JP2019118687A - Program, image processing method, and image processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To display a plurality of objects in a more natural manner.SOLUTION: A program is provided to cause an image processing apparatus to execute: a first display step of, when a distance between a predetermined position corresponding to a first object moving in a virtual three-dimensional space in response to an operation of a user and a position of a second object is equal to or larger than a predetermined threshold, causing a second object to perform a motion according to a motion of a third object made to correspond to the second object, and displaying the motion on a screen; and a second display step of, when the distance is less than a threshold, causing the second object to perform a motion independent of the motion of the third object, and displaying the motion on the screen.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a program, an image processing method, and an image processing apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a technique of duplicating one character and drawing the plurality of characters when a plurality of characters are densely arranged and displayed in a computer game, simulation or the like.

  In addition, in order to express the plurality of characters more naturally, a technique is also known in which the movements of the plurality of characters are displayed differently (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3).

Patent No. 5149956 gazette JP, 2010-287191, A JP 2000-172868 A

  However, in the prior art, for example, when relatively many characters are simultaneously displayed by real-time processing by three-dimensional computer graphics, etc., the processing load becomes high, so that the movements of a plurality of characters are made different. There is a problem that it may be difficult to display on the screen.

  Therefore, in one aspect, it is an object of the present invention to provide a technology capable of displaying a plurality of objects in a more natural manner.

  In one scheme, the image processing apparatus has a predetermined threshold value for the distance between the position of the second object and the predetermined position corresponding to the first object moving in the virtual three-dimensional space in response to the user's operation. In the case of the above, a first display step of causing the second object to display an action corresponding to the action of the third object associated with the second object on the screen; and the distance is less than a threshold And a second display step of causing the second object to perform an operation independent of the operation of the third object and displaying the operation on a screen.

  According to one aspect, multiple objects can be displayed in a more natural manner.

It is a figure showing the example of hardware constitutions of the image processing device concerning an embodiment. It is a functional block diagram of an image processing device concerning an embodiment. It is a flow chart which shows an example of processing of an image processing device concerning an embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the unit data which concern on embodiment. It is a figure explaining an example of a display screen. It is a figure explaining an example of a display screen. It is a figure explaining an example of the display screen which unitized the character which receives an attack.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

<Hardware configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of an image processing apparatus 10 according to an embodiment. The image processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 has a drive unit 100, an auxiliary storage unit 102, a memory unit 103, a CPU 104, an interface unit 105, a display unit 106, an input unit 107, etc. .

  A game program for realizing the processing in the image processing apparatus 10 is provided by the recording medium 101. When the recording medium 101 having the game program recorded thereon is set in the drive unit 100, the game program is installed from the recording medium 101 into the auxiliary storage unit 102 via the drive unit 100. However, the installation of the game program does not necessarily have to be performed from the recording medium 101, and may be downloaded from another computer via a network. The auxiliary storage device 102 stores the installed game program and also stores necessary files and data.

  The memory device 103 is, for example, a memory such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or a static random access memory (SRAM). . The CPU 104 implements functions related to the image processing apparatus 10 in accordance with a program stored in the memory device 103. The interface device 105 is used as an interface for connecting to a network. The display device 106 displays a graphical user interface (GUI) according to a program. The input device 107 includes a controller, a keyboard and a mouse, or a touch panel and a button, and is used to input various operation instructions.

  In addition, as an example of the recording medium 101, a portable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a DVD disc, a Blu-ray disc, or a USB memory may be mentioned. In addition, examples of the auxiliary storage device 102 include a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), a flash memory, and the like. The recording medium 101 and the auxiliary storage device 102 both correspond to computer readable recording media.

<Functional configuration>
Next, the functional configuration of the image processing apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the image processing apparatus 10 according to the embodiment.

  The image processing apparatus 10 has a storage unit 11. The storage unit 11 is realized using, for example, the auxiliary storage device 102 or the like. The storage unit 11 stores three-dimensional data 111 and the like. The three-dimensional data 111 is data of a three-dimensional model of each object, and is data including data of a model of each object, data of a texture image, and the like.

  The image processing apparatus 10 further includes a receiving unit 12, a control unit 13, and a display control unit 14. These units are realized by processing that one or more programs installed in the image processing apparatus 10 cause the CPU 104 of the image processing apparatus 10 to execute.

  The receiving unit 12 receives from the user an operation such as moving the player character (an example of the “first object”) in the virtual three-dimensional space.

  The control unit 13 controls the progress of the game and the like. Further, in response to the operation and the like received by the reception unit 12, the control unit 13 determines between a predetermined position according to the player character and the position of the enemy or friend character etc. (an example of the “second object”). It is determined whether the distance is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold.

  Then, when the distance is equal to or more than a predetermined threshold, the control unit 13 performs an operation according to the movement of the leader character (an example of the “third object”) associated with the enemy or friend character or the like. Are displayed on the screen by the display control unit 14 by causing the character of the enemy or friend or the like.

  Further, when the distance is less than the threshold, the control unit 13 causes the display control unit 14 to display an action that is independent of the action of the character of the leader by the character or the like of the enemy or the friend.

  Here, the predetermined position (hereinafter, also referred to as “reference position”) is, for example, the position of the player character in the virtual three-dimensional space or the viewpoint of the user in the virtual three-dimensional space (virtual camera, virtual camera Position). The control unit 13 displays a virtual three-dimensional space photographed by a virtual camera on a screen by three-dimensional computer graphics. The position of the virtual camera is, for example, a position on a sphere separated by a predetermined distance in the virtual three-dimensional space from the center position of the player character, and may be moved on the sphere by the user's operation. In addition, the predetermined distance may be changed by the operation of the user.

  The display control unit 14 displays an image in the game on the screen in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 13.

<Processing>
Next, processing of the image processing apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5B. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of the image processing apparatus 10 according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of unit data according to the embodiment. 5A and 5B are diagrams for explaining an example of the display screen.

  In the following, an open world (sandbox, free roaming) game will be described as an example. In the open world game, according to the movement of the player character operated by the user, three-dimensional data of terrain, buildings, plants and the like around the player character are read and displayed. As a result, the user can move the player character around the world in a relatively large virtual three-dimensional space seamlessly without switching maps or the like.

  In step S1, when the game is started by a user operation or the like, the control unit 13 reads game data including three-dimensional data 111, unit data 112, and the like. Each object in the virtual three-dimensional space includes, for example, terrain, buildings, plants, and characters.

  Subsequently, the control unit 13 causes the display control unit 14 to display each object in the virtual three-dimensional space on the screen by using three-dimensional computer graphics and the data stored in the memory device 103 (step S2).

  Subsequently, the receiving unit 12 receives an operation for moving the player character from the user (step S3).

  Subsequently, the control unit 13 moves the player character on the virtual three-dimensional space in response to the user's operation (step S4). Even when the player character does not move in the virtual three-dimensional space, when each object in the virtual three-dimensional space moves, the following processing may be executed. Thus, for example, even when the enemy character approaches the player character, the following processing is performed.

  Subsequently, the control unit 13 selects one of the objects indicating each character other than the player character in the virtual three-dimensional space as an object to be processed (step S5). Hereinafter, any one of the objects is referred to as “object to be processed”. Therefore, the following processing is executed for each object.

  Subsequently, the control unit 13 calculates the distance on the virtual three-dimensional space from the reference position described above to the position of the object to be processed (step S6).

  Subsequently, the control unit 13 determines whether the calculated distance is less than a predetermined threshold (step S7). Here, the predetermined threshold may be a value greater than or equal to the distance that a predetermined object emitted from the player character can reach. As the predetermined object, for example, an arrow which is blown from a bow possessed by the player character, an eyebrow or a stone thrown from the player character, or the like object capable of reaching a relatively long distance (an example of the “fourth object”). May be. Thus, for example, an action influenced by the action of the player character can be made to an object within a predetermined range from the reference position. More specifically, an action or the like that is damaged by an attack of a player character flying object can be made to an enemy character within a range that can be attacked by the flying object or the like.

  If the calculated distance is less than the predetermined threshold (YES in step S7), the control unit 13 processes the object to be processed as an object (unit) independent of the group (step S8), and the process of step S12 described later Go to Here, the control unit 13 causes the display control unit 14 to cause the display control unit 14 to display an operation that is independent of the operation of another character other than the player character. In this case, for example, using AI (Artificial Intelligence) in the game, the control unit 13 causes an enemy soldier which is an object to be processed to attack the player character, or a player character responding to the user's operation. Depending on the action of attacking the enemy soldier, the enemy soldier is made to perform an action such as blowing.

  If the calculated distance is not less than the predetermined threshold (NO in step S7), the control unit 13 refers to the unit data 112 and determines whether the object to be processed is a leader of the group (step S9). In the example of the unit data 112 illustrated in FIG. 4, a team ID, a group ID, an object ID, and a leader attribute are set in association with each other. Group ID is an ID of a group (set) including a plurality of groups. The group is, for example, a corps led by a warlord. A group may be composed of, for example, several thousands to several tens of thousands of objects. The group ID is an ID of each group included in the group. A group is, for example, a unit headed by a leader. A unit may be composed of, for example, about 10 to 30 objects. The object ID is an ID of each object included in the group. The object may be, for example, a character such as an enemy soldier. The leader attribute is information indicating whether the object is a leader of a group. In the example of FIG. 4, in the group with the group ID "2001" and the group ID "1001", the object with the object ID "0001" is set as the leader of the group.

  If the object to be processed is a group leader (YES in step S9), the process proceeds to step S8.

  When the object to be processed is not the leader of the group (NO in step S9), the control unit 13 processes the object to be processed as an object (member of the group) dependent on the group (step S10). Here, the control unit 13 causes the display control unit 14 to cause the display control unit 14 to display an operation according to the operation of the object of the leader of the group to which the object to be processed belongs. In this case, the control unit 13 causes the object to be processed to perform an operation similar to that of the reader, for example, at a position within a predetermined range from the reader operated by the AI. Here, the same operation as the reader may be, for example, the same operation as the reader, an operation obtained by modifying a part of the operation of the reader, or a predetermined operation according to the operation of the reader. In the case where the motion of a part of the motion of the leader is deformed, for example, the control unit 13 slightly changes the inclination of the weapon and body of the leader and the inclination of the weapon and body of the object to be processed. It may be operated differently. When performing a predetermined operation according to the operation of the leader, for example, the control unit 13 may operate the object to be processed so as to chase after the leader momentarily after the leader runs.

  Thus, each group performs walking, attacking, waiting, etc. in accordance with the movement of the leader. In this case, the object to be processed is displayed relatively small because it is located relatively far from the reference position described above. Therefore, it is difficult for the user to recognize even the detailed motion of the object to be processed, and thus, even if the motion similar to the reader is performed, the user does not feel much discomfort. Also, this makes it possible to reduce the processing load on the CPU 104 as compared to the case where all the characters are operated independently by the AI.

  Subsequently, the control unit 13 determines whether or not there is an unprocessed object not selected as an object to be processed among the objects in the virtual three-dimensional space (step S11).

  If there is an unprocessed object (YES in step S11), the unprocessed object is selected as an object to be processed (step S12), and the process proceeds to step S6.

  When there is no unprocessed object (NO in step S11), the control unit 13 determines whether or not the game is ended by the user's operation or the like (step S13). If the game is not ended (NO in step S13), the process proceeds to step S3. When the game is ended (YES in step S13), the process is ended.

  By the processing described above, the display control unit 14 displays an image as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B in the virtual three-dimensional space. In the example of FIG. 5A, a scene in which the player character 501A looks down at the character groups 502A to 505A and the like from a relatively high place is displayed. Here, since the positions of the characters included in the groups 502A to 505A are relatively far from the reference position, the characters are processed as the leader of the group or a member of the group.

  In the example of FIG. 5B, a scene in which the player character 501B is fighting with the enemy character is displayed. Here, since the position of each character included in the group 502A or the like is relatively far from the reference position, each character is processed as a leader of the group or a member of the group. On the other hand, since the characters 503B to 507B are relatively close to the reference position, the respective characters are processed as a unit in step S8 and displayed so as to perform different operations.

<Modification 1>
The control unit 13 may execute the following processing when it is separated from the reference position by a predetermined threshold or more and is not a leader of the group (in the case of NO at step S9).

  When the object to be processed collides with a predetermined object emitted from the player character, the control unit 13 is independent of the operation of the leader of the group during the operation or when the predetermined object collides. Make the specified action an object to be processed.

  FIG. 6 is a view for explaining an example of a display screen obtained by unitizing a character to be attacked. As shown in FIG. 6, for example, the control unit 13 causes the user to use a laser beam, a gun, a large bow, a flying object with a relatively long flight distance, etc. (an example of the “fifth object”). When the character is made to attack, an action to escape or an action to receive damage may be made to the character of the enemy receiving the attack. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the enemy character 604 with the arrow 603 shot by the player character 601 with the large bow 602 is different from the action of the other characters 605 of the group, and performs an action indicating that it has been damaged. There is.

<Modification 2>
The control unit 13 may determine the above-mentioned predetermined threshold based on the number of objects of characters displayed on the screen among the objects in the virtual three-dimensional space. For example, the control unit 13 may set the above-described predetermined threshold to a smaller value as the number of character objects displayed on the screen is larger.

  In this case, when the number of character objects displayed on the screen is a predetermined number (for example, 100) or more, the control unit 13 sets the predetermined threshold to a first value (for example, 100 m in a virtual three-dimensional space). I assume. On the other hand, when the number of character objects displayed on the screen is not a predetermined number or more, the control unit 13 sets the predetermined threshold to a first value (for example, 200 m in the virtual three-dimensional space). Thus, for example, as shown in FIG. 5A and FIG. 6, the processing load on the CPU 104 can be reduced in the case of a scene etc. where a large number of enemy characters are overlooked from a relatively high location.

<Modification 3>
The control unit 13 may also determine the above-described predetermined threshold based on at least one of the usage status of the CPU 104 (an example of “processor”) and the usage status of an example of the memory device 103 (“memory”). Good. For example, the control unit 13 may set the above-described predetermined threshold to a smaller value as the usage rate of the CPU 104 is higher or the free space of the memory device 103 is smaller.

  Thereby, for example, as shown in FIG. 5A and FIG. 6, in the case of a scene etc. where many enemy characters look down from a relatively high place, the usage rate of the CPU 104 is high or the free capacity of the memory device 103 is When the number is small, the processing load of the CPU 104 or the like can be reduced.

<Effect>
In an open world game in which player characters can freely move the world in a vast virtual three-dimensional space, it is possible to express a large-scale image, for example, when looking at a landscape from a high position. In this case, it is preferable from the point of reality to display not only characters in the vicinity but also characters in the distance as far as possible.

  Therefore, in an open world game, the amount of data such as objects to be read in memory, display of objects, etc., as compared to a game that is not an open world, such as switching to another space when reaching an edge of each space Processing load for is heavy.

  On the other hand, due to the performance of the hardware of the game apparatus, there is an upper limit to the memory size and the operation speed of the CPU or the like. Therefore, in the prior art, it is necessary to take measures such as reducing the number of characters to be displayed in three-dimensional computer graphics having a relatively high processing load due to, for example, a large number of characters to be displayed, such as open world games. Become.

  On the other hand, according to the embodiment described above, when the distance between the reference position according to the player character and the position of the other character is equal to or more than the predetermined threshold, the action of the leader character associated with the other character Make the other character act according to Also, if the distance is less than the threshold, the other character is made to move independently of the movement of the character of the leader. Thereby, a plurality of objects can be displayed in a more natural manner.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above in detail, the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments, and various modifications may be made within the scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims.・ Change is possible.

  Each functional unit of the image processing apparatus 10 may be realized by, for example, cloud computing configured by one or more computers. In addition, the image processing apparatus 10 may be a server for an online game that displays a game screen on the terminal of the user.

  In the embodiment described above, an open world game has been described as an example, but the disclosed technology relates to a predetermined object in a virtual three-dimensional space in three-dimensional computer graphics such as games other than open world games and simulations. It is applicable when putting on another object.

  The control unit 13 is an example of the “first control unit” and the “second control unit”.

10 image processing apparatus 11 storage unit 111 three-dimensional data 112 unit data 12 reception unit 13 control unit 14 display control unit 103 memory device 104 CPU

Claims (8)

In the image processing device,
If the distance between the position of the second object and the predetermined position corresponding to the first object moving in the virtual three-dimensional space in response to the user's operation is equal to or larger than the predetermined threshold, the second object A first display step of causing the second object to display an action corresponding to the action of the third object associated with the second object;
A second display step of causing the second object to display an operation independent of the operation of the third object when the distance is less than a threshold;
A program that runs The second display step causes the second object to display an action corresponding to the action of the first object in response to the user's operation on the screen.
The program according to claim 1. The predetermined threshold is a value equal to or greater than the reachable distance of a fourth object emitted from the first object.
The program according to claim 1 or 2. The second display step is a case where the distance is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, and a fifth object emitted from the first object in response to the user's operation is the second object. In the event of a collision, the second object causes an action independent of the action of the third object to be displayed on the screen during the operation or when the fifth object collides.
The program according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The second object includes a plurality of objects,
In the image processing apparatus,
Causing the predetermined threshold to be determined based on the number of objects included in the second object displayed on the screen;
The program according to any one of claims 1 to 4. In the image processing apparatus,
Performing the step of determining the predetermined threshold based on at least one of processor usage and memory usage;
The program according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The image processing device
If the distance between the position of the second object and the predetermined position corresponding to the first object moving in the virtual three-dimensional space in response to the user's operation is equal to or larger than the predetermined threshold, the second object A first display step of causing the second object to display an action corresponding to the action of the third object associated with the second object;
A second display step of causing the second object to display an operation independent of the operation of the third object when the distance is less than a threshold;
Image processing method to perform. If the distance between the position of the second object and the predetermined position corresponding to the first object moving in the virtual three-dimensional space in response to the user's operation is equal to or larger than the predetermined threshold, the second object A first control unit for causing the second object to display an operation corresponding to the operation of the third object associated with the second object;
A second control unit that causes the second object to make an operation independent of the operation of the third object when the distance is less than a threshold;
An image processing apparatus having:

Images