Information processing program and information processing apparatus

• US 20060209068A1
• Filed: 01/09/2006
• Published: 09/21/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Inventors: Ebisawa, Yasushi, Ajioka, Yoshitaka, Mizuki, Kiyoshi
• Granted Patent: US 7,911,468 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/427
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/10 Control of the course of the game, e.g. start, progess, end
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/2145 the surface being also a display device, e.g. touch screens
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/426 involving on-screen location information, e.g. screen coordinates of an area at which the player is aiming with a light gun
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/45 Controlling the progress of the video game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1075 using a touch screen
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6661 for changing the position of the virtual camera
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6669 using a plurality of virtual cameras concurrently or sequentially, e.g. automatically switching between fixed virtual cameras when a character change rooms
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8058 Virtual breeding, e.g. tamagotchi
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance

Abstract

As a virtual plane used when converting a designation point, which is a touched position on a touch panel, into a control point, in a virtual three dimensional space, used for controlling a movement of an object, a first virtual plane is used when a ball is an object to be controlled; a second virtual plane is used when an object to be operated is a dog and an action mode thereof is an attention mode; a third virtual plane is used when the object to be operated is the dog and the action mode thereof is a lick mode; a fourth virtual plane is used when the object to be operated is the dog and the action mode thereof is a rope shake mode; and a fifth virtual plane is used when the object to be operated is the dog and the action mode thereof is a circle mode.

Claims

1. A computer readable storage medium storing an information processing program for causing a computer to execute:

a display step of displaying, on a display screen, an image, viewed from a virtual camera, of an object positioned in a virtual three dimensional space;

a detection step of detecting a designation point represented in two dimensional coordinates by using an output signal from a pointing device;

a conversion step of converting, by a predetermined calculation process, the designation point to at least one control point represented in three dimensional coordinates; and

a control step of controlling a movement of the object by using the control point, wherein

the control point converted in the conversion step is a point, in the virtual three dimensional space, displayed on a position identical to a position of the designation point on the display screen, and a position for the control point along a depth direction changes in accordance with a condition.

2. The computer readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the position for the control point, converted in the conversion step, along the depth direction changes in accordance with a use of the control point in the control step.

3. The computer readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the position for the control point, converted in the conversion step, along the depth direction changes depending on a type of the object to be controlled in the control step.

4. The computer readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the information processing program causes the computer to further execute a step of setting and updating an action mode of the object, and storing the set or updated action mode in a storage device, and

the position for the control point, converted in the conversion step, along the depth direction changes depending on the action mode stored in the storage device.

5. The computer readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the conversion step includes a step of converting the designation point into a base control point represented in three dimensional coordinates, a step of obtaining a straight line connecting between the base control point and a position of the virtual camera, and a step of obtaining an intersection point between the straight line and a virtual plane provided in the virtual three dimensional space, and

a position or a shape of the virtual plane changes in accordance with a condition.

6. The computer readable storage medium according to claim 5, wherein the information processing program causes the computer to further execute a step of setting and updating the action mode of the object, and storing the set or updated action mode in the storage device, and

a relative position of the virtual plane with respect to the object changes depending on the action mode stored in the storage device.

7. The computer readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein,

in the conversion step, the designation point detected in the detection step is converted to a first control point for controlling a first object and a second control point for controlling a second object,

both the first and the second control points converted in the conversion step are points, in the virtual three dimensional space, displayed on the position identical to the position of the designation point on the display screen, and,

in the control step, the first and the second objects are individually and simultaneously controlled by respectively using the first and the second control points.

8. An information processing apparatus comprising:

a display screen for displaying an image;

a pointing device for designating an arbitrary point on the display screen by an operator;

display control means for displaying, on the display screen, an image, viewed from a virtual camera, of an object positioned in a virtual three dimensional space;

detection means for detecting a designation point represented in two dimensional coordinates by using an output signal from the pointing device;

conversion means for converting, by a predetermined calculation process, the designation point to at least one control point represented in three dimensional coordinates; and

control means for controlling a movement of the object by using the control point, wherein

the control point converted by the conversion means is a point, in the virtual three dimensional space, displayed on a position identical to the position of the designation point on the display screen, and a position for the control point along a depth direction changes in accordance with a condition.

9. A computer readable storage medium storing an information processing program for a computer to execute:

a display step of displaying, on a screen, an image, viewed from a virtual camera, of at least one object positioned in a virtual three dimensional space;

a detection step of detecting a designation point represented in two dimensional coordinates by using an output signal from a pointing device;

a conversion step of converting, by a predetermined calculation process, the designation point to a plurality of control points represented in three dimensional coordinates; and

a control step of controlling a movement of the at least one object by using the control point, wherein,

in the conversion step, the designation point detected in the detection step is converted to a first control point and a second control point, and,

in the control step, the movement of the at least one object is controlled by using the first and the second control points.

10. The computer readable storage medium according to claim 9, wherein, in the control step, the first and the second objects positioned in the virtual three dimensional space are individually and simultaneously controlled by respectively using the first and the second control points.

11. An information processing apparatus comprising:

a display screen for displaying an image;

a pointing device for designating an arbitrary point on the display screen by an operator;

display control means for displaying, on the display screen, an image, viewed from a virtual camera, of at least one object positioned in a virtual three dimensional space;

detection means for detecting a designation point represented in two dimensional coordinates by using an output signal from the pointing device;

conversion means for converting, by a predetermined calculation process, the designation point into a plurality of control points represented in three dimensional coordinates; and

control means for controlling a movement of the at least one object by using the control point, wherein

the conversion means converts the designation point detected by the detection means into a first control point and a second control point, and

the control means controls the movement of the at least one object by using the first and the second control points.