JPH07155462A - Electronic game apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To report speedily and accurately the other moving body entering a radar detection space to a game player by radar map display by setting the radar detection space around a moving body for the player. CONSTITUTION:After a radar detection space is preregistered in a radar detection range data memory 130, whether or not a relative spectrum of a present position of a player car and a present position of the other car exists in the radar detection space is judged by a MPU 102, and the other car captured in a radar visual field is displayed on a radar map image screen by a radar map together with a position and the advancing direction.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic game machine, and is particularly effective when a player (hereinafter referred to as a player) controls a moving body such as a car or an airplane to play with another moving body. The present invention relates to an electronic amusement machine for displaying a so-called radar map by superimposing a state of a moving environment on a display screen on a part of a main moving image screen.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a player controls a moving body to play a game with another moving body, the entire moving area of the moving body or a part of its periphery is displayed together with the moving body on a course map. The applicant of the present invention has proposed an electronic amusement machine capable of accurately transmitting the shape of the course and position information of other moving bodies to the player (Japanese Patent Application No. 4-279513). The applicant has also proposed an electronic amusement device that provides a player with a display screen having a more three-dimensional and realistic feeling by subjecting the main moving image screen of the game to three-dimensional calculation processing from three-dimensional stereoscopic data. (Japanese Patent Application No. 4-179040
Issue).

Among such conventional electronic amusement machines, there is a driving game, in particular, one of the ones for enjoying a moving game while performing a three-dimensional arithmetic processing to generate a main moving picture screen. In this game, for example, it is shown in FIG. As described above, a miniaturized view 220 of the drive course is displayed at a position around the main moving image screen 200 which is a visual field image from the player's viewpoint (or the rear thereof), and a car operated by the player (hereinafter, referred to as a player car). The present position on the course is shown to the player by displaying a light spot 222 on the course.

[0004]

In the conventional electronic game machine as described above, the situation around the player car,
In order to know the movement state of another vehicle (hereinafter referred to as an "other car") which is an obstacle to the progress, for example, the rear-view mirror 3 is used.
It is necessary to monitor the other car 302 imaged at 00. However, when the environment display data such as the drive course and the moving body display data are stored in the memory etc. as 3D stereoscopic data (polygon data) and the 3D arithmetic processing is performed to generate the main moving image screen, The background image displayed on the mirror 300 has to be subjected to an enormous amount of three-dimensional arithmetic processing.
Due to the performance of the PU (hereinafter referred to as PU) and the auxiliary processing unit (hereinafter referred to as coprocessor), it is impossible to generate both the front 3D screen and the 3D screen for the rearview mirror in real time.

Further, in the rearview mirror, only the state within the field of view of the mirror can be seen, and in a game or the like where the user enjoys hitting or being hit by a car, the other car in the blind spot at the rear or the lateral directions running side by side in parallel. There was also a problem that I could not understand anything when I wanted to know the state of the other car. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to perform radar display of the position and traveling direction of another moving body around the player car quickly and accurately in all directions of 360 °. The purpose is to provide the electronic game machine.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an electronic game machine, and the above object of the present invention is to provide a player moving body for playing and one or more other moving bodies around the moving body. In an electronic amusement machine which displays on a display means as a radar map together with a symbol of a moving body for a player as a radar map, the symbol is fixed on the display means, and one or a plurality of the radar maps. Radar detection range information is set, switching means operated by the player is provided, and one of the radar detection range information is selected based on a signal from the switching means to play the player moving body. The selected radar detection range is changed according to the change of the position and the traveling direction of the moving body, and the other moving body that enters the radar detection range is moved forward. Move relative to the symbols is accomplished by displaying on the display unit is rotated.

[0007]

According to the present invention, while the moving body for the player is fixed on the display screen, the detection range of the radar can be changed by the switching means. It is possible to easily express the approaching and leaving directions of on the radar map, and it is possible to significantly reduce the calculation time.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. A drive game will be described as an example. According to the present invention, the course map showing the entire moving area of the moving body is displayed at a predetermined position on the display drawing in a superimposed manner on the main moving image as in the conventional case, while the player car is displayed at a different display position on the same display screen. Is fixedly displayed on the radar map, and all the other cars that have invaded a predetermined radar detection range around the same are displayed in the radar map together with the position and the traveling direction centering on the player car that is being fixedly displayed. Therefore, when the player advances the game and the player car runs, it is possible to know which position of the entire moving area the vehicle is running on the course map, and the other vehicles of the competitors in the left and right and rear spaces near the vicinity of the own vehicle. You can detect how many cars are running in which direction without blind spots, and you can get a clue to construct an optimal playing strategy.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the hardware configuration of the electronic game machine of the present invention.
In the figure, the MPU 102 reads out and executes the game program from the ROM 106 in which the game program and data are written, and at the same time, various data such as the progress and score are read from and written to the RAM 106. The coprocessor 104 operates in synchronism with the MPU 102, and particularly functions as an aid for numerical calculation, and performs calculations such as coordinate conversion at high speed. A push button type radar detection range / viewpoint and other switching means, an operation unit 10 including an accelerator, a handle and the like is used as a data processing unit 10 with an input interface 110 as an entrance.
0, and the driving operation of the player is performed by the operation unit 10.
And input to the MPU 102 via the input interface 110. The sound device 108
Based on instructions from the MPU 102, predetermined sound effects and warning sounds,
An artificial voice command or the like is generated, and the audio signal generated there is amplified by an audio amplifier (not shown) and output as audio through the speaker 20 connected to the data processing unit 100.

In the memory built in the data processing unit 100, therefore, an environment polycon data memory 120 for expressing a three-dimensional play environment such as a drive course as a polyhedral three-dimensional color solid, and a tertiary for displaying a player car. A player car data memory 12 for storing the original three-dimensional data, the current position of the player car during movement, the traveling direction, the speed, etc.
The RAM / ROM 106 includes 2 and the other-car data memory 124 that normally stores a plurality of three-dimensional stereoscopic data for displaying the other cars and the current position and speed of each other car.
It is provided separately from.

Further, the viewpoint position data memory 130 for specifying the viewpoint position selected by the switching means 10 and the radar detection range data memory 130 for specifying the radar detection range which is also switched and selected by the switching means 10 also perform data processing. The output data of the data memory 130, which is built in the unit 100, outputs the output data of the data memory 130 so that when the viewpoint / radar detection range or the like is switched by the switching unit 10, the transition to these switching positions is smoothly displayed on the display screen. Interpolation moving unit 1
It is adapted to be written to the moving image generation parameter memory 140, the radar map parameter memory 144, the course map parameter memory 142 and the like via 32.

The three-dimensional data is stored in the memory 120,
122 and 124 are appropriately extracted and written in the moving image generation parameter memory 140, and the current position data and traveling direction data of the player car and the other car are extracted from the data memories 122 and 124 and are stored in the radar map parameter memory 144. The course map data and the current position data of the player car are written in the course map parameter memory 142 by the MPU 102.

Thus, when the viewpoint position data, the three-dimensional polygon data, the current position data of the moving body, the radar detection range data and the like are stored in the parameter memories 140 and 142, the coordinate conversion device 150 displays the three-dimensional polygon data and the like. The depth data of each polygon is obtained while being projected onto the coordinate system, and the display two-dimensional polygon data sorted by the depth data is output to the polygon paint device 152.

Further, in the polygon paint device 152,
Color painting processing is performed on the two-dimensional polygon, and the result is written in the frame memory 154.
The contents of 54 are sequentially read at a television rate, converted into a video signal by a DA converter (not shown), and displayed on the monitor TV 30 which is a display.

Next, the viewpoint switching / setting operation and the radar detection range switching / setting operation by the switching means 10 will be described. First, in the viewpoint switching operation using the switching means 10 such as a push button switch, the viewpoint of the display image is changed based on the intention of the player, and the switching means 10 is provided in parallel with the game start switch, or the game start switch is used. It may be used in combination or provided in the handle.

However, the viewpoint positions that can be switched and changed are shown in FIG.
As shown in, a plurality of locations are selected and set in advance with the cockpit of the player car as a base point. This figure shows an example in which four viewpoints are set. The viewpoint is “slightly behind the vehicle”, the viewpoint is “the player's viewpoint”, the viewpoint is “low behind the vehicle”, and the viewpoint is “the own vehicle”. Behind the sky. In the viewpoint position data memory 130, specific three-dimensional coordinates up to each of these viewpoints starting from the cockpit of the player car are written as relative position vector values. And the switching means 1
As many as 0, pushbutton switches may be provided in parallel by the number of viewpoints, and each switch may correspond to each viewpoint ~, or one changeover switch may be provided, and each time the switch is pressed, the viewpoint is sequentially switched. (For example, viewpoint → viewpoint → viewpoint → viewpoint → viewpoint).

On the other hand, switching means 10 such as a push button switch
In the radar detection range switching operation using, the radar detection range is changed based on the player's intention, and the switching means 10 is provided in parallel with the game start switch.
It may be used also as a game start switch or a viewpoint changeover switch, or may be provided on a steering wheel. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the radar detection range that can be switched and changed is set by selecting a plurality of ranges in advance from the pilot seat of the player car as a base point. The figure shows an example in which the radar detection range is set as four sections, and the radar detection range is set so as to sequentially expand spatially from the section. In the radar detection range data memory 130, specific three-dimensional coordinates up to each of these detection sections with the cockpit of the player car as the origin are written as relative position vector values.
Then, as the switching means 10, push button switches may be provided in parallel for the number of radar detection ranges, and each switch may correspond to each of the detection ranges to, or a changeover switch may be provided and the detection range may be changed each time the switch is pressed. It is also possible to switch sequentially (for example, partition → partition → partition → partition → partition).

The operation of such a structure will be described with reference to the drawings. First, when the player steps on the accelerator to start a drive game or the like, a predetermined cycle (for example, in units of 1/60 seconds). ) The directions of the accelerator and the steering wheel are checked by the MPU 102 via the switching means 10 and the input interface 110, the current position of the player car on the course movement and the traveling direction data are changed, and the contents of the player car data memory 122 are updated. It On the other hand, the current position and traveling direction data of the plurality of other cars participating in this drive game are also updated at this timing, and the contents of the other car data memory 124 are rewritten.

Next, the output of the switching means 10 is the MPU 102.
And whether or not the switching operation of the viewpoint position is performed, and also whether or not the switching operation of the radar detection range is performed.

If neither of the switching operations is performed, for example, the viewpoint position and the radar detection section are selected as default data. Since no switching operation has been performed this time, the interpolation moving unit 132 does not operate, and the third position of the viewpoint position is not activated. The original data is read from the data memory 130 and written in the environment display parameter memory 140, and the three-dimensional data of the radar detection section is read from the data memory 130 and written in the radar map parameter memory 144.

Next, the MPU 102 executes a three-dimensional moving image generation process. In this process, first, the MPU 102 checks the moving image display three-dimensional polygon data stored in the data memories 120 to 124, and the three-dimensional polygon that can be viewed from the viewpoint position based on the player car at the present moment. Are all extracted and written in the moving image generation parameter memory 140. In this processing, assuming that the direction vector of the viewpoint at the viewpoint position is v and the normal vector of the three-dimensional polygon is n, the three-dimensional polygon data satisfying the following expression may be extracted by the MPU 102.

[0022]

[Mathematical formula-see original document] v * n> 0 Thus, all three-dimensional stereoscopic data stored in the environment polygon data memory 120, the player car data memory 122, and the other car data memory 124 are checked and viewed from the current viewpoint position. When possible 3D polygons are extracted, the distance (or depth data) between these 3D polygons and the viewpoint position is M.
The above-mentioned three-dimensional polygons are sorted based on the depth data so that only the polygons closest to the viewpoint position are calculated for each view direction, and are stored again in the moving image generation parameter memory 140. .

Thereafter, the coordinate transformation device 150 reads the viewpoint position vector and the above-described sorted three-dimensional polygon data from the moving image generation parameter memory 140, and performs a moving image generation operation to generate the two-dimensional polygon data for display. It is generated and transmitted to the polygon paint device 152. Further, when the polygon paint device 152 receives the wireframe data of the display two-dimensional polygon, the inside thereof is filled with color information such as specified hue, saturation, and lightness, and the color-colored two-dimensional polygon is stored in the frame memory 154. Write. This state is shown at 200 in FIG. Thus, the three-dimensional moving image generation processing of the environment and the moving body at the viewpoint position is completed.

Subsequently, the MPU 102 executes a course map generation process. In this process, the two-dimensional course map data is extracted from the environment polygon data memory 120 and written in the course map parameter memory 142, and the player car data memory 122 also stores the current position data of the player car and the course map player car. The symbol data is extracted and written in the course map parameter memory 142.

After that, the coordinate conversion device 150 converts the above-mentioned two-dimensional course map data to a predetermined position on the display screen, and the polygon paint device 152 color-processes the data and writes it in the frame memory 154. This state is shown at 220 in FIG. The player car symbol is also converted into a predetermined position on the course map by the coordinate conversion device 150, colored by the polygon paint device 152, and written in the frame memory 154. Figure 4
222 of FIG.

Next, the MPU 102 executes radar map generation processing. In this process, the radar map parameter memory 144 has already been checked for on / off of the radar detection range switching means 10 and the detection space data of the radar detection section has been written. Therefore, first, the current position of the player car P-CAR and the player car symbol data for the radar map are read from the player car data memory 122, written in the radar map parameter memory 144, and the P-CAR is used as a reference. The radar detection section is set (step S2).

Next, the radar effective range when the detection section is viewed from the viewpoint position at a predetermined distance above the P-CAR is calculated by the coordinate conversion device 150 at a predetermined magnification, and the frame is transmitted via the polygon paint device 152. Memory 154
Is written in a predetermined position (step S4). This state is shown as an example in the upper right rectangle 230 in FIG. continue,
The player car symbol data is read from the radar map parameter memory 144 by the coordinate conversion device 150, subjected to predetermined coordinate conversion, colored by the polygon paint device 152, and written in the center position of the radar map in the frame memory 154 ( Step S6). This state is shown as an example at 232 in FIG.

Thus, when the initial setting of the current position of the player car and the radar detection section is completed, it is checked whether or not the radar detection is possible for all the other car O-CARs. First, the current position of the first O-CAR is read from the data memory 124 for the other car (step S
8), this O-CAR and P-CAR by the MPU 102
The relative position with respect to is calculated (step S10). Then, it is checked whether or not the above-mentioned relative position is within the range of the radar detection section (step S12). If it is within the section, the other car symbol data from the other car data memory 124 together with the position and traveling direction of the other car. To read the radar map parameter memory 14
Write to 4. Next, when the coordinate conversion device 150 is activated, the other car symbol data is read out together with the current position and traveling direction data and subjected to predetermined coordinate conversion, and then colored by the polygon paint device 152 and written in the frame memory 154. (Step S14). This state is shown as an example at 234 in FIG.

On the other hand, if it is outside the range of the radar detection section, the above-mentioned other car display step S14 is skipped, and it is checked whether the radar detection processing has been completed for all O-CARs (step S16). If the radar detection processing for all O-CARs has not been completed, the current position of the next O-CAR is read from the data memory 124 for the other car (step S18), and the process returns to step S10. On the other hand, when the radar detection processing for all O-CARs is completed, the radar map display routine is completed. After that, the above-described moving image generation processing, course map display processing, and radar map display processing are performed for a predetermined time (for example, 1
/ 60 seconds).

Although the radar detection range has been described as a rectangular parallelepiped space section as shown in FIG. 7, a spherical or elliptical radar detection range can also be used. Further, in the above description, an example in which both the course map and the radar map are displayed in an overlapping manner on the main moving image screen has been described, but the display of the course map can be omitted. Further, when the switching means 10 is operated to change the viewpoint position or the radar detection range, if the viewpoint position or the radar detection range is quickly changed in units of 1/60 seconds, for example, in direct response to the switching operation, The display screen is very disturbed and unsightly. Therefore, for example, the viewpoint position movement period and the radar detection range movement period of 0.2 seconds to several seconds are set independently in advance, and the switching means 1 is used during these movement periods.
The output change from 0 is ignored, and the interpolation moving unit 132
Therefore, it is desirable to smoothly move the viewpoint and change the radar detection range by linear interpolation up to a new viewpoint position or radar detection range.

Although a so-called drive game has been described in this embodiment, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to all other games. Further, the present invention can be applied to commercial use such as game arcades and general household use.

[0032]

As described above, according to the electronic play apparatus of the present invention, the position and orientation of other moving bodies around the player car can be immediately recognized in all directions of 360 ° without using a rearview mirror. it can. In addition, in a game in which you enjoy making a car crash, you can easily see how a car that has collided with after collision can be easily understood as shown in FIGS. 5 (A) to 5 (C). Easy to play and enjoy the game. Further, since the coordinate conversion process using the three-dimensional polygon data such as the generation of the rear-view mirror moving image is unnecessary, the load on the microprocessor can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of an electronic game device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a viewpoint position setting location in the electronic play device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure for displaying a radar map in the electronic device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of a display screen in one embodiment of the electronic game device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which the movement of another vehicle is captured by a radar.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a specific example of a conventional display screen with a rear-view mirror moving image.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a radar detection range setting space used in the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 operation unit 20 speaker 30 monitor TV 100 data processing unit 102 MPU 106 ROM / RAM 110 input interface 120, 122, 124 data memory 130 radar detection range / viewpoint position data memory 132 interpolation moving unit 140, 142, 144 parameter memory 150 coordinates Conversion device 152 Polygon paint device 154 Frame memory

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A display means for displaying a player moving body relating to a game and one or more other moving bodies around the player together with a symbol of the player moving body as a radar map on a display screen of a game player. In the electronic amusement machine displayed on, while fixing the symbol on the display means,
One or a plurality of pieces of radar detection range information for the radar map are set, switching means operated by the player is provided, and one of the radar detection range information is selected based on a signal from the switching means. Changing the selected radar detection range in accordance with changes in the position and the traveling direction of the player moving body as the game progresses, and moving the other moving body within the radar detecting range to the symbol. The electronic game machine is characterized in that it is relatively moved and rotated to be displayed on the display means. 2. The electronic game device according to claim 1, wherein the display color of the symbol and the display color of the other moving body mark are different from each other. 3. The electronic amusement machine according to claim 1, wherein the radar detection range information is selected in a specific order for each operation on the switching means. 4. When the display screen is switched from one radar detection range to another radar detection range in response to an operation on the switching means, the display field of view is gradually and continuously changed to switch the radar detection range. The electronic game machine according to claim 1, wherein the process ends.