JP7312590B2 - Program, information processing method, and information processing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a program, an information processing method, and an information processing apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, computer games are known which are played by a plurality of players at the same time, and in which a plurality of players can play cooperatively, play against each other, and the like. In this computer game, the display screen for each player is divided into one screen area such as a television according to the number of players playing at the same time, and a display screen corresponding to the position of the player character of each player in the virtual space of the game is displayed in each divided area (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP-A-2004-139330

However, in the conventional technology, when the sound of each player playing at the same time is output from the speaker, the sound may become too loud. An object of the present disclosure, in one aspect, is to provide a technology capable of appropriately adjusting the sound of each player who plays a game simultaneously.

One idea is to display a display screen including a first display area displaying an object corresponding to a first position of the first player character in the virtual space and a second display area displaying an object corresponding to the second position of the second player character in the virtual space, on an information processing device that provides a game in which a first player character operated by a first player and a second player character operated by a second player operate in the same virtual space, and a first sound corresponding to the first position. , a process of synthesizing and outputting a second sound corresponding to the second position, and the process of outputting adjusts the volume of the synthesized sound of the first sound and the second sound based on the first volume of the first sound and the second volume of the second sound when the first sound and the second sound are simultaneously output based on one sound information.and increasing the rate at which the volume of the first sound is attenuated as the volume of the first sound corresponding to the first position increases,It's a program.

According to one aspect, it is possible to appropriately adjust the sound for each player who plays the game simultaneously.

It is a figure which shows the system configuration example of the game system which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure which shows the hardware structural example of the game device which concerns on embodiment. 1 is a functional block diagram of a game device according to an embodiment; FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of event sound data according to the embodiment; 4 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of the game device according to the embodiment; It is a figure explaining an example of the display screen which concerns on embodiment. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of processing for adjusting and outputting sound data according to the embodiment; It is a figure explaining an example of the damping coefficient concerning an embodiment. It is a figure explaining an example of the sound volume after correction|amendment which concerns on embodiment.

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

<System configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration example of a game system 1 according to an embodiment. In the example of FIG. 1, the game system 1 includes a game device (information processing device) 10, an output device 20, an input device 30A, an input device 30B, an input device 30C, and an input device 30D (hereinafter simply referred to as "input device 30" when there is no need to distinguish between them). Note that the number of input devices 30 is not limited to the example in FIG. In addition, since the example of FIG. 1 has four input devices 30, four or less players can play at the same time.

The game device 10 may be, for example, a stationary or portable game-dedicated device for home use or commercial use. Alternatively, the game device 10 may be, for example, various personal computers or the like.

The output device 20 is a device having a display device 21 (monitor, display) and one or more speakers 22 . The output device 20 may be, for example, a home or commercial television receiver. In the example of FIG. 1, the output device 20 is a television receiver or the like, and has stereo speakers 22A and 22B on the left and right sides of the display device 21 . Note that the number of speakers 22 is not limited to the example in FIG. The number of speakers 22 may be, for example, one, 5.1ch (five normal speakers and one subwoofer), or 7.1ch (seven normal speakers and one subwoofer). The display device 21 and the speaker 22 may be housed in the same housing, or may be housed in separate housings and connected by a cable or the like.

The input device 30 is, for example, a controller for the game device 10 or the like. For example, the input devices 30 are connected to the game devices 10 for the number of players playing at the same time.

<Hardware configuration>
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration example of the game device 10 according to the embodiment. The game device 10 shown in FIG. 1 has a drive device 100, an auxiliary storage device 102, a memory device 103, a CPU 104, an interface device 105, etc., which are connected to each other via a bus B, respectively.

A game program for realizing processing in the game device 10 is provided by the recording medium 101 . When the recording medium 101 recording the game program is set in the drive device 100 , the game program is installed from the recording medium 101 into the auxiliary storage device 102 via the drive device 100 . However, the game program does not necessarily have to be installed from the recording medium 101, and may be downloaded from another computer via the network. The auxiliary storage device 102 stores the installed game program, as well as necessary files and data.

The memory device 103 is, for example, a memory such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) or an SRAM (Static Random Access Memory). CPU 104 implements functions related to game device 10 according to programs stored in memory device 103 . The interface device 105 is used as an interface for connecting to a network.

Note that an example of the recording medium 101 is a portable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a DVD disc, a Blu-ray disc, or a USB memory. Examples of the auxiliary storage device 102 include a HDD (Hard Disk Drive), SSD (Solid State Drive), flash memory, and the like. Both the recording medium 101 and the auxiliary storage device 102 correspond to computer-readable recording media.

<Functional configuration>
Next, the functional configuration of the game device 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the game device 10 according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of event sound data 111 according to the embodiment.

The game device 10 has a storage section 11 . The storage unit 11 is implemented using, for example, the auxiliary storage device 102 or the like. The storage unit 11 stores event sound data 111 and the like.

In the example of FIG. 4, sound signal data (sound file) is recorded in the event sound data 111 in association with the event ID. The event ID is identification information of an event that generates sound in the game. The event that generates sound in the game may include, for example, an attack by the player character, walking by the player character, and the like. The sound signal data is sound signal data output by the event associated with the event ID.

The game device 10 also has a game controller 12 , a display controller 13 , and a sound controller 14 . Each of these units is realized by processing that one or more programs installed in the game device 10 cause the CPU 104 of the game device 10 to execute.

The game control unit 12 controls execution of the game. The game control unit 12, for example, responds to the player's operations and the like, and controls actions and the like of the player character in the virtual space of the game (including the virtual three-dimensional space, the virtual two-dimensional space, and the like). In addition, the game control unit 12 controls actions of enemy characters, for example, according to the situation of the game.

The display control unit 13 generates a display screen by synthesizing the display screens for each of the plurality of players according to an instruction from the game control unit 12, and causes the display device 21 to display the generated display screen.

The sound control unit 14 generates a sound by synthesizing the sounds of each of the plurality of players according to an instruction from the game control unit 12, and causes the speaker 22 to output the generated sound.

<Processing>
Next, processing of the game device 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of the game device 10 according to the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen according to the embodiment; It should be noted that the following processing in FIG. 5 is repeatedly executed until the game ends. A game in which a plurality of players cooperate in the virtual three-dimensional space of the game will be described below as an example. Note that the technology disclosed herein can also be applied to a game in which a player character acts in a virtual two-dimensional space, a game in which a plurality of players battle each other, and the like.

In step S1, the game control unit 12 receives an operation for each player character from each player who operates each player character.

Subsequently, the game control unit 12 controls each player character in the virtual three-dimensional space of the game in response to the operation from each player (step S2). Here, the game control unit 12 controls, for example, moving each player character in the virtual three-dimensional space, making each player character attack an enemy character, or making each player character use an item that can be used in the game.

Subsequently, the game control unit 12 controls each object other than the player character in the virtual three-dimensional space in response to the action of each player character (step S3). Here, the game control unit 12 controls, for example, enemy characters, items usable in the game, game objects, and the like.

The game control unit 12 may cause, for example, an enemy boss character that each player character fights in cooperation with to attack the player character with a special move or the like. Note that the enemy boss character may be, for example, an enemy character having higher attack power and endurance than a normal enemy character. Also, the special move may be, for example, an attack that inflicts relatively large damage (reduces endurance) on characters existing in a relatively wide range. Also, the game control unit 12 may cause the player character to attack the boss character of the enemy with a deathblow or the like, for example.

Subsequently, the display control unit 13 generates each display data of the display screen for each player (step S4). Here, the display control unit 13 generates display data according to the position and orientation of each player character in the virtual three-dimensional space. The display control unit 13, for example, generates each display data when the virtual three-dimensional space is viewed from a predetermined position behind each player character.

Subsequently, the display control unit 13 arranges the generated display data for each player and synthesizes them into one, and causes the display device 21 to display the synthesized display screen (step S5). An example of the display screen 601 in FIG. 6 shows a display example when four players are playing simultaneously. The four players are hereinafter referred to as player A, player B, player C, and player D, respectively. In the example of FIG. 6, player A, player B, and player C make each player character fight against an enemy boss character in cooperative play, and player D moves the player character to a place different from the place where other players are playing cooperatively.

The display control unit 13 displays a display area 611 for player A, a display area 621 for player B, a display area 631 for player C, and a display area 641 for player D in the example of FIG. In the display area 611, each object in the virtual three-dimensional space of the game is displayed with the position behind the player character 612 of the player A as the position of the viewpoint. In the display area 621, each object in the virtual three-dimensional space of the game is displayed with the position behind the player character 622 of the player B as the position of the viewpoint. In the display area 631, each object in the virtual three-dimensional space of the game is displayed with the position behind the player character 632 of the player C as the position of the viewpoint. In the display area 641, each object in the virtual three-dimensional space of the game is displayed with the position behind the player character 642 of the player D as the position of the viewpoint.

A display area 611, a display area 621, and a display area 631 display fire objects 614 that produce special moves by the player character 612, the enemy character 613, the player character 622, the player character 632, and the enemy character 613, respectively. An enemy character 643 and a fire object 644 are displayed in the display area 641 .

Subsequently, the sound control unit 14 adjusts and outputs the sound data for each speaker 22 (step S6). Here, each speaker 22 synthesizes sound data for each player into one, and outputs the synthesized sound data to each speaker 22 .

≪Sound adjustment process≫
Next, an example of processing for adjusting and outputting sound data for each speaker 22 for each player in step S6 of FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 8B. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing for adjusting and outputting sound data according to the embodiment. FIG. 8A is a diagram illustrating an example of an attenuation coefficient according to the embodiment; FIG. 8B is a diagram illustrating an example of the volume after correction according to the embodiment;

In step S101, the sound control unit 14 determines each event to generate sound for each player based on the situation of objects such as each player character and enemy character. Here, the sound control unit 14 determines, for example, that the enemy character 613 will perform a special move as an event to generate a sound according to the game situation.

Subsequently, the sound control unit 14 determines the volume of the sound generated by each determined event for each player (step S102). One of the players is hereinafter referred to as a "player to be processed". In addition, one event among the events that generate sound is referred to as "event to be processed".

Here, the sound control unit 14 calculates the distance between the position of the processing target player in the virtual three-dimensional space of the game and the position of the sound source (sound source) output by the processing target event. The position of the player in the virtual three-dimensional space of the game may be, for example, the position of the player character operated by the player, or the position of the player's point of view (virtual camera, virtual camera) in the virtual three-dimensional space. The display control unit 13 displays the virtual three-dimensional space captured by the virtual camera on the screen using three-dimensional computer graphics (three-dimensional CG). The position of the virtual camera is, for example, a position on a spherical surface that is a predetermined distance away from the center position of the player character in the virtual three-dimensional space, and may be moved on the spherical surface by the player's operation.

Then, the sound control unit 14, for example, multiplies the initial value of the volume associated with the event to be processed by a coefficient inversely proportional to the calculated distance or the like, and sets the volume value of the sound output by the event to be processed to the player to be processed. As a result, the farther the sound source is, the lower the sound volume can be heard.

Subsequently, the sound control unit 14 determines one or more events (hereinafter referred to as "common events") in which sounds based on a common sound signal are simultaneously output to a plurality of players among the determined events (step S103). Here, in the example of FIG. 6, the sound control unit 14 determines an event in which the enemy character 613 performs a special move as a common event for player A, player B, and player C, for example. Note that, when there is no common event, the sound control unit 14 may synthesize sounds for each player and output the synthesized sound without performing the adjustment in step S104 below.

Subsequently, the sound control unit 14 adjusts the sound volume of each common event (step S104). One of the one or more common events is hereinafter referred to as a "processed common event". In addition, hereinafter, one of the speakers 22 is referred to as a "process target speaker 22". The following processing is performed for each speaker 22 respectively.

(Adjustment method 1)
In step S104, the sound control unit 14 may determine the sound volume of the common event to be processed for each speaker 22 using the following equation (1).

In Expression (1), Volume is the corrected volume of the sound output to the speaker 22 to be processed by the common event to be processed. display is a variable (subscript) indicating each player. DisplayVolume[display] is the pre-correction volume of the sound output to the processing target speaker 22 for each player by the processing target common event. Therefore, for example, if the volume of the sound output to the speaker 22A for each of player A, player B, player C, and player D by the common event to be processed is DisplayVolume[0], DisplayVolume[1], DisplayVolume[2], and DisplayVolume[3], the volume of the sound to be output to the speaker 22A by the common event to be processed is (DisplayVolume[0] ² +DisplayVolume[1] ² +DisplayVolume[2] ² +Display Volume[3] ² ) is ^1/2 .

Thus, for example, when four players use the speakers 22 at the same time and the four players play a game at the same time, the sound for each player can be output from the speakers 22 at a sound pressure level equivalent to the amount of energy when each set of four speakers is output.

The sound control unit 14 may add (mix) the volume of the sound caused by each common event after correcting it using the formula (1), and further add (mix) the sound signal caused by each event other than the common event among the events determined in step S101.

Note that the sound control unit 14 may set the volume obtained by adding the uncorrected volume of the sound output to the processing target speaker 22 for each player by each common event and the uncorrected volume of the sound output to the processing target speaker 22 for each player by each event other than the common event as DisplayVolume[display] in expression (1). As a result, for example, the sound of each player can be calculated by the same processing as in the case where only one player plays on one screen, so the calculation load can be reduced.

(Adjustment method 2)
In step S<b>104 , the sound control unit 14 may determine the sound volume of the common event to be processed for each speaker 22 by using the following equation (2).

In Expression (2), PlayerVolume is the corrected volume of the sound output to the processing target speaker 22 for the processing target player by the processing target common event. OriginalVolume is the volume before correction of the sound output to the processing target speaker 22 for the processing target player by the processing target common event. OriginalVolume may be the same as DisplayVolume[display] in formula (1). The attenuation coefficient D is a correction coefficient to be multiplied by OriginalVolume. The sound control unit 14 may calculate the attenuation coefficient D using the following formula (3).

In Equation (3), VolumeRatio is a value obtained by normalizing OriginalVolume to a range of 0 to 1. Therefore, if the maximum value (maximum volume) of the sound to be output is MaxVolume, the VolumeRatio may be calculated by the following equation (3).

VolumeRatio = OriginalVolume/MaxVolume (4)
MinRatio and MaxRatio are the correction value applied at the minimum volume and the correction value applied at the maximum volume, respectively, and may be calculated by the following equations (5) and (6), for example.

MinRatio = 1-(1-DepressionRatio) x MinVolumeAugmenter (5)
MaxRatio = 1-(1-DepressionRatio) x MaxVolumeAugmenter (6)
where DepressionRatio is the reciprocal of the square root of the number of players. If there are four players, the DepressionRatio is 0.5 (=1/4 ^1/2 ).

MinVolumeAugmenter and MaxVolumeAugmenter are the coefficient of the correction value applied at the minimum volume and the coefficient of the correction value applied at the maximum volume, respectively. When there is no correction at the minimum volume and maximum correction at the maximum volume, MinVolumeAugmenter and MaxVolumeAugmenter may be 0 and 1, respectively. In this case, MinRatio is 1 and MaxRatio is 0.5. In this case, the damping coefficient D in equation (3) has a value as indicated by a straight line 801 in FIG. 8A. In FIG. 8A, the value on the vertical axis is the attenuation coefficient D, and the value on the horizontal axis is OriginalVolume. In the example of FIG. 8A, the attenuation coefficient D is 1 when the value of OriginalVolume is 0, and the attenuation coefficient D is 0.5 when the value of OriginalVolume is MaxVolume (maximum volume).

In this case, the volume PlayerVolume after correction of equation (2) has a value as indicated by curve 811 in FIG. 8B. In FIG. 8B, the value on the vertical axis is the corrected volume PlayerVolume, and the value on the horizontal axis is OriginalVolume. In the example of FIG. 8B, when the value of OriginalVolume is 0, the corrected volume PlayerVolume is also 0, and when the value of OriginalVolume is MaxVolume (maximum volume), the corrected volume PlayerVolume is MaxVolume/2. As the value of OriginalVolume increases, the value of attenuation coefficient D decreases, so the amount of increase (gradient) of volume PlayerVolume after correction decreases.

The sound control unit 14 may add the volume of the sound caused by each common event for each player after correcting it using the formula (2), and further add the sound signal caused by each event other than the common event among the events determined in step S101.

According to the adjustment method 2 described above, when the same sound signal data stored in association with a common event in the event sound data 111 is output to four players at the same time, when the volume of the sound signal data is output to each of the four players at the maximum volume, the volume is attenuated to half the maximum volume and output to each of the four players. Therefore, the volume of the synthesized and output sound signal data is twice the maximum volume for each player (=MaxVolume/2×4), and the sound energy output from the speaker 22 by the sound signal data can be 4 (=2 ² ) times the sound energy at MaxVolume. Therefore, the sound for each player based on the sound signal data can be output from the speaker 22 at a sound pressure level equivalent to the amount of energy in the case of outputting each set of four speakers.

When the volume of the sound signal data is output to each of the four players at a volume lower than the maximum volume, the sound signal data is output after being attenuated to a volume higher than half of the volume. Therefore, for example, a relatively soft sound, such as a walking sound when the player character moves, can be set to an easy-to-hear volume without being relatively attenuated.

Note that the sound control unit 14 may set the PlayerVolume in expression (2) as the volume obtained by adding the uncorrected volume of the sound output to the processing target speaker 22 for each player by each common event and the uncorrected volume of the sound output to the processing target speaker 22 for each player by each event other than the common event. As a result, for example, the sound of each player can be calculated by the same processing as in the case where only one player plays on one screen, so the calculation load can be reduced.

Note that the sound control unit 14 may adjust the volume by combining the adjustment method 1 and the adjustment method 2 described above. For example, the sound control unit 14 may adjust the volume by the adjustment method 1 when the processing load of the CPU 104 of the game device 10 is higher than a predetermined threshold, and adjust the volume by the adjustment method 2 when the processing load is equal to or lower than the threshold. As a result, in a game situation in which the processing load of the CPU 104 is relatively high, for example, CG processing can be performed smoothly by using adjustment method 2 that does not perform square root calculation, which has a relatively high processing load.

<Modification>
Each functional unit of the game device 10 may be realized by cloud computing configured by one or more computers, for example. In this case, the game device 10 may be a game server that provides online games to player terminals via a network such as the Internet.

<Effects of Embodiment>
When the sound is output by calculating the delay and frequency attenuation according to the distance between the position of each player in the virtual three-dimensional space of the game and the position of the source of the sound output by each event of the game, the calculation resources of the game device 10 are consumed relatively much.

Further, for example, when the screen is divided by a plurality of players, and each player controls a player character at a different position in the virtual three-dimensional space, relatively large amounts of computational resources of the game device 10 are consumed to generate three-dimensional CG. Therefore, it is desirable that fewer computational resources of the game device 10 can be used for sound.

When sound is output without calculating the delay or frequency attenuation according to the distance between the position of each player in the virtual three-dimensional space of the game and the position of the source of the sound output by each event of the game, consumption of computational resources of the game device 10 is reduced. However, when the same sound signal is output to multiple players at the same time, the volume may become too loud. For example, when sound signals such as explosion sounds in a game are output to four players at the same volume at the same time, if the sound signals for the four players ^are synthesized, the amplitude of the sound signals is quadrupled.

According to the above-described embodiment, for example, when a plurality of players use monitors and speakers at the same time, the plurality of players play the game at the same time, and even if delays and the like are not calculated according to the distance between each player character and the sound source, the sound can be output to the speakers at an appropriate volume.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims.

10 game device 11 storage unit 111 event sound data 12 game control unit 13 display control unit 14 sound control unit

Claims (6)

information processing equipment,
An information processing device for providing a game in which a first player character operated by a first player and a second player character operated by a second player operate in the same virtual space,
a process of displaying a display screen including a first display area displaying an object corresponding to a first position of the first player character in the virtual space and a second display area displaying an object corresponding to a second position of the second player character in the virtual space;
a process of synthesizing and outputting a first sound corresponding to the first position and a second sound corresponding to the second position;
and
The output processing is
When the first sound and the second sound are simultaneously output based on one sound information, the first sound and the second sound are based on the first volume of the first sound and the second volume of the second sound. Adjusting the volume of the synthesized sound, and increasing the rate at which the volume of the first sound is attenuated as the volume of the first sound corresponding to the first position increases.
program. The output processing is
2. The program according to claim 1 , wherein, as the volume of the first sound corresponding to the first position increases, the rate at which the volume of the first sound is attenuated approaches a value based on the number of players simultaneously outputting the one sound information. The output processing is
As the volume of the first sound corresponding to the first position increases, the rate at which the volume of the first sound is attenuated approaches a value based on the reciprocal of the square root of the number of players simultaneously outputting the one sound information,
3. A program according to claim 2 . The output processing is
Based on the square root of the value obtained by adding the value obtained by squaring the first volume and the value obtained by squaring the second volume,
adjusting the volume of a sound that is synthesized from the first sound and the second sound;
A program according to any one of claims 1 to 3 . An information processing device for providing a game in which a first player character operated by a first player and a second player character operated by a second player operate in the same virtual space,
a process of displaying a display screen including a first display area displaying an object corresponding to a first position of the first player character in the virtual space and a second display area displaying an object corresponding to a second position of the second player character in the virtual space;
a process of synthesizing and outputting a first sound corresponding to the first position and a second sound corresponding to the second position;
and run
The output processing is
When the first sound and the second sound are simultaneously output based on the same sound information, the first sound and the second sound are based on the first volume of the first sound and the second volume of the second sound. Adjusting the volume of the synthesized sound, and increasing the rate of attenuation of the volume of the first sound as the volume of the first sound corresponding to the first position increases.
Information processing methods. An information processing device for providing a game in which a first player character operated by a first player and a second player character operated by a second player operate in the same virtual space,
a display control unit for displaying a display screen including a first display area displaying an object corresponding to a first position of the first player character in the virtual space and a second display area displaying an object corresponding to a second position of the second player character in the virtual space;
a sound control unit for synthesizing and outputting a first sound corresponding to the first position and a second sound corresponding to the second position;
has
The sound control unit
When the first sound and the second sound are simultaneously output based on the same sound information, the volume of the sound in which the first sound and the second sound are synthesized is adjusted based on the first volume of the first sound and the second volume of the second sound, and as the volume of the first sound corresponding to the first position increases, the rate at which the volume of the first sound is attenuated is increased.
Information processing equipment.

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