JPH07178242A - Viewpoint change method for ball game in game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To display a viewpoint by automatically changing corresponding to the present situation and to display a ball game by making powerfullness and the easiness of an operation compatible in a viewpoint change method in the ball game in a game machine. CONSTITUTION:The area of a sports ground which forms a display range is divided, and the information of viewpoint is set at every divided area (step S1), and it is discriminated whether or not a traveling object that is the target of trace decided in advance is moved from the present area to another area based on the area information of the area (step S9). When it is discriminated that the traveling object is moved to another area, the viewpoint set on the area after movement is set as a new viewpoint(step S10), and the viewpoint is changed gradually successively as tracing the traveling object when the viewpoint is changed from the one before change to the new viewpoint, and a display target is displayed based on a changed viewpoint.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a viewpoint changing method in a ball game on a game machine, and in particular, it holds information relating to a display object as three-dimensional stereoscopic data, and performs three-dimensional arithmetic processing on the information. The present invention relates to a viewpoint changing method in a ball game in a game machine in which display is performed based on information about a display target.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional electronic game machine, display image information on a display device is two-dimensional plane information,
The so-called pictures were continuously projected to create a dynamic continuous image. According to this conventional general display system, all objects drawn are based on a two-dimensional picture, and there is no concept of the presence of a light source or the viewpoint of a camera.

By the way, recently, a method of displaying by adopting three-dimensional information as display image information has begun to spread by developing the conventional display method as described above. That is, according to the method, since it is three-dimensional information, an object represented by image information can be regarded as a three-dimensional object and the concept of a viewpoint can be introduced. All displayed objects are three-dimensional information (X, Y,
Z), and can perform their arithmetic processing. By introducing a concept of a viewpoint (a position where the camera is located), if a certain point on the three-dimensional coordinate axis is defined as a viewpoint, an image of the target object viewed from that position will be displayed on the display device. In addition, by moving the coordinates of the viewpoint, the viewpoint can be changed continuously or stepwise, whereby it becomes possible to display any position in the three-dimensional space as a viewpoint on the display device. This is a technology called so-called virtual reality (virtual reality or pseudo-world, etc.).

According to this technique, an arbitrary three-dimensional world can be simulated by three-dimensional manipulation of image information, and as described above, camera work which does not actually exist can be realized by introducing the concept of viewpoint. With the concept of viewpoint, it becomes possible to realize an image with a light source at an arbitrary position. Such three-dimensional CG (three-dimensional computer graphics) technology is inevitably being adopted in game machines.

For example, in recent electronic game machines,
One in which information of one or a plurality of viewpoints is set in advance, a viewpoint switching means operated by a competitor is provided, and a player can arbitrarily change the viewpoint of a display image by operating the switching means. is there. In the example of a so-called driving game, the viewpoint is “slightly behind the vehicle”, the viewpoint is the “competitor (driver) 's viewpoint”, and the viewpoint is “low behind the vehicle,
A viewpoint is set such that four viewpoints are set, such as "high altitude behind the vehicle", and the player can select the viewpoints of to with a switching button. In addition, there is also one in which a detecting means for detecting the competition posture of the athlete is provided, and the viewpoint of the display image is automatically changed in accordance with the change of the competition posture of the athlete (forward, backward, leftward and rightward movement, etc.). 4-17
9040).

[0006]

By the way, in the conventional ball game, there is a game in which the viewpoints are switched and displayed between the scene where the batter hits and the scene where the fielder catches the ball, like the baseball game. It was the intention of the programmer when creating the game program, and it was fixed at the time of creating the program, and the situation on the spot at the time of competition was not reflected. Furthermore, the changes between a plurality of viewpoints are also gradual, and there is no one that gradually moves the viewpoint and continuously changes the viewpoint. Also, because the scenes in the ball field were displayed at the same viewpoint height, it was not possible to obtain sufficient power in a decisive scene (such as a competition scene in front of the goal). Furthermore, since the height of the viewpoint is fixed at a high position and an image of a wide range from a high altitude is displayed, it becomes difficult to see the ball and the like, and there is a problem in terms of operability.

On the other hand, in the example of the electronic game machine described above, since the player can arbitrarily switch the viewpoint by using a viewpoint switching button or the like, it was a very effective method in a driving game or the like. In a ball game, such as a baseball game, in which the ball moves rapidly, there is a concern that the operation becomes difficult because the viewpoint switching operation is performed while the player moves the operation, and the effect cannot be sufficiently exerted.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to automatically change the viewpoint according to the situation of the situation and to display it, and also to give a powerful scene. It is possible to display both a powerful and easy-to-use display by changing to a viewpoint that increases the sense of presence and a viewpoint that facilitates operation in situations where operability is important. It is to provide a method of changing a viewpoint in a ball game on a machine.

[0009]

According to the present invention, information relating to a display object is held as three-dimensional stereoscopic data, and display is performed based on the information relating to the display object which is subjected to a three-dimensional arithmetic processing on the information. The present invention relates to a viewpoint changing method in a ball game on a game machine, and the above-mentioned object of the present invention is to:
The area of the stadium that is the display range is divided, the viewpoint information is set for each divided area, and the moving object that is the target of tracking that has been determined in advance has moved from the current area to another area. Whether or not to determine based on the area information of the area, if you have moved to another area, set the viewpoint set in the area after the movement as a new viewpoint,
This is achieved by changing from the viewpoint before moving to the new viewpoint by gradually and continuously changing while tracking the moving body, and displaying the display target based on the changed viewpoint. .

[0010]

In the present invention, the viewpoint information is set for each of the divided areas, and when the moving object that is the target of predetermined tracking moves from the current area to another area, The viewpoint set in the area after movement is set as a new viewpoint, and when changing to a new viewpoint, it is gradually and continuously changed while tracking the moving body, and based on the changed viewpoint. Since the display target is displayed by using, the game screen best suited to each situation can be automatically displayed. Since the height of the viewpoint can be set arbitrarily for each area, the viewpoint information can be set high in situations where you want to exert power, and low in situations where operability is important. The display can be made compatible with ease of operation.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an electronic play device for realizing the viewpoint changing method in the ball game in the game machine of the present invention, and the outline of the operation of the device will be described below. Here, the RAM 105 stores detailed settings of the program and other information, and the central processing unit 101 refers to the contents of the program / program.
The game program stored in the data ROM 104 is executed. At this time, various data are written in or read from the data RAM 105.

The operation unit 20 such as buttons and levers is used for input / output.
Data processing unit 100 with interface 106 as an entrance
, And information from there is input to the central processing unit 101. The image processing device 102 performs a three-dimensional geometric conversion process and a composition process of the image data according to the instruction of the central processing unit 101, and displays on the TV monitor 30 an image in which the scenery, the background, and the like change every moment according to the operation of the player. indicate. The sound device 103 generates a predetermined music or sound effect based on an instruction from the central processing unit 101, and the generated sound is output via the speaker 40 connected to the data processing unit 100.

Now, the three-dimensional spatial information processing premised on the present invention will be described. Three-dimensional information is secured as video information to be displayed on the TV monitor 30. That is, the position and shape of the object relating to the projected image are all specified by the coordinates in the three-dimensional coordinate space. In addition, a viewpoint at an arbitrary position in the three-dimensional space is set, and the image displayed on the TV monitor 30 is a scene that looks into the space from that viewpoint. The viewpoint can be set at any position in space. By continuously moving the viewpoint, a person who looks into the TV monitor 30 feels as if he or she is moving in the three-dimensional space. In that sense, such technology is called virtual reality. In this respect, it is fundamentally different from the general method in which a two-dimensional picture is simply projected continuously.

By the way, there are several methods for representing an object in a three-dimensional space. Two typical examples are patch processing and polygon processing. The patch processing is a method of constructing a solid by a plurality of aspects. According to this method, it is possible to easily configure a solid body having a smooth curved surface. Polygon processing is a method of constructing a solid body from a plurality of polygons. That is, this is a method in which an object is regarded as an aggregate of a plurality of polygonal plates and information is stored for each polygon. Polygon processing has the advantage of being able to perform calculation processing at a higher speed than patch processing, and is therefore used in games that target moving bodies that move at high speed, such as competition cars and fighters. In the soccer game of the present embodiment, the patch processing is adopted because it is important to give a realistic feeling. However, the method of the present invention is not limited to the above processing, so whichever processing is adopted. Is also good.

Therefore, the display-related portion will be described in detail. The central processing unit 101 uses the R
The three-dimensional information (data representing coordinates of vertices, sides, surfaces, and mutual relationship) of a fixed object in the three-dimensional space stored in the OM 104 is read and written in the image memory in the image processing apparatus 102. . Then, the central processing unit 10
In the execution process of the play program, 1 writes the position of the player, the position of the ball, the position of the viewpoint, and the coordinate conversion formulas related thereto in the image memory of the image processing device 102 moment by moment.

The image processing apparatus 102 reads the fixed object information stored in the image memory, the position of the player, the position of the ball, the position of the viewpoint, and the coordinate conversion formulas related thereto, and the target at that time. Coordinate conversion is performed on the information of a fixed object such as the background based on the relative viewpoint to the object (moving object to be tracked by the camera), and the image data on the coordinate-converted three-dimensional coordinates is displayed on the screen. After the coordinate conversion processing such as projection, image data with shading and coloring is generated and output to the TV monitor 30. By such processing, a three-dimensional image is displayed on the TV monitor 30.

A method of changing the viewpoint in the ball game in the game machine of the present invention having such a configuration will be described. Before describing the details, an outline will be described using a specific example in a soccer game. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of camera work in a soccer game, and the camera CV (viewpoint) is defined as viewpoint P1 → viewpoint P2 → viewpoint P3 → viewpoint P4 → viewpoint P5 between the goals G1 and G2. The figure shows an example of a case where the player moves to a position and continuously changes the height to project a competition scene. The viewpoint tracks an important display object that must always be displayed during the game, and moves in conjunction with the display object. In a soccer game, the ball corresponds to an important display target, and the ball is set as a target for automatic tracking. Then, the viewpoint is moved by changing the position of the viewpoint based on the ball position information.

Further, in the present invention, the height of the viewpoint is automatically changed along with the tracking of the ball. Therefore, camerawork information (viewpoint information such as viewpoint height, direction, angle, and drawing range) is set for each area obtained by dividing the area of the stadium serving as the display range. Then, when the moving object (ball) to be tracked moves to another setting area, the viewpoint information of the area after the movement is set as a new setting value, and the position information of the tracking target and each viewpoint of the area after the movement before movement are set. The camera work as shown in FIG. 3 is performed by changing the viewpoint based on the information.

With such a camerawork, for example,
A game screen as shown in FIG. 4A is displayed at the position of the viewpoint P3 in FIG. 3, and a game screen as shown in FIG. 4B is displayed at the position of the viewpoint P5. In other words, in the middle stage, a wide range is projected from a high viewpoint so that the position of each player can be easily understood, and in front of the goal, the viewpoint is lowered so as to obtain a powerful screen. The example screen shown in the figure is a player character (player character operated by a player).
Is an example when the player keeps the ball and is attacking the goal G2 side displayed at the back of the screen. For example, when the team attacking the goal G1 in front is keeping the ball, the viewpoints are switched and displayed so that the position of the ball is displayed on the back side (upper part) of the screen. In this way, the viewpoint changes according to preset viewpoint information, and
It is designed to change depending on the situation.

Further, even at the same viewpoint position, a part of the screen is continuously enlarged (zoomed up) while the magnification is increased according to the situation at the spot, or conversely, the magnification is decreased. While expanding the projected area while displaying (zoom out). For example, if the enemy player is nearby while the ball is being held, it will be displayed in a zoomed-up display, and if the enemy player is not nearby, it will be displayed in a zoomed-out position. , The magnification is continuously changed on the basis of the position information of the position of the ball and the viewpoint to display the enlarged screen or the reduced screen.

Here, the position of the viewpoint is changed during the game by the processing in the image processing apparatus 102 as described above. That is, the image processing apparatus 102 writes player positions, ball positions, viewpoint positions, and coordinate conversion formulas related thereto in the image memory of the image processing apparatus 102 every moment during the execution process of the game program. Based on these pieces of information, the scenes overlooking the space from that viewpoint are successively displayed on the TV monitor 30. that time,
When changing from the previous viewpoint to a new viewpoint, the TV monitor 30 is provided with a three-dimensional image in which the viewpoint is continuously changed by gradually and continuously changing the viewpoint.

Next, the method of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the flow chart of FIG. The player selects a play mode (one-player vs. computer, ally side two-player vs. computer, two-player mode on ally side and enemy side, etc.) by operating the operation unit 20, and decides a team to compete in. When the game is started, the central processing unit 101 performs the following processing as initial setting processing relating to viewpoint change. Here, it is assumed that the camera work information (viewpoint information such as viewpoint height, direction, angle, and drawing range) is set in advance for each area obtained by dividing the area of the stadium serving as the display range. In addition, the target of automatic tracking is also set in advance according to the type of ball game. The size and shape of each area to be divided are arbitrary, and each area may be set according to camera work. Area information (coordinate values, etc.) is set as information on the divided areas.

The central processing unit 101 writes the preset information for automatic tracking and the viewpoint information in the RAM 105, and further initializes the control information for changing the viewpoint (step S1). Including the initial setting of camera work,
When the initial processing ends, the competition starts, and the central processing unit 101 performs the subsequent processing as the viewpoint changing processing. First, it is determined whether or not the team who keeps the ball is a team that attacks the back side on the game screen (step S
2) If it is a team that attacks the back, the process proceeds to step S4, and if it is a team that attacks the front, the camera work setting is switched to the setting of the team that attacks the front. In other words, if you are a team that attacks the front side, you will attack from the back side to the front side on the game screen. The position is switched (step S3).
Note that the attacking direction is not limited to the above-described form, and various types can be considered according to the type of game and the like.

Then, it is determined whether or not there is a player of the enemy team nearby (step S4), and if there is a player of the enemy team, it is determined whether or not the player has already zoomed in (step S5). If the zoom is not up, the zoom up process is performed. The zoom-up processing is performed by the image processing apparatus 102 based on the viewpoint information, the coordinate conversion formula, etc. from the central processing unit 101 (step S6). on the other hand,
In step S4, if there is no enemy player nearby, it is determined whether or not zooming is already performed (step S7), and if zooming in is performed, zoom out processing is performed (step S8). Here, the above-described zoom-up / zoom-out processing has been described as an example in which it is performed depending on whether or not there is a player of the enemy team nearby, but it is not limited to this. That is, discrimination information of a specific event, enlargement ratio, etc. are set in advance, it is determined whether or not a specific event has occurred, and zoom-up / zoom-out processing is performed according to the event.

After the zoom-up or zoom-out processing is completed, the moving object to be automatically tracked moves to an area with a different camerawork setting based on the position information of the player and the area information of the area. It is determined whether or not it has been done (step S9), and if it is within the area of the same setting, the process returns to step S2 and the above processing is repeated. Step S9
If the target of automatic tracking has moved to an area with a setting different from the previous one, the viewpoint information set for that area is taken out, the camera work is set to a new setting value (step S10), and step S2 is executed. Return The above process is repeated.

In the above-mentioned viewpoint changing process, the movement of the viewpoint accompanied by the movement of the object of automatic tracking is performed by changing the position information of the tracking target and the position information of the viewpoint based on the viewpoint information. The height of the viewpoint is changed based on the position information of the tracking target and the viewpoint information of the areas before and after the movement. At that time, when changing the viewpoint from a position before moving to a new position such as changing the height of the viewpoint from a high position to a low position or from a low position to a high position, the moving object is gradually tracked continuously. Change to, and display a 3D image based on the changed viewpoint.

In the above embodiment, the number of cameras (viewpoints) has been described as an example.
Camera work may be set for each camera and switched depending on an event. Further, although the target of automatic tracking has been described on the assumption that it is set in advance, a plurality of targets may be set and changed according to an event. By these processes, it is possible to produce a more varied screen. Further, the method of the present invention can be applied to commercial ones such as game arcades and general household ones.

[0028]

As described above, according to the viewpoint changing method in the ball game on the game machine of the present invention, the viewpoint is switched according to the situation and the best game screen is automatically displayed in each situation. You can For example, it is possible to automatically enhance the sensation of reality by projecting a scene from a low point of view when it is desired to make a powerful impression, and increase the operability by projecting from a high point of view in a situation where importance is attached to operability. In the past, since the images were from the same viewpoint height and a high altitude viewpoint, there was no sense of depth, and it was not possible to obtain sufficient power in front of the goal. The height can be continuously changed, and the three-dimensional image display from the low altitude can be displayed, so that the sense of depth is increased and the player can feel as if he or she is playing in a ball field. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart for explaining a viewpoint changing method in a ball game on a game machine of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an electronic amusement machine that realizes the method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of camera work in a soccer game for explaining the method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a screen example in the camera work of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 20 Operation Unit 30 TV Monitor 40 Speaker 100 Data Processing Unit 101 Central Processing Unit 102 Image Processing Device 103 Sound Device 104 Program / Data ROM 105 Data RAM 106 Input / Interface

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A ball game in a game machine in which information related to a display target in a ball game is held as three-dimensional stereoscopic data, and display is performed based on the information related to the display target which is subjected to a three-dimensional calculation process for the information. In the viewpoint changing method in the game, the area of the stadium that is the display range is divided, the viewpoint information is set for each divided area, and the moving object that is the target of the predetermined tracking is the current one. Whether or not the area has moved to another area is determined based on the area information of the area, and if the area has moved to another area, the viewpoint set in the area after the movement is set as a new viewpoint. When changing from the viewpoint before moving to the new viewpoint, the moving object is gradually and continuously changed while being tracked, and the display target is displayed based on the changed viewpoint. And a viewpoint changing method in a ball game on a game machine. 2. The display of the display object from the changed viewpoint is such that, when a preset specific event occurs, the display is performed by zooming in or zooming out according to the event. The method for changing a viewpoint in a ball game on a game machine according to claim 1. 3. The moving object to be tracked is a ball used in a ball game, and the position where the ball is displayed on the display screen is the viewpoint depending on the attacking direction of the team holding the ball. The viewpoint changing method in a ball game on a game machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the adjustment is performed by changing the position of.