The present invention generally relates to user interfaces, and, more specifically, to graphical user interfaces for gaming systems.
Computing devices include tablet computers such as iPads, and smart phones, including Apple's iPhone®, Google's Android® phone, and Symbian® phones. These computing devices have extremely user-friendly interfaces, for enabling easy and quick interaction to users thereof. Most of these devices incorporate touch-sensitive screens that obtain user's inputs and facilitate smooth user interaction. Gaming software is employed in many of these devices for leisure purpose. An important aspect of a gaming system is the ease with which a user can enter desired inputs and interact with the user interface of the device on which he/she plays a game. For devices that lack a touch-screen facility incorporated therein, the only possible ways of interaction of the user while playing a game on such devices, is by clicking an associated mouse, using associated keyboard functions/keys to operate, or using associated joysticks. The experience with the ‘point and click’ or ‘joystick’ incorporated in many lower grade electronic devices is incompatible and often time consuming, while playing a game. Specifically, there are specific games where a user/player needs to use clicking, pointing, tapping and dragging operations many times, and often at different device display locations, which is hard to operate through a mouse or a joystick. In a typical gaming environment, where a user needs to perform similar operations by clicking or touching on multiple points on the interface, this becomes cumbersome. Even the touch-sensitive screens, provided in many conventional electronic devices, are capable of sensing the touching operation at one point at a time. Multi-touch screens are still not popular, and they can be of great benefit in gaming environment. Some of the conventional gaming console applications can be controlled through multi-touch sensitive operations, however, in strategic gaming environments, for performing certain desired operations, they still have some drawbacks.
Therefore, considering the aforementioned problems, there exists a need for a better and highly congenial graphical user interface for a gaming system, while playing a game on a computing device.
The present disclosure provides an extremely compatible graphical user interface that facilitates an easy user interaction while the user plays a game on a computing device. Specifically, the disclosure provides a system and a method that facilitate an improved user experience, by sensing and obtaining user inputs through touching or swiping operations performed at multiple points on the graphical user interface corresponding to a gaming console.
In an aspect, the present disclosure provides an electronic device that includes a touch sensitive display screen and a computing hardware that executes a software product corresponding to a gaming system. The display screen simultaneously senses touching operations performed at multiple locations on the screen. When the software product is executed on the computing hardware, it generates and renders a graphical user interface on the display screen of the electronic device. The graphical user interface facilitates easy user interaction, and when rendered on the display screen, it presents multiple graphical objects and a number of user selectable options corresponding to the graphical object. Each user selectable option represents multiple resources for performing an operation on one or more of the graphical objects. A user selects one or more of these options, and the software product renders the resources corresponding to that option at different locations on the interface. The resources corresponding to the selected option are rendered when the user touches or swipes through the multiple points of the interface. Further, the nature of rendering and deploying the different resources on the interface depends on parameters like the speed with which the user performs the touching or swiping operation, or the pressure applied by the user on the interface while performing either the touching or the swiping operation.
In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a method of facilitating easy user interactions with a graphical user interface. A software product is executed on the computing hardware of the electronic device, and this results in generating and rendering of the interface on the display screen of the device. One or more graphical objects and a set of user selectable options corresponding to the graphical objects are rendered on the interface. Each user selectable option corresponds to one or more resources to be deployed on the interface. The method includes selecting one or more of these selectable options and performing a touching operation or a swiping operation over multiple points on the display screen of the device. Eventually, the resources corresponding to the selected option are deployed at multiple locations on the interface simultaneously. These locations correspond to the different points at which the touching or the swiping operation is performed.
The system and method of the present disclosure facilitates performing similar operation on a gaming console through multiple regions of the console at the same time, and avoids the cumbersome operations of touching or swiping through different points, each one at a time.
Additional aspects, advantages, features and objects of the present disclosure would be made apparent from the drawings and the detailed description of the illustrative embodiments construed in conjunction with the appended claims that follow.
The following detailed description discloses aspects of the claimed invention and ways in which it can be implemented. However, the description is not intended to define or limit the invention, such definition or limitation being solely contained in the claims appended thereto. Although the best mode of carrying out the invention has been disclosed comprehensively, those in the art would recognize that other embodiments for carrying out or practicing the invention are also possible.
The present disclosure pertains to a graphical user interface for a gaming system, for facilitating easy and quick interaction of a user while playing a game, and for avoiding contemporary problems experienced while performing touching or swiping operations on the touch sensitive screens of electronic devices on which the games are being played.
Gaming systems are incorporated for leisure in many electronic computing devices, including computers, iPads, mobile phones, tablet computers and smart phones. Many such conventional electronic devices incorporate touch-sensitive screens for obtaining user inputs and for making congenial user experience with the interface. For playing games on electronic devices without a touch-sensitive screen, including many desktop and laptop computers, the user generally interacts with and provides inputs to gaming system's interface through coupled input devices, such as mice, certain keys on the keypads, and joysticks. Using multiple clicking operations through a mouse is time consuming and unfavorable, for example, in cases where a same operation needs to be performed at multiple points on the gaming interface. Even with the devices have touch-sensitive displays, when similar operations corresponding to the game being played need to be performed simultaneously through multiple regions of the interface, this becomes difficult to achieve as the conventional touch-sensitive screens are capable of sensing touching operations one at a time, at a specific point. Even though multi-touch sensitive screens are currently available, and are incorporated in electronic devices, operations corresponding to certain games, when played, require simultaneous sensing and detecting of touching or swiping operations performed through multiple regions of the screen.
The present disclosure provides an enhanced graphical user interface for a gaming system, which improves a user's experience while playing a game on an electronic device. The system and method facilitate performing of touching and swiping operations through a multi-touch sensitive screen of the electronic device, and allows the user to perform similar operations pertaining to the game, simultaneously, through different regions of the interface.
In
In
Continuing further, in
A specific deployed resource is released for action, for example, to attack the target 208, based on detection of certain conditions. This may include, for example, the user still keeping his/her finger at a desired point, for about 1 to2 seconds after the resource has been already deployed at that point. In another case, an execution option may be separately rendered on the display screen, and the user needs to provide an execution command through the option, after the resources are deployed. Further, the multi-touch operations performed through the different fingers act independently, and the display screen is configured to sense and interpret the swiping or touching operations performed through these fingers independently. Specifically, as an example, when one finger is touched or swiped through specific points on the screen, one set of resources may be deployed over one set of locations corresponding to those points, and subsequently, when another finger is touched or swiped through a different set of points, a second set of resources may be subsequently deployed over those points too. The two sets of resources may be same or different, depending on the game settings, which are user adjustable, and can be customized before playing the game. Further, as aforementioned, the display screen is also capable of sensing touching or swiping operations performed at different points simultaneously, and deploy the resources at different points together. In an embodiment, the number of resources deployed at different points, may be one each corresponding to detecting of a touching operation performed at that point. Alternatively, a constant number of resources per unit time may be deployed at a specific point, or over a set of points, as long as a touching or a swiping operation is performed over those points. In another embodiment, as aforementioned, the number of resources deployed is a function of the pressure applied by the user while performing the touching or swiping operation. Specifically, a higher pressure applied at a specific point optionally results in deploying more number of resources at that point, and vice versa.
Continuing further, in
In
For facilitating single player gaming, a user logs on through any of the electronic devices 502, 504, 506 or 508, and connects to one of the gaming servers 510 or 540, through a suitable network, for example via the Internet and/or a wireless communication network. As the user logs on, and executes the gaming software on the computing hardware of the specific device that he/she utilizes, for example, the device 502, a graphical user interface corresponding to the game is generated, and is rendered on the display screen of the device 502. The graphical user interface presents different graphical objects pertaining to the game, on the display screen of the device 502. The graphical objects may be represented by different blocks/segments of the graphical user interface, on which different operations corresponding to the game being played, can be performed. For example, in a case where the game is a war-based game, such blocks/segments may represent one or more targets that need to be conquered, such as the target 208 shown earlier in
Another database 580, coupled to the gaming server 510, serves as a back end database for the gaming server 510. As the user of the device 502 starts playing the game, typical actions and gestures performed by the user, are recorded in the back end server 580. Specifically, such actions are interpreted through the gaming server 510, and are sent as messages to the back end server 580, which eventually maintains a log of, and a backup for the played game. Such messages can be in the form of data packages sent over an Internet connection through which the device 502 is connected to the server 510, or sent over any other wireless or wired network connecting the device 502 to the server 510, as aforementioned. Typical elements of such messages for maintaining a backup for the game may include a header, a payload and a checksum. The checksum can be a function of the payload, or it may be a unique user identifier, such as a username or similar. An advantage arising from including the checksum in the back end maintaining messages, is a possibility of avoiding potential frauds while playing the game. Those in the art will understand that an appropriate checksum function or a checksum algorithm may be applied to the collected digital data, while the game is being played, to obtain the checksum. Further, the checksum corresponding to a specific data can be recomputed at any point of time, and compared to the stored checksum, to avoid possible frauds. The back end messages received by the server 510 are also sent to the other databases 520 and 530 of the server 510. In these databases 520, 530, these back end messages are used to maintain a continuous logic that represents the status of the game, for example, the exact score of the player updated with time, and a stage of the game that the player has already reached. With a continuous receipt of the back end messages by the databases 520 and 530, a regular updating of the game status is undertaken within the these server databases 520 and 530, eventually, with time. This ensures facilitating the resumption of the game to its last status, in cases where the device 510 unexpectedly shuts down, the device 510 is unexpectedly hindered in its communication or the user changes the gaming terminal, or he/she intentionally quits playing for a certain period, and logs in at some other time, such a possibility of resumption assists to enhance user satisfaction with the graphical user interface. Release/use of resources (such as troops) typically reduces game credits i.e. available funds for playing the game. Game credits can be credits which are earned during the game course or game credits can be purchased with credit card or other payments method. Each player can have their game credit stored in for example back end database 580. Back end database 580 can have billing interface to credit card company, bank or other payment/credit methods and systems such as Paypal® or to mobile payment done with premium rated messages (short message service).
Though only two servers 510 and 540 have been shown, there can be multiple gaming servers coordinating with, and connected to each other, for implementing the gaming environment in accordance with the present disclosure. Moreover, the environment as shown in
Although, the gaming system implementable through the illustrated gaming environment, has been described for the case when a single user logs on to any of the electronic devices 502, 504, 506 or 508, the same gaming environment is capable of supporting multiplayer gaming, wherein different users may log on through different electronic devices, and synchronize with each other by connecting concurrently through any of the common gaming servers 510 and 540, through suitable networks as aforementioned, and share a common graphical user interface representing the ongoing game. In such embodiments, the graphical user interface rendered on the display screens of the different electronic devices, is regularly updated, concurrently, through the logic data stored in the databases 520 and 530 of the gaming servers, at the back end.
In
At a step 628, the method includes checking whether or not other resources are desired to be deployed, before executing actions through the resources. If yes, the method includes returning to the step 616, selecting the selectable options corresponding to the resource, and performing the touching or swiping operations through the desired points again. Else, going further, at a step 632, the method includes releasing the deployed resources for action, within the gaming environment. For example, in a war-based game, the deployed troops/armed soldiers are released for operating on a specific target, to attack it from different points where they are deployed. In an embodiment, the releasing of the deployed resources is automated, and occurs when the user keeps his/her fingers on a specific resource for a pre-determined time after deploying it. For example, this time may be about 1 to 2 seconds of touching operation after the resource is already deployed. The display screen is configured to sense this pre-determined time, and the software product executes action pertaining to the deployed resource, when this occurs. In another embodiment, releasing the different resources may require a manual user input. Specifically, for example, a triggering option (like a “go” or “fire” option) may be rendered after deploying the resources, and the resources may not be released until the user manually initiates the option. At a step 636, after the actions have been performed by the deployed resources, the graphical user interface is updated and a reformed interface representing the latest status of the gaming environment, renders on the display screen.
The method and system of the present disclosure, for improving interaction of a user with a graphical user interface corresponding to a game, provides substantial benefits as the user performs different operations in a gaming environment. Similar operations, when desired to be performed by a user, through different locations on the gaming interface, can be easily executed by touching or swiping through multiple points of the display screen simultaneouly. Hence, the user's experience with the gaming interface is much more comfortable.
Though the present disclosure has been described comprehensively, through an exemplary embodiment where it is applicable in a gaming environment, and specifically through the example of a war-based game, the disclosure also finds it applications in other gaming environments, and, generally, may be applicable to other graphical user interfaces, not pertaining to a gaming system also. In certain applications, the user interface of the disclosed embodiment can be used for a virtual control of any type of game. Certain aspects of the disclosed embodiments are also applicable to perform other operations, including building arcades and solving puzzle games. Further, the congenial user interface may also be implemented within other types of games, for example, adventurous, role playing and shooting games, construction and management simulation games, and so forth. For example, the congenial user interface can be used in computer terminals employed at financial exchanges, for example in Wall Street in New York and the Stock Exchange in London, where traders need to control multiple transactions simultaneously when executing a financial transaction, for example a synthetic credit default swap or a trading in derivative financial products.
Although the current invention has been described comprehensively, in considerable details to cover the possible aspects and embodiments, those skilled in the art would recognize that other versions of the invention may also be possible.
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 16207290 | Dec 2018 | US |
Child | 16869870 | US | |
Parent | 15822709 | Nov 2017 | US |
Child | 16207290 | US | |
Parent | 15093829 | Apr 2016 | US |
Child | 15822709 | US | |
Parent | 14330197 | Jul 2014 | US |
Child | 15093829 | US | |
Parent | 13479637 | May 2012 | US |
Child | 14330197 | US |