JP2003290549A - Network game system, game device and its program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network game system capable of making a game picture easily seen by deciding a proper display font size for each message character string to be transmitted/received via a chat or the like. <P>SOLUTION: In a game device for carrying out an on-line game, the configuration of a three-dimensional game space where the other player game character being the target to be operated of the other player and a user's own player game character being the target to be operated of a player being the user of the game device are disposed is displayed. At the time of receiving a message character string associated with the other player game character, a font size at the time of displaying the message character string is decided based on the position in the three-dimensional game space of the other player game character and the position in the three-dimensional game space of the user's own player game character. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a network game system, a game device and a program, and more particularly to a technique for optimizing a font size when displaying a message character string input by each game device in a network game.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a game server has been connected to a communication network such as the Internet so that the game server can be accessed from a plurality of game devices each composed of a home game machine, a personal computer and the like. As a result, so-called network game (online game) systems are becoming widespread, which allow players at different locations to play the game together.

In such a network game system, a game character to be operated by each player is arranged in a common three-dimensional game space, and when a message character string is input in association with a certain game character, another In some game devices, the message character string is displayed in association with the game character. According to such a system, communication between players can be promoted.

[0004]

However, when displaying a message character string on the game screen provided in the game device, if all the message character strings are displayed in the same font size, the game screen becomes difficult to see. There is a problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to determine a suitable display font size for each message character string, thereby making it easy to see the game screen, and a game. To provide an apparatus and a program.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a network game system according to the present invention includes a first game device associated with a first game character arranged in a three-dimensional game space, and A second game character connected to the first game device via a communication network and associated with a second game character arranged in the three-dimensional game space.
And a message character string input means for inputting a message character string in association with the first game character, the network game system including: Message character string transmitting means for transmitting the message character string,
The second game device includes a message character string receiving unit that receives the message character string, and a message character string display unit that displays the message character string, and the network game system includes: The message character string display means further includes font size determining means for determining a font size for the message character string based on the positions of the first and second game characters in the three-dimensional game space. With the determined font size,
The message character string is displayed.

In the present invention, the first and second game characters are arranged in the three-dimensional game space (virtual three-dimensional space). The first game device is associated with the first game character, and the second game character is associated with the second game device.
Associated game devices. The first game device and the second game device are connected via a communication network. Then, in the first game device, when the message character string is input in association with the first game character and is transmitted, the second game device receives it. The message character string may be transmitted directly from the first game device to the second game device, or may be relayed by another device such as a game server.

The second game device displays the received message character string. For example, the first game character may be displayed on the second game device, and the received message character string may be displayed in association with the first game character. Then, in the present invention, the font size is determined for the message character string based on the positions of the first and second game characters in the three-dimensional game space. This determination may be performed, for example, in the first or second game device, or may be performed in another device, for example, a game server or the like. Then, in the second game device, when displaying the received message character string, it is displayed in the font size thus determined.

According to the present invention, when the message character string related to the first game character is displayed on the second game device, the position of the first game character in the three-dimensional game space, and the second game character position. Since the font size is determined based on the position of the second game character associated with the game device, an appropriate display font size can be determined for each message character string. As a result,
It becomes possible to make the game screen easy to see.

Also, in one aspect of the present invention, the font size determining means determines the font size of the first and second game characters based on the positions of the first and second game characters in the three-dimensional game space. The distance in the three-dimensional game space is calculated, and the font size for the message character string is determined based on the distance. In this aspect, since the font size is determined based on the distance between the first and second game characters, for example, the more distant they are, the smaller the font size is.
It is possible to produce an effect such as increasing the font size, so that the game screen can be made easier to see.

Further, according to one aspect of the present invention, the font size determining means has a viewpoint that follows the second game character based on the positions of the first and second game characters in the three-dimensional game space. The distance from the first game character is calculated, and the font size of the message character string is determined based on the distance. In this aspect, the position of the first game character,
Since the font size is determined based on the distance between the viewpoint driven by the second game character and the second game character, the font size becomes smaller as the distance between them increases, and the font size becomes larger as the distance becomes closer. This makes it possible to produce a game screen and make the game screen easier to see. It should be noted that, in the second game device, it is preferable to display a state of viewing the three-dimensional game space from the viewpoint.

[0012] In one aspect of the present invention, the first game device further includes basic information input means for inputting basic information for determining a font size of the message character string, and the message character The string transmitting means transmits the basic information together with the message character string, the message character string receiving means receives the message character string and basic information in association with each other, and the font size determining means determines the basic information. Further, the font size is determined for the message character string.
In this aspect, in addition to the positions of the first and second game characters in the three-dimensional game space, the basic information input in the first game device is also used as the basis for determining the font size for the message character string. . Therefore, the user (player) of the first game device can directly or indirectly influence the determination of the font size.

In the game device according to the present invention, the first player game character which is the operation target of the first player and the second player game character which is the operation target of the second player are arranged 3 A game device for displaying a three-dimensional game space viewed from a given viewpoint,
Message character string receiving means for receiving a message character string corresponding to the first game character, and received by the message character string receiving means based on the positions of the first and second player game characters in the three-dimensional game space. Font size determining means for determining the font size of the message character string, and a message character string for displaying the message character string received by the message character string receiving means at the font size determined by the font size determining means. And a display means.

The program according to the present invention is a three-dimensional arrangement in which a first player game character which is an operation target of a first player and a second player game character which is an operation target of a second player are arranged. A program for causing a computer such as a home game machine, a portable game machine, a portable information terminal, a personal computer, or a mobile phone to function as a game apparatus that displays a game space viewed from a given viewpoint, Message character string receiving means for receiving a message character string corresponding to the first game character, and received by the message character string receiving means based on the positions of the first and second player game characters in the three-dimensional game space. Font size to determine the font size for the message string And a program for causing the computer to function as message character string display means for displaying a message character string received by the message character string receiving means in a font size determined by the font size determining means. is there.

According to the present invention, when the message character string related to the first game character is displayed, its font is based on the positions of the first game character and the second game character in the three-dimensional game space. Since the size is determined, an appropriate display font size can be determined for each message character string, and as a result, the game screen can be made easy to see.

Further, the game device according to the present invention is a game device for displaying the appearance of the three-dimensional game space in which the game character is placed, as viewed from a given viewpoint, and a message character string corresponding to the game character. And a font size determining means for determining the font size of the message character string received by the message character string receiving means based on the positions of the game character and the viewpoint in the three-dimensional game space. And message character string display means for displaying the message character string received by the message character string receiving means in the font size determined by the font size determining means.

Further, the program according to the present invention is, for example, a home-use game machine, a hand-held game machine, or a hand-held information device as a game device for displaying the appearance of a three-dimensional game space in which a game character is placed, from a given viewpoint. A program for operating a computer such as a terminal, a personal computer, or a mobile phone, which is a message character string receiving means for receiving a message character string corresponding to the game character, the game character and the viewpoint 3
A font size determining means for determining the font size of the message character string received by the message character string receiving means based on a position in the three-dimensional game space; and the message size using the font size determined by the font size determining means. A program for causing the computer to function as message character string display means for displaying a message character string received by the character string receiving means.

According to the present invention, when the message character string related to the game character is displayed, its font size is determined based on the positions of the game character and the viewpoint in the three-dimensional game space. An appropriate display font size can be determined for each, and as a result, the game screen can be made easier to see.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a network game system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the network game system 10 includes a plurality of game devices 16 and a game server 14.
And are included. The plurality of game devices 16 and the game server 14 are all connected to the communication network 12 such as the Internet and can exchange data with each other. The game device 16 is, for example, a computer system including a conventionally known personal computer, a home-use game machine, a portable game machine, a portable information terminal, a portable telephone, or the like. The game server 14 is also a computer system including, for example, a conventionally known server computer.

The game device 16 can execute a game program for a network game. By executing the game program, a three-dimensional game space is constructed on the memory, and the state is displayed as a game screen. It can be displayed on. At this time, in each game device 16, the current situation of the player player game character, that is, the game character operated by the player in each game device 16 is set as the player situation data (see FIG. 6) in the game server 14.
I am trying to send it to you. On the other hand, in the game server 14, the other situation data (see FIG. 7) is set as the other situation data (see FIG. 7) based on the own situation data received from each game apparatus 16.
I am trying to transfer to. Then, in each game device 16 that has received the other situation data, the current situation of the game character other than the own player game character, that is, the other player game character to be operated by the other player in the other game device 16 is displayed. Set based on situation data. In this way, in this network game system 10, the game spaces built on the memory in each game device 16 can be made common. Therefore, each player can play a game played in a common game space with his or her own game device 1 at a remote location.
You can play with 6.

At this time, each game device 16 is provided with means for inputting a message character string. This means comprises, for example, a keyboard. Alternatively,
It can also be configured by a microphone and software that converts a voice input by the microphone into a character string (text). Further, it is also possible to display all the character types on the display in advance and input the message character string by sequentially specifying the characters from the display position display means such as a mouse or a game controller.

Further, each game device 16 is provided with means for inputting the utterance volume (basic information) corresponding to the input message character string. The utterance size is information that distinguishes the utterance level, such as “large”, “medium”, and “small”. This unit is configured to include a pointing device such as a display and a mouse, and is configured to specify the utterance size in the GUI format. In addition, it can be configured by a keyboard or a game controller.

Then, the message character string and the size of the utterance are transmitted to the game server 14 as a part of the own situation data. The game server 14 determines the display time based on the received message character string. At this time, the weighting coefficient table (see FIG. 8) is used to determine the weighting coefficient according to the character type of each character forming the message character string.
The display time is determined by reading out the data from the above and adding the values. Alternatively, the display time may be determined simply by the number of characters in the message character string.

The display time thus determined is transmitted to each game device 16 as a part of other situation data together with a message character string and the like. Then, in the game device 16, as shown in FIG. 2, when the other player game character is displayed on the display, the message character string input by the player operating the other player game character on the game device 16 is also displayed. I have to. Specifically, when the other situation data received from the game server 14 is received, the other player game character corresponding to the other situation data is determined, and the other player game character's current position, current attitude, and action (attack or magic Whether the item has been used or not) is determined based on the received other situation data, and based on the determination, a 3D game space image representing a state in which the 3D game space is viewed from a given viewpoint is generated. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of this game space image.

Further, the game device 16 generates a balloon image having the same size as the three-dimensional game space image and having a transparent surface, and reads out the message character string and the display time contained in the received other situation data. ,
An opaque or semi-transparent speech bubble (a speech bubble whose original part of the speech bubble faces each game character) corresponding to the other-player game character corresponding to the other situation data is added to the balloon image. Then, the message character string is drawn opaque (for example, black) in each balloon. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of this balloon image. After that, the game device 16 synthesizes the game space image and the balloon image to generate a game space image with a balloon, and displays it on the display.

In the game device 16, the display time of the balloon is controlled to be the display time included in the other situation data. Thus, each game device 16
The display time of the message character string displayed in is optimized.

When the balloon and the message character string are drawn on the balloon image on the game device 16, the size (the size of the balloon and the font size of the message character string (size of each character)) is set to the message character string. The determination is made based on the distance between the other player game character corresponding to the above and the own player game character in the three-dimensional game space, and the size of the utterance corresponding to the message character string.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, another player game character 24 in the three-dimensional game space 18
As the distance L between the player game character 22 and the player game character 22 increases, the message character string related to the other player game character 24 is displayed in a smaller font size. Conversely, as the distance L is shorter, the message character string related to the other player game character 24 is displayed in a larger font size. Also, the larger the value of the pronunciation received together with the message character string is, the larger the font size of the message character string is displayed. Conversely, the smaller the pronunciation is, the smaller the font size of the message character string is displayed. That is, the display font size of the message character string is a function having as arguments the distance between the other-player game character 24 and the own-player game character 22 corresponding to the message character string, and the sound level corresponding to the message character string. Determined according to. This function is used by the other player game character 24 and the own player game character 2
It is a continuous or discontinuous decreasing function with respect to the distance from 2, and a continuous or discontinuous increasing function with respect to the loudness. For example, another player game character 24
This function can be realized by a table in which the font size can be obtained by giving the distance between the player player game character 22 and the player's game character 22, and the size of pronunciation.

It should be noted that the game apparatus 16 displays on the display a view of the three-dimensional game space 18 from the viewpoint 20 following the player game character 22.
The viewpoint 20 is set, for example, behind the player-player game character 22 and at a position higher than the head of the player-player game character 22 by a predetermined distance so as to look ahead of the player-player game character 22. When the player game character 22 moves in the three-dimensional game space 18, the viewpoint 20 also moves accordingly. At this time, the other-player game character 24
The font size of the message character string corresponding to may be determined based on the distance between the player game character 22 and the viewpoint 20. Even in this case, the font size can be optimized for each message character string.

When calculating the distance between the own player game character 22 and the other player game character 24, or the viewpoint 20 and the other player game character 24.
When calculating the distance between the player's game character 22 and the other-player game character 24,
For example, the representative point coordinates set for the head object or the body object or the coordinates of the feet may be used.

Hereinafter, this network game system 10 will be described.
The data processing of will be described in more detail.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the structure of own situation data transmitted from each game device 16 to the game server 14. The own situation data is data for notifying the game server 14 of the current situation of the player game character in the game program executed by each game device 16 on its own machine, that is, the own player game character,
As shown in the figure, the ID, the game character state, the message character string, and the utterance size are included. Here, the ID is data for identifying each game character or player. The game character state is, for example, data representing the current position, the current posture, and the action (whether the player has attacked, used magic, used an item, or the like) of the player game character in the game space. Further, the message is a message character string (text data) input by the player in each game device 16. The pronunciation level is used as basic information when determining the font size of the message character string transmitted together, and represents the volume of the voice when the player game character speaks the message character string. It is a thing.

On the other hand, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the structure of other situation data transmitted from the game server 14 to each game device 16. The other situation data is data for notifying each game device 16 of the current situation of a game character other than the player game character in the game program executed therein, that is, the other player game character. It is generated based on the above-mentioned own situation data received. As shown in the figure, the other situation data includes an ID, a game character state, a message character string, a utterance size, and a display time. The ID is data for identifying each game character and corresponds to the ID included in the own situation data. The game character state, the message character string, and the size of the utterance are the same as the game character state, the message character string, and the size of the utterance included in the own situation data. The display time is data newly added by the game server 14, and is generated based on the message character string included in the own situation data received from the game device 16. Specifically, based on the number of characters in the message character string, for example, the larger the number of characters forming the message character string, the longer the display time.

Alternatively, the display time may be determined according to the character type of each character forming the message character string. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a weighting coefficient table stored in the hard disk storage device or the like of the game server 14 for this processing. As shown in the figure, the weighting coefficient table stores character types and weighting factors in association with each other. For example, ".", ".",
Each character “•”, “,”, “,” is stored in association with “1” as a weighting coefficient, and “!”, “?”,
A weighting factor of "2" is stored in association with each of the characters "-" and "-". Furthermore, “0.5” is stored as a weighting factor in association with other characters. The game server 14 sends the message character string to the game device 16
When it is received from, the weighting factors corresponding to the respective characters forming the message character string are read from the weighting factor table shown in the same figure, and they are added. Then, the value is added to the other situation data as the display time.

When each game device 16 receives the other situation data thus generated, it generates a message table shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the message table stores a game character, a message, a current timer value, and a font size in association with each other. Upon receiving the other situation data, the game device 16 sets the game character column based on the ID included therein and also sets the message character string in the message column. Further, the font size is determined as described above based on the distance between the other player game character and the own player game character corresponding to the data in the game character column, and the size of the utterance included in the other situation data, Set it in the font size field. Further, the display time is set to the current timer value. Then, the current timer value is decremented based on, for example, a clock provided in the game device 16, and when the value becomes zero, the record is deleted. In the game device 16, the message character string stored in the message table is displayed near the corresponding other-player game character.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the processing of the game server 14. The process shown in FIG.
First, when the own situation data is received from each game device 16 (S101), the storage areas of the variables i and W are secured in the memory, and their values are respectively set. It is set to "1" and "0" (S102). Then, the i-th character of the message character string included in the received own situation data is acquired (S103). And this character is the end character (E
If not (OF, etc.) (S104), the weighting coefficient w corresponding to the character is read from the weighting coefficient table (S10).
5). Then, the value of the variable W is increased by the weighting factor w (S106), and the value of the variable i is also increased by 1 (S107). Then, the processes of S103 to S107 are repeated for all the characters forming the message character string. When it is determined in S104 that all the characters forming the message character string have been completed, the value of W is set in the other situation data as the display time of the message character string (S108), and it is set as the sender of the own situation data. It is transmitted to a different game machine 16 (S109). As described above, the game server 14 transmits the other situation data based on its own situation data to each game device 16.

Next, FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing the processing of the game apparatus 16. The process shown in FIG.
6 is executed by executing the program. First, the game apparatus 16 logs in to the game server 14 and transmits the ID and password (S201). In the game server 14, the player is authenticated, and if the authentication is successful, the game character to be operated by the player who uses the game apparatus 16 is determined and its ID is issued. After that, the game device 16 shifts to a state in which it can participate in the network game, and the game server 14 notifies the game device 16 of that fact (S202). Then, the other situation data received from the game server 14 is acquired (S203). The other situation data is stored in a reception buffer provided in the communication device of the game device 16 as needed. And
A game space image (see FIG. 3) is drawn based on the game character state of each game character included in the other situation data (S204). Further, at this time, the state of the player character generated in drawing the game space image is transmitted to the game server 14 as own situation data (S205). Further, if there is a message character string newly input in the game device 16, the message character string is also included in the own situation data and transmitted to the game server 14. Furthermore, S
If the other situation data acquired in 203 includes a message character string (S206), the message character string is stored in the message table (S207). At this time,
The font size is determined based on the distance between the player's own game character and the other player's game character, and the size of the utterance, which is also stored in the message table.
The process of S207 will be described in detail later. Further, the current timer value of each message character string stored in the message table is updated (S208). Then, if there is a message character string whose current timer value is zero or less (S20
9), the record including the message character string is deleted from the message table (S210). Then, the position of the balloon is determined for each message character string remaining in the message table, a balloon image (see FIG. 4) displaying each message character string in the balloon is generated, and the balloon is drawn in S204 in the game space. The image is combined (S211). This game space screen with balloons
Displayed by the display. When generating the balloon image, the font size of each message character string adopts the value stored in the font size column of the message table. Then, until the game is over or the game is over due to a forced end operation (S21
2) The processes of S203 to S211 are repeated. After that, when the game ends, the game server 14 is logged off (S213). At this time, in the game server 14,
For example, the other game device 16 is notified of the withdrawal from the game space of the game character related to the player who logged off. In this way, in each game device 16, each message character string is displayed with the font size determined based on the distance between the own player game character and the other player game character and the utterance size over the display time based on the message character string. Can be displayed on the game screen.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing a new message storing process executed by the game device 16. This flow chart shows in detail the processing of S207 in the flow chart of FIG. As shown in the figure, in this new message storing process, first, the current position (current position coordinates in the three-dimensional game space) of the other-player game character corresponding to the newly arrived message character string is acquired (S301).
Further, the current position (current position coordinates in the three-dimensional game space) of the player game character on the game device 16 is acquired (S302). Then, based on the positions acquired in S301 and S302, the distance in the three-dimensional game space between the other-player game character and the own-player game character corresponding to the newly arrived message character string is calculated (S303). Further, the size of the utterance received from the game server 14 is acquired together with the new message character string (S304). Then, the distance calculated in S303 and the utterance size acquired in S304 are substituted into a predetermined function to calculate the font size (S305).
Then, the ID, the message character string, the display time, which is received from the game server 14 together with the new message character string,
And the font size calculated in S305 are stored in the game character column, the message column, the timer column, and the font size column of the message table, respectively (S3).
06).

As described above, in this network game system 10, when the message character string related to the other player game character is displayed on the display, the other player game character and the own player game character in the three-dimensional game space are displayed. Since the font size is determined based on the distance, it is possible to determine an appropriate font size for each message character string and optimize the message display.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.

For example, in the above description, when a new message character string is acquired, the distance between the other player game character and the own player game character corresponding to the message character string is calculated at that timing, and the distance is calculated based on the calculated distance. Determines the font size of the message string. Therefore, each message character string will continue to be displayed in the same font size until it disappears from the game screen. On the other hand, the font size may be updated by recalculating the distance between the other-player game character and the own-player game character every predetermined time. The font size may be determined by the game device 16 on the receiving side as described above, or may be determined by the game device 16 on the transmitting side. Further, the game server 14 may be used.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When the message character string related to the first game character is displayed on the second game device, the position of the first game character in the three-dimensional game space, and the second game character related to the second game device. The font size is determined based on the position of the. Further, when the message character string related to the game character is displayed, its font size is determined based on the positions of the game character and the viewpoint in the three-dimensional game space. Therefore, an appropriate display font size can be determined for each message character string, and the game screen can be made easy to see.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a game screen displayed on the display of the game device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a game space image which is a basis for generating a game screen.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a balloon image as a basis for generating a game screen.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a three-dimensional game space.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of own situation data transmitted from a game device to a game server.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of other situation data transmitted from the game server to the game device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a weighting coefficient table.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a message table.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the processing of the game server.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the processing of the game device.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing in detail a new message storing process in the game device.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 network game system, 12 communication network, 14 game server, 16 game device, 18
Three-dimensional game space, 20 viewpoints, 22 own player game character, 24 other player game character.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A three-dimensional game space in which a first player game character, which is an operation target of a first player, and a second player game character, which is an operation target of a second player, are arranged in a given viewpoint. And a message character string receiving means for receiving a message character string corresponding to the first game character, and a three-dimensional game space of the first and second player game characters. A font size determining means for determining the font size of the message character string received by the message character string receiving means based on the position in, and the message character string receiving means with the font size determined by the font size determining means. Message string display means for displaying a message string received by And a game device including. 2. A game device for displaying a three-dimensional game space in which a game character is placed as viewed from a given viewpoint, the message character string receiving means receiving a message character string corresponding to the game character. A font size determining means for determining a font size of the message character string received by the message character string receiving means based on the positions of the game character and the viewpoint in the three-dimensional game space; and the font size determining means. A message character string display means for displaying a message character string received by the message character string receiving means in a determined font size. 3. A three-dimensional game space in which a first player game character, which is an operation target of a first player, and a second player game character, which is an operation target of a second player, are arranged is a given viewpoint. A program for causing a computer to function as a game device for displaying a state viewed from above, a message character string receiving means for receiving a message character string corresponding to the first game character, the first and second players A font size determining means for determining a font size of the message character string received by the message character string receiving means based on the position of the game character in the three-dimensional game space; and a font size determined by the font size determining means. Message received by the message character string receiving means. A program for operating the computer as a message character string display means for displaying a message character string. 4. A program for causing a computer to function as a game device for displaying a state in which a three-dimensional game space in which a game character is placed is viewed from a given viewpoint, the message character string corresponding to the game character. Message character string receiving means for receiving a message character string, font size deciding means for deciding a font size for the message character string received by the message character string receiving means, based on the positions of the game character and the viewpoint in the three-dimensional game space, A program for causing the computer to function as message character string display means for displaying a message character string received by the message character string receiving means in a font size determined by the font size determining means.