JP7820664B2 - Information processing device, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program.

There are games in which players form a party of multiple characters and play.
Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for endowing characters that make up a party with skills unique to that character.

JP 2019-136140 A

However, with conventional technology, by forming a party with characters that have skills, the skills of the party as a whole can be easily predicted, resulting in a lack of strategic element in forming the party.

The present invention was made in light of these circumstances, and aims to provide technology that increases the strategic value of party formation.

One aspect of the present invention provides an information processing device having a control unit, which, when a predetermined condition is met based on the attribute information of multiple characters constituting a party used in a game, enables at least one of the multiple characters to exert an advantageous effect in the game.

One aspect of the present invention has the advantageous effect of providing technology that increases the strategic value of party formation.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of an information processing system. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the server device. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a client device. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the server device. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the functional configuration of the client device. FIG. 6 is an activity diagram showing an example of information processing related to the connect skill executed by the server device. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a sortie screen in the case of multi-play. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an icon indicating whether a connect skill can be activated. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a character details screen. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a sortie screen in the case of solo play. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a deck collective organization screen in the case of solo play. FIG. 12 shows an example of a deck collective organization screen for solo play. FIG. 13 shows an example of a deck collective organization screen for solo play. FIG. 14 shows an example of a deck selection screen for multiplayer play. FIG. 15 shows an example of a deck selection screen for multiplayer play.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below using the drawings. The various features shown in the following embodiments can be combined with each other.

In this specification, the term "unit" can include, for example, hardware resources implemented by circuits in the broad sense, and software information processing that can be specifically realized by these hardware resources. Furthermore, this embodiment handles a variety of information, which is represented by high and low signal values as a collection of binary bits consisting of 0 or 1, and communication and calculations can be performed on circuits in the broad sense.

In a broad sense, a circuit is a circuit realized by at least an appropriate combination of a circuit, circuitry, processor, memory, etc. In other words, it includes application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices (e.g., simple programmable logic devices (SPLDs), complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)), etc.

<First Embodiment> 1. System Configuration FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the system configuration of an information processing system. In the information processing system, a server device 100 and a plurality of client devices 1101 to 110n are communicably connected via a network 120. An example of the client device 110 is a smartphone. The server device 100 communicates with the client device 110 and provides the functions of a game application (hereinafter simply referred to as a game) that runs on the client device 110. In FIG. 1, the information processing system includes one server device 100, but the system may be configured with a plurality of server devices, or may be implemented as so-called cloud computing.

2. Hardware Configuration (1) Hardware Configuration of Server Device 100 FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the server device 100. The server device 100 includes, as its hardware configuration, a control unit 201, a storage unit 202, and a communication unit 203. The control unit 201 is a central processing unit (CPU) or the like, and controls the entire server device 100. The storage unit 202 is a hard disk drive (HDD), read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), or the like, and stores programs and data used when the control unit 201 executes processing based on the programs. The control unit 201 executes processing based on the programs stored in the storage unit 202, thereby realizing the functional configuration of the server device 100 shown in FIG. 4 (described later) and the processing of the activity diagram shown in FIG. 6 (described later). The communication unit 203 is a network interface card (NIC) or the like, and connects the server device 100 to the network 120. The storage unit 202 is an example of a storage medium.

(2) Hardware Configuration of Client Device 110 FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the client device 110. The client device 110 includes, as its hardware configuration, a control unit 301, a storage unit 302, an input/output unit 303, and a communication unit 304. The control unit 301 is a CPU or the like, and controls the entire client device 110. The storage unit 302 is a ROM, RAM, or the like, and stores programs and data used when the control unit 301 executes processing based on the programs. The control unit 301 executes processing based on the programs stored in the storage unit 302, thereby realizing the functional configuration of the client device 110 illustrated in FIG. 5 (described later). The input/output unit 303 is, for example, a touch panel, and inputs user operations on the touch panel to the control unit 301 and displays the results of processing by the control unit 301 on the touch panel. The communication unit 203 connects the client device 110 to the network 120 via wireless communication, mobile communication, or the like. The storage unit 302 is an example of a storage medium.

3. Game Description The basic rules of the game according to this embodiment will be briefly described below. In the game, a user forms a party consisting of four characters and challenges a quest. Quests can be challenged in either solo play or multiplayer. Here, a user can form a deck consisting of three characters owned by the user. When challenging a quest in solo play, the user selects three characters by selecting a deck, and the fourth character is selected from characters owned by a friend or a random user to form a party. When challenging a quest in multiplayer, the host (the party that starts the multiplayer) recruits guests (those who join the multiplayer started by the host). The number of characters used by the host and guests varies depending on the number of participants. In two-player play, both the host and guest use two characters. In three-player play, the host uses two characters and the guests each use one character. In four-player play, both the host and guests use one character. The host can decide the order of the four characters when starting the quest.

4. Functional Configuration (1) Functional Configuration of the Server Device 100 FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the functional configuration of the server device 100. The server device 100 includes a control unit 401 and a display control unit 402 as its functional configuration. When a connect skill activation condition is met based on the attribute information of multiple characters constituting a party used in the game, the control unit 401 enables activation of an advantageous effect in the game (hereinafter referred to as a connect skill) for at least one of the multiple characters. Examples of connect skills include an anti-gravity barrier and an anti-damage wall. Here, an anti-gravity barrier is a game effect that allows a character to move without being affected by a gravity barrier. A gravity barrier is a circular barrier that appears around an enemy. An anti-damage wall is a game effect that negates all damage even if the character touches a wall that would otherwise incur damage. The connect skill activation condition is an example of a predetermined condition.
By having the control unit 401 in the server device 100, advantageous effects can be imparted to character combinations, making it possible to form a combination with higher abilities as a whole party than simply combining characters with higher abilities, thereby making it possible to increase the strategic nature of party formation.

The activation conditions for a connect skill are set in association with a specific character among the multiple characters that make up a party. This increases the diversity of character combinations. That is, some characters have a connect skill activation condition set, while others do not. When the activation condition for a connect skill is met based on the attribute information of the multiple characters that make up a party used in the game, the control unit 401 makes the connect skill activatable for the specific character for which the activation condition is set. This makes it possible to activate a connect skill for a character among the multiple characters that make up a party that meets the activation condition.
The display control unit 402 controls the display of specific characters so that they are distinguished from other characters. More specifically, the display control unit 402 generates screens such as those shown in Figures 7, 9-14, etc., which will be described later, and transmits them to the relevant client device 110, thereby controlling the display of characters that meet the conditions for activating a connect skill so that they are distinguished from other characters. By having the display control unit 402 in the server device 100, it is further possible to explicitly distinguish and recognize characters that have become able to activate a connect skill from other characters.

When a player forms a party on a client device 110, the control unit 401 determines whether a specific character among the multiple characters comprising the party meets the conditions for activating the connect skill set for that specific character, based on the attribute information of each of the multiple characters comprising the party. If the control unit 401 determines that the activation conditions are met, it makes the connect skill available to the character that meets the conditions for activating the connect skill. When a connect skill is granted to a character that meets the conditions for activating the connect skill, the display control unit 402 generates a screen such as that shown in Figures 7, 9-14, etc., transmits it to the corresponding client device 110, and controls the display so that characters that meet the conditions for activating the connect skill are displayed distinctly from other characters.

(2) Functional Configuration of Client Device 110 Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the client device 110. The client device 110 includes, as its functional configuration, a game execution unit 501, a display control unit 502, and an operation input unit 503.
The game execution unit 501 performs processing related to the execution of the game based on data transmitted from the server device 100 through communication with the server device 100, user operation information input by the operation input unit 503, etc. The display control unit 502 controls the display on the input/output unit 303 based on the execution of the game by the game execution unit 501, data (e.g., a screen, etc.) transmitted from the server device 100, user operation information input by the operation input unit 503, etc. The operation input unit 503 inputs user operation information, etc. input via the input/output unit 303.

5. Information Processing FIG. 6 is an activity diagram showing an example of information processing related to the connect skill executed by the server device 100.
In A601, the control unit 401 determines whether a party consisting of four characters has been organized, based on information from the client device 110. If the control unit 401 determines, based on the information from the client device 110, that a party has been organized, it proceeds to A602, and if it determines that a party has not been organized, it repeats the processing of A601.

In A602, the control unit 401 determines whether the activation condition for the connect skill set for a specific character among the multiple characters is satisfied based on the attribute information of each of the multiple characters that make up the party. If the control unit 401 determines that the activation condition for the connect skill is satisfied, it proceeds to A603, and if it determines that the activation condition for the connect skill is not satisfied, it repeats the processing of A602.
Here, the conditions for activating a connect skill set for a specific character include the HP (Hit Points) of multiple characters making up the party being above a certain value, below a certain value, or below a certain value, etc. Here, HP is the value that a character can withstand attacks, or what is known as physical strength, quantified.
The conditions for activating a connect skill include having n or more characters with a speed value above a certain value, or having n or more characters with a speed value below a certain value, or having n or less characters with a speed value above a certain value, or having n or less characters with a speed value below a certain value, etc. n is a natural number between 1 and 4.

The conditions for activating a connect skill include having n or more characters with attack power values above a certain value, or having n or more characters with attack power values below a certain value, or having n or less characters with attack power values above a certain value, or having n or less characters with attack power values below a certain value, etc. n is a natural number between 1 and 4.
Furthermore, the conditions for activating a connect skill include having n or more characters of the same race, or having n or more characters of different races, or having n or less characters of the same race, or having n or less characters of different races. Note that n is a natural number between 2 and 4. Here, a race is a type of status set for a character. Examples of races include dragon, god, demon, devil king, devil, fairy, mineral, beast, mythical beast, bird, cosmo, universe, demi-human, samurai, holy knight, robot, axis, union, monster, fighting god, and mythical demon.

Furthermore, the conditions for activating a connect skill include having n or more characters of the corresponding battle style, or having n or fewer characters of the corresponding battle style. Note that n is a natural number between 1 and 4. Here, battle style is an abbreviation for combat type, and examples include power type, balance type, speed type, and bombardment type. Power types have higher attack power than other types. Balance types have a better balance of power, speed, etc. compared to other types. Speed types are faster than other types. "Bombardment types" have more powerful friendship combos than other types. Friendship combos are special game effects that are activated by clashing characters together.

Furthermore, the conditions for activating a connect skill include having n or more characters with the corresponding attribute, or having n or fewer characters with the corresponding attribute, where n is a natural number between 1 and 4. Here, an attribute refers to a property that a character possesses, such as fire, water, wood, light, or dark.
Furthermore, the conditions for activating a connect skill include having n or more characters of the corresponding shot type, or having n or fewer characters of the corresponding shot type, where n is a natural number between 1 and 4. Here, the shot type refers to the type of attack, such as reflection or penetration.

Furthermore, the conditions for activating a connect skill include a total luck of a certain value or more, where luck is a numerical value that represents the luck of a character.
Furthermore, the conditions for activating a connect skill include a rarity being equal to or less than a certain value, etc. Here, rarity is a numerical value indicating the frequency with which a character appears.
The above-mentioned HP, speed, attack power, species, fighting style, attribute, attack type, luck, and rarity are examples of character attribute information. The activation conditions for the above-mentioned connect skills are also examples, and the conditions may be a combination of multiple attribute information such as HP and speed. Information on the activation conditions is stored in the storage unit 202 of the server device 100.

In A603, the control unit 401 enables a character from among the multiple characters that make up the party to activate a connect skill that satisfies the conditions for activating the connect skill.
When a connect skill is granted to a character that meets the conditions for activating the connect skill, in A604, the display control unit 402 generates a screen such as that shown in Figure 7 or Figure 9, transmits it to the corresponding client device 110, and controls the display so that the character that meets the conditions for activating the connect skill is displayed separately from other characters.

Figure 7 shows an example of a sortie screen 700 for multiplayer. On sortie screen 700, four characters are represented by icons 701 to 704. Here, an icon is a symbolic representation of a character using a picture. The character represented by icon 701 is able to activate a connect skill, so icon 705 indicating that the connect skill is able to be activated is displayed on icon 701. The character represented by icon 702 has not set a connect skill activation condition, so no information regarding the connect skill is displayed on icon 702. The character represented by icon 703 has set a connect skill activation condition, but the connect skill activation condition has not been met, so icon 707 indicating that the connect skill is not able to be activated is displayed on icon 703. Similarly, for the character of icon 704, the conditions for activating a connect skill have been set, but because the conditions for activating the connect skill have not been met, icon 708 is displayed on icon 704, indicating that the connect skill is not yet activatable.

Next, Figure 8 shows an example of a display when activation conditions for two connect skills are set for the character of icon 701, the activation condition for one of the two connect skills is met, making this connect skill activatable, and the activation condition for the other connect skill is not met, making this connect skill activatable. In such a case, the display control unit 402 generates a screen so that icon 705 indicating that the connect skill is activatable and icon 801 indicating that the connect skill is not activatable are alternately displayed on icon 701, as shown in Figure 8. The display control unit 402 then controls the display by transmitting these to the corresponding client device 110.

Furthermore, when an icon 701 is pressed and held on the sortie screen 700, the display control unit 402 generates the details screen shown in FIG. 9 and transmits it to the corresponding client device 110, thereby controlling the display of the details screen for the character of icon 701. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the details screen 900. On the details screen, the content of the connect skill and the conditions for activating that connect skill are written in area 901.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a sortie screen 1000 for solo play. As with sortie screen 700, four characters are represented by icons 1001 to 1004 on sortie screen 1000. The character represented by icon 1001 is able to activate a connect skill, and therefore icon 1005 indicating that the connect skill is able to be activated is displayed on icon 1001. The character represented by icon 1002 has not yet set a connect skill activation condition, and therefore no information regarding the connect skill is displayed on icon 1002. The character represented by icon 1003 has set a connect skill activation condition, but the connect skill activation condition has not yet been met, and therefore icon 1007 indicating that the connect skill is not able to be activated is displayed on icon 1003. Similarly, although the conditions for activating the connect skill have been set for the character of icon 1004, the conditions for activating the connect skill have not been met, and therefore icon 1008 is displayed on icon 1004 indicating that the connect skill is not yet activatable.
When icon 1001 is pressed and held on sortie screen 1000, the display control unit 402 generates the details screen shown in Figure 9 and transmits it to the corresponding client device 110, thereby controlling the display of the details screen of the character of icon 1001.

6. Effects of the First Embodiment According to the first embodiment, advantageous effects are imparted to character combinations, making it possible to form a combination of characters with higher abilities as a whole party than would be possible if characters with higher abilities were simply combined, thereby making it possible to enhance the strategic nature of party formation.

<Modification 1>
Modification 1 will be described. In the first embodiment, multiple activation conditions were described as the activation conditions for a connect skill. However, the activation conditions for a connect skill may vary depending on the number of specific characters comprising the party. For example, the activation condition for a connect skill may be activation condition 1 when the number of specific characters comprising the party is two, activation condition 2 when the number of specific characters comprising the party is three, and so on. The activation conditions for a connect skill may vary depending on the number of specific characters. The server device 100 stores such activation conditions in the storage unit 202, etc. The server device 100 then determines the number of specific characters comprising the party and acquires the corresponding activation conditions based on the determination result. The server device 100 then determines whether the activation conditions for a connect skill set for a specific character among the multiple characters are satisfied based on the attribute information of each of the multiple characters comprising the party. In this way, the activation conditions for a connect skill can vary depending on the number of specific characters comprising the party.

<Modification 2>
Modification 2 will now be described. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a deck collective organization screen 1100 for solo play. When a character with a connect skill is selected during deck organization based on information from the client device 110, the display control unit 402 generates a screen including the activation conditions of the connect skill possessed by the selected character, as shown in FIG. 11 . The display control unit 402 then transmits the generated screen to the corresponding client device 110 and controls it to be displayed. In FIG. 11 , comment 1105 indicates the activation conditions of the connect skill possessed by the selected character (character 1101 in FIG. 11 ). In the example of FIG. 11 , comment 1105 indicates that when selecting character 1103, if a character with remaining HP is selected, the connect skill of character ○ (character 1101 in FIG. 11 ) will be activated.
According to variant example 2, when organizing a deck, the user can be shown in an easy-to-understand manner which character to select to activate a specific character's connect skill.

<Modification 3>
Modification 3 will now be described. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a deck compilation screen 1200 for solo play. When a character with a connect skill is selected based on information from the client device 110 when compiling a deck, the display control unit 402 generates a screen, as shown in FIG. 12, in which characters that satisfy the activation conditions of the connect skill possessed by the selected character are displayed in a manner that makes them distinguishable from other characters. The display control unit 402 then transmits the generated screen to the corresponding client device 110 and controls the display thereof. In FIG. 12, character 1203 is a character that satisfies the activation conditions of the connect skill possessed by the selected character (character 1201) and is displayed in a color different from other characters. The different color is an example of displaying a character that satisfies the activation conditions of a connect skill in a manner that makes it distinguishable from other characters. As another example of displaying a character that satisfies the activation conditions of a connect skill in a manner that makes it distinguishable from other characters, the display control unit 402 may flash a character that satisfies the activation conditions of a connect skill, or may display a character that satisfies the activation conditions of a connect skill with a mark indicating that the activation condition is satisfied. 13, as an example of displaying a character in a manner distinguishable from other characters, the display control unit 402 generates a deck collective organization screen 1300 in which a comment 1302 indicating that the character 1301 that satisfies the activation condition of the connect skill possessed by the selected character 1201 is a character that satisfies the activation condition of the connect skill is added. Then, the display control unit 402 may transmit the generated deck collective organization screen 1300 to the corresponding client device 110 and control it to be displayed.
According to variant example 3, when organizing a deck, the user can be shown in an easy-to-understand manner which character to select to activate a specific character's connect skill.

<Modification 4>
Variation 4 will now be described. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a deck selection screen 1400 for multiplayer. After a guest is recruited and the guest character to be incorporated into the party is determined, the display control unit 402 generates a deck selection screen 1400 from multiple pre-generated decks, displaying characters that exhibit connect skills when combined with the guest character incorporated into the party in a manner that distinguishes them from other characters. The display control unit 402 may then transmit the generated deck selection screen 1400 to the corresponding client device 110 and control it to display it. In FIG. 14 , the character 1401 of deck 1 is a character that exhibits connect skills when combined with the guest character incorporated into the party, and is displayed in a different color from the other characters. The different color is an example of displaying characters that exhibit connect skills in a manner that distinguishes them from other characters. As another example of displaying a character in a manner distinguishable from other characters, the display control unit 402 may blink a character that exhibits a connect skill when combined with a guest character incorporated into a party, or may display a character that exhibits a connect skill with a mark indicating that the character exhibits a connect skill. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 15 , as an example of displaying a character in a manner distinguishable from other characters, the display control unit 402 generates a deck list screen 1500 in which a character 1501 that exhibits a connect skill when combined with a guest character incorporated into a party is marked with a comment 1502 indicating that the character satisfies the conditions for activating the connect skill. The display control unit 402 may then transmit the generated deck list screen 1500 to the corresponding client device 110 and control it to be displayed.
According to variant example 4, when organizing a deck, the user can be shown in an easy-to-understand manner which character to select to activate a specific character's connect skill.

<Other embodiments>
It may be provided in the following manner.
In the information processing device, the predetermined condition is set for a specific character among a plurality of characters that make up the party.
In the information processing device, the control unit enables the effect to be activated for the specific character.
The information processing device further includes a display control unit, and the display control unit controls the display of the specific character so as to be distinguished from other characters.
In the information processing device, the predetermined condition varies depending on the number of the specific characters that make up the party.
An information processing method executed by an information processing device, which enables at least one character among a plurality of characters that make up a party used in a game to be able to activate an advantageous effect in the game when a predetermined condition is met based on each attribute information of the plurality of characters.
A program for causing a computer to execute a step of enabling at least one of a plurality of characters constituting a party used in a game to exercise an advantageous effect in the game when a predetermined condition is met based on the attribute information of each of the plurality of characters.
Of course, this is not the case.

For example, the above-mentioned program may be provided as a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium that stores the program.
Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the server device 100 provides the functions of a game application while communicating with the client device 110, but the functions of the server device 100 may also be provided by each of the client devices 110.
In the above-described embodiment, the server device 100 generates a screen and transmits it to the client device 110. However, the server device 100 may transmit information for generating a screen to the client device 110. The client device 110 may then generate and display the screen based on this information. That is, at least one of the server device 100 and the client device 110 may be employed as an information processing device.
Furthermore, the above-described embodiments and modifications can be implemented in any combination.

Furthermore, according to the above-described aspects, the following effects can be obtained.
・The variety of character combinations can be increased.
-A game effect can be activated for a character among multiple characters that make up a party who meets the activation conditions.
- Characters that can activate game effects can be explicitly recognized as other characters.
The conditions for activating a game effect can be varied depending on the number of characters in the party.

Finally, while various embodiments of the present invention have been described, these are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Novel embodiments may be embodied in a variety of other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Such embodiments and their modifications are within the scope and spirit of the invention, and are also within the scope of the inventions and their equivalents as set forth in the claims.

100: Server device 110: Client device 120: Network 201: Control unit 202: Memory unit 203: Communication unit 301: Control unit 302: Memory unit 303: Input/output unit 304: Communication unit 401: Control unit 402: Display control unit 501: Game execution unit 502: Display control unit 503: Operation input unit 700: Attack screen 701: Icon 702: Icon 703: Icon 704: Icon 705: Icon 707: Icon 708: Icon 801: Icon 900: Details screen 901: Area 1000: Attack screen 1001: Icon 1002: Icon 1003: Icon 1004: Icon 1005: Icon 1007: Icon 1008: Icon

Claims (4)

Accept multiple characters to make up the party to be used in the game,
When a condition related to attribute information of a first character included in the plurality of characters and stored in association with the condition is satisfied, an effect associated with the condition can be activated on the first character;
on the party organization screen, when the first character is organized, characters having attribute information capable of satisfying the condition are displayed in a manner that allows them to be distinguished from characters not having attribute information capable of satisfying the condition, and information regarding the attribute information that is lacking to satisfy the condition is displayed.
Information processing device. The processor accepts a plurality of characters that constitute a party to be used in the game;
when a condition related to attribute information of a first character included in the plurality of characters and stored in association with the condition is satisfied, an effect associated with the condition can be activated on the first character;
when the first character is organized, the processor displays, on the party organization screen, characters having attribute information capable of satisfying the condition in a manner distinguishable from characters not having attribute information capable of satisfying the condition, and displays information regarding attribute information lacking to satisfy the condition.
Information processing methods. causing the processor to accept a plurality of characters constituting a party to be used in a game;
causing the processor to activate an effect associated with a first character included in the plurality of characters when a condition related to attribute information of the plurality of characters, which is stored in association with the condition, on the first character;
causing the processor to, on the party organization screen, when the first character is organized, display characters having attribute information capable of satisfying the condition in a manner distinguishable from characters not having attribute information capable of satisfying the condition, and display information regarding attribute information lacking to satisfy the condition;
program. a server and a terminal device, wherein a processor of the terminal device
Accept multiple characters to make up the party to be used in the game,
When a condition related to attribute information of a first character included in the plurality of characters and stored in association with the condition is satisfied, an effect associated with the condition can be activated on the first character;
on the party organization screen, when the first character is organized, characters having attribute information capable of satisfying the condition are displayed in a manner that allows them to be distinguished from characters not having attribute information capable of satisfying the condition, and information regarding the attribute information that is lacking to satisfy the condition is displayed.
system.