JP2000229173A - Game device, musical piece regenerating method and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To regenerate a musical piece having a plurality of tracks without being limited by the number of channels which a hardware has. SOLUTION: The regenerating method regenerates a musical piece comprising ten tracks by means of a sound source circuit having six voice regenerating channels (Ch.1-Ch.6). At first, a track Tr.1 for starting pronunciation occupies an empty Ch.1 to regenerate voice in Ch.1 until pronunciation ends. Tr.8 which next starts pronunciation occupies next empty Ch.2 since Ch.1 is occupied. Tr.1 releases Ch.1 if pronunciation ends and then Tr.9, which first starts pronunciation, occupies Ch.1. If Tr.10 newly starts pronunciation under conditions that six channels have been occupied, Ch.5, which is occupied by Tr.4 and in which, for example, a largest amount of time has passed after starting pronunciation and ADSR level is lowest, is released and occupied by Tr.10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a game apparatus, a music reproducing method and a recording medium, and more particularly to a video game BG.
The present invention relates to a technique for reproducing music such as M (Back Ground Music) without being restricted by hardware.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, video game devices such as home game machines have a built-in sound source device, and use this sound source device to reproduce music composed in advance corresponding to a game story as BGM. , It is possible to enhance the realism of the game.

[0003] Such a sound source device included in a video game device generally has a plurality of channels each for reproducing the sound of one track in a song. Each of the plurality of channels is assigned to a track of the music, and the sound processed for reproduction in each channel is superimposed and output, thereby reproducing the music in which chords and sounds of a plurality of musical instruments are superimposed as BGM. can do.

[0004]

However, in the video game apparatus of the above-mentioned conventional example, the number of tracks of music used as BGM of the game apparatus must be assigned to each channel of the sound source apparatus. The number of channels of the sound source device was limited. For this reason, the composer has to create music as BGM in this restriction, and there is a case where a satisfactory expression cannot be made for the music. As a result, there is also a problem that the sense of reality of the game cannot be sufficiently enhanced.

[0005] In addition, in general, in order to enhance the sense of reality of a game, a video game device gives an appropriate sound effect according to the development of the game. However, in order to reproduce this sound effect, one or more channels of the sound source device must be assigned to this sound effect. When the channels of the sound source device are allocated to the sound effects in this manner, the number of channels of the sound source device that can be allocated to the tracks of the music relatively decreases, and the expressiveness as BGM is further reduced. Was.

In a video game apparatus, an appropriate BGM is generally prepared for each scene according to the progress of the game, and the BGM is generally switched in conjunction with the switching of the scene. However, with the switching of scenes, BGM
If the whole is instantaneously replaced or the BGM is temporarily stopped, the player will feel uncomfortable. On the other hand, when attempting to play back both BGM songs at the same time, there is a problem that the number of tracks that can be played back with each song is further limited than the number of channels of the sound source device.

[0007]

An object of the present invention is to provide a game apparatus for playing music having a plurality of tracks as BGM without being limited by the number of channels of hardware, a music playing method capable of playing a music having a plurality of tracks, An object of the present invention is to provide a recording medium on which this method is recorded.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a game apparatus which switches BGM without any discomfort according to the progress of a game without being limited by the number of channels of hardware.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a music reproducing method capable of switching and reproducing a plurality of music without discomfort, and a recording medium on which the method is recorded.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a game apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention has a plurality of channels for performing processing for reproducing the sound of an occupied track. Music storage means for storing a plurality of music data, each of which includes a sound source means, a plurality of tracks, and data indicating whether or not each track is to be pronounced is stored in chronological order; Means, a music switching instruction means for instructing switching of a plurality of music data stored in the music storage means in accordance with a determination result of the progress status determination means, and a music switching instruction stored in each track of the music storage means. Out of the music data, the respective tracks of the music before switching and the music after switching according to the instruction of the music switching instruction means are sequentially sequentially arranged in time series. Music analyzing means for analyzing, a first channel releasing means for releasing a channel occupied by the track when there is a track whose sound is ended based on the analysis result of the music analyzing means, and an analysis of the music analyzing means. A vacant channel detecting means for detecting a channel which is not occupied by another track among a plurality of channels of the sound source means when there is a track which starts sounding in the switched music piece according to the result; First channel occupancy means for occupying the channel detected by the means in the track where sound is started.

[0010] In the above-mentioned game apparatus, each track of the plurality of music data stored in the music storage means may be assigned a priority order. In this case, if the empty channel detecting means cannot detect a channel not occupied by another track, the game device has the highest priority of the music data before switching among the plurality of channels of the sound source means. Channel releasing means for releasing the channel occupied by the low track, and second channel occupying means for occupying the channel released by the second channel releasing means in the track where sound is started. Further provisions may be made.

In the above game apparatus, when the empty channel detecting means cannot detect a channel not occupied by another track, the track of music data before switching among a plurality of channels of the sound source means is provided. Channel releasing means for releasing the channel having the lowest audio level from which the sound is being reproduced from the occupied track, and occupying the track released by the third channel releasing means in the track where sound is started. And third channel occupancy means.

In the above-mentioned game apparatus, even if the switching of the music is instructed by switching the game scene, the track of the music before switching is not changed unless, for example, the tracks of the music after switching stop sounding simultaneously. Is also pronounced continuously. In addition, there is a track that starts sounding on the track of the song after switching, and even if all channels of the sound source means are occupied, there are few problems even if the sound is muted such as low priority or low sound level. The track occupied by is released, and can be occupied by the track of the switched music that starts sounding. For this reason, the music as the BGM can be switched without a sense of incongruity, and there is no hindrance to continuing the presence of the game.

In order to achieve the above object, a game device according to a second aspect of the present invention comprises: a sound source means having a plurality of channels for performing processing for reproducing the sound of a track occupied by each; A music storage means for storing music data in which data indicating whether or not each track is to be pronounced are stored in time series, and music data stored in each track of the music storage means are stored in time series. Music analyzing means for sequentially analyzing the music, first channel releasing means for releasing a channel occupied by the track when there is a track whose sound is ended based on the analysis result of the music analyzing means, If there is a track that starts sounding according to the analysis result of the means, the sound is generated by another track among a plurality of channels of the sound source means. And unused channel detection means for detecting a channel that is not closed, the channel detected by the unused channel detection means, characterized in that it comprises a first channel occupancy means for occupied track the start of sounding.

In the above-mentioned game device, the number of tracks constituting the music data stored in the music storage means may be larger than the number of channels of the sound source means.

In the above-mentioned game apparatus, the track whose sound has been completed releases the channel of the occupied sound source means one after another, and the track whose sound generation has started occupies the channel of the vacant sound source means. That is, each track in the music data occupies the channel of the sound source means only when the sound of the track is sounding. Therefore, as long as the number of simultaneously sounding tracks in the music data is smaller than the number of channels of the sound source, the number of tracks of the music data is not restricted by the number of channels of the sound source.

In the above-mentioned game apparatus, each track of the music data stored in the music storage means may be given a priority. In this case, the game device is occupied by the track with the lowest priority among the plurality of channels of the sound source means when the empty channel detection means cannot detect a channel not occupied by another track. And a second channel occupying means for occupying the channel released by the second channel releasing means on the track from which sound is to be generated. Can be.

The game apparatus may further comprise, if the empty channel detecting means cannot detect a channel not occupied by another track, the level of a sound being reproduced among a plurality of channels of the sound source means. Channel releasing means for releasing the channel having the smallest number from the occupied track, and third channel occupying means for occupying the channel released by the third channel releasing means in the track from which sound is started. It may be further provided.

In such a case, even if there is a track to start sounding and all the channels of the sound source means are occupied, there is a track which has a low priority and a low sound level and which has little problem even if the sound is muted. The occupied track is released, and the track of the music piece after switching to start sounding can be occupied. For this reason, even if the sound to be originally reproduced is muted, the listener does not actually feel much discomfort.

In the above-mentioned game apparatus, there may be a plurality of music data stored in the music storage means. In this case, the game device may further include a music switching instruction means for instructing switching of a plurality of music data stored in the music storage means. The music analysis means analyzes both tracks of the music before switching and the music after switching according to the instruction of the music switching instruction means, among a plurality of music data stored in the music storage means. The vacant channel detecting means may detect a channel not occupied by another track when the switched music has a track that starts sounding according to the analysis result of the music analyzing means. can do.

Here, each track of the plurality of music data stored in the music storage means may be assigned a priority. In this case, if the empty channel detecting means cannot detect a channel not occupied by another track, the game device has the highest priority over the music data before switching among the plurality of channels of the sound source means. Second to release channels occupied by lower rank tracks
And a second channel occupying unit for occupying the channel released by the second channel releasing unit in the track where sound is started.

At this time, when the track of the music data before switching does not occupy the channel of the sound source means, the second channel release means occupies the track with the lowest priority in the music data after switching. Channel that has been released.

In the above game apparatus, when the empty channel detecting means cannot detect a channel not occupied by another track, the track of music data before switching among a plurality of channels of the sound source means is provided. Channel releasing means for releasing the channel having the lowest audio level from which the sound is being reproduced from the occupied track, and occupying the track released by the third channel releasing means in the track where sound is started. Third channel occupancy means may be further provided.

At this time, when the track of the music data before switching does not occupy the channel of the sound source means, the third channel release means may perform the switching after switching among the plurality of channels of the sound source means. The channel with the lowest audio level playing the track of the music data may be released from the occupied track.

As described above, in the case where a plurality of music data are stored, even if an instruction to switch music is given,
For example, the sound of the track of the music piece before the switching is also continued to be pronounced, unless the track of the music piece after the switching stops sounding at the same time. In addition, there is a track that starts sounding on the track of the song after switching, and even if all channels of the sound source means are occupied, there are few problems even if the sound is muted such as low priority or low sound level. The track occupied by is released, and can be occupied by the track of the switched music that starts sounding. Therefore, the music can be switched without a sense of incongruity.

In the above game device, the third
The channel release means of (1) may treat the level of the sound being played as the maximum level that the sound should reach when the sound being played is between the start of sound generation and the maximum level.

In other words, the sound that has just been pronounced usually has a low level, but is important as a song. Therefore, by setting the pseudo sound level in this way, the sound that is originally important in the music is not muted by starting sounding in another track.

In order to achieve the above object, a music reproducing method according to a third aspect of the present invention comprises a plurality of tracks using a plurality of channels for performing processing for reproducing the sound of an occupied track. A music reproducing method for reproducing a music, comprising: a music storing step for storing music data including a plurality of tracks, wherein data indicating whether or not to pronounce each track is stored in a time-series manner; Release a channel occupied by a music analysis step for sequentially analyzing the music data of each track stored in step chronologically in sequence and, when there is a track whose sound generation ends according to the analysis result of the music analysis step, A first channel release step to be performed, and a case where there is a track to start sounding based on the analysis result of the music analysis step. A vacant channel detecting step of detecting a channel not occupied by another track among the plurality of channels, and a first channel occupancy of occupying the channel detected in the vacant channel detecting step in the track where sound is started. And a step.

In the music reproducing method, each track of the music data stored in the music storing step may be assigned a priority. In this case, in the music reproducing method, when the channel not occupied by another track cannot be detected in the empty channel detecting step, the channel occupied by the lowest priority track among the plurality of channels is used. And a second channel occupancy step of occupying the channel released in the second channel release step with the track from which sound is to be generated.

[0029] In the music reproducing method, when a channel not occupied by another track cannot be detected in the empty channel detecting step, the level of the sound being reproduced among the plurality of channels is the lowest. The method further includes a third channel release step of releasing a channel from an occupied track, and a third channel occupation step of occupying the channel released by the third channel release step in the track that starts sounding. be able to.

In the music reproducing method, the music data stored in the music storing step may be plural. In this case, the music reproduction method may further include a music switching instruction step of instructing switching of the plurality of music data stored in the music storage step. In addition, the music analysis step includes, among a plurality of music data stored in the music storage step,
The track of both the music before switching and the music after switching according to the instruction in the music switching instruction step may be analyzed, and the empty channel detection step may be performed after the switching based on the analysis result in the music analysis step. If there is a track that starts to sound in the song
Channels not occupied by other tracks may be detected.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, a machine readable recording medium storing a program for executing each step of the music reproducing method is disclosed in claims 18 to 21. As a result, a recording medium on which such a program is recorded can be distributed in the market independently of the device. Then, by reading and executing the program recorded on the recording medium by a general-purpose game device or a general-purpose computer device, it is possible to configure the game device as disclosed in claims 4 to 13.

[0032]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[First Embodiment] In this embodiment, there is an example in which the hardware has six sound source reproduction channels, and music of 10 tracks is reproduced as BGM of a game on this hardware. explain.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a video game apparatus applied to this embodiment. As shown in the figure, the video game apparatus 1 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) connected to each other via a bus 10.
11, a main memory 12, and a ROM (Read Only Memory)
ry) 13, an input device 14, an audio reproducing device 15, a video reproducing device 16, a disk reading device 17, and a hardware timer interrupt device 18. The audio signal generated by the audio reproduction device 15 and the video signal generated by the video reproduction device 16 are respectively associated with the television receiver 2.
Is output to

The CPU 11 executes a game program stored in the main memory 12, a program for reproducing music (BGM) shown in a flowchart described later, and the like, and advances the game. The CPU 11 also controls each unit of the video game device 1.

The main memory 12 includes a semiconductor RAM (Rand
om Access Memory), and stores a program executed by the CPU 11, data such as various parameters related to a game, data related to music used as BGM, and the like. Regarding the allocation state of the area of the main memory 12 and the data stored in the main memory 12,
This will be described in more detail later.

The ROM 13 stores fixed programs and data required for processing by the CPU 11, for example, a boot program executed first by the CPU 11 when the power of the video game apparatus 1 is turned on, and stored in the main memory 12. It stores the operating system programs that use the functions in the programs that are in use.

The input device 14 includes, for example, a direction key for operating a character and a plurality of buttons for command input. The operation of these direction keys and buttons is necessary for the CPU 11 to advance the game. Various commands.

The sound reproducing device 15 generates a sound signal of a music to be BGM from music data to be described later, and includes a sound source circuit 15a, a waveform data storage device 15b, a D / A
It has a converter 15c and an amplifier 15d.

As shown schematically in FIG. 2, the sound source circuit 15a has six channels (Ch. 1 to Ch. 6) for reproducing the sound corresponding to the track of the music. Each channel is occupied by one of the tracks included in the music data described later, and necessary processing for reproducing the audio of the occupied track, that is, the ADSR level of the audio of the track at the target time is set. The digital signal corresponding to the audio waveform to be output is output by analyzing and referring to the waveform data stored in the waveform data storage device 15b. Waveform data storage device 15
b stores audio waveform data corresponding to audio to be output for each channel of the sound source circuit 15a.

D / A (Digital / Analog) converter 15c
Converts the digital signal output from each channel of the tone generator circuit 15a into an analog signal, and superimposes the converted analog signal of each channel. Amplifier 15
d amplifies the analog signal output from the D / A converter 15c and outputs it to the television receiver 2 as a music (BGM) audio signal.

The video reproduction device 16 sequentially generates images according to the progress of the game by a technique such as perspective transformation under the control of the CPU 11, and outputs a video signal obtained by adding a predetermined synchronizing signal thereto to the television receiver. Output to 2.

The disk reading device 17 includes the CPU 11
CD-ROM (Compact Disc Rea
d Only Memory) 3 to read out the programs and data, and transfer the read out programs and data to the main memory 12 via the bus 10.

The hardware timer interrupt device 18
A counter is provided which counts up or down every time the system clock is input. Each time the counter indicates a predetermined value, that is, a predetermined period (for example,
An interrupt is generated in the CPU 11 at 30 Hz or 44 kHz). The interrupt generated by the hardware timer interrupt device 18 with respect to the CPU 11 is used for generating a video signal by the video playback device 16, and the music stored in the main memory 12 by the sound source circuit 15 a of the audio playback device 15. Used to time the data analysis.

The television receiver 2 has a speaker 21 for outputting an audio signal from the audio reproducing device 15 as audio, and a screen 22 for displaying the video signal from the video reproducing device 16 as an image. The sound output from the speaker 21, that is, BGM is linked with the image displayed on the screen 22,
The presence of the game is enhanced.

Next, a description will be given of the allocation state of the area of the main memory 12 and the data stored in the main memory 12 in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, areas of the main memory 12 are allocated, and a program area 12a, a game data area 12b, a music data area 12c, and a track-specific data area 12d are provided.

The program area 12a stores a program for advancing a game, a program for reproducing music shown in a flowchart described later, and the like. The game data area 12b stores various parameters for advancing the game, for example, game scene numbers, character positions and statuses, and the like.

The music data area 12c stores music data indicating, in chronological order, whether each track constituting the music is to be sounded or not sounded. Track specific data area 1
2d is a sound source circuit 1 occupied by each track of the music data
The track-specific data including the channel 5a and the priority for sound generation is stored.

The music data and data for each track will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG.
As shown in the figure, the music data stored in the music data area 12c is composed of ten tracks. As shown in FIG. 5, each track stores data indicating whether to chronologically sound or not to sound (in this case, the sound is indicated by a rectangular wave and sounded when the level of the square wave is high). Indicates that it does not pronounce when low.)

As shown in FIG. 4, the track-specific data stored in the track-specific data area 12d is connected to the track of each piece of music data by a pointer.
And data on the priority of the track. When the corresponding track does not occupy the channel of the tone generator circuit 15a, for example, NULL is entered. The priority order is set higher from the indispensable sound (for example, main melody or bass sound) when the music data is reproduced, but may change in the middle of the music.

In FIG. 5, the sound of each track is simply shown as a rectangular wave at the level of whether the sound is generated or not. However, actually, the ADS as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B is used.
From the R level, that is, rising (A), the rising level gradually decreases (D), reaches the maximum level (S), and continues or gradually decreases (R). In the processing described later, the ADSR level from the rising (A) to the maximum level (S) is treated as a pseudo maximum level. Also, ADS
When the R level becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value, it is treated as mute.

Hereinafter, the operation of the video game apparatus 1 according to this embodiment will be described. In practice,
Programs and data stored in the main memory 12,
The data is transferred from the CD-ROM 3 to the main memory 12 by the disk reading device 17 controlled by the CPU 11. Here, for simplification of the description, it is assumed that programs and data are stored in the main memory 12 in advance. The music data is switched in accordance with the switching of the game scene, but the description will be made assuming that there is no such data.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process executed by the CPU 11 to reproduce the music data stored in the music data area 12c. The processing of this flowchart is executed by an interrupt generated from the hardware timer interrupt device 18 at a period of 44 kHz.

When the process is started, it is first analyzed whether each track in the music data stored in the music data area 12c is in a sounding start, sounding, sounding end, or non-sounding state. (Step S100). Next, as a result of this analysis, it is determined whether or not there is a track at which sound generation ends (step S101).

When it is determined that there is no track at which the sound is to be ended (step S101; No), the process directly proceeds to step S103. On the other hand, when it is determined that there is a track at which sound generation ends (step S101;
Yes), the channel of the sound source circuit 15a occupied by the track is released (step S102), and the
Proceed to 103.

In step S103, step S100
As a result of the track analysis in step (1), it is determined whether or not there is a track at which sound generation starts (step S103). If it is determined that there is no track to start sounding (step S103; No), the processing of this flowchart ends as it is.

On the other hand, if it is determined that there is a track for starting sound generation (step S103; Yes), there is an empty channel not occupied by another track among a plurality of channels of the tone generator circuit 15a. Whether Ch. 1 to Ch. 6 are searched in order (step S104). Then, it is determined whether an empty channel has been found (step S105).

If it is determined that a vacant channel is found (step S105; Yes), the vacant channel is determined as a channel to be occupied by the track at which sound generation starts (step S106). And
Proceed to step S112.

On the other hand, if it is determined that no free channel is found (step S105: No), the priority order column corresponding to the track occupying any channel in the track-by-track data area 12d is checked. The one with the lowest priority is searched from among them (step S107).

Next, as a result of this search, it is determined whether or not there are a plurality of items having the lowest priority (step S).
108). If there is no plurality with the lowest priority (step S108; No), the track with the lowest priority releases the occupation of the channel of the tone generator circuit 15a, and it is determined that the released channel starts sound generation in step S103. The determined track is determined as a channel to be occupied (step S109). Then, the process proceeds to step S112.

On the other hand, if there are a plurality of tracks having the lowest priority (step S108; Yes), the current ADSR levels of the tracks are checked (step S110). Here, the ADSR level of a track from the start of sound generation (A) until reaching the maximum level (S) is treated as a pseudo maximum level.

Next, as a result of checking the ADSR level in this way, the track having the lowest ADSR level at this time is released from the occupation of the channel of the tone generator circuit 15a, and the released channel is determined to start sounding in step S103. The determined track is determined as a channel to be occupied (step S110). Then, the process proceeds to step S112.

In step S112, step S10
6. The channel determined in S109 or S111 is occupied by the track determined to start sounding in step S103. Then, the process of this flowchart ends. When the track occupying the channel is changed by the processing of the above-described flowchart, the waveform data stored in the waveform data storage device 15b corresponding to the track of the tone generator circuit 15a is also changed to the data corresponding to the track. .

When the tracks occupied by each track are determined as described above, in the audio reproducing device 15, each channel of the sound source circuit 15a refers to the waveform data stored in the waveform data storage device 15b. While
A digital signal corresponding to the audio waveform to be output is generated. This digital signal is sequentially generated at a period of 44 kHz and supplied to the D / A converter 15c.

The D / A converter 15c converts a digital signal sequentially supplied from each channel of the tone generator circuit 15a at a period of 44 kHz into an analog signal, and superimposes the converted analog signal of each channel. Then, this is amplified by the amplifier 15d and supplied to the television receiver 2 as a BGM audio signal.

On the other hand, the video reproducing device 16 generates a video signal according to the progress of the game and supplies it to the television receiver 2. Then, an image corresponding to the video signal is displayed on the screen 22 of the television receiver 2, and a sound corresponding to the audio signal is output from the speaker 21.
You can hear GM.

Hereinafter, in order to make the process for reproducing music data in the video game apparatus 1 of this embodiment easier to understand, each channel of the tone generator circuit 15a and tracks of the music data occupying each channel are described. The relationship will be described with reference to FIG. It is assumed that the music data used in the description here has the timing at which the sound of each track is reproduced as shown in FIG. It is also assumed that there is no difference in priority between the tracks, and the ADSR level decreases according to the time from the start of sound generation.

As can be seen from FIG. 8, when the sound of each track in the music data reaches the sound generation start timing, Ch. Unused tracks are sequentially used from 1 and the corresponding sound is reproduced (shown by hatching in the figure). Therefore, it can be understood that the shorter the channel number of the track of the sound source circuit 15a, the shorter the pause time, and the longer the time during which the sound of one of the tracks is reproduced. Thereby, the music of 10 tracks (B
GM) can be reproduced by the 6-channel sound source circuit 15a.

However, in this example, 7
There is a timing to play the audio of one track. However, even in this case, it can be seen that the sound of the track to be erased is the sound with the lowest ADSR level. Therefore, the player does not actually feel a sense of discomfort when hearing the entire BGM.

As described above, in the video game apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, each track in the music data is transmitted to the sound source circuit 15 when the sound needs to be reproduced.
The vacant channels of a are sequentially searched and occupied, and when the sound reproduction is completed, the occupied channels are released. Therefore, the channel of the sound source circuit 15a is not occupied by a track that does not actually reproduce sound, and the music can be reproduced by effectively using the channel of the sound source circuit 15a.

Therefore, it is possible to perform the reproduction processing of music data having a larger number of tracks than the above without being limited by the number of channels of the tone generator circuit 15a. This allows the composer to compose music as BGM,
This eliminates the need for the number of channels of the sound source circuit 15a to be used, so that music with a high expressive power can be used as the BGM of the game, and the presence of the game can be improved.

When a track for which sound reproduction is to be started is in a music piece and all channels of the sound source circuit 15a are occupied, the priority of the track or the ADSR of the sound at that time is set. According to the level (if a pseudo level is set, this level is used), a track that has no effect even if the sound is muted is selected, and a more important sound at the beginning of the sound is reproduced.

As described above, even if the number of tracks for which sound is to be reproduced simultaneously exceeds the number of channels of the sound source circuit 15a, the track having the least effect on the whole music is muted. Therefore, the composer sets the tone generator circuit 15
a, even if there is a track that is muted in the music data created without being aware of the number of channels
The player who hears the sound output from 1 hardly feels strange.

[Second Embodiment] In this embodiment, an example will be described in which music data composed of eight tracks is switched to music data composed of six tracks in response to switching of game scenes.

The configuration of the video game device applied to this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment.
The peripheral devices are the same as those of the first embodiment (see FIG. 1). However, as shown in FIG. 9, the song data area 12c stores two song data, a song 1 composed of eight tracks and a song 2 composed of six tracks.
At the same time, the channel number of the sound source device 15a occupied corresponding to each track of the music 1 and the music 2 and the priority are also stored in the track-by-track data area 12d. Further, in the work area of the main memory 12, data indicating which of the music 1 and the music 2 corresponds to the scene in which the game is progressing or the timing of switching the scene is stored.

Hereinafter, the operation of the video game apparatus 1 according to this embodiment will be described. When the game processing in the scene corresponding to the music 1 is being performed by the processing of the CPU 11, the CPU 11 stores the music 1 in B according to the data stored in the work area of the main memory 12.
It can be determined that the GM is to be reproduced. At this time, only the music 1 is treated as a target music, and the processing of FIG. 7 shown in the first embodiment is performed.

When the switching point from the scene corresponding to the music 1 to the scene corresponding to the music 2 is reached as the game progresses, for example, when the character reaches the appearance point of the enemy character by operating the input device 14 The CPU 11 performs a process of switching the video reproduced by the video reproducing device 16 to that of the scene corresponding to the music 2, and writes data indicating the timing of switching the scene into the work area of the main memory 12.

The CPU 11 sends such data to the main memory 12 when the hardware timer interrupt device 18 generates an interrupt at a frequency of 44 kHz.
When it is determined that the data has been written in the work area, the process of the flowchart shown in FIG. 10 is executed instead of the process of the flowchart of FIG. 7 shown in the first embodiment.

In the flowchart of FIG. 10, the processing of steps S200 to S202 is substantially the same as the processing of steps S100 to S102 of FIG. However, the tracks of the target music data include both the music 1 and the music 2.

In step S203, step S200
As a result of the analysis of the tracks in step S20, it is determined whether or not the track at which the sound is to be generated is in the music 2 (step S20).
3). If it is determined that the track at which the sound is to be started is not included in the music 2 (step S203; No), the processing of this flowchart is terminated as it is.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the track from which the sound is to be started is in the music 2 (step S203; Yes)
s), among the plurality of channels of the sound source circuit 15a, whether there is any vacant channel not occupied by other tracks of the music 1 and the music 2 is Ch. 1-C
h. 6 are searched in order (step S204). Then, it is determined whether an empty channel has been found (step S205).

If it is determined that an empty channel has been found (step S205; Yes), the empty channel is determined as a channel to be occupied by the track of the music piece 2 whose sound is to be started (step S206).
Then, the process proceeds to step S212.

On the other hand, if it is determined that an empty channel has not been found (step S205: No), a priority column corresponding to a track occupying one of the channels in the track-specific data area 12d in the track of the music piece 1 Are searched, and the one with the lowest priority is searched from these (step S207).

Next, as a result of the search, it is determined whether or not there are a plurality of tracks occupying the channel in the music 1 with the lowest priority (step S208).
If there is no plurality with the lowest priority (step S20
8; No), the track of the music 1 having the lowest priority is released from the occupation of the channel of the sound source circuit 15a, and the released channel is occupied by the track of the music 2 determined to start sounding in step S203. The channel to be determined is determined (step S209). Then, the process proceeds to step S212.

On the other hand, if there are a plurality of tracks having the lowest priority (step S208; Yes), the current ADSR levels of the tracks of the plurality of music pieces 1 are checked (step S210). Here, the ADS of a track from the start of sound generation (A) to the maximum level (S) is reached.
The R level is treated as a pseudo maximum level.

Next, as a result of checking the ADSR level, the track of the music piece 1 having the lowest ADSR level at this time releases the occupation of the channel of the tone generator circuit 15a, and the released channel becomes the step S20.
The track of the music piece 2 determined to start sounding in step 3 is determined as a channel to be occupied (step S211).
Then, the process proceeds to step S212.

In step S212, step S20
6. The channel determined in S209 or S211 is occupied by the track of the music piece 2 determined to start sounding in step S203. Further, as a result of the analysis in step S200, it is determined whether or not there is any track among the tracks of the music piece 1 that is still being reproduced on any of the channels of the sound source circuit 15a (step S213).

If it is determined that none of the tracks of the music 1 is being reproduced on the channel of the tone generator circuit 15a (step S213; No), the main memory 12 is set so that only the music 2 is reproduced. The data in the work area is rewritten (step S214). Thereafter, each time the hardware timer interrupt device 18 generates a 44 kHz cycle interrupt for the music 2 to be reproduced, the CPU 11 executes the processing of the flowchart of FIG. 7 shown in the first embodiment. Become.

On the other hand, the sound source circuit 15a
If it is determined that there is something being reproduced on the channel (step S213; Yes), the processing of this flowchart is terminated as it is. Hereinafter, step S2
Until the determination result of No. 13 is No, the CPU 11 executes the processing of this flowchart from the beginning every time the hardware timer interrupt device 18 generates an interrupt with a period of 44 kHz.

The processing performed by the audio reproduction device 16 is the same as that described in the first embodiment, and is synchronized with the switching of the game scene displayed on the screen 22 of the television receiver 2. And speaker 2
The BGM output from 1 is switched.

As described above, in the video game apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, when the BGM is switched from the music 1 to the music 2, unless the case where all the tracks of the music 2 sound simultaneously, Music 1 and Music 2
And overlap. In addition, as long as there is an empty channel, the sound of the track of the music 1 continues to be sounded until the sounding end timing. Even if there is no available channel, the track having the least influence in the music 1 releases the channel of the sound source device 15a, and occupies the channel of the music 2 starting to sound. For this reason, it is possible to switch between the two BGMs without a sense of discomfort in accordance with the switching of the game scene, thereby improving the sense of reality of the game.

[Modifications of Embodiment] The present invention is not limited to the above-described first and second embodiments, and various modifications and applications are possible. Hereinafter, modifications of the above-described embodiment applicable to the present invention will be described.

In the first and second embodiments, the program for reproducing the music and the music data are the same C
The data is stored in the D-ROM 3, read out by the disk reading device 17, and transferred to the main memory 12. However, the program and the music data may be stored in different CD-ROMs. This makes it possible to use a normal music CD as the BGM of the game.

In the first and second embodiments described above, when there is a track in the music data for which the sound is to be reproduced,
All channels of the sound source circuit 15a are searched in order, and a vacant channel is assigned to the track to play back music. On the other hand, for example, a channel that can be assigned to only a track having a predetermined or higher priority without assigning to a track of a song may be set. Thus, for example, a sound that is highly necessary for a song can be reproduced without being erased by the influence of the sound of another track.

In the first embodiment, the tone generator 1
The case where 5a is 6 channels and the music of 10 tracks is reproduced using this is described. In the above-described second embodiment, a case has been described in which the tone generator circuit 15a has six channels and uses this to switch between eight tracks and six tracks of music. However, the number of channels of the tone generator circuit and the number of tracks of the music that can be applied to the present invention are not limited to the above, and any number can be applied.

In the first and second embodiments, the number of tracks of the music is larger than the number of channels of the tone generator 15a. However, the number of tracks of the music is larger than the number of channels of the tone generator 15a. Even when the number is small, the present invention can be applied. Also in this case, the number of channels of the sound source circuit 15a occupied by the track of the music data can be reduced, and for example, the channel vacated thereby can be used for reproducing the sound effect.

In the second embodiment, when the scene of the game played by the video game apparatus 1 is switched, music 1 and music 2 are switched as BGM. However, for example, the music used as the BGM may be switched in accordance with the progress of various games, for example, the status of the character operated by the player changes even in the same scene.

In the first and second embodiments, the case where the video game apparatus 1 is used as a platform and the present invention is applied to the reproduction of music used as BGM of a game has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be applied to reproduction of music used as BGM of a game that operates using a personal computer, a portable terminal device, or the like as a platform.
Further, the present invention can be generally applied to a case where music is reproduced not only by BGM of a game but also by a sound source circuit having a limited number of channels.

In the first and second embodiments, the music data and the program for reproducing the music are recorded on a CD-ROM.
The music is stored in the ROM 3 and transferred from the ROM 3 to the main memory 12, and the music is reproduced by executing the program. However, the medium for storing these programs and data is not limited to a CD-ROM, but may be, for example, a ROM card, a DVD-ROM, or the like. Further, the program for reproducing the music as described above is, for example, a carrier modulated in frequency or phase according to the data stream as shown in FIG.
As shown in (1), the information may be provided from the host device 4 through the network 5.

[0100]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Music on a plurality of tracks can be reproduced without being limited by the number of channels as hardware.

Further, a plurality of music pieces can be switched without causing a feeling of strangeness, without being restricted by the number of channels as hardware.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a game device applied to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing channels included in the sound source circuit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an allocation state of areas of a main memory in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing music data stored in a music data area and track data stored in a track data storage area of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing the music data of FIG. 4 in chronological order.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing an ADSR level of audio.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating processing according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a relationship between each channel of the tone generator circuit and a track occupying the channel in the first embodiment of the present invention.

9 is a diagram schematically showing song data stored in a song data area and track-by-track data stored in a track-by-track data storage area in FIG. 3 in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a network system for program distribution applied in a modification of the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Video game device 2 Television receiver 3 CD-ROM 11 CPU 12 Main memory 12a Program area 12b Game data area 12c Music data area 12d Track-specific data area 13 ROM 14 Input device 15 Sound reproduction device 15a Sound source circuit 15b Waveform data storage Device 15c D / A converter 15d Amplifier 16 Video playback device 17 Disk reading device 18 Hardware timer interrupt device 21 Speaker 22 Screen

Claims (21)

[Claims] 1. A sound source means having a plurality of channels for performing a process for reproducing the sound of an occupied track, and a plurality of tracks, and data indicating whether or not each track is sounded is time-series. Music storage means for storing a plurality of music data stored in the memory; a progress determination means for determining the progress of the game; and a music storage means which is stored in the music storage in accordance with the determination result of the progress determination. Music switching instruction means for instructing switching of a plurality of music data; and music data before and after switching according to the instruction of the music switching instruction means among the music data stored in each track of the music storage means. Music analyzing means for sequentially analyzing the respective tracks in time series, and a track whose sounding ends based on the analysis result of the music analyzing means A first channel release unit for releasing a channel occupied by the track when there is a track; and a sound source unit when there is a track to start sounding in the switched music based on the analysis result of the music analysis unit. A vacant channel detecting means for detecting a channel not occupied by another track among a plurality of channels included in the first channel, and a first channel for occupying the channel detected by the vacant channel detecting means in the track for starting sound generation A game device comprising occupation means. 2. Tracks of a plurality of music data stored in the music storage means are assigned priorities, and the empty channel detection means detects a channel not occupied by another track. If not, a second channel release unit that releases a channel occupied by a track with the lowest priority in the music data before switching among the plurality of channels of the sound source unit; and the second channel. A second channel in which the track released by the release means is occupied by the track from which the sound is started.
2. The game device according to claim 1, further comprising: a channel occupying unit. 3. If the empty channel detecting means cannot detect a channel which is not occupied by another track, a track of the music data before switching among a plurality of channels of the sound source means is reproduced. Third channel releasing means for releasing the channel having the lowest audio level from the occupied track, and third channel for occupying the channel released by the third channel releasing means in the track from which sound is started.
The game device according to claim 1, further comprising: a channel occupying unit. 4. A sound source means having a plurality of channels for performing a process for reproducing the sound of an occupied track, and data comprising a plurality of tracks and indicating whether or not each track is to be sounded, in time series. Music storage means for storing music data stored in the music storage means; music analysis means for sequentially analyzing music data stored in each track of the music storage means in a time-series manner; First channel release means for releasing a channel occupied by the track when there is a track whose sound is to be ended; and sound source means when there is a track whose sound is to be started based on the analysis result of the music analysis means. Empty channel detection means for detecting a channel not occupied by another track among a plurality of channels of A game device comprising: a first channel occupation unit for occupying a channel detected by the empty channel detection unit in the track where sound is started. 5. The game apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the number of tracks constituting the music data stored in said music storage means is larger than the number of channels of said sound source means. 6. Each track of music data stored in the music storage means is assigned a priority, and the empty channel detection means cannot detect a channel not occupied by another track. A second channel release unit for releasing a channel occupied by a track with the lowest priority among a plurality of channels of the sound source unit; and a channel released by the second channel release unit. , The second track to be occupied by the track that starts sounding
The game device according to claim 5, further comprising: a channel occupying means. 7. If the empty channel detecting means cannot detect a channel which is not occupied by another track, a channel having the lowest sound level being reproduced among a plurality of channels of the sound source means. A third channel releasing means for releasing the track occupied by the occupied track, and a third channel releasing means for occupying the channel released by the third channel releasing means in the track on which the sound starts.
The game device according to claim 5, further comprising: a channel occupying unit. 8. The music analysis device according to claim 8, wherein said music storage means has a plurality of music data, and said music analysis means further comprises a music switching instruction means for instructing switching of a plurality of music data stored in said music storage means. Means for analyzing, from among the plurality of music data stored in the music storage means, tracks of both the music before switching and the music after switching according to the instruction of the music switching instruction means, the empty channel detecting means; 5. The game apparatus according to claim 4, wherein, when there is a track whose sounding starts in the switched music based on the analysis result of the music analysis means, a channel not occupied by another track is detected. . 9. Each track of a plurality of music data stored in said music storage means is assigned a priority, and said empty channel detection means detects a channel not occupied by another track. If not, a second channel release unit that releases a channel occupied by a track with the lowest priority in the music data before switching among the plurality of channels of the sound source unit; and the second channel. A second channel in which the track released by the release means is occupied by the track from which the sound is started.
9. The game device according to claim 8, further comprising: a channel occupying unit. 10. The second channel release means is occupied by a track having the lowest priority in the switched music data when the track of the music data before switching does not occupy the channel of the sound source means. The game device according to claim 9, wherein a channel being released is released. 11. When the empty channel detecting means cannot detect a channel which is not occupied by another track, a track of music data before switching among a plurality of channels of the sound source means is reproduced. Third channel releasing means for releasing the channel having the lowest audio level from the occupied track, and third channel for occupying the channel released by the third channel releasing means in the track from which sound is started.
11. The game device according to claim 8, further comprising: a channel occupying unit. 12. The third channel releasing means, when the track of the music data before switching does not occupy the channel of the sound source means, switches the music piece after switching among the plurality of channels of the sound source means. 12. The game apparatus according to claim 11, wherein a channel having the lowest sound level for reproducing the data track is released from the occupied track. 13. The third channel release means, when the sound being reproduced is between the start of sound generation and the time when the sound reaches the maximum level, treats the level of the sound as the maximum level to which the sound should reach. Claim 7, characterized in that:
13. The game device according to 11 or 12. 14. A music reproducing method for reproducing a music composed of a plurality of tracks by using a plurality of channels for performing a process for reproducing the sound of a track occupied by each of the tracks. A music storing step of storing music data in which data indicating whether or not to sound is stored in time series; and a music analysis for sequentially analyzing the music data of each track stored in the music storing step in time series. A first channel releasing step for releasing a channel occupied by the track when there is a track whose sound is ended based on the analysis result of the music analysis step; and a sound generation start based on the analysis result of the music analysis step. If there is a track that is occupied by another track among the plurality of channels, A music reproducing method, comprising: a vacant channel detecting step of detecting a channel that does not exist; and a first channel occupying step of occupying the channel detected in the vacant channel detecting step with the track where sound generation starts. 15. Each track of music data stored in the music storage step is assigned a priority, and a channel not occupied by another track cannot be detected in the empty channel detection step. A second channel releasing step for releasing a channel occupied by a track with the lowest priority among the plurality of channels; and a track for starting sounding the channel released in the second channel releasing step. 15. The music reproducing method according to claim 14, further comprising a second channel occupying step of occupying the music. 16. A track occupying a channel having the lowest audio level being reproduced among the plurality of channels, when a channel not occupied by another track is not detected in the empty channel detecting step. And a third channel occupying step of occupying the channel released by the third channel releasing step in the track from which sound is to be generated. 16. The music reproducing method according to 14 or 15. 17. The music data stored in the music storage step includes a plurality of music data, and the music analysis step further includes a music switch instruction step of instructing switching of the plurality of music data stored in the music storage step. Analyzing, from among the plurality of music data stored in the music storage step, tracks of both the music before switching and the music after switching according to the instruction in the music switching instruction step, the empty channel detection step includes: 15. The music reproducing method according to claim 14, wherein if a track whose sound starts to be switched exists in the music after switching according to the analysis result in the music analysis step, a channel not occupied by another track is detected. . 18. A recording medium for recording a program for reproducing a music composed of a plurality of tracks using a plurality of channels for performing a process for reproducing the sound of an occupied track, the recording medium comprising a plurality of tracks. A music storage step of storing music data in which data indicating whether or not to pronounce each track is stored in time series; and sequentially analyzing music data of each track stored in the music storage step in time series. A music analysis step to be performed; a first channel release step for releasing a channel occupied by the track when there is a track whose sound generation ends according to the analysis result of the music analysis step; and an analysis result of the music analysis step. When there is a track whose sound starts to be played by another track among the plurality of channels, And a first channel occupation step of occupying the channel detected in the vacant channel detection step in the track that starts sounding. A machine-readable recording medium characterized by the above-mentioned. 19. Each track of music data stored in the music storage step is assigned a priority, and a channel not occupied by another track cannot be detected in the empty channel detection step. A second channel releasing step for releasing a channel occupied by a track with the lowest priority among the plurality of channels; and a track for starting sounding the channel released in the second channel releasing step. 19. The machine-readable recording medium according to claim 18, further comprising: occupying a second channel. 20. A track that occupies a channel having the lowest level of the sound being reproduced among the plurality of channels when a channel that is not occupied by another track cannot be detected in the empty channel detection step. And a third channel occupying step of occupying the channel released by the third channel releasing step in the track where sound is started. 20. The machine-readable recording medium according to 18 or 19. 21. There is a plurality of music data stored in the music storing step, and a program for executing a music switching instruction step for instructing switching of the plurality of music data stored in the music storing step is further recorded. In the music analysis step, among the plurality of music data stored in the music storage step, analyze both tracks of the music before switching and the music after switching by the instruction in the music switching instruction step, The vacant channel detecting step detects a channel that is not occupied by another track when there is a track that starts sounding in the switched tune according to the analysis result in the tune analyzing step. 19. The recording medium readable by a machine according to 18.