ON-LINE GAMING

• US 20090221367A1
• Filed: 12/21/2006
• Published: 09/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: PKR Limited
• Original Assignee: PKR Limited
• Inventors: San, Jeremy Elliot, Longley, Jeremy
• Application Number:
  US12/158,464
• Publication Number:
  US 20090221367A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/32
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3276 wherein the players compete, e.g. tournament

Abstract

There is described a player terminal for use with a gaming server over a distributed communications network for facilitating the playing of a distributed multi-player on-line game involving interactions between different players in a virtual playing environment. The player terminal comprises: receiving means for receiving from the server, information specifying a virtual playing environment and on-line players in that environment, and update information relating to game-playing events occurring within that environment during the playing of an on-line game; generating means for generating a graphical representation of the virtual playing environment from the received information, graphical representations of each on-line game player and graphical representations of game-playing events occurring within the virtual environment; interaction means for interacting with the game playing events, the interaction means generating information relating to the actions of the on-line player during the playing of the on-line game, which are reflected in the behavior of the graphical representation of that on-line player; and transmitting means for transmitting to the server, game-playing commands generated at the player terminal in response to the displayed game-playing events; such that other on-line players can ultimately see the actions of the on-line player.

Claims

1. A gaming server arranged to communicate with a plurality of on-line player'"'"'s terminals for facilitating the playing of a distributed multi-player on-line game involving interactions between a plurality of different players in a virtual environment, the server comprising:

a playing module arranged to control the playing of the game with each of the different on-line players, the playing module being arranged to generate a series of gaming events, each gaming event being directed to one or more on-line players participating in the game;

receiving means arranged to receive information from a remote player terminal concerning a selected virtual game playing environment and a selected graphical representation of the on-line game player within the environment;

a game state module arranged to construct a specification of the graphical game-playing environment and representations of the players within the environment from the received information, together with a current state of the game; and

transmitting means arranged to transmit the specification to a plurality of remote on-line players'"'"' communication terminals;

the transmitting means being arranged, during the playing of an on-line game, to broadcast in real-time game-playing commands received from a player'"'"'s terminal to other players'"'"' terminals participating in the same game and to update the game state module;

the game-playing commands including information relating to the actions of the on-line player which are reflected in the behavior of the graphical representation of that on-line player.

2. A gaming server according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting means is arranged to transmit playing commands for creating animation of the player representations.

3. A gaming server according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting means is arranged to transmit active game playing commands generated in response to a gaming event.

4. A gaming server according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting means is arranged to transmit passive game playing commands generated in response to a player viewing hidden information provided in the gaming environment.

5. A gaming server according to claim 1, wherein the on-line game is poker and the passive game playing commands include a player looking at his cards, counting out his chips, looking at a game play history, and counting another player'"'"'s chips.

6. A gaming server according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting means is arranged to transmit emotional information relating to the player'"'"'s emotional state of mind.

7. A gaming server according to claim 6, wherein the emotional information comprises information controlling the posture of the player representation.

8. A gaming server according to claim 6, wherein the transmitting means is arranged to transmit information relating to the emotional parameters of happiness and/or aggressiveness.

9. A gaming server according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting means is arranged to transmit player-selected misleading information relating to the player.

10. A gaming server according to claim 9, wherein the on-line game is poker and the transmitting means is arranged to transmit information showing at least some of the player'"'"'s cards at the end of a game hand.

11. A gaming server according to claim 10, wherein the on-line game is poker and the transmitting means is arranged to transmit information showing all of the player'"'"'s cards at the end of a game hand.

12. A gaming server according to claim 1, wherein the playing module is arranged to control a plurality of independent games of the same type, involving different players, occurring at the same time.

13. A gaming server according to claim 1, wherein the playing module is arranged to control a plurality of independent games of different type, involving different players, occurring at the same time.

14. A gaming server according to claim 1, further comprising an index module arranged to collate and generate a summary of information relating to all of a plurality of games currently in progress.

15. A gaming server according to claim 14, wherein the index module is arranged to identify a plurality of game characteristics regarding each game such that when the game characteristics are displayed on the player terminal, the player is able to decide which game is of interest.

16. A gaming server according to claim 14, wherein the index module is arranged to pass the summary to the transmission means for transmission to a player terminal.

17. A gaming server according to claim 14, wherein the index module is arranged to check the current status of the game from the playing module and if the playing module indicates there is a possibility for the requesting player to join the multi-person game, then to instruct the game state module to populate the selected game environment with the information relating to the graphical representation of the requesting player and to enable the requesting player to participate in the game.

18. A gaming server according to claim 14, wherein the index module is arranged to check the current status of the game from the playing module and if the playing module indicates there is currently no possibility for the requesting player to join the multi-person game, then to place a play request in a joining queue for that game at the playing module and instruct the transmission module to send a message indicating the same to the player terminal.

19. A gaming server according to claim 18, wherein the index module is arranged to monitor the current status of the selected game from the playing module and if the opportunity arises for the requesting player to join the selected game, to instruct the playing module to populate the selected game environment with the graphical representation of the requesting player and to enable the requesting player to participate in the game.

20. A gaming server according to claim 14, wherein the index module is arranged to enable the player selection of a plurality of specific games from the summary and to instruct the game state module to include that player terminal into a list of interested players of that game.

94. A combination of a plurality of remote player terminals, each terminal comprising a player terminal according to of claim 22 and a gaming server according to claim 1, wherein each remote player terminal is connectable via a distributed communications network to the gaming server to implement the playing of the interactive on-line multi-player game in real time.

95. A combination according to claim 94, wherein each remote player terminal comprises a local game playing module and a local game playing data store, the local game playing module and local game playing data store being configured to implement all bandwidth intensive tasks and store relatively large files.

21. A method of communicating with a plurality of on-line player terminals for facilitating the playing of a distributed multi-player on-line game involving interactions between a plurality of different players in a virtual environment, the method comprising:

controlling the playing of the game with each of the different on-line players, by generating a series of gaming events, each gaming event being directed to one or more on-line players participating in the game;

receiving information from a remote player terminal concerning a selected virtual game playing environment and a selected graphical representation of the on-line game player within the environment;

constructing a specification of the graphical game-playing environment and representations of the players within the environment from the received information, together with a current state of the game; and

transmitting the specification to a plurality of remote on-line players'"'"' communication terminals;

the transmitting step comprising broadcasting in real-time, during the playing of an on-line game, game-playing commands received from a player'"'"'s terminal to other players'"'"' terminals participating in the same game and updating the specification;

the game-playing commands including information relating to the actions of the on-line player which are reflected in the behavior of the graphical representation of that on-line player.

22. A player terminal for use with a gaming server over a distributed communications network for facilitating the playing of a distributed multi-player on-line game involving interactions between different players in a virtual playing environment, the player terminal comprising:

receiving means for receiving from the server, information specifying a virtual playing environment and on-line players in that environment, and update information relating to game-playing events occurring within that environment during the playing of an on-line game;

generating means for generating a graphical representation of the virtual playing environment from the received information, graphical representations of each on-line game player and graphical representations of game-playing events occurring within the virtual environment;

interaction means for interacting with the game playing events, the interaction means generating information relating to the actions of the on-line player during the playing of the on-line game, which are reflected in the behavior of the graphical representation of that on-line player; and

transmitting means for transmitting to the server, game-playing commands generated at the player terminal in response to the displayed game-playing events;

such that other on-line players can ultimately see the actions of the on-line player.

23. A player terminal according to claim 22, wherein the receiving means is arranged to receive update information including commands generated at remote on-line players'"'"' communication terminals in response to the gaming events.

24. A player terminal according to claim 22, wherein the generating means is arranged to manipulate a player'"'"'s graphical representation in response to interpreting the received update information.

25. A player terminal according to claim 22, wherein the generating means is arranged to generate each graphical representation as a three-dimensional character representation.

26. A player terminal according to claim 22, wherein the generating means is arranged to generate each graphical character representation as an avatar.

27. A player terminal according to claim 22, wherein the generating means is arranged to generate each graphical representation as a representation which uniquely identifies an on-line player.

28. A player terminal according to claim 22, wherein the generating means is arranged to enable the on-line player to configure his graphical representation.

29. A player terminal according to claim 28, wherein the graphical representation is a character and the generating means is arranged to enable each player to configure their graphical representation to reflect physical characteristics of the player, including one or more from the group comprising:

age, sex, race, hair style, hair color, facial hair style, voice, detail texture.

30. A player terminal according to claim 28, wherein the graphical representation is a character and the generating means is arranged to enable each player to configure their graphical representation to reflect different wearable items, including:

clothing, and/or accessories including jewellery, headgear, and glasses.

31. A player terminal according to claim 30, wherein the generating means is arranged to enable the player to change the appearance of the graphical representation, by providing access to different ones of the wearable items with increased accrual of playing points by the player.

32. A player terminal according to claim 30, wherein the wearable items are accessible to reflect the player'"'"'s experience in playing the game.

33. A player terminal according to claims 28, wherein the generating means is arranged to encode the appearance of the player'"'"'s graphical representation, and provide this to the transmission means for transmission to the server.

34. A player terminal according to claims 22, further comprising a data store for storing a plurality of graphical images for use in generating the virtual playing environment, the graphical components for constructing representations of each on-line game player and the graphical representations of game-playing events.

35. A player terminal according to claim 34, wherein the data store is arranged to store the player-specified graphical representation.

36. A player terminal according to claim 22, wherein the interaction means is arranged to generate animation commands for animating the player representation, the generation means is arranged to display the animated player representation and the transmission means is arranged to transmit the animation commands to the server.

37. A player terminal according to claim 36, further comprising a plurality of different stored animations, each animation reflecting a different emotion or message for the other players of the game.

38. A player terminal according to claim 36, wherein the interaction means is arranged to enable the player to select an animation of the graphical representation, by providing access to different ones of the animations.

39. A player terminal according to claim 36, wherein the interaction means is arranged to enable an animation to be directed to one specific on-line player of the game.

40. A player terminal according to claims 36, wherein the animation of the graphical representation is selected to convey a misleading message to other players of the game.

41. A player terminal according to claim 36, wherein the different animations reflect the player'"'"'s experience in playing the game.

42. A player terminal according to claim 36, wherein the interaction means is arranged to provide access to different ones of the animations with increased accrual of playing points by the player.

43. A player terminal according to claim 36, wherein the on-line game is poker and the animations are different chip tricks.

44. A player terminal according to claim 22, wherein the interaction means is arranged to generate emotional information relating to the player'"'"'s emotional state of mind.

45. A player terminal according to claim 44, wherein the emotional information comprises information controlling the posture of the player representation.

46. A player terminal according to claim 44, wherein the interaction means is arranged to generate information relating to the emotional parameters of happiness and/or aggressiveness.

47. A player terminal according to claim 44, wherein the interaction means comprises the player selecting an emotional state and the interaction means is arranged to automatically apply the selected emotional state to all player actions.

48. A player terminal according to claim 44, wherein the interaction means comprises the player selecting an emotional state and the interaction means is arranged to apply the selected emotional state to a selected player action in response to a gaming event.

49. A player terminal according to claim 44, wherein the interaction means is arranged to display a two-dimensional graph of different emotional states such that the player can graphically select the precise combination of emotional states for their graphical representation which best reflects their true emotional state.

50. A player terminal according to claim 49, further comprising monitoring means for monitoring the manner in which a player is participating in the game and the player'"'"'s success and to reflect his likely emotions as a feedback position on the two-dimensional graph.

51. A player terminal according to claim 50, wherein the monitoring means is arranged to move the player-selected position on the graph to the feedback position.

52. A player terminal according to claim 22, wherein the interaction means is arranged to generate active game playing commands in response to a gaming event.

53. A player terminal according to claim 22, wherein the interaction means is arranged to generate passive game playing commands generated in response to a player viewing hidden information provided in the gaming environment.

54. A player terminal according to claim 53, wherein the on-line game is poker and the passive game playing commands include a player looking at his cards, counting his gaming chips, looking at a game play history, and counting another player'"'"'s gaming chips.

55. A player terminal according to claim 22, wherein the interaction means is arranged to select misleading information relating to the player for transmission to the server.

56. A player terminal according to claim 22, wherein the on-line game is poker and the transmitting means is arranged to transmit information showing at least some of the player'"'"'s cards at the end of a game hand.

57. A player terminal according to claim 56, wherein the transmitting means is arranged to transmit information showing all of the player'"'"'s cards at the end of a game hand.

58. A player terminal according to claims 22, further comprising encoding/decoding means for encoding/decoding information to be transmitted from the transmission means and information received by the receiving means.

59. A player terminal according to claim 58, wherein the encoding/decoding means comprises a stored look up table.

60. A player terminal according to claims 22, further comprising a chat communications module, for communicating live information between the on-line players and from the gaming server to the on-line players relating to game play events.

61. A player terminal according to claim 60, wherein the chat communications module is arranged to enable the on-line player to enter in text information for communication to the other on-line players.

62. A player terminal according to claim 60, wherein the chat communications module is arranged to enable the on-line player to enter in control codes for controlling the animated behavior of the player'"'"'s representation.

63. A player terminal according to claims 61, wherein the chat communications module is arranged to enable the on-line player to specify another on-line player participating in the same game and to direct comments or actions to that specific player.

64. A player terminal according to claim 22, further comprising a data store for storing user configuration data for configuring the player terminal and wherein the generating means is arranged to read the user configuration data for generating the gaming environment according to the user preferences.

65. A player terminal according to claim 22, further comprising recording means for recording in a games log, all game play events as a playing history of the on-line game.

66. A player terminal according to claim 65, further comprising retrieval means for accessing the stored games log and displaying the same to the on-line player.

67. A player terminal according to claim 22, wherein the generating module is arranged to display real-time information relating to a plurality of independent games of the same type, involving different players, occurring at the same time.

68. A player terminal according to claim 22, wherein the generating module is arranged to display real-time information relating to a plurality of independent games of different type, involving different players, occurring at the same time.

69. A player terminal according to claim 22, wherein the generating means is arranged to generate a real-time graphical playing environment for each virtual game being viewed, wherein the generating means is arranged to generate different graphical playing environments for at least some of the plurality of different games.

70. A player terminal according to claim 22, wherein the generating means is arranged to display one real-time playing environment at a time, and to enable the player to control which real-time playing environment is current being viewed.

71. A player terminal according to claim 70, wherein the generating means is arranged to generate a summary icon summarizing some real-time features of each selected game of interest.

72. A player terminal according to claim 22, further comprising a local index module for receiving from the server a summary of all the on-line games currently in progress and for generating a graphical representation of the summary.

73. A player terminal according to claim 72, wherein the local index module comprises a player selectable filter to enable games having selected characteristics to be shown to the player.

74. A player terminal according to claim 72, wherein the local index module is arranged to enable player selection of a specific game from the summary and to instruct the transmission means to request downloading of information enabling the current real-time playing environment representation of that game to be regenerated on the player terminal.

75. A player terminal according to claim 22, wherein the generating means comprises visualization means for generating a plurality of different views of the same virtual playing environment.

76. A player terminal according to claim 75, wherein the visualization means comprises a dynamically changing a given view of a virtual playing environment to another of the plurality of views of the virtual playing environment.

77. A player terminal according to claim 75, wherein the visualization means is arranged to be configurable by the player to select a dynamically changing view of the virtual playing environment.

78. A player terminal according to claim 75, wherein the visualization means is arranged to be configurable by the player to select one of the plurality of different views.

79. A player terminal according to claim 22, wherein the generating means comprises zooming means arranged to generate a zoomed in view of the virtual playing environment.

80. A player terminal according to claim 79, wherein the zooming means is arranged to monitor the current gaming event and to generate and display a zoomed in view of the virtual playing environment on the occurrence of a predetermined gaming event.

81. A player terminal according to claim 79, wherein the zooming means is arranged to generate a zoomed out view of the virtual gaming environment after a predetermined time period after the occurrence of the predetermined gaming event.

82. A player terminal according to claim 22, wherein the generating means is arranged to generate a moving graphical representation of the virtual gaming environment as would appear by panning across the virtual gaming environment.

83. A player terminal according to claim 22, wherein the generating means is arranged to generate a moving graphical representation of the virtual gaming environment as would appear by tracking movement across the virtual gaming environment.

84. A player terminal according to claim 83, wherein the generating means is arranged to generate a changing view of the virtual playing environment by use of a combination of the visualization means, the zooming means and the panned and tracked representations.

85. A player terminal according to claim 22, further comprising an object changing module arranged to change the appearance of a selected object within the virtual playing environment.

86. A player terminal according to claim 85, wherein the object changing module is arranged to change the surface appearance of the selected object with pre-stored data.

87. A player terminal according to claim 85, wherein the selected object is a three-dimensional object.

88. A player terminal according to claim 85, wherein the object changing module is arranged to select one of a plurality of different stored images and to project the selected image onto the surface of the selected object.

89. A player terminal according to claim 85, wherein the object changing module is arranged to change the image after a predetermined time has lapsed.

90. A player terminal according to claims 85, wherein the image comprises an advertising image.

91. A player terminal according to claims 85, wherein the object changing module is arranged to receive the image from the server.

92. A player terminal according to claims 85, wherein the object changing module is arranged to display an image within a environment if the image matches a player-specified preference.

93. A method of facilitating the playing of a distributed multi-player on-line game involving interactions between different players in a virtual playing environment, over a distributed communications network, for the method comprising:

receiving information specifying a virtual playing environment and on-line players in that environment, and update information relating to game-playing events occurring within that environment during the playing of an on-line game;

generating a graphical representation of the virtual playing environment from the received information, graphical representations of each on-line game player and graphical representations of game-playing events occurring within the virtual environment;

interacting with the game playing events, the interaction comprising generating information relating to the actions of the on-line player during the playing of the on-line game, which are reflected in the behavior of the graphical representation of that on-line player; and

transmitting game-playing commands generated at the player terminal in response to the displayed game-playing events;

such that other on-line players can ultimately see the actions of the on-line player.

96. A system for playing a distributed multi-player on-line game involving interactions between different players in a virtual playing environment, the system comprising a central gaming server and at least two player terminals connectable to the server via a communications network, wherein

each player terminal is arranged to generate a representation of the virtual playing environment including a graphical representation of each of the different players and to manipulate the representations to reflect any updated player interactions received from the server;

and

the server is arranged to generate a series of gaming events and to coordinate the distribution of information relating to the gaming events and also the player interactions, received from each player terminal, to other player terminals participating in the same interactive game.

97. A system according to claim 96, wherein each player terminal comprises updating means for manipulating its representations to reflect updated player interactions generated locally at the player terminal and transmitting means for transmitting information relating to the updated player interactions to the server.

98. A system according to claim 96, wherein the information communicated between each player terminal and the gaming server is in the form of an encoded index, which can be used to as a reference to a specific combination of variables for generating the representations of the real-time virtual playing environment and the representations of the players within that environment.

99. A system according to claim 96, wherein the player terminals and the gaming server each comprise translation means for translating a received encoded index into a specific graphical representation to make up part of the displayable graphical presentation of the playing environment.

100. A system according to claim 99, wherein the translation means comprises a look-up table.

101. A system according to claim 99, wherein the encoded index comprises segments each relating to the composition of a major component of the virtual environment representation.

102. A system according to claims 96, wherein the player terminals and the gaming server each comprise encoding means for encoding a specific graphical representation of an action or gaming event making up part of the displayable graphical presentation of the playing environment into a transmittable encoded index.

103. A system according to claim 96, wherein each representation comprises a three-dimensional representation.

104. A system according to claims 96, wherein each graphical representation of each of the different players comprises an animated graphical representation.

105. A system according to claims 96, wherein the server comprises installation means for installing generating means for generating the representation of the playing environment on each player terminal.

106. A system according to claim 96, wherein the generating means is arranged to generate a real-time graphical representation of the virtual playing environment and graphical representations of gaming events occurring within the virtual environment.

107. A system according to claim 96, wherein the server comprises registration means for registering each player and their player terminal for participation in a game.

108. A system according to claim 96, wherein the server comprises reception means for receiving the player interactions from the player terminals and storing the same.

109. A system according to claim 108, wherein the server comprises a gaming log for storing a complete history of all gaming events occurring in relation to any particular game.

110. A system according to claim 96, wherein the server comprises means for logging all players of a game and all non-participating viewers of a game.

111. A system for playing a distributed multi-player on-line game involving interactions between different players in a virtual playing environment, the system comprising a central gaming server and at least two player terminals connectable to the server via a communications network, wherein

each player terminal is arranged to generate a representation of the virtual playing environment including a graphical animated representation of each of the different players, to manipulate the player'"'"'s animated representation to reflect player-specified information, such information being independent of game play events such that it is potentially misleading to the other players, and to transmit this information to the server;

and

the server is arranged to generate a series of gaming events and to coordinate the distribution of information relating to the gaming events and also the player-manipulated animations, received from each player terminal, to other player terminals participating in the same interactive game.

112. A system according to claim 111, further comprising a plurality of different stored animations, each animation reflecting a different emotion or message for the other players of the game.

113. A system according to claim 111, wherein each player terminal is arranged to enable the player to select an animation of the graphical representation, by providing access to different ones of the animations.

114. A system according to claim 111, wherein each player terminal is arranged to enable an animation to be directed to one specific on-line player of the game.

115. A system according to claim 111, wherein the different animations reflect the player'"'"'s experience in playing the game.

116. A system according to claim 111, wherein each player terminal is arranged to provide access to different ones of the animations with increased accrual of playing points by the player.

117. A system according to claim 111, wherein the on-line game is poker and the animations are different chip tricks.

118. A system according to claim 111, wherein each player terminal is arranged to generate emotional information relating to the player'"'"'s emotional state of mind and to use this emotional information in the selection of the animation.

119. A system according to claim 111, wherein the emotional information comprises information controlling the posture of the player representation.

120. A system according to claim 111, wherein each player terminal is arranged to generate information relating to the emotional parameters of happiness and/or aggressiveness.

121. A system according to claim 111, wherein each player terminal is arranged to enable the player to select an emotional state and the interaction means is arranged to automatically apply the selected emotional state to all player animations.

122. A system according to claim 111, wherein each player terminal is arranged to enable the player to select an emotional state and the player terminal applying the selected emotional state to a selected player action in response to a gaming event.

123. A system according to claim 111, wherein the interaction means is arranged to display a two-dimensional graph of different emotional states such that the player can graphically select the precise combination of emotional states for their graphical representation which best reflects their desired emotional state they wish to convey to the other players.

124. A player terminal for use with a gaming server over a distributed communications network for facilitating the playing of a distributed multi-player on-line game involving interactions between different players in a virtual playing environment, the player terminal comprising:

receiving means for receiving from the server, information specifying a virtual playing environment and update information relating to game-playing events occurring within that environment during the playing of an on-line game; and

generating means for generating a graphical representation of the virtual playing environment from the received information;

wherein the generating means comprises visualization means for generating a plurality of different views of the same virtual playing environment.

125. A player terminal according to claim 124, wherein the visualization means is arranged to generate three-dimensional representations of the virtual playing environment.

126. A player terminal according to claim 124, wherein the visualization means comprises a dynamically changing a given view of a virtual playing environment to another of the plurality of views of the virtual playing environment.

127. A player terminal according to claim 124, wherein the visualization means is arranged to be configurable by the player to select a dynamically changing view of the virtual playing environment.

128. A player terminal according to claim 124, wherein the visualization means is arranged to be configurable by the player to select one of the plurality of different views.

129. A player terminal according to claim 124, wherein the generating means comprises zooming means arranged to generate a zoomed in view of the virtual playing environment.

130. A player terminal according to claim 129, wherein the zooming means is arranged to generate three-dimensional representations of the virtual playing environment.

131. A player terminal according to claim 129, wherein the zooming means is arranged to monitor the current gaming event and to generate and display a zoomed in view of the virtual playing environment on the occurrence of a predetermined gaming event.

132. A player terminal according to claim 129, wherein the zooming means is arranged to generate a zoomed out view of the virtual gaming environment after a predetermined time period after the occurrence of the predetermined gaming event.

133. A player terminal according to claim 124, wherein the generating means is arranged to generate a moving graphical representation of the virtual gaming environment as would appear by panning across the virtual gaming environment.

134. A player terminal according to claim 124, wherein the generating means is arranged to generate a moving graphical representation of the virtual gaming environment as would appear by tracking movement across the virtual gaming environment.

135. A player terminal according to claim 134, wherein the generating means is arranged to generate a changing view of the virtual playing environment by use of a combination of the visualization means, the zooming means and the panned and tracked representations.

136. A player terminal according to claim 124, wherein the generating means is arranged to generate three-dimensional moving graphical representations of the virtual playing environment.

137. A player terminal for use with a gaming server over a distributed communications network for facilitating the playing of a distributed multi-player on-line game involving interactions between different players in a virtual playing environment, the player terminal comprising:

receiving means for receiving from the server, information specifying a virtual playing environment and on-line players in that environment, and update information relating to game-playing events occurring within that environment during the playing of an on-line game; and

generating means for generating a graphical representation of the virtual playing environment from the received information and graphical representations of each on-line game player;

wherein the generating means is arranged to enable the player to change the appearance of the graphical representation to reflect the experience of the player in playing the game.

138. A player terminal according to claim 137, wherein the generating means is arranged to enable the graphical representation of a player to be changed by the addition of wearable items reflecting different levels of experience.

139. A player terminal according to claim 138, wherein the generating means is arranged to enable the player to change the appearance of the graphical representation, by providing access to different wearable items with increased accrual of playing points by the player.

140. A player terminal according to claim 137, wherein the generating means is arranged to change an animation of the graphical representation of the player to reflect the player'"'"'s experience.

141. A player terminal according to claim 140, further comprising a store of different animations each reflecting a different level of experience of the player in playing the game and means for selecting the appropriate animation for the player.

142. A player terminal according to 141, wherein the generating means is arranged to provide access to different ones of the stored animations with increased accrual of playing points by the player.

143. A player terminal according to claim 137, wherein the on-line game is poker and the different animations are different chip tricks.

144. A player terminal for use with a gaming server over a distributed communications network for facilitating the playing of a distributed multi-player on-line game involving interactions between different players in a virtual playing environment, the player terminal comprising:

receiving means for receiving from the server, information specifying a virtual playing environment and update information relating to game-playing events occurring within that environment during the playing of an on-line game; and

generating means for generating a graphical representation of the virtual playing environment from the received information;

wherein the generating means comprises an object changing module arranged to change the appearance of a selected object within the virtual playing environment.

145. A player terminal according to claim 144, wherein the object changing module is arranged to change the surface appearance of the selected object with pre-stored data.

146. A player terminal according to claim 144, wherein the selected object is a three-dimensional object.

147. A player terminal according to claim 144, wherein the object changing module is arranged to select one of a plurality of different stored images and to project the selected image onto the surface of the selected object.

148. A player terminal according to claim 144, wherein the object changing module is arranged to change the image after a predetermined time has lapsed.

149. A player terminal according to claim 144, wherein the image comprises an advertising image.

150. A player terminal according to claim 144, wherein the object changing module is arranged to receive the image from the server.

151. A player terminal according to claim 144, wherein the object changing module is arranged to display an image within a environment if the image matches a player-specified preference.

152. A player terminal according to claim 151, further comprising transmission means for transmitting a user specified profile to the server, and wherein the image received by the object changing module is tailored to the user specified profile submitted to the server.

153. A plurality of player terminals, each terminal comprising a player terminal as described in claim 144, wherein the images displayed in each player terminal is different.