JP4053078B2 - 3D game device and information storage medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a three-dimensional game apparatus and an information storage medium that can synthesize an image of an object whose shape is deformed.

  Conventionally, a three-dimensional game device is known in which an object representing a display object is arranged in an object space, which is a virtual three-dimensional space, and a view image from a given viewpoint position is synthesized. It is popular as a way to experience a realistic sense of reality.

  In such a three-dimensional game apparatus, for example, as a technique for expressing the movement of a human arm, leg, etc., there is a technique in which an arm and a leg are composed of a plurality of sub-objects, and these sub-objects are moved to perform joint motion. Conceivable. For example, in FIG. 16A, the sub-objects 912 and 914 are joined by the joint 910, and the sub-objects 912 and 914 are moved to perform joint motion.

  However, with this technique, for example, as shown in FIG. 16B, a tear 916 occurs in the joint 910 during joint movement, thereby exposing the end face of the sub-object 912 or 914, and displaying an image. There is a problem that it becomes very unsightly.

  Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 16C, the side surfaces of the sub-objects 912 and 914 overlap each other, and depending on the method of hidden surface processing, the displayed side surfaces are frequently displayed alternately, and the image display flickers. There is also a problem.

Further, in this type of three-dimensional game apparatus, unlike general computer graphics, it is required to perform image processing and display images in real time based on operation information from a player.
JP 63-5478 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-239949 JP-A-8-155143

  The present invention has been made to solve the technical problems as described above, and an object of the present invention is to realize a three-dimensional game apparatus capable of realizing soft shape deformation of an object while ensuring real-time processing. And providing an information storage medium.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention provides a field of view in an object space in which an object configured by a change in position information and direction information of first to Nth virtual skeletons, which is configured by a plurality of polygons, is arranged. A three-dimensional game apparatus for synthesizing images, the means for changing at least one of position information and direction information of a Kth (1 ≦ K ≦ N) virtual skeleton, and position information and direction information of a Kth virtual skeleton The position information of the vertices of the polygons that change due to the change of the position, the position information of the vertices before the change, the position information and direction information of the Kth virtual skeleton, and the influence information from the Kth virtual skeleton, , A means for obtaining based on influence information from the (K-1) th virtual skeleton adjacent to the Kth virtual skeleton, Given viewpoint position, characterized in that it comprises a means for combining the visual image in the viewing direction.

  According to the present invention, an object is deformed by changing position information and direction information of a virtually assumed Kth virtual skeleton (sub-object). At this time, the position information of the vertexes of the polygon changes while being influenced by the influence information from the (K-1) th virtual skeleton, so that the object can be deformed softly. In particular, in the present invention, since it is not necessary to consider the influence information from the virtual skeleton other than the Kth virtual skeleton and the (K-1) th virtual skeleton adjacent to the Kth virtual skeleton, the processing load is reduced and the processing is reduced. Simplification and simplification are possible, and real-time performance of image composition processing can be ensured.

  The present invention also provides a three-dimensional game for synthesizing a field-of-view image in an object space in which an object composed of a plurality of polygons and in which an object whose shape is deformed by a change in position information and direction information of the first to Nth virtual skeletons is arranged. A device that changes at least one of position information and direction information of a Kth (1 ≦ K ≦ N) virtual skeleton, and a polygon that changes due to a change in position information and direction information of the Kth virtual skeleton. The luminance information of the vertex, the normal information of the vertex before the change, the position information and the direction information of the Kth virtual skeleton, the influence information from the Kth virtual skeleton, and the Kth virtual skeleton Based on the degree-of-influence information from the (K-1) th virtual skeleton adjacent to and the given viewpoint position and line-of-sight method in the object space Characterized in that it comprises a means for combining the field image at.

  According to the present invention, since the luminance information of the polygon changes while being influenced by the influence degree information from the (K-1) th virtual skeleton, it is possible to set a luminance change that makes the object appear to change softly. Become. In particular, in the present invention, since it is not necessary to consider influence information from virtual skeletons other than the Kth and (K-1) th virtual skeletons, the real-time property of the image composition processing can be ensured.

  In the present invention, the K-th virtual skeleton and the (K-1) -th virtual skeleton are the positions of the K-th virtual skeleton when the positional information and direction information of the (K-1) -th virtual skeleton change. The change of the information and the direction information is affected, and the change of the position information and the direction information of the Kth virtual skeleton does not affect the change of the position information and the direction information of the (K-1) th virtual skeleton. It is characterized by that.

  In this way, the vertex position information or the luminance information is calculated in consideration of the influence information from the Kth virtual skeleton and the influence information from the parent (K-1) virtual skeleton. Will be done. As a result, it is possible to effectively prevent the processing from being multiplexed, and the processing can be simplified and simplified.

  The present invention also provides a three-dimensional game for synthesizing a field-of-view image in an object space in which an object composed of a plurality of polygons and in which an object whose shape is deformed by a change in position information and direction information of the first to Nth virtual skeletons is arranged. A device that changes at least one of position information and direction information of a Kth (1 ≦ K ≦ N) virtual skeleton, and a polygon that changes due to a change in position information and direction information of the Kth virtual skeleton. The luminance information of the vertex, the luminance information of the vertex before the change obtained based on the normal information of the vertex and the given illumination model, and the normal information are the position information and direction information of the Kth virtual skeleton. Normality information obtained by conversion by at least one, luminance information obtained based on a given illumination model, and influence from the Kth virtual skeleton And a means for synthesizing a visual field image in a given viewpoint position and line-of-sight direction in the object space, and means for determining the degree of influence from at least one of the first to Nth virtual skeletons. It is characterized by including.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain the luminance information of the vertex after the change by interpolating the luminance information, and it is possible to eliminate the necessity for the synthesis processing of the normal vectors. As a result, the processing load can be remarkably reduced, and real-time performance of the image composition processing can be ensured.

  The present invention also provides a three-dimensional game for synthesizing a field-of-view image in an object space in which an object composed of a plurality of polygons and in which an object whose shape is deformed by a change in position information and direction information of the first to Nth virtual skeletons is arranged. A device that preferentially associates position information affected by virtual skeletons other than the first virtual skeleton among position information of polygon vertices corresponding to the first virtual skeleton, and associates the information with influence information from the virtual skeleton. The first vertex list that stores the position information that is not affected by the first vertex list and the position information of the vertexes of the polygon corresponding to the second virtual skeleton, and the influence from the virtual skeleton other than the second virtual skeleton. The position information received is prioritized and stored in association with the influence information from the virtual skeleton. A second vertex list for successively storing position information; and position information affected by a virtual skeleton other than the Nth virtual skeleton among the position information of the vertices of the polygon corresponding to the Nth virtual skeleton Is stored in association with the degree of influence information from the virtual skeleton, and the Nth vertex list for storing the position information that is not affected is stored in succession to the Kth (1 ≦ K ≦ N). ), The position information of the vertexes of the polygons that change due to the change of the position information and the direction information of the virtual skeletons, the position information and the influence information of the vertices of the polygons included in the Kth vertex list, and the position information of the Kth virtual skeleton Means for obtaining on the basis of at least one of position information and direction information, and means for synthesizing a view image in a given viewpoint position and line-of-sight direction in the object space. And wherein the Mukoto.

  According to the present invention, the vertex of the polygon of the Kth virtual skeleton is obtained using the vertex list in which the vertex position information affected by other virtual skeletons, that is, the virtual skeletons other than the Kth virtual skeleton, is collected on the head side. Calculations for obtaining position information are performed. This prevents unnecessary processing from being performed on the vertex position information that does not need to consider the influence from other virtual skeletons. As a result, the processing load can be greatly reduced, and real-time image composition processing can be performed.

  According to the present invention, the first vertex list stores influence information from the first virtual skeleton as the influence information, and the second vertex list receives from the second virtual skeleton as the influence information. A weight value between the influence degree information and the influence degree information from the first virtual skeleton is stored. The Nth vertex list is the influence degree from the Nth virtual skeleton as the influence degree information. A weighting value between the information and the degree of influence information from the (N-1) th virtual skeleton is stored.

  In this way, the position information of the vertexes of the polygons of the Kth virtual skeleton can be obtained without considering the influence information from the virtual skeletons other than the Kth and (K-1) th virtual skeletons. It becomes possible and the processing burden can be reduced. In addition, a weighting value is used as the influence degree information, whereby the capacity required for storage in the storage means can be reduced.

  The present invention also provides a three-dimensional game for synthesizing a field-of-view image in an object space in which an object composed of a plurality of polygons and in which an object whose shape is deformed by a change in position information and direction information of the first to Nth virtual skeletons is arranged. The degree of influence information from the virtual skeleton giving priority to the normal information affected by the virtual skeleton other than the first virtual skeleton among the normal information of the vertexes of the polygon corresponding to the first virtual skeleton. The normal information that is stored in association with the first normal information that is not affected by the first normal list and the vertex normal information of the polygon corresponding to the second virtual skeleton other than the second virtual skeleton Normal information affected by the virtual skeleton of the virtual skeleton is prioritized and stored in association with the influence information from the virtual skeleton. A second normal list for storing normal line information following it, and ...... From the virtual skeletons other than the Nth virtual skeleton among the normal information of the vertices of the polygon corresponding to the Nth virtual skeleton Means for preferentially storing received normal information in association with the degree of influence information from the virtual skeleton, and storing an Nth normal list for subsequently storing normal information that is not affected; The luminance information of the vertices of the polygons that change due to the change in the position information and the direction information of the virtual skeleton (1 ≦ K ≦ N), normal information and influence information included in the Kth normal list, and Kth Characterized in that it includes means for obtaining the virtual skeleton based on at least one of position information and direction information, and means for synthesizing a view image in a given viewpoint position and line-of-sight direction in the object space. That.

  According to the present invention, calculation for obtaining luminance information is performed using a normal list in which normal information influenced by other virtual skeletons is collected on the head side. As a result, useless processing can be omitted, and real-time image composition processing can be performed.

  In the present invention, the first normal list stores influence information from the first virtual skeleton as the influence information, and the second normal list stores the second virtual skeleton as the influence information. A weight value between the influence information from the first virtual skeleton and the influence information from the first virtual skeleton is stored. The Nth normal list is obtained from the Nth virtual skeleton as the influence information. The weight value between the degree of influence information and the degree of influence information from the (N−1) th virtual skeleton is stored.

  By doing in this way, it becomes possible to obtain | require luminance information, without considering the influence information from virtual skeletons other than a Kth and (K-1) th virtual skeleton. In addition, the storage capacity necessary for processing can be reduced by using the weighting value.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a functional block diagram of the present embodiment. Here, the operation unit 12 is for a player to input operation information using a lever, a button, or the like, and the operation information obtained by the operation unit 12 is output to the processing unit 100. The processing unit 100 performs an operation for setting an object space in which a plurality of objects representing display objects are arranged based on the operation information, a given program, and the like. Consists of. The image synthesizing unit 200 performs an operation of synthesizing a view field image in a given viewpoint position and line-of-sight direction in the set object space. In terms of hardware, an image synthesizing IC or CPU is used. Composed. The obtained view field image is displayed on the display unit 10. The storage unit 120 stores various information necessary for processing in the processing unit 100 and the image composition unit 200, and is configured by a memory or the like in terms of hardware.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of an object 20 composed of a plurality of sub-objects 22, 24 and 26. The shape of the object 20 is deformed by changes in position information and direction information of the virtual skeletons 28, 30, and 32. In this embodiment, these virtual skeletons 28 to 32 are connected. Note that the virtual skeletons 28 to 32 are virtually assumed, and their substance is equivalent to the position information and direction information of the sub-objects 22 to 26.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, when a person is represented by an object 34, the object 34 includes a plurality of sub-objects a to j. These sub-objects a to j (or virtual skeletons) are connected by a tree structure as shown in FIG. For example, a is a parent of b, d, e, g, and i, and b, d, e, g, and i are children of a. B is a parent of c and c is a child of b. As will be described later, the basic shape of the object is specified by basic information (see FIG. 8A) assigned to each of these sub-objects a to j, and this basic shape is also determined for each of the sub-objects a to j. Deformation is performed using deformation information (see FIG. 8B) assigned to. Thereby, the soft and smooth shape deformation of the object is realized.

  Here, in this embodiment, the shape of the joint between the sub-objects a and b is included in the sub-object b that is a child of the sub-object a, and the shape of the joint between the sub-objects b and c is the sub-object b. It is included in the sub-object c that is a child of. For example, in FIG. 2, position information, normal information, and the like of vertices b0 to b5 (b4 and b5 are not shown) corresponding to the joint portions of the subobjects 22 and 24 represent the subobject 24 that is a child of the subobject 22. The position information, normal information, and the like of the vertices c0 to c5 (c4 and c5 are not shown) corresponding to the joint portions of the subobjects 24 and 26 represent the subobject 26 that is a child of the subobject 24. It is included in the information. By doing in this way, the shape of the joint part included in one sub-object can be made one or less, and the processing system can be simplified. This is because if one sub-object includes the shapes of a plurality of joints, multiple processes are required when deforming the shape, which increases the processing burden. In FIG. 2, the joint portions may be considered as c0 to c11 (c10 and c11 are not shown), for example, and these c0 to c11 may be included in the sub-object 26.

  Next, the position information and direction information of the virtual skeleton will be described. In the present embodiment, the position information and direction information of the virtual skeleton are specified by relative position information and direction information from the parent virtual skeleton. For example, in FIG. 4, the direction information of the child virtual skeleton 30 is described by relative rotation angles around the X, Y, and Z axes with respect to the parent virtual skeleton 28 placed on the X axis. Further, the position information of the child virtual skeleton 30 is described by a shift amount relative to the parent virtual skeleton 28. In this way, if the child virtual skeleton is defined by the relative positional relationship and direction relationship with the parent virtual skeleton, the child subordinate to the parent when the positional information and direction information of the parent virtual skeleton are changed. It is possible to automatically change the position information and direction information of the virtual skeleton. It is also possible to independently change only the position information and direction information of the child virtual skeleton. For example, in FIG. 3A, when the position information of a (virtual skeleton or sub-object) representing the body is changed and a is moved, b and c representing the right arm also move accordingly. On the other hand, if only the position information and direction information of b are changed, only b and c can be moved while a remains stationary. In this embodiment, in FIG. 2, the position information of the vertices a0 to a23 corresponding to the virtual skeleton 22 is described in a local coordinate system with the virtual skeleton 28 as a reference. Similarly, the position information of the vertices b0 to b11 and c0 to c17 corresponding to the virtual skeletons 30 and 32 is described in a local coordinate system based on the virtual skeletons 30 and 32, respectively.

  Next, a method for calculating the vertex coordinates of the polygons constituting the deformed object will be described. Here, in order to simplify the description, a description will be given taking a two-dimensional case as an example as shown in FIGS. In FIG. 5A, an object 35 is composed of sub-objects 36, 38, and 40, and its shape is deformed by changes in position information and direction information of the virtual skeletons 42, 44, and 46. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5B, a case is considered in which the direction information of the virtual skeleton 44 changes and the virtual skeleton 44 rotates by an angle θ1 with respect to the parent virtual skeleton 42. Such processing for changing the position information and direction information of the virtual skeleton is performed by the virtual skeleton changing unit 102 of FIG. At this time, the virtual skeleton 46 rotates following the parent virtual skeleton 44. However, the relative directional relationship between the virtual skeletons 44 and 46 does not change.

  In the present embodiment, the position information of the vertices b0 to b3 of the polygon that changes due to the change of the position information and direction information of the virtual skeleton 44 is the position information of the vertexes before the change, and the position information and direction information of the virtual skeleton 44. On the other hand, it is obtained based on the influence information from the virtual skeleton 44 and the influence information from the virtual skeleton 42 adjacent to the virtual skeleton 44. The processing for obtaining the vertex position information after such change is performed by the vertex position information calculation unit 104 in FIG. Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 5B, the positional information of the vertex b0 after the change is the vertex obtained from the positional information of the vertex b0 ′ before the change and θ1 which is the direction information of the virtual skeleton 44. It is obtained based on the position information of b0 "and the weighting value between the influence information from the virtual skeleton 44 and the influence information from the virtual skeleton 42. Here, the influence information and the virtual skeleton from the virtual skeleton 44 are obtained. The weighting value between the influence information from 42 is 50% at the vertex b0, and in this case, the midpoint between b0 ′ and b0 ″ is the position of the vertex b0 after the change. Similarly, the weight value at b1 is 50%, and the middle point between b1 ′ and b1 ″ is b1. The weight value at b2 is 80%, and b2 ′ and b2 ″ are The point divided internally by 8: 2 is b2. The weighting value at b3 is 80%, and b3 ′ and b3 ″ are internally divided by 8: 2 to b3. That is, when the weighting value is 0%, the virtual skeleton 44 changes. When the vertex does not follow at all and is 100%, the vertex completely follows the change of the virtual skeleton 44. In Fig. 5B, the sub-object 40 follows the direction change of the sub-object 38. It will only move.

  On the other hand, in FIG. 5C, the direction information of the virtual skeleton 46 is changed by −θ2, thereby deforming the shape of the object. Here, the weighting value at c0 is 50%, and the middle point between c0 'and c0 "is c0. The same applies to c1. The weighting value at c2 is 80%, and c2 A point obtained by internally dividing 'and c2' by 8 to 2 is c2. The same applies to c3. Further, with respect to c4 and c5, the weighting value is 100%, and these vertices follow the change of the virtual skeleton 46 completely.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, in addition to the deformation only by the rotation and movement of the sub-object itself as shown in FIGS. Can do. That is, soft and smooth deformation of the object can be realized. For example, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, when the object representing the human foot is deformed, the weight values for the virtual skeletons E and F are set as shown in FIG. Can express smooth joint movement.

  In addition, in the present embodiment, the shape deformation is performed in consideration of only the influence information from the virtual skeleton to which the vertex belongs and the influence information from the virtual skeleton adjacent thereto. Therefore, for example, compared to a case where shape deformation is performed in consideration of influence degree information from all virtual skeletons, processing can be simplified, simplified, speeded up, and processing load can be reduced. Thereby, it becomes possible to ensure the real-time property of the processing required for this type of game device. It is particularly preferable that the shape deformation is performed in consideration of the influence information of the virtual skeleton to which the vertex belongs and the influence information of the virtual skeleton that is the parent of the virtual skeleton. This is because the influence of the change of the child virtual skeleton does not reach the parent virtual skeleton, so that the processing can be simplified and simplified.

  Next, a method for calculating vertex luminance information of polygons constituting the deformed object will be described. Here, in order to simplify the description, a description will be given taking a two-dimensional case as an example as shown in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 7A, consider a case where the direction information of the virtual skeleton 44 changes and the virtual skeleton 44 rotates by an angle θ3 with respect to the parent virtual skeleton 42.

  In this embodiment, the luminance information of the vertex of the polygon after the change of the virtual skeleton 44 is obtained, the luminance information of the vertex before the change obtained based on the normal information of the vertex and the given illumination model, and the method of the vertex Luminance information obtained based on normal information and a given illumination model obtained by converting the line information by at least one of position information and direction information of the virtual skeleton 44, influence information from the virtual skeleton 44, It is obtained based on influence information from other virtual skeletons. The other virtual skeleton in this case is preferably the parent virtual skeleton 42. The processing for obtaining the luminance information of the vertex after the change is performed by the vertex luminance information calculation unit 106 in FIG. Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 7A, the luminance information I1 of the vertex b1 after the change is the luminance information I1 ′ of the vertex b1 ′ before the change, the luminance information I1 ″ of the vertex b1 ″, It is obtained based on a weighting value relating to luminance information. Here, the luminance information I1 'is obtained from the normal vector 50 at the vertex b1' and a given illumination model such as a Lambert model or a von shading model. The luminance information I1 "is obtained from the normal vector 52 at the vertex b1" and the illumination model. The normal vector 52 is obtained by rotating the normal vector 50 based on the direction information θ3 of the virtual skeleton 44. The luminance information I1 is obtained by synthesizing the luminance information I1 ′ and I1 ″ based on the weighting value (eg, linear interpolation). For example, when the weighting value is 0%, I1 ′ is set to I1. When I is 50%, I1 'and I1 "synthesized one-to-one are designated as I1. When the weighting value is 80%, I1 'and I1 "synthesized by 2 to 8 are set as I1. When the weighting value is 100%, I1" is set as I1. This weighting value may be the same as or different from the weighting value used for obtaining the vertex position information.

  On the other hand, as a technique for obtaining vertex luminance information, a technique as shown in FIG. In this method, unlike FIG. 7A, luminance information is not obtained directly from the normal vectors 50 and 52. Instead, the normal vector 54 is obtained by combining the normal vectors 50 and 52, and the luminance information I1 is obtained based on the normal vector 54 and a given illumination model. For this reason, the method of FIG. 7B requires an extra vector calculation process for synthesizing the normal vectors 50 and 52 to obtain the normal vector 54 as compared with the method of FIG. Increase. Since luminance information is applied to the vertices of all polygons, this increase in processing load greatly hinders real-time processing. On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, since such a vector calculation process is not necessary, the processing load can be reduced, and the real-time property of the process can be secured. In particular, since the player's ability to discriminate against an object in motion decreases, the player hardly notices that the luminance information is not accurate even using the method of this embodiment.

  As another embodiment of the luminance information calculation according to the present invention, the normal vector is synthesized when obtaining the luminance information, but the influence information of the virtual skeleton other than the own and the adjacent (particularly parent) virtual skeleton is used. May not be considered.

  Next, a detailed processing example of this embodiment will be described below. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the storage unit 120 stores basic information 122, deformation information 124, a vertex list 126, and a normal list 128. FIGS. 8A, 8B, 9 and 10 show examples of basic information, deformation information, a vertex list, and a normal list, respectively. The basic information shown in FIG. 8A is information for specifying the shape of the object in the basic state. The basic information is given for each virtual skeleton (sub-object), and the position information, direction information, and the like of each virtual skeleton are obtained. Identify. In this embodiment, the basic information includes a basic rotation angle, a basic movement amount, and a basic enlargement / reduction ratio. The basic rotation angle and the basic movement amount included in the basic information of the parent virtual skeleton at the position of the root of the tree structure are the direction information and position information of the virtual skeleton in the world (absolute) coordinate system. Further, the basic rotation angle and the basic movement amount included in the basic information of the child virtual skeleton are direction information and position information relative to the parent virtual skeleton. The basic enlargement / reduction ratio is for enlarging or reducing the object. With the above basic information, for example, as shown in FIG. 3A, the initial posture of the object 34 representing a person is specified. The deformation information shown in FIG. 8B is for changing the initial posture. For example, when the object 34 is raised, the deformation information of the sub-object (virtual skeleton) b is changed. You can do it.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the vertex list stores vertex position information and weight values. The header portion stores the number of vertex position information and the number of weight values (the number of vertex position information in which weight values exist). Similarly, as shown in FIG. 10, vertex normal information and weight values are stored in the normal list. The header portion stores the number of normal information and the number of weight values (the number of normal information where weight values exist). In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the vertex list and the normal list are sorted based on the presence / absence of a weighting value. That is, the one with the weight value is moved to the head, and the one without the weight value (having the weight value of 100%) is moved backward. More generally, position information or normal information that is affected by other virtual skeletons is preferentially stored in association with influence information from the virtual skeleton, and position information or normal information that is not affected is stored. Store it after that. By doing in this way, as will be described in detail later, it is possible to obtain an advantage that an operation for a portion not subjected to the deformation process can be omitted.

  Next, the operation of a detailed example of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. First, basic information of a sub-object to be processed (see FIG. 8A) is read from the storage unit 120, and the number of vertex position information is taken into a counter (steps S1 and S2). The number of vertex position information is stored in the header part of the vertex list (see FIG. 9). Next, the vertex position information of the polygon constituting the sub-object is read from the vertex list of the sub-object to be processed (step S3). Next, 3D calculation is performed using the basic information, and vertex information in the world coordinate system of the polygons constituting the target sub-object is obtained and stored in the temporary storage unit (constructed in the storage unit 120) (step S4). , S5). Then, the next vertex position information is read, and the processing is repeated until the processing for all the vertex position information of the target sub-object is completed (step S6).

  Next, it is determined whether or not deformation processing is required for the target sub-object, and whether or not the weighting number is 0 (steps S7 and S8). This weighting number is stored in the header part of the vertex list (see FIG. 9). When the deformation process is not performed or when the weighting number is 0, the subsequent processes are bypassed. As a result, the sub-object to be transformed and the sub-object not to be treated are treated equally and can coexist.

  When the deformation process is performed, the deformation information (see FIG. 8B) of the target sub-object is read from the storage unit 120 and the weighting number is read into the counter (steps S9 and S10). Next, vertex position information is read from the vertex list, and 3D calculation is performed using the deformation information (steps S11 and S12). And the coordinate value calculated | required by step S4 is read from a temporary memory part, and a weight value is read from a vertex list | wrist (step S13, S14). Then, using this weighting value, linear interpolation processing is performed between the coordinate value obtained in step S12 and the coordinate value read in step S13 (step S15). The obtained result is stored in the temporary storage unit, the next vertex position information is read, and the process is repeated until the processes for all the vertex position information of the target sub-object are completed (steps S16 and S17).

  When processing of processing systems A and B for one target sub-object is completed as described above, processing of processing systems A and B for the next target sub-object is performed. In this case, the parent sub-object is processed in preference to the child sub-object.

  In the luminance calculation processing shown in FIG. 12, normal information is used instead of vertex position information, and luminance calculation processing is performed instead of 3D calculation. Other than that, the processing is almost the same as in FIG.

  In this embodiment, the processing systems A and C are performed for all target sub-objects regardless of whether or not they are deformed, whereas the processing systems B and D are performed only for the sub-objects to be deformed. .

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the vertex position information and the normal line information are sorted based on the presence or absence of a weighting value. Then, as shown in steps S8 and T8, when the number of weight values becomes 0, the subsequent processing is bypassed. As a result, useless processing is not performed, and the processing speed can be increased.

  Next, an example of a hardware configuration capable of realizing the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the apparatus shown in the figure, a CPU 1000, a ROM 1002, a RAM 1004, an information storage medium 1006, a sound synthesis IC 1008, an image synthesis IC 1010, and I / O ports 1012, 1014 are connected to each other via a system bus 1016 so that data can be transmitted and received. A display 1018 is connected to the image synthesis IC 1010, a speaker 1020 is connected to the sound synthesis IC 1008, a control device 1022 is connected to the I / O port 1012, and a communication device 1024 is connected to the I / O port 1014. Has been.

  The information storage medium 1006 mainly stores game programs, image information for representing display objects, and the like, and a CD-ROM, game cassette, IC card, MO, FD, memory, or the like is used. For example, a home game device uses a CD-ROM or game cassette as an information storage medium for storing a game program or the like, and an arcade game device uses a memory such as a ROM.

  The control device 1022 corresponds to a game controller, an operation panel, and the like, and is a device for inputting a result of a determination made by the player in accordance with the progress of the game to the device main body.

  In accordance with a game program stored in the information storage medium 1006, a system program stored in the ROM 1002 (such as device initialization information), a signal input by the control device 1022, the CPU 1000 controls the entire device and performs various data processing. Do. The RAM 1004 is a storage means used as a work area of the CPU 1000 and stores the given contents of the information storage medium 1006 and the ROM 1002 or the calculation result of the CPU 1000. In addition, the tree structure of the virtual skeleton (sub-object) (FIGS. 3A and 3B), basic information, deformation information (FIGS. 8A and 8B), vertex list (FIG. 9), normal list ( A data structure having a logical configuration such as FIG. 10) is constructed on this RAM or information storage medium.

  Furthermore, this type of apparatus is provided with a sound synthesis IC 1008 and an image synthesis IC 1010 so that game sounds and game screens can be suitably output. The sound synthesis IC 1008 is an integrated circuit that synthesizes game sounds such as sound effects and background music based on information stored in the information storage medium 1006 and the ROM 1002, and the synthesized game sounds are output by the speaker 1020. The image synthesis IC 1010 is an integrated circuit that synthesizes pixel information to be output to the display 1018 based on image information sent from the RAM 1004, the ROM 1002, the information storage medium 1006, and the like. As the display 1018, a so-called head mounted display (HMD) can be used.

  The communication device 1024 exchanges various types of information used inside the game device with the outside. The communication device 1024 is connected to other game devices to send and receive given information according to the game program, and to connect a communication line. It is used for sending and receiving information such as game programs.

  The various processes described in FIGS. 1 to 10 include an information storage medium 1006 that stores a game program for performing the processes shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 11 and 12, a CPU 1000 that operates according to the game program, and an image composition This is realized by the IC 1010 or the like. Note that the processing performed by the image synthesis IC 1010, the sound synthesis IC 1008, and the like may be performed by software using the CPU 1000 or a general-purpose DSP.

  FIG. 14A shows an example in which this embodiment is applied to an arcade game device. The player enjoys the game by operating the lever 1102 and the button 1104 while watching the game screen displayed on the display 1100. A CPU, an image synthesis IC, a sound synthesis IC, and the like are mounted on an IC substrate 1106 built in the apparatus. And information for changing the direction information of the virtual skeleton, position information or luminance information of the vertex of the polygon, position information or luminance information before the change, direction information of the virtual skeleton, and influence information from the virtual skeleton The information for obtaining from the above, the information for storing the vertex list or the normal list in the storage means, the information for synthesizing the view image in the object space, and the like are the information storage medium on the IC substrate 1106. 1108 is stored. Hereinafter, these pieces of information are referred to as stored information. The stored information includes at least one of program code, image information, sound information, display object shape information, table data, list data, player information, and the like for performing the various processes described above.

  FIG. 14B shows an example in which this embodiment is applied to a home game device. The player enjoys the game by operating the game controllers 1202 and 1204 while viewing the game screen displayed on the display 1200. In this case, the stored information is stored in a CD-ROM 1206, IC cards 1208, 1209, etc., which are information storage media detachable from the main unit.

  FIG. 14C shows an example in which the present embodiment is applied to a game device including a host device 1300 and terminals 1304-1 to 1304-n connected to the host device 1300 via a communication line 1302. Show. In this case, the stored information is stored in an information storage medium 1306 such as a magnetic disk device, a magnetic tape device, or a memory that can be controlled by the host device 1300, for example. When the terminals 1304-1 to 1304-n have a CPU, an image synthesis IC, and a sound synthesis IC, and can synthesize game images and game sounds in a stand-alone manner, the host device 1300 receives game images and games. A game program or the like for synthesizing sound is delivered to the terminals 1304-1 to 1304-n. On the other hand, if it cannot be synthesized stand-alone, the host device 1300 synthesizes a game image and game sound, transmits them to the terminals 1304-1 to 1304-n, and outputs them at the terminals.

  The present invention is not limited to that described in the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made.

  For example, the present invention can be applied not only to the movement of the joint portion of the game character but also to various things. For example, as shown in FIG. 15A, the present invention can be applied to the expression of the shaking of the hairs 60, 61, 62. In this case, a virtual skeleton is set for each hair to be shaken. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 15B, a sub-object 64 representing a human face and its virtual skeleton 70 are used as parents, and a virtual skeleton 72 is set to a sub-object 66 representing the entire hair. For example, if the influence information set in the portions D and E is made different, it is possible to express a state in which the entire hair naturally fluctuates. In addition, by setting virtual skeletons 74 and 76 on the sub-object 68 that represents the ponytail (the texture in which the hair portion is black and the other is transparent) is set, and the setting of the influence information is finely adjusted, You can express how the ponytail fluctuates in the wind. Further, as shown in FIG. 15C, if virtual skeletons 82 and 84 are set in the sub-objects 78 and 80 representing the fish body and tail, for example, the influence information set in the F, G, and H portions may be different. By using only two sub-objects, realistic fish swimming can be expressed. In addition to this, according to the present invention, it is possible to express a subtle facial expression, muscle swell, skin looseness, car deformation at the time of collision, etc. in real time and with high quality images. .

  In the present invention, the position information and direction information set in the virtual skeleton may be relative or may be absolute such as coordinate values and angles in the world coordinate system.

  Further, the processing for obtaining position information and luminance information in the present invention is not limited to the detailed processing examples described with reference to FIGS.

  Further, the interpolation processing of position information and luminance information is not limited to linear interpolation.

  Further, the present invention can be applied not only to a business game device but also to various devices such as a home game device, a simulator, a large attraction device in which a large number of players participate, and a personal computer.

  In addition, the processing performed by the processing unit, the image composition unit, and the like described in this embodiment is merely an example in the present embodiment, and the image composition processing in the present invention is not limited to these.

3 is an example of a functional block diagram of Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating an object, a subobject, and a virtual skeleton. 3A and 3B are diagrams for explaining the tree structure of the sub-object and the virtual skeleton. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the positional information and direction information of a virtual skeleton. FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C are diagrams for explaining a method for obtaining position information of vertexes of a polygon after deformation. FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams for explaining an example in which the present embodiment is applied to the motion of the knee of the foot. FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams for explaining a method for obtaining luminance information of the vertexes of the polygon after deformation. 8A and 8B are diagrams illustrating examples of basic information and deformation information. It is a figure which shows an example of a vertex list. It is a figure which shows an example of a normal list. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of a present Example. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of a present Example. It is a figure which shows an example of the structure of the hardware which can implement | achieve a present Example. FIGS. 14A, 14B, and 14C are diagrams showing various types of game devices to which the present embodiment is applied. FIGS. 15A, 15B, and 15C are diagrams for explaining various application examples of the present invention to image composition. FIGS. 16A, 16 </ b> B, and 16 </ b> C are diagrams for explaining problems of joint motion.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Display part 12 Operation part 20 Object 22, 24, 26 Sub object 28, 30, 32 Virtual skeleton 36, 38, 40 Sub object 42, 44, 46 Virtual skeleton 100 Processing part 102 Virtual skeleton change part 104 Vertex position information calculation part 106 vertex luminance information calculation unit 120 storage unit 122 basic information 124 deformation information 126 vertex list 128 normal list 200 image composition unit

Claims (3)

A three-dimensional game apparatus that synthesizes a field-of-view image in an object space in which an object whose shape is deformed by a change in position information and direction information of first to N-th virtual skeletons configured by a plurality of polygons,
Means for changing at least one of position information and direction information of a Kth (1 ≦ K ≦ N) virtual skeleton;
The position information of the vertex of the polygon that changes due to the change in the position information and direction information of the Kth virtual skeleton is based on the position information of the vertex before the change and the position information and direction information of the Kth virtual skeleton. the position information of the apex points obtained Te, weighting values between the impact information from the virtual skeleton of the adjacent and virtual skeleton of the impact information and the K from the virtual skeleton of the K (K-1) Means to interpolate based on
A three-dimensional game apparatus comprising: means for synthesizing a field-of-view image in a given viewpoint position and line-of-sight direction in an object space. In claim 1,
The K-th virtual skeleton and the (K-1) -th virtual skeleton are obtained by changing the position information and direction information of the (K-1) -th virtual skeleton of the position information and direction information of the K-th virtual skeleton. A change in the position information and direction information of the Kth virtual skeleton has a relationship that does not affect the change in the position information and direction information of the (K-1) th virtual skeleton. 3D game device. Information storage for storing a program for synthesizing a field-of-view image in an object space in which an object configured by a change in position information and direction information of the first to Nth virtual skeletons composed of a plurality of polygons is arranged A medium,
Means for changing at least one of position information and direction information of a Kth (1 ≦ K ≦ N) virtual skeleton;
The position information of the vertex of the polygon that changes due to the change in the position information and direction information of the Kth virtual skeleton is based on the position information of the vertex before the change and the position information and direction information of the Kth virtual skeleton. the position information of the apex points obtained Te, weighting values between the impact information from the virtual skeleton of the adjacent and virtual skeleton of the impact information and the K from the virtual skeleton of the K (K-1) Means to interpolate based on
An information storage medium storing a program that causes a computer to function as a means for synthesizing a view field image in a given viewpoint position and line-of-sight direction in an object space.

Images