KR100692211B1 - Object management method by using fiber in a game-engine - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for processing an operation of an object in a game engine. More specifically, the game engine transmits a processing instruction to a first fiber for processing an operation of a predetermined object, and the first fiber processes the processing. After the rendering is performed according to the instruction, another processing instruction is transmitted to the second fiber, and the second fiber then performs rendering according to the processing instruction and returns a predetermined control right to the game engine for processing of the object. The present invention relates to a method of processing an operation of an object that reduces a reference of a search engine to increase processing speed. According to the present invention, the development efficiency of a game application can be increased by performing processing operations including in-game loading, artificial intelligence (AI), and sequential processing through a fiber method from the base level of the game engine.

Fiber, rendering, game engine, object, thread

Description

OBJECT MANAGEMENT METHOD BY USING FIBER IN A GAME-ENGINE}

1 is a diagram illustrating a processing method in a game engine using a conventional thread.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a flow in which a game engine according to the present invention performs an object processing operation in association with a fiber.

3 is an internal block diagram of a general purpose computer device that may be employed to perform a method for processing an object using fibers in a game engine according to the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

201: Game Drive 202: Process Command Signaling

203: First process 204: Process completion signal transfer

205: Second Process 206: Process Completion Signaling

207: Third processing 208: Signaling completion of processing

209: Rendering Process 210: Game Driven

211: Processing Instruction Signaling 212: First Processing

213: Signaling completion of processing

The present invention relates to a method for processing an operation of an object in a game engine. More specifically, the game engine transmits a processing instruction to a first fiber for rendering a predetermined object, and the first fiber is configured to process the object. After the rendering is performed according to the instruction, another processing instruction is transmitted to the second fiber, and the second fiber then performs rendering according to the processing instruction and returns a predetermined control right to the game engine for processing of the object. The present invention relates to a method of processing an operation of an object that reduces a reference of a search engine to increase processing speed.

Today's game engine object processing uses a thread-based approach. A thread is a unit of execution that is smaller than a processor and usually processes work in the form of multiple threads. In general, multi-threaded task processing used in a computer operating system is a preemptive multitasking method in which one processor executes one thread in a short time and transfers control to another thread. The thread that takes over control transfers control to another thread and returns control to the processor when the task is completed. At this time, the mediation such as transfer and return of the control right is performed in the operating system. This multithreaded processing method is equally applicable to object processing in a game engine. The processing method in the game engine using a thread will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1.

1 is a diagram illustrating a processing method in a game engine using a conventional thread.

As shown in FIG. 1, the thread T1 performs a first processing operation 101 received from a game engine. At this time, the thread maintains its own function (or loop) and performs the first processing operation 101 according to the function. Thereafter, in order to perform the second processing operation 102, the game engine stops the operation of the thread T1 and transfers the control right necessary for the processing operation to the thread T2. In this way, the game engine changes the control right from the thread T1 to the thread T2. This means that the game engine plays a role 103 which is a relay between the thread T1 and the thread T2 in order to perform the first processing operation 101 and the second processing operation 102. This is applied to all the threads associated with the game engine, the number of threads that are linked with the game engine is limited due to the role 103 that the game engine is a relay. That is, as the number of threads linked with the game engine increases, the number of threads linked with one game engine is limited due to the decrease in memory efficiency and overload of the system.

In addition, in the task processing method using a thread, a game engine distributes control rights to process a thread, and each thread maintains a state variable (global variable) in the game engine to refer to it from time to time. In this process, the game engine allocates a state variable for each thread and grants access according to the reference request of the thread. The load is concentrated on the game engine according to the reference of the state variable.

In addition, in the thread-based method, there is a problem in that structural problems, which are very difficult to debug, occur frequently because duplicate thread reference / setting problems occur between variables shared among threads.

Accordingly, the game engine must have sufficient storage space to perform such a thread reference or the like. This problem is similarly applied to the operating system of a computer using a thread. The method of processing an object using a thread may act as a factor that hinders the speed of a game application in which a win or lose depends on a minute and a second, and thus may act as a determinant to hinder the evolution of the game industry.

Therefore, the problem of wasted storage space and speed reduction for processing of objects using a conventional thread method in a game engine still remains a problem to be solved.

The present invention has been made to improve the prior art as described above, by performing the operation of the object in the game engine through the fiber (fiber) process to minimize the wasted memory in the game engine and to perform the control of the program more easily It aims to do it.

An object of the present invention is to increase the development efficiency of a game application by performing processing operations including in-game loading, artificial intelligence (AI), and sequential processing from the base level of the game engine through a fiber method.

Another object of the present invention is to increase the system load and decrease the processing speed due to the reference of a thread in the game engine, because the fiber maintains processing result data according to each processing result in a state variable and refers to it when necessary. It is prevented at the source.

In order to achieve the above object and solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the method for processing the operation of the object in the game engine according to the present invention, the game engine in the processing command signal for rendering processing of a predetermined object Transmitting to a first fiber, performing a first process on the object in the first fiber, and transmitting the first processing completion signal to a second fiber, to the object in the second fiber Performing a second process for the second engine, transmitting the second process completion signal to the game engine, and the game engine rendering the object according to the first and the second process completion signals, The first and second fibers maintain predetermined state variables for the first and second processing according to the first and second fibers, respectively. And that is characterized.

Fiber, a processing method developed by Microsoft, is based on a technique that has been used under the nickname Micro-Thread since the DOS era. This was implemented by each programmer through the technique of saving / restore of the call stack between functions through assembly functions. Microsoft has implemented this feature in Windows OS as a standard and is called Fiber. For reference, fiber is used in the following order.

1. Create as many fiber objects as you need with CreateFiber

2. After executing the registration function of each fiber, transfer the execution right to the next fiber with SwitchToFiber.

3. Remove the completed fiber through DeleteFiber

In other words, the fiber-based method has a thread effect, but since it is not a real thread, such a duplicate reference / setting problem does not occur.

Hereinafter, an object processing method using fibers in a game engine according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a flow in which a game engine according to the present invention performs an object processing operation in association with a fiber.

2, the game engine according to the present invention proceeds to a predetermined routine required for driving the game in step 201. During the processing of the routine, in order to perform the predetermined first process due to the characteristics of the game application, the game engine transmits a process instruction signal for the first process of the predetermined object to the first fiber (step 202). The first processing command signal includes a driving command signal of a predetermined routine necessary for including a specific object such as a monster and a bullet in the driving of the game, or for driving the game such as AI processing of the object or sequential processing according to the operation of the object. Include. This is to transfer the execution right (control right) for the processing operation of the specific object to the first fiber in the game engine.

In step 203, a first fiber performs a first process according to the process command signal received from the game engine, and processes the process result data for the first process into a first state variable according to the first fiber. Save it. The first state variable is similar to a global variable maintained by the game engine when a game is run through a conventional thread, and has a stack type local variable. That is, even when the first fiber completes the first processing and transmits the processing command signal to another fiber, the first fiber may maintain the processing result data for the first processing.

The first fiber that has performed the first process transmits the first processing completion signal (control right) to a second fiber (step 204). At this time, the first fiber operates as a sleep mode after maintaining the processing result data for the first processing performed by the first fiber in the first state variable. The sleep mode is a first process for the second process with the second fiber after switching to a sleep mode while maintaining the processing result data for the first process in the first fiber in the first fiber. To pass the completion signal. For example, the first fiber maintains a reception wait state only for a control signal such as a predetermined interrupt signal, and waits after maintaining the processing result data.

The second fiber performs a second process according to a processing operation previously recorded in the game application (step 205). The processing operation is coding previously recorded by the producer or the person concerned of the game application, and the game is driven according to the processing operation. This processing operation may be different for each game application, and the game engine and each fiber according to the present invention identify the processing operation provided by the game application and allocate performance of the processing operation to each fiber. Thus, the game engine using the fiber according to the present invention can be applied to various kinds of game applications as it is, and thus can be provided as a generalized game engine to those skilled in the art related to game services.

After performing the second processing, the second fiber stores the processing result data in the second state variable in the same manner as the first fiber, and transfers the second processing completion signal (control right) to the third fiber to switch to the sleep mode ( Step 206). In FIG. 2, the object processing method using the fiber in the game engine according to the present invention will be described with an example of the first fiber, the second fiber, and the third fiber, but this may be applied even if the number of fibers is changed. It is self-evident.

The second fiber, which has received the second processing completion signal, performs the third processing according to the processing operation previously recorded in the game application (step 207). After completing the third processing, the third fiber returns a third processing completion signal (control right) to the game engine and switches to the sleep mode (step 208).

A function for performing first to third processes according to an embodiment of the present invention is maintained in the game application, and the first to third fibers are sent to the game application to perform the first to third processes. Pass a function That is, the first and second fibers perform a process routine according to the first and second processing with reference to the function, and the first to third fibers are maintained in a game engine to perform processing of an object. Function can be called.

The game engine receives the third processing completion signal from the third fiber and continues rendering before transmitting the processing command signal to the first fiber (step 209). At this time, the game engine may perform a predetermined routine according to the rendering of the object. The game engine receives a rendering command for the object from a game application in order to represent a certain object. The rendering command is an attribute of an object, and includes information such as texture information, brightness level information, perspective information, type of object, and the like, and the game engine performs rendering of the object based on the rendering command.

The object according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a first object and a second object, and the rendering of each object may be performed in the first fiber or the second fiber. That is, the first process is a rendering process for the first object included in a single view rendered by the game engine, and the second process is included in the view when two objects are drawn in the view. Rendering processing for the second object. For example, when the object drawn in the view includes apples and trees, the first process performed by the first fiber is a rendering process for the apples, and the second process performed by the second fiber is performed on the tree. It may be a rendering process. At this time, the game engine determines the rendering processing order of the first object and the second object according to a predetermined priority with respect to the first processing and the second processing. The priority may be determined by the rendering order according to a predetermined priority rule set in advance by an administrator related to the game, such as the creator of a game application.

In step 210, the game engine goes through a predetermined routine required to drive the game. When the game engine needs a certain process for the object, the game engine transfers control to the first fiber (step 211), and the first fiber performs the first process by referring to a function maintained in the game application. The processing operation according to steps 201 to 208 is performed, such as transferring the control right to the second fiber. In this case, the first state variable held in the first fiber may be divided into storage times of processing result data and subdivided. That is, the first stored processing result data may be maintained as the first-first state variable, and the next stored processing result data may be maintained as the first-second state variable.

3 is an internal block diagram of a general purpose computer device that may be employed to perform a method for processing an object using fibers in a game engine according to the present invention.

Embodiments of the invention include a computer readable medium containing program instructions for performing various computer-implemented operations. The computer readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination. The media may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention, or they may be of the kind well-known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape, optical recording media such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, magnetic-optical media such as floppy disks, and ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute the same program instructions are included. Examples of program instructions include not only machine code generated by a compiler, but also high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like.

Computer device 300 includes one or more processors 310 coupled with a main memory device including random access memory (RAM) 320 and read only memory (ROM) 330. The processor 310 is also called a central processing unit (CPU). As is well known in the art, the ROM 330 serves to transfer data and instructions to the CPU unidirectionally, and the RAM 320 typically transmits data and instructions bidirectionally. Used to. RAM 320 and ROM 330 may include any suitable form of computer readable media. Mass storage 340 is bidirectionally coupled to processor 310 to provide additional data storage capability, and may be any of the computer readable recording media described above. The mass storage device 340 is used to store programs, data, and the like, and is a secondary memory device such as a hard disk which is generally slower than the main memory device. Certain mass storage devices such as CD ROM 360 may also be used. The processor 310 may include one or more input / output interfaces, such as video monitors, trackballs, mice, keyboards, microphones, touchscreen displays, card readers, magnetic or paper tape readers, voice or handwriting readers, joysticks, or other known computer input / output devices. Is connected to 350. Finally, the processor 310 may be connected to a wired or wireless communication network through the network interface 370. Through this network connection, the procedure of the method described above can be performed. The apparatus and tools described above are well known to those skilled in the computer hardware and software arts.

The hardware device described above may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the present invention.

While specific embodiments of the present invention have been described so far, various modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined not only by the claims below, but also by those equivalent to the claims.

According to the present invention, the operation of the object in the game engine through the fiber (fiber) processing can minimize the memory wasted in the game engine and can more easily control the program.

According to the present invention, the development efficiency of a game application can be increased by performing processing operations including in-game loading, artificial intelligence (AI), and sequential processing through a fiber method from the base level of the game engine.

According to the present invention, since the fiber maintains the processing result data according to each processing result in a state variable and refers to it when necessary, in the game engine, the increase in the system load and the processing speed due to the reference of the thread are inherently inherent It can be prevented.

Claims (6)

In the method for processing the operation of the object in the game engine, Transmitting, by a game engine, a processing command signal for first processing of a predetermined object to a first fiber; Performing a first processing on the object in the first fiber and transmitting the first processing completion signal to a second fiber; Performing a second process on the object in the second fiber and transmitting the second process completion signal to the game engine; And The game engine rendering the object according to the first and second processing completion signals Including, And the first and second fibers maintain predetermined state variables for the first and second processing according to the first and second fibers, respectively. The method of claim 1, One or more functions for performing the first and second processing are maintained in a given game application, and the first and second fibers are referenced to the function to process routines according to the first and second processing. The object motion processing method of the game engine, characterized in that for performing. The method of claim 1, The step of transmitting the first processing completion signal to the second fiber, Characterized in that the first fiber transfers the control right for the second process to the second fiber after switching to the sleep mode while maintaining the processing result data for the first process in the first fiber. An object motion processing method of a game engine. The method of claim 1, The object includes a first object and a second object, Wherein the first processing is processing for the first object included in a single view rendered by the game engine, and the second processing is processing for the second object included in the view. How to handle object behavior. The method of claim 4, wherein And the game engine determines a rendering order of the first object and the second object according to a predetermined priority with respect to the first process and the second process. A computer-readable recording medium for recording a program for executing the method of any one of claims 1 to 5 on a computer.

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