Program, game system, and game process control method

• US 20080039164A1
• Filed: 08/09/2007
• Published: 02/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Namco Bandai Games, Namco Bandai Games Inc.
• Original Assignee: Namco Bandai Games Inc.
• Inventors: Shimada, Kenichi
• Application Number:
  US11/889,136
• Publication Number:
  US 20080039164A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/6
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/10 Control of the course of the game, e.g. start, progess, end
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/12 involving interaction between a plurality of game devices, e.g. transmisison or distribution systems protocols for networked virtual reality, networked games H04L29/06034
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/30 Interconnection arrangements between game servers and game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/45 Controlling the progress of the video game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/5258 by dynamically adapting the position of the virtual camera to keep a game object or game character in its viewing frustum, e.g. for tracking a character or a ball
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/577 using determination of contact between game characters or objects, e.g. to avoid collision between virtual racing cars
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/803 Driving vehicles or craft, e.g. cars, airplanes, ships, robots or tanks
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/408 Peer to peer connection
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/50 characterized by details of game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/643 by determining the impact between objects, e.g. collision detection
• 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 2300/6692 using special effects, generally involving post-processing, e.g. blooming
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8017 Driving on land or water; Flying
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 9/143 electric

Abstract

A game system performs processing for playing a time-trial racing game or a ranking racing game while allowing a plurality of players to operate moving objects and changing the moving objects in a relay. A right to participate in a race is relayed from a moving object participating in the race to another moving object which is a target of the relay and standing by at a relay line on a racetrack by causing the moving object to touch the other moving object.

Claims

1. A program stored in a computer-readable information storage medium and used for a racing game in which a moving object is moved in an object space according to operation by a player, the program causing a computer to function as:

a moving object control section which moves the moving object according to the operation by the player; and

a relay processing section which, when a predetermined relay condition is satisfied by movement of the moving object having a right to participate in a race in the object space, causes the moving object to relay the right to participate in the race to another moving object which newly participates in the race by changing a state of the other moving object from a first state in which the operation by the player is restricted to a second state in which the restriction on the operation is cancelled.

2. The program as defined in claim 1,

wherein the relay processing section determines that the predetermined relay condition is satisfied when the relay processing section detects that the moving object participating in the race has touched the other moving object or the moving object participating in the race has passed across a relay point previously set in the object space.

3. The program as defined in claim 1, the program further causing the computer to function as:

a touch determination section which determines whether or not the moving object has touched to the other moving object,

wherein, when a state of the other moving object is changed to the second state, the touch determination section excludes the moving object which has from a target of the touch determination.

4. The program as defined in claim 1, the program further causing the computer to function as:

a touch determination section which, when a plurality of teams each including a plurality of moving objects are used to play the racing game, determines whether or not the moving objects have touched each other,

wherein the touch determination section excludes a moving object belonging to one of the teams to which a specific moving object belongs from a target of the touch determination, and sets a moving object belonging to one of the teams differing from the team of the specific moving object to a target of the touch determination.

5. The program as defined in claim 1,

wherein, when the moving object participating in the race has passed across a call point previously set in the object space, the relay processing section causes the other moving object to stand by at a specific point in the object space.

6. The program as defined in claim 5, the program further causing the computer to function as:

a virtual camera control section which controls a position and an orientation of a virtual camera along with movement of the moving object participating in the race; and

an image generation section which generates an image of the object space viewed from the virtual camera,

wherein, when the moving object participating in the race has passed across the call point in the object space, the virtual camera control section sets the virtual camera so that the virtual camera observes the other moving object standing by at the specific point in the object space.

7. The program as defined in claim 1,

wherein the relay processing section causes the other moving object which is to receive the right to participate in the race from the moving object to stand by at a specific point in the object space according to a predetermined operation by the player.

8. The program as defined in claim 1,

wherein the relay processing section sets a start condition for starting movement control of the other moving object according to a game situation of the time when the moving object relays the right to participate in the race to the other moving object.

9. The program as defined in claim 3,

wherein the relay processing section sets a start condition for starting movement control of the other moving object according to a touch state of the moving object participating in the race and the other moving object.

10. A program stored in a computer-readable information storage medium and used for a racing game played by a plurality of players in which moving objects are moved in an object space according to operation by the players, the program causing a computer to function as:

a moving object control section which moves the moving objects according to the operation by the players; and

a relay processing section which, when a predetermined relay condition is satisfied by movement of one of the moving objects having a right to participate in a race and operated by a specific player in the players in the object space, causes the moving object of the specific player to relay the right to participate in the race to another one of the moving objects moving in the object space according to operation by another one of the players,

the relay processing section determining whether or not the predetermined relay condition is satisfied according to a positional relationship between the moving object of the specific player and the other moving object of the other player.

11. A game system for a racing game in which a moving object is moved in an object space according to operation by a player, the game system comprising:

a moving object control section which moves the moving object according to the operation by the player; and

a relay processing section which, when a predetermined relay condition is satisfied by movement of the moving object having a right to participate in a race in the object space, causes the moving object to relay the right to participate in the race to another moving object which newly participates in the race by changing a state of the other moving object from a first state in which the operation by the player is restricted to a second state in which the restriction on the operation is cancelled.

12. A game system for a racing game played by a plurality of players in which moving objects are moved in an object space according to operation by the players, the game system comprising:

a moving object control section which moves the moving objects according to the operation by the players; and

a relay processing section which, when a predetermined relay condition is satisfied by movement of one of the moving objects having a right to participate in a race and operated by a specific player in the players in the object space, causes the moving object of the specific player to relay the right to participate in the race to another one of the moving objects moving in the object space according to operation by another one of the players,

the relay processing section determining whether or not the predetermined relay condition is satisfied according to a positional relationship between the moving object of the specific player and the other moving object of the other player.

13. A game process control method for a racing game in which a moving object is moved in an object space according to operation by a player, the method comprising:

moving the moving object having a right to participate in a race according to the operation by the player; and

causing the moving object to relay the right to participate in the race to another moving object which newly participates in the race, when a predetermined relay condition is satisfied by movement of the moving object in the object space, by changing a state of the other moving object from a first state in which the operation by the player is restricted to a second state in which the restrictions on the operation are cancelled.

14. A game process control method for a racing game played by a plurality of players in which moving objects are moved in an object space according to operation by the players, the method comprising:

moving the moving objects according to the operation by the players;

when a predetermined relay condition is satisfied by movement of one of the moving objects having a right to participate in a race and operated by a specific player in the players in the object space, causing the moving object of the specific player to relay the right to participate in the race to another one of the moving objects moving in the object space according to operation by another one of the players; and

determining whether or not the predetermined relay condition is satisfied according to a positional relationship between the moving object of the specific player and the other moving object of the other player.