JP3185795B2 - Sports game equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sports game apparatus in which a player who plays a game operates a player character on a screen to play a ball game.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Sports games that simulate various ball games are widely accepted in home game devices and arcade game devices. Among them, soccer games are very popular, and various types of soccer games can be enjoyed. Commercial game machines, home game machines, and home game software are distributed in respective markets.
With the improvement of hardware performance and the progress of algorithms, the appearance and realism of the player character displayed on the screen have been significantly improved as compared with before. Furthermore, it is possible for some players to enjoy a game while operating a plurality of player characters independently.

[0003]

By the way, in such a sports game apparatus, what kind of image is displayed in what kind of situation is very important. For example, depending on when to zoom up and down, when to focus on the part of the field that is playing, how to switch images, etc. The ease of operation, the power of the game, and the fun of the game progress change.

[0004] The present invention has been made under such a technical background. That is, the main object is to provide a sports game apparatus capable of performing optimal image display according to the situation of a game.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of player characters are displayed on a screen, and a player operates a movement of the player character to perform a ball game sport. In a sports game device for playing a game, an outer first frame and an inner second frame are set on a screen, and an image is displayed when all of the predetermined player characters are inside the second frame. The image display is controlled so that the image is zoomed up and the image is zoomed down when the predetermined player character approaches the first frame.

In order to achieve the above object, a second aspect of the present invention provides the sports game apparatus according to the first aspect, further comprising setting a third frame between the first and second frames. When a predetermined player character approaches the third frame, zoom-in or zoom-down of the image is stopped, and image display is controlled to maintain the zoom state at that time.

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the player character operated by the player goes out of the screen. Means that the camera zooms down so that the player character is forcibly returned to the screen, and when the camera is in the farthest view zoom, the player moves the player character that he or she controls to the outside of the screen When the player character is made to control, the player character is controlled so as not to go out of the screen.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, in any one of the first to third aspects of the invention, the player keeps a ball out of the plurality of player characters to attack. The image display is controlled so that the player character who is playing is shifted from the center of the screen by a certain correction value.

[0009]

[0010]

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention described in the claims will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the entirety of the sports game device of the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the kick input unit 12 of the sports game device of the present embodiment.

Before describing the features of the present invention, the outline of the game contents of the sports game apparatus will be described first. The sports game device according to the present embodiment is a game device specialized for a soccer game. A team that attacks a goal on the right side of the screen (hereinafter, referred to as a “right attacking team”) and a team that attacks the goal on the left side of the screen (hereinafter, “ Left attacking team)). Player characters on the screen,
Depending on the uniform you are wearing, you can tell which team you are on. Each team is composed of five player characters, of which the player can be operated by
There are four player characters excluding the goalkeeper. Hereinafter, a player character appearing on the screen is simply referred to as a “player”.

When only one game device 1 shown in FIG. 1 is used, the game can be played by a maximum of four players. For players who are not controlled by the player,
The CPU controls the operation according to a predetermined algorithm. For example, when there is only one player, the CPU controls the players other than the players operated by the player in the same team, and the CPU controls all the players of the other team. When there are two players, both may be in the same team or in separate teams, but the CPU that is not operated by the player is controlled by the CPU. If there are three players,
In the case of four players as well, how to divide the teams is arbitrary for the players, and the CPU controls all players other than the players to be operated by the players. For goalkeepers,
It is always controlled by the CPU.

Further, the same two game devices 1 shown in FIG. 1 can be simultaneously played by up to eight players by connecting them with a communication cable. In this case, the players operating the same game device belong to the same team, and between the players operating the two game devices,
You can play a competitive game.

The image of the field during the match is
As a general rule, a state in which the diagonally lower part is viewed from the side of the field is displayed. However, from a wide view where both goals can be displayed by pulling the viewpoint significantly,
The zoom (magnification ratio) can be variously changed according to the situation, even when only a very narrow surrounding centering on a certain player in the field is enlarged and displayed. Further, it is also possible to change the display screen such as zooming and vertical / horizontal scrolling by changing the angle of view. The change of the zoom and the change of the display screen are performed by the CPU that controls the entire game device according to a predetermined algorithm. In addition, when the player operated by the player shoots and the goal is determined,
When a certain condition is satisfied, a replay image showing a detailed movement is displayed. In this case, not only an image viewed from the side of the field but also from various directions such as an image viewed from behind the goal. Image is displayed.

The game apparatus 1 is provided with a screen 10 on which the contents of a soccer game and other necessary items can be displayed in a moving image or a still image at a position in consideration of the height of the player's eyes. In the lower operation section, four operation panels a, b, c, and d are prepared in consideration of a case where four players play, and levers 11 (11a, 11b, 11c,
11d), kick input unit 12 (12a, 12b, 12)
c, 12d), button 13 (13a, 13b, 13c,
13d) is provided. Each player stands in front of his own operation panel and operates the lever 11, kick input unit 12, and button 13 of the operation panel.

Each operation panel is color-coded, for example, "red" for operation panel a, "yellow" for operation panel b, "blue" for operation panel c, and "green" for operation panel d. Each color is assigned. The game device 1
To distinguish whether the player appearing on the screen is a CPU-controlled player or a player operated by a player, an operation panel operated by the player is assigned to the foot of the player operated by the player. Display a circle marker of the same color as This makes it possible to see at a glance whether the player appearing on the screen is a CPU-controlled player or a player operated by a player, and in the case of a player operated by a player, which player is operating the player Can be grasped immediately. However, since this wheel marker is not directly related to the claimed invention, illustration of the wheel marker is omitted below.

One of the roles of the button 13 is to change the player to be operated during the progress of the game. In arcade game machines and the like where the game time is limited, when a player operating a player kicks the ball to a place where no player is present and the ball leaves far away (the ball is in a so-called free state) Sometimes), a useless time elapses before the player runs and reaches the ball. In such a case, by pressing the button 13, a teammate near the ball can be set as a new operation target, so that the play time can be used effectively.

However, in other situations, it is possible to change the player to be operated according to the player's intention.
If a player controlled by the CPU keeps the ball after receiving a pass from a player on the team or stealing the ball from a player on the other team, the player is controlled by the CPU. Is switched so that it becomes the operation target of the player of the own army. That is, the player who keeps the ball is preferentially controlled by the player.

The contents of instructions given by operating the lever 11 are the moving direction and moving speed of the player when the player who is operating moves simply or dribble while keeping the ball by himself. In the case where the operating player kicks the ball and makes a pass or a shot, the kicked ball is in a flying direction.

In this embodiment, an analog lever is used as the lever 11. The analog lever is arranged such that two volumes whose resistance values change when the shaft is turned (these volumes are referred to as x volume and y volume) are orthogonal to each other, and the root of the shaft of the lever 11 is a gear or the like. It is connected to the axis of the volume, and the axes of the x volume and the y volume rotate in accordance with the direction in which the lever 11 is tilted and the tilt angle of the tilt.

When the lever 11 is tilted in the x direction or -x direction (horizontal direction), only the x volume rotates, and when the lever 11 is tilted in the y direction or -y direction (vertical direction), only the y volume rotates. Furthermore, when the lever 11 is tilted in any direction other than these, both the x volume and the y volume rotate by the amount tilted in each direction. The CPU, which will be described later, constantly detects the resistance values of the x volume and the y volume at regular intervals. The CPU performs vector calculation based on these resistance values, and recognizes the direction and angle at which the lever 11 is tilted. When the direction and angle at which the lever 11 is tilted are continuously changed, the rotation angles of the x volume and y volume axes also change continuously,
The resistance value of each volume changes continuously. Therefore, the direction recognized by the CPU and the tilt angle are also continuous.

In a conventional soccer game apparatus, an eight-way lever was generally used as a lever operated by hand. The eight-directional lever can be operated in steps of 45 degrees, so that the control load on the game device side can be reduced as compared with the analog lever. In this case, if you want to give a pass to a teammate who is between the direction in which the 8-way lever is located and the next direction, you must tilt the lever in one of the closer directions, and the game device will judge it appropriately, It was supported by a method of assisting players in software.

However, since the controllable directions of the eight-way lever are discrete, a certain degree of familiarity is required to operate it properly, and there is a problem that it is particularly difficult for a beginner to operate as intended. In addition, when controlling the direction, it is necessary to provide software assistance by the game device, but this is difficult for advanced players to perform delicate operations as they wish, and aim to input in the correct direction, It also reduces the essential fun of the soccer game. On the other hand, in the case of the analog lever, continuous direction control is possible, so that even a novice can easily operate ordinary operations, and for a skilled person, advanced operation by delicate direction control Becomes possible.

At the lower part of the game device 1, a kick input unit 1 is provided.
2 are provided. The content operated by the kick input unit 12 mainly includes a pass, a shot,
It is an instruction to start an operation such as a sliding tackle, and adjustment of the speed of a ball kicked out by a pass or a shot. The kick input unit 12 is provided with a ball unit 20 for a player to kick the ball with his / her foot as in actual soccer. The ball portion 20 is a hemisphere having a radius substantially the same as that of an actual soccer ball, and has a surface made of the same or similar material as the soccer ball, and has the same pattern as the soccer ball so that it can be seen at a glance.

As shown in FIG. 2, a bar-shaped shaft 21 is provided at the back of the ball portion 20, and the hemispherical ball portion 20 is fixed to the left end. The shaft 21 is supported by a bearing 22 and is movable in the lateral direction as indicated by an arrow p. A shaft 21 is inserted into the spring 23, and one of the springs is fixed to the shaft 21 and the other is fixed to the game device body. By this spring 23, the shaft 21 is urged leftward in the figure, and in a normal state, the ball portion 20 and the shaft 2
1 is located at the leftmost of the movement range. At this time, the hemisphere of the ball portion 20 protrudes from the lower part of the game device so as to face the toe of the player as shown in FIG.

The player inputs the ball 20 of the kick input unit 12.
Is kicked, the ball unit 20 moves rightward in FIG. 2 (a direction toward the back of the game device) at a speed corresponding to the kicked force. At this time, the shaft 21 provided integrally with the ball portion 20 moves to the right while being supported by the bearing 22, but when it moves to some extent, the repulsive force of the spring 23 becomes stronger and is urged to the left, and the ball portion 20 The shaft 21 is pushed back to the original position. At this time, the stroke in which the ball portion 20 is displaced becomes longer as the player strongly kicks.

As described above, when the player kicks the ball portion 20, the ball portion 20 is displaced, and the ball moves from the spot, albeit temporarily. For this reason, the player can swing the foot which actually kicked the ball. Moreover, since the stroke length of the displacing ball portion 20 is proportional to the kicking strength, the player has a very close feeling of actually playing soccer.

The kick input unit 12 is provided with a speed sensor 24 for detecting the displacement speed of the shaft 21. The speed sensor 24 includes a reflection member 25 attached to the shaft 21 and two optical sensors 26 a and 26 b provided along the longitudinal direction of the shaft 21.
The displacement speed of the shaft 21 is calculated from the time during which the light passes between the optical sensors 26a and 26b.

As described above, the displacement speed of the shaft 21 has a high correlation with the strength of the force when the ball portion 20 is kicked. Therefore, in the game device of the present embodiment, the displacement speed of the shaft 21 is measured by the speed sensor 24, and this measured value is sent to the internal CPU. The CPU controls the speed of the ball that is kicked and moves on the screen based on this signal.

In a conventional game apparatus, a plurality of buttons for different speeds such as a "strong kick" button and a "weak kick" button are provided, and a player selects and presses an appropriate button according to the situation at the place. There were many things. But,
The action of quickly selecting and pressing the button quickly is completely different from the action of controlling the speed of the kicking ball by controlling the force of kicking the ball with the foot as in actual soccer.

On the other hand, if the speed of the ball kicked by the player on the screen changes according to the force applied when the player kicks the ball portion 20 as in the present embodiment, the game operation The movement of the player is very close to the movement of the player in actual soccer, and the movement of the player and the movement of the player on the screen are almost the same. For this reason, the player
You can play the game as if you were playing soccer. In addition, since the "strong kick" button, the "weak kick" button, and the like are not required, the operation panel is neat, so that the player who plays for the first time is not shunned.

From the external features described above, even a first-time user can immediately recognize that this game machine is a soccer game machine. In addition, due to the position where the ball portion 20 is provided and its shape very similar to a real soccer ball, a person who sees this game device will be asked to provide the ball portion 20.
You can intuitively understand that kicking and playing games. Thus, the point that the contents and operation method of the game can be understood to some extent only by looking at the appearance is not present in the conventional soccer game.

Further, the player operates the lever 11, the kick input unit 12, the button 1 as shown in FIG.
There are only three, and there are fewer operating objects compared to the conventional soccer game. For this reason, it is possible to attract the interest of beginners who tend to avoid the soccer game, and it is highly effective that the first-time person wants to actually play. It is also empirically known that a game device whose operation is simple and whose operation is closer to an actual sports operation has a higher degree of immersion in the game. As described above, the soccer game device according to the present embodiment only requires the operation of kicking the ball portion 20 and the operation of tilting the lever 11 in a required direction. The degree of submergence becomes considerably higher.

Next, the variable zoom processing of the displayed image, which is a feature of the present invention, will be described. The game device according to the present embodiment places the viewpoint on the side of the field, and assuming that a virtual camera is provided at the position of the viewpoint, as described above, the image in a state where the diagonally downward view is seen from the side of the field. indicate. The camera can move in a direction parallel to the field sideline (hereafter referred to as the “x-axis direction”), and switch continuously between the most distant view zoom and the most recent view zoom. Can be. In addition,
As the actual processing inside the game device, it is assumed that there are an independent farthest view camera and a latest view camera at the same gazing point, and for the zoom between them, an interpolation operation is performed internally to obtain an image from arbitrary zoom and viewpoint information. Has been generated.

By the way, for example, when all of the player characters operated by the player are concentrating on a narrow area aiming at the ball, all the players pay attention to a relatively narrow area near the ball. In such a case, if an image is projected to show a wide range by zooming out, each player is small and difficult to operate, and lacks power. On the other hand, when the players controlled by each player are scattered widely on the field, and only a narrow area near the player keeping the ball is displayed and other players are not displayed on the screen, each player Cannot measure the positional relationship with other players or predict movement.

Therefore, in the game device of the present embodiment, an appropriate enlargement ratio is set according to the situation at that time.
A zoom variable process for continuously changing the zoom is performed as follows. In order to perform such processing, in the game device of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, an outer frame 31, a middle frame 32, and an inner frame 33, which are developed around the gaze target, are displayed on the screen.
Are set, and these three frames 31, 32, 3
3 is used to control the zoom to be appropriate. Since these frames are used for internal processing by the game device, they are not displayed on the actual screen.

First, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), when all players operated by the player enter the inner frame 33 at a certain size of zoom, the CPU increases the zoom. Is started, and control is performed so that the image is gradually enlarged. FIG. 4B shows a state after the enlargement is performed in this manner. Note that, in this case, a certain player is
Is determined by picking up a point at the foot of the player and seeing whether this point is inside or outside the inner frame 33.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5A, when one of the players operated by the player who is inside the outer frame 31 approaches the outer frame 31 during zooming of a certain size. ,
The CPU starts the operation of pulling the camera to reduce the zoom, and controls to gradually reduce the image. FIG.
(B) shows the state after the reduction in this way. Also in this case, the determination as to whether or not a certain player has approached the outer frame 33 is performed based on the points at the feet of the player.

With this control, all the players operated by the player can be made to be within the screen, and when the players concentrate on a narrow area, the enlargement ratio of the screen is increased accordingly. A powerful image can be displayed. However, as described above, in the determination method using only the outer frame 31 and the inner frame 33, since the player operated by the player is constantly moving, in some cases, the screen is constantly zoomed up and down repeatedly. It may fluctuate and the screen may be difficult to see.

The reason why the above-described middle frame 32 is provided is to prevent such unnecessary repetition of zoom-up and zoom-down. In the middle frame 32, in order to make a reliable determination,
It has a certain width. As shown in FIG. 4, when any player operated by the player who was inside the middle frame 32 until the middle frame 32 is approached from the inside of the middle frame 32 while gradually zooming in, At that time, the zoom-up operation is stopped, and the zoom state is maintained. Conversely, as shown in FIG. 5, when the player is approaching the outer frame 31 and gradually zooming down, while a player outside the middle frame 32 approaches the middle frame 32 from the outside, at that time, Stops the zoom-down operation and maintains the zoom state. By doing so, unnecessary repetition of zoom-up and zoom-down can be prevented.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an algorithm of the above-described zoom variable processing. The processing in FIG. 6 is performed every one inter (one inter is 1/60 second). First, it is determined whether or not all the players operated by the player are in the inner frame 33 (step 10).
If it is included (if Yes), zoom-in is performed (step 14), and interpolation calculation for that is performed (step 13). On the other hand, if all the players operated by the player are not in the inner frame 33 (N in step 10).
If it is o), it is determined whether or not any of the players has hit the middle frame 32 (step 11). Here, if Yes, the variable zoom process is stopped (step 1).
5) A calculation for maintaining the zoom is executed (step 13). If No, it is determined whether or not any of the players operated by the player has approached the outer frame 31 (step 12). If so, the zoom-down is performed, and an interpolation calculation for that is performed. (Step 13). If No in step 12, the zoom variable processing that has been performed up to that point is continued.

Next, control for preventing a player operated by a player from going outside the screen will be described. As described above, when the player operated by the player attempts to go outside the outer frame 31, the screen zooms down in a direction in which the player who wants to go out of the outer frame 31 enters the screen. However, if the camera is at the farthest view zoom, it is not possible to further zoom down, and as it is, players who try to go further out of the screen cannot be seen from the screen. Alternatively, even if the player's own position does not change, if a long pass is made and the point of interest between the ball and the screen moves, the player on the opposite side of the ball's direction of movement will move off the screen (frame out ) May not be displayed.
In such a case, if the player is skilled in the game, the operation target can be switched from a player outside the screen to a player in the screen by using the operation target switching function provided in the game device 1. Can be. However, a beginner who is unfamiliar with the operation will not be able to switch players and cannot participate in the main part of the game.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, when the player 40 operated by the player goes out of the screen for some reason, the player moves the player in the x-axis direction. Even if an operation is performed, the player is forcibly returned to the screen regardless of the operation content. Also, when the camera is in the state of being in the farthest view zoom and cannot be further zoomed down, the player 4
Even if the player attempts to move 1 out of the screen, the operation is ignored so that the player is not allowed to leave the screen. However, these controls are performed only in the x-axis direction, that is, in the horizontal direction of the screen, and are not performed in the vertical direction of the screen (y-axis direction). This is because, in the y-axis direction, the entire width of the field is displayed on the screen at the time of the farthest view zoom, so that control as in the x-axis direction is not necessary.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an algorithm for controlling a player so as not to go out of the screen. This algorithm is also performed for each inter as in the case of FIG. First, it is determined whether or not the player operated by the player is out of the screen (step 20). If the player is out of the screen (if Yes), the CPU deprives the player of the operation and forcibly returns the player to the screen (step 22). When it is determined that there is no player outside the screen (No in step 20), it is next determined whether or not the player operated by the player is going out of the screen ( Step 21). Here, when the player is going to go out of the screen (in the case of Yes), control is performed so that the player does not go out of the screen even if the player operates (step 23).

Next, the process of shifting the point of interest on the screen will be described. Heretofore, in a soccer game that displays an image viewed from the lateral direction of a field, a display image has been generated such that the ball is a target point of attention and the ball is at the center of the screen (point of interest). However, for example, when a player of the right attacking team keeps the ball, he or she tries to move to the right while aiming for a pass or a shot to the front (right side of the screen) except when performing a back pass. For this reason, the player of the right attacking team usually pays attention to the situation in the front field on the right side of the screen (left side) rather than on the left side (rear) when considering how to operate the players next. On the other hand, the player of the left attacking team also keeps track of where the player of the opposing team holding the ball is likely to give a pass and keeps predicting the next movement and protecting it He is paying close attention to the situation on the right side of the field from the player who is keeping the ball. Of course, if a player on the left attacking team keeps the ball, the situation is exactly the opposite. In this way, it can be seen that it is desirable for both the attacking team and the defending team to keep the ball and display a wider field in front of the attacking team.

Therefore, in the game device 1, as shown in FIG. 9, when the right attacking team keeps the ball and attacks, the player keeping the ball comes to the left of the center on the screen. Control the image display as follows. This allows
When the player of the right attacking team keeps the ball and attacks, the right side of the screen, which is the field in front of the right attacking team, is displayed wider. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10, when the player of the left attacking team keeps the ball and attacks, the image display is controlled so that the player keeping the ball comes to the right side of the center in the screen. . Thereby, the left side of the screen, which is the front field of the left attacking team, is displayed wider. Also, as shown in FIG. 11, when the ball is in a free state, the image display is controlled so that the ball comes to the center of the screen. Further, when the offense and defense are switched, or when one of the teams keeps the free ball, the display image is switched to match each state.

In order to display a wider field in front of the team that is holding the ball and attacking, the game device 1 of the present embodiment performs the following processing. If the center of the screen is called the “gaze point” and the target tracked by the camera is called the “gaze target”, when the ball is in a free state, the ball becomes the gaze target, and the ball that is the gaze target is The image display is controlled so that the image comes to the center of interest at the center of the screen. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 9 or FIG. 10, when one team keeps the ball, the player who keeps the ball is set as the gazing target, and the gazing target is shifted from the gazing point at the center of the screen. The image display is controlled so as to be shifted by a certain correction value in the x-axis direction.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing such image display control. The processing in FIG. 12 is performed for each inter, similarly to the above-described processing. First, it is determined whether or not the ball is kept by any of the players operated by the player (step 30). If the ball is not kept, no correction is performed (the target correction value is set to 0).
In other words, the display is performed such that the ball, which is the target of attention, comes to the point of interest, which is the center of the screen. On the other hand, when one of the players operated by the player keeps the ball (Yes in Step 30), the target correction value is set to ± a to perform the correction (Step 32). The sign of the target correction value depends on which team the player keeping the ball belongs to. Then, the shift in the x-axis direction between the gazing target and the gazing point is continuously incremented from the current correction value for each inter, for example, by 1 (step 33). a
Repeat until. Thus, finally, the magnitude of the shift in the x-axis direction between the gazing target and the gazing point is a
Becomes

Heretofore, it has been considered up to now that the viewpoints beside the field and both teams attack in the horizontal direction (x-axis direction) of the screen. Was corrected. However, for example, in the case of attacking in the vertical direction (y-axis direction) of the screen, that is, in the case of displaying the field so as to attack the back side or the near side of the screen, the correction of the gazing target with respect to the gazing point is also performed in the y-axis direction To be performed. In short, when the player character of one team is keeping the ball and attacking the goal of the opponent team, the front of the field seen from the player character keeping the ball is displayed wider on the screen, The display position of the player character is controlled.

In the above description, when the player operated by the player keeps the ball, the target to be watched is not the ball but the player concerned. This is for the following reason. When the player keeping the ball is running while dribbling the ball, the player and the ball repeatedly move away and approach on the screen. At this time, if the ball is the gaze target, on the screen,
The image is displayed as an image in which the player repeatedly moves left and right on the screen without changing the position of the ball. However, in an image such as a television broadcast of an actual soccer game, a camera usually follows a player instead of a ball, focusing on the player who dribbles the ball. Therefore, when the player keeps the ball, instead of using the ball as the target, the target is set as the target to be watched. The movements of the players themselves are easier to see, giving a higher sense of reality.

Further, in the game device 1, when a certain player makes a shot, a replay image at the moment of the shot as viewed from behind the goal mouse (goal frame) is displayed. At this time, if an enlarged image in which the ball is the target of attention is displayed, it may be difficult to know where the ball has been shot aiming at the goal mouse.
Thus, in the game device 1 of the present embodiment, when a shot is taken, an image in which the entire goal mouse is just fit in the screen is displayed as a replay image. This makes it easy to see where in the goal mouse the shot was taken. In order to display such an image, in the replay image, the center of the goal mouse is set as the gazing target, and control is performed such that the gazing point comes to the gazing point which is the center of the screen.

By the way, as described above, if it is possible to set not only the ball but also other players and the center of the goal mouse as the gazing target, the gazing target will be set as the game progresses. Since it changes, a process of switching the gaze target is required. In this case, if the target of interest is suddenly switched, the continuity of the image is lost.
Therefore, the following processing is performed in order to switch the gaze target while ensuring the continuity of the image.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing this processing. This process is also performed for each inter as in the above-described processes. First, it is determined whether or not the gazing target has changed (step 40). When the gazing target changes (when Yes), first, the “following rate r” of the camera
(%) "Is set to 0 (step 40). here,
The follow-up rate is a ratio that indicates what percentage of the movement has been completed when the camera viewpoint is moved linearly between the coordinates of the gazing point P before switching and the coordinates of the gazing point Q after switching. Pointing to. Next, the current (before switching) gazing point P is stored as a reference position (step 4).
2).

In this state, the coordinates of the gazing point Q after switching are calculated (step 45). At this time, when the correction is performed only for the target correction value ± a shown in FIG. 12 described above, the correction is collectively performed here, and the new coordinates after the correction are set as the coordinates of the gazing point Q. By doing so, the processing shown in FIG. 12 can be incorporated in FIG. 13, and the overall processing can be simplified. Then, the coordinates to be watched by the camera are calculated using the coordinates of P, the coordinates of Q, and the current following rate (= 0) (step 46). The calculation formula shown in step 46 is equivalent to internally dividing a straight line connecting the point P and the point Q at the point of the following rate r. Initially, “r = 0%”, so the first point of interest of the camera is the coordinates of the point P itself.

Then, returning to step 40 again, this time, since the gazing target does not change (No), it is determined whether or not the camera following rate r is 100% (step 4).
3) Here, since it is No, the following ratio r of the camera is 0%.
Is incremented by a preset value.
For example, assuming that the value of this increment is “10”, the following rate r increases as 0%, 10%, 20%,. Next, the coordinates of the gazing point Q after the switching are calculated again (step 45). This is because, when the target object is, for example, a ball or a player, it is constantly moving, and the coordinates of Q change while turning around the processing loop of FIG. Of course, there may be a case where the coordinates do not change because the new target object is stopped.

Then, using the coordinates of the reference position P, the newly obtained follow-up rate r, and the newly obtained coordinates of the gazing point Q, the coordinates to be watched by the camera are calculated again (step 46). Thereafter, the loop follows steps 40, 43, 44, 45 and 46 to gradually increase the following rate r, and when the following rate reaches 100%, the process exits. The coordinates obtained by the camera at this time are the coordinates of the gazing point Q after the switching. In this manner, when the target of interest is switched, the viewpoint of the camera is not switched immediately, but by performing the processing shown in FIG. 13 and gradually moving the viewpoint of the camera, the smoothness on the screen is achieved. Switching of viewpoints is possible.

The embodiments of the invention described in the claims have been specifically described above.
The present invention is not limited to those described in the embodiments, and various changes can be made within the scope of the invention described in the claims. For example, in the above,
The sports game device specialized in soccer games has been described, but this is only an example. In addition, ball games such as basketball games and handball games are divided into enemy teams and friendly teams on the court to compete in offense and defense. The present invention can be applied to all games.

[0059]

As described above, the first outer frame and the second inner frame are set in the screen, and when all of the predetermined player characters are inside the second frame, the image is displayed. By zooming up and controlling the image display to zoom down the image when the predetermined player character approaches the first frame, when all the player characters are concentrated in a narrow area, Zoom in so everyone looks bigger,
And it becomes easy to operate, and when player characters are widely scattered in the field, since these player characters are zoomed down so that they all enter the screen,
The player can measure a positional relationship with another player character and predict a moving direction. Further, by setting the third frame, it is possible to prevent the image from being unnecessarily changed due to the repetition of the zoom-up operation and the zoom-down operation.

When the player character operated by the player goes out of the screen, the player character is forcibly returned to the inside of the screen. When a player moves a player character that he or she controls in a direction that goes outside the screen,
By controlling the player character so that it does not leave the screen, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the player character to be operated by the player is outside the screen and the player cannot be seen by the player.

Further, when a player character of one team keeps the ball and attacks the goal of the opponent team, the front of the field viewed from the player character keeping the ball is displayed wider on the screen. To
By controlling the display position of the player character,
The operation related to the progress of the game is easy for the players of all the teams.

[0062]

[0063]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an entire sports game device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a structure of a kick input unit provided in the sports game apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 shows an outer frame,
It is a figure for explaining that three frames, a middle frame and an inner frame, were set.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a situation when a zoom-up operation is performed.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a situation when a zoom-down operation is performed.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an algorithm of a variable zoom process.

FIG. 7: When a player operated by a player goes out of the screen, the player is forcibly returned to the screen, and when the player tries to go out of the screen, the operation of the player is ignored. It is a figure showing processing which forces a player to remain in a screen.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an algorithm of control for preventing a player from going outside the screen.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an image when the right attacking team keeps the ball to attack.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an image when the left attacking team keeps the ball to attack.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an image when a ball is in a free state.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a process of controlling image display so that when one of the teams keeps the ball, the image display is shifted from the point of gaze in the x-axis direction by a certain correction value.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a process for switching a gazing target while maintaining image continuity when the gazing target changes with the progress of the game.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Sports game device, 10 ... Screen, 11 (1
1a, 11b, 11c, 11d) Lever, 12 (12
a, 12b, 12c, 12d) ... kick input unit, 13
(13a, 13b, 13c, 13d) ... button, 20 ...
Ball part, 21: shaft, 22: bearing, 23: spring, 24: speed sensor, 31: outer frame, 32: middle frame, 33
... inner frame, 40, 41 ... player character (player)

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-11-128538 (JP, A) JP-A-11-1446979 (JP, A) Patent 2687989 (JP, B2) Akira Yamashita et al. Shinsho, ASCII Inc., published February 28, 1999, pp. 20-43 (especially, pp. 22, “Combat Flow”) “Konami Perfect Capture Series 6 Jikkyou League Perfect Striker Official Complete Guidebook ", published by Konami Co., Ltd. (released by Futabasha Co., Ltd.), revised edition on July 05, 1997, pages 16-17, 20-23 (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A63F 13/00-13/12 A63F 9/24 G06T 1/00

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. A displays a plurality of player characters on the screen, the game player sports game apparatus for performing the player character by operating the movement of the ball sport game, the screen, the first frame and the outer An inner second frame is set, and the image is zoomed up when all of the predetermined player characters are inside the second frame, and when a predetermined player character approaches the first frame. A sports game apparatus for controlling image display so as to zoom down the image. 2. The sports game apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: setting a third frame between the first and second frames, and when a predetermined player character approaches the third frame. The present invention relates to a sports game apparatus in which zoom-in or zoom-down of an image is stopped, and image display is controlled so as to maintain a zoom state at that time. 3. When a player character operated by the player goes out of the screen, the player character is displayed on the screen.
With the camera zooms down to return to, when the camera is turned most distant zoom, when the player has moved his operations to the player character in a direction out to the outside of the screen, the player character screen It is controlled to not answer the claim 1 or claim 2, wherein from
A sports game device as described . 4. A player character among said plurality of player characters.
Player character attacking while keeping
4. The sports game apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the image display is controlled so as to be shifted from the center by a certain correction value . 5. A program for displaying a plurality of player characters on a screen, and a player operating a movement of the player characters to implement a ball game sports game on a computer, wherein the outer first screen is included in the screen. A frame and an inner second frame are set, and when all of the predetermined player characters are inside the second frame, the image is zoomed up, and the predetermined player character is set in the first frame. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to realize a function of zooming down an image when it is approaching is recorded. 6. The recording medium according to claim 5, wherein when a player character operated by the player goes out of the screen, the camera returns the player character to the screen.
When the player zooms down and the player moves his player character to the outside of the screen when the camera is in the farthest view zoom, the player character will not be able to leave the screen. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to realize a control function is recorded. 7. The recording medium according to claim 5, wherein a ball is kept from among the plurality of player characters.
A fixed amount of the attacking player character is added from the center of the screen.
A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to realize a function of controlling image display so as to shift by a positive value .