JP2002315956A - Video game device, recording medium, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an art displaying picture in the advancing direction without any wait when passing a branch point of a route in a virtual three-dimensional space and capable of clarifying the branch point. SOLUTION: The video game device is so constituted as to recognize the branch point before a character reaches there, display a branch point mark on the branch point of a route, at the same time receive a selection in the branch point direction, read picture data in the receiving direction, and display it before the character reaches the branch point. The directional-change display at the branch point is made to change according to the receiving position of the selection of the branch direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video game apparatus for moving and displaying a character on a path in a virtual three-dimensional space and selecting a path branched at a branch point of the path, a recording medium storing the program, and a program. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A game of this kind aims at adventure by manipulating a character on a movable path in a virtual three-dimensional space, and acquiring treasures and escaping from a dangerous zone while confronting various obstacles. There are adventure games and action games.

[0003] The route in such a game is generally branched on the way, and at this branch point, the player can move the character in a desired direction. For example, on a route that branches left and right, if you go to the right, you will reach the destination, but an enemy character will appear or reach a dead end in the left, and route selection is an important factor in the progress of the game. .

[0004]

However, in such a game, it is necessary to advance the game in real time in order to give the player a sense of reality. For this reason, it can be solved by pre-reading the image data in the moving direction when the route is a single road, but it is difficult to pre-read image data in all the branching directions when there is a branch in the route, and at the branch point There is a problem that waiting occurs in image display.

[0005] Also, in order to give the game a sense of tension, the route is generally formed in a maze and an enemy character appears. Sometimes it became difficult.

The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and displays an image in the traveling direction without waiting for a time when passing through a branch point of a route in a virtual three-dimensional space. It is to provide a technology that can be clarified.

[0007]

A first means of the present invention is as follows.
What is claimed is: 1. A video game apparatus for moving and displaying a character on a path in a virtual three-dimensional space and selecting a path branched at a branch point of the path, comprising: image data recording means for recording image data of the path; Recognizing means for recognizing the character before the character arrives, display control means for displaying a branch point mark when the recognition means recognizes the branch point, and when the branch point mark is displayed by the display control means. Receiving means for receiving the selection of the path of the branch point, and reading means for reading the image data of the path from the image data recording means when the selection of the path is received by the receiving means, the recognition means, The display control unit further recognizes the arrival of the character at the junction, and when the recognition unit recognizes the arrival at the junction, A video game device and displaying the image data of the path which has been read by said reading means.

According to this means, the branch of the route is clarified by displaying the branch point mark, and the image data of the selected route is read in advance, so that when the character reaches the branch point, the character moves in the traveling direction. The image of the route can be displayed without waiting for time.

A second means of the present invention is based on the first means, wherein the movement of the character moves to a point at a predetermined distance on the route, and the recognizing means moves to a point close to the branch point. The display control means displays the branch point mark when the character reaches the point recognized by the recognition means, and displays the branch point mark when the character reaches the branch point. Is to be erased.

According to this means, the display and deletion of the branch point mark can be performed at a predetermined position where the character has moved.

In a third aspect of the present invention based on the second aspect, the recognizing means further recognizes a position at which the receiving means has received the selection of the route, and the display control means has recognized the position. The direction change display at the branch point is changed depending on the position.

For example, if the timing of the selection input is late, the direction change display is displayed long, and during this time, the image data in the direction can be read.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable recording medium storing a program for moving and displaying a character on a path in a virtual three-dimensional space and selecting a path branched at a branch point of the path. An image data in which image data of the route is recorded, a recognition step of recognizing the branch point before the character arrives, and a display for displaying a branch point mark when the recognition step recognizes the branch point. A control step; a receiving step of receiving a selection of a path of the branch point when the branch point mark is displayed by the display control step; and a path from the image data when the selection of the path is received by the receiving step. And a reading step of reading the data of the character. The display control step further includes displaying the image data of the route read by the reading step when the recognition step recognizes the arrival at the branch point. It is a computer-readable recording medium on which a program is recorded.

By storing the program on a recording medium, it is possible to distribute only the program. The recording medium is a CD-ROM, a floppy (registered trademark) disk,
Game cartridges, memory cards, magnetic disks,
Any medium such as a magnetic tape can be used.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for moving and displaying a character on a path in a virtual three-dimensional space and selecting a path to be branched at a branch point of the path. And a recognition step of recognizing the branch point before the character arrives,
A display control step of displaying a branch point mark when the branch point is recognized by the recognition step, and a receiving step of receiving a selection of a path of the branch point when the branch point mark is displayed by the display control step; A reading step of reading data of the path from the image data when the selection of the path is received by the receiving step, wherein the recognizing step further recognizes that the character has reached the branch point, When the recognition step recognizes the arrival at the branch point, the display control step is a program for executing displaying the image data of the route read by the reading step.

A program can be distributed to a video game device having a communication function via a network.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the video game device of the present invention is connected to a video display device 5 (hereinafter, simply referred to as “display 5”).

The game machine main body 1 has a CD-ROM (Compa) (not shown) under a cover 2a of the CD-ROM drive.
ct Disc-ROM) 2 is provided, and provides a game program and game data. Also, a controller 3 is connected as an external input device and a memory card 4 as an external storage device.

The display 5 is for providing display symbols output from the game machine main body 1 as display images, and the speaker 6 is for providing audio symbols to the player as audio. A general household television receiver is used. Can be.

The controller 3 has various operation buttons. A left / right / up / down direction key 7 is provided on the left side of the controller 3 when viewed from the plane, and is used for moving a character in the direction by pressing a key in the direction, moving a cursor on a selection screen, and the like. On the other hand, a right button 8 and a right button 9 are provided on the right side of the controller 3, and are used for determination input and cancellation input, respectively. The □ button 10 and the △ button 11 are used for inputting a specific command. Further, a start button 12 and a select button 13 are provided at the center of the controller 3, and the former is used for pausing and restarting the game, and the latter is used for switching screens.

FIG. 2 shows a hardware block diagram of the video game device. The video game device has a CP
U (Central Processing Uni)
t) A control system composed of 21 and its peripheral devices, and a GPU (Graphic) for drawing in the frame buffer 28
(Processing Unit) 27 and SP for generating music, sound effects, etc.
U (Sound Processing Unit) 3
1, a CD-ROM control unit for controlling the CD-ROM 2, a communication control unit for controlling input of instructions from the controller 3 by the player and input / output to / from the memory card 4, and the like.

The control system includes a CPU 21 and interrupt control and DMA (Dynamic Memory Access).
s) Peripheral device control unit 22 that controls transfer, and RAM (Random Access Me) as a main storage device
(memory) 23 and a ROM (Read) storing programs such as an operating system for managing a main storage device, a graphic system, a sound system and the like.
Only Memory) 24.

The graphic system is a CD-RO
An image decoder 25 for decoding the compressed and encoded image data read from M2, and an image decoder 25
GTE (Geometric Tr) that performs processing such as coordinate calculation and rendering on the image data decoded in
answer Engine 26 and a GPU 27 that performs drawing such as shading, texture mapping, and raster processing based on the data calculated by the GTE 26.
A frame buffer 28 for storing the image drawn by the GPU 27, a decompression device 29 for decompressing the image and performing digital-to-analog conversion,
An NTSC encoder 30 that converts the video signal into an SC video signal and outputs the video signal to the display 5 is provided.

The SPU 3 generates music, sound effects, and the like based on an instruction from the CPU 21.
1, a sound buffer 32 in which waveform data and the like are stored by the SPU 31, and a DAC (Digital) for decoding audio data reproduced by the CD-ROM device 34.
(Analog Converter) 33 and a speaker 6 for outputting the decrypted data.

The above-mentioned CD-ROM control section comprises a CD-ROM
2 for reproducing programs, data, etc. stored in
ROM device 34 and CD for noise filtering
-DSP (CD-Digital Signal Pr)
processor 35, a decoder 36 for decoding, for example, a program and data stored with an error correction code added thereto, and a CD-ROM 2 by temporarily storing reproduction data from a CD-ROM device 34. And a buffer 37 for speeding up the reading from the buffer. Image data and audio data reproduced and decoded by these devices are sent to a graphic system and a sound system via a bus 20, respectively.

The communication control unit includes a communication control 38 for bidirectionally controlling communication with the CPU 21 via the bus 20, a controller 3 for inputting an instruction from a player, and an external storage for storing game setting data and the like. And a memory card 4 as a device.

Here, the program stored in the CD-ROM 2 is an adventure game aimed at solving a case that occurs in a mansion where a strange creature has settled and surviving safely.

FIG. 3 illustrates a part of a plan view of a route on which the character moves. The path 41 in the figure shows a portion that is sandwiched between walls on both sides and branches into a T-shape. Route 41
Has moving points P1 to P5, and the controller 3
By pressing the operation button, the character can be moved to an adjacent movement point connected by the solid line 42 in units of the movement point. The character that has moved from the moving point P1 to the moving point P2 can move to the moving point P4 or the moving point P5 at the moving point P3 which is a branch point.

FIG. 4 shows that the character is at the movement point P1.
The path 41 displayed on the display 5 when viewed in the direction of the movement point P2 (see FIG. 3, see FIG. 3) is shown. Thus, the path 41 is displayed as a three-dimensional image viewed from the eyes of the character.

FIG. 5 shows a route 41 displayed on the display 5 when the character looks at the moving point P3 from the moving point P2. When the character moves to the movement point P2, the movement point P3 is a branch point, and thus the branch point marks 43-1 and 43-2 indicating the branching direction.
Is displayed. The branch point marks 43-1 and 43-2
Is displayed, when the direction key 7 of the controller 3 in the desired direction is pressed, the image data of the path in the direction is read from the CD-ROM 2 and the frame buffer 28 is read.
To draw.

FIG. 6 shows the route 41 when the vehicle has moved to the moving point P3. Character is moving point P
If the directional key 7 in the branch direction is pressed before moving from 2 to the intermediate point P2-n between the movement points P2 and P3 (see FIG. 3), the image data in the branch direction has already been read. The route 41 (see FIG. 7) in the branching direction (in this example, the moving point P4 direction) is directly displayed. on the other hand,
If the directional key 7 in the branch direction is pressed after the character has passed the midpoint P2-n (see FIG. 3) between the moving point P2 and the moving points P2 and P3, the direction change screen (see FIG. 8). Is displayed, image data in the branch direction is read, and a path 41 (see FIG. 7) in the branch direction is displayed.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the above processing.
It is. When there is a movement input by pressing the direction key of the controller 3 while the character is stopped at the movement point (101), movement display of the character to the next movement point in the input direction is started (102). If the moving point is not a branch point (103), the front image data of the current route is read from the CD-ROM 2 (121), and when the character reaches the next moving point (12).
2) Display on the display 5 (123). On the other hand, if the next moving point is a branch point (103), a branch point mark is displayed (104). Here, if there is a selection input of the branch direction by pressing the direction key of the controller 3 (10
5) Read the current movement display position of the character (1)
06), if it is past the intermediate point between the moving points (10)
7) While performing the direction change display, the image data in the selected direction is read from the CD-ROM 2 during the display (13).
1). On the other hand, if it is not past the intermediate point (107), the image data in the selected direction is read from the CD-ROM 2 (1).
08). When the character reaches the fork (109),
The read image data in the selected direction is displayed on the display 5 (110).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by inputting a desired direction at the branch point where the branch point mark is displayed, the path in the selected direction is displayed without waiting for time, and the game is smoothly performed. It can be carried out.

The character is not limited to humans and animals, but may be a vehicle such as a car or an airplane, or a camera itself for displaying an image. Further, the branch point may be a door that can enter the side room from the route.

[0035]

According to the present invention, there is provided a technique capable of displaying an image in the traveling direction without waiting for a time when passing through a branch point of a route in a virtual three-dimensional space and making it possible to clarify the branch point. Can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a video game device of the present invention is connected to a video display device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration centered on a game machine main body.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a moving method in a route;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a route display screen.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a route display screen.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a route display screen.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a route display screen.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a route display screen.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Game machine main body 2 CD-ROM 3 Controller 41 Route 43-1 and 43-2 Branch mark

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A video game device for moving and displaying a character on a path in a virtual three-dimensional space and selecting a path branched at a branch point of the path, wherein image data recording means for recording image data of the path Recognition means for recognizing the branch point before the character arrives; display control means for displaying a branch point mark when the recognition means recognizes the branch point; display of the branch point mark by the display control means Receiving means for receiving the selection of the path of the branch point when the path is selected, and reading means for reading the image data of the path from the image data recording means when the selection of the path is received by the receiving means. The recognition means further recognizes the arrival of the character at the junction, and when the recognition means recognizes the arrival at the junction, Serial display control means, a video game device and displaying the image data of the path which the had been read by the reading means. 2. The movement of the character moves to a point at a predetermined distance on the route, the recognizing means further recognizes a point close to the branch point, and the display control means recognizes the recognizing means. 2. The branch point mark is displayed when the character reaches the point recognized by the character, and the branch point mark is deleted when the character reaches the branch point.
A video game device as described. 3. The recognizing unit further recognizes a position at which the receiving unit has received the selection of the route, and the display control unit changes a direction change display at the branch point according to the recognized position. The video game device according to claim 2, wherein: 4. A computer-readable recording medium in which a program for moving and displaying a character on a path in a virtual three-dimensional space and selecting a path to branch at a branch point of the path is recorded. Image data in which image data is recorded; a recognition step of recognizing the branch point before the character arrives; a display control step of displaying a branch point mark when the branch point is recognized by the recognition step; and the display control A receiving step of receiving a selection of a route at the branch point when the branch point mark is displayed by the step; and reading the data of the route from the image data when the selection of the route is received by the receiving step. And the recognition step further includes recognizing that the character has reached the junction. When the recognition step recognizes the arrival at the branch point, the display control step records a program for executing display of the image data of the route read by the reading step. Computer readable recording medium. 5. A program for moving and displaying a character on a path in a virtual three-dimensional space, and selecting a path branched at a branch point of the path, comprising: image data in which image data of the path is recorded; A recognition step of recognizing the branch point before the character arrives, a display control step of displaying a branch point mark when the branch point is recognized by the recognition step, and a branch point mark displayed by the display control step. A receiving step of receiving a selection of a path of the branch point when the path is present; and a reading step of reading data of the path from the image data when the selection of the path is received by the receiving step. Further recognizing that the character has reached the fork, and wherein the recognizing step is for reaching the fork. The display control step when it recognizes the program for executing the displaying the image data of the path which has been read by said reading step.