GAME SYSTEM, GAME METHOD, GAME PROGRAM, AND GAME SERVER

Abstract

To provide a game system, a game method, a game program, and a game server capable of contributing to a team by an action other than an interpersonal battle in a game and capable of improving a level of skills of an operation required for the interpersonal battle accompanying the action in the game that a plurality of players can participate in.SOLUTION: A game system 1 includes: a character motion control unit 30 for controlling a motion of a player character; a character state determination unit 50 for associating a player with a neutral character when the neutral character and the player character have a match, and a result of the match between the player character and the neutral character shows victory of the player character; and an ally character control unit 55 for executing control to repeat appearance of the ally character from a character storage region 320 to a play field 300 and storage of the ally character in the character storage region 320 after storing the neutral character in the virtual character storage region 320 as the ally character.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a game system, a game method, a game program, and a game server, and more particularly to a game system, a game method, a game program, and a game server that allow multiple players to play simultaneously via a communication network. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBAs) have become popular. These games involve multiple players split into multiple teams (typically two teams) and cooperate with players on their own team (the friendly team) to destroy the enemy team's base, among other things, to achieve victory. MOBAs offer a high level of playability because they allow for multiplayer battles.

[0003] However, to win a battle between characters controlled by humans, i.e., a PvP battle, skill in controlling the characters is required, and a considerable amount of training may be required before one can actually defeat a character controlled by a human. Furthermore, if a player on the team is unfamiliar with the controls, in order for the team to defeat the enemy team, other players, excluding the unfamiliar player, must support the unfamiliar player. Therefore, the unfamiliar player may be hesitant to participate in the game due to concerns that he or she may cause trouble for the team.

[0004] Thus, conventionally, there has been known an information processing system that includes operation input receiving means for receiving operation input from a user and information processing means for processing information based on the operation input received by the operation input receiving means, wherein the information processing means controls a player's own character in a virtual space based on the operation input, thereby drawing a color corresponding to the player's character in the virtual space, and a battle determination means that makes a battle determination based on a drawing state in the virtual space of a corresponding color of an enemy character that is different from the player's own character's corresponding color and a drawing state in the virtual space of the player's own character's corresponding color (see, for example, Patent Document 1). According to the information processing system described in Patent Document 1, the player's own character is controlled in the virtual space to draw the virtual space in the corresponding color of the player's character, and a battle determination can be made based on the drawing state and the drawing state of the corresponding color of the enemy character. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-216971 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, in an information processing system such as that described in Patent Document 1, although it is possible to contribute to the victory of the allied team by drawing the corresponding color in the virtual space, there may be less room to enjoy the operation of characters and the consideration of the allied team's strategy in consideration of the PvP battle, which is one of the sources of playability in MOBAs.Furthermore, in an information processing system such as that described in Patent Document 1, it may be difficult to lower the psychological barrier to PvP battles for beginners who are hesitant to participate in PvP battles or players who are unfamiliar with the controls.

[0007] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a game system, a game method, a game program, and a game server in which, in a game in which multiple players can participate, players can contribute to their team by taking actions that are not part of PvP battles within the game, and by taking such actions, they can improve their proficiency in the operations required for PvP battles. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a game system including a processor and a memory, in which a plurality of teams compete against each other on a playfield. to do A game program to be executed by a computer that manages the progress of a competitive game, the game program causing a processor to execute a game based on an operation of a first player belonging to a first team within a play field. The The first player controls the movement of the player character, and the second player controls the movement of the player character based on the operation of the second player belonging to the second team. The 2 player character movements Control Control the steps and play field. a step of controlling the actions of a neutral character that moves without being operated by the first player or the second player and that is associated with points related to the outcome of the fighting game; a step of changing the vitality value of the neutral character in response to an attack from at least one of the first player character and the second player character; a step of making the neutral character disappear from the playfield and associating the points with the first player when the vitality value of the neutral character reaches a predetermined value based on the attack of the first player character; and a step of making the neutral character disappear from the playfield and associating the points with the second player when the vitality value of the neutral character reaches a predetermined value based on the attack of the second player character. A game program for executing the above is provided. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] The game system, game method, game program, and game server according to the present invention can provide a game system, game method, game program, and game server that, in a game in which multiple players can participate, allows players to contribute to their team by taking actions that are not part of PvP battles within the game, and that, as a result of such actions, can improve the proficiency of the operations required for PvP battles. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of a game system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a play field for a game executed in a game system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3]FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a game system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] 3 is a diagram showing the data structure of each storage section of the storage unit according to the embodiment. FIG. [Figure 5] 10A and 10B are schematic diagrams illustrating movement instructions given to a player character by an input unit according to the present embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a battle between a player character and a neutral character in a game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a battle between a player character and a neutral character in a game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a battle between a player character and a neutral character in a game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a player character and an ally character fighting together in a game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a player character and an ally character fighting together in a game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating how points are scored in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating how points are scored in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a first special character in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 14] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a first special character in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 15] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a second special character in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 16] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a restriction generation unit in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 17] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of processing in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 18]FIG. 2 is a flowchart of processing in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 19] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of processing in the game system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 20] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of processing in the game system according to the present embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] [Embodiment Mode] <Game System 1 Overview> Fig. 1 shows an overview of the game system according to this embodiment, and Fig. 2 shows an example of an outline of the play field of a game executed by the game system according to this embodiment.

[0012] The game system 1 according to this embodiment can be executed on an information terminal 3 such as a smartphone. The information terminals 3 of multiple players are connected to a server 7 via a communication network 5, allowing the players to simultaneously play a game. The game system 1 divides players into at least one team (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as the "alliance team") consisting of player characters of one or more players and another team (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as the "enemy team") consisting of other player characters of one or more other players, and the players compete against each other. The winning team of the game is determined by comparing the points earned by the allied team with the points earned by the enemy team. The game system 1 may be a type of multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA). The server 7 and the information terminals owned by the players (e.g., information terminal 3, information terminal 3a, . . . and information terminal 3n) are connected to each other via the communication network 5, for example, to enable two-way communication. The game system 1 may also be a server-client type game system.

[0013] Note that a character operated by the player himself / herself is referred to as a player character, the team to which the player belongs is referred to as the friendly team, a character operated by a player other than a player belonging to the friendly team is referred to as a friendly player character, a team to which other players the player competes against belongs is referred to as the enemy team, and a character operated by another player belonging to the enemy team is referred to as an enemy player character.

[0014] That is, the game system 1 is executed with players divided into a friendly team to which the player character operated by the player belongs and an enemy team to which the enemy player character operated by another player belongs. The game system 1 converts points acquired by each player character (i.e., player character, friendly player character, enemy player character) during the game into points when a predetermined condition is satisfied, thereby making the points of the team to which each player character belongs, and at the end of the game time, the points acquired by each team are compared to determine the winner of the game.

[0015] For example, the game system 1 is executed in a playfield 300, which is a virtual space. As an example, as shown in FIG. 2 , the playfield 300 includes a teammate home base 302 of a teammate to which a player character belongs, a teammate home base 304 of a teammate to which an enemy player character belongs, one or more lanes 306 connecting the teammate home base 302 and the teammate home base 304, one or more teammate bases 310 provided along at least one or more lanes 306 up to a predetermined distance from the teammate home base 302, one or more enemy bases 312 provided along at least one or more lanes 306 up to a predetermined distance from the teammate home base 302, neutral areas 314 provided between the lanes 306 and at least a portion of each side of the lanes 306, and a central area 316 provided at a position equidistant from the teammate home base 302 and the teammate home base 304. In principle, the player character can freely move to any desired position in response to the player's instructions, except for areas within the playfield 300 where movement is prohibited (for example, walls, rocks, ponds, etc. provided within the playfield 300).

[0016] Then, the game system 1 causes a neutral character (NPC) to appear at a predetermined position in the lane 306 and / or the neutral area 314. A neutral character is a character that moves without being operated by any player. A neutral character is a character that is automatically controlled by the game system 1, and is a character that can be acquired by a player who has successfully defeated a neutral character by attacking it with a player character, a friendly player character, and / or an enemy player character. Furthermore, a predetermined number of points is associated with the neutral character according to the type and status (e.g., level, etc.) of the neutral character.

[0017] When a player character attacks and defeats a neutral character within a predetermined range from the player character in accordance with a player's instruction, the game system 1 allows the player controlling the player character to acquire the neutral character.The game system 1 then changes the neutral character to an ally character of the player character and grants the player character the points that the neutral character had.As a result, the player character acquires the points.The game system 1 stores the ally character in the player's virtual character storage area.

[0018] Then, in response to an instruction from the player, the game system 1 can make an ally character appear on the playfield 300 from the character storage area, and store the ally character in the character storage area from the playfield 300. When the player makes an ally character appear on the playfield 300, the game system 1 automatically makes the ally character follow the player character and automatically attack neutral characters and / or enemy player characters that are within a predetermined range from the player character or the ally character (that is, the ally character fights alongside the player character).

[0019] Furthermore, the game system 1 can also cause the player character to attack an enemy player character within a predetermined range of the player character in response to a command from the player. When the player character attacks and defeats an enemy player character, the game system 1 awards the player character with predetermined points. In other words, in the game system 1, the player not only controls the player character to engage in a one-on-one battle with an enemy player character, but also can, according to the player's will, engage in a battle between the player character and a neutral character (a battle with the system). This allows the player character controlled by the player to earn points by defeating either an enemy player character or a neutral character.

[0020] When the player character is within a predetermined area of ​​the playfield 300 (for example, within a predetermined range from the enemy base 312), the game system 1, in response to a player's instruction, supplies the points earned by the player character to the enemy base 312, thereby converting the points into points for the allied team. In other words, the allied team does not receive any points until the points are converted into points (hereinafter, converting points into points may be referred to as "scoring"). In this case, upon converting the points into points, the game system 1 resets to zero the points earned by the player character up until the points were converted into points, and erases allied characters stored in the player's character storage area or allied characters that have left the character storage area and are appearing on the playfield 300. Here, erasing an allied character means restricting the allied character from appearing on the playfield 300 again during the same game play. This prevents the allied character from battling with the player character. Furthermore, a predetermined durability value is set for the enemy base 312, and the game system 1 stops the function of the enemy base 312 when the total value of points (hereinafter referred to as "supplied value") supplied to the enemy base 312 becomes equal to or greater than the durability value. For example, the game system 1 can display the enemy base 312 being destroyed to indicate that the function of the enemy base 312 has stopped.

[0021] In this way, in game system 1, a player character operated by a player can earn points by attacking and defeating neutral characters and / or enemy player characters, and can supply the earned points to the enemy base to score for the allied team. Here, in game system 1, while an acquired neutral character can be made to act together with the player character as an allied character (in this case, the allied character can be controlled to automatically fight alongside the player character, moving to follow the player and attacking neutral characters and enemy player characters within a predetermined perimeter of the allied character), when the points earned by the player character are converted into points, the allied character owned by the player is deleted at the time of scoring and can no longer be used in the game. Thus, in game system 1, when a neutral character is acquired and made into an allied character, the player can choose whether to convert the points earned by acquiring the neutral character into points and delete the allied character, or to retain the allied character and fight together without converting the points earned into points, thereby improving the strategic nature of the game.

[0022] Furthermore, in the game system 1, a player character can earn points by battling neutral characters without battling enemy player characters, i.e., without engaging in PvP battles. The points can then be converted into points at the enemy base. This allows even players who are hesitant to engage in PvP battles or who feel uncomfortable with PvP battles to contribute to their team. In other words, the game system 1 allows players to enjoy the game without engaging in PvP battles. Furthermore, the game system 1 allows players to improve their battling proficiency in the game through battling neutral characters. As a result, the game system 1 allows players to become accustomed to battling and gradually reduce their discomfort with PvP battles.

[0023] Furthermore, in the game system 1, the player character acquires experience points when the player character defeats a neutral character or an enemy player character, and when the total experience points acquired reaches or exceeds a predetermined value, the player character's appearance and abilities can be changed (hereinafter, this change is referred to as "evolution"). Through this evolution, the player character's abilities can be improved and the player character can learn "techniques" to attack neutral characters or enemy player characters. In conventional MOBAs, the player character must acquire and equip specific items in the game to improve the player character's attack power, etc., but in the game system 1, the player character automatically learns "techniques" as the player character evolves, so the player character can be strengthened without any complicated operations. Furthermore, in the game system 1, the player character's appearance can be changed through "evolution," so the player can understand at a glance how strong the player character is.

[0024] The information terminals 3, 3a, ..., 3n are information terminals such as mobile phones, smartphones, laptops, tablet PCs, PCs, portable game consoles, and / or home game consoles. When multiple information terminals are present, the types of the information terminals may be different. The game system 1 according to this embodiment will be described in detail below, but it should be noted that the names and numerical values ​​in the above and following descriptions are merely examples, the present invention is not limited to these proper names and numerical values, and these proper names and numerical values ​​do not necessarily relate to real proper names or numerical values.

[0025] <Details of Game System 1> Fig. 3 shows an example of the functional configuration of the game system according to this embodiment, and Fig. 4 shows an example of the data configuration of each storage section of a storage unit included in the game system according to this embodiment.

[0026] [Game System 1 Configuration Overview] The game system 1 according to this embodiment is a game system in which a player, a friendly team including friendly players, and an enemy team including enemy players compete in a play field 300, and the outcome of the game is decided by comparing the points earned by each team. The game system 1 includes a display unit 10 that displays the play field 300, a player character, etc., a display control unit 15 that controls the display of the display unit 10, an input unit 20 that receives instructions from the player, a storage unit 25 that stores various information used in the game, a character action control unit 30 that controls the action of the player character, an appearance control unit 35 that controls the appearance of neutral characters and / or special characters, a battle control unit 40 that controls battles between the player character and various other characters, a battle result determination unit 45 that determines the results of battles between the player character and various other characters, and a character status determination unit 50 that determines the status of the character. The game system includes a status determination unit 50, an ally character control unit 55 that controls the actions of ally characters, a special character control unit 57 that controls the actions of special characters, an experience value granting unit 60 that grants experience points to the player character, a point granting control unit 62 that grants points to the player character or the player, an evolution control unit 64 that controls the evolution of the player character, a scoring unit 70 that converts points into scores, a base control unit 80 that controls ally bases and enemy bases, a win / loss determination unit 85 that determines the outcome of the game, a limit creation unit 87 that creates a predetermined limit between bases, and a time limit control unit 90 that controls the time limit of the game. Note that a special character is a neutral character (NPC) that can battle against the player character and that belongs to the team to which the player character belongs even if the player character wins a battle against the player character, but is not stored in the character storage area.

[0027] The storage unit 25 has a character information storage section 250 that stores information about player characters, neutral characters, and / or special characters, a team information storage section 252 that stores information about teams participating in the game, a player information storage section 254 that stores information about players, and a playfield information storage section 256 that stores information about the playfield 300.

[0028] The game system 1 may include the above-described multiple components in the same physical device or location, or some of the multiple components may be located in physically separate locations. In this case, the components may be connected via a communication network such as the Internet. For example, the game system 1 may have an external server perform some of the functions of the components. The game system 1 may also be configured as one or more servers. In this case, the game system 1 is configured by combining an information terminal, components of one server, and components of another server. In this embodiment, a collection of predetermined components can be considered as a single "information processing device," and the game system 1 may be formed as a collection of multiple information processing devices. The allocation of multiple functions required to realize the game system 1 according to this embodiment to one or more pieces of hardware can be determined appropriately in consideration of the processing capabilities of each piece of hardware and / or the specifications required for the game system 1. Furthermore, the various pieces of information stored in the storage unit 25 may be updated based on user instructions or information received via the input unit 20, or may be updated as needed by obtaining predetermined information from a predetermined server external to the game system 1.

[0029] [Gaming System 1 Configuration Details] In the following description, a case will be described in which a player mainly uses an information terminal 3 (for example, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a PC, etc.) to execute a game provided by the game system 1. The information terminal 3 is configured to have at least a display unit 10 and an input unit 20.

[0030] (Display unit 10, display control unit 15) The display unit 10 is controlled by the display control unit 15 and displays information about the game, including the playfield 300 on which the game is played, player characters (ally player characters and enemy player characters), neutral characters, special characters, and / or other items. The display unit 10 outputs various processing results and information stored in the storage unit 25 in a manner that can be perceived by the player. Specifically, the display control unit 15 causes the display unit 10 to display various processing results in each component and information stored in the storage unit 25 as data in a predetermined format, still images, moving images, and / or text. The display unit 10 may also display information received from an external server.

[0031] (Input unit 20, input surface 200, input control unit 210) The input unit 20 accepts inputs such as predetermined instructions and operations from the player. The input unit 20 supplies the instructions to predetermined components of the game system 1. Each component that accepts the instructions performs its respective predetermined function. For example, the input unit 20 is a touch panel, a tablet, a mouse, a motion sensor, etc. In this embodiment, an example will be described in which the input unit 20 is a touch panel provided in the information terminal 3. Note that the touch panel may be capable of detecting multi-touch. Specifically, the touch panel serving as the input unit 20 has an input surface 200 onto which operations and the like are input from the player, and an input control unit 210 that acquires information related to the operations input onto the input surface 200. The touch panel is disposed over the display unit 10, and the surface of the touch panel corresponds to the input surface 200.

[0032] For example, the display unit 10 is provided with an area for receiving predetermined instructions, and the input surface 200 detects the predetermined instruction at a position designated by a player's operation (for example, a touch operation, a tap operation, a slide operation, etc.) on the area of ​​the input surface 200. The input surface 200 supplies the detected information, i.e., information indicating the predetermined instruction at the detected position, to the input control unit 210. The input control unit 210 acquires the information indicating the predetermined instruction from the input surface 200, and supplies the information to predetermined components of the game system 1.

[0033] (Storage Unit 25) The storage unit 25 stores various information related to the game system 1. Each storage section included in the storage unit 25 supplies predetermined information to a predetermined component of the game system 1 in response to a request from that component. In the game system 1, when one game ends, the next game may be executed without carrying over the status of the previous game. Therefore, in the game system 1, information regarding experience points, levels, statuses, owned points, owned ally characters, and / or evolution status, etc., for all of the player character, allied player characters, and enemy player characters is reset to its initial state before the next game is started. In other words, the game system 1 may reset at least a portion of the information stored in the storage unit 25 to its initial value each time a new game is started.

[0034] (Storage unit 25: character information storage section 250) The character information storage unit 250 stores various information about characters (character information) in association with a character ID that identifies the character. Here, characters include player characters, neutral characters, and special characters. Examples of character information include the character's name, the character's status (e.g., experience points, level, hit points (HP), etc.), points associated with the character (points possessed by the character), attacking means normally available to the character, techniques available to the character when a predetermined condition is met, whether the character has evolved, and the character ID of the evolved character if the character has evolved. In the game system 1, a player can arbitrarily select a player character to use in the game from among multiple characters at the start of a game. Here, if a character is a player character, the character's status, points possessed by the character, whether the character has evolved, etc. are reset each time a new game is started. If a character is a player character, the points possessed by the character are synonymous with the points associated with the player.

[0035] In addition, the "technique" may include a technique to steal points held by an enemy player character (points associated with the enemy player), an ally character of the enemy player character stored in the character storage area of ​​the enemy player character, and / or an ally character of the enemy player character appearing on the playfield 300.

[0036] (Storage unit 25: team information storage section 252) The team information storage unit 252 stores various information (team information) related to the team in association with a team ID that identifies the team. The team information includes, for example, information related to the players constituting the team (for example, player IDs described later), character IDs of characters (for example, special characters) associated with the team in the game, points acquired by the team in the game, and the like.

[0037] Here, a team is made up of one or more players. In the game system 1, the one or more players who make up a team can be randomly determined at the start of a game, or one player can invite other players to form a team. Therefore, information about players as team information stored by the team information storage unit 252 in association with a team ID may be reset every time a new game is played. Note that the team information stored by the team information storage unit 252 may also be reset every time a game ends.

[0038] Furthermore, the team information storage unit 252 can temporarily store character IDs. For example, when a player character belonging to a team defeats a special character during game execution, the team information storage unit 252 may store the character ID of the special character for a certain period of time and erase the character ID after the certain period of time has elapsed. Furthermore, the team information storage unit 252 may store the character IDs of the special characters stored during game execution in chronological order. Furthermore, the team information storage unit 252 may erase all character IDs stored during game execution at the end of the game.

[0039] (Storage unit 25: player information storage section 254) The player information storage unit 254 stores information about players playing the game. Specifically, the player information storage unit 254 stores player information in association with a player ID that identifies the player. The player information is information about, for example, the player's name, neutral characters acquired by the player by winning battles during the game, and rewards acquired by the player in the game (including points, scores, experience points, etc. acquired by playing the game). The player information storage unit 254 can update information about neutral characters as player information every time a player wins a battle during the game and acquires the neutral character, or can store the information in chronological order. Among the player information stored in the player information storage unit 254, information about neutral characters acquired by the player and rewards acquired by the player in the game is reset every time the game ends. Alternatively, information on neutral characters acquired by a player and rewards acquired by a player in a game, etc., as player information stored in the player information storage unit 254 in association with a player ID, may be reset each time a game is executed. Note that what is reset here is information for continuing a series of plays from the start of play until the victory or defeat of a team is decided, and game play history information (number of wins and losses in battles, number of acquired experience points) that is the result of a series of game plays is not reset and is stored in the player information storage unit 254. For example, by repeating a series of game plays and winning a predetermined number of times, the types of player characters and the types of techniques of the player characters that a player can use increase.

[0040] (Storage unit 25: Playfield information storage section 256) The playfield information storage unit 256 stores information about the playfield 300. Specifically, the playfield information storage unit 256 stores the playfield information in association with a playfield ID that identifies the playfield. The playfield information is, for example, information about the name of the playfield, the arrangement and number of various elements that make up the playfield, etc. Note that the game system 1 can also use a fixed, predetermined playfield, in which case the storage unit 25 does not need to have the playfield information storage unit 256.

[0041] (Character movement control unit 30) The character movement control unit 30 controls the movement of the player's player character within the playfield 300 based on the player's instructions. Specifically, the character movement control unit 30 controls the player character's movements, such as movement, stopping, attack, defense, and scoring of points, within the playfield 300 based on the player's instructions received by the input unit 20. The display unit 10 is controlled by the display control unit 15 and displays the movements of the player character controlled by the character movement control unit 30.

[0042] (Appearance control unit 35) The appearance control unit 35 controls the appearance of neutral characters and / or special characters on the playfield 300. The appearance control unit 35 makes the neutral characters and / or special characters appear at predetermined time intervals or random time intervals in predetermined locations on the playfield 300. From the viewpoint of equalizing the opportunities for players belonging to each team to encounter neutral characters and / or special characters, it is preferable that the appearance control unit 35 makes the neutral characters and / or special characters appear at predetermined time intervals.

[0043] Here, from the viewpoint of providing equal opportunities for player characters belonging to a first team (e.g., the team to which the player belongs) and player characters belonging to a second team (e.g., the opposing team) to come into contact with the neutral character, multiple neutral character appearance locations can be provided at positions that are symmetrical with respect to a predetermined imaginary line passing through the center of the playfield 300, for example. For example, in the approximately elliptical playfield 300 shown in FIG. 2, the appearance control unit 35 uses the minor axis passing through the center of the playfield 300 as the axis of symmetry, and causes a neutral character to appear at a predetermined position on the lane 306, while also causing a neutral character of the same type to appear at a position that is symmetrical with respect to the predetermined position. Note that multiple neutral character appearance locations may be provided at positions that are point-symmetrical with respect to the center of the playfield 300.

[0044] Furthermore, from the viewpoint of providing equal opportunities for contact with the special character, the appearance control unit 35 also causes the special character to appear in an area where each team can equally contact the special character. For example, the appearance control unit 35 causes the special character to appear at a specific position on the playfield 300, for example, the center portion 316 and / or, if the playfield 300 is substantially elliptical, near the intersection of the minor axis passing through the center of the playfield 300 and the lane 306, at predetermined time intervals. Furthermore, when the appearance control unit 35 causes the special character to appear, the display unit 10 is controlled by the display control unit 15 to display information (e.g., text display) indicating that the special character has appeared at a predetermined position on the display unit 10.

[0045] (Match control unit 40) When a neutral character, a special character, and / or an enemy player character is present within a predetermined range from the player character, and the input unit 20 receives a player's instruction to attack these characters (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as "target character"), the match control unit 40 starts a battle between the player character and the target character and controls the battle. For example, in response to the player's instruction received by the input unit 20, the match control unit 40 causes the player character to attack the target character and inflicts damage based on the attack on the target character. Furthermore, when the player character is attacked by the target character, the match control unit 40 inflicts damage based on the attack on the player character.

[0046] For example, the match control unit 40 changes the status of the player character based on the damage the player character has received from the target character (for example, by reducing HP, which indicates the damage the character can withstand), and changes the status of the target character based on the damage the target character has received from the player character. The display unit 10 is controlled by the display control unit 15, and displays the state of the match between the player character controlled by the match control unit 40 and the target character, the damage inflicted on the opponent character, etc. Note that the match control unit 40 can also cause the player character to perform an attack action when it receives an attack instruction from the player via the input unit 20, even if the target character is not within a predetermined range of the player character.

[0047] Furthermore, a player character may have one or more attacking means. That is, in addition to normally available attacking means that can attack a target character at any timing during the game, the player character may also use predetermined techniques based on the experience points the player character has acquired. For example, a predetermined experience point is associated with a technique as character information stored in the character information storage unit 250 in association with a character ID, and when the experience points acquired by the player character reach or exceed the predetermined experience point, the match control unit 40 permits the player character to use the technique. Furthermore, when the match control unit 40 receives an instruction from the player to use a technique via the input unit 20, after the player character has activated the predetermined technique, the match control unit 40 may prohibit the player character from using the technique again until a predetermined time has elapsed. The match control unit 40 supplies information indicating changes in the player character's status and changes in the target character's status resulting from the match to the match result determination unit 45.

[0048] (Match result determination unit 45) The battle result determination unit 45 determines the battle result between the player character and the target character in the battle controlled by the battle control unit 40. Specifically, the battle result determination unit 45 determines which character won or lost the battle based on changes in the status of the player character and the target character. For example, each character has hit points (HP) as one of its statuses, and the battle result determination unit 45 determines that the character whose HP reaches zero first in the battle is defeated, and that the character with the most HP remaining is victorious.

[0049] Furthermore, when three or more characters are fighting, for example, when a battle is being executed in which a player character on the friendly team (friendly player character) and a player character on the enemy team (enemy player character) are attacking a neutral character or a special character, the battle result determination unit 45 may determine that the character that last performed an attack that reduced the HP of the neutral character or special character to zero has satisfied the condition for acquiring the neutral character (won) (i.e., it may be determined that the friendly player character has defeated the neutral character or special character). Furthermore, the battle result determination unit 45 may determine that the character that performed the greatest number of attacks (number of hits) until the HP of the neutral character or special character was reduced to zero, or the character that inflicted the greatest total amount of damage (i.e., the total amount of HP reduction) on the neutral character or special character, has won. The battle result determination unit 45 supplies information indicating the battle result to the character state determination unit 50, the experience value granting unit 60, and the point granting control unit 62.

[0050] (Character state determination unit 50) The character state determination unit 50 determines the state of the player character and / or the target character based on the determination result of the battle result determination unit 45. If the determination result of the battle result determination unit 45 (i.e., the battle result) indicates a victory for the player character, the character state determination unit 50 determines the state of the player character and / or the target character according to the type of the target character. Then, the character state determination unit 50 supplies information indicating the determination result to the ally character control unit 55 and the special character control unit 57.

[0051] Specifically, if the target character is a neutral character, the character state determination unit 50 associates the neutral character with the player if a predetermined acquisition condition is met. That is, the character state determination unit 50 associates the neutral character that the player character has defeated with the player. The character state determination unit 50 stores the character ID of this neutral character as an ally character in the player information storage unit 254, in association with the player ID, as player information. This determines the state in which the player has acquired this neutral character. Then, the character state determination unit 50 erases the display of this neutral character from the playfield 300. That is, the character state determination unit 50 causes the display control unit 15 to erase the display of the neutral character on the display unit 10. Furthermore, in accordance with the association of the neutral character with the player, the character state determination unit 50 changes the neutral character to an ally character and associates it with the player. Furthermore, the character state determination unit 50 stores the ally character in a virtual character storage area for the player. For example, the display control unit 15 displays a virtual character storage area at a predetermined position on the display unit 10. The character storage area may be displayed superimposed on the playfield 300. In this case, it is determined that the neutral character has become a friendly character of the player, and that the neutral character is stored in the character storage area. Note that when a neutral character is acquired, it is not necessary to store the neutral character in the character storage area. In this case, the neutral character acts as a friendly character that has appeared on the playfield 300.

[0052] Here, a case will be described in which, when a neutral character is already associated with the player as an ally character, the player character fights against a new neutral character and wins. In this case, the character state determination unit 50 overwrites the character ID of the ally character stored in the player information storage unit 254 in association with the player ID with the character ID of the newly defeated neutral character. That is, in one aspect of the game system 1, only one ally character (i.e., a neutral character that the player can acquire and possess) may be associated with the player, and when the player character defeats multiple neutral characters, the neutral character against which the player character last defeated is associated with the player and becomes the ally character. Then, the character state determination unit 50 erases the ally character already stored in the character storage area and stores the newly defeated neutral character in the character storage area as a new ally character.

[0053] Next, a case will be described in which, while an ally character has appeared on the playfield 300 from the character storage area, the player character and / or the ally character battles and wins against a new neutral character. In this case, the character state determination unit 50 overwrites the character ID of the ally character (this character ID is the character ID of the ally character appearing on the playfield 300) stored in the player information storage unit 254 in association with the player ID with the character ID of the newly defeated neutral character. Then, the character state determination unit 50 erases the ally character appearing on the playfield 300 and stores the newly defeated neutral character as an ally character in the character storage area. Therefore, in this case, the newly defeated neutral character is determined to have become the player's ally character and to be stored in the character storage area, and after being stored in the character storage area, the original ally character that appeared on the playfield 300 is determined to have been erased. Note that the original ally character may not be erased, and multiple ally characters may be stored in the character storage area. In this case, it is preferable to display a plurality of display icons in the character storage area so as to correspond to a plurality of characters.

[0054] Furthermore, when a player character defeats a neutral character, the character state determination unit 50 may associate the neutral character with the team to which the player of the player character belongs. For example, the character state determination unit 50 stores the character ID of the neutral character as an ally character in the team information storage unit 252 in association with the team ID as team information. This allows the team to which the player of the player character belongs to acquire the neutral character as an ally character. In this case, the character state determination unit 50 may set an upper limit on the number of ally characters that can be associated with a team. However, the player who can acquire the points owned by the neutral character by defeating the neutral character is the player of the player character who defeated the neutral character. Furthermore, in this case, the neutral character acquired by the team may be stored in the character storage area of ​​any player belonging to the team, or the neutral character acquired by the team may not be stored in the character storage area (in this case, the neutral character may remain appearing on the playfield 300).

[0055] Furthermore, when a player character defeats a special character, the character state determination unit 50 associates the special character with the team to which the player of the player character belongs. For example, the character state determination unit 50 stores the character ID of this special character as team information in the team information storage unit 252 in association with the team ID. However, in this case, the character state determination unit 50 does not store the special character in the character storage area, but leaves the special character appearing on the playfield 300.

[0056] When a plurality of characters (ally player characters and / or enemy player characters) attack a neutral character and the determination result of the battle result determination unit 45 indicates that the player character who defeated the neutral character was the player character who last made the attack that reduced the neutral character's HP to zero, the character state determination unit 50 associates the neutral character with the player of this player character. Also, when a plurality of characters attack a special character and the determination result of the battle result determination unit 45 indicates that the player character who defeated the special character was the player character who last made the attack that reduced the special character's HP to zero, the character state determination unit 50 associates the special character with the team to which this player character belongs.

[0057] Furthermore, if the target character is an enemy player character, the character state determination unit 50 moves the enemy player character that lost the battle (for example, an enemy character whose predetermined parameter such as HP has become zero) from the position on the playfield 300 where it lost to the enemy base 304 after a predetermined time has elapsed (i.e., after a predetermined return time has elapsed). Then, the character action control unit 30 controls the action of the enemy player character that has been moved to the enemy base 304 in accordance with instructions from the player of the enemy player character. Note that the character state determination unit 50 can give an advantageous effect (for example, an HP recovery effect) to the enemy player character that is present in the enemy base 304.

[0058] Regardless of the target character, when the player character is defeated, the character state determination unit 50 moves the player character from the position on the playfield 300 where the player character was defeated to the ally's home base 302 after a predetermined time has elapsed (i.e., after a predetermined recovery time has elapsed). In this case, the character action control unit 30 may restore the player character's HP and the like to full. Then, the character action control unit 30 controls the action of the player character that has been moved to the ally's home base 302 in accordance with instructions from the player of the player character. The character state determination unit 50 can impart advantageous effects (for example, HP recovery effects) to ally player characters that are present in the ally's home base 302.

[0059] (Allied character control section 55) The ally character control unit 55 controls the actions of the ally characters based on information indicating the determination results of the character state determination unit 50. Specifically, when a neutral character is associated with the player, the ally character control unit 55 controls the ally characters to generate predetermined effects on the playfield 300. In other words, when the player has an ally character, the ally character control unit 55 controls the ally characters to generate effects on the playfield 300 based on the characteristics of the ally character.

[0060] For example, if the determination result of the character state determination unit 50 indicates that the player character has satisfied the conditions for acquiring a neutral character in a battle between the player character and a neutral character, the player has the neutral character as an ally character, and the ally character is stored in the character storage area. The ally character control unit 55 then controls the appearance of the ally character from the character storage area onto the playfield 300 and the storage of the ally character in the character storage area so that the appearance of the ally character onto the playfield 300 and the storage of the ally character in the character storage area can be repeated. For example, the ally character control unit 55 prohibits the appearance of the ally character onto the playfield 300 from the character storage area for a predetermined time after the player acquires the neutral character (i.e., after the neutral character disappears from the playfield 300 and is stored in the character storage area as an ally character). After the predetermined time has elapsed, the ally character can be allowed to appear onto the playfield 300 from the character storage area and stored into the character storage area from the playfield 300 in response to a player instruction received via the input unit 20.

[0061] Furthermore, when the ally character control unit 55 causes an ally character to appear on the playfield 300 in response to a player's instruction, the ally character control unit 55 executes control to automatically follow the player character around the player character. That is, the ally character control unit 55 causes the ally character to follow the player character moving within the playfield 300 in response to a player's instruction received via the input unit 20. The ally character control unit 55 then causes the ally character to automatically attack enemy player characters, other neutral characters, and / or special characters that exist within a predetermined range from the ally character appearing on the playfield 300. The ally character control unit 55 prohibits the ally character from attacking the ally player character and / or another ally character of the ally player character.

[0062] The ally character control unit 55 then automatically causes the ally character to attack the enemy player character, other neutral characters, and / or special characters, and inflicts damage based on the attack on the "enemy player character, other neutral characters, and / or special characters (attack target characters)." The ally character may attack the attack target character closest to the ally character among the attack target characters located within a predetermined range of the ally character, or may attack the attack target character being attacked by the player character. Furthermore, when an ally character is attacked by an attack target character, the ally character control unit 55 inflicts damage based on the attack on the ally character. The ally character control unit 55 then determines the outcome of the battle between the ally character and the attack target character. That is, the ally character control unit 55 determines which character won or lost the battle based on changes in the status of the ally character and the attack target character. For example, the ally character control unit 55 determines that a character whose HP has reached zero has been defeated. The ally character control unit 55 supplies the determination result to the point-granting control unit 62.

[0063] Furthermore, when the player acquires a neutral character as an ally character, the ally character control unit 55 can also cause a predetermined effect (for example, the effect of a technique or skill set for the ally character) that is previously associated with the ally character to occur in a predetermined area of ​​the playfield 300. For example, when a player character of the team to which the player belongs is present in a predetermined area of ​​the playfield 300, the ally character control unit 55 can cause an effect advantageous to the player character (for example, HP recovery, etc.), and when a player character of a team opposing the team to which the player belongs is present in the predetermined area, the ally character control unit 55 can cause an effect disadvantageous to the player character (for example, reduced attack power, etc.).

[0064] (Special Character Control Unit 57) The special character control unit 57 refers to information indicating the determination result received from the character state determination unit 50, and when it acquires information indicating that the result of the match between the player character and the special character indicates a victory for the player character and that the special character is associated with the team to which the player character belongs (i.e., the allied team), it causes a predetermined effect to occur on one or more player characters of the allied team that are present within a predetermined range centered on the special character. The predetermined effect may be an effect that gives an advantage in the progress of the game to the team to which the player character that defeated the special character belongs. Furthermore, when the special character is associated with the allied team, the special character control unit 57 may automatically cause the special character to advance toward the enemy base of the enemy team located within the playfield 300.

[0065] Here, examples of special characters include characters with various characteristics. Examples of special characters include a special character that takes over the points of a player character when defeated by the player character (hereinafter, may be referred to as a "first special character"), and a special character that has a predetermined number of points or more in advance, and when defeated by a player character, is associated with the team to which the player character belongs (ally team), and moves toward the enemy base while attacking enemy player characters (hereinafter, may be referred to as a "second special character"), etc.

[0066] Specifically, when the player character and the first special character battle each other, the special character control unit 57 refers to information indicating the determination result received from the character state determination unit 50, and if the result of the battle between the player character and the first special character indicates a victory for the player character, causes the first special character to inherit the points owned by the player character who defeated the first special character. Then, the special character control unit 57 controls the first special character to advance toward the enemy base 312 of the enemy team that is closest to the point where the first special character was defeated by the player character. When the first special character enters a predetermined range from the enemy base 312, the special character control unit 57 supplies information indicating that the first special character is located within the range to the scoring unit 70.

[0067] Furthermore, when the first special character is attacked by an enemy player character, the special character control unit 57 reduces the HP of the first special character in response to the attack. When the HP of the first special character reaches zero, the special character control unit 57 can eliminate the first special character. In this case, the special character control unit 57 may also erase the points that the first special character has inherited from the player character.

[0068] Furthermore, when the player character and the second special character battle each other, the special character control unit 57 refers to information indicating the determination result received from the character state determination unit 50. If the result of the battle between the player character and the second special character indicates a victory for the player character, the special character control unit 57 assigns the second special character to the team of the player character. The special character control unit 57 then controls the second special character to advance toward the enemy base 312 of the enemy team that is closest to the point where the second special character was defeated by the player character. The special character control unit 57 may also cause the second special character to attack an enemy player character located within a predetermined range from the second special character. When the second special character enters a predetermined range from the enemy base 312, the special character control unit 57 supplies information indicating that the second special character is located within the predetermined range to the scoring unit 70.

[0069] Furthermore, when the second special character is attacked by an enemy player character, the special character control unit 57 reduces the HP of the second special character in response to the attack. When the HP reaches zero, the special character control unit 57 can eliminate the second special character.

[0070] (Experience point granting unit 60) The experience value granting unit 60 grants experience values ​​to the player character. The experience value is a value acquired by the player character, and the level is a numerical value determined according to the cumulative total of the experience values ​​granted, and is a numerical value representing the rank of the player character. Note that when the experience value acquired by the player character fulfills a predetermined condition (for example, when it exceeds a predetermined threshold), the level of the player character can be raised in stages.

[0071] The experience point granting unit 60 grants a predetermined experience point to the player character based on information indicating the battle result received from the battle result determination unit 45. That is, the experience point granting unit 60 grants the experience point to the player character when the player character wins a battle against a neutral character and / or a special character, and / or when the player character wins a battle against an enemy player character. The experience point granting unit 60 may grant a higher experience point to the player character when the player character wins against an enemy player character than when the player character wins against a neutral character. Furthermore, the experience point granting unit 60 may grant a predetermined experience point to the player character based on the passage of game time, grant a player character experience point to the player character when the player character supplies points to an enemy base, and / or grant a predetermined experience point to the player character when information from a base control unit 80 (described later) indicates the player character's destruction of an enemy base.

[0072] Furthermore, while the experience point granting unit 60 can continuously grant a predetermined amount of experience points to the player character from the start to the end of the game, if the player character is defeated in a match against another character, a neutral character, and / or a special character and the character state determination unit 50 moves the player character to the ally's home base 302, the experience point granting unit 60 can not grant experience points to the player character for the period from the time the player character is defeated to the time the move to the ally's home base 302 is completed.

[0073] Furthermore, the game system 1 can cause items that the player character can acquire to gain experience points to appear at predetermined positions on the playfield 300 or by defeating neutral characters. The experience point granting unit 60 grants experience points to the player character when the player character acquires the item. The experience point granting unit 60 supplies information about the experience points granted to the player character to the evolution control unit 64.

[0074] (Point allocation control unit 62) The point-granting control unit 62 controls the granting of points held by a neutral character associated with a player to the player character based on the determination result of the battle result determination unit 45 and / or the ally character control unit 55. That is, when the player character wins against the neutral character in a battle with the neutral character, the point-granting control unit 62 grants the points held by the neutral character to the player character. In addition, when the player character wins against the enemy player character in a battle with the enemy player character, the point-granting control unit 62 also grants predetermined points to the player character.

[0075] The point-giving control unit 62 may grant predetermined points to the player character when the player character wins against the special character in a match against the special character. However, since the special character provides an advantageous effect to the team to which the player character that won against the special character belongs, the point-giving control unit 62 may not grant predetermined points to the player character when the player character wins against the special character, in consideration of game balance, etc.

[0076] When the point-granting control unit 62 grants points to the player character, it adds the points to be granted to the points already held by the player character and causes the player character to retain the resulting points. An upper limit can be set on the number of points that the player character can retain (for example, the upper limit can be set to 50 points, 100 points, etc.). If the player character's points have reached the upper limit, the point-granting control unit 62 does not grant points to the player character even if the player character newly defeats a neutral character. In this case, the point-granting control unit 62 prohibits the granting of points to the player character even if the player character newly defeats a neutral character unless the points held by the scoring unit 70, described later, are reduced to zero or less than the upper limit through a scoring process. By setting an upper limit on the number of points that can be retained in this way, the player is more likely to be motivated to participate in the scoring process by the scoring unit 70, described later.

[0077] Furthermore, when a player character having points is defeated in a battle against an enemy player character, a special character, and / or a neutral character, the point-granting control unit 62 may reduce the number of points held by the player character by a predetermined amount. Furthermore, when the point-granting control unit 62 acquires from the ally character control unit 55 a determination result indicating that an ally character on the playfield 300 has been defeated in a battle against the player character, another neutral character, and / or a special character, the point-granting control unit 62 may reduce the number of points held by the player character by a predetermined amount. Note that the point-granting control unit 62 causes the display unit 10 to display the number of points held by the player character near the player character and / or near the character storage area.

[0078] Note that, when a neutral character is already associated with the player (i.e., when an ally character already exists), if the player character battles and wins against a new neutral character, the character state determination unit 50 erases the ally character stored in the character storage area. Also, when an ally character has appeared from the character storage area onto the playfield 300, if the player character and / or the ally character battles and wins against a new neutral character, the character state determination unit 50 erases the ally character appearing on the playfield 300. In these cases, the point-granting control unit 62 does not need to reduce the points held by the player character even though the ally character has been erased, and does not need to change the points that the player character can acquire based on the remaining HP of the ally character at the time the new neutral character is defeated.

[0079] (Evolution Control Unit 64) The evolution control unit 64 evolves the player character based on the experience points granted to the player character by the experience point granting unit 60. Specifically, the evolution control unit 64 may evolve the player character when the player character reaches a predetermined level and / or when the player character acquires a predetermined number of experience points or more. The evolution control unit 64 may enable the player character to use predetermined techniques in accordance with the evolution of the player character. Furthermore, the evolution control unit 64 may change the content of the techniques that the player character can use and / or the effectiveness of the techniques in accordance with the level of the player character.

[0080] In this way, the game system 1 allows the player character to use predetermined techniques based on the experience points acquired by the player character. Therefore, unlike conventional games, the game system 1 does not require the player to purchase items such as weapons using in-game currency or the like within the game, allowing the player to smoothly strengthen the player character and enjoy the game without complicated operations.

[0081] (Scoring unit 70) When at least one of the player character and the ally character is located within a predetermined area provided within the playfield 300, the scoring unit 70 converts the points awarded to the player character into the score of the allied team. Specifically, when at least one of the player character and the ally character is located within a predetermined range of the enemy base 312 of the enemy team provided within the playfield 300, the scoring unit 70 converts the points held by the player character into the score of the player's allied team in response to a predetermined operation of the player received via the input unit 20. In this case, when the scoring unit 70 converts the points into the score of the allied team, the character state determination unit 50 erases the allied character stored in the character storage area or the allied character appearing on the playfield 300. Furthermore, the scoring unit 70 supplies a supply value corresponding to the score to the enemy base 312, causing the enemy base 312 to accumulate the supply value. The scoring unit 70 supplies the score of each team to the winner / loser determination unit 85 and supplies information about the supply values ​​accumulated in the opponent's base 312 to the base control unit 80 .

[0082] Here, when converting the points of the player character into the points of the friendly team (i.e., when converting the points into scores), and when accumulating a supply value corresponding to the scores in the enemy base 312, the scoring unit 70 may complete the scoring and accumulation when a predetermined time has elapsed. In other words, the scoring unit 70 may not complete the scoring and accumulation of the supply value until a predetermined time has elapsed since the player character entered a predetermined range of the enemy base 312. Note that, in one enemy base 312, the scoring unit 70 may score points until the durability value of the enemy base 312, which will be described later, reaches an upper limit. Note that the scoring unit 70 may not start the lapse of the predetermined time simply when the player character enters a predetermined range of the enemy base 312, but may start the lapse of time after the player performs a scoring operation.

[0083] Furthermore, the scoring unit 70 may shorten the predetermined time required to complete scoring and accumulation of the supply value when a predetermined special character (for example, a first special character) belonging to the friendly team is present within a predetermined range of the enemy base 312. In this case, a player character belonging to the friendly team that is present within a predetermined range of the special character and also within a predetermined range of the enemy base 312 can score the points that it possesses and supply a supply value according to the score obtained by the scoring to the enemy base 312 at the time when the shortened predetermined time has elapsed.

[0084] Furthermore, when the scoring unit 70 receives information from the special character control unit 57 indicating that the first special character is located within a predetermined range from the enemy base 312, it can convert the points carried over by at least the first special character into the score of the friendly team, and supply a supply value corresponding to the score to the enemy base 312, thereby causing the supply value to accumulate in the enemy base 312. Furthermore, when the scoring unit 70 receives information from the special character control unit 57 indicating that the second special character is located within a predetermined range from the enemy base 312, it can convert the points held by the second special character into the score of the friendly team, and supply a supply value corresponding to the score to the enemy base 312, thereby causing the supply value to accumulate in the enemy base 312.

[0085] Furthermore, when the scoring unit 70 converts the points held by a player character into the score of the player character's team, it limits the generation of the effects of the ally character. For example, the scoring unit 70 erases the ally character stored in the character storage area or the ally character appearing on the playfield 300. Here, the ally character may be erased immediately after scoring, or after a predetermined time has elapsed since scoring. Note that the scoring unit 70 may change the status of the ally character without erasing it. For example, the scoring unit 70 may reduce the HP, attack power, defense power, etc. of the ally character as the points are scored. This allows the player to select whether to score the points even if the ally character is weakened, or to leave the points unscored and use the ally character as a teammate without weakening it. Furthermore, when the scoring unit 70 converts the points into the score of the ally team, it may erase the effects of the ally character that were generated in a predetermined area of ​​the playfield 300.

[0086] (Base control unit 80) First, a predetermined durability value is assigned to each base, i.e., each friendly base and each enemy base. If there are multiple bases, the durability values ​​of each base may be the same or different. However, from the perspective of improving the strategic nature of the game, if there are multiple bases, an upper limit can be set on the durability value of each base, and the durability value of each base can be set differently. For example, if there are multiple enemy bases 312 on the playfield 300, the durability value of the enemy base 312 can be set lower the closer it is to the friendly base 302, and higher the farther it is from the friendly base 302. Furthermore, the durability value of the enemy base 312 (final base) closest to the enemy base 304 need not be set to a substantial upper limit. A higher durability value corresponds to an increase in the number of points the opposing team can convert. The base control unit 80 then disables the enemy base 312 when the total supply value accumulated by the scoring unit 70 in the enemy base 312 exceeds the durability value. The base control unit 80 similarly controls the friendly base 310. The base control unit 80 supplies information indicating the control result to the experience value providing unit 60 and the winner / loser determining unit 85 .

[0087] If there are multiple bases, the base control unit 80 enables the base closest to the base of the team to which the player character belongs (the teammate base 302 if the player character is on the teammate's team, or the enemy base 304 if the player character is on the enemy team) to be disabled first. For example, if the player character is on the teammate's team and multiple enemy bases 312 exist at intervals from the side closest to the teammate's base 302 toward the enemy base 304, the base control unit 80 can disable the function of another enemy base 312 next to the enemy base 312 (i.e., the enemy base 312 next closest to the teammate's base 302) only after disabling the function of the enemy base 312 closest to the teammate's base 302 (i.e., after destroying the enemy base 312).

[0088] Furthermore, when a player character of a team to which a given base belongs is present within a predetermined range from a given base (for example, when a player character of an allied team or an allied player character is present within a predetermined range from an allied base), the base control unit 80 can generate an advantageous effect for the player character. The advantageous effect may be, for example, gradually recovering the HP of a player character of the allied team present within a predetermined range from the allied base over time, or increasing the offensive power, defensive power, etc. by a certain percentage for a certain period of time. Note that, when a player character of a team to which a given base belongs enters within a predetermined range from a base, the base control unit 80 may continue to generate the advantageous effect for a certain period of time even if the player character leaves the predetermined range.

[0089] Note that, when a player character and / or an ally character of one team is present within a predetermined range from a base of one team, the base control unit 80 may cause the base to attack the player character and / or the ally character of the player character that has entered that range. However, from the perspective of making the progress of the game intuitively easy to understand, the base control unit 80 does not have to cause the base to attack the character.

[0090] (Winner / Loser Division 85) The winner / loser determination unit 85 ends the game when a predetermined game time has elapsed and determines the winner of the game based on the scores of each team at the end of the game. The winner / loser determination unit 85 determines the winner of the game based on information received from the scoring unit 70 and / or information received from the base control unit 80. In other words, the winner / loser determination unit 85 determines the winner of the game not based on the points held by each character, but based on the total score obtained by scoring points based on the player's instructions and points obtained by scoring points based on the actions of the special character. The winner / loser determination unit 85 compares the scores of each team and determines the team with the highest score as the winning team. The winner / loser determination unit 85 causes the display unit 10 to display the win / loss of each team along with the score of each team.

[0091] (Restriction generating unit 87) Within the playfield 300, multiple bases for each team are provided at intervals. That is, multiple bases for the friendly team (friendly bases) and multiple bases for the opposing team (enemy bases) are provided at predetermined intervals. When a player character and an ally character of the player character of a team other than the team to which the player character belongs invades between one base and another base adjacent to the first base, the restriction generating unit 87 imposes a restriction on the movement of the player character and the ally character. The restriction may be, for example, a restriction that slows the movement speed or an effect that reduces HP. For example, when a player character and / or an ally character of the friendly team invades between one enemy base and another enemy base adjacent to the first enemy base, the restriction generating unit 87 may slow the movement speed of the player character and / or the ally character. The restriction generating unit 87 may display a situation in which movement is restricted on the display unit 10. For example, the restriction generating unit 87 may indicate a situation in which movement is restricted by superimposing a predetermined mark, pattern, or the like around the player character and / or ally character whose movement is restricted.

[0092] Here, when a predetermined restriction is imposed between a base and another base located adjacent to the first base, if the function of at least one of the first base or the other base is stopped by the base control unit 80, the restriction generating unit 87 cancels the predetermined restriction. Furthermore, the restriction generating unit 87 can also enable the suspension of the function of another base located adjacent to the first base, on the condition that the function of one base of the other team that is closer to the home base of the other team is suspended. That is, when there are multiple bases (e.g., enemy bases), after the function of the enemy base closer to the home base of the team is suspended (i.e., after the friendly player character destroys this enemy base), the restriction generating unit 87 enables the function of the enemy base next closest to the friendly base to be suspended (i.e., the friendly player character can destroy this enemy base).

[0093] (Time limit control unit 90) In the game system 1, a time limit for playing the game is preset. An extension base that allows the time limit to be extended may be provided within the playfield 300, or may appear after a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the game. The time limit control unit 90 extends the time limit by a predetermined time when one or more player characters belonging to the friendly team are within a predetermined range from the extension base for a predetermined time (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as the "extension time"). The extension base may be destroyable by an opposing player character attacking it and inflicting a predetermined amount of damage. When one or more player characters belonging to the friendly team are within a predetermined range from the extension base, the time limit control unit 90 may reset the count of the extension time or extend the extension time itself if an opposing player character attacks one or more player characters of the friendly team.

[0094] [Example of operation of the input section of game system 1] FIG. 5 shows an overview of an example of a movement instruction to a player character by an input unit in the game system according to this embodiment.

[0095] In the game system 1, a player can use, for example, an information terminal 3 equipped with a touch panel to operate a player character 400 in a playfield 300, which is a virtual space. Here, the game system 1 displays, on the display unit 10, a movement instruction input area 212 that accepts movement instructions for the player character 400 so as to be perceptible by the player. The movement instruction input area 212 has a direction display area 214 that indicates the movement direction of the player character 400, and a direction instruction unit 216 that accepts the movement direction and movement instructions for the player character 400 from the player.

[0096] For example, as shown in FIG. 5 , the display control unit 15 displays a direction display area 214 in a predetermined area of ​​the display unit 10. Then, when the input unit 20 has not received a movement instruction for the player character 400 from the player or the moment the input unit 20 receives the instruction, the display control unit 15 displays a direction indicator 216 on the display unit 10 at a predetermined position (e.g., the center) of the direction display area 214. Then, when the input unit 20 receives a movement instruction for the player character 400 from the player, for example, when the player's finger touches the vicinity of the direction display area 214 of the touch panel and the movement direction and movement instruction for the player character 400 by the player's finger (e.g., a movement instruction by sliding the finger in a predetermined direction) is received, the display control unit 15 displays the direction indicator 216 at the contact position (hereinafter, a position where a finger that is not touching the touch panel touches the touch panel is referred to as an “initial position”). Note that the direction indicator 216 is displayed in an area that can be superimposed on the direction display area 214.

[0097] Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the input unit 20 detects the current position of the finger on the touch panel (hereinafter, the position where the finger is currently in contact with the touch panel will be referred to as the "current position." However, at this stage, it is assumed that the finger has not substantially left the touch panel from the "initial position" to the "current position."), and the display unit 10 displays on the display unit 10, based on the detection by the input unit 20, how the direction indicator 216 is being moved to a predetermined position around the direction display area 214, which is a position corresponding to the direction from the initial position toward the current position. In the example of FIG. 5, an instruction to move the player character 400 in the upper left direction of the playfield 300 is input. Then, the character action control unit 30 moves the player character 400 based on the instruction received by the input unit 20. In the example of FIG. 5, the player character 400 moves in the upper left direction.

[0098] The direction indicator 216 may be displayed and moved within and around the direction display area 214. The input control unit 210 may then erase the display of the direction indicator 216 when the finger is no longer in contact with the touch panel. When the finger next comes into contact with the vicinity of the direction display area 214, the input control unit 210 repeats the same control as above. In the above example, the input control unit 210 accepts instructions from the player via the touch panel, but the input control unit 210 can also accept instructions from the player via another input unit 20 such as a mouse or keyboard.

[0099] The display unit 10 also displays an attack instruction area 600 in which the player character 400 receives instructions to attack a target character such as a neutral character or an enemy player character, and a move generation area 602 in which an instruction to perform a predetermined move is received. The input control unit 210 receives instructions from the player in the attack instruction area 600 and the move generation area 602, and supplies the received instructions to the battle control unit 40. The battle control unit 40 controls the battle between the player character 400 and the target character based on the received instructions. If the player character 400 is not permitted to use a predetermined move, a mark indicating that the move cannot be used is displayed in the move generation area 602. If the player character 400 is permitted to use a move due to gaining experience points, leveling up, evolution, or the like, a mark indicating a move that can be used is displayed in the move generation area 602.

[0100] Furthermore, the display unit 10 can display in predetermined areas an overall view 318, which is a scaled-down map of the entire playfield 300, a character storage area 320, a stored character display 322 displaying the allied characters stored in the character storage area 320, an allied team score 500 indicating the allied team's score, an enemy team score 502 indicating the enemy team's score, a remaining game time 504 indicating the remaining game time, and a player score 506 indicating the player's own score. The overall view 318 may display the positions of allied player characters, enemy player characters, neutral characters, and / or special characters in real time, and for allied player characters and enemy player characters, the points held by each character may be displayed. Furthermore, in response to a player's instruction received via the input unit 20, the display unit 10 can also display a return instruction area 700, which allows the player character 400 to return to the allied home base 302 over a predetermined time period, regardless of the position of the player character 400 on the playfield 300 at the time of the instruction.

[0101] In the following description, for the sake of simplicity, the movement instruction input area 212 will not be shown or described.

[0102] [Example of a battle with a neutral character] 6 to 8 show an overview of a battle between a player character and a neutral character in the game system according to this embodiment. Specifically, Fig. 6 shows an overview of the situation at the start of an attack, Fig. 7 shows an overview of the situation immediately after the player character 400 wins, and Fig. 8 shows an overview of the point display.

[0103] 6, when a neutral character 410 is present within a predetermined range of a player character 400 moving on a lane 306 of a playfield 300 in response to a player's operation, the match-up control unit 40 enables the player character 400 to attack the neutral character. Then, when the match-up control unit 40 receives an attack instruction from the player to the neutral character 410 via the input unit 20, the match-up control unit 40 starts a match between the player character 400 and the neutral character 410. For example, when the input unit 20 receives an instruction from the player regarding an attack instruction area 600, the match-up control unit 40 causes the player character 400 to execute an attack on the neutral character 410 (for example, a normal attack that the player character 400 can use from the start of the game).

[0104] Here, the display unit 10 can display a status 510 of the player character 400 near the player character 400, and a status 411 of the neutral character 410 near the neutral character 410. The status displays, for example, the level, HP, and owned points of each character. As an example, the status has a rectangular portion indicating HP with the length of a horizontal bar, a roughly square level display area at the left end of the rectangular portion displaying the character's level as a number, and a hexagonal point display area at the right end of the rectangular portion indicating the points owned by the character. In the example of FIG. 6, the status 510 indicates that the player character 400's level is "1," its HP is full, and its owned points are zero, and the status 411 indicates that the neutral character 410's level is "1," its HP is full, and its owned points are "1."

[0105] The battle control unit 40 causes the display unit 10 to display the status 510 and the status 411 (for example, the decrease in HP) that change in response to the battle between the player character 400 and the neutral character 410. Then, for example, when the HP of the neutral character 410 becomes zero due to an attack by the player character 400, the battle result determination unit 45 determines that the player character 400 has won against the neutral character 410. Next, based on the determination result of the battle result determination unit 45, the character state determination unit 50 associates the neutral character 410 with the player of the player character 400. This means that the player has acquired the neutral character 410.

[0106] Then, as shown in Fig. 7, the character state determination unit 50 erases the display of the neutral character 410 from the playfield 300 and stores the defeated neutral character 410 as an ally character in the player's character storage area 320. For example, the display unit 10 displays a ball-shaped character storage area 320 at a predetermined position, and displays a stored character display 322 that displays the ally character stored in the character storage area 320 at a position where the character storage area 320 is in contact with or in the vicinity of the character storage area 320. In the examples of Figs. 6 and 7, the neutral character 410 has become an ally character, so it can be seen by referring to the stored character display 322 that the neutral character 410 is stored in the character storage area 320 as an ally character. The stored character display 322 displays, for example, an image of the ally character, but may also display the name of the ally character. In this case, the display unit 10 may also display a presentation display 800 at a predetermined position to indicate the acquisition of a neutral character or the acquisition of points / experience points, so as to make it easier for the player to understand that the player character 400 has acquired a neutral character 410.

[0107] Furthermore, the lapse of a predetermined time may be a condition before the ally character control unit 55 is allowed to repeatedly cause an ally character to appear on the playfield 300 from the character storage area 320 and store the ally character in the character storage area 320. That is, the ally character may be prohibited from appearing on the playfield 300 until a predetermined time has elapsed since the ally character was stored in the character storage area 320. The display unit 10 may display a countdown display 324 on the character storage area 320 so that the player can perceive the passage of this predetermined time. For example, the display unit 10 displays a countdown display 324 indicating the time until the ally character control unit 55 is allowed to control the appearance of the ally character on the playfield 300 and the storage of the ally character in the character storage area 320. After the countdown display 324 ends, the ally character control unit 55, in response to an instruction from the player, allows the ally character stored in the character storage area 320 to appear on the playfield 300.

[0108] Furthermore, since the player character 400 has defeated the neutral character 410, the point-giving control unit 62 grants the points that the neutral character 410 had to the player character 400. In this case, the point-giving control unit 62 updates the point display area of ​​the status 510 of the player character 400 and causes the display unit 10 to display that the player character has acquired points. In the example of FIG. 7, since the points that the neutral character 410 had were "1", the points that the player character has acquired are also "1", and since the points that the player character had before acquiring these points were "0", "1" is displayed in the point display area of ​​the status 510.

[0109] The point-granting control unit 62 can also display the points acquired by the player character as a point display 512 near the character storage area 320. However, until a predetermined time has elapsed before the ally character control unit 55 can repeatedly cause an ally character to appear on the playfield 300 from the character storage area 320 and store the ally character in the character storage area 320, the point display 512 displays the number of points the player character had before defeating the neutral character 410 and acquiring points. In the example of FIG. 7, the player character 400 had zero points before defeating the neutral character 410 (as shown in the status 510 displayed in FIG. 6), and therefore the point display 512 also displays zero. Note that if the player character 400 had a predetermined number of points before defeating the neutral character 410, the point display 512 displays the predetermined number.

[0110] Then, when a predetermined time has elapsed until the ally character control unit 55 can repeatedly cause an ally character to appear on the playfield 300 from the character storage area 320 and store the ally character in the character storage area 320 (in this case, the countdown display described above is erased), the point-granting control unit 62 updates the display of the point display 512 in accordance with the points possessed by the neutral character 410 defeated by the player character 400, as shown in Fig. 8. That is, in the example of Fig. 8, since the points possessed by the neutral character 410 defeated by the player character 400 were "1" as shown in Fig. 6, the "0" in the point display 512 shown in Fig. 7 is updated to "1" in the point display 514 shown in Fig. 8. As a result, "1" is also displayed in the point display 514.

[0111] Furthermore, since the player character 400 won the match against the neutral character 410, the experience value granting unit 60 grants a predetermined experience value to the player character 400. The experience value granting unit 60 displays the level of the player character 400, which is determined according to the cumulative total of the experience values ​​acquired by the player character 400, in a level display area of ​​the status 510.

[0112] [Example of fighting together with an ally character] 9 and 10 show an overview of how the player character and the ally characters fight together in the game system according to this embodiment. Specifically, Fig. 9 shows an example of the ally characters stored in the character storage area 320, and Fig. 10 shows an example of the ally characters appearing on the playfield 300.

[0113] First, as shown in Fig. 9, it is assumed that the player character 402 is fighting against an enemy player character 420, with the player character's ally characters stored in the character storage area 320. The ally characters stored in the character storage area 320 can be ascertained from the stored character display 322. The battle control unit 40 controls the battle between the player character 402 and the enemy player character 420. The battle control unit 40 also displays on the display unit 10 the status 510 of the player character 402 and the status 511 of the enemy player character 420, which change in response to the battle between the player character 402 and the enemy player character 420. The status 510 is displayed near the player character 402, and the status 511 is displayed near the enemy player character 420.

[0114] Specifically, when an enemy player character 420 is present within a predetermined range from the player character 402, the match control unit 40 enables the player character 402 to attack the enemy player character 420. Then, when the match control unit 40 receives an instruction from the player to attack the enemy player character 420 via the input unit 20, the match control unit 40 starts a match between the player character 402 and the enemy player character 420. For example, when the input unit 20 receives an instruction from the player to the attack instruction area 600, the match control unit 40 causes the player character 402 to execute an attack on the enemy player character 420, and when the input unit 20 receives an instruction from the player to the technique execution area 602, the match control unit 40 causes the player character 402 to execute an attack with a technique against the enemy player character 420. Note that, when the player causes the player character 402 to execute an attack with a technique via the technique execution area 602, the match control unit 40 may prohibit the player character 402 from executing the technique again until a predetermined time has elapsed since the execution of the technique.

[0115] Next, as shown in FIG. 10 , the ally character control unit 55 causes the ally character 412 stored in the character storage area 320 to appear on the playfield 300 based on an instruction from the player to cause the ally character 412 to appear on the playfield 300. Here, the "stored ally character" refers to the ally character 412 that can be caused to appear on the playfield 300 at any timing in response to an instruction from the player. The stored character display 322 displays the ally character 412 that appears on the playfield 300. Specifically, the ally character control unit 55 causes the ally character 412 stored in the character storage area 320 to appear on the playfield 300 in response to an instruction from the player to the character storage area 320 received via the input unit 20 (for example, an instruction by the player tapping the character storage area 320). Then, the ally character control unit 55 controls the appeared ally character 412 to move around the player character 402 while automatically following the player character 402. Furthermore, the ally character control unit 55 automatically executes an attack on an enemy player character 420 that exists within a predetermined range from the ally character 412. In the example of Fig. 10, the ally character 412 is controlled by the ally character control unit 55 and executes an attack on the enemy player character 420. Furthermore, in response to another instruction from the player to the character storage area 320 received via the input unit 20, the ally character control unit 55 stores the ally character 412 that appears on the playfield 300 again in the character storage area 320.

[0116] When the ally character 412 appears on the playfield 300, the ally character control unit 55 can also change the display icon of the character storage area 320 to show a state in which the ally character 412 is outside. As an example, when the character storage area 320 is represented by a ball-shaped display icon, the ball can be shown in a closed state as shown in Fig. 9 when the ally character is stored, and the ball can be shown in an open state as shown in Fig. 10 when the ally character appears on the playfield 300.

[0117] Then, when the enemy player character 420 is defeated by an attack by the player character 402 and / or the ally character 412, the experience value granting unit 60 grants a predetermined amount of experience values ​​to the player character 402. Here, when the ally character 412 is defeated by an attack from the enemy player character 420, the ally character control unit 55 erases the ally character 412 from the playfield 300. As a result, the player no longer has any ally characters in his possession. Then, the point granting control unit 62 obtains from the ally character control unit 55 a determination result indicating that the ally character 412 has been defeated, and reduces the points possessed by the player character by a predetermined amount.

[0118] The method of fighting together with the ally character 412 is not limited to the above example, and various other methods are possible. For example, the movement of the ally character 412 and the attack by the ally character 412 against the enemy player character 420 may not be performed automatically, but may be performed based on an operation instruction by the player. Alternatively, in response to a player's instruction to the character storage area 320 received via the input unit 20, the ally character 412 may not appear on the playfield 300, but a predetermined game effect, such as a technique or item associated with the ally character 412, may be generated in a predetermined area of ​​the playfield 300. In this case, the ally character control unit 55 may restrict the use of the technique or item associated with the ally character 412 when a predetermined condition is met, such as the player character being defeated by an attack from the enemy player character 420.

[0119] [Example of point scoring] 11 and 12 show an overview of an example of scoring in the game system according to this embodiment. Specifically, Fig. 11 shows an example of the state before the points held by the player character 402 are scored, and Fig. 12 shows an example of the state after the points held by the player character 402 are scored.

[0120] When the player character 402 has points, the scoring unit 70 can convert those points into points for the team to which the player character 402 belongs under predetermined conditions. FIGS. 11 and 12 show an example in which points are awarded to the team (alliance team) of the player character 402. Note that FIG. 11 shows that the allied team score 500 is "162 points" and the enemy team score 502 is "190 points," and the player score 506 shows that the points that the player himself has earned up to the point in time when the state shown in FIG. 11 was "67 points." FIG. 11 also displays the remaining game time 504 (FIG. 11 shows an example in which the remaining time is 30 seconds).

[0121] First, as shown in Fig. 11, the player character 402 has a predetermined number of points. The points that the player character 402 has are displayed in a point display area of ​​the status 510 of the player character 402 and in a point display 514 that is displayed near the character storage area 320 (in the example of Fig. 11, the player character 402 has "46" points. Note that in the example of Fig. 11, the level of the player character 402 is displayed in the level display area and is level "14").

[0122] When the player character 402 enters within a predetermined range from the enemy base 312 (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as the "enemy base area"), the points possessed by the player character 402 are converted into points for the team in accordance with the player's instruction for scoring received via the input unit 20. Specifically, the enemy base 312 has, for example, a substantially circular area. When the player character 402 enters this area, the scoring unit 70 can display a score in the character storage area 320. In the example of FIG. 11, an arrow shape is added to the ball shape displayed in the character storage area 320, and the text "Goal" is displayed.

[0123] Then, in this state, when the input unit 20 receives an instruction (for example, a tap operation) from the player to the character storage area 320, the scoring unit 70 executes a scoring process. Specifically, the scoring unit 70 does not score points until a predetermined time has elapsed since the player issued a scoring instruction to the character storage area 320, and executes scoring of points when the predetermined time has elapsed. In other words, the scoring unit 70 executes a countdown process until scoring. Here, if the player character 402 goes outside the enemy base area or is defeated by the enemy player character 420 before scoring of points is completed, the countdown process by the scoring unit 70 may be reset.

[0124] Then, after a predetermined time has elapsed, the scoring unit 70 converts the points possessed by the player character 402 into the score of the teammate. In the example of FIG. 12, the "46" points possessed by the player character 402 are converted into scores (scored) and added to the score of the teammate. When the scoring unit 70 converts the points possessed by the player character 402 into scores, it resets the points possessed by the player character 402 to zero and displays a message to that effect. For example, it resets the display in the point display area of ​​the status 510 of the player character 402 to "0" and erases the point display 514 displayed near the character storage area 320.

[0125] The scoring unit 70 scores the points and adds them to the teammate's score, and then updates and displays the display of the teammate's score and the display of the player's individual score. In the example of FIG. 12, the teammate's score 500 is "254 points," and the player's individual score 506 is "159 points." Furthermore, when the scoring unit 70 has completed scoring the points, it may display a display 802 in a predetermined position on the display unit 10 indicating that the scoring has been successful (for example, a text display such as "Goal Success!" may be displayed).

[0126] Note that the scoring unit 70 may adjust the points that each team can earn when the remaining time of the game falls below a predetermined time. For example, in the example of FIG. 12, the scoring unit 70 adjusts the points that each team can earn by doubling the points when the remaining time of the game falls below a predetermined time. Therefore, although the player's points were 46 in the examples of FIGS. 11 and 12, the points of the teammates are adjusted to 254 points instead of 208 points, and the points that the player individually earns are adjusted to 92 points instead of 46 points (therefore, the player's individual points after the adjustment are 159 points). Therefore, before the remaining time of the game becomes a predetermined time or less, the scoring unit 70 scores the points held by the player without making any adjustments and adds them to the scores of the team and the player individually (for example, in the examples of Figures 11 and 12, if the remaining time of the game is not a predetermined time or less, the points held by the player "46" are converted to "46 points", and "46 points" are added to the team's score of "162 points" to make "208 points", and added to the player's individual score of "67 points" to make "113 points").

[0127] The scoring unit 70 also supplies the enemy base 312 with a supply value corresponding to the score obtained by scoring the points. The scoring unit 70 then accumulates the supply value in the enemy base 312. The supply value may be the same as the score value. The base control unit 80 stops the function of the enemy base 312 when the total value of the supply values ​​accumulated in the enemy base 312 by the scoring unit 70 reaches or exceeds a predetermined durability value for the enemy base 312. After the function of the enemy base 312 is stopped, it becomes impossible to supply points to the enemy base 312 for scoring, or to accumulate supply values. Therefore, players on the friendly team will aim for other enemy bases 312, score points, and stop the accumulation / function of supply values ​​at the other enemy bases 312.

[0128] In this embodiment, as an example, a plurality of enemy bases 312 are arranged from the side closer to the friend base 302 toward the enemy base 304, and the durability value of the enemy bases 312 can be set higher as the distance from the side closer to the friend base 302 increases. In other words, the amount of points converted into points at enemy bases 312 on the far side is set higher than the amount of points converted into points at enemy bases 312 on the closer side to the friend base 302. This allows players on the friend team to play the game closer to the friend base 302 in the early stages of the game, while having their player characters accumulate experience points and level up, and to aim to earn more points from the middle to end of the game, have their player characters accumulate more points, and aim to convert points into points at enemy bases 312 on the closer side to the enemy base 304.

[0129] [Example of the first special character] 13 and 14 show an example of a first special character in the game system according to this embodiment. Specifically, Fig. 13 shows an example of a battle between the player character 402 and the first special character 414, and Fig. 14 shows an example in which the first special character 414 belongs to the team of the player.

[0130] First, the appearance control unit 35 causes the first special character 414 to appear simultaneously at two predetermined locations on the playfield 300. For example, if the playfield 300 is substantially elliptical and lanes 306 are provided along the periphery, the appearance control unit 35 causes the first special character 414 to appear near two intersections between the minor axis of the ellipse and the lanes 306. This allows the teammate player characters of the team and the enemy player characters of the enemy team to have an equal opportunity to encounter the first special character 414.

[0131] 13, when a first special character 414 is present within a predetermined range from a player character 402 that is present on the playfield 300 in response to a player's operation, the match-up control unit 40 enables the player character 402 to attack the first special character 414. When the match-up control unit 40 receives an instruction from the player to attack the first special character 414 via the input unit 20, the match-up control unit 40 starts a match between the player character 402 and the first special character 414.

[0132] The battle control unit 40 causes the display unit 10 to display the status 510 of the player character 402 and the status 415 of the first special character 414 (for example, the decrease in HP) that change in response to the battle between the player character 402 and the first special character 414. The status 415 of the first special character 414 is displayed near the first special character 414. In the example of FIG. 13, the status 510 of the player character 402 displays that the level of the player character 402 is "7" and that the player character already has "12" points (similarly, the point display 514 displayed near the character storage area 320 also displays that the player character has "12" points).

[0133] Then, for example, if the HP of the first special character 414 becomes zero due to an attack by the player character 402, the battle result determination unit 45 determines that the player character 402 has won against the first special character 414. Next, based on the determination result of the battle result determination unit 45, the character state determination unit 50 associates this first special character 414 with the team (ally team) to which the player of the player character 402 belongs. Specifically, the character ID of the first special character 414 is associated with the team ID or the player ID. As a result, the first special character 414 belongs to the allied team.

[0134] Note that, when a friendly player character of the friendly team and an enemy player character of the enemy team attack the first special character 414 at the same time and the first special character 414 is defeated, the battle result determination unit 45 may determine that the character that last made the attack that reduced the HP of the first special character 414 to zero (i.e., the character that made the "last hit") is the winning character. In this case, the character state determination unit 50 assigns the first special character 414 to the team to which the winning character belongs.

[0135] Then, as shown in FIG. 14, the special character control unit 57 transfers the points held by the player character 402 to the first special character 414. That is, the special character control unit 57 transfers the points held by the player character 402, who is the winning character, to the first special character 414, adds the points to the predetermined points that the first special character 414 inherently holds, and sets the added points as the points held by the first special character 414. In the example of FIG. 14, the "12" points held by the player character 402 are transferred to the first special character 414, and the first special character 414 now holds "14" points, which are the sum of the "2" points that the first special character 414 already holds. The special character control unit 57 displays the points held by the first special character 414 near the first special character 414 (point display 516). Furthermore, when the special character control unit 57 transfers the points held by the player character 402 to the first special character 414, it resets the point display in the status 510 to zero and erases the point display 514 that was displayed near the character storage area 320. In this case, the special character control unit 57 also erases the ally characters that were stored in the character storage area 320 and the ally characters that appeared on the playfield from the character storage area 320.

[0136] Next, the special character control unit 57 controls the first special character 414 to move toward the enemy base 312 that is closest to the point where the first special character 414 joined the allied team. In this case, the special character control unit 57 may increase the movement speed of the first special character 414 if a character of the allied team (player character and / or allied character) is present within a predetermined range (hereinafter referred to as the "effect range 430") centered on the first special character 414. Furthermore, the special character control unit 57 may change the status of a character of the allied team if a character of the allied team is present within the effect range 430. For example, the special character control unit 57 may gradually recover HP of a character of the allied team within the effect range 430.

[0137] Then, when the first special character 414 arrives within a predetermined range from the enemy base 312, the scoring unit 70 automatically converts the points possessed by the first special character 414 into the score of the friendly team, supplies a supply value corresponding to the score to the enemy base 312, causes the enemy base 312 to accumulate the supply value, and erases the first special character 414. In this case, the base control unit 80 may disable, for a certain period of time, the generation of advantageous effects given by the enemy base 312 to characters of the enemy team (enemy player characters and / or friendly characters of the enemy player character).

[0138] Here, the first special character 414 may be defeated by an attack by an enemy player character and / or an ally character of the enemy player character. Note that the special character control unit 57 may not cause the first special character 414 to attack the enemy player character and / or an ally character of the enemy player character. When the first special character 414 is defeated, the points held by the first special character 414 are deleted, and the first special character 414 is also deleted from the playfield 300. Therefore, when the first special character 414 belongs to the ally team, the player on the ally team has an incentive to operate his / her player character to protect the first special character 414, and the player on the enemy team has an incentive to operate his / her player character to attack the first special character 414.

[0139] [Example of a second special character] FIG. 15 shows an overview of an example of a second special character in the game system according to this embodiment.

[0140] First, the appearance control unit 35 makes the second special character 416 appear at a predetermined location on the playfield 300. For example, the appearance control unit 35 makes the second special character 416 appear in the center 316 of the playfield 300. This allows the teammate player characters of the team and the enemy player characters of the enemy team to have an equal opportunity to encounter the second special character 416. The second special character 416 has a predetermined number of points in advance. The example in FIG. 15 shows an example in which the second special character 416 has 30 points.

[0141] When the second special character 416 is present within a predetermined range from the player character present on the playfield 300 in response to the player's operation, the match-up control unit 40 enables the player character to attack the second special character 416. When the match-up control unit 40 receives an instruction from the player to attack the second special character 416 via the input unit 20, the match-up control unit 40 starts a match between the player character and the second special character 416. As in the match between the player character 402 and the first special character 414, the match-up control unit 40 causes the display unit 10 to display the status of the player character and the status of the second special character 416.

[0142] Then, when the HP of the second special character 416 becomes zero due to an attack by the player character (for example, the player character 400), the battle result determination unit 45 determines that the player character 400 has won against the second special character 416. Next, the character state determination unit 50 associates the second special character 416 with the team (ally team) to which the player of the player character 400 belongs, based on the determination result of the battle result determination unit 45. As a result, the second special character 416 belongs to the allied team. Note that, as with the first special character 414, the character that has made the "last hit" for the second special character 416 may be determined to be the winning character. The character state determination unit 50 causes the second special character 416 to belong to the team to which the winning character belongs. Then, the special character control unit 57 displays the points previously given to the second special character 416 near the second special character 416 as shown in FIG. 15 (point display 518).

[0143] Next, the special character control unit 57 controls the second special character 416 to move toward the enemy base 312 that is closest to the point where the second special character 416 joined the allied team. In this case, the special character control unit 57 may increase the movement speed of the second special character 416 if a character of the allied team (player character and / or allied character) is present within a predetermined range (hereinafter referred to as the "effect range 432") centered on the second special character 416. Furthermore, the special character control unit 57 may change the status of a character of the allied team if a character of the allied team is present within the effect range 432. For example, the special character control unit 57 may gradually recover HP of a character of the allied team within the effect range 432. In the example of FIG. 15, the player character 400 and the player character 404 belonging to the allied team are present within the effect range 432, and an effect advantageous to these player characters is generated. Note that a character of a type different from the second special character 416 can be the third special character, the fourth special character, etc. In this case, the special character control unit 57 may generate different advantageous effects on the characters of the friendly team that are present within the effect range 432 depending on the type of the special character.

[0144] Then, when the second special character 416 arrives within a predetermined range from the enemy base 312, the scoring unit 70 automatically converts the points possessed by the second special character 416 into points for the friendly team as time passes, and supplies a supply value corresponding to the points to the enemy base 312, causing the enemy base 312 to accumulate the supply value. That is, the scoring unit 70 converts a predetermined amount of points possessed by the second special character 416 into points every predetermined time, and sets the points as a supply value to be supplied to the enemy base 312 (for example, converts one point per second into a score and a supply value). When all of the points possessed by the second special character 416 have been converted into points, the special character control unit 57 erases the second special character 416 from the playfield 300.

[0145] Here, a case will be described in which supply values ​​corresponding to points possessed by the second special character 416 are accumulated in the enemy base 312, the total value of the accumulated supply values ​​becomes equal to or exceeds the durability value of the enemy base 312, and points possessed by the second special character 416 remain. In this case, the base control unit 80 first disables the function of the enemy base 312. The special character control unit 57 then controls the second special character 416 toward another enemy base 312 that is closest to the disabled enemy base 312, and controls the second special character 416 in the same manner as described above. In other words, when the points possessed by the second special character 416 are given to the enemy base 312 as supply values ​​and the total value of the supply values ​​reaches the durability value, destroying the enemy base 312, and the second special character 416 still has points possessed, the special character control unit 57 controls the second special character 416 toward the next enemy base 312. The special character control unit 57 executes the same process until the points held by the second special character 416 become zero.

[0146] Here, the second special character 416 may be defeated by an attack by an enemy player character and / or an ally character of the enemy player character. The special character control unit 57 may move the second special character 416 and cause the second special character 416 to attack the enemy player character and / or an ally character of the enemy player character. When the second special character 416 is defeated, the points held by the second special character 416 are erased, and the second special character 416 is also erased from the playfield 300. Therefore, when the second special character 416 belongs to the ally team, the player on the ally team has an incentive to operate his / her player character to protect the second special character 416, and the player on the enemy team has an incentive to operate his / her player character to attack the second special character 416.

[0147] [Example of restriction occurrence part] 16 shows an overview of the function of the restriction generation unit in the game system according to this embodiment. The example in FIG. 16 shows a state in which a player character 400 of the friendly team passes an enemy base 312 that is not disabled and advances toward an enemy base 312 next to the enemy base 312 provided along the lane 306.

[0148] The restriction generating unit 87 slows the movement speed of the player character 400 when the player character 400 enters between one enemy base 312 and another enemy base 312 adjacent to the one enemy base 312. The restriction generating unit 87 displays, on the display unit 10, a restriction area 900 in which the movement speed of the player character of the friendly team is restricted. The restriction area 900 is an area in which movement is restricted in the lane 306 between the one enemy base 312 and another enemy base 312 adjacent to the one enemy base 312, and is displayed so as to be perceptible to the player. As an example, the restriction area 900 is a pattern superimposed on the lane 306. The restriction generating unit 87 can also apply a predetermined color to the pattern or make it blink. Furthermore, the restriction generating unit 87 may display a predetermined pattern around the player character 400 that is present within the restriction area 900. In the example of Figure 16, multiple areas are shown with dotted lines, and the multiple areas shown with dotted lines and the area between each area together form the restricted area 900 (in other words, the entire lane 306 between one enemy base 312 and another adjacent enemy base 312 is the restricted area 900).

[0149] Furthermore, in a case where a movement speed limit is imposed between one enemy base 312 and another enemy base 312 located adjacent to the one enemy base 312, if the function of the one enemy base 312 is stopped by the base control unit 80, the limit generation unit 87 cancels the movement speed limit and erases the display of the restricted area 900. This allows the player characters of the friendly team to move at a normal speed.

[0150] [Example of neutral character appearance depending on the battle situation] The appearance control unit 35 may change the timing and / or location of a predetermined neutral character's appearance on the playfield 300 depending on the status of the match between the friendly team and the opposing team. An example of a predetermined neutral character is a neutral character that, when defeated, reduces the score of the opposing team that is hostile to the team to which the player character that defeated the predetermined neutral character belongs. Note that the predetermined neutral character may also have a predetermined number of points, just like other neutral characters, and the predetermined points are awarded to the player character who defeated the predetermined neutral character.

[0151] Specifically, the appearance control unit 35 changes the appearance location of a predetermined neutral character according to the difference between the score of the friendly team and the score of the opposing team (hereinafter referred to as the "score difference"). For example, when the score difference is positive (i.e., when the friendly team has more points than the opposing team), the appearance control unit 35 can shift the appearance location of the predetermined neutral character by a predetermined distance toward the friendly base 302, and when the score difference is negative, can shift the appearance location of the predetermined neutral character by a predetermined distance toward the opposing base 304.

[0152] First, if there is no difference in score between the allied team's score and the enemy team's score, the appearance control unit 35 makes the predetermined neutral character appear at the midpoint between the allied home base 302 and the enemy home base 304. On the other hand, if the difference in score is equal to or less than a predetermined value (for example, if the allied team's score is "10 points" and the enemy team's score is "1 point"), the appearance control unit 35 shifts the appearance position of the predetermined neutral character toward the allied home base 302 by a distance corresponding to the difference in score (for example, shifts the appearance position toward the allied home base 302 by a distance that is 10% of the straight-line distance from the allied home base 302 to the enemy home base 304). Furthermore, if the score difference exceeds a predetermined value (for example, if the allied team's score is 90 points and the enemy team's score is 10 points), the appearance control unit 35 shifts the appearance position of the predetermined neutral character toward the allied home base 302 by a distance corresponding to the score difference (for example, shifting the appearance position toward the allied home base 302 by 90% of the straight-line distance from the allied home base 302 to the enemy home base 304). In other words, the appearance control unit 35 can increase the distance by which the appearance position is shifted as the score difference increases. This increases the opportunity for a player character belonging to the team that has earned fewer points to defeat the predetermined neutral character closer to the enemy team's base and to quickly score points (i.e., the time it takes for a player character with points to reach the enemy team's base and score points can be shortened).

[0153] [Variations] In the game system 1 according to this embodiment, when a player character defeats a neutral character, the player character acquires the points that the neutral character possesses. On the other hand, in a modified example, the neutral character may possess a predetermined item. In this case, when the player character defeats the neutral character, the player character acquires the predetermined item. Then, the player character may provide the predetermined item to the opponent's base, and points may be awarded to the team to which the player character belongs based on the provided item.

[0154] [Processing flow of game system 1] 17 to 20 show an example of the flow of processing in the game system according to this embodiment.

[0155] First, at the start of a game in the game system 1, one or more players belonging to one team (ally team) select their own player characters (ally player characters), and one or more other players belonging to the other team (enemy team) also select their own player characters (enemy player characters). The following description focuses on one player on the allied team.

[0156] As shown in FIG. 17, after the game starts, the character action control unit 30 controls the movement of the player's player character on the playfield 300 in response to instructions from the player received via the input unit 20 (step 10; hereinafter, step will be abbreviated as "S"). As a result, the player character moves within the lane 306, neutral area 314, or center 316 of the playfield 300. If a neutral character, special character, or enemy player character (hereinafter referred to as a "target character") is present within a virtual circular area of ​​a predetermined radius centered on the player character (hereinafter referred to as the "attackable range") (Yes in S12), the character action control unit 30 continues to control the movement of the player character, while the battle control unit 40 determines whether or not there is an attack instruction from the player received via the input unit 20 (S14). On the other hand, if the target character is not present within the attackable range (No in S12), the character action control unit 30 continues to control the movement of the player character (S10). Furthermore, even if the match control unit 40 does not receive an attack instruction from the player via the input unit 20 (No in S14), the character action control unit 30 continues to control the movement of the player character (S10).

[0157] When the match control unit 40 receives an attack instruction from the player via the input unit 20 (Yes in S14), the match control unit 40 controls the match between the player character and a target character within the attackable range (S16). The match control unit 40 supplies information indicating changes in the status of both characters that have occurred as a result of the match between the player character and the target character to the match result determination unit 45. The match result determination unit 45 determines which of the two characters has won based on the information received from the match control unit 40 (S18). When the match result determination unit 45 determines that the player character has won against the target character (Yes in S20), it executes processing according to the type of the target character (S22).

[0158] (When the player character wins against the target character) First, if the target character is a neutral character ("Neutral" in S22), the character state determination unit 50 associates the neutral character with the player, thereby making the neutral character an ally character of the player character (S28). That is, the character state determination unit 50 associates the character ID of the neutral character with the player ID. Then, the character state determination unit 50 erases the display of the neutral character from the playfield 300 and stores the neutral character as an ally character in the character storage area (S30). In this case, an image (i.e., an icon) of the stored ally character is displayed adjacent to or near the character storage area. Furthermore, the experience point granting unit 60 grants the player character a predetermined experience point based on defeating the neutral character, and the point granting control unit 62 grants the player character points that were previously associated with the neutral character (S32).

[0159] Furthermore, if the target character is an enemy player character ("enemy" in S22), the character state determination unit 50 changes the status of the enemy player character (for example, returning HP that was set to zero due to defeat by the player character to full over a predetermined time), and sends the enemy player character back to the enemy base 304 (S24). Note that the character state determination unit 50 prohibits any operation on the enemy player character from the time the enemy player character is defeated until it is sent back to the enemy base 304. Then, the experience point granting unit 60 grants the player character a predetermined experience point based on defeating the enemy player character, and the point granting control unit 62 grants the player character predetermined points based on defeating the enemy player character (S32).

[0160] Furthermore, if the target character is a special character ("Special" in S22), the character state determination unit 50 assigns the special character to the team to which the player belongs (S23). That is, the character state determination unit 50 associates the character ID of the special character with the team ID of the team. Unlike neutral characters, the character state determination unit 50 does not store the special character in the character storage area, but leaves it appearing on the playfield 300. The special character control unit 57 then controls the special character and causes the special character to perform a predetermined action according to the type of special character (S25). The experience point granting unit 60 grants the player character a predetermined experience point based on defeating the special character. The point granting control unit 62 does not have to grant the player character a predetermined point based on defeating the special player character (S32).

[0161] (When the player character is defeated by the target character) On the other hand, if the player character is defeated in the match against the target character (No in S20), the character state determination unit 50 changes the status of the player character (for example, returning HP, which was set to zero due to the defeat by the target character, to full over a predetermined period of time), and sends the player character back to the ally's home base 302. Note that the character state determination unit 50 prohibits any operation on the player character from the time the player character is defeated until the time the player character is sent back to the ally's home base 302. After the player character returns to the ally's home base 302, the steps from S10 are executed again.

[0162] (Controlling ally characters) Next, the control flow for an ally character is shown in Figure 18. First, with an ally character stored in the character storage area, the ally character control unit 55 determines whether or not there is an instruction from the player via the input unit 20 to have the ally character appear on the playfield 300 (S34). If there is no instruction to have the ally character appear (No in S34), steps from S10 onwards are executed. On the other hand, if there is an instruction to have the ally character appear (Yes in S34), the ally character control unit 55 makes the ally character appear on the playfield 300 from the character storage area (S36). Here, the character storage area can be displayed, for example, in the shape of a ball, and if an ally character is stored in the character storage area, a closed ball state is displayed, and if the ally character has left the character storage area, an open ball state is displayed.

[0163] Then, the ally character control unit 55 controls the actions of the ally characters that have appeared on the playfield 300 (S38). Specifically, the ally character control unit 55 moves the ally characters so that they follow the player character. Furthermore, when an enemy player character, another neutral character, and / or a special character exists within a predetermined range from the player character or the ally character, the ally character control unit 55 automatically causes the ally character to attack the enemy player character, another neutral character, and / or the special character.

[0164] Next, when the ally character control unit 55 receives an instruction to store an ally character in the character storage area from the player via the input unit 20 (Yes in S40), it stores the ally character appearing on the playfield 300 in the character storage area and erases the display of the ally character from the playfield 300 (S42). Then, the steps from S34 onwards are executed. On the other hand, when the ally character control unit 55 does not receive an instruction to store an ally character in the character storage area from the player via the input unit 20 (No in S40), the steps from S38 onwards are executed.

[0165] (Control when acquiring a new neutral character) 19 shows the control flow when the player character battles a new neutral character. If the player character has an ally character and the player character battles and wins against the new neutral character (S44), the character state determination unit 50 sets the new neutral character as a new ally character (S46). Then, the character state determination unit 50 erases the ally character stored in the character storage area or the ally character appearing on the playfield 300, and stores the new neutral character as an ally character in the character storage area. Then, the steps from S34 onwards are executed.

[0166] (Control of scoring process) Next, a control flow of the scoring process for points is shown in Figure 20. First, the character movement control unit 30 controls the movement of the player character (belonging to the team) on the playfield 300 in response to instructions from the player received via the input unit 20 (S50). Then, the scoring unit 70 determines whether the player character is located within a predetermined range from the enemy base 312 (S52). If the player character is not located within the predetermined range from the enemy base 312 (No in S52), the steps from S50 onwards are executed.

[0167] On the other hand, if the player character is present within a predetermined range from the enemy base 312 (Yes in S52), the scoring unit 70 determines whether or not the player character has points (S54). If the player character does not have points (No in S54), the steps from S50 onwards are executed. Then, if the player character has points (Yes in S54), the scoring unit 70 determines whether or not there has been an instruction from the player via the input unit 20 to supply points to the enemy base 312 (S56). If there has not been an instruction from the player to supply points (No in S56), the steps from S50 onwards are executed.

[0168] On the other hand, if there is an instruction from the player to supply points (Yes in S56), the scoring unit 70 supplies the points held by the player character to the enemy base 312 and converts the points into points for the friendly team. The scoring unit 70 can use the numerical value of the points as the score as is, or can use a value obtained by multiplying the points by a predetermined coefficient determined according to the remaining time of the game as the score. Furthermore, the scoring unit 70 supplies a supply value corresponding to the score or points to the enemy base 312, causing the supply value to accumulate in the enemy base 312 (S58). For example, the scoring unit 70 can use the numerical value of the points as the supply value as is, or can use a value obtained by multiplying the points by a predetermined coefficient determined according to the remaining time of the game as the supply value.

[0169] The base control unit 80 then compares the total value of the supply values ​​accumulated in the enemy base 312 by the scoring unit 70 with a durability value previously set for the enemy base 312 (S60). The total value of the supply values ​​is the sum of the supply value corresponding to the points supplied by one player character to the enemy base 312 and the supply value corresponding to the points supplied by other player characters on the same team as the one player character to the enemy base 312. If the base control unit 80 determines that the total value of the supply values ​​is less than the durability value (No in S60), steps from S50 onwards are executed. On the other hand, if the base control unit 80 determines that the total value of the supply values ​​is equal to or greater than the durability value (Yes in S60), it stops the function of the enemy base 312 (S62). Then, the winner / loser determination unit 85 ends the game when a predetermined game time has elapsed, and determines the winner of the game based on the scores of each team at the end of the game.

[0170] [Game Program] Each of the components of the game system 1 according to this embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 20 can be realized by causing a central processing unit (CPU) or other such processing device to execute a program (i.e., a game program), that is, by software processing. Alternatively, each of the components can be realized by writing a program in advance into hardware such as an integrated circuit (IC) or other electronic component. Note that software and hardware can also be used together.

[0171] The game program according to this embodiment can be pre-installed in, for example, an IC or a ROM. The game program can also be provided as a computer program by recording it in an installable or executable file format on a computer-readable recording medium, such as a magnetic recording medium, an optical recording medium, or a semiconductor recording medium. The recording medium storing the program may be a non-transitory recording medium, such as a CD-ROM or a DVD. Furthermore, the game program can be pre-stored on a computer connected to a communications network, such as the Internet, and provided by downloading it via the communications network.

[0172] The game program according to this embodiment operates on the CPU and the like to cause the game program to function as the display unit 10, display control unit 15, input unit 20, storage unit 25, character action control unit 30, appearance control unit 35, battle control unit 40, battle result determination unit 45, character state determination unit 50, ally character control unit 55, special character control unit 57, experience point granting unit 60, point granting control unit 62, evolution control unit 64, scoring unit 70, base control unit 80, win / loss determination unit 85, limit generation unit 87, time limit control unit 90, character information storage unit 250, team information storage unit 252, player information storage unit 254, and playfield information storage unit 256, all of which are described in connection with FIGS. 1 to 20.

[0173] [Effects of the embodiment] In the game system 1 according to this embodiment, a player controls his / her own player character to defeat neutral characters automatically controlled by the system to earn points, which can then be converted into points for his / her own team at the opponent's base. This allows players in the game system 1 to enjoy the game without having to engage in PvP battles with opponent player characters controlled by other players, and to contribute to their own team even without PvP battles. In other words, in the game system 1, players can contribute to their own team by taking actions other than PvP battles (such as defeating neutral characters) within the game, and these actions can improve their proficiency in the operations required for PvP battles. Therefore, by experiencing battles with neutral characters, players can reduce their perceived inadequacy in PvP battles.

[0174] Furthermore, in the game system 1, a neutral character defeated by a player's own player character can be associated with the player and made an ally character, and this ally character can appear on the playfield 300, follow the movement of the player character, and automatically attack other neutral characters and enemy player characters. This allows the game system 1 to not only fight and defeat neutral characters, but also to make them an ally and have them fight alongside the player's own player character.

[0175] Furthermore, in the game system 1, the player can freely select whether to store an ally character in the character storage area or to have the ally character appear from the character storage area on the playfield 300. That is, in the game system 1, before the points held by the player character are scored, the ally character held by the player character can be made to appear on the playfield 300 and used as a fighting force to fight alongside the player character. As a result, in the game system 1, for example, while the HP of the ally character is high, the ally character can appear on the playfield 300 to fight alongside the player character, and when the HP becomes low, the ally character can be stored in the character storage area and used for scoring.

[0176] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above-described embodiments do not limit the scope of the invention. It should be noted that not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the means for solving the problems of the invention. Furthermore, the technical elements of the above-described embodiments may be applied independently, or may be divided into multiple parts, such as program components and hardware components, and then applied. [Explanation of symbols]

[0177] 1. Game System 3, 3a, 3n information terminal 5. Communication Network 7 Server 10 Display section 15 Display control unit 20 Input section 25 Storage Unit 30 Character movement control section 35 Appearance control unit 40 Battle control unit 45 Match Result Judging Department 50 Character state determination unit 55 Ally character control section 57 Special Character Control Unit 60 Experience Points Granting Section 62 Point allocation control unit 64 Evolution Control Unit 70 Scoring Section 80 Base Control Unit 85 Winner / Loser 87 Restriction occurrence part 90 Time limit control section 200 input surface 210 Input control section 212 Movement instruction input area 214 direction display area 216 Direction indicator 250 Character information storage section 252 Team Information Storage 254 Player information storage unit 256 Playfield information storage section 300 Playfield 302 Allied Base 304 Enemy Base 306 Lane 310 Allied Base 312 Enemy Base 314 Neutral Area 316 Central part 318 Overall View 320 Character storage area 322 Stored character display 324 Countdown Display 400, 402, 404 Player Characters 410 Neutral Characters 412 Ally Characters 414 First Special Character 411, 415 Status 416 Second Special Character 420 Enemy player character 430, 432 Area of ​​effect 500 Team Points 502 Opponent Points 504 remaining game time 506 Player Points 510, 511 Status 512, 514, 516, 518 points displayed 600 Attack Direction Area 602 Skill Generation Area 700 Return Indication Area 800 Performance display 802 display 900 Restricted Area

Claims

1. A game program to be executed by a computer having a processor and a memory, which manages the progress of a competitive game in which multiple teams compete against each other within a play field, The game program causes the processor to: a step of controlling, within the playfield, an action of a first player character based on an operation of a first player belonging to a first team, and controlling an action of a second player character based on an operation of a second player belonging to a second team; controlling the actions of a neutral character that moves within the playfield without being operated by the first player or the second player and that is associated with points related to the outcome of the competitive game; changing the vitality value of the neutral character in response to an attack from at least one of the first player character and the second player character; when the vitality value of the neutral character reaches a predetermined value based on an attack by the first player character, causing the neutral character to disappear from the playfield and associating the points with the first player; when the vitality value of the neutral character reaches a predetermined value based on an attack by the second player character, causing the neutral character to disappear from the playfield and associating the points with the second player; A game program that executes the above.

2. When the first player character and the second player character attack the neutral character and the vitality value reaches the predetermined value, If the player character that last attacked the neutral character is the first player character, a step of associating the player character with the first player character is executed; 2. The game program according to claim 1, further comprising a step of associating the player character that last attacked the neutral character with the second player character when the player character is the second player character.

3. a step of associating the first player character with the player character that has made the largest number of attacks to bring the vitality value to the predetermined value or the player character that has made the largest amount of reduction in the vitality value through the attacks, if the first player character is the player character that has made the largest number of attacks to bring the vitality value to the predetermined value, 2. The game program according to claim 1, wherein if the player character that has the greatest number of attacks to bring the stamina value to the predetermined value or the player character that has the greatest reduction in the stamina value due to said attacks is the second player character, a step of associating the player character with the second player is executed.

4. The neutral character is a special character, a step of associating the special character with the first team when the first player character wins the battle against the special character, and associating the special character with the second team when the second player character wins the battle against the special character; a step of causing the special character to advance to a predetermined area of ​​the second team when the special character is associated with the first team, and causing the special character to advance to a predetermined area of ​​the first team when the special character is associated with the second team; 2. The game program according to claim 1, further comprising:

5. A game system comprising means for executing all of the steps executed in the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. A method implemented on a computer having a processor and a memory, wherein the processor performs all of the steps performed in the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

7. A server comprising means for executing all the steps performed in the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

Images