JPH07222864A - Body sensation type video game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a game machine which can give inertia force rich in real feeling to a player by tilting and moving a seat on which the player sits. CONSTITUTION:This body sensation type video game machine which moves a hero of a game within an imaginary space in response to the movement of a steering wheel 9 and pedals 7 and 8 actuated by a player 4 and makes the player sense the effective movement of the machine, is equipped with a base 1 capable of being slidably moved at least in one direction, and a seat 2 which is rested on the base 1 and is tilted and moved in the direction identical to the moving direction of the base. Besides, inertia force is designed to be applied without any time lag in response to the operations of the steering wheel 9 and the like by slidably moving the base 1 at specified acceleration while being adjusted to the oblique movement of the seat 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sensible video for moving a game protagonist in a virtual game space in accordance with the movement of an operating body operated by a player, such as a lever or a brake pedal, and allowing the player to experience the movement. Regarding game consoles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a sensible type video game machine of the above type, when an operating body such as a steering wheel or a brake pedal is operated, the image on the CRT is changed and the player's seat is tilted. It is known that the user feels inertial force or centrifugal force. For example, as shown in FIG. 12 (a), a seat 2 is provided on the pedestal 1 so as to be tiltable, and a CR is installed in the seat 2.
A video game machine in which T3 and player 4 are mounted is known.

In this video game machine, for example, when the player 4 depresses the brake pedal, the bottom of the seat 2 is tilted rearward (to the right in the figure), as shown in FIG. The component force F of the gravity G acting on the player 4 is applied in the horizontal front direction of the player 4 by this tilt movement. The component force F is felt by the player 4 as if the inertial force acts in the forward direction when the vehicle suddenly stops.

[0004]

However, in the above-described conventional video game machine, it takes time for the seat 2 to reach the tilted state (b) from the straight state (a), so that the player 4 brake pedal. It took some time to actually feel the inertial force after manipulating etc., so it was uncomfortable and unrealistic.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is a reality in a sensible game machine of a type in which a player experiences an inertial force by tilting a seat on which the player rides. It is an object of the present invention to provide a game machine that can give a player a feeling of inertia and the like.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a sensible video game machine according to the present invention has a pedestal slidable in at least one direction and a pedestal mounted on the pedestal. The seating is tiltable in the same direction as the moving direction. The sliding movement of the pedestal and the tilting movement of the seat are controlled in a complementary manner in accordance with the movement of the operating body such as the steering wheel and the brake pedal.

[0007]

When an inertial force, a centrifugal force or the like is applied to the player, the pedestal is slid and the seat placed on the pedestal is simultaneously tilted. For the player sitting on the seat, an inertial force or the like is immediately given by the slide movement of the pedestal, and thereafter, the pseudo inertia caused by the component force F of the gravity G is caused by the work of the seat tilted to a predetermined angle. You will be empowered. In this way, after operating the operating body such as the brake pedal, the player 4 can immediately experience the inertial force without causing a time lag.

[0008]

EXAMPLE 1 FIG. 1 shows an example of a sensible video game machine according to the present invention. This video game machine has a pedestal 1 placed on a floor 5 and a seat 2 placed on the pedestal 1. A seat 6, a brake pedal 7, an accelerator pedal 8, a handlebar 9 and a CRT 3 as a display device are arranged in the seat 2. The player 4 sits on the seat 6 and holds the steering wheel 9 to play the game. The brake pedal 7, the accelerator pedal 8, and the steering wheel 9 act as an operating body that is operated when the player 4 makes some action in the virtual game world.

A plurality of, for example, four wheels 10 are provided at the bottom of the pedestal 1, and the pedestal 1 is operated by these wheels 10.
Can freely slide on the floor 5 in the left-right direction in the figure, that is, in the front-back direction with respect to the player 4. Also, pedestal 1
Gear 12 driven by a motor 11 provided at the bottom of the
Is engaged with the rack 13 installed on the floor 5 in a straight line.

A plurality of, for example, four wheels 14 are provided at the bottom of the seat 2, and these wheels 14 ride on an arcuate curved concave surface W formed on the upper surface of the pedestal 1. By the action of the wheels 14 and the curved concave surface W, the seat 2 can be tilted and moved on the base 1 in the left-right direction of the drawing, that is, in the front-back direction of the player 4. In addition, the motor 15 provided on the pedestal 1
The gear 16 driven by the gear meshes with the rack 17 provided on the bottom curved convex surface T of the seat 2.

A computer 19 is mounted on a control board 18 provided inside the seat 2. Inside the computer 19, as shown in FIG. 2, a game calculation section 20, a lateral G calculation section 21, and an inclination amount calculation section. 22 and each calculation processing unit of the slide acceleration calculation unit 23. Game operation unit 2
0 displays a virtual game world, for example, a continuously changing drive scene as shown in FIG. 5 as an image on the CRT 3 according to a predetermined program stored in the memory,
Further, based on an operation output signal from an operation input device such as a brake pedal 7, an accelerator pedal 8, a steering wheel 9 or the like, an appropriate action is exerted on the virtual game world, for example, the traveling direction of a virtual car on which a game hero rides is changed to left or right Do, stop the virtual vehicle, or accelerate the virtual vehicle.

The lateral G computing unit 21 gives the player 4 in what direction and in what amount of inertial force and centrifugal force when the virtual vehicle turns left or right, stops, or accelerates in the virtual game world. Is calculated. Tilt amount calculator 2
Reference numeral 2 calculates the tilt angle of the seat 2 required to obtain the inertial force and the like obtained by the lateral G calculation unit 21, and rotates the tilting motor 15 by a predetermined rotation angle in order to bring the tilt angle. . The slide acceleration calculation unit 23 calculates the acceleration of the pedestal 1 required to obtain the inertial force and the like obtained by the lateral G calculation unit 21, and causes the sliding motor 11 to rotate at a predetermined rotational acceleration in order to provide the acceleration. Rotate with.

A specific operation for making the player 4 experience an inertial force will be described below by taking as an example the case where the player 4 depresses the brake pedal 7 in FIG. 1 to suddenly stop the car in the virtual game world. To do.

When the player 4 is not stepping on the brake pedal 7, as shown in FIG.
The seat 2 rests on the pedestal 1 in a state of standing upright. When the player 4 depresses the brake pedal 7, the sliding motor 11 is started and the pedestal 1 slides rearward (to the right in the drawing) of the player 4 at an acceleration α ₁ . Due to this sliding movement, an inertial force F acts on the player 4 forward, and this inertial force is applied to the player 4.
It is felt as an inertial force generated when the vehicle suddenly stops in the virtual game world due to the depression of the brake pedal 7. The slide movement of the pedestal 1 is executed instantly after the brake pedal 7 is depressed, so that the player 4 can instantly experience the inertial force corresponding to the braking operation without a time lag.

Thereafter, the tilting motor 15 is operated to
The bottom of the seat 2 is moved to the player 4 as shown by an arrow A in FIG.
Gradually tilt backwards. Then, in accordance with the tilt movement of the seat 2, the acceleration α ₂ of the slide movement of the pedestal 1 by the slide motor 11 is reduced (α ₁ > α).
₂ ). The pedestal 1 is then slid to the rightmost position as shown in FIG.
As shown in (d), it gradually returns to the center position.
During this time, the acceleration of the pedestal 1 is from FIG. 3 (b) to FIG. 3 (c).
Becomes zero at a certain point during the period from 1 to 2, then becomes the acceleration in the opposite direction to the left in the figure, and further at a certain point during the period from FIG. 3C to FIG. After changing to the acceleration toward, it finally becomes zero.

While the acceleration of the pedestal 1 changes as described above, for example, in the state shown in FIG. 3 (b), the component force k ₂ of the inertial force K ₂ resulting from the acceleration α _{2 of the} pedestal 1 of the player 4 is Gravity G acting in the horizontal front direction and further applied to the player 4
Component force g ₂ of acts on the player 4 in the horizontal front direction. As a result, the combined inertial force of (g ₂ + k ₂ ) acts on the player 4 in the horizontal front direction. This combined inertial force is controlled to be almost equal to the initial inertial force F (g ₂ + k ₂ ≈F).
In this way, controlling the combined inertial force to be almost equal to the initial inertial force F is consistently executed from the initial state of FIG. 3A to the final state of FIG. 3D, and during that time, the player 4 Continues to experience an almost constant inertia force F.

When the pedestal 1 is stopped in FIG. 3D, that is, when the acceleration of the pedestal 1 becomes zero, the inclination angle β of the seat 2 is a predetermined angle determined by the inclination amount calculation unit 22 (FIG. 2). The horizontal acceleration component g ₃ of the gravity G at this predetermined inclination angle is set to a value substantially equal to the initial inertial force F (g ₃ ≈F).

As shown in FIG. 3 (c), when the pedestal 1 reaches the rightmost end position, the movement of the pedestal 1 is stopped, and the inclination angle of the seat 2 at that time becomes the above-mentioned predetermined angle β. If controlled in this way, the pedestal 1 does not necessarily have to be returned to the central position as shown in FIG. However, if the pedestal 1 is always returned to the central position, it is possible to promptly deal with it when the next inertial force application timing comes.

In FIG. 1, when the player 4 releases his / her foot from the brake pedal 7 and therefore it is necessary to release the inertial force from the player 4, as shown in FIG. 4 (a),
The slide motor 11 is operated to slide the pedestal 1 forward of the player 4 (leftward in the figure) with acceleration α ₃ .
At this time, an inertial force K ₃ directed backward (to the right in the drawing) is applied to the player 4, and a component force k ₃ of this inertial force K ₃ acts horizontally behind the player 4. The component force k ₃ is set to be substantially equal to the component force g ₃ = F of the gravity G applied to the player 4, so that the player 4 instantly feels no inertial force.

After that, the tilting motor 15 is operated to gradually reduce the tilt angle of the seat 2 from the predetermined angle β (see FIG. 4).
(B)), and accordingly, the acceleration α ₄ of the slide movement of the pedestal 1 by the slide motor 11 is reduced (α ₃ >).
α ₄ ). The pedestal 1 is then slid to the leftmost position as shown in FIG.
As shown in (d), it gradually returns to the center position.
During this time, the acceleration of the pedestal 1 is from FIG. 4 (b) to FIG. 4 (c).
Becomes zero at a certain point during the period from the beginning to the end, then reverses to the acceleration in the opposite direction to the right in the figure, and at a certain point during the period from FIG. 4C to FIG. It eventually becomes zero after changing to directional acceleration.

The acceleration of the pedestal 1 changes as described above.
In the meantime, for example, in the state shown in FIG.
Horizontal force g of added gravity G_Four And acceleration inertial force K_Four Horizontal
Component k _Four The relationship with_Four + K_Four ≒ 0, that is, synthetic power
Is controlled so as to maintain a relationship in which is almost zero. Yo
Thus, the player 4 is set to a state where he does not feel inertial force.
It In this way, controlling the combined force to zero is as shown in FIG.
From the initial state of (a) to the final state of FIG.
It runs consistently, so player 4
The inertial force is maintained.

In FIG. 4D, when the pedestal 1 is stopped, that is, when the acceleration of the pedestal 1 becomes zero, the seat 2 is in the upright state, that is, the inclination angle = 0. Then, all the horizontal forces are released from the player 4,
The player 4 literally feels no inertial force. As shown in FIGS. 4 (c) to 4 (d), it is necessary to move the pedestal 1 from the leftmost position to the central position in FIG.
This is to prepare for the next operation as in the case shown in FIGS. 3C to 3D.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present embodiment, the pedestal 1 is slid by the accelerations α ₁ , α ₂ , α ₃ , α ₄ which change according to the determined program, whereby the player 4 In response to the operation of the brake pedal 7 by, the player 4 can instantly give an inertial force to the player 4 forward or backward without a time lag so that the player 4 can experience it.

(Second Embodiment) The above description is for a case where a horizontal G in the front-rear direction is added to the player 4, but in the normal virtual game world, the horizontal G in the left-right direction of the player 4 is used.
May need to be added. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, when a car in which the game protagonist rides in the virtual game world turns left and right along the road 24, it is necessary to add a lateral G in the left and right direction to the player.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of a sensible type video game machine capable of generating such lateral G in the left-right direction. This video game machine has a seat 2 and a pedestal 1 that supports the seat 2. The seat 2 includes a CRT 3 as a display device, a brake pedal 7, an accelerator pedal 8, a steering wheel 9, and a seat 6. Sitting 2
Are rotatably supported on the pedestal 1 about an axis 25 extending in the front-rear direction of the player 4. A plurality of wheels 26, for example, four wheels 26 are provided at the bottom of the pedestal 1, and the pedestal 1 is placed on the floor 5 by the action of the wheels 26.
Can be freely slid in the left-right direction, that is, in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing.

At the left end of the pedestal 1, there is provided a tilt drive device 27 for tilting the seat 2 in the left-right direction of the player 4. As shown in FIG. 7, this tilting drive device 27 is rotatably connected to an air cylinder 28 rotatably connected to a fulcrum 30 fixed to the pedestal 1 and a tip of an actuator rod 28a of the air cylinder 28. It has a rotating link 29. The other end of the rotary link 29 is fixed to the rotary shaft 25 of the seat 2.

In FIG. 6, a slide drive device 31 for sliding the pedestal 1 is provided at the center of the bottom of the pedestal 1. As shown in FIG. 8, the slide driving device 31 is composed of an air cylinder 33. The casing of the air cylinder 33 is connected to the fulcrum 32 fixed to the bottom of the pedestal 1, while the tip of the actuator rod 33a of the air cylinder 33 is attached to the floor 5
Is connected to a column 34 fixed to the.

Since the sensible video game machine of this embodiment is constructed as described above, when an inertial force is applied to the player 4 in the left-right direction, the air cylinder 33 of the slide drive device 31 shown in FIG. Is operated to expand and contract the actuator rod 33a, whereby the pedestal 1 is slid as shown by arrow B. And at the same time, FIG.
At, the air cylinder 28 of the tilting drive device 27 is operated to extend and contract the actuator rod 28a. By this expansion and contraction movement, the rotary link 29 rotates around the rotary shaft 25, and the rotary shaft 25 rotates. As a result, the seat 2
Moves in the left-right direction of the player 4 as indicated by arrow C.

The specific control method of the slide movement of the pedestal 1 and the inclination movement of the seat 2 for giving the inertial force to the player 4 is the control method when giving the lateral G in the front-back direction, that is, FIG. 3 and FIG. Since the same control method as that shown in FIG. 4 can be used, detailed description will be omitted. According to the present embodiment, when the player 4 turns the steering wheel 9, the pedestal 1 is slid in the left-right direction of the player 4 with an appropriate acceleration at the same time as the operation, so that the player 4 can inertial force or centrifugal force without a time lag. You can experience the power.

(Embodiment 3) As is clear from the above description, in the present invention, a desired inertial force is applied to the player 4 by appropriately controlling the acceleration given to the pedestal 1 and the inclination angle given to the seat 2. Can be given to. Hereinafter, a specific example of such a control method will be described.

In FIG. 9, assuming that the lateral force exerted on the player in the virtual game world is f ₀ and the gravity is G ₀ , when simulating these f ₀ and G ₀ , they are f ₀ rather than their magnitudes. Accurately simulating the direction of the synthetic force of G ₀ gives a more realistic feeling.

For example, in a drive simulator,
If the centrifugal force f ₀ worked by sudden steering wheel operation, the resultant force F ₀ of the centrifugal force f ₀ and the gravity G ₀ is _{G 0 = F 0 · cosθ 0} f 0 = -F 0 · sinθ 0.

As shown in FIG. 10, when the player and theta _B the inclination of the seat 2 ride, when the seating 2 is not operated acceleration in a lateral direction is θ _B = -θ _0, actually according to the player If the gravity G is G = mg (m is the mass of the player, g is the acceleration of gravity), then F
₀ will be simulated by G only.

When a lateral acceleration is exerted on the seat 2, assuming that the acceleration is α, the inertial force f exerted on the player is f.
_A is f _A = −mα, and the combined force of this and gravity G acts on the player F
_A , and f _A = −F _A · sin θ _A G = F _A · cos θ _A F _A = G / cos θ _A = mg / cos θ _A. Therefore, α = −f _A / m = F _A · sin θ _A / m = g · sin θ _A
/ Cos θ _A = g · tan θ _A.

Further, since F ₀ is simulated by F _A and θ ₀ = θ _A −θ _B , θ _A = θ _B + θ ₀
Therefore, α = g · tan (θ _B + θ ₀ ) = g (tan θ _B + tan θ ₀ ) / (1-tan θ _B ·
tan θ ₀ ).

Since tan θ ₀ is a phenomenon in the game world and given as tan θ ₀ = −f ₀ / G ₀ , α = g · {tan θ _B − (f ₀ / G ₀ )} / {1 + tan θ _B · ( It can also be expressed as f ₀ / G ₀ )} ...

For example, in the game world, 100 / hour
Suppose that you are traveling on a course that changes from a straight line to a right curve with a radius of 300 m at a speed of 100 km / h at a speed of 27.
Since it is 8 m / sec, the angular velocity on the curve is ω ₀ ≈
It is 0.0926 rad / sec.

Therefore, the centrifugal force f ₀ is f ₀ = -m ₀ · r ₀ · ω ₀ ² ≈-m ₀ × 300 × (0.09
26) ² ≈ −m ₀ × 2.57 kg · m / sec ² (where m ₀ is the mass of the player in the game world, r ₀
Is the radius of the curve). Further, since the gravity G ₀ applied to the player in the game world is G ₀ = m ₀ · g (g is the acceleration of gravity), f ₀ / G ₀ ≈ (−2.57) ÷ (−9.8) ≈ 0.26
2 and therefore from the equation, α≈ (−9.8) × (tan θ _B −0.262) / (1 + 0.262 tan θ _B ) ... According to this equation, when θ _B ≈ 0 ° α ≈ 2.6 m / sec ^{2 When} θ _B ≈ 15 ° α ≈ 0 m / sec ^{2 When} θ _B ≈ 20 ° α ≈ -0.9 m / It becomes sec ² .

That is, when such a situation occurs in the game world, the seat is slid sideways at an acceleration of 2.6 m / sec ^{2 and} the seat is inclined at the moment when the curve changes from a straight line. Then, the lateral acceleration is reduced according to the seating inclination so as to satisfy the expression. The acceleration becomes 0 when the seating inclination becomes 15 °. However, as it is, seating will proceed laterally more and more, so it is necessary to decelerate and return the seat to the center.

Then, the seat is further tilted, and in response to this, the vehicle is accelerated or decelerated in the laterally opposite direction accordingly. When decelerating with an acceleration of 0.9 m / sec ² , the seating inclination must be 20 °. When the seat is decelerated in this way, the seat changes the direction of slide and returns to the center. However, since it is not possible to slide past the center, accelerate again in the original direction during returning so that the slide speed becomes 0 at the center. At this time, tilt the seat so that the expression is satisfied. The seating that has returned to the center in this way has an inclination of 15 °, and prepares for the next situation in the game world.

When the situation in the game world changes, (f ₀ / G ₀ ) is calculated accordingly, the formula is changed, the seat is tilted in the direction corresponding to it, and the changed formula is adapted. Thus, the lateral acceleration may be applied. This change may be made appropriately before the seat returns to the center. In this way, the lateral G in the game world can be simulated in real time.

With respect to all the signs used in the above equations, the angle is positive in the counterclockwise direction, the lateral force is positive in the right direction, and the vertical force is positive in the upward direction. is there. Further, in the above specific description, in order to simplify the description, the calculation is made assuming that the vehicle travels completely along the course, but in reality, the turning radius of the vehicle is determined by the steering wheel operation amount, If the turning radius is calculated from the steering wheel operation amount and the centrifugal force is further calculated, the player can experience a more realistic lateral force.

(Embodiment 4) FIG. 11 shows another embodiment of the sensible video game machine according to the present invention. The sensible video game machine shown here is basically a video game machine of the type that gives a lateral G in the front-back direction of the player 4, as shown in FIG. This video game machine is different from the video game machine shown in FIG. 1 in that the contact surface between the bottom surface of the pedestal 1 and the floor 5 has a curvature with a tilt radius sufficiently larger than the tilt radius of the seat 2. is there. If such a double-curvature synthetic tilting structure is used, the seat 2 can be tilted by the sliding movement of the pedestal 1, so that the tilting movement and the returning movement of the seat 2 can be performed more quickly, so that the sliding movement range of the pedestal 1 can be increased. Can be narrowed.

The present invention has been described above with reference to the preferred embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments and can be variously modified within the technical scope described in the claims.

For example, in FIG. 1, it is assumed that the player 4 is given a lateral G in the front-rear direction, and in FIG.
It is assumed that the lateral G in the left-right direction is given to the seat. However, if the structure shown in FIG. 1 and the structure shown in FIG. it can.

Further, it is possible to make the player 4 experience a desired inertial force etc. by not performing both the slide movement of the pedestal 1 and the tilt movement of the seat 2 at the same time, but by performing either one. For example, when the vehicle is suddenly accelerated immediately after the sudden braking is performed, a desired inertial force can be obtained only by sliding the seat 1 without tilting the seat 2.

[0047]

According to the sensible video game machine of the first aspect, in addition to the tilting movement of the seat, the pedestal is slid at an appropriate acceleration, so that the player operates the brake pedal, the steering wheel and the like. When the body is operated, it is possible to give an inertial force, a centrifugal force, or the like to the player immediately without a time lag, that is, in real time so that the player can experience it.

According to the sensible video game machine of the second aspect, when the player is given the first inertial force and then the second inertial force is to be applied subsequently, the second inertial force is applied. The action for giving can be started immediately at any time. That is, the pedestal and the seat can be prepared for the next step.

According to the sensible type video game machine of the third aspect, the seat can be tilted not only by the tilting movement of the seating itself but also by the sliding movement of the pedestal. It is quicker, and therefore, the slide movement range of the pedestal can be narrowed.

[0050]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of a sensible video game machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of an electric control system used in the same-type video game machine.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an operation of the sensible video game machine shown in FIG. 1, particularly a series of operations when a player experiences a forward inertial force.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an operation of the sensible video game machine shown in FIG. 1, particularly a series of operations when releasing an inertial force applied to a player.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a scene of a game world displayed on a CRT as a display device.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing another embodiment of the sensible video game machine according to the present invention.

7 is a front view according to arrow VII in FIG.

8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VIII-VIII in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing another scene of the game world displayed on a CRT as a display device.

FIG. 10 is a front view showing a state in which the seat is inclined with respect to the pedestal.

FIG. 11 is a side view showing still another embodiment of the sensible video game machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic side view showing an example of a conventional sensible video game machine and the operation of the video game machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 pedestal 2 seating 3 CRT 4 player 5 floor 6 seat 7 brake pedal (operating body) 8 accelerator pedal (operating body) 9 handle (operating body) 10 wheel 11 sliding motor 12 gear 13 rack 14 wheel 15 tilting motor 16 gear 17 rack 27 seating tilting device 31 pedestal slide drive device

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A pedestal that is slidable in at least one direction in a sensible video game machine that moves a game protagonist in a virtual game space according to the movement of an operating body operated by a player and makes the player experience the movement. And a seat which is placed on the pedestal and can tilt in the same direction as the moving direction of the pedestal, and the sliding movement of the pedestal and / or the tilting of the seat can be performed according to the movement of the operating body. A sensible video game machine characterized by being controlled in a complementary manner. 2. The sensible-type video game machine according to claim 1, wherein the pedestal slides in accordance with the movement of the operating body, and then gradually returns to the initial position regardless of the movement of the operating body. Experienced video game machine. 3. The sensation-type video game machine according to claim 1, wherein the pedestal slides with a tilt radius sufficiently larger than a tilt radius of the seat.