KR102169804B1 - Apparatus and method of handling configuration information of a character using screen shot image - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is an apparatus and method for processing character setting information using a screen shot. Character setting information processing apparatus using a screen shot according to an embodiment generates a character display means for displaying a character set by a user on the screen and a screen shot of the screen on which the character is displayed, but the appearance of the character in the screenshot It includes a screenshot generating means for storing the setting information.

Description

Character setting information processing device and method using screen shot {APPARATUS AND METHOD OF HANDLING CONFIGURATION INFORMATION OF A CHARACTER USING SCREEN SHOT IMAGE}

The present invention relates to a method for conveniently storing and distributing setting information for determining the appearance of a character when displaying a character using computer graphics.

In the past when games were distributed as packages, most games were run in stand-alone form.

At that time, gamers used to play games in an arcade equipped with commercial game facilities, or enjoy games using personal computers or home game consoles.

In some arcade games, more than one character is prepared in advance, and the gamer selects one of them at the beginning of the game to play the game.

However, thanks to the expansion of internet infrastructure and the development of computing technology, these games have gradually become online games.

Among online games, especially MMOs, thousands or tens of thousands of simultaneous users play by manipulating their own player character in the space within the game.

Accordingly, each gamer creates and decorates his or her own character so that it can be distinguished from the player characters of other gamers.

To this end, online games support gamers to set the player character's face shape, skin color, and clothing to a very detailed level.

However, customizing the appearance of a player character is surprisingly tricky and requires an aesthetic sense, so all gamers cannot easily create the player character they want.

However, when creating a player character, it is difficult to use the basic appearance prepared in advance. Among the player characters of thousands or tens of thousands of gamers, there is a problem that characters whose appearance is difficult to distinguish.

Accordingly, there is a need to prepare a plan to allow gamers to share information on the appearance of the created player character while making it easier to decorate the appearance of the player character.

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2008-0018407 "Computer-readable recording medium recording a character transformation program that provides transformation of 3D characters" Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2010-0121004 "Multi-user game device including automatic avatar appearance change system"

The present invention was conceived to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a methodology for easily sharing information about the appearance of a customized character with other gamers.

Furthermore, the purpose of this is to provide a methodology that allows gamers to simply share an image of a character, but to construct 3D modeling data for a corresponding character through the image of the character.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a methodology for easily applying this to other characters by storing not only setting information on the appearance of the character in a character screenshot, but also various information given to the character in the game. have.

A method of processing character setting information using a screen shot according to an embodiment includes an operation of displaying a character whose appearance is set by a user on a screen, an operation of generating a screenshot for a screen on which the character is displayed, and the appearance of the character in the screenshot. It includes the operation of storing the setting information.

The appearance setting information may include information on at least one of a race of a character, a gender, a size of a body part, a shape of a body part, and a color of the body part.

The character may be a character created in the online game, and the storing operation may further store at least one of the level of the character in the online game, party member information, possession item information, and mounting equipment information in the screenshot.

The method for processing character setting information using a screen shot according to an embodiment is to access an online game server to execute an online game using the character, but to transmit the screen shot to another user selected by the user, identification information of other users and It may further include an operation of transmitting the screenshot to the online game server.

A method of processing character setting information using a screen shot according to an embodiment includes an operation of providing a user interface to select a screen shot of a previously stored character, and appearance setting information for a first character among previously stored screenshots of the character. When the stored screenshot of the first character is selected by the user, the operation of applying the appearance setting information of the first character stored in the screenshot of the first character to the second character generated by the user and displaying it on the screen.

The method for processing character setting information using a screen shot according to an embodiment may further include an operation of connecting to an online game server and executing an online game using a second character, and the displaying operation is performed by the first character. When the screen shot further includes information given to the first character in the online game, the information given to the first character may be reflected on the second character and displayed on the screen.

The displaying operation is, when the information given to the first character includes the information on the mounting equipment of the first character, the same equipment as the mounting equipment of the first character is mounted on the second character, or the first among equipment held by the second character Equipment related to the character's equipment can be mounted on the second character and displayed on the screen.

In the displaying operation, when the information given to the first character includes information on the party member in the online game of the first character, other users included in the party member information may be registered in the messenger of the user in the online game.

The character setting information processing apparatus using a screen shot according to an embodiment generates a character display means for displaying a character whose appearance is set by a user on a screen, and a screen shot of the screen on which the character is displayed. It includes a screenshot generating means for storing appearance setting information.

The appearance setting information may include information on at least one of a race of a character, a gender, a size of a body part, a shape of a body part, and a color of the body part.

The character may be a character created in the online game, and the screenshot generating means may further store at least one of the level of the character in the online game, party member information, possession item information, and mounting equipment information in the screenshot.

According to an embodiment, the character setting information processing apparatus using a screen shot connects to an online game server and executes an online game using the character, but includes identification information of another user so that the screenshot is transmitted to another user selected by the user. It may further include an online game execution means for transmitting the screenshot to the online game server.

The character setting information processing apparatus using a screen shot according to an embodiment includes an interface providing means for providing a user interface to select a screen shot of a previously stored character, and a first character among screen shots of a character previously stored by a user. Character display means for displaying on the screen by applying the appearance setting information of the first character stored in the screenshot of the first character to the second character generated by the user when the screenshot of the first character in which the appearance setting information is stored is selected Includes.

According to an embodiment, the character setting information processing apparatus using a screen shot connects to an online game server and executes an online game using a second character, but the screenshot of the first character is given to the first character in the online game. When the information is further included, an online game execution means for executing an online game by reflecting the information given to the first character to the second character may be further included.

The online game execution means, when the information given to the first character includes mounting equipment information of the first character, equips the second character with the same equipment as the mounting equipment of the first character, or the second character has 1 An online game can be played by attaching equipment related to the character's equipment to the second character.

The online game execution means may register other users included in the party member information in the user's online game messenger when the information given to the first character includes information about the party member in the online game of the first character.

According to the present invention, gamers who have difficulty in decorating the appearance of their player character can easily create a character similar to the character of another person using a screenshot of the character of the other person.

In addition to the basic appearance of the character given in the game, you can have your own character by constructing the 3D modeling data of the character displayed in the screenshot by using a screenshot of the character customized by others and changing it little by little.

According to the present invention, it is possible to share information about the appearance and other attributes of the character by simply taking and sharing a screenshot of the player character.

1 is a diagram illustrating a structure in which an online game server and a client are connected,
2 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration of a character setting information processing apparatus using a screen shot according to the present invention,
3 is a reference diagram illustrating a process of creating a character by reflecting the character's appearance setting variable,
4 is a reference diagram explaining the process of storing setting information in a screenshot showing the appearance of a character,
5 is a flowchart showing one side of a method for processing character setting information using a screen shot according to the present invention in time series,
6 is a flowchart illustrating another aspect of the method for processing character setting information using a screen shot according to the present invention in time series.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments of the present invention and the accompanying drawings. Meanwhile, in order to clarify the present invention, contents not related to the configuration of the present invention will be omitted, but the same reference numerals in the drawings will be described on the premise that the same components refer to the same components.

On the other hand, when any one component in the detailed description of the invention or the claims "includes" another component, it is not limited to be construed as consisting of only the component unless otherwise stated, and other components It is to be understood that it may further include elements.

In addition, components named as "~ means", "~ unit", "~ module", and "~ block" in the detailed description or claims of the invention mean a unit that processes at least one function or operation, Each of these may be implemented by software or hardware, or a combination thereof.

1 is a diagram illustrating a structure in which an online game server and a client are connected, and FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of a character setting information processing apparatus using a screen shot according to the present invention.

The online game server 2 provides a service so that a plurality of clients 1 simultaneously connected through a network can enjoy an online game.

As well as application data for the execution of the online game, various variables in the game and information on the play situation of each gamer are processed to be shared by the clients 1.

On the other hand, the client 1 connects to the online game server 2 and executes an online game played by manipulating each player character.

That is, the client 1 corresponds to a subject executing an online game, and may be in the form of a personal computer, a home game console, or a smartphone.

Meanwhile, the character setting information processing apparatus 100 using a screen shot according to the present invention relates to a device for displaying a character on a screen in the form of computer graphics, and preferably, a player character of an online game in the form of computer graphics. Display on the screen.

The character setting information processing apparatus 100 using a screen shot according to the present invention may be implemented in the client 1 as shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in Fig. 2, the character setting information processing apparatus 100 using a screen shot according to the present invention includes an online game execution means 110, an interface providing means 120, a character display means 130, and And a screenshot generating means 140.

The online game execution means 110 accesses the online game server 2 through a network and executes the online game.

At this time, the online game execution means 110 executes the online game using a player character created by the user as shown in FIG. 3. In other words, the user can play an online game by manipulating the player character he has created.

The interface providing means 120 provides a user interface to allow the user to set an appearance setting variable of a character.

3 is a reference diagram illustrating a process of creating a character by reflecting a character's appearance setting variable.

Using the user interface as illustrated in FIG. 3, the user can create a player character to be manipulated in the online game.

For example, if a character's race is selected and then a male and female gender is selected, a character with a basic appearance corresponding to the male and female of the corresponding race is displayed on the screen.

The character display means 130 displays a character on the screen as a computer graphic.

Meanwhile, when a user adjusts the appearance setting variables through the user interface provided by the interface providing means 120 as shown in FIG. 3 while a character having a basic appearance is displayed on the screen, the character display means 130 is adjusted. The shape of the character is updated and displayed by reflecting the set appearance variable value.

For example, the user can set the appearance of a character such as increasing the height of the character, making the skin color black or white, changing the shape of the eyes, changing the size or position of the mouth, etc. on the screen shown in FIG. 3.

These appearance settings can be processed by real-time rendering as 3D graphics.

When a character is completed through this process, the user can save the completed character and use it as his player character in an online game.

Meanwhile, the screenshot generating means 140 captures a screen according to a user's manipulation to generate a screenshot.

For example, when the user presses a screenshot generation button on the character customization screen as shown in FIG. 3, the screenshot generation means 140 captures the screen on which the user's character is displayed to generate a screenshot.

At this time, the screenshot generating means 140 stores the appearance setting variable of the character set by the user in the generated screenshot.

Appearance setting variables correspond to information representing the race of a character, male and female, the size of the body part, the shape of the body part, and the color of the body part in the form of numbers or letters.

4 is a reference diagram for explaining a process of storing setting information in a screen shot showing the appearance of a character.

The screenshot generating means 140 generates a screen shot of the screen on which the appearance of the character is displayed, and stores the appearance setting variable value of the character in the EXIF header of the generated screenshot as shown in FIG. 4.

EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) refers to the camera manufacturer (Maker), camera model (model), image editor (software), photo correction date (Datetime), Exif version (Exif Version), and filming date ( Shoot Datetime), the actual size of the photo on the web (Image Size), Exposure Time (shutter speed), Exposure Program, Lens Focal Length, aperture opening value (F-Number) This is information to record detailed additional information such as whether or not to use flash.

EXIF is usually stored in the header of a TIFF or JPEG file, and the screenshot generating means 140 expands the use of such EXIF to further store the value of the character's appearance setting variable in the EXIF header of the screenshot.

Through this process, when the user completes the player character and takes a screenshot, the appearance setting information of the completed player character is stored in the screenshot.

Using this process in reverse, it becomes possible to use screenshots made by the user himself or by other users to complete the player character as shown in the screenshot.

To this end, the interface providing means 120 further provides a user interface so that the user can not only set an appearance setting variable of the character, but also select a screen shot of a previously stored character.

When the user selects a screenshot of the first character, which is any one character, the character display means 130 fetches appearance setting information of the first character from the screenshot.

More specifically, the character display means 130 determines whether the value of the appearance setting information of the character is present in the EXIF header of the screen shot selected by the user, and if it is, retrieves it.

In addition, the drawn appearance setting information is reflected on the second character, which is the character created by the user-which is already displayed on the screen in a basic appearance as illustrated in FIG. 3.

That is, the appearance of the second character displayed on the screen as a 3D computer graphic becomes the same as the first character taken in the screenshot.

The screenshot itself is just a simple raster image file, but by reflecting the appearance setting information stored in the EXIF header, the shape of the second character created by the user becomes the same as the first character taken in the screenshot. .

The screenshot itself is a 2D image in which the view point cannot be changed, but through the above process, the view point can be freely changed to obtain a 3D image that can be checked in a three-dimensional effect.

The user has a 3D rendered character in the same shape as the character in the image by saving a screenshot made in advance by himself or a screenshot made by other users in a local or network space, and selecting an appropriate one.

The user applies several screenshots, selects a favorite one among them, and in that state, can have his own character by slightly changing the appearance of the character through the user interface provided by the interface providing means 120 again. I can.

On the other hand, when creating a screenshot or reflecting the appearance setting information of the previously created screenshot to a character, in addition to the appearance setting information, various information given to the character in the online game is further stored, or vice versa You may.

For example, when the screenshot generating means 140 generates the screenshot, the online game execution means 110 provides information about the user's character in the online game-for example, the level of the character, party member information, item information, equipment information, etc. It may be provided and further stored in the EXIF header of the generated screenshot.

That is, in addition to the appearance setting information that determines the appearance of the character, various types of information given during game play may be further stored.

In this way, as various information given during game play is further stored in the screenshot of the online game player character, the user applies the information stored in the previously created screenshot to his/her character, thereby imitating the appearance of the character displayed in the screenshot. Of course, it is possible to imitate the character's gameplay itself.

That is, the online game execution means 110 retrieves not only the appearance setting information from the EXIF header of the screenshot of the first character selected by the user, but also the information given to the first character in the online game, Reflect on the character.

For example, if the information on the mounting equipment that the first character is wearing in the online game is further stored in the EXIF header of the screen shot of the first character selected by the user, the online game execution means 110 is the second character of the user. The character is equipped with the same equipment as that of the first character.

If the second character does not have the equipment identified by the installed equipment information stored in the EXIF header, the most similar one may be installed using a predetermined algorithm.

Among the equipment possessed by the second character, equipment having the same type, the same type, the same material, and the same properties can be selected and installed.

At this time, the equipment corresponds to in-game items worn or possessed by the character such as the character's armor, shield, weapon, helmet, and ring.

Accordingly, the user can not only imitate the appearance of the character displayed in the screenshot, but also the equipment equipped with the corresponding character can be identical or similar.

On the other hand, if the party member information of the first character is further stored in the EXIF header of the screen shot of the first character selected by the user, the online game execution means 110 may include other information included in the party member information in the online game messenger of the user. Register users.

As a result, the user can communicate with other users who played together at the time the screenshot was taken through the in-game messenger, and furthermore, it is possible to play collaboratively with them again.

Alternatively, you can play cooperatively with the party members in the same or similar appearance as someone's player character in the screenshot. In the event that one of the party members is missing due to unavoidable circumstances, the newly recruited party member may participate in a similar appearance to the existing party member's player character.

Through this process, it becomes possible to take a screenshot of a character or to reflect information stored in the generated screenshot to other characters.

On the other hand, the online game execution means 110 further allows the user to provide or share the generated screenshot to other users in the online game when a screenshot is created by the user.

That is, when another user is selected in the online game according to the user's manipulation-for example, when one of the party members is selected or one of the game friends is selected-the online game execution means 110 identifies the selected other user. The information and the screenshot are transmitted to the online game server 2.

The online game server 2 provides the screenshot to the other user in the online game.

5 is a flowchart showing one side of a method for processing character setting information using a screen shot according to the present invention in time series.

One aspect of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 5 describes a process in which the client 1 generates a screenshot of a character according to a user's manipulation and shares it with another user.

As shown in FIG. 5, the client 1 displays the appearance of the character on the screen when the user sets the appearance setting variable of the character as illustrated in FIG. 3 (S110).

The user may set appearance setting parameters such as the race of the character, male and female, the size of the body part, the shape of the body part, and the color of the body part.

At this time, the appearance of the character that varies according to the appearance setting variable may be rendered in real time and displayed as a 3D graphic.

Thereafter, when the user selects the screen shot generation function of the character, the client 1 generates a screen shot of the screen on which the appearance of the character is displayed (S120).

Then, the appearance setting variable value of the character is stored in the EXIF header of the generated screenshot (S130).

On the other hand, in addition to simply storing the character's appearance setting variable in the screenshot, it is also possible to further store the information given to the character in the online game.

In this case, the client 1 may receive information previously assigned to the character in the online game provided by the online game server 2 and store it in the EXIF header of the generated screenshot.

For example, it is possible to store information on the level of the character, party member information, item information, and equipment to be equipped.

On the other hand, when the screenshot is generated in this way, the client 1 allows the user to share the screenshot with other users in the online game.

To this end, when the user selects another user in the online game, the client 1 transmits the selected other user's identification information and the screen shot to the online game server 2 (S140).

6 is a flowchart showing another aspect of the method for processing character setting information using a screen shot according to the present invention in time series.

Another aspect of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 6 describes a process in which the client 1 reflects information stored in a screenshot of a character selected by the user to the user's character.

As shown in Fig. 6, when the user selects any one of the screenshots previously collected in the local or network space, the client 1 is the first character, which is the character displayed in the screenshot in the EXIF header of the selected screenshot. It is determined whether there is an appearance setting information value of. It is to determine whether the appearance setting information exists, but not to determine whether it belongs to the first character.

On the other hand, the client 1 retrieves the appearance setting information value of the first character if it exists in the EXIF header of the selected screenshot (S210).

Then, as shown in FIG. 3, a second character is displayed on the screen, but the appearance setting information value of the drawn first character is applied to the second character and displayed (S220).

On the other hand, the client 1, in addition to the appearance setting information of the first character in the EXIF header of the selected screenshot, if there is further information given to the first character in the online game, the first 1 Take out more information given to the character.

Then, in step S220, the information given to the withdrawn first character to the second character is reflected in the online game.

For example, if there are appearance setting information of the first character and mounting equipment information of the first character in the EXIF header of the selected screenshot, the client 1 fetches them and allows the second character to be among the equipment held by the second character. Processing is performed to equip the same equipment as the equipment for the first character.

In the case of not having the same equipment, it is processed to install equipment having the same or similar properties by a predetermined algorithm.

In this way, the user can decorate his or her character in the same manner as the character and appearance displayed in the arbitrary screenshot, as well as the equipment he is equipped with.

On the other hand, if there are appearance setting information of the first character and party member information of the first character in the online game in the EXIF header of the selected screenshot, the client 1 fetches them and sends them to the in-game messenger of the second character user. Register other users included in the party member information.

This allows the user to play the game in an environment very similar to that played by the user of the first character displayed in the screenshot-even a party member.

Meanwhile, the method for processing character setting information using a screen shot according to the present invention may be implemented as a computer-readable code and stored in a computer-readable recording medium.

In this case, the computer-readable recording medium may include all types of media in which data that can be read by the computer system is stored, examples of which include DVD-ROM, CD-ROM, hard disk, USB memory, and flash memory. And the like.

On the other hand, the expression "recorded on a recording medium" encompasses both cases of being recorded on the recording medium and distributed in a package form as well as cases of being provided through a network in the form of data packets and recorded on the recording medium.

The present invention has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings and the above-described embodiments, but these are merely exemplary, and those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible therefrom. . Therefore, the scope of the present invention should be determined only by the technical idea of the appended claims, and is not limited to the above embodiments.

The present invention can be applied to the field of computer graphics technology or the field of online game technology.

1: client
2: online game server
100: character setting information processing device
110: online game execution means
120: interface providing means
130: character display means
140: means for creating screenshots

Claims (17)

Displaying a character whose appearance is set by a user on a screen;
Capturing a screen on which the character is displayed according to the user's manipulation to generate a screenshot of the screen on which the character is displayed; And
A method of processing character setting information using a screen shot, comprising the operation of storing appearance setting information of the character in an EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) header of the screenshot. The method according to claim 1,
The appearance setting information includes information on at least one of the race, gender, size of the body part, shape of the body part, and color of the body part of the character, using a screen shot. The method according to claim 1,
The character is a character created in an online game,
The storing operation further stores at least one of the level of the character in the online game, information on a party member, information on holding items, and information on equipped equipment in the screen shot. The method according to claim 1,
Connect to an online game server and run an online game using the character,
The method of processing character setting information using a screenshot, further comprising an operation of transmitting the identification information of the other user and the screenshot to the online game server so that the screenshot is transmitted to another user selected by the user. Providing a user interface for a user to select a screen shot of a previously stored character; And
If a screenshot of the first character in which the appearance setting information for the first character is stored among the previously stored character screenshots is selected by the user, the second character generated by the user is displayed with the screenshot of the first character. A method of processing character setting information using a screen shot, comprising an operation of applying the appearance setting information of the first character stored in an Exchangeable Image File Format (EXIF) header and displaying it on a screen. The method of claim 5,
Further comprising an operation of accessing an online game server and executing an online game using the second character,
In the displaying operation, when the screen shot of the first character further includes information given to the first character in the online game, the information given to the first character is reflected on the second character A method of processing character setting information using a screen shot displayed in The method of claim 6,
The displaying operation is, when the information given to the first character includes information on the mounting equipment of the first character, the same equipment as the mounting equipment of the first character is mounted on the second character or the second character A method of processing character setting information using a screen shot, wherein equipment that is related to the mounting equipment of the first character is mounted on the second character and displayed on the screen. The method of claim 6,
The displaying operation includes registering other users included in the party member information in the online game messenger of the user when the information given to the first character includes information about the party member in the online game of the first character. A method of processing character setting information using a screen shot. Character display means for displaying a character whose appearance is set by the user on the screen; And
A screen for capturing the screen on which the character is displayed according to the user's manipulation to create a screenshot of the screen on which the character is displayed, but storing the appearance setting information of the character in the EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) header of the screenshot Character setting information processing apparatus using a screen shot, including a shot generating means. The method of claim 9,
The appearance setting information includes information on at least one of the race, gender, size of the body part, shape of the body part, and color of the body part of the character, using a screen shot. The method of claim 9,
The character is a character created in an online game,
The screen shot generating means further stores at least one of the level of the character in the online game, information on a party member, information on holding items, and information on equipped equipment in the screen shot. The method of claim 9,
An online game that accesses an online game server and executes an online game using the character, but transmits the identification information of the other user and the screenshot to the online game server so that the screenshot is transmitted to another user selected by the user. Character setting information processing apparatus using a screen shot, further comprising an execution means. Interface providing means for providing a user interface so that the user can select a screen shot of the previously stored character; And
If a screenshot of the first character in which the appearance setting information for the first character is stored among the previously stored character screenshots is selected by the user, the second character generated by the user is displayed with the screenshot of the first character. Character setting information processing apparatus using a screen shot, comprising a character display means for displaying on a screen by applying the appearance setting information of the first character stored in an Exchangeable Image File Format (EXIF) header. The method of claim 13,
When accessing an online game server to play an online game using the second character, and when the screenshot of the first character further includes information given to the first character in the online game, the first character An apparatus for processing character setting information using a screen shot, further comprising an online game execution means for executing the online game by reflecting the given information on the second character. The method of claim 14,
The online game execution means, when the information given to the first character includes information on mounting equipment of the first character, attaches the same equipment as the mounting equipment of the first character to the second character or the second An apparatus for processing character setting information using a screen shot, which executes an online game by attaching to the second character an equipment related to the equipment of the first character among equipment possessed by the character. The method of claim 14,
The online game execution means, when the information given to the first character includes information on a party member in the online game of the first character, the other users included in the party member information in the online game messenger of the user Character setting information processing device using a screen shot to register. A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for executing the character setting information processing method using a screen shot according to any one of claims 1 to 8 on a computer.

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