JP2011028169A5 - - Google Patents

Description

Sound effect generating device, sound effect generating program for realizing the sound effect generating device, and recording medium

  According to the present invention, when displaying a three-dimensional image of a virtual space in which a sounding body appears on a display device, the sound emitted by the sounding body in the virtual space can be artificially heard at a predetermined listening position set in the virtual space. The present invention relates to a sound effect generating device that generates sound effects and outputs the sound effects, and in particular, a sound effect generating device capable of generating a sound effect suitable for a video game in which the game development is displayed as a three-dimensional image And a recording medium storing the program.

  Conventionally, a large number of game software in which game development is displayed as a three-dimensional image has been commercialized. In such game software, for example, characters operated by the player (hereinafter referred to as "player characters") and characters controlled by a computer appear in a three-dimensional game space (virtual game world), for example, the player A drawing process is performed in which an image obtained by photographing the game space with a virtual camera from a viewpoint position set at a predetermined position behind the character is created and displayed on the game screen.

Further, sound effects to be generated in accordance with the game development, in particular sound character such creatures is generated appearing in a virtual game space (for example, operating noise, such as cries and footsteps) generation process of, the sound the player character A process of pseudo generation and output as an audible sound is performed. In particular, since the game image is displayed in three dimensions and the expansion of the game space is visually presented to the player, even in the process of generating sound effects, the character emits a sound, for example, a character in the game space By applying attenuation corresponding to the distance between the player character and the player character, the expansion of the game space is aurally produced.

The above-mentioned generation process of sound effects is to give the reality close to the real world to the virtual game space aurally by artificially simulating the propagation characteristics of the sound in the real world, etc. Based on the above, various sound effect generation techniques have been proposed.

  For example, in JP-A-10-137445, a plurality of viewpoints are provided in a virtual game space, and an image (three-dimensional image) obtained by photographing the game space from each viewpoint is displayed as a game image by the player's selection. A technique is disclosed that changes the content of the sound effect according to each viewpoint, and switches the sound effect to the sound corresponding to the viewpoint as the viewpoint is switched.

  Specifically, in a car racing game, the viewpoint can be switched to a predetermined position behind the race car, a driving position of the race car, and a steering position of a helicopter that tracks the race car, and an engine sound of the race car Prepare three waveforms that can be heard at each position as the waveform of, and switch the engine sound output from the speaker to the engine sound corresponding to each viewpoint according to the viewpoint being switched by the player (the game screen is switched) Thus, the player can experience the engine sound heard at each viewpoint position in a pseudo manner.

  JP-A 2008-188308 discloses a hunting game in which a player character as a hunter captures a monster appearing in a game space, and when there is a sound insulator between the monster and the hunter, the monster emits, for example, a whale A technique is described that performs processing that takes into account not only the attenuation due to the distance from the monster to the hunter, but also the attenuation or the sound insulation due to the sound insulation object, and outputs the sound effect more natural and responsive to the game scene. ing.

JP 10-137445 A JP 2008-188308 A

  In game software that draws game scenes developed in a virtual game space in recent years using animation technology that uses three-dimensional computer graphics (Computer Graphics), even sound effects can be simulated, such as sound propagation characteristics in the real world. By incorporating content that has been simulated in a realistic manner, developments are in progress that allow the player to hear more realistic sound effects.

In the conventional game software, there is known a virtual game space in which a space similar to the real world, such as underwater, land, or air, is set, but as a technology for generating sound effects, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-188308 as shown in JP, it is basically to control the volume in consideration of the amount of sound insulation due to the occurrence position of the sound and the attenuation and sound insulation material in accordance with the distance of the listening position of the sound.

  Although "Monster Hunter (registered trademark)" is mentioned as an example of game software in JP 2008-188308 A, in this "Monster Hunter (registered trademark)", snow mountains, volcanoes, forests, caves, deserts, rivers, lakes It is well known that a field including various natural environments such as sea, sea, etc. is set as a hunting field of a monster. The monsters that appear in the hunting field also live in not only on land but also in water and sand, and various kinds of things are set such as moving in water, sand, and the air.

  When the game space (hunting field) of “Monster Hunter (registered trademark)” is viewed from the viewpoint of the acoustic environment, it includes multiple media (water, air, rocks, etc.) having different sound propagation characteristics and pitch characteristics (frequency characteristics). A game space is set. There are also game spaces with different reverberation characteristics, such as caves and places surrounded by walls and forests.

  Since the monster (sounding body) and the hunter (sounding body) move independently of each other, the distance between the two in the game space is not constant, and the medium in which both exist also changes. For example, when a hunter pursues a monster which can move both underwater and land or sky (air) while hunting, it is not only when both are on land, but when both are in water or one is in water. There are situations where the other is on land, one is on land and the other is in water.

  When the positional relationship between the monster (sounding body) and the hunter (hearing body) changes between different media, how the sound generated by the monster is heard at the hunter's position is not only the volume based on the distance attenuation but also the volume of the medium. It also differs depending on the characteristics such as frequency characteristics and reverberation characteristics.

  Note that the difference in how the sound is heard based on the frequency characteristic is the case where the timbre differs based on the difference in the propagation characteristic depending on the frequency. For example, since the propagation distance of high frequency components becomes very short in water, hunters There are examples where the sound heard at can be a sound (like a muffled sound) in which high frequency components higher than a specific frequency are cut with respect to the sound heard on land.

  Further, the difference in the way of hearing the sound based on the reverberation characteristic refers to the case where the amount of reverberation component differs depending on the medium because the propagation characteristic of the frequency component differs depending on the medium, and the way of hearing the sound differs accordingly. For example, since the propagation distance of low-frequency components is longer in water than in land (in air), and the sound straightness is high, the amount of low-frequency reverberation components is higher for sounds heard in water than for sounds heard on land An example is given.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining that the generated sound of the monster heard by the hunter changes due to the positional relationship between the monster (sounding body) and the hunter (sounding body).

  As shown in the same figure (a) and (b), the scene A where the hunter H on the land (in the air) listens to the noise S emitted by the monster M on the land (in the air) and the monster M in the water Compared with the scene B heard by the hunter H on the land, the roar S of the monster M propagates only in the air in the scene A, so the volume is controlled mainly based on the attenuation characteristics in the air. Even if the roaring sound S heard by the hunter H is generated, there is no particular discomfort.

  However, when monster M crawls in water in scene B, its roaring sound S propagates in the water and the air and reaches hunter H, so when roaring sound S similar to that in scene A is output, unnaturalness remains become. In particular, in the scene where monster M moves while going from scene B to scene A, the roar S of monster M heard by hunter H is the moment monster M leaves land on the water (in the air) The characteristics of the volume and timbre should change discontinuously.

  Therefore, in consideration of the difference in propagation characteristics of the roaring S by the medium as described above, for example, underwater to land (in air) in a scene where the monster M moves from underwater to onshore (in air) while emitting roaring S It is better for the player to change characteristics such as the volume (amplitude of the roar S) and the timbre (frequency component of the roar S) of the roar S of the monster M heard by the hunter H at a moment when it appears in the It will give a natural and realistic hearing effect.

  However, the conventional game software does not consider the sound propagation characteristics of different media in the game space, but merely controls the sound effects in consideration of only the sound attenuation characteristics and the sound shielding by the sound insulator. Depending on various game scenes based on the game development, sound effects such as stuttering from monsters give the player an unnatural feeling, and the quality of the sound effects has to be improved.

  Note that the above improvement points are not limited to game software, and when displaying a 3D image on a display device, the sound emitted by the sounding body is set in the 3D space in the 3D space that is the target of the 3D image. The same can be said about the case where a sound that can be heard at a predetermined listening position is generated in a pseudo manner and output as a sound effect.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and when displaying a three-dimensional image on a display device, it is a pseudo-like model of natural feeling close to the real world according to the scene depicted by the three-dimensional image. A sound effect generating device capable of generating a sound and outputting it as a sound effect, a sound effect generating program for realizing the sound effect generating device, and a computer readable recording medium recording the sound effect generating program The purpose is

  According to the present invention, for a sound producing operation of a sound producing body in a virtual space including a plurality of media displayed in a three-dimensional image, the computer generates predetermined sound of the sound produced by the sound producing body in the virtual space. A sound effect generation program that functions as a sound effect generation device that processes sound into a sound that can be heard at a position and outputs it as a sound effect, wherein the computer performs the sound generation operation on the three-dimensional image. Original sound data corresponding to the sounding operation is read out from the original sound data storing means for storing one or more original sound data emitted by the sounding body, and original sound data reproducing means for reproducing an audio signal from the original sound data Position information acquiring means for acquiring position information of the sound producing body and the listening position in the virtual space at a predetermined timing during a period in which an audio signal is being reproduced; Medium combination specifying means for specifying a combination of a medium in which the sounding body is present and a medium in which the audio listening position is present each time the position information is acquired by the position information acquisition means, and the medium combination identification means by the medium combination identification means Each time a combination is specified, a plurality of combinations of the medium in which the sounding body is present and the medium in which the listening position is present are at least frequency components of the original sound data, attenuation by distance, and volume change due to medium change. Processing data corresponding to the combination of media specified by the medium combination identification unit from the processing data storage unit in which data for processing predetermined acoustic characteristics including characteristics is preset for each combination of the media Sound effect processing means for reading out the sound signal and processing the sound signal using the processing data. Is formed program (claim 1).

  In the above-described sound effect generation program, the three-dimensional image is taken as a game space in which a character or an object capable of moving in the virtual space appears as the sound generator, and is photographed by a virtual camera set to be movable in the game space The listening position may be associated with the position of the character operated by the player among the characters or the position of the virtual camera (claim 2).

  In the above-described sound effect generation program, the plurality of media are two types of a first medium (air) and a second medium (water), and a medium in which the sounding body exists and a medium in which the listening position exists The combination of the first medium and the first medium, the first medium and the second medium, the second medium and the first medium, and the second medium and the second medium may be used. (Claim 3).

  In the above-described sound effect generation program, the first medium (air) and the second medium (water) have different attenuation characteristics due to the distance of sound, and the first for processing the attenuation characteristics due to the distance to the original sound data Processing using attenuation characteristics in the medium and processing using attenuation characteristics in the second medium are provided, and the audio signal processing means is configured to use the first combination of media specified by the medium combination specifying means. Processing the original sound data using the attenuation characteristics of the first medium when the listening position is present in the medium, and the combination of the media specified by the medium combination identifying unit is the second medium If the listening position is present, the original sound data may be processed using the attenuation characteristic of the second medium (claim 4).

  In the above-described sound effect generation program, frequency characteristics of high frequency components are different between the first medium and the second medium, and frequency characteristics of the first medium are used to process frequency components for the original sound data. The processing and the processing using the frequency characteristics of the second medium are provided, and the sound signal processing means is configured such that the combination of the media specified by the medium combination specifying means is the sounding body in the first medium When the original sound data is processed using the frequency characteristics of the first medium, and the combination of the media identified by the medium combination identifying unit is the sounding body in the second medium Preferably, the original sound data is processed using the frequency characteristic of the second medium (claim 5).

  In the above-mentioned sound effect generation program, the processing using the frequency characteristic in the second medium is processing for removing the high frequency component of the original sound data by a predetermined low pass filter, and the frequency characteristic in the first medium is used. It is preferable that the processing is processing that does not remove high frequency components of the original sound data by the low pass filter (claim 6).

  In the above-mentioned sound effect generation program, the processing of the volume change due to the medium change to the original sound data is processing to reduce the volume of the original sound data, and the audio signal processing means is a medium specified by the medium combination specifying means When the combination of the sounding body and the listening position exist in the same medium, the processing of volume reduction of the original sound data is not performed, and the combination of the media specified by the medium combination specifying unit is the sounding body and the listening sound When the sound source exists in a medium different in position, it is preferable to perform processing to reduce the volume of the original sound data with respect to the sound volume in the case where the sound producing body is present in the same medium as the listening position (claim 7).

  In the above-mentioned sound effect generation program, when the sound producing body is present in the first medium and the listening position is present in the second medium, the sound producing body decreases the volume of the original sound data. It is preferable that the second medium be present, and the listening position be different from the degree when present in the first medium (claim 8).

  In the above-mentioned sound effect generation program, the predetermined acoustic characteristics further include the contents of a reverberation signal generated from the original sound data and added to the original sound data and the characteristics of the volume of the reverberation signal added to the original sound data. Preferably, it is included (claim 9).

  In the above-mentioned sound effect generation program, the reverberation characteristics are different between the second medium and the first medium, and processing using the reverberation characteristics of the first medium and processing of the reverberation characteristics to the original sound data And processing using reverberation characteristics in a second medium, wherein the audio signal processing means is configured to execute the audio signal processing means when the listening position is present in the first medium in the combination of media identified by the medium combination identifying means. The original sound data is processed using the reverberation characteristic of the first medium, and the original sound position is present in the second medium when the combination of the media specified by the medium combination specifying unit is the original sound It is preferable to process data using reverberation characteristics in the second medium (claim 10).

  In the above sound effect generation program, the characteristic of the volume of the reverberation signal is that the sound producing body exists in a medium different from the sound listening position with respect to the sound volume when the sound producing body exists in the same medium as the sound listening position. The characteristic may be to reduce the volume of the case (claim 11).

  In the above-mentioned sound effect generation program, when the sounding body is present in the first medium and the listening position is present in the second medium, the sounding body reduces the volume of the reverberation signal. It is preferable that the second medium be present, and the listening position be different from the degree when present in the first medium (claim 12).

The present invention is a recording medium in which the effect sound production Narupu program of the above computer-readable recording (claim 13).

  According to the present invention, with respect to the sounding operation of a sounding body in a virtual space including a plurality of media displayed in a three-dimensional image, the generated sound of the sounding body can be heard at a predetermined listening position set in the virtual space Original sound data storage means for processing sound and outputting as sound effect, storing one or more original sound data emitted by the sounding body, a medium in which the sounding body exists, and the presence of the listening position Data for processing predetermined acoustic characteristics including at least a frequency component of the original sound data and attenuation due to distance and characteristics of volume change due to medium change with respect to a plurality of combinations of mediums for each combination of the medium in advance The processing data storage means set and stored, and when the sounding body starts the sounding operation on the three-dimensional image, the original sound data corresponding to the sounding operation from the original sound data storage means Means for reproducing an audio signal from the original sound data, and a position of the sound producing body and the listening position on the virtual space while the original sound data reproducing means is reproducing the audio signal A combination of a medium in which the sounding body is present and a medium in which the listening position is present is specified each time the position information acquisition means acquires information at a predetermined timing and the position information acquisition means acquires the position information. Every time the combination of the medium is specified by the medium combination specifying means and the medium combination specifying means, the process data corresponding to the combination of the medium specified by the medium combination specifying means is read out from the process data storage means, And a sound signal processing unit for processing the sound signal using processing data. .

  In the above-mentioned sound effect generation device, the three-dimensional image is taken as a game space in which a character or object capable of moving in the virtual space appears as the sounding body, and is photographed by a virtual camera set to be movable in the game space Preferably, the listening position is associated with the position of the character operated by the player among the characters or the position of the virtual camera (claim 15).

  According to the present invention, when the sounding body in the virtual space displayed as a three-dimensional image starts the sounding operation, the original sound data corresponding to the sounding operation is read out from the original sound data storage means and reproduced. During the period during which the original sound data is being reproduced, position information of the sounding body and the listening position in the virtual space is acquired at a predetermined timing, and based on the position information, the medium in which the sounding body exists and the medium in which the sounding position exists A combination is identified.

  Then, each time a combination of media is specified, processing data corresponding to the combination of media from the processing data storage means (for processing characteristics such as frequency component of original sound data, attenuation due to distance, volume change due to media change, etc. Data) is read out, and processing of the audio signal being reproduced is performed using the processed data. As a result, the reproduced sound of the original sound data changes in accordance with the change in the relative positional relationship between the sounding body displayed in the three-dimensional image and the listening position, so that the sounding of the sounding body can be heard as much as possible You can make it sound natural near the real world.

  In particular, the characteristics of the sound characteristics of the medium, such as the volume, tone color, and changes in volume due to changes in the medium, are reflected in the process of generating the effect sound, so discontinuous sounds of the sound when the sounding body moves between different media It can be expressed in a pseudo manner, and can give naturalness to the way the sound is heard.

It is a figure which shows an example of the game screen of the area containing the lake and land of the foot of a snowy mountain. FIG. 1 is a front view showing an overview of a video game device that executes a game program including a sound effect generation program according to the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of a video game device. It is a figure for demonstrating the production | generation method of a three-dimensional game image. It is a figure which shows an example of original sound data. It is a figure which shows an example of an attenuation characteristic. It is a figure showing contents such as attenuation processing, filtering processing, reverberation processing in four different situations. It is a figure which shows the equivalent sound-sound production | generation circuit implement | achieved by running the production | generation processing program of the sound sound which concerns on this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the production | generation processing procedure of the sound sound which concerns on this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence which determines the process conditions of FIG.9 S10. It is a figure which shows an example of a change of the waveform of the sound effect produced | generated by the sound effect production | generation process which concerns on this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating that the generation | occurrence | production sound of the monster heard to a hunter changes with the positional relationship of a monster (sounding body) and a hunter (hearing body).

  As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a case where a sound effect generation program according to the present invention is applied to game software will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

  In the following description, a series of game software "Monster Hunter (registered trademark)" is described as an example, but when the sound effect generation program according to the present invention is applied to game software, the sound effects are determined by the game image. Since the content corresponds to the displayed game scene, first, Monster Hunter (registered trademark) will be briefly described focusing on the game scene mainly related to the generation of sound effects.

  A monster hunter (registered trademark) causes a hunter (player character), who is another player, to appear in a virtual society (virtual game space) in which a wide variety of monsters, which are enemy characters, inhabit, and the hunter kills or captures the monster, We receive orders from people who exist in the virtual society for various instructions such as collection of animals and plants such as mushrooms and fish (hereinafter referred to as "quests"), and get rewards by achieving the quests, and live in the virtual society It is a hunting action game whose content is to do.

  A virtual game space in which monsters live has an environment similar to a real natural environment, and for example, a habitat of a plurality of monsters such as snowy mountains, dense forests, deserts, marshes (hereinafter referred to as "hunting fields"). ) Is provided.

  Each hunting field is divided into multiple areas (for example, a hunting ground). For example, in the snow mountain hunting field, an area including lake and land at the foot of the snow mountain, an ice cave area connected to the snow mountain, and a mountain wall at the back of the mountain Area, and an open area near the summit. The monsters appearing in the snowy mountains inhabit while moving through the above-mentioned multiple areas, and the player operates the operation button to move the hunter to any of the above-mentioned multiple areas to search for the monster. Then, if the hunter encounters a monster in any area, the player can confront the hunter with the monster, and if the confrontation defeats the monster (makes the strength of the monster zero) or captures it, the quest is achieved.

  As described above, each hunting field is provided with not only land and air but also underwater as a habitat for monsters, and depending on the type of monster, not only land and air, but also water, sand and underground There is something to do. For this reason, places where hunters can search for monsters include not only land but also underwater.

  Looking at the above-mentioned hunting field in terms of the acoustic environment, for example, the area including the lake and land at the foot of the snow mountain is “air” on land and in the air as shown in FIG. 1 (a) (b) The water is occupied by "water", and it is an area occupied by two types of media having different acoustic characteristics (characteristics such as sound propagation characteristics and reverberation characteristics). FIG. 1 (b) shows a longitudinal cross-section of a portion of line I-I in FIG. 1 (a) so that the positional relationship between the hunter H and the monster M in the vertical direction can be understood.

  Assuming that the virtual game space has acoustic characteristics similar to those in the real world, in the area A1 of the air and the area A2 of water, even if the hunter H and the monster M are in the same area, the hunter H's monster M It is natural that the way of the sound (for example, the roaring sound S) emitted by is different. Even if the hunter H is on the ground and the monster M is in the water, and conversely the hunter H is in the water and the monster M is on the ground, the sound of the noise S emitted by the hunter H's monster M is different. Is the same. Such an acoustic environment is similar for hunting fields including areas occupied by air and areas occupied by other liquids besides water.

  As described above, in “Monster Hunter (registered trademark)” of the game software according to the present embodiment, the virtual game space has a natural environment close to the real world, and the game scene displayed on the game screen is 2 An area occupied by different media having different types of acoustic characteristics is included, and both the hunter H and the monster M are configured to be movable. Therefore, for example, how to hear the hunter H of the stuttering sound S emitted by the monster M is not only the distance relationship between the hunter H and the monster M in the game space, but also the area (medium) and hunter in which the hunter H and the monster M exist respectively. It is affected by the reflection of sound around the position where H is present. The same applies to not only the roaring sound S emitted by the monster M but also various types of sounds such as collision sound, explosion sound and vibration sound emitted by other characters and objects appearing in the game space.

  Therefore, in the sound effect generation program according to the present invention, in consideration of the above-mentioned acoustic environment, it occurs in the game space no matter how the positional relationship between the hunter H and the monster M and other characters and objects in the game space changes. The method of generating the sound effect is devised so that the way of hearing the sound is natural according to the positional relationship.

  Next, a video game apparatus that executes a game program including a sound effect generation program according to the present invention will be described.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing an overview of a video game apparatus that executes a game program including a sound effect generation program according to the present invention.

  The video game device 1 (hereinafter, abbreviated as “game device 1”) is a portable video game machine. Although this embodiment is a portable video game machine, other types of game machines such as a home video game machine and a commercial video game machine (arcade game machine) disposed in a game center are used as game machines. It can be used.

The game program including the sound effect generation program according to the present invention and the game data required for the game program are recorded in a dedicated portable recording medium (hereinafter referred to as "game medium"), and the game software maker Provided to When the user mounts the game media on the game media mounting unit (not shown) of the game apparatus 1, the game apparatus 1 reads a game program and game data from the game media into a memory (RAM) in the apparatus, and executes a CPU (Central Processing Unit). ) Starts execution of the game program. Thus, the user can enjoy the game software on the game apparatus 1. In the arcade game machine, since the game program and the game data are integrated into the game machine body, it is not necessary to attach the game media to the arcade game machine when playing a game.

  The game apparatus 1 has a main body 2 formed of a horizontally long thin rectangular parallelepiped. A display 3 which is a game screen is disposed at the center of the upper surface of the main body 2, and operation keys 4 including direction keys 4a and joystick keys 4b on the left and right of the display 3 and operation buttons 5 consisting of four buttons It is arranged. The direction key 4 a and the joystick key 4 b are vertically arranged, and a pair of speakers 9 a and 9 b for outputting sound effects are disposed below the joystick key 4 b and the operation button 5.

  The operation key 4 mainly designates the moving direction of the player character (hunter) which is the operation target of the player displayed on the display 3, and designates the selection direction for selecting the selection item displayed on the menu screen. It is an operation member for doing. For example, in the case of a hunting action game, the operation button 5 is an operation member for mainly instructing the enemy character (monster) to perform various types of operation such as an attack operation and a defense operation to the enemy character (monster).

  Sounds corresponding to BGM during game progress and various events generated in the game development from the speakers 9a and 9b (for example, a stuttering sound S emitted by a monster, an attack sound attacked by a monster, and an object such as a rock collapsed by the attack) Sounds that produce effects such as sounds) and game effects (eg, effects when a hunter does damage to a monster or receives damage from a monster) are generated.

  At the lower part of the display 3, operation buttons such as a “START” button 6, a “SELECT” button 7, and a volume adjustment button 8 are disposed. The "START" button 6 is an operation button mainly for instructing "game start" at the start of the game, and the "SELECT" button 7 is an operation button mainly for selecting the operation mode of the game at the game start, etc. is there. Although not shown, a media mounting unit for mounting a power button and game media is provided on the side of the main body 2.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the game apparatus 1.

  The game apparatus 1 includes a CPU 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, a drawing data generation processor 14, a drawing processing processor 15, a VRAM (Video-RAM) 16, and a D / A (Digital-Analog). The converter 17, the display unit 18, the audio processor 19, the amplifier 20, the speaker 21, the operation unit 22, the driver 23 and the bus 24 are included.

  The display unit 18 corresponds to the display 3 shown in FIG. 2, and the speaker 21 corresponds to the speakers 9a and 9b shown in FIG. In addition, the operation unit 22 corresponds to operation buttons such as the operation key 4, the operation button 5, the “START” button 6, the “SELECT” button 7, the volume adjustment button 8 in FIG. . When the player operates these operation members, the operation signal is input from the operation unit 22 to the CPU 11.

  The CPU 11, the ROM 12, the RAM 13, the drawing data generation processor 14, the drawing processing processor 15, the audio processing processor 19 and the driver 23 are mutually connected by a bus 24 so as to be able to transmit data.

  A game program and game data are recorded in the game media 10. Game data includes image data of characters and backgrounds, image data for displaying information such as status, BGM, player characters (hunters) appearing in the game space, enemy characters (monsters), objects (other animals and plants) Sound data relating to sound effects such as various sounds emitted, message data by characters and symbols, etc. are included. The sound data includes, for example, the original sound data, the adjustment value of the volume of the original sound and the frequency component, and the processing content such as the parameter value (described later) when generating the reverberation component data from the original sound data and the volume adjustment value of the reverberation component It includes various data used in the sound effect generation program according to the present invention, such as data for specifying. Details of the acoustic data will be described later.

The ROM 12, a basic program indicating, for example, steps of reading a game program and game data stored in the basic function and game media 10 Gate beam device 1, such as a disc loading function is stored. The RAM 13 stores a game program and game data read from the game media 10 by the driver 23, and provides a storage area required when the CPU 11 executes the game program stored in the RAM 13. When the game apparatus 1 adopts UMD (Universal media Disc) (registered trademark) which is a type of optical disc as the game medium 10, the driver 23 is configured by an optical disc driver.

  When the game media 10 is loaded into the media loading unit (not shown), the CPU 11 operates the driver 23 according to the basic program of the ROM 12 and loads the game program and game data necessary for starting the game from the game media 10 into the RAM 13 Set to the game start state. Thereafter, the CPU 11 centrally controls the game progress and the game development by executing the game program read into the RAM 13 based on the operation signal of the player from the operation unit 22.

  In addition, Monster Hunter (registered trademark) is configured of a set of independent game programs. For example, as described above, a hunting field is provided with a snow mountain field, a dense forest field, a desert field, a marsh field, etc., but each of these fields is composed of a plurality of hunting areas. A game program has been created to control the game progress.

  Therefore, for example, in the control of the game progress in the hunting field, every time the player selects a hunting area, the game program of the hunting area is read from the game media 10 to the RAM 13 and the CPU 11 executes the game program to carry out the hunting. The game progress in the area is controlled. The same applies to processing of the game progress of other game scenes, and the necessary game program and game data are read from the game media 10 to the RAM 13 according to the selection operation of the player, and the game program is executed by the CPU 11 Progress and game development are controlled.

  In the game program, processing procedures to be executed by the CPU 11, various instructions, and the like are described. The game program for controlling the game progress in each area of the hunting field includes a program for controlling the movement of the monster M and the movement of other objects. Therefore, the execution of the game program by the CPU 11 automatically controls the movement of the monster M and the movement of other objects in the game space.

  The masticatory movement of the monster M is also described in the game program for controlling the operation of the monster M, and when the CPU 11 executes the mastication command, the CPU 11 outputs the information on the stuttering S corresponding to the mastication command to the voice processing processor 19 The voice processing processor 19 performs output processing of the stuttering S.

  On the other hand, the game program for controlling the operation of the hunter H is basically configured such that the operation is controlled by the operation signal from the operation unit 22 based on the operation of the operation key 4 or the operation button 5 by the player. Therefore, when the operation signal of the player is input from the operation unit 22, the CPU 11 performs processing for causing the hunter H to perform a predetermined action on the operation signal according to the game program, and the processing result is displayed on the display unit 18 Display as a game image to show. In addition, when an event occurs that causes a sound effect to be generated by the operation of the hunter H (such as generation of an attack sound to the monster M or generation of an attack sound by the monster M), the CPU 11 calculates the sound effect calculated by the processing result. The information is output to the audio processor 19, and the audio processor 19 performs processing for generating the sound effects. The details of this sound effect generation process will be described later.

  As a game image, a three-dimensional (3D) animation image created by animation technology using three-dimensional computer graphics is used. This three-dimensional game image is, as shown in FIG. 4, a predetermined position CP behind the hunter (player character) H (position of height h behind the position HP of the hunter H by a distance d in the horizontal direction The virtual camera C is placed in the), and an image obtained by photographing the hunter H side with this virtual camera C is generated as an image of each frame.

  In addition, the image extends the line of sight from the virtual camera C to the hunter H side, and the line of sight of the hunter H or the monster M or the background of the screen virtually intersected with the virtual camera C and the hunter H It is a drawing of another object such as a mountain (two-dimensional image by perspective projection).

  When the hunter H moves in the game space by the operation of the direction key 4a of the player or the joystick key 4b, the virtual camera C is also moved together with the hunter H to generate an image of each frame, so that the game space is displayed on the game screen. The image of Hunter H moving within is displayed.

  The virtual camera C in the game space moves with the hunter H. In this embodiment, since the hunter H is set to move not only on land but also in the area of other media such as water, if the player moves the hunter H into water, the virtual camera C is also in water. It moves and the image of the search scene of monster M in the water and the battle scene with monster M is displayed.

  In addition, the player can move only the virtual camera C by operating the direction key 4a or the joystick key 4b while the hunter H is stopped. For example, the player can rotate the virtual camera C around the hunter H or switch the position of the virtual camera C to the eye of the hunter H. Therefore, the player can move only the virtual camera C to a predetermined position in the area of another medium such as underwater without moving the hunter H on land.

  Then, in the present embodiment, as described later, the position CP of the virtual camera C in the game space is set as the listening position TP of the sound generated in the game space (the sound emitted by the character or object appearing in the game space). In the sound effect generation process, the sound generated in the game space such as the roaring sound S of the monster M is processed and output as the sound heard at the listening position TP.

  In addition, when creating an image of each frame or generating a sound effect, define the position in the game space of an object such as the virtual camera C and the hunter H, monster M or other object appearing in the game space, Since information of these positional relationships (distance and direction) is required, as shown in FIG. 1A, an XYZ coordinate system orthogonal to each other is provided in the game space of each area.

  The origin of the XYZ coordinate system can be set arbitrarily, but in the present embodiment, the virtual camera C and the hunter H move into the water, and the underwater scene is also displayed as a game scene, as shown in FIG. The XYZ coordinate system is set so that the zero reference of the Z coordinate is set at the position of the water surface (the boundary of the medium) as shown in FIG. 1 (b) in the game space of the area containing two different different media. Ru. Therefore, for example, when a game space of an area is set in a region surrounded by + X axis and + Y axis of the XY plane, X coordinate and Y coordinate of an object appearing in the game space both have positive values, but Z The coordinates are positive when the object is on land or in the air, and negative when it is in water.

Returning to FIG. 3, the drawing process of the game image (3D animation image) to be displayed on the display unit 18 is mainly performed by the drawing data generation processor 14 and the drawing processing processor 15. The CPU 11 determines the content of the game image to be displayed on the display unit 18 based on the operation signal of the player from the operation unit 22 and the image data (background, player character (hunter H) , etc. necessary for drawing the image ). The polygon data, texture data, light source data, and other data of the character (monster M) and other objects are read from the RAM 13 and supplied to the drawing data generation processor 14. The CPU 11 also supplies the drawing data generation processor 14 with the operation information input from the operation unit 22.

  Based on the image data and the operation information supplied from the CPU 11, the drawing data generation processor 14 generates data necessary for drawing (positional relationship of virtual camera C, hunter H, monster M and background and other objects in perspective projection, screen screen Calculate the coordinates of the polygons that make up the hunter H, the monster M and the background and other objects on the screen (corresponding to the screen of the display unit 18), data such as textures and reflection characteristics corresponding to each polygon, and draw the calculation results It is supplied to the processing processor 15.

  The drawing processing processor 15 displays an image of each frame of the three-dimensional animation displayed on the display unit 18 using data supplied from the drawing data generation processor 14 every 1/30 seconds based on a drawing command from the CPU 11 Generate a two-dimensional image) by projection method. Connected to the drawing processor 15 is a VRAM 16 for creating an image of each frame.

  The VRAM 16 is provided with a buffer area (hereinafter referred to as “screen buffer”) for storing image data of each frame displayed on the display unit 18. The drawing processing processor 15 temporarily stores the data supplied from the drawing data generation processor 14 in the working area of the VRAM 16, reads out the data necessary for the image to be displayed from the working area every 1/30 seconds, and stores it in the screen buffer. Repeat the process of expanding (drawing process).

  The image data developed in the VRAM 16 is converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter 17 and output to the display unit 18 for display.

  When the CPU 11 performs processing to generate sound effects by execution of the game program, the sound effects to be output from the speaker 21 determined by the processing result (the attacking action or the defense action of the monster M's roar S or hunter M The content of the generated sound etc. is output to the audio processing processor 19, audio data corresponding to the sound effect is generated, and the audio data is output from the speaker 21.

The sound processing processor 19 reads data of sound effects from the RAM 13 based on a sound effect generation command from the CPU 11, performs required digital signal processing, and performs D / A conversion to sound signals (analog signals). The required digital signal processing includes sound effect generation processing according to the present invention. The audio signal output from the audio processing processor 19 is amplified by the amplifier 20 with a predetermined gain, and then output from the speaker 21.

  Next, regarding the process of generating sound effects according to the present invention, the position of monster M is taken as the sound generation position MP (see the position of MP in FIG. 1), and the position HP of the hunter H is the listening position TP (see the position of HP in FIG. 1). The case where the noise M emitted from the monster M is output as the sound heard at the listening position TP will be described as an example. In the above description, the position CP of the virtual camera C is used as the listening position TP. However, the hunter H appears in the game space as the player's own body, and the player listens to the sound emitted by the monster M through the hunter H. Since it is assumed, here, for convenience of explanation, the position HP of the hunter H is referred to as a listening position TP, and is described as “listening position HP”.

  As described above, in the monster hunter (registered trademark), the sounding body monster M and the sounding body hunter H can move not only on land in the game space but also in water. Therefore, for example, in the case of the area shown in FIG. 1, when the positional relationship between the hunter H and the monster M is classified, if the monster M and the hunter H are also on land, the monster M is on land and the hunter H is in water. If the monster M exists in the water and the hunter H exists on the land, it can be divided into four types of situations where both the monster M and the hunter H exist in the water.

And, if you arrange four kinds of situations in relation to the position of the pronunciation and the position of the hearing and the medium,
(1) When the sound generation position MP and the listening position HP are both on land (in the air) (case 1)
(2) When the sound generation position MP is in the water and the sound generation position HP is on the land (in the air) (Case 2)
(3) In the case where the sound generation position MP is on land (in air) and the listening position HP is in water (case 3)
(4) In the case where both the pronunciation position MP and the listening position HP are in water (case 4)
Can be divided into four cases.

In the following description, the contents of the case 1 to case 4 so as to be straight-sensitive, to be used as appropriate representation expressed in the case (MP, HP). According to this notation, Case 1 = case (land, land), Case 2 = case (under water, land), Case 3 = case (land, water), Case 4 = case (under water, water).

  In the real world, the transmission and attenuation characteristics of sound waves differ between air and water. For example, in (a) water, high frequencies of several kHz or more have large attenuation, and propagation distance is short, (b) It is known that underwater is more straightforward in sound. In the present embodiment, referring to the characteristics of (a) and (b), processing of characteristics of volume, frequency components, and reverberation components to original sound data in the above four cases of Case 1 to Case 4 is made different. The sound of the game scene of each case is processed by processing the corresponding case with respect to the original sound data according to the situation of the game scene represented by the game image changing momentarily between case 1 to case 4 The difference in the way of hearing is made so that the auditory effect given to the player on the game will be as natural as possible.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, a plurality of types of processing programs are provided to process the characteristics of the volume, frequency components, and reverberation components with respect to the original sound data. The original sound data is, for example, original voice waveform data created in advance in order to output a stuttering S to the masticatory movement of the monster M. The original sound data is composed of, for example, data converted from the analog audio signal W shown in FIG. 5 into a digital signal and compressed by, for example, ADPCM (Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation), and is included in the sound data of game data. When the monster M emits a plurality of types of calls, original sound data is created in advance for each call. The same applies to the original sound data of sounds emitted by characters and objects other than the monster M.

  The processing program includes a processing program that functions as a tool for providing an audio effect in water (water medium) and a processing program that functions as a tool for providing an audio effect in land (air medium). Specifically, an attenuation processing program for producing an attenuation effect with respect to distance and a filtering processing program for producing a difference in timbre due to a difference between frequency components in water and air are provided. Also, a reverberation processing program is provided to add reverberation as an effector to express the difference in the way of hearing the sound based on the difference in the propagation characteristics of the sound wave in the water and in the air.

  For the attenuation processing program, for example, attenuation data D1 (attenuation data D1 for land) indicating attenuation characteristics when sound propagates in air shown in FIG. 6 and attenuation characteristics when sound propagates in water are shown. Attenuation data D2 (submersion attenuation data D2) are preset. In the real world, low-frequency sound is less likely to be attenuated in water than in air, but in the present embodiment, the attenuation amount of the attenuation data D2 for water is used to produce a sealing effect in water as a game auditory effect. Is larger than the attenuation amount of the land attenuation data D1. By processing the original sound data by the attenuation processing program using the distance L between the sounding position MP and the listening position HP and the attenuation data shown in FIG. 6, the listening level at the listening position HP is calculated.

  In FIG. 6, the horizontal axis indicates the distance L (m) from the sound generation position, and the vertical axis indicates the volume level. Since the audio data is 8-bit digital data (data of 128 tones), the maximum value of the sound volume level is "127" and the minimum value is "0". However, in FIG. Content to indicate the volume level. This is what percentage of the volume of the original sound data should be reduced, that is, the gain for adjusting the volume can be read directly.

  Therefore, for example, in the case (land, land), when the distance between the sounding position MP and the listening position HP is Lr, the volume level is “Kr” and this is a gain for volume adjustment. Assuming that the volume of “H” is “S”, the volume of the listening position HP decreases to Kr × S (0 <Kr <1.0).

  The sound data includes a plurality of types of original sound data set in advance, but the volume of each original sound data is not the same, and the original sound data may be different. Since the maximum value of the volume level on the vertical axis in FIG. 6 corresponds to the maximum volume of the volumes of all the original sound data, the maximum of the ground attenuation data D1 and the underwater attenuation data D2 illustrated in FIG. The reason why the value is not “1” is that the value is normalized to the maximum volume.

As shown in FIG. 6, both the ground attenuation data D1 and the underwater attenuation data D2 have a waveform whose shape slightly rises near the occurrence position but decreases monotonically thereafter (shape curved downward). doing. The amount of attenuation with respect to the distance L is larger in the underwater attenuation data D2 than in the land attenuation data D1 .

  The waveform of the attenuation data shown in FIG. 6 is an example, and considering that the sound effect according to the present invention is the sound effect in the game, and some originality and exaggeration are recognized, appropriate change is made to the waveform. It can be added. The attenuation data is included in the game data as sound data.

  As the filtering process program, for example, a low-pass filter process program for cutting high frequency components of 1200 Hz (cutoff frequency fc) or higher is provided. The waveform of the original sound is changed by filtering the original sound data by the low-pass filter processing program. In the example of FIG. 5, since the high frequency component of 1200 Hz or more of the audio signal W is removed, the portion where the waveform changes sharply becomes gentle and changes to an auditory sound. In this embodiment, when the listening position HP is in water, filtering processing is performed on the original sound data. This is to produce a feeling that sounds like a sound in water by cutting high frequency components of the sound.

  Therefore, the filtering process is not performed on the raw sound data of the stuttering sound S emitted by the monster M in the case (land, land), but the filtering processing is not performed on the raw sound data of the stuttering S Since the filtering process is performed on the original sound data, the high frequency component of the cutoff frequency fc or higher is cut in the stuttering S output as the sound effect, and in the case (underwater, underwater), the case (land, land) The sound is lower than in the case.

  For the reverberation processing program, similarly to the attenuation data, reverberation data (water reverberation data) indicating reverberation characteristics in water and reverberation data (land reverberation data) indicating reverberation characteristics in air are preset. There is. The reverberation data is, specifically, data for digitally processing “reverb” which is one of the effectors and adds reverberation to the original sound. In the present embodiment, a reverb is used as an effector that effectively produces the difference in the sound in the air and in the water. In reverberation, reverberation data is generated from the original sound data, but the reverberation data is data indicating the characteristics of each parameter such as pre-delay, reverb time, high frequency attenuation, crosstalk, reverberation signal strength, etc. during the generation process. It is.

  Reverberation is generally said to have a structure in which echoes of initial reflection occur within a few milliseconds to about 100 milliseconds after direct sound is heard, and then echoes of late reflection occur. The early reflections are combined with the direct sound and recognized as a series of sounds, so the late reflections are recognized as reverberation separately from the direct sound.

The pre-delay sets the delay time of the reverberation to the direct sound, and is set to a long value at a place where the distance between the sound source and the reflecting wall is long. Since the person in the water reach distant sound than in the air, there is an element to be able to produce a difference of sound in water and air by longer than the air in Prin delay in the water of the reverberation characteristics .

The reverberation time sets the time for which the reverberation continues, and when the reflection wall with high reflectance or the reflection path is long, the reverberation time becomes long because the attenuation is small. Reverb time in the water of the reverberation characteristics is also an element that it is possible to produce a difference in the water and the sound in the air by longer than in air.

  High frequency attenuation sets the amount of attenuation of high frequency components included in echo sound. Since the sound in water has less high frequency components than in air, it is an element that can produce the difference between the sound in water and in the air by attenuating the high frequency components of reverberant sound as well.

  Crosstalk sets the degree of reverberation interaction between channels. For example, when there is a sound source on the L channel side, the straightness of the sound from the sound source can be expressed as the output amount of the reverberation from the R channel is reduced. Since the straightness of sound is higher in the water than in the air, making the crosstalk of the reverberation characteristics in the water smaller than in the air is an element capable of directing the difference between the sound in the water and in the air.

  The reverberation signal strength sets the magnitude of the reverberation (the volume of the reverberation component). The echo signal strength is also a factor that can produce the difference between the sound in the water and in the air by making the echo signal strength of the reverberation characteristics in water larger than in the air for the same reason as the predelay and the reverberation time.

  Compared to land (in air), underwater (1) reverberation components reach far, (2) sound propagation straightness is strong, (3) much noise such as water flow, medium frequency region and high frequency region In consideration of the characteristic that the reverberation component is relatively reduced, for example, each parameter of the underwater reverberation data for wide water without a reflecting wall is, for example, pre-delay: setting time is “short”, “medium”, “ When divided into 3 of "long", set to "long", Reverb time: When divided into 3 of "short", "middle" and "long", set to "long", high frequency attenuation: When the frequency range to be attenuated is divided into three parts, "Low," "Mid," and "High," the attenuation is set to "Mid" and "High," and crosstalk: Volume of crosstalk is set When divided into "small", "medium" and "large", it is set to "small", echo signal strength: echo signal The amount "small", "medium", if that were divided into three "large", has been set, and the "large".

  On the other hand, for example, each parameter of the land reverberation data for wide grassland without reflection wall is set to "pre-delay: short", reverb time: "short", high frequency attenuation: attenuation range to "high band" (Attenuation range is set higher than underwater), Crosstalk: set from "small" to "medium" (set larger than underwater), echo signal strength: set to "small".

  The difference between the parameters of the above-mentioned underwater reverberation data and the above-mentioned ground reverberation data shows a general tendency. Since the reverberation characteristics are affected not only by the sound propagation characteristics of the medium, but also by the reflectors and reflectors around the sound generation position, depending on the game scene on land, one of the parameters of the land reverberation data is underwater It may be the same as the parameters of the reverberation data or the opposite of the above tendency. The same applies to the game scene on the water.

  Therefore, the land reverberation data includes a plurality of reverberation data in which the above parameters are appropriately changed according to the game scenes having different reflection characteristics (for example, the open grassland scene and the scene in a cave). There is. For example, in the case of land reverberation data in a cave, pre-delay: set to "middle" to reflect in the cave space), reverb time: set to "middle" (because to echo in the cave space), high frequency attenuation : Attenuation zone is set to "low range", crosstalk: set to "large" (because echo is diffused by reflection of the cave wall), echo signal strength: set to "large".

  Note that the inclusion of a plurality of reverberation data in which parameters are appropriately changed according to game scenes having different reflection characteristics is the same as in the underwater reverberation data.

  FIG. 7 shows the process of generating sound effects in the four cases described above. Specifically, FIG. 7 shows attenuation processing, filtering processing, reverberation processing, and the like in each case (land, land), case (underwater, land), case (land, underwater), and case (underwater, underwater). It shows the contents.

  In FIG. 7, “presence or absence of LPF processing” is a column indicating whether or not low-pass filtering processing is performed. "Attenuation characteristic type" is a column indicating which of land attenuation data and underwater attenuation data is used. The “volume change rate Kd due to medium change” is a column indicating the rate of change in volume caused by the reflection of sound at the boundary of the medium when the sound travels through different media. "Land reverberation characteristics (added amount Krv)" is a column indicating whether or not to use the land reverberation characteristics, "water reverberation characteristics (added amount Krv)" whether to use the underwater reverberation characteristics Is a column indicating. Further, (added amount Krv) in both columns indicates the ratio of the volume when the reverberation sound generated from the original sound is added to the original sound.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the LPF processing is not performed when the sound generation position MP is on land (case (land, underwater) and case (land, on land)), and when the sound generation position MP is underwater (case (underwater, land) And cases (underwater, underwater))). This is processing for cutting the high frequency component of the original sound data to produce an underwater feeling when the sound generation source is underwater.

  As for the application of the attenuation characteristics, the attenuation data for land (see attenuation data D1 in FIG. 6) is applied to the case where the listening position HP is on land (case (underwater, onshore) and case (overland, onshore)). When HP is underwater (case (land, water) and case (water, water)), attenuation data for water (see attenuation data D2 in FIG. 6) is applied. Applying the ground attenuation data in the case (land, land) and applying the underwater attenuation data in the case (water, water) creates both attenuation data for the corresponding case. Because it is, it is a natural application.

  On the other hand, in the case (underwater, onshore), there is an underwater section and an onshore section in the sound propagation path from the sound generation position MP to the listening position HP, so the underwater attenuation data is In the land section, the land attenuation data should be applied, but in the present embodiment, the land attenuation data is applied in order to simplify the attenuation processing on the condition that the sound can be heard as naturally as possible. One of the underwater attenuation data is to be applied, and the attenuation data of the medium at the listening position HP (see the terrestrial attenuation data D1) is set to be applied. The same applies to the case (land, water), and the attenuation data for water D2 is set to be applied.

  In the column of “volume change rate Kd due to medium change”, when both underwater and land are included in the propagation path from the sound generation position MP to the listening position HP, the volume is discontinuous due to the reflection of sound at the interface. Shows the process for expressing the decrease. In the case where the sound propagation path is only underwater or on land (case (land, land) and case (underwater, water)), the content of the same column indicates that the volume change rate Kd is 1 because there is no medium interface. The contents to be processed in .0, that is, the contents not to change the volume are processed.

  On the other hand, when the sound propagation path includes both water and land (case (water, land) and case (land, water)), the boundary of the medium exists, so the volume change at the boundary is In order to express, the contents of the same column are contents for processing the volume change rate Kd with a value smaller than 1.0. In the present embodiment, the volume is reduced by 0.6 times in the case (underwater, land), and the volume is reduced by 0.5 times in the case (land, underwater). In addition, since these volume change rates Kd are design matters, other numerical values can be set as appropriate.

  Regarding the application of reverberation characteristics, when the listening position HP is on land (case (under water, on land) and case (on land, on land)), the reverberation data for on land is applied, and when the listening position HP is under water (case (on land, Underwater reverberation data apply to underwater) and cases (underwater, underwater). The ground reverberation data is applied in the case (land, land), and the reason for applying the underwater reverberation data in the case (water, water) is to create both reverberation data for the corresponding cases. Therefore, it is a natural application as well as the application of the attenuation characteristic.

  On the other hand, the reason for setting the attenuation data of the medium of the listening position HP in the case (underwater, land) and the case (land, underwater) is the same as in the case of the application of the attenuation characteristic. . Therefore, in the case (underwater, land), the reverberation data for land is applied, and in the case (land, water), the reverberation data for water is applied.

  In the case (in the water, on the land) and in the case (on the ground, in the water), there is a change in the medium in the propagation path, so the reverberation effect is lower than in the case (on the land, on the land) or the case (in the water, in the water). To reduce the volume level of the reverberation component. Assuming that the additional amount Krv of the on-site reverberation characteristic of the case (underwater, onshore) is 0.8 (the volume of the reverberation is reduced to 80%), the additional amount Krv of the underwater reverberation characteristic of the case (onshore or underwater) is 0. Setting 5 (the volume of the reverberation to 50%) indicates that the processing is to be performed.

  The amount of reverberation characteristic added in the case (land, water) Krv is smaller than the amount of reverberation added in the case (water, land) Krv. It also reflects the reverberation characteristics of the medium before it changes. In the state before the medium changes, the case (underwater, land) has more reverberation components than the case (overland, water), so even if the reverberation component decreases due to the change of the medium, the case as a whole The reverberation component of (in water, on land) is made larger than that of the case (on land, in water). Since the additional amount Krv of these reverberation components is also a design matter, other numerical values can be set as appropriate.

  FIG. 8 is a view showing an equivalent sound effect generation circuit realized by executing the sound effect generation processing program according to the present invention.

  The sound effect generation circuit 30 shown in the figure includes a filter circuit 31, three volume control circuits 32, 33, 34, two reverb circuits 35, 36, and two signal mixing circuits 37, 38. Configured

  In the sound effect generation circuit 30, an audio signal (original sound data) is input to the filter circuit 31, and an output signal of the filter circuit 31 is input to the first signal mixing circuit 37 via the first volume adjustment circuit 32. . Further, the output signal of the filter circuit 31 is input to the first reverberation circuit 35 and the second reverberation circuit 36. The output signal of the first reverberation circuit 35 is input to the first signal mixing circuit 37 via the second volume adjustment circuit 33, and the output signal of the second reverberation circuit 36 is via the third volume adjustment circuit 34. The signal is then input to the second signal mixing circuit 38. In the first signal mixing circuit 37, the output signal of the filter circuit 31 input through the first volume adjustment circuit 32 and the output signal of the first reverberation circuit 35 input through the second volume adjustment circuit 33 And the second signal mixing circuit 38 mixes the output signal of the second reverberation circuit 36 input through the third volume adjustment circuit 34 and the output signal of the first signal mixing circuit 37. , The mixed signal is output as a sound effect.

  The filter circuit 31 is a low pass filter that can set the cutoff frequency fc externally. The filter circuit 31 operates as a low pass filter when the cut-off frequency fc is set, and functions as a circuit (circuit without a filter function) that passes the input signal if the cut-off frequency fc is not set. The filter circuit 31 is a circuit that performs the LPF processing corresponding to the column of "presence or absence of LPF processing" in FIG. 7, and when "presence" is set in the "presence or absence of LPF processing", the filter from the CPU 11 When the cutoff frequency fc is set in the circuit 31 and “none” is set, the cutoff frequency fc is not set in the filter circuit 31 from the CPU 11.

  The first volume adjustment circuit 32 is a circuit that performs attenuation processing corresponding to the columns of “type of attenuation characteristic” and “volume change rate Kd due to medium change” in FIG. 7. The first volume adjustment circuit 32 receives the volume adjustment information from the CPU 11 and adjusts the level of the output signal of the filter circuit 31 using the volume adjustment information.

First volume control circuit 32, the level of the audio signal S _LF output from the filter circuit 31 is multiplied by a coefficient K1 to adjust the volume of the audio signal S _LF. Therefore, assuming that the coefficient K1 is the volume adjustment value of the first volume adjustment circuit 32, the volume adjustment value K1 is input from the CPU 11 to the first volume adjustment circuit 32. The volume adjustment value K1 is a level Kr or Kr ′ calculated by the ratio Kd in the column of “volume change rate Kd due to medium change” in FIG. 7 and the attenuation data D1 for land or attenuation data D2 for water shown in FIG. It is a value (Kd × Kr or Kd × Kr ′) calculated by multiplying

  If, for example, the distance L between the sound generation position MP and the listening position HP is Lr (see FIG. 6), the CPU 11 determines that the volume change due to the medium change The volume adjustment value K1 = 1.0 × Kr is calculated by multiplying the ratio Kd = 1.0 in the column of “ratio Kd”, and the calculated value is set in the first volume adjustment circuit 32. In the case (in the water, in the water), the CPU 11 performs the first volume adjustment circuit for the volume adjustment value K1 = 1.0 × Kr ′ calculated using the level Kr ′ of the point Pr ′ instead of the above level Kr. Set to 32.

Further, in the case (underwater, land), the CPU 11 multiplies the level Kr of the point Pr and the ratio Kd of the column of “volume change rate due to medium change” = 0.6 to adjust the volume adjustment value K1 = 0.6 × Kr is calculated, and the calculated value is set in the first volume adjustment circuit 32. In the case (land, underwater), the CPU 11 multiplies the level Kr ′ of the point Pr ′ by the ratio Kd = 0.5 of the “volume change rate due to medium change” to obtain the volume adjustment value K1 = 0.5 × Kr ′ is calculated, and the calculated value is set in the first volume adjustment circuit 32.

Therefore, an audio signal of K1 × S _LF (0 <K1 ≦ 1) is input to the first signal mixing circuit 37.

The first reverberation circuit 35 and the second volume adjustment circuit 33 are circuits for performing attenuation processing corresponding to the "land reverberation characteristics (additional amount Krv)" column in FIG. In the first reverberation circuit 35, a signal indicating whether or not to operate the circuit from the CPU 11 (signal with / without reverb) and reverberation data for land (pre-delay, reverb time, high frequency attenuation, crosstalk, echo signal strength, etc.) Data of each parameter is input. When a signal with reverb is input from the CPU 11, the first reverberation circuit 35 operates as a reverberation circuit for land, and generates the reverberation signal Srv using the audio signal S _LF input from the filter circuit 31.

  The second volume adjustment circuit 33 is a circuit that adjusts the volume of the reverberation signal Srv by multiplying the level of the reverberation signal Srv output from the first reverberation circuit 35 by the volume adjustment value K2 (0 <K2 ≦ 1). is there. The volume adjustment value K2 is calculated by multiplying the additional amount Krv in the "land reverberation characteristic (added amount Krv)" column of FIG. 7 by the level Kr calculated by the land attenuation data D1 shown in FIG. It is a value (Krv × Kr). Since it is necessary to consider the attenuation due to the distance also for the reverberation signal Srv, the additional amount Krv is multiplied by the level Kr calculated by the ground attenuation data D1, as in the case of the volume adjustment value K1.

  Therefore, in the case (land, water) and the case (water, water), the first reverberation circuit 35 does not function as a reverberation circuit, so the second volume adjustment circuit 33 does not output the reverberation signal Srv, The reverberation signal Srv is not input to the first signal mixing circuit 37.

  On the other hand, in the case (land, land) and the case (underwater, land), the reverberation signal Srv is generated from the first reverberation circuit 35 based on the land reverberation data, and the level of the reverberation signal Srv is the second. The signal is adjusted to K2 times by the volume adjustment circuit 33 and input to the first signal mixing circuit 37. That is, in the case (land, land), the level of the reverberation signal Srv is adjusted to K2 = Krv × Kr = Kr times and input to the first signal mixing circuit 37, and in the case (water, land) The level of the reverberation signal Srv is adjusted to K2 = Krv × Kr = 0.8 × Kr times and input to the first signal mixing circuit 37.

  The second reverberation circuit 36 and the third volume adjustment circuit 34 are circuits for performing attenuation processing corresponding to the column of "underwater reverberation characteristics (added amount Krv)" in FIG. The configuration and operation of the second reverberation circuit 36 are the same as those of the first reverberation circuit 35 described above except that the information in the column of "underwater reverberation characteristics (added amount Krv)" and the underwater reverberation data are used. . In addition, the configuration and operation of the third volume adjustment circuit 34 are also described above except that the information in the column of “water reverberation characteristics (added amount Krv)” and the level Kr ′ calculated by the underwater attenuation data D2 are used. Similar to the second volume adjustment circuit 33.

  Therefore, in the case (land, land) and the case (underwater, land), the second reverberation circuit 36 does not function as a reverberation circuit, so the third volume adjustment circuit 34 does not output the reverberation signal Srv, The reverberation signal Srv is not input to the second signal mixing circuit 38.

  On the other hand, in the case (land, water) and case (water, water), the second reverberation circuit 36 generates a reverberation signal Srv based on the underwater reverberation data, and the third volume adjustment circuit 34 generates the reverberation signal Srv. After the level of the signal Srv is multiplied by the volume adjustment value K3 (0 <K3 ≦ 1) to adjust the level, the signal is input to the second signal mixing circuit 38. In the third volume adjustment circuit 34, a level Kr 'calculated by the CPU 11 using the additional amount Krv in the column "underwater reverberation characteristics (additional amount Krv)" and the underwater attenuation data D2 shown in FIG. A value (Krv × Kr ′) calculated by multiplication is set as the volume adjustment value K3.

  In the case (in the water, water), the level of the reverberation signal Srv is adjusted to K3 = Krv × Kr ′ = Kr ′ times and input to the second signal mixing circuit 38, and in the case (land, water) The level of the reverberation signal Srv is adjusted to K3 = Krv × Kr ′ = 0.5 × Kr ′ times and input to the second signal mixing circuit 38.

In the first signal mixing circuit 37, the audio signal K1 × S _LF from the filter circuit 31 whose level has been adjusted by the first volume adjustment circuit 32, and the level adjustment performed by the second volume adjustment circuit 33. The reverberation signal K2 × Srv is mixed, and in the second signal mixing circuit 38, the mixed signal (K1 × S _LF + K2 × Srv) output from the first signal mixing circuit 37 and the third volume adjustment circuit 34. The reverberation signal K3 × Srv for which the level adjustment has been performed is mixed.

Since only one of the first reverberation circuit 35 and the second reverberation circuit 36 operates, the sound effect generation circuit 30 outputs an audio signal K1 × S _LF whose level is adjusted by the first volume adjustment circuit 32. A mixed signal (K1 × S _LF + K2 × Srv) obtained by mixing the reverberation signal K2 × Srv from the first reverberation circuit 35 whose level is adjusted by the second volume adjustment circuit 33, and the same audio signal K1 × S _LF One of mixed signals (K1 × S _LF + K3 × Srv) obtained by mixing the reverberation signal K3 × Srv from the second reverberation circuit 36 whose level is adjusted by the third volume adjustment circuit 33 is output as an effect sound .

Next, the process of generating a sound effect according to the present invention will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. In the following description, the monster M at the timing with a game development is described generation processing of the roar sound S in a scene that emits roaring sound S. In the above description, the listening position TP is the position HP of the hunter H, but in the description of the flowcharts of FIGS. 9 and 10, the position CP of the virtual camera C is the listening position TP, and the “listening position TP” is described. Do.

The game image is displayed as a moving image on the display unit 18 by repeating the operation of generating the frame image in the VRAM 16 every 1/30. During the game to be expanded by the display of the game image by the display unit 18, the CPU 11 shifts to processing for executing a program that generates a roar sound S monster M, CPU 11 is the acoustic data stored in the RAM13 The original sound data of the stuttering S is read out, and the processing of generating the stuttering S is performed by the equivalent sound effect generation circuit 30 shown in FIG.

Since the original sound data is data having a spiked waveform of time t as shown in FIG. 5, when the original sound data is reproduced without any processing, time t elapses from the start of generation of the stuttering S. When monster M on the display section 18 is a game image to a predetermined operation, such as position change or movement is displayed, the period in which the monster M is the operation, so that the original sound data is reproduced as it is. That is, in this case, each circuit in the equivalent sound effect generation circuit 30 of FIG. 8 is operated until the time t elapses with the default value set at the start of generation of the noise S.

  In the process of generating sound effects according to the present invention, the monster M (the sound generation position MP) and the position CP (the sound generation position TP) of the virtual camera C in the game space are each 1/30 during the time t during which the original sound data is being reproduced. Calculate to Then, using the position information of the monster M (the sound generation position MP) and the position CP of the virtual camera C (the sound acquisition position TP) in accordance with updating the game image displayed on the display unit 18 based on the positional relationship between the two. A process of changing the operation waveform (condition set according to the contents of each column in FIG. 7) set in each circuit in the sound effect generation circuit 30 and changing the reproduction waveform of the original sound data while reproducing the original sound data To be done.

  Therefore, the loop processing of steps S2 to S12 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 9 shows a processing procedure which is repeatedly performed every 1/30, and in this processing procedure, each circuit in the equivalent sound effect generation circuit 30 of FIG. Processing is performed to update the set operating conditions and process the original sound data.

First, when the monster M emits a roaring sound S (when the CPU 11 executes the sound effect generation process of the game program), the original sound data of the roaring sound S is read out from the sound data stored in the RAM 13 (S1). Subsequently, the coordinates of the position of the monster M in the game space are acquired (S2). As shown in FIG. 1A, a three-dimensional orthogonal coordinate system XYZ is set in the game space, and the operation of the monster M is controlled by the computer. The coordinates (Xm, Ym, Zm) of the monster M in the coordinate system are automatically calculated every 1/30 seconds. The coordinates (Xc, Yc, Zc) of the virtual camera C in the XYZ coordinate system are also set to default values on the initial screen of each area, and 1/30 according to the operation amount of the movement operation by the operation key 4 of the player. Since the update process of the default value is performed every second, the update value is acquired as the coordinates of the virtual camera C.

  In the present embodiment, since the three-dimensional image of the monster M and the hunter H in water is displayed on the display unit 18, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), water and air are indicated for the Z coordinate of the orthogonal coordinate system XYZ. The boundary surface of is set to "0", and the + direction indicates the land (in air) area A1, and the-direction indicates the water area A2. Therefore, whether or not the monster M or the virtual camera C is in water is determined by whether or not the Z coordinate value is negative.

  Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the monster M is in water by determining whether or not the Z coordinate value (Zm) of the monster M is Zm ≦ 0 (S3). If the monster M exists in the water (S3: YES), the flag F1 is set to "1" (S4), and if the monster M does not exist in the water, that is, if the monster M exists on land (S3: (NO), the flag F1 is set to "0" (S5).

  The flag F1 is a flag indicating whether or not the monster M exists in the water, and is set to “0” (indicating that it is present on land) in the initial state where the flowchart of FIG. 9 is started. It is done. Thus, F1 = 1 indicates that it is present in water, and F1 = 0 indicates that it is present on land.

Subsequently, the coordinates (X _TP , Y _TP , Z _TP ) of the listening position TP in the game space are acquired (S6). In this description, since the position CP of the virtual camera C and the listening position _{TP, (X TP, Y TP} , Z TP) = (Xc, Yc, Zc) is obtained.

    Subsequently, it is determined whether the virtual camera C is in water by determining whether the Z coordinate value (Zc) of the virtual camera C is Zc ≦ 0 (S7). If the virtual camera C is underwater (S7: YES), the flag F2 is set to "1" (S8), and if the virtual camera C is not underwater (S7: NO), the flag F2 is set to "0" (S9).

  The flag F2 is a flag indicating whether the virtual camera C (accurately, the listening position TP) is in the water, and is “0” as a default value in the initial state where the flowchart of FIG. 9 is started. Indicates that there is a). Thus, F2 = 1 indicates that it is in water, and F2 = 0 indicates that it is on land.

  Subsequently, processing conditions for each circuit of the equivalent sound effect generation circuit 30 of FIG. 8 are determined based on the setting states of the flags F1 and F2 and the contents of the generation process of sound effects shown in FIG. 7 (S10 ).

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a processing procedure for determining the processing condition of step S10.

In step S10, it is determined which of the four cases in FIG. 7 the sound effect generation scene corresponds to, based on the setting contents of the flags F1 and F2. That is, assuming that the setting contents of the flags F1 and F2 are 2-bit information of (F1 and F2), if (F1 and F2) = (0,0) (S21: NO, S23: NO), the sound effect The case of the generated scene is determined to be the case (land, land) (S24), and if (F1, F2) = (0, 1) (S21: NO, S23: YES), the case of the sound effect generated scene is the case It is determined (on land, in water) (S25). If (F1, F2) = (1, 1) (S21: YES, S22: YES), the case of the sound effect generation scene is determined to be the case (underwater, underwater) (S26), (F1, F2) ) = (1, 0) (S21: YES, S22: NO), the case of the sound effect generation scene is determined to be the case (underwater, land) (S27).

  Then, the sound effect generation condition corresponding to the case determined in steps S24 to S27, that is, the operation condition for each circuit of the sound effect generation circuit 30 equivalent to the case is set (S28).

  That is, in the case of (F1, F2) = (0, 0), the cutoff frequency fc of the LPF processing is determined to “0” according to the operating condition of Case 1 of FIG.

In addition, the distance Lr = [[(Xm−Xc) ² + (Ym−Yc) ² + (Zm) between the coordinates (Xm, Ym, Zm) of the monster M and the coordinates (Xc, Yc, Zc) of the virtual camera C -zc) ^2] is calculated, the volume level Kr at a distance Lr from terrestrial attenuation data D1 shown in this distance Lr and 6 are set. Further, the volume adjustment value K1 = Kr for the first volume adjustment circuit 32 is set from the volume level Kr and the volume change ratio Kd = 1.0 in the column of "volume change ratio Kd due to medium change".

  In addition, data of each parameter such as pre-delay, reverb time, high frequency attenuation, crosstalk, echo signal strength, etc. to be set in the first reverberation circuit 35 is determined based on the land reverberation data. Further, the volume adjustment value K2 for the second volume adjustment circuit 33 is set to “Kr” by multiplying the additional amount Krv = 1.0 of the reverberation signal Srv by the level Kr calculated by the land attenuation data D1 shown in FIG. It is determined. Since the underwater reverberation data is not used, it is determined that the second reverberation circuit 36 is not operated, and the volume adjustment value K3 for the third volume adjustment circuit 34 is not set.

  In the case of (F1, F2) = (1, 0), the cutoff frequency fc of the LPF processing is determined according to the operating condition of Case 2 of FIG. In the above description, only the cutoff frequency fc of 1200 Hz is shown as an example, but in the whole game, a cutoff frequency fc is provided for each area, and a plurality of game scenes may be set for each area. Since there is, in step S28, the cutoff frequency fc corresponding to the current game scene is determined.

  In addition, the distance Lr between the two is calculated from the coordinates (Xm, Ym, Zm) of the monster M and the coordinates (Xc, Yc, Zc) of the virtual camera C, and the distance Lr is calculated from the attenuation data D1 for land shown in FIG. The volume level Kr in Lr is set. Further, the volume adjustment value K1 = 0.6 × Kr for the first volume adjustment circuit 32 is set from the volume level Kr and the volume change ratio Kd = 0.6 in the “volume change ratio Kd due to medium change” column. Ru.

  In addition, data of each parameter such as pre-delay, reverb time, high frequency attenuation, crosstalk, echo signal strength, etc. to be set in the first reverberation circuit 35 is determined based on the land reverberation data. Further, by multiplying the additional amount Krv of the reverberation signal Srv = 0.8 with the level Kr calculated by the on-ground attenuation data D1 shown in FIG. It is determined that “8 × Kr”. Since the underwater reverberation data is not used, it is determined that the second reverberation circuit 36 is not operated, and the volume adjustment value K3 for the third volume adjustment circuit 34 is not set.

  In the case of (F1, F2) = (0, 1), the cutoff frequency fc of the LPF processing is determined to be “0” according to the operation condition of Case 3 of FIG.

  Further, the distance Lr between the two is calculated from the coordinates (Xm, Ym, Zm) of the monster M and the coordinates (Xc, Yc, Zc) of the virtual camera C, and the distance Lr is a distance from the underwater attenuation data D2 shown in FIG. The volume level Kr 'at Lr is set. Further, the volume adjustment value K1 = 0.5 × Kr ′ for the first volume adjustment circuit 32 is obtained from the volume level Kr ′ and the volume change rate Kd = 0.5 in the “volume change rate Kd due to medium change” column. It is set.

  In addition, data of each parameter such as pre-delay, reverb time, high frequency attenuation, crosstalk, echo signal intensity, etc. to be set in the second reverberation circuit 36 is determined based on the underwater reverberation data. Further, the volume adjustment value K3 for the third volume adjustment circuit 34 is “0..6” by multiplying the additional amount Krv = 0.5 of the reverberation signal Srv by the level Kr ′ calculated by the underwater attenuation data D2 shown in FIG. It is determined to be 5 × Kr ′. Since the land reverberation data is not used, it is determined that the first reverberation circuit 35 is not operated, and the volume adjustment value K2 for the second volume adjustment circuit 33 is not set.

  In the case of (F1, F2) = (1, 1), the cutoff frequency fc of the LPF processing is determined according to the operating condition of Case 4 of FIG. Further, the distance Lr between the two is calculated from the coordinates (Xm, Ym, Zm) of the monster M and the coordinates (Xc, Yc, Zc) of the virtual camera C, and the distance Lr is a distance from the underwater attenuation data D2 shown in FIG. The volume level Kr 'at Lr is set. Further, the volume adjustment value K1 for the first volume adjustment circuit 32 is set to "Kr '" by multiplying the volume level Kr' and the volume change ratio Kd = 1.0 of the "volume change ratio Kd due to medium change" column. It is set.

Also, based on the underwater reverberation data, data of each parameter such as pre-delay, reverb time, high frequency attenuation, crosstalk, reverberation signal strength to be set in the second reverberation circuit 36 is determined, and reverberation signal Srv is added. The volume adjustment value K3 for the third volume adjustment circuit 34 is determined as " Kr '" after multiplying the amount Krv = 1.0 and the level Kr' calculated by the underwater attenuation data D2 shown in FIG. Since the land reverberation data is not used, it is determined that the first reverberation circuit 35 is not operated, and the volume adjustment value K2 for the second volume adjustment circuit 33 is not set.

  When the processing conditions are determined in step S10, the processing conditions are set in each circuit of the equivalent sound effect generation circuit 30 of FIG. 8, and predetermined processing is performed on the original sound data in each circuit and output. The volume and timbre (frequency component) and reverberation characteristics of the sound effect being changed are changed (S11).

The processing of the above steps S2 to S11 is repeated until the reproduction time t of the original sound data of the stutter S elapses from the start of the generation of the stutter S of the monster M (loop processing of S2 to S12). When the reproduction time t of the original sound data has elapsed (S12: YES), the generation process of the sound effect ends.

  FIG. 11 is a view showing an example of the change of the waveform of the sound effect generated by the sound effect generation process according to the present invention. The horizontal axis of the figure (a)-(d) has shown time, and the vertical axis has shown the level of the stuttering S. As shown in FIG.

  The figure (a) shows the waveform of the stuttering S when the virtual camera C is fixed at the predetermined position on land, and the monster M moves in the direction away from the virtual camera C while crawling on the land. b) shows the waveform of a roaring sound S when the virtual camera C is fixed at a predetermined position in water and the monster M moves away from the virtual camera C while crawling underwater.

  The case of (a) corresponds to all cases (land, land) during the period when the roaring S occurs, and the case of (b) corresponds to the case during the period when the roaring S occurs. In (a), the sound effect generation process is performed under the condition of case 1 of FIG. 7, and in (b), the sound effect generation process is performed under the condition of case 4 of FIG. 7. Therefore, the waveform of (a) and the waveform of (b) continuously change (attenuate) in level, and do not become discontinuous. Further, in the case (in the water, in the water), the filtering process of the low pass filter is performed, so that the waveform of the stuttering S has less high frequency components than in the case (in the land, on the land). While the roaring sound S in (a) has a short waveform with a jagged period, (b) is more rounded than in (a) and has a waveform with a slightly longer period. It shows that it depends on the effect of processing.

  In the figure (c), the virtual camera C is fixed at a predetermined position on land, and as shown in the figure (e), after the monster M in the water appears in the air temporarily while crawling, Shows the waveform of the stuttering sound S when moving in a direction away from the virtual camera C along the route back to the figure (d), the virtual camera C is fixed at a predetermined position in the water, and the monster M is (c) The waveform of the roaring sound S at the time of performing the same movement operation is shown.

  In the same figure (c), the period T1 in which the monster M is in the water first among the periods in which the stuttering S occurs corresponds to the case (in the water, on the land) and the period in which the monster M appears in the air T2 corresponds to the case (land, land), and the period when the monster M last in the water T3 corresponds to the case (water, land).

  Therefore, in period T1 and period T3, the sound effect generation process is performed under the conditions of case 2 in FIG. 7, and in period T2, the sound effect generation process is performed under the conditions of case 1 in FIG. The level of the noise S becomes discontinuous at the boundary N1 and the boundary N2 of the period T2 and the period T3. In addition, in the process of Case 2, the filtering process of the low-pass filter is performed, but in the process of Case 1, since the filtering process is not performed, the waveforms of periods T1 and T3 are more rounded than those of period T2, and the period is It becomes a little long waveform. When the process of Case 2 is changed to the process of Case 1, the process of Case 2 reduces the volume level to 0.6 × Kr by the volume change rate Kd due to the medium change and the distance attenuation Kr. Then, since the volume level reduction processing is not performed, the levels of the periods T1 and T3 become lower than the period T2 in (c).

  In the same figure (d), the period T1 in which the monster M is in the water first among the periods in which the stuttering S occurs corresponds to the case (in the water, in the water) and the period in which the monster M appears in the air T2 corresponds to the case (land, water), and the period T3 in which the monster M is last in water corresponds to the case (water, water).

  Therefore, in period T1 and period T3, the sound effect generation process is performed under the condition of case 4 of FIG. 7, and in period T2, the sound effect generation process is performed under the condition of case 3 of FIG. The level of the noise S becomes discontinuous at the boundary N1 of the period T1 and the period T2 and at the boundary N2 of the period T2 and the period T3. In addition, in the process of case 4, the filtering process of the low-pass filter is performed, but in the process of case 1, the filtering process is not performed. Therefore, the waveforms of periods T1 and T3 are more rounded than those of period T2, and the period is The same tendency as in (c) also results in a slightly longer waveform. On the other hand, when the process in case 4 is changed to the process in case 3, the volume level is reduced by 0.5 × Kr ′ times by the volume change rate Kd due to the medium change and the distance attenuation Kr ′. Contrary to (c), the level of the period T2 is lower than the periods T1 and T3.

  As described above, according to the game device 1 to which the sound effect generation method according to the present embodiment is applied, the game space is provided with two types of regions (in air and underwater) occupied by media having different acoustic characteristics, Attenuation characteristics, frequency characteristics and reverberation characteristics of the sound of each area are provided when the monster M as a sounding body and the hunter H (or virtual camera C) as a sounding body are set to be movable in both areas. Four combinations of the area where Monster M exists and the area where Hunter H (or virtual camera C) exists in the game space (case (land, land), case (water, land), case (land, water), case (case Processing of the attenuation characteristics, frequency characteristics and reverberation characteristics of the sound effect according to the distance between the combination of the monster M and the hunter H) and the combination of In it is possible to output a monster M (pronunciation position) and Hunter H (listening position) and sound effects sound natural as much as possible in accordance with the positional relationship is a change in that location relationship changed freely of.

  In particular, the positional relationship between the monster M (pronunciation position) and the hunter H (listening position) is determined synchronously with the generation of the frame image of the game image, and the sound effect generation processing is performed based on the positional relationship. As shown in (c) and (d), to simulate that the sound effect changes discontinuously at the moment when the monster M moves from water to land or in the opposite direction. It is possible to produce an auditory effect close to the real world according to a scene depicted in a three-dimensional game image by sound effects.

  In the above-mentioned embodiment, although it explained in water and air as an example of two fields of a medium from which acoustic characteristics differ, it is not restricted to these as a medium from which acoustic characteristics differ. That is, if it is divided into a liquid area and a gas area as two different areas of the medium, the type of liquid area is not limited to water only, and any type of liquid can be applied, and the type of gas area is also air Not limited to, any kind of gas can be applied. In addition, since it is possible to create a liquid or gas that does not exist in the real world in the game software, the liquid or gas created arbitrarily may be applied.

  Not only the liquid but also an area of a fluid such as sand may be applied, and three or more different areas of adjacent media may be provided.

  In the above embodiment, a reverb is used as an effector for producing the difference between underwater and in the air, but for example, an effector related to the addition of other reverberation and echo such as delay and echo, an auditory sense such as chorus and flanger An effector that produces the above fluctuation may be used. In addition, as a main factor for directing the difference between underwater and in the air, since the volume change at the medium boundary and the difference in frequency characteristics due to the low pass filter are superior to the effector such as reverb, the effector such as reverb is It may be omitted to simplify the process.

  In the above embodiment, although the sound generation position MP is set to the position of the monster M, the sound generation position MP does not have to be accurately set to the position of the monster M, and may be set to an arbitrary position near the sound generating character or its periphery. It may be set. The same applies to the listening position TP, and it is not necessary to set the position of the hunter H or the virtual camera C correctly, and the character to be the sounding object may be set at an arbitrary position near the virtual camera or its periphery.

In the above embodiment, the processing of the original sound data at the reproduction time t of the original sound data is synchronized with the operation of generating the game image (every 1/30 seconds), but the timing of the processing is arbitrary. It can be set. For example, it may be set to a cycle that is an integral multiple of the cycle of generating a frame image.

  In the above embodiment, the sound effect generation process according to the present invention is mainly performed by the audio processor 19, but the CPU 11 and the audio processor 19 may jointly perform the process. It may be omitted and performed by the CPU 11.

  Although the above embodiment has described the case where the sound effects of the game apparatus 1 are generated, the sound effect generation technology according to the present invention is not limited to the sound effects of the game, and three-dimensional video other than the game on the display device For example, when displaying a captured image or a demonstration image, the present invention can also be applied to the case of adding a sound effect to the video.

1 Video Game Device 2 Main Unit 3 Display 4a Direction Key 4b Joystick Key 5 Operation Button 6 "START" Button 7 "SELECT" Button 8 Volume Control Button 9a, 9b Speaker 10 Game Media 11 CPU
12 ROM
13 RAM
14 drawing data generation processor 15 drawing processing processor 16 VRAM
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 17 D / A converter 18 Display part 19 Speech processing processor 20 Amplifier 21 Speaker 22 Operation part 23 Driver 24 Bus 30 Sound effect generation circuit 31 Filter circuit 32, 33, 34 Volume control circuit 35, 36 Reverb circuit 37, 38 Signal mixing circuit

Claims (1)

Wherein the predetermined acoustic characteristics, is further generated from the original data, the volume of the characteristics of the reverberation signal to be added to the contents of the reverberation signal added to the original sound data to the original data is included, claims 3 to 8 The sound effect generation program according to any of the above.

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