JP3392365B2 - Video game apparatus and recording medium storing program - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to realization of a save that can be easily performed when interrupting a video game, particularly an adventure game or a role playing game.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In this type of adventure game and role playing game, it takes a long time to clear the game, so that the game is interrupted midway and the progress status up to that point is saved as continue information.

For example, a character is saved by moving the character to a save point where it can be saved and having a conversation with a non-player character at the save point,
Some save points are saved by pressing a specific push button to display a command list and selecting a save command from the list.

[0004]

However, saving the continue information is not only for the purpose of interrupting the game, but also for the game over due to the character being incapacitated due to the battle with the enemy, and for the game progress. It has been pointed out that the player's operation becomes redundant in the above-described save method in many cases in order to prepare for a selection error of the option in some cases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a technique capable of easily saving continue information in an adventure game or a role playing game.

[0006]

The first means of the present invention is to:
In a video game device for advancing a game while operating a character in a map screen displayed on a display means by an input command from an input means, a save screen in which save points are arranged for saving a progress state of the game. Display control means for displaying, movement display means for moving and displaying the character in the save screen, association determination means for determining whether or not the character and the save point are associated, and the association determination means for It is a video game device provided with a save means for saving the progress of the game when it is determined that the character is associated with the save point.

According to the first means of the present invention, a save screen in which save points are arranged is displayed, and the character is saved by moving to the save points. In this way, saving can be easily performed and the game can proceed smoothly.

Here, the display means means a display device such as a CRT or a liquid crystal display. The map screen means a virtual space in which a character in which terrain, structures, etc. are arranged acts. The character means a player character operated by the player. The input means means an input device such as a keyboard and a controller.
Determining whether or not the character and the save point are associated with each other means that the coordinate position of the character and the coordinate position of the save point have a fixed relationship due to the movement of the character.

A second means of the present invention is a video game device for advancing a game while operating a character in a map screen displayed on the display means by an input command from the input means, and to display the progress state of the game. Display control means for displaying a save screen on which save points for saving and return points for returning to the map screen are arranged; movement display means for moving and displaying the character in the save screen; and the character. Association determination means for determining whether or not the save point or the character is associated with the return point, and the progress state of the game when the association determination means determines the association between the character and the save point And a saving means for saving the When association with Into is determined, the display control means is a Deogemu apparatus and displaying the map screen.

According to the second means of the present invention, a save screen in which save points and return points are arranged is displayed,
By moving the character once moved to the save screen to the return point, it is possible to return to the aforementioned map screen. In this way, if the player tries to continue playing the game without saving, the map screen can be easily restored and the game can be played smoothly.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second means, the display control means sets a stop point for stopping the game after the progress of the game is saved by the save means. A post-save screen in which return points for returning to the map screen are arranged is displayed, the movement display means moves and displays the character in the post-save screen, and the association determination means sets the character and the character. The display control means displays a stop screen when it is determined whether or not the stop point or the character is associated with the return point, and when the association determination means determines the association of the character and the stop point. When the association determination unit determines that the character is associated with the return point, the display control unit may It is intended to display a-up screen.

According to the third means of the present invention, after saving,
Display the post-save screen with stop points and return points, and move the character to the stop point to display the stop screen. If you want to continue the game without stopping, move the character to the return point and the character Returns to the aforementioned map screen. In this way, after saving, the game can be selected to be stopped or continued, and the operability of the game can be improved.

A fourth means of the present invention stores a computer program for causing a video game device to advance a game while operating a character in a map screen displayed on the display means by an input command from the input means. A display control step of displaying a save screen on the recording medium in which save points for saving the progress of the game are displayed; a moving display step of moving and displaying the character in the save screen; An association determination step of determining whether or not the save point is associated, and a save step of saving the progress of the game when the association determination step determines the association of the character with the save point. Computer program for execution by a provided video game device A recording medium storing beam.

Here, the recording medium is a CD-RO.
Any recording medium such as M, game cartridges, memory cards, floppy disks, magnetic disks, and magneto-optical disks can be used. Among them, CD-ROMs and game cartridges are particularly suitable for games.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0016]

Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 shows a state in which a video game device of the present invention is connected to a video display device 4 (hereinafter, simply referred to as "display 4").

A controller 3 is connected to the game machine body 1 as an external input device, and a CD-ROM (C, not shown) is provided under a cover 2a of the CD-ROM drive.
The Ompact Disc-ROM) 2 is mounted to provide a game program and game data. In addition, a memory card 13 is inserted above the connection portion of the controller 3 and records game continue information and the like.

The display 4 is for providing the player with the display symbols output from the game machine body 1 as a display image, and the speaker 5 for providing the voice symbols with sound to the player, and a general home television receiver is used. You can

The controller 3 has various operation buttons. A direction key 6 is provided on the left side of the controller 3 when viewed in the plane direction. On the other hand, on the right side of the controller, the O button 7, the X button 8, the □ button 9, and the Δ button 10 are arranged. In addition, a start button 11 and a select button 12 are provided at the center of the controller 3.
Is provided.

FIG. 2 shows a hardware block diagram centering on the game machine 1. CPU for bus 20
(Central Processing Unit)
21, DRAM (Dynamic Random Ac)
cess Memory) 22, MDEC23, GPU
(Graphic Processing Unit)
24 etc. are connected respectively. Further, the CPU 21 has a GTE (Geometric Transfer En
gine) 25 is connected.

Of these, the MDEC 23 is a processor for reproducing a moving image and develops a moving image read from the CD-ROM 2. The GTE 25 is a dedicated graphic processor, and is composed of a plurality of arithmetic units that perform parallel processing, and performs coordinate conversion, rendering, and the like on image data expanded by the MDEC 23 by parallel processing.

The GPU 24 is a dedicated graphic processor like the GTE 25, and is in charge of actual drawing such as shading, texture mapping, and raster processing based on the data subjected to coordinate conversion calculation by the GTE 25. The resulting image data is VRA as a buffer.
It is sent to the decompression device 27 via the M (Video RAM) 26. The decompression device 27 decompresses the image data and performs digital-analog conversion, and the resulting image signal is output as an RGB (Red, Green, Blue) signal and is input to the NTSC encoder 28 to be an NTSC video signal. Is output.

A ROM 29 storing a boot program is connected to the bus 20, and the CD drive 3
0 is CD-DSP (CD-Digital Signal)
lProcessor) 31, CD-ROM decoder 3
Connected through 2.

The CD-DSP 31 filters noise. An SRAM (Static RAM) 33 as a buffer and a mechanical controller 34 are connected to the CD-ROM decoder 32, and the decoded image data is sent to the bus 20 and the audio data is SP.
U (Sound Processing Unit) 3
Send to 5. The SPU 35 is a processor in charge of audio processing, and is connected to the DRAM 3 as a buffer.
6 is used to decode the audio data decoded by the CD-ROM decoder 32, and the resulting audio data is converted to DAC (Digital Analog Converter).
ter) 37 and digital-to-analog conversion is performed, and the audio output is transmitted.

Further, the bus 20 is provided with an SIO (Serial I / O Interface) which enables bidirectional data transmission with the controller 3 and the memory card 13.
e) 38 is connected.

The video game stored in the CD-ROM 2 is an adventure game in which a player operates a character to explore an unknown land.

FIG. 3 shows a save screen displayed on the display 4 of the adventure game described above. A character 82 is displayed on the save screen 81 and is saved when the character 82 moves to the save point 83.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing such processing. That is, the display control unit 51 displays the save screen 81 on the display 4 by the input of the controller 3. The character movement display unit 52 displays the save screen 8 for the character 82 by the input of the controller 3.
Move and display inside 1. Character position recognition unit 53
Recognizes the coordinate position of the moved and displayed character 82. The save point position recognition unit 54 recognizes the coordinate position of the save point 83. If the distance between the coordinate position of the character 82 recognized by the character position recognizing unit 53 and the save point coordinate position recognized by the save point position recognizing unit 54 is equal to or less than a certain value, the relation determining unit 55 determines that there is an association. The save unit 56 includes an association determination unit 55
If it is determined that there is an association, the game continue information is written to the memory card 13.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing this. That is, the display control unit 51 receives the depression of the start button 11 of the controller 3 (101) and displays the save screen 81 on the display 4 (102). The save point position recognition unit 54 recognizes the coordinate position of the save point (103). The character movement display unit 52
When the direction key 6 of the controller 3 is pressed (104),
The character 82 is moved and displayed (105). The character position recognition unit 53 recognizes the coordinate position of the moved and displayed character 82 (106). The relation determining unit 55 calculates the distance between the save point 81 and the character 82 based on the coordinate position of the save point 81 (107). If the distance is within the set value (108), the save unit 56 writes the game continue information to the memory card 13 (1
09). On the other hand, if the distance is not within the set value, the processing from step 104 is repeated (108).

As described above, according to this embodiment,
If a save screen having save points is displayed and the character moves to the save points, the game continue information is saved, and the game can proceed smoothly.

Note that, when the character moves to the save point and starts the save, a screen indicating that the save is being executed or a sound effect may be output.

[0032]

[Second Embodiment] In the first embodiment, the save screen is displayed and the character moves to the save point to save.
Even if the save screen is displayed but you try to continue the game without saving, it is necessary to save the game once and then restart it, which complicates the operation. In this embodiment, this is solved by providing a return point on the save screen.

FIG. 6 shows the save screen 81 of this embodiment displayed on the display 4. A save point 83 is on the left side of the save screen 81, and a return point 84 to the map screen is on the right side. When the character 82 is moved to the save point 83, it is saved, while when it is moved to the return point 84, it returns to the map screen. FIG. 7 shows an example of the character 82 returned to the map screen 85. The character 82 is displayed in the map screen 85.

Such processing is realized by adding the functional block 61 to the functional block diagram of FIG. Only parts different from the first embodiment will be described below. That is, when the display control unit 51 displays the save screen, the return point position recognition unit 61 recognizes the coordinate position of the return point. The return position point coordinate position and the character position recognition unit 5
3 from the character coordinate position recognized by 3
In step 5, the distance between the two is calculated, and if the calculated distance is within the set value, it is determined that there is an association. When it is determined that there is an association, the display control unit 51 displays the map screen 85 before the character 82 moves to the save screen 81.

FIG. 8 shows a flow chart of this.
The same steps as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same step numbers, and only the portions different from the first embodiment will be described. That is, when the display control unit 51 displays the save screen (10
2) The return point position recognition unit 61 recognizes the coordinate position of the return point (201). When the relation determining unit 55 determines that the distance between the save point 83 and the character 82 is not within the set value (108), the distance between the save point 83 and the character 82 is calculated from the coordinate position of the return point and the character coordinate position (202). ). If the distance is within the set value (203), the display control unit 51 displays the map screen 85 (204). On the other hand, if the distance is not within the set value, the processing from step 104 is repeated (203).

As described above, according to this embodiment, a save screen having save points and return points is displayed,
By moving the character to one point, you can choose to save or return to the map screen, and the game can proceed more smoothly.

[0037]

[Third Embodiment] In the second embodiment, it is possible to select between saving and returning to the map screen. However, even if the player wants to save and continue the game as it is, it is necessary to stop the game and then restart it. Becomes redundant. In this embodiment, this is solved by displaying the screen after saving after saving.

FIG. 9 shows the post-save screen 86 displayed on the display 4. There is a return point 83 on the right side of the post-save screen 86 and a stop point 87 on the left side. When the character 82 is moved to the return point 86, it returns to the map screen 85, while when it is moved to the stop point 87, the game stop screen 88 (see FIG. 10) is displayed.

This processing can be realized by adding the functional block 71 to the functional block diagram of FIG. Example 2 below
Only the parts that differ from are explained. That is, when the save unit 56 saves the game continue information, the display control unit 51 displays the post-save screen 86 on the display 4. The stop point position recognizing unit 71 determines the stop point 8
Recognize the coordinate position of 7. Further, the return point position recognition unit 61 recognizes the return point position 84. The association determination unit 55 calculates the distance between the character coordinate position and the stop point coordinate position, and determines that there is association if the distance is within a set value. The display control unit 51 displays the stop screen 88 when it is determined that the character coordinate position and the stop point coordinate position are associated with each other. on the other hand,
The association determining unit 55 calculates the distance between the character coordinate position and the return point coordinate position, and determines that there is association if the distance is within the set value. Display control unit 51
Displays the map screen 85 when it is determined that the character coordinate position and the return point coordinate position are associated with each other.

Flow charts of this are shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. The same steps as those in the second embodiment are designated by the same step numbers, and only the portions different from the second embodiment will be described. That is, when the save unit 56 saves the game continue information (109), the display control unit 51 displays the post-save screen 86 (301). The stop point position recognition unit 71 recognizes the coordinate position of the stop point 87 (302). Further, the return point position recognition unit 61 recognizes the coordinate position of the return point 84 (3
03). When the direction key 6 of the controller 3 is pressed (304), the character movement display unit 52 moves and displays the character 82 within the after-saving screen 86 (30).
5). The character position recognition unit 55 recognizes the coordinate position of the character 82 (306). The relation determining unit 55 calculates the distance between the stop point 87 and the coordinate position of the character 82 (307). If the distance is within the set value (308), the display control unit 51 displays the stop screen 88. On the other hand, if the distance is not within the set value (308), the association determining unit 55 determines that the return point 84
Based on the coordinate values of and the coordinate value of the character 82, the distance between the two is calculated (310). If the distance between the return point 84 and the character 82 is within the set value (311), the display control unit 51 displays the map screen (312). On the other hand, if the distance between the return point 84 and the character 82 is not within the set value (311), the process from step 304 is repeated.

As described above, according to this embodiment, after saving the game continue information, a post-save screen having stop points and return points is displayed, and the character is moved to one point to stop or You can choose to continue the game, and you can proceed with the game smoothly.

[0042]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a technique capable of easily saving continue information in an adventure game or a role playing game.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a video game device of the present invention is connected to a video display device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration centering on a game console main body.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a save screen.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram for explaining an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an example.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a save screen.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a map screen.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining an example.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a screen after saving.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a stop screen.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining an example.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining an example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Game console body 2a CD-ROM drive cover 3 controller 4 display 5 speakers 6 direction keys 7 ○ button 8 x button 9 □ button 10 △ button 11 Start button 12 Select button 13 memory card 81 Save screen 82 characters 83 save points 84 Return point 85 map screen 86 Save screen 87 Stop points

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References Game Boy Super Donkey Kong GB, Japan, Keibunsha Co., Ltd., October 10, 1995, 7 Super Famicom Super Donkey Kong 3 Guidebook, Japan, T2 Publishing Co., Ltd. December 30, 1996, 2, 3, 17 (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A63F 13/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A video game apparatus for advancing a game while operating an input instruction from the input means characters in the map screen displayed on the display unit, and save points to save the progress of the game Display control means for displaying a save screen on which return points for returning to the map screen are arranged; movement display means for moving and displaying the character in the save screen; and association of the character with the save point. Existence
No association, and an association determination unit that determines whether or not the character and the return point are associated with each other, and the association determination unit determines that the game is executed when the association determination unit determines that the character is associated with the save point. and a saving unit for saving the progress, the when the association between the return point and the character is determined to be in association determination means, wherein the display control unit displays the map screen, the saving means Saves the progress of the game
After that, the display control means stops the game.
Stop point and recovery to return to the map screen
Display the screen after saving with the return points and
The moving display means displays the character in the screen after the save.
It is moved and displayed, and the association determination means
Whether or not there is an association with the stop point, and the character
Whether or not there is an association between the Kuta and the return point
Then, the associating determination means determines that the character and the stop
When it is determined that there is an association with the
The display control means displays a stop screen, and the association determination means
There is an association between the character and the return point
When it is determined that the map image is
A video game device characterized by displaying a surface. 2. A key in a map screen displayed on the display means.
While operating the character by the input command from the input means
A co-processor for running a game on a video game device.
A recording medium storing a computer program, which is a save point for saving the progress of the game.
And the return point for returning to the map screen
Display control step for displaying the arranged save screen, and movement for displaying the character in the save screen
The display step and the association between the character and the save point
None, and the association between the character and the return point
The association determination step for determining whether or not there is any injury, and the character and the save in the association determination step.
When it is determined that there is an association with the point, the game
The save step for saving the progress of the game, and the character and the return
When it is determined that there is an association with the
The step of displaying the map screen by the display control step.
And the save step saves the progress of the game.
Stop points for stopping the game after being blocked
And a return point for returning to the map screen
Displaying the post-save screen that has been placed, and a step of moving and displaying the character within the post-save screen.
There is a relationship between the step and the character and the stop point.
None, and the association between the character and the return point
There is a step of determining the presence or absence of each of the injuries, and an association between the character and the stop point.
When it is determined that the stop screen is displayed, the character
Data is associated with the return point.
Sometimes with the step of displaying the map screen
Computer pro for running video game devices
A recording medium that stores grams.