JP2007260157A - Game apparatus and control method of game apparatus, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game apparatus allowing a user to easily understand the positional relation of a plurality of objects non-displayed on a game screen, and to provide a control method of the game apparatus, and a program. <P>SOLUTION: A position projection part 114 determines projection positions of respective user character objects 54. A marker picture display position temporary determination part 116 temporarily determines the display positions of marker pictures based on the projection positions of the user character objects outside the screen, and a superposition determination part 118 determines the combination of the user character objects outside the screen related to the plurality of superposed marker pictures 74. A spacing degree calculation part 120 calculates spacing degrees of the user character objects outside the screen related to the combination and a ranking part 122 ranks the calculated spacing degrees. A marker picture display position determination part 124 determines the display positions of the respective marker pictures 74 according to the ranking. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a game device, a game device control method, and a program, and more particularly, to a game device that displays marker images associated with a plurality of objects arranged in a virtual space on a game screen, a game device control method, and a program. .

A user operates the character object displayed on the game screen to compete to move the ball object displayed on the game screen to a predetermined position associated with the character object that is hostile to the character object. And other ball sport games are known. In such a game, a marker image that indicates a character object displayed on the game screen is generally displayed on the game screen. The following patent document discloses a game system that realizes the above game (soccer game).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-342262

  However, in the game system described in Patent Document 1, the marker image is not displayed on the game screen for character objects that are not displayed on the game screen (off-screen character objects). Therefore, it is difficult for the user to grasp the position of the off-screen character object.

  In response to this, some conventional ball game sports games display a marker image indicating an off-screen character object on the game screen to express the direction in which the off-screen character object is located. is there. For example, the position and orientation of the marker image represent that the off-screen character object is positioned in the direction indicated by the marker image.

  However, even if it is possible to express the direction in which the off-screen character object is located by displaying the marker image, it may not be sufficient to express the positional relationship with other off-screen objects.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a purpose thereof is a game device, a game device control method, and a program that allow a user to easily grasp the positional relationship between a plurality of objects that are not displayed on a game screen. Is to provide.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a game device according to the present invention includes a game image display unit that displays a game image indicating a display target area that is a part of a virtual space in which a plurality of objects are arranged, on the game screen, Based on the marker display means for displaying the marker image associated with each object on the game screen and the position of a part or all of the object in the virtual space, the degree of separation between the object and the display target area is determined. The game screen of a plurality of the marker images according to the separation degree calculating means, the separation degree ranking means for ranking the separation degrees calculated by the separation degree calculation means, and the ranking by the separation degree ranking means And display position determining means for determining the display position.

  The game device control method according to the present invention includes a step of displaying a game image indicating a display target area, which is a part of a virtual space in which a plurality of objects are arranged, on a game screen, and the associated game object. A step of displaying a marker image on the game screen, a step of calculating a degree of separation between the object and the display target region based on positions of some or all of the objects in the virtual space, and the degree of separation. Ranking the degrees of separation calculated by the step of calculating, and determining the display positions of the marker images on the game screen according to the ranking by the step of ranking the degrees of separation. It is characterized by that.

  The program according to the present invention is a program for causing a computer to function as a game device, and displays a game image indicating a display target area that is a part of a virtual space in which a plurality of objects are arranged on a game screen. Game image display means, marker display means for displaying a marker image associated with each object on the game screen, based on positions of some or all of the objects in the virtual space and the display target area A plurality of the marker images according to the ranking by the separation degree ranking means for ranking the separation degrees calculated by the separation degree calculation means, the separation degree ranking means for ranking the separation degrees calculated by the separation degree calculation means, As the display position determining means for determining the display position on the game screen. Characterized in that to function over data. This program may be stored in a computer-readable information storage medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. The computer is, for example, a home game machine, an arcade game machine, a portable game machine, a personal computer, a server computer, a mobile phone, or a portable information terminal.

  Here, the object refers to various objects existing in the virtual space, for example, a character object that is a user's operation target or a dynamic object such as a character object that moves in the virtual space according to a predetermined program. Alternatively, it may be a static object such as an obstacle object or various item objects arranged at a predetermined position in the virtual space.

  In the present invention, a game image indicating a display target area that is a part of a three-dimensional or two-dimensional virtual space in which a plurality of objects are arranged is displayed on the game screen. In addition, a marker image associated with each of the plurality of objects is displayed on the game screen. Here, the display target area is an area that occupies a part of the virtual space, for example, a part of the area within the visual field range when the virtual space is viewed from a given viewpoint at a given angle of view. . The marker image suggests the position of the corresponding object, and may be generated based on the marker object arranged in the virtual space, or obtained from the information storage medium. It may be a thing. Further, the marker image may indicate the attribute of the corresponding object depending on the display mode. For example, when an object is a user's operation target, an identification display of the user may be displayed.

  Further, in the present invention, when displaying marker images associated with some or all of the objects on the game screen, the degree of separation between the objects and the display target area is calculated. Here, the degree of separation is an evaluation value for evaluating the degree to which the object is separated from the display target area, and may be, for example, the distance between the object and the display target area in the virtual space. In addition, the object for which the degree of separation is calculated is particularly calculated for an object located outside the display target area.

  In the present invention, the calculated degree of separation is ranked, and the display positions of the plurality of marker images on the game screen are determined according to the ranking. For example, the display position of the marker image corresponding to the object may gradually approach the center of the game screen as the degree of separation of the object decreases.

  According to the present invention, the user can easily grasp the positional relationship between a plurality of objects that are not displayed on the game screen.

  In one aspect of the present invention, the game image display unit generates the game image by projecting the display target area of the virtual space onto a predetermined projection plane, and the separation degree calculation unit includes the display According to a distance between a predetermined position in a screen area that is a projection area of the target area with respect to the projection plane and an object projection position that is a projection position of the part or all of the objects in the virtual space with respect to the projection plane The separation degree is calculated. Here, the predetermined position in the screen area may be, for example, the position of the center point of the screen area, the position of a point on the edge of the screen area, or the like. In this way, the degree of separation can be calculated according to the distance between the object and the display target area on the projection plane.

  In one aspect of the present invention, the display position determining means determines the display position of the marker image on the game screen based on a straight line connecting the predetermined position and the object projection position. In this way, it can be expressed that the position of the object corresponding to the marker image is in the direction in which the straight line is extended.

  In one aspect of the present invention, the display position determination means determines the display position of the marker image on the game screen based on the intersection of each straight line and the edge of the screen area. In this way, it can be expressed that the position of the object corresponding to the marker image is beyond the intersection.

  Moreover, in one aspect of the present invention, the display position determination unit is configured to display the marker image on the game screen so that the distance between each marker image and the edge of the screen region corresponds to the ranking. Determine the display position. In this way, even when the positions of a plurality of objects that are not displayed on the game screen are in the same direction, the positional relationship between the objects can be accurately expressed.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a game device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The game apparatus 10 shown in the figure is configured by attaching a DVD-ROM 25 and a memory card 28 as information storage media to a consumer game machine 11, and further connecting a monitor 18 and a speaker 22, for example. The monitor 18 is a home television receiver, and the speaker 22 is a built-in speaker.

  The home game machine 11 includes a bus 12, a microprocessor 14, an image processing unit 16, an audio processing unit 20, a DVD-ROM playback unit 24, a main memory 26, an input / output processing unit 30, and a controller 32. It is a computer game system. Components other than the controller 32 are accommodated in a housing.

  The bus 12 is for exchanging addresses and data among the units of the consumer game machine 11. The microprocessor 14, the image processing unit 16, the main memory 26, and the input / output processing unit 30 are connected by the bus 12 so that mutual data communication is possible.

  The microprocessor 14 controls each unit of the consumer game machine 11 based on an operating system stored in a ROM (not shown), a game program read from the DVD-ROM 25, and data read from the memory card 28. The main memory 26 includes, for example, a RAM, and a game program read from the DVD-ROM 25 and data read from the memory card 28 are written as necessary. The main memory 26 is also used for work of the microprocessor 14.

  The image processing unit 16 includes a VRAM, and draws a screen image on the VRAM based on the image data sent from the microprocessor 14. Then, the content is converted into a video signal and output to the monitor 18 (game screen) at a predetermined timing.

  The input / output processing unit 30 is an interface for the microprocessor 14 to access the audio processing unit 20, the DVD-ROM playback unit 24, the memory card 28, and the controller 32. An audio processing unit 20, a DVD-ROM playback unit 24, a memory card 28 and a controller 32 are connected to the input / output processing unit 30.

  The sound processing unit 20 is configured to include a sound buffer, and reproduces various sound data such as game music, game sound effects, and messages read from the DVD-ROM 25 and stored in the sound buffer, from the speaker 22. Output. Specifically, the audio processing unit 20 can process a predetermined number of channels, mixes and reproduces sound data assigned to each channel, and outputs the sound data from the speaker 22.

  The DVD-ROM playback unit 24 reads the game program and game data recorded on the DVD-ROM 25 in accordance with instructions from the microprocessor 14. Here, the DVD-ROM 25 is used to supply the game program and game data to the consumer game machine 11, but any other computer-readable information storage medium such as a CD-ROM or a ROM card is used. You may do it. Further, the program may be supplied to the consumer game machine 11 from a remote place via a data communication network such as the Internet.

  The memory card 28 includes a nonvolatile memory (for example, EEPROM). The home-use game machine 11 includes a plurality of memory card slots for mounting the memory card 28, and the plurality of memory cards 28 can be mounted simultaneously. The memory card 28 is configured to be removable from the memory card slot, and is used for storing various game data such as saved data.

  The controller 32 is general-purpose operation input means for the user to input various game operations. The input / output processing unit 30 scans the state of each unit of the controller 32 at regular intervals (for example, every 1/60 seconds), and passes an operation signal representing the scan result to the microprocessor 14 via the bus 12. The microprocessor 14 determines the user's game operation based on the operation signal. The home game machine 11 is configured so that a plurality of controllers 32 can be connected, and the microprocessor 14 performs game control based on an operation signal input from each controller 32.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the controller 32. The controller 32 shown in the figure is a general-purpose game controller, and has a direction button 34, a start button 36, buttons 38X, 38Y, 38A, and 38B on the surface, as shown in FIG. ), Buttons 40L, 40R, 42L, and 42R are further provided on the back side surface. That is, on the back side surface of the controller 32, buttons 42L and 42R are provided on the left and right sides of the front side, respectively, and buttons 40L and 40R are provided on the left and right sides of the back side. The direction button 34 has a cross shape, and is usually used to set a moving direction of a character or a cursor. The start button 36 is a small push button having a triangular shape, and is usually used for starting, interrupting or forcibly ending a game. Buttons 38X, 38Y, 38A, 38B, 40L, 40R, 42L, and 42R are used for other game operations.

  Hereinafter, a game screen of marker images associated with character objects not displayed on the game screen in a soccer game simulating soccer played in a virtual three-dimensional space by the home-use game machine 11 having the above-described hardware configuration A technique for determining the display position in will be described. In the soccer game, a game space 1000 shown in FIG. 7 is set in the main memory 26, and each user operates the user character object 54 arranged in the game space 1000, so that a plurality of users play the game simultaneously. Be able to. Here, user 1 is associated with user character object 54A (operating user character object 54A), user 2 is associated with user character object 54B, user 3 is associated with user character object 54C, and user 4 is associated with user character object 54A. Take an example associated with user character object 54D. Further, it is assumed that the user character object 54A and the user character object 54C are associated with the team A, and the user character object 54B and the user character object 54D are associated with the team B that is hostile to the team A. In the following description, when the user character object 54A to the user character object 54D are not particularly distinguished, they are simply expressed as a user character object 54, and when the users 1 to 4 are not distinguished, they are simply expressed as a user.

  FIG. 3 is an example of a game screen displayed on the monitor 18 of the consumer game machine 11. In this game screen, a game image formed on the VRAM by the image processing unit 16 is displayed on the monitor 18. This game image is generated by superimposing the marker arrangement image shown in FIG. 5 on the spatial projection image shown in FIG. Here, the spatial projection image and the marker arrangement image have the same size. In addition, a user character object 54A and a ball object 58 are arranged in the spatial projection image, and marker images 74A to 74D are arranged in the transparent region in the marker arrangement image. As shown in FIG. 4B, the game image is shown in FIG. 6 by configuring the spatial projection image to include a blank area 80 (shaded portion) composed of the same color at the inner edge portion. You may comprise as follows.

  Hereinafter, when the marker images 74A to 74D are not distinguished, they are simply referred to as marker images 74.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a ball object 58 and a user character object 54A at the center of the screen are displayed on the game screen. A marker image 74A associated with the user character object 54A is displayed above the user character object 54A. That is, a marker image 74 associated with the user character object 54 is displayed above the user character object 54 (in-screen user character object) displayed on the game screen.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, marker images 74B, 74C, and 74D associated with each of the user character objects 54B, 54C, and 54D that are not displayed on the game screen are displayed inside the edge E1 of the game screen. Here, the marker images 74B, 74C, and 74D indicate the direction in which the user character objects 54B, 54C, and 54D are located, depending on their postures. That is, the marker image 74 related to the user character object 54 (user character object outside the screen) that is not displayed on the game screen is displayed inside the edge E1 of the game screen so as to indicate the direction in which the user character object 54 is located. Yes.

  In particular, the marker images 74C and 74D relating to the user character objects 54C and 54D as the off-screen user character objects are displayed side by side inside the edge E1 of the game screen. Specifically, the marker image 74D related to the user character object 54D is displayed closer to the center of the screen than the marker image 74C related to the user character object 74C. This represents that the user character object 54D is positioned in the direction indicated by the marker image 74D, and that the user character object 54D is positioned closer to the center of the screen than the user character object 54C. That is, by displaying a plurality of marker images 74 side by side, the direction in which the plurality of off-screen user character objects are located is shown, and the positional relationship of each off-screen user character object is shown.

  One feature of the home game machine 11 is that, as described above, a plurality of marker images 74 related to the off-screen user character objects are displayed side by side in consideration of the positional relationship of the plurality of off-screen user character objects. It is to be. In this way, the user can easily grasp the positional relationship between the plurality of off-screen user character objects, and the game is interesting. For example, it is possible to grasp the positional relationship between the ally off-screen user character object and the enemy off-screen user character object, and to reliably move the ball object 58 to the ally off-screen user character object. .

  Note that the display mode of the marker image 74 may change depending on the attribute of the corresponding user character object 54. For example, as shown in FIGS. 3, 5, and 6, a user number for identifying the user character object 54, that is, an identification display may be attached. Further, for example, the color of the marker image 74 may be changed according to the team associated with the user character object 54. Furthermore, the shape of the marker image 74 may be any shape that is suitable for pointing in the direction in which the user character object 54 is located, and is not limited to the arrow shape, and may be, for example, a rhombus shape or a triangle shape.

  Hereinafter, processing for determining the display position of the marker image 74 relating to the off-screen user character object in the game image will be described.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the game space 1000 constructed in the main storage unit 26. In the game space 1000, a field object 50 indicating a soccer field is disposed, and a goal object 52 indicating a soccer goal is disposed at a predetermined position on the field object 50. On the field object 50, a ball object 58, a user character object 54A that is an on-screen user character object, and user character objects 54B to 54D that are off-screen user character objects are arranged. In addition to the user character objects 54A to 54D, non-user character objects (not shown) associated with each of the team A and the team B are arranged. The game space 1000 is configured with a world coordinate space with the x, y, and z directions as coordinate axes, and the position of each object in the game space 1000 can be specified by the world coordinates. Yes.

  Furthermore, a viewpoint 60 that follows the ball object 58 is disposed at a predetermined position in the game space 1000. Then, a state in which the direction (line-of-sight direction) from the viewpoint 60 toward the ball object 58 with a predetermined angle of view is obtained as a spatial projection image shown in FIG. Specifically, based on the position of the viewpoint 60, the angle of view, and the line-of-sight direction, geometry processing including screen coordinate conversion processing is executed, and rendering processing is performed.

  In the geometry processing, first, a visual field range 62 (View Volume) is defined based on the position of the viewpoint 60, the angle of view, and the viewing direction. Here, the visual field range 62 is configured as, for example, an internal region of a quadrangular pyramid whose apexes are the viewpoint 60 and the four points 91, 92, 93, 94 on the field object 50. Then, each position within the display target range 64 that is a part of the visual field range 62 is projected onto a projection plane 66 provided at a predetermined position between the ball object 58 and the viewpoint 60. That is, a screen coordinate plane having the x direction and the y direction as coordinate axes is formed on the projection surface 66, and the position (projection position) when each position in the display target range 64 is projected onto the projection surface 66 is specified by the screen coordinates. The Here, the screen coordinate plane is configured with an intersection of a straight line 68 extending in the line-of-sight direction from the viewpoint 60 and the projection plane 66 as an origin Ob. The display target range 64 is a region indicated by oblique lines, and specifically, is a region beyond the projection plane 66 when viewed from the viewpoint 60 in the visual field range 62.

  In the rendering process, a projection image of the display target range 64 is formed in the screen region 70 on the projection surface 66 based on the position and orientation of each object existing in the visual field range 62. Here, the screen area 70 is specifically an area occupied by a cross section of the visual field range 62 by the projection plane 66. Thus, the formed projection image is acquired as a spatial projection image. As can be seen from the fact that the projection image of the display target range 64 is a spatial projection image, the in-screen user character object is the user character object 54 located in the display target range 64, and the off-screen user character object Is a user character object 54 located outside the display target range 64.

  Furthermore, in the consumer game machine 11, the projection position of the user character object 54 that is the display target of the marker image 74 is specified by executing the screen coordinate conversion process. That is, the screen coordinates of the user character object 54 are calculated. Here, as shown in FIG. 7, the projection position of the user character object 54A is PA, the projection position of the user character object 54B is PB, the projection position of the user character object 54C is PC, and the user character object 54D Let the projection position be PD.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the projection positions of the user character objects 54 arranged at various locations on the projection plane 66. As shown in the figure, a screen coordinate plane is formed on the projection plane 66, and PA to PD are specified by the screen coordinates. In addition, in order to show the positional relationship between PA to PD and the screen area 70, the screen area 70 is indicated by a two-dot chain line.

  When the projection position of each user character object 54 is specified, the display position of the marker image 74 is determined based on the specified projection position. That is, screen coordinates that specify the display position of the marker image 74 are calculated based on the projection position.

  FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of the periphery of the screen area 70 in FIG. As shown in the figure, for the marker image 74A related to the character object 54A as the user character object in the screen, the position moved upward by a predetermined distance from the projection position PA is determined as the display position MA.

  For the marker image 74 relating to the off-screen user character object, first, a straight line is extended from the origin Ob toward the projection position of the off-screen user character object, and the intersection of the straight line and the edge E2 of the screen area 70 (marker display) (Position reference point) is specified, and a position moved from the marker display position reference point on the straight line by a predetermined distance (its size is r) toward the origin Ob is temporarily determined as the display position. Then, for each off-screen user character object, it is determined whether a part or all of the marker image 74 overlaps the marker image 74 related to the other off-screen user character object, and the combination of the off-screen user character objects is determined. Is done. That is, the off-screen user character object related to each of the plurality of overlapping marker images 74 is specified. Here, the number of off-screen user character objects included in the combination is at least two, and for the off-screen user character object not included in any combination, the temporarily determined position is the display position of the marker image 74. It is determined. For example, since the marker image 74B shown in FIG. 3 does not overlap with the marker image 74 related to other off-screen user character objects, the display position MB is the marker display position reference point that is the intersection of the straight line LB and the edge E2. It is a position moved from the CB by the predetermined distance (size r) on the straight line LB toward the origin Ob.

  On the other hand, for at least two off-screen user character objects included in the above combination, the display positions of the marker images 74 related to a part of these off-screen user character objects are based on the degree of separation of each off-screen user character object. Moved. The degree of separation is a value based on the distance between a predetermined position in the display target range 64 (for example, the origin Ob in FIG. 7) and the off-screen user character object, and is an evaluation value for evaluating the degree of separation. is there.

  Specifically, when the degree of separation of each off-screen user character object is obtained, the magnitude of the degree of separation is ranked. For example, for each off-screen user character object, rank data consisting of a numerical value n indicating the rank order of the degree of separation is generated. Here, the numerical value n indicated by the rank data relating to the off-screen user character object having the largest degree of separation is set to 1. That is, the numerical value n indicated by the rank data increases from 1 by 1 as the degree of separation decreases.

  Then, a position corresponding to the ranking of the magnitude of the separation degree is determined as the display position of the marker image 74. That is, the off-screen user character object having a smaller degree of separation (the off-screen user character object having a larger numerical value n indicated by the rank data) has a display position of the marker image 74 related to the off-screen user character object that is a predetermined basic movement distance. It is determined so as to asymptotically approach the origin Ob (by R as its magnitude). Specifically, the position moved from the provisionally determined position toward the origin Ob by a distance (movement distance) of a size indicated by (n−1) × (a predetermined basic movement distance R). The display position of the marker image 74 relating to the off-screen user character object is determined. In addition, regarding the marker image 74 relating to the off-screen user character object having the largest degree of separation, the moving distance is 0, so the temporarily determined position is determined as the display position.

  For example, the display position MC of the marker image 74C is a position mc that is moved from the marker display position reference point CC, which is the intersection of the straight line LC and the edge E2, on the straight line LC by the predetermined distance (size r) toward the origin Ob. Will be provisionally determined. The display position MD of the marker image 74D is a position md that is moved from the marker display position reference point CD, which is the intersection of the straight line LD and the edge E2, on the straight line LD by the predetermined distance (size r) on the straight line LD. Will be provisionally determined. Then, when it is determined that the marker image 74C and the marker image 74D overlap each other based on the position mc and the position md, the user character object 54C and the user character object 54D are specified as the off-screen user character object constituting the combination. The Then, the degree of separation is calculated for each of the user character object 54C and the user character object 54D constituting the combination. Here, the distance between the projection position and the origin Ob is calculated for each of the user character object 54C and the user character object 54D. Then, ranking is performed on the calculated two degrees of separation, and ranking data is generated for each of the user character object 54C and the user character object 54D. Here, the numerical value n indicated by the rank data regarding the user character object 54C is 1, and the numerical value n indicated by the rank data regarding the user character object 54D is 2. Then, the display position MC of the marker image 74C related to the user character object 54C is determined as the position mc according to the generated rank data. Further, the display position MD of the marker image 74D related to the user character object 54D is determined as a position moved from the position mc on the straight line LD by the moving distance (size R) toward the origin Ob.

  As described above, the degree of separation is an evaluation value that evaluates the degree to which the off-screen user character object is separated from the predetermined position in the display target range 64. It is not limited to the distance to Ob. For example, the distance in the game space 1000 between the intersection Ob ′ (see FIG. 7) between the straight line 68 and the field object 50 and the off-screen user character object may be used. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the shortest distance in the game space 1000 between the user character object 54 that is an off-screen user character object and a straight line 68 may be used. That is, it may be the distance in the game space 1000 between the intersection 84 of the perpendicular 82 drawn from the off-screen user character object and the straight line 68 and the off-screen user character object. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the shortest distance in the game space 1000 between the user character object 54 that is an off-screen user character object and the side surface of the display target range 64 may be used. That is, it may be the distance between the intersection 88 between the normal 86 drawn from the off-screen user character object and the side surface, and the off-screen user character object.

  Thus, when the display position of the marker image 74 is determined, the posture of the marker image 74 is determined based on the projection position of the user character object 54. Based on the determined display position and orientation, a marker arrangement image in which the marker image 74 is arranged is generated. Then, a game image is generated based on the spatial projection image and the marker arrangement image.

  Hereinafter, the process of determining the display position in the game image of the marker image 74 relating to the off-screen user character object will be described in more detail.

  FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram showing the relationship between the software functions realized by the game apparatus 10. In the figure, among the functions realized by the game apparatus 10, those related to the present invention are mainly shown. These functions are realized when the consumer game machine 11 which is a computer game system executes a program stored in the DVD-ROM 25.

  As shown in the figure, the functions realized by the game apparatus 10 include a spatial information storage unit 110, a spatial projection image generation unit 112, a position projection unit 114, a marker image display position provisional determination unit 116, and an overlap determination unit 118. , A degree-of-separation calculation unit 120, a rank assignment unit 122, a marker image display position determination unit 124, a marker arrangement image generation unit 126, and a game image generation unit 128. First, the space information storage unit 110 includes storage means such as a DVD-ROM 25 and a main memory 26, and stores various data indicating the state of the game space 1000. Here, the position and orientation of each object, information for identifying the team with which the user character object 54 is associated, information for identifying each user playing a soccer game, and the like are stored.

  The spatial projection image generation unit 112 performs the above-described geometry processing and rendering processing based on the stored contents of the spatial information storage unit 110, and generates a spatial projection image. Specifically, a projection image of the display target range 64 is formed on the screen region 70 on the projection surface 66, and the formed projection image is acquired as a spatial projection image.

  The position projection unit 114 identifies the projection position of each user character object 54 based on the stored contents of the spatial information storage unit 110. In other words, the screen coordinates of each user character object 54 are calculated by executing the screen coordinate conversion process performed in the geometry process.

  The marker image display position temporary determination unit 116 temporarily determines the display position of the marker image 74 related to the off-screen user character object. Specifically, a straight line is extended from the origin Ob toward the projection position of the off-screen user character object, a marker display position reference point that is an intersection of the straight line and the edge E2 of the screen area 70 is specified, and the marker The position moved from the display position reference point on the straight line by the predetermined distance (size r) toward the origin Ob is temporarily determined as the display position of the marker image 74 related to the off-screen user character object.

  The overlap determining unit 118 determines a combination of off-screen user character objects related to a plurality of overlapping marker images 74 based on the provisionally determined display positions of the marker images 74. That is, when each marker image 74 is displayed at the temporarily determined display position, it is determined whether or not some or all of these marker images 74 overlap, and each of the plurality of overlapping marker images 74 is determined. The off-screen user character object is specified.

  The separation degree calculation unit 120 calculates a separation degree for each off-screen user character object included in the combination. That is, the distance between the projection position and the origin Ob is calculated for each off-screen user character object related to the combination.

  The ranking assigning unit 122 ranks the degree of separation calculated for each of the off-screen user character objects included in the combination according to the size. Specifically, for each off-screen user character object, the rank data including the numerical value n indicating the rank order of the degree of separation is generated.

  The marker image display position determining unit 124 determines a position corresponding to the rank data generated by the rank assigning unit 122 as a display position of the marker image 74 related to the off-screen user character object included in the combination. Specifically, a position moved by a movement distance indicated by (n−1) × (predetermined basic movement distance R) from the temporarily determined position toward the origin Ob The display position of the marker image 74 relating to the user character object is determined. In this way, the display position of the marker image 74 is determined so as to gradually approach the origin Ob by a predetermined basic movement distance (size R) as the off-screen user character object having a larger numerical value n indicated by the rank data. It should be noted that the predetermined basic movement distance R is preferably set to a size that does not overlap the marker image 74 relating to other off-screen user character objects.

  Further, when the off-screen user character object is not included in any combination determined by the overlap determining unit 118, the marker image display position determining unit 124 determines the temporarily determined position as the off-screen user character object. Is determined as the display position of the marker image 74 according to the above. Furthermore, the marker image display position determination unit 124 also determines the display position of the marker image 74 related to the in-screen user character object based on the projection position of the in-screen user character object.

  The marker arrangement image generation unit 126 generates a marker arrangement image based on the display position of the off-screen user character object determined by the marker image display position determination unit 124. Specifically, first, based on the projection position of the off-screen user character object, the posture of the marker image 74 related to the off-screen user character object is determined. At this time, the posture of the marker image 74 is determined so as to indicate the projection position of the off-screen user character object. Then, based on the determined display position, orientation, and stored contents of the spatial information storage unit 110, a marker arrangement image in which the marker image 74 is arranged is generated. The marker arrangement image generation unit 126 also arranges the marker image 74 related to the on-screen user character object in the marker arrangement image.

  The game image generation unit 128 generates a game image by superimposing a marker arrangement image on the generated spatial projection image.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a game image generation process executed on the consumer game machine 11. The processing shown in the figure is executed every predetermined time (for example, 1/60 second) based on a program stored in the DVD-ROM 25.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the spatial projection image generation unit 112 performs the above-described geometry processing and rendering processing based on the storage contents of the spatial information storage unit 110, and generates a spatial projection image (S001). Specifically, a projection image of the display target range 64 is formed on the screen region 70 on the projection surface 66, and the formed projection image is acquired as a spatial projection image.

  Then, the position projection unit 114 identifies the projection position of each user character object 54 based on the stored contents of the spatial information storage unit 110 (S002). In other words, the screen coordinates of each user character object 54 are calculated by executing the screen coordinate conversion process performed in the geometry process.

  Then, the temporary marker image display position determination unit 116 temporarily determines the display position of the marker image 74 for each off-screen user character object (S003). Specifically, a marker display position reference point that is an intersection of a straight line extending from the origin Ob toward the projection position of the off-screen user character object and the edge E2 of the screen area 70 is specified, and the marker display position reference point is determined from the marker display position reference point. The position moved on the straight line by the predetermined distance (size r) toward the origin Ob is provisionally determined as the display position of the marker image 74 related to the off-screen user character object.

  Then, the overlap determination unit 118 determines a combination of off-screen user character objects related to a plurality of overlapping marker images 74 based on the provisionally determined display positions of the marker images 74 (S004). That is, when each marker image 74 is displayed at the temporarily determined display position, it is determined whether or not some or all of these marker images 74 overlap, and the screens related to the plurality of overlapping marker images 74 An outside user character object is specified.

  Then, the degree-of-separation calculating unit 120 calculates the degree of separation from the display target range 64 for each off-screen user character object included in the combination (S005). That is, the distance between the projection position and the origin Ob is calculated for each off-screen user character object related to the combination. When there are a plurality of combinations, S005 is executed for each combination.

  Then, the rank assigning unit 122 ranks the degree of separation calculated for each off-screen user character object included in the combination according to the size (S006). Specifically, for each off-screen user character object, the rank data including the numerical value n indicating the rank order of the degree of separation is generated.

  Then, the marker image display position determination unit 124 determines the position corresponding to the rank data generated in S006 as the display position of the marker image 74 related to each off-screen user character object included in the combination (S007). Specifically, a position moved by a movement distance indicated by (n−1) × (predetermined basic movement distance R) from the temporarily determined position toward the origin Ob The display position of the marker image 74 relating to the user character object is determined. Here, the size R of the predetermined basic movement distance is desirably set to a size that does not overlap with the marker image 74 related to another off-screen user character object. When there are a plurality of combinations, S007 is executed for each combination.

  Further, when the off-screen user character object is not included in any combination, the marker image display position determination unit 124 sets the provisionally determined position as the display position of the marker image 74 related to the off-screen user character object. decide. Further, the marker image display position determination unit 124 determines the display position of the marker image 74 related to the in-screen user character object based on the projection position of the in-screen user character object. Thus, the marker image display position determination unit 124 determines the display position of the marker image 74 related to each user character object 54.

  Then, the marker arrangement image generation unit 126 generates a marker arrangement image based on the determined display position (S008). Specifically, first, the posture of the marker image 74 related to the off-screen user character object is determined based on the projection position determined in S007. Here, the posture of the marker image 74 is determined so as to indicate the projection position of the off-screen user character object. Then, based on the determined display position, orientation, and stored contents of the spatial information storage unit 110, a marker arrangement image in which each marker image 74 is arranged is generated. At this time, the marker arrangement image generation unit 126 also arranges the marker image 74 related to the on-screen user character object in the marker arrangement image.

  Then, the game image generation unit 128 generates a game image by superimposing the marker arrangement image on the generated spatial projection image (S009). The generated game image is displayed on the monitor 18 as a game screen.

  As described above, according to the consumer game machine 11, in principle, the marker image 74 related to the off-screen user character object is in a posture indicating the direction in which the off-screen user character object is positioned, Displayed inside E1.

  When a plurality of marker images 74 are displayed in an overlapping manner, the display position on the game screen is changed for some of these marker images 74. That is, the display positions of some of the marker images 74 on the game screen are changed according to the ranking of the degree of separation of the off-screen user character objects related to the plurality of overlapping marker images 74. In this way, the user can easily grasp the positional relationship between the plurality of off-screen user character objects, and the game is interesting.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, although the case where the present invention is applied to a soccer game has been taken up in the above description, the present invention can also be applied to other sports games and action games. In other words, the present invention can be applied to any game in which the positions of a plurality of objects outside the game screen are indicated by marker images.

  Further, the present invention is applicable not only to a three-dimensional game but also to a game played in a two-dimensional game space.

  Further, the marker image 74 relating to the on-screen user character object may be generated based on a marker object (not shown) arranged in the game space 1000. That is, a projected image obtained by projecting the marker object onto the projection plane 66 may be used as the marker image 74.

  In the above description, the game image is generated after generating the marker arrangement image. However, every time the display position of the marker image is determined, the marker image is directly arranged on the spatial arrangement image. Also good.

It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the game device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the external appearance of a controller. It is a figure which shows an example of a game screen (game image) It is a figure which shows an example of a space projection image. It is a figure which shows an example of a marker arrangement image. It is a figure which shows an example of a game screen (game image). It is a figure which shows an example of game space. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship of the projection position of a user character object, and a screen area | region. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship of the projection position of a user character object, and the display position of a marker image. It is a figure which shows the relationship between a display object range and a separation degree. It is a figure which shows the functional block of the game device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows a game image generation process.

Explanation of symbols

  10 game machines, 11 consumer game machines, 12 buses, 14 microprocessors, 16 image processing units, 18 monitors, 20 audio processing units, 22 speakers, 24 DVD-ROM playback units, 25 DVD-ROMs, 26 main memories, 28 Memory card, 30 input / output processing unit, 32 controller, 34 direction button, 36 start button, 38A, 38B, 38X, 38Y, 40L, 40R, 42L, 42R button, 50 field object, 52 goal object, 54, 54A, 54B , 54C, 54D User character object, 58 ball object, 60 viewpoints, 62 field of view range, 64 display target range, 66 projection plane, 68 lines, 70 screen area, 74, 74A, 74B, 74C, 74D marker image, 80 blank Area, 82 perpendicular line, 84, 88 intersection point, 86 normal line, 91, 92, 93, 94 point, 110 spatial information storage unit, 112 spatial projection image generation unit, 114 position projection unit, 116 marker image display position temporary determination unit, 118 overlap determination unit, 120 separation degree calculation unit, 122 rank assignment unit, 124 marker image display position determination unit, 126 marker arrangement image generation unit, 128 game image generation unit, 1000 game space, CB, CC, CD intersection, E1, E2 edge, LA, LB, LC, LD straight line, MA, MB, MC, MD display position, mc, md position, Ob origin, Ob 'point, PA, PB, PC, PD projection position.

Claims (7)

Game image display means for displaying a game image indicating a display target area which is a part of a virtual space in which a plurality of objects are arranged, on a game screen;
Marker display means for displaying a marker image associated with each object on the game screen;
Based on the positions of some or all of the objects in the virtual space, the degree of separation calculated by the degree-of-separation degree calculating means and the degree of separation calculated by the degree-of-separation degree calculating means. A separation degree ranking means for ranking;
Display position determining means for determining display positions of the marker images on the game screen in accordance with the ranking by the separation degree ranking means;
A game apparatus comprising: The game device according to claim 1,
The game image display means includes
Generating the game image by projecting the display target area of the virtual space onto a predetermined projection plane;
The separation degree calculating means includes:
A distance between a predetermined position in the screen area, which is a projection area of the display target area with respect to the projection plane, and an object projection position, which is a projection position of the position of the part or all of the objects in the virtual space with respect to the projection plane. Calculating the degree of separation according to
A game device characterized by that. The game device according to claim 2,
The display position determining means includes
Determining a display position of the marker image on the game screen based on a straight line connecting the predetermined position and each object projection position;
A game device characterized by that. The game device according to claim 3,
The display position determining means includes
Determining the display position of each marker image on the game screen based on the intersection of each straight line and the edge of the screen area;
A game device characterized by that. The game device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The display position determining means includes
Determining the display position of the marker image on the game screen so that the distance between each marker image and the edge of the screen area corresponds to the ranking;
A game device characterized by that. Displaying a game image indicating a display target area that is a part of a virtual space in which a plurality of objects are arranged on the game screen;
Displaying a marker image associated with each object on the game screen;
Based on the positions of some or all of the objects in the virtual space, the degree of separation calculated by the step of calculating the degree of separation between the objects and the display target region and the step of calculating the degree of separation are ranked. A step to attach,
Determining a display position on the game screen of a plurality of the marker images according to the ranking by the step of ranking the separation degrees;
A method for controlling a game device, comprising: A program for causing a computer to function as a game device,
Game image display means for displaying a game image indicating a display target area which is a part of a virtual space in which a plurality of objects are arranged, on a game screen;
Marker display means for displaying a marker image associated with each object on the game screen;
Based on the position of some or all of the objects in the virtual space, a degree-of-separation calculating unit that calculates the degree of separation between the objects and the display target region;
A separation degree ranking unit that ranks the separation degrees calculated by the separation degree calculation unit;
Display position determining means for determining display positions of the plurality of marker images on the game screen according to the ranking by the separation degree ranking means;
A program for causing the computer to function as

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