Touch Panel Game Feedback for Player Uncertainty
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Solution Overview
Problem
Players using touch-screen video game machines experience uncertainty when their finger deviates from an object due to unseen obstacles or friction, as they cannot distinguish between intended game behavior and technical issues like touch panel failure or misoperation.
Innovation Solution
A game program that displays a visual indicator, such as a straight line or image, connecting the finger and object when the finger deviates, to inform the player that the object's movement is hindered by game-intended factors, reducing uncertainty and eliminating misconceptions about touch panel failure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the factor hindering object movement is not displayed on the screen (to create unexpectedness), then the game can create sensations of unexpectedness, but the player experiences uncertainty about whether the deviation is intended by the game or caused by technical issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by displaying a visual indicator (such as a line or image) that connects the player's finger position to the object position when they deviate. This feedback mechanism informs the player that the deviation is due to game processing (invisible obstacles or friction) rather than technical issues, thereby maintaining player trust while preserving game design flexibility to create unexpected movement sensations
2Reliability
If a visual indicator is displayed to show the connection between finger and object, then player uncertainty is reduced, but the game cannot create sensations of unexpectedness effectively
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by displaying the visual indicator only in specific local conditions - when the finger position deviates from the object position due to invisible obstacles or friction. The indicator is not displayed continuously or in all situations, allowing the game to maintain player trust only where needed while preserving the ability to create unexpected sensations in other areas of the game
Data Source
AI summary
An object (OB1) displayed on a second display screen (12a) is allowed to move according to input coordinates on a touch panel. When a control target object collides with an obstacle, the control target object is allowed to stop immediately before the obstacle. Thereafter, when the distance between the display coordinates of the control target object and the current input coordinates is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, a straight line connecting the control target object and the finger is displayed on the second display screen (12a). By this, in a game in which an object displayed on a display screen is moved by a player sliding his/her finger across a touch panel, even if the finger has unexpectedly deviated from the object during the course of the game, the player does not feel a sense of uncertainty.