Video game with control of movement and rate of movement of a plurality of game objects

• US 4,552,360 A
• Filed: 02/13/1984
• Issued: 11/12/1985
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/1982
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Coleco Industries Incorporated (Ranger Industries, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Coleco Industries Incorporated (Ranger Industries, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bromley, Eric, Schenck, Robert A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pinkham, Richard C.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Picard, Leo P.
• Application Number:
  US06/579,709
• Time in Patent Office: 638 Days
• Field of Search: 273/85 G, 273/DIG. 28, 273/148 B
• US Class Current: 463/38
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/24 Constructional details thereof, e.g. game controllers with detachable joystick handles
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/40 Processing input control signals of video game devices, e.g. signals generated by the player or derived from the environment
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/57 Simulating properties, behaviour or motion of objects in the game world, e.g. computing tyre load in a car race game A63F13/56 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1006 having additional degrees of freedom
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1043 being characterized by constructional details
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/64 for computing dynamical parameters of game objects, e.g. motion determination or computation of frictional forces for a virtual car
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0362 with detection of 1D translations or rotations of an operating part of the device, e.g. scroll wheels, sliders, knobs, rollers or belts
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/037 using the raster scan of a cathode-ray tube [CRT] for detecting the position of the member, e.g. light pens cooperating with CRT monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/42 characterised by the display of patterns using a display memory without fixed position correspondence between the display memory contents and the display position on the screen

Abstract

A video game having a controller for player selection of movement of a plurality of game objects, and for controlling the rate of movement of the selected game objects.

Claims

1. A method of operating a video game to control movement of a plurality of game objects on a video display where digital representations of the display positions of said plurality of game objects are stored in addressable locations in a memory and read from said memory locations for display in accordance with the beam location on the video display, comprising the steps of

providing a player controller having means for selecting a plurality of game objects for movement,

establishing a position register for each of said plurality of game objects where said position registers store the display position of said movable game objects,

generating clock pulses,

providing means for player selection of direction of movement of said game objects,

periodically updating the position registers of said game objects as a function of said means for game object selection, said means for selection of direction and said clock pulses, and

periodically changing the position data of said game objects in said memory in accordance with the display position in said position registers.

2. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of providing a player controlled means of generating rate pulses for controlling the rate of movement of said game objects on the display, and additionally changing the position denoted in said position registers as a function of said rate pulses.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said position registers define the game object positions in coordinates, and the coordinates of each position register are periodically updated, as a function of said means for selecting game objects and said means for player selection.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said means for selecting comprises a plurality of means for selecting movement of said plurality of game objects and one of said plurality of means selects all game objects for movement.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said means for selecting comprises a plurality of selection switches and comprising the further steps of providing an object selection register for each object to be independently moved, providing a direction register for each object to be independently moved which is responsive to an object selection register and said player selection of direction of movement means.

6. A method of operating a video game to control movement of a plurality of game objects on a video display where digital representations of the display positions of said plurality of game objects are stored in addressable locations in a memory and read from said memory locations for display in accordance with the beam location on the video display, comprising the steps of

providing a plurality of player operated game object selection means for selecting any of a plurality of game objects for movement,

providing player operated direction selection means for selecting a direction of movement for the selected objects,

generating rate pulses having a repetition rate proportional to the desired velocity of the selected game objects,

providing a plurality of game object position registers corresponding to the selectable game objects, said object position registers including digital representations of the coordinate positions on the video display where selected game objects are to be displayed.

generating a train of clock pulses,

periodically changing the digital representations of the positions of the selected game objects in said position registers as a function of said clock pulses and said direction selection means, or as a function of said rate pulses, and

periodically changing the digital position data of said game objects in said memory in accordance with the digital representations of the selected game objects in said position registers.

7. The method of claim 6 where the digital representations of the positions of the selected game objects in said position registers are changed as a function of only one of said rate pulses and said clock pulses and said direction selection means.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein said means for selecting comprises a plurality of means for selecting movement of said plurality of game objects and one of said plurality of means selects all game objects for movement.

9. A method of operating a video game to control movement of a plurality of game objects on a video display where digital representations of the display positions of said plurality of game objects are stored in addressable locations in a memory and read from said memory locations for display in accordance with the beam location on the video display, comprising the steps of

providing a plurality of game object selection means,

providing a game object direction register for each selectable game object,

providing direction of movement selection means,

applying signals indicative of the game objects selected for movement by said object selection means and signals indicative of the direction of movement selected by said direction of movement selection means to said game object direction registers to establish the direction of movement of each selected game object,

providing a source of clock pulses, providing a position register for each of said plurality of game objects, said position registers each containing a numerical representation of the position of one of said game objects for display,

periodically updating the numerical position in each position register as a function of said clock pulses and the information in said object direction registers, and

periodically changing the position data of said game objects in said memory in accordance with the numerical representation in said position registers.

10. The method of claim 9 further including providing a player operated means for generating pulses proportional to a desired rate of movement of selected game objects on said display, periodically establishing a number proportional to the rate of said rate signals, and periodically updating the numerical representation of object position in said position registers corresponding to game objects selected for movement as a function of said established number, and direction of movement selected by said direction of motion selection means.

11. The method of claim 9 further including the steps of providing a player controlled means of generating rate pulses for controlling the rate of movement of said game objects on the display, and additionally changing the position denoted in said position registers as a function of said rate pulses.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein said position registers define the game object positions in coordinates, and the coordinates of each position register are periodically updated, as a function of said means for selecting game objects and said means for player selection.

13. The method of claim 9 wherein said means for selecting comprises a plurality of means for selecting movement of said plurality of game objects and one of said plurality of means selects all game objects for movement.

14. In a video game which comprises a memory adapted to store at addressable locations numerical positional data of locations of a plurality of game objects on a video display which are movable under player control, and the game objects are read out for display in accordance with the beam location on the video display, a player operated directional control for selecting direction of movement of a game object, the improvement comprising,

player operated means for selecting one or more game objects for movement, a plurality of game object direction registers, said direction registers being responsive to said direction control and said means for selecting game objects to establish an indication of each game object selected for movement and the direction of movement thereof,

a plurality of game object position registers each adapted to store a numerical indication of the positon of a game object,

a source of clock pulses, and means responsive to the indications in said direction registers and said clock pulses for periodically updating the game object numerical indications of selected game objects in said position registers, said numerical indications of the display positions of said plurality of objects in said memory being periodically updated in accordance with the numerical indications in corresponding position registers to produce movement of said selected game objects on said display on successive display frames.

15. The video game of claim 14 further including player operated means for providing pulses at a rate corresponding to a desired rate of movement of a game object on the video display, means responsive to said rate pulses for establishing a numerical representation of the rate of said pulses, and means responsive to said numerical representation and said direction selection means for periodically updating the numerical indications of the position of selected game objects in said position registers.

16. The video game of claim 14 wherein said player operated direction selection means comprises a joystick tiltable to close contacts indicative of direction, a housing member, said joystick and said contacts being mounted in said housing, said housing including a pistol grip type handle, said player operated game object selection means comprising a plurality of switches and actuating buttons therefor mounted in said handle, said player operated means for providing pulses comprising a member rotatably mounted in said housing from producing switch closures at a rate proportional to rotation thereof.

17. A method of operating a video game to control the velocity of movement of a game object on a video display where a digital representation of at least one game object is stored in addressable locations in an addressable memory and read out from memory locations for display in accordance with the beam location of the video display, comprising the steps of generating rate pulses having a repetition rate proportional to the desired velocity of the game object, generating clock pulses, counting one of said rate pulses and said clock pulses as a function of the other and establishing a numerical representation of said function, said numerical representation being indicative of a desired velocity of movement of an object to be displayed on said video display, and periodically changing the address of said object in said memory in accordance with said numerical representation.

18. The method of claim 17 where said clock signal is a video refresh signal, and the address of said object in said memory is changed as a function of said video refresh signal.

19. The method of claim 17 where said step of generating pulses comprises providing a player rotatable member and generating pulses at a rate proportional to rate of rotation of said member.

20. The method of claim 19 further including the step of detecting the direction of rotation of said member and changing the address of said object in said memory as a function of the direction of rotation of said member and the numerical representation.