JP3362392B2 - GAME SYSTEM AND COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to computer game systems, and more particularly to golf games.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A golf game in which a computer is used to simulate a golf play is known. In a conventional golf game, a player selects an arbitrary golf club on a virtual golf course and hits a ball (hereinafter, also referred to as “shot”) to advance a pseudo golf play.

When making a shot, the player manually controls a controller or the like attached to the game system to control the strength and timing of hitting a virtual ball. The most typical operation method expresses the strength of a shot by a gauge displayed on the game screen. For example, a gauge showing 0% to 100% strength is displayed on the game screen, and the cursor position in the gauge is changed from 0% to 10% in response to the player's shot start operation.
Move toward 0% position. The player operates the controller at a desired position to determine the strength of the shot. Furthermore, when the player determines that the cursor has reached the optimum timing point displayed on the gauge, the player operates the controller to determine the timing of the shot. The computer on the game system side determines the flight distance and direction of the virtual ball according to the determined shot strength and timing, and moves the ball on the virtual golf course. In this way, the player can make a shot with a desired strength and proceed with golf play.

Since the optimum timing point of the shot is displayed on the gauge described above, if the player inputs a shot instruction at the optimum timing point, the ball flies straight.
If the user's shot instruction input deviates from the timing when the cursor passes the optimum timing point, the ball flies in the left and right directions. That is, when the timing of shot instruction input is earlier than the optimum timing point, the ball flies rightward, and when it is late, it flies leftward.

However, a shot range having a predetermined width with respect to the optimum timing point is also displayed on the gauge, and if the player inputs a shot instruction within the shot range, the ball will swing to the left or right to some extent. Fly toward the target. On the other hand, if the player's shot instruction input timing is out of the shot range, the ball hardly flies or flies in a ridiculous direction. Therefore, the shot range is a guideline for flying the ball almost in the target direction with an acceptable degree of flight direction blurring, and the player should input the shot instruction at the optimal timing point if possible, and at the worst, within the shot range. Strive to.

[0006]

Conventionally, this shot range has been set to have the same width on the left and right centering on the optimum timing point. In other words, as a player's consciousness, a miss shot (the ball flies to the right) and a miss shot (the ball flies to the left) because the input timing of the shot instruction is too early with respect to the best timing point It can happen with almost the same probability.

However, in actual golf play, there is a case where the player does not want to fly the ball in one direction depending on the course form and the presence / absence of obstacles on the course. For example, if there is a large pond on the right side of the fairway, the player will be conscious that he / she can fly slightly to the left, but does not want to fly to the right. Thus, in actual golf play, the consciousness that the player does not want to fly the ball to the right and the consciousness that he does not want to fly to the left are not always the same.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a golf game system which gives a player a psychological pressure to make the probability of miss shots to the left and right to be different so as to give a realistic strategy.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a virtual image display device, an input device for outputting a signal according to an operation by a player, and a virtual output device are referred to while referring to the output of the input device. In a game system including a control device for advancing a different golf play and displaying an image according to the progress status on the screen of the display device, the control device, on the display device, a graph and the A shot timing display means for displaying shot timing by a cursor that moves relatively to the graph, an optimum shot timing point, and a right area and a left area displayed on the left and right of the optimum shot timing point are preferable. Shot range display means for displaying a shot range indicating shot timing on the graph, the right side area and the left side area Characterized in that it comprises a changing means for changing the display form of the shot range to display asymmetrically, the.

According to the game system configured as described above, when a player makes a shot, the timing of the shot is displayed by the graph and the cursor that moves with respect to the graph. On the graph, a shot range indicating a suitable shot timing is displayed including an optimum shot timing point and right and left areas displayed on the left and right of the optimum shot timing point. Here, the changing means changes the display form of the shot range so that the right side area and the left side area are displayed asymmetrically. As a result, compared to the case where the right side area and the left side area of the shot range are displayed symmetrically, the player is under psychological pressure with respect to the direction of the hit ball, and the game is more interesting.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the game system according to the first aspect, there is provided an analyzing means for analyzing a form of a hole in which a play is progressing and creating an analysis result, wherein the changing means is: The size of at least one of the right side area and the left side area may be changed based on the analysis result. This makes it difficult for the player to control the flight direction.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the game system according to the second aspect, the analyzing means refers to layout data prepared for each hole, and in the direction of the shot target point from the current position of the ball. Characterized by analyzing the morphology of the holes. This makes it possible to change the difficulty level of the shot and the like according to the form of the hole in the direction of the target point of the shot.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the game system according to the third aspect, the analyzing means analyzes the presence or absence of an obstacle in the shot target point direction from the current position of the ball. . Thereby, psychological pressure can be given according to the existence of the obstacle.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the game system according to the fourth aspect, the analyzing means includes obstacles on the right side and the left side of the straight line connecting the current position of the ball and the shot target point. The presence / absence is analyzed, the changing means reduces the left area of the shot range when there is an obstacle on the right side of the straight line, and the shot range of the shot range when there is an obstacle on the left side of the straight line. The feature is that the right area is made smaller. This allows
It is possible to make shots in the direction without obstacles difficult.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, virtual golf play is advanced with reference to the output from the input device of the game machine, and an image corresponding to the progress is displayed on the screen of the display device. A computer-readable storage medium in which a program for is recorded, wherein the program is
The computer provided in the game machine, on the display device, a shot timing display means for displaying shot timing by a graph and a cursor moving on the graph, an optimal shot timing point, and an optimal shot timing point. Shot range display means for displaying a shot range showing a suitable shot timing on the graph, including a right area and a left area displayed on the left and right, and a shot range for displaying the right area and the left area asymmetrically. And changing means for changing the display form of.

According to the storage medium of the present invention, by causing the computer to read and execute the program,
The computer can be made to function as a control device in the game system of the present invention. The storage medium includes a magnetic storage medium, an optical storage medium, a magneto-optical storage medium, a semiconductor storage element, and various other storage means.

[0017]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control system of a home golf game system to which the present invention is applied. The home-use game system executes a predetermined game according to a game program recorded in a CD-ROM 15 as a storage medium.

This game system includes a CPU 1 mainly composed of a microprocessor, a ROM 2 and a RAM 3 as main storage devices for the CPU 1,
It has a graphics processing unit (GPU) 4 and a sound processing unit (SPU) 6 for image processing and audio processing, buffers 5 and 7 for these units, and a CD-ROM reader 8. An operating system as a program necessary for controlling the overall operation of the game machine is written in the ROM 2. The RAM 3 has a CD-ROM as a storage medium.
The game program and data read from 15 are written as necessary. The GPU 4 receives the image data from the CPU 1, draws a game screen on the frame buffer 5, converts the drawn image data into a predetermined video reproduction signal, and outputs it to the monitor 9 at a predetermined timing. The SPU 6 reproduces data such as voices and musical tones and sound source data read from the CD-ROM 15 and recorded in the sound buffer 7, and outputs them from the speaker 10. The CD-ROM reading device 8 reads a program or data recorded on the CD-ROM 15 according to an instruction from the CPU 1 and outputs a signal corresponding to the read content. The CD-ROM 15 stores programs and data necessary for executing the game, the details of which will be described later. A home-use television receiver is generally used as the monitor 9, and a built-in speaker of the television receiver is generally used as the speaker 10.

Further, a communication control device 11 is connected to the CPU 1 via a bus 14, and a controller 12 and an auxiliary storage device 13 are detachably connected to the device 11. The controller 12 functions as an input device, and an operation member that receives an operation by the player is provided therein. Communication control device 1
1 is a fixed cycle (for example, 1/60 second) of the controller 12
The operating state of the operating member is scanned and a signal corresponding to the scanning result is output to the CPU 1. The CPU 1 determines the operation state of the controller 12 based on the signal. The controller 12 and the auxiliary storage device 13 are the communication control device 1
A plurality of 1s can be connected in parallel.

In the above structure, the monitor 9, the speaker 10, the controller 12, the CD-ROM 15 and the other components other than the auxiliary storage device 13 are integrally housed in a predetermined housing to form the game machine main body 16. .

The controller 12 can have various configurations. For example, the general-purpose controller 12A shown in FIG.
Can be used.

The general-purpose controller 12A of FIG. 2 is generally used regardless of the type of game, and four push button switches PB1 to PB4 and PB5 to PB8 are crossed on the left and right of the resin main body MB. Provided in the mold,
Two push button switches P are provided on the front side of the main body MB.
B9 to PB12 are provided. Small pushbutton switches PB13 and PB14 are provided in the center of the main body MB. The left push button switches PB1 to PB4 are generally used as means for designating the moving direction of a character, a cursor, etc., and these may be collectively referred to as direction indicating switches. Various commands and the like of the game are assigned to the four push button switches PB5 to PB8 on the right side. On the push button switches PB5 to PB8, symbols such as “Δ”, “×”, “□” or “◯” are displayed as the symbols. The front side push button switches PB9, PB11 have the number "1", and the push button switches PB10, 12 have the number "2".
Are displayed respectively, the push button switch PB9 is "L1 button", PB10 is "L2 button", push button switch PB1
1 is called the "R1 button", and the push button switch PB12 is called the "R2 button". Further, the push button switch PB13 is called a select button, and the push button switch PB14 is called a start button.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a display image of a shot scene in the golf game system to which the present invention is applied.

The shot scene of FIG. 3 is a so-called tee shot scene. In FIG. 3, the golfer 20 is displayed in the center of the teeing ground 21, and the golfer 20
The course spreads in front of. A target point display 24 is displayed at approximately the center of the course. The target point display 24 shows the position where the ball will reach when a shot is made with ideal power and timing at the currently selected golf club. The player can move the position of the target point display 24 left and right by operating a predetermined push button switch of the controller 12. This allows the player to determine the shot direction.

At the upper left of FIG. 3, information such as the hole number, the par of the hole, and the distance is displayed. The club selection unit 22 is displayed at the lower right, and the currently selected driver (1W) is highlighted by diagonal lines. Further, the remaining distance to the pin is displayed in the box 23 above it.

Below the golf player 20, a power gauge 25 for displaying the power of the shot in the form of a graph.
It is shown. An enlarged view of the power gauge 25 is shown in FIG. The power gauge is a gauge displayed for the purpose of determining the power and timing of the shot when performing the shot, and the player performs the shot by operating the operation button of the controller while looking at the power gauge 25. 4A to 4C show the display state of the power gauge at the time of shot, and FIG. 4D shows the shot range portion.

Power gauge during shot Fig. 4
This will be described with reference to (a) to (d). When shot,
The power gauge 25 displays a power value of 0% to 100%. Regarding the flight distance of the shot, each type of golf club (driver, 3 iron, etc.
Also called "count". ) Is predetermined by the game side. Therefore, if the maximum flight distance of the driver is determined to be 250 yards, for example, when the player selects the driver as the club and shoots with 100% power, the flight distance of 250 yards is obtained and with 50% power. When shot, you will get a flight distance of 125 yards.

At the time of a shot, the player depresses the push button switch PB8 of the controller shown in FIG. 2A, for example, three times in total. The first depression corresponds to a shot start operation, the second depression corresponds to a power determination operation, and the third depression corresponds to a shot timing determination operation. That is, by pressing down the first time, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (a) to (c), the cursor 28 starts moving leftward from the 0% position at a constant speed. The player monitors the position of the cursor 28 on the power gauge 25 and performs the second depression at the desired power position. For example, when the player takes a shot with 80% power, when the cursor 28 reaches the position near 80% of the power gauge 25, the player pushes down for the second time. This determines the shot power.

When the second depression is performed, the cursor 28 once reaches the left end of the power gauge 25, and then the cursor 28 shown in FIG.
It starts to return to the right direction (0% direction) shown in (c) at a constant speed, and goes beyond the 0% position of the power gauge to the predetermined right end unless the player performs the third depression. As shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C, 0 of the power gauge 25
The optimum timing point 30 of the shot is displayed at the position of%. A shot range bar 31 (hatched portion) is displayed on the left and right of the optimum timing point 30. The shot range bar 31 indicates a range for normally shooting the ball (a range in which the ball can be almost moved toward the target point even if the direction is laterally deviated to some extent). FIG. 4D is an enlarged view of the shot range bar 31. The shot range bar 31 includes a left side bar 31L and a right side bar 31R.

The player observes the movement of the cursor 28 while being aware of the positions of the shot range bar 31 and the optimum timing point 30, and when the player determines that the cursor 28 has reached the optimum timing point 30, performs the third pressing.
The ball flies straight when the third depression matches the optimal timing point 30. If the third depression is made earlier than the optimum timing point 30 and the cursor 28 is in the left bar 31L, the ball flies to the right. Conversely, 3
If the second press is made later than the optimum timing point 30 and the cursor 28 is in the right side bar 31R, the ball flies leftward. When the third press is deviated from the optimum timing point 30, the larger the amount of deviation (that is, the distance between the position of the cursor 28 and the position of the optimum timing point 30 at the time of the third press) is larger. The amount of deviation of the ball in the direction of becomes large. That is, even if the third pressing is deviated from the optimum timing point 30, if the amount of deviation is small, the direction of the ball does not move much, but if the amount of deviation is large, the direction of the ball deviates greatly. In this way, one shot is performed by the player pressing down a total of three times.

According to the present invention, when the shot is performed in this manner, the form / situation of the course (hole being played),
It is characterized in that the display of the shot bar is changed to an asymmetrical form in accordance with other conditions. This process will be described with reference to FIG. FIGS. 5A to 5D show the layout of a certain hole, showing a tee ground 40, a pond 41, a bunker 42, and the like. Below the layout of each hole, the shape of the shot bar 31 displayed corresponding to the hole is shown.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, it is assumed that there is a large pond 41 on the right side of the fairway in a certain hole. Players usually have the consciousness that they don't want to put the ball in the pond, that is, they don't want the ball to fly to the right. At such time, the left and right bars 31L,
If 31R is displayed (see FIG. 4 (d)), the player can play 3 after the cursor 38 enters the right bar 31R.
It tries to prevent the ball from flying to the right by doing the second push down. However, if the right side bar 31R is not displayed as shown in FIG. 5 (a) and the shot range bar is asymmetrical, it is difficult to determine the timing of the third pressing because the player does not have a display that can be visually relied upon. Become. Further, since the left bar 31L is displayed, it is easy to be conscious of this and it is easy to make a mistake in the third pressing. As described above, by changing the display of the shot bar according to the course form and the situation, it is possible to give the player a kind of pressure and make the game more interesting.

FIG. 5B shows a case where the course form is almost opposite to that of FIG. 5A, and only the right side bar 31R is displayed. Further, as shown in FIGS. 5 (c) and 5 (d), instead of completely deleting one of the left and right bars,
The length is shortened to have an asymmetrical display form, whereby the pressure exerted on the player's consciousness can be adjusted.

Next, such a shot range bar 31
The display process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Note that this processing is performed by the CPU 1 shown in FIG.
-Read out the program previously recorded in ROM15,
This is executed by controlling the GPU 1 and the monitor 9. Also, as a premise that this process is executed,
It is assumed that the course layout data can be acquired. The course layout data is data indicating the shape of each hole of each course, the position of obstacles, the position of the green, the position of the cup, etc., and is prepared in advance for each course and hole, and is stored in the CD-ROM 15 shown in FIG. Remembered When the player starts playing the game and selects a certain course, the course layout data corresponding to the course is loaded from the CD-ROM 15 to the RAM 3 and referred to during the progress of the game.

First, the CPU 1 determines the target direction of the player's shot based on the current position data of the player's ball and the current position data of the target point display (step S2). Next, referring to the course layout data, it is checked whether or not there are obstacles (including a pond, a bunker, a tree, an OB area, etc.) on the left and right of the target direction, and the deformation amount of the shot range bar 31 is determined based on the result. Yes (step S4). For example, assuming a straight line connecting the current position of the ball and the green position, and if there is an obstacle on the right side of the straight line in the target direction, the left bar 31L is shortened by a predetermined amount. Similarly, when there is an obstacle on the left side of the straight line in the target direction, the right side bar 31R is shortened by a predetermined amount. The amount by which the right or left bar is shortened is determined according to the size of the obstacle, the distance between the obstacle and the straight line connecting the current position of the ball and the green (or cup), and the like. Then, the shot range bar 31 whose length has been adjusted according to the determined deformation amount is displayed on the monitor 9 (step S6). In this way, the display of the shot range bar 31 can be asymmetrically modified according to the form and situation of the course.

In the above embodiment, the display form of the shot range bar is modified according to the form of the course. In addition to this, for example, the characteristics of each character of the golf player in the game (for example, the hit ball tends to fly to the left or right), the characteristics of the club to be used (for example, a club may easily hit in a certain direction), and shots It is also possible to change the display form of the shot range bar according to the situation of the feet when performing (toe up, down, ball lie, etc.).

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the display range of the shot range bar is asymmetrically changed according to the form and situation of the course, etc., it can give the player a kind of psychological pressure with regard to the direction of the shot, etc., and can increase the fun of the game. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control system of a golf game system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an appearance of a controller usable in the golf game system of FIG.

3 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen at the time of a shot in the golf game system of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example of a power gauge.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a modified example of the shot range bar according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a shot range bar display process.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... CPU 2 ... ROM 3 ... RAM 4 ... GPU 5 ... Frame buffer 6 ... SPU 7 ... Sound buffer 8 ... CD-ROM reader 9 ... Monitor 10 ... speaker 11 ... Communication control device 12 ... Controller 13 ... Auxiliary storage device 14 ... Bus 22 ... Club selection section 25 ... Power gauge 28 ... Cursor 30 ... Optimal timing point 31 ... Shot range bar

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (56) References Oh! PC, SoftBank Corp., August 1, 1998, Volume 17, Issue 4, 329-334 Dengeki PlayStation, Media Works, June 9, 2000, Volume 6, Issue 15, 89 (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A63F 13/00-13/12 A63F 9/24

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A display device for displaying an image, an input device for outputting a signal in response to a player's operation, and a virtual golf play while referring to the output of the input device. In the game system including a control device for displaying an image on the screen of the display device, the control device uses a graph and a cursor that moves relatively to the graph on the display device to control the timing of shots. A shot timing display means for displaying, a optimum shot timing point, a right area and a left area displayed on the left and right of the optimum shot timing point, and a shot range indicating a suitable shot timing is displayed on the graph. The shot range display means and the shot range display means for asymmetrically displaying the right side area and the left side area. Game system characterized by comprising a changing unit, the changing the display mode. 2. An analysis means for analyzing a form of a hole in which a play is progressing and creating an analysis result, wherein the changing means has a size of at least one of the right side area and the left side area based on the analysis result. The game system according to claim 1, wherein the game system is changed. 3. The analysis device according to claim 2, wherein the analysis device refers to layout data prepared for each hole and analyzes the form of the hole from the current position of the ball toward the shot target point. Game system. 4. The game system according to claim 3, wherein the analysis means analyzes the presence or absence of an obstacle in the shot target point direction from the current position of the ball. 5. The analyzing means analyzes the presence or absence of obstacles on the right side and the left side of a straight line connecting the current position of the ball and the shot target point, and the changing means moves to the right side of the straight line. The game according to claim 4, wherein a left area of the shot range is reduced when there is an obstacle, and a right area of the shot range is reduced when there is an obstacle on the left side of the straight line. system. 6. A program for causing a virtual golf play to proceed while displaying an output from an input device of a game machine and displaying an image corresponding to the progress on the screen of the display device is recorded. A computer-readable storage medium, wherein the program causes a computer provided in the game machine to display a shot timing with a graph and a cursor that moves on the graph on the display device. Means, an optimum shot timing point, and a shot range display means for displaying a shot range showing a suitable shot timing on the graph, including a right area and a left area displayed on the left and right of the optimum shot timing point, the right side Shot range display type to display area and left area asymmetrically A computer-readable storage medium characterized by causing each of them to function as changing means for changing the state.