JP3509156B2 - Display method of irradiation surface in game machine - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for displaying an illuminated surface in a game machine, and more particularly, it holds information related to a display object as three-dimensional stereoscopic data, and performs a three-dimensional arithmetic processing on the information. The present invention relates to a method for displaying an irradiation surface in a game machine, which is displayed based on the information related to.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional game machine, display image information on a display device is information on a two-dimensional plane, and a so-called picture is continuously projected to form a dynamic continuous image. According to this conventional display method, all objects drawn are based on a two-dimensional picture, and there is no concept of the presence of a light source. For example, in a driving game or the like, the color of the car does not change even when entering the tunnel. The display of such a scene is performed by a method in which a dark background in the tunnel is created in advance and the background and the vehicle are combined and displayed. In other words, the current situation is that the entire color inside the tunnel is darkened to give the illusion of entering the tunnel.

By the way, recently, a method of developing the conventional two-dimensional display method as described above and adopting three-dimensional information as display image information for display has become widespread. That is, according to the method, since it is three-dimensional information, an object represented by image information can be regarded as a three-dimensional object and the concept of a viewpoint can be introduced. All displayed objects have three-dimensional information (X, Y, Z), and their arithmetic processing is possible. By introducing a concept of a viewpoint (a position where the camera is located), if a certain point on the three-dimensional coordinate axis is defined as a viewpoint, an image of the target object viewed from that position will be displayed on the display device. In addition, by moving the coordinates of the viewpoint, the viewpoint can be changed continuously or stepwise, whereby it becomes possible to display any position in the three-dimensional space as a viewpoint on the display device. This is a technology called so-called virtual reality (virtual reality or pseudo-world, etc.).

According to this technique, an arbitrary three-dimensional world can be simulated by three-dimensional manipulation of image information, and as described above, camera work which does not actually exist can be realized by introducing the concept of viewpoint. At the same time, the concept of viewpoint makes it possible to realize an image with a light source at an arbitrary position.

[0005]

However, as described above, according to the conventional method for displaying the irradiation surface in the game machine, all the objects drawn are based on a two-dimensional picture, and the light source is There was no concept of existence. Therefore, during the game, it suddenly switches to a state where the brightness is different, or even when the brightness changes, it is displayed with a fixed brightness. In the real world, the brightness of the object changes depending on the movement of the light source (movement of the sun, etc.) and the surrounding environment (change of weather, tunnel, etc.), and the brightness of the irradiation surface also changes depending on the irradiation angle. For example, in the actual environment, even if you take one event that a car passes through a tunnel,
There are tunnels with bright windows and tunnels with scattered lights, and the color of the car running through them becomes brighter or darker each time it passes through a light source (sunlight inserted through the window, light from the lighting). Or However, such an expression cannot be made by the conventional display method.

Therefore, if the above-mentioned three-dimensional space display technology is adopted in a game machine and the concept of viewpoint is applied to a light source, an image with the light source placed at an arbitrary position can be displayed. That is, by introducing the concept of a light source, when the vector information of the light source is set on the three-dimensional coordinate axes and the relative position of the light source and the target object changes, the space of the target object is calculated based on the vector information of the position and the light source. Since the irradiation direction to the object inside and the irradiation angle to the irradiation surface can be specified and the illuminance to the irradiation surface of the target object can be determined, it is possible to display the image with the light source at any position in the three-dimensional space on the display device. Is possible. Further, by moving the light source or the target object, it is possible to continuously change and display the illuminance of the irradiation surface of the target object to be illuminated, according to the movement of the light source or the target object.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to consider a light source in a three-dimensional space,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of displaying an irradiation surface in a game machine, which can automatically change the brightness of the irradiation surface of a display target by a light source according to the situation of the place. Furthermore, CG (computer graph) that can set only one light source
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for displaying an irradiation surface in a game machine, which can make it look as if there are a plurality of light sources even in hardware.

[0008]

The present invention relates to a method for displaying an illuminated surface in a game machine, and the above object of the present invention is to hold information relating to a display object as three-dimensional stereoscopic data, and On the other hand, in a game machine in which display is performed based on information about a display target that has been subjected to three-dimensional calculation processing, positional information of one or a plurality of light sources in a three-dimensional space is used as a light source for the irradiation surface of the display target. Is set in advance for each specific event in which the irradiation amount from changes, and whether or not the specific event has occurred during the game is determined based on the three-dimensional stereoscopic data, and the specific event has occurred. If not, set vector information of a predetermined light source (light source position, luminous intensity, irradiation direction and irradiation range) as a light source parameter, and if the above-mentioned specific event occurs, position information of the light source at the above-mentioned specific event Based on the three-dimensional stereoscopic data, a vector of the light source with the display target as reference coordinates is determined and set as a light source parameter, and based on the set light source parameter and the three-dimensional stereoscopic data, irradiation of the display target is performed. This is achieved by obtaining the illuminance of the surface, setting the brightness of the image based on the obtained illuminance, and displaying the game screen. The "specific event" referred to in the present invention
Means one or a plurality of predetermined events in the event group in which the irradiation amount from the light source on the irradiation surface to be displayed changes.

[0009]

In the present invention, when the information related to the display object is held as three-dimensional stereoscopic data and the game screen is displayed based on the information related to the display object that is subjected to the three-dimensional calculation processing for the information, Since the brightness of the irradiation surface of the display target is automatically set and displayed based on the vector data of the light source and the three-dimensional stereoscopic data, the brightness of the irradiation surface of the display target by the light source is determined based on the situation of the place. It can be changed automatically according to. In addition, a specific event in which the irradiation amount from the light source on the irradiation surface of the display target changes, that is, an event caused by the movement of the moving body related to the game or a specific event caused by the light source moving with the passage of time. Since it determines whether or not an event has occurred and sets the vector information of the light source according to the event, it includes the event caused by the moving object blocking the light from the light source with respect to the irradiation surface of the display target. , It is possible to reproduce changes in brightness due to various events on the game screen.

Further, when there are a plurality of light sources in a specific event, which light source is the closest to the display target is determined, and vector information is set using the closest light source. In addition to being able to perform arithmetic processing with, it is possible to make it appear as if a plurality of light sources exist even in CG hardware in which only one light source can be set.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an electronic game machine that realizes the irradiation surface display method in the game machine of the present invention, and an outline of the operation of the machine will be described below by taking a driving game as an example. Here, the backup RAM 105 stores detailed settings of the program and other information, and the central processing unit 101 executes the game program stored in the program / data ROM 103 while referring to the contents thereof. At this time, various data are written in or read from the data RAM 104. The auxiliary arithmetic processing unit (co-processor) 102 is particularly for assisting calculation with respect to the central processing unit 101, and performs arithmetic operations such as coordinate conversion at high speed.

The operation unit 20 such as an accelerator and a handle has a data processing unit 1 with the input interface 106 as an entrance.
00, and the information from there is input to the central processing unit 101 together with the setting information of the DIP switch 107. The sound device difference 108 generates a predetermined music or sound effect based on an instruction from the central processing unit 101, and the generated sound is amplified by the electronic amplifier 109 and connected to the speaker 40 connected to the data processing unit 100. Is output via.

In the execution process of the game program, the central processing unit 101 uses the polygon parameter as the information (polygon data) of the position of the car operated by the player (hereinafter referred to as the player car) and the coordinate conversion formula related thereto. It is stored in the memory 110. Further, by a light source vector setting routine described later, the vector of the light source with the display target as the reference coordinates (position of the light source, luminous intensity, irradiation direction and irradiation range)
Is set as a light source parameter and stored in the polygon data memory 112. Here, the light source parameter is data used in the polygon paint device 113, and the memory or register in the polygon paint device 113 may be used instead of the polygon data memory 112. That is, it depends on the specifications of the polygon paint device 113.

The coordinate conversion processing device 111 reads the contents stored in the polygon parameter memory 110 to perform the coordinate conversion processing of the polygon data, and further, the polygon data on the coordinate-converted three-dimensional coordinates is displayed on the screen. A coordinate conversion process for projecting onto The polygon paint device 113 reads a light source parameter from the polygon data memory 112, performs shading and coloring processing on the coordinate-converted polygon data, and writes the polygon data to the frame memory 114. When all the polygon data have been written, they are read out and output to the TV monitor 30.

Here, the three-dimensional spatial information processing premised on the present invention will be described. Three-dimensional information is secured as video information to be displayed on the TV monitor 30. That is, the position and shape of the object relating to the projected image are all specified by the coordinates in the three-dimensional coordinate space. In addition, a fulcrum (virtual viewpoint) at an arbitrary position in the three-dimensional space is set, and the image displayed on the TV monitor 30 is a scene in which the space is viewed from that viewpoint. The viewpoint can be set at any position in space. By continuously moving the viewpoint, a person who looks into the TV monitor 30 feels as if he or she is moving in the three-dimensional space. In that sense, such technology is called virtual reality. In this respect, a two-dimensional picture is simply continuously projected, which is fundamentally different from the conventional display method in which the concept of the light source does not exist.

Further, when the vector of the light source is specified in the three-dimensional space, the illuminance of the illuminated surface of the object in the space is specified. Therefore, by setting the illuminance calculated by calculation to the luminance of the pixel and displaying it, the brightness of the irradiation surface is
It can be changed in conjunction with the change in the relative position between the light source and the object.

By the way, there are several methods for representing an object in a three-dimensional space. The two representative ones are polygon processing and patch processing. Polygon processing is a method of constructing a solid body from a plurality of polygons. That is, this is a method in which an object is regarded as an aggregate of a plurality of polygonal plates and information is stored for each polygon. On the other hand, the patch processing is a method of constructing a solid by a plurality of aspects. According to this method, it is possible to easily construct a solid body having a smooth curved surface, but there is a drawback in that the calculation process takes a longer time than the polygon process.

As outlined above, the equipment in this embodiment employs polygon processing. Therefore, to explain the display-related portion in detail, the polygon data memory 11
Information of a fixed object in a three-dimensional space is stored as information in units of polygonal planes in 2, while the polygon parameter memory 110 stores the position and viewpoint of the player car from the position central processing unit 101. The position and the coordinate conversion formula related thereto are stored every moment. The coordinate conversion processing device 111 includes fixed object information stored in the polygon data memory 112 and the polygon parameter memory 11
The position of the player car, the position of the viewpoint, and the coordinate conversion formulas related thereto stored in 0 are read out, and the fixed object information such as the background is coordinate-converted based on the relative viewpoint to the player car at that time. Then, coordinate conversion processing is performed such that the polygon data on the three-dimensional coordinates that have undergone coordinate conversion are projected on the screen. The information obtained as a result is sent to the polygon paint device 113.

The polygon paint device 113 performs a rendering process on an object in space based on the information obtained by the coordinate conversion process and the light source parameter (vector data of the light source). That is, from the information of the position of the light source, the luminous intensity, the irradiation direction and the irradiation range set in the light source parameter, and the position information of the display target subjected to the coordinate conversion processing, the light source is changed to a polygonal surface unit (irradiation surface unit). The brightness is set by obtaining the irradiation angle and the irradiation range of the light from. At that time, in the case of a light source of a short distance with a different irradiation angle with respect to one irradiation surface, the value of the brightness of the portion near the light source is increased, and the value of the brightness is gradually decreased as the distance from the light source increases.

Further, if there is an object that blocks the target object by projecting the light source in the direction of the target object, that part is shaded. In the polygon paint device 113,
The polygon data that has been subjected to the shading and coloring processing is written in the frame memory 114, and when all the polygon data have been written, they are read and output to the TV monitor 30. By this processing, a three-dimensional image in which the light source is taken into consideration is displayed on the TV monitor 30.

The method of displaying the illuminated surface in the game machine of the present invention will be described below with reference to specific examples. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a specific example of a display screen according to the method of the present invention, showing a phenomenon when a car operated by a player (hereinafter referred to as a player car) passes through a windowed tunnel in a driving game. This is an assumed example, and is shown in chronological order in the order of (A) → (B) → (C). In this example, the sun corresponds to the light source outside the tunnel, and each window of the tunnel is regarded as a light source in the three-dimensional space inside the tunnel, and vector information of these light sources (position of the light source in the three-dimensional space , Luminous intensity, irradiation direction and irradiation range) are preset in the polygon data memory. Also, the background in the tunnel is
It is assumed that information on the state in which light is incident through the window is created in advance as polygon data and stored in the polygon data memory. Then, it is assumed that the brightness of the irradiation surface to be displayed is set for the moving body related to the game.

Under such conditions, the method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 using the flowchart of the light source vector setting process of FIG. First, the position information of the moving object (player car in the example of FIG. 3) to be displayed is retrieved from the polygon parameter memory 110 (step S1), and whether or not a specific event has occurred, that is, the player car Whether it is located in the tunnel,
The position information of the tunnel retrieved from the polygon data memory 112 and the position information of the player car are compared to determine (step S2). As a result of the discrimination, if the player car is not in the tunnel, the normal light source vector is taken out from the polygon data memory 112 and set in the light source parameter (step S3), and the light source vector setting process in the normal event is finished. Here, in FIG. 3A, since the sun is the light source, the light source vector of the sun is set as the light source parameter. In the case of the sun, for example, the position of the light source is infinity, the luminous intensity is the reference value, and the irradiation direction is 90 degrees with respect to the plane.
The light source parameters are set for the entire irradiation range within the screen.

In step S2, if a specific event has occurred, that is, in a tunnel, the position information of the light source closest to the player car among the respective light sources (windows) is stored in the polygon data memory 112. (Step S4), the light source vector seen from the player car is obtained. Here, in FIG. 3B, the window is regarded as a light source and the vector information thereof is preset, so that the vector of the light source seen from the player car is obtained with the position of the player car as the reference coordinate (step S5).
Then, the obtained vector of the light source is set to the light source parameter (step S6), and the light source vector setting process is ended. When the light source vector setting process ends, the process returns to the main program and is called from the main program every time one image is output, and the above process is repeated.

In the polygon paint device 113, the information obtained by the coordinate conversion processing of the coordinate conversion device 111,
Based on the light source parameters set by the light source vector setting routine, the paint processing is performed while setting the brightness for the object in the space. That is, for each surface of the polyhedron forming the player car, the illuminance of the irradiation surface is calculated based on the vector information of the light source parameter, and the brightness value is set. Then, the polygons that have been shaded and colored
Write the data to the frame memory 114, read all polygon data, and read them
Output to the V monitor 30.

By the above processing, when the car enters the tunnel, the color of the set car changes to dark as shown in FIG. 7B, and the color of the set car changes from the window as shown in FIG. When it comes to a place where light is coming in, it changes brightly. That is,
The lit part gradually changes from the bonnet cover of the player car to the roof and then the trunk lit part, so that it looks like it is lit. In addition, the number of places where the light hits the light source is calculated for each irradiation surface, and the brightness is changed depending on the angle, so in the example in the figure, the light is obliquely upward from the right of the player car. Looks like it's hitting. It is to be noted that such processing is performed every time each window is passed, whereby not only the sense of reality is increased but also the sense of speed is increased.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the phenomenon caused by the movement of the moving body relating to the game has been described as an example, but the phenomenon caused by the movement of the light source with the passage of time is also described. The vector of the light source with the display object as the reference coordinate may be obtained and set in the light source parameter, and the brightness can be changed by the same method. Further, not only the moving body but also the background can be naturally changed in brightness. Further, the so-called driving game has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it is obvious that the present invention can be applied to all other games. Further, it can be applied to commercial ones such as game arcades and general household ones.

[0027]

As described above, according to the display method of the irradiation surface in the game machine of the present invention, the brightness of the irradiation surface of the display object by the light source can be automatically changed according to the situation of the place. . That is, when a specific event occurs in which the irradiation amount from the light source on the irradiation surface of the display target changes, the brightness of the irradiation surface of the display target by the light source can be automatically changed according to the event, for example, , It is possible to reproduce the change in brightness in various situations including the following situations in the game screen as in the actual situation. (1) It becomes dark when entering the tunnel and bright when exiting the tunnel. (2) It gets dark when entering a deep valley. (3) As the character moves (or as time passes), the sun moves and becomes brighter or darker. (4) A large object (airship, airplane, etc.) covers the overhead and becomes dark.

Further, in a driving game or a flight simulation game in which an object moves at high speed, it is effective to increase the sense of speed by making the screen continuously brighter or darker. Further, even when there are a plurality of light sources, it is possible to efficiently perform the processing related to the light source by replacing the light source with a light source close to the light source, and whether there are a plurality of light sources even in the CG hardware in which only one light source can be set. Can look like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart for explaining a method for displaying an irradiation surface in a game machine of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an electronic amusement machine that realizes the method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a specific example of a display screen according to the method of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

20 Operation part 30 TV monitor 40 speakers 100 Data processing unit 101 Central processing unit 102 Auxiliary processing unit 103 program / data ROM 104 data RAM 105 Backup RAM 106 Input / Interface 107 DIP switch 108 sound equipment 109 power amplifier 110 polygon parameter memory 111 coordinate conversion processing device 112 polygon data memory 113 Polygon paint device 114 frame memory

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --- Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-5-303623 (JP, A) JP-A-4-358291 (JP, A) JP-A-4-167185 (JP, A) JP-A-62-1 60064 (JP, A) (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A63F 13/00-13/12 G06T 15/00-17/50

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A game program and a memory for holding three-dimensional stereoscopic data, which is information relating to a display target, a central processing unit, and a coordinate conversion processing unit, wherein the central processing unit stores the memory. In the execution process of the game program, the display target is configured to be displayed on the display means, and for this display, the coordinate conversion processing device is configured to perform the tertiary processing.
Motoritsu body data, the position of the viewpoint, a display processing method in constructed electronic game device such that the three-dimensional processing by reading the coordinate conversion formula from said memory, said memory, the one or more light sources Positional information in a three-dimensional space is stored in advance for each specific position of the display object in which the moving body related to the game moves, and the central processing unit sets the moving body related to the game during the game. Is determined on the basis of the three-dimensional stereoscopic data whether or not at the specific position, and if the moving body according to the game is not at the specific position, the light source at the specific position is the vector information different predetermined light source is set as the light source parameters are read from the memory, if the moving body according to the game that is in said specific position, before the positional information of the light source at the particular position Read from the memory, based on the position information of the light source at a specific position of the moving body and the three-dimensional stereoscopic data, a process of obtaining a vector of the light source with the display target as reference coordinates and setting it as a light source parameter, Based on the set light source parameter and the three-dimensional stereoscopic data, obtain the illuminance of the irradiation surface of the display target, set the brightness of the image based on the obtained illuminance, and display the game screen, A display processing method of an irradiation surface in an electronic game machine, which is characterized by being executed. 2. The brightness of the irradiation surface of the display target is set as follows.
Among the display objects, it is performed for a moving object related to play,
The display processing method of the irradiation surface in the electronic play device according to claim 1. 3. The setting of the brightness of the irradiation surface of the display target is
The display processing method of the irradiation surface in the electronic amusement machine according to claim 1 or 2, which is performed on a background of a moving body related to a game among the display objects. 4. The setting of the brightness of the irradiation surface of the display target is
The display processing method of an irradiation surface in an electronic game device according to claim 1, claim 2, or claim 3, which is performed for a moving object related to a game and its background among the display objects. 5. When there are a plurality of light sources at the specific position, it is determined which light source is the closest to the moving body related to the play, and the position of the display source is used to determine the display target. The display processing method of an irradiation surface in an electronic game device according to claim 1, claim 2, claim 3, or claim 4, wherein a vector of a light source used as reference coordinates is obtained.