JP2002000946A - Game apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow school children of the lower grades or preschool children to efficiently learn the rules of game in a falling-thing game such as Tetorisu (R), while allowing them to virtually experience the operation of a controller. SOLUTION: A group of falling blocks 41 in an operation control zone 30, a succeeding group 44' on a succeeding pattern display part 31, and the whole pattern of blocks, in accumulated state, on the lower side of the zone 30 are recognized. In that stage, the manner in which the group 41 is caused to fall, i.e., in which rotational states and at which horizontal locations, is optimized by computing, whereby the manner in which corrected dummy patterns fall in optimized state is displayed as the time passes, and thereafter the group 41 is caused to fall and accumulate in the similar manner, synchronizing with input signals of the controller. Game rules can be visually learnt, while a virtual operation is being performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a game device for executing a game on a television screen or a liquid crystal display using an electronic circuit, and more particularly, to "Tetris (registered trademark)" which belongs to the category of "falling object game". The present invention relates to a device for software that is applied to a game, and specifically teaches an interest and a way of enjoying to a user who is inexperienced in operation and cannot easily understand the intention of the game, such as a toddler.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are various "falling object games" in simple portable game machines and home video game machines, but "Tetris" (registered trademark) has been widely known as a famous game. is there.

In this game, on a screen as shown in FIG. 20 (A), a block group consisting of a combination of four blocks from the upper side of the operation control area 101 is dropped one by one downward at a constant speed. In the meantime, the block group can be horizontally moved / rotated by operation of the controller, and the controlled falling block group is deposited on the deposited block on the lower side of the operation control area 101. Then, when the blocks are aligned over the entire horizontal direction when the falling blocks are deposited on the already deposited blocks, the aligned blocks are cleared, and the clearing is regarded as one success in the game process, and points are given.
The whole block deposited on the upper side of the alignment block is moved to the lower side to form a new already deposited state. For example, in the state of FIG. 20A, the horizontal line 10 can be obtained by moving the falling block group 102 to the right by one block and dropping it.
An alignment block is constructed for 3 and the alignment block is cleared.

In this game, the operation control area 101
A region (next pattern display section) 104 for displaying the pattern of the next falling block group is provided outside the box, so that the current falling block group 102 and the next block group 105 can always be confirmed. Therefore, the operator of the controller determines which position of the deposited block group 102 should be given by what kind of rotation it is reasonable to make the falling block group 102 fall while constructing the alignment block while checking them. do it,
The control of the falling block group 102 is executed, and this game competes for the judgment and the skill of the operation. In the tetris game, generally, FIG.
The falling block group as shown in is prepared, and the one selected at random from the next pattern display area
From 104, it appears in the operation control area 101 and is dropped.

[0005]

With the widespread use of home video game toys and the supply of abundant game software, the number of people who enjoy video games has increased dramatically, especially among young people. Along with software, the age group has become younger, and it is beginning to range from lower grades of elementary school children to kindergarten children. The tetris game has a simpler game system than the role playing game (RPG) and the like, and its purpose is easy to understand, so that it can be said that it is easily accepted by elementary school students and infants in lower grades.

However, in the case of actually configuring the game software, it is extremely difficult to teach the game rules and the operation method of the controller to elementary school students and the like in lower grades. Although it is necessary to prepare an instruction manual based on the premise, it is not possible to expect efficient learning.

[0007] On the other hand, elementary school children in lower grades have a good understanding of the contents developed visually, and if they are trained with interest in operating the controller, the degree of learning is surprisingly fast. Therefore, the present invention makes it possible to visually understand the game rules in a falling object game such as tetris while being familiar with the operation of the controller. Was also created with the aim of providing a game device that allows the user to fully enjoy the game in a short period of time.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided an operation unit capable of at least selecting a game mode and instructing movement / rotation of a block group described later, a display unit, and a storage unit storing a game program. A data processing unit that executes a game program of the storage unit according to the selection of a game mode from the operation unit, and a game execution screen corresponding to the execution of the program by the data processing unit on the display unit. A display control unit for displaying the data, wherein the storage unit and the data processing unit cooperate to select one by one from a plurality of types of block groups configured by combining unit blocks having a predetermined shape, and display the display unit Blocks that appear and fall from the upper side to the lower side of the operation control area set in, and fall next to the selected area outside the operation control area (hereinafter referred to as “next A first procedure for displaying a "lock group") and the horizontal movement / rotation of a falling block group (hereinafter, referred to as a "falling block group") in response to a movement / rotation instruction input from the operation unit. A second procedure of depositing on the lower side, and a third procedure of clearing the aligned block and shifting the block deposited on the upper side downward when the blocks are aligned and deposited in the horizontal direction, The fourth procedure of adding points in accordance with the number of times of clearing is performed in a game device which is repeatedly executed each time the dropped block group reaches the lower side of the operation control area or the upper side of the already accumulated block group. A mode for the low-level operator is provided in the mode selection menu, and each means functioning in the mode setting state, the Recognition means for recognizing the stacking pattern, the constituent pattern of the falling block group, and the constituent pattern of the next block group, and based on each pattern information obtained by the recognition means, Arithmetic means for determining the horizontal position and rotation form of the optimal falling block group in the configuration, correction means for correcting the falling block group to the horizontal position and rotation form determined by the arithmetic means, and correction by the correction means The game device according to the present invention further comprises a synchronization / control means for forcibly dropping and depositing the dropped block group in synchronization with an arbitrary instruction input signal obtained from the operation unit.

According to the present invention, no matter what the instruction input of the operation section is, the falling block group is corrected by the correction section so as to be in the optimum state obtained by the calculation section, and the falling block group is synchronized with the operation of the operation section. And fall and accumulate. Therefore,
To be able to visually check the rules of the falling object game and experience the actual operation, and to learn the contents of the game in a short period of time while keeping the lower grade elementary school students and others interested in not getting bored. Can be.

In the above invention, before the synchronization / control means forcibly drops and deposits the falling block group, a dummy pattern of the falling block group is generated, and based on the information obtained by the correcting means, By providing a dummy pattern display means for moving and displaying the dummy pattern in time series so as to guide the dummy pattern to the optimal position of the lower side deposition block, it is possible to visually confirm the control guidance state of the falling block group, It is effective. In the case of a simple portable game machine, the game program may be stored in advance in the storage unit of the game device.
The game program may be recorded on an external storage medium such as a cassette or a CD-ROM. In this case, the game program is downloaded from the external storage medium to the storage unit.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, an embodiment of a game device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. First,
FIG. 1 is a system circuit diagram of a video game machine, 1 is a game machine body, and 2 is a television receiver corresponding to a display unit.
(TV), 4 and 5 are controllers which are operation input units. The game machine body 1 is equipped with a CD-ROM drive 3, and the game program is downloaded in advance from a CD-ROM 3a in which a game program and game data are recorded to a built-in memory. The game machine body 1 has a normal hardware configuration, and has a CP
U10, a work memory 11 having an area for storing the downloaded game program and temporarily saving and processing the read game data, and a CD-ROM, an interface to the CD-ROM drive 3.
I / F 12, video processor 13, audio processor 14
And joypad I / Fs 15 and 16, which are interfaces to the controllers 4 and 5, have units 11 to 16 connected to the system bus of the CPU 10, and the video processor 13 and the audio processor 14 I /
The joypad I / Fs 16 and 15 are connected to the connectors 18 and 20 of the controllers 4 and 5 via the F17 to the connector 18 for TV connection.
Connected to each other. Although FIG. 1 shows a state in which the two controllers 4 and 5 are connected to the game machine main body 1, this is a connection state when a battle game or the like is performed, and the game is naturally played alone. In this case, it is sufficient that either one of the controllers 4 or 5 is connected.

[0012] Then, in the operating state of the system, the CD-RO
When the CD-ROM 3a is set in the M drive 3, the CD-R
The system setting program and the guidance screen data are read from the OM 3a into the memory 11, and the guidance screen is displayed on the TV 2. CD-ROM3 used in this embodiment
a is a recording of the program of the above Tetris game, and by performing an appropriate operation based on the guidance screen, selecting `` Easy '' from the selection menu and instructing `` Set (setting) '', Various setting screens as shown in FIG. 2 can be displayed.

Here, it is assumed that the navigation system according to the present embodiment is selected from various setting items. When the system is selected, a basic program of the Tetris game and a navigation program are read out from the CD-ROM 3a and stored in the memory 11. The basic screen in this tetris game is as shown in FIG. 3, and the principle of the game is the same as that described in the above-mentioned prior art. However, when the navigation program is started, the normal tetris game is started. Operating state different from the program execution state, the operation signal from the controller 4 only serves as a synchronization control signal for the movement of the falling block group regardless of which button is pressed, and the horizontal movement of the falling block group The control related to / rotation is executed by the navigation program.

Hereinafter, an operation of the game machine main body 1 in a state where the navigation system is selected will be described with reference to a flowchart of FIG. First, after the game start is instructed by the controller 4 in the display state of the tetris game screen shown in FIG. 3 (the stack block does not exist on the lower side of the operation control area 30 in the initial state) (S1), the operation is always performed. The selected one falling block group is displayed in the control area 30, and the next selected falling block group (next block group) is displayed in the next pattern display section 31 (S2).

In this case, the CPU 10 recognizes the respective patterns of the falling block group and the next block group in the operation control area 30 and the pattern of the entire block in the deposited state on the lower side of the operation control area 30 (S3). Based on the recognition information, it is determined how the currently falling block group should be rotated and dropped to the already deposited blocks to form the most efficiently arranged 10 aligned blocks in the horizontal direction. The optimum horizontal position and rotation form of the block group are determined by calculation (S4). In this case, not only the relationship between the falling block group and the already-deposited block but also the relationship with the next block group is considered as described above, so that a skilled operator makes a judgment when executing the Tetris game in the normal mode. Same as the standard.

More specifically, for example, in FIG. 5, if the falling block group 41 is rotated by + 90 ° and dropped to the position of the concave block 42 of the deposited block, an aligned block can be formed on a horizontal line indicated by 43. On the other hand, the falling block group 41 is rotated by 180 ° and dropped into the concave portion 45 of the already deposited block, and the next block group 44 ′ is directly dropped into the concave portion 42. There is also a method of forming an alignment block on two horizontal lines 43 and 46 indicated by 43 and 44. However, since it is not clear what kind of block group next to the next block group 44 'is,
In this case, in the case of the former method,
It is determined that the control of 41 is optimal, and the processing is performed.

When a judgment is made based on the above calculation result,
Based on the calculation result, a dummy pattern in which the falling block group is corrected from the initial position to the optimal horizontal position and rotation form is displayed (S5). Here, the corrected dummy pattern is a pattern in which the falling block group is expressed only by the outline, but a display method such as displaying it in a ghost shape or using a different color from the falling block group may be adopted. Then, a drop state in which the corrected dummy pattern is moved to the optimum position of the already-deposited block based on the determination is displayed in a time-series manner (S6). This time-series display is automatically executed by the navigation program irrespective of the operation of the controller 4, and in advance, how to move / rotate the falling block group in the optimal operation is guided in advance. It acts as an indicator and displays a series of movements in a relatively short time. Specifically, from the state of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6, a dummy pattern 47 is displayed, and a state in which the dummy pattern 47 falls into the concave portion 42 of the already-deposited block is displayed in time series.

Next, when the controller 4 is operated and there is some input, the original falling block group is horizontally moved / rotated in the same manner as the dummy pattern, and is dropped and deposited on the deposited block side. (S7-S9). In this case, in the normal mode of the tetris game, the fall block group is dropped to an intended position on the already-deposited block side by appropriately operating the right movement button / left movement button / rotation button / forced fall button or the like of the controller 4. However, in the navigation system mode according to this embodiment, the input signal by the operation of each of the buttons does not have the instruction attribute given to those buttons, and merely gives a synchronization signal for the change of the falling block group. is there. Therefore, operating any of the above buttons,
The falling block group only changes so as to follow the trajectory of the dummy pattern. As a result, the falling block group falls to the already-deposited block side at the optimal horizontal position and rotation form determined by the calculation result of step S4. ·accumulate.

More specifically, after the dummy pattern 47 is dropped into the concave portion 42 of the already-deposited block in FIG. 6, as shown in FIG. 41 moves / rotates horizontally similarly to the dummy pattern 47 and finally fits in the concave portion 42. Note that how much the drop block group 41 is changed in response to the button operation of the controller 4 can be freely set by a navigation program, but it is possible to approximate the operation state in the normal mode as much as possible. Desirably, for example, a control method in which rotation is given by the first operation, horizontal movement is given by the second operation, and forced drop is given by the third operation, can be adopted.

When the group of dropped blocks is dropped on the already-deposited blocks in this manner, the CPU 10 determines whether or not a horizontally aligned block is formed in the piled state as in the normal mode (S10). ), If an aligned block is formed, it is cleared and each block on the upper side is shifted downward to reconstruct a new stacking state (S11). That is, in the example shown in FIG. 7, since the alignment blocks are formed on the horizontal line 43 by the accumulation of the falling block groups 41, the alignment blocks are cleared and the accumulation state shown in FIG. Is done. It should be noted that there is a special block containing a colored "O" in the alignment block of the horizontal line 43. In this game, if the special block is to be cleared, the special block shown on the left side of the screen in FIG. The section of the same color in the frame is removed, and the pattern hidden behind appears gradually to the front. However, since it is not directly related to the present embodiment, the description is omitted. I do.

By repeating the above procedure, in this navigation system mode, the input signal of the controller 4 is used only for the synchronous control relating to the change of the falling block group, and the falling block group is optimally rotated. The horizontal position is corrected so as to be adaptively deposited on the already-deposited block side. From now on, how the falling block group appearing several times from the state shown in FIG. explain.

At the stage of FIG. 8, what was the next block group 44 'in the stage of FIG. 7 appears in the operation control area 30 as the fall block group 44, and the next pattern display section 31 displays a new next block group 48'. Will be displayed. By the way, the basic operation for constructing reasonably aligned blocks in the tetris game is to deposit each block as densely as possible so as not to form a blank portion. There is no concave portion in which an aligned block is formed by depositing the block group 44. On the other hand, referring to the next block group 48 ′, it is rotated by + 90 ° and the concave portion is formed.
If it is dropped to 49, an alignment block can be formed on the horizontal line 50. Therefore, the falling block group 44 should be deposited in the recess 51 for the time being, and should be rotated / horizontally moved as described above when the next block group 48 'has become the falling block group. Based on this, as shown in FIG. 9, the dummy pattern 52 of the falling block group 44 is horizontally moved by one block to the right side, and the dummy pattern 52 is dropped in the recess 51 as it is. Then, as shown in FIG. The falling block group 44 is dropped along the same locus as the dummy pattern 52 while synchronizing with an arbitrary input signal from the controller 4.

Next, the process moves to the stage shown in FIG. 11 by dropping / accumulating the falling block group 44, and the next block group is moved to the stage shown in FIG.
What is 48 ′ appears in the operation control area 30 as a falling block group 48, and a new next block group 53 ′ is displayed on the next pattern display unit 31. In this case, as described in the stage of FIG. 8, it is optimal that the falling block group 48 is rotated by + 90 ° and dropped into the concave portion 49, while it is assumed that the falling block group 48 is dropped in another state. However, there is no possibility that the next block group 53 'can form an aligned block. Therefore, based on the determination based on the calculation result, as shown in FIG. 11, the state in which the dummy pattern 54 of the falling block group 48 is rotated to the left by + 90 ° and moved to the left, and dropped from the position to the recess 49 in a time-series manner. Then, as shown in FIG. 12, the falling block group 48 is dropped along the same locus as the dummy pattern 54 while synchronizing with an arbitrary input signal from the controller 4.

Then, as shown in FIG.
When falling into the concave portion 49 and accumulating, an aligned block is formed on the horizontal line 55, and the aligned block is cleared and each block above it is shifted downward, so that the already deposited block is shown in FIG. Such a deposition state is obtained.

In the same manner, similarly, the pattern of the falling block group in the operation control area 30, the pattern of the next block group in the next pattern display section 31, and the pattern of the entire block in the lower side of the operation control area 30 in the already-stacked state. While recognizing
After judging which rotation block is best to drop the current falling block group in which horizontal position, and displaying the state of dropping the corrected dummy pattern based on the judgment in chronological order, The original falling block group is dropped and deposited in the same manner as the dummy pattern while synchronizing with the arbitrary input signal of the controller 4. FIGS. 14 to 19 sequentially show, in a step-by-step manner, each state in which a group of falling blocks appearing in the operation control area 30 from the state of FIG. 13 and their dummy patterns are processed based on the above principle. As is evident, the drop block group is dropped and deposited in a rotation state and a horizontal position determined to be optimal for forming an alignment block at each stage based on the three pieces of pattern information in the previous period.

In the navigation system mode described in this embodiment, as the name implies, a group of falling blocks is guided to fall / stack in a state determined to be optimal with respect to the already-stored blocks, and the guiding state is set to a dummy. The time series display is performed in a pattern and the operation of the controller 4 is made to experience as if the control of the falling block group is pseudo.In other words, the optimum operation state in the normal mode is made to be pseudo-experienced, and the game rules are changed. While showing it visually, you can feel as if you are operating the game by yourself. Therefore, even elementary school children and toddlers of lower grades who still have a poor understanding of the game can learn the game rules efficiently and actually experience the operation. This has the effect of making the user familiar with the game and enjoying it.

Although the tetris game is described in this embodiment, the principle of the present invention can be applied to a similar falling object game. Further, in this embodiment, the game program is downloaded from the CD-ROM 3a. However, the program may be another recording medium such as a ROM cassette, and in the case of a portable game machine, the like. May be stored in the built-in memory in advance.

[0028]

The game device of the present invention has the following effects by having the above configuration. Simultaneously play a falling object game represented by a tetris game, while letting elementary school students and toddlers, etc., who have little ability to understand instruction manuals, etc., efficiently learn the game rules in a visual manner at the same time It is possible to familiarize the user with the control operation according to (1). This eliminates the inconvenience that the parents or the like had to educate the child on the rules of the falling object game and the operation of the controller in a simple and detailed manner based on the instruction manual, and the child can play the game in a short period of time. You can enjoy it in earnest.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system circuit diagram of a game device.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a mode setting screen of a tetris game according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a basic execution screen of the Tetris game.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the game device in the navigation system mode.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an operation control area of a display screen and a next pattern display section in a program execution stage of a navigation system mode.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an operation control area of a display screen and a next pattern display section in a program execution stage of a navigation system mode (dummy pattern is moving / falling).

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an operation control area of a display screen and a next pattern display section in a program execution stage of a navigation system mode (a falling block group is moving and falling).

FIG. 8 is a view showing an operation control area of a display screen and a next pattern display section in a program execution stage of a navigation system mode (after clearing an alignment block).

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an operation control area of a display screen and a next pattern display section in a program execution stage of the navigation system mode (dummy pattern is moving / falling).

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an operation control area of a display screen and a next pattern display unit in a program execution stage of a navigation system mode (a falling block group is moving and falling).

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an operation control area of a display screen and a next pattern display section in a program execution stage of a navigation system mode (dummy pattern is moving and falling).

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an operation control area of a display screen and a next pattern display unit in a program execution stage of a navigation system mode (a falling block group is moving and falling).

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an operation control area of a display screen and a next pattern display unit in a program execution stage of a navigation system mode (after clearing an alignment block).

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an operation control area of a display screen and a next pattern display unit in a program execution stage of a navigation system mode (dummy pattern is moving and falling).

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an operation control area of a display screen and a next pattern display section in a program execution stage of a navigation system mode (a falling block group is moving and falling).

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an operation control area of a display screen and a next pattern display section in a program execution stage of a navigation system mode (dummy pattern is moving / falling).

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an operation control area of a display screen and a next pattern display unit in a program execution stage of a navigation system mode (a falling block group is moving and falling).

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an operation control area of a display screen and a next pattern display section in a program execution stage of a navigation system mode.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an operation control area of a display screen and a next pattern display section in a program execution stage of the navigation system mode (dummy pattern is moving / falling).

FIG. 20 shows a display screen (A) of a general tetris game,
It is a figure (B) showing six kinds of patterns of a falling block group.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Game machine body, 2 ... Television receiver, 3 ... CD-R
OM drive, 3a… CD-ROM, 4,5… Controller,
10 CPU, 11 memory, 12 CD-ROM I / F, 13
... Video processor, 14 ... Audio processor, 15,16 ... Joy pad I / F, 17 ... TV-I / F, 18,19,20 ... Connector, 30,101 ... Operation control area, 31,104 ... Next pattern display section 41,44,48,102… falling blocks, 42,45,49,51
... recesses, 43, 46, 50, 55, 103 ... horizontal lines, 44 ', 48', 5
3 ', 105: Next block group, 47, 52, 54: Dummy pattern.

Claims (3)

[Claims] An operation unit capable of at least selecting a game mode and instructing movement / rotation of a block group to be described later; a display unit; a storage unit storing a game program;
A data processing unit for executing a game program in the storage unit according to the selection of a game mode from the operation unit, and displaying a game execution screen on the display unit in response to execution of the program by the data processing unit A display control unit for causing the storage unit and the data processing unit to cooperate with each other to select one by one from a plurality of types of block groups formed by combining unit blocks of a predetermined shape, and to display the display unit. A first procedure for causing a set of operation control areas to appear and fall from an upper side to a lower side thereof and displaying a block group (hereinafter, referred to as a “next block group”) that is selected and dropped next to the outside of the operation control area; The falling blocks (hereinafter, referred to as “falling blocks”) are moved horizontally / in accordance with the movement / rotation instruction input from the operation unit.
A second step of depositing on the lower side while rotating, and a step of clearing the aligned block and shifting the block deposited on the upper side downward when the blocks are aligned and deposited in the horizontal direction. A game in which the three procedures and the fourth procedure of adding points according to the number of clears are repeatedly executed each time the dropped block group reaches the lower side of the operation control area or the upper side of the already accumulated block group. In the apparatus, a mode for a low-level operator is provided in a selection menu of a game mode, and each means functioning in the mode setting state, wherein: a stacking pattern of blocks in an operation control area; Recognition means for recognizing the configuration pattern of the block group, based on each pattern information obtained by the recognition means,
Calculating means for determining the optimal horizontal position and rotation form of the falling block group in forming the aligned block from the stacking state of the blocks at that time; and determining the horizontal position and rotating form determined by the calculating means. And a synchronizing / controlling means for forcibly dropping and depositing the falling block group corrected by the correcting means in synchronization with an arbitrary instruction input signal obtained from the operation unit. Characteristic game device. 2. A method for generating a dummy pattern of a falling block group before the synchronization / control means forcibly drops and deposits the falling block group, and based on the information obtained by the correction means, 2. The game device according to claim 1, further comprising a dummy pattern display means for moving and displaying in a time-series manner so as to guide the data to an optimum position of the lower-side accumulation block. 3. The game device according to claim 1, wherein the game program is recorded on an external storage medium, and the game program is downloaded from the external storage medium to a storage unit.