JP2003320162A - Game system and game program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game system which can provide a new game feeling such that a plurality of characters are simultaneously controlled to a player. <P>SOLUTION: An image processing means of this game system includes a first motion-controlling means (a step S302) and a second motion-controlling means (a step S303). The first motion-controlling means controls the motion of a first character in response to an operation which is applied to a first operation switch being included in a plurality of operation switches. The second motion-controlling means controls the motion of a second character in response to an operation applied to a second operation switch being included in a plurality of the operation switches. At the same time, the second motion-controlling means changes the motion of the first character by reflecting the motion of the second character. Thus, the player can simultaneously and easily operate two characters of the first character and the second character. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a game device, and more particularly to a game device in which a player operates a character displayed on a screen.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional race game or action game, a player generally operates one character for each player. For example, in a conventional race game, a race game is played by one player operating one car (one driver). Here, in a conventional race game or action game, it is not possible to obtain a game feeling of operating a plurality of characters, so that the player's interest is halved.

Therefore, a technique has been considered in which one player operates a plurality of characters. For example, JP 20
The invention described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 01-300143 can be mentioned.
This invention controls two or more characters in the meantime by stopping or slowing the progress of the game. This allows the player to easily operate the plurality of characters.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned conventional technique, one player cannot simultaneously operate a plurality of characters. As described above, in the conventional racing game and action game, one player cannot operate a plurality of characters. Also in the inventions described in the above publications, one player can operate a plurality of characters, but cannot perform the operations at the same time. As described above, the player cannot get the feeling of playing a plurality of characters simultaneously. Therefore, the interest in the game of operating a plurality of characters has been halved.

In the RPG game, one player has conventionally operated a plurality of characters. However, in conventional RPG games, the player
Only a plurality of characters are operated in order, and a plurality of players cannot be operated at the same time. Therefore, even in the conventional RPG game, as in the invention described in the above publication, the fun in the game of operating a plurality of characters has not been sufficiently exhibited.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a game device capable of giving a player a novel game feeling of operating a plurality of characters at the same time.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows. That is, according to the invention of claim 1, the game apparatus operates a plurality of characters appearing in the game space, and if the correspondence between the controller and the image processing means (showing the correspondence relationship with the embodiment is shown, step S104). ~ S11
CPU 202 or / and GPU 20 executing 1
4; hereinafter, only step numbers are shown). The controller has a plurality of operation switches operated by the player. The image processing means executes the program processing for the game in response to the operation of the controller and, as a result, generates the game image including the image data of the plurality of characters. Step S302) and second operation control means (step S303) are included. The first motion control means is a first character (moving body character and driver character) that appears in the game space according to an operation applied to the first operation switch included in the plurality of operation switches.
Control the behavior of. The second motion control means is a second character (passenger character) that appears in the game space and is different from the first character in response to an operation applied to the second operation switch included in the plurality of operation switches. ) Is controlled, and the motion of the first character is changed to reflect the motion of the second character. This allows the player to simultaneously operate the two characters, the first character and the second character.

It is considered that the operation becomes very difficult because the player operates a plurality of characters at the same time. This is because the player must play the game while paying attention to a plurality of characters at the same time. Here, according to the invention of claim 1, the motion of the first character changes according to the motion of the second character. Therefore, the motions of the second character and the motions of the first character are related, and the respective motions are not completely independent. Therefore, the player need only pay attention to the operation of the first character. That is, if the player pays attention to the first character and performs the operation, the player also operates the second character. As described above, according to the invention of claim 1, the player can easily perform the operation in addition to obtaining a new game feeling of operating a plurality of characters at the same time.

The first and second characters are not necessarily limited to those composed of one person or thing. That is, the first and second characters are concepts including a plurality of persons and objects. For example, the first character may be composed of a cart and a person who gets on the cart.

Further, according to the invention of claim 2,
The motion control means is the time when the first character is being operated by the first operation switch, and the second character
When the motion switch of the second character instructs the motion of the second character, the motion of the first character is further changed.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the image processing means displays the moving body character moving in the game space and the driver character driving the moving body character as the first character. , The passenger character boarding the moving body character is displayed as the second character. In addition, the first motion control means,
Controls the movements of the driver character and the moving body character. Further, the second motion control means controls the motion of the passenger character and changes the motion of the moving body character by reflecting the motion of the passenger character. According to this, the first character is composed of two characters, a moving body character and a driver character. Therefore, the player can obtain a new game feeling of operating another character (moving character) by operating two characters (driver character and passenger character) at the same time.

According to the invention of claim 4, the first aspect
The motion control means changes the traveling direction of the mobile character. Further, the second motion control means causes the passenger character to move so as to apply a load on the moving body character, and changes the traveling direction of the moving body character based on the direction in which the passenger character applies the load. .

According to the invention of claim 5, the first aspect
The motion control means changes the traveling direction of the mobile character and causes the driver character to perform a motion of operating the mobile character.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the image processing means is the character changing means (step S105).
Is further included. The character changing means changes the driver character and the passenger character according to an operation applied to a third operation switch included in the plurality of operation switches.

According to the invention of claim 7, the second aspect
The motion control means, according to the unique characteristics that are predetermined for the driver character and the passenger character,
The degree of change in the motion of the moving body character that reflects the motion of the passenger character is changed. As a result, the operation feeling of the moving body character is changed depending on the characteristics of the driver character and the passenger character. In addition, the player can change the operation feeling of the mobile character by performing the character changing operation. Therefore, the interest of the game can be further increased.

According to the invention of claim 8, the game program is stored in a computer included in a game device for operating a plurality of characters appearing in the game space,
The operation command acquisition step (step S103) and the image processing step (steps S104 to S111) are executed. In the operation command step, operation data including a plurality of types of game operation commands by the player is acquired. In the image processing step, a game image including image data of a plurality of characters is generated according to the operation data. Further, the image processing step includes a first operation control step and a second operation control step.
In the first motion control step, the first operation control data includes the first
The action of the first character appearing in the game space is controlled according to the operation command of. In the second motion control step, a second character that appears in the game space and is different from the first character in response to the second operation command included in the operation data.
The motion of the character is controlled, and the motion of the first character is changed to reflect the motion of the second character.

According to the invention of claim 9, the second aspect
The motion control step is when the first character is moved by the first operation command, and the second character
When the operation command of 2 instructs the operation of the second character, the operation of the first character is further changed.

According to the tenth aspect of the invention, in the image processing step, the moving body character moving in the game space and the driver character driving the moving body character are displayed as the first character. At the same time, the passenger character boarding the moving body character is displayed as the second character. In the first motion control step, the motions of the driver character and the moving body character change. In the second motion control step,
As the motion of the passenger character changes, the motion of the mobile character changes reflecting the motion of the passenger character.

According to the invention of claim 11, in the first motion control step, the moving direction of the moving character changes. In the second motion control step, the passenger character operates so as to apply a load on the moving body character, and the traveling direction of the moving body character changes based on the direction in which the passenger character applies the load.

According to the twelfth aspect of the invention, in the first motion control step, the moving direction of the moving body character is changed and the driver character is operated to operate the moving body character.

Further, according to the invention of claim 13, the image processing step further includes a character changing step. In the character change step, the driver character and the passenger character change according to the third operation command included in the operation data.

According to the fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the second motion control step, the motion of the passenger character is reflected in accordance with the peculiar characteristic that is predetermined for the driver character and the passenger character. The degree of change of the motion of the moving body character is changed.

[0023]

1 is an external view showing the configuration of a game system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram thereof. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the game system includes a game machine main body 101, a DVD-ROM 10
2, a memory card 103, a controller 104, a speaker 201, and a television 105. DVD-ROM
The game machine body 10
It is detachably attached to 1. A plurality of controllers 104 (four in FIG. 1) are provided in the game machine main body 101.
Connected to any of the connectors for the controller port 104. In addition, the television 105 and the speaker 201
Are connected by an AV cable or the like. In addition, in another embodiment, the communication between the game machine main body 101 and the controller 104 may be performed by wireless communication without using a communication cable. Hereinafter, each part of the game system according to the present invention will be described in detail. Hereinafter, a general operation of the game system will be described with reference to FIG.

DVD-ROM which is an example of an external storage medium
The data 102 fixedly stores game-related data such as a game program and character data. When the player plays the game, the DVD-ROM 102 is mounted on the game machine body 101. The means for storing the game program or the like is not limited to the DVD-ROM 102, but may be a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, MO, memory card, ROM cartridge, or the like. Memory card 103
Is composed of a rewritable storage medium such as a flash memory and records data such as save data in a game.

The game machine body 101 is a DVD-ROM 1
The game program recorded in 02 is read and game processing is performed. Details of the configuration and game processing of the game machine body 101 will be described later. The controller 104 is an input device for the player to make an input regarding game operation, and has a plurality of operation switches. Controller 10
Reference numeral 4 outputs operation data to the game machine main body 101 in response to a player pressing an operation switch or the like. TV 10
5 displays the image data output from the game machine body 101 on the screen. In addition, the speaker 201 is typically built in the television 105, and outputs the sound during the game output from the game machine main body 101.

Next, the structure of the game machine body 101 will be described. In FIG. 2, inside the game machine main body 101,
A CPU 202 and a memory controller 203 connected to it are provided. Further, in the game machine main body 101, the memory controller 203 includes a graphics processing unit (GPU) 204, a main memory 205, and a sub memory 20 via a DSP 206.
7 and various interfaces (IF) 208 to 211. The memory controller 203 controls data transfer between these components.

When starting the game, first, the DVD drive 2
13 is a DVD-RO mounted on the game console body 101
Drive M102. The game program stored in the DVD-ROM 102 is stored in the main memory 20 via the DVD I / F 212 and the memory controller 203.
Read in 5. The game is started by the CPU 202 executing the program on the main memory 205. After the game starts, the player uses the operation switches to input game operations and the like to the controller 104. According to the input by the player, the controller 104
Outputs the operation data to the game machine body 101. The operation data output from the controller 104 is input to the CPU 202 via the controller I / F 208 and the memory controller 203. The CPU 202 performs a game process according to the input operation data. The GPU 204 and the DSP 206 are used when generating image data in the game processing. In addition, the sub memory 207
Are used when the DSP 206 performs a predetermined process.

The GPU 204 has a geometry unit 21.
4 and a rendering unit 215, and is connected to a memory dedicated to image processing. The image processing dedicated memory is, for example, the color buffer 216 and the Z buffer 2
It is used as 17. The geometry unit 214 is
It is for performing arithmetic processing on the coordinates of a three-dimensional model (for example, an object composed of polygons) related to objects and figures placed in a game space that is a virtual three-dimensional space. , The coordinate of the world coordinate system is converted into the coordinate of the viewpoint coordinate system or the screen coordinate system. The rendering unit 215 is for generating a game image by writing color data (RGB data) for each pixel of the stereo model projected on the screen coordinates on the basis of a predetermined texture in the color buffer 216. . The color buffer 216 is a memory area reserved for holding the game image data (RGB data) generated by the rendering unit 215. The Z buffer 217 is a memory area secured to hold depth information from the viewpoint, which is lost when the three-dimensional viewpoint coordinates are converted into the two-dimensional screen coordinates. The GPU 204 uses these to generate image data to be displayed on the television 105, and appropriately through the memory controller 203 and the video I / F 209.
Output to 5. In addition, when the game program is executed, the CPU
The audio data generated in 202 is output from the memory controller 203 to the speaker 201 via the audio I / F 211. In this embodiment, a hardware configuration in which a memory dedicated to image processing is separately provided is not limited to this. For example, a method of using a part of the main memory 205 as a memory for image processing (UMA: Uni).
fied Memory Architecture)
May be used.

Next, the operation data generated by the controller 104 will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of operation switches of the controller 104 shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, the controller 104 uses the Z button 3
01, R button 302, L button 303, A button 304, B button 305, X button 306, Y
Button 307, start button 308, cross key 3
09, a main analog stick 310, and a sub-analog stick 311. FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the operation data generated by the controller 104 configured as described above.

As shown in FIG. 4, the operation data is, for example, 7
Composed of bytes. The 8th bit of the first byte is the Z button 301, the R button 302, the L button 303, the A button 304, the B button 305, the X button 306, and the Y button.
The operation states of the button 307 and the start button 308 are shown. Specifically, the 8th bit of the 1st byte indicates whether or not each of the above buttons is pressed. The second byte represents the operating state of the cross key 309. First 4 of the 2nd byte
Each bit represents whether or not the up, down, left, and right buttons on the cross key 309 are pressed. The remaining 4 bits of the 2nd byte are not used in this embodiment.

The third byte represents the x-axis data of the main analog stick 310. The x-axis data means the main analog stick 310 in the x-axis direction shown in FIG.
This is data indicating the degree to which is tilted. That is,
The 3rd byte shows how much the main analog stick 310 is tilted in the direction of the x-axis shown in FIG. Therefore, the input value of the main analog stick 310 differs depending on the degree to which the player defeats the stick. The 4th byte is the main analog stick 3.
Represents 10 y-axis data. The y-axis data is data indicating the degree to which the main analog stick 310 is tilted in the y-axis direction shown in FIG. As described above, the angle (degree) and the direction in which the main analog stick 310 is tilted can be represented by the 3rd and 4th bytes of the operation data. The 5th and 6th bytes represent x-axis data and y-axis data for the sub-analog stick 311. Therefore, as in the case of the main analog stick 310, the angle (degree) and the direction in which the sub analog stick 311 is tilted can be represented by the 5th and 6th bytes of the operation data.

The 7th byte represents the analog data of the R button 302 and the L button 303. Here, the analog data of the R button 302 (L button 303) is data indicating the degree to which the R button 302 (L button 303) is pressed. Therefore, the value indicated by the data in the 7th byte changes according to the degree to which the player presses the R button 302 or the L button 303 (for example, the pressing amount of the button). The first 4 bits of the 7th byte is the R button 30.
2 represents the analog data, and the remaining 4 bits represent the analog data of the L button 303.

Next, an outline of the game played in this embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example of a game played in this embodiment. In addition, FIG.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a character operated by a player in the game shown in FIG. 6A is a view seen from the rear of the cart, and FIG. 6B is a view seen from the side of the cart.
The game in this embodiment is a race game as shown in FIG. 5, and the player operates the character shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, a character operated by the player is a moving body character (cart) 601, and a driver character 60 driving the moving body character 601.
2 and a passenger character 603 boarding the moving body character 601 in addition to the driver character 602. The mobile character 601, the driver character 602, and the passenger character 603 move integrally. Here, the player roughly performs two types of operations. One is an operation performed on the driver character 602. The other is an operation performed on the passenger character 603. Here, the operation on the driver character 602 and the moving body character 603 is reflected on the behavior of the moving body character 601 in addition to the behavior of each character. Therefore, the player is the driver character 6
By operating 02 and the passenger character 603, the moving body character 601 is operated. This race game is a game in which a player drives a cart by performing the above-described two types of operations and races with another cart operated by another player or a game device. In the following description, a character operated by the player, that is, a character including the moving body character 601, the driver character 602, and the passenger character 603 is referred to as an operation target character. In addition, in the present embodiment, the driver character 602 and the passenger character 603 can be switched at a timing desired by the player. Specifically, in the game according to the present embodiment, a plurality of person characters imitating a person, which can be the driver character 602 and the passenger character 603, are prepared in advance, and the character of the controller is set at a desired timing during the race. The character set as the driver character 602 and the character set as the passenger character 603 can be changed according to the operation of the button. In addition, each person character is given a unique attribute (for example, weight, etc.), which makes it difficult for the moving body character 603 to rotate when the person character with a heavy weight is the driver, and when the person character is a passenger. The movement of the moving body character 603 is further changed so as to facilitate the rotation.

Next, the game processing performed in the game device according to this embodiment will be described. Here, the game device includes the game machine main body 101 and the controller 104 in which the DVD-ROM 102 is mounted.
FIG. 7 shows the CPU 202 and the GPU 20 of the game device.
9 is a flowchart showing a flow of game processing performed by the cooperative operation of No. 4 of FIG. In this embodiment, the CPU 2
Although the game process is performed by the cooperative operation of 02 and the GPU 204, it is also possible to cause almost all the process such as the geometry process to be performed only by the CPU 202, for example.

When the game starts, first, the CPU 20
2 forms a game space (step S101). Specifically, the CPU 202 sets a terrain object for forming terrain such as a race course in the game space 3
Place in the dimensional world coordinate system. Next, the CPU 202
Arranges the operation target character appearing in the game at the initial coordinates of the world coordinate system (step S102). It should be noted that, when there are a plurality of players or when there is an operation target character that is automatically controlled (operated) by the computer of the game device even if there is only one player, a plurality of operation target characters appear in the game. With the above processing, preparations for starting the race are made, and after step S102, the race is started.

After the start of the race, the CPU 202 acquires the operation data shown in FIG. 4 from the controller 104 (step S103), and determines whether or not the operation data is input (step S104). In step S104,
“There is an input of operation data” indicates that the operation data includes data related to an input required for game operation. Here, in the present embodiment, for example, the Z button 301, the R button 302, the L button 303, the A button 304, and the main analog stick 310 are used for game operation. Therefore, when the acquired operation data includes data related to these inputs, the CPU 202 determines that the operation data has been input. On the contrary, when the acquired operation data does not include data related to these inputs, the CPU 2
02 determines that the operation data has not been input. For example,
If only the data relating to the input of the sub-analog stick 311 is included in the operation data acquired in step S103, the CPU 202 determines that the operation data has not been input.

If it is determined in step S104 that the operation data has not been input, the CPU 202
The processes of steps S105 and S106 are skipped, and the process of step S107 is performed. On the other hand, when it is determined in step S104 that the operation data is input, the CPU 202 performs the character changing process (step S105). The character change process is a process relating to a change in the positional relationship and role of the driver character 602 and the passenger character 603 shown in FIG. The details of the character change process are described in FIG. After step S105, CP
U202 performs a character action determination process (step S106). The character motion determining process is a process of determining the motions of the driver character 602, the passenger character 603, and the moving body character 601. The details of the character action determination process have been described with reference to FIG.

Next, the CPU 202 issues a coordinate conversion command to the GPU 204, and accordingly the GPU 204
Converts a character, a terrain object, or the like from the world coordinate system to a camera coordinate system (also referred to as a viewpoint coordinate system) based on a virtual camera (step S10).
7). Here, the virtual camera is a viewpoint when the game space is displayed on the screen. Next, the GPU 204 further converts the camera coordinate system converted in step S107 into a two-dimensional projection plane coordinate system (also referred to as screen coordinate system) (step S108). During the conversion process to the projection plane coordinate system, the GPU 204 performs clipping, texture designation, lighting processing, and the like, and stores depth information from the viewpoint in the Z buffer. And GPU204
Is a raster process, that is, a process for writing (drawing) color information (color data) based on the texture for each polygon projected in the projection plane coordinate system into the color buffer 216 while referring to the Z buffer 217.
A game image is generated (step S109), and the game image is displayed on the television 105 (step S11).
0). One game image is generated and displayed by the processing in steps S103 to S110 described above.

After step S110, the CPU 202
Determines whether to end the game (step S1)
11). For example, when the race ends or the player performs a predetermined game end operation, the CPU 202 determines to end the game. When it is determined to end the game, the CPU 202 ends the processing shown in FIG. On the other hand, if it is not determined to end the game,
The CPU 202 has steps S103 to S111.
Repeat a series of processing of.

Next, the character changing process in step S105 will be described. First, the outline of the character change processing will be described. As described above, the character changing process is a process relating to the positional relationship and the role change of the driver character 602 and the passenger character 603 shown in FIG. Specifically, in the character change processing,
The CPU 202 changes the positional relationship and roles of the driver character 602 and the passenger character 603 when the player inputs a character change operation. In this embodiment, the change process is performed by the controller 1
It is supposed to be started by pressing the 04 Z button 301. When the Z button 301 is pressed, CP
The U202 displays an animation that changes the driver character 602 and the passenger character 603 (in other words, reproduces the motion data of the driver character and the passenger character).

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of animation in the character changing process shown in step S105 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, the CPU 202 causes the driver character 602 (character B in FIG. 8) to move to the rear part of the vehicle and the passenger character 603 (character A in FIG. 8) to move to the front part of the vehicle. , Display multiple game images. This display is performed by repeating the processing related to the loop from step S103 to step S111 shown in FIG. 7 a plurality of times. Referring to FIG. 8 as an example, in step S110 of FIG.
By sequentially displaying the images shown in (e) to (e), an animation for changing the driver character 602 and the passenger character 603 is displayed. The character changing process in step S105 is a process for performing such display. The details of the character change process will be described below.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing details of step S105 shown in FIG. First, the CPU 202
Determines whether the replacement process flag is ON (step S201). Here, the replacement processing flag means CP
This is a flag indicating whether or not U202 is in the process of performing the character changing process. That is, the replacement processing flag is ON
Means that the CPU 202 is in the process of performing the character changing process. On the contrary, the fact that the substitution process flag is OFF indicates that the CPU 202 is not performing the character substitution process. Step S201
If the replacement process flag is ON, the CPU 2
02 performs the process of step S204, and then step S2
The processing of 02 is skipped. Therefore, during the character changing process, the CPU 202 does not perform the process using the operation data acquired in step S103. That is, the operation input from the player is ignored during the character changing process.

On the other hand, when the replacement process flag is OFF in step S201, the CPU 202 determines Z based on the operation data acquired in step S103.
It is determined whether the input of the button 301 is ON (step S202). The determination in step S202 is performed by referring to the first bit of the first byte in the operation data acquired in step S103 (see FIG. 4). When the input of the Z button 301 is ON in the determination of step S202, the CPU 202
Set the replacement process flag to ON (step S203),
The process of step S204 is performed. On the other hand, Z button 301
When the input of is OFF, the CPU 202 ends the character changing process of step S105.

If the replacement process flag is ON in step S201, or if the replacement process flag is set ON in step S203, the CPU 202
Performs layout conversion processing (step S204). The arrangement conversion processing is processing for changing the arrangement of the driver character 602 and the passenger character 603, as in the display example shown in FIG. That is, in step S204, the CPU 202 gradually changes the arrangement coordinates and postures of the driver character 602 and the passenger character 603 so as to alternate between them. Explaining FIG. 8 as an example, the immediately preceding loop (step S103 to step S1)
11), the driver character 602 and the passenger character 603 are shown in FIG.
In the case of the state shown in FIG. 8B, the action of each character is decided in the state shown in FIG. 8C. As described above, the character change processing is performed by repeating the processing related to the loop from step S103 to step S111 shown in FIG. 7 a plurality of times. That is, the process of changing the driver character 602 and the passenger character 603 does not replace each character in one placement conversion process, but is completed by performing the placement conversion process a plurality of times.

Next, the CPU 202 determines whether or not the character change is completed (step S205). The determination in step S205 is made in step S2 performed immediately before.
This is performed based on the contents of the layout conversion process 04. Referring to FIG. 8 as an example, when the driver character 602 and the passenger character 603 are in the state shown in FIG.
02 determines that the character change is completed. On the contrary, if the characters are not in the state shown in FIG. 8E in the arrangement conversion process performed immediately before, the CPU 2
02 determines that the character change has not been completed.

If it is determined in step S205 that the character replacement has not been completed, the character replacement process of step S105 is terminated. In this case, since the alternation process flag remains set to ON, the arrangement conversion process of step S204 is performed again in the next loop (loop from step S103 to step S111). On the other hand, in the determination of step S205,
When the character change is completed, the CPU 202 changes the character data of the driver character 602 and the passenger character 603 (step S206). The character data is an attribute unique to the character described above, and in the present embodiment, is character weight data. That is, in step S206, the CP
U202 is the weight data of the driver character 602,
The weight data of the passenger character 603 is changed. Next, the CPU 202 sets the substitution process flag to OFF (step S207), and ends the character substitution process.

Next, the character motion determination process of step S106 will be described. First, the outline of the character motion determination process will be described. The character motion determination process is a process of determining the motions of the driver character 602, the passenger character 603, and the moving body character 601 based on the operation data from the controller 104. Hereinafter, the relationship between the motion of each character and the operation of the controller 104 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 12.

The driver character 602 is operated by the main analog stick 310. In particular,
When the player tilts the main analog stick 310, the driver character 602 operates the steering wheel. The operation of the main analog stick 310 is also related to the operation (cart) of the mobile character 601.

FIG. 10 shows the main analog stick 31.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display state of each character shown in FIG. 6 when 0 is tilted to the right. Note that FIG.
FIG. 10A is a view seen from the back of the cart, and FIG. 10B is a view seen from the side of the cart. As shown in FIG.
When the main analog stick 310 is tilted to the right, the driver character 602 turns the steering wheel to the right,
Turn your neck to the right. In this case, the moving body character 60
1 turns the front wheel to the right and changes the traveling direction to the right.

The passenger character 603 is operated by the R button 302 and the L button 303 of the controller 104. Specifically, when the player presses the R button 302, the passenger character 603 performs a motion of applying a load to the right side of the moving body character 601. In addition, when the player presses the L button 303, the passenger character 603 performs a motion of applying a load to the left side of the cart. The R button 302 and the L button 30
The operation of 3 is also related to the motion of the moving body character 601.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display state of each character shown in FIG. 6 when the R button 302 is pressed. As shown in FIG. 8, when the R button 302 is pressed, the passenger character 603 operates to put weight on the right side of the moving body character 601. In this case, the moving body character 601 tilts its posture to the right by a predetermined angle (Δα1 in FIG. 11) and changes the traveling direction to the right. In the present embodiment, R
The motion of the passenger character 603 is determined only based on whether or not the button 302 or the L button 303 is pressed. Here, in another embodiment, depending on how much the R button 302 or the L button 303 is pressed,
The way in which the weight of the passenger character 603 is applied (posture) may be changed.

Next, the operation of the mobile character 601 will be described. The moving direction of the moving body character 601 is determined by the main analog stick 310, the R button 302, and the L button 303, and the moving speed is determined by the A button 304. Therefore, the movement of the moving body character 601 in the traveling direction and the movement of the driver character 602 and the passenger character 603 are
It works together. In other words, the motion of the mobile character 601 changes depending on the motions of the driver character 602 and the passenger character 603. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a traveling direction of the moving body character 601 shown in FIG. 6 when the main analog stick 310 and the R button 302 (L button 303) are operated. The details of the operation of the mobile character 601 will be described below.

First, when only the main analog stick 310 is tilted to the right by a predetermined angle as shown in FIG. 12A, the direction of the moving body character 601 is changed to the right by Δβ1. FIG. 12A shows the same case as that shown in FIG. Also, as shown in FIG. 12B, the R button 3
If only 02 is pressed, the moving body character 60
The direction of 1 changes to the right by Δα2. Note that FIG.
(B) is the same case as shown in FIG. 11. Therefore, although not shown in FIG. 12B, the moving body character 601 is tilted by Δα1 in the rotation direction about the traveling direction as shown in FIG. 11.

Next, as shown in FIG. 12C, the main analog stick 310 is tilted to the right by a predetermined angle (the same angle as in FIG. 12A), and the R button 30
When 2 is pressed, the direction of the moving body character 601 changes to the right by Δγ1. In this case, the driver character 602 is operated so as to turn the steering wheel to the right, and the passenger character 603 is operated so as to perform a loading operation to the right side of the moving body character 601. Here, Δγ1 is larger than the sum of Δβ1 and Δα2. Therefore, both the driver character 602 and the passenger character 603 have the moving body character 601.
When is operated to turn to the right, it turns to the right more than when either one is operated. In other words, the moving body character 601 is easily turned to the right.

Further, as shown in FIG. 12 (d), the main analog stick 310 is tilted to the right by a predetermined angle (the same angle as in FIG. 12 (a)), and the L button 30 is used.
When 3 is pressed, the direction of the moving body character 601 changes to the right by Δγ2. In this case, the driver character 602 is operated so as to turn the steering wheel to the right, and the passenger character 603 is operated so as to perform a load operation to the left side of the moving body character 601. Here, Δγ2 is smaller than Δβ1. Therefore, when the moving body character 601 is operated to turn right for the driver character 602 and the moving body character 601 is operated to turn left for the passenger character 603, the driver character 60
The angle to the right is smaller than when only 2 is operated. In other words, it makes the moving character 601 difficult to turn right. As described above, the motion of the moving body character 601 is determined by reflecting the operation on the passenger character 603 in addition to the operation on the driver character 602.

The details of the character action determination process in step S106 will be described below. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing details of step S106 shown in FIG. First, the CPU 202 determines whether or not the alternation process flag is ON (step S301). When the substitution process flag is ON, the CPU 202 ends the character motion determination process. Therefore, during the character changing process, the CPU 202 does not perform the process using the operation data acquired in step S103. That is, the operation input from the player is ignored during the character changing process. On the other hand, if the replacement process flag is OFF, the CPU 202 performs the first operation control process (step S302). The first motion control process is a process of controlling the motion of the driver character 602. In the first motion control process, based on the operation applied to the main analog stick 310 included in the controller 104,
The action of the driver character 602 is determined. The details of the first operation control process will be described below.

FIG. 14 shows the step S302 shown in FIG.
3 is a flowchart showing the details of FIG. First, the CPU 20
2 determines whether or not the driver character 602 is operated (step S401). The determination in step S401 is made based on whether or not the operation data acquired in step S103 includes data for operating the driver character 602. That is, the area related to the main analog stick 310 in the operation data (3rd byte and 4th byte)
If the information includes information indicating that the main analog stick 310 is tilted, the CPU 202 determines that the driver character 602 is being operated. On the contrary, if the data of the area related to the main analog stick 310 in the operation data indicates that the main analog stick 310 is not tilted, the CPU
202 determines that the driver character 602 is not operated. If it is determined in step S401 that the driver character 602 is not operated, the CPU 202
Ends the first operation control process of step S302. On the other hand, in the determination of step S401, if the driver character 602 is being operated, the CPU 202
Extracts an operation command for the driver character 602 from the operation data acquired in step S103 (step S402). That is, the CPU 202 extracts the data of the third byte and the data of the fourth byte from the operation data. Further, the CPU 202 determines the motion of the driver character 602 based on the extracted operation command (step S403), and ends the first motion control process of step S302. The action determined in step S403 is determined, for example, such that the driver character 602 turns the steering wheel and turns the neck by an amount corresponding to the tilt angle of the main analog stick 310 in the x-axis direction.

Returning to the explanation of FIG. 13, after the first operation control processing, the CPU 202 executes the second operation control processing (step S303). The second motion control process is a process of controlling the motions of the passenger character 603 and the moving body character 601. In the second motion control process, the motion of the passenger character 603 is determined based on the operation applied to the R button 302 and the L button 303 included in the controller 104. Further, in the second motion control process, the motion of the moving body character 601 is determined by reflecting the motion of the passenger character 603. That is, the action of the mobile character 601 is determined based on the operations performed on the R button 302 and the L button 303 in addition to the main analog stick 310 and the A button 304. The details of the second operation control process will be described below.

FIG. 15 shows the step S303 shown in FIG.
3 is a flowchart showing the details of FIG. First, the CPU 20
2 performs the action determination process regarding the passenger character 603 (step S501). The action determination process for the passenger character 603 is a process for determining the action of the passenger character 603 based on the operation applied to the R button 302 and the L button 303 included in the controller 104. Hereinafter, the details of the action determination process regarding the passenger character 603 shown in step S501 will be described.

FIG. 16 shows the step S501 shown in FIG.
3 is a flowchart showing the details of FIG. First, the CPU 20
2 determines whether or not the passenger character 603 is operated (step S601). The determination in step S601 is performed depending on whether or not the operation data acquired in step S103 includes data for operating the passenger character 603. That is, when the area indicating the R button 302 and the L button 303 in the operation data includes information indicating that the R button 302 or the L button 303 is pressed, the CPU 202 operates the passenger character 603. Determine that On the other hand, when the data of the area related to the R button 302 and the L button 303 in the operation data indicates that the R button 302 or the L button 303 is not pressed, the CPU 202 determines that the passenger character 603 is not operated. To do. In addition,
In this embodiment, the R button 3 in the operation data
02 and L button 303, the second and third bits of the first byte are used as the area.
The 7th byte of analog data is not used.

If it is determined in step S601 that the passenger character 603 is not operated, the CPU 20
2 ends the second operation control process of step S501. On the other hand, when the passenger character 603 is operated in the determination of step S601, the CPU 202
Extracts an operation command for the passenger character 603 from the operation data acquired in step S103 (step S602). That is, the CPU 202 extracts the second bit data and the third bit data of the first byte from the operation data. Further, the CPU 202 determines the motion of the passenger character 603 based on the extracted operation command (step S603), and ends the motion control process of the passenger character 603 of step S501. In step S603, the motion of the passenger character 603 applies a load to the right side of the moving body character 601 when the R button 302 is pressed, and a load to the left side of the moving body character 601 when the L button 303 is pressed. It is decided to call.

Returning to the explanation of FIG. 15, the passenger character 6
After the action determination process for 03, the CPU 202 performs the action determination process for the moving character 601 (step S502). The action determination process regarding the moving body character 601 is performed by the main analog stick 310 and A.
In addition to button 304, R button 302 and L button 3
Based on the operation added to 03, the moving body character 6
This is a process for determining the operation of 01. Below, step S5
The details of the motion determination process regarding the moving body character 601 shown in 02 will be described.

FIG. 17 shows the step S502 shown in FIG.
3 is a flowchart showing the details of FIG. First, the CPU 20
2 determines whether or not the driver character 602 is being operated, that is, whether or not an operation related to the driver character 602 turning the steering wheel is being performed (step S701). The determination in step S701 is similar to the determination in step S401 shown in FIG. When the determination in step S701 is affirmative, the CPU 202 determines whether or not the passenger character 603 is operated, that is, whether or not the operation related to the action of the passenger character 603 applying a load is performed (step S7).
02). The determination in step S702 is similar to the determination in step S601 shown in FIG. When the determination in step S702 is negative, that is, the driver character 602
When no operation is performed on both the passenger character 603 and the passenger character 603, the CPU 202 determines that the moving body character 6
The posture of 01 is maintained as it is (step S70).
3).

Step S701 or step S702
In either case, if the determination result is affirmative, C
PU202 changes a posture according to operation (step S704). Specifically, the CPU 202 extracts data regarding the main analog stick 310, the R button 302, and the L button 303 from the operation data acquired in step S103, and determines the attitude of the mobile character 601 based on the extracted data. To do. For the method of determining the attitude of the mobile character 601,
This is described in the description of FIG. 12 above.

After step S704, the CPU 202
Changes the posture further according to the attribute of the character (step S705). As described above, in the present embodiment, a plurality of person characters that can be the driver character 602 and the passenger character 603 are prepared in advance, and each person character has its own unique attribute (weight in the present embodiment. )have. In the process of step S705, the CPU 202 determines the moving body character 60 based on the weight attribute unique to each person character.
Change the posture of 1. For example, the CPU 202
Is a moving body character 601 (moving body character 60
1) Based on the weight difference between the driver character 602 riding in the front and the passenger character 603 riding in the rear, the bending state of the moving body character 601 by the load operation of the passenger character 603 is changed. Specifically, in FIG. 12, the weight difference shown in FIG.
The values of Δγ1 shown in (c) and Δγ2 shown in FIG. For example, when the weight of the driver character 602 is heavy and the weight of the passenger character 603 is light, the moving body character 6 due to the load operation of the passenger character 603.
The bend degree of 01 is made small. That is, Δγ1 and Δ
The difference between β1 and the difference between Δγ2 and Δβ1 are reduced. On the contrary, when the weight of the driver character 602 is light and the weight of the passenger character 603 is desired, Δγ1 and Δβ1
And the difference between Δγ2 and Δβ1 are increased.
The posture of the moving body character 601 is determined by the above-described processing of steps S701 to S705.

After determining the attitude of the moving body character 601, that is, after step S703 or step S705, the CPU 202 determines whether or not the accelerator operation of the moving body character 601 is performed (step S7).
06). The determination in step S706 is step S
This is performed depending on whether or not the operation data acquired in 103 includes data for operating the accelerator of the moving body character 601. That is, when the area (the 4th bit of the 1st byte) related to the A button 304 in the operation data includes information indicating that the A button 304 is pressed, the CPU 202 is performing an accelerator operation. To determine. On the contrary, the data of the area related to the A button 304 in the operation data is
If the A button 304 indicates that it is not pressed, C
The PU 202 determines that the accelerator operation is not performed.

If the determination in step S706 is negative, C
The PU 202 performs the process of step S710. on the other hand,
If the determination in step S706 is affirmative, the CPU 202
Determines the acceleration in the posture direction (step S70).
7). The acceleration in the posture direction is expressed by a vector, and the direction of the vector is calculated in steps S701 to S70.
5 is determined by the posture of the moving body character 601. For the acceleration in the posture direction, see Fig. 1.
8 are described. Further, the CPU 202
It is determined whether or not the passenger character 603 has performed an operation related to the action of applying a load (step S70).
8). The determination in step S708 is made in step S7.
It is similar to the determination of 02. If the determination in step S708 is negative, the CPU 202 performs the process of step S710. On the other hand, if the determination in step S708 is affirmative, C
The PU 202 sets the acceleration due to the load (step S709). In the present embodiment, the acceleration due to the load is represented by a vector having a predetermined angle with respect to the traveling direction of the moving body character 601. Note that the acceleration due to the load has been described in FIG.

Step 706, S708 or S709
After that, the CPU 202 calculates the speed of the mobile character 601 (step S713). FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining the method of calculating the velocity of the moving body character in step S713 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 18, in the calculation in step S713, the vector 7 indicating the current speed is used.
01, a vector 702 indicating the acceleration in the posture direction, and a vector 703 indicating the acceleration due to the load, a vector 704 indicating the velocity of the moving body character is calculated. Here, the vector 701 indicating the current speed is determined based on the speed of the moving body character 601 calculated in step S713 in the previous loop (loop from steps S103 to S110). Further, as described above, the vector 702 indicating the acceleration in the posture direction is calculated in step S707, and the direction is determined based on the operation by the main analog stick 310 and the R button 302 and the L button 303. . The size of the vector 702 is determined by the pressing of the A button 304 (for example, the pressing time). The vector 703 indicating the acceleration due to the load is calculated in step S709, and the direction thereof is a direction that is oriented at a predetermined angle with respect to the traveling direction of the moving body character 601. The size of the vector 703 is a predetermined size that is set in advance. Note that in another embodiment, the R button 302 or the L button 3
When the weighting method (posture) of the passenger character 603 changes in accordance with the degree of pushing in 03, the vector 702
The size of the button changes depending on how much the R button 302 or the L button 303 is pressed. The mobile character 6
When the acceleration in the posture direction or the acceleration due to the load is not calculated, the velocity of 01 is calculated with these accelerations as 0. For example, in FIG. 18, when there is no acceleration due to the load, that is, when the load operation of the passenger character 603 is not performed, the velocity of the moving body character 601 is the vector 701 indicating the current velocity and the acceleration in the posture direction. Is shown as a vector 705 of the sum of the vector 702 and the vector 702.

Next, the CPU 202 executes step S710.
Based on the speed calculated in step 6, the moving body character 6
The position of 01 is updated (step S711), and the action determining process of the moving body character 601 of step S502 is completed. As described above, the posture and position of the moving body character 601 to be displayed are determined. It should be noted that the positions of the driver character 602 and the passenger character 603 are determined so as to get on the moving body character 601.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the player can simultaneously operate two characters, the driver character 602 and the passenger character 603. Here, in the case of simply operating two characters at the same time, the player has to pay attention to the two characters, and thus the game operation becomes very difficult. However, according to the present embodiment, the motion of the mobile character 601 is determined based on the motions of the two characters. Therefore, as a result, the player only needs to pay attention to one character, that is, the moving body character 601, so that the player can play the game without being aware of the difficulty of operating the two characters at the same time. it can.

In this embodiment, the three characters, that is, the moving body character 601, the driver character 602, and the passenger character 603, are the objects to be operated by the player. Here, the operation target of the player is
The number does not necessarily have to be three, and may be at least two characters. For example, the objects operated by the player may be two characters, a mobile character and a passenger character.

Further, in this embodiment, each character is a unit of one person or one cart. Here, in another embodiment, one character may be composed of a plurality of persons and a moving body (cart). For example, the passenger character may be composed of two persons, and a total of three persons including the driver character may be on the cart operated by the player.

In this embodiment, the character changing process is performed in step S105 shown in FIG. In the character change processing, the player can change the behavior of the moving body character by changing the driver character 602 and the passenger character 603 even when the same operation is performed. For example, when the character A is the driver character 602 and the character B is the passenger character 603, and vice versa, the bending degree of the moving body character 601 is different. This is expected to further increase the fun of the game. In addition, in the present embodiment, the attribute of the character is weight, but it may be a physical attribute such as height, or may be an attribute completely unrelated to the physical shape.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view showing a configuration of a game system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of a game system according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of operation switches of a controller 104 shown in FIG.

4 is a diagram showing a configuration of operation data generated by a controller 104 shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example of a game played in the present embodiment.

6 is a diagram showing a character operated by a player in the game shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of a game process performed by the CPU 202 of the present game device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an animation in the character changing process shown in step S105 of FIG.

9 is a flowchart showing details of step S105 shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display state of each character shown in FIG. 6 when the main analog stick 310 is tilted to the right.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display state of each character shown in FIG. 6 when an R button 302 is pressed.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a traveling direction of a mobile character 601 shown in FIG. 6 when a main analog stick 310 and an R button 302 (L button 303) are operated.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing details of step S106 shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing details of step S302 shown in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing details of step S303 shown in FIG.

16 is a flowchart showing details of step S501 shown in FIG.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing details of step S502 shown in FIG.

FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining a method of calculating the velocity of a moving body character in step S713 of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 Game console body 102 DVD-ROM 103 memory card 104 controller 105 TV 202 CPU

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Kiyoshi Mizuki             11-1 Kamitoba Hokodatemachi, Minami-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto Prefecture             Nintendo Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2C001 AA09 BA02 BA06 BC05 CA01                       CB01 CB04 CB06 CC02

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A game device for operating a plurality of characters appearing in a game space, the controller having a plurality of operation switches operated by a player, and a game device for a game in response to the operation of the controller. Image processing means for executing a program process and generating a game image including image data of the plurality of characters as a result, the image processing means comprising a first operation switch included in the plurality of operation switches. A first motion control means for controlling a motion of the first character appearing in the game space in accordance with a manipulation applied to the game space, and a manipulation applied to a second manipulation switch included in the plurality of manipulation switches. According to the control of the motion of a second character that appears in the game space and is different from the first character. , Reflecting the operation of the second character and a second operation control means for changing the operation of the first character, the game apparatus. 2. The second motion control means is operable when the first character is being operated by the first operation switch, and when the second operation switch causes the second character to move. When the operation is instructed,
The game device according to claim 1, wherein the motion of the first character is further changed. 3. The image processing means displays a moving body character moving in the game space and a driver character driving the moving body character as the first character, and boarding the moving body character. A passenger character that does this as the second character, the first motion control means controls the motions of the driver character and the moving body character, and the second motion control means controls the motion of the passenger character. 3. The game device according to claim 1, wherein the game device controls the movement of the passenger character and changes the movement of the moving body character while reflecting the movement of the passenger character. 4. The first motion control means changes a traveling direction of the moving body character, and the second motion control means moves the passenger character so as to apply a load on the moving body character. At the same time, the traveling direction of the moving body character is changed based on the direction in which the passenger character applies a load,
The game device according to claim 3. 5. The game device according to claim 4, wherein the first motion control means changes a traveling direction of the moving body character and causes the driver character to perform a motion of operating the moving body character. 6. The character changing means for changing the driver character and the passenger character according to an operation applied to a third operation switch included in the plurality of operation switches. Further including,
The game device according to claim 3. 7. The second motion control means, in response to a predetermined characteristic of the driver character and the passenger character, a motion of the mobile character reflecting the motion of the passenger character. 7. The game device according to claim 6, wherein the degree of change of is changed. 8. A controller included in a computer included in a game device that operates a plurality of characters appearing in a game space in response to an operation of a controller by a player, and operation data including a plurality of types of game operation instructions by the player. And an image processing step of generating a game image including image data of the plurality of characters according to the operation data, the image processing step being included in the operation data. A first motion control step of controlling a motion of a first character appearing in the game space in response to a first operation command; and a second motion command in the game space in response to a second operation command included in the operation data. While controlling the movement of the second character that has appeared and is different from the first character, Reflecting the operation of the second character and a second motion control step of changing the operation of the first character,
Game program. 9. The second operation control step includes the first operation control step.
When the first character is operated by the operation command of 1. and when the operation of the second character is instructed by the second operation command, the operation of the first character is further performed. 9. Changing,
The game program described in. 10. The image processing step displays a moving body character moving in the game space and a driver character driving the moving body character as the first character, and boarding the moving body character. A passenger character to be displayed as the second character, the first motion control step changes the motions of the driver character and the moving body character, and the second motion control step includes the motion of the passenger character. The game program according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the movement of the moving body character is changed while reflecting the movement of the passenger character. 11. The first motion control step changes a traveling direction of the moving body character, and the second motion control step moves the passenger character so as to apply a load on the moving body character. At the same time, the game program according to claim 10, wherein the traveling direction of the moving body character is changed based on the direction in which the passenger character applies a load. 12. The game program according to claim 11, wherein the first motion control step changes a traveling direction of the mobile character and causes the driver character to perform a motion of operating the mobile character. . 13. The image processing step further includes a character changing step of changing the driver character and the passenger character according to a third operation command included in the operation data. 12. The game program according to any one of 12. 14. The second motion control step, in which the motion of the moving character reflects the motion of the passenger character in accordance with a predetermined characteristic of the driver character and the passenger character. 14. The game program according to claim 13, wherein the degree of change of is changed.