CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2019-0065189, filed on Jun. 3, 2019, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which is herein incorporated by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The following description relates to a method and system for promoting a player character in a sports game using a dualized space.

Related Art

A sports game is a game based on sports, such as baseball, soccer, or basketball, and is divided into an action game genre and a simulation game genre. However, the sports game itself tends to be classified as a separate genre. In such a sports game, there are characters that perform a corresponding sports event. In most of sports games, at least one status related to the progress of a game is set in each of characters. The status of the character may be a fixed value, but may be changed depending on the game. Particularly, in some games, users can promote their player characters in order to improve the statuses of the player characters. For example, Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2013-0082956 relates to a system and method for managing tactics in an online sport simulation game and a recording medium thereof”, and discloses that a player character belonging to his or her team can be promoted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Provided are a player character promotion method capable of promoting a player character through a second virtual space in which a promotion scenario is performed separately from a first virtual space related to the progress of a sports game in the sports game, a computer apparatus for performing the player character promotion method, and a computer program combined with the computer apparatus and stored in a computer-readable recording medium in order to execute the player character promotion method in the computer apparatus and a recording medium therefor.

Provided are a player character promotion method capable of promoting a player character in a second virtual space according to a promotion scenario determined or combined based on a selected team, a selected player character and/or a selected trainer character, among multiple promotion scenarios configured for each team, each player character and/or each trainer character, a computer apparatus for performing the player character promotion method, and a computer program combined with the computer apparatus and stored in a computer-readable recording medium in order to execute the player character promotion method in the computer apparatus and a recording medium therefor.

In an embodiment, a player character promotion method performed by a computer apparatus including at least one processor includes processing, by the at least one processor, the progress of a sports game instance in which at least one player character controlled in response to a user's input participates through a first virtual space configured for the progress of a sports game, providing, by the at least one processor, a user interface for promoting a promotion mode for a given player character between sports game instances, and performing, by the at least one processor, a promotion scenario for a selected player character through a second virtual space different from the first virtual space for the progress of the sports game instance when the promotion mode for the selected player character is activated through the user interface.

According to one aspect, a promotion scenario may be configured in each of a plurality of teams included in the sports game. Performing the promotion scenario may include performing a promotion scenario pre-configured for a team to which a player character selected through the user interface belongs.

According to another aspect, the promotion scenario may be performed using a turn method. Performing the promotion scenario may include selecting a single event associated with a given trainer character in a combination list in which a first event list comprising at least one single event selected based on a team to which a player character selected through the user interface belongs and a second event list comprising at least one single event selected based on at least one trainer character further selected through the user interface have been combined, and performing the selected single event between turns of the promotion scenario. A likeability value between the given trainer character and the player character may be adjusted according to the progress of the single event.

According to yet another aspect, performing the promotion scenario may include determining whether a combo event associated with given two or more trainer characters included in a third event list comprising combo events selected based on a combination of two or more trainer characters is generated at timing at which the progressed single event is terminated when the two or more trainer characters are selected through the user interface, selecting a given combo event in the third event list in response to the determination of the combo event generated, and performing the selected combo event. A likeability value between each of the given two or more trainer characters and the player character may be adjusted according to the progress of the combo event.

According to yet another aspect, performing the promotion scenario may include performing training of the player character in which a trainer character selected among at least one trainer character further selected through the user interface participates. The status of the player character may be adjusted based on a result of the progress of the training into which a training effect according to the selected trainer character has been incorporated.

According to yet another aspect, the trainer character scheduled to participate in the training of the player character may be selected based on a probability for each status item that belongs to probabilities for respective status items configured in each of the further selected at least one trainer character and that corresponds to a status item by which the player character is to be trained through the training.

According to yet another aspect, the trainer character scheduled to participate in the training of the player character may be selected further based on a likeability value set between the player character and each of the further selected at least one trainer character.

According to yet another aspect, as the training proceeds, a likeability value between the selected trainer character and the player character may be further adjusted.

According to yet another aspect, performing the promotion scenario may include establishing a connection relationship between a given trainer character and the player character based on a likeability value set between the player character and each of at least one trainer character further selected through the user interface. A boosting effect for increasing a training effect may be applied to the training of the player character based on the established connection relationship.

According to yet another aspect, a likeability value between the player character and at least one trainer character further selected through the user interface may be adjusted based on at least one of training and an event generated according to the progress of the promotion scenario. A connection relationship may be established between the player character and a given trainer character based on the likeability value. A boosting effect for increasing a training effect may be applied to the training of the player character based on the established connection relationship.

In an embodiment, there is provided a non-transitory processor-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement the method.

In an embodiment, there is provided a computer apparatus including at least one processor implemented to execute instructions readable in a computer, wherein the at least one processor processes the progress of a sports game instance in which at least one player character controlled in response to a user's input participates through a first virtual space configured for the progress of a sports game, provides a user interface for promoting a promotion mode for a given player character between sports game instances, and performs a promotion scenario for a selected player character through a second virtual space different from the first virtual space for the progress of the sports game instance when the promotion mode for the selected player character is activated through the user interface.

