Programs, electronic devices, and methods for games

Abstract

To provide a program or the like for performing display for increasing a stage of a game medium.SOLUTION: One of a plurality of mutually different stage increase conditions is set to each stage. A program allows a computer to execute the steps of: receiving a player's input for selecting an object game medium for increasing a stage from a game medium, and determining whether a first stage increase condition set to the stage of the object game medium is satisfied; and determining whether a stage increase condition set to a next stage is a second stage increase condition when it is determined that the first stage increase condition is satisfied; and displaying a transition designation reception part to a screen for presenting the second stage increase condition when it is determined that a stage increase condition of a next stage is the second stage increase condition. One of the first and second stage increase conditions includes consumption of a game medium selected by a player.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a program or the like for games, and particularly to a program or the like used in a game that can raise the level of a game medium.

Background Art

[0002] A number of games have been released in which players strengthen their game media by increasing the parameters thereof. In such games, a game system is known that realizes a process of collectively increasing a plurality of different types of parameters to their maximum values (Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, when a parameter defined for a game medium can take a plurality of values, players do not necessarily desire a collective increase to the maximum value. In a game in which different increase conditions are set according to the level for one type of parameter, a system for collectively increasing a plurality of levels to a desired level by a player has not yet been realized.

[0005] The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and when collectively increasing a game medium having a plurality of different level increase conditions by a plurality of levels, it is a main object to provide a program or the like that performs display for raising to a desired level by a player with a simple operation.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] 1. To achieve the above objective, a program in one aspect of the present invention is a program used in a game in which the player can advance the level of a game medium stored in association with the player's player identification information, wherein one of a plurality of different level advancement conditions is set for each level, and the program causes the computer to perform the following steps: receive player input for selecting a target game medium to advance the level from among the game mediums stored in association with the player identification information, and determine whether a first level advancement condition set for the level of the target game medium is met; if it is determined that the first level advancement condition is met, determine whether the level advancement condition set for the next level is a second level advancement condition; and if it is determined that the level advancement condition for the next level is a second level advancement condition, display a screen transition instruction reception unit for presenting the second level advancement condition, wherein either the first level advancement condition or the second level advancement condition consumes the game medium selected by the player.

[0007] 2. In the program described in item 1, the step of determining whether the first stage advancement condition is met may further include the step of determining that the first stage advancement condition is met when a player input is received to select a predetermined consumption game medium.

[0008] 3. In the program described in item 2, when it is determined that the first stage advancement condition is met and player input is received by the transition instruction receiving unit, the computer may further be instructed to perform the following steps: display the stage advancement instruction receiving unit for the stage for which the second stage advancement condition has been set; and when input is received by the stage advancement instruction receiving unit, consume the game medium selected to satisfy the first stage advancement condition and the game medium to satisfy the second stage advancement condition.

[0009] 4. In the program described in item 2 or 3, the step of determining whether the first stage advancement condition is met further includes, upon receiving player input to select a predetermined consumption game medium, displaying the stage to which the first stage advancement condition can be met; and the step of displaying a screen transition instruction reception unit for presenting the second stage advancement condition may further include, if it is determined that the second stage advancement condition is met, displaying the stage to which the second stage advancement condition can be met.

[0010] 5. In a program described in any of items 1 to 4, the second stage advancement condition may be determined based on whether the game medium, which is determined based on the stage to be advanced and for which the second stage advancement condition is set, satisfies a predetermined condition.

[0011] 6. In a program described in any of items 1 to 5, when a player input is received by the transition instruction receiving unit, the computer may be further instructed to perform the step of displaying the game medium necessary to satisfy the second stage advancement condition.

[0012] 7. In the program described in item 1, the step of determining whether the first stage advancement condition is met further includes the step of receiving player input to select a stage after the first stage advancement condition has been set, and the step of determining that the first stage advancement condition is met if the game medium determined based on the selected stage meets predetermined conditions, and when player input is received from the screen transition instruction receiving unit for presenting the displayed second stage advancement condition, the computer may further perform the steps of receiving player input to select a game medium to consume, and determining that the second stage advancement condition is met if the selected game medium meets predetermined conditions.

[0013] 8. In a program described in item 6 or 7, the step of determining whether the first stage advancement condition is met further includes the step of displaying a stage that can be advanced to when the first stage advancement condition is met, and the step of displaying a screen transition instruction receiving unit for presenting a second stage advancement condition may further include the step of displaying a stage that can be advanced to when the second stage advancement condition is met.

[0014] 9. In the program described in any of items 1 to 8, the target game medium and the game medium to be consumed, selected by the player input, may be assigned to the player based on a predetermined lottery process.

[0015] 10. In a program described in any of items 1 to 9, the first stage advancement condition may be set for multiple stages, and the step of determining whether the first stage advancement condition is met may be performed for each stage in which the first stage advancement condition is set, until it is determined that the stage advancement condition set for the next stage is the second stage advancement condition.

[0016] 11. An electronic device in one aspect of the present invention is an electronic device used in a game that can advance the stage of a game medium stored in association with the player's player identification information, wherein one of a plurality of different stage advancement conditions is set for each stage, the electronic device receives player input for selecting a target game medium to advance the stage from the game medium stored in association with the player identification information, determines whether a first stage advancement condition set for the stage of the target game medium is met, if it is determined that the first stage advancement condition is met, determines whether the stage advancement condition set for the next stage is a second stage advancement condition, if it is determined that the stage advancement condition for the next stage is a second stage advancement condition, displays a screen transition instruction reception unit for presenting the second stage advancement condition, and either the first stage advancement condition or the second stage advancement condition may include consuming the game medium selected by the player.

[0017] 12. One aspect of the present invention is a method used in a game in which the player can advance the level of a game medium stored in association with the player's player identification information, wherein one of a plurality of different level advancement conditions is set for each level, and the computer is instructed to perform the following steps: receive player input for selecting a target game medium to advance the level from among the game mediums stored in association with the player identification information, and determine whether a first level advancement condition set for the level of the target game medium is met; if it is determined that the first level advancement condition is met, determine whether the level advancement condition set for the next level is a second level advancement condition; and if it is determined that the level advancement condition for the next level is a second level advancement condition, display a screen transition instruction reception unit for presenting the second level advancement condition, wherein either the first level advancement condition or the second level advancement condition includes consuming the game medium selected by the player. [Effects of the Invention]

[0018] According to the present invention, by a simple operation, a player can collectively raise the level of a game medium to a desired level.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0019] [Figure 1] It is a system configuration diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] It is a hardware configuration diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] It is a functional block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] It is an example of a game screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] It is an example of a game screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] It is an example of a game screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] It is an example of a game screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] It is an example of a game screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] It is a flowchart showing information processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] It is a flowchart showing information processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] It is a flowchart showing information processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] It is a flowchart showing information processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] It is an example of a game screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14] It is a flowchart showing information processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 15] It is a flowchart showing information processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. [[ID=五十一]]

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0020] Hereinafter, a game system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this specification, for the sake of clarity, unnecessarily detailed explanations may be omitted. For example, detailed explanations of already well-known matters or redundant explanations of substantially identical configurations may be omitted.

[0021] Game system 1 can be implemented by a system in which multiple electronic devices are connected via a network, but it can also be implemented by a single electronic device. Here, we will describe an embodiment using a system connected to a network.

[0022] Figure 1 shows an example of the overall configuration of a game system according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 1, the game system 1 comprises a plurality of player terminals 10 and a server 20. The player terminals 10 and the server 20 are connected to a network 2 such as the Internet and can communicate with each other. The game system 1 of this embodiment will be described assuming a server-client system.

[0023] Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a player terminal 10 and a server 20 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The player terminal 10 comprises a processor 11, a display device 12, an input device 13, a storage device 14, and a communication device 15. These components are connected by a bus 16. Interfaces are assumed to be interposed between the bus 16 and each component as needed. In this embodiment, the player terminal 10 is a smartphone, but it can be an electronic device such as a computer or a game console as long as it has the above configuration.

[0024] The server 20 also comprises a processor 21, a display device 22, an input device 23, a storage device 24, and a communication device 25. These components are connected by a bus 26. Interfaces are interposed between the bus 26 and each component as needed. In this embodiment, the server 20 is implemented by a computer.

[0025] Processors 11 and 21 control the operation of the entire player terminal 10 or server 20, and are, for example, CPUs. Electronic circuits such as MPUs may also be used as processors 11 and 21. Processors 11 and 21 perform various processes by reading and executing programs and data stored in memory devices 14 and 24. In one example, processors 11 and 21 are composed of multiple processors.

[0026] The display devices (displays) 12 and 22 display application screens and the like to the user (player) of the player terminal 10 or the user (administrator) of the server 20, according to the control of the processors 11 and 21. Preferably, they are liquid crystal displays, but they may also be displays using organic EL or plasma displays.

[0027] Input devices 13 and 23 are user interfaces that receive input from the user to the player terminal 10 and the server 20, and are, for example, a touch panel, touchpad, keyboard, or mouse. In this embodiment, the player terminal 10 is a smartphone, so the player terminal 10 is equipped with a touch panel as the input device 13, and the touch panel also functions as a display device 12, and the display device 12 and the input device 13 are in an integrated structure. The display device 12 and the input device 13 may be in separate forms located in different positions. Since the server 20 is a computer, it is equipped with a keyboard and mouse as input devices and a liquid crystal display as a display device.

[0028] The storage devices 14 and 24 are typical storage devices found in smartphones or computers, including volatile memory (RAM) and non-volatile memory (ROM). Storage devices 14 and 24 may also include external memory. For example, storage device 14 stores native applications (game programs) for running web applications (browsers) and games, while storage device 24 stores server game programs. Web applications, etc., are launched in response to user operations on the player terminal 10 and run on the operating system (OS) pre-installed on the player terminal 10. The server game program includes functions and various data for processing information to ensure that the game progresses appropriately in the web applications, etc., run on each client player terminal.

[0029] In one example, storage devices 14 and 24 are typical storage devices found in smartphones and computers, including volatile memory such as RAM and non-volatile memory such as flash memory like eMMC, UFS, and SSD, as well as magnetic storage devices. Storage devices 14 and 24 may also include external memory. For example, storage device 14 stores browser programs and game programs, and storage device 24 stores server game programs. Browser programs and game programs are launched in response to user operations on the player terminal 10 and run on an operating system (OS) pre-installed on the player terminal 10. Server game programs include functions and various data for processing information to ensure the game progresses appropriately on the browser programs and game programs run on each client player terminal. Alternatively, a database physically separated from the player terminal 10 and server 20 can be used as a storage device.

[0030] Communication devices 15 and 25 exchange data with other devices via network 2 (omitted in Figure 2). For example, communication devices 15 and 25 connect to network 2 using wireless communication such as mobile communication or wireless LAN. The player terminal 10 communicates with server 20 via the network using communication device 15. Communication devices 15 and 25 may also use wired communication such as Ethernet® cables.

[0031] Figure 3 shows an example of a functional block diagram of a player terminal 10 and a server 20 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The player terminal 10 includes an input unit 31, a display unit 32, a communication unit 33, and a game control unit 34, while the server 20 includes an input unit 41, a display unit 42, a communication unit 43, a game control unit 44, a stage advancement condition determination unit 45, and a stage transition determination unit 46.

[0032] In this embodiment, these functions are realized by the processors 11 and 21 executing a program. For example, the program executed is a browser program or a game program stored in the memory devices 14 and 24. In this way, since various functions are realized by program loading, one part (function) may be possessed by another part in whole or in part. These functions may also be realized by hardware by configuring electronic circuits, etc., to realize some or all of each function.

[0033] The input units 31 and 41 are configured using input devices 13 and 23, and receive user input to the player terminal 10 and the server 20. The player terminal 10 and the server 20 receive player input via the input units 31 and 41. In this embodiment, the player terminal 10 can use the touch detection function that is generally found in smartphones equipped with a touch panel.

[0034] The display unit 32 displays the game screen on the display device 12, and displays the game screen according to the game's progress and user operations. The game control unit 34 performs control processing and stores various data necessary for executing the game of this embodiment. In this embodiment, a browser program is used to process input / output information to the player and process transmission and reception signals to the server 20. When the game application is installed on the player terminal 10 and the game is executed, the game control unit 34 realized in this way performs various information processing for executing the game, such as managing the game's progress and data.

[0035] The display unit 42 displays a management screen for the game administrator on the display device 22 as needed. The game control unit 44 performs processing for the game to be played on the player terminal 10 of this embodiment. In one example, when a browser is launched on the player terminal 10, the game control unit 34 is implemented, and the server 20 is accessed to advance the game, the game control unit 44 periodically or as needed sends and receives data to advance the game. For example, the game control unit 44 stores control processing and various necessary data for executing the game of this embodiment and provides them to the player terminal 10 as appropriate. The various data include conditions for advancing each stage of each game medium, game mediums owned by the player and stored in association with the player's player identification information, and parameters about the game medium.

[0036] The game medium has multiple stages, and one of several different stage progression conditions is pre-set for each stage and stored in the game control unit 44. The stages are one of the parameters of the game medium, and increasing them can strengthen the game medium.

[0037] In this embodiment, the stages are defined as upper limit release stages. The parameters of the game medium include attack power, hit points (HP), level, level cap, and upper limit release stage, with attack power and HP being determined based on the game medium's level. The game medium's level can be increased by meeting certain requirements, but it can only be increased up to the level cap determined based on the upper limit release stage of the game medium. By increasing the upper limit release stage, the level cap can be increased, making it possible to further strengthen the game medium.

[0038] The stages may not only involve simply increasing the parameters of the game medium, but may also involve adding new parameters or other elements, changing them to different parameters, or a combination of all or some of these.

[0039] The conditions for increasing the stage are pre-set and stored for each stage. The same increase conditions may be set for multiple stages. In this embodiment, a first stage increase condition is set for upper limit release stages 0 to 2, and a second upper limit release condition is set for upper limit release stages 3 and 4, and the set increase conditions for the first stage increase condition and the second stage increase condition are different.

[0040] The input unit 31 of the player terminal 10 receives player input to select a target game medium from the game media stored in association with the input player identification information, for which to advance the level. The level advancement condition determination unit 45 determines whether or not the level advancement conditions set for the level of the target game medium are met.

[0041] If the stage advancement condition determination unit 45 determines that the first stage advancement condition is met, the stage transition determination unit 47 determines whether the stage advancement condition set for the next stage is the second stage advancement condition. The specific process of the determination may involve comparing the stage advancement condition at that time with the stage advancement condition set for the next stage, or the determination may be based on the stage advancement condition set for the next stage itself. For example, this can also be achieved by determining whether the next stage is a stage in which the second stage advancement condition is set. In this embodiment, since only two types of stage advancement conditions are used, if the next stage is the smallest upper limit release stage 3 in which the second stage advancement condition is set, it is determined that the stage advancement condition set for the next stage is the second stage advancement condition.

[0042] If the game control unit 44 determines that the condition for advancing to the next stage is the condition for advancing to the second stage, it causes the display unit 32 of the player terminal 10 to display a transition instruction reception unit for a screen that presents the condition for advancing to the second stage. By displaying the transition instruction reception unit when it is determined that the condition for advancing to the next stage is the condition for advancing to the second stage, the player can be notified that the condition for advancing to the next stage has changed.

[0043] Furthermore, a third stage advancement condition may be set. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that this can be achieved by applying the same process as the stage advancement process from the stage where the first stage advancement condition is set to the stage where the second stage advancement condition is set to the stage where the third stage advancement condition is set. The same applies when four or more stage advancement conditions are set.

[0044] Here, the stage advancement conditions set for each stage are the conditions for advancing each stage to the next stage. The stage advancement conditions for advancing upper limit release stages 0-2 to upper limit release stages 1-3 are the first stage advancement conditions, and the stage advancement conditions for advancing upper limit release stages 3 and 4 to upper limit release stages 4 and 5 are the second stage advancement conditions. The stage advancement conditions set for each stage may also be the conditions for advancing to the set stage. In that case, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that this can be achieved by information processing similar to that of this embodiment.

[0045] The first stage advancement condition is the consumption of a predetermined consumable game medium selected by the player, and the second stage advancement condition is the consumption of a game medium determined based on the stage to be advanced, regardless of the player's selection. Specifically, the first stage advancement condition is the consumption of a single consumable game medium identical to the target game medium selected by the player, and the second stage advancement condition is the consumption of a predetermined game medium owned by the player, regardless of the player's selection. In this specification, the game medium to be consumed may be referred to as material, and the target game medium may be referred to as base game medium.

[0046] The difference between the first and second stage progression conditions is that, under the first stage progression condition, the player can select the item to be consumed, while under the second stage progression condition, the player cannot select the item to be consumed. For example, the first stage progression condition set for Upper Limit Release Stage 1 may involve consuming one game medium identical to the target game medium, while the first stage progression condition set for Upper Limit Release Stage 2 may involve consuming two game mediums. Although the number of game mediums consumed differs, the stage progression conditions set for Upper Limit Release Stages 1 and 2 are both considered first stage progression conditions because the player can select which game medium to consume. In other embodiments, different stage progression conditions may be used if the number or type of game medium consumed differs.

[0047] When the player input is received by the transition instruction receiving unit, which is displayed after it is determined that the condition for the next stage advancement is the second stage advancement condition, the stage advancement instruction receiving unit for the stage in which the second stage advancement condition is set is displayed, and when the player input is received by the receiving unit, the game medium selected to satisfy the first stage advancement condition and the game medium to satisfy the second stage advancement condition are consumed.

[0048] In this way, the consumption of game media will not occur until a stage advancement instruction is received, allowing the player to consider the desired upper limit unlock stage. Consumption of game media is not required to determine that the stage advancement conditions are met. The conditions of the player selecting or possessing the game media necessary to meet the stage advancement conditions may be set as provisional stage advancement conditions, and it may be determined that the stage advancement conditions are met when these conditions are satisfied. If the identifier of the game media is stored in association with the player identifier, it can be determined that the player possesses the game media.

[0049] When the game control unit 44 determines that the stage advancement conditions set for the target stage have been met, it manages the game media necessary to satisfy the stage advancement conditions as temporarily consumed game media. In this embodiment, temporarily consumed game media are removed from the player's list of owned game media and stored in the list of temporarily consumed game media.

[0050] If it is determined that the conditions for advancing to multiple stages are met, all the game media required to satisfy each stage advancement condition are stored as provisional game media, corresponding to each stage. In this embodiment, for stage advancements where the first stage advancement condition is set, the game media selected by the player are stored in the provisional game media list, and for stage advancements where the second stage advancement condition is set, predetermined game media are stored in the provisional game media list.

[0051] Before accepting a step-up instruction, if the player cancels a temporary step-up or makes a player input to revert to a previous step, the game medium corresponding to the canceled step-up is removed from the temporary game medium list and returned to the player's owned game medium list. When a step-up instruction is accepted, the game medium is consumed, removed from the temporary game medium list, and considered consumed.

[0052] When it is determined that the stage advancement conditions set for the stage to be advanced to are met, the stage that can be advanced to (provisional upper limit unlocked stage) is displayed. When player input is received by the transition instruction reception unit and it is determined that the second stage advancement conditions are met, the stage that can be advanced to (provisional upper limit unlocked stage) is displayed as a result of the second stage advancement conditions being met. If the player possesses the game medium determined based on the stage to be advanced to, it will be determined that the predetermined conditions are met.

[0053] The target game medium and the game medium to be consumed, selected by player input, may be awarded to the player based on a predetermined lottery process, and the game medium determined based on the stage to be advanced may be awarded to the player according to the results of gameplay, although both may be awarded according to the lottery process and the results of gameplay.

[0054] In this embodiment, an upper limit release stage is set for the target game medium and the consuming game medium selected by player input. The consuming game medium selected by player input can be the target game medium for which the upper limit release is performed, or it can be selected as the consuming game medium for releasing the upper limit of the target game medium. For example, if a player owns multiple identical weapon items, and one weapon item has already undergone one upper limit release, this weapon item can be selected as the target game medium for further upper limit release, and other weapon items that have not yet undergone upper limit release can be selected as consuming game mediums.

[0055] On the other hand, game media whose level is predetermined based on the target level, regardless of player choice, do not have an upper limit set. Such game media are consumed (material items) to level up the target game media, and cannot themselves have their upper limit unlocked. Therefore, there is not necessarily a need to allow the player to choose which game media to consume when unlocking the upper limit of the target game media.

[0056] By making the consumption of game media, which is provided based on a lottery process, one of the conditions for increasing the upper limit of multiple stages, players can effectively utilize duplicate game media obtained through the lottery to strengthen that game media without wasting it, thereby increasing the motivation to participate in the lottery. Furthermore, by making the other conditions for increasing game media obtained through gameplay, players will be required to play the game as well as participate in the lottery to strengthen their game media, thereby increasing the activity rate of the game system and providing a more vibrant game environment.

[0057] Figure 4 shows an example of a game screen 48 that accepts player input to select a game medium from among the game mediums the player possesses to raise its level. The game screen 48 displays a list of images 49 that show game mediums (weapons) among the game mediums (weapons) the player possesses that can be raised in level (upgrade limit unlocked). Specifically, when the player makes a player input via the input unit 31 on the player terminal 10 requesting the display of the game medium selection screen for limit unlocking, the game control unit 44 on the server 20 reads the game mediums stored in association with the player identifier of that player, determines the game mediums whose limit unlock level has not reached the maximum value, generates game screen information including images 49 that show the game mediums that are subject to limit unlocking, and transmits it to the player terminal 10. When the player terminal 10 receives this, it displays the game screen 48 on the display unit 32.

[0058] In this embodiment, the first condition for advancing to the next stage is to receive player input from the player to select a single game medium that is the same as the game medium to be targeted for upper limit unlocking (base game medium) as the game medium to be consumed, and to consume the selected game medium (material game medium). However, it is also possible to have the player consume multiple identical game media or different game media. An example of a game screen for having the player select a game medium to be consumed is shown in Figure 5. When the game control unit 44 receives player input to select a game medium to be advanced to the next stage, it displays the game screen 50 shown in Figure 5 on the player terminal 10.

[0059] Here, the player can select either a normal mode, which increases the level by only one stage, or a batch mode, which increases multiple stages at once, using the mode selection button 52. The game screen 50 is the screen when normal mode is selected, and an image 51 showing the target game medium (weapon A) is displayed, along with an image 53 showing the game mediums that are candidates for consumption. The player can make a selection by touching the image of one of the consumption game mediums. Once a consumption game medium is selected, for example, a confirmation screen (not shown) is displayed to confirm the player's selection, and once the player confirms the selection, the selected consumption game medium is consumed, and the upper limit release stage of the target game medium is increased by one.

[0060] The consumption of a game medium can be achieved, for example, by deleting the identification information of the game medium that was stored in association with the player identifier, or by changing the status of the game medium associated with the player identifier in the player's ownership status to "consumed," thereby ending the ownership status and making it unusable from then on.

[0061] Figure 6 shows an example of a game screen in batch mode. For the target game medium 62 whose stage is to be increased, game screen 60 shows the state in which one consumable game medium 63 has been selected, and game screen 61 shows the state in which three consumable game mediums 63 have been selected. The upper limit release stage display 64 shows the upper limit release stage of the target game medium at that time, and the provisional upper limit release stage display 65 shows the upper limit release stage that can be increased by the consumable game medium selected by the player (provisional upper limit release stage). Here, the current upper limit release stage of game medium 62 is 0, game screen 60 shows that it will be increased to upper limit release stage 1 by consuming one consumable game medium, and game screen 61 shows that it will be increased to upper limit release stage 3 by consuming three consumable game mediums.

[0062] This allows players to easily perform multiple level increases at once without transitioning to a new game screen. By selecting the game medium up to the desired level and confirming the consumed game medium and the level after the increase, and then making input to the material (consumed game medium) confirmation button 66, the player can easily perform multiple level increases simultaneously.

[0063] On game screen 61, when it is indicated that the level will rise to level 3 by selecting three game consumption media, a transition instruction reception unit 67 is displayed, instructing the player to transition to the next level, level 4, to raise the level further. This informs the player that different level advancement conditions are required to raise the level to the next level, and enables the system to transition to a game screen suitable for presenting different level advancement conditions based on the player's input.

[0064] Figure 7 shows an example of a game screen after the player touches the transition instruction reception unit 67 and the screen transitions. First, the game screen 70 is displayed, presenting the player with the game medium 72 needed to raise to the upper limit release stage 4. This screen is displayed when it is determined that the second stage increase condition has been met. The player does not need to select the game medium 72. For this reason, in this embodiment, the player selection input reception unit for selecting the game medium 72 is not displayed. When the player inputs to the screen transition instruction reception unit 74 to instruct a screen transition to display further provisional upper limit releases and their conditions, the game screen 71 is displayed. Touching the back button 76 returns the player to the game screen 61, lowering the provisional upper limit release stage by one, so as to return to the previous state.

[0065] As described above, when the game control unit 44 determines that the stage advancement conditions set for the stage to be advanced have been met, it removes the game media required to meet each stage advancement condition from the player's list of owned game media and stores them in a provisional list of owned game media, corresponding to each stage. When the back button 76 is touched, the game media associated with the stage to which the player is returning is removed from the provisional list of owned game media and returned to the player's list of owned game media.

[0066] In this embodiment, the transition instruction receiving unit has two types: a receiving unit 67 that is displayed when the next stage advancement condition is different, and a receiving unit 74 that is displayed even though the next stage advancement condition is different. For example, if the provisional upper limit release stage is 4 and the next upper limit release stage is 5, the stage advancement condition in both cases is the second stage advancement condition. However, since further game consumption is required to reach the upper limit release stage 5, the game screen is transitioned to present this to the player.

[0067] Game screen 71 displays the amount of game currency 73 needed to raise the level to level 5. By inputting information to the material selection button 75, the player can perform multiple level increases at once up to the level displayed in the provisional level limit. Specifically, touching the material selection button 75 on game screen 70 will perform the level increase process up to level 4, and touching it on game screen 71 will perform the level increase process up to level 5.

[0068] As described above, in this embodiment, although the upper limit release stage is a single parameter set for the game medium, the stage advancement conditions set for upper limit release stages 0-2 are different from those set for upper limit release stages 3 and 4. By using the above-described method, even when different stage advancement conditions are set across stages, the player is shown that the stage advancement conditions are changing, and the stage advancement process can be performed all at once up to the stage desired by the player with simple input operations.

[0069] Figure 8 shows a modified example of a game screen after the player touches the transition instruction receiving unit 67 to input player information and the screen transitions. In the example shown in Figure 7, the game medium 72 required to advance to upper limit release stage 4 consisted only of game items other than weapons, but in Figure 8, the player is shown that both weapons and game items other than weapons (treasures) must be consumed.

[0070] Next, an example of the game medium stage increase process in batch mode executed by game system 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be explained using the flowcharts shown in Figures 9 to 12. The game executed by the game system can be any type of game, as long as the player can play using one or more game media selected from among multiple game media. The player attempts to gain an advantage in the game by strengthening the game media. One way of strengthening the game media is to increase the upper limit release stage.

[0071] When the player sends a request to increase the upper limit of the game medium to the server 20 via the player terminal 10, the server 20 displays the target game medium selection screen shown in Figure 4 on the display unit 32 of the player terminal 10. When the player makes a player input to select the target game medium for the level increase, the server 20 sends information to the player terminal 10 to display the player input screen for the level increase for the selected target game medium. When the player selects the batch mode, the player terminal 10 displays the player input screen 60 (Figure 6) for increasing the level of the target game medium on the display unit 32 (S902).

[0072] When a player makes a player input on the player input screen 60 (S904), the player terminal 10 receives it and sends it to the server 20. The server 20 performs processing based on the received player input. It determines whether the player input is a game medium selection input (S906), and if true, it performs a game medium selection response process (S908) and returns to waiting for the next player input (S904).

[0073] Figure 10 shows a more detailed view of the game media selection response processing (S908). It is determined whether the game media selected by the game media selection input satisfies the stage advancement conditions set for the stage of the target game media (S1002).

[0074] The stage of the target game medium subject to determination is the provisional upper limit release stage of the target game medium when the stage increase condition determination process (S1002) is executed. The provisional upper limit release stage is the upper limit release stage when the stage increase instruction response process (S920) is executed before the game medium selection input is made. When the game medium stage increase process 900 is started, the upper limit release stage at that time is stored in the game control unit 44 as the initial value of the provisional upper limit release stage.

[0075] If the game medium has only two upper limit release stages, the determination process (S1002) can be executed based on the stage advancement conditions set for the upper limit release stages of the game medium at that time, rather than using a provisional upper limit release stage.

[0076] In this embodiment, the condition for unlocking the upper limit of the target game medium is that the same game medium as the target game medium is selected for stages 0 to 2 of the target game medium, while for unlocking the upper limit of stages 3 and 4, the condition for advancement is that the player possesses a predetermined game medium, regardless of the player's selection. Therefore, player selection input is accepted only in the case of provisional upper limit unlocking stages 0 to 2.

[0077] In the stage progression condition determination process (S1002), if it is determined that the stage progression conditions are not met, a pop-up screen presenting the progression conditions is displayed (S1012). Once the player provides confirmation, the game medium selection input response process (S908) terminates.

[0078] If it is determined that the stage advancement conditions are met, it is determined whether the stage advancement conditions set for the next stage are different from the stage advancement conditions set for the stage of the target game medium (S1004). This can be determined by whether the stage advancement conditions used in the determination process in S1002 are different from the stage advancement conditions set for the next upper limit release stage. In this embodiment, if the next stage is upper limit release stage 3, it is determined that the stage advancement conditions set for the next stage are different stage advancement conditions, and in all other cases, it is determined that they are not different stage advancement conditions.

[0079] Furthermore, a flag may be set in advance for stages whose stage advancement conditions differ from those of the previous stage. If a flag is set, it may be determined that the stage advancement conditions are different from those set for the previous stage. For example, a stage advancement set to Upper Limit Release Stage 3 can be flagged as Upper Limit Release Stage 3 because it has a second stage advancement condition that is different from the stage advancement set to Upper Limit Release Stage 2.

[0080] If the screen that allows the player to select the game medium to consume is filtered so that only the same game medium as the target game medium is displayed, or if the selection of game mediums that do not meet the advancement conditions is prevented, then the condition for advancing to the first stage will always be met when the player selects a game medium to consume. Therefore, in such cases, it can be determined that the condition for advancing to the first stage has been met simply by accepting the input for selecting the game medium to consume. On the other hand, if the game medium to be consumed is a predetermined number of specific game media, a determination is made as to whether the selected game medium meets the conditions.

[0081] If the judgment in S1004 is true, the game screen information is updated to display the transition instruction receiving unit for the screen presenting the conditions for advancing to the second stage (S1006). If the judgment in S1004 is false, the game screen information for displaying the transition instruction receiving unit (S1006) is not updated.

[0082] Next, the provisional upper limit release stage stored in the game control unit 44 is increased and updated (S1008). The selected game medium is also removed from the player's owned game medium list and stored in the provisional game medium list in association with the increased stage. After that, the server 20 sends the updated game screen information to the player terminal 10, and the player terminal 10 updates the game screen display based on this (S1010), and terminates the game medium selection response processing (S908).

[0083] For example, in the game screen 61 of Figure 6, the provisional upper limit release stage display 65 for the target game medium is 3, and since the second stage increase condition set for upper limit release stage 3 is different from the first stage increase set for upper limit release stage 2, the transition instruction reception unit 67 is displayed.

[0084] The game medium selection response process is repeatedly executed each time a game medium is selected until it is determined that the stage advancement condition set for the next stage is the second stage advancement condition. Once it is determined that the stage advancement condition set for the next stage is the second stage advancement condition, the system may not accept further selection of game mediums, or it may execute the game medium selection response process for the newly selected game medium in place of the already selected game medium. The system may also include a function to deselect an already selected game medium. In this case, the provisional upper limit release stage is reduced by one, the game medium is moved from the provisional game medium list to the owned game medium list, and the game screen is updated.

[0085] Next, in S906 of Figure 9, if the player input is not a game medium selection input, it is determined whether or not it is a transition instruction input (S910). If the determination result is true, the transition instruction response process (S912) is executed. Figure 11 shows a specific example of the transition instruction response process.

[0086] The system determines whether the conditions for advancing to the next stage are met (S1102). If the determination result is false, a screen presenting the conditions for advancing to the next stage is displayed on the player terminal 10 (S1112), and the transition instruction response processing (S912) is terminated. In this embodiment, the pop-up display shows the items that the player must possess to meet the conditions for advancing to the next stage, as well as a confirmation button. Upon receiving input from the player via the confirmation button, the pop-up display is terminated, and the original game screen is displayed.

[0087] If the result of the judgment in S1102 is true, then it is determined whether either of the following is true: whether the stage advancement condition set for the next stage and the next stage after that is different from the stage advancement condition set for the next stage, or whether it is necessary to present the conditions for the next stage and the next stage after that (S1104).

[0088] The specific information processing for determining whether the stage advancement conditions set for the next and subsequent stages are different can be implemented using the same method as in S1004. In this embodiment, since no third stage advancement condition is set, in S1104, it is not necessary to determine whether the stage advancement conditions set for the next and subsequent stages are different. The determination of whether it is necessary to present conditions for the next and subsequent stages can be made, for example, by storing the stages for which condition presentation is necessary for each stage, and determining whether the next and subsequent stages are stored as stages for which condition presentation is necessary. In this embodiment, the upper limit release stage 5 is stored as a stage for which condition presentation is necessary.

[0089] If the judgment result is true, the game screen information is updated to display the transition instruction reception unit (S1106). If it is false, the game screen information update process to display the transition instruction reception unit is not performed. After that, the provisional upper limit release stage is increased by one, and the consumable game media held by the player necessary to satisfy the stage increase condition are removed from the list of owned game media and stored in the provisional consumable game media list in association with the increased stage. Then, the game screen information is also updated (S1108), and the game screen is displayed on the player terminal 10 based on the updated game screen information (S1110). The game screen 70 in Figure 7 is an example of a game screen that displays the transition instruction reception unit 74 for displaying the conditions for the next stage and the next stage after that.

[0090] Returning to Figure 9, if the player input is determined to be a step-up instruction (S918), the step-up instruction response process is executed (S920). An example of the specific information processing of the step-up instruction response process is shown in Figure 12. When the input to the step-up instruction reception unit is received, a confirmation screen is displayed showing the game media stored in the provisional game media consumption list. When the player makes a confirmation input, the game control unit 44 consumes the game media by deleting the identifier of the game media necessary to raise the provisional step up, which is stored in association with the player identifier, from the provisional game media consumption list (S1202). Then, the parameter indicating the step of the target game media stored in the game control unit 44 is raised to the provisional upper limit release step (S1204). If the player input to return is performed on the confirmation screen, the screen may be returned to the screen before the step-up instruction was received.

[0091] In this embodiment, the batch mode increase response processing is executed in a batch up to the desired stage (provisional upper limit release stage) by consuming the necessary game media to raise the level to the desired stage as requested by the player. All of the game media selected by player input to satisfy the first stage increase condition and the game media required to satisfy the second stage increase condition are consumed, and the level of the target game media is raised to the desired stage.

[0092] For example, in this embodiment, when performing a stage increase process up to provisional stage 4 for a target game medium at stage 0 of upper limit release, three identical game mediums selected by the player to raise it to upper limit release stages 1-3, and all game mediums necessary to raise the target game medium to upper limit release stage 4 are removed from the player's possessions, while the upper limit release stage of the target game medium is updated to 4.

[0093] The game control unit 44 generates screen information indicating that the stage increase of the target game medium has been executed, displays the game screen on the display unit 32 of the player terminal 10 (S1206), and terminates the stage increase instruction response processing.

[0094] Furthermore, if the player requests a further increase in the game limit and the game screen transitions, but then reconsiders after seeing the conditions for further limit increases and decides they do not wish to increase the limit that much, they can touch the back button 76 (S914) to return to the previous provisional limit increase stage, and the game screen will also transition to the previous game screen (S916). The game control unit 44 stores the previous provisional limit increase stage and game screen, and can return to the stored state in response to the back input. The consumed game medium associated with the stage to which the player returned is removed from the provisional consumed game medium list and returned to the player's owned game medium list.

[0095] In Figure 9, if the player input is neither a game medium selection input, a transition instruction, a back instruction, nor a stage advancement instruction, the player input is set as an end input to terminate the stage advancement process for the target game medium. In this case, the process to terminate the stage advancement process for the target game medium is executed (S922). For example, a selection screen for selecting a new target game medium can be displayed on the player terminal 10, or a main menu image can be displayed to accept input for playing a game or other player inputs.

[0096] In this embodiment, the player input is a step-up instruction, and even after the step-up instruction response processing (S920) is executed, the step-up termination processing is also executed. However, it is also acceptable to return to S904 to accept further step-up input from the target game medium.

[0097] In games where one of several different stage progression conditions is set for each stage of the game medium, it is necessary to accept stage progression instructions while making the player aware of the different stage progression conditions, so it is common to perform stage progression processing for each stage. When progressing through multiple stages, if the input process involves repeatedly switching between game screens for selecting the target game medium, selecting or displaying the consumed game medium, and issuing stage progression instructions, the procedure becomes very complicated, and the amount of data transmitted to display the game screen in a server-client system becomes large.

[0098] By using this embodiment, even in games where one of several different stage advancement conditions is set for each stage of the game medium, if the stage advancement condition for the next stage is different, a transition instruction reception unit for the next stage advancement screen is displayed, notifying the player that the stage advancement condition has changed, thereby providing a user interface that enables simultaneous execution of multiple stage advancements. In the case where the same stage advancement condition applies to multiple stages, the game medium selection input by the player is allowed within a single game screen, and a transition instruction to present the new stage advancement condition is displayed at the stage where the stage advancement condition changes, thereby suppressing the number of game screen transitions, reducing the amount of data transmitted from the server due to screen transitions, and simplifying the player's input operations.

[0099] Furthermore, instead of a fixed process that raises to the maximum level, it becomes possible to raise the level all at once to the level desired by the player, thereby improving the player's usability. When the conditions for raising to the next level are displayed on the screen, the player can check those conditions and decide how many levels to raise. For example, a player who wants to unlock the level cap for other game media besides the one they have selected can plan their level increases systematically while checking the game media being consumed.

[0100] [Differentiation] Unlike the previously described embodiment, this modified version describes a configuration in which the first stage advancement condition is the consumption of a predetermined game medium owned by the player, regardless of the player's selection, and the second stage advancement condition is the consumption of a game medium identical to the target game medium selected by the player. The first stage advancement condition is set for upper limit unlock stages 0 to 2, and the second stage advancement condition is set for upper limit unlock stages 3 and 4.

[0101] In the modified version, first, it is determined whether the conditions for increasing the level cap by only one level are met. If it is determined that the conditions are not met, a pop-up screen presenting the conditions for increasing the level cap is displayed, and after receiving confirmation from the player, the screen returns to the original screen. If it is determined that the conditions for increasing the level cap are met, as shown in Figure 13, if the level cap increase stage of the target game medium is 0, 1 is set as the provisional level cap increase stage, and the game medium 132 required for the level increase is presented.

[0102] Furthermore, a player input button 136 is displayed for performing an upper limit increase up to upper limit increase stage 2 or upper limit increase stage 3, for which the first stage increase condition is set. It is possible to select the stage to increase from the stage for which the first upper limit increase stage is set. When the player touches any of the player input buttons, the amount of game currency 133 required to increase the stage to the selected upper limit increase stage is displayed on the game screen 71.

[0103] Furthermore, if the stage advancement condition set for the next stage after the provisional upper limit release stage is the second stage advancement condition, in this embodiment, if the provisional upper limit release stage is 3, a transition instruction reception unit 137 is displayed to instruct the player to transition to the next upper limit release stage 4. When player input is made to the transition instruction reception unit 137, a screen for selecting the same game medium as the target game medium is displayed, as shown in the game screen 60 of Figure 6.

[0104] Figure 14 shows an example of a flowchart 1400 for information processing to implement the modified version. For the sake of simplicity, the explanation will focus on the parts that differ from the flowchart shown in Figure 9. The same code numbers will be used for processes that are the same as in Figure 9. When the target game medium is selected by the player and it is determined that the conditions for increasing the level to unlock the upper limit by one level are met, the level increase player input screen 130 is displayed on the player terminal 10 (S902). Then, when it is determined that the player input is a level increase selection (S1402), the upper limit level selection input response processing (S1404) is executed.

[0105] Figure 15 shows an example of the flowchart for the Upper Limit Stage Selection Input Response Processing (S1404). This processing is similar to the Game Medium Consumption Input Response Processing (S908). Specifically, it determines whether the player possesses the necessary game medium to perform a stage increase up to the upper limit release stage selected by the player (S1502). If the determination result is false, a pop-up screen presenting the necessary game medium is displayed (S1512), and after receiving confirmation input from the player, the system returns to the Stage Increase Player Input Screen 130.

[0106] If the judgment result is true, it is determined whether the next stage after the increase is the second upper limit release stage (S1504). If it is true, the game screen information is updated to display the transition instruction reception unit 137 (S1506). If it is false, the game screen information is not updated. Based on the player's selection input, the provisional upper limit release stage of the target game medium is increased, the consumable game mediums held by the player necessary to satisfy the stage increase conditions are removed from the list of owned game mediums, and are stored in the provisional consumable game medium list in association with the increased stage, and the game screen information is updated (S1508). Then, the updated game screen is displayed on the player terminal 10 (S1510). If the provisional upper limit release stage is 2, the input reception unit 136 for increasing the upper limit release stage to 3 is displayed on the updated game screen.

[0107] Other processes such as the input response processing for selecting the game medium to consume (S908), the transition instruction response processing (S912), the return input response processing (S916), and the up instruction response processing (S920) are the same as in Figures 9 to 12. In this modified example, although a second upper limit release condition is set for upper limit release stages 3 and 4, a third stage up condition is not set. Therefore, in the input response processing for selecting the game medium to consume (S908), the next stage up condition determination (S1008) and the transition instruction reception unit information generation processing (S1010) are unnecessary. If a third stage up condition is to be set, it can be achieved by implementing these processes.

[0108] By using this modified version, when the first stage advancement condition is set, it becomes possible to select the stage to advance to while confirming the game medium being consumed, regardless of the player's selection. In the screen displayed in response to input to the transition instruction reception unit, it becomes possible for the player to input the selection of game medium to be consumed in order to satisfy the second stage advancement condition, and the stage advancement process can be completed all at once up to the desired stage.

[0109] In the above-described embodiment, the player terminal 10 was described as using a web application to allow the user to play the game. However, the player terminal 10 may also store a native application in the storage device 14 and execute it to perform information processing necessary to advance the game. The native application includes a game program for running the game and various data referenced when the game program is executed. The native application is launched in response to user operation on the player terminal 10 and is executed on an operating system (OS) pre-installed on the player terminal 10. In this case, the player terminal 10 may be equipped with at least some of the functions provided by the server 20 in the above-described embodiment. In yet another embodiment, the player terminal 10 may be able to run the game using only one player terminal 10 without communicating with the server 20.

[0110] In the processes or operations described above, the processes or operations can be freely modified, as long as no inconsistencies arise in the processes or operations, such as using data that should not yet be available at a given step. Furthermore, the embodiments described above are illustrative examples for explaining the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. The present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from its essence. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0111] 1: Game System 2: Network 10: Player terminal 11: Processor 12:Display device 13: Input device 14:Storage device 15: Communication equipment 16: Bus 20: Server 21: Processor 22:Display device 23: Input device 24:Storage device 25: Communication equipment 26: Bus 31: Input section 32: Display section 33: Communications Department 34: Game Control Department 41: Input section 42: Display section 43: Communications Department 44: Game Control Department 45: Stage Ascension Condition Determination Unit 46: Stage transition determination unit 47: Stage transition determination unit 48: Game screen 49: Image

Claims

1. A program used in a game that can advance the level of a game medium stored in association with player identification information, wherein one of several different level advancement conditions is set for each level. On the computer, A step of receiving player input to select a target game medium to advance the stage from among the game mediums stored in association with player identification information, and determining whether a first stage advancement condition set for the stage of the target game medium is met based on the game medium stored in association with the player identification information, wherein when a player input is received to select a predetermined game medium as the consumed game medium from among the game mediums stored in association with the player identification information, it is determined that the first stage advancement condition is met. If it is determined that the first stage advancement condition is met, the step is to determine whether the stage advancement condition set for the next stage is the second stage advancement condition. If it is determined that the next stage advancement condition is the second stage advancement condition, the step of determining that the second stage advancement condition is met is when the game medium to be consumed, determined based on the stage to which the second stage advancement condition is set, is stored in association with the player identification information, If it is determined that the first and second stage advancement conditions are met, and a material determination input is received, the process includes the step of consuming the game media selected to satisfy the first stage advancement condition and the game media selected to satisfy the second stage advancement condition, and executing the stage advancement process in a single step, A program characterized by causing the execution of a program.

2. The program according to claim 1, wherein the game medium selected by the player input and the game medium used to satisfy the stage that has been provisionally advanced after being determined to satisfy the second stage advancement condition are stored as provisional game mediums.

3. The steps include storing the provisional game medium in the provisional game medium list for each provisionally increased stage, When a player input is received to cancel a provisionally increased stage, the steps include removing the game medium consumed for the stage whose provisional stage increase was canceled from the provisional game medium list, The program according to claim 2, further comprising:

4. An electronic device used in a game that can advance the stage of a game medium stored in association with player identification information, wherein one of several different stage advancement conditions is set for each stage. The aforementioned electronic device is The system receives player input to select a target game medium to advance the stage from among the game media stored in association with player identification information, determines whether a first stage advancement condition set for the stage of the target game medium is met based on the game media stored in association with the player identification information, and when it receives player input to select a predetermined game medium as the consumed game medium from among the game media stored in association with the player identification information, it determines that the first stage advancement condition is met. If it is determined that the first stage advancement condition is met, then it is determined whether the stage advancement condition set for the next stage is the second stage advancement condition. If it is determined that the next stage advancement condition is the second stage advancement condition, then it is determined that the second stage advancement condition is met if the game medium to be consumed, determined based on the stage to which the second stage advancement condition is set, is stored in association with the player identification information. If it is determined that the first and second stage advancement conditions are met, and a material determination input is received, the game medium selected to satisfy the first stage advancement condition and the game medium to satisfy the second stage advancement condition are consumed, and the stage advancement process is executed all at once. An electronic device characterized by the following features.

5. A method used in a game that allows for increasing the level of a game medium stored in association with player identification information, wherein one of several different level increase conditions is set for each level. On the computer, A step of receiving player input to select a target game medium to advance the stage from among the game mediums stored in association with player identification information, and determining whether a first stage advancement condition set for the stage of the target game medium is met based on the game medium stored in association with the player identification information, wherein when a player input is received to select a predetermined game medium as the consumed game medium from among the game mediums stored in association with the player identification information, it is determined that the first stage advancement condition is met. If it is determined that the first stage advancement condition is met, the step is to determine whether the stage advancement condition set for the next stage is the second stage advancement condition. If it is determined that the next stage advancement condition is the second stage advancement condition, the step of determining that the second stage advancement condition is met is when the game medium to be consumed, determined based on the stage to which the second stage advancement condition is set, is stored in association with the player identification information, If it is determined that the first and second stage advancement conditions are met, and a material determination input is received, the process includes the step of consuming the game media selected to satisfy the first stage advancement condition and the game media selected to satisfy the second stage advancement condition, and executing the stage advancement process in a single step, A method characterized by causing the execution of [something].

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