1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a computer-readable recording medium whereon a game procedure control program is recorded, to a server provided with that recording medium, and to a game procedure control method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, competitive games such as tennis, soccer, and baseball have come to be widely played on the monitors of programmed computer apparatuses. The content of such games is very diverse, but commonly, in almost all cases, a player (a game player) uses a control input device to control the behavior of a player character, and a score is awarded on the basis of how aptly the player character behaved toward a ball put in play by a competitor character controlled by the computer apparatus or a human game opponent. In the case of a baseball game, for example, scoring is based on how well a batter character that is the player character hits back a ball thrown by a pitcher character that is the competitor character.
The particulars of the control inputs made at such time by the player mainly include determinations of the position and attitude of the batter character, bat type selection, bat adjustment, and bat swing timing, swing position, and swing angle, etc. In order to effect such control inputs as these, a control input device connected to the main unit of the computer apparatus is usually used. This control input device is generally made so that it detects amounts of displacement in the X-coordinate direction and Y-coordinate direction input by the player, specifies some two-dimensional coordinate position, and communicates that specified coordinate position to the main unit of the computer apparatus. The position and so forth of the batter character are effected by specifying this coordinate position. Also, a timing signal is generated when a switch is depressed at some time, with provision made so that that timing signal is communicated to the main unit of the computer apparatus. The bat swing timing is determined by that timing signal.
Largely categorized, there are two types of computer apparatuses, namely those specially made for games, such as dedicated game apparatuses, and those which can handle a wide range of applications, such as personal computers. In the case of the former, an analog joy stick, digital joy stick, or controller on which such are mounted is used for the control input device. An analog joy stick has sensors deployed at the base end of a projecting member of a prescribed size for outputting X coordinates and Y coordinates as analog values, so that, when a player manipulates the projecting member by tilting same with his or her fingers, any coordinate position in a two-dimensional area can be designated in accordance with the amount of that tilt. A digital joy stick usually has cross-shaped keys that have sensors (or switches) for eliciting coordinates in various directions, namely up, down, left, and right, made so that, when a player continually depresses one or two keys, any coordinate position in a two-dimensional area can be designated.
The control input device for a personal computer, on the other hand, is generally a pointing device such as a mouse, portable trackball, or portable slide pad, etc. Of these, both the mouse and the portable trackball each have a pair of sensors for detecting amounts of displacement in the X coordinate and Y coordinate, respectively, and a ball member that simultaneously drives both sensors. These devices are made so that, by rolling the ball member in a target direction, either directly by the player""s hand or indirectly via the surface of the desk, a coordinate position in a two-dimensional area can be designated. The slide pad has sensors for sensing the position where it is touched by a human finger, the direction of movement thereof and the amount of movement thereof, made so that any coordinate position in a two-dimensional area can be designated based on the sensing results. In principle, the slide pad implements the mechanism of a mouse or the like with digital techniques.
The main difference between control input devices used with a dedicated game apparatus and those used with a personal computer lies in the way the pointer is manipulated. Specifically, in the case of various joy sticks, the pointer is usually not displayed on the screen. This can be said to be advantageous in the sense that the visual recognition characteristics on the screen are not lost. Data corresponding to the pointer (hereinafter called the virtual pointer) do exist inside the apparatus, but because that virtual pointer will be dislocated so long as the player continues to press the projecting member or cross-shaped key, the joy stick is superior to a mouse or the like in terms of operability when simply causing a displacement in a desired direction by a certain amount, or quickly returning to the home position.
Nevertheless, the data input by the joy sticks relates only to the displacement direction, and the relative size of the displacement in the virtual pointer can only depend on the relative length of the input time. With a mouse or the like, on the other hand, the pointer is always displayed. Moreover, the data input by the mouse or the like relates both to displacement direction and displacement amount, whereupon it becomes possible to input pointer displacement direction and displacement amount with a single manipulation, irrespective of the relative length of the input time. That being so, the mouses and the like are superior to the various joy sticks for applications in games where the pointer is displaced to a random position at high speed and a next action is required at that displaced position.
At the present time, dedicated game apparatuses are more commonly used than personal computers as computer apparatuses for games, and the content of game programs presupposes control by the control input device of a dedicated game apparatus. Nevertheless, the pointer is not displayed in a dedicated game apparatus, as noted above, whereupon it is very difficult to implement a game wherein the pointer is accurately displaced to a random position at high speed and a next action at that displaced position becomes necessary. With a dedicated game apparatus, moreover, the person running the game is limited to the person who purchased it, and there are impediments to implementing games wherein many people can freely participate. Compared thereto, a general purpose computer apparatus such as a personal computer has a broad user base, and has a broader usable range than a dedicated game apparatus as relating to communications infrastructure such as networks.
Thereupon, an object of the present invention is to provide a computer-readable recording medium whereon a game procedure control program is recorded, a server, and a game procedure control method that are capable of implementing a game in an environment difficult to achieve with a dedicated game apparatus and a joy stick used with such an apparatus.
In order to achieve the object noted above, according to the present invention, a computer-readable recording medium whereon a game procedure control program is recorded for causing a pointer and a game image containing a plurality of game character to be displayed on a monitor screen of a computer and for, at the same time, receiving the input of instruction particulars relating to the display position of a pointer resulting from movement control inputs on the monitor screen for that pointer from a pointing device such as a mouse, and clicking operations with that pointing device, made by a player, and executing a baseball game, wherein: the baseball game is one that is advanced by a player team and a team based on computer control, using a ball character as a game medium, alternately coming to bat and taking to the field; and the game procedure control program determines the positioning point for the ball character at the bat of a batter character and the batting action of the batting character by manipulating the pointing device when the player team is at bat, determines a pitching course and pitching action, by control inputs from the pointing device, for the ball character caused to be displayed moving so as to proceed from a pitcher character toward the batter character when the player team is in the field, accepts the end of the game, and causes the game result particulars and the particulars of both the batting results and the pitching results of the player team to be uploaded to a recording unit in a server connected to the computer via a network.
Based on the above invention, a pitcher character throwing a ball character and a batter character hitting the ball character that is hurled in are displayed on the monitor screen, and, when the player team is up to bat, the positioning point for the ball character at the bat of the batter character and the batting action thereof are determined by manipulating the pointing device. When the player team is in the field, the pitching course and pitching action for the ball character displayed moving so as to proceed toward the batter character from the pitcher character are determined by manipulating the pointing device. When the game is finished, the particulars of the game results together with the particulars of the batting results and pitching results for the player team are uploaded to a recording unit in a server connected via a network to the computer operated by the player. Thus it becomes possible to implement a baseball game in an environment difficult to achieve with a dedicated game apparatus and a joy stick for such an apparatus.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading of the following detailed description along with the accompanied drawings.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds