U.S. Pat. No. 7,682,243

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, method and system enabling information of a unit associated with a certain pilot to interoperate and change as ability information of the pilot changes in an online game according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1is a diagram illustrating a network connection of an online game providing system according to the present invention.

An online game providing system100is connected to a gamer terminal115via a communication network120. In case that a change of ability information on a pilot is required by a motion of the pilot or a unit controlled by a gamer110, the online game providing system100enables the pilot ability information and unit ability information associated therewith to interoperate and change through sync pipes.

The gamer110is connected to the online game providing system100via the communication network120, and may have the terminal115to access the communication network120. The gamer110controls motions of at least one pilot, thereby continues a game. Ability information on pilots may be changed by the motion control.

The gamer terminal115maintains an access with the online game providing system100via the communication network120such as the Internet, and makes an online game progress by receiving a predetermined program for a game progress from the online game providing system100. Also, the gamer terminal115is a device provided with hardware and/or software accessible to a wireless network, such as a notebook, a PDA, a cellular phone, and the like, and a concept including not only currently used devices but also devices having a function of accessing the wireless network, that is, devices used in the future.

FIG. 2is a flowchart illustrating a method enabling unit ability information to interoperate and change as pilot ability information changes in an online game according to the present invention. An online game providing method according to the present embodiment is performed by the online game providing system100.

In step S201, a unit information database is maintained. The unit information database records information on at least one unit. The unit information includes at least one piece of unit ability information and sync point information. The unit information database serves to maintain information of a corresponding unit by each unit. Hereinafter, the unit information database will be in detail described with reference toFIG. 3.

FIG. 3is a diagram illustrating an example of internal configuration of a unit information database according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated inFIG. 3, a unit information database300may include fields for a unit identifier301, a unit kind302, a level303, a sync point304, and an attack power (ATP)305, an evasion power (EVP)306, a defense power (DEF)307, and a hit power (HTP)308indicating ability information of a unit.

The unit identifier301indicates identifier information identifying a unit that substantially continues a game in an online game in accordance with a control of a gamer.

The unit kind302indicates information on a kind of units, and there may be difference in performance ability according to a control of a gamer for each unit kind.

The level303indicates level information of a corresponding unit, and may increase or decrease as a result of a motion of the unit in an online game, and be recorded.

The sync point304is information indicating a numeric relationship between a unit and its associated pilot, that is, information indicating a ratio or proportion of which changes in pilot ability information are applied to unit ability information. The sync point304may be indicated as numerical value information having a value between 0 and 1. When pilot ability information changes, the unit ability information is proportionally changed by referring to the sync point304and is recorded in the unit information database300. The sync point304may increase depending on whether an action of the unit is successful or not, and may be recorded. A limit point about a limit to which the sync point304may increase may be set up by a system operator. The limit point may be set up differentially in accordance with the unit kind302or a pilot kind402.

The attack power (ATP)305, the evasion power (EVP)306, the defense power (DEF)307, and the hit power (HTP)308are information indicating ability information of a unit, and may be stored in association with brave point (Bp), react point (Rp), faith point (Fp), and mentality point (Mp) of a pilot, respectively.

In step S202, a pilot information database is maintained. The pilot information database records information on at least one pilot. The pilot information includes a unit identifier associated with a pilot, at least one piece of pilot ability information and unit ability information associated with the pilot ability information. The pilot information database serves to maintain information of a corresponding pilot by each pilot. Hereinafter, the pilot information database will be in detail described with reference toFIG. 4.

FIG. 4is a diagram illustrating an example of internal configuration of a pilot information database according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated inFIG. 4, a pilot information database400may include fields for a pilot identifier401associated with a pilot, a pilot kind402, a gamer identifier403, a unit identifier404, a level405, an ability kind406, an ability value407, and a unit ability408.

The pilot identifier401indicates identifier information for identifying a pilot in an online game, and may be stored in correspondence to the gamer identifier403controlling the pilot.

The pilot kind402indicates information on a kind of pilots, and there may be difference in performance ability according to a control of a gamer for each pilot kind.

The gamer identifier403indicates identifier information for identifying a gamer controlling a motion of a pilot, and may be composed of information such as a gamer name or a gamer ID (identifier) through which the gamer can be identified.

The unit identifier404indicates identifier information for identifying a unit operating as a gamer controls a pilot in an online game, and may be stored in correspondence to the pilot identifier403.

The level405indicates level information of a corresponding pilot, and may increase as a result of a motion of the pilot in an online game and be recorded. In case that the level405of the pilot increases and is recorded, information on the sync point304associated with the pilot may increase and be recorded.

The ability kind406indicates a kind of ability information belonging to a corresponding pilot, and may include information on brave point (Bp), react point (Rp), faith point (Fp), capacity point (Cp), and mentality point (Mp). Information on the brave point (Bp) records the braveness of a pilot in a numerical value, and is associated with information on the attack power (ATP)305of a unit. Information on the react point (Rp) records agility or reaction of a pilot in a numerical value, and is associated with information on the evasion power (EVP)306of a unit. Information on the faith point (Fp) records faith about the pilot itself in a numerical value, and is associated with the defense power (DEF)307of a unit. Information on the capacity point (Cp) records potential capacity of a pilot in a numerical value, and may not be associated with any ability information of a unit. Information on the mentality point (Mp) records a mental ability of a pilot in a numerical value, and is associated with information on the hit power (HTP)308of a unit.

The ability value407indicates numerical value information with respect to information on the ability kind406of each pilot. Each ability value407may be changed and recorded in accordance with a motion of each pilot.

The unit ability408indicates ability information of a unit associated with information on the ability kind406of each pilot. As information on the ability value407of the pilot changes, the unit ability408information recorded in the unit information database300may be changed and recorded. For example, when the brave point (Bp) information among abilities of a pilot increases and is recorded, the attack power (ATP) information of a unit may be also increased and stored.

Sync point information of a unit may be adjusted upwards and recorded, in case that a first pilot recorded in the pilot information database400and a unit identifier associated with the first pilot satisfy the combination of predetermined pilot/unit. The combination may be generated by using information on a kind of pilots and a kind of units.

For example, in case that a limit point selected by a system operator is 0.5 and a predetermined combination of pilot/unit is “Tin-boy/Mazinger and Amuro/Evangerion”, the combination of pilot/unit of a pilot having pilot identifier “pIDxxxx01” recorded in the pilot information database400is included in the predetermined combination of “Amuro/Evangerion.” Thus, sync point information of unit identifier “uIDxxxx01” associated with the pilot identifier “pIDxxxx01” may be recorded to be a value (0.8) more than the limit point “0.5.”

Also, since a variety of game scenarios are applied in accordance with the predetermined combination of pilot/unit, a gamer can continue an exciting game. The predetermined combination of pilot/unit may be determined by a system operator to be, for example, “Kwanwoo/Jeoktoma,” “Cheolsoo/TaekwonV,” “Tin-boy/Mazinger,” “Amuro/Evangerion,” etc. Respectively different game progresses are variously enabled in accordance with each combination.

FIG. 5is a diagram illustrating an example of sync pipes of a pilot and a unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated inFIG. 5, pilot ability information and unit ability information may be conceptually linked through sync pipes500,501,502,503, and504, and be numerically adjusted proportionally to one another, and recorded. Level information of a pilot is associated with sync point information of a unit through the sync pipe500, and in case that the pilot level information goes up, the ability information of a unit linked to the corresponding pilot through the sync pipe500goes up proportionally according to the ratio stored in the sync point304. Brave point (Bp) information indicating an ability of a pilot is associated with and linked to attack power (ATP) information of a unit through the sync pipe501, react point (Rp) information is associated with and linked to evasion power (EVP) information of the unit through the sync pipe502, faith point (Fp) information is associated with and linked to defense power (DEF) information of the unit through the sync pipe503, and mentality point (Mp) information is associated with and linked to hit power (HTP) information of the unit through the sync pipe504, respectively. In case that pilot's ability information goes up, the associated unit's associated ability information also goes up proportionally. The sync pipes500,501,502,503, and504, are not physical connections but conceptual associations.

Also, the present invention may further include a Support Manbow of a pilot such as a pet unit that accompanies a robot unit as another unit of the pilot, and helps a game progress. Ability information of the Support Manbow may also interoperate with change of ability information of the pilot and change. That is, at least one unit interoperating with ability information of the pilot may be included.

In step203, updating request information with respect to first pilot ability information of a first pilot is received. In case that updating request information is received, numerical value information is further received. In interoperation with the numerical value information, the first pilot ability information and unit ability information associated therewith may be further updated.

In step204, unit identifier information associated with the first pilot is searched by referring to the pilot information database, and in step205, sync point information associated with the searched unit identifier information is searched by referring to the unit information database.

In step206, first pilot ability information and unit ability information associated therewith are updated and recorded, respectively, in accordance with the searched sync point information. A method of updating the first pilot ability and the unit ability will be described with reference toFIG. 6.

FIG. 6is a diagram illustrating an example of a method of updating pilot ability information and unit ability information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated inFIG. 6, in step601, the method of updating first pilot ability information and unit ability information adds up first pilot ability information and numerical value information to be updated. The added up first information may be recorded as first pilot ability information to be updated. In step602, the method adds up unit ability information by the multiplication of sync point information and the numerical value information. The added up second information may be recorded as ability information of a unit associated with the first pilot ability information.

For example, when a request is received to increase “brave point (Bp)”information of a pilot having pilot identifier information of “pIDxxxx01,” by numerical value, “10”, unit identifier information associated with the pilot identifier “pIDxxxx01” is searched by referring to the pilot information database400. As seen inFIG. 4, the unit identifier associated with pilot identifier “pIDxxxx01” is “uIDxxxx01”. Thus, in this example, the conceptual idea of a sync pipe is embodied by a pointer pointing to a unit identifier associated with a pilot identifier. Next, sync point information of the unit having the unit identifier “uIDxxxx01”is accessed by referring to data associated with unit identifier “uIDxxxx01” in the unit information database300. In this case, the sync point information associated with unit identifier “uIDxxxx01” is 0.8. This, numerical value of “brave point (Bp)”information of the pilot is updated, while the “attack power (ATP)” information of the associated unit is proportionally updated by referring to the sync point information (0.8). For example, where the numerical value of “brave point (Bp)” information for pilot identifier “pIDxxxx01” is “80” and this value is to be increased by “10”, the updated numerical value of this pilot's “brave point (Bp)”information is “90”. Also, a numerical value of “attack power (ATP)” information of the associated unit “uIDxxxx01” is increased by a proportion of the amount added to the “brave point (Bp)” information of pilot identifier “pIDxxxx01” In this case, the increase to the “brave point (Bp)” of pilot identifier “pIDxxxx01” was “10” and the sync point information associated with unit identifier “uIDxxxx01” is “0.8”, the proportional increase of the “attack power (ATP)” of unit identifier “uIDxxxx01” is determined by multiplying “0.8” by “10” to get “8”. Therefore, the new “attack power (ATP)” for unit identifier “uIDxxxx01” is found by adding the previous value of “70” (as seen inFIG. 3) and the proportional increase of “8” to get “78”. The updated “78” is recorded.

FIG. 7is a diagram illustrating a configuration module of a system enabling unit ability information to interoperate and change as pilot ability information changes in an online game according to an embodiment of the present invention.

An online game providing system700according to the present invention includes a unit information database710, a pilot information database720, an updating request receiving module730, an information search module740, and a database updating unit750.

The unit information database710records unit information on at least one unit. The unit information includes at least one piece of unit ability information, synch point information, and level information. In case that pilot ability information changes, the sync point information is used to change unit ability information associated with the pilot ability information, and is numerical value information having a value between 0 and 1.

The pilot information database720records pilot information on at least one pilot. The pilot information includes a unit identifier associated with a pilot, at least one piece of pilot ability information, unit ability information associated with the pilot ability information, and pilot level information. In case that the level information increases and is recorded, sync point information of the unit interoperates, is increased and recorded.

The updating request receiving module730receives an updating request with respect to first pilot ability information of a pilot. In case that an updating request is received, numerical value information to be updated is further received. The numerical value information is used to update pilot ability information and the unit ability information at the database updating unit750.

The information search module740searches for unit identifier information associated with the pilot by referring to the pilot information database720, and searches for sync point information associated with the searched unit identifier information by referring to the unit information database710. Also, the information search module740searches for sync point information of a unit by taking the unit identifier information as a pointer, and transmits the searched sync point information to the database updating unit750.

The database updating unit750updates first pilot ability information and unit ability information associated with the first pilot ability information in accordance with the searched sync point information, and records. The first pilot ability information is added up to the numerical value information received at the updating request receiving module730, and updated. The unit ability information is added up by the multiplication of the sync point information and the numerical value information.

The embodiments of the present invention include computer readable media including program instructions to implement various operations embodied by a computer. The media may also include, alone or in combination with the program instructions, data files, data structures, tables, and the like. The media and program instructions may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention, or they may be of the kind well known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts. Examples of computer-readable media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROM disks; magneto-optical media such as floptical disks; and hardware devices that are specially configured to store and perform program instructions, such as read-only memory devices (ROM) and random access memory (RAM). The media may also be a transmission medium such as optical or metallic lines, wave guides, etc. including a carrier wave transmitting signals specifying the program instructions, data structures, etc. Examples of program instructions include both machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher level code that may be executed by the computer using an interpreter.

FIG. 8is an internal block diagram of a general purpose computer which may be employed in implementing the online game providing method according to the present invention.

A computer apparatus800includes at least one processor810connected to a main memory device including a RAM (Random Access Memory)820and a ROM (Read Only Memory)830. The processor810is also called as a central processing unit CPU. As well-known to the field of the art, the ROM830unidirectionally transmits data and instructions to the CPU, and the RAM820is generally used for bidirectionally transmitting data and instructions. The RAM820and the ROM830may include a certain proper form of a computer readable recording medium. A mass storage device840is bidirectionally connected to the processor810to provide additional data storage capacity and may be one of the computer readable recording medium. The mass storage device840is used for storing programs and data and is an auxiliary memory. A particular mass storage device such as a CD ROM860may be used. The processor810is connected to at least one input/output interface850such as a video monitor, a track ball, a mouse, a keyboard, a microphone, a touch-screen type display, a card reader, a magnetic or paper tape reader, a voice or hand-writing recognizer, a joy stick, and other known computer input/output unit. The processor810may be connected to a wired or wireless communication network via a network interface870. The procedure of the described method can be performed via the network connection. The described devices and tools are well-known to those skilled in the art of computer hardware and software.

The described hardware devices may be formed to be operated by at least one software module in order to perform the operations of the present invention.

The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with the embodiment of the present invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it is not limited thereto since it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various substitutions, modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

As used in this application, the term “module” is intended to refer to, but is not limited to, a software or hardware component, which performs certain tasks. A module or component may advantageously be configured to reside on the addressable storage medium and configured to execute on one or more processors. Thus, a module or component may include, by way of example, components. such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components and task components. processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. The functionality provided for in the components and modules may be combined into fewer components and modules or further separated into additional components and modules. Thus, there has been shown and described several embodiments of a novel invention. As is evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of the present invention are not limited by the particular details of the examples illustrated herein, and it is therefore contemplated that other modifications and applications, or equivalents thereof, will occur to those skilled in the art. The terms “having” and “including” and similar terms as used in the foregoing specification are used in the sense of “optional” or “may include”and not as “required”. Many changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications of the present construction will, however, become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering the specification and the accompanying drawings. All such changes. modifications. variations and other uses and applications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by the invention which is limited only by the claims which follow. The scope of the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistent with the claims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more.” All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various embodiments described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. Section 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for.”

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

According to online game providing method and system enabling a pilot and unit information associate with the pilot to interoperate and change, it is possible to enable a gamer to recognize that objects controlled by the gamer are divided into two objects, and thereby play a game.

Also, according to online game providing method and system enabling a pilot and unit information associate with the pilot to interoperate and change, it is possible to make the growth of a pilot affect the growth of a unit and enable a gamer to recognize a connection between the pilot and the unit, thereby providing convenience when the gamer plays a game.

Also, according to online game providing method and system enabling a pilot and unit information associate with the pilot to interoperate and change, it is possible to transmit the style of a pilot to a unit through interrelation therebetween, thereby enhancing interests about a game.

Also, according to online game providing method and system enabling a pilot and unit information associate with the pilot to interoperate and change, it is possible to apply a variety of game scenarios through the diversified combination of a pilot and a unit, thereby enhancing interests about a game.