JP2001070634A - Game machine and its playing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To correct a rendering liable to be monotonous by applying a conventional 2D rendering to three-dimensional computer graphic technology. SOLUTION: A game machine comprises a storage means 2 for holding both data, i.e., game program data and three-dimensional data, a game input means capable of game input, a three-dimensional processing means 6 for performing three-dimensional processing on the basis of the game program data for the storage means, game input and three-dimensional data to arrange a plurality of objects in a virtual three-dimensional space, and a rendering means for performing exaggeration and coloring treatments for adding a contour or ridge line to the arranged objects. Data obtained by giving exaggeration and coloring treatments by the rendering means 7A, 7B to the plurality of the objects arranged in the virtual three-dimensional space are animation-displayed as a two-dimensional image on a display screen.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a game machine employing three-dimensional computer graphic technology. More specifically, the present invention relates to a game machine capable of performing drawing expression in a game in a form similar to conventional 2D display expression using three-dimensional computer graphic technology.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a game machine using this type of three-dimensional computer graphic technology, an object is formed by a plurality of polygons, and a rendering process is performed on the object formed by the polygon to obtain a more realistic live-action image. Displaying a close expression on a display screen in real time according to a game input has been performed.

[0003]

However, the image generated in real time using the conventional three-dimensional computer graphic technology and displayed on the display screen is more like a real photograph when expressing a hard object such as metal. Although expressed by a picture, there is a problem in that an operation character image of a person or the like often becomes very inorganic.

[0004] Such a problem is not a problem in the sense of inducing fear in a horror-like game, but is not very suitable for use in a game in which a fun atmosphere is desired. In addition, it is clear when a 3D image is shown to children under elementary school age or less, but there is a tendency that the response to 3D is not good compared to the response to 3D video and the conventional 2D response.

[0005] On the other hand, the inventor of the present invention has wondered whether three-dimensional computer graphic technology can be used for the conventional 2D expression (cellular expression power), and whether the conventional 3D rendering expression, which tends to be inorganic, can be corrected. Was.

[0006] In addition, when, for example, the sun as a light source is present in the background of the display screen on which the moving image character is displayed in the image of the 2D moving image character, the shadow accompanying the change in the positional relationship of the moving image character with respect to the sun is displayed. There is also a problem that in order to produce an effect that changes the image, it is necessary to prepare more cell-like image data of the moving image character in advance. The inventor of the present application considered that such a problem could be solved by applying the existing 3D technology rendering processing method to the conventional 2D technology.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, the present invention employs the following configuration for each claim.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a game machine comprising: (a) storage means for holding both game program data and three-dimensional stereoscopic data; and (b)
Game input means capable of inputting a game by a game player; (c) game program data in the storage means;
Three-dimensional arithmetic processing means for performing three-dimensional arithmetic processing based on the game input and the three-dimensional data to arrange a plurality of objects in a virtual three-dimensional space; and (d) a contour line for each of the arranged objects. Or rendering processing means for performing an emphasis process for adding an edge line and performing a coloring process on the object.
A game machine characterized by displaying, as a two-dimensional image, a moving image on a display screen of data obtained by performing the emphasizing process and the coloring process performed by the rendering processing unit on a plurality of objects arranged in a three-dimensional space.

[0010] The above-described emphasis processing for adding a contour line or a ridge line uses a depth value (Z value) as three-dimensional information of each object. Detects whether the pixel is the object's contour line, edge line, or neither contour line nor edge line from the relationship, extracts it as a contour line and ridge line image, applies this image to add an object border By doing so, it is possible to reproduce not a realistic pseudo three-dimensional representation of the object but a cell-like representation used for animation and the like. Contours and ridges mentioned above

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a game machine comprising: (a) storage means for holding both game program data and three-dimensional stereoscopic data; and (b)
Game input means capable of inputting a game by a game player; (c) game program data in the storage means;
Three-dimensional arithmetic processing means for performing three-dimensional arithmetic processing based on the game input and the three-dimensional data to arrange a plurality of objects in a virtual three-dimensional space; and (d) storing texture information corresponding to each of the objects. And (e) when displayed on a display screen based on a calculation result of the brightness (including brightness or shading) of each object by a light source or an environment light set in the virtual three-dimensional space. Rendering processing means for performing a shading process to an extent that presents a visible boundary to a plurality of objects arranged in the virtual three-dimensional space.
A game machine characterized in that data processed by the rendering processing means is displayed as a moving image on a display screen as a two-dimensional image. The storage means and the other storage means may be stored separately or integrally in one semiconductor memory, CD-ROM, or the like, and may be configured to be readable separately.

The shading process is, for example, when each object is composed of a plurality of surfaces, the position of the surface from the light source or the type of light source (parallel ray, line ray, point light source, surface light source, etc.) and the surface Attributes (surface color, reflectance,
The first step of calculating the shading of the surface in consideration of the refractive index, the pattern, the surface unevenness, etc.), and the two-dimensional image on the basis of a certain threshold value for the shading value of the surface based on the result of the calculating process. And a second stage of performing a calculation process for shading. Specifically, in the second stage, for example, the result of calculating the density of a certain pixel on the surface associated with the red texture in the first stage (three-dimensional arithmetic processing or the like) is A, Assuming that the threshold value is B, A> B corresponds to two levels of bright red and A <B corresponds to two levels of dark red. As a result, an image as shown in FIG. 7 described later is converted into a cell image representation as shown in FIG.

Of course, the above description has been made assuming that one threshold is used. However, it is also possible to prepare two or more thresholds and perform shading processing. It is necessary that the image be expressed in such a manner that the boundary of the light and shade of the image can be visually recognized by a game player or the like.

In other words, if the threshold value is set more than necessary,
The result of the calculation processing in the first stage is not visually different from a display image expressed by a conventional method of directly using a two-dimensional image expression, and the present invention achieves 2D moving image expression using 3D processing. This is because it is not possible to achieve the original purpose of performing the cell drawing in a cell manner. The cell expression is a fantastic image such as a Disney movie, for example, and is different from a realistic expression.

[0015] In addition, similar to the conventional 3D processing, the first
When the shading processing of the object surface is performed based on the calculation processing result at the stage of, a smooth color change is expressed at the boundary expressing the shading, but in the present invention, for example, based on the threshold value, Since the shading is changed, the boundary that expresses the shading emerges. That is, in the conventional 3D technology, further processing may be performed so as to smoothly change the luminance, such as the Phong shading processing, but the present invention is based on the reverse idea.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the game machine according to the second aspect, the shading processing for providing a visible boundary when displayed on the display screen is two gradations.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the game machine according to any one of the second and third aspects, a contour line or a ridge line is added to each object arranged in the three-dimensional space in the shading process. Is performed. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display method in a game machine for displaying moving image data generated by performing three-dimensional processing in response to a game program and an input operation of a game player, after performing the three-dimensional processing. And performing edge enhancement processing on an object displayed as video data. The moving image display generally means displaying 60 to 50 images per second to express a moving image.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the configuration shown in the embodiments.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a game machine as one embodiment according to the present invention.

In this game machine, storage means 2 for storing various three-dimensional data for three-dimensionally representing a plurality of objects in a virtual three-dimensional space and game program data, and the storage means 2 for storing the program data. Three-dimensional arithmetic processing means for performing three-dimensional arithmetic processing using three-dimensional solid data and arranging the three-dimensional data in the virtual three-dimensional space; and the storage means 2
The game control unit 3 includes a rendering processing unit that performs a rendering process based on the data of the game control unit 3 and the plurality of objects arranged in the virtual three-dimensional space by the three-dimensional processing unit of the game control unit 3. The processing means performs data processing such as performing various kinds of processing such as shading processing, and displays two-dimensional image data obtained by coloring a plurality of objects arranged in the virtual three-dimensional space based on the processed data. And a control means 5 for a game player to input a game to the game control unit 3.

The operating means 5 is not limited to a button or a lever switch, but corresponds to switches such as a steering wheel, an accelerator or a brake of a driving game, but any input means capable of playing a game can be applied.

Referring to FIG. 2, the storage means 2 stores the polygon vertex information 2A, the surface shape information 2C, the picture such as a character, and the color such as a character or picture as three-dimensional data as described above. Information 2B, light source information 2E such as light source coordinates, ambient light information 2D such as the intensity of ambient light, threshold information 2F for each object, and game program data 2G are stored.

The three-dimensional operation processing means 6 performs processing for extracting polygon vertex information 2A from the storage means 2 and arranging an object to be displayed in a virtual three-dimensional space. Such a drawing method is well known,
For example, it is described in JP-A-6-266852.

The game control unit 3 arranges a plurality of objects in a virtual three-dimensional space (game space) based on a result of coordinate calculation and the like as described above, and is set in the virtual three-dimensional space. Three-dimensional arithmetic processing means 6 for calculating the brightness of each object by a light source or ambient light,
Rendering processing means 7, wherein the rendering processing means 7 performs emphasis processing for adding contours and edges to the plurality of objects arranged in the virtual three-dimensional space by the three-dimensional arithmetic processing means 6. Outline emphasis processing means 7A
And a cell image representation conversion processing unit 7B that performs a shading process on the basis of the luminance calculation result so as to present a boundary visually recognizable by a game player when displayed on the display screen of the display unit 4. ing.

Further, the game control section 3 is connected to a switch such as a coin selector (not shown). When the switch is turned on, the game control section 3 receives a game input from the game input means 5 in accordance with the game program. The corresponding game proceeds on the display screen. As a three-dimensional object arranged in the three-dimensional space as described above, the object is placed at any position in the virtual three-dimensional space and in any order in the depth (Z value) direction according to the progress of the game. The process of arranging the objects is performed by the three-dimensional operation processing means 6.

FIG. 3 shows the overall processing flow in the above-described game machine. The process flow will be described below with reference to FIG.

As described above, when the switch is turned on, the game starts, and a game screen is displayed on the display means 4 based on the game input and the game program. (Coordinate calculation) and brightness calculation are performed.

Next, based on the coordinate calculation result and the brightness calculation result of the object in the virtual three-dimensional space, the rendering processing means performs further processing on the brightness calculation result to convert it into an animated cell image representation. And a slightly thicker outline C on the face of the character, for example.
Is performed, and a rendering process for performing two processes, that is, a second process for bringing the expression closer to a cell image, is performed.

Subsequently, although not shown, for example, a mapping process is performed. The mapping processing refers to the work of finally coloring the image to be displayed on the display means 4 or pasting the texture depicting the eyes and nose of the face to each object arranged in the virtual three-dimensional space. , Bump mapping, solid texturing and the like are known.

The plurality of objects arranged in the virtual three-dimensional space are displayed on the display screen of the display means 4 through a well-known clipping process and a perspective transformation process, although not specifically shown in this flowchart. Things. Since the time from arranging a plurality of objects in the virtual three-dimensional space to displaying them on the display screen needs to be 1/60 second since it is a moving image representation, the image calculation processing for display is performed. Must be performed within 1/60 second.

If the calculation process cannot be made in time, a plurality of frame memories for temporarily storing an image to be displayed on the display means 4 are provided, and the image stored in one frame memory is read out and displayed on the display means 4, Preparation for writing the image required for the next display after the calculation processing in the frame memory.

Next, referring to FIG. 4, as described above, for example, the cell image expression conversion processing means for adding a slightly thick outline to the character face or the like so as to approximate the cell image expression. The third processing performed will be described in detail.

In the rendering processing means 7, the depth values (Z values) of a plurality of objects (for example, buildings, clouds, mountains, fighters, tanks, etc., serving as backgrounds) arranged in a virtual three-dimensional space which is a game space. ), The hidden surface processing is performed by the Z-buffer method. In the same manner, attention is paid to the pixels of each object to check whether the object is a contour line or a ridge line.

First, it is determined whether or not the pixel of interest is the background by the determination processing 10, and if the pixel of interest is the background, it is determined whether or not the pixel is a contour or not by the determination 11 to the next pixel. And transfer the process. If it is not the background, it is determined in the next determination 12 whether or not the image is a contour line. If it is a contour line, the process proceeds to the next pixel using that pixel as a contour line. If it is not a contour line, it is determined whether or not it is a ridge line by the following judgment 13. By performing the above determination on all the pixels, a contour line and a ridge line can be extracted. Such a contour and ridge line extraction method is known, and the description herein is based on Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-37105.

By such processing, the pixels of the contour line and the ridge line of each object can be extracted. Then, several pixels adjacent to the extracted pixels are assigned, for example, black prepared in advance, and when displayed on the display unit 4,
The outlines and ridges are expressed in relatively thick black. If the outline is expressed in relatively thick black, the image displayed on the display means 4 is close to a cell-like image.

Next, a description will be given of the "shading process of providing a visible boundary when displayed on the display screen of the display means 4". Such a shading process is generally called a geometry engine.
This is processing related to shadow expression performed based on the luminance calculation result calculated by the dimension calculation processing means 6 using information such as the environment light and the light source in the storage means 2, and is generally a Phong shading, a glow Shading is well known.

However, in such known shading, for example, a certain sphere (object)
, The pixel closest in position to the light source of the light is represented as gradually darkening as the pixel that is not brightest moves away from the pixel. Such an expression is close to a real photograph, and is an excellent expression for visually recognizing a smooth surface.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, it has been considered that the brightness calculation result calculated by the three-dimensional processing means 6 is changed abruptly at a certain threshold value so as to approach a cell image expression. The process of rapidly changing the luminance at a certain threshold is performed in real time and displayed on the display unit 4. FIG. 5 shows a hard copy of the display screen displayed on the display means 4.

For example, one threshold B is provided, and the brightness calculation result A calculated by the three-dimensional calculation processing means 6 is A>
In the case of B, it is treated as bright luminance, and A <B
In this case, a shading process is performed to treat the brightness as dark. Therefore, with the threshold B as a boundary, all pixels that have reached a luminance calculation result equal to or lower than the threshold are treated as dark, and all pixels that have reached a luminance calculation result equal to or greater than the threshold are treated as bright. As a result, as shown in FIG. A character movement that is difficult to predict based on a game input of a game player while achieving a gradation expression that exhibits a boundary D that can be visually recognized when displayed on a display screen and maintaining a display expression close to a conventional cell image. It is possible to express a moving picture according to.

If it is attempted to express all the movements of a character in response to such difficult-to-predict game player operations using conventional cell pictures, a great deal of cell picture image data is prepared in advance. Although it is necessary to use a method as in this embodiment, in addition to the conventional 3D moving image expression, it is possible to perform cell image display expression by performing further conversion by the cell image expression conversion processing means 7B. Becomes
In the cell image representation conversion processing means 7B described above, the threshold is set to 1
Although only one was provided, it is also possible to receive several of them.

[0041]

According to the present invention described above, there is an effect that the image of a game can be expressed by an animation-like cell image expression using 3D technology which has been a realistic expression.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a game description according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view partially showing FIG. 1 in detail;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a display image on a display screen.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of a display image on a display screen.

7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a conventional 3D expression, which is a display image before performing processing such as contour enhancement of the present invention shown in FIG. 6; FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... storage means, 4 ... display means, 6 ... three-dimensional calculation processing means, 7 ... rendering processing means.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A game machine comprising: (a)
Storage means for holding both game program data and three-dimensional data; (b) game input means capable of inputting a game by a game player; (c) game program data for the storage means; Three-dimensional operation processing means for performing three-dimensional operation processing based on three-dimensional data and arranging a plurality of objects in a virtual three-dimensional space; and (d) adding a contour line or a ridge line to each of the arranged objects. Rendering processing means for performing an emphasizing process and performing a coloring process on the object, wherein the emphasizing process and the coloring process performed by the rendering processing unit on a plurality of objects arranged in the virtual three-dimensional space The obtained data is displayed as a moving image on a display screen as a two-dimensional image. 2. A game machine comprising: (a)
Storage means for holding both game program data and three-dimensional data; (b) game input means capable of inputting a game by a game player; (c) game program data for the storage means; Three-dimensional operation processing means for performing three-dimensional operation processing based on three-dimensional data and arranging a plurality of objects in a virtual three-dimensional space; and (d) another storage in which texture information corresponding to each of the objects is stored. Means and (e)
A rendering process of performing a shading process to give a visible boundary when displayed on a display screen based on a luminance calculation result of each object by a light source or an ambient light set in the virtual three-dimensional space; The data processed by the rendering processing means is displayed as a two-dimensional image on a display screen with respect to a plurality of objects arranged in the virtual three-dimensional space. 3. The game machine according to claim 2, wherein the shading processing for providing a visible boundary when displayed on the display screen is performed in two gradations. 4. The game machine according to claim 2, wherein in the shading processing, an emphasis processing for adding a contour or an edge to each object arranged in the three-dimensional space is performed. It is characterized by the following. 5. A display method in a game machine for displaying moving image data generated by performing three-dimensional processing in response to a game program and an input operation of a game player, the method comprising the steps of: A display method in a game machine, wherein contour enhancement processing is performed on an object displayed as data.