JP3443578B2 - LCD screen display control program for portable game consoles - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is a portable game device having a reflection type liquid crystal display which does not have a backlight for illuminating a display surface, and is suitable for application to a game program which is executed when a game is played. , A liquid crystal screen display control program for a portable game machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of portable game machine, the display surface of a liquid crystal display is not illuminated with a backlight in order to prevent the battery from being consumed.

[0003]

However, this is not a problem when playing a game with a portable game machine in a bright room, but when playing a game in a slightly dark room or in the shade, the screen of the liquid crystal display is displayed. The display will be dark and very difficult to see. This has the inconvenience of overlooking important developments of the game and making the eyes tired so that the interest in the game is lost.

Further, recently, even in such a small game device as a portable game device, an attempt has been made to increase the interest of the game by allowing the player's name and the like to be input in kanji. Kanji has a larger number of strokes than alphabets and katakana, and it is difficult to recognize when the screen display is dark like a reflective liquid crystal display, and some improvement measures have been desired.

Therefore, according to the present invention, when the game program is executed, the display of the reflection type liquid crystal display can be made easy to see, and at the same time, the kanji input can be easily recognized. The purpose is to provide a screen display control program.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a reflection type liquid crystal display (3) and an image display memory (for example, a video display) for storing colors used for screen display of the reflection type liquid crystal display. In a portable game machine (1) having a RAM, etc., the reflective liquid crystal display
LCD screen display for hand-held game consoles that controls the display of images on a.
And a liquid crystal display control program for a portable game machine,
Is the color that can be displayed on the portable game console?
Select the color you want to use for the game from the
The procedure for storing in the image display memory, the image display memory
Use the colors stored in the color palette stored in Mori
A procedure for executing the procedure to control the display of images by
It is a ram and controls the LCD screen display for portable game consoles.
The program is a brightness adjustment program (BAP, CC
Has a P), the brightness adjustment program, the portable gate
The procedure of causing the computer of the game machine to display the brightness adjustment screen (for example, the screen 3a shown on the left side of step S1 in FIG. 3) on the screen of the reflective liquid crystal display (step S1) Of the display of the brightness adjustment screen when the display of the brightness adjustment screen is changed via the input means (4) of the type game machine (for example, the cursor 31 in FIG. 3 is moved to the left or right). Based on the brightness value, the brightness value is calculated and stored in a predetermined memory means, and a brightness calculation procedure (step S2) is stored in the image display memory based on the brightness value stored in the memory means. Each color used in the color palette
Is changed to a color corresponding to the brightness value, and the change is calculated.
The color palette including the updated color is stored in the image display memory.
Using color changing algorithm for performing an operation to be stored in (for example, step S5 from step S3 in FIG. 4), it is the changed
Each used color stored in the color palette consisting of
And displaying a predetermined image on the reflection type liquid crystal display and adjusting the brightness of the screen of the reflection type liquid crystal display without using an illumination means (for example, step S6 in FIG. 4). It is characterized by being a program for making it.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the liquid crystal screen display control program for a portable game machine has a kanji input program capable of inputting kanji by operating the input means (4) by the player. The kanji input program executes the brightness adjustment program when a brightness adjustment command is input to the computer from the player via the input means during execution of the kanji input program. The procedure to execute the procedure.
It is configured by being a program .

[0008]

According to the invention of claim 1, the player changes the display of the brightness adjustment screen through the input means (4) of the portable game machine by the brightness calculation procedure (step S2). In this case (for example, moving the cursor 31 in FIG. 3 to the left or right), the brightness value is calculated based on the change in the display of the brightness adjustment screen, and the used color is calculated based on the brightness value. A change calculation procedure (for example, step S3 to step S5 in FIG. 4) changes the lightness of the used color for image display so that the reflective liquid crystal display screen is displayed by the changed used color of the lightness. Therefore, even with a reflective liquid crystal display that does not have a lighting unit, it is possible to control the screen display to a bright and easy-to-see form when executing a game program or the like.

According to the invention of claim 2, the brightness of the screen can be adjusted by the interrupt processing procedure even while the Kanji input program is being executed. Therefore, in the game machine using the reflection type liquid crystal display. Also, you can input Kanji smoothly.

The numbers in parentheses are for convenience of showing the corresponding elements in the drawings, and the present description is not limited to the description in the drawings.

[0011]

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

FIG. 1 is an external view of a portable game machine to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the game machine of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a brightness adjusting program, and FIG. , A flowchart showing an example of a display color control program, and FIGS. 5 to 9 are diagrams showing an example of a screen display process when performing Chinese character input.

FIG. 1 shows a portable game machine as a game device which constitutes a game system. The portable game machine 1 has a main body 2, a reflective liquid crystal display 3 as a display device attached to the main body 2, and an input device 4. The input device 4 includes a direction indicating switch 5,
A plurality of push button switches 6a and 6b are provided. The direction indicating switch 5 has, for example, a cross-shaped operation member 5a,
A signal corresponding to the operation of the operation member 5a in the up, down, left and right directions (pushing operation of the up, down, left and right ends) is output.

The configuration of such an input device 4 is well known and can be variously modified. For example, instead of the operation member 5a, one push button switch may be provided on each of the upper, lower, left and right sides. The number and arrangement of the push button switches 6a and 6b may be variously changed, but in the following description, the push button switch 6 will be described.
The a is called the A button and the push button switch 6b is called the B button. However, when it is not necessary to distinguish between these buttons, the push button switch 6 is used. In addition to this, the game machine 1 is provided with a power switch, an operation member for volume adjustment, etc., but these are omitted.

FIG. 2 is a control device 1 provided in the game machine 1.
0 configuration is shown. The control device 10 is configured as a computer mainly including a CPU 11 using a microprocessor. The CPU 11 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12 and RA as a main storage device.
M (random access memory) 13 and image processing circuit 1
4 and the sound processing circuit 15 are connected via a bus 16. The ROM 12 stores a program necessary for basic control of the game machine 1 (for example, starting process). A work area for the CPU 11 is secured in the RAM 13. The image processing circuit 14 controls the liquid crystal display 3 in accordance with a drawing instruction from the CPU 11 to display a predetermined image on its screen. The sound processing circuit 15 is CP
An analog audio signal is generated according to the sounding instruction from U11 and output to the speaker 7.

The CPU 11 is connected to the switches 5 and 6 of the input device 4 via the bus 16, whereby the CPU 1
1 is capable of discriminating the operating states of the switches 5 and 6. An external storage device 17 separate from the control device 10 is connected to the bus 16. The external storage device 17 is, for example, the main body 2
On the other hand, the cartridge type is detachable, and a ROM 18 as a storage medium and a RAM 19 (a readable / writable storage element) as a rewritable user memory are provided inside the cartridge type. A program such as a game program and various data necessary for its execution are recorded in the ROM 18 in advance. A rewritable ROM such as a flash memory is used as the memory 19, in which, for example, game save data and the like are recorded as necessary. The storage medium of the external storage device 17 is not limited to the semiconductor storage element, and various storage media such as a magnetic storage medium, an optical storage medium, and a magneto-optical storage medium may be used. Although an interface circuit is interposed between the bus 16 and each element as necessary, their illustration is omitted. Control device 10
The configuration of is not limited to the above, and various control devices may be used.

A communication control circuit 20 is connected to the CPU 11 via a bus 16 in order to connect the game machine 1 to a predetermined communication line or another game machine. A communication connector 22 is connected to the communication control circuit 20 via a communication interface 21.
Are connected. As the communication control circuit 20, for example, DS
A combination of P (digital signal processor) and software can be used to function as a modem or a network interface. Communication connector 2
2 or the interface 21 may be provided as a peripheral device externally connected to the game machine 1.

In the game machine 1 having the above structure, the program recorded in the ROM 18 of the external storage device 17 is stored in the RAM 1
It is possible to play games of various genres on the screen of the display 3 by loading them on the screen 3 and executing them on the CPU 11. Further, by controlling the communication control circuit 20 to connect the game machine 1 to a predetermined network, it is possible to exchange messages with other game machines 1 and play a competitive game.

In the game machine 1, when a predetermined initialization operation (for example, power-on operation) is performed, the CPU 11 first executes a predetermined initialization process according to the program of the ROM 12. When the initialization is completed, the CPU 11 stores the game program C stored in the RAM 18 of the external storage device 17.
The GP reading is started, and the game processing is started according to the program. When the player operates the input device 4 to perform a predetermined game start operation, the CPU 11 starts various controls necessary for executing the game according to the procedure of the game program CGP.

At the start of the game, the player can operate the input device 4 to input his / her name in kanji, but when the brightness of the reflective liquid crystal display 3 is felt to be dark to the player. The player
The input device 4 is operated to instruct the CPU 11 to adjust the brightness of the reflective liquid crystal display 3.

In response to this, the CPU 11 causes the ROM 18 to
The brightness adjustment program BAP is read out from, and the brightness adjustment processing of the reflective liquid crystal display 3 is executed based on the brightness adjustment program BAP. Brightness adjustment program B
In step S1 shown in FIG. 3, the AP detects that the player has pressed the A button of the push button switch 6, and displays the brightness adjustment screen on the reflective liquid crystal display 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the screen 3a can be displayed in, for example, a scale 30, numerical display, or any mode. In the case of FIG. 3, the scale 30 can be displayed.
Is displayed.

In the scale 30, the numeral "0" displayed in the center indicates the standard brightness, and the standard value set by the image processing circuit 14 when the player does not give any instruction,
That is, the default value DF. The scale is set to be brighter toward the right side of the figure (displayed as “+” in the figure) and darker toward the left side of the figure (displayed as “−” in the figure) than the default value DF.

The player operates the direction indicating switch 5 as appropriate to display the cursor 3 displayed on the liquid crystal display 3.
1 is appropriately moved, and the brightness of the screen which is easy to see and which suits one's preference is selected on the scale 30 by moving the cursor 31 left and right in the figure. When the player moves the cursor 31 to the scale position corresponding to his / her favorite brightness and presses the A button, the signal from the A button 6a is sent to the CPU 1 via the brightness adjustment program BAP.
1 is interpreted as a brightness adjustment command. Therefore,
The CPU 11 executes step S of the brightness adjustment program BAP.
2 is executed, the brightness value VL corresponding to the position of the cursor 31 is calculated, and it is stored in an appropriate address position of the RAM 19.

On the other hand, the image processing circuit 14 causes the game program C when displaying the screen of the reflective liquid crystal display 3.
Display color control program CC shown in FIG. 4, which constitutes GP
Based on P, as shown in step S3, based on the use color selection instruction set as the default value by the parameter of the game program CGP as the color used when displaying the image of each screen in the game program CGP,
A color used for the game is selected from colors that can be displayed on the portable game machine 1, stored in a video RAM (not shown) as a color palette, and the screen 3a is displayed based on the color palette.
Is displayed.

Further, the image processing circuit 14 periodically searches the brightness value VL stored in the RAM 19, and the brightness adjustment program BAP performs brightness adjustment by the player in step S2 of the brightness adjustment program BAP. Is determined and it is determined that the brightness value VL stored in the RAM 19 is changed from the brightness value VL at the time of the immediately preceding search, the display color control program CCP
Step S4 is entered. In step S4, the screen 3 set in the video RAM is set together with the subsequent step S5.
An arithmetic process is performed to rewrite each used color of the color palette in which the used color used for display of a is displayed to a color corresponding to the brightness value VL adjusted by the brightness of the player. That is, the RGB values of the used colors stored in the color palette until then are changed so as to have the lightness corresponding to the changed brightness value VL (step S4), and the corresponding color data is generated. Then, the process of storing in the video RAM (step S5) is performed. In a reflective liquid crystal display, unlike a liquid crystal display that has a normal backlight,
Since the brightness of the screen 3a cannot be changed by changing the illuminance of the illumination, the brightness of the entire screen 3a is adjusted by changing the brightness of the color used for the screen display.

In this way, when the brightness of the color used for displaying the screen 3a corresponds to the brightness value VL designated by the player in the brightness adjustment program BAP, the image processing circuit 14 is changed. The subsequent game screen 3a is displayed using the colors stored in the color palette. The screen 3a is adjusted so that the brightness of the colors forming the screen corresponds to the brightness value VL instructed by the brightness adjustment program BAP by the player. Then, the brightness of the screen 3a is adjusted.

Thus, after adjusting the brightness of the screen 3a, the player performs a process of inputting the names of the main character of the game and the player and storing them in the RAM 19 of the external storage device 17, for example, at the beginning of the game. There are cases.
In such a case, in the present invention, the brightness of the screen 3a of the reflective liquid crystal display 3 can be adjusted, and the screen 3a can be displayed even when displaying a code having a complicated shape such as Chinese characters.
By increasing the brightness of a, it is possible to input kanji with good visibility. The process of inputting Chinese characters in the reflective liquid crystal display 3 and storing them in the RAM 19 will be described below.

The game program CGP executes the player name input program PNP in the game program CGP stored in the ROM 18 when the player name is input and processed, for example.

As shown in FIG. 5, the player name input program PNP first causes the reflective liquid crystal display 3 to display the reading input screen PC1 set by the player name input program PNP via the image processing circuit 14. In the reading input screen PC1, a name display area NAM, a character display area CRA, a kana input instruction button B1, an alphanumeric character input instruction button B2, a symbol input instruction button B3, and an end button B4 are set, and Kanji input is performed. In this case, the player moves the cursor C1 to the kana input instruction button B1 and selects it with the A button 6a.

When the selection signal is input from the A button 6a, the CPU 11 displays the kana list K1 stored in the player name input program PNP in the character display area CRA in FIG. Display as shown. The player refers to the kana list K1 displayed on the screen 3a, moves the cursor C1 on the screen 3a, and selects the initial letter of the kanji to be input, as shown in FIG. For example, when the user wants to input the character "mountain", the cursor C1 is moved to the portion where "or" is displayed and the selection is made by the A button 6a.

When the player selects and inputs the reading of the initial letters, the CPU 11 causes the player name input program PN.
Based on P, a Kanji character having a corresponding reading is selected from a Kanji character list (not shown) stored in the player name input program PNP, and as shown in FIG. 7, the character display area CA is displayed.
Display on R. The kana list K1 and the kanji list described above can be stored in the player name input program PNP and used. However, when those characters are stored in advance in the ROM 12 or the like on the control device 10 side. , The relevant R
Characters stored in OM12 can be used. As a result, the memory capacity of the external storage device 17 side can be saved.

The player is a player name input program P.
When the Chinese character displayed on the screen 3a is dark and difficult to read during execution of the NP, the input device 4 is appropriately operated to output a brightness adjustment command to the CPU 11. In response to this, the CPU 11 causes the brightness adjustment program BAP described above.
Is read out, and the interrupt processing for changing the brightness of the display color of the screen 3a is performed in the same manner as described above. By such processing,
The kanji displayed on the screen 3a can be clearly recognized even on the reflective liquid crystal display 3.

The player searches for a kanji to be input from the kanji displayed on the screen 3a, and if a corresponding kanji is found, moves the cursor C2 to the kanji and presses the A button 6a. Then, the CPU 11 recognizes the Chinese character displayed at the position where the cursor C1 is positioned as the Chinese character to be input, based on the player name input program PNP, and as shown in FIG.
It is displayed on AM and the kanji input process is completed. If the desired Chinese character is not displayed on the screen 3a, the CPU 1 can be operated by appropriately operating the direction indicating switch 5 or the like.
Based on the player name input program PNP, the Kanji displayed on the screen 3a can be sequentially changed to another Kanji having the same reading through 1 through 1.

By repeating the same procedure, it is possible to input a plurality of Chinese characters in the name display area NAM as shown in FIG. When the input of the player name and the like to the name display area NAM is completed, the player moves the cursor C1 to the end button B4 portion on the screen 3a, and A
Press the button 6a. Then, the CPU 11 determines based on the player name input program PNP that the player name input operation has ended, and the input Chinese character string displayed in the name display area NAM is stored in the external storage device 17 as the player name. It is stored in an appropriate address position in the RAM 19 and is used in an event or the like in a later game.

In the above embodiment, the CPU 11 constitutes a game control device, and various means of the game control device are constituted by the combination of the CPU 11 and specific software, but at least a part of these means is constituted. It may be replaced with a logic circuit.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a portable game machine to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the game machine of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a brightness adjustment program.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a display color control program.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display process when performing kanji input.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display process when inputting Chinese characters.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display process when inputting Chinese characters.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display process when inputting Chinese characters.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display process when inputting Chinese characters.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Game console 3 ... Reflective liquid crystal display 3a ... Screen 4 ... Input means (input device) BAP ... Brightness adjustment program (brightness adjustment program) CCP ... Brightness adjustment program (display color control program)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A63F 13/00-13/12 A63F 9/24

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A reflective liquid crystal display and the counter liquid crystal display.
The colors used to display the emissive liquid crystal display screen are
A portable game machine with a memory for displaying images
hand,An image is displayed and controlled on the reflective liquid crystal display.
Is a liquid crystal screen display control program for portable game consoles.
I mean Liquid crystal for the portable game machinescreenThe display control program isPrevious
On the computer of the portable game console, From the colors that can be displayed on the portable game machine,
Image as a color palette by selecting the color to be used for the image
Procedure to store in display memory, The color palette stored in the image display memory is stored in the color palette.
A procedure for controlling the display of an image using the stored colors, Is a program for executing Furthermore, a liquid crystal screen display control program for portable game machines
Has a brightness adjustment program, The brightness adjustment program isThe portable game console controller
For computer, Brightness adjustment screen is displayed on the screen of the reflective LCD.
The procedure to display the surface, The player uses the input means of the portable game machine to
If the display on the brightness adjustment screen is changed, the brightness
Calculates the brightness value based on changes in the adjustment screen display
And storing in a predetermined memory means, a brightness calculation procedure, Based on the brightness value stored in the memory means,
Stored in memory for displaying imagesIn the color palette
Change each used color in the color corresponding to the above brightness value
The color palette consisting of the changed colors is calculated and
Performs calculations to be stored in the image display memoryColor change calculator
order,Each stored in the color palette consisting of the modified color
With the used color A predetermined image is displayed on the reflective LCD.
The reflective liquid is displayed without displaying an image by using an illuminating means.
Hands to adjust the screen brightness of crystal display
order, Is a program for executing
LCD screen display control program for portable game consoles. 2. A liquid crystal for a portable game machinescreenDisplay control professional
Gram, by the operation of the input means by the player,
Kanji input that can input KanjiprogramHave
And The kanji input program is, On the computer, While the Kanji input program is running,
When the brightness adjustment command is input via the input means,
Interrupt processing procedure to execute the brightness adjustment programTo be a program to execute Features
A liquid crystal screen display control for a portable game machine according to claim 1.
program.