JP2023098604A - Game program, information processing system, information processing device, and game processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

To dynamically change a region with low visibility in a virtual space and a region whose visibility is secured according to an occurrence of an event.SOLUTION: An information processing system sets an object range in a virtual space when a predetermined event occurs on the basis of game processing. In drawing processing for drawing the virtual space, the information processing system draws a portion included in the object range reflecting a light source set in the virtual space, and draws a portion not included in the object range in a predetermined color or at low brightness for at least partial topographic objects in the virtual space.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 17

Description

The present invention relates to a game program, an information processing system, an information processing device, and a game processing method for drawing a virtual space.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a game device that executes a game in which an area with low visibility (for example, an area that is displayed darkly) is searched using an item serving as a light source in a virtual space (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1). In the above game, visibility can be ensured by brightening the surroundings of the player character by holding a light source item such as a torch in a dark area (for example, an area in a cave) in the game field. can.

"The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild: Nintendo Official Guidebook", Shogakukan, May 11, 2017, p211

In the above game, setting a light source only brightens its surroundings, and does not ensure brightness for a desired range in the virtual space.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a game program, an information processing system, and an information processing apparatus capable of dynamically changing a region of low visibility and a region of secured visibility in a virtual space based on game processing. , and to provide a game processing method.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following configurations (1) to (13).

(1)
An example of the present invention is a game program that causes a computer of an information processing device to perform the following processing.
・Processing to set the target range in the virtual space when a predetermined event occurs based on the game processing. A process that draws the part included in the virtual space by reflecting the light source set in the virtual space, and draws the part that is not included in the target range in a predetermined color or with reduced brightness.

According to the configuration of (1) above, an area with low visibility in the virtual space (that is, the area outside the target range) and an area with secured visibility (that is, the area within the target range) are separated based on the game processing. can be changed dynamically.

(2)
In the configuration of (1) above, the computer at least indicates, for each pixel of at least some of the land objects, whether or not the position corresponding to the pixel of the land objects is included in the target range in the rendering process. Mask data may be generated. Further, in the rendering process, the computer may perform rendering in the frame buffer reflecting the light source for pixels for which the mask data indicates that at least a part of the position of the terrain object is included in the target range. In the drawing process, the computer draws pixels for which the mask data indicates that at least part of the position of the terrain object is not included in the target range, with a predetermined color or with reduced brightness, to the frame buffer. may be performed.

According to the configuration (2) above, by using the mask data, it is possible to easily perform the drawing process in which the outside of the target range is rendered invisible or difficult to be visually recognized.

(3)
In the configuration (2) above, the drawing process may be a drawing process based on deferred rendering. The computer may write to the G-buffer and depth buffer for at least a portion of the terrain object in the virtual space in the first stage of the drawing process. In a second stage of the rendering process, the computer may generate mask data for each pixel based on the position corresponding to the pixel, the depth value stored in the depth buffer, and the target range. In the third stage of the drawing process, the computer may draw to the frame buffer based on at least the data stored in the G buffer and the mask data.

With configuration (3) above, the deferred rendering technique can be used to render an object outside the target range in an invisible or difficult-to-visible manner.

(4)
In the above configuration (3), the computer further writes pixel-by-pixel to the G buffer and the depth buffer for a predetermined object in the first stage of the drawing process, and also writes mask data for pixels corresponding to the object. You may generate the exclusion mask data which shows exclusion of application of. In the third stage of the drawing process, the computer uses a method that allows the pixels indicated by the exclusion mask data to be visually distinguished from the predetermined object and the portion that is not included in the target range of at least a part of the terrain object. You can draw.

According to the above configuration (4), it is possible to make the predetermined object visible even if it is out of the target range.

(5)
In any one of the configurations (2) to (4) above, the mask data may be data indicating the degree to which a predetermined color is drawn or the degree to which the brightness is reduced for each pixel. In the rendering process, the computer combines the pixel values calculated by reflecting the light source with a predetermined color according to the degree, or the pixel values with the brightness lowered according to the degree. You may write to the buffer.

According to the above configuration (5), it is possible to generate an image of the virtual space in which the visibility gradually changes according to the position. Therefore, it is possible to generate an image showing the virtual space that looks more natural. can.

(6)
In any one of the configurations (1) to (5) above, at least a light source for which a predetermined brightness is set regardless of the position in the virtual space may be set as the light source in the virtual space.

With configuration (6) above, it is possible to ensure constant brightness for the target range, and to ensure visibility of the target range regardless of the shape of the terrain in the virtual space.

(7)
In any one of the configurations (1) to (6) above, the computer may set a point in the virtual space that serves as a reference for the target range in response to occurrence of a predetermined event. The computer may set the target range based on the distance from the reference point so as to include a range in which the distance is equal to or less than the threshold.

With configuration (7) above, when a predetermined event occurs, a position corresponding to the event and its surroundings can be set as the target range.

(8)
In the above configuration (7), the computer may expand the target range by increasing the threshold over time after the reference point is set in response to the occurrence of the predetermined event. .

With configuration (8) above, it is possible to generate an image such that the region in which visibility is ensured in the virtual space gradually expands according to the occurrence of a predetermined event.

(9)
In configuration (7) or (8) above, the computer may further install a point light source in the virtual space in response to the occurrence of a predetermined event.

With configuration (9) above, it is possible to make it easier for the player to recognize that the predetermined event has occurred and that the virtual space has become brighter due to the occurrence of the predetermined event.

(10)
In any one of configurations (7) to (9) above, the event may be an event in which a predetermined item is arranged in the virtual space. The computer may set the position of the reference point based on the position where the predetermined item is placed.

With configuration (10) above, the player can set the target range at a desired position in the virtual space by arranging the item.

(11)
In any one of configurations (7) to (10) above, the computer may further control the player character in the virtual space based on the operation input. The predetermined event may be an event whose target range is the surroundings of the player character based on the operation input. The computer may further set the position of the player character as the reference point position.

With configuration (11) above, it is possible to continuously ensure the visibility of the surroundings of the player character.

(12)
In any one of the configurations (2) to (6) above, the computer may further control the player character in the virtual space based on the operation input. The event may be an event that occurs when a predetermined operation input is performed when the player character is positioned at an event occurrence position set in the virtual space. The computer may further update the two-dimensional range data that planarly indicates the target range in the virtual space in response to the occurrence of the event so that at least the range corresponding to the event occurrence position in the virtual space becomes the target range. . The computer may generate mask data further based on the two-dimensional range data.

With configuration (12) above, it is possible to provide a game that expands the range in which visibility is ensured in the virtual space by the player character reaching the event occurrence position.

(13)
In the configuration (1) or (2) above, the computer may determine, for each pixel, whether or not at least a part of the terrain object is included in the target range in the drawing process. In the rendering process, the computer may render the pixels included in the target range in the frame buffer by reflecting the light source. In the drawing process, the computer may draw pixels that are not included in the target range in a predetermined color or with reduced brightness to the frame buffer.

With configuration (13) above, forward rendering technology can be used to render an object outside the target range in an invisible or difficult-to-visible manner.

Another example of the present invention may be an information processing apparatus or an information processing system that executes the processes (1) to (13) above. Another example of the present invention may be a game processing method for executing the processes (1) to (13) above.

According to the game program, the information processing system, the information processing device, and the game processing method described above, the low-visibility area and the high-visibility area in the virtual space are dynamically changed according to the occurrence of an event. be able to.

A diagram showing an example of a state in which the left controller and right controller are attached to the main unit. Diagram showing an example of a state in which the left controller and right controller are removed from the main unit. Six views showing an example of the main unit Six views showing an example of the left controller Six views showing an example of the right controller Block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the main unit FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the main unit, left controller, and right controller; A diagram showing an overview of a game example according to the present embodiment. A diagram showing the relationship between the field corresponding plane and the judgment value when one reference point is released. A diagram showing an example of a map image displayed when the circular area shown in FIG. 9 becomes a free area A diagram showing the relationship between the field corresponding plane and the judgment value when the two reference points are released. A diagram showing an example of a map image displayed when the area shown in FIG. 11 becomes a released area A diagram showing an example of a field correspondence plane on which a release area is set when two reference points are released and one reference point is not released. A diagram showing an example of a map image generation method according to the present embodiment. A diagram showing an example of a game image including a field image showing a field containing player characters. A diagram showing an example of a game image when the player character is positioned near the reference point. A diagram showing an example of a game image showing the field after the reference point has been released. Top view of the field when one reference point is released Top view of the field when two reference points are released A diagram showing an example of a game image showing a field in which a light source item is arranged A diagram showing an example of a game image showing a field when a light source item is placed within an irradiation range by a release event. A diagram showing an example of how to generate a field image to be written to the frame buffer FIG. 2 shows an example of a storage area for storing various data used for information processing in the game system 1; Flowchart showing an example of the flow of game processing executed by the game system 1 A sub-flowchart showing an example of a detailed flow of player-related control processing in step S8 shown in FIG. A sub-flowchart showing an example of the detailed flow of the other object control process in step S9 shown in FIG. A sub-flowchart showing an example of a detailed flow of drawing processing in step S10 shown in FIG. Sub-flowchart showing an example of a detailed flow of drawing processing in another embodiment

[1. Game system configuration]
A game system according to an example of the present embodiment will be described below. An example of a game system 1 in this embodiment includes a main body device (information processing device; in this embodiment, functions as a game device main body) 2 , a left controller 3 and a right controller 4 . A left controller 3 and a right controller 4 are detachable from the main unit 2 . In other words, the game system 1 can be used as an integrated device in which the left controller 3 and the right controller 4 are attached to the main unit 2 respectively. The game system 1 can also use the main unit 2 and the left controller 3 and right controller 4 as separate bodies (see FIG. 2). The hardware configuration of the game system 1 of this embodiment will be described below, and then the control of the game system 1 of this embodiment will be described.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a state in which a left controller 3 and a right controller 4 are attached to a main unit 2. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the left controller 3 and the right controller 4 are attached to and integrated with the main unit 2 respectively. The main device 2 is a device that executes various types of processing (for example, game processing) in the game system 1 . The main unit 2 has a display 12 . The left controller 3 and the right controller 4 are devices provided with operation units for user input.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a state in which the left controller 3 and the right controller 4 are removed from the main unit 2. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the left controller 3 and the right controller 4 are detachable from the main unit 2 . Note that, hereinafter, the left controller 3 and the right controller 4 may be collectively referred to as "controllers".

3A and 3B are six views showing an example of the main unit 2. FIG. As shown in FIG. 3 , the main unit 2 includes a substantially plate-shaped housing 11 . In this embodiment, the main surface of the housing 11 (in other words, the surface on the front side, that is, the surface on which the display 12 is provided) is generally rectangular.

The shape and size of the housing 11 are arbitrary. As an example, housing 11 may be sized to be portable. Also, the main unit 2 alone or the integrated device in which the left controller 3 and the right controller 4 are attached to the main unit 2 may be a portable device. Also, the main device 2 or the integrated device may be a hand-held device. Also, the main device 2 or the integrated device may be the portable device.

As shown in FIG. 3 , main unit 2 includes display 12 provided on the main surface of housing 11 . Display 12 displays an image generated by main device 2 . In this embodiment, display 12 is a liquid crystal display (LCD). However, display 12 may be any type of display device.

The main device 2 also includes a touch panel 13 on the screen of the display 12 . In this embodiment, the touch panel 13 is of a type capable of multi-touch input (for example, a capacitive type). However, the touch panel 13 may be of any type, and for example, may be of a type capable of single-touch input (for example, a resistive film type).

The main unit 2 includes a speaker (that is, the speaker 88 shown in FIG. 6) inside the housing 11 . As shown in FIG. 3, speaker holes 11a and 11b are formed in the main surface of the housing 11. As shown in FIG. The sound output from the speaker 88 is output from these speaker holes 11a and 11b, respectively.

The main unit 2 also includes a left terminal 17 that is a terminal for performing wired communication between the main unit 2 and the left controller 3 , and a right terminal 21 for performing wired communication between the main unit 2 and the right controller 4 .

As shown in FIG. 3 , the main unit 2 has slots 23 . A slot 23 is provided in the upper surface of the housing 11 . The slot 23 has a shape in which a predetermined type of storage medium can be loaded. The predetermined type of storage medium is, for example, a storage medium dedicated to the game system 1 and an information processing device of the same type (eg, dedicated memory card). The predetermined type of storage medium stores, for example, data used by the main unit 2 (for example, application save data, etc.) and/or programs executed by the main unit 2 (for example, application programs, etc.). used to The main unit 2 also includes a power button 28 .

The main unit 2 includes lower terminals 27 . The lower terminal 27 is a terminal for the main device 2 to communicate with the cradle. In this embodiment, the lower terminal 27 is a USB connector (more specifically, a female connector). When the integrated device or main device 2 alone is placed on the cradle, the game system 1 can display an image generated and output by the main device 2 on the stationary monitor. Further, in this embodiment, the cradle has a function of charging the mounted integrated device or main device 2 alone. Also, the cradle has the function of a hub device (specifically, a USB hub).

4A and 4B are six views showing an example of the left controller 3. FIG. As shown in FIG. 4 , the left controller 3 has a housing 31 . In this embodiment, the housing 31 has a vertically long shape, that is, a shape elongated in the vertical direction (that is, the y-axis direction shown in FIGS. 1 and 4). When the left controller 3 is removed from the main unit 2, the left controller 3 can be held vertically. The housing 31 has a shape and size that allows it to be held with one hand, particularly the left hand, when held in a vertically long orientation. Also, the left controller 3 can be held in a landscape orientation. When the left controller 3 is held horizontally, it may be held with both hands.

The left controller 3 has an analog stick 32 . As shown in FIG. 4, the analog stick 32 is provided on the main surface of the housing 31. As shown in FIG. The analog stick 32 can be used as a directional input unit capable of inputting directions. By tilting the analog stick 32, the user can input a direction according to the tilting direction (and input a magnitude according to the tilting angle). Note that the left controller 3 may be provided with a cross key or a slide stick capable of slide input as the direction input unit instead of the analog stick. Further, in the present embodiment, input by pressing the analog stick 32 is possible.

The left controller 3 has various operation buttons. The left controller 3 has four operation buttons 33 to 36 (specifically, a right button 33 , a downward button 34 , an upward button 35 and a left button 36 ) on the main surface of the housing 31 . Further, the left controller 3 has a recording button 37 and a - (minus) button 47 . The left controller 3 has a first L button 38 and a ZL button 39 on the upper left side of the housing 31 . The left controller 3 also has a second L button 43 and a second R button 44 on the side surface of the housing 31 that is attached when attached to the main unit 2 . These operation buttons are used to give instructions according to various programs (for example, an OS program and an application program) executed by the main device 2 .

The left controller 3 also includes a terminal 42 for wire communication between the left controller 3 and the main unit 2 .

5A and 5B are six views showing an example of the right controller 4. FIG. As shown in FIG. 5 , the right controller 4 has a housing 51 . In this embodiment, the housing 51 has a vertically long shape, that is, a shape elongated in the vertical direction. When the right controller 4 is removed from the main unit 2, the right controller 4 can be held vertically. The housing 51 is shaped and sized so that it can be held with one hand, particularly with the right hand, when held in an elongated orientation. Also, the right controller 4 can be held in a landscape orientation. When the right controller 4 is held horizontally, it may be held with both hands.

The right controller 4, like the left controller 3, has an analog stick 52 as a direction input unit. In this embodiment, the analog stick 52 has the same configuration as the analog stick 32 of the left controller 3 . Also, the right controller 4 may be provided with a cross key, a slide stick capable of slide input, or the like, instead of the analog stick. The right controller 4 also has four operation buttons 53 to 56 (specifically, an A button 53, a B button 54, an X button 55, and a Y button 56) on the main surface of the housing 51, similarly to the left controller 3. Prepare. Furthermore, the right controller 4 has a + (plus) button 57 and a home button 58 . The right controller 4 also has a first R button 60 and a ZR button 61 on the upper right side of the housing 51 . Also, the right controller 4 has a second L button 65 and a second R button 66, like the left controller 3 does.

The right controller 4 also includes a terminal 64 for wire communication between the right controller 4 and the main unit 2 .

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the main unit 2. As shown in FIG. The main unit 2 includes components 81 to 85, 87, 88, 91, 97, and 98 shown in FIG. 6 in addition to the configuration shown in FIG. Some of these components 81 - 85 , 87 , 88 , 91 , 97 and 98 may be mounted as electronic components on an electronic circuit board and housed within housing 11 .

The main unit 2 includes a processor 81 . The processor 81 is an information processing section that executes various types of information processing executed in the main unit 2, and may be composed of, for example, only a CPU (Central Processing Unit), or may be composed of a CPU function and a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). ) function, it may be configured from a SoC (System-on-a-chip) including multiple functions. The processor 81 executes an information processing program (for example, a game program) stored in a storage unit (specifically, an internal storage medium such as the flash memory 84, or an external storage medium mounted in the slot 23, etc.). By doing so, various information processing is executed.

The main unit 2 includes a flash memory 84 and a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) 85 as examples of internal storage media incorporated therein. Flash memory 84 and DRAM 85 are connected to processor 81 . Flash memory 84 is a memory mainly used for storing various data (which may be programs) to be stored in main unit 2 . The DRAM 85 is a memory used to temporarily store various data used in information processing.

The main unit 2 includes a slot interface (hereinafter abbreviated as “I/F”) 91 . Slot I/F 91 is connected to processor 81 . The slot I/F 91 is connected to the slot 23 and reads and writes data from/to a predetermined type of storage medium (for example, a dedicated memory card) attached to the slot 23 according to instructions from the processor 81 .

The processor 81 appropriately reads and writes data from/to the flash memory 84 and the DRAM 85 as well as to each of the above storage media to execute the above information processing.

The main unit 2 has a network communication unit 82 . A network communication unit 82 is connected to the processor 81 . The network communication unit 82 communicates (specifically, wirelessly) with an external device via a network. In this embodiment, the network communication unit 82 communicates with an external device by connecting to a wireless LAN according to a method conforming to the Wi-Fi standard as the first communication mode. In addition, the network communication unit 82 performs wireless communication with other main device 2 of the same type by a predetermined communication method (for example, communication using a unique protocol or infrared communication) as a second communication mode. Note that the wireless communication according to the second communication mode is capable of wireless communication with another main unit 2 placed in a closed local network area, and direct communication is performed between a plurality of main units 2. It realizes a function that enables so-called "local communication" in which data is transmitted and received by

The main unit 2 includes a controller communication section 83 . Controller communication unit 83 is connected to processor 81 . The controller communication unit 83 wirelessly communicates with the left controller 3 and/or the right controller 4 . The communication method between the main unit 2 and the left controller 3 and the right controller 4 is arbitrary. (registered trademark) standards.

Processor 81 is connected to left terminal 17, right terminal 21, and bottom terminal 27 described above. When performing wired communication with the left controller 3 , the processor 81 transmits data to the left controller 3 via the left terminal 17 and receives operation data from the left controller 3 via the left terminal 17 . When performing wired communication with the right controller 4 , the processor 81 transmits data to the right controller 4 via the right terminal 21 and receives operation data from the right controller 4 via the right terminal 21 . Also, when communicating with the cradle, the processor 81 transmits data to the cradle via the lower terminal 27 . Thus, in this embodiment, the main unit 2 can perform both wired communication and wireless communication with the left controller 3 and the right controller 4, respectively. Further, when the integrated device in which the left controller 3 and the right controller 4 are attached to the main unit 2 or when the main unit 2 alone is attached to the cradle, the main unit 2 transmits data (for example, image data, voice data, etc.) via the cradle. data) can be output to a stationary monitor or the like.

Here, the main unit 2 can communicate with a plurality of left controllers 3 simultaneously (in other words, in parallel). Also, the main unit 2 can communicate with a plurality of right controllers 4 at the same time (in other words, in parallel). Therefore, a plurality of users can make inputs to the main unit 2 at the same time using sets of the left controller 3 and the right controller 4 respectively. As an example, a first user uses a first set of left controller 3 and right controller 4 to make an input to main unit 2, while a second user uses a second set of left controller 3 and right controller 4. It becomes possible to input to the main unit 2 by using the

Display 12 is also connected to processor 81 . The processor 81 displays on the display 12 images generated (for example, by executing the information processing described above) and/or images obtained from the outside.

Main unit 2 includes codec circuit 87 and speakers (more specifically, left speaker and right speaker) 88 . The codec circuit 87 is connected to the speaker 88 and the audio input/output terminal 25 as well as to the processor 81 . The codec circuit 87 is a circuit that controls input/output of audio data to/from the speaker 88 and the audio input/output terminal 25 .

Main unit 2 includes power control unit 97 and battery 98 . Power control 97 is connected to battery 98 and processor 81 . Also, although not shown, the power control unit 97 is connected to each unit of the main unit 2 (specifically, each unit receiving power from the battery 98, the left terminal 17, and the right terminal 21). A power control unit 97 controls the power supply from the battery 98 to each of the above units based on instructions from the processor 81 .

Also, the battery 98 is connected to the lower terminal 27 . When an external charging device (for example, a cradle) is connected to lower terminal 27 and power is supplied to main unit 2 via lower terminal 27 , battery 98 is charged with the supplied power.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of internal configurations of the main unit 2, the left controller 3, and the right controller 4. As shown in FIG. The details of the internal configuration of the main unit 2 are omitted in FIG. 7 since they are shown in FIG.

The left controller 3 includes a communication control section 101 that communicates with the main unit 2 . As shown in FIG. 7, the communication control section 101 is connected to each component including the terminal 42 . In this embodiment, the communication control unit 101 can communicate with the main unit 2 by both wired communication via the terminal 42 and wireless communication not via the terminal 42 . The communication control unit 101 controls the method of communication performed by the left controller 3 with the main unit 2 . That is, when the left controller 3 is attached to the main unit 2 , the communication control section 101 communicates with the main unit 2 via the terminal 42 . Further, when the left controller 3 is detached from the main unit 2, the communication control unit 101 performs wireless communication with the main unit 2 (specifically, the controller communication unit 83). Wireless communication between the controller communication unit 83 and the communication control unit 101 is performed according to the Bluetooth (registered trademark) standard, for example.

The left controller 3 also includes a memory 102 such as a flash memory. The communication control unit 101 is composed of, for example, a microcomputer (also referred to as a microprocessor), and executes various processes by executing firmware stored in the memory 102 .

The left controller 3 includes each button 103 (specifically, buttons 33-39, 43, 44, and 47). The left controller 3 also includes an analog stick (denoted as “stick” in FIG. 7) 32 . Each of the buttons 103 and the analog stick 32 repeatedly outputs information about operations performed on itself to the communication control unit 101 at appropriate timings.

The communication control unit 101 acquires input-related information (specifically, operation-related information or sensor detection results) from each input unit (specifically, each button 103 and analog stick 32). The communication control unit 101 transmits operation data including the acquired information (or information obtained by performing predetermined processing on the acquired information) to the main unit 2 . Note that the operation data is repeatedly transmitted at a rate of once per predetermined time. It should be noted that the interval at which the information about the input is transmitted to the main unit 2 may or may not be the same for each input section.

By transmitting the operation data to the main unit 2 , the main unit 2 can obtain the input made to the left controller 3 . That is, the main unit 2 can determine the operation of each button 103 and the analog stick 32 based on the operation data.

The left controller 3 has a power supply section 108 . In this embodiment, power supply 108 includes a battery and power control circuitry. Although not shown, the power control circuit is connected to the battery and to each section of the left controller 3 (specifically, each section that receives power from the battery).

As shown in FIG. 7 , the right controller 4 includes a communication control section 111 that communicates with the main unit 2 . The right controller 4 also includes a memory 112 connected to the communication control section 111 . Communication control unit 111 is connected to each component including terminal 64 . The communication control section 111 and the memory 112 have functions similar to those of the communication control section 101 and the memory 102 of the left controller 3 . Therefore, the communication control unit 111 can communicate with the main unit 2 in both wired communication via the terminal 64 and wireless communication not via the terminal 64 (specifically, communication according to the Bluetooth (registered trademark) standard). Communication is possible, and the right controller 4 controls the method of communication with the main unit 2 .

The right controller 4 has inputs similar to those of the left controller 3 . Specifically, each button 113 and analog stick 52 are provided. Each of these input sections has the same function as each input section of the left controller 3 and operates in the same manner.

The right controller 4 has a power supply 118 . The power supply unit 118 has the same function as the power supply unit 108 of the left controller 3 and operates similarly.

[2. Overview of Processing in Game System]
An outline of the processing executed in the game system 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 22. FIG. In this embodiment, in the game system 1, a player character operable by a player (that is, a user of the game system 1) moves in a game field (hereinafter simply referred to as "field") which is a three-dimensional virtual space. Run the game you want. The game system 1 can display a map image showing a map of the field in addition to displaying a field image showing the field in which the player character is placed. In this embodiment, the map image is displayed by switching from the field image according to the player's instruction, and in some cases, at least a part of the map image is always displayed together with the field image.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an overview of a game example in this embodiment. The left column shown in FIG. 8 shows the status of the field, and the right column shows an example of the displayed map image. Here, in this embodiment, a plurality of reference points (for example, the reference points 202 shown in FIG. 8) are set in the field. The reference point is determined when the player performs a predetermined operation input (for example, an operation input for causing the player character to perform an action to check the reference point) while the player character 201 is positioned at or near the reference point. released accordingly. That is, the player character 201 can release the reference point by reaching the reference point and performing a predetermined action (for example, an action of checking the reference point). A game event in which a reference point is released is hereinafter referred to as a "release event". Note that the reference point can be used, for example, to warp the player character 201 to another reference point that has been released (so-called fast travel), to recover the player character 201, or to restore the player character 201's equipment. It may also be a place where you can change your skills or possessed items.

In this embodiment, the field is in a dark state before the reference point is released, except for some exceptions (eg, the player character 201 or its surroundings, and a landmark object 203, which will be described later). (State a shown in FIG. 8). In FIG. 8, for the purpose of making the drawing easier to understand, the range of darkness is indicated by diagonal lines. display (see FIG. 15 and the like, which will be described later). In state a shown in FIG. 8, the field is dark except for the surroundings of the player character 201 and the mark object 203 indicating the reference point 202, so it can be said that it is difficult to search the field.

Also, before the reference point is released, the map image is displayed in a manner in which field information is not displayed (state a shown in FIG. 8). Field information is information about a field. For example, information about the terrain that forms the field (specifically, the shape of the terrain, etc.), information about objects placed in the field, and information about items placed in the field. It is information or information of characters existing on the field. In the state a shown in FIG. 8, the map image is displayed in such a manner that only the mark 204 indicating the position and orientation of the player character 201 is shown, and the field information other than the mark 204 is not shown. In this way, the map image before the reference point is released may be displayed in such a manner that at least part of the field information is not shown, and other part of the field information (for example, the mark 204 shown in FIG. 8) is displayed. may be indicated prior to release.

On the other hand, when the reference point (the reference point 202 in the example shown in FIG. 8) is released by the player character 201, the area around the reference point in the field becomes a range where light hits instead of darkness (see FIG. 8). state b) shown in FIG. In the following, the range of the field on which the light hits is referred to as the "illumination range". Although the details will be described later, the game system 1 displays the irradiation range in a manner that can be visually recognized by the player (see FIG. 17 and the like, which will be described later).

Further, when the reference point is released, the area around the reference point in the map image is displayed in a manner in which field information is shown (state b shown in FIG. 8). In the example shown in FIG. 8, in addition to a mark 204 related to the player character 201, a line indicating the shape of the terrain and a mark 205 indicating the reference point are shown around the released reference point.

As described above, when a release event occurs, the area around the released reference point in the field will be visible, and the map image will contain field information about the area around the reference point. will be displayed. These make it easier for the player to have the player character 201 search around the released reference point. In this embodiment, one of the purposes of the player is to release reference points on the field, and the player advances the game while increasing areas that are easy to search by releasing the reference points.

[2-1. Map open area setting]
9 to 14, an example of a method of setting an area (referred to as a "released area") where field information is displayed on the map image when the reference point is released will be described. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the relationship between the field corresponding plane and the judgment value when one reference point is released. Here, the field-corresponding plane is a two-dimensional plane corresponding to a three-dimensional field. The field-corresponding plane can be said to be a plane obtained by projecting a three-dimensional field in the vertical direction, and the two-dimensional position of the field-corresponding plane is the horizontal two-dimensional coordinate in the field (that is, the three-dimensional coordinate indicating the position of the field). is the position indicated by the two-dimensional coordinates obtained by deleting the coordinates in the height direction from . In FIG. 9, the upper side shows the field correspondence plane, and the lower side shows a graph showing the change in the determination value on the field correspondence plane. Specifically, the above graph shows changes in the determination value on a straight line AB (a straight line indicated by a dashed dotted line in FIG. 9) passing through the released reference point 211 .

A determination value is a value used to determine the release area in the field correspondence plane. In this embodiment, the game system 1 calculates a determination value for each position on the field-corresponding plane in order to determine the release area on the field-corresponding plane. Note that the determination value is calculated for each position (referred to as “calculation target position”) for each predetermined unit section on the field corresponding plane. Specifically, determination using a determination value is performed for each position corresponding to each pixel in the map image.

In this embodiment, the determination value at each calculation target position is calculated based on the reference value set at the reference point. That is, the game system 1 sets a reference value for the reference point, and calculates the determination value at each calculation target position based on the reference value. Note that in the present embodiment, the magnitude of the reference value at the reference point is set for each reference point, and the magnitude of the reference value may be different for each reference point. For example, the reference value at each reference point may be set such that the entire field becomes an open area when all reference points are released.

In the present embodiment, the determination value of a certain position calculated based on one reference point (that is, the determination value calculated based on the reference value set at one reference point) is calculated from the reference point More specifically, it is calculated so as to decrease as the distance from the reference point increases (see FIG. 9). For example, in the example shown in FIG. 9, a reference value A1 is set at the released reference point 211, and the determination value at each calculation target position on the straight line AB becomes the reference value A1 at the reference point 211. It changes so as to attenuate according to the distance from the point 211 to the position. The judgment value becomes 0 at a position where the above distance is greater than or equal to a certain length. A specific calculation method for determining the determination value at each calculation target position based on the reference value is arbitrary.

In this embodiment, when only the reference point 211 is released as shown in FIG. 9, the game system 1 sets the release area by considering only the determination value based on the reference point 211. FIG. Specifically, the game system 1 designates an area of the field-corresponding plane at which the determination value based on the reference point 211 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value (threshold value th in FIG. 9) as the release area. set. As described above, the determination value attenuates according to the distance from the reference point 211 to the position, so in the example shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a map image displayed when the circular area 212 shown in FIG. 9 is the released area. In the above case, as shown in FIG. 10, a map image is displayed in which field information is drawn for pixels corresponding to positions where the determination value is equal to or greater than the threshold value on the field corresponding plane among the pixels of the map image. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the range in which the field information is drawn in the map image corresponds to the circular area 212. FIG. In FIG. 10, a line indicating the shape of the topography is displayed as field information for the range corresponding to the area 212 . In this embodiment, the mark 205 indicating the reference point is displayed when the player character 201 reaches the reference point regardless of whether or not the position of the reference point is within the release area. shall be In this embodiment, the map image is displayed on the entire screen of the display 12 as shown in FIG. 10, or is superimposed on the field image representing the field as shown in FIG. 15 described later. , may be displayed on a part of the screen of the display 12 .

As described above, in this embodiment, the map image is an image that two-dimensionally shows field information. Also, the determination value is a value that attenuates according to the two-dimensional distance from the two-dimensional position corresponding to the reference point (that is, the distance on the field corresponding plane). According to the above, since the release area can be set on the two-dimensional plane, it is possible to set an area that has a high affinity with the two-dimensional map with a small processing load. Further, according to the above, it is possible to set the release area according to the distance from the reference point (for example, so that the range within a certain distance from the reference point becomes the release area). Note that in another embodiment, the game system 1 may calculate a determination value for each position in the three-dimensional field and set a release area on the three-dimensional field. At this time, the game system 1 determines a range corresponding to the released area in the two-dimensional map image based on the released area on the three-dimensional field, and generates a map image showing field information within that range. . In another embodiment, the map may be three-dimensional, and a release area may be set in the three-dimensional map, and a map image showing the three-dimensional map may be generated and displayed.

Further, when a plurality of reference points are released, the game system 1 calculates a determination value based on each reference point that has been released, and sums the determination values (referred to as "total determination value"). is calculated for each calculation target position. The release area is set based on the total judgment value. In addition, when only one reference point is released (see FIG. 9), it can be said that the judgment value based on the reference value set at the reference point becomes the total judgment value.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the relationship between the field corresponding plane and the judgment value when two reference points are released. In FIG. 11, as in FIG. 9, the upper side shows the field correspondence plane, and the lower side shows the change in the judgment value and the total judgment value on the straight line (the straight line CD in FIG. 11) passing through the released reference point. showing a graph. Note that the straight line CD shown in FIG. 11 passes through the two released reference points 211 and 213 .

In the case shown in FIG. 11, the game system 1 calculates the total determination value for each of the calculation target positions described above. The total decision value is the sum of each decision value based on each released reference point 211 and 213 . That is, the game system 1 calculates a determination value based on the reference point 211 and a determination value based on the reference point 213 for each calculation target position. The determination value based on the reference point 211 is calculated as a value attenuating the reference value A1 set for the reference point 211 according to the distance from the reference point 211 to the position. The determination value based on the reference point 213 is calculated as a value attenuating the reference value A2 set for the reference point 213 according to the distance from the reference point 213 to the position. The game system 1 adds the determination value based on the reference point 211 and the determination value based on the reference point 213 for each calculation target position, thereby calculating the total determination value for each calculation target position. In the graph on the lower side of FIG. 11 , the right-hand peak indicated by a solid line indicates the change in the determination value based on the reference point 211, and the left-hand peak indicated by the solid line indicates the change in the determination value based on the reference point 213. , and the curve indicated by the thick dotted line indicates the change in the total judgment value.

The game system 1 sets, as the release area, an area of the field-corresponding plane, which consists of positions where the total determination value is equal to or greater than the threshold value th. In the example shown in FIG. 11, an area 216 is obtained by adding an area 215 connecting these two circular areas to a circular area 212 centered on a reference point 211 and a circular area 214 centered on a reference point 213. (the shaded area in FIG. 11) is the release area. In other words, it can be said that the release area in the case where a plurality of reference points are released is generated by the two-dimensional metaball method.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a map image displayed when the area 216 shown in FIG. 11 becomes the released area. As shown in FIG. 12, a map image is displayed in which field information is drawn for pixels, among the pixels of the map image, for which the total determination value is equal to or greater than the threshold value on the field corresponding plane. The range in which field information is drawn corresponds to circular area 216 . In FIG. 12, a line indicating the shape of the landform is displayed as the field information. In the example shown in FIG. 12, in addition to the mark 204 indicating the position and orientation of the player character 201, marks 205 and 221 indicating two reference points reached by the player character 201 are displayed. Thus, in this embodiment, since the release area is set using the above total judgment value, only the reference point 211 is released when both the reference point 211 and the reference point 213 are released. In some cases, an area (that is, area 215 shown in FIG. 11) that does not become a released area in either case, or when only the reference point 213 is released may be set as a released area.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the reference value (that is, the maximum determination value) set for each of a plurality of reference points is set for each reference point. According to this, when the reference point is released, it is possible to set for each reference point how large the area to be the open area is based on the reference point. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 11, the reference points 211 and 213 are released by changing the magnitude of the reference value A1 set at the reference point 211 or the reference value A2 set at the reference point 213. The size and shape of the release area in can vary. For example, by changing the reference value A1 and/or the reference value A2 to a smaller value, it is also possible to make the release area when the reference points 211 and 213 are released two circular areas that are not connected to each other. . Note that in other embodiments, the same reference value may be set for each of a plurality of reference points. Furthermore, even if the reference values of multiple reference points are the same, by setting the calculation method of the judgment value so that the degree of attenuation according to the distance differs for each reference point, the range of the release area can be It may be different for each.

Further, as described above, in the present embodiment, the game system 1 uses, as the release area, one or more determination values based on one or more reference points that are in a released state among the plurality of reference points. is specified as a region including positions where a total judgment value obtained by summing at least the above is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (that is, the threshold value th). According to the above, the shape and size of the release area can be varied according to each release state of the plurality of reference points.

In the above embodiment, the game system 1 calculates the total judgment value based on the reference values set for the released reference points. The total judgment value may be calculated also based on the reference value set at the reference point. Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 13, an example of calculating the total determination value based on the reference values set at the unreleased reference points will be described.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a field corresponding plane on which a release area is set when two reference points are released and one reference point is not released. In FIG. 13, it is assumed that three reference points 231 to 233 are arranged in the field. Also, in FIG. 13, it is assumed that the reference points 231 and 232 have been released, and the reference point 233 between the reference points 231 and 232 has not been released.

In the example shown in FIG. 13, reference values are set for the released reference points 231 and 232 in the same manner as in the above embodiment. Here, in this modified example, a different reference value is set for the unreleased reference point 233 than when it is released. Hereinafter, the reference value set for the released reference point is called "first reference value", and the reference value set for the unreleased reference point is called "second reference value". That is, when the reference point 233 is released in FIG. 13, the first reference value is set similarly to the reference points 231 and 233 .

In the example shown in FIG. 13, similarly to the examples shown in FIGS. 9 and 11, the game system 1 sets the determination value based on the first reference value (referred to as "first determination value") to each calculation target position. Calculate about In the example shown in FIG. 13, the first determination value based on the first reference value set at the reference point 231 and the first determination value based on the first reference value set at the reference point 232 are calculated respectively. Calculated for the target location. Furthermore, in the example shown in FIG. 13, a determination value (referred to as a "second determination value") based on the second reference value is calculated for each calculation target position. In the example shown in FIG. 13, the second determination value based on the second reference value set at the reference point 233 is calculated for each calculation target position. The second determination value is a second reference value at a reference point, decreases as the distance from the reference point increases, and becomes 0 at a position where the distance is greater than or equal to a certain length.

In FIG. 13, circular dotted lines centered on reference points 231 and 232 are lines connecting positions where the first determination value based on the first reference value is a predetermined value. Of the above dotted lines, dotted lines 234 and 235 are lines connecting positions where the first determination value is the above threshold value. In FIG. 13, a circular dashed line centered on the reference point 233 is a line connecting positions at which the second determination value based on the second reference value is a predetermined value.

In the example shown in FIG. 13, the game system 1 calculates the total judgment value further based on the second judgment value in addition to the first judgment value. Specifically, the total judgment value at the calculation target position is obtained by subtracting the sum of the second judgment values at the calculation target position from the total of the first judgment values at the calculation target position. In the example shown in FIG. 13, the game system 1 calculates the reference A total judgment value is calculated by subtracting the second judgment value based on the second reference value of the point 233 . The above calculation method for the total judgment value is to calculate the sum of the first and second judgment values by setting the second reference value to a negative value (as a result, the second judgment value becomes a negative value). is synonymous with The absolute values of the first reference value and the second reference value may be the same or different. Moreover, the calculation method of the first determination value based on the first reference value and the calculation method of the second determination value based on the second reference value may be the same or different.

In the example shown in FIG. 13, since the second determination value is subtracted from the sum of the first determination value and the position affected by the second determination value (that is, the position where the second determination value is a positive value) , the total judgment value is smaller than when the second judgment value is not considered (for example, in the above embodiment). Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 13, a part of the area that would be the released area would not be set as the released area if the second determination value were not considered. In the example shown in FIG. 13, a hatched area 236 is a released area, and an area (solid line area) 237 that would be a released area when the second determination value is not considered is not a released area. As described above, in the example shown in FIG. 13, the absolute value of the second determination value is large for positions near the unreleased reference point, so that it is difficult to become a release area.

In the example shown in FIG. 13, the total determination value is obtained from the total of one or more first determination values for one or more reference points in the released state among the plurality of reference points. It is a value obtained by subtracting the total of one or more second determination values for one or more reference points that are in an unreleased state among the reference points. According to this, it is possible to make it difficult for an unreleased reference point and its vicinity to become a release area.

Here, if the total judgment value is calculated without reflecting the second judgment value based on the unreleased reference point, for example, in the case shown in FIG. becomes. As a result, the map may be released up to a position near the unreleased reference point 233 (that is, the field information is displayed in the map image), resulting in the irradiation range described above. At this time, the player's motivation to release the unreleased reference point 233 is weakened, and there is a possibility that the game feature of expanding the search range by releasing the reference point may be lost. On the other hand, according to the modified example, since the unreleased reference point or the position in the vicinity thereof is less likely to become the release area, it is possible to reduce the possibility of weakening the motivation to release the unreleased reference point. You can improve the gameplay.

In this embodiment, the game system 1 generates a map mask as data indicating the release area. In other words, the map mask is two-dimensional data indicating the areas of the field that are free areas. Then, the game system 1 generates a map image showing field information for the released area using the map mask.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a method for generating a map image according to this embodiment. In this embodiment, the game system 1 generates a map image to be displayed based on the original map image and the map mask. The original map image is an image from which the map image to be displayed is generated, and indicates a map image containing field information. It can be said that the original map image is a map image in the case where the entire field becomes a free area.

In this embodiment, the map mask data is data indicating a map mask value for each two-dimensional position. The map mask value indicates the degree to which the original map image is reflected for generating the map image. For example, the map mask value has a maximum value of 1 and a minimum value of 0. At this time, the map image is generated such that the original map image is directly reflected in the map image for the pixels with the map mask value of 1, and the original map image is not reflected for the pixels with the map mask value of 0. In this embodiment, the map mask value is a multi-valued value ranging from 0 to 1. Although the details will be described later, by setting the map mask value to a multivalued value, the map image can be displayed in a blurred manner near the boundary of the released area. Note that the map mask value may be a binary value of 0 or 1 in other embodiments.

The map mask value is set for each calculation target position based on the total determination value. Specifically, if the total judgment value for a position is greater than a first value, the map mask value for that position is set to 1, and if the total judgment value for a position is less than a second value, The map mask value is set to zero. The second value is smaller than the first value and larger than the threshold value th. Also, if the total judgment value for a certain position is equal to or greater than the second value and equal to or less than the first value, the map mask value for that position is greater than 0 and smaller than 1, and has a magnitude corresponding to the magnitude of the total judgment value. is set to the value of According to the above, the map mask value is set to 1 for positions within a predetermined distance from the reference point, and is set to a value that decreases according to the distance from the reference point for positions outside the range. is set, and 0 is set for positions where the total judgment value is smaller than the threshold value th (that is, positions outside the release area). In the map mask shown in FIG. 14, positions with a map mask value of 1 are shown in white, positions with a map mask value of 0 are shown in black, and the map mask value is an intermediate value (that is, 1 greater than 0). The positions where the values are less than ) are shown in gray so that the larger the value, the closer to white.

上式において、Ｋ、ｔｈｒｅｓｈ、および、Ｏｖｅｒは定数であり、ｔｈｒｅｓｈは上述のしきい値ｔｈである。Ｏｉは、ｉ番目の基準地点（ｉは１からｎまでの自然数。ｎは基準地点の数を示す。）が解放済みであれば１、未解放であれば０となる変数である。Ｃｉは、ｉ番目の基準地点が解放済みであれば０、未解放であれば１となる変数である。定数ａｉは、ｉ番目の基準地点において第１基準値となる第１判定値が、距離に応じて減衰する度合いを示す定数である。上式の例では第１基準値は１となる。定数ｂｉは、ｉ番目の基準地点において第２基準値となる第２判定値が、距離に応じて減衰する度合いを示す定数である。上式の例では第２基準値は１となる。変数ｌ（ｉ，ｐ）は、ｉ番目の基準地点から位置ｐ（具体的には、上述の算出対象位置）までの長さ（具体的には、上記フィールド対応平面上での長さ）である。上記の式においては、第１判定値の合計が大き過ぎて未開放の基準地点にどれだけ近くても第２判定値の合計を減算する効果が無いという結果を避けるため、第１判定値の合計が定数Ｏｖｅｒより大きい場合は当該合計を定数Ｏｖｅｒに置き換える計算を行っている。一方、第２判定値の合計の影響が大きくなり過ぎないよう、第２判定値の合計を２乗した値を減算する計算を行っている。また、減算の結果が負になる場合は値を０とする計算を行っている。 As an example of a calculation method based on the total judgment value, the map mask value Mp may be calculated by the following equation.

where K, thresh, and Over are constants, and thresh is the threshold th above. Oi is a variable that is 1 if the i-th reference point (i is a natural number from 1 to n; n indicates the number of reference points) has been released, and 0 if it has not been released. Ci is a variable that is 0 if the i-th reference point has been released and 1 if it has not been released. A constant ai is a constant indicating the degree to which the first determination value, which is the first reference value at the i-th reference point, is attenuated according to the distance. In the example of the above expression, the first reference value is 1. The constant bi is a constant indicating the degree to which the second determination value, which is the second reference value at the i-th reference point, is attenuated according to the distance. In the example of the above formula, the second reference value is 1. The variable l(i, p) is the length (specifically, the length on the field-corresponding plane) from the i-th reference point to the position p (specifically, the calculation target position described above). be. In the above formula, in order to avoid the result that the total of the first judgment value is too large and there is no effect of subtracting the total of the second judgment value no matter how close the unopened reference point is, the first judgment value If the total is greater than the constant Over, calculation is performed to replace the total with the constant Over. On the other hand, in order to prevent the influence of the sum of the second determination values from becoming too large, calculation is performed to subtract the value obtained by squaring the sum of the second determination values. Also, if the result of subtraction is negative, the value is set to 0.

In the above formula, each reference value is 1, but as described above, the first reference value and the second reference value may be set to individual values for each reference point. For example, by using a formula in which "Oi" in the above formula is replaced with "Oi * Ai" and the constant ai is deleted, "Ci" is replaced with "Ci * Bi" and the constant bi is deleted, It is possible to calculate the map mask value Mp when the first reference value and the second reference value are set to . The variable Ai is the first reference value at the i-th reference point, and the variable Bi is the second reference value at the i-th reference point. In another embodiment, a formula is used in which constants ai and bi are retained in the above formula, and "Oi" is replaced with "Oi*Ai" and "Ci" is replaced with "Ci*Bi". may be Further, when either the first reference value or the second reference value is set to a fixed value (=1), only either "Oi" or "Ci" in the above formula is replaced as described above. The map mask value Mp can be calculated by using the formula. Note that the calculation formula for calculating the map mask value is not limited to the above formula. In another embodiment, for example, a decision value at a certain position is attenuated according to the distance from the reference position to the given position (for example, the decision value is inversely proportional to the square of the distance). may be used.

The game system 1 generates a map image by referring to the map mask and synthesizing the original map image and the image representing the unreleased state at a ratio corresponding to the map mask value for each pixel. Specifically, in the game system 1, pixels with a map mask value of 1 reflect the original map image as they are, pixels with a map mask value of 0 do not reflect the original map image, and the map mask value is A map image is generated so that the pixels with intermediate values reflect the original map image at a ratio corresponding to the map mask value. The image indicating the unreleased state may be in a single color, or may be drawn with a predetermined pattern or the like. A grid or the like may be combined with the combined map image to make the coordinates easier to understand. As a result, the map image is displayed lightly near the boundary (specifically, the position where the map mask value is an intermediate value) within the released area (see FIG. 14). In addition, in FIG. 14, a portion of the map image that is displayed lightly is indicated by a dotted line.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when a release event occurs, the game system 1 generates two-dimensional mask data (that is, map mask) indicating the range of the release area in the field. Also, the game system 1 applies mask data to the original map image including the field information to generate a map image showing the field information of the portion corresponding to the released area. According to this, it is possible to easily generate a map image showing the portion of the released area. Note that, in other embodiments, a specific map image generation method is arbitrary, and is not limited to a method using mask data.

In the present embodiment, the mask data is data indicating, for each position in the field, a multivalued value corresponding to the magnitude of the total judgment value at the position within the field. In addition, the game system 1 generates a map image by synthesizing the original map image and the image indicating the unreleased state for each pixel at a ratio corresponding to the multi-valued values indicated by the mask data. According to this, it is possible to generate a map image in which the vicinity of the boundary of the released area is blurred. Therefore, the released map can be made to look natural.

[2-2. Irradiation range setting]
An example of a method for setting the irradiation range on the field will be described with reference to FIGS. 15 to 21. FIG. In the present embodiment, when a predetermined irradiation event occurs during the game, the range corresponding to the irradiation event in the field becomes the irradiation range. The release event mentioned above is one of the illumination events. In this embodiment, in addition to the release event described above, a character light emission event and an item placement event can occur as illumination events. In addition to the irradiation range set according to the occurrence of the irradiation event, there may be an irradiation range or the like set in advance on the field.

A character light emission event is an event in which the area around the player character is illuminated. In this embodiment, the character light-emitting event is an event in which the player character equips light-emitting clothes. The character light-emitting event may be, for example, an event in which the player character holds a light-emitting item or rides a light-emitting vehicle.

An item placement event is an event in which an item for which a light source is set (referred to as a "light source item") is placed on a terrain object such as the ground in a field, and the area around the light source item becomes an irradiation range.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a game image including a field image showing a field containing player characters. In FIG. 15, a character light emission event has occurred and no other illumination event has occurred. In the present embodiment, the game system 1 generates a character light-emitting event in response to an instruction from the player (for example, in response to an operation input for equipping a player character with light-emitting clothes). As shown in FIG. 15, when a character light emission event occurs, the range around the player character 201 (referred to as "character influence range") is set as the irradiation range. The character influence range is, for example, a range within a predetermined distance from the position of the player character 201 . In the situation shown in FIG. 15, the range outside the character influence range is not set as the irradiation range, so it is displayed as dark (that is, in a form that is invisible or difficult to see) except for the mark object 203. be. Objects (non-target objects to be described later) such as the player character 201 itself and the mark object 203 that are visible even outside the irradiation range will be described later.

In this embodiment, the game system 1 sets the ambient light in the field, and draws the illumination range of the character influence range by reflecting the ambient light, thereby visually displaying the illumination range. Ambient light is a light source for which a predetermined brightness is set regardless of the position within the field. Although the details will be described later, in the present embodiment, the game system 1 renders the range outside the irradiation range by rendering without reflecting the light source (for example, environmental light or point light source), making it invisible or invisible. The range is displayed in a form that is difficult to see.

In this embodiment, the game system 1 displays the map image 241 in a partial area of the screen of the display 12 (here, the lower right area of the screen) along with the field image representing the field. In the situation shown in FIG. 15, since no release event has occurred, the map image 241 is displayed without field information other than marks indicating the position and orientation of the player character 201 . Note that in other embodiments, the map image may not be displayed when the field image is displayed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, an example of a lighting event is an event (that is, a character lighting event) in which the surroundings of the player character become the lighting range based on the operation input by the player. At this time, the game system 1 sets the position of the player character as the position of the point serving as a reference, and based on the distance from the point serving as the reference, a range in which the distance is equal to or less than a threshold is included. Set the irradiation range. According to this, since the surroundings of the player character can be continuously displayed in a visible manner, it is possible to reduce the possibility of a situation in which it is difficult to search the field because the surroundings of the player character cannot be seen at all. be able to. In another embodiment, the game system 1 may always set the illumination range around the player character regardless of whether or not the character light emission event occurs. Also, in other embodiments, the game system 1 does not have to generate a character light emission event as an illumination event.

In the above description, the character light emission event is an event related to the player character. character or an enemy character) may be executed, and the irradiation range may be set for the other character as well. For example, the irradiation range may be set based on the position of the other character in response to a character light emission event in which the other character changes to self-luminous mode.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a game image when the player character is positioned near the reference point. The situation shown in FIG. 16 is a situation in which the player character 201 has moved from the situation shown in FIG. 15 to the vicinity of the unreleased reference point 211 . In the present embodiment, since the landmark object 203 is displayed so as to be visible even outside the irradiation range, the player aims at the landmark object 203 and directs the player character 201 toward the reference point 211 outside the irradiation range. can be moved.

As shown in FIG. 16, when the player character 201 is positioned in the vicinity of the reference point 211 (specifically, within a predetermined distance from the reference point 211), the player character 201 makes an action to release the reference point 211. It can be carried out. That is, in the above case, the game system 1 accepts an operation input for releasing the reference point 211, and releases the reference point 211 in response to the operation input by the player. In the present embodiment, the operation input is an input for executing a command to "investigate" (that is, a command for causing the player character 201 to perform an action to investigate the vicinity). This is an input for pressing the A button 53 . In the above case, the game system 1 displays a command image 242 indicating that the command can be executed in order to notify the player that the operation input can be performed (see FIG. 16). In order to facilitate the above operation after reaching the reference point 211, a limited range such as directly below the mark object 203 is set in advance (that is, set regardless of whether an irradiation event occurs). ) may be the irradiation range.

When an operation input for releasing the reference point 211 is performed, the game system 1 sets the range around the reference point 211 as the irradiation range. At this time, in the present embodiment, the game system 1 displays an event scene animation indicating the release event. For example, as the event scene, an animation is displayed showing how the surroundings of the reference point 211 gradually become brighter.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a game image showing the field after the reference points have been released. As shown in FIG. 17, when a release event in which the reference point 211 is released occurs, the range around the reference point 211 is set as the irradiation range, and the range is displayed so as to be visible. In FIG. 17, the portion of the field that is a hill around the reference point 211 is included in the irradiation range and displayed visibly, and the portion beyond the hill is outside the irradiation range and is invisible. It remains displayed in a possible manner. In addition, in the situation shown in FIG. 17, since the reference point 211 is released, the map around the reference point 211 is released (that is, a release area including the reference point 211 is set), so the map image 241 is , contains field information about the released area.

Note that the mark object 203 that was visible even outside the irradiation range is displayed so as to be visible even within the irradiation range. Here, in this embodiment, the game system 1 further sets a point light source at a predetermined position in the field, for example, the position of the mark object 203, in response to the occurrence of the release event. Although the details will be described later, in the rendering process, the game system 1 renders the portion of the terrain object included in the irradiation range by further reflecting the point light source. Therefore, since the surroundings of the mark object 203 are drawn by reflecting the ambient light and the point light source, they are displayed brighter than the part of the irradiation range that is drawn by reflecting only the ambient light. That is, it is possible to express brightness based on a point light source while ensuring visibility in a predetermined range. In FIG. 17, a white area indicates a bright portion in which the light from the point light source set at the position of the mark object 203 is particularly reflected within the irradiation range. is indicated by the shaded area. The above point light source can make it easier for the player to recognize that the release event has occurred.

The irradiation range set in response to the occurrence of the release event as the irradiation event is set based on the reference point corresponding to the release event. A method of setting the irradiation range in response to the occurrence of a release event will be described with reference to FIGS. 18 and 19. FIG.

FIG. 18 is a top view of the field when one reference point is released. The situation shown in FIG. 18 is a situation in which the reference point 211 shown in FIG. 9 is released. In this embodiment, the game system 1 includes a release area (area 212 in FIG. 18) based on the released reference point, and a point influence range (point influence range 251 in FIG. 18) corresponding to the reference point. The irradiation range is set based on It should be noted that the "point influence range corresponding to the reference point" is a predetermined range for each reference point. In this embodiment, a range within a predetermined distance from the reference point is set as the point influence range. This predetermined distance is set for each reference point, and may be a different value for each reference point, or may be the same value for each reference point. For example, the point influence range at each reference point may be set so that even if all reference points are released, part of the field is outside the point influence range, or in such a case, the entire field may be set so as to be within the point influence range. In the former case, even if all the reference points are released, the field will have a portion outside the irradiation range.

In the present embodiment, the game system 1 sets a range of the field within the point influence range and within the release area as the irradiation range. In the example shown in FIG. 18, since the release area 212 is inside the point influence range 251, the same range as the release area 212 becomes the irradiation range. In addition, in FIG. 18, the outside of the irradiation range is indicated by the shaded area. In this embodiment, the point influence range is set for each reference point as described above, and is set independently of the release area corresponding to the point influence range. Therefore, the point influence range may be set larger than the release area corresponding to the point influence range (that is, so that the release area is included in the point influence range), or smaller than the release area (that is, , the point influence range may be set to be included in the release area), or may be set to be the same as the release area. It should be noted that the “release area corresponding to the reference point” is the release area set when only the reference point is released.

Note that the irradiation range may be set by any method so as to include at least part of the release area. For example, in another embodiment, the game system 1 may set the release area as the irradiation range as it is, or may set a range inside at least one of the release area and the point influence range as the irradiation range.

FIG. 19 is a top view of the field when two reference points are released. The situation shown in FIG. 19 is the situation in which the reference points 211 and 213 shown in FIG. 11 are released.

When the two reference points 211 and 213 are released as shown in FIG. 19, a release area 216 indicated by dotted lines in FIG. 19 is set as shown in FIG. Further, as described above, the game system 1 sets, as the irradiation range, a range within the point influence range corresponding to the released reference point and within the release area. Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 19, the range inside at least one of the point influence range 251 corresponding to the reference point 211 or the point influence range 252 corresponding to the reference point 213 and inside the release area 216 is the irradiation range. In addition, in FIG. 19, the outside of the irradiation range is indicated by the shaded area.

In the example shown in FIG. 19, the point influence range 251 is set larger than the release area (that is, the area 212 shown in FIG. 18) when only the reference point 211 is released, and the point influence range 252 is set to be larger than the reference point 213 is set larger than the release area when only 213 is released. Therefore, when two reference points 211 and 213 are released, the range which is not an irradiation range when only one reference point 211 or 213 is released becomes an irradiation range. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 19, since the point influence ranges 251 and 252 are set so as to partially overlap each other, when the two reference points 211 and 213 are released, One continuous irradiation range is set over the reference point 213 . According to the above, by releasing the two reference points 211 and 213 , the player can easily explore the field between these two reference points 211 and 213 .

On the other hand, for the other two reference points different from the reference points 211 and 213, the point influence range corresponding to the reference point is set equal to or smaller than the release area when only the reference point is released. may be In this case, unlike the example shown in FIG. 19, even if the two reference points are released, the irradiation range is not set so as to be continuous over the two reference points, and two discontinuous irradiation ranges are set. becomes.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the point influence range is set independently of the release area, and the irradiation range is set based on the release area and the point influence range. can be set freely. For example, when two reference points are released, it is possible to set the irradiation range continuously over the two reference points, or to set two discontinuous irradiation ranges.

Although the details will be described later, in the present embodiment, the game system 1 visually displays the irradiation range set by the release event using the ambient light described above.

As described above, in the present embodiment, an example of an irradiation event is an event generated when the player character is positioned at the event occurrence position (that is, the reference position) set in the field. It is an event that occurs (ie a release event). At this time, the game system 1 sets the irradiation range so as to include a predetermined range including the event occurrence position (specifically, the range of the release area based on the reference point or the point influence range). According to this, it is possible to provide a game in which the irradiation range is expanded as the player character reaches the event occurrence position. At this time, the shape of the irradiation range may be a shape based on the distance from the event occurrence position as described above, or may be a predetermined shape including the event occurrence position in another embodiment. good.

In this embodiment, the irradiation range is also set by an item placement event. FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a game image showing a field in which light source items are arranged. The situation shown in FIG. 20 is a situation in which the light source item 261 is placed at a position outside the irradiation range in the field. A light source item 261 is an object in which a light source (specifically, a point light source) is set at the position of the item. In this embodiment, the player character 201 can place a predetermined light source item on the field. The player character 201 places the light source item on the ground by, for example, placing the light source item on the ground under the player character 201, throwing it, or shooting it with a bow and arrow. In this embodiment, the player character 201 can possess a light source item as an item, and can place the light source item on the ground at a timing desired by the player. Also, in other embodiments, items such as torches and candles may be used as light source items.

When the light source item 261 is placed on the ground in the field, the game system 1 sets the range around the light source item (referred to as "item influence range") as the illumination range. The item influence range is, for example, a range within a predetermined distance from the position of the light source item 261 . In the example shown in FIG. 20, by arranging the light source item 261 at a position outside the irradiation range in the field, the item influence range based on the position becomes the irradiation range, and the field within the range is visually displayed. there is Thus, in this embodiment, the player can expand the visible range in the field by placing light source items in addition to releasing reference points. For example, when the player character 201 advances through a dark area (that is, an area outside the irradiation range) toward an unreleased reference point, the player places a light source item in the area to ensure visibility. You can advance through the field while

In this embodiment, the game system 1 renders a game image by reflecting the point light source set at the position of the light source item in the irradiation range (that is, the item influence range) set by the item placement event. . In other words, the irradiation range set by the item placement event is rendered in consideration of the point light source in addition to the ambient light. The details of the game image rendering process will be described later.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of a game image showing a field when a light source item is arranged within an irradiation range by a release event. In this case, the item influence range of the light source item 261 is rendered by reflecting the ambient light and the point light source, so that it is displayed outside the item influence range and brighter than the illumination range of the release event. In FIG. 21, the range within the irradiation range but outside the item influence range is indicated by a shaded area, and the item influence range is indicated by a white area. As described above, according to this embodiment, the player can easily recognize that the light source item 261 has been placed.

As shown in FIG. 21, even when the light source item 261 is placed within the irradiation range by the release event, the game system 1 sets the item influence range by the light source item 261, as in the case where it is placed outside the irradiation range. Set the irradiation range. However, if the entire item influence range is already set as the irradiation range, the irradiation range in the field will not change as a result.

As described above for the three types of irradiation events (that is, the character light emission event, the release event, and the item placement event), in the present embodiment, in the field, a predetermined At least a light source for which brightness is set (specifically, ambient light) is set. Then, in the drawing process, the game system 1 draws a portion included in the illumination range of at least a part of the terrain object (for example, the ground object shown in FIG. 17) in the field, reflecting the light source. According to this, since a certain brightness is ensured for the irradiation range, the irradiation range can be displayed in an easy-to-see manner (for example, without being displayed darkly due to the shadow of the terrain) regardless of the terrain shape of the field. .

Furthermore, in this embodiment, a point light source is set in addition to the ambient light. That is, the game system 1 further installs a point light source within the field in response to the occurrence of a predetermined event (specifically, release event and item arrangement event). In addition, in the drawing process, the game system 1 draws the portion included in the illumination range of at least a part of the terrain object in the field by further reflecting the point light source. This makes it easier for the player to recognize that the predetermined event has occurred and that the field has become brighter due to the occurrence of the predetermined event.

Any type of light source may be set in the field. In other embodiments, for example, a light source with a shape other than a point light source may be set in the field along with the ambient light. Alternatively, only ambient light may be set in the field without arranging the point light source.

Further, in the present embodiment, the predetermined event is an event in which a predetermined item (specifically, a light source item) is placed on the field. At this time, the game system 1 sets the position of the reference point based on the position where the item is arranged, and based on the distance from the reference point, the distance becomes equal to or less than the threshold value. Set the irradiation range to include the range (i.e., item influence range). According to this, the player can easily set the irradiation range at a desired position by arranging the item.

Note that "an event where a specified item is placed on the field" is not limited to an event that occurs when a specified item is simply placed on the field, but where a specified item is placed on the field under certain conditions. This also includes events that occur as a result. For example, "an event in which a predetermined item is placed on the field" may be an event that requires that the item placed in the field is subjected to a certain amount of impact. The above condition may be that a certain impact is applied by dropping a predetermined item onto the field, or that a certain impact is applied to a predetermined item placed on the field by another object. It may have been added.

Note that the event in which the point light source is set is not limited to the item placement event, and may be another type of event. For example, in another embodiment, the game system 1 sets a point light source at the position of the player character 201 in response to the occurrence of a character light emission event, and draws the character influence range by reflecting the point light source. , the irradiation range may be visually displayed.

As described above for the three types of irradiation events (that is, character light emission event, release event, and item placement event), in the present embodiment, when a predetermined event (specifically, irradiation event) occurs, Accordingly, a point that serves as a reference for the irradiation range is set in the virtual space. Then, based on the distance from the reference point, the irradiation range is set so as to include a range in which the distance is equal to or less than the threshold value. According to this, according to the occurrence of an event, the position corresponding to the event and its surroundings can be set as the irradiation range.

In addition, the above "range where the distance is equal to or less than the threshold value" is the character influence range for character light emission events, the point influence range or the release area range for release events, and the item Influence range.

Further, in the present embodiment, the above-mentioned "reference point of the irradiation range" is the position of the player character 201 in the character light emission event, the position of the reference point in the release event, and the position of the light source item in the item placement event. be. However, the above-mentioned "reference point of the irradiation range" does not have to be strictly these positions, and may be a position determined based on these positions. For example, the "reference point of the irradiation range" may be the position of the player character 201, the position of the reference point, or a position slightly deviated from the position of the light source item.

Further, in the present embodiment, the irradiation range set according to the occurrence of the irradiation event may be controlled so as to gradually expand from the time of occurrence. That is, after the reference point is set in accordance with the occurrence of the irradiation event, the game system 1 increases the threshold value for judging the irradiation range over time, thereby increasing the irradiation range. May be enlarged. The threshold is a distance threshold set in the character influence range in the character light emission event, and a distance threshold set in the point influence range in the release event. For item placement events, this is the distance threshold set for the item's range of influence. According to this, it is possible to display how the bright area in the field gradually expands when the irradiation event occurs. In addition, in the above, the irradiation range is controlled so as to stop expanding after a predetermined time has elapsed. In addition, the game system 1 does not need to gradually expand the irradiation range for all irradiation events, and performs control to gradually expand the irradiation range for predetermined events (for example, release events and item placement events) among the irradiation events. You may do so.

As described above, in the present embodiment, a predetermined object is displayed so as to be visible even when the object is positioned outside the irradiation range. Such objects are hereinafter referred to as "non-target objects". Specifically, in the present embodiment, non-target objects are predetermined types of characters and self-luminous objects. The predetermined types of characters are, more specifically, player characters and enemy characters. In addition, a self-luminous object is an object that is set to appear as if it is glowing in the drawing settings. For example, the landmark object 203 described above is a self-luminous object.

Although the details will be described later, when drawing a game image, the game system 1 does not use the drawing setting that does not reflect the light source, even if the non-target object is positioned outside the illumination range. Rendering is performed based on rendering settings preset for the object. In this embodiment, when a character of a predetermined type is positioned outside the irradiation range, the character is shaded and drawn to be visible. Therefore, the predetermined type of character is displayed in a distinguishable manner from other objects outside the illumination range, which are displayed as dark.

In addition, even when the self-luminous object is positioned outside the irradiation range, drawing is performed based on drawing settings such as emission set for the object. As a result, the self-luminous object, such as the mark object 203 shown in FIG. 15, is displayed in such a way that it can be distinguished from other objects outside the irradiation range that are displayed as darkness.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the irradiation event is an event generated by performing a predetermined operation input when the player character is positioned at the event generation position set in association with the reference point within the field. (ie release event). Note that, as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, the landmark objects, which are self-luminous objects, are arranged in the field at positions corresponding to the plurality of reference points (for example, positions above the reference points). Regardless of whether or not the mark object is included in the irradiation range, the game system 1 draws the mark object so as to be distinguishable from other objects not included in the irradiation range. According to this, by targeting the landmark object, the player can easily move the player character toward the reference point outside the irradiation range.

[2-3. Image generation processing]
Next, an example of a method of generating a game image in which a portion of the field outside the irradiation range is displayed as dark (that is, in a manner that is invisible or difficult to see) will be described. In this embodiment, the game system 1 draws objects within the irradiation range by reflecting the light source set in the field, while objects outside the irradiation range (excluding the above-mentioned non-target objects) For , the pixels corresponding to the object are drawn in black without reflecting the light source. According to this, the object outside the irradiation range can be made invisible, and the player can be effectively motivated to release the reference point to search the field. A specific example of the game image generation method will be described below.

In this embodiment, the game system 1 renders game images by a method based on deferred rendering (also called deferred shading or delayed shading). That is, the game system 1 executes the drawing process through the first to third stages described below during one frame.

In the first stage, the game system 1 writes information used for drawing each object (including character objects and terrain objects) in the virtual space into the G buffer (geometry buffer). For each pixel to be drawn, for example, information about the normal line of the polygon corresponding to the pixel, information about the color set for the polygon corresponding to the pixel, and the like are written into the G buffer. In this embodiment, in addition to these pieces of information, the G-buffer also stores the coordinates indicating the position on the field corresponding to the pixel, the information indicating that the non-target object is drawn on the pixel, and the like. Also, in the first stage, the game system 1 writes the depth (depth) information of the position on the field to the depth buffer for each pixel corresponding to the position.

In the second stage, the game system 1 writes information about lighting into the light buffer based on the information written into the G buffer and depth buffer, and the information of the light source set in the field. In the write buffer, for example, information indicating the brightness of the position on the corresponding field is written for each pixel to be drawn. Note that in another embodiment, the game system 1 performs lighting-related calculations in the second stage. It may be done in a third stage.

Also, in the present embodiment, the game system 1 generates darkness mask data in the second stage. The darkness mask indicates whether the position on the field corresponding to each pixel to be drawn is a position to be drawn as dark (i.e., a position outside the irradiation range) or the degree to which it is drawn as dark for each pixel. data shown. In this embodiment, the darkness mask indicates for each pixel a darkness mask value that indicates the degree to which the pixel is rendered in a color representing darkness (black in this embodiment, as described above). For example, the darkness mask value is a value greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 1, and is set to 1 for pixels rendered in a color representing darkness, and set to 0 for pixels that do not reflect a color representing darkness. Also, when the darkness mask value is an intermediate value (that is, a value greater than 0 and less than 1), the greater the degree to which the color representing darkness is reflected in the pixel, the greater the intermediate value. In this embodiment, the darkness mask value is set to 1 for pixels corresponding to positions outside the irradiation range, and the darkness mask value is set to a value less than 1 for pixels corresponding to positions within the irradiation range. be. Thus, the darkness mask can be said to be data indicating the extent of illumination in the field. Although the details will be described later, the dark mask is generated based on the irradiation range in the virtual space, the coordinate data stored in the G buffer and indicating the position on the field, and the like. Further, the pixels corresponding to the pixels where the non-target objects are drawn are set to values that do not reflect darkness. In another embodiment, for pixels corresponding to positions outside the irradiation range, the darkness mask value is set to a predetermined value or more (this predetermined value is a value greater than 0 and less than 1), For pixels corresponding to positions within, the dark mask value may be set to a value less than the predetermined value. Also, in this embodiment, the darkness mask value is a multi-valued value ranging from 0 to 1, but in another embodiment, the darkness mask value is a binary value of 0 or 1. may

In the third stage, the game system 1 reflects the light effects and darkness caused by the light source based on the information written in each buffer (i.e., the G buffer, the depth buffer, and the light buffer) and the darkness mask. Write the pixel values of the field image representing the field to the frame buffer. That is, the game system 1 writes to the frame buffer pixel values in which black is overwritten based on the darkness mask on the pixel values reflecting the light source in the virtual space based on the information in the G buffer and the light buffer.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of a method for generating field images to be written into the frame buffer. As shown in FIG. 22, the pixel value of each pixel of the field image is determined based on the color information stored in the G buffer, the brightness information stored in the light buffer, and the darkness mask value of the darkness mask. Calculated. First, by reflecting the brightness information stored in the light buffer, it is possible to obtain a field image in which the light from the light source is reflected. That is, it is possible to obtain a field image expressed as if it were illuminated by environmental light or point light sources. Furthermore, by using a dark mask, it is possible to generate a field image expressed in darkness outside the irradiation range (see FIG. 22). As described above, the game system 1 can obtain a field image in which the inside of the irradiation range is expressed as if it is illuminated by ambient light or point light source, and the outside of the irradiation range is expressed in darkness.

For the darkness mask shown in FIG. 22, locations with a darkness mask value of 1 are shown in black, locations with a darkness mask value of 0 are shown in white, and locations with intermediate darkness mask values have large values. It is shown in gray so that it approaches black as much as possible. For illumination ranges based on character light emission events and item placement events, the darkness mask value is 0 for pixels corresponding to positions within a predetermined distance from the reference point of the illumination range, For the corresponding pixels, it is set so that it gradually increases according to the distance from the reference point, and is set to 1 for the pixels corresponding to positions outside the irradiation range. Note that the reference point of the irradiation range is a position that serves as a reference for the irradiation range. position, and for illumination ranges based on item placement events, the position of the light item.

For the irradiation range based on the release event, the game system 1 calculates the two-dimensional range data used to calculate the darkness mask value, and stores the two-dimensional range data and the position on the field stored in the G buffer. A darkness mask is generated based on the horizontal plane component of the coordinate data indicating . The two-dimensional range data is data indicating a degree value used for calculating the darkness mask value for each two-dimensional position on the field corresponding plane described above. The two-dimensional range data can be said to be data indicating the irradiation range in the field. In the present embodiment, the two-dimensional range data relating to the position on the two-dimensional plane is generated as the data indicating the irradiation range, but in other embodiments, the data indicating the irradiation range is It may be data indicating the position of a three-dimensional field.

Similar to the darkness mask value, the degree value is a value indicating the degree of dark drawing in the drawing process. For example, the degree value becomes maximum at the reference point of the irradiation range, gradually decreases according to the distance from the reference point, and changes to 0 outside the irradiation range. Therefore, the degree value can be calculated based on a value that attenuates according to the distance from the reference point of the irradiation range. In this embodiment, the irradiation range based on the release event is set based on the release area set based on the total determination value and the point influence range based on the distance from the reference point. Therefore, the degree value for the irradiation range based on the release event can be calculated based on the total determination value described above and a value that attenuates according to the distance from the reference point.

Next, the game system 1 calculates a darkness mask value at each pixel based on the degree value at each position corresponding to each pixel. For example, the degree value can be scaled to a range between 0 and 1, and the dark mask value can be obtained by subtracting the scaled value from 1. By using the darkness mask values calculated as described above, it is possible to generate a darkness mask that reflects the irradiation range based on the release event. Note that if the range of the release area and the point influence range are the same, the map mask described above may be used as the two-dimensional range data.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the game system 1, based on the occurrence of the release event, stores the two-dimensional range data that planarly indicates the irradiation range in the field at the event occurrence position (that is, the reference point) in the field. position) is generated so as to be at least the irradiation range, and a dark mask is generated based on the two-dimensional range data.

Further, in the present embodiment, the game system 1 divides the illumination range based on the position of the player character and the illumination range based on the position of the point light source set for the light source item in the second stage of the drawing process. Generate a darkness mask to reflect. This creates a darkness mask that reflects each lighting event (ie, release event, character lighting event, and item placement event).

Note that the method for calculating the darkness mask value is arbitrary, and is not limited to the above method. For example, in another embodiment, the game system 1 may directly generate a darkness mask in the rendering process without generating the two-dimensional range data. That is, in the second stage of the drawing process, the game system 1 determines the release event based on the total determination value for each position on the field corresponding to the pixel and the value that attenuates according to the distance from the reference point. A darkness mask may be generated that reflects the illumination range based on .

As described above, in the present embodiment, in the rendering process, the game system 1 determines, for each pixel, whether the position corresponding to the pixel of the terrain object is included in the illumination range for at least a portion of the terrain object. Generate mask data (ie, dark mask data) that at least indicates whether or not. Then, the mask data indicates that the position of the terrain object is included in the irradiation range, and the pixels are drawn in the frame buffer by reflecting the light source. In addition, for pixels for which the mask data indicates that the position of the terrain object is not included in the irradiation range, drawing is performed in the frame buffer in a predetermined color. According to this, by using the mask data, it is possible to generate a field image in which the outside of the irradiation range is expressed in a form that is invisible or difficult to see. The predetermined color is black, for example. However, the color is not limited to black, and may be gray or other colors. Moreover, the image may be drawn as an image having a predetermined pattern, not limited to a single color.

Further, in the present embodiment, the mask data is data indicating the degree to which the predetermined color is drawn for each pixel. In the drawing process, the game system 1 uses pixel values calculated reflecting the light source (that is, pixel values based on color information stored in the G buffer and brightness information stored in the light buffer). On the other hand, a pixel value obtained by synthesizing a predetermined color according to the degree is written in the frame buffer. According to this, the degree of darkness can be expressed in multiple stages. For example, as described above, by setting the degree value so that it becomes maximum at the reference point of the irradiation range, gradually decreases according to the distance from the reference point, and becomes 0 outside the irradiation range, It is possible to generate a field image that gradually becomes darker (see FIG. 22).

In addition, in the present embodiment, the game system 1 generates two-dimensional range data indicating a degree value indicating a degree of dark drawing in the drawing process for each two-dimensional coordinate corresponding to a coordinate component other than the height direction of the field. Generate. In the game system 1, the total determination value and the two-dimensional position corresponding to the reference point at each coordinate become a reference value, and the two-dimensional distance from the two-dimensional position to the coordinate A degree value is calculated based on the attenuation value. In the drawing process, for each pixel to be drawn in the frame buffer, the pixel value calculated reflecting the light source set in the field is converted to the two-dimensional range data corresponding to the pixel indicated by the two-dimensional range data. Depending on the degree value at the coordinates (which can also be said to be according to the darkness mask value based on the degree value), a pixel value composited with a predetermined color (ie, black) is written to the frame buffer. According to the above, the predetermined color can be reflected step by step in the image showing the field. As a result, it is possible to generate a field image that gradually darkens near the boundary of the irradiation range, for example, so that a field image that looks more natural can be generated.

In the present embodiment, the game system 1 draws the non-target objects described above using a method set for each object instead of black representing darkness. Specifically, in the first stage, the game system 1 writes exclusion mask data regarding the non-target object to the G buffer. An exclusion mask is data that indicates pixels corresponding to the location of an exclusion object. An exclusion mask can be said to indicate that pixels corresponding to non-interesting objects are excluded from application of the darkness mask. Note that the game system 1 writes in the G-buffer data indicating the drawing method (for example, self-luminous or shaded) set for the non-target object.

Also, in the third stage of the drawing process, the game system 1 draws the pixels indicated by the exclusion mask by the method set for the non-target object regardless of the darkness mask value of the darkness mask. As a result, even if the non-target object is outside the irradiation range, it will not be drawn as darkness, but will be drawn by the set method. In the second step, a value indicating that the pixel indicated by the exclusion mask is not dark may be written into the darkness mask.

As described above, in the present embodiment, in the first stage of the rendering process, the game system 1 causes non-target objects to be written to the G buffer and the depth buffer for each pixel, and the exclusion mask. Generate data. Then, in the third stage of the rendering process, the game system 1 can distinguish and visually recognize a portion of the terrain object that is not included in the irradiation range and the non-target object for the pixels indicated by the data of the exclusion mask. (eg, in a way that appears to be self-luminous, or in a way that is shaded). According to this, the game system 1 can display the non-target object in a visible manner even if the non-target object is outside the irradiation range.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the game system 1 draws an object outside the irradiation range as darkness by drawing processing based on so-called deferred rendering. That is, in the first stage, the game system 1 writes to the G-buffer and depth buffer about at least part of the terrain objects in the field. In the second stage, the game system 1 generates darkness mask data for each pixel based on the position corresponding to the pixel, the depth value stored in the depth buffer, and the illumination range. In the third stage, the game system 1 draws to the frame buffer based on at least the data stored in the G-buffer and the darkness mask data. According to the above, the game system 1 can apply the technique of deferred rendering to draw an object outside the irradiation range in a manner that is invisible or difficult to see.

Note that in other embodiments, any method may be used to render an object outside the illumination range as dark, and is not limited to rendering processing based on deferred rendering. In other embodiments, the rendering process may be performed based on forward rendering (also called forward shading). That is, in the drawing process, the game system 1 determines for each pixel whether or not at least some of the terrain objects (for example, objects other than the non-target objects) are included in the irradiation range. Pixels may be drawn in the frame buffer reflecting the light source, and pixels not included in the illumination range may be drawn in a predetermined color (for example, black) in the frame buffer. According to the above, the game system 1 can render an object outside the irradiation range in a manner that is invisible or difficult to see based on forward rendering.

[3. Specific example of processing in game system]
Next, specific examples of information processing in the game system 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 23 to 27. FIG.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of a storage area for storing various data used for information processing in the game system 1. As shown in FIG. Each storage area shown in FIG. 23 is provided in a storage medium accessible by main unit 2 (for example, flash memory 84, DRAM 85, and/or a memory card inserted in slot 23, etc.). As shown in FIG. 23, the storage medium is provided with a game program area in which a game program is stored. The game program is for executing the game processing (specifically, the game processing shown in FIG. 24) in this embodiment. Further, the storage medium is provided with the above-described G buffer, depth buffer, light buffer, and frame buffer.

Further, the storage medium is provided with a darkness mask data area for storing the darkness mask data described above. It should be noted that the above exclusion mask data is stored in the G buffer. Further, the storage medium is provided with a processing data area for storing various data used in game processing. The processing data area stores, for example, the map mask data described above. Also, for example, the processing data area stores object data (eg, data indicating the position and orientation of the object) related to various objects (eg, player characters and light source items) appearing in the game.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of game processing executed by the game system 1. As shown in FIG. Execution of the game process is started, for example, when the game is started in response to an instruction from the player during execution of the game program. In the present embodiment, in game processing, a field mode in which a field image representing a field is displayed, a map display mode in which the above-described map image is displayed on the entire display 12, and a menu image are displayed. There is a processing mode called menu display mode. The processing mode at the start of the game is arbitrary, but here, for example, the field mode is set.

In this embodiment, the processor 81 of the main device 2 executes the game program stored in the game system 1 to execute the processing of each step shown in FIG. However, in other embodiments, a part of the processing of each step described above may be executed by a processor other than the processor 81 (for example, a dedicated circuit or the like). Moreover, when the game system 1 can communicate with another information processing device (for example, a server), part of the processing of each step shown in FIG. 24 may be executed in the other information processing device. Further, the processing of each step shown in FIG. 24 is merely an example. and) other processing may be performed.

Also, the processor 81 executes the processing of each step shown in FIG. 24 using a memory (for example, the DRAM 85). That is, the processor 81 stores information (in other words, data) obtained by each processing step in the memory, and when using the information in subsequent processing steps, reads the information from the memory and uses it.

At step S1 shown in FIG. 14, the processor 81 acquires the operation data indicating the player's instruction. That is, processor 81 acquires operation data received from each controller via controller communication unit 83 and/or terminals 17 and 21 . After step S1, the process of step S2 is executed.

At step S2, the processor 81 determines whether or not an event scene such as a release event is being executed. As described above, in this embodiment, in response to the occurrence of the release event, the reproduction of the animation of the event scene indicating the release event is started (see step S26 described later). In step S2, the processor 81 determines whether or not the event scene animation is being reproduced. When the determination result of step S2 is affirmative, the process of step S3 is performed. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S2 is negative, the process of step S4 is executed.

At step S3, the processor 81 advances the event scene being executed. That is, the processor 81 causes the display 12 to display the animation image of the event scene. Note that in one step S3, an image for one frame is displayed, and the above animation is reproduced by repeatedly executing the processing in step S3 during execution of the event scene. As for the drawing process at the time of the event, the same process as in the field mode in which the field image is displayed may be executed, but different drawing processes may be performed when different scenes are represented. The specific contents of this different rendering process are arbitrary, and the details are omitted. In this embodiment, the image generated by the game system 1 is displayed on the display 12, but the image may be displayed on another display device (for example, the stationary monitor described above). . After step S3, the process of step S12, which will be described later, is executed.

In step S4, processor 81 determines whether or not a map display mode for displaying a map image is in progress. Although the details will be described later, in this embodiment, the map display mode is started in response to the player issuing a map display instruction during the field mode in which the field image is displayed (see step S22 described later). ). When the determination result of step S4 is affirmative, the process of step S5 is performed. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S4 is negative, the process of step S6 is executed.

At step S5, the processor 81 causes the display 12 to display the map image. That is, the processor 81 generates a map image according to the method described in “[2-1. In step S5 (that is, in the map display mode), the map image is displayed over the entire area of display 12 without displaying the field image (see FIGS. 10 and 12). In the map display mode, the processor 81 accepts an instruction to end the display of the map image, and shifts the processing mode to the field mode when the instruction is received. In this case, the determination result in step S4, which is executed next, is negative, and the field image is displayed in step S11, which will be described later. After step S5, the process of step S12, which will be described later, is executed.

In step S6, the processor 81 determines whether or not it is in the menu display mode for displaying the menu image. Although the details will be described later, in this embodiment, the menu display mode is started in response to the player issuing a menu display instruction during the field mode in which the field image is displayed (see step S22 described later). . When the determination result of step S6 is affirmative, the process of step S7 is performed. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S6 is negative, the process of step S8 is executed.

At step S7, the processor 81 causes the display 12 to display the menu image. Here, in the present embodiment, the processor 81 receives at least an operation input for an instruction to change the player character's equipment among various operations in the menu display mode. That is, the player can change the equipment of the player character in the menu image, for example, can equip the player character with the above-described shiny clothes. Although omitted in the flowchart shown in FIG. 24, in the menu display mode, operation input for various instructions for the menu image (for example, instructions to change equipment of the player character, instructions to use items, etc.) is accepted, and the processor 81 appropriately changes and displays the contents of the menu image according to the operation input. In the menu display mode, the processor 81 accepts an instruction to end the display of the menu image, and shifts the processing mode to the field mode when the instruction is received. In this case, the determination result in step S6, which is executed next, is negative, and the field image is displayed in step S11, which will be described later. After step S7, the process of step S12, which will be described later, is executed.

In step S8, the processor 81 executes player-related control processing. In the player-related control process, various processes (for example, control process related to the player character) are executed based on the operation input by the player. Details of the player-related control process will be described later with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. After step S8, the process of step S9 is executed.

In step S9, the processor 81 executes other object control processing. In the other object control process, objects other than the player character (for example, enemy characters, light source items, etc.) are controlled. Details of the other object control processing will be described later with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. After step S9, the process of step S10 is executed.

In step S10, the processor 81 executes a process of drawing a field image representing the field. In the field image rendering process, as described above, a field image is generated in which the outside of the irradiation range is represented in darkness. Details of the drawing process will be described later with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. After step S10, the process of step S11 is executed.

At step S11, the processor 81 causes the display 12 to display the field image generated at step S10. As shown in FIG. 15 and the like, in the field mode, the processor 81 may further generate a map image in addition to the field image and display the map image superimposed on the field image. After step S11, the process of step S12 is executed.

At step S12, the processor 81 determines whether or not to end the game. For example, the processor 81 determines to end the game when the player performs a predetermined operation input for ending the game. If the determination result of step S12 is negative, the process of step S1 is executed again. Thereafter, a series of processes of steps S1 to S12 are repeatedly executed until it is determined in step S12 that the game is to be ended. On the other hand, if the determination result in step S12 is affirmative, processor 81 terminates the game processing shown in FIG.

FIG. 25 is a sub-flowchart showing an example of the detailed flow of the player-related control process in step S8 shown in FIG. In the player-related control process, first, in step S21, the processor 81 determines whether or not the player has given an instruction to switch the processing mode based on the operation data acquired in step S1. The instruction to switch the processing mode is specifically an instruction to display a map image or an instruction to display a menu image. When the determination result of step S21 is affirmative, the process of step S22 is performed. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S21 is negative, the process of step S23 is executed.

At step S22, the processor 81 switches the processing mode according to the instruction given at step S21. That is, when an instruction to display a map image is given, the processor 81 switches the processing mode to the map display mode. In this case, the determination result in step S4 to be executed next becomes affirmative, and the process of displaying the map image is executed in step S5. Further, when an instruction to display a menu image is given, the processor 81 switches the processing mode to the menu display mode. In this case, the determination result in step S6, which is executed next, becomes affirmative, and the process of displaying the menu image is executed in step S7. After step S22, the processor 81 ends the player-related control process.

In step S23, the processor 81 determines whether or not it is an operation acceptance period during which an operation input to the player character is accepted. Here, in the present embodiment, an action period during which the player character performs a predetermined action (for example, an action controlled in step S30 described later) in response to an operation input to the player character is excluded from the operation acceptance period. shall be When the determination result of step S23 is affirmative, the process of step S24 is performed. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S23 is negative, the process of step S33, which will be described later, is executed.

In step S24, the processor 81 determines whether or not an operation input for releasing the reference point has been performed based on the operation data acquired in step S1. That is, the processor 81 determines whether or not an input for executing the "investigate" command has been made while the player character is positioned near the reference point. When the determination result of step S24 is affirmative, the process of step S25 is performed. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S24 is negative, the process of step S29, which will be described later, is executed.

In step S25, the processor 81 puts the reference point at which the operation input is performed into the released state. For example, the processor 81 updates the data indicating the state of the reference point stored in the memory to indicate that it has been released. Also, the processor 81 sets a point light source at the position of the landmark object indicating the reference point. As a result, in the drawing process, which will be described later, the drawing is performed so that the surroundings of the mark object are illuminated with light. After step S25, the process of step S26 is executed.

In step S26, the processor 81 starts an event scene when a release event occurs. That is, the processor 81 starts playing an animation showing how the surroundings of the released reference point become brighter. After the process of step S26, the determination result in step S2 is affirmative, and the execution of the event scene is continued until the reproduction of the animation is completed. After step S26, the process of step S27 is executed.

At step S27, the processor 81 sets the release area based on the reference point released at step S26. That is, the processor 81 generates a map mask indicating the open area set according to the method described above in "[2-1. Setting open area of the map]". Specifically, the map mask data is stored in the memory at the start of the game processing, and the processor 81 updates the data to indicate the set released area. By the processing of step S27, the area including the released reference point in the field is set as the released area. After step S27, the process of step S28 is executed.

At step S28, the processor 81 sets the irradiation range based on the reference point released at step S26. That is, the processor 81 generates the two-dimensional range data indicating the irradiation range set according to the method described in "[2-2. Setting the irradiation range]" above. Specifically, two-dimensional range data is stored in the memory at the start of the game processing, and the processor 81 updates the data so as to indicate the set irradiation range. By the processing of step S27, the area including the released reference point in the field is set as the irradiation range. After step S28, the processor 81 ends the player-related control process. Note that the processing of steps S25, S27, and S28 is not limited to this timing, and may be performed at a predetermined timing during the subsequent event scene.

In step S29, the processor 81 determines whether or not an operation input for instructing an action for the player character has been performed based on the operation data acquired in step S1. The action instruction is an instruction for causing the player character to perform, for example, an attack motion, a jump motion, or the like. If the determination result of step S29 is affirmative, the process of step S30 is executed. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S29 is negative, the process of step S31, which will be described later, is executed.

In step S30, the processor 81 causes the player character to start moving according to the action instruction given in step S29. After the player character starts the action in step S30, the player character is controlled to perform the action for a certain period of time by the process of step S33, which will be described later. After step S30, the processor 81 ends the player-related control process.

In step S31, the processor 81 determines whether or not an operation input for instructing movement of the player character has been performed based on the operation data acquired in step S1. The movement instruction is an instruction for causing the player character to move on the field. When the determination result of step S31 is affirmative, the process of step S32 is performed. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S31 is negative, the process of step S33 is executed.

In step S32, the processor 81 causes the player character to move on the field according to the movement instruction given in step S29. After step S32, the processor 81 ends the player-related control process.

In step S33, the processor 81 controls the player character to perform various actions such as the progress of the action started in step S30 and the action when nothing is input. Note that in one step S33, the processor 81 controls the player character so that the action progresses for one frame time. By repeatedly executing the process of step S33 over a plurality of frames, the player character performs a series of actions according to the action instruction. If the player has not instructed the action to be performed by the player character (for example, if the action started in step S30 has ended), the processor 81 instructs the player character to perform the action in step S33. Alternatively, an action (for example, looking around or shaking the body) may be performed to make the behavior of the player character appear natural. After step S33, the processor 81 ends the player-related control process.

FIG. 26 is a sub-flowchart showing an example of the detailed flow of the other object control process in step S9 shown in FIG. In the other object control process, first, in step S41, the processor 81 determines whether or not the process for each object to be controlled excluding the player character has been completed. That is, it is determined whether or not each of the above objects has been designated in step S42, which will be described later. If the determination result of step S41 is negative, the process of step S42 is executed. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S41 is affirmative, the processor 81 terminates the other object control process.

In step S42, the processor 81 designates one object to be processed in step S43, which will be described later, from among the objects to be controlled. In step S42, an object that has not yet been processed in the current processing loop of steps S41 to S45 is specified. After step S42, the process of step S43 is executed.

At step S43, the processor 81 controls the motion of the object designated at step S42. For example, if the object is an enemy character, the action of the enemy character is controlled according to an algorithm defined in the game program. Further, for example, when the object is a light source item, the movement of the light source item is controlled according to the motion of another character such as the player character (for example, according to the motion of the player character throwing the light source item). After step S43, the process of step S44 is executed.

In step S44, the processor 81 determines whether or not an item arrangement event has occurred based on the processing result of step S43. For example, regarding the light source item, when the light source item thrown by the player character is placed on the ground in the field, the processor 81 determines that an item placement event has occurred. When the determination result of step S44 is affirmative, the process of step S45 is performed. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S44 is negative, the process of step S41 is executed again.

In step S45, the processor 81 sets a point light source at the position of the light source item that caused the occurrence of the item placement event. As a result, in the drawing process, which will be described later, drawing is performed so that light is applied to the surroundings of the light source item. After step S45, the process of step S41 is executed again. Thereafter, a series of processes in steps S41 to S45 are repeatedly executed until it is determined in step S41 that the processes for all objects to be controlled have been completed.

FIG. 27 is a sub-flowchart showing an example of a detailed flow of drawing processing in step S10 shown in FIG. In the drawing process, first, in step S51, the processor 81 determines whether or not the process in the first stage described in "[2-3. Image generation process]" has been completed. That is, it is determined whether writing to the G buffer has been completed for each object to be drawn (for example, objects within the visual field range of the virtual camera). If the determination result of step S51 is affirmative, the process of step S56, which will be described later, is executed. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S51 is negative, the process of step S52 is executed.

In step S52, the processor 81 designates one object to be processed in step S53, which will be described later, from among the objects to be drawn. In step S52, an object that has not yet been processed in the current processing loop of steps S51 to S55 is specified. After step S52, the process of step S53 is executed.

In step S53, the processor 81 determines whether the object specified in step S52 is the non-target object described above. If the determination result of step S53 is negative, the process of step S54 is executed. On the other hand, when the determination result of step S53 is affirmative, the process of step S55 is performed.

At step S54, the processor 81 writes information about the object specified at step S52 to the G-buffer and the depth buffer. That is, the processor 81 writes information such as the position, normal, and color of the polygon to the G-buffer and writes depth information to the depth buffer for pixels corresponding to the polygon of the object. Note that the processing in step S54 may be the same as the processing in conventional deferred rendering. After step S54, the process of step S51 is executed again.

On the other hand, in step S55, the processor 81 writes information about the object specified in step S52 into the G buffer and the depth buffer, and writes information indicating that the object is an out-of-target object into the G buffer. That is, the processor 81 writes the exclusion mask data regarding the non-target object to the G buffer. After step S55, the process of step S51 is executed again.

In step S56, the processor 81 determines whether or not the process in the second stage described in "[2-3. Image generation process]" has been completed. That is, it determines whether the writing of values to each pixel in the write buffer and darkness mask has been completed. If the determination result of step S56 is affirmative, the process of step S60, which will be described later, is executed. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S56 is negative, the process of step S57 is executed.

In step S57, the processor 81 designates one of the pixels to be processed in step S58, which will be described later. In step S57, pixels that have not yet been processed in the current processing loop of steps S56 to S59 are specified. After step S57, the process of step S58 is executed.

In step S58, the processor 81 writes the pixel specified in step S57 to the write buffer. That is, the processor 81 calculates information such as the brightness of the pixel based on the ambient light and the point light source set in step S45, and writes the calculated information into the light buffer. Note that the processing in step S58 may be the same as the processing in conventional deferred rendering. After step S58, the process of step S59 is executed.

In step S59, processor 81 generates a darkness mask (ie, sets a darkness mask value) for the pixel specified in step S57. Specifically, the processor 81 calculates the darkness mask value for the pixel according to the method described in “[2-3. Image generation processing]” above. Specifically, the data of the darkness mask is stored in the memory at the start of the game processing, and the processor 81 updates the data according to the newly set irradiation range. For example, the processor 81 updates the darkness mask based on the two-dimensional range data when the irradiation range based on the release event is set by the process of step S28. Further, when the player character is equipped with shiny clothes in the menu display mode in which the menu display process of step S7 is executed, pixels corresponding to positions within the character influence range based on the position of the player character become the irradiation range. to update the darkness mask above. Further, when a point light source is set by the process of step S45, the darkness mask is updated so that the pixel corresponding to the position within the item influence range based on the position of the light source item becomes the irradiation range. After step S59, the process of step S56 is executed again.

In step S60, the processor 81 determines whether the processing in the third stage described in "[2-3. Image generation processing]" has been completed. That is, it is determined whether writing of values to each pixel in the frame buffer has been completed. If the determination result in step S60 is affirmative, processor 81 terminates the drawing process shown in FIG. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S60 is negative, the process of step S61 is executed.

In step S61, the processor 81 designates one of the pixels to be processed in step S62, which will be described later. In step S61, pixels that have not yet been processed in the current processing loop of steps S60 to S62 are designated. After step S61, the process of step S62 is executed.

At step S62, the processor 81 calculates the pixel value for the pixel specified at step S61 and writes it to the frame buffer. That is, the processor 81 performs the method described in “[2-3. , the pixel value of the pixel is calculated. Specifically, the processor 81 calculates pixel values reflecting the influence of light from the light source based on the information in the G buffer, the depth buffer, and the light buffer, and further adds the calculated pixel values to the darkness. A pixel value reflecting darkness is calculated based on the darkness mask value in the mask. As a result, a pixel value reflecting the effect of light from the light source and darkness is written to the frame buffer. After step S62, the process of step S60 is executed again.

Note that, as described above, the drawing process in step S10 may be performed by a method based on forward rendering. FIG. 28 is a sub-flowchart showing an example of a detailed flow of drawing processing executed by a method based on forward rendering. The game system 1 may execute the process shown in FIG. 28 instead of the process shown in FIG. 27 as the drawing process in step S10.

In the drawing process shown in FIG. 28, first, in step S71, the processor 81 determines whether or not the drawing of each object to be drawn (for example, the object within the visual field range of the virtual camera) is completed. If the determination result in step S71 is affirmative, the processor 81 terminates the drawing process shown in FIG. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S71 is negative, the process of step S72 is executed.

In step S72, the processor 81 designates one object to be processed in steps S73 to S81 from among the objects to be drawn. In step S72, an object that has not yet been processed in the current processing loop of steps S71 to S81 is designated. After step S72, the process of step S73 is executed.

In step S73, the processor 81 determines whether the object specified in step S72 is the non-target object described above. When the determination result of step S73 is affirmative, the process of step S74 is performed. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S73 is negative, the process of step S75 is executed.

In step S74, the processor 81 draws the object specified in step S52 (that is, each pixel corresponding to the object) based on the drawing settings preset for the object. As a result, when the object is a self-luminous object, the object itself is drawn to appear to shine, and when the object is a character of the predetermined type, the object is shaded. It is drawn so that it looks like After step S74, the process of step S71 is executed again.

At step S75, the processor 81 determines whether or not the rendering of each polygon of the object designated at step S72 is completed. If the determination result of step S75 is affirmative, it means that the drawing of the object has been completed, and the process of step S71 is executed again. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S75 is negative, the process of step S76 is executed.

At step S76, the processor 81 designates one of each polygon of the object designated at step S72. In step S76, polygons that have not yet been processed in the current processing loop of steps S75 to S81 are designated. After step S76, the process of step S77 is executed.

At step S77, the processor 81 determines whether or not drawing of each pixel corresponding to the polygon designated at step S76 is completed. If the determination result of step S77 is affirmative, it means that the drawing of the polygon has been completed, and the process of step S75 is executed again. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S77 is negative, the process of step S78 is executed.

At step S78, the processor 81 designates one of the pixels corresponding to the polygon designated at step S76. In step S78, pixels that have not yet been processed in the current processing loop of steps S77 to S81 are designated. After step S78, the process of step S79 is executed.

In step S79, the processor 81 determines whether or not the position corresponding to the pixel designated in step S78 (that is, the position in the field) is within the irradiation range. In the embodiment in which drawing is performed by the drawing process shown in FIG. 28, the processor 81 sets the irradiation range based on the release event in step S28, and equips the player character with shiny clothes in the menu display process in step S7. If so, the irradiation range is set based on the position of the player character, and if the point light source is set in the process of step S45, the irradiation range is set based on the position of the light source item. If the determination result of step S79 is affirmative, the process of step S80 is executed. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S79 is negative, the process of step S81 is executed.

In step S80, the processor 81 draws the pixel specified in step S78 by reflecting the light source (that is, ambient light and/or point light source) set in the field. Specifically, the processor 81 generates the polygon based on information on the normal of the polygon corresponding to the pixel, information on the color set to the polygon corresponding to the pixel, information on the light source set in the field, and the like. Calculate the pixel value of the pixel and write it to the frame buffer. As a result, pixels corresponding to positions within the irradiation range are drawn in consideration of the light source. Note that the processing in step S80 may be the same as the drawing processing based on conventional forward rendering. After step S80, the process of step S77 is executed again.

On the other hand, in step S81, the processor 81 draws the pixel specified in step S78 in black. As a result, pixels corresponding to positions outside the irradiation range are drawn in black. After step S81, the process of step S77 is executed again.

Note that in the drawing process shown in FIG. 28, similarly to the drawing process shown in FIG. 27, drawing may be performed such that black gradually becomes darker as the border of the irradiation range is approached within the irradiation range. For example, in step S80 above, the processor 81 calculates the above-described darkness mask value for the pixel designated in step S78, and converts the pixel value reflecting the influence of light from the light source and black according to the darkness mask value. The pixel value of the pixel may be calculated by synthesizing at a ratio equal to that of the pixel.

[4. Effects and modifications of the present embodiment]
The game program in the above embodiment is configured to cause the computer (eg, processor 81) of the information processing device (eg, game device 2) to execute the following processes.
- Game processing for controlling the player character in the virtual space (the field in the above embodiment) based on the operation input (step S32)
・When a predetermined event (for example, a release event) occurs based on game processing, a point associated with the occurred event is selected as the first point among a plurality of points (for example, reference points) set in the virtual space. Processing for transitioning from state 1 (for example, unreleased state) to second state (for example, released state) (step S25)
・The first reference value at the position corresponding to the point, and the first judgment value that attenuates according to the distance from the position, is based on one or more points that are in the second state among the plurality of points A process of specifying an area (released area in the above embodiment) in which the total determination value obtained by summing the first determination values for each position is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (step S27)
A process of displaying a map image showing the field information of the virtual space in response to the map display instruction performed by the operation input, the map image indicating the field information of the portion corresponding to the area (step S5).

According to the above configuration, the range of the map image to be released (that is, the range of the released area) can be changed according to the presence or absence of occurrence of a plurality of events. In addition, depending on which of the plurality of points is in the second state, the total judgment value at each position in the virtual space varies. The release area can be changed variously according to the event occurrence situation in ).

In the above-described embodiment, the process of identifying the released area is executed at the timing when an event occurs (see step S27 in FIG. 25), but the timing of executing the process is not limited to this. In other embodiments, the process of identifying the released area may be executed each time a map image is generated, or may be executed at the timing of generating the next map image after the occurrence of an event.

In the above-described embodiment, the predetermined event is an event that occurs when a predetermined operation input is performed when the player character is positioned at an event occurrence position set in the virtual space corresponding to the point, Specifically, it was a liberation event. Here, "an event that occurs when a predetermined operation input is performed when the player character is positioned at the event occurrence position" is not limited to the release event, and may be another event. For example, the predetermined event may be an event in which the player character reaches the event occurrence position in the virtual space (in this example, an operation input for moving the player character to the event occurrence position corresponds to the predetermined operation). Alternatively, the event may be an event in which the player character uses a specific item at the event occurrence position in the virtual space (in this example, the operation input for using the item corresponds to the predetermined operation). Further, in other embodiments, the predetermined event is not limited to an event that occurs when a predetermined operation input is performed when the player character is positioned at the event occurrence position, and other types of events (for example, It may be an event that does not require a predetermined operation input as a condition.

Further, it can be said that the game program in the above embodiment is configured to cause the computer (eg, processor 81) of the information processing device (eg, game device 2) to execute the following processing.
- Processing of setting a target range (eg, irradiation range) in the virtual space when a predetermined event (eg, irradiation event) occurs based on the game processing (steps S28 and S59)
・In the drawing process that draws the virtual space, for at least some terrain objects in the virtual space, the part included in the target range is drawn by reflecting the light source set in the virtual space, and the part included in the target range is drawn. A process of drawing a portion that cannot be drawn with a predetermined color (step S62)

According to the above configuration, it is possible to dynamically change the area with low visibility and the area with secured visibility in the virtual space according to the occurrence of the event. As a result, it is possible to provide a game in which the visible portion of the field is increased by generating an event. In addition, according to the above configuration, the portion within the target range can be drawn by reflecting the light source to make it easier to see, while the portion outside the target range is drawn in a predetermined color, The portion can be invisible or difficult to see. Thus, according to the above configuration, it is possible to easily adjust the visibility of the area on the game field.

The process of setting the target range may be a process of setting a range in a three-dimensional virtual space (for example, a process of setting the aforementioned character influence range and item influence range in the virtual space). It may be a process of setting a range on the corresponding two-dimensional plane (for example, a process of generating two-dimensional range data on the field-corresponding plane described above). In addition, although the target range conceptually indicates the range in the virtual space, the data indicating the target range is not limited to the data regarding the position in the virtual space, but the data regarding the position on the two-dimensional plane corresponding to the virtual space. (For example, the two-dimensional range data described above), or data on positions on a pixel plane corresponding to the virtual space (for example, darkness mask data).

The above-mentioned "at least some of the terrain objects" means that it is not necessary to change the drawing method for all the terrain objects according to the target range. For example, some of the terrain objects may be set as non-target objects as described above.

In the above embodiment, the game system 1 renders the object outside the target range in black, but it may be rendered in another color. Even if it is drawn in another color, it is possible to make the part invisible or difficult to see, so that the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained. For example, in the setting of the game story, the game system 1 may render in white or gray areas that are invisible or difficult to see due to fog. The "predetermined color" is a color that is set independently of the color that is set for the object corresponding to the pixel to be drawn, and does not need to be a single color. A plurality of pixels corresponding to the portion not included in the target range may be drawn so as to form a pattern with a plurality of types of predetermined colors.

Further, in another embodiment, the game system 1 may employ a configuration in which the object outside the target range is rendered with reduced brightness. For example, the game system 1 may draw the object in that portion with the brightness lower than that of the pixel when the light source is set. Specifically, in the drawing process, the game system 1 stores pixel values obtained by lowering the brightness of the pixel values reflecting the effect of the light from the light source on the pixels corresponding to the object in the portion not included in the target range in the frame buffer. may be written to The specific method of lowering the brightness is arbitrary, and the original brightness (that is, the brightness when considering the influence of light from the light source) may be lowered at a predetermined rate, or the original brightness may be reduced. The brightness may be lowered by a predetermined amount, or the brightness may be lowered so as to fall below a predetermined standard. With the above configuration, the same effects as those of the above embodiment can be obtained.

Further, it can be said that the game program in the above embodiment is configured to cause the computer (eg, processor 81) of the information processing device (eg, game device 2) to execute the following processing.
・Game processing for controlling the player character in the virtual space based on the operation input (step S32)
・When a predetermined event (for example, a release event) occurs based on game processing, a point associated with the occurred event is selected as the first point among a plurality of points (for example, reference points) set in the virtual space. Processing for transitioning from state 1 (for example, unreleased state) to second state (for example, released state) (step S25)
A process of specifying an area (released area in the above embodiment) that includes at least a point in the second state among a plurality of points (step S27)
Rendering processing for rendering, in a predetermined color, a portion of at least a portion of the terrain object in the virtual space that is not included in the target range (for example, irradiation range) that includes at least a portion of the area (step S62)
A process of displaying a map image showing the field information of the virtual space in response to the map display instruction performed by the operation input, the map image showing the field information of the portion corresponding to the release area (step S5)

According to the above configuration, it is possible to change the range in which visibility is ensured in the virtual space (that is, the target range) according to the change in the area where the field information is not shown in the map image. That is, it is possible to display the virtual space in a display mode that ensures visibility for the released area in which the field information is newly indicated in the map image. Further, according to the above configuration, the range in which the visibility is ensured in the virtual space is expanded in accordance with the occurrence of the event, and the region in which the field information is indicated in the map image is also expanded. It is possible to provide a game that fully exhibits the game property of expanding the range.

In another embodiment, in the drawing process in the above configuration, the game system 1 draws the part not included in the target range with a predetermined color, instead of drawing the part not included in the target range. It may be rendered darker than the portion included in the target range. Specifically, in the drawing process, the game system 1 may write, in the frame buffer, a pixel value whose brightness is reduced by a predetermined method with respect to the pixel value that reflects the effect of the light from the light source. . The predetermined method may be, for example, a method of reducing the original brightness at a predetermined rate (or by a predetermined value), or a method of changing the brightness so that the brightness is below a predetermined standard. may

In the above-described embodiment, the game system 1 includes, as the target range, (a) the total sum of at least one or more determination values based on one or more points in the second state among the plurality of points; Within a range consisting of positions where the judgment value is a predetermined value or more, and (b) a range where the two-dimensional distance from the two-dimensional position corresponding to the point is equal to or less than the threshold value (i.e., release area and within the point influence range). According to this, it is possible to suppress the range in which the visibility is ensured in the virtual space from becoming too large, thereby reducing the possibility of losing the game feature of expanding the search range by generating an event. can do.

In the above embodiment, when a process is executed using data (meaning including a program) in a certain information processing apparatus, part of the data necessary for the process is It may be transmitted from a different information processing device. At this time, the certain information processing device may perform the above process using data received from the other information processing device and data stored in itself.

Note that in other embodiments, the information processing system may not include part of the configuration in the above embodiments, or may not perform part of the processes performed in the above embodiments. For example, in order to achieve a part of the specific effects of the above-described embodiments, the information processing system may be provided with a configuration for achieving the above effects, and may execute processing for achieving the above effects. It does not have to be provided, and no other processing need be performed.

The above-described embodiment is used, for example, as a game system or a game program for the purpose of dynamically changing a low-visibility area and a high-visibility area in a virtual space according to the occurrence of an event. Is possible.

1 game system 2 main device 81 processor 201 player character 202 reference point 203 landmark object

Claims (36)

In the computer of the information processing equipment,
setting a target range in a virtual space when a predetermined event occurs based on game processing;
In the drawing process for drawing the virtual space, for at least a part of the terrain object in the virtual space, a portion included in the target range is drawn by reflecting a light source set in the virtual space; Make the part not included in the target range be drawn with a predetermined color or with reduced brightness,
game program. The computer, in the drawing process,
generating, for each pixel, at least mask data indicating whether or not a position corresponding to the pixel of the terrain object is included in the target range with respect to the at least part of the terrain object;
rendering to a frame buffer reflecting the light source the pixels for which the position of the at least part of the terrain object is included in the target range in the mask data;
Pixels for which the position of the at least part of the terrain object is not included in the target range in the mask data are drawn in the frame buffer with the predetermined color or with reduced brightness. let
The game program according to claim 1. The drawing process is a drawing process based on deferred rendering,
The computer, in the drawing process,
In a first step, writing to a G-buffer and a depth buffer for at least some terrain objects in the virtual space;
In a second step, for each pixel, generating the mask data based on the position corresponding to the pixel, the depth value stored in the depth buffer, and the target range;
In a third step, drawing to the frame buffer is performed based on at least the data stored in the G buffer and the mask data;
3. A game program according to claim 2. The computer further comprises, in the drawing process,
In the first stage, an exclusion mask indicating that writing to the G buffer and the depth buffer is performed for each pixel for a predetermined object, and that the pixels corresponding to the object are excluded from application of the mask data. generate data,
In the third step, the pixels indicated by the exclusion mask data are rendered by a method that allows the predetermined object and the portion of the at least part of the terrain object that is not included in the target range to be visually distinguished from the predetermined object. to do
4. A game program according to claim 3. The mask data is data indicating the degree to which the predetermined color is rendered or the degree to which the brightness is reduced for each pixel,
The computer, in the drawing process,
A pixel value obtained by synthesizing the predetermined color according to the degree or a pixel value having brightness lowered according to the degree is written to the frame buffer with respect to the pixel value calculated by reflecting the light source. let
3. A game program according to claim 2. In the virtual space, at least a light source is set as the light source, and a predetermined brightness is set regardless of the position in the virtual space.
The game program according to claim 1. to the computer;
setting a reference point for the target range in the virtual space in response to the occurrence of the predetermined event;
Based on the distance from the reference point, setting the target range so as to include a range in which the distance is less than or equal to a threshold;
A game program according to any one of claims 1 to 6. to the computer;
After the reference point is set according to the occurrence of the predetermined event, the target range is expanded by increasing the threshold over time.
The game program according to claim 7. to the computer;
further installing a point light source in the virtual space in response to the occurrence of the predetermined event;
The game program according to claim 7. the event is an event in which a predetermined item is arranged in the virtual space;
to the computer;
setting the position of the reference point based on the position where the predetermined item is arranged;
The game program according to claim 7. The computer further comprises:
controlling the player character in the virtual space based on the operation input;
The predetermined event is an event in which the surroundings of the player character become the target range based on the operation input,
The computer further comprises:
setting the position of the player character as the position of the reference point;
The game program according to claim 7. The computer further comprises:
controlling the player character in the virtual space based on the operation input;
The event is an event that occurs when a predetermined operation input is performed when the player character is positioned at an event occurrence position set in the virtual space,
The computer further comprises:
updating two-dimensional range data two-dimensionally indicating the target range in the virtual space in response to the occurrence of the event so that at least a range corresponding to the event occurrence position in the virtual space is the target range;
generating the mask data further based on the two-dimensional range data;
A game program according to any one of claims 2 to 6. The computer, in the drawing process,
Determining for each pixel whether or not the at least part of the terrain object is included in the target range;
causing pixels included in the target range to be drawn in a frame buffer by reflecting the light source;
Pixels not included in the target range are drawn in the frame buffer with the predetermined color or with reduced brightness.
The game program according to claim 1. comprising at least one information processing device comprising a processor;
At least one processor of the at least one information processing device,
When a predetermined event occurs based on game processing, a target range is set in the virtual space,
In the drawing process for drawing the virtual space, for at least a part of the terrain object in the virtual space, a portion included in the target range is drawn by reflecting a light source set in the virtual space; Draw the parts that are not included in the target area with a predetermined color or with reduced brightness,
Information processing system. at least one of the processors
generating, for each pixel, at least mask data indicating whether or not a position corresponding to the pixel of the terrain object is included in the target range, with respect to the at least part of the terrain object;
drawing to a frame buffer reflecting the light source for pixels for which the position of the at least part of the terrain object is included in the target range in the mask data;
Pixels for which the position of the at least part of the terrain object is not included in the target range in the mask data are drawn in the frame buffer with the predetermined color or with reduced brightness. ,
The information processing system according to claim 14. The drawing process is a drawing process based on deferred rendering,
At least one of the processors, in the drawing process,
In a first step, writing to a G-buffer and a depth buffer for at least some terrain objects in said virtual space;
In a second step, for each pixel, generating the mask data based on the position corresponding to the pixel, the depth value stored in the depth buffer, and the target range;
In a third stage, drawing to the frame buffer is performed based on at least the data stored in the G buffer and the mask data;
The information processing system according to claim 15. At least one of the processors, in the drawing process,
In the first step, for each pixel of a predetermined object, writing to the G buffer and the depth buffer is performed, and exclusion mask data indicating that the pixels corresponding to the object are excluded from application of the mask data. to generate
In the third step, the pixels indicated by the exclusion mask data are rendered by a method that allows the predetermined object and the portion of the at least part of the terrain object that is not included in the target range to be visually distinguished from the predetermined object. I do,
The information processing system according to claim 16. The mask data is data indicating the degree to which the predetermined color is rendered or the degree to which the brightness is reduced for each pixel,
At least one of the processors, in the drawing process,
A pixel value obtained by synthesizing the predetermined color according to the degree, or a pixel value whose brightness is lowered according to the degree, with respect to the pixel value calculated by reflecting the light source is written to the frame buffer. ,
The information processing system according to claim 15. In the virtual space, at least a light source is set as the light source, and a predetermined brightness is set regardless of the position in the virtual space.
The information processing system according to claim 14. at least one of the processors
setting a reference point for the target range in the virtual space in response to the occurrence of the predetermined event;
Based on the distance from the reference point, the target range is set so as to include a range in which the distance is equal to or less than a threshold.
The information processing system according to any one of claims 14 to 19. at least one of the processors
After the reference point is set according to the occurrence of the predetermined event, the target range is expanded by increasing the threshold over time.
The information processing system according to claim 20. at least one of the processors
further installing a point light source in the virtual space in response to the occurrence of the predetermined event;
The information processing system according to claim 20. the event is an event in which a predetermined item is arranged in the virtual space;
at least one of the processors
setting the position of the reference point based on the position where the predetermined item is arranged;
The information processing system according to claim 20. at least one of the processors
controlling the player character in the virtual space based on the operation input;
The predetermined event is an event in which the surroundings of the player character become the target range based on the operation input,
at least one of the processors
setting the position of the player character as the position of the reference point;
The information processing system according to claim 20. at least one of the processors
controlling the player character in the virtual space based on the operation input;
The event is an event that occurs when a predetermined operation input is performed when the player character is positioned at an event occurrence position set in the virtual space,
at least one of the processors
updating two-dimensional range data two-dimensionally indicating the target range in the virtual space in response to the occurrence of the event so that at least a range corresponding to the event occurrence position in the virtual space is the target range;
generating the mask data further based on the two-dimensional range data;
The information processing system according to any one of claims 15 to 19. At least one of the processors, in the drawing process,
determining for each pixel whether or not the at least part of the terrain object is included in the target range;
For pixels included in the target range, drawing to a frame buffer reflecting the light source,
Pixels not included in the target range are drawn in the frame buffer with the predetermined color or with reduced brightness.
The information processing system according to claim 14. with a processor
The processor
When a predetermined event occurs based on game processing, a target range is set in the virtual space,
In the drawing process for drawing the virtual space, for at least a part of the terrain object in the virtual space, a portion included in the target range is drawn by reflecting a light source set in the virtual space; Draw the parts that are not included in the target area with a predetermined color or with reduced brightness,
Information processing equipment. The processor, in the drawing process,
generating, for each pixel, at least mask data indicating whether or not a position corresponding to the pixel of the terrain object is included in the target range, with respect to the at least part of the terrain object;
drawing to a frame buffer reflecting the light source for pixels for which the position of the at least part of the terrain object is included in the target range in the mask data;
Pixels for which the position of the at least part of the terrain object is not included in the target range in the mask data are drawn in the frame buffer with the predetermined color or with reduced brightness. ,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 27. The drawing process is a drawing process based on deferred rendering,
The processor, in the drawing process,
In a first step, writing to a G-buffer and a depth buffer for at least some terrain objects in said virtual space;
In a second step, for each pixel, generating the mask data based on the position corresponding to the pixel, the depth value stored in the depth buffer, and the target range;
In a third stage, drawing to the frame buffer is performed based on at least the data stored in the G buffer and the mask data;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 28. The processor, in the drawing process,
In the first step, for each pixel of a predetermined object, writing to the G buffer and the depth buffer is performed, and exclusion mask data indicating that the pixels corresponding to the object are excluded from application of the mask data. to generate
In the third step, the pixels indicated by the exclusion mask data are rendered by a method that allows the predetermined object and the portion of the at least part of the terrain object that is not included in the target range to be visually distinguished from the predetermined object. I do,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 29. The processor, in the drawing process,
determining for each pixel whether or not the at least part of the terrain object is included in the target range;
For pixels included in the target range, drawing to a frame buffer reflecting the light source,
Pixels not included in the target range are drawn in the frame buffer with the predetermined color or with reduced brightness.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 27. A game processing method executed by an information processing system, comprising:
The information processing system is
When a predetermined event occurs based on game processing, a target range is set in the virtual space,
In the drawing process for drawing the virtual space, for at least a part of the terrain object in the virtual space, a portion included in the target range is drawn by reflecting a light source set in the virtual space; Draw the parts that are not included in the target area with a predetermined color or with reduced brightness,
Game processing method. The information processing system, in the drawing process,
generating, for each pixel, at least mask data indicating whether or not a position corresponding to the pixel of the terrain object is included in the target range, with respect to the at least part of the terrain object;
drawing to a frame buffer reflecting the light source for pixels for which the position of the at least part of the terrain object is included in the target range in the mask data;
Pixels for which the position of the at least part of the terrain object is not included in the target range in the mask data are drawn in the frame buffer with the predetermined color or with reduced brightness. ,
33. A game processing method according to claim 32. The drawing process is a drawing process based on deferred rendering,
The information processing system, in the drawing process,
In a first step, writing to a G-buffer and a depth buffer for at least some terrain objects in said virtual space;
In a second step, for each pixel, generating the mask data based on the position corresponding to the pixel, the depth value stored in the depth buffer, and the target range;
In a third stage, drawing to the frame buffer is performed based on at least the data stored in the G buffer and the mask data;
34. A game processing method according to claim 33. The information processing system, in the drawing process,
In the first step, for each pixel of a predetermined object, writing to the G buffer and the depth buffer is performed, and exclusion mask data indicating that the pixels corresponding to the object are excluded from application of the mask data. to generate
In the third step, the pixels indicated by the exclusion mask data are rendered by a method that allows the predetermined object and the portion of the at least part of the terrain object that is not included in the target range to be visually distinguished from the predetermined object. I do,
35. A game processing method according to claim 34. The information processing system, in the drawing process,
determining for each pixel whether or not the at least part of the terrain object is included in the target range;
For pixels included in the target range, drawing to a frame buffer reflecting the light source,
Pixels not included in the target range are drawn in the frame buffer with the predetermined color or with reduced brightness.
33. A game processing method according to claim 32.

Images