Terminal apparatus, control method, and control program

1. A terminal apparatus, comprising:

a display configured to display a game content positioned in a virtual space; an input interface configured to receive movement instructions for moving the game content, wherein the movement instructions include a moving direction given by a player; a storage memory configured to store information related to a predetermined position in the virtual space; and a processor communicatively coupled to the input interface and configured to retrieve the movement instructions, and further configured to:

determine a current position of the game content relative to a geometry provided in the virtual space; calculate a route from the current position of the game content in the virtual space to the predetermined position comprising a plurality of route elements; determine whether or not the route calculated from the current position of the game content satisfies a predetermined condition related to the moving direction, wherein the predetermined condition is either:

a condition that a size of an angle formed by the moving direction and a direction of a route element in the plurality of route elements connected to the current position of the game content is less than or equal to a predetermined angle, or

a condition that a degree of coincidence is a predetermined value or more, wherein the degree of coincidence is an inner product of a vector corresponding to a first element of the route and a vector corresponding to the movement instructions input by the player; and

after retrieving the movement instructions, and upon determination that the route satisfies the predetermined condition, initiate a process of moving the game content, based on the movement instructions, from a starting point defined at the current position toward an ending point defined at the predetermined position, wherein the process of moving the game content from the current position toward the predetermined position comprises one or more instances of:

determining whether a manual operation instruction has been received after retrieving the movement instructions; and upon determination that no manual operation instruction has been received, performing automatic movement comprising generating display data for performing display of the game content whereby the game content is moved along the route; and after generating said display data, controlling display of the game content to initiate a visualization of the game content moving along the route in accordance with the generated display data.

2. The terminal apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to, upon receipt of the movement instructions the game content, retrieve a pre-calculated polygonal area from the storage memory.

3. The terminal apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

prior to retrieving the movement instructions the game content, retrieve a movable area of the virtual space, divide the movable area of the virtual space into a plurality of polygonal areas; store the plurality of polygonal areas in the storage memory; and retrieve the pre-calculated polygonal area from the plurality of polygonal areas stored in the storage memory.

4. The terminal apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the processor is configured to divide the movable area of the virtual space into the plurality of polygonal areas by:

identifying a plurality of destinations in the movable area of the virtual space; and determining a plurality of polygonal areas, wherein each polygonal area in the plurality of polygonal areas includes including one destination in the plurality of destinations.

5. The terminal apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to generate a route calculation graph including a plurality of nodes by generating, in the plurality of nodes, a first node defined at the starting point and a plurality of nodes defined at a plurality of predetermined destinations, the plurality of nodes includes a second node defined at the predetermined position, and the plurality of route elements comprises line segments connecting nodes in the plurality of nodes.

6. The terminal apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the processor is configured to perform the process of moving the game content by determining a shortest route between the first node and the second node and passing through at least one intermediate node.

7. The terminal apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to, after calculating the route from the current position of the game content in the virtual space to the predetermined position, and after determining whether the manual operation instruction has been received, interrupt processing upon determination that the manual operation instruction has been received.

8. The terminal apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the processor is configured to: during the process of moving the game content, receive the manual operation instruction; and upon receipt of the manual operation instruction, interrupt display of the visualization of the game content moving along the route before the visualization is completed and before the game content is moved to the predetermined position.

9. The terminal apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to, following interrupting of the display of the visualization of the game content moving to the predetermined position, initiate a new process of moving the game content based on the manual operation instruction.

10. The terminal apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to: during the process of moving the game content, detect an interaction between the game content and at least one predetermined game content defined in the virtual space; and upon detecting the interaction between the game content and the at least one predetermined game content, interrupt display of the visualization of the game content moving to the predetermined position along the route before the visualization is completed and before the game content is moved to the predetermined position; and initiate processing based on the interaction.

11. The terminal apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the at least one predetermined game content is an enemy game content, and wherein the processor is configured to initiate processing based on the interaction by initiating a match game with the enemy game content.

12. The terminal apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

retrieve the movement instructions, including the moving direction given by the player, by retrieving information related to an operation position; and determine not to move the game content according to the movement instructions and not to calculate the route when the information related to the operation position retrieved by the processor-is within a predetermined range.

13. The terminal apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to control the display of the game content such that the game content moves in the moving direction when it is determined that the route does not satisfy the predetermined condition.

14. The terminal apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to display at least a part of the route in the virtual space when it is determined that the route satisfies the predetermined condition.

15. The terminal apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to display information for urging the player to input the movement instructions on the display when the game content moving along the route stops before reaching the predetermined position.

16. The terminal apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising, an operating unit configured to detect a touch by the player, wherein the processor is configured to retrieve a touch position at which the player touches the operating unit at predetermined time intervals, and the moving direction is a direction between a penultimate touch position in a sequence retrieved by the processor, and a final touch position occurring at a final part of the sequence.

17. The terminal apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to calculate the route to the predetermined position in which a relation with the position of the game content is a predetermined relation.

18. A control method of a terminal apparatus including a storage memory, an input interface, a processor communicatively coupled to the input interface and a display, comprising:

displaying, with the display, a game content positioned in a virtual space; storing information related to a predetermined position in the virtual space in the storage memory;

retrieving, via the input interface, movement instructions, wherein the movement instructions include a moving direction given by a player; determining a current position of the game content relative to a geometry provided in the virtual space; calculating a route from the current position of the game content in the virtual space to the predetermined position comprising a plurality of route elements; determining whether or not the route calculated from the current position of the game content satisfies a predetermined condition related to the moving direction, wherein the predetermined condition is either:

a condition that a size of an angle formed by the moving direction and a direction of a route element in the plurality of route elements connected to the current position of the game content is less than or equal to a predetermined angle, or

a condition that a degree of coincidence is a predetermined value or more, wherein the degree of coincidence is an inner product of a vector corresponding to a first element of the route and a vector corresponding to the movement instructions input by the player; and

after retrieving the movement instructions, and upon determination that the route satisfies the predetermined condition, initiating a process of moving the game content, based on the movement instructions, from a starting point defined at the current position toward an ending point defined at the predetermined position, wherein the process of moving the game content from the current position toward the predetermined position comprises one or more instances of:

determining that no manual operation instruction has been received after retrieving the movement instructions; and upon determination that no manual operation instruction has been received, generating display data for performing display of the game content whereby the game content is moved to an end of a route element in the plurality of route elements, and, after generating said display data, controlling display of the game content to initiate a visualization of the game content moving to the end of the route element in the plurality of route elements along the route in accordance with the generated display data.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program code, that, when executed by a terminal apparatus including a storage memory, an input interface, a processor communicatively coupled to the input interface and a display, is configured to configure the terminal apparatus to perform steps of:

displaying, with the display, a game content positioned in a virtual space; storing information related to a predetermined position in the virtual space in the storage memory; retrieving, via the input interface, movement instructions, wherein the movement instructions include a moving direction given by a player; determining a current position of the game content relative to a geometry provided in the virtual space, and calculating a route from the current position of the game content in the virtual space to the predetermined position comprising a plurality of route elements; determining whether or not the route calculated from the current position of the game content satisfies a predetermined condition related to the moving direction, wherein the predetermined condition is either:

a condition that a size of an angle formed by the moving direction and a direction of a route element in the plurality of route elements connected to the current position of the game content is less than or equal to a predetermined angle, or

a condition that a degree of coincidence is a predetermined value or more, wherein the degree of coincidence is an inner product of a vector corresponding to a first element of the route and a vector corresponding to the movement instructions input by the player; and

after retrieving the movement instructions, and upon determination that the route satisfies the predetermined condition, initiating a process of moving the game content, based on the movement instructions, from a starting point defined at the current position toward an ending point defined at the predetermined position, wherein the process of moving the game content from the current position toward the predetermined position comprises one or more instances of:

determining whether a manual operation instruction has been received after retrieving the movement instructions; and upon determination that no manual operation instruction has been received, generating display data for performing display of the game content whereby the game content is moved to an end of a route element in the plurality of route elements, and, after generating said display data, controlling display of the game content to initiate a visualization of the game content moving to the end of the route element in the plurality of route elements along the route in accordance with the generated display data.