HK1252788A1 - Game system and program - Google Patents

Abstract

[Objective] To improve attractiveness to players while enabling players to acquire physical products corresponding to appearing objects that appear in a game. [Solution] This game system associates, for an appearing object including a character or an item that appears in a game, object information representing the appearing object with player identification information identifying a player, thereby managing the appearing object to be an appearing object possessed by the player. The possession state of the appearing object includes a first possession state in which a physical product corresponding to the appearing object has not been provided and a second possession state in which a physical product corresponding to the appearing object has been provided. This system is capable of executing a game that uses an appearing object possessed by a player, and changes a mode of executing the game to be different between when the game uses an appearing object in the first possession state and when the game uses an appearing object in the second possession state.

Description

Game system and program

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a game system and a program, and more particularly, to an electronic game played using characters and props corresponding to virtual or physical objects.

Background

In recent years, there is a game system that realizes a match-up game and the like between a plurality of client terminals by exchanging information with a specific server. In such a game system, a user of a client terminal can play a game in which characters corresponding to respective digital cards appear by constructing cards (digital cards) as virtual articles of electronic data into a card group and starting the game using the card group.

Patent document 1 discloses a trading system that allows a card to be issued to allow an acquired digital card to have a physical object in the real world and allows a user of a client terminal to actually acquire the card of the physical object, in a game system provided with functions related to the result of a match-up game or the transfer (trading) of a digital card between users.

Prior art documents

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 2001-one 331667

Disclosure of Invention

[ problems to be solved by the invention ]

On the other hand, in the transaction system as described in patent document 1, the card issued as a physical article is simply used for collection, and is not related to the game provided.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a game system and a program that enable a player to acquire a physical object corresponding to an appearance target object appearing in a game and that can improve the interest of the player.

[ means for solving problems ]

To achieve the above object, a game system according to the present invention includes: the game system has a 1 st provision means for providing a player with a corresponding physical item for an appearance target object including a character or an item appearing in a game, and the game system has: a management means for managing the appearance target object as a state owned by the player by associating target object information indicating the appearance target object with player identification information identifying the player; and a control means for executing a game using the appearance target object in the state owned by the player; the ownership state of the appearance target object comprises a 1 st ownership state in which the physical object corresponding to the appearance target object is not provided, and a 2 nd ownership state in which the physical object corresponding to the appearance target object is provided; the control means makes the mode of executing the game different between when the appearance object used is in the 1 st possession state and when the appearance object used is in the 2 nd possession state.

[ Effect of the invention ]

With this configuration, the present invention enables the player to acquire the physical object corresponding to the appearance target object appearing in the game, and improves the enjoyment of the player.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration of a game system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the game server 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the account management server 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the distribution management server 300 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a physical card provided to a player in a game system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating an object acquisition process realized by the game system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating a physical card distribution process implemented by the game system of the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a physical card login process performed in the game server 100 of the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a game process performed in the game server 100 of the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an object removing process executed in the game server 100 of the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of various data used in the game system of the embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Embodiment 1 hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, an embodiment described below is an example in which the present invention is applied to a game system, and includes, as an example of the game system: a game server that directly provides a game-related service to the connected client apparatus; an account management server that manages account information used for providing services other than a game, such as authentication information and billing information relating to each player; and a delivery management server for performing a series of information management related to delivery to the player of the physical object corresponding to the target object of occurrence in the provided game. However, the present invention is not necessarily required to be a server group configured by being separated into a plurality of servers having different functions, and can be applied to any device having the same configuration or a configuration in which some of the servers are replaced.

In the present specification, the term "object to be presented" refers to various objects that can be used by a player (by an operation) during a game operation, including characters and items that appear in the game. In the following description, when an object is acquired to appear, information (object ID) identifying the object or information (card ID) identifying an article (card) corresponding to the object is associated with information (player ID) identifying a player, and the article corresponding to the object is first provided as a "virtual article" to the player on the game. As described above, in the game system of the present embodiment, the player can obtain the item corresponding to the acquired appearance target object in the form of the "physical item" by making a distribution-related request. This is explained as follows: the term "physical object" refers to an object having a physical entity in the real world, and the term "virtual object" refers to an electronic object which does not have a physical entity in the real world but is handled as a program equivalent to the physical object.

In the game system of the present embodiment, the following description is made: the appearance target object (usable for game operation) acquired by the player is configured to be capable of acquiring a card as a physical object in reality and to provide a virtual card as a virtual object to the player in the game. In the present invention, the present invention can be applied to a configuration in which a player can obtain a physical object corresponding to an appearance target object, and it should be easily understood that the presence or absence of the physical object is not necessarily provided as a virtual "object".

In the present embodiment, for the sake of simplicity of explanation, the article is referred to as a card, the card of the physical article is referred to as a physical card, and the electronic information handled as the card of the virtual article is referred to as a virtual card. In the case where both or any of the above are indicated, the description will be made simply as "card" without reference to "real" or "virtual". In addition, it should be readily understood that the article is not limited to a card but may be a specific toy body such as a doll, foal, medal, and the like. The prefix characters of "real" and "virtual" are used similarly when identification is required for corresponding information management.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a game system according to the present embodiment. The game system according to the present embodiment is configured with a game server 100, an account management server 200, and a distribution management server 300 in order to realize a game operation in a client device 400 used by a player via a network 500.

The game server 100 receives information input by an operation in the client device 400, and controls execution of a game application that provides a game. In the game system of the present embodiment, each player can own 1 or more appearance target objects as virtual cards, and can perform a providing game using the appearance target objects related to the virtual cards in the card set using the "card set" in which 1 or more virtual cards in the owned state are registered. That is, each appearance target is handled as a corresponding virtual card when the appearance target is acquired (when the appearance target is in the holding state) or when the card group is constructed, but is handled so as to appear as an appearance target in the game in an actual game operation such as a story mode or a match mode. Therefore, in the following description, the "appearance target object" or the corresponding "virtual card" is simply referred to as the appearance target object in the owned state (or in the owned state) by the player, and for convenience, the description will be changed depending on the description, but the explanation of the two objects may be interchanged in nature. In the present embodiment, a plurality of "virtual cards" may be assigned to "appearance target objects" that provide a game, and 1 "virtual card" may correspond to 1 "appearance target object".

The account management server 200 manages payment for the player's services, such as personal authentication and acquisition of a target object. In the present embodiment, the following description is made: when the client apparatus 400 requests the game server 100 to provide a service related to a game, the account management server 200 performs personal authentication of a player by the game server 100. Note that, when the account management server 200 requests acquisition of the appearance target object, it similarly receives a request from the game server 100 to perform processing related to payment of a fee. In the game system of the present embodiment, the fee is paid by the credit given in accordance with the amount of money previously charged by the player. Therefore, the following processing is performed in the account management server 200: the points are accumulated according to the charging instruction of the player, and the points are deducted according to the requirement of obtaining the appearance target object.

The delivery management server 300 is, for example, a server provided to manage and update delivery information related to delivery (/ delivery) of the physical card. When the client apparatus 400 requests the game server 100 to distribute the physical card corresponding to the appearance target object in the owned state, the distribution management server 300 receives distribution information from the game server 100, and executes processing related to distribution preparation or various procedures based on the distribution information. In the present embodiment, the physical card is a device that is issued in advance and installed in an operator or the like that can refer to the distribution information, and the information of the physical card that is actually distributed to the player in accordance with the distribution information is registered in the distribution management server 300.

In this way, the game server 100, the account management server 200, and the distribution management server 300 are communicably connected via the network 500 to transmit and receive information to and from each request. The network 500 may be a public communication network such as the internet or a network such as a local area network that enables information communication between devices. The presence of the network 500 is not limited to the realization of information communication via a specific network, and the game server 100, the account management server 200, and the distribution management server 300 may be connected directly to each other by wire or wirelessly.

The client device 400 is an arbitrary terminal used by a player, such as a PC (Personal Computer), a smart phone, a tablet, or a game machine, and is configured to be capable of communicating with the game server 100 via the network 500. The client apparatus 400 has an operation input interface capable of performing a desired operation input and a display apparatus built in/externally connected to perform a game operation for providing a game.

In the present embodiment, the functions of the game server 100, the account management server 200, and the distribution management server 300 are separated, but the functional configuration of each server is not limited to this. For example, the account management server 200 may be absent for personal authentication and billing in the game server 100. The distribution management server 300 may perform the same processing by the game server 100, not for the outside. The configuration for performing the drawing related to the acquisition of the virtual card may be such that the account management server 200 performs the drawing together with the charge management and the game server 100 receives the result of the drawing and does not perform the drawing. Note that the delivery request for the entity card may be received by the account management server 200 and a delivery instruction may be given to the delivery management server 300. As described above, in the present embodiment, an example in which the game server 100, the account management server 200, and the distribution management server 300 are separately provided to perform various functions of the game system will be described, but which function is performed by which device may be arbitrarily changed.

Hereinafter, the functional configuration of each of the game server 100, the account management server 200, and the distribution management server 300 will be described in more detail. In the following description, the components that achieve the same function in each server are given prefix characters of "game (game server 100)", "account (account management server 200)", and "distribution (distribution management server 300)", so as to identify which server has the component.

First, the functional configuration of the game server 100 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of fig. 2.

The game control Unit 101 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and controls the operation of each block of the game server 100. The game control unit 101 controls the operation of each block by reading an operation program for each block stored in the game storage medium 102 or providing a program related to a game application, for example, and expanding and executing the program in the game memory 103.

The game storage medium 102 is a rewritable storage device capable of permanently storing information, such as a nonvolatile memory or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive). The game storage medium 102 is not limited to storing an operation program and the like of each block included in the game server 100, and may store information such as parameters necessary for the operation of each block. The game memory 103 is a rewritable storage device such as a volatile memory for temporarily storing information. The game memory 103 is used not only as an expansion area for an operation program of each block, but also as a storage area for storing intermediate data and the like output during the operation of each block.

The player DB104 is a database for managing various information (player information) necessary for providing a game to each player using the provided game. The player information may be configured as data for managing various information in association with a player ID for identifying a player, as shown in fig. 11(a), for example. As shown in the figure, in the player information, game progress information 1102 indicating the progress status (execution event, story progress, state, etc.) of a game operation performed by the player, owned object information 1103 managing a presence object in a state owned by the player, and deck information 1104 indicating a deck used when the providing game is performed are managed in association with a player ID 1101.

Here, the possession target object information 1103 is information for managing 1 or more virtual cards in a state of being owned by 1 player, and the information includes 1 or more pieces of data associated with card IDs for identifying the respective virtual cards. As shown in fig. 11(a), for each virtual card, an object ID1112 specifying an appearance object corresponding to the virtual card, an entity card registration flag 1113 (logical type information indicating that an entity card is registered or provided with True) indicating that an entity card is registered or provided with True, and state update information 1114 indicating, for example, a state updated according to the progress of the game (growth: increase and decrease in the level of a character, increase and decrease in parameters used for controlling the progress of the game, increase and decrease in usable tricks, presence or absence of equipment, change in the level of a property, change in the decoration of a property, increase and decrease in the efficacy parameter of a property) are managed in association with the card ID 1111.

The player DB104 defines a capacity of a storage area that can be occupied by 1 piece of player information in order to store player information of a plurality of players who use the service, and sets an upper limit to the number of virtual cards (the number of virtual cards having different card IDs) that can be owned by each player. That is, if the number of virtual cards that can be owned by each player is allowed without limitation, a database having a sufficient capacity for storing the virtual cards must be selected, which may increase the cost of server introduction, and therefore, the server side sets an upper limit to the number of virtual cards that can be owned by each player in a manner of managing the appearance target objects and the like that become the owned state.

The object DB105 is a database that manages and provides various information (object information) relating to each of the appearance objects appearing in the game. The object information may be configured of data for managing various information in association with an object ID for identifying each of the appearance objects appearing in the game, as shown in fig. 11(b), for example. As shown in the figure, the object information includes basic state information 1122, which is associated with an object ID1121 and manages reference values and the like of parameters indicating the object, and issued virtual card information 1123, which indicates 1 or more virtual cards provided for the object.

Here, the issued virtual card information 1123 is information for managing virtual cards provided for 1 appearance target, and includes 1 or more pieces of data associated with card IDs for identifying the respective virtual cards. As shown in fig. 11 b, for each virtual card, an entity card presence flag 1132 (logical character type information indicating that an entity card exists (a judgment is made when code registration, preparation for distribution, reception, or the like) is made by True), an entity card assignment code 1133 indicating whether or not an entity card corresponding to the virtual card exists, and a registration status 1134 (for example, logical type information indicating that a card has been registered) are managed in association with a card ID1131, the entity card presence flag 1132 indicating whether or not an entity card corresponding to the virtual card exists, the entity card assignment code 1133 indicating a code (a character string, a 1-dimensional/2-dimensional pattern, or the like, which specifies specific information), which is marked on the entity card when an entity card exists, and the registration status 1134 indicating whether or not a player has registered in the game system using the code marked on the entity card.

In the present embodiment, the case where information of the physical card distributed in association with 1 virtual card is included in the issued virtual card information 1123 and managed within the object information is described, but management may be performed in association with the card ID in the owned object information 1103 of the player information. Of course, the data structure of the database in the present embodiment is merely an example. In the present embodiment, a description is given of a case where the player DB104 and the object DB105 are configured as internal components of the game server 100, but at least one of these databases may be configured as an external device different from the game server 100. In this case, the game server 100 is connected to the databases so as to be able to acquire the record information from the databases and to be able to communicate information with the databases.

When a player requests the client device 400 to acquire an appearance target, the drawing unit 106 performs a drawing process of the appearance target provided to the player as a virtual card on the condition that payment of a fee has been made. The drawing process is performed by randomly selecting and acquiring a required number of object IDs from a list including all or a predetermined number of object IDs in which the object appears at a specific ratio.

The delivery instruction unit 107 instructs the delivery management server 300 to deliver the physical card in response to a delivery request issued by the player. In the game system of the present embodiment, the player can give an instruction to distribute the corresponding physical card to the appearance target object that is in the usable state (owned state) by paying the fee. That is, not only electronic owned articles in a game such as a virtual card but also commodities related to an appearance target object can be obtained in the form of an article having an entity in the real world, that is, an entity card. That is, since the appearance target object on the game that can be used by paying the fee required for providing the game can be actually obtained as the physical card without being limited to the game, the interest related to providing the game can be synergistically enhanced from the viewpoint of collecting the articles.

As described above with reference to the code 1133 given to the physical card, the code giving unit 108 gives a code that can uniquely identify the physical card and is attached to the physical card to a virtual card that provides (issues) the physical card. The code is assigned by assigning an entity card assignment code 1133 acquired by card scanning or the like from an entity card actually distributed to the issued virtual card information 1123 associated with the card ID of the corresponding virtual card. As shown in fig. 5, the code is visually marked on the back surface of the physical card, and the code is input to the client device 400 and transmitted to the game server 100, whereby the card holding situation can be registered in the game system. In addition, the code of the card shown in fig. 5 is represented by a numeric string for easy input by the player, but is not limited to the above form. Further, in the aspect that the player does not need to introduce a dedicated information acquisition device, it is preferable that the code is marked on the physical card in a visually recognizable configuration, but the code may be marked in a visually unrecognizable state so that the information can be acquired by a dedicated or general-purpose information acquisition device.

The game communication unit 109 is a communication interface provided in the game server 100 and capable of communicating information with an external device. The game server 100 is capable of transmitting and receiving information to and from an external device connected via the network 500 via the game communication unit 109. Further, the update of the application program for providing the game may be performed by receiving corresponding data through the game communication unit 109.

Next, the functional configuration of the account management server 200 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of fig. 3.

The account control unit 201 is, for example, a CPU, and controls the operation of each block of the account management server 200. The account control unit 201 reads out an operation program for each block stored in the account storage medium 202, for example, and controls the operation of each block by expanding and executing the program in the account memory 203.

The account storage medium 202 is a rewritable storage device capable of permanently storing information, such as a nonvolatile memory or HDD. The account storage medium 202 is not limited to storing the operation programs of the blocks of the account management server 200, and may store information such as parameters necessary for the operation of each block. The account memory 203 is a rewritable storage device such as a volatile memory for temporarily storing information. The account memory 203 is not only used as an expansion area of an operation program for each block, but also used as a storage area for storing intermediate data and the like output during the operation of each block.

The account DB204 is a database that manages various information required when a service is used as account information for each user (player) who provides the service related to the game according to the present embodiment. The account information may be configured of data for managing various information in association with an account ID (which can uniquely identify a user) registered for each user, as shown in fig. 11 c, for example. As shown in the figure, in the account information, a password 1142 necessary for user authentication at the time of login for using a service, charging information 1143 including credit necessary for payment of a fee in the service and information such as requester information such as a credit card used for conversion (charging) of the credit or a charging history, and delivery destination information 1144 including a residence or a contact method used for a delivery entity card are managed in association with an account ID 1141.

The authentication unit 205 performs user authentication related to service use in accordance with the account ID and password information transmitted from the client apparatus 400. The information required for user authentication is obtained from the account information associated with the corresponding account ID1141, and may be authenticated, for example, by comparison with the information received from the client device 400.

The charge management unit 206 performs all processes associated with increase and decrease of money (points) related to service use, such as point exchange for charging, payment of a fee related to acquisition of an appearance target due to point deduction, and the like, based on a request issued from the client apparatus 400.

The account communication unit 207 is a communication interface that the account management server 200 has and that can communicate information with an external device. The account management server 200 can transmit and receive information to and from an external device connected via the network 500 via the account communication unit 207.

Next, the functional configuration of the delivery management server 300 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of fig. 4.

The delivery control unit 301 is, for example, a CPU, and controls the operation of each block of the delivery management server 300. The distribution control unit 301 reads out an operation program for distributing each block stored in the storage medium 302, for example, and controls the operation of each block by expanding and executing the program in the distribution memory 303.

The distribution storage medium 302 is a rewritable storage device capable of permanently storing information, such as a nonvolatile memory or an HDD. The delivery storage medium 302 is not limited to storing the operation program of each block included in the delivery management server 300, and may store information such as parameters necessary for the operation of each block. The delivery memory 303 is a rewritable storage device such as a volatile memory for temporarily storing information. The delivery memory 303 is not only used as an expansion area of the operation program of each block, but also used as a storage area for storing intermediate data and the like output during the operation of each block.

The distribution DB304 is a database that manages 1 piece of distribution information for each distribution of 1 piece (distribution of 1 or more physical cards) based on the distribution instruction received from the game server 100. The delivery information may be configured of data for managing various information by associating delivery IDs assigned for 1 delivery, as shown in fig. 11(d), for example. As shown in the figure, delivery destination information 1152 indicating the address of the delivery destination related to the delivery and delivery card information 1153 related to the entity card performing the delivery are managed in association with the delivery ID in the delivery information.

Here, the distribution card information 1153 is information for managing each physical card to be distributed, and includes 1 or more pieces of data each having a target ID1162 of a corresponding appearing target in association with the card ID1161 of the virtual card corresponding to the target in order to indicate to a distribution site person or the like which physical card is a distribution target. As described above, in the game system according to the present embodiment, since the information (code) for uniquely identifying the physical card is previously marked on the physical card, for example, at the time of the packing work of the physical card of the distribution target object, the scanning related to code acquisition is performed on the physical card of the target object acquired from the warehouse or the like, the acquired code is acquired by the information acquisition unit 305, and the acquired code is added to the distribution card information 1153 as the acquisition code 1163. That is, the information relating to the delivery instruction may include at least the delivery destination information 1152, the card ID1161, and the object ID1162, and then the delivery management server 300 may manage the information as the delivery information, and when the physical card of the delivery object corresponding to the object ID1162 is specified, the acquisition code 1163 may be updated based on the code acquired from the card, thereby completing the delivery information.

The delivery communication unit 306 is a communication interface that the delivery management server 300 has and that can communicate information with an external device. The delivery management server 300 can transmit and receive information to and from an external device connected via the network 500 through the delivery communication unit 306.

The object acquisition process will be described in detail with reference to the sequence diagram of fig. 6 for the object acquisition process executed in the game system of the present embodiment having such a configuration. The processing corresponding to the sequence diagram can be realized by reading out, for example, a corresponding processing program stored in each storage medium by the control unit of each server, and expanding and executing the program in the memory. In addition, the following description is made: the object acquisition process is started, for example, when an object acquisition request (new virtual card acquisition request) is received from the client device 400 operated by the player.

In S601, the game control unit 101 determines whether the number of appearance targets owned by the current player has reached the upper limit number. Specifically, the game control unit 101 refers to the player information associated with the player ID1101, and determines the present step based on the number of data items of information on the virtual card included in the possession object information 1103. When determining that the number of appearance targets owned by the current player has not reached the upper limit number, the game control unit 101 requests the account management server 200 to settle the fee for obtaining the new appearance target. When determining that the upper limit number has been reached, the game control unit 101 completes the present object acquisition process.

In S602, the billing management unit 206 performs a settlement process for acquiring a new appearance target object based on the received settlement request under the control of the account control unit 201. When the accounting management unit 206 obtains the credit deduction relating to the newly-appearing object and normally ends the settlement process, it returns the successful settlement information to the game server 100. In addition, when the settlement processing is not normally ended due to insufficient points or the like, the charging management unit 206 returns information of settlement failure to the game server 100. In this case, the subject acquisition process is completed in response to the settlement failure.

In S603, the drawing unit 106 performs a drawing process for obtaining a correlation between newly appearing objects based on the success of the point settlement. Specifically, the lottery unit 106 determines the target ID of the appearance target to be provided by selecting the target IDs in the number corresponding to the acquisition requirement from a list including the target IDs of the appearance targets as the targets to be subjected to the lottery processing, based on, for example, random number generation.

In S604, when the lottery unit 106 determines the target ID of the appearing target by the lottery process, the lottery unit 106 assigns a new card ID (virtual card) to the appearing target, and updates the target information related to the corresponding target ID. Specifically, the lottery unit 106 adds data having the reallocated card ID1131, the physical card presence flag 1132 is False, the physical card assignment code 1133 is blank, and the registration status 1134 is True to the issued virtual card information 1123 associated with the target object ID of the lottery result in the target object information.

In S605, the drawing unit 106 updates the player information on the player ID of the player because the virtual card corresponding to the appearance target obtained as a result of the drawing is owned by the player. Specifically, the lottery unit 106 adds data having the newly assigned card ID1111 to the owned target object information 1103 of the player information, the target object ID1112 being the target object ID of the lottery result, the physical card registration flag 1113 being False, and the status update information 1114 being the initial value.

By the processing in S603 to S605, the appearance target determined as a result of the drawing processing can be set to a state owned by the player (a state that can be made to appear in the game or a state that can be used in the game). That is, the virtual card corresponding to the appearance target obtained as a result of the lottery process may be provided to the player.

In S606, the game control unit 101 transmits information indicating the appearance target acquired by the player selected finally to the client device 400 via the game communication unit 109, and presents the information to the player in the client device 400.

Next, with respect to the physical card distribution process for registering the distribution information of the corresponding physical card with respect to the appearance target object in the state owned by the player through the target object acquisition process, a specific process will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of fig. 7. The processing corresponding to the sequence diagram can be realized by reading out, for example, a corresponding processing program stored in each storage medium by the control unit of each server, and expanding and executing the program in the memory. In addition, the following description is made: the physical card distribution process is started when, for example, a distribution request for a corresponding physical card is received from the client device 400 operated by the player for a presence target object in a state owned by the player.

In S701, the game control unit 101 determines whether or not the number of appearance targets for which the physical cards are requested to be distributed (the number of card IDs of the virtual cards included in the distribution request) is equal to or greater than a specific number determined to eliminate the distribution fee. In the game system of the present embodiment, the player has the authority to accept the provision of the corresponding physical card on condition that the player is required to pay the fee when the virtual card is provided. On the other hand, when the player already holds a physical card corresponding to the same appearance target, or when a virtual card corresponds to an appearance target for which the player does not wish to provide a physical card, there is a case where it is not necessarily desirable to provide a physical card to all the virtual cards acquired by the player. Therefore, in the game system of the present embodiment, the fee required to obtain the appearance target object related to the provision of the virtual card is set by subtracting the amount corresponding to the distribution fee, and the distribution of the physical card is performed on the condition that the payment of the fee related to the distribution fee is performed. On the other hand, from the viewpoint of service provision, since obtaining more appearance targets is associated with the benefit of the operator and with the service being longer, there is no need for a distribution fee when distributing a specific number or more of the entity cards in order to positively obtain the targets by the players. Therefore, in the game system of the present embodiment, only when it is determined that the number of appearance targets for which the distribution of the physical cards is requested does not satisfy the specific number, the game control unit 101 makes a settlement request for payment of a fee corresponding to the distribution fee to the account management server 200. Further, when determining that the number of the appearance target objects of the distribution request physical card is equal to or greater than the specific number, the game control unit 101 proceeds to S703 without making a settlement request without paying a fee.

In S702, the billing management unit 206 performs a settlement process for the distribution fee of the entity card based on the received settlement request. When the accounting management unit 206 performs the deduction for obtaining the points related to the newly-appearing object and normally ends the settlement process, it returns the information of the successful settlement to the game server 100. In addition, when the settlement processing is not normally ended due to insufficient points or the like, the charging management unit 206 returns information of settlement failure to the game server 100. In this case, the present entity card distribution process is completed with the settlement failure.

In S703, the game control unit 101 requests the account management server 200 for delivery destination information associated with the player ID of the player who made the delivery request, based on the success of the point settlement.

In S704, the account control unit 201 acquires the delivery destination information 1144 from the account information relating to the player ID included in the request, based on the request for the delivery destination information, and returns the acquired delivery destination information to the game server 100.

In S705, the delivery instruction unit 107 generates information on the delivery instruction of the entity card corresponding to the appearance target object requested to be delivered, and transmits the information to the delivery management server 300. As described above, the information related to the delivery instruction includes at least the target ID of the corresponding appearance target and the card ID of the virtual card for each 1 physical card to be delivered. The information related to the delivery instruction includes the delivery destination information acquired from the account management server 200.

In S706, the delivery control unit 301 generates delivery information to which a new delivery ID is assigned based on the information on the received delivery instruction, and registers the information in the delivery DB 304. Specifically, the distribution control unit 301 generates the distribution information including the newly assigned distribution ID1151 and the distribution destination information 1152 including the information related to the distribution instruction, the card ID1161 of the virtual card corresponding to each physical card as the distribution card information 1153 for the distribution target object, the target object ID1162 of the appearance target object, and the acquisition code 1163 as blank data, and registers the distribution information in the distribution DB 304.

In S707, when the code of the physical card of the distribution destination is received for the registered distribution information, the information acquisition unit 305 updates the acquisition code 1163 related to the corresponding card included in the distribution card information 1153 of the distribution information with the received code. The information acquisition unit 305 associates the received code of the physical card of the distribution target with the card ID of the corresponding virtual card and the target ID, and transmits the associated code to the game server 100 as the given code information.

In S708, the code assigning unit 108 updates the issued virtual card information 1123 related to the virtual card corresponding to the target object information, based on the received assigned code information. Specifically, the code assigning unit 108 updates the issued virtual card information 1123 assigned with the object information associated with the object ID included in the code information by changing the physical card presence flag 1132 assigned with the data associated with the card ID1131 included in the code information to True and changing the physical card assignment code 1133 to the code included in the code information.

In this way, the association with the physical card to be distributed is completed for any virtual card requiring distribution. Further, the entity card is distributed to the player based on the distribution information completed by the processing of S707.

Next, a specific process will be described with reference to a flowchart of fig. 8, with respect to a physical card registration process in which a card delivered to a player by such a physical card delivery process is actually associated with the player. The processing corresponding to this flowchart is realized by the game control unit 101 reading out a corresponding processing program stored in the game storage medium 102, for example, and expanding and executing the program in the game memory 103. In addition, the following is explained: the present physical card registration process is started, for example, when receiving a code labeled on the physical card input in the client apparatus 400.

In S801, the game control unit 101 inquires about the received code. Specifically, the game control unit 101 searches whether or not there is a code received as the physical card assignment code 1133 in the target object information managed by the target object DB 105. If the received code can be queried, the game control unit 101 stores the card ID1131 associated with the virtual card associated with the code in the game memory 103 as a registration candidate card ID, and advances the process to S802. If the received code cannot be queried, the game control unit 101 returns information indicating that the input code is incorrect to the client device 400 in S807, and notifies the player.

In the present embodiment, the case where the coded inquiry is made with reference to all the object information in the object DB105 is described, but the description may be limited to the object information having the issued virtual card information 1123 in which the physical card presence flag 1132 is True. In addition, for example, the target ID may be specified by performing a specific operation on the code, and the query may be performed only on target information related to the target ID. Alternatively, based on the object ID obtained by the calculation, the inquiry may be made by referring to the appearance object in the state owned by the player and specifying the card ID of the virtual card to be a candidate, and restricting the inquiry to the issued virtual card information 1123 related to the card ID.

In S802, the game control unit 101 determines whether or not the registration of the physical card based on the received code is in a state of being performed. Specifically, the game control unit 101 determines the present step based on the registration status 1134 of the issued virtual card information 1123 in which the registration candidate card ID is acquired. When determining that the registration of the physical card based on the received code is not in the already-registered state, the game control unit 101 advances the process to S803. When determining that the registration of the physical card based on the received code is in the already-performed state, the game control unit 101 returns information indicating that the registration of the physical card based on the input code is already performed to the client device 400 and notifies the player in S808.

In S803, the game control unit 101 determines whether or not the virtual card associated with the received code is in a state owned by the player. Specifically, the game control unit 101 refers to the owned object information 1103 of the player information (object player information) related to the player ID, and determines whether or not the data includes the registration candidate card ID in the present step. The game control unit 101 moves the process to S804 when determining that the virtual card associated with the received code is in the owned state by the player, and moves the process to S805 when determining that the virtual card is not in the owned state.

In S804, the game control unit 101 changes the physical card registration flag 1113 of the data of the owned object information 1103 having the registration candidate card ID included in the object player information to True. Further, the game control unit 101 changes the registration status 1134 of the issued virtual card information 1123, which has acquired the registration candidate card ID, to True.

On the other hand, when it is determined in S803 that the virtual card associated with the received code is not in the state of being owned by the player, the game control unit 101 adds information of the virtual card associated with the received code to the owned object information 1103 of the object player information in S805. Specifically, the game control unit 101 adds data having a registration candidate card ID to the owned object information 1103 of the object player information, the object ID1112 being the object ID of the object information for which the registration candidate card ID is acquired, the physical card registration flag 1113 being True, and the state update information 1114 being an initial value. Further, the game control unit 101 changes the registration status 1134 of the issued virtual card information 1123, which has acquired the registration candidate card ID, to True.

In S806, the game control unit 101 returns information indicating that the registration of the physical card based on the input code is completed to the client device 400, and notifies the player.

In this way, with respect to a virtual card (a virtual card associated with a physical card) in which the physical card is provided to a player, by using a code marked on the physical card, it is possible to recognize a state in which the physical card is held for the player. Even if the appearance target object whose possession state of the virtual card is released by the target object release process described later is present, the corresponding virtual card can be set to the possession state by using the physical card.

Game processing

Next, a specific process of providing a game-related game process executed by the game server 100 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to a flowchart of fig. 9. The processing corresponding to this flowchart is realized by the game control unit 101 reading out a program related to providing a game application stored in the game storage medium 102, for example, and expanding and executing the program in the game memory 103. The following description will be made: the game process is started, for example, when the game server 100 receives a successful player authentication in the account management server 200 after a connection request for service use (game operation) is issued from the client device 400.

Further, providing the game may be, for example, to perform information transmission and reception between the game server 100 and the client apparatus 400 in order to realize a game operation in a Web browsing application started in the client apparatus 400. Therefore, the game server 100 receives information of an operation input such as an instruction selection performed in the client apparatus 400, executes a process of providing a game-related corresponding action in accordance with the operation input, and returns the result obtained thereby to the client apparatus 400. In the following description of the game process, a deck including appearance objects in an owned state is registered by a player in advance.

In S901, the game control unit 101 acquires information on an appearance target object used for a game operation (use appearance target object) from the deck information 1104 of the player information associated with the player ID.

In S902, the game control unit 101 selects an object using unspecified state information (information indicating the state of the appearance object referred to in the game operation) among the appearance objects, and determines whether or not the object (object) is subjected to physical card registration. Whether or not the physical card registration is performed may be determined based on which of True and False the physical card registration flag 1113 is in the data of the owned object information 1103 associated with the card ID of the virtual card corresponding to the target object. The game control unit 101 advances the process to S903 when determining that the physical card registration of the target object has been performed, and advances the process to S904 when determining that the physical card registration has not been performed.

In S903, the game control unit 101 determines a parameter relating to the progress of the game of the target object reflecting the growth state based on the game operation history of the player, for example, with reference to the basic state information 1122 and the state update information 1114 relating to the target object. Further, since the target object is an object that has already been registered with the physical card, the game control unit 101 further gives a benefit related to the physical card possession to the determined parameter related to the progress of the game. The awarding of the benefit may be at least one of changing a parameter relating to the progress of the game in a direction advantageous for the progress of the game and attaching a specific object such as an accessory or a prop when the object is a character. The game control unit 101 stores the parameters related to the final game progress determined in this manner in the game memory 103 as the determined state information in association with the card ID of the target object.

On the other hand, in S904, the game control unit 101 determines a parameter relating to the progress of the game of the target object reflecting the growth state based on the game operation history of the player, with reference to the basic state information 1122 and the state update information 1114 relating to the target object, for example, which are determined in S902 that the physical card registration has not been performed. Since no benefit is given when the physical card registration is not performed, the game control unit 101 stores the determined parameter relating to the progress of the game in the game memory 103 as the specified state information in association with the card ID of the target object.

In S905, the game control unit 101 determines whether or not an object whose status information is not specified exists among the appearance objects. The game control unit 101 returns the process to S902 when determining that the target object of the unspecified state information is present, and moves the process to S906 when determining that the target object of the unspecified state information is not present.

In S906, the game control unit 101 performs progress control related to providing the game based on the state information about each of the use appearance objects stored in the game memory 103, and provides the game operation to the player of the client device 400.

Thus, in the game system according to the present embodiment, the form in which the game relating to the corresponding appearance target object is executed can be made different depending on whether or not the player has performed the physical card registration. More specifically, in the case of using a present object that has been registered with a physical card, the progress of the game can be more favorably progressed than in the case of using the same object in a state where no physical card registration is performed, and the interest of the player can be improved as the physical card is provided.

As described above, in the object removal process, the number of appearance objects (the number of virtual cards having different card IDs) that can be owned by each player is limited in order to avoid an increase in the cost of introducing a server based on a database. On the other hand, since each virtual card is set in the owned state by paying a fee, there is a possibility that the player does not desire a configuration in which the owned state can be easily released. Therefore, in the game system according to the present embodiment, the holding state of the corresponding appearance target object can be released by providing the physical card.

Hereinafter, a specific object release process executed by the game server 100 according to the present embodiment when release of the owned state of an appearing object that is owned by the player is requested will be described with reference to a flowchart of fig. 10. The process corresponding to this flowchart can be realized by the game control unit 101 reading out a corresponding process program stored in the game storage medium 102, for example, and expanding and executing the program in the game memory 103.

In S1001, the game control unit 101 determines whether or not the appearance target object (release target object) for which release of the possession state has been requested has been registered with the physical card. As described in the game processing, whether or not the physical card registration is performed may be determined based on which of True and False the physical card registration flag 1113 is in the data of the owned object information 1103 associated with the card ID of the virtual card corresponding to the release object. The game control unit 101 moves the process to S1002 when determining that the physical card registration has been performed for the release target object, and returns information indicating that the release is impossible to be performed to the client apparatus 400 and notifies the player when determining that the physical card registration has not been performed for the release target object in S1004.

In S1002, the game control unit 101 releases the possession state of the player associated with the release target object. Specifically, the game control unit 101 deletes the data having the card ID of the virtual card corresponding to the release target from the owned target object information 1103 of the player information concerning the player ID. Further, the game control unit 101 changes the registration state 1134 of the data having the card ID of the virtual card corresponding to the release target object to False from the issued virtual card information 1123 of the target object information relating to the target object ID of the release target object. As described above, in the game system according to the present embodiment, the information corresponding to the release target object whose possession state has been released is deleted from the player information, but only the registration state 1134 is changed and retained in the target object information. That is, since the physical card is still present in the real world after the owned state is released in the game, the player can set the virtual card related to the same appearance target object as the owned state again by registering with the physical card. That is, if the player holds the physical card, the player can set the corresponding appearance target object to be usable in the game again, and therefore, the player can release the holding state without affecting the reuse and can make a request for obtaining another appearance target object. With this configuration, even if the transaction (exchange) or transfer of the physical card is performed between players, the player who acquired the physical card can perform a game operation using the corresponding appearance target object based on the physical card if the holding state is released.

In S1003, the game control unit 101 returns information indicating that the possession state of the removal target object is released to the client device 400, and notifies the player.

As described above, the game system according to the present embodiment enables a player to acquire a physical object corresponding to an appearance target object appearing in a game, and can enhance the enjoyment of the player. More specifically, the game system associates object information indicating an object that appears in the game and player identification information identifying a player with respect to an object that appears in the game and includes a character or an item, and manages the object as being owned by the player. The presence target object owned state includes a 1 st owned state in which the physical object corresponding to the presence target object is not provided, and a 2 nd owned state in which the physical object corresponding to the presence target object is provided. The system can execute a game using a presence target in a state owned by a player, and the form of the game executed when the presence target used at this time is in the 1 st possession state is different from that in the 2 nd possession state.

Embodiment 2 is described in the above-described embodiment in which a code marked on a physical card issued (manufactured) in advance for an appearance target product for which a distribution instruction is issued is acquired from the card, and information of the physical card assignment code 1133 is input. That is, the game server 100 may determine a code to be applied to the physical card at the time of the distribution instruction, and issue (manufacture) and distribute the physical card applied with the code.

Variation 1 in the game process of embodiment 1, a case has been described in which a code registered on a physical card is set as a requirement so that a preferential condition is given to an appearance target object in a card group, but the practice of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, whether or not to give a benefit may be determined without requiring the code marked on the entity card to be registered by setting the entity card registration flag 1113 to True, in response to the reception of a delivery request, the issuance of a delivery instruction to the delivery management server 300, the update of the entity card assignment code 1133 code after the delivery instruction, and the execution of various processes based on the delivery request, for example, the delivery management server 300 having acquired delivery completion information.

In addition, in the configuration in which the appearing target is set to the owned state, two types of charging-required configuration and charging-unnecessary (non-charging) configuration may be provided, and the entity card may be distributed only to the registered target acquired by the former configuration. In this case, since the physical card is not distributable to the appearance target object obtained by the latter, the appearance target object obtained by the former is allowed to enter a state in which the physical card is distributable on the condition that the acquisition is necessary, and a preference is given at the time of the game processing even if the distribution request is not issued. That is, the physical card registration flag 1113 in the owned object information 1103 can also be set (True in the case of charging) according to whether or not the virtual card is provided by charging/non-charging. That is, whether or not to give a preference at the time of game processing may be controlled by providing a virtual card in accordance with the payment fee.

Other embodiments the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The game system of the present invention may be realized by a program that causes 1 or more computers to function as the game system. The program may be provided/distributed by being recorded in a computer-readable recording medium or via an electrical communication line.

[ description of symbols ]

100 game server

200 Account management server

300 distribution management server

400 client device

500 network

101 game control unit

102 Game storage medium

103 game memory

104 Player DB

105 object DB

106 lottery unit

107 delivery instruction part

108 code imparting part

109 game communication unit

Claims (15)

1. A game system is characterized in that the game system is provided with a 1 st providing mechanism, wherein the 1 st providing mechanism is used for providing corresponding physical objects for appearance targets comprising characters or props appearing in a game; and the game system comprises:

a management means for managing the appearance target object as a state owned by the player by associating target object information indicating the appearance target object with player identification information identifying the player; and

a control means for executing a game using the appearance target object in a state owned by the player; and is

The ownership state of the presence target includes a 1 st ownership state in which the physical object corresponding to the presence target is not provided, and a 2 nd ownership state in which the physical object corresponding to the presence target is provided, and

the control means makes the execution of the game different between when the use object is in the 1 st possession state and when the use object is in the 2 nd possession state.

2. The gaming system of claim 1,

the mode for executing the game includes a 1 st mode and a 2 nd mode, and the 2 nd mode provides a preference for the 1 st mode to be favorable for the progress of the game and

the control means executes the game in the 1 st mode when the used appearance target object is in the 1 st possession state, and executes the game in the 2 nd mode when the used appearance target object is in the 2 nd possession state.

3. The gaming system of claim 2,

the giving of the benefit is at least one of a parameter relating to the progress control of the game in which the used appearance target object is changed and an operation of attaching a specific appearance target object to the used appearance target object.

4. The gaming system of any of claims 1 through 3,

the 1 st possession state is a state in which a virtual item corresponding to an appearance target is provided to a player;

the gaming system also includes a No. 2 providing mechanism that provides a virtual item to a player; and is

The management means associates, when the virtual article is provided by the 2 nd providing means, the player identification information with the object information indicating the corresponding object as the 1 st possession state.

5. The gaming system of claim 4,

the 2 nd providing means determines target object information related to a virtual object to be provided by a lottery process.

6. The game system according to claim 4 or 5,

the 2 nd providing organization determines the information of the target object related to the virtual object to be provided according to the payment condition.

7. The gaming system of any of claims 4 to 6,

the providing of the physical object by the 1 st providing mechanism is performed according to a request for providing the physical object corresponding to the appearance target object issued after the virtual object corresponding to the appearance target object is provided by the 2 nd providing mechanism.

8. The gaming system of claim 7,

the supply of the physical object by the 1 st supply organization is performed without a condition of payment of a fee in a case where a specific number of the physical objects corresponding to the presence target object are required to be supplied.

9. The game system according to claim 7 or 8,

the management means associates the item identification information for identifying the physical item provided by the 1 st providing means with the object information indicating the object of appearance, based on the virtual item provided by the 2 nd providing means in correspondence with the object of appearance or the requirement for providing the physical item in correspondence with the object of appearance.

10. The gaming system of claim 9,

further comprising an acquisition means for acquiring the article identification information from the physical article supplied by the 1 st supply means; and is

The management means associates the article identification information acquired by the acquisition means with object information indicating a corresponding appearing object.

11. The gaming system of claim 9,

further comprising a manufacturing mechanism that manufactures a physical article marked with the article identification information; and is

The 1 st providing mechanism provides the physical object manufactured by the manufacturing mechanism to the player.

12. The gaming system of any of claims 9 to 11,

the article identification information is marked on the physical article provided by the 1 st providing mechanism in a visual identification manner; and is

When there is a registration request associated with the item identification information, the management unit regards that the physical item has been provided, and changes the possession state of the corresponding appearance target from the 1 st possession state to the 2 nd possession state.

13. The gaming system of any of claims 4 to 12,

setting an upper limit number for the number of appearance targets that can be owned by the player;

the 2 nd providing means provides a virtual item to the player when the number of pieces of object information associated with the player identification information does not satisfy the upper limit number.

14. The gaming system of claim 13,

further comprising a release mechanism that accepts an ownership release request for the appearing target object; and is

The management means may release the association between the object information indicating the presence object and the player identification information on the condition that the physical object corresponding to the presence object for which the release request has been issued is provided or the physical object is requested to be provided by the 1 st providing means.

15. A program for causing 1 or more computers having a providing means for providing a player with a corresponding physical object for an appearance target object including a character or an item appearing in a game to execute:

managing an appearance target object as being in a state of being owned by a player by associating target object information indicating the appearance target object with player identification information identifying the player; and

executing a game using the appearance target object in a state owned by the player; and is

The ownership state of the appearance target object comprises a 1 st ownership state in which the physical object corresponding to the appearance target object is not provided, and a 2 nd ownership state in which the physical object corresponding to the appearance target object is provided; and is

The process of executing the game is controlled in the following manner: the execution form of the game is different between when the use object is in the 1 st possession state and when the use object is in the 2 nd possession state.