JP2002074396A - Method for expressing movement of crowd, storage medium and information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide technology for expressing a condition that individuals move as a crowd. SOLUTION: When plural individuals gather, an object control part 203 generates a crowd object, which is a virtual object. The crowd object applies instructions concerning the positions of respective individuals in the crowd object and a moving direction as a crowd to each of individuals comprising the crowd object. Each of individuals moves on the basis of the instruction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for simulating the behavior of a crowd, which is a group of a plurality of individuals, and more particularly to a situation in which individuals move as a crowd using an information processing device. The present invention relates to a technique for expressing images by images.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The crowd is a state in which a plurality of individuals are gathered, and the movement of the crowd means that each individual moves while maintaining the gathered state. In order to simulate the movement of the crowd on the information processing apparatus, a first method of giving an instruction of movement toward a destination to each individual constituting the crowd, and the crowd as one lump And a second method of giving the crowd an instruction to move to the destination.

[0003]

However, in the first case,
Each individual moves without considering the relationship with other individuals in the crowd, and it is difficult to express the behavior as a crowd well.

[0004] On the other hand, in the second case, the crowd itself goes to the destination, but, for example, the distribution of each individual in the crowd moves without change, and the movement of the crowd represented by a fluid is represented. And the expression is unnatural.

[0005] For this reason, there is a demand for the development of a technique capable of expressing the behavior of each individual constituting the crowd and expressing the natural movement of the crowd.

An object of the present invention is to provide a technique for expressing a state in which individuals move as a crowd.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention relates to a method for expressing the movement of a crowd composed of a plurality of individuals in an information processing apparatus, comprising: And the position of each individual in the community at the next time point t + 1 according to a predetermined arrangement rule. For the reference point of the crowd defined by, the step of determining the destination direction, and for each individual, the step of determining the position at the next time point t + 1 according to the position allocated by the above-mentioned arrangement processing and the destination direction A method for expressing the movement of a characteristic crowd is provided.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In the present embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to a tracking game in which a character operated by a player follows a character operated by the player in a crowd in an entertainment apparatus.

First, a hardware configuration of the entertainment apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the entertainment device.

As shown in FIG. 1, the entertainment apparatus 10 includes a main CPU 100, a graphics processor (GP) 110, and an I / O processor (IOP).
120, a CD / DVD reading unit 130, a sound reproduction processor (SPU) 140, a sound buffer 141, an OS-ROM 150, and a main memory 1.
60 and an IOP memory 170.

The main CPU 100 and GP 110
Are connected by a dedicated bus 101. Also,
The main CPU 100 and the IOP 120 are connected by a bus 102. Also, IOP120 and CD / D
VD reading unit 130, SPU 140, and OS-ROM1
50 is connected to the bus 103.

The main CPU 100 has a main memory 1
60, and the IOP 120 has an IOP memory 17
0 is connected. Further, a controller (PAD) 180 is connected to the IOP 120.

The main CPU 100 has an OS-ROM 15
0 or a CD / DVD-
By executing a program transferred from the ROM or the like to the main memory 160, predetermined processing is performed.

A GP 110 is a drawing processor having a rendering function of the entertainment apparatus.
Drawing processing is performed according to an instruction from the main CPU 100.

The IOP 120 includes a main CPU 100,
Peripheral device, for example, CD / DVD reading unit 130, SP
It is an input / output sub-processor that controls the exchange of data with U140 and the like.

The CD / DVD reading section 130 is a
CD-ROM, DVD-R mounted on DVD drive
The data is read from the OM and transferred to the buffer area 161 provided in the main memory 160.

The SPU 140 has a sound buffer 141
The compressed waveform data and the like stored in the
Playback at a predetermined sampling frequency based on a sounding instruction from the like.

The OS-ROM 150 stores the main C
This is a non-volatile memory in which programs executed by the PU 100 and the IOP 120 are stored.

The main memory 160 stores the main CPU 10
0, which stores instructions executed by the main CPU 100, data used by the main CPU 100, and the like. The main memory 160 has a CD-R
A buffer area 161 for temporarily storing data read from a recording medium such as an OM or a DVD-ROM is provided.

The IOP memory 170 is a main storage device of the IOP 120, and stores instructions executed by the IOP 120, data used by the main CPU 100, and the like.

The controller (PAD) 180 is an interface for receiving an instruction from the player. The controller 180 has an operation unit including a plurality of operation buttons and operation levers. Information indicating that each operation button or the like is pressed or the operation lever is tilted is transmitted to the main CPU 100 by a predetermined signal. .

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a state of use of the entertainment apparatus 10. In the figure, a controller (PAD) 180 is connected to a connector section 12 of an entertainment apparatus main body 11. A video / audio output cable 14 is connected to the video / audio output terminal 13 of the entertainment apparatus main body 11. This cable 1
4 has an image / audio output device 15 such as a television receiver.
Is connected. The player of the entertainment device,
An operation is instructed using the controller (PAD) 180. The entertainment device 10 includes a controller 18
0, an instruction from the player is received, and image data and audio data corresponding to the instruction are output to the image and audio output device 15. Then, the image and sound output device 15 outputs the image and the sound.

Next, a description will be given of a tracking game realized by the main CPU 100 of the entertainment apparatus 10 having the above-described configuration, by executing an application program read from a CD / DVD mounted in the entertainment apparatus 10. .

In the pursuit game, the player can use the controller 180 connected to the entertainment apparatus 10 to operate the player character as the operation target object and move in the virtual world.
On the other hand, in the virtual world 310, there are a plurality of enemy characters that are enemy of the player character. The enemy character
Normally, the player character chases the player character alone, but if another enemy character that is a friend is found nearby, a crowd is formed to chase the player character. here,
An enemy character that is an enemy to the player character has a friend relationship among the enemy characters. Of course, a plurality of groups may be provided in the enemy character, and only enemy characters belonging to the same group may be set as friends.

The player can continue the game by operating the player character so as not to catch the enemy character.

The entertainment device 10 generates an image representing the player character moving in the virtual world 310 and the enemy character, and displays the image on the display screen of the image and sound output device 15 connected to the entertainment device 10.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a software configuration for realizing a chase game built on the entertainment apparatus 10. It should be noted that each component shown in this figure is read from the CD / DVD mounted in the entertainment apparatus 10 by the CD / DVD reading unit 130, and the main CPU 100 executes the application program stored in the main memory 160. It is embodied by executing.

In FIG. 1, a virtual world DB 205 stores data for forming a virtual world in which a tracking game is developed.

Here, as shown in FIG.
0 is a finite two-dimensional space managed as an XY coordinate plane. That is, the position in the virtual world 310 can be specified in the form of coordinates (x, y).

The virtual world is divided into blocks separated by straight lines at regular intervals parallel to the X axis and straight lines at regular intervals parallel to the Y axis. Here, it is assumed that a straight line parallel to the X axis and the Y axis is provided at a coordinate interval of 10 with the lower left of the virtual world 310 shown in FIG.
The areas separated by the straight line parallel to the Y axis are defined as X1, X2,... From the smaller X coordinate, and the areas defined by the straight line parallel to the X axis are defined as Y1, Y2 from the smaller Y coordinate.
2 and so on. With this definition, for example,
Individual blocks can be specified in the form XnYm, as the lower left block can be specified as X1Y1.

Each block has a data structure as shown in FIG.

In the figure, a block ID is data in XnYm format for specifying a block.

The block attribute is information for defining a block attribute for determining geographic information of the virtual world 310 in the game configuration, and may be a code representing a road, a river, a hill, a grassland, and the like.

The display data is image data for displaying a block. The image generation unit 204 generates an image of the virtual world 310 using the data.

In FIG. 1, the operation content receiving unit 201
In accordance with the instruction of the player received by the controller 180, the moving direction of the player character as the operation target object of the player in the virtual world 310 is determined. This process is performed periodically.

Here, the moving direction of the player character is determined by associating the up, down, left, and right directions with a specific operation button or operation lever provided on the controller 180, and accepting the operation of the button or the like.

In FIG. 1, a player character position calculation unit 202 performs a process of calculating a position of a player character which is an object to be operated by the player in the virtual world 310. This process is performed periodically.

More specifically, the position of the previously calculated player character in the virtual world 310 and the operation content receiving unit 2
From the latest moving direction of the player character determined in step 01 and the predetermined moving speed of the player character, the virtual world 3
The position at 10 is calculated.

The image generating unit 204 generates a two-dimensional image by superimposing display data of the player character and the enemy character on display data of the virtual world 310.

The display control unit 206 converts the two-dimensional image generated by the image generation unit 204 into a video signal, and outputs the video signal to the video / audio output device 15 connected to the entertainment device 10.
Is displayed on the display screen.

The object control unit 203 controls the movement of the enemy character object in the virtual world 310. The details will be described.

The objects controlled by the enemy object control unit 203 include an enemy character object when acting alone and a crowd object composed of enemy characters. The enemy object control unit 203 manages objects to be controlled in an object list. FIG. 4 (a)
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an object list. In the figure, the enemy object control unit 203 includes enemy character objects E001, E002, E003, and E004.
And E005.

Here, if the enemy character object E
Assuming that 001, E002, and E003 form a crowd and become a crowd object G001, the object control unit 203 deletes (deletes) E001, E002, and E003 from the object list as shown in FIG. 4B. The added ID is added to the enemy character list 281 in Fig. 9. The details will be described later.), And the crowd object G001 is added to the head of the object list.

Thereafter, when the enemy object E003 is separated from the crowd object G001, the object control unit 203 adds the enemy object E003 to the object list as shown in FIG. 4C. And
The enemy character object E003 acts alone.
Conditions such as a case where the enemy character forms a crowd and a case where the enemy character is separated from the crowd will be described later.

In the present embodiment, enemy characters are managed as individual independent objects. Then, the user moves based on a predetermined action standard. The action standard is ruled and applied to enemy character objects in common. Hereinafter, the behavior standard will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for schematically explaining an example of a data structure managed by the enemy character object.

As shown in the figure, the enemy character object has an object ID 261, a mode 262, an existing position 263, and a standard speed 264 as data.

The object ID 261 is a code for identifying an enemy character object.
1, E002.

Mode 262 is data for identifying whether an enemy character is acting as an individual or as a member of a crowd, and has two states, an individual mode and a crowd mode. In the initial state, the enemy character behaves in the individual mode. However, when another enemy character is found, the enemy character forms a crowd with the enemy character and transits to the crowd mode.

The existence position 263 is coordinate data representing the position of the enemy character in the virtual world 310, and is calculated periodically, for example, for each Δt based on the previous existence position, the moving direction, and the moving speed. Is done.

The standard speed 264 is a predetermined value representing a reference value of the speed when the enemy character moves. For example, the coordinate of the virtual world 310 can be set to 10 per Δt.

The behavior pattern of the enemy character changes depending on the mode 262.

First, the behavior of the enemy character object (enemy character) in the individual mode will be described.

The enemy character in the individual mode is set at time t
It is assumed that the object exists at a position defined by the current position on the virtual world 310. Then, the position is discretely changed at each time interval Δt. However,
Δt is set to a time short enough for the player to recognize that the enemy character is moving continuously. The moving distance at this time is determined by the moving speed of the enemy character.
The moving speed of the enemy character is determined based on the standard speed. For example, if the attribute of the block including the coordinate point where the character exists is road, the moving speed is equal to the standard speed, and if the attribute is grassland, the moving speed is equal to standard speed × 0.
8 or the like, depending on the attribute of the block in which the character exists. Furthermore, when chasing the player character, the speed can be changed so as to increase the speed.

FIG. 6A is an image diagram for explaining the movement of the enemy character. In the figure, enemy characters 300a, 300b,... Move in a two-dimensional virtual world 310. In the figure, the solid line circle is the position of the enemy character 300 at a certain time t, and the broken line circle is the position of the enemy character 300 at a time t + Δt.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the processing in one turn when the enemy character acts in the individual mode. Here, one turn is a processing unit for each object at time t and is controlled by the enemy object control unit 203.

When acting in the individual mode, the enemy character 300 has a search area 301 as shown in FIG. 6B based on the existing position. The search area 310 can be an area within a circle having a radius a centered on the coordinates of the position where the enemy character of the virtual world 310 exists.

The enemy character 300 is located in the search area 30
It is possible to detect the presence of the player character 350 and the other enemy character 300a in the area 1 (S101). Specifically, the player character or another enemy character is placed in a circle having a radius a centered on the coordinates of the enemy character 300's existence position 263 with reference to the existence position 263 of the character registered in the object list. It can be determined whether or not there is an existing position 263.

When detecting that another enemy character exists in the search area, the enemy character forms a crowd with the other enemy characters (S107). This processing will be described later.

On the other hand, when detecting that the player character exists in the search area (S102), the enemy character determines the target direction from the positional relationship between the coordinates of the player character and its own coordinates (S103). here,
The determined target direction is a direction in which the player character exists. That is, the enemy character acquires the coordinates where the player character is present, and sets the target direction in a direction to follow the player character.

Next, the enemy character determines the moving speed (S105). The moving speed is, for example, 1.2 of the standard speed.
Can be doubled. Further, as described above, it may be changed according to the attribute 252 of the block in which the enemy character exists.

Then, the coordinates at time t + Δt are calculated from the determined target direction and the moving speed (106). Then, the coordinates are set to the current position, and the turn at time t ends.

When neither the other enemy character nor the player character is detected in the search area, the enemy character arbitrarily determines the target direction using, for example, a random number (S104). At this time, in order not to make the movement unnatural, it is desirable to set the direction so as not to be much different from the target direction at the time t.

Next, the enemy character determines the moving speed (S105). The moving speed can be, for example, a standard speed. Of course, as described above, the block attribute 252
May be changed according to

Then, the coordinates at time t + Δt are calculated based on the determined target direction and the moving speed (S106). Then, the coordinates are set to the current position, and the turn at time t ends.

As described above, the time t of one enemy character
One turn in ends. That is, the enemy character forms a crowd in one turn at time t, or
One of the actions of moving to the current position at + Δt is performed.

This action is sequentially performed by all the enemy characters in the individual mode at time t. The control method at this time will be described.

The object control means manages an object list as shown in FIG.
Then, at time t, the enemy character objects recorded in the object list are sequentially processed in one turn. For example, as shown in this figure,
Assuming that the enemy character E004 and the enemy character E005 are listed in the object list, at time t, the enemy character E004 first performs the above-described one-turn processing. When this turn ends, the enemy character E005 is caused to perform one turn of processing. Then, when the turn of the enemy character E005 ends, the processing at the time t ends.

By performing this process for each Δt, the enemy character E004 and the enemy character E005 can be caused to act continuously. As shown in FIGS. 4B and 4C, when the crowd object is listed in the object list, the turn of the crowd object at time t is performed before the turn of the enemy character object at time t. This process will be described later.

As described above, when the presence of another enemy character in the search area is detected, the enemy character forms a crowd with the enemy characters existing in the search area (S107).

The process for forming the crowd at this time will be described with reference to FIG. In this example, as shown in FIG. 8A, the enemy character A (E006) changes the enemy character B (E007) and the enemy character C (E008) existing in the search area 301 at the turn at time t. Upon detection, the three members form a crowd.

First, the object control means 203 receives a notification from the enemy character A, and as shown in FIG. 8B, a crowd object G (G002) as a virtual leader for the enemy character existing in the search area 301.
Create 302. Then, G002, which is the ID of the crowd object G, is added to the head of the object list,
The IDs of the enemy character A, enemy character B, and enemy character C constituting the crowd object are deleted from the object list. Further, the mode 262 of the enemy character A, the enemy character B, and the enemy character C is changed from the individual to the crowd. Then, the turn at the time t of the enemy character A ends.

Here, the crowd object will be described.

The crowd object is a virtual object and is not displayed. Then, as shown in FIG. 8C, the position of the crowd object is set to the center point of the position of the enemy character constituting the crowd (the barycentric coordinates on the virtual world 310). That is, the position of the crowd object at time t is determined by the time t
Is determined by the position at. It should be noted that the crowd object may be displayed in a figure distinguishable from the enemy object in accordance with the selection of the player.

Further, the crowd object has number information and position information of enemy characters constituting the crowd. FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically illustrating a data structure of information managed by the crowd object.

In this figure, the crowd object is a crowd object ID 27 for identifying the crowd object.
1, the number 272 of enemy characters constituting the crowd, and the location 273 of the crowd object.

In addition, the crowd object indicates the ID of each enemy character according to the number 272 of enemy characters.
And information for managing the location. The information for managing the position of the enemy character is 28 in this example.
1a manages the enemy character A's ID and location,
81b manages the ID and location of the enemy character B,
It is assumed that the ID and the location of the enemy character C are managed in 81b. On the other hand, the value of the crowd object existence position 273 is determined based on the existence position information of these enemy characters. The information of these enemy characters can form an initial value by acquiring the information of the enemy character immediately before the crowd formation.

As described above, the object control unit 203
Causes the crowd object to be turned at time t before the enemy character object in the individual mode is turned at time t when the crowd object is listed in the object list at time t. Hereinafter, the processing performed by the crowd object in one turn will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

Here, a crowd object G composed of an enemy character A, an enemy character B, and an enemy character C will be described as an example.

First, the crowd object G obtains information of the number 262 of enemy characters constituting the crowd (S
201), placement information of the enemy character is created based on the information (S202). The processing at this time is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

First, an arrangement shape of the crowd object G is determined. The rule for determining the arrangement shape is arbitrary, but here, a rule that expresses the shape of the crowd with good appearance is used. The rules will be described.

As shown in FIG. 11A, a plurality of concentric circles having a predetermined radius centered on the position of the crowd object G are assumed for the crowd object G. The concentric circles are referred to as a first layer 303a, a second layer 303b,.
The size of the concentric circle can be fixed or variable. When it is variable, for example, it can be changed according to the attribute of the block where the crowd object exists, or can be changed according to the operation content of the player.

For example, as shown in FIG. 11B, up to six enemy characters can be arranged on the first layer 303a and up to 12 enemy characters can be arranged on the second layer 303a. Hereinafter, similarly, it is assumed that up to 3 × 2 ^N enemy characters can be arranged in the N layer.

In this case, the crowd object G
Distributes the enemy characters constituting the crowd in order from the first layer 303a. That is, when there are two to six enemy characters constituting the crowd, all are distributed to the first layer. If there are 7 to 18 enemy characters, 6 are the first
The remaining enemy characters are distributed to the layer 303a and the second layer 30
3b. In the same manner, distribution is performed in order from the layer near the center point. At this point, it is undetermined which enemy character is to be placed on which layer.

Next, the crowd objects are arranged such that the intervals between the enemy characters are equal on the layer where the enemy characters are arranged. For example, the crowd object G has four enemy characters and the first layer 303
Assuming that all the enemy characters have been distributed to a, if they are arranged on a concentric circle so that their intervals are equal,
As shown in FIG. 11C, the arrangement is such that four enemy characters draw a square on a concentric circle. Similarly, six bodies have a regular hexagonal shape as shown in FIG. 4D, and ten bodies have a two-layer structure as shown in FIG. 4E. The first layer 303a has a regular hexagonal shape and the second layer 303b has a square shape. The arrangement is like drawing.

Next, the crowd object G allocates the arrangement determined as described above to each of the enemy characters constituting the crowd. The crowd object compares the position of the enemy character with the determined arrangement to determine which enemy character is assigned to which arrangement. The assignment method is arbitrary, but, for example, the current position of each enemy character can be referred to and assigned such that the movement distance becomes the shortest as a whole. Or,
An identification number may be assigned to the enemy character and the arrangement, and the allocation may be performed in numerical order. Here, the closest enemy character is assigned to each arrangement position.

When the arrangement assignment of each enemy character is determined by this processing, the crowd object notifies each enemy character of the assignment information. Thereby, the enemy character can know to which position (coordinate) on the virtual plane the enemy character has been assigned.

Note that the allocation position can be restricted according to the block attribute of the virtual world 310. For example,
If the attribute of the block is river, a rule may be used such that no enemy character can be placed in the block.

Next, the crowd object performs a process for determining a destination direction (S203). The target direction of the crowd object is the direction in which the player character exists. For example, at time t, as shown in FIG. 12, if the existence position of the crowd object is (x ₁ , y ₁ ) and the existence position of the player character is (x ₂ , y ₂ ), the purpose of the crowd object Assuming that the angle between the target direction and the X axis is θ, θ = tan ⁻¹ (y ₂ −y ₁ ) / (x ₂ −x ₁ ) (where x ₂ ≠ x ₁ , x ₂ = in the case of x ₁ θ = 90
°).

The crowd object notifies each of the enemy characters constituting the crowd object of the target direction.

The process of retrieving the position where the crowd object is present in the crowd object is performed, for example, by sequentially searching for blocks within a predetermined distance range centering on the block where the crowd object exists. The determination can be made by determining whether or not the player character exists in the block. As a result, when a player character is found in a block within the search range, that direction can be set as the target direction. On the other hand, if the player character cannot be found, the target direction can be determined by performing processing such as maintaining the previous target direction or randomly changing the target direction.

The crowd object merely determines this destination direction, and the crowd object itself does not move independently. This is because the position of the crowd object is the center point of the enemy characters constituting the crowd object. Therefore, the crowd object moves as a result of the movement of the individual enemy characters constituting the crowd object.

Hereinafter, the movement of the enemy characters forming the crowd will be described.

An enemy character that forms a crowd and is in the crowd mode has obtained, from the crowd object, arrangement information indicating which coordinates on the virtual plane are assigned and information regarding the target direction.

The location of the enemy character constituting the crowd at time t + Δt is determined from the arrangement information and the target direction (S204).

The movement of the enemy character constituting the crowd is processed as a child turn of the crowd object's turn at time t. That is, the turns have a nested structure. For example, assuming that the crowd object G is composed of an enemy character A, an enemy character B, and an enemy character C, during the turn of the crowd object G given from the object control unit 203, the crowd object G・ B and C are sequentially turned (child turns in the turn of the crowd object G).

Here, an example of the moving process of the enemy character in the child turn using the enemy character A as an example is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

Assume that the enemy character A in the crowd mode exists at the coordinates (x ₁ , y ₁ ) on the virtual plane at time t.
Then, the arrangement information (x ₃ , y ₃ ) from the crowd object
And the target direction θ is given. At this time, the location of the enemy character A at time t + Δt is determined as follows.

Here, for simplicity, a coordinate system different from the coordinates of the virtual world 310 is considered, and as shown in FIG. 13A, the position (x ₁ , y ₁ ) of the enemy character at time t is represented by ( (0, 0), and the target direction is θ = 90 °.

First, the enemy character A determines whether the arrangement information is forward or backward based on the target direction. For this example, if y ₃ of the arrangement information (x _3, y ₃₎ is 0 or more, it is determined whether less than 0.

When it is determined that the coordinates of the arrangement information are ahead with respect to the target direction, the moving speed, the moving speed,
For example, when the moving speed is equal to the reference speed × 1.2, the robot moves in the direction of the coordinates (x ₃ , y ₃ ) of the arrangement information by the distance of the moving speed × Δt. Then, as shown in FIG. 13B, the coordinates obtained as a result are set as the existing position at time t + Δt.

In the figure, the solid circle A is the position of the enemy character A at the time t, and the broken circle A is the time t +
This represents the position of the enemy character A at Δt.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the coordinates of the arrangement information are backward with respect to the destination direction, the coordinates (x ₃ ,
It moves in the direction of 0) by the distance of the moving speed × Δt. That is, the movement is performed so as to approach the coordinates (x ₃ , y ₃ ) of the arrangement information without moving backward in the target direction. Then, as shown in FIG. 13C, the coordinates obtained as a result are set as the existing position at time t + Δt.

By performing the same moving process for the enemy characters B and C (S205), the turn of the crowd object G at time t is completed.

If another crowd object is registered in the object list, the same turn is performed for that crowd object (S20).
6).

After the end of the turn at time t, at the turn of the crowd object G at time t + Δt, the crowd object G determines the position of the enemy character A, enemy character B, and enemy character C constituting the crowd at the time t + Δt. Find the location of. Then, the arrangement information and the target direction are determined as described above, and the enemy characters constituting the crowd are notified. By repeating such processing,
The state of chasing the player character as a crowd can be expressed on the entertainment device.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing how the enemy character A, the enemy character B, and the enemy character C move as a crowd from time t to time t + Δt. In this figure, solid-line circles A, B, and C represent the position of the enemy character at time t, and dotted-line circles A, B, and C represent the position of the enemy character at time t + Δt. As shown in the figure, it is possible to express a state in which the enemy character moves in the target direction while forming a crowd.

In the above example, for simplicity, the existence position (x ₁ , y ₁ ) is set to (0, 0), and the target direction is set to θ = 90.
However, this relationship can be generalized by setting a virtual coordinate axis in which the current position is set as the origin, the Y axis is made coincident with the destination direction, and performing coordinate transformation.

The above enemy character movement processing is an example, and the movement processing of the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, when it is determined that the coordinates of the placement information are ahead with respect to the destination direction, as shown in FIG. 15A, the coordinates are moved in a direction in which the destination direction and the coordinate directions of the placement information are combined. You may. Further, even when it is determined that the coordinates of the arrangement information are backward with respect to the destination direction, FIG.
As shown in (b), it may be advanced in the target direction. By doing so, it is possible to more express the state of chasing the player character.

Next, a change in the state of the crowd will be described.
A crowd is formed from individuals, but the individuals that make up a certain crowd change dynamically.

First, a case where an enemy character acting as an individual is absorbed in a crowd will be described. When an enemy character acting as an individual detects a crowd object within a circle having a radius b centered on its own position during a turn, the enemy character is absorbed by the crowd.

Specifically, the object control unit 203
Is the ID of the enemy character from the object list
Is deleted, and 1 is added to the number 272 of enemy characters managed by the crowd object.
D and information on the location are added. Then, the mode of the enemy character is changed to the crowd mode. By this processing, the enemy character acting as an individual is absorbed by the crowd.

Next, the enemy characters constituting the crowd are
The case of separating from the crowd will be described. An enemy character acting as a crowd separates from the crowd and behaves as a solid when the distance between its own position and the position of the crowd during the child turn becomes b or more.

More specifically, the object control unit 203
Adds the ID of the enemy character to the object list, subtracts 1 from the number 272 of enemy characters managed by the crowd object,
D and information on the location are deleted. Then, the mode of the enemy character is changed to the individual mode. By this processing, the enemy character acting as a crowd is separated from the crowd.

The size of the distance b serving as a reference for absorption and separation may be fixed to a certain value in the coordinates of the virtual world 310, for example, or may be changed according to the size of the crowd. Good. In this way, if the crowd is large, the enemy character can be easily absorbed, and if the crowd is small, the enemy character can be easily separated.

Further, the crowd chasing the player character may be distributed to a plurality of crowds under certain conditions to chase the player character. The processing at this time will be described.

As described above, since the target direction of the crowd object is the direction in which the player character exists, the crowd normally follows the player character straight.

However, as described above, if an attribute that an enemy character cannot pass through, such as a pond, is set in the block attribute of the virtual world 310, this block must be avoided, so that the player character follows the player character. There may be multiple routes.

FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining an example of this situation. In this figure, a crowd object 401
Is chasing the player character 402. An area 410 consisting of four hatched blocks has an attribute that an enemy character cannot pass through. Normally, the target direction of the crowd object 401 is oriented in the direction in which the player character 402 exists, as shown by a broken line 411, but in this case, since the area 410 cannot pass through, the two directions of the route 412 and the route 413 are shown. A route is a candidate.

In such a case, the object control unit 203 performs a process of dividing the crowd G. That is, in the case of this example, the crowd 401 is divided into a first crowd passing the route 412 and a second crowd passing the route 413. Of course, when three or more routes are listed as candidates, the route can be divided into three or more crowds.

Here, the search for the candidate route is performed by, for example, a means capable of avoiding an obstacle. In the example of FIG.
The shortest route for each of the means that passes above the pool and the means that passes below the pond 410 can be determined as candidate routes.

At the time of division, various methods can be used for distributing the enemy characters constituting the crowd. For example, divide the number of enemy characters that make up the crowd object into equal parts to form new crowds, or create ratios that are inversely proportional to the ratio of the distance to the player character on each route or the distance. Each can be distributed to form a new crowd.

In the dividing process, the object control unit 203 deletes the crowd object before the division from the object list, adds the divided crowd object to the object list, and adds information about the enemy characters constituting the crowd.

At this time, it is necessary to prevent the enemy character relating to the divided crowd from taking an action of forming a new crowd for a certain period of time. Otherwise, the crowd may join again immediately after the division.

Further, for example, when the difference in the moving distance to the player character between the case where the route 412 is passed and the case where the route 413 is passed is large, for example, one route is 1.5 times smaller than the other route. If the distance is twice or more, the crowd may not be divided.

The appearance and the hardware configuration of the entertainment apparatus 10 are not limited to those shown in FIGS. The entertainment device 10 is, for example, C
An external storage device such as a PU, a memory, and a hard disk device, a reading device that reads data from a portable storage medium such as a CD / DVD-ROM, an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, and a display device such as a display; The information processing device may have a general information processing device configuration such as a data communication device for performing communication via a network such as the Internet, and an interface for transmitting and receiving data between the devices described above. In this case, a program and data for constructing the software configuration shown in FIG. 1 on the entertainment device 10 are read from a portable storage medium via a reading device, and stored in a memory or an external storage device. Or you can
Alternatively, the program may be downloaded from a network via a data communication device and stored in a memory or an external storage device.

Note that the expression technique of the present invention is not limited to the above-described example, and can be applied to the motion expression of many aggregates. For example, the present invention can be applied to a motion image representation of a school of fish, birds, insects and the like.

[0129]

As described above, according to the present invention, the behavior of each individual when the individual moves as a crowd and the state of the natural movement as the crowd are expressed in the information processing apparatus. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a software configuration for implementing a tracking game built on an entertainment device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a virtual world.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of a block in a virtual world.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an object list.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a data structure managed by an enemy character object.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state of movement of an enemy character.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process in one turn when an enemy character acts in an individual mode.

FIG. 8 is an image diagram illustrating a process when an enemy character forms a crowd.

FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically illustrating information managed by a crowd object.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by the crowd object in one turn.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a process in which a crowd object creates enemy character arrangement information.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a target direction of a crowd object.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a movement process in a child turn of an enemy character.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a state in which an enemy character A, an enemy character B, and an enemy character C move as a crowd from time t to time t + Δt.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating another example of the movement process in the child turn of the enemy character.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the entertainment device.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a use state of the entertainment device.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating processing for dividing a crowd.

[Explanation of symbols]

201: operation content receiving unit, 202: player character position calculation unit, 203: object control unit, 204: image generation unit, 205: virtual world DB, 206: display control unit

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A method for expressing the movement of a crowd composed of a plurality of individuals in an information processing apparatus, comprising: acquiring a number of individuals constituting a crowd at a certain time t and a position of each individual; Assigning a position within the crowd of each individual at the next time point t + 1 in accordance with the arranged arrangement rule; and determining a destination direction with respect to a reference point of the crowd determined by the positions of the individuals constituting the crowd at a certain time point t. Determining a position at the next time point t + 1 in accordance with the position assigned by the arrangement processing and the destination direction for each individual, wherein the method comprises the steps of: 2. Obtaining the number of individuals constituting the crowd and the position of each individual at a certain time point t, and allocating the position of each individual within the crowd at the next time point t + 1 according to a predetermined arrangement rule. An arrangement process; a process of determining a target direction for a reference point of a crowd determined by the position of an individual constituting a crowd at a certain time point t; A program for causing an information processing apparatus to execute a process of determining a position at the next time point t + 1. 3. The number of individuals constituting the crowd at a certain time point t and the position of each individual are obtained, and the position of each individual in the crowd at the next time point t + 1 is allocated according to a predetermined arrangement rule. Arranging means, means for determining a destination direction for a reference point of the crowd determined by the position of the individual constituting the crowd at a certain point in time t, Means for determining a position at the next time point t + 1. 4. A program for displaying, on a display device, moving images of a plurality of characters moving in a virtual world, and determines whether each character acts as an individual or as a crowd. A mode determination process; and a virtual object generation process for specifying a character group that constitutes the crowd when it is determined to act as a crowd, and generating a virtual object that gives movement information regarding movement to the character group; A program for causing an information processing apparatus to execute a crowd moving process of moving a character group based on the movement information. 5. The program according to claim 4, wherein the movement information includes information on a character allocation position in a virtual world and a destination direction of the virtual object. 6. The program according to claim 5, wherein a moving image of an operator character moving in a virtual world is displayed on a display screen of the display device according to the operation content of the operator received via the operation device. A program for causing the information processing apparatus to further execute an operator character display process, wherein a target direction of the virtual object is a direction of following the operator character in a virtual world. 7. The program according to claim 4, 5 or 6, wherein when it is determined by the mode determination processing that the character acts as an individual, the character is moved in a virtual world. Character movement processing, character search processing to determine whether or not another character exists within a predetermined range of regions according to the position of the character in the virtual world, and the presence of another character A program that causes the information processing apparatus to further execute a crowd formation process for performing an action of forming a crowd with the other characters when it is determined that the character is performing. 8. The program according to claim 5, wherein the assignment positions of the characters in the virtual world are:
Positions on a circle or a plurality of concentric circles centered on a reference point determined based on the position of the character group forming the crowd in the virtual world, so that the characters on the same circle are at equal intervals A program characterized by a unique position. 9. A recording medium readable by an information processing apparatus which records the program according to any one of claims 2, 4 to 8.