JP2002334348A - Video game device, recording medium and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide technology which secures interactivity with player's operation in a video game and increase the reality of the game by an actual picture display. SOLUTION: The actual picture display containing a background and a person and a display wherein an actual background or a character generated by computer graphics are composited is selected and used. The switching from the actual picture display to the composite display is announced in advance.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video game apparatus for playing a game by using a real image display, a recording medium storing a program, and a program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a video game apparatus generally displays a background image and a character image created by computer graphics, and interactively displays the character image by a player's operation.

[0003] On the other hand, today, with the improvement of the capabilities of game machines, there is provided a live-action display game created by shooting a real image of both a character (ie, a real person) and a background in order to enhance the sense of reality. . Further, there has been proposed a combined display game in which a character image created by computer graphics is combined with a background image of a real image and displayed.

[0004]

However, in the live-action display game described above, since the person and the background are photographed at the same time, it is difficult to move the person interactively according to the operation of the player. For example, there is a chroma key method in which various actions of only a person are photographed and superimposed on the background in accordance with the operation of the player. However, this method is not practical because of limitations in the background color and processing time.

[0005] On the other hand, in the synthetic display game, the character display created by computer graphics is used, so that it is easy to display the operation in accordance with the operation of the player, but it is inferior in realism as compared with a real person. There's a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a technique capable of securing the interactivity with the operation of a player and enhancing the realism of a game by displaying a real image. .

[0007]

A first means of the present invention is as follows.
A background / person data recording unit that stores actual image data of a background and a person, a background data recording unit that stores actual image data of only the background, a character data recording unit that stores computer graphic data of a character in place of the person, Display control means for displaying each data on a display means, and switching means for switching the display control means to display of background / person data or display of background data and character data, wherein the display control means comprises: When the display is switched to the background / person data display by the means, the background / person data is read from the background / person recording means and displayed (hereinafter, referred to as “actual photograph display”),
On the other hand, when the display is switched to the display of the background data and the character data, the background data and the character data are read from the background data recording means and the character data recording means, respectively, and combined and displayed (hereinafter, referred to as "combined display"). A video game device characterized in that:

[0008] According to this means, the display is switched to the real image display or the composite display, thereby facilitating the empathy by, for example, a close-up image of the person by the real image display, and the character display according to the operation of the player by the composite display. Any action can be displayed.

Here, the person is an animal such as a pet or livestock,
Alternatively, the vehicle may be a vehicle such as an automobile or an airplane. The character is desirably created with three-dimensional data such as a polygon, but may be two-dimensional data. The display means
A display device such as a CRT or a liquid crystal display.

[0010] The second means of the present invention is the first means, further comprising operation means for allowing a player to operate a character in place of the person, and wherein the switching means switches the character in place of the person by the operation means. When the operation is performed, the display is switched from the actual photograph display to the composite display.

According to this means, it is possible to combine and display a character in place of a person, and to display the action interactively with the operation of the player.

[0012] A third means of the present invention, in the second means, further comprises a position determining means for determining a position of the character in place of the person operated by the operating means in the background, and the display control means Is for combining the character data and the background data in accordance with the position determined by the position determining means.

[0013] For example, it is possible to eliminate the unnaturalness of the background displayed and synthesized with the character in perspective. In addition, it is possible to perform a display in which the character is hidden behind objects due to the context of the background.

[0014] A fourth means of the present invention is the second means, further comprising a notifying means for notifying a player of switching by the switching means.

According to this means, it is possible to urge the player to hold an operation device such as a controller by notifying a part to be operated.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, the switching means is configured to switch from the composite display to the live-action display when a predetermined operation is performed on the character in place of the person by the operation means. Is to switch to.

According to this means, even during the display of the character, the empathy of the player can be enhanced by inserting the real person image. The predetermined operation is an operation input such as turning around or turning down.

In a sixth aspect of the present invention based on the third aspect, the switching means is configured to perform the synthesizing when the character which substitutes for the person is determined at a predetermined position on the background by the position determining means. The display is switched from the display to the actual photograph display.

According to this means, the empathy of the player can be enhanced by inserting a real person image even during character display. Here, the predetermined position is, for example, a background switching position, an enemy appearance position, or the like.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the first means further comprises an attribute status determining means for determining an attribute status of a character in place of the person, and the switching means is provided by the attribute status determining means. When the attribute status of the character in place of the person is determined to be a predetermined status, the display is switched from the composite display to the live-action display.

According to the present means, even during the display of the character, the empathy of the player can be enhanced by inserting the real person image. Here, the attribute status of the character is, for example, an attack damage status received from an enemy.

The eighth means of the present invention is a display control step of displaying actual data of a background and a person, real image data of only the background, computer graphic data of a character in place of the person, and displaying the data on display means. And a switching step of switching the display control step to display of background / person data or display of background data and character data. The display control step is switched to display of background / person data by the switching step. When the display is switched to the display of the background data and the character data, on the other hand, when the display is switched to the display of the background data and the character data, the background data and the character data are combined and displayed. is there.

By storing the program in a recording medium, it is possible to distribute only the program. The recording medium is a CD-ROM, a floppy (registered trademark) disk,
Game cartridges, memory cards, magnetic disks,
Any medium such as a magnetic tape can be used.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display control step for displaying actual photographed data of a background and a person, actual photographed data of only a background, computer graphic data of a character in place of the person, and displaying the data on a display means. And a switching step of switching the display control step to display of background / person data or display of background data and character data. The display control step is switched to display of background / person data by the switching step. When the display is switched to display of background data and character data, the background data and the character data are combined and displayed.

The program can be distributed to a video game device, an information terminal, a portable telephone, or the like having a communication function by wireless or wire. In addition, it is possible to directly write on a medium readable by these devices.

[0026]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a hardware block of the video game apparatus of the present invention. The video game device has a CPU (Central Proc) via an internal bus 10.
essing Unit) 11, image processing unit 14, audio processing unit 16, DVD-ROM (Digital Vid)
An EO Disc-ROM) reading unit 17 and an interface unit 18 are provided.

The CPU 11 has a RAM (Random Access Memory) as a main storage device.
12 is connected to a ROM (Read Only Memory) 13 storing a program such as an operating system for managing the image processing unit 14, the audio processing unit 16, and the like. Further, the CPU 11 includes an oscillation circuit for generating a clock signal and a frequency dividing circuit for dividing the clock signal to generate a clock signal.

The image processing section 14 includes a DVD-ROM 2
, Decodes the compressed and encoded image data, performs coordinate calculation, rendering, shading, etc., and stores it in the frame buffer 15. The stored image data is stored in accordance with a drawing command output from the CPU 11,
The digital-to-analog conversion is performed and displayed on the display 4.
As the display 4, a general household television receiver can be used.

The audio processing section 16 converts the sound data of the DVD-ROM 2 read by the DVD-ROM reading section 17 into analog data and outputs the analog data from the speaker 5. Further, the audio processing unit 16 generates sound effect and music data in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 11, converts the data into analog data, and causes the speaker 5 to output the data. Note that the speaker 5
The above-mentioned television receiver can be used.

The DVD-ROM reading section 17 is a DVD-ROM reading section.
-A game program or data is read from the ROM 2, and the read program or data is recorded in the RAM 12. The read sound data is stored in the internal bus 1
0 to the audio processing unit 16.

The interface section 18 is detachably connected to the controller 3 for inputting instructions from the player and the memory card 6 as an external storage device for storing game setting data and the like. The controller 3 has various operation units such as a direction key and an enter / cancel button.

Here, the game stored in the DVD-ROM 2 is composed of a drama part which is displayed only by actual shooting and a shooting part which is a composite display of the actual shooting and computer graphics. In the drama part, a live-action movie is displayed without the need for player's operation input. On the other hand, in the shooting part, characters created with computer graphics are displayed in the background by live action,
The player advances the game while operating the character. For example, when the character is moved to a predetermined position, an enemy character appears, and a weapon such as a gun possessed by the character is operated to fight the enemy character.

FIG. 2 illustrates the concept of the drama part displayed on the display 4. Hero 31 by live action
A is holding a gun and walking in the background of the factory 32. When the character 31a moves to a predetermined position, a notice display 33 for giving notice of switching to a shooting part.
Is displayed on the edge of the screen (see FIG. 3).

FIG. 4 illustrates the concept of the shooting part switched from FIG. 2 and 3 is displayed as a character 31b created by computer graphics, and the player can operate the character 31b by operating the controller 3. When the character 31b is moved to a predetermined position on the screen, the enemy character 41 comes flying and attacks the character 31b. Note that the enemy character 41 is also the character 3
It is created with computer graphics as in 1b.

FIG. 5 exemplifies the concept of a live-action screen inserted into the shooting part. Insertion of the live-action screen is performed by, for example, turning display when the character 31b performs an operation such as a turn, moving display when moving to a predetermined position, surprise display when the enemy character 41 appears, and enemy character 41. This is a display of damage when the player takes damage, and is displayed for a short time instead of the shooting part screen.

FIG. 6 shows this in a functional block diagram.
It is. The reading unit 61 reads the actual background / person data from the actual background / person data recording unit 62 if it is a drama part, and the display control unit 65 displays the data on the display 4 as it is. The actual background / person data is digital data captured by a digital camera.
On the other hand, if the reading unit 61 is a shooting part,
The real-world background data and the character data are read from the real-world background data recording unit 63 and the character data recording unit 64, and the display control unit 65 combines the real-world background data and the character data based on the character position determined by the character position determination unit 66. Is displayed on the display 4. Here, the character position determination unit 66 determines a character position based on a character movement instruction input by the player via the controller 3. Note that the actual photographed background data is digital data photographed by a digital photographing machine, like the actual photographed background / person data, and the character data is computer graphic data created by polygons. In addition, the display control unit 65 displays an advance notice of switching in accordance with the advance notice information for switching to the shooting part included in the photographed background / person data. Switching section 67
Instructs the reading unit 61 to switch from the drama part to the shooting part according to the switching information if it is a drama part. On the other hand, if it is a shooting part, it instructs the reading unit 61 to switch from the shooting part to the drama part in accordance with the above-mentioned switching information.
Further, the switching unit 67 instructs the reading unit 61 to switch to the inserted actual photographing screen according to the operation and the movement position of the character 31b by the operation from the operation unit 68. Further, when the damage determination unit 69 determines the damage from the enemy character 41, it instructs the reading unit 61 to switch to the damage image.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the above processing.
8 and FIG. In other words, the switching unit 67 instructs the reading unit 61 to read the actual background / person data if the next part to be displayed is the drama part (101) in accordance with the current display image data switching information. The data is read from the background / person data recording unit 62, and the display control unit 65 displays the data on the display 4 (10
2). If the game is over (103), the process ends. On the other hand, if not finished (103), step 101
Return to

The switching section 67 instructs the reading section 61 to read actual background data and character data if the next part to be displayed is a shooting part (201) in accordance with the current display image data switching information. Numeral 61 reads the data from the photographed background data recording unit 63 and the character data recording unit 64, and
5 combines the two data with the character 31b as the initial display position and displays it on the display 4 (202).

When the operation section 68 receives an operation input from the player via the controller 3 (203), if the input is a turn input of the character 31b (221), the switching section 67 turns to the reading section 61 and turns the reading section 61 into the actual photograph insertion data. Is read. The reading unit 61 reads the data from the actual photographing background / person data recording unit 62 and
5 is displayed on the display 4 (222), and step 20 is executed.
Return to 3.

If the operation input received by the operation unit 68 is a movement input of the character 31b (204), the character position determination unit 66 determines the display position of the character 31b (205), and the switching unit 67 determines that the position is a real image. If it is the insertion position (206), the reading unit 61 is instructed to read the moving actual image insertion data. The reading unit 61 reads the data from the photographed background / person data recording unit 62, and the display control unit 65 displays the data on the display 4 (207). On the other hand, if it is not the actual shooting insertion position (206), step 207 is skipped. The display control unit 61 moves the character 31b to the position determined by the character position determination unit 66, and displays the character 31b by combining it with the actual photographed background data (208).

If the position determined by the character position determining unit 66 is the enemy character appearance position (209), the switching unit 67 instructs the reading unit 61 to read the enemy character data. The reading unit 61 reads the data from the character data recording unit 64, and the display control unit 65 combines the data with the actual photographed background data and the character data and displays them on the display 4. Here, a predetermined shooting process is performed by the player's character operation (210). The damage determination unit 69 determines that the enemy character 41 is the character 3
It is determined that the character 31b has been damaged by the attack when the character 31b contacts the character 1b (211), and the switching unit 67 instructs the reading unit 61 to read the actual damage insertion data. The reading unit 61 is a photographing background / person data recording unit 62
The display control unit 65 reads the data from the display 4 and displays the data on the display 4 (212). On the other hand, the switching unit 67
If the position determined by the character position determination unit 66 is not the enemy character appearance position (209), steps 210 to 212 are skipped.

If the position determined by the character position determining section 66 is not the area end position (213), the process returns to step 203. On the other hand, it is the area end position (21
3) If the game is not over (214), step 10
Return to 1. If the game is over (214), the process ends.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by switching between the real image display and the composite display, the realism of the game can be enhanced and the character can be operated interactively to play the game.

Note that a background that is difficult to photograph in a real shot may be created by computer graphics and combined with a real shot person or character.

[0045]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a technique capable of securing the interactivity with the operation of the player and enhancing the sense of reality of the game by displaying a real image.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration centering on a game machine main body.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a screen of a live-action image display;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a screen of a live-action display;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a screen of a combined display.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a screen for inserting a live-action photograph;

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram for explaining the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 DVD-ROM 3 Controller 4 Display 31a Main character 31b Character 33 Notice display 41 Enemy character

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. Background / person data recording means storing actual photographed data of a background and a person; background data recording means storing actual photographed data of only a background; and character data storing computer graphic data of a character in place of the person Recording means, display control means for displaying the data on display means, and switching means for switching the display control means to display background / person data or display between background data and character data, the display control Means for reading and displaying background / person data from the background / person recording means when the display is switched to display of background / person data by the switching means (hereinafter referred to as "actual photograph display"); Is switched to the display of the background data recording means and the key. Displays the read synthesizing the background data and the character data from each of Rakutadeta recording means (hereinafter, referred to as "composite display") video game apparatus which is characterized in that. 2. The game apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an operation unit for operating a character in place of the person by a player, wherein the switching unit switches from the live-action display to the composite display when the character in place of the person is operated by the operation unit. The video game device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: position determining means for determining a position of the character in place of the person operated by the operation means in the background, wherein the display control means controls the character data in accordance with the position determined by the position determining means. 3. The video game device according to claim 2, wherein the video game device combines the background data with the background data. 4. The video game apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a notification unit for notifying a player of switching by said switching unit. 5. The video game according to claim 2, wherein the switching means switches from the composite display to the live-action display when a predetermined operation is performed on a character in place of the person by the operation means. apparatus. 6. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the switching unit switches from the composite display to the live-action display when the position determining unit determines a character in place of the person at a predetermined position on the background. 3. The video game device according to 3. 7. An attribute status determining means for determining an attribute status of a character in place of the person, wherein the switching means determines the attribute status of the character in place of the person to be a predetermined status by the attribute status determining means. 2. The video game apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display is switched from the composite display to the live-action display when the display is performed. 8. Real-image data of a background and a person, real-image data of only a background, computer graphic data of a character in place of the person, a display control step of displaying each data on a display means, and the display control step. Display of background / person data, or a switching step of switching to display of background data and character data, wherein the display control step switches the background / person data when the display is switched to display of background / person data by the switching step. A recording medium storing a program for displaying and, on the other hand, when switching to display of background data and character data, combining and displaying the background data and character data. 9. Real-image data of a background and a person, real-image data of only a background, computer graphic data of a character in place of the person, a display control step of displaying each of the data on a display means, and the display control step. Display of background / person data, or a switching step of switching to display of background data and character data, wherein the display control step switches the background / person data when the display is switched to display of background / person data by the switching step. A program for performing display and, when switched to display of background data and character data, combining and displaying background data and character data.