Game program and game system

Abstract

The system significantly reduces the time required for gameplay while flexibly reflecting the player's intentions through automated gameplay, maintaining immersion and a sense of accomplishment. [Solution] The game program causes the computer to perform the following steps: display a predetermined character on the game's play screen, which is a predetermined character capable of interacting with the player and performing operations related to the game on behalf of the player; and perform the automatic play of the game by performing proxy operations related to the game based on the interaction when the play screen is displayed or hidden.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a game program and a game system. [Background Art]

[0002] In recent years, with the improvement in performance of terminal devices such as smartphones and tablets, a wide variety of game applications (hereinafter also simply referred to as "games") have been provided. In particular, in online games that can be participated by many players, the amount of time players spend on the game tends to be longer.

[0003] To cope with such a situation, some games are equipped with so-called automatic progress modes or automatic operation functions that cause characters to act automatically without requiring player operation. Here, Patent Document 1 describes a technology that learns a player's past gameplay style, imitates the style, and automatically executes a specific task.

[0004] On the other hand, as another form of enjoying game content without requiring player operation, there is also a method of viewing gameplay videos of other players. [Prior Art Documents] [Patent Documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2019-520154 [Summary of the Invention] [Problem to be Solved by the Invention]

[0006] However, conventional auto-play modes primarily executed predetermined tasks or quests using limited logic. Therefore, it was difficult to comprehensively play through all the game's content or to flexibly reflect the player's diverse intentions. As a result, players had to manually handle parts that auto-play couldn't, leading to the problem of not being able to sufficiently reduce the time required for gameplay.

[0007] Furthermore, while there are technologies that mimic a player's play style, these are based on past gameplay data and cannot immediately respond to dynamic player requests such as "I want to collect a specific item" or "I want to focus on developing a specific character." In addition, features such as interactive instructions through dialogue with the player and Q&A regarding gameplay have not been adequately considered, and it cannot be said that the game fully understands the player's intentions.

[0008] On the other hand, while watching gameplay videos doesn't require the player to control the game themselves, it only involves watching others play, which presents a challenge because it diminishes the original gaming experience of participating in the game and developing one's character.

[0009] Therefore, this disclosure aims to provide a game program and game system that can significantly reduce the time required for gameplay while enabling automated gameplay that flexibly reflects the player's intentions, thereby maintaining a sense of immersion and accomplishment in the game. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] A game program according to a first aspect of the present disclosure causes a computer to perform the following steps: display a predetermined character on the game screen, which is a predetermined character capable of interacting with the player and performing operations related to the game on behalf of the player; and perform an automated play of the game by performing proxy operations related to the game based on the interaction when the play screen is displayed or hidden.

[0011] A game system according to a second aspect of the present disclosure includes a display control unit that controls the display of a predetermined character capable of interacting with the player on the game's play screen, and an automatic play unit that performs proxy operations related to the game based on the interaction when the play screen is displayed or hidden, thereby automatically playing the game. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] The technology disclosed herein enables a game program and game system that can significantly reduce the time required for gameplay while flexibly reflecting the player's intentions and maintaining immersion and a sense of accomplishment in the game. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0013] [Figure 1] Figure 1 shows an example of the configuration of a game system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] Figure 2 shows an example of the configuration of a server device according to this embodiment. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of a gameplay screen according to the embodiment (an example of screen display on a terminal device). [Figure 4] Figure 4 shows an example of the operation of the game system according to this embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0014] The game system according to the embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, identical or similar parts are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals.

[0015] (1) System Configuration The configuration of the game system 1 according to this embodiment will now be described. Figure 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the game system 1 according to this embodiment.

[0016] The game system 1 according to this embodiment includes a server device 100 and a terminal device 200. The server device 100 and the terminal device 200 are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with each other via a network 5 such as the Internet. The game system 1 according to this embodiment provides a game to a player using the terminal device 200. The term "player" can be used interchangeably with the term "user". The game according to this embodiment is an online game provided under the control of the server device 100. However, the game is not limited to an online game and may be playable offline.

[0017] In the illustrated example, only one terminal device 200 (and the player using it) is shown, but there may be multiple terminal devices 200 (and the players using it). In the following, the specific player shown in Figure 1 may be referred to as Player A.

[0018] The server device 100 is an information processing device (computer) that primarily performs processing related to the game according to this embodiment. The server device 100 may be composed of a general-purpose computer such as a workstation or a personal computer (PC), or it may be logically implemented by cloud computing (distributed computing). In other words, the server device 100 may be composed of one computer or multiple computers. The server device 100 may operate in cooperation with an external natural language processing (NLP) server and / or a large-scale language model (LMM) server, etc.

[0019] Each function according to the present embodiment is realized by the server device 100, the terminal device 200, or cooperation between these devices. In the following description, a configuration in which the server device 100 mainly performs main processing will be mainly described as an example.

[0020] The terminal device 200 is an information processing device (computer) used by a player (user) who plays the game according to the present embodiment. The terminal device 200 is, for example, a portable terminal device such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal device, a wearable terminal device, or a notebook PC. The terminal device 200 may be a fixed terminal device such as a desktop PC. The terminal device 200 has a user interface and an interface with the network 5. The user interface includes display means (display), input means (such as operation input means, a microphone, and / or a camera), and output means (such as a speaker). The operation input means may include at least one of, for example, a touch pad (which may be a touch panel display), a mouse, and a keyboard. The interface with the network 5 includes at least one of a wired communication interface and a wireless communication interface.

[0021] An application program (also simply referred to as an "app") for providing the game according to the present embodiment to the player may be installed in the terminal device 200. In the present embodiment, the application program provides the game to the player in cooperation with the server device 100 by using communication with the server device 100.

[0022] Figure 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the server device 100 according to the present embodiment. The server device 100 according to the present embodiment includes a communication unit 110, a storage unit 120, and a processing unit 130.

[0023] The communication unit 110 communicates with external devices such as the terminal device 200 via the network 5 under the control of the processing unit 130. The communication unit 110 transmits game image data (drawing data) and audio data to the terminal device 200, and receives operation input data of the player for the terminal device 200 from the terminal device 200.

[0024] The memory unit 120 includes a storage medium such as ROM, RAM, HDD, or SSD, and stores a program for executing the processing according to this embodiment, as well as various information used in the processing, such as game data (game database) and player data. Game data includes, for example, information on each object such as each character and item in the game, as well as information on the game's story, dialogue, voice, and effects. Player data includes, for example, the player's account information and information on characters and items owned by the player in the game.

[0025] Furthermore, the memory unit 120 stores data (setting data) for controlling the behavior during automatic play. This setting data may include a database that defines behavior according to conditions within the game, and / or a learning model (also referred to as an "AI model") using artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning (ML) technology. The learning model may be a model that learns the behavior when multiple players play, or a model that learns the behavior when a specific player (Player A) plays. In addition, the memory unit 120 may store a natural language processing (NLP) model or the like used for interaction with the player.

[0026] The processing unit 130 includes a CPU and other components, and performs various processes by reading and executing a program (game program) from the storage unit 120, as well as controlling the operation of the server device 100. In this embodiment, the processing unit 130 functions as a game provisioning unit 131, a display control unit 132, an automatic play unit 133, an information acquisition unit 134, a reporting processing unit 135, an answer processing unit 136, a game control unit 137, a learning processing unit 138, and an explanatory video generation unit 139.

[0027] The game provision unit 131 provides a game (in this embodiment, an online game). For example, the game may be an RPG (Roll Playing Game) that progresses by having the player explore a map set up in a virtual space, with the main character being a movable object that responds to the player's input to the terminal device 200. The main character is an example of a first character in the game. The main character may also be called a player character.

[0028] In RPGs, multiple main characters may exist, and groups (also called "parties") consisting of multiple main characters may be formed. However, the game is not limited to RPGs; this embodiment can be applied to any type of game, such as puzzle games or competitive games.

[0029] For example, in an RPG, the player controls their main character to explore a map set in the game's virtual space and aim to complete the tasks assigned to them. These tasks, also called quests, may include things like defeating enemies, breaking curses, or finding companions.

[0030] The display control unit 132 controls the display on the terminal device 200. Specifically, the display control unit 132 generates image data (drawing data) to be displayed on the terminal device 200 and provides the image data (drawing data) to the terminal device 200. In this embodiment, the display control unit 132 controls the display of a second character (also referred to as a "predetermined character") on the game play screen (i.e., the game screen displayed on the terminal device 200), which is a second character capable of interacting with the player and which performs game-related operations (for example, operations on the first character (main character) in the game) on behalf of the player.

[0031] Here, "primary character" refers to the character that the player primarily controls in the game world (i.e., the virtual space of the game). For example, this includes the protagonist and their companions in RPGs and action games, as well as the player's avatar.

[0032] A "second character" refers to a special character (a designated character) that acts as a proxy for the player, providing support by performing game-related operations (e.g., controlling the first character) and functioning as a dialogue interface with the player. For example, a second character might have the appearance of a "fairy" or a "butler" and have a role in supporting the player.

[0033] Thus, the "first character" is an avatar or unit primarily controlled by the player, while the "second character" may be an agent or non-player character (NPC) that functions as the player's assistant / representative.

[0034] The interaction between the player and the second character (hereinafter also simply referred to as "dialogue") refers to all communication that takes place between the player and the second character. This dialogue is implemented in text format (e.g., text chat format) and / or in voice dialogue format using speech recognition and speech synthesis. For example, dialogue includes text chat, voice commands, and free-form conversation using natural language processing (NLP). The second character may be an AI character that engages in real-time, context-aware dialogue. "Dialogue" is not limited to simple multiple-choice conversations but encompasses sophisticated linguistic interactions.

[0035] The display control unit 132 performs processing to display a second character on the game screen in addition to the game images provided by the game provision unit 131. The display control unit 132 may also have a function to change settings such as the display / hide status, display position, and appearance of the second character in response to the player's input to the terminal device 200.

[0036] The automatic play unit 133 performs automatic play. Specifically, the automatic play unit 133 performs automatic play of the game by performing proxy operations related to the game (for example, proxy operations for the first character) based on the interaction between the player and the second character when the game play screen is displayed or hidden.

[0037] Here, "autoplay" refers to a state (mode) in which a second character, without direct player input, controls the game (for example, controls the first character) on behalf of the player based on dialogue instructions (also called "commands") received from the player, thereby advancing the game. Note that proxy controls are not limited to controls for the first character, but can be applied to all controls related to the progression of the game. Furthermore, proxy controls are not limited to specific tasks or quests, but can be applied to all content within the game. The autoplay unit 133 reads data (setting data) for controlling the behavior of the game (for example, the first character) during autoplay from the storage unit 120, and performs autoplay using this setting data.

[0038] Proxy operation and automated play refer to the progression of in-game tasks (e.g., combat, resource gathering, quest progression) without direct, real-time input from the player. This includes autonomous gameplay execution using technologies where AI learns the player's play style and takes over operations, or where AI generates actions for the player character.

[0039] Automated play is based on "dialogue." This means that the activation, control, and / or goal setting of automated play are done through dialogue with a second character. In other words, it could be a command-and-control relationship where the player gives natural language instructions to the second character, such as "level up in a specific dungeon for 8 hours," and the second character interprets those instructions and executes the automated play. This is important because it is not simply a matter of the AI ​​making autonomous decisions, but rather the player's linguistic instructions acting as a trigger or guide.

[0040] The display of the game play screen refers to the state in which the player has the game application active on terminal device 200. The player may also watch the automated gameplay displayed on terminal device 200.

[0041] On the other hand, when the game play screen is not displayed, it refers to a state where the player has not activated the game application on the terminal device 200, that is, a state where the game is running in the background. When the game play screen is not displayed, the player may be operating the terminal device 200 but the game play screen is not displayed, or the player may not be operating the terminal device 200 but game play is progressing in the background. When the game play screen is not displayed, the game application may be running in the background, the app may be minimized, or the device may be locked (offline).

[0042] Thus, according to this embodiment, the player can give instructions regarding the automatic play of the game using an intuitive and easy-to-understand means of dialogue with a second character. In particular, since automatic play continues even when the play screen is hidden in the background, the player can enjoy the game continuously while saving their valuable time.

[0043] Figure 3 shows an example of a gameplay screen according to this embodiment (an example of screen display on terminal device 200).

[0044] In the illustrated example, the gameplay screen displays the main character (MC) on the map, which is the game field. Additionally, the gameplay screen also shows a status panel at the top of the screen displaying the MC's current rewards, equipment, and other status information.

[0045] For example, when a player initiates a game on the terminal device 200, a second character (SC) assisting the player is displayed on the gameplay screen along with the first character (MC). The display of this second character (SC) is controlled by the display control unit 132 and may be implemented as an overlay display on the game's rendering engine, similar to other UI elements (such as health bars and maps).

[0046] Players may be able to select the appearance of their second character from several options (for example, "fairy," "robot," or "animal") from the game's settings screen, or change the display position of their second character to one of the four corners of the screen. These settings may be stored in the storage unit 120 of the server device 100, linked to the player's account information, and automatically applied the next time the player logs in.

[0047] For example, when a player taps the second character (SC), a dialogue window like the one shown in Figure 3 appears, allowing the player to select a command such as "Start Autoplay" by tapping. Based on this instruction (command), the autoplay unit 133 starts autoplay. Alternatively, the player may input a specific voice command into the terminal device 200, causing the display control unit 132 to cooperate with the autoplay unit 133 to display the dialogue window. A command such as "Start Autoplay" may also be given by voice command instead of selection by tap. The autoplay unit 133 may receive the voice command from the terminal device 200, recognize the voice command by voice recognition, and have the display control unit 132 display the dialogue window.

[0048] When automatic play is started and the play screen continues to be displayed, the player views the automatic play displayed by the terminal device 200. During automatic play, the display control unit 132 may display the play screen in a special display mode to indicate that automatic play is in progress. For example, the display control unit 132 may cause the second character (SC) to perform a special action, or it may display text (comments) indicating that automatic play is in progress overlaid on or near the second character (SC).

[0049] Automatic play when the play screen is not displayed may be implemented using a server-side execution method. For example, if the player closes the game application after automatic play has started, the terminal device 200 sends the current game session information to the server device 100. The automatic play unit 133 of the server device 100 starts a virtual client on the server device 100 that has taken over the session information and takes over the progress of the game logic. This virtual client executes internal commands to perform proxy operations for the first character. As a result, the game can continue to progress on the server device 100 even if the player's terminal device 200 is powered off.

[0050] Returning to Figure 2, the information acquisition unit 134 acquires information from the terminal device 200. The information acquisition unit 134 may acquire information to be stored in the storage unit 120 and store the acquired information in the storage unit 120.

[0051] In this embodiment, the information acquisition unit 134 acquires condition information indicating an in-game indicator representing the game's progress as a condition for terminating automatic play through interaction with the player. The information acquisition unit 134 may also acquire condition information when it receives an automatic play start command through interaction. The condition information is information that indicates the specific conditions for how long automatic play will continue. This condition is defined by some indicator (in-game indicator) that shows the game's progress. The automatic play unit 133 terminates automatic play when the condition indicated by the condition information is met.

[0052] This allows players to flexibly and specifically set the end point of autoplay. As a result, it prevents unintended excessive game progression and the resulting waste of in-game resources (stamina, items, etc.), enabling more planned and efficient gameplay.

[0053] Therefore, players can control the scope of automatic play in more detail. For example, a player can communicate with their second character (SC) via text or voice input, saying, "Please automate until today's daily quest is finished." Terminal device 200 sends this input data to server device 100. The information acquisition unit 134 of server device 100 analyzes the received text data using a speech recognition / natural language understanding (NLU) engine. This engine extracts the intent (Intent: Quest complete) and entity (Entity: {type: Daily quest, scope: All}) from the input sentence. Then, it converts this analysis result into structured conditional information in JSON format, such as {task: auto_play, condition: {type: mission_clear, mission_type: daily}}.

[0054] This condition information is passed to the automatic play unit 133. While automatic play is running, the automatic play unit 133 periodically checks (polls) the player's game data stored in the memory unit 120 of the server device 100 to monitor the progress of daily quests. When it detects that all daily quests have been completed, it stops automatic play. When automatic play has finished, a push notification such as "Your specified task has been completed" may be sent to the player's terminal device 200 to inform the player. This allows the player to always be aware of the game status and return to manual play at the appropriate time.

[0055] In this embodiment, the condition information may include information indicating the number of stages to be cleared by automatic play, the number of missions (tasks) to be cleared by automatic play, the number of items to be acquired by automatic play, the number of points to be acquired by automatic play, the parameters of the first character to be acquired by automatic play, or the number of characters to be acquired by automatic play. The condition information may also include information indicating a specific item or character to be acquired by automatic play, or a specific first character to acquire parameters by automatic play (identification information of the first character).

[0056] This allows players to give very specific instructions using a variety of in-game indicators. For example, the NLU engine of the information acquisition unit 134 has pre-learned vocabulary and grammatical rules corresponding to these diverse indicators, and can interpret a variety of instructions from the player.

[0057] Here, the number of points earned through automatic play refers to the number of points earned according to gameplay, such as game scores or the number of coins (medals).

[0058] The parameters of the first character acquired through autoplay refer to the parameters of the first character acquired through gameplay, and include experience points, strength (combat power, etc.), and level.

[0059] The number of characters acquired through autoplay refers to the number of characters that can be added to your team in the game, and may also be acquired by clearing specific stages or missions.

[0060] The condition information acquired by the information acquisition unit 134 may be information such as "play the currently running event stage until your stamina runs out." In this case, the condition information may be structured information such as {condition:{type:repeat_stage,stage_id:event_01,until:stamina_empty}}.

[0061] The condition information acquired by the information acquisition unit 134 may be information such as "collect 3 more evolution stones." In this case, the condition information may be structured information such as {condition:{type:collect_item,item_id:stone_of_evolution,quantity:3}}. The autoplay unit 133 may refer to the drop information of this item from the game database and automatically select and execute the most efficient quest.

[0062] The condition information acquired by the information acquisition unit 134 may be information such as "Raise the combat power parameter to 150". In this case, the condition information may be structured information such as {condition:{type:raise_parameter,param_name:strength,value:150}}. The condition information may also be information such as "Raise the combat power parameter to 150" for a specific first character (for example, character B).

[0063] The conditional information acquired by the information acquisition unit 134 may include information such as "play until you get one character of the highest rarity." Furthermore, it is also possible to set compound conditions using logical operators (OR, AND), such as "until you reach level 60 or your money exceeds 1 million points."

[0064] Thus, according to this embodiment, specific and diverse in-game indicators can be set as termination conditions for automatic play, making it possible to provide a more efficient and satisfying automatic play experience that meets the various needs of players (story progression, character development, item collection, etc.).

[0065] After the automated play is completed, the reporting processing unit 135 presents the player with report information regarding the results of the automated play using a second character. The report information may be a summary of the achievements made during the automated play. For example, it may include a list of the level increased, the stages cleared, and the items and experience points acquired. Presentation refers to display on the terminal device 200 and / or audio output.

[0066] This allows for the compilation and clear presentation of automated gameplay results to the player. Furthermore, players can enjoyably and comprehensively review the automated gameplay results through reports from a second character. This enables a seamless transition between, for example, background gameplay and manual gameplay without compromising immersion or a sense of accomplishment.

[0067] For example, after automatic play ends, or when the player requests a report, the reporting processing unit 135 presents the results up to that point. Specifically, the automatic play unit 133 records major events that occurred during automatic play (e.g., level up, item acquisition, quest completion) along with timestamps as an event log in the storage unit 120 of the server device 100. The reporting processing unit 135 reads this event log, aggregates and summarizes it to generate report information. For example, when the player resumes the game, the second character (SC) displays and / or outputs a detailed report on the terminal device 200 with a message such as "Welcome back. The following results were achieved during automatic play." The report may include specific numerical data such as "Level: 15 → 18 (+3)", "Gold acquired: 5,200G", and "Items acquired: Potion x 15, Hi-Potion x 3, Swordsman's Emblem x 1".

[0068] Furthermore, reports can be made more engaging by dynamically generating rich content on the server device 100, rather than just being text. For example, it is possible to generate an "experience point progression graph" as an image using a graph plotting library from recorded experience point log data, or to generate a "digest video" as part of the report information by using a game engine to recreate the scene based on the play log from several tens of seconds before and after the moment a rare item was acquired.

[0069] The response processing unit 136, upon receiving question information from the player regarding the behavior during automatic play, presents the answer information to the question information to the player using the second character. The response processing unit 136 interprets the question from the player, generates an appropriate answer, and presents it using the second character.

[0070] This prevents the automated play process from becoming a black box, allowing players to understand and accept the second character's behavior through interaction and then entrust the game to them. As a result, a relationship of trust is built between the player and the second character, and the second character functions not merely as a task-performer, but as an endearing partner, providing a deeper gaming experience.

[0071] For example, a player may have questions about the actions of the second character while receiving a report of the results of automated gameplay or while observing the automated gameplay in real time. In such cases, the player can ask questions via the "Automated Gameplay Question" button in Figure 3, etc. This question is sent to the answer processing unit 136 of the server device 100. The answer processing unit 136 functions as a question answering (QA) system and generates answers in different ways depending on the type of question.

[0072] The answer may be an FAQ-based response. The answer processing unit 136 searches a pre-built game FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) database for general questions such as "What is the use of this item?" and presents the relevant answer.

[0073] The response may also be based on dynamic data referencing. For example, in response to the question, "Why did you choose Area B instead of Area A for this battle?", the automated play unit 133 will refer to the decision-making log recorded when selecting an action (for example, comparative data on the experience point efficiency of each area) and generate a response based on specific reasoning, such as, "Area B has a larger number of enemies and its experience point acquisition efficiency per unit of time is 15% higher than Area A, so we chose it to prioritize leveling up."

[0074] The response may be an inference-based response. For strategic questions such as "What should I do next to get stronger?", the system will infer and suggest the optimal action (for example, "Enhance your weapon or level up two more times") based on the player's current status, owned items, statistics of all players, and the enhancement model learned by the learning processing unit 138.

[0075] The game control unit 137, upon receiving cancel information from the player indicating the cancellation of at least a portion of the actions performed during automatic play, controls the game's progress to cancel the actions indicated by the cancel information. In other words, the game control unit 137 manages the game state (save data, etc.) and performs the process of canceling (rewinding) specific operations.

[0076] This allows players to intervene in autoplay or its results, correcting undesirable behavior. As a result, the risk of failure due to autoplay is reduced, and players are freed from the anxiety of "what if I leave it to the second character and it fails?", allowing them to use the autoplay function with greater confidence.

[0077] In this way, it functions as a safety net in case unintended results occur due to automated play. To realize this function, the game control unit 137 may use a mechanism similar to database transaction management. Specifically, immediately before the automated play unit 133 performs an important operation that may cause irreversible changes to in-game assets (for example, consuming rare items, evolving characters, or allocating skill points), it automatically saves the current state of the player data as a snapshot in the temporary area of ​​the storage unit 120 of the server device 100.

[0078] When a player issues a command such as "cancel the current item usage" from the results reporting screen, that cancellation information is sent to the server device 100. Upon receiving this command, the game control unit 137 reads the most recent saved snapshot and overwrites the current player data with the state of that snapshot, thereby performing a rollback. This allows the player to avoid unintended resource consumption and restart the autoplay.

[0079] In this embodiment, the automatic play unit 133 (and the game control unit 137) may control the progress of the automatic play by changing the game progress speed indicated by the change information received from the player in response to receiving change information indicating a change in the game progress speed during automatic play.

[0080] This allows players to adjust the speed of autoplay according to their own objectives and circumstances, enabling more flexible and efficient gameplay.

[0081] For example, players can adjust the speed of the autoplay in advance or in real time through dialogue with a second character. This speed change may be achieved by adjusting the processing interval of the virtual client running on the server device 100. For example, if a player instructs "Please use high-speed mode" in the dialogue, the server device 100 increases the amount of game progress per unit of time by shortening the wait time of the processing loop in the virtual client or by setting flags to skip the rendering of combat animations and movement scenes. This meets the need to quickly complete daily quests when time is limited. Conversely, if a player instructs "Return to normal speed," the processing interval will be returned to the standard. This flexible speed adjustment function allows players to create the optimal playing environment according to their situation and objectives.

[0082] The learning processing unit 138 learns the correlation between the behavior patterns of the player during manual play, when the player controls the first character without the intervention of the second character, and the rewards obtained by those behavior patterns. Automated play is performed based on the results of this learning. In other words, the learning processing unit 138 learns the relationship between the player's actions (behavior patterns) during manual play and the rewards obtained as a result (experience points, items, etc.) using machine learning techniques such as reinforcement learning.

[0083] This personalizes autoplay to reflect the player's individual play style and values. Instead of uniform movements, it achieves a more optimized and satisfying surrogate control experience, making it feel as if the player themselves is controlling the game.

[0084] For example, the learning processing unit 138 collects detailed operation logs from when the player manually plays (e.g., which enemy to attack first, which skills to use and when, at what HP percentage to use a healing item), and constructs a learning dataset as a set of "state, action, reward". Using this dataset, algorithms such as imitation learning and inverse reinforcement learning are used to model the implicit "reward function" behind the player's actions, that is, what states the player prefers and what results they value. Alternatively, the reward may be in-game assets (items, characters, etc.). The model may also be based on what rewards the player receives as a result of their actions.

[0085] For example, a model that rewards "high HP" can be learned from the logs of a player who always keeps their HP high, and a model that rewards "dealing significant damage to enemies" can be learned from the logs of a player who prioritizes attacking even at the risk of taking risks. The automated play unit 133 uses this learned model as a decision-making engine and selects the action that maximizes the reward predicted by the model in each situation. In this way, the second character grows not merely into a set of routine actions, but into a skilled assistant specifically for that player, strongly reflecting the player's "habits" and "preferences" while maximizing rewards.

[0086] The video generation unit with commentary 139 generates commentary audio data that explains the content of the automated gameplay, and based on the commentary audio data and the video data of the automated gameplay, generates video data with commentary in which a second character explains the content of the automated gameplay. For example, based on the dialogue, the video generation unit with commentary 139 combines recorded game screen data during automated gameplay with synthesized (machine-generated) commentary text corresponding to the gameplay content to generate a single video content.

[0087] For example, firstly, video and log recordings are performed. When the automated play unit 133 plays the game on the virtual client, the video generation unit with commentary 139 captures the rendering results as video data and simultaneously records a log of the actions performed.

[0088] Secondly, explanatory text is generated. The explanatory video generation unit 139 analyzes the recorded log and generates explanatory text using a predefined template. For example, from the log above, text such as "Here, a powerful skill: Fireball was used, landing a critical hit on enemy A! It dealt massive damage!" is automatically generated.

[0089] Thirdly, speech synthesis is performed. The video generation unit with commentary 139 inputs the generated commentary text into a text-to-speech (TTS) engine and generates a commentary audio file (for example, in MP3 format) using the voice quality data of the second character.

[0090] Fourth, synthesis and encoding are performed. The commentary video generation unit 139 uses a video editing library to synthesize the recorded video data, the generated commentary audio, and commentary captions as needed, and encodes them into a single video file.

[0091] The generated videos can be reviewed by players later to check their gameplay, or shared with friends and other players through social media integration.

[0092] This allows automated gameplay recordings to be used not merely as play logs, but as high-value video content. As a result, it promotes information sharing among players, contributes to the revitalization of the community, and deepens players' own understanding of the game.

[0093] In this embodiment, the automatic play unit 133 (and the game control unit 137) may be controlled to perform automatic play using the same second character in each of several different games.

[0094] The second character may not be limited to functioning only within a specific game, but could function as a more general-purpose AI agent. This functionality may be achieved through the cooperation of an "integrated management platform" built on server device 100 and APIs provided by each game application. Specifically, the platform provides a dedicated adapter for each game title. This adapter is responsible for converting standardized instructions from the platform (e.g., "Perform your daily tasks") into API calls specific to that game (e.g., doDailyQuest() in game A, executeDailyMission() in game B).

[0095] Once a player logs into this platform and sets up their favorite second character, they can use that character to control the autoplay of all games compatible with the platform through a unified interface. For example, a player who plays both Company A's RPG and Company B's puzzle game can simultaneously instruct the same second character to "handle the daily tasks in Game A and consume stamina in Game B." Furthermore, the player's learned play style from Game A (for example, an impatient personality that prioritizes time over rewards) can be saved as a game-independent common player profile and reflected in the action choices during autoplay in Game B (for example, skipping time-consuming but rewarding stages).

[0096] This frees players from the hassle of learning how to operate different automation features for each game, allowing them to streamline gameplay across their various games through a consistent interface (interaction with a second character). This not only enhances individual gaming experiences but also provides new value by supporting players' gaming lives in an integrated and seamless manner.

[0097] (2) Example of operation Figure 4 shows an example of the operation of the game system 1 according to this embodiment.

[0098] In step S1, when the player initiates a conversation with the second character via the terminal device 200 and instructs the start of automatic play, the information acquisition unit 134 of the server device 100 receives the details of the instruction (including termination conditions, etc.).

[0099] In step S2, the autoplay unit 133 starts playing the game automatically. Autoplay continues even in the background state when the player is not displaying the game screen (play screen).

[0100] In step S3, the game control unit 137 may, upon receiving cancellation information from the player indicating the cancellation of at least a part of the behavior during automatic play, control the game's progress to cancel the behavior indicated by the cancellation information. In step S3, the automatic play unit 133 (and the game control unit 137) may, upon receiving change information from the player indicating a change in the speed of game progress during automatic play, control the automatic play's progress to change the speed of game progress as indicated by the change information. In step S3, the answer processing unit 136 may, upon receiving question information from the player regarding the behavior during automatic play, present answer information to the question information using a second character to the player.

[0101] Thus, while the autoplay is running, the player can always interact with the second character to check the progress, ask questions about its behavior, and intervene by canceling actions or changing the progress speed.

[0102] In step S4, the automatic play unit 133 constantly monitors whether the termination conditions set in step S1 have been met, and terminates automatic play when the conditions are met.

[0103] In step S5, the reporting processing unit 135 may generate a report summarizing the results of the automated play and provide the report via the second character when the player next accesses the game.

[0104] In step S6, the response processing unit 136 may, in response to receiving question information from the player regarding the behavior during automatic play, present answer information to the question information to the player using the second character.

[0105] In step S7, the game control unit 137 may, upon receiving cancellation information from the player indicating the cancellation of at least a part of the behavior during automatic play, control the progress of the game to cancel the behavior indicated by the cancellation information.

[0106] In this way, after the autoplay is executed, the player can check the progress, ask questions about the behavior, and cancel actions through interaction with the second character.

[0107] (3) Other embodiments In the embodiment described above, at least a portion of the processing performed by the server device 100 may be modified to be performed on the terminal device 200. In this case, at least a portion of each part included in the processing unit 130 may be moved to the terminal device 200, or at least a portion of the information stored by the storage unit 120 may be stored by the terminal device 200.

[0108] The operation flow and operation examples in the above-described embodiments do not necessarily have to be executed chronologically in the order shown in the flowchart. For example, the steps in the operation may be executed in a different order than that shown in the flowchart, or they may be executed in parallel. Also, some of the steps in the operation may be deleted, or further steps may be added to the process.

[0109] A program may be provided that causes a computer (information processing device) to perform the operations according to the above embodiment. The program may be recorded on a computer-readable medium. Using a computer-readable medium, it is possible to install the program on a computer. Here, the computer-readable medium on which the program is recorded may be a non-transient storage medium. The non-transient storage medium is not particularly limited, but may be a storage medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.

[0110] The functions realized by Game System 1 may be implemented in a circuit or processing circuitry, including a general-purpose processor, an application-specific processor, an integrated circuit, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a CPU (a Central Processing Unit), conventional circuits, and / or a combination thereof, programmed to realize the described functions. A processor, including transistors and other circuits, is considered a circuit or processing circuitry. A processor may be a programmed processor that executes a program stored in memory. In this specification, circuitry, unit, and means are hardware programmed to realize or execute the described functions. Such hardware may be any hardware disclosed herein, or any hardware known to be programmed to realize or execute the described functions. If such hardware is a processor that is considered a type of circuitry, then such circuitry, means, or unit is a combination of hardware and software used to constitute such hardware and / or processor.

[0111] As used herein, the terms “based on” and “according to” do not mean “based solely on” or “according solely to” unless otherwise specified. “Based on” means both “based solely on” and “based at least partially on.” Similarly, “according to” means both “based solely on” and “according at least partially to.” Furthermore, the terms “include,” “comprise,” and their variations do not mean to include only the listed items, but may include only the listed items, or may include additional items in addition to the listed items. Also, the term “or” as used herein is not intended to mean exclusive OR. Where articles are added by translation, such as a, an, and the in English, these articles are considered plural unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0112] Although the embodiments have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to those described above, and various design changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention.

[0113] (4) Note The features of the above-described embodiment are noted below.

[0114] • Note 1 On the computer, A predetermined character for performing game operations on behalf of the player, and capable of interacting with the player, is displayed on the game's play screen. The step of performing an automated game play by performing proxy operations related to the game based on the dialogue when the play screen is displayed or hidden. Game program.

[0115] • Appendix 2 The predetermined character is a second character that performs operations on behalf of the player regarding the first character in the game, and performs the proxy operations regarding the first character based on the dialogue when the play screen is displayed or hidden. The game program described in Appendix 1.

[0116] • Appendix 3 The steps include obtaining conditional information indicating an in-game indicator representing the game's progress as a condition for terminating the automated play, through the aforementioned interaction with the player, The procedure further involves executing the step of terminating the automatic play in accordance with the condition information indicated above being met. The game program described in Appendix 1 or 2.

[0117] • Appendix 4 The aforementioned condition information includes information indicating the number of stages cleared by the automatic play, the number of missions cleared by the automatic play, the number of items obtained by the automatic play, the number of points obtained by the automatic play, the parameters of the in-game characters obtained by the automatic play, or the number of characters obtained by the automatic play. The game program described in Appendix 3.

[0118] • Appendix 5 The aforementioned condition information includes information indicating a specific item or character to be acquired through the automatic play, or a specific character to acquire parameters through the automatic play. The game program described in Appendix 3 or 4.

[0119] • Appendix 6 After the execution of the automated play, the system further performs the step of presenting the player with report information regarding the results of the automated play using the predetermined character. The game program described in any of the appendices 1 through 5.

[0120] • Appendix 7 In response to receiving question information from the player regarding the behavior during automatic play, the system further executes the step of presenting answer information to the question information to the player using the predetermined character. The game program described in any of the appendices 1 through 6.

[0121] • Appendix 8 In response to receiving cancellation information from the player indicating the cancellation of at least a part of the behavior during the automatic play, the system further performs a step of controlling the progress of the automatic play to cancel the behavior indicated by the cancellation information. The game program described in any of the appendices 1 through 7.

[0122] • Appendix 9 In response to receiving change information from the player indicating a change in the speed of game progression during automatic play, the system further executes a step to control the progress of the automatic play by changing the speed of game progression as indicated by the change information. The game program described in any of the appendices 1 through 8.

[0123] • Appendix 10 The process further involves learning the correlation between the behavioral patterns of the player during manual gameplay, where the player performs operations related to the game without the predetermined character, and the rewards obtained by those behavioral patterns. The automated play is performed based on the results of the learning process. The game program described in any of the appendices 1 through 9.

[0124] • Appendix 11 The steps include generating audio data for explaining the content of the automated gameplay, The procedure further involves generating video data with commentary, in which the content of the automatic play is explained by a predetermined character, based on the commentary audio data and the video data of the automatic play. The game program described in any of the appendices 1 through 10.

[0125] • Appendix 12 Further steps include controlling the automatic gameplay to use the same predetermined character in each of several different games. The game program described in any of the appendices 1 through 11.

[0126] • Appendix 13 A display control unit controls the display of a predetermined character, which is capable of performing game operations on behalf of the player and is capable of interacting with the player, on the game's play screen. The system includes an automatic play unit that performs proxy operations related to the game based on the dialogue when the play screen is displayed or hidden, thereby enabling automatic gameplay of the game. Game system. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0127] 1: Game System 5: Network 100: Server device 110: Communications Department 120: Storage section 130: Processing Unit 131: Game Provision Department 132: Display Control Unit 133: Automated Play Section 134: Information acquisition department 135: Reporting Processing Section 136: Answer Processing Section 137: Game Control Department 138: Learning Processing Unit 139: Video generation unit with commentary 200: Terminal device

Claims

1. On the computer, A predetermined character for performing game operations on behalf of the player, and capable of interacting with the player, is displayed on the game's play screen. The steps include: when the play screen is displayed or hidden, performing proxy operations related to the game based on the dialogue to automatically play the game; The steps include: having the predetermined character, acting as a second character to perform operations on the first character in the game on behalf of the player, not only perform the proxy operations on the first character based on the dialogue when the play screen is displayed or hidden, but also perform the proxy operations on the content within the game; The process includes: In response to receiving cancellation information from the player indicating that at least a portion of the proxy operations performed on content already present in the game during the automated play, the game's progress is controlled to revert to the state before the proxy operations indicated by the cancellation information were performed. Game program.

2. The steps include obtaining conditional information indicating an in-game indicator representing the game's progress as a condition for terminating the automated play, through the aforementioned interaction with the player, The procedure further involves executing the step of terminating the automatic play in accordance with the condition information indicated above being met. The game program according to claim 1.

3. The aforementioned condition information includes information indicating the number of stages cleared by the automatic play, the number of missions cleared by the automatic play, the number of items obtained by the automatic play, the number of points obtained by the automatic play, the parameters of the in-game characters obtained by the automatic play, or the number of characters obtained by the automatic play. The game program according to claim 2.

4. The aforementioned condition information includes information indicating a specific item or character to be acquired through the automatic play, or a specific character to acquire parameters through the automatic play. The game program according to claim 2 or 3.

5. After the execution of the automated play, the system further performs the step of presenting the player with a report of the results of the automated play using the predetermined character. The game program according to claim 1.

6. In response to receiving question information from the player regarding the behavior during automated play, the system further executes the step of presenting answer information to the question information to the player using the predetermined character. The game program according to claim 1.

7. In response to receiving change information from the player indicating a change in the speed of game progression during automatic play, the system further executes a step to control the progress of the automatic play by changing the speed of game progression as indicated by the change information. The game program according to claim 1.

8. The player then performs a step to learn the correlation between the behavioral patterns during manual play, in which the player performs operations related to the game without the predetermined character, and the rewards obtained by those behavioral patterns. The automated play is performed based on the results of the learning process. The game program according to claim 1.

9. The steps include generating audio data for explaining the content of the automated gameplay, The procedure further involves generating video data with commentary, in which the content of the automatic play is explained by a predetermined character, based on the commentary audio data and the video data of the automatic play. The game program according to claim 1.

10. Further steps include controlling the automatic gameplay to use the same predetermined character in each of several different games. The game program according to claim 1.

11. A display control unit controls the display of a predetermined character, which is capable of performing game operations on behalf of the player and is capable of interacting with the player, on the game's play screen. The system includes an automatic play unit that performs proxy operations related to the game based on the dialogue when the play screen is displayed or hidden, thereby enabling automatic gameplay of the game. The predetermined character is to act as a second character to perform operations on the first character in the game on behalf of the player, and not only will it perform the proxy operations on the first character based on the dialogue when the play screen is displayed or hidden, but will also perform the proxy operations on the content within the game. When the automatic play unit receives cancellation information from the player indicating that at least a portion of the proxy operations performed on content already present in the game during the automatic play is to be canceled, it controls the progress of the game to rewind to the state before the proxy operations indicated by the cancellation information were performed. Game system.

Images