JPH1142369A - Conversation system of computer character and recording medium storing program concerning system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize the depth of a conversation like the one between actual persons by reflecting a tone or difference in a neuance, etc., at the time of talking in the progress of the conversation in the conversation between the player and a computer character in a game. SOLUTION: A display device 101 for displaying respective kinds of screens in accordance with the progress of the game is fitted in a conversation system by which the player converses with a virtual conversation object (character) set inside a computer. Then, many choices A indicating contents that the player talks or an action he executes and many choices B indicating emotional expressions at the time of talking the contents or executing the actions are displayed in a display device 101 in the case of the conversation between the player and the character. Besides, an operating part 103 for selecting one of the many choices A and B is equipped, the selected contents, the action to be acted or the emotional expressions are reflected and a conversation flow afterwards is controlled.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a conversation system between a player and a computer character applied to various video games, and a storage medium storing a program related to the system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in various games operated on a home or business game machine or a personal computer, a player becomes a character in the game and other characters appearing in the game (hereinafter referred to as "characters"). In some cases, a virtual conversation partner set in such a computer is called a “computer character”. When expressing the conversation between the player and the computer character, the contents spoken by the player and the computer character are displayed on the screen. For example, when the flow of the conversation is determined (that is, when the content spoken by the player and the content spoken by the computer character are determined in advance), every time a predetermined operation (for example, pressing a predetermined button of the controller) is performed, The dialogue between the dialogue of the player (including the monologue and the content as thought in the mind) and the dialogue of the computer character is alternately displayed, and the conversation proceeds. In addition, in order to allow the player to select the content to be spoken, several options for the content that the player speaks are displayed on the screen, and when the player selects the option that seems appropriate, the selection result is reflected. There was a thing where the conversation progressed.

[0005] FIG. 5 shows an example of a processing procedure of a conversation progress in a conventional game. When it is time to have a conversation in the game, for example, the computer character that is the conversation partner is displayed on the screen, and the processing in FIG. 5 starts.
First, at step 501, "1. speak" and "2. do not speak" are displayed on the screen as options to be selected by the player. The player selects one of the options using various input means such as a controller. If "1. Talk" is selected in step 502, options for the content to be spoken are displayed on the screen in step 503. Here, it is assumed that "1. What are you reading?", "2. Yeah, enthusiastic ♪" and "3. The player
One of these options is selected.

[0004] If "1. What are you reading?" Is selected in step 504 from the options displayed in step 503, then in step 505, the computer character of the other party ("Sawatari" is the name of the other party) There is)
, And the dialogue of the player in response to the reply are sequentially displayed, and the conversation proceeds. If “2. I am eager ♪” is selected in step 506 among the options displayed in step 503, step 507 is performed.
Then, the response (Sawatari "... what?") Of the person you talked to is displayed, and then the conversation is terminated. Of the options displayed in step 503, in step 508, "3.
How nice! Is displayed in step 509, indicating that there is no response from the other party, and then the conversation is terminated. When "2. Do not talk" is selected in step 510 from the options displayed in step 501, the conversation is terminated as it is.

[0005] As described above, a process in which the content spoken by the player is displayed as options and the conversation proceeds only when the player selects an appropriate option, and the conversation is terminated in other cases.

[0006]

The structure of a conversation scene in a conventional game as described above has, at most, two to four variations as options for the content of "what to talk about". The development was different depending on the choice. In addition, the reaction of the opponent had only the same degree of variation. on the other hand,
In actual conversations between people, even if the content of the conversation is the same, the tone of "how to speak" and differences in nuances greatly affect the flow of the conversation. However, in the above-mentioned conventional conversation system, it is not possible to reflect in the progress of the conversation, such as individual differences in the way of speaking of each player and differences in the nuances of speaking depending on the phase of the conversation.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and in the conversation between a player and a computer character in a game, differences in tone and nuance when speaking can be reflected in the progress of the conversation. An object of the present invention is to provide a conversation system capable of realizing the same depth of conversation as in a conversation between people, and a storage medium storing a program related to the system.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a game player has a conversation with a virtual conversation partner (hereinafter, referred to as a computer character) set in a computer. Display means for displaying various screens in accordance with the progress of a game, and a plurality of options indicating the content to be spoken by the player or actions to be taken in a scene of a conversation between the player and the computer character. And display control means for displaying, on the display means, a plurality of options indicating emotional expressions when speaking the content or performing the action,
The player selects one from a plurality of options indicating displayed speech content or an action to be taken, and selects one from a plurality of options indicating the displayed emotional expression.
It is characterized by comprising operating means, and conversation control means for controlling the flow of subsequent conversation by reflecting the content of the speech selected by the player or the action to be taken, and the emotional expression selected by the player.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the operation means selects one of a plurality of options indicating the displayed content of speech or the action to be taken.
And a second operation means for selecting one from a plurality of options indicating the displayed emotional expression.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the operating means is configured to perform a selection operation from a plurality of options indicating displayed speech content or an action to be taken, and a plurality of options indicating a displayed emotional expression. And a selection operation from the user is performed in another phase by a common operation means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium storing a game program for realizing a conversation system in which a game player talks with a virtual conversation partner (hereinafter, referred to as a computer character) set in a computer. The program, when reaching a scene of conversation between the player and the computer character according to the progress of a game, a plurality of options indicating the content to be spoken or actions to be taken by the player, and the content to speak or And a plurality of options indicating emotional expressions at the time of performing the action.
Displaying on the display means, the player selects one of a plurality of options indicating the content of the displayed speech or the action to be taken using the operating means, and selects one of the plurality of options indicating the displayed emotional expression. Detecting that the player has selected, and the step of controlling the flow of subsequent conversation by reflecting the content of the conversation selected by the player or the action to be taken, and the emotional expression selected by the player. There is a feature.

Note that the present invention can be applied to any game having a scene in which a player and a computer character have a conversation.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of hardware (game device) for realizing a conversation system according to the present invention. This system comprises a game device main body 100, a display device (CR
T) 101, speaker (SP) 102, operation unit 10
3 and an auxiliary storage device 104. The game device body 100 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 111, a random access memory (RAM) 112, a read-only memory (ROM) 113, and a video RAM (VRAM) 11.
4. Image control unit 115, voice synthesis unit 116, external storage device 117, and input / output (I / O) control units 118 and 11
9 is provided. In this embodiment, the following description will be made on the assumption that the game device main body 100 is a normal home video game device. However, the present invention is not limited to home video game devices, and can be applied to various game devices such as arcade game devices and personal computers that can operate games having a conversation scene.

In the game apparatus main body 100, the CPU 1
Reference numeral 11 denotes a central processing unit that controls the operation of the entire game apparatus. The RAM 112 is a readable and writable memory used by the CPU 111 for a work area or the like. The ROM 113 stores various control programs (BIOS: Basic Input / Output System) executed by the CPU 111.
This is a read-only memory for storing data such as stems. VR
The AM 114 is a video R for writing data of characters, graphics, and images to be displayed on the CRT 101 from the CPU 111.
AM area. The image control unit 115, based on various data written by the CPU 111 to the VRAM 114,
The control for displaying characters, figures, and images on the CRT 101 is performed. The voice synthesis unit 116 is an SPU (sound processing unit) that reads out voice data from the external storage device 117 or synthesizes the voice data based on an instruction from the CPU 111 and outputs the synthesized voice data to the speaker 102.
The external storage device 117 is a device for setting a removable storage medium and reading various data from the storage medium, and is, for example, a CD-ROM device. The I / O control unit 118 is an interface between the CPU 111 and the operation unit 103, and the I / O control unit 119 is an interface between the CPU 111 and the auxiliary storage device 104. The operation unit 103 is an input device (controller) for the player to operate, and will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Auxiliary storage device 10
Reference numeral 4 denotes a storage device (backup memory) for storing various auxiliary data, and the stored information is retained even after the power of the game device is turned off.

The game program according to the present system is C
It is provided in the form of a D-ROM. The player plays the CD-
When the ROM is set as the external storage device 117, the CP
The U111 reads a game program (including data necessary for the game) from the CD-ROM, and loads and executes the game program in the RAM 112 as necessary. This allows
The game starts. CPU based on game program
When the 111 writes data such as characters, graphics, and images into the VRAM 114, the image control unit 115 performs display on the CRT 101 according to the contents of the VRAM 114. When the CPU 111 instructs the speech synthesizer 116 to output sound (including music and other sounds flowing in the background) based on the game program, the speech synthesizer 116 outputs a predetermined sound according to the instruction from the speaker 102. . Also, C
The PU 111 detects a player operation by the operation unit 103 and controls the progress of the game according to the operation information. Further, the CPU 111 writes information (for example, various parameters relating to the character of the player, a parameter indicating how far the game has progressed, etc.) to be retained even after the game ends in the auxiliary storage device 104, and then writes the information to the auxiliary storage device 104. Read and use when playing the game.

FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the operation unit 103 of FIG. The operation unit 103 includes four buttons 20 operated by the left hand.
1 to 204 and four buttons 211 operated by the right hand
To 214. When you press these buttons,
The CPU 111 detects which button is turned on, and performs control according to the operation.

In particular, the system of this embodiment is characterized by a conversation scene between a player and a computer character. That is, when a conversation scene with the computer character is reached, options regarding the tone to be used when the player speaks the content are displayed on the screen together with options for the content to be spoken by the player. The player selects one of the content options and one of the tone options. Thereby, the conversation with the computer character is advanced by designating what content is to be spoken and in what tone.

Next, the processing procedure of the conversation progress in the present system will be specifically described. When the game progresses and a conversation starts, for example, a screen for conversation is displayed on the CRT 101 as shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 301 denotes a display screen of the CRT 101, and reference numeral 302 denotes a computer character appearing in the game, and indicates a partner (simplified and illustrated) who is about to have a conversation. 3
Reference numeral 03 denotes a window displayed on the lower side of the screen 301. In this example, the content monopolized by the player is displayed. Here, the conversation partner 302 is reading a book on a park bench, and the player notices this and thinks, "(Are you reading a book there, Sawatari?)."

FIG. 4 shows that after the screen of FIG.
The processing procedure of the conversation progress executed by U111 will be described. First, in step 401, options of conversation contents and tone options are displayed on a screen. "1. Talk" and "2. Don't talk" are displayed as content options, and "A. Talk normally", "B. Talk cheerfully", "C. Talk bullish" as tone options. And “D. The display method is window 3 in FIG.
03 may be displayed as shown in the block of step 401 in FIG. Hereinafter, various options and conversation contents are similarly displayed.

The player selects contents and tone from the options displayed in step 401. At the time of displaying the options, the content options are numbered 1 to 4 (in step 401, there are only the first and second options), and the tone options are numbered A to D. The first to fourth of the content options are the operation unit 103 shown in FIG.
Respectively assigned to the left buttons 201 to 204 of
The tone options A to D are respectively assigned to right buttons 211 to 214 of the operation unit 103 in FIG. The player presses one of the left buttons 201 to 204 to select the content, and presses one of the right buttons 211 to 214 to select the tone.

When the player selects the number 1 of the content options and the option A of the tone, at step 402, the dialogue "what are you reading?" Step 4
Go to 03. When the player selects No. 1 of the content options and D of the tone option, in step 402, the dialogue "What are you reading ...?" Is displayed, in which the player speaks to the computer character in response to the selection. Proceed to step 403. In step 403, the computer character of the conversation partner (named "Sawatari")
Is displayed and the player's dialogue "(" Hundred years of loneliness "? The author is ...)" is displayed. Step 404
Then, the options of the content to be spoken by the player and the options of the tone are displayed.

When the player selects the first content option and the tone selection option A from the options displayed in step 404, or selects the first content option and the tone selection option D, step At step 405, the dialogue that the player speaks to the computer character is displayed in response to the selection, and at step 406, the response of the computer character is displayed, and the conversation continues.

On the other hand, when the player selects the content option 1 and the tone option B from the options displayed in step 401, in step 411, the player speaks to the computer character in response to the selection. Yeah, I'm eager! " Next, in step 412, the response of the computer character to the speech and the dialogue of the player further speaking are displayed,
After displaying the response of the computer character in step 413, the conversation is terminated in step 414. When the player selects the number 1 of the content options and the option C of the tone from the options displayed in step 401, in step 415, the dialogue that the player speaks to the computer character in response to the selection, "Hi reading or good. "Hello!" Is displayed. Next, after displaying the response of the computer character to the speech in step 416, the conversation is terminated in step 414. Although not shown, when the player selects the second option “do not speak” of the content option from the options displayed in step 401, the conversation is not performed and the process proceeds to another process.

When the player selects the number 1 of the content option and the option B of the tone from the options displayed in step 404, in step 407 the dialogue "Oh Marquez" in which the player speaks to the computer character in accordance with the selection. That's interesting, isn't it? "
Next, after displaying the response of the computer character to the speech in step 408, the conversation is terminated in step 414. When the player selects the number 1 of the content option and the option C of the tone from the options displayed in step 404, in step 409, the dialogue "Oh Marquez", in which the player speaks to the computer character according to the selection, Is displayed. Next, after displaying the response of the computer character to the speech in step 410, the conversation is terminated in step 414.

Although FIG. 4 does not show the case where No. 2 to No. 4 is selected from the content options displayed in step 404, similar to the above-mentioned processing, the selected content and tone are selected. Processing shall be performed. The trigger for switching the display when the conversation flows in one direction sequentially with the determined content such as steps 411 → 412 → 413 and the trigger for switching to the display of the options from step 403 to step 404 are described below. A method in which the display is sequentially switched by pressing a predetermined button,
An arbitrary method such as a method of automatically switching after a predetermined time may be applied.

According to the above embodiment, the content of the player talking to the computer character (including the option of “talking” or “not talking”) is included,
You can also choose the tone you want to talk to, and the conversation will proceed according to them, so like the conversation between real people, the differences in the individual nuances of the players and the differences in the nuances of the speaking due to the phase of the conversation Can be reflected in the progress of the conversation. So, for example,
You can express subtle conversational subtleties in the game, such as "The player thinks" I want to say something like this, "but is misunderstood by the opponent because I made a mistake in the expression."

In the above embodiment, the left buttons 201 to 201
With a simple operation of simply pressing one of the buttons 204 and one of the right buttons 211 to 214, the conversation can have various variations, giving the impression that the conversation is more realistic. Can be approached. Note that each option may be displayed so as to correspond to the position of each button on the operation unit 113 so that the correspondence between the option and the display of the button can be understood at a glance. For example, FIG.
In the operation unit 113, the buttons 201 to 204 are arranged vertically and horizontally, and if four options corresponding to those buttons are arranged and displayed vertically and horizontally, the player can easily associate the buttons with the options. Be able to grasp. Also, the colors and symbols attached to the buttons (button 211
２１４ to 214 may be displayed as options.

In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which a tone is selected in addition to a line spoken by a player. However, in addition to the tone, various emotional expressions in a conversation may be selected. What are the various emotional expressions in conversation?
For example, the amount and depth of the talk, the degree of showing the depth or shallowness of the content of the talk, or the weight with which the talk is performed, and the like. In the above-described embodiment, the selectable content may include an action performed by the player in addition to a comment content (contents spoken by the player) including what the player thought in his mind. In this case, at the same time as selecting an action, it is possible to select an emotional expression for performing the action.

In the above embodiment, the left button 2
Select the content or action from 01 to 204 and press the right button 211
Although the emotion expression is selected in steps 214 to 214, for example, only the left buttons 201 to 204 may be used in common to select both the content or action and the emotion expression. In that case, the phases may be divided, and the contents and actions may be selected first in the first phase, and then the emotional expression may be selected in the second phase.
Thus, it is possible to select the content or action and the emotional expression without increasing the number of operation means such as buttons.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A plurality of options indicating the content to be spoken or the action to be taken by the player and a plurality of options indicating the emotional expression at the time of speaking the content or taking the action are displayed and made to be selected by the player, and subsequent conversation is performed according to the selection result. Is controlled, so that a feeling closer to actual conversation can be obtained as compared with the conventional game, and the degree of empathy for the game increases. In addition, the character of the player can be more accurately reflected in the game than in the conventional game, and the degree of empathy increases. That is, a conversation system and a program relating to the conversation system, which can reflect the tone and nuance difference when speaking to the progress of the conversation and can realize the same depth of conversation as in the actual conversation between people. Is provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration for realizing a conversation system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of an operation unit.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a screen display example when a conversation is performed;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a conversation progress.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a conventional conversation progress processing procedure;

[Explanation of symbols]

100: Game device body, 101: Display device (CR
T), 102: speaker (SP), 103: operation unit,
104: auxiliary storage device, 111: central processing unit (CP
U), 112 ... random access memory (RAM), 1
13 read-only memory (ROM), 114 video RAM (VRAM), 115 image controller, 116 voice synthesizer, 117 external storage device, 118, 119 input / output (I / O) controller.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A conversation system in which a game player talks with a virtual conversation partner (hereinafter referred to as a computer character) set in a computer, and displays various screens in accordance with the progress of the game. Display means for performing, in a scene of a conversation between the player and the computer character, a plurality of options indicating contents to be spoken or actions to be performed by the player, and a plurality of options indicating emotional expressions when the contents are spoken or performed. Display control means for displaying options on the display means, and the player selects one of a plurality of options indicating the content of the displayed speech or the action to be taken, and selects one of the plurality of options indicating the displayed emotional expression. To choose one,
Operating means, the content selected by the player to speak or the action to be taken;
And a conversation control means for controlling the flow of subsequent conversation by reflecting the emotional expression selected by the player. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the operation means includes: first operation means for selecting one of a plurality of options indicating a displayed content of speech or an action to be taken; and one of a plurality of options indicating a displayed emotional expression. 2. The conversation system with a computer character according to claim 1, comprising a second operation means for selecting one of the two. 3. A common operation means, comprising: a selection operation from a plurality of options indicating displayed speech content or an action to be taken; and a selection operation from a plurality of options indicating a displayed emotional expression. 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the conversation is performed in another phase. 4. A storage medium storing a game program for realizing a conversation system in which a player of a game has a conversation with a virtual conversation partner (hereinafter referred to as a computer character) set in a computer, the program comprising: When reaching a scene of conversation between the player and the computer character according to the progress of a game, a plurality of options indicating the content to be spoken or the action to be taken by the player, and a plurality of options when speaking the content or taking the action. Displaying a plurality of options indicating emotional expression on a display means, and the player selects one of a plurality of options indicating a displayed content of speech or an action to be taken by using the operation means, and the displayed one is displayed. Detecting that one of a plurality of options indicating emotional expression has been selected; and What you speak or what you do
And a step of reflecting the emotional expression selected by the player and controlling the subsequent flow of conversation, the storage medium storing the game program.