terminal device 2 predicts the result of the player character performing a jump according to each candidate trajectory, and based on the prediction results, selects the candidate trajectory that is as advantageous in the game as possible. Hereafter, the candidate trajectory selected from the multiple candidate trajectories, that is, the candidate trajectory of the jump action that the player character is instructed to perform, will be referred to as the "executed trajectory".

[0068] Figure 6 shows examples of candidate trajectories in this embodiment. As shown in Figure 6, eight candidate trajectories, from the first to the eighth trajectory, are provided in this embodiment. In the drawing, the nth trajectory (where n is an integer from 1 to 8) is indicated by the sign "(n)". In this embodiment, the eight candidate trajectories are called the first to eighth trajectories, in order from the one with the smallest jump distance (specifically, the horizontal distance the player character moves by the jump). For the first to sixth trajectories, the jump height increases as the jump distance increases, while for the sixth to eighth trajectories, the jump height is the same but the jump distance differs. Also, as shown in Figure 6, for the first to sixth trajectories, the trajectory is the same from the start of the jump until a certain period of time. In this embodiment, the timing at which the player character starts the jump is the same for each candidate trajectory, and the starting position of the jump is the same for each candidate trajectory. However, in other embodiments, the starting position of the jump does not need to be the same for each candidate trajectory and may differ for each candidate trajectory. For example, some or all of the candidate trajectories may involve the player character moving for a certain period of time before starting a jump.

[0069] The specific shape of each candidate trajectory is arbitrary and not limited to those shown in Figure 6. For example, in other embodiments, the number of candidate trajectories does not have to be eight, and the jump heights in each candidate trajectory may all be different. Also, for example, each candidate trajectory may have the same jump height but different jump distances, or each may have the same jump distance but different jump heights.

[0070] As shown in Figure 6, in this embodiment, each candidate trajectory is a jump trajectory in the predetermined direction (i.e., to the right; in other words, the direction toward the goal). Therefore, regardless of which candidate trajectory is selected, the player character will perform a jump in the predetermined direction. This makes it easier to get the player character to the goal position faster compared to when the player character jumps in a direction other than the predetermined direction (for example, when the player jumps without moving in any direction or when the player jumps in the opposite direction to the predetermined direction). In other embodiments, the player character may perform a jump in a direction different from the predetermined direction. For example, each candidate trajectory may include a jump trajectory in the predetermined direction and a jump trajectory in a direction different from the predetermined direction.

[0071] In this embodiment, terminal device 2 calculates evaluation parameters for each candidate trajectory and determines the execution trajectory based on the evaluation parameters. The evaluation parameters for a candidate trajectory are calculated based on the prediction results when the player character performs a jump action according to that candidate trajectory. The evaluation parameters for a candidate trajectory are information indicating whether the prediction result when the player character performs a jump action according to that candidate trajectory is advantageous in the game. For example, the evaluation parameters include information indicating whether the player character will fall into a ravine when the player character performs a jump action according to that candidate trajectory, or information indicating whether the player character will collide with an enemy character in this case. In this embodiment, the evaluation parameters also include an evaluation score, which will be described later. The evaluation score for a candidate trajectory is a numerical representation of the degree to which the prediction result when the player character performs a jump action according to that candidate trajectory is advantageous in the game. As will be described in detail later, terminal device 2 determines the candidate trajectory corresponding to the evaluation parameter that indicates the player character will be most advantageous in the game among the evaluation parameters corresponding to each candidate trajectory as the execution trajectory. In other embodiments, the execution trajectory may be determined as a candidate trajectory that corresponds to an evaluation parameter among the evaluation parameters corresponding to each candidate trajectory that indicates that the player character will have an advantage in the game, and which is selected based on predetermined rules.

[0072] In this embodiment, the prediction of the result of a player character performing a jump action according to a candidate trajectory is performed by predicting the player character's position and situation (e.g., in the air, landed, fallen into a valley, etc.) at predetermined time intervals (e.g., 1 frame) after the jump action is performed. The above prediction is performed from the time the player character starts the jump action until the result is landing, falling into a valley, or colliding with an enemy character. The specific method of prediction is arbitrary. For example, terminal device 2 may perform the prediction by actually moving the player character. Alternatively, terminal device 2 may predict the player character's position frame by frame without moving the player character, and also predict what situation the player character will be in at the predicted position (for example, by determining whether there is a platform or an enemy character within a predetermined distance from that position, it is possible to predict whether the player character will land at that position and whether or not they will collide with an enemy character).

[0073] Next, with reference to Figures 7-9, a specific example of determining the execution trajectory from each candidate trajectory will be described. In this embodiment, when determining the execution trajectory, the terminal device 2 calculates evaluation scores for the second to eighth trajectories. As will be described in detail later, in this embodiment, the evaluation score is not used to determine whether or not the first trajectory is the execution trajectory, so no evaluation score is calculated for the first trajectory.

[0074] Figure 7 shows an example of a candidate trajectory in a given game situation. In the game situation shown in Figure 7, a valley 32 exists in the direction of the player character 31, which is moving automatically, and the player inputs a jump command when the player character 31 is in front of the valley 32. At this time, the terminal device 2 makes a prediction of what would happen if the player character 31 performed a jump action according to each candidate trajectory based on the player character 31's current position. Then, based on the prediction results for each candidate trajectory, it calculates an evaluation score for each candidate trajectory.

[0075] Figure 8 shows an example of the evaluation score calculated for each candidate trajectory in the game situation shown in Figure 7. As shown in Figure 8, in this embodiment, the evaluation score is calculated based on six indicators, known as the 1st to 6th indicators. In this embodiment, the initial value of the evaluation score is 0, and the terminal device 2 calculates the final value of the evaluation score by increasing or decreasing the evaluation score based on the 1st to 6th indicators.

[0076] The first indicator is whether or not the player character falls into a valley. In this embodiment, "the player character falls into a valley" means that the player character is in a situation where there is no footing. However, in other embodiments, there may be situations where the player character does not fall into a valley even if there is no footing (for example, a situation where the player character does not fall because gravity does not occur at a certain location, or because wind is blowing from below). If it is predicted that the player character 31 that has performed a jump action according to a candidate trajectory will fall into a valley, the evaluation score of that candidate trajectory is reduced by 100. On the other hand, if it is predicted that the player character 31 that has performed a jump action according to a candidate trajectory will not fall into a valley, there is no increase or decrease in the evaluation score of that candidate trajectory. In the example shown in Figure 7, for the second to fourth trajectories, it is predicted that the player character 31 will fall into a valley 32, so the evaluation score for these second to fourth trajectories is reduced by 100 (see Figure 8). In this embodiment, if the player character comes into contact with a wall in the game field while performing a jump action, the player character will fall downward along the wall. Therefore, in the example shown in Figure 7, the player character 31, moving along the fourth trajectory, falls downwards after contacting the wall, resulting in it falling into the valley 32.

[0077] In other embodiments, the first indicator may take into account not only whether or not the player character falls into a valley, but also the condition of the platform when the player character does not fall into a valley. For example, the evaluation score based on the first indicator may be calculated such that it becomes lower the more unstable the platform is. For example, if the platform on which the player character lands falls under certain conditions (for example, if it falls after a certain amount of time has elapsed since the player character landed), the evaluation score may be calculated lower than that of a platform that does not fall. Note that a platform is not limited to one on which the player character can stand; for example, if the player character can grab onto a wall, that wall can also be considered a type of platform. For example, if the player character makes a mistake when the platform comes into contact with the platform, the evaluation score may be calculated lower than that of a platform that does not result in a mistake when the platform comes into contact with the player character.

[0078] The second indicator is whether or not the player character collides with an enemy character. In this embodiment, if a player character performs a jump and stomps on an enemy character from above, the player character can be defeated. On the other hand, if the player character comes into contact with an enemy character from any direction other than above, it is determined that the player character has collided with the enemy character. There may be enemy characters that are judged to have been collided with even if the player character comes into contact with them from above (i.e., they cannot be defeated by stomping on them from above). When a player character collides with an enemy character, the player character enters a state of "missed." However, if the player character is in a powered-up state by acquiring a predetermined item, the player character will not enter a "missed" state when they collide with an enemy character, although the powered-up state will be canceled. There may also be types of powered-up states that are not canceled even if the player character collides with an enemy character, and multiple types of powered-up states may be provided.

[0079] If a player character performing a jump action according to a candidate trajectory is predicted to collide with an enemy character, the evaluation score for that candidate trajectory is reduced by 100. On the other hand, if a player character performing a jump action according to a candidate trajectory is predicted not to collide with an enemy character, the evaluation score for that candidate trajectory is not increased or decreased. In the example shown in Figure 7, for the sixth trajectory, it is predicted that player character 31 will collide with enemy character 33, so the evaluation score for the sixth trajectory is reduced by 100 (see Figure 8).

[0080] The third indicator is whether or not the player character will come into contact with a wall. If it is predicted that the player character will come into contact with a wall while performing a jump action according to a candidate trajectory, the evaluation score of that candidate trajectory is reduced by 25. On the other hand, if it is predicted that the player character will not come into contact with a wall while performing a jump action according to a candidate trajectory, there is no increase or decrease in the evaluation score of that candidate trajectory. In the example shown in Figure 7, for the fourth trajectory, it is predicted that the player character 31 will come into contact with a wall, so the evaluation score for the fourth trajectory is reduced by 25 (see Figure 8). Here, if the player character comes into contact with a wall, it results in the player character falling downwards during the jump action, so it can be inferred that such behavior of the player character is not what the player intended. Therefore, in this embodiment, by reducing the evaluation score in the above case, the candidate trajectory is less likely to be selected as the execution trajectory. Also, as mentioned above, for example, if the player character can use the wall as a foothold, the evaluation score may not be reduced even if the player character comes into contact with the wall with respect to the third indicator, and instead the amount added may be set to be larger.

[0081] The fourth indicator relates to the landing position when the player character lands on a moving platform (for example, the moving platform 34 shown in Figure 7). Here, a moving platform is an object that acts as a platform controlled to move within the game field. For example, a moving platform is controlled to move vertically and / or horizontally within the game field, and the player character can jump onto the moving platform by performing an appropriate jump. If it is predicted that the player character will land on the moving platform after performing a jump according to a candidate trajectory, the terminal device 2 determines the amount of evaluation score to add, such that the closer the landing position is to the center of the moving platform, the higher the score. More specifically, in the above case, if the predicted landing position is in the center of the moving platform, the evaluation score is increased by 50, and the amount of increase decreases as the predicted landing position moves further away from the center. When making predictions regarding jump actions according to a candidate trajectory, the terminal device 2 also takes into account the movement of the moving platform. In the example shown in Figure 7, for the eighth trajectory, it is predicted that the player character 31 will land on the moving platform 34, so an evaluation score is added for the eighth trajectory. Specifically, since the predicted landing position is far from the center of the moving platform 34, the amount added is 10 (see Figure 8). In other embodiments, the amount added to the evaluation score may be constant regardless of the landing position on the moving platform, as long as it is predicted that the player character who performed the jump action according to the candidate trajectory will land on the moving platform.

[0082] The fifth indicator is an indicator related to the landing position of the player character after a jump. In this embodiment, assuming there are two points in the game space, one at a relatively high altitude and the other at a relatively low altitude, the range that the player character can reach when at the higher altitude is greater than when at the lower altitude. Therefore, in this embodiment, the higher the landing position reached by the player character as a result of a jump, the more advantageous it is in the game, and the amount added to the evaluation score is set to be large. Specifically, if the player character's landing position is at the same height as the position immediately before the jump, there is no increase or decrease in the evaluation score. The higher the player character's landing position is compared to the position immediately before the jump, the more the evaluation score is added, and the lower the player character's landing position is compared to the position immediately before the jump, the more the evaluation score is subtracted. In this embodiment, the upper limit of the amount added to the evaluation score based on the fifth indicator is 32, and the lower limit of the amount subtracted is 32.

[0083] In the example shown in Figure 7, for the 5th and 6th trajectories, the player character 31's landing position is higher than the position immediately before the jump, so the evaluation score is increased by 10 (see Figure 8). For the 7th trajectory, the player character 31's landing position is at the same height as the position immediately before the jump, so there is no increase or decrease in the evaluation score (see Figure 8). For the 8th trajectory, the player character 31's landing position is on the moving platform 34, resulting in a higher landing position than in the 5th and 6th trajectories, so the amount added to the evaluation score is 13, which is greater than in the 5th and 6th trajectories (see Figure 8). Also, for the 2nd to 4th trajectories, the player character 31 falls into the valley 32, so (although there is no actual landing position) the landing position is considered to be the lowest position, and the evaluation score is decreased by 32 (see Figure 8).

[0084] The sixth indicator relates to how natural the jump motion appears. If the player character's jump height or distance is too small or too large, the player may perceive the character's behavior as unnatural. Therefore, in this embodiment, the more natural a candidate trajectory appears, the higher the evaluation score. Specifically, the amounts added for the second to eighth trajectories are 15, 20, 18, 16, 14, 6, and 0, respectively (see Figure 8). This makes it more likely that a candidate trajectory that looks more natural will be selected as the execution trajectory.

[0085] The final evaluation score for each candidate trajectory is calculated by adding or subtracting the evaluation score based on the first to sixth indicators to the initial value (i.e., 0). In the example shown in Figures 7 and 8, the evaluation scores for the second to eighth trajectories are -117, -112, -114, 26, -76, 6, and 23, respectively (see Figure 8). Therefore, in the example shown in Figures 7 and 8, it can be said that the fifth trajectory, which has the highest evaluation score, is determined to be the most advantageous trajectory in the game. Note that the method for calculating the final evaluation score for each candidate trajectory is arbitrary and not limited to the above. For example, terminal device 2 may use the maximum (or minimum) value among the evaluation scores based on the first to sixth indicators as the final evaluation score, or it may calculate the final evaluation score by applying a predetermined weight to the evaluation scores based on the first to sixth indicators (i.e., multiplying each indicator by a predetermined coefficient) and then adding them together. In addition, the predetermined coefficient multiplied for each indicator may change according to the difficulty level selected by the user. Alternatively, the evaluation parameters may be calculated by using comparison operators to determine whether each trajectory satisfies specific conditions.

[0086] As described above, the evaluation parameter (specifically, the evaluation score) is based on the first indicator, and can be said to be calculated based on whether or not there is a landing point for each jump action following multiple candidate trajectories. Furthermore, the evaluation parameter (specifically, the evaluation score) is based on the fourth or fifth indicator, and can be said to be calculated based on the position of the landing point for each jump action following multiple candidate trajectories. This makes it possible to calculate an evaluation parameter that reflects the degree to which a jump action following a candidate trajectory provides an advantage in the game.

[0087] As described above, evaluation parameters are information used to determine whether or not a player character gains an advantage in the game, or to what extent they gain an advantage. Here, "a player character gaining an advantage in the game" is not limited to things like the player character not making mistakes or being able to land in a higher position, as mentioned above. "A player character gaining an advantage in the game" may also mean, for example, an increase in the player character's abilities, or the granting of in-game rewards to the player or player character. For example, granting items, making new game stages playable, increasing the number of playable player characters, increasing the amount of background music that can be played during the game, or increasing the number of players who can play simultaneously are all examples of granting in-game rewards.

[0088] In other embodiments, the method for calculating the evaluation parameters is arbitrary, and the evaluation parameters may be calculated without using any of the first to sixth indicators, or may be calculated based on indicators other than the first to sixth indicators. In other embodiments, the player may be allowed to set the indicators used to calculate the evaluation parameters. For example, the player may be allowed to select the indicators used to calculate the evaluation parameters from among a plurality of provided indicators.

[0089] In other embodiments, the evaluation parameters may be calculated based on an index of whether or not a player character can acquire an item by performing a jump action according to a candidate trajectory. Specifically, the terminal device 2 may calculate the evaluation score such that the evaluation score is higher when the player character acquires an item than when the player character does not. The conditions for the player character to acquire an item are arbitrary. For example, an item may be acquired when the player character touches an item placed on the game field, or an item may be acquired when the player character's behavior satisfies specific conditions (e.g., performing a jump action on a specific trajectory at a specific location, performing a specific number of jump actions, etc.).

[0090] Furthermore, the state in which a player character has acquired an item is not limited to the state in which the player character possesses the item. If any phenomenon occurs in the game as a result of acquiring an item, the state in which that phenomenon occurs can be said to be the "state in which the item has been acquired." The above-mentioned phenomenon may be, for example, the player character entering a specific state (for example, the enhanced state described above), a specific event occurring in the game (for example, the player character moving to a different stage), new content becoming available in the game (for example, a game stage, BGM, player character, etc.), or the player being notified by sound, vibration, etc.

[0091] In other embodiments, the evaluation parameters may be calculated based on an index of whether or not a player character who performed a jump action according to a candidate trajectory interacted with a predetermined object. The predetermined object may be any object placed on the game field, such as an enemy character or a switch object placed on the game field (for example, a switch that can make items appear or move a moving platform). "A player character interacting with a predetermined object" means that the player character's influence on the object results in a game-advantageous outcome, such as the player character defeating an enemy character or turning on the switch. Examples of a player character interacting with a predetermined object include the player character passing through the area of ​​the predetermined object through a jump action, or any change (e.g., deformation of the terrain object) occurring on the game field (i.e., the terrain object) upon landing from the jump action. Specifically, the terminal device 2 may calculate the evaluation score such that the evaluation score is higher when the player character interacts with the predetermined object than when they do not. The timing of the player character's interaction with a given object may be during the jump animation or at the end of the jump animation (i.e., upon landing).

[0092] In this embodiment, the terminal device 2 stores, with respect to the second to seventh trajectories, an evaluation parameter for failure determination regarding whether a jump operation following a candidate trajectory will fail, in addition to the evaluation score for each candidate trajectory described above. Here, in this embodiment, "a jump operation following a candidate trajectory will fail" refers to a situation where, as a result of the jump operation, the player character falls into a valley and makes a mistake, or the player character collides with an enemy character and makes a mistake (or the enhanced state described above is canceled). In other words, in this embodiment, the failure determination parameter is information indicating whether the player character falls into a valley or collides with an enemy character. In other embodiments, whether a jump operation following a candidate trajectory will fail may be determined based on the evaluation score (for example, based on whether the evaluation score is below a threshold). In this case, the evaluation parameter does not need to include a failure determination parameter in addition to the evaluation score.

[0093] Furthermore, terminal device 2 does not calculate an evaluation score for the first trajectory, but it does make a prediction of what would happen if the jump action were performed according to the first candidate. Terminal device 2 then stores the failure judgment parameter and the parameter indicating the landing position of the player character resulting from the jump action as evaluation parameters for the first trajectory.

[0094] Based on the evaluation parameters for each candidate trajectory calculated as described above, the terminal device 2 determines the execution trajectory from among the candidate trajectories. In this embodiment, the terminal device 2 first determines, based on the evaluation parameters, whether all of the candidate trajectories do not satisfy the operational conditions. The operational conditions are the conditions for determining whether the player character is capable of performing a jump that does not fail. If the operational conditions are not satisfied for any of the candidate trajectories, the terminal device 2 does not determine the execution trajectory at that point and continues to move automatically in the predetermined direction as described above. Details of the subsequent processing in the above case will be described later.

[0095] In this embodiment, the condition for operation is that the jump action following the candidate trajectory fails (i.e., the player character falls into a valley or collides with an enemy character). This reduces the possibility of the player character making a mistake as a result of performing a jump action.

[0096] If the above operational conditions are met for at least one of the candidate trajectories, terminal device 2 determines whether the selection conditions for making the first trajectory the execution trajectory are met. If the selection conditions are met, terminal device 2 makes the first trajectory the execution trajectory and causes the player character to perform a jump action according to the first trajectory.

[0097] The selection criteria in this embodiment are that at least one of the following first or second conditions is met. (Condition 1) For all of the 2nd to 8th trajectories, the jump motion following the candidate trajectory will fail, except for the 1st trajectory, where the jump motion following the candidate trajectory will not fail. (Second condition) For all of the second to eighth trajectories, the player character's landing position will be lower than their current position, and only for the first trajectory, the landing position will be higher than their current position.

[0098] The first condition above dictates that the first trajectory is the playable trajectory because any trajectory other than the first trajectory will result in a disadvantageous outcome in the game. On the other hand, the second condition is to determine whether or not the game situation is such that the player is presumed to want to perform a small jump. Figure 9 shows an example of a game situation in which the second condition is met. In the game situation shown in Figure 9, the player character 31 is located on the second highest surface of the stairs in a game field shaped like stairs. In the example shown in Figure 9, if the player character 31 performs a jump on the first trajectory, they will land on the highest surface of the stairs, and if the player character 31 performs a jump on the second-to-eighth trajectory, they will land on the ground at the end of the stairs, which is lower than the stairs (see Figure 9). In the game situation shown in Figure 9, the player may want to move their player character to the highest surface of the stairs. This would be, for example, if the player character wants to jump higher or further by performing a jump from the highest surface of the stairs. In this embodiment, since the second condition is met in the above case, the selection condition is met, and the player character 31 will perform a jump action on the first trajectory. As a result, the player character 31 lands on the highest surface of the stairs, so that the player can perform a jump action that is in line with their wishes.

[0099] On the other hand, if the above selection conditions are not met, the trajectory with the highest evaluation score among the 2nd to 8th trajectories is selected as the execution trajectory. In the example shown in Figures 7 and 8, the 5th trajectory is selected as the execution trajectory, and the player character 31 performs a jump action according to the 5th trajectory. This allows the player character to perform a jump action that is as advantageous as possible in the game.

[0100] In this embodiment, a higher evaluation score indicates a greater advantage in the game, but in other embodiments, a lower value may indicate a greater advantage in the game. In this case, terminal device 2 selects the trajectory with the lowest evaluation score among the second to eighth trajectories as the execution trajectory. In other embodiments, two types of values ​​may be calculated as evaluation scores. In this case, terminal device 2 may first select an execution trajectory based on the first type of evaluation score (for example, the one with the highest first type of evaluation score), and if there are multiple candidate trajectories with the same first type of evaluation score, it may select one execution trajectory based on the second type of evaluation score. In other embodiments, three or more types of values ​​may be calculated as evaluation scores.

[0101] Next, we will explain the process when the operational conditions are not met for all candidate trajectories. Figure 10 shows an example of the player character's behavior when the operational conditions are not met for each candidate trajectory at the time of the jump command input. In Figure 10, the player inputs a jump command at time t1, and at this point, the operational conditions described above are not met for each candidate trajectory (i.e., the jump operation according to the candidate trajectory fails).

[0102] At time t1, terminal device 2 does not allow player character 31 to perform a jump, but instead continues to move automatically. If the conditions for operation are not met for each candidate trajectory at the time a jump command is input, terminal device 2 will re-determine whether the conditions for operation are met for each candidate trajectory after a predetermined time has elapsed from that point (i.e., after player character 31 has moved a little). The predetermined time is, for example, one frame. In the re-determinion, terminal device 2 predicts the result of the jump based on the player character's position at that time, calculates evaluation parameters based on the prediction result, and determines whether the conditions for operation are met based on the calculated evaluation parameters. Therefore, even if the conditions for operation were not met at the time a jump command was input, the conditions for operation may be met at the time of the re-determinion. Note that in the re-determinion, terminal device 2 does not necessarily need to start the jump result prediction from the beginning again; if some or all of the previous prediction results are available, it may use some or all of them to make the prediction.

[0103] In the second evaluation, if the operational conditions are met for at least one of the candidate trajectories, terminal device 2 determines the execution trajectory in the same way as when the operational conditions are met at the time of the jump instruction input. Specifically, terminal device 2 determines the execution trajectory based on evaluation parameters based on the player character's position at the time of the second evaluation. As a result, one of the candidate trajectories that meet the operational conditions is determined to be the execution trajectory.

[0104] In this embodiment, the terminal device 2 repeats the above determination at predetermined time intervals (for example, every frame) until the operational conditions are met for at least one candidate trajectory among the candidate trajectories, or until a predetermined time limit has elapsed from the time a jump instruction is input. The above time limit is set to a predetermined number of frames (for example, 20 frames).

[0105] In the example shown in Figure 10, it is assumed that at least one of the candidate trajectories has met the operational conditions at time t2, after time t1 but before the time limit expires. Therefore, in the example shown in Figure 10, the execution trajectory is determined at time t2, and the jump action by the player character begins (see Figure 10).

[0106] On the other hand, if the above time limit expires without the operational conditions being met for each candidate trajectory, terminal device 2 will have the player character perform a jump action using one of the candidate trajectories selected according to a predetermined rule as the execution trajectory. The above predetermined rule is arbitrary and may, for example, be a rule that determines which of the predetermined candidate trajectories is the execution trajectory.

[0107] Here, if the player character does not perform a jump even after a certain amount of time has passed since the player has given a jump command input, the player may mistakenly believe that the input has not been detected, or the player may feel uncomfortable because the action is not performed in accordance with the input. In contrast, in this embodiment, although there is a possibility that the player character may be in a state of error as a result of the jump action, the player character performs the jump action within a certain time after the jump command input is given, so the above possibilities can be reduced. Note that in other embodiments, the above time limit may not be set. That is, the terminal device 2 may repeat the above re-determination until the conditions for operation are met for at least one of the candidate trajectories among the candidate trajectories.

[0108] As described above, in this embodiment, if the operational conditions are not met for all candidate trajectories, an adjustment process is executed to adjust the timing of the player character's jumps, as shown in Figure 10. Here, the terminal device 2 may execute the above adjustment process only when predetermined execution conditions are met, and not execute it when those conditions are not met. For example, the execution condition may be that the player character has made a predetermined number of mistakes (e.g., once) since the start of the game. In this case, the above adjustment process is not executed when the player character has not made a mistake since the start of the game. Therefore, for example, if a jump command is input at the timing shown in Figure 10, the player character will perform a jump at the timing of the input, resulting in the player character falling into the valley and making a mistake. Note that the adjustment process is executed during the period after the player character has made a mistake (including the period after returning to a state where no mistakes have been made), so if a jump command is input again at the timing shown in Figure 10, the player character will be controlled to prevent falling into the valley. As explained above, the adjustment process will not be performed all the time, which helps to prevent the game from becoming too easy.

[0109] Furthermore, the execution conditions may be such that, after being met once during the game, they may become unmet again. For example, the execution conditions may include not only "the player character has made a predetermined number of mistakes since the game started," but also "a predetermined amount of time has not elapsed since the player character made a mistake," or "the player character's movement distance since making a mistake has not exceeded a predetermined distance." In this case, after the player character makes a mistake, the adjustment process can be executed, but if the player character does not make a mistake for a while afterward, the adjustment process cannot be executed. According to the above, by making the adjustment process possible, it becomes easier for players unfamiliar with game controls to enjoy the game, and by making it impossible to execute the adjustment process under certain conditions afterward, it is possible to prevent the game from becoming too easy.

[0110] The execution condition is not limited to a state where a mistake has been made; it may also be that the player character has reached a predetermined state. For example, the execution condition may be that the player character possesses a predetermined item. Furthermore, the execution condition is not limited to a condition relating to the player character reaching a predetermined state, but may be any condition relating to the game. For example, in a game, if one of several difficulty levels is selected and the game is run at the selected difficulty level, the above condition may be that the selected difficulty level is less than or equal to a predetermined level. The game difficulty may be selected according to instructions from the player, or it may be selected automatically by an information processing system. The difficulty level may only specify whether or not to execute the above adjustment process, or it may also specify other factors that affect the game difficulty (e.g., the number of enemy characters).

[0111] In this embodiment, the player character's jump action is performed according to the execution trajectory determined as described above. In this embodiment, after the start of the jump action according to the execution trajectory, the execution trajectory may be changed in response to continued jump instruction input (i.e., continued touch input). The following describes an example in which the execution trajectory is changed after the start of the jump action.

[0112] Figure 11 shows an example of how the execution trajectory changes after the start of a jump. In the example shown in Figure 11, the execution trajectory at the start of the jump is the third trajectory, and the jump is initiated following the third trajectory.

[0113] In this embodiment, for the first to sixth trajectories, a portion of the trajectory from the start of the jump overlaps with other trajectories (see Figure 6). Specifically, for the first to sixth trajectories, a portion of the trajectory from the start of the jump is the same as other trajectories with greater jump height and distance than their own trajectory. In this embodiment, if a jump instruction input continues at the point just before the executed trajectory no longer overlaps with the other trajectory (hereinafter referred to as the "branching point"), the terminal device 2 selects from the first to sixth trajectories that are other candidate trajectories with greater jump height and distance than the executed trajectory and that do not result in failure, and sets the selected trajectory as the modified trajectory. At this time, after the branching point, the player character is controlled to perform jump actions according to the modified trajectory. The modified trajectory is selected, for example, from among the candidate trajectories that are other trajectories with greater jump height and distance than the executed trajectory and that do not result in failure, the one with the highest evaluation score. In other embodiments, if a jump instruction input continues at the branching point, the terminal device 2 may select a candidate trajectory that has the next largest jump height and distance after the executed trajectory from among the candidate trajectories that will not result in failure as the modified trajectory. Furthermore, if a jump instruction input continues at the branching point for the modified trajectory, the terminal device 2 may further modify the trajectory in the same manner as described above.

[0114] In the example shown in Figure 11, it is assumed that the jump command input continues during the jump operation following the third trajectory, which is the execution trajectory, at the branching point related to the third trajectory. Furthermore, it is assumed that the fifth trajectory has the highest evaluation score among the fourth to sixth trajectories. Based on the above, in the example shown in Figure 11, the trajectory of the jump operation is changed to the fifth trajectory.

[0115] As described above, in this embodiment, the terminal device 2 determines the trajectory of the jump performed by the player character based not only on evaluation parameters but also on the input time of the jump command input by the player. This allows the player to adjust the trajectory of the jump by the input time of the jump command input. For example, by holding down the jump command input for a longer period of time, the player can make the player character perform the largest possible jump. This makes it possible to make the player character perform a jump that reflects the player's intentions while minimizing any disadvantages in the game.

[0116] In this embodiment, the terminal device 2 initiates a jump action for the player character when a jump instruction input is received and changes the execution trajectory during the jump action. However, the method for determining the jump trajectory based on the input time of the jump instruction input is not limited to this. For example, in another embodiment, the terminal device 2 may determine the execution trajectory based on evaluation parameters and the input time of the jump instruction input when the jump instruction input is finished, and initiate a jump action for the player character on the determined execution trajectory. In yet another embodiment, the terminal device 2 may determine the jump trajectory without relying on the input time of the jump instruction input by the player.

[0117] Furthermore, the process of changing the execution trajectory during a jump may be executed only when predetermined execution conditions are met, and not executed if those conditions are not met. These execution conditions may be the same as, or different from, the execution conditions that determine whether or not to execute the adjustment process described above. By using the above execution conditions, the process of changing the execution trajectory during a jump will not always be executed, thus preventing the game from becoming too easy. In addition, the execution conditions that determine whether or not to execute the process of changing the execution trajectory during a jump may be conditions that, after being met once during the game, may become unmet again. Furthermore, the execution conditions that determine whether or not to execute the process of changing the execution trajectory during a jump may be any conditions related to the game, such as conditions related to when the player character makes a mistake, or conditions related to the difficulty level.

[0118] In this embodiment, the terminal device 2 performs a process to predict the result of the player character's actions, not only when it causes the player character to perform a jump action in response to a jump instruction input, but also in other cases. The details of this process will be described below.

[0119] In this embodiment, when the terminal device 2 automatically moves the player character, it determines whether the stop condition is met at predetermined intervals (e.g., 1 frame time). In this embodiment, the stop condition is that it is predicted that the player character will fall into a ravine as a result of moving the player character. Specifically, when the terminal device 2 automatically moves the player character, it determines whether the above stop condition will be met if the movement were to occur. If it is determined that the stop condition is not met, the terminal device 2 executes the process of automatically moving the player character. On the other hand, if it is determined that the stop condition is met, the terminal device 2 stops the player character's movement. Therefore, for example, if the player character automatically moves and reaches the position just before the ravine, the player character will automatically stop moving. This also reduces the possibility of the player character being in a state of error.

[0120] In this embodiment, if the player character stops moving as described above, the terminal device causes the player character to perform a stopping action (for example, stopping and stumbling). However, in other embodiments, in the above case, the player character does not have to simply stop moving and perform a stopping action.

[0121] The above stopping conditions are not limited to those listed above; any conditions may be set. For example, the stopping condition may be that, as a result of the player character moving, the player character collides with an enemy character. Alternatively, the stopping condition may be that, as a result of the player character moving, the player character reaches a predetermined stopping position. This stopping position may be, for example, the midpoint of the game field, the goal, or the position just before the enemy boss character appears, where some game event occurs when the player character reaches that position. Furthermore, in other embodiments, the terminal device 2 does not need to determine whether or not the stopping condition is met.

[0122] [3. Specific examples of processing in information processing systems] Next, with reference to Figures 12-17, specific examples of information processing in an information processing system will be described. Figure 12 is a diagram showing an example of various types of data used in information processing in an information processing system. Each piece of data shown in Figure 12 is stored, for example, in the storage unit 22 of the terminal device 2.

[0123] As shown in Figure 12, terminal device 2 stores the game program. The game program is a game program that is executed on the terminal side to run the above game application, and is a program for executing the game processing (each process shown in Figures 13-17) that is executed on terminal device 2. In other words, when the processing unit 21 of terminal device 2 executes the above game program, each process described later (see Figures 13-17) is executed on terminal device 2.

[0124] Terminal device 2 stores at least player character data, other object data, evaluation data, and standby flag data. In addition to this data, terminal device 2 also stores various data used to run the game.

[0125] Player character data is data that shows various information about the player character. For example, player character data includes data that shows the player character's position and orientation on the game field, and the player character's state (for example, whether or not they are in the enhanced state mentioned above).

[0126] Other object data is data that shows various information about objects other than the player character that appear on the game field (for example, enemy characters or the moving platform objects mentioned above). Other object data is stored for each other object and includes, for example, data indicating the position and orientation of that object on the game field.

[0127] The evaluation data shows the evaluation parameters described above for each candidate orbit. The evaluation data also includes score data showing the evaluation score described above for each candidate orbit.

[0128] The wait flag data indicates whether the player character should wait for a jump command to be input (i.e., continue moving without performing a jump at that point). The wait flag is set to off at the start of the game.

[0129] Server 1 may store some or all of the various data (see Figure 12) stored in terminal device 2 for processing performed on the server side to run the above game application. Furthermore, each piece of data used in the information processing system may be stored in either server 1 or terminal device 2. If the same data is stored in both server 1 and terminal device 2, the data stored in server 1 and the data stored in terminal device 2 will be synchronized at an appropriate time.

[0130] Figure 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the game processing flow performed by the terminal device. Note that the game processing shown in Figure 13 is initiated when the game starts while the game program is running on terminal device 2.

[0131] In this embodiment, the CPU (in other words, processor) of the processing unit 21 of the terminal device 2 executes the game program stored in the memory unit 22, thereby executing the processing steps shown in Figures 13-17. However, in other embodiments, some of the processing steps described above may be executed by a processor other than the CPU (for example, a dedicated circuit). Also, if the terminal device 2 can communicate with the server 1, some of the processing steps shown in Figures 13-17 may be executed by the server 1. Furthermore, the processing steps shown in Figures 13-17 are merely examples, and the order of the processing steps may be changed, or other processing may be performed in addition to (or instead of) the processing steps.

[0132] Furthermore, the processing unit 21 of the terminal device 2 executes the processing of each step shown in Figures 13-17 using memory (or storage unit 22). That is, the CPU of the processing unit 21 stores the data obtained by each processing step in memory, and when that data is used in subsequent processing steps, it reads the data from memory and uses it.

[0133] In the game processing shown in Figure 13, first, in step S1, the processing unit 21 obtains operation data from the input unit 23 that indicates the operation input performed by the player. The processing in step S2 is executed after step S1.

[0134] In step S2, the processing unit 21 executes player character control processing to control the movement of the player character. In the player character control processing, the processing unit 21 automatically moves the player character and also causes the player character to perform a jump action in response to a jump instruction input. Details of the player character control processing will be described later (see Figures 14 and 15). The processing unit 21 updates the player character data stored in the storage unit 22 to indicate the position, orientation, and state of the player character after the control performed in step S2. The processing in step S3 is executed after step S2.

[0135] In step S3, the processing unit 21 controls the operation of the other objects. For example, the processing unit 21 moves enemy characters or moving platforms according to an algorithm defined in the game program. At this time, the processing unit 21 updates the data of the other objects stored in the storage unit 22 to indicate the object's position and orientation after control. The processing in step S4 is executed after step S3.

[0136] In step S4, the processing unit 21 generates a game image and displays it on the display unit 24. Specifically, the processing unit 21 generates a game image that shows the results of the control in steps S2 and S3 on the game field, and displays the generated game image on the display unit 24. This displays a game image that shows the behavior of the player character and other objects controlled in steps S2 and S3, as well as the current state of the game field. The processing in step S5 is executed after step S4.

[0137] In step S5, the processing unit 21 determines whether or not to terminate the game. For example, the processing unit 21 determines to terminate the game if the player gives an instruction to terminate the game, or if the game termination conditions (for example, the game has been cleared) are met. If the result of the determination in step S5 is negative, the processing in step S1 is executed again. Thereafter, the series of processes from steps S1 to S5 are repeatedly executed until it is determined in step S5 that the game should be terminated. On the other hand, if the result of the determination in step S5 is positive, the processing unit 21 terminates the game processing shown in Figure 13.

[0138] Figures 14 and 15 are subflowcharts showing an example of a detailed flow of the player character control process in step S14 shown in Figure 13. In the player character control process, first in step S11, the processing unit 21 determines whether or not the player character is performing a jump action based on the player character data stored in the storage unit 22. If the determination result in step S11 is positive, the process in step S12 is executed. On the other hand, if the determination result in step S11 is negative, the process in step S14 is executed.

[0139] In step S12, the processing unit 21 controls the jumping motion performed by the player character. That is, the processing unit 21 controls the player character's movements to continue the jumping motion that was started in the processing of steps S17, S24, or S27, which will be described later. In a single step S12, the processing unit 21 controls the player character to advance the movements for one frame's worth of time. The processing of step S12 is repeatedly executed over multiple frames, so that the player character performs a series of movements in the jumping motion. The processing of step S13 is executed after step S12.

[0140] In step S13, the processing unit 21 executes a trajectory change process. As will be described in detail later, in the trajectory change process, the execution trajectory of the jump operation controlled by step S12 is changed under certain conditions (see Figure 11). Details of the trajectory change process will be described later (see Figure 17). After step S13, the processing unit 21 terminates the player character control process.

[0141] On the other hand, in step S14, the processing unit 21 determines whether or not the player has initiated a jump command input based on the operation data acquired in step S1. Note that if the player character has made a mistake, a jump command input will not be accepted, and the result of the determination in step S14 may be negative. If the result of the determination in step S14 is positive, the processing in step S15 is executed. On the other hand, if the result of the determination in step S14 is negative, the processing in step S21 (see Figure 15), which will be described later, is executed.

[0142] In step S15, the processing unit 21 executes a trajectory determination process. As will be described in detail later, in the trajectory determination process, the execution trajectory of the jump action that the player character should perform is determined in response to the jump instruction input. Details of the trajectory determination process will be described later (see Figure 16). The process in step S16 is executed after step S15.

[0143] In step S16, the processing unit 21 determines whether or not the execution trajectory was determined in the trajectory determination process of step S15. If the determination result of step S16 is affirmative, the process of step S17 is executed. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S16 is negative, the process of step S18 is executed.

[0144] In step S17, the processing unit 21 causes the player character to start a jump. Specifically, the processing unit 21 causes the player character to start a jump according to the execution trajectory determined in step S15. The jump started in step S17 is controlled by the processing in step S12 in the subsequent processing loop of steps S1-S5. After step S17, the processing unit 21 terminates the player character control processing.

[0145] In step S18, the processing unit 21 determines whether the execution condition for determining whether or not to perform an adjustment process to adjust the timing of the player character's jumps is met. If the result of the determination in step S18 is affirmative, the process in step S19 is executed. On the other hand, if the result of the determination in step S18 is negative, the process in step S20 is executed.

[0146] In step S19, the processing unit 21 updates the standby flag data stored in the memory unit 22 to indicate that the standby flag is ON. Following step S19, the process of step S29 (see Figure 15), which will be described later, is executed. In other words, when step S19 is executed, the jump action by the player character does not start in the frame in which the jump instruction input is initiated, and the jump action starts in a subsequent frame (i.e., in the processing loop of steps S1-S5).

[0147] On the other hand, in step S20, the processing unit 21 instructs the player character to start a jump operation using one of the candidate trajectories selected according to the predetermined rules described above as the execution trajectory. In other words, when step S20 is executed, the jump operation by the player character starts in the frame in which the player inputs a jump command, without the adjustment process described above being executed. The jump operation started in step S20 is controlled by the processing in step S13 in the processing loop of steps S1-S5 that is executed thereafter. Following step S20, the processing in step S29 (see Figure 15), which will be described later, is executed.

[0148] In step S21 shown in Figure 15, the processing unit 21 refers to the standby flag data stored in the storage unit 22 to determine whether the standby flag is set to ON or not. In this embodiment, if the standby flag was set to ON when step S19 was executed in the processing loop of previous steps S1-S5, and no jump operation has been started thereafter, the determination result in step S21 is positive. If the determination result in step S21 is positive, the processing in step S22 is executed. On the other hand, if the determination result in step S21 is negative, the processing in step S29, which will be described later, is executed.

[0149] In step S22, the processing unit 21 performs the same trajectory determination process as in step S17. The process in step S23 is executed after step S22.

[0150] In step S23, the processing unit 21 determines whether or not the execution trajectory was determined in the trajectory determination process of step S22. If the determination result of step S23 is affirmative, the process of step S24 is executed. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S23 is negative, the process of step S26, which will be described later, is executed.

[0151] In step S24, the processing unit 21 causes the player character to start a jump. Specifically, the processing unit 21 causes the player character to start a jump according to the execution trajectory determined in step S23. The jump started in step S24 is controlled by the processing in step S13 in the subsequent processing loop of steps S1-S5. After step S24, the processing in step S25 is executed.

[0152] In step S25, the processing unit 21 updates the standby flag data stored in the memory unit 22 to indicate that the standby flag is off. If the standby flag is already off, the standby flag does not need to be updated. After step S25, the processing unit 21 terminates the player character control process.

[0153] On the other hand, in step S26, the processing unit 21 determines whether the elapsed time since the jump instruction input was started exceeds the above-mentioned time limit. If the determination result in step S26 is positive, the processing in step S27 is executed. On the other hand, if the determination result in step S26 is negative, the processing in step S29, which will be described later, is executed.

[0154] In step S27, the processing unit 21 causes the player character to start a jump action using one of the candidate trajectories selected according to the predetermined rules described above as the execution trajectory. The jump action started in step S27 is controlled by the processing in step S13 in the subsequent processing loop of steps S1-S5. After step S27, the processing in step S28 is executed.

[0155] In step S28, the processing unit 21 updates the standby flag data stored in the memory unit 22 to indicate that the standby flag is off. After step S28, the processing unit 21 terminates the player character control process.

[0156] In step S29, the processing unit 21 determines whether or not the player character has made a mistake. If the result of the determination in step S29 is positive, the processing in step S30 is executed. On the other hand, if the result of the determination in step S29 is negative, the processing in step S31 is executed.

[0157] In step S30, the processing unit 21 moves the player character to the recovery position described above. As a result of the processing in step S30, the player character automatically moves toward the recovery position. In one step S30, the processing unit 21 controls the player character to move for one frame's worth of time. The processing unit 21 also controls the state of the player character based on the result of moving the player character. For example, if a player character that has made a mistake reaches the recovery position, the processing unit 21 returns the player character to a state where it has not made a mistake. The processing in step S31 is executed after step S30.

[0158] In step S31, the processing unit 21 determines whether the above-mentioned stop condition is met. That is, the processing unit 21 predicts the result of the action when the player character is moved in the predetermined direction from the current position on the game field, and determines whether the action result satisfies the stop condition. If the result of the determination in step S31 is affirmative, the processing in step S32 is executed. On the other hand, if the result of the determination in step S31 is negative, the processing in step S33 is executed.

[0159] In step S32, the processing unit 21 causes the player character to perform the aforementioned stop operation. At this time, the player character is controlled not to move. In one step S32, the processing unit 21 controls the player character to perform an operation for one frame duration. After step S32, the processing unit 21 terminates the player character control process.

[0160] In step S33, the processing unit 21 moves the player character in the predetermined direction described above. As a result of the processing in step S33, the player character automatically moves across the game field. In one step S33, the processing unit 21 controls the player character to move for one frame's worth of time. The processing unit 21 also controls the state of the player character based on the result of moving the player character. For example, if the player character falls into a ravine, the processing unit 21 sets the player character to a "missed" state. After step S33, the processing unit 21 terminates the player character control process.

[0161] Figure 16 is a subflowchart showing an example of a detailed flow of the trajectory determination process in step S17 shown in Figure 14 or step S22 shown in Figure 15. In the trajectory determination process, first in step S41, the processing unit 21 calculates evaluation parameters for the first to eighth candidate trajectories. That is, the processing unit 21 calculates the evaluation parameters according to the method described in "[2. Overview of Processing in the Information Processing System]" above. At this time, the processing unit 21 stores evaluation data (including score data showing the calculated evaluation score) indicating the calculated evaluation parameters in the storage unit 22. The processing in step S42 is executed after step S41.

[0162] In step S42, the processing unit 21 determines whether the jump operation will fail for all of the first to eighth candidate trajectories, based on the evaluation parameters calculated in step S41. If the result of the determination in step S42 is negative, the processing in step S43 is executed. On the other hand, if the result of the determination in step S42 is positive, the processing unit 21 terminates the trajectory determination process. In this case, it means that no execution trajectory was determined in this trajectory determination process.

[0163] In step S43, the processing unit 21 determines whether the above-described selection conditions for the first orbital are met based on the evaluation parameters calculated in step S41. If the result of the determination in step S43 is negative, the process in step S44 is executed. On the other hand, if the result of the determination in step S44 is positive, the process in step S45 is executed.

[0164] In step S44, the processing unit 21 selects the first candidate trajectory as the execution trajectory. This controls the player character to perform a jump action according to the first candidate trajectory. After step S44, the processing unit 21 terminates the trajectory determination process.

[0165] In step S45, the processing unit 21 selects the candidate trajectory with the highest evaluation score calculated in step S41 from among the second to eighth trajectories as the execution trajectory. This controls the player character to perform a jump action according to the selected candidate trajectory. After step S45, the processing unit 21 terminates the trajectory determination process.

[0166] In this embodiment, the processing unit 21 determines the execution trajectory in a single trajectory determination process. That is, in the processing loop in which the jump operation input is initiated (i.e., the processing loop of steps S1-S5), the execution trajectory is determined, and the jump operation according to the determined execution trajectory is initiated. In other embodiments, the processing unit 21 may perform the trajectory determination process over multiple processing loops. For example, the processing unit 21 may calculate evaluation parameters for some of the candidate trajectories in the processing loop in which the jump instruction input is initiated, and then calculate evaluation parameters for the remaining candidate trajectories and determine the execution trajectory in the next processing loop. This would mean that the player character would start the jump operation in the processing loop following the processing loop in which the jump instruction input was initiated, but the processing load on the processing unit 21 could be reduced. In the above case, since there is a delay between the start of the jump instruction input and the start of the jump operation by the player character, the processing unit 21 may take this delay into consideration when predicting the result of the jump operation.

[0167] Figure 17 is a subflowchart showing an example of a detailed flow of the trajectory change process in step S14 shown in Figure 14. In the trajectory change process, first in step S51, the processing unit 21 determines whether the branching point described above has arrived for the jump operation currently underway. In this embodiment, each candidate trajectory is predetermined, and the branching point for each candidate trajectory is also predetermined, so the determination in step S51 can also be made using the elapsed time since the start of the jump operation. If the determination result in step S51 is positive, the process in step S52 is executed. On the other hand, if the determination result in step S51 is negative, the processing unit 21 terminates the trajectory change process.

[0168] In step S52, the processing unit 21 determines, based on the operation data acquired in step S1, whether or not a jump instruction input for the currently performed jump operation is being continued. If the determination result in step S52 is affirmative, the processing in step S53 is executed. On the other hand, if the determination result in step S52 is negative, the processing unit 21 terminates the trajectory change process.

[0169] In step S53, the processing unit 21 determines whether there is a candidate trajectory among the second to sixth candidate trajectories that has a greater jump height and distance than the currently executed trajectory for the jump operation, and that does not result in failure. If the determination result in step S53 is positive, the processing in step S54 is executed. On the other hand, if the determination result in step S53 is negative, the processing unit 21 terminates the trajectory change process.

[0170] In step S54, the processing unit 21 determines whether the execution conditions for determining whether or not to perform the process of changing the execution trajectory during the jump are met. If the result of the determination in step S54 is affirmative, the process in step S55 is executed. On the other hand, if the result of the determination in step S54 is negative, the processing unit 21 terminates the trajectory change process.

[0171] Furthermore, the processing in step S54 may be executed before the processing in step 13 (i.e., the jump operation control processing). In this case, if the execution conditions are met, the processing in step 13 is executed; if the execution conditions are not met, the processing in step 13 is not executed. Also, this configuration does not necessarily have to include the processing in step S54 or an equivalent processing.

[0172] In step S55, the processing unit 21 changes the trajectory of the currently performed jump from the execution trajectory to another candidate trajectory. Specifically, the trajectory of the currently performed jump is changed to a candidate trajectory from the second to sixth candidate trajectories that has a greater jump height and distance than the execution trajectory of the currently performed jump, and that has the highest evaluation score. In the processing of step S13 after the execution of step S55 (i.e., the jump control processing), the player character is controlled so that the jump is performed according to the candidate trajectory changed in the processing of step S55. After step S55, the processing unit 21 terminates the trajectory change processing.

[0173] [4. Effects and Modifications of This Embodiment] As described above, in the above embodiment, the game program causes the computer of the information processing device (for example, the CPU of the processing unit 21 of the terminal device 2) to function as follows. • Automatic movement means (step S31) for automatically and continuously moving the player character within a virtual space (e.g., a game field). A player character action determination means (steps S17, S22) calculates evaluation parameters corresponding to multiple candidate player character actions based on player input, and determines one of the candidates as the player character action based on these evaluation parameters. • Player character action means (steps S13, S19, S24) that causes the player character to perform player character actions determined based on evaluation parameters. Furthermore, the automatic movement mechanism automatically and continuously moves the player character after the player character has performed a player character action.

[0174] According to the above, in situations where the player character performs actions in response to player input, the player character is controlled to perform an action selected from several options. This allows the player character to behave in a way that minimizes the chances of making a mistake, thus preventing significant disadvantages in the game. As a result, even players unfamiliar with game controls can enjoy the game.

[0175] In the above embodiment, a candidate that is as advantageous as possible in the game is selected from among multiple candidates, but the candidates to be selected are not limited to these. For example, in another embodiment, the information processing device may eliminate candidates that result in a game error from among multiple candidates, and select one from the remaining candidates by any method (for example, by selecting based on predetermined rules, by random selection, or by having the player specify).

[0176] The movement of the player character by the above-mentioned automatic movement means may be any method of movement that moves the player character relative to other objects in the virtual space. For example, the player character may be controlled so that its position on the display screen does not change when it moves within the virtual space. Alternatively, for example, the player character may remain stationary in the virtual space while other objects move, causing the player character to move relative to those objects.

[0177] In the above embodiment, the player character action is a jump action, but the player character action is not limited to this. A player character action may be, for example, an action that moves the player character in a manner different from that of the automatic movement means (for example, a dash, an evasive movement, or movement in a direction different from that of the automatic movement means). In this case, the multiple candidates may differ from each other in terms of, for example, the direction of movement, the speed of movement, the amount of movement, etc. A player character action may also be a different type of action from movement (for example, an attack action or a defensive action). In this case, the multiple candidates may differ from each other in terms of, for example, the direction of the action, the duration of the action, or the content of the action (for example, whether to perform a punch or a kick). A player character action may also be an action that stops movement by the automatic movement means. In this case, the multiple candidates may differ from each other in terms of, for example, the period from when the player inputs an action until the player character stops, or the duration of the stop.

[0178] Furthermore, the information processing device may control the player character so that movement by the automatic movement means continues even while the player character is performing an action, or it may control the player character so that movement by the automatic movement means is temporarily stopped while the player character is performing an action, and resumes after the player character's action ends. Note that movement by the automatic movement means does not need to be exactly the same before and after the player character action occurs. For example, the speed and / or direction of movement by the automatic movement means may differ before and after the player character action occurs, and the appearance of the player character during such movement may also differ.

[0179] The above operation input may be any input to any input device. The above operation input means, for example, in addition to touch input to the touch panel in the above embodiment, input to buttons or sticks provided by the information processing device, or input to buttons or sticks provided by a controller that can communicate with the information processing device. Furthermore, the above operation input does not have to be performed during the game, but may be performed before the game starts. For example, the player character action determination means may determine the player character action at a predetermined timing during the game based on the operation input performed before the game starts, and the player character action means may cause the player character to perform the player character action at that timing.

[0180] In the above embodiment, the multiple candidates were pre-prepared (i.e., defined in the game program), but the specific content of the multiple candidates may be generated during the game. For example, the information processing device may generate multiple candidates based on an operation input in response to that input. Specifically, the information processing device may accept a swipe input as the operation input and generate each candidate trajectory such that the direction of the jump is based on the direction specified by the swipe input, and the jump height and distance are predetermined. Alternatively, for example, the information processing device may generate multiple candidates in response to an operation input, taking into account the state of the player character at that time (e.g., position in the virtual space, and / or movement speed, etc.). The multiple candidates may include both those generated during the game and those prepared in advance.

[0181] In the above embodiment, when processing is performed using data (meaning including programs) in a certain information processing device, some of the data necessary for the processing may be transmitted from another information processing device different from the said information processing device. In this case, the said information processing device may perform the processing using the data received from the other information processing device and the data stored in itself.

[0182] In other embodiments, the information processing system may not have some of the configurations in the above embodiments, nor may it perform some of the processes executed in the above embodiments. For example, in order to achieve some of the specific effects in the above embodiments, the information processing system may have to have the configurations necessary to achieve those effects and perform the processes necessary to achieve those effects, but it may not have to have other configurations or perform other processes. [Industrial applicability]

[0183] The above embodiment can be used, for example, as a game device or game program, for the purpose of running a game that can be enjoyed even by players who are unfamiliar with game controls. [Explanation of symbols]

[0184] 1 server 2 Terminal devices 11 Processing Section 12 Storage section 13 Communications Department 21 Processing Unit 22 Memory section 23 Input section 24 Display 25 Communications Department 31 Player Characters 33 Enemy Characters

Claims

1. A game program executed on a computer of an information processing device, wherein the computer is An automatic movement mechanism that automatically and continuously moves the player character within a virtual space, A player character action determination means calculates evaluation parameters corresponding to multiple candidates for player character actions to be performed by the player character based on input from the player, and determines one of the multiple candidates as the player character action based on the evaluation parameters. The aforementioned player character is made to function as a player character action means that causes the player character to perform the player character action determined based on the evaluation parameter, The automatic movement means further automatically and continuously moves the player character after the player character has performed the player character action. Game program.

2. As a result of movement by the automatic movement means, if the player character reaches a position in the virtual space that satisfies the stopping conditions, the computer is further configured to function as an automatic movement stopping means that stops the movement of the player character by the automatic movement means. The game program according to claim 1.

3. The aforementioned player character action is the player character's jump action. The game program according to claim 1.

4. The aforementioned jumping motion is a jumping motion in the direction of movement of the player character by the automatic movement means. The game program according to claim 3.

5. The evaluation parameters are calculated based on the trajectories of multiple jumps that are candidates for the player character's movement. The game program according to claim 4.

6. The aforementioned evaluation parameters are calculated based on the presence or absence and / or position of each of the multiple candidate jumps for the player character's movement. The game program according to claim 5.

7. The automatic movement means moves the player character toward the goal location in the virtual space. The game program according to claim 1.

8. The player character action determination means further determines one of the multiple candidates as the player character action based on the input time of the operation input. The game program according to claim 1.

9. The player character movement determination means calculates the evaluation parameter corresponding to each of the plurality of candidates based on the result of moving the player character based on each of the plurality of candidates. The game program according to claim 1.

10. The aforementioned player character movement determination means is Based on an index relating to the degree to which the player gains an advantage in the game as a result of operating the player character based on each of the aforementioned candidates, the evaluation parameter corresponding to each of the aforementioned candidates is calculated. Among the evaluation parameters, the candidate corresponding to the evaluation parameter that indicates that the player character will have an advantage in the game is determined as the player character's action. The game program according to claim 1.

11. The aforementioned indicator is one in which, as a result of the player character's actions, the situation in which the player character has a platform is considered more advantageous in the game than the situation in which the player character does not have a platform. The game program according to claim 10.

12. The aforementioned indicator is one that determines whether a situation in which the player character acquires an item as a result of performing the aforementioned player character action is more advantageous in the game than a situation in which the player character does not acquire an item. The game program according to claim 10.

13. The aforementioned index is a measure that indicates that a situation in which the player character acts upon a predetermined object in the virtual space as a result of the player character's actions is more advantageous in the game than a situation in which the player character does not act upon the predetermined object. The game program according to claim 10.

14. The aforementioned index is an index that indicates that the higher the position reached by the player character as a result of the player character's actions, the more advantageous the player character is in the game. The game program according to claim 10.

15. The aforementioned player character movement determination means is If the evaluation parameters for all of the candidates do not satisfy the operating conditions, The player character's actions are not determined from among the aforementioned candidates. Furthermore, the system includes a motion candidate recalculation means that, after the player character's movement, which has been continued by the automatic movement means, continues for a predetermined time, recalculates the evaluation parameters corresponding to each of the plurality of candidates based on the game situation at that time, and if at least one of the recalculated evaluation parameters satisfies the operable condition, determines one of the candidates corresponding to the evaluation parameter that satisfies the operable condition as the player character's motion. A game program according to any one of claims 10 to 14.

16. If the evaluation parameters for all candidates do not satisfy the conditions for operation, the player character operation determination means, If the game conditions are met, the action candidate recalculation means determines the player character's action. If the aforementioned game conditions are not met, the player character will not be moved by the automatic movement means, and one of the candidates will be selected as the player character's action. The game program according to claim 15.

17. The aforementioned game conditions include at least one of the following: the player character has made at least a predetermined number of mistakes; and the game difficulty, which is selected and set from among multiple difficulty levels, is less than or equal to a predetermined difficulty level. The game program according to claim 16.

18. The aforementioned game conditions include at least one of the following: that a predetermined time has not elapsed since the player character entered a state of making a mistake, and that the distance the player character has traveled by the automatic movement means since entering that state has not yet exceeded a predetermined distance. The game program according to claim 16.

19. A game processing method executed by an information processing system, The aforementioned information processing system is Within the virtual space, the player character is moved automatically and continuously. Based on the player's input, evaluation parameters are calculated for each of the multiple candidate player character actions to be performed by the player character, and one of the multiple candidates is selected as the player character action based on these evaluation parameters. In response to the aforementioned operation input, the player character is made to perform the player character actions determined based on the evaluation parameters. After the player character performs the player character action, the player character is continuously moved. Game processing method.

20. An information processing system that performs game processing, An automatic movement mechanism that automatically and continuously moves the player character within a virtual space, A player character action determination means calculates evaluation parameters corresponding to multiple candidates for player character actions to be performed by the player character based on input from the player, and determines one of the multiple candidates as the player character action based on the evaluation parameters. The system includes a player character operation means that, in response to the aforementioned operation input, causes the player character to perform the player character operation determined based on the aforementioned evaluation parameter, The automatic movement means further moves the player character after the player character has performed the player character action. Information processing system.

21. An information processing device that performs game processing, An automatic movement mechanism that automatically and continuously moves the player character within a virtual space, A player character action determination means calculates evaluation parameters corresponding to multiple candidates for player character actions to be performed by the player character based on input from the player, and determines one of the multiple candidates as the player character action based on the evaluation parameters. The system includes a player character operation means that, in response to the aforementioned operation input, causes the player character to perform the player character operation determined based on the aforementioned evaluation parameter, The automatic movement means further moves the player character after the player character has performed the player character action. Information processing device.

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