JPH05111579A - Method for playing video game - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To produce an illusion such that actions on two screens occur at the same time by causing animated cartoons on two scenes to appear alternately when one animated character on one of the scenes speaks to a second character on the other different scene and the latter responds to it. CONSTITUTION: An animated image sequence is displayed on the screen of a TV or video to one or more game operators. Each of the operators has a handheld controller 38 with three pushbuttons 16 adjacent to a liquid crystal display. Alternative words, phrases, sentences, or other language expressions are displayed at intervals of several seconds. The operator is made to either select the matter which should be spoken to animated characters or select the matter which the characters should speak to each other or to the operator. When the controller 28 held by the operator has no liquid crystal display, similar language expressions are displayed on the screen of the TV or video, so that the operator pushes one or more of the pushbuttons 16 for manual selection.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a person who is a person who plays a game, that is, an operator, and two interactive animated characters on a video screen of different scenes set in different places. The present invention relates to a video game method that mimics voice interaction. For example, one character is in the field with wild animals and a second character is in an indoor control room.

[0002]

[Structure, Action, and Effect of the Invention] One anime character in one scene is second in another scene.
When the latter responds to this character, the video of these two scenes alternates, creating the illusion that both screen actions are occurring at the same time. A wall or similar parcel may be displayed on the video screen to emphasize the distinction of this scene. These characters are
Because they are spatially separated in different scenes, they cannot speak in this example. Instead, they
It is displayed as if it were interacting through a voice transmission device such as a telephone or radio transceiver, or through an opening in a wall such as a window, door or tube, or through an intermediary such as a human game operator.

The operators indirectly engage in dialogue between scenes by directly controlling the words spoken by one character or by playing the role of a third off-screen character that speaks with the characters on the screen. You can participate. Each operator has a handheld controller that displays two or more words or actions. The operator responds by pressing a button or moving the cursor next to the selected phrase or action. The animated character then acts as if spoken to by a human operator or one of the other characters, or responds verbally.
You don't have to actually talk. This creates the illusion that the operator is actually participating in a dialogue or adventure with these characters.

Interactive video games with parallel montage provide some of the features of animated movies. In cinematic terms, montage is the continuous editing of several cuts to get the desired effect. There are several types of montages. Parallel montage is the editing of two alternating cuts or scenes to give the illusion of concurrency. For example, in a chase scene, the montage alternates between the tracker and the tracked person. When characters in different scenes talk over the phone, receive and transmit radio, or through the door, or watch other characters in different scenes say or see what they do, one character in another scene This illusion of concurrency is important when the character is remotely controlled. For example, if one character in a scene is watching another character through a window or on a TV monitor, etc., the behavior of another character will be affected. In the present invention, the image sequence appears back and forth between two completely different scenes, creating the illusion that the motions of both scenes are occurring simultaneously. Alternatively, a split screen arrangement may be used to display both scenes simultaneously.

[0005]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, in one embodiment of the present invention, a video game system provides one animated sequence of images on a television or video screen for one or more game operators. Is displayed. Each operator
Next to the liquid crystal display is a handheld controller 28 with three push buttons. Alternate words, phrases, sentences, or other linguistic expressions at intervals of a few seconds are displayed on the controller 28 to allow the operator to select what the anime character should say.
Let the characters choose what to say to each other or the operator. If the operator's controller does not have a liquid crystal display, the equivalent linguistic representation is displayed on the screen of the television or video, so the operator manually selects by pressing one or more pushbuttons. Each time an anime character speaks, the mouth naturally moves the lips in a suitable shape at the same time as the corresponding voice.

When the dinosaur scene 11 begins, the video game system displays two animated characters 12, 13 and a nearby dinosaur. The character 12 speaks with a handheld radio-like device 31 to a third character 22 in another continuously displayed time machine scene 19, which is off screen. Character 12
Tells the radio-like device 31 the word 10 "A dinosaur saw us". Next, the controller 28 controls the character 1
2 displays to the operator three selection sentences 15 of alternative words that can be said next. The operator's hand 17 shows the push button 16 being pushed to select the word "return us to the original position with the beam". The game system is
The word selected at that time is the voice 1 of the character 12.
4 (displayed as a comic balloon for illustration purposes).

The game system then displays the scene 19, where the character 22 becomes the driver of the time travel machine 32 who can communicate with the character 12 of the dinosaur scene by voice and over time. ing. The character 22 can see the characters 12 and 13 on a video monitor or the like. The character 22 responds to the word "illuminate us again" with a voice sound 18 clearly recognizable as that of the character 22. The controller 28 then displays three new alternative sentences 20, which the character 22 can say next. The operator selects the word "You may move aside" by pressing the button. The game system then produces the voice 21 of the character 22 saying the selected word.

Referring to FIG. 2, the display returns to scene 11 of a dinosaur in which characters 12 and 13 are at serious risk and character 13 is ready to speak. The controller then displays three alternative sentences 23 that the character 13 can say. The operator selects the word "move us fast". The game system then produces the voice 24 of the character 13.

Referring to FIG. 3, the game system now displays the time machine scene 19 again, where the character 22 responds with a voice 25 to the request of FIG.
The game system then returns to dinosaur scene 11. There, as a result of the action of the character 22 in the other scene 19, the characters 12, 13 have just disappeared, so a surprised expression appears on the face of the dinosaur.

Referring to FIG. 4, which illustrates the different lines, the game system displays three scenes in succession. Among them, the human operator 17 is the character 22 of the time machine scene 19 and the character 12 of the tent scene 34.
Act as an intermediary between In scene 11 at the beginning of this sequence, the characters detect danger and character 13 seeks rescue 27 from character 22 in time machine scene 19 and character 22 in scene 19
Has responded to it 29. The controller 28 then displays the three alternative sentences the character 12 says in the tent scene 34. The operator 17 selects "I can't see a vehicle" and then the character 12 speaks it like a speech bubble 30. Next, the game system displays the dinosaur scene 11. Among them, the seriously endangered character 13 speaks the words of the speech bubble 33.

Characters 12, 1 in these examples
3 and 22 are operator control characters controlled by the operator. One, two or three operators play the role of three anime characters.

When the operator pushes the button 16 of the controller 28,
The gaming system may generate a voice that speaks the selected sentence and may perform the action specified on the controller 28. Button 1
6 selects a mimicking linguistic response to the preface spoken by the anime character, and also includes a new dialogue sequence shown on the controller 28 which includes a new alternative sentence corresponding to the selected mimicking linguistic response. select. The resulting selected dialogue sequence includes the face and voice of an anime character who speaks words in response to an operator-selected verbal response.

When referring to a voice transmitting device, a telephone or a transmitting / receiving radio or other voice transmitting device is a radio-like device 3
It may be substituted for 1. It is not necessary to show the transmission device. Two
Various conversations between the characters in the different scenes described above may be performed by the characters who talk through a space such as a door, a wall, a roof, a floor, and a vehicle body. It is not necessary to specify walls or other scene demarcations in the video sequence.

Each anime character may be an animated cartoon, a digitized live action, an analog live action, a fairy, etc., or a composite image thereof, and it is not controlled by an operator. May be.

The term "scene" as used herein refers to a video sequence of video showing substantially the same location.
The details and the background portion of one scene may be changed by scrolling, panning, scaling, rotating, zooming or the like in the same scene.

The space-time travel story is provided here only as an example and may be replaced by other game stories that use parallel montage scenes. For example,
The chase scene can also run in parallel with a police phone scene in which the operator talks to the good man driving the bad guy and driving with the remaining good man who is calling the police from the telephone booth. The police dispatch scene may then alternate with a telephone box scene where the operator selects the words to say in this dialogue. The police dispatch scene may then be replaced with a patrol car scene where the operator again selects some of the dialogues. The operator may act as an intermediary between two parallel scenes by acting outside the screen. Another example is an accident scene parallel to the rescue scene. These scenes are spatially separated, but progress in parallel in time. The operator again, as an intermediary,
Alternatively, it may act as two operator-controlled characters that interact with each other in the scene of the victim and the scene of the character heading to the rescue in the accident scene.

Two-way or three-way dialogues can be combined in any parallel montage. For example, the character 12 may speak to the character 13 who speaks with the character 22 in another scene, and the character 22 may speak to the character 22 who speaks with the character 12 or 13 in the first scene. At that time, the operator may play any of the three characters by manually selecting the words to be said while selecting the action to be performed by one character. Similarly, character 13
May talk to the character 22 in another scene, the character 22 may talk to the character 12 in the first scene, and the character 12 may talk to the character 13. Although the character 22 speaks to the character 12 in another scene that speaks to the character 13, the operator may act as an off-screen character that speaks to the character 22. Alternatively, the character 12 speaks to the character 13 who speaks to the character 22 in another scene, but the operator may speak to the character 12.

The operator may select a push button, rotary knob, pressure sensitive membrane, proximity sensitive pad or screen overlay,
Use any of a variety of input devices such as light pens, photosensors, joysticks, mice, and trackballs to move the cursor or aiming crosshair, or to highlight highlighted selections, icons, dialogues, etc. Selections can be entered into the controller 28 while scrolling through.

Although a unique embodiment has been described with respect to the invention, the invention can be modified in various ways.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a video game system for carrying out the method of the present invention, in which two characters in the first scene and one character in the second scene are in one radio mode. FIG. 3 shows two scenes of a animated cartoon-like interactive game (of a space-time travel scene) that interacts with each other through space-time using a device, where one or more operators (buttons are pressed) The hand is shown) indicates that you are selecting some of the character's words.

FIG. 2 illustrates another scene of a video game system implementing the method of the present invention, wherein one of the animated characters reacts dangerously by giving verbal commands to the character off screen. It is a figure which shows the scene following FIG. 1, and the command was actually selected by the operator (the hand pushing the button is shown).

FIG. 3 illustrates another scene of a video game system implementing the method of the present invention, wherein a third animated character acts in response to the verbal command of FIG.
It is a figure which shows two scenes following the scene of, and is followed by the scene which shows the action of the 3rd character, ie, the effect of the surprised dinosaur.

FIG. 4 illustrates another scene of a video game system implementing the method of the present invention, showing three scenes and the interaction between the three characters in those scenes.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11, 19, 34 Scenes 12, 13 22 Dialogue character 16 Push button 17 Operator's hand 28 Controller 31 Radio-like device 32 Time travel machine

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A video game method for simulating a voice dialogue between a game operator and two or more dialogue characters having distinctly different voices in substantially different scenes, the first dialogue. Generate a moving image of a first scene showing an anime character, generate a first voice in the voice of the first dialogue character, and manipulate a plurality of alternative language expressions responsive to the first voice. A second language message that is substantially different from the first scene, and receives an instruction from the operator that the language expression has been selected from the plurality of alternative language expressions by the operator. Generating an animated image of a second interactive character in the scene and generating a second voice with the voice of the second interactive character expressing or responding to the selected linguistic expression. .. 2. The alternative linguistic representations suggest alternative actions performed by one of the characters.
The video game method described in. 3. The first character is in a dangerous state, and the second character responds to the first voice by performing an action to rescue the first character. Video game methods. 4. The plurality of alternative language expressions are the second
The video game method of claim 1, wherein the character of (1) suggests an alternative way in which the first character can be rescued. 5. The video game method of claim 4, wherein the first voice of the first character requests the second character for rescue. 6. The video game method of claim 4, wherein the second voice of the second character offers rescue to the first character. 7. The animated image shows the first and second characters speaking to a third character,
The video game method of claim 1, wherein the third voice of the third character is responsive to the voices of the first and second characters. 8. The first and second characters are
The video game method according to claim 1, wherein the video game method indicates a state of mutual interaction such as a telephone call and a transmission / reception radio. 9. The video game method according to claim 8, wherein the first and second characters show a state of interacting with each other through space-time. 10. A video game method for mimicking a voice interaction between a game operator and two or more interactive animated characters having distinctly different voices in substantially different scenes, the method comprising: Of the first plurality of alternative linguistic expressions by generating a moving image of the first character showing a state in which the interactive character of the second character speaks to the second character in a second scene that is substantially different from the first character. To the selected first language expression by receiving an instruction from the operator that the first language expression has been selected from the plurality of alternative language expressions by the operator. Producing a first voice in the voice of the first interactive character expressing or responding, producing a moving image of the second character in the second scene, and responding to the first voice. 2's Displaying a plurality of alternative language expressions to the operator, receiving an instruction from the operator that the second language expression is selected from the plurality of alternative language expressions by the operator, and selecting the second language expression from the operator. Producing a second voice with the voice of the second interactive character expressing or responding to a second linguistic expression.