| 摘要 |
A gaming application is disclosed which is executable by a computer workstation such as a general purpose computer. The workstation is linked to a central gaming server over a network such as the Internet. The application includes a search facility whereby a player can enter search criteria (essentially player preferences) in order to identify available instances of games that have attributes of interest. The search criteria data is sent to the gaming server. The gaming server searches a database of current on-line game instances and responds by sending a datagram containing data for instances of games meeting the search criteria, which are then displayed on the workstation. In one form, the search facility includes a "quick start" feature whereby the user can request that they directly join an instance of a game in progress which meets the search criteria. If the player used the "quick start" feature, and the gaming server found a match, the player is taken directly to the game instance. |
