Terminal display control method, terminal display system and server apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9782673-B2
Application number	US-201414167290-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 29, 2014
Priority date	Jan 31, 2013
Publication date	Oct 10, 2017
Grant date	Oct 10, 2017

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.

First claim

What is claimed is:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 ima

Assignees

• Gree Inc

Inventors

• Takagi Yushi
• Yabe Toshiharu
• Iguchi Kenji
• Kai Takuya

Classifications

• A63F13/843

  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 · CPC title

• A63F13/26

  having at least one additional display device, e.g. on the game controller or outside a game booth · CPC title

• A63F13/355

  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 title

• A63F13/327

  using wireless networks, e.g. Wi-Fi® or piconet · CPC title

• A63F13/323 Primary

  between game devices with different hardware characteristics, e.g. hand-held game devices connectable to game consoles or arcade machines · CPC title