Terminal display control method, terminal display system and server apparatus

• US 9,782,673 B2
• Filed: 01/29/2014
• Issued: 10/10/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GREE Inc.
• Original Assignee: GREE Inc.
• Inventors: Takagi, Yushi, Yabe, Toshiharu, Iguchi, Kenji, Kai, Takuya
• Primary Examiner(s): Lim, Seng H
• Application Number:
  US14/167,290
• Publication Number:
  US 20140213360A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,350 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/2145 the surface being also a display device, e.g. touch screens
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/26 having at least one additional display device, e.g. on the game controller or outside a game booth
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/323 between game devices with different hardware characteristics, e.g. hand-held game devices connectable to game consoles or arcade machines
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/327 using wireless networks, e.g. Wi-Fi® or piconet
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/355 Performing operations on behalf of clients with restricted processing capabilities, e.g. servers transform changing game scene into an encoded video stream for transmitting to a mobile phone or a thin client
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/426 involving on-screen location information, e.g. screen coordinates of an area at which the player is aiming with a light gun
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/843 involving concurrently two or more players on the same game device, e.g. requiring the use of a plurality of controllers or of a specific view of game data for each player

Abstract

According to one embodiment, a terminal display control method for using as a controller of a game a terminal device including a touch panel, which is configured to be integral with a display, includes selecting a controller image which is used in the game; setting at least one of a presence/absence of a function, a number, a size, a shape and a position of disposition, with respect to an operation element in the controller image; and making variable, in accordance with a content of the setting, a state of the controller image displayed on the display, and an operation standard of the operation element corresponding to an input on the touch panel.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium including computer program instructions, which when executed by an electronic device, cause the electronic device to:

identify a controller image which is used in a game;

set at least one of a presence/absence of a function, a number, a size, a shape and a position, with respect to an operation object in the controller image;

modify, in accordance with the setting, a state of the controller image that is used in the game and displayed on a display;

identify an operation at a position on a touch panel that corresponds to a first object, as a first input to the first object;

identify an operation at a position on the touch panel that corresponds to a second object, as a second input to the second object;

receive a predetermined operation on the touch panel for designating both the first object and the second object, the predetermined operation specifying a range between the first object and the second object;

generate an operation area responsive to receiving the predetermined operation, wherein the generated operation area includes a range not covered by the first object or the second object and includes a portion of the first object and a portion of the second object; and

identify an operation at the generated operation area on the touch panel as a third input different from the first input and the second input.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein

the predetermined operation is a single drawing operation on a plurality of buttons, which are a plurality of neighboring operation objects, and the third input corresponds to a successive operation of the plurality of buttons.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein

the predetermined operation is an operation on a range including an area between a plurality of buttons, which are a plurality of neighboring operation objects, and the third input corresponds to a simultaneous operation of the plurality of buttons.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 3, wherein:

the range including the area between the plurality of buttons is arbitrarily settable.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 3, wherein:

the range including the area between the plurality of buttons is settable based on a simultaneous operation of the plurality of buttons during a predetermined period.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the computer program instructions cause the electronic device to:

set a position of an operation object which is representative of an analog stick.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the computer program instructions cause the electronic device to:

detect an amount and a direction of a displacement of an operation position on the operation object; and

move the position of the operation object based on the amount and the direction of the displacement of the operation position.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein:

the position of the operation object is restricted in accordance with a display range of the display.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the computer program instructions cause the electronic device to:

restrict a condition of the setting in accordance with a condition of progress of the game.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein

the third input is an input to both of the first object and the second object.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the predetermined operation is a slide operation starting from outside the first object and the second object and passing through the first object and the second object.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the predetermined operation designates a range including a portion of the first object and a portion of the second object.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, the predetermined operation designates a plurality of positions including positions in the first object and the second object.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the predetermined operation is a drawing operation.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the predetermined operation is a single drawing operation by a finger over a range between the first object and the second object.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the operation area is newly generated responsive to receiving the predetermined operation, and the operation area does not exist before receiving the predetermined operation.

10. A system for providing a game to a plurality of terminal devices which are connected via a network, the system comprising:

circuitry configured to

accept an operation for setting up a shared device configured to display an image for sharing, the shared device being included in the plurality of terminal devices;

accept information based on operation in a second terminal device other than the shared device;

cause the shared device to display a game image which reflects the accepted information based on the operation in the second terminal device and a content of the game;

transmit a controller image, which is used in the game, to the second terminal device to display the controller image;

set at least one of a presence/absence of a function, a number, a size, a shape and a position, with respect to an operation object in the controller image, based on an operation in the second terminal device;

modify, in accordance with the setting, a state of the controller image displayed on the display of the second terminal device, and an operation standard of the operation object corresponding to an input to a touch panel of the second terminal device;

identify an operation at a position on the touch panel that corresponds to a first object, as a first input to the first object;

identify an operation at a position on the touch panel that corresponds to a second object, as a second input to the second object;

receive a predetermined operation on the touch panel for designating both the first object and the second object, the predetermined operation specifying a range between the first object and the second object;

generate an operation area responsive to receiving the predetermined operation, wherein the generated operation area includes a range not covered by the first object or the second object and includes a portion of the first object and a portion of the second object; and

identify an operation at the generated operation area on the touch panel as a third input different from the first input and the second input.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein

the circuitry is configured to transmit, in accordance with progress of the game, a standby image for waiting for an operation, in place of the controller image used in the game, to the second terminal device to display the standby image.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein:

the system is a server.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the system comprises:

a server including the circuitry;

the shared device; and

the second terminal device.

12. An electronic device comprising:

circuitry configured to

identify a controller image which is used in a game;

set at least one of a presence/absence of a function, a number, a size, a shape and a position, with respect to an operation object in the controller image;

modify, in accordance with the setting, a state of the controller image that is used in the game and displayed on a display;

identify an operation at a position on a touch panel that corresponds to a first object, as a first input to the first object;

identify an operation at a position on the touch panel that corresponds to a second object, as a second input to the second object;

receive a predetermined operation on the touch panel for designating both the first object and the second object, the predetermined operation specifying a range between the first object and the second object;

generate an operation area responsive to receiving the predetermined operation, wherein the generated operation area includes a range not covered by the first object or the second object and includes a portion of the first object and a portion of the second object; and

identify an operation at the generated operation area on the touch panel as a third input different from the first input and the second input.

15. A method performed by an electronic device, the method comprising:

identifying a controller image which is used in a game;

setting, by circuitry of the electronic device, at least one of a presence/absence of a function, a number, a size, a shape and a position, with respect to an operation object in the controller image;

modifying, in accordance with the setting, a state of the controller image that is used in the game and displayed on a display of the electronic device;

identifying an operation at a position on a touch panel that corresponds to a first object, as a first input to the first object;

identifying an operation at a position on the touch panel that corresponds to a second object, as a second input to the second object;

receiving a predetermined operation on the touch panel for designating both the first object and the second object, the predetermined operation specifying a range between the first object and the second object;

generating an operation area responsive to receiving the predetermined operation, wherein the generated operation area includes a range not covered by the first object or the second object and includes a portion of the first object and a portion of the second object; and

identifying an operation at the generated operation area on the touch panel as a third input different from the first input and the second input.