Video game play using panoramically-composited depth-mapped cube mapping

• US 20040222988A1
• Filed: 08/08/2003
• Published: 11/11/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/08/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Inventors: Donnelly, Paul
• Granted Patent: US 7,256,779 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/419
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/10 Control of the course of the game, e.g. start, progess, end
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/45 Controlling the progress of the video game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/52 involving aspects of the displayed game scene
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/66 for rendering three dimensional images
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/04 Texture mapping
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/405 using Z-buffer

Abstract

Video game play rendered using a panoramic view of a cube map style rendering uses an associated depth map to supply three-dimensionality to the pre-rendered scene. The resulting panoramic rendering may be indistinguishable from rendering the original scene in real-time except that the background is of pre-rendered quality.

Claims

1. A video game playing method comprising:

loading a pre-determined environment-mapped image having multiple planar projected images and associated multiple depth map images;

at least in part in response to real-time interactive user input, compositing at least one additional object into said mapped images, said compositing using said depth map to selectively render at least portions of said object into said mapped image to provide a composited mapped image; and

panoramically rendering said composited mapped image using a desired viewing angle and frustum to provide interactive video game play.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the environment-mapped image comprises a cube map.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said mapped image is pre-rendered.

4. The method of claim 1 including performing said compositing step with a home video game system, and further including displaying rendering results on a home color television set.

5. The method of claim 1 further including receiving interactive real-time user inputs via at least one handheld controller, and defining animation of said object in response to said inputs.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said rendering step comprises applying said post-composited mapped image to a mesh, and rendering said mesh using a current projection matrix to apply desired viewing angle and frustum parameters.

7. The method of claim 1 further including testing whether said object intersects any of multiple faces of said mapped image in at least two dimensions.

8. The method of claim 1 further including performing Z comparison and removing hidden surfaces in response to said Z comparison.

9. The method of claim 1 further including performing said rendering using a frame buffer.

10. A storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a home video game system or personal computer, provide interactive real-time video game play on a display, said storage medium storing:

at least one pre-rendered cube map;

at least one pre-rendered depth map corresponding to said cube map; and

instructions which, when executed, composite at least portions of said pre-rendered cube map with at least one dynamically-generated object, said compositing based at least in part on said pre-rendered depth map, and generating pre-rendered panoramic image therefrom.

11. The storage medium of claim 10 wherein said pre-rendered cube map comprises six images as if looking through faces of a cube with the viewpoint at the center of the cube.

12. The storage medium of claim 10 wherein said compositing includes rendering a real-time object into a frame buffer storing said pre-rendered cube map using dynamically defined view port and/or frustum parameters.

13. A video game playing system comprising:

means for loading a pre-determined environment-mapped image having multiple planar projected images and associated multiple depth map images;

means for at least in part in response to real-time interactive user input, compositing at least one additional object into said mapped images, said compositing using said depth map to selectively render at least portions of said object into cube mapped image to provide a composited mapped image; and

means for panoramically rendering said composited mapped image using a desired viewing angle and frustum to provide interactive video game play.