JP2000107441A - Game device, topographic pattern forming method, and information recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game device wherein even in the same area, patterns for a topography or the like are changed every time the game is started, and in addition, the setting of a pattern to keep a balance in the advance of the game, the technique of a player and the improvement of the capability of characters, an information recording medium, and a topographic pattern forming method. SOLUTION: In a main memory 47 of this game device, a large number of maps which are constituted by arranging constituent articles for a topography in such a manner that respective different patterns as an overall area may be formed, in a fixed area of previously determined shape and size, are stored. A CPU 31 selects one of the maps in response to the degree of difficulty of a game every time when a stage (scene) wherein the game is developed is newly provided, and in addition, randomly arranges accessory constituent articles such as enemy characters and items in it. By this constitution, a pattern of a topography or the like for which the degree of difficulty of a game is taken under consideration can be provided as a different one for each time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a fixed area having a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed, for example, each floor of a map on which terrain components are arranged. The present invention relates to a game device, a terrain pattern forming method, and an information recording medium devised to form different patterns.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a certain kind of computer game, a hero descends a map one floor at a time, and the game progresses while defeating enemies on each floor. In this type of game, each time the hero reaches one new floor, the fixed area pattern, such as the location of the cave or passageway or the stairs to go down one floor, is different from that of the previous floor. . In addition, enemies lurking in the middle of a passage or the like, pits and items arranged are usually different for each floor. Therefore, the player of the game can progress the game with a new sense of tension every time the character goes down the stairs to the first floor.

FIG. 28 shows a pattern including a plurality of rooms and passages on a certain floor of a map. In one fixed rectangular area 11 having a predetermined size, in this example, first to third rooms 12a to 12c and passages 13a to 13c interconnecting them are arranged. The patterns for each floor are not necessarily rooms 12a to 12c
Or the passages 13a to 13c. For example, data such as where an item or an enemy exists may also form part of the pattern. However, for simplicity of description, these are not shown here.

[0004] In the fixed area 11 shown in FIG.
Although three rooms 12a to 12c are arranged, the number of rooms increases or decreases within a predetermined range depending on the floor. In the example shown in FIG. 28, the size of the first room 12a is the smallest, and the size of the room becomes larger as the size of the second room 12b and the size of the third room 12c increase.
May have the same size or different types of sizes. Further, there is a variation regarding where each room 12 is located in the fixed area 11. As described above, if the number of the rooms 12 increases, the combinations thereof become various. In addition, the number and arrangement of the passages 13 connecting the rooms 12 naturally differ depending on the number of the rooms 12 and their sizes and positions. In this way, it is possible to set different patterns to fill the fixed area 11 on each floor.

By the way, it is assumed that a certain game has a map with a depth of, for example, 100 floors. In such a case, the pattern for filling the fixed area 11 as shown in FIG. 28 is set in advance to be different for each floor, and such data is stored in advance in a storage medium for programming the development of the game. Conventionally, there is a game device that can be set. In such a game device, in this example, 100
By creating patterns for floors in advance and arranging these patterns so that it becomes increasingly difficult to fight enemies on each floor as the floor goes down, you can keep the player from getting tired even if the floor goes down Game development can be performed.

[0006]

However, in such a game device, even if the player completes the game once and then tries the same game again, the pattern of the fixed area 11 on each floor is exactly the same as before. It will be something. Also, the place where the enemy appears and the place where the item is found are the same as before. Therefore, there is a problem that the game has no freshness. Also, if the person who could not clear the game tries the game again from the beginning, or in a game with a story that progresses the game while going back and forth between the ground and the basement, the place where you arrived before is completely the same as before. It follows the same fixed area 11 pattern and goes down the basement, and the same situation as the previous time is repeated until it reaches that location. Therefore, as in the case where the game once ended is played again, the game development without freshness is advanced.

Therefore, in some game machines, for example, tens of thousands of patterns are created in advance for the fixed area 11, and these patterns are extracted at random from one floor to the next floor. Like that. In such a game device, the first basement floor, the second basement floor,
Every time you go to the third basement floor, you will have to select one pattern from a huge number of patterns. For this reason, when going down the basement, the possibility that the same pattern appears on each floor is extremely reduced. Similarly, when the game is started again from the beginning, a random selection of a pattern is performed. For example, even if the player descends to the same basement floor from the ground again, a different pattern from the previous one will appear. . Therefore, for example, even if the player who has overrun the game at the stage where he has advanced to 10 times underground starts the game again, a completely different game development is performed between 1 time underground and 10 times underground. No more getting bored.

However, if the patterns of each floor are randomly generated, the game cannot be advanced before a certain mechanism is released or a certain item is not obtained before a certain stage of the game. Therefore, it becomes impossible to set conditions for the progress of the game. Here, the gimmick is, for example, a locked room or a floor on which the character is damaged when stepped on.

In other words, if a series of patterns are prepared in a fixed manner, an item acquired at a certain point in time will be useful for solving a special mechanism that appears later than that. If a pattern is generated in each floor, there is a possibility that the pattern extracted for each floor may not be required to solve a special mechanism. This is because, in a situation where a pattern is randomly generated, an item required to solve the device does not always appear before the device appears. For this reason, it is inevitable to adopt a story development in which the player proceeds with the game without encountering these barriers, which causes a problem that the game becomes monotonous.

[0010] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a game system in which, even if a pattern is not randomly selected, or if a pattern is selected, a pattern such as a terrain is changed every time the game is started even in the same area. It is an object of the present invention to provide a game device, a terrain pattern forming method, and an information recording medium capable of setting a pattern that balances the progress of the game and the improvement of the ability of the player and the ability of the character.

[0011]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, (a) a map group storage in which a large number of maps in which terrain components prepared in advance are arranged and stored in correspondence with the difficulty of the game is stored. Means and (b) map extracting means for extracting a map from the map group storing means according to the difficulty of the game at the stage of using the map are provided in the game device.

That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a large number of maps in which terrain components are arranged are stored in the map group storage means in correspondence with the difficulty of the game, and the map extraction means is used to store the maps. The map is extracted from the map group storage means according to the difficulty of the game at the stage where the map is used. Therefore, a map corresponding to the difficulty level of the game can be obtained. As the map group storage means, a designated storage medium such as a main memory as a work memory constituting the game apparatus can be used. As a map extracting means, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Uniform) that controls various controls in a game device is used.
t; central processing unit).

According to the second aspect of the present invention, (a) a map group storing means for storing a large number of maps in which a plurality of terrain components prepared in advance are stored in correspondence with the difficulty of the game; B) The game device comprises: a map extracting means for determining a target map from the map group storage means according to the difficulty of the game at the stage where the map is used, and randomly extracting a map from the determined target map. Let it.

That is, according to the second aspect of the present invention, a large number of maps in which terrain components are arranged are stored in the map group storage means in correspondence with the difficulty of the game, and the map extraction means is used to store the maps. The target map is determined from the map group storage means according to the difficulty of the game at the stage where the map is used, and a map is randomly extracted from the determined target map. Therefore, there is a possibility that the arrangement state of the terrain components on the map may be different each time depending on the difficulty of the game. As the map group storage means, a designated storage medium such as a main memory as a work memory constituting the game apparatus can be used. Further, as the map extracting means, for example, a CPU which controls various controls in the game device can be assigned.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, (a) in a fixed area having a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed, different patterns are formed in advance so as to form different patterns as a whole area. A map group storing means for storing a large number of maps having the arranged terrain components divided into a plurality of groups according to the difficulty of the game and storing the maps, Map extracting means for randomly extracting one map corresponding to the degree of difficulty of the game at the stage where the requested map is used from a corresponding group stored in the map group storing means; Prepare.

That is, according to the third aspect of the present invention, a large number of terrain components prepared in various forms are arranged in a fixed area of a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed. The map is stored in the map group storage means. These maps are stored in the map group storage means by being divided into a plurality of groups according to the difficulty level of the game. Therefore, each time a use of the map is requested, if one map corresponding to the game difficulty level is randomly extracted, the arrangement state of the terrain components on the map can be different each time corresponding to the game difficulty level. The nature becomes high. As the map group storage means, a designated storage medium such as a main memory as a work memory constituting the game apparatus can be used. Further, as the map extracting means, for example, a CPU which controls various controls in the game device can be assigned.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, (a) in a fixed area having a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed, different patterns are prepared in advance so as to form different patterns as a whole area. Map group storage means for storing a large number of maps each having a set of terrain components divided into a plurality of groups according to the difficulty of the game, and (b) an additional arrangement for additionally arranging the maps in a map Attached component storage means in which the arrangement pattern of objects is divided into a plurality of groups according to the difficulty of the game and stored, and (c) each time the use of a map is requested, the requested map is used. Map extracting means for randomly extracting one map corresponding to the difficulty of the game at the stage from the corresponding group stored in the map group storing means;
(D) The game device is provided with accessory component arranging means for arranging accessory components in an arrangement pattern corresponding to the difficulty level of the game on the map extracted by the map extracting means.

That is, according to the invention described in claim 4, a large number of terrain components prepared in advance in various forms are arranged in a fixed area of a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed. The map is stored in the map group storage means. These maps are stored in the map group storage means by being divided into a plurality of groups according to the difficulty level of the game. Also, the arrangement patterns of the additional components to be additionally arranged in the map are divided into a plurality of groups according to the difficulty of the game and stored in the additional component storage means. Therefore, each time the use of the map is requested, one map corresponding to the game difficulty level is randomly extracted from the corresponding group stored in the map group storage means, and the map corresponding to the game difficulty level is further extracted. If the accessory components are additionally arranged in this arrangement pattern, it is highly likely that the combination of the arrangement of the terrain components and the accessory components on the map will be different each time depending on the difficulty of the game. As the map group storage means and the accessory component storage means, a specified storage medium such as a main memory as a work memory constituting the game apparatus can be used. As the map extracting means and the accessory component arranging means, for example, a CPU for controlling various controls in the game device can be assigned.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, (a) in a fixed area of a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed, a different pattern is formed in advance so as to form a different pattern as a whole area. Map storage means for arranging the terrain components and storing a large number of maps, each of which is provided with a predetermined accessory component, in a plurality of groups according to the difficulty level of the game. (B) Each time the use of a map is requested, one map corresponding to the difficulty level of the game at the stage where the requested map is used is stored in a corresponding group stored in the map group storage means. And (c) a part of or all of ancillary components potentially placed on the map extracted by the map extracting means. Equip the game device and accessory constituents evident means to elicit a.

In other words, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in a fixed area having a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed, a terrain component and an auxiliary component prepared in advance are prepared in various forms. A large number of arranged maps are stored in the map group storage means. These maps are stored in the map group storage means by being divided into a plurality of groups according to the difficulty level of the game. In addition, each of the accessory components is a potential arrangement, and a part or the whole of the arrangement is revealed to become an actually attached accessory component. Therefore, in the present invention, each time the use of a map is requested, one map corresponding to the difficulty level of the game is randomly extracted from the corresponding group stored in the map group storage means. By randomly revealing some or all of the potentially located ancillary components in the map extracted by, the terrain components and ancillary components on the map correspond to the difficulty of the game Is more likely to be different each time the combination of arrangements is different. As the map group storage means, a designated storage medium such as a main memory as a work memory constituting the game apparatus can be used. The map extracting means and the accessory component revealing means include, for example, a CP which controls various controls in a game device.
U can be assigned.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, (a) in a fixed area having a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed, a pattern is prepared in advance so as to form different patterns as a whole area. A map group storing means for storing a large number of maps, each of which includes a set of terrain components, and a plurality of potential auxiliary components, each of which is required; Map extracting means for randomly extracting one map from the corresponding groups stored in the map group storing means;
(C) accessory component manifesting means for randomly revealing a part or all of the accessory components potentially arranged in the map extracted by the map extracting means by a number corresponding to the difficulty of the game; Is provided in the game device.

That is, according to the invention described in claim 6, in a fixed area of a predetermined shape and size as a place where the game is developed, a terrain component and an accessory component prepared in advance in various forms are provided. A large number of arranged maps are stored in the map group storage means. Unlike the third aspect of the present invention, these maps are not particularly classified according to the difficulty of the game. Each of the accessory components is a potential arrangement, and some or all of them are revealed to become actually attached accessory components. Therefore, the map prepared in the sixth aspect of the present invention potentially includes accessory components such as enemy characters so as to correspond to any difficulty level. And
Each time a new game is required to be used in one game, one map is extracted, and these ancillary components are made to appear at random according to the difficulty of the game. Thereby, it is highly possible that the state of the combination of the configuration of the terrain and the configuration of the auxiliary components on the map is different each time, depending on the difficulty of the game. As the map group storage means, a designated storage medium such as a main memory as a work memory constituting the game apparatus can be used. As in the case of the third aspect of the present invention, for example, a CPU for controlling various controls in a game device can be assigned as the map extracting means and the accessory manifesting means.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the game device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein a plurality of types of surface shapes of the terrain corresponding to the components of the terrain are provided according to the type of the terrain. In a state where the use of the map is requested and the configuration of the terrain of the map is determined, a surface shape forming means for forming a surface shape of the terrain according to the type of the specified terrain is provided.

That is, according to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the outer frame of the terrain obtained in the first to fourth aspects is
By adding these surface states according to the type of the terrain, the surface shape of the terrain according to the specified type of the terrain is formed. In this way, we decided to form the surface of the terrain in the final stage even if there were various terrain, so the memory capacity of the map to be prepared was smaller than the case of preparing a map that also represented the surface of the terrain. Can be greatly reduced. As the surface shape forming means, for example, a CPU for controlling various controls in the game device and a memory such as a page memory as a working memory therefor can be allocated.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, (a) the map in which the terrain components are arranged and the game difficulty level are associated in advance, and the game difficulty level at the stage when the map is used. A first step of determining
And a second step of determining a map according to the difficulty level of the game determined in the steps.

That is, according to the present invention, the difficulty of the game at the stage when the map is used is determined from the correspondence between the map on which the terrain components are arranged and the difficulty of the game. The map is determined in the second step according to the difficulty level. Thus, the map can be determined according to the difficulty of the game at the stage where the map is used.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, (a) the map in which the terrain components are arranged and the difficulty of the game are associated in advance, and the difficulty of the game at the stage when the map is used. A first step of determining
A second step of determining a plurality of target maps according to the difficulty level of the game determined in the step; and (c) a third step of randomly determining a map from the plurality of target maps determined in the second step. It is included in the terrain pattern forming method.

That is, according to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the difficulty of the game at the stage of using the map is determined from the correspondence between the map on which the terrain components are arranged and the difficulty of the game. In the second step, a plurality of target maps are determined according to the degree of difficulty, and in the third step, a map is randomly determined from the plurality of target maps determined in the second step. Since the third step is added as described above, the map can be set more variously.

Further, according to the invention of claim 10, (a)
In a fixed area of a predetermined shape and size as a place where the game is developed, a large number of maps are arranged in which terrain components prepared in advance so as to form different patterns as a whole area are formed. Is divided into a plurality of groups according to the difficulty level of the game, and recorded in the map group recording area. (B) Each time a new map is used in one game, the requested map is The terrain pattern is formed by randomly extracting one map corresponding to the difficulty level of the game at the stage of use from the corresponding group recorded in the map group recording area.

That is, according to the tenth aspect of the present invention, in a fixed area having a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed, a large number of terrain components prepared in advance are arranged in various forms. The maps are recorded in the map group recording area, and these recordings are performed in a plurality of groups according to the difficulty of the game. Therefore, each time a new map is used in one game, one map corresponding to the difficulty of the game is extracted at random, so that it corresponds to the difficulty of the game and the terrain components in the map are included. There is a high possibility that the arrangement state is different each time.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, (a) in a fixed area of a predetermined shape and size as a place where the game is developed, a different pattern is formed in advance so as to form a different pattern as a whole area. A large number of maps with the terrain components arranged are divided into a plurality of groups according to the difficulty of the game, stored in the map group recording area, and the additional components that are additionally arranged in the map. The arrangement pattern is divided into a plurality of groups according to the difficulty of the game and stored in the attached component recording area,
(B) Each time one game requires use of a new map, one map corresponding to the difficulty of the game at the stage where the requested map is used is recorded in the map group recording area. A terrain pattern is formed by randomly extracting from the corresponding group and arranging ancillary components on the extracted map in an arrangement pattern corresponding to the difficulty level of the game.

That is, according to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, in a fixed area having a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed, a large number of terrain components prepared in advance are arranged in various forms. The map is stored in the map group recording area, and the arrangement pattern of the additional components to be additionally arranged in the map is divided into a plurality of groups according to the difficulty of the game and stored in the additional component recording area. It was to be. Therefore, each time the use of a new map is requested in one game, one map corresponding to the difficulty level of the game is randomly extracted from the corresponding group stored in the map group storage area. If additional components are additionally arranged in an arrangement pattern corresponding to the difficulty level of the game, the state of the combination of the configuration of the terrain and the additional components on the map is different each time corresponding to the difficulty level of the game. The likelihood is high.

According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, (a) in a fixed area having a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed, different patterns are formed in advance so as to form different patterns as a whole area. In addition to arranging the terrain components, a number of maps, each of which has a potential accessory component, are divided into a plurality of groups according to the difficulty of the game and stored in the map group recording area. In addition, (b) each time a new map is required to be used in one game, one map corresponding to the difficulty of the game at the stage where the requested map is used is recorded in a map group. Randomly extracting from the corresponding groups stored in the region and randomly revealing some or all of the ancillary components potentially located on this extracted map It has done the formation of the terrain pattern.

In other words, in the twelfth aspect of the invention, each time a new map is required to be used in one game, one map corresponding to the game difficulty is recorded in the corresponding map group recording area. By randomly extracting from the group and then randomly revealing some or all of the potentially located accessory components in the extracted map, it is possible to respond to the difficulty of the game and map There is a high possibility that the state of the combination of the arrangement of the terrain constituents and the accessory constituents at each time will be different each time.

According to the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, (a) in a fixed area having a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed, a pattern is prepared in advance so as to form different patterns as a whole area. In addition to arranging the terrain components, a large number of maps, each of which is provided with a predetermined accessory component, are stored in the map group recording area, and (b) a new map is created in one game. Each time use is requested, one map is randomly extracted from the corresponding group stored in the map group recording area, and a portion of the ancillary components potentially located in the extracted map. Alternatively, the pattern is formed by randomly revealing all of them in a number corresponding to the difficulty of the game.

That is, in the invention according to the thirteenth aspect, an accessory component such as an enemy character is potentially arranged on the prepared map so as to correspond to any difficulty.
Then, each time a new map is used in one game, one map is extracted, and these ancillary components are made to appear at random according to the difficulty level of the game. It is more likely that the state of the combination of the terrain components and the accessory components on the map will be different each time.

As means for solving the above-mentioned problems, a display device, an input device, an output device, a control device,
An information recording medium that records a program that can be executed by a general-purpose computer or a general-purpose game device having a storage device or the like is disclosed.

With this information recording medium, the information recording medium can be easily distributed and sold as a software product independently of a hardware device. In addition, by using this software using existing hardware resources, the game of the present invention as a new application can be easily executed on existing hardware. When the program recorded on the information recording medium of the present invention is executed by a general-purpose computer or a general-purpose game device, the game device according to the first to sixth aspects of the present invention can be realized.

[0039]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of a game apparatus, a terrain pattern forming method and an information recording medium according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0040]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows one configuration of a game device according to an embodiment of the present invention. This game device includes a display control device main body 21. Display control device body 2
1 is connected to a display 22 and a controller 23, and one or more memory cards 24 as an external memory can be added as needed.

FIG. 2 shows a more detailed configuration of the game device. The display control device main body 21 includes a CPU 31 for performing various controls. CPU31
Is connected to a GTE (GeomeTric Engine; graphics data generation processor) 32 and to various circuit devices in the device via a bus 33 such as a system bus. Here, the GTE 32, as a coprocessor of the CPU 31, executes at a high speed a fixed-point format matrix, vector, and other operations related to coordinate transformation, light source calculation, and the like by a parallel processing mechanism. The main processing performed by the GTE 32 is as follows. With respect to the two-dimensional or three-dimensional image data sent from the CPU 31, the display address of the image is obtained based on the coordinate data of the vertices, the movement amount data, and the rotation amount data. There are a process, a process of returning the address data obtained by this process to the CPU 31, a process of calculating the brightness of the target image according to the distance and the angle from the virtually set light source, and the like.

The GPU (Graphic) connected to the bus 33
A cs Processing Unit (graphics drawing processor) 34 executes a drawing process using a frame buffer 35 based on the coordinates and color information obtained by the GTE 32 in accordance with a polygon drawing command sent from the CPU 31. At this time, the GPU 34 executes a rendering process for one screen (one frame) every 1/30 second, and places the image data (polygon graphics data or the like) drawn in the frame buffer 35 on the display 22. Display sequentially. The frame buffer 35 forms a memory area in which image data displayed on the display 22 is mapped.

An SPU (Sound Processing Unit) 37 is supplied from a CD-ROM drive 42 via a CD-ROM decoder 39 to a CD-RO.
ADPCM (Adaptive D) read into the M buffer 43
ifferential PCM data and PCM (Pulse Code Modul)
ation) The sound buffer 38 executes sound (including sound) reproduction processing based on sound source data such as data, and outputs the reproduced sound from the speaker 41.
The CD-ROM decoder 39 has a CD-ROM drive 42 for reading data such as program data, image data and sound source data from the CD-ROM, and a CD-ROM buffer 43 for temporarily storing the read data and the like. And are connected.

The controller 23 and the memory card 24 shown in FIG. 1 are connected to the communication controller 44. The memory card 24 is constituted by a non-volatile memory, and retains data stored therein even when it is removed from the communication control device 44 or when the power of the display control device main body 21 is turned off. Is available.

The bus 33 also includes a peripheral device 4
6. Main memory 47, OS-ROM (Operating System)
em-Read Only Memory (48), MDEC (Motion DECod)
er; data decompression engine) 49, PIO (Parallel Inp)
ut Output; extended parallel port) 51 and SIO
(Serial Input Output; extended serial port) 52 is connected. The OS-ROM 48 is a memory that stores an operation system.
Is an engine that executes inverse DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) operation at high speed. This M
In DEC49, JPEG (Joint Photographic Exper
t Group) format and MPEG (Motion Picture Expert Gro
up) Performs decompression processing on image data compressed in the format.

FIG. 3 shows the appearance of the controller used in this embodiment. The controller 23 includes a direction key 62, a triangle (triangle) button 63, a circle (circle) button 64, and a cross (x) button 6 on the front of the controller main body 61.
5, a square button 66, a start button 67, and a select button 68 are arranged. In FIG. 3, the other four buttons 71 to 74 are arranged on the upper surface side. The connection cable 75 of the controller main body 61 is detachably connected to the display control device main body 21 shown in FIG.

A direction key 62 arranged on the controller main body 61 is a key for instructing a cursor or the like to move up, down, left and right on the screen of the display 22. ○ Button 6
4 is a key for instructing execution or confirmation, and the X button 65 is for instructing cancellation or dash. The △ button 63 and the □ button 66 are buttons used for inputting a predetermined instruction such as screen switching. The start button 67 is a button used to start a program of the game device, and the select button 68 is a button used to set the difficulty level of the game. Other four buttons 7
Buttons 1 to 74 are used to input predetermined instructions determined by the contents of each program.

In order to use the game apparatus having the above configuration, a predetermined CD-ROM (not shown) in which a game program is recorded is set in the CD-ROM drive 42 shown in FIG. Then, a power button (not shown) of the display control device main body 21 is turned on. With this, CD-RO
The M drive 42 reads the program from the CD-ROM, and the CD-ROM decoder 39 decodes the program. Then, a predetermined opening screen is displayed on the display 22 based on the decoded program, and when the start button 67 is pressed, the screen shifts to the menu screen.

Next, a rough line of the game used in this embodiment will be described. In this game, the protagonist character searches the map (underground labyrinth) and the forest to find and rescue the kidnapped princess. For example, the character acquires a predetermined item and enters the map from within a predetermined building. On each floor in the basement, the hero character searches for a princess while acquiring items, strengthening the character itself, fighting enemies, or performing predetermined events. As you go underground, the game becomes increasingly difficult. A character that has descended underground can return to the ground and search the forest. In addition, the items acquired in the map can be used for searching in the forest, and the items acquired in the forest can reenter the map. At this time, each floor of the map has a different pattern than before. When you re-enter the forest, the patterns inside will be different.

In this embodiment, the individual stages (fields) in the forest as well as the stages inside various buildings arranged on the map and on the ground are constituted by fixed areas of the same shape and size. A topographical component and ancillary components such as enemy characters and items are arranged on the map to form maps each having a unique pattern. Then, the surface shape of the terrain according to the type of the terrain such as the map and the forest is pasted on this basic map so that the terrain of each stage such as the map is finally formed. The data constituting the terrain components and the accessory components are stored in a CD-ROM (not shown), read from the CD-ROM drive 42 shown in FIG. 2 and stored in the main memory 47. Here, for the sake of simplicity, the case where the character searches for a map will be described as an example, and later, an additional description will be given on pasting the surface shape of the terrain according to the type of terrain such as a map or a forest. I will.

FIG. 4 shows an area for setting a pattern for each floor. In this embodiment, the fixed area 81 has a rectangular shape. The fixed area 81 has exactly the same size on each floor in the map. In the present embodiment, the number of rooms as main components of the terrain arranged in the fixed area 81 is set at least two to at most four. In addition, the difficulty of the game is classified into three types: “easy”, “normal”, and “difficult”. In this embodiment, the “easy” one is called the first group, and the “normal” one is the second group.
Call a group. The “difficult” ones will be called the third group. In general, as the number of rooms increases, patterns such as arrangement of passages and items become more diverse, and the degree of difficulty of the game increases. Therefore, in the game device of the present embodiment, the difficulty level of the game is set higher as the number of rooms is larger. In the embodiment, the number of rooms constituting the fixed area 81 is set to 2 to 4 for simplicity of description, but the number of rooms is increased or decreased within a range of more numerical values, and the difficulty level is set finely. Of course you can do that.

FIG. 5 shows some examples of room and passage patterns in the first group in which the difficulty level of the game is "easy". In this embodiment, the passage 84 is a terrain component, like the rooms connected by the passage. In the case of the first group, each fixed area 81
In this example, two rectangular rooms 82 of various sizes are arranged in the fixed area 81, and their positions are different. Also, two rooms 82, 82
Between them, one passage 84 is set.
FIGS. 7A to 7C illustrate an example in which the passage 84 is bent in a straight line or at a right angle to connect the two rooms 82, 82 at the shortest distance. Exists.

FIGS. 6 to 8 show other shapes of the passage connecting the two rooms. Among them, FIG.
As in (b), the passages 84 are common in that a passage 84 is drawn from two opposing sides of the two rooms 82, 82, but the passage 84 is bent rightward in the middle. In the example of FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, a passage 84 connects sides of the two rooms 82 that do not face each other. Here, in the example of FIG.
Although the shape of No. 4 is simple, in the case of the example of FIG. 8, the passage 84 is further bent in the middle.

As described above, the fixed area 81 of the first group
Even so, there can be various patterns formed by the two rooms 82 and 82 and the passage. Generally, when the passage 84 is bent as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the overall length becomes longer, and the degree of freedom in the arrangement of accessory components such as pits and items arranged in the passage is increased. The difficulty level of the game can be slightly increased as compared with the case of the straight path 84.

FIG. 9 shows several examples of patterns of rooms and passages in the second group in which the difficulty level of the game is “normal”. In the case of the second group, in each fixed area 81, three rectangular rooms 82 of various sizes are arranged in the fixed area 81, and the arrangement positions thereof are also different. In addition, a passage 84 is set between the rooms 82. 5A to 5C, the passages 84 are shown as having straight shapes, but depending on the arrangement of the room 82, the passages 84 may be formed only once, as shown in FIG. The shape may be bent once, or may be bent more times as described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

FIG. 10 shows some examples of room and passage patterns in the third group in which the difficulty of the game is determined to be "difficult". In the case of the third group, each fixed area 81 has
In addition, four rectangular rooms 82 of various sizes are arranged, and the arrangement positions thereof are also different. In addition, a passage 84 is set between the rooms 82. In the figures (a) and (c),
A passage 84 connects the rooms 82 to each other, as shown in FIG.
In the figure, the connection destination of the room 82 arranged substantially at the center of the fixed area 81 is a passage 84. As described above, the passage 84 may be connected to an existing passage.

FIGS. 11 to 13 show other examples in which some or all of the passages are connected to other passages. FIG. 11 shows an example of the second group, in which three rooms 82 are arranged in a fixed area 81, and a passage 84 connecting the upper two rooms 82, 82 and a lower room 82. A passage 85 as shown by a broken line is formed therebetween. FIG. 12 shows an example of the third group. In FIG.
6, 87 are formed. FIG. 13 shows an example of the third group, in which two opposed passages 84, 84 are provided.
A passage 88 indicated by a broken line is formed therebetween. If this passage 88 is not formed, the character cannot move back and forth between the rooms shown on the left and right in FIG. 13, and a closed space will be formed.

As described above, the pattern of the fixed area 81 in which the room 82 and the passage 84 are combined is extremely large for each group depending on the size of the room 82, the position where the room 82 is arranged, the way of connecting the passage 84, and the degree of bending. Can be prepared. For example, when the number of rooms 82 is set in the range of 4 to 16 and the pattern of the fixed area 81 is set, the number of patterns is 1
It can be 50,000 or more. If the number of patterns in the fixed area 81 is set to such an enormous number, the probability that the same pattern is repeatedly called even if the patterns are called by random numbers for each group is extremely low.

FIG. 14 shows the outline of the process from the extraction of the terrain to the pasting, which is performed for each floor in the game device of this embodiment. First, the CPU 31 shown in FIG.
It is determined whether or not the fixed area 81 has been newly established or changed as in the case where the character descends by one floor using a stair not shown in the map (step S101; Yes). When the fixed area 81 is newly established or changed, the fixed area 8
It is determined whether 1 is a specific fixed area (step S102). The specific fixed area is a stage (field) in which ancillary components such as characters and items, which are key points necessary for the development of the story of the game, appear and a predetermined event is performed. For example, a boss character appears. Such a specific fixed area is set in advance at a key point of the game, and the terrain pattern is fixed to a specific one in advance.

When the newly developed fixed area 81 is not such a specific fixed area (step S1).
02; No), terrain is randomly generated.
Therefore, in this case, the CPU 31 reads the currently set difficulty level from the main memory 47 (FIG. 2) (step S103). To enable such reading,
In a predetermined area of the main memory 47, the current difficulty level of the game of the player is stored. The difficulty level is “easy” by default at the start of the game, and the difficulty level is changed to “ordinary”, “normal”, or the like in accordance with the processing procedure (not shown), for example, depending on the level of the map or the power of the character.
It is changing to “difficult”. Further, taking a map as an example, in this embodiment, when the character returns to the ground once and searches the map again, the difficulty level is again started from “easy”.

If the difficulty read out from the main memory 47 by the CPU 31 is “easy” (step S104; Yes), the CPU 31 determines the pattern of the fixed area (hereinafter referred to as “fixed area”) composed of the terrain components of the first group. ,
It is called a terrain map. ) Are randomly extracted (step S105). On the other hand, when the difficulty read out from the main memory 47 is “normal” (step S
104; No, step S106; Yes), CPU3
1 randomly extracts the terrain map of the second group (step S107). If the difficulty level read from the main memory 47 is "difficult" (step S106; No), the CPU 31 randomly extracts the terrain map of the third group (step S1).
08).

When the terrain map of the fixed area 81 to be newly developed is determined as described above, the accessory components are arranged on this according to the currently called difficulty level (step S109). Here, the accessory component is a component attached to a terrain component. Taking the terrain of the map as an example, the components of the terrain include the room 82 and the passage 84 as described with reference to FIG.
And the attached component refers to an enemy character, an item, or something like a "trap" (device). By arranging such accessory components at random with respect to the terrain components according to the degree of difficulty, a terrain pattern (hereinafter referred to as a terrain pattern) for each stage (field) finally determined is further varied. As a result, the possibility that the same topographical pattern will reappear will be extremely reduced.

When the terrain pattern is determined in this manner, the type of terrain such as whether the terrain pattern is inside the map, in a forest, or in a building is determined, and the terrain corresponding to this is determined. Is pasted (step S110). If it is determined in step S102 that the area is a specific fixed area, terrain components and accessory components are fixedly arranged in the fixed area in advance. Therefore, in this case, step S110 is immediately performed.
Then, the processing proceeds, and the surface shape of the terrain is attached according to the type of the terrain.

FIG. 15 shows how a terrain map is extracted according to the difficulty of the game. CP shown in FIG.
U31 first reads the address range of the terrain map of the selected difficulty level in the memory area storing the terrain map (step S201). In this embodiment, a terrain map is stored in the main memory 47 shown in FIG.

FIG. 16 shows the area where the terrain map is stored in the main memory. From the addresses “Aa” to “Ab” in the main memory 47, data of a terrain map whose game difficulty is considered to be “easy” is stored. From the addresses “Ac” to “Ad”, the game difficulty is The data of the terrain map regarded as “normal” is stored. Also, from the addresses “Ae” to “Af”, data of a terrain map for which the difficulty of the game is “difficult” is stored.

Returning to FIG. 15, the description will be continued. When the address range of the corresponding difficulty level is read, the CPU 31 randomly selects whether the terrain map extracted this time belongs to the first half or the second half of the range (step S20).
2). For example, assuming that the address range from the address "0" to the address "999" is the address range of the storage area of the data of the terrain map of the difficulty level, the address from the address "0" to the address "499" is to be extracted or " From "500" to "999"
A selection is made as to whether or not the address is to be extracted.

Next, the CPU 31 determines whether the address range selected in this way is limited to the determined address range for one terrain map, or whether it is an address range including a plurality of terrain maps. (Step S203). If the address range is not limited to the determined address range for one terrain map (step S203; No), the process returns to step S202, where the current address range is further divided into two, and the first half address and the second half address are divided. Select one of the addresses. Then, the process proceeds to step S203, where the same determination as above is performed.
By repeating such processing, a finalized address range for one terrain map is finally obtained (step S
203; Yes). At this stage, the CPU 31 reads the terrain map at the obtained address.

FIG. 17 corresponds to step S109, and shows a process for arranging ancillary components on the terrain map in accordance with the degree of difficulty. First, a process of arranging items of the accessory components is performed. Therefore, the CPU 31
In FIG. 2, items are randomly extracted by a number corresponding to the difficulty from the item storage units individually prepared corresponding to the difficulty (step S301).

FIG. 18 shows an example in which the difficulty level is “easy”.
14 shows a configuration of an item storage unit corresponding to the case. In the item storage unit 91, data on items is stored one by one in a predetermined order. In the item storage section 91, data with names such as "first dish" and "second dish" indicate actual items. Blank area 92 with no items between them
Exists. If the blank area 92 is extracted, no item is placed.

For example, when the difficulty level is “easy”, it is assumed that two items are extracted from the item storage unit 91 and placed on each terrain map,
If the dish and the blank area 92 are selected, one item (the item of the first dish) is actually extracted for placement of the terrain map. On the other hand, if the third arrow and the first book are extracted at another time, these two items are extracted on the terrain map.

The item is randomly extracted from the item storage unit 91 corresponding to the difficulty level.
Due to the relationship with the fixed area described with reference to FIG. 14, there may be an item that needs to be acquired in the preceding stage (place). In the case of such a game, the item storage unit 91 is divided into a plurality of areas in association with the progress of the game, for example, from the first basement to the fourth basement of the map.
Up to the floor, randomly select items from the first area,
The fifth basement floor is a fixed area terrain pattern, and a method of randomly selecting items from the next region from the sixth basement floor to the tenth basement floor may be adopted. Note that, in order to prevent the once obtained item from being repeatedly obtained, an identifier indicating that the item has been taken out may be attached to the memory area corresponding to the item taken out from the item storage section 91. .

Returning to FIG. 17, the description will be continued. After extracting a predetermined number of items from the item storage unit 91,
The CPU 31 randomly arranges the item on a terrain component such as the room 82 or the passage 84 in the terrain map (step S302). However, when the same position coordinates are generated so that a plurality of items are not overlapped at the same coordinates, the subsequent position coordinates are corrected. This is the same for an enemy character and a "trap" to be described next, and a process is performed to avoid the same coordinates.

When the processing in step S302 is completed, C
The PU 31 randomly retrieves a designated number of enemy characters from an enemy character storage unit (not shown) provided for each difficulty level (step S303), and randomly extracts these as terrain components such as the room 82 and the passage 84 in the terrain map. (Step S304). In the enemy character storage section, not only the enemy character but also a blank area for randomly reducing the number of appearances thereof may be arranged.

When the processing of step S304 is completed, C
The PU 31 randomly retrieves a designated number of "traps" from a "trap" storage unit (not shown) provided for each difficulty level (step S305), and retrieves them from the room 8 in the terrain map.
2 and are randomly arranged on terrain components such as the passage 84 (step S306). As in the case of other accessory components, the "trap" storage unit may include not only "traps" but also blank areas for randomly reducing the number of occurrences thereof. It is. In addition, if an identifier indicating that the enemy character or the "trap" has been taken out is attached to the corresponding storage unit, it is possible to prohibit the duplicate taking out.

FIG. 19 shows the pasting process of the surface shape of the terrain shown in step S110 of FIG. First, the CPU (FIG. 2) sequentially numbers the components of the individual terrain constituting the terrain map (step S40).
1). This is because the surface shapes of the terrain are pasted in numerical order.

FIG. 20 shows a state in which a certain terrain map is numbered. Room 8 in fixed area 81
2 and the passages 84 are given a series of numbers (,...) From the upper left to the lower right in this example. Here, the passage 84 is unitized into a straight portion and a bent portion, and these are assigned numbers one by one. This is because, regardless of the complicated shape of the passage 84, it is possible to attach the surface shape of these terrain with a small amount of data.

FIG. 21 shows a part of a memory area storing units constituting a room (cave) and a passage in the map. In the memory area 101, units 102a, 102b,... Constituting the surface of the room and units 103a, 103b,.

FIG. 22 shows a part of a memory area storing units constituting each space of the forest and the path connected thereto. This memory area 105
Include the units 106a, 1 constituting the surface of the forest space
06b,..., The unit 107 constituting the surface of the path
a, 107b,... are arranged.

FIG. 23 shows a part of a memory area in which units constituting the buildings and the passages connected to them are stored. In this memory area 108,
Units 109a, 109b,... Constituting the surface of the building
, And the units 111a, 111 constituting the surface of the passage
b,... are arranged.

Returning to FIG. 19, the process of pasting the surface shape of the terrain will be described. After the terrain components are sequentially numbered in step S401, the number N is initialized to "1" (step S402). Then, for the “1” -th component (room 82 shown in FIG. 20), the type of the terrain is checked, a unit having a surface shape corresponding to the shape and size is found, and this is pasted as a surface shape. (Step S403). For example, if the type of terrain is a map, the unit 102a
Is selected and pasted. On the other hand, if the type of terrain is forest, the unit 10
6a is selected and pasted.

When the pasting of the "1" -th component is completed, the numerical value N is incremented by "1" (step S404). If the updated numerical value does not exceed the number of all the components constituting the terrain map (Step S405; No), Step S405
Returning to 403, the unit corresponding to the “2” -th component is pasted. In the same manner, the pasting operation ends when the pasting of the units is completed for all the components constituting the terrain map.

FIG. 24 shows a state where the pasting of the terrain to the terrain map shown in FIG. 20 has been completed. Here, the corresponding units are selected from the memory area 105 to represent the forest terrain. Similarly, in the case of a map, the memory area 101 shown in FIG.
, The corresponding unit is selected, and in the case of a building, the corresponding unit is selected from the memory area 108.

[0099] Deformability of the invention

In the embodiment described above, the room 82 of the map is used.
A terrain map is formed for each terrain component such as the road and the passage 84, and after selecting one of these, an enemy character, an item, or an additional component such as a "trap" is additionally arranged to make a final map. We decided to complete the terrain pattern as a stage, but it is not limited to this. For example, a number of final terrain patterns may be prepared in such a manner that accessory components are incorporated in these terrain components, and these may be selected at random according to the difficulty of the game.

In addition, a provisional terrain pattern is prepared in a form in which ancillary components are potentially incorporated in the terrain components.
Some or all of the accessory components among them may be selected at random and exposed, and may be used as the final terrain pattern.

FIG. 25 shows the principle of generating a final topographic pattern from the latter temporary topographic pattern. FIG. 25 shows a state in which accessory components are potentially placed on the same terrain map as the terrain map shown in FIG. In the two rooms 82 and 82 and the passage 84, an enemy character 121 indicated by a star and an item 1 indicated by a circle
22 and a "trap" 123 indicated by a square mark are potentially arranged.

In this modification, the information recording medium of the game device stores a large number of terrain maps where such accessory components are potentially arranged. Then, each time the stage (field) changes, only one new terrain map is selected, and a final terrain map is obtained by selecting or removing a predetermined number of accessory components according to the difficulty of the game. It has become.

FIG. 26 shows an outline of the state from the extraction of the terrain to the pasting in this modified example. First, the CPU 31 shown in FIG. 2 determines whether or not the fixed area 81 has been newly established or changed, as in the case where the character descends by one floor using stairs (not shown) in the map ( Step S501; Ye
s). If the fixed area 81 is new or changed, it is determined whether the fixed area 81 is a specific fixed area (step S502).
As described above, the specific fixed area is a place where attached components such as characters and items that are key points necessary for the development of the story of the game appear, and are set in advance to key points of the game in advance. I have.

If the newly developed fixed area 81 is not this specific fixed area (step S502;
No), terrain is randomly generated. Therefore, in this case, the CPU 31 randomly reads one terrain map from a number of terrain maps prepared in advance (step S503). An example of this technique is already described in FIG.
It was explained in. Next, the CPU 31 reads the currently set difficulty level from the main memory 47 (FIG. 2) (step S504). To enable such reading,
In a predetermined area of the main memory 47, the current difficulty level of the game of the player is stored. The difficulty level is initially "easy" at the start of the game, and the difficulty level changes to "ordinary" and "difficult" in order according to conditions such as the floor of the map and the ability of the character by a processing procedure (not shown). It has become. Also,
Taking a map as an example, in this embodiment, when the character returns to the ground once and searches for the map again, the difficulty level is again started from “easy”.

The CPU 31 then makes the enemy character 12 corresponding to the attached component correspond to the read difficulty level.
1. The removal numbers of the item 122 and the “trap” 123 are set at random. In the game device of this modified example, the range of the number of removals of these attached components is set in advance according to each difficulty level, and the CPU 31 randomly selects the number of removals within this range (step S50).
5). Therefore, for example, when the difficulty of the game is “easy”, the enemy character 12
The number of removals of 1 or “trap” 123 is set to be large. The number of these accessory components arranged on the terrain map shown as an example in FIG. 25 is not always constant, and there may be a case where fewer accessory components are arranged than the selected removal number. In this case, The corresponding accessory components are all removed (step S506). For example, if the corresponding accessory component is the enemy character 121, all of them are removed.

Instead of removing a predetermined number of attached components such as the enemy character 121 from the terrain map as described above, a specified number of them may be arbitrarily extracted. Regarding the removal of the ancillary components, if there are a plurality of them, they may be removed at random, or they may be specified in a predetermined order in consideration of the importance of the arrangement with respect to the terrain. It may be possible to remove as many as possible.

When the terrain pattern is determined in this way, the type of terrain, such as whether the terrain pattern is inside the map, in a forest, or in a building, is determined, and the terrain corresponding to this is determined. The surface shape is pasted (step S507). If it is determined in step S502 that the area is a specific fixed area, terrain components and accessory components are fixedly arranged in the fixed area in advance. Therefore, in this case, step S507 is immediately performed.
Then, the processing proceeds, and the surface shape of the terrain is attached according to the type of the terrain.

FIG. 27 shows how the number of terrain maps is allocated in another modification. In this modification, about 200,000 terrain maps are prepared, and about 50,000 of them are prepared for the specific fixed area described in FIG. The remaining 150,000 maps are allocated according to the number of rooms inside the map. In this modified example, the number of rooms varies between "4" and "16" according to the difficulty of the game. For example, when the number of rooms is "4", the terrain map is 10,000. Only a strong number is allocated. In this modification, the difficulty level of the game is set to a total of 13 levels, and the more the number of rooms, the more difficult the game. This is because, as described above, the number of enemy characters and the number of gimmicks can generally be increased as the number of rooms increases.

In the above-described embodiments and modifications, the display control device body 21 is connected to the display 22 such as a television, the controller 13 and the memory card 24, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the display control device main body 21 may have a large-capacity memory inside like a normal personal computer. In this case, memory card 2
4 itself may not be required, or it may be replaced with another removable recording medium such as a floppy disk or optical disk. Also, the controller 13 can be freely replaced with another input device such as a normal character input keyboard or a mouse having some buttons. The recording medium on which the game program is recorded is not limited to a CD-ROM, but may be another magnetic or optical recording medium, a semiconductor memory, or the like. Further, the game program may be configured to receive and store the game program from another device connected via a communication line or the like, or record the game program on the other device side connected via a communication line or the like. A recording medium may be provided, and the game program recorded on the recording medium may be used via a communication line or the like.

[0096]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a map corresponding to the difficulty level of a game can be obtained. As the map group storage means, a designated storage medium such as a main memory as a work memory constituting the game apparatus can be used. Moreover, even in the same area, not only the pattern such as the terrain is changed each time the game is started, but also a pattern can be set that balances the progress of the game with the improvement of the ability of the player and the ability of the character.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, a large number of maps in which terrain components are arranged are stored in the map group storage means in accordance with the difficulty of the game, and the map extraction means is provided. The target map is determined from the map group storage means according to the degree of difficulty of the game at the stage when the map is used, and a map is randomly extracted from the determined target map. There is a possibility that the arrangement state of the terrain components on the map is different each time depending on the difficulty level. In addition, since the map is randomly extracted, the pattern such as the terrain is changed each time the game is started even in the same area, and the pattern that balances the progress of the game with the improvement of the player's ability and character's ability Can be set.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, a large number of terrain components prepared in various forms are arranged in a fixed area of a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed. Are stored in the map group storage means in correspondence with the difficulty of the game, and each time a new map is required to be used, one map corresponding to the difficulty of the game is stored.
Two maps are randomly extracted. In this way, the map is randomly extracted according to the difficulty of the game, so that the game does not become difficult from the beginning or becomes easy from the middle, and the player can enjoy the game according to his / her skill level it can. Also,
Since the map is randomly extracted, even if you have completed the game once, if you try the game again, you will enjoy a completely new game development without being bound by the experience and opinions of those who have already completed the game be able to.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, not only the same effects as those of the first aspect of the invention can be obtained, but also
Attached components are also stored in a plurality of groups according to the difficulty of the game, and are arranged in an arrangement pattern corresponding to the difficulty of the game. Thus, the possibility that the same pattern appears can be greatly reduced, and as a result, various maps can be generated with a relatively small memory capacity.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the same effects as those of the first aspect of the invention can be obtained. In addition, not only the terrain components but also the predetermined accessory components can be hidden on each map. We decided to place some or all of these accessory components at random, so we placed accessory components such as items that must be placed in a certain place at a position specified in advance. And the story of the game can be made more attractive compared to the case of arranging these accessory components in a completely random manner.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the same effect as that of the third aspect of the invention can be obtained. In addition, a part of the accessory components which are potentially arranged in the map extracted by the map extracting means. Or, all of them are revealed at random according to the game difficulty level, so there is no need to prepare maps according to the game difficulty level, and the number of prepared maps can be relatively reduced. Can be.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the game apparatus according to the first to sixth aspects, a plurality of types of surface shapes of the terrain are prepared corresponding to the components of the terrain in accordance with the type of the terrain. In a state where the use of a new map is requested in one game and the constituents of the terrain of the map are determined, a surface shape forming means for forming a surface shape of the terrain according to the type of the specified terrain is provided. Therefore, the memory capacity of the prepared maps can be significantly reduced as compared with the case where the maps representing even the surface of the terrain are prepared individually.

Further, according to the present invention, the information recording medium can be easily distributed and sold as a software product independently of a hardware device. Become. In addition, by using this software using existing hardware resources, the game of the present invention as a new application can be easily executed on existing hardware. When the program recorded on the information recording medium of the present invention is executed by a general-purpose computer or a general-purpose game device, the game device according to the first to sixth aspects of the present invention can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific circuit configuration of the game device of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an appearance of a controller used in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an area for setting a pattern for each floor.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing some examples of room and passage patterns in a first group in which the difficulty level of the game is “easy”.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a shape of a passage connecting two rooms.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a shape of a passage connecting two rooms.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a shape of a passage connecting two rooms.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing some examples of room and passage patterns in a second group in which the difficulty level of the game is “normal”.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing some examples of patterns of rooms and passages in a third group in which the degree of difficulty of the game is “difficult”.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a fixed area showing an example when a part of a passage is connected to another passage.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a fixed area showing an example in which a part of a passage is connected to another passage.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a fixed area showing an example of a case where the entire passage is connected to another passage.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of a state from extraction of a terrain to pasting performed for each floor in the game device of the embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing how a terrain map is extracted according to the difficulty of the game in the embodiment.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing an area where a terrain map is stored in a main memory according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart corresponding to step S109 and showing a process of arranging ancillary components on the terrain map in accordance with the degree of difficulty.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram of an item storage unit corresponding to a case where the difficulty level is “easy”.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing a pasting process of the surface shape of the terrain shown in step S110 of FIG.

FIG. 20 is a plan view showing a state in which a certain terrain map is numbered;

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram showing a part of a memory area storing units constituting a room (cave) and a passage of a map in the present embodiment.

FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram showing a part of a memory area storing units constituting each space of a forest and a path connected thereto in this embodiment.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram showing a part of a memory area in which units constituting buildings and passages connected to the buildings are stored in the embodiment.

24 is a plan view showing a state where pasting of the terrain to the terrain map shown in FIG. 20 has been completed.

FIG. 25 is a plan view of a fixed area showing a state where accessory components are potentially arranged on the same terrain map as the terrain map shown in FIG. 20;

FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing an outline of a state from extraction of a terrain to pasting in a modification of the present invention.

FIG. 27 is an explanatory diagram showing how a number of terrain maps is allocated in another modified example.

FIG. 28 is a plan view showing a pattern including a plurality of rooms and passages on a certain floor of a map.

[Explanation of symbols]

31 CPU 35 Frame buffer 42 CD-ROM drive 47 Main memory 81 Fixed area 82 Room 84 Passage 91 Item storage unit 92 Blank area 101, 105, 108 Memory area 102, 103, 106, 107 (item is not described) , 109, 111 units 121 enemy characters 122 items 123 traps

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C001 AA11 AA14 AA17 BA00 BA05 BC00 BC10 CB01 CB05 CC02 CC08 9A001 BB03 BB04 DD06 DZ13 EZ04 GZ05 GZ22 HH24 HH29 HH31 HZ27 JJ76 KZ19

Claims (19)

[Claims] 1. A map group storing means for storing a large number of maps in which terrain components prepared in advance are arranged in accordance with the game difficulty level, and a game difficulty level at a stage when the map is used. And a map extracting means for extracting a map from the map group storing means in accordance with the condition. 2. A map group storing means for storing a large number of maps in which terrain components prepared in advance are arranged in correspondence with the game difficulty level, and a game difficulty level at a stage where the map is used. And a map extracting means for determining a target map from the map group storing means in accordance with the target map and randomly extracting a map from the determined target map. 3. A terrain component prepared in advance so as to form a different pattern as a whole area in a fixed area having a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed. Many maps,
A map group storage unit that stores the data in a plurality of groups according to the difficulty level of the game, and each time the use of the map is requested, it corresponds to the difficulty level of the game when the requested map is used. A game extracting means for randomly extracting one of the maps from a corresponding group stored in the map group storing means. 4. A terrain component prepared in advance so as to form a different pattern as a whole area in a fixed area having a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed. Many maps,
A map group storage unit that stores a plurality of groups according to the difficulty level of the game, and a layout pattern of ancillary components additionally arranged in the map is divided into a plurality of groups according to the difficulty level of the game. Each time the use of a map is requested, one map corresponding to the difficulty of the game at the stage where the requested map is used is stored in the map group storage means. Map extracting means for randomly extracting from the stored corresponding groups; and an accessory component arrangement for arranging accessory components on a map extracted by the map extracting means in an arrangement pattern corresponding to the difficulty level of the game. And a game device. 5. A terrain component prepared in advance so as to form a different pattern as a whole area in a fixed area having a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed, and It is required to use a map group storing means for storing a large number of maps, each of which is provided with a predetermined accessory component, in a plurality of groups according to the difficulty level of the game, and a map group storing means. A map extracting means for randomly extracting one map corresponding to the difficulty level of the game at the stage where the requested map is used, from the corresponding group stored in the map group storing means. Attached component revealing means for randomly revealing some or all of the attached components potentially placed on the map extracted by the map extracting means Game apparatus comprising: a. 6. A terrain component prepared in advance so as to form a different pattern as a whole area in a fixed area having a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed, and A map group storing means storing a large number of maps each of which is provided with a predetermined accessory component, and one map is stored in the map group storing means each time use of the map is requested. A map extraction means for randomly extracting from the corresponding group, and a part or all of the ancillary components potentially arranged in the map extracted by the map extraction means in a number corresponding to the difficulty of the game. A game device comprising: an accessory component manifesting means for rendering only a random manifestation. 7. A state in which a plurality of types of terrain surface shapes are prepared according to the type of terrain corresponding to the respective terrain components, and use of a map is requested, and the terrain components of the map are determined. The game device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a surface shape forming unit that forms a surface shape of the terrain according to the type of the designated terrain. 8. A first step of preliminarily associating a map, on which terrain components are arranged, with a game difficulty level, and determining the game difficulty level when the map is used; A second step of determining a map according to the degree of difficulty of the game determined in the first step. 9. A first step of associating a map in which terrain components are arranged with a game difficulty level in advance, and determining the game difficulty level at the stage of using the map; A second step of determining a plurality of target maps according to the difficulty level of the game determined in the first step; and a third step of randomly determining a map from the plurality of target maps determined in the second step. A terrain pattern forming method characterized by including: 10. A terrain component prepared in advance so as to form a different pattern as a whole area in a fixed area having a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed. A large number of maps are divided into a plurality of groups according to the difficulty level of the game and recorded in the map group recording area, and each time a new map is requested in one game, the new map is requested. A terrain pattern forming method characterized by randomly extracting one map corresponding to the degree of difficulty of a game at a stage where a map is used from a corresponding group recorded in a map group recording area. 11. A terrain component prepared in advance so as to form a different pattern as a whole area in a fixed area having a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed. A large number of maps are divided into a plurality of groups according to the difficulty of the game and stored in the map group recording area, and the arrangement pattern of the additional components to be additionally arranged in the map is determined according to the difficulty of the game. Each time the use of a new map is requested in one game, the difficulty of the game at the stage where the requested map is used is stored. One map corresponding to the degree is randomly extracted from the corresponding group recorded in the map group recording area, and the extracted map is assigned to the degree of difficulty of the game. A terrain pattern forming method, comprising arranging accessory components in a corresponding arrangement pattern. 12. A terrain component prepared in advance so as to form a different pattern as a whole area in a fixed area having a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed, and A large number of maps, each of which is provided with a predetermined accessory component, are divided into a plurality of groups according to the difficulty level of the game, and stored in the map group recording area. Each time the use of a new map is requested, one map corresponding to the difficulty of the game at the stage where the requested map is used is randomly selected from the corresponding groups stored in the map group recording area. A method for forming a terrain pattern, characterized in that a part or all of an accessory component potentially placed on the extracted map is randomly exposed. 13. A terrain component prepared in advance so as to form a different pattern as a whole area in a fixed area having a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed. In the map group recording area, a number of maps, each of which is provided with a predetermined accessory component, are stored in the map group recording area, and each time a new map is used in one game, one map is stored. , Randomly extract from the corresponding groups stored in the map group recording area, and partially or entirely the ancillary components potentially placed on this extracted map, according to the difficulty level of the game. A terrain pattern forming method characterized in that only a random appearance is made. 14. An operation section for operating the progress of a game, a display section for displaying a computer game progressing by operating the operation section, and a storage section for writing a program for progressing the game and the progress of the game as data. And a computer-readable information recording medium storing a program to be executed by the computer of the game apparatus, the map including a terrain component and a game difficulty level. Are associated in advance, and a first step of determining the difficulty of the game at the stage where the map is used, and a second step of determining the map according to the difficulty of the game determined in the first step And a computer-readable information recording medium storing a program for executing the above. 15. An operation unit for operating the progress of a game, a display unit for displaying a computer game which is advanced by operating the operation unit, and a storage unit for writing a program for advancing the game and the progress of the game as data. And a computer-readable information recording medium that records a program to be executed by a computer of the game apparatus, the map including a terrain component and a game difficulty level. Are associated in advance, and a first step of determining the difficulty of the game at the stage where the map is used; and determining a plurality of target maps according to the difficulty of the game determined in the first step. A second step; and a third step of randomly determining a map from the plurality of target maps determined in the second step. Readable information recording medium recording a computer program for causing the row. 16. A terrain component prepared in advance so as to form a different pattern as a whole area in a fixed area having a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed. A map group recording area in which a large number of maps are divided into a plurality of groups according to the difficulty of the game and recorded, and each time a new map is used in one game, the requested map is A program storage area storing a program including a map extraction step of randomly extracting one map corresponding to the difficulty level of the game at the stage of use from a corresponding group recorded in the map group recording area. An information recording medium, comprising: 17. A terrain component prepared in advance so as to form a different pattern as a whole area in a fixed area having a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed. A map group recording area in which a large number of maps are divided into a plurality of groups according to the difficulty of the game and recorded, and an arrangement pattern of additional components to be additionally arranged in the map according to the difficulty of the game. Ancillary component recording areas recorded in multiple groups, and each time a new game is requested to be used in a single game, the game's difficulty level at the time the requested map is used A map extracting step of randomly extracting one set of maps from the corresponding groups recorded in the map group recording area; The installed map, the information recording medium, characterized in that it comprises a program storage area for storing a program and a accessory constructs placement step of placing the accessory constituents in the arrangement pattern corresponding to the difficulty level of the game. 18. A terrain component prepared in advance so as to form a different pattern as a whole area in a fixed area having a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed, and A map group recording area in which a large number of maps, each of which is provided with a predetermined accessory component, are divided into a plurality of groups according to the difficulty level of the game and recorded, and a new map in one game Each time the use of the map is requested, one map corresponding to the difficulty of the game at the stage where the requested map is used is randomly extracted from the corresponding group stored in the map group recording area. A map extraction step, and some or all of the ancillary components potentially located in the map extracted by the map extraction step An information recording medium comprising: a program storage area storing a program having an accessory component revealing step to be performed. 19. A terrain component prepared in advance so as to form a different pattern as a whole area in a fixed area having a predetermined shape and size as a place where a game is developed, and A map group recording area storing a large number of maps, each of which is provided with a predetermined accessory component, and a map for each use of a new map in one game. A map extraction step of randomly extracting from the corresponding groups stored in the group storage means, and a part or all of ancillary components potentially placed on the map extracted by the map extraction step, And a program storage area storing a program having an accessory component revealing step of randomly revealing a number corresponding to the degree of difficulty. An information recording medium characterized in that: