Amusement devices: games – Including means for processing electronic data – Data storage or retrieval
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-23
2002-04-16
Cheng, Joe H. (Department: 3713)
Amusement devices: games
Including means for processing electronic data
Data storage or retrieval
C463S001000, C463S007000, C463S033000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06371856
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for controlling an event occurring probability, for example, an encountering probability that a character, moving on a map, encounters an enemy character in a video game.
2. Description of the Related Art
Of video games, there are RPGs (Role Playing Games) in which a player can make a game progress while he/she controls the game so as a character (hereinafter referred to as player character) to improve in accordance with a player operation. In general, the player character encounters in a constant probability another character (hereinafter referred to as enemy character), showing hostility toward the player character, while the player character moves on a map in RPGs. The player controls the game so that the player character battles the enemy character and the player character gains a predetermined experience level as a result of winning battle with enemy characters. The player character sequentially improves while increasing its power every time the experience value reaches a predetermined value.
In conventional RPGs, a constant probability that the player character encounters the enemy characters has been set, regardless of whether the enemy characters whom the player character encounters retain a high experience value or a low experience value. Generally speaking, whether enemy characters retain a high experience value or a low experience value depends on the power of the enemy characters, that is, their experience value is in proportion to their power. When the player character encounters an enemy character having a relatively low value, the player has to go through a troublesome battle against the enemy character, whereby the player character does not gain significantly due to the low experience value of the enemy character. Thus, the smooth progress of the game has been obstructed.
In some recently-developed RPGs, the probability that the player character encounters the enemy characters varies when the player character is equipped with a particular item. However, in equipping the player character such a particular item, the probability that the player character encounters the enemy characters can vary uniformly, regardless of the level of the player character. Due to this, in equipping the player character with such an item, an increase in the probability that the player character has to have an ineffective battle with the enemy characters for the sake of raising the power of the player character, or a decrease in the probability that the player character has an efficient battle against the enemy characters for the sake of raising the power of the player character occurs as a problematic matter.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a video game which can make a game progress smoothly by controlling a probability that an event, such as a battle against an enemy character etc., occurs.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a video game apparatus comprising: event occurring area storage means for storing a position of an event occurring area on a map where a predetermined event is to occur and which is set on the map functioning as a movement area where a character moves in accordance with an externally transmitted input; area determination means for determining whether the character has reached the event occurring area stored in the event occurring area storage means; and event occurrence means for causing an event, set in the event occurring area, to occur in accordance with a probability corresponding to number of times in which an event has occurred in the event occurring area and/or number of times in which the occurring event has been completed, when the area determination means determines that the character has reached the event occurring area.
The event occurrence means may decrease the probability that the event will occur, in accordance with an increase in the number of times in which the event has occurred in the event occurring area or the number of times in which the occurring event has been completed.
The event occurrence means may cause the event, set in the event occurring area, to occur, when the number of times in which the event has occurred in the event occurring area or the number times in which the occurring event has been completed is a predetermined value.
In the above-described video game apparatus, an event occurring probability set for the event occurring area is controlled in accordance with the number of times in which the event has occurred or the number of times in which the occurring event has been completed, when the character has reached the event occurring area on the map. Particularly, in such a case where the event occurrence means decreases the probability that the event occurs if the number of times in which the event has occurred or the number of times in which the occurring event has been completed in the event occurring area increases, the player does not have to repeatedly go through troublesome battles against the enemy characters so that the game can progress smoothly.
When the number of times in which the event has occurred or the number of times at the occurring event has been completed in the event occurring area is a predetermined number, an event set for the event occurring area occurs. In such a case, if the predetermined value is, for example, 0, an event necessary for the progress of the game occurs at least once. Thus, the progress of game should be exciting enough.
The above-described video game apparatus may further comprise: setting value storage means for storing predetermined setting values in a manner corresponding to respective event occurring areas stored in the event occurring area storage means; and probability storage means for storing event occurring probabilities corresponding to the setting values stored in the setting value storage means. In this case, the event occurrence means may comprise: event occurrence determination means for determining whether to cause the event to occur in the event occurring area where the character has reached, in accordance with the occurring probability stored in the probability storage means and the setting value stored in the setting value storage means; event attaining means for attaining the event occurrence when the event occurrence determination means determines to cause the event to occur; and setting value updating means for updating the setting value of the event occurring area which is stored in the setting value storage means, when the event attaining means attains the event occurrence or the occurring event has been completed.
In such a case, the setting value storage means may store a single setting value corresponding to a plurality of event occurring areas.
The above-described video game apparatus may further comprise counting means for counting the number of times in which the event has occurred according to the event occurrence means or the number of times in which the event is completed, in the event occurring area. In such a case, the event occurrence means may comprise: means for performing a predetermined calculation on the basis of the number of times, counted by the counting means, in which the event has occurred in the event occurring area or the number of times in which the event has been completed, and for calculating a probability that the event is to occur in the event occurring area; and means for causing an event to occur in accordance with the probability which is calculated by the calculation means.
The above-described video game apparatus may further comprise: prior event information storage means for storing, in a manner corresponding to the event occurring area prior event information representing whether there is another event which is to be completed prior to the event occurrence in the event occurring area. In such a case, the event occurrence means may cause the event to occur in accordance with the prior event information corresponding to the event occurring area
Cheng Joe H.
Hotaling, II John M
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
Square Co., Ltd.
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