WO2004090744A1

WO2004090744A1 - Method of game with a game processor, software and a monitor

Info

Publication number: WO2004090744A1
Application number: PCT/RU2003/000382
Authority: WO
Inventors: Andrei Zaslavskii; Vjacheslav Mavrodi
Original assignee: Andrei Zaslavskii; Vjacheslav Mavrodi
Priority date: 2003-04-07
Filing date: 2003-08-25
Publication date: 2004-10-21
Also published as: AU2003269746A1; EA200400342A1; EA008493B1

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of satisfying the life demands of people, more particularly, to the field of entertainment, further particularly, to games that use a two- or more-dimensional display based on electronic devices and showing the game related image, and can be used to raise the interest of consumers to computer games.

Description

Method of Game with a Game Processor, Software and a Monitor

The following terms will be used hereinafter for the description of the invention:

- Virtual world: the virtual reality, an imaginary world created by the audio and video equipment in the mind of the player. The term virtual or imaginary reality was invented by Jaron Lsnier in 1984 who later started the manufacture of various devices necessary for its creation. (Source: http://www.icsti.ru/ibd/Sart3.asp?Tl=CAU);

- Game activity: activity of the player aimed at completing the mission, passing successive game levels and overcoming obstacles created in the virtual reality, implying rapid selection, guessing and completion of various actions, combinations and options;

- Multiplayer mode: virtual game where several players participate from their individual computers. This is a procedure of communication between the players and a common resource, here the game;

- Local copy: a copy of the game software installed on an individual computer, i.e. localized on that machine. Each local copy are intended for use only on the computer it was originally installed onto;

- Level editor: editing software intended for the creation of new game levels (schemes) for a specific game, where the player has the option to create, at his/her own discretion, landscapes, milestones, interiors and natural surroundings, position obstacles and virtual opponents, generate weaponry

6lC.

Software games have recently received much popularity. These games can be implemented using game units or computer equipment, for example, local personal computers .or computers connected to local or global networks. The software used for implementing the game may have one or more difficulty levels, wherein the transition to the next higher level can be made either automatically upon the completion of each current level or manually by the player. When the game is sold, there is an option to provide all the possible game levels to the user or to provide higher levels further at a separate price or when the player has fulfilled the requirements imposed by the game designer.

However, once the player has passed all the game levels his/her interest to the game decreases significantly, because solving a task a second time is far less fascinating. The number of possible game levels that can be further added in order to promote user interest to the game is limited by the parameters of the devices used to implement the game and by the designer's fantasy.

For example, in the popular game Neverwinter Nights (HARD'n'SOFT Magazine, No. 12, December 2002), each level allows the player to itinerate in the virtual world almost infinitely and have various adventures. However, even the first analysis of the game situations where its character can participate suggests that the number of basic situations is limited, and the interest to the game is only sustained by the different combinations of the frequently repeated game situations and changing circumstances.

Therefore the objective of the present invention is to increase the attractiveness of games for players even in case of large previous experience and therefore increas ^'th sales of such games.

The above objective can be achieved by using the method of game with a game processor (computer or game unit), software and monitor, implying game activity in the virtual world in accordance with the algorithm preset in the software, wherein said software provides an additional possibility of winning a prize in cash if the player performs some combination of actions preset by the game organizer but initially unknown to the player. The software of a new game or a previously passed game is designed in such a way that there are at least two actions that do not help the player achieve the goal of the game (i.e. passing a labyrinth, saving somebody, killing monsters etc.), but having performed a sequence of some additional actions the player becomes eligible for a cash prize established by the game organizer. Said prize can be implemented in the form of a number and an access code of an anonymous digital bank account or the right for a credit card that will be issued to the name and sent to the address of the prize winning player. To raise the interest to the game it is preferred that the sequence of actions to be performed in order for the player to become eligible for the prize do not fall within the general strategy of achieving the goal of the game but are random and sometimes may even lead to confusing situations that a priori cannot help win the game. The prize winning condition may also be a special figure characterizing the ratio between the number of traps successfully passed by the player and the number of traps where the player failed. In any case the necessary actions and their combination remain the secret of the game organizer. In the preferred embodiment of the invention the player receives, upon the completion of each action leading to the prize_s visible and/or audible information concerning the number of actions still to be done in order to receive the prize. This will provide a psychological stimulation because the player will then be able to compare the scope of actions already made and that of the actions still to be made. Preferably, the game should have a multiplayer option. Simultaneous participation of multiple players will involve simultaneous attempts at winning the cash prize and therefore raise the competition spirit of the players. Preferably, the game software should also have a level editor to let the player establish a cash prize on his/her own arid preset the conditions to be satisfied by other players of the group in order to win it. An additional condition for a player to use said level editor can be to pass some threshold level of the game. This will additionally increase the attractiveness of the game, because, apart from the prize previously established by the game organizer, each player will have the chance to win an unlimited number of prizes established by other players. The additional prizes will let the same group of players use the same game an unlimited number of times, because each new prize changes the game logic almost completely. One embodiment of the game should preferably contain the condition that said additional cash prize established by one of the players is pursued by other players who have also received additional cash prizes. A player who wishes to win prizes established by another player should establish a prize on his/her own. This condition or method of introducing a cash prize into the game software will make players study programming and, on the hand, increase the number of cash prizes in the game. A further embodiment of the invention can be the limitation according to that a player who has established an additional cash prize will be able to receive the prizes of other players that not greater than said additional prize established by this player_s wherein preferably this player cannot even see the amount of other players' prizes that are greater than his/her own prize, except the prize established by the game organizer. Preferably the software should impose a further condition that after having found an additional prize a player loses the possibility to win the prizes established by other players. This will make the players complicate the search for their prizes and thereby make the game more interesting. In the course of popularizing the game the organizer may establish further cash prizes similar to the initial one.

Naturally, players should perform a new combination of actions in order to win the additional prizes. The possibility to establish additional prizes can be also granted to advertisers who will do it in return for the placement of their advertisement and upon agreement with the game organizer. One option of an appropriate game embodiment can be that an advertisement is no longer displayed by the software when an appropriate prize is found by a player. This method can be implemented in local game copies (game units or local personal computers), within local computer networks or global networks, including Internet. The game organizer will be able to trace the statistics of actions performed by each player towards the winning of the prize established by the game organizer or by other players. Preferably, after each game session each player will have to send the protocol of his/her actions to the game organizer. This will let the organizer to trace unfair players who may pursue the prize by cracking the software code of prize location. Such tracing can be easily implemented by comparing the game statistics of different players.

Because all the procedures related to the ..establishment and cancellation of cash prizes in any embodiment of the game involve changes to the software recorded on an appropriate media, the establishment and cancellation of cash prizes accordingly causes changes to the physical status of such media; therefore this technical solution satisfies the invention attribute method.

Preferably, the actions of the game organizer should be monitored by a special authority committee that should prevent the organizer from changing prize winning conditions in the course of the game and check the availability of funds for paying to prize winners. Where the game is implemented on a game unit or a personal computer having access to the game organizer's Internet site during communication sessions, the player should regularly visit this site to receive prizes, update the prize database and send game protocols.

Where the game is implemented with permanent connection to the organizer's Internet site, the player should preferably install an additional game module on his/her personal computer according to the current practice of multiplayer games.

As option of the above solution, players may implement a multiplayer game mode within a local network and contact the organizer's Internet site on a regular basis.

The present invention will increase the attractiveness of games for players even in case of large previous experience and therefore increase the sales of such games.

Claims

What is claimed is a

1. Method of game with a game processor, software and monitor, implying game activity in the virtual world in accordance with the algorithm preset in the software, wherein said software provides an additional possibility of wiiining a prize in cash if the player performs some combination of actions preset by the game organizer but initially unknown to the player.

2. Method according to Claim 1, wherein said method is implemented on local copies.

3. Method according to Claim 1, wherein said method is implemented in local networks.

4. Method according to Claim 1, wherein said method is implemented over the Inteernet.

5. Method according to any of Claims 1 through 4_ wherein the sequence of actions to be performed in order for the player to become eligible for the prize do not fall within the general strategy of achieving the goal of the game but are random.

6. Method according to any of Claims 1 through 5, wherein upon the completion of each action leading to the prize, visible and/or audible information concerning the number of actions still to be done in order to receive the prize.

7. Method according to any of Claims 1 through 6, wherein the game has a multiplayer option.

8. Method according to any of Claims 1 and 3 through 7, wherein said game software also has a level editor to let the player establish a cash prize on his/her own and preset the conditions to be satisfied by other players of the group in order to win it.

9. Method according to Claim 8, wherein said additional cash prize established by one of the players is pursued by other players who have also received additional cash prizes. lO.Method according to Claims 8 or 9, wherein a player who has established an additional cash prize will be able to receive the prizes of other players that not greater than said additional prize established by this player. 11. Method according to Claims 8 through 10, wherein after having found an additional prize a player loses the possibility to win the prizes established by other players. 12.Meth.od according to any of Claims 1 through 11, wherein in the course of popularizing the game the organizer may establish further prizes.