Video game system using terrain profile information

• US 6,227,973 B1
• Filed: 04/23/1997
• Issued: 05/08/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Konami Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Konami Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Kikuchi, Yuji
• Primary Examiner(s): Harrison, Jessica J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, BINH AN DUC
• Application Number:
  US08/841,505
• Time in Patent Office: 1,476 Days
• Field of Search: 463/31, 463/37, 463/32, 463/4, 463/3, 463/5, 463/30, 273/317.1, 273/108.2, 273/317.2, 345/429, 345/425, 345/27, 345/33, 345/76, 345/77, 345/90, 345/127, 345/131, 345/418, 700/91, 700/92, 700/93, 700/90
• US Class Current: 463/31
• 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 13/5375 for graphically or textually suggesting an action, e.g. by displaying an arrow indicating a turn in a driving game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/5378 for displaying an additional top view, e.g. radar screens or maps using two or more virtual cameras concurrently A63F13/5252
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/812 Ball games, e.g. soccer or baseball
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/303 for displaying additional data, e.g. simulating a Head Up Display
• 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: A63F 2300/66 for rendering three dimensional images
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8011 Ball
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/05 Geographic models

Abstract

A video game system for simulating a golf game displays three-dimensional image information indicative of the terrain profile of a golf course and image information of a golf ball on the display screen of a television monitor. The golf ball is moved on the display screen based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile and a command from a controller operated by the game player. A guide comprising a matrix of lines is displayed on the display screen, and the luminance and length of each of said lines are established based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile. The guide is three-dimensionally displayed over the three-dimensional image information indicative of the terrain profile on said display screen. The three-dimensionally displayed guide allows the game player to visually recognize heights and distances of various areas of the golf course in an intuitive fashion, and hence allows the game player to operate the controller in a manner to match terrain features of the golf course in the game space.

Claims

1. A video game system comprising:

display means for displaying image information of a terrain profile and image information of a movable object movable on the terrain profile on a display screen;

controller means for entering commands; and

control means for moving the movable object displayed on said display screen based on the image information of the terrain profile and a command from said controller means;

said control means comprising;

address establishing means for establishing minimum and maximum addresses of said terrain profile on said display screen;

address acquiring means for acquiring minimum and maximum addresses of a display range in which a guide indicative of terrain features based on the image information of the terrain profile is displayed over said terrain profile;

height data correcting means for correcting height data indicative of heights of portion of the terrain profile in said display range based on a height of the position of said movable object; and

guide display means for displaying said guide over said terrain profile with a luminance based on the corrected height data.

2. A video game system according to claim 1, further comprising:

command detecting means for detecting a content of a command from said controller means; and

guide output decision means for determining whether the content of the command detected by said command detecting means indicates display of the guide or non-display of the guide.

3. A video game system according to claim 1, wherein said image information indicative of the terrain profile is three-dimensionally displayed on said display screen, and said guide is three-dimensionally displayed as a matrix of said lines over the three-dimensionally displayed image information indicative of the terrain profile on said display screen.

4. A video game system according to claim 1, wherein said image information indicative of the terrain profile comprises a plurality of polygons, and said lines displayed as the guide extend between vertices of said polygons.

5. A video game system according to claim 1, wherein said video game system comprises a golf game system, said image information indicative of the terrain profile comprises image information indicative of a golf course, and said image information of the movable object comprises image information of a golf ball.

6. A video game system according to claim 1, wherein said image information indicative of the terrain profile includes information representative of the height of a vertex, and a luminance of each of said lines is established depending on the relationship between the height of a vertex corresponding to a starting point of the line and the height of a vertex corresponding to an ending point of the line.

7. A video game system according to claim 6, wherein said luminance of each of said lines is established such that the luminance is progressively lower from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is greater than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point and the luminance is progressively greater from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is smaller than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point.

8. A method of representing a distance or height in a display space, comprising the steps of:

displaying image information indicative of a terrain profile including at least the height of a reference point on display screen;

displaying lines between said reference points present in a predetermined range of said image information on said display screen; and

establishing a progressive luminance of each of said lines depending on the relationship between the height of a reference point corresponding to a starting point of the line and the height of a reference point corresponding to an ending point of the line.

9. A method of displaying a guide in a display space in a video game system for displaying image information indicative of a terrain profile and image information of a movable object on a display screen, and moving the movable object on the display screen based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile and a command from a controller, comprising the steps of:

displaying a guide comprising a plurality of lines on the display screen; and

establishing a length of each of said lines and establishing a progressive luminance along the length of each of said lines based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile.

10. A recording medium having recorded therein program data for displaying image information indicative of a terrain profile including at least the height of a vertex on a display screen in which the vertex represents a reference point on the terrain profile, displaying lines between vertices present in a predetermined range of said image information on said display screen, and establishing a progressive luminance of each of said lines depending on the relationship between the height of a vertex corresponding to a starting point of the line and the height of a vertex corresponding to an ending point of the line.

11. A recording medium having recorded therein game program data for displaying image information indicative of a terrain profile and image information of a movable object on a display screen, moving the movable object on the display screen based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile and a command from a controller, displaying a guide comprising a plurality of lines on the display screen, and establishing a progressive luminance and a length of each of said lines based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile.

12. A recording medium according to claim 11, wherein said image information indicative of the terrain profile is three-dimensionally displayed on said display screen, and said guide is three-dimensionally displayed as a matrix of said lines over the three-dimensionally displayed image information indicative of the terrain profile on said display screen.

13. A recording medium according to claim 11, wherein said game program data comprises program data for a golf game, said image information indicative of the terrain profile comprises image information indicative of a golf course, and said image information of a movable object comprises image information of a golf ball.

14. A recording medium according to claim 11, wherein said image information indicative of the terrain profile comprises a plurality of polygons, and said guide is displayed together with said image information indicative of the terrain profile based on a predetermined viewpoint position.

15. A recording medium according to claim 11, wherein a direction in which said movable object is to move is established, and said image information indicative of the terrain profile and said guide are three-dimensionally displayed on said display screen depending on the established direction.

16. A method of representing a distance or height in a display space, comprising the steps of:

displaying image information indicative of a terrain profile including at least the height of a vertex on a display screen in which the vertex is a point on the terrain profile;

displaying lines between vertices present in a predetermined range of said image information on said display screen; and

establishing a luminance of each of said lines depending on the relationship between the height of a vertex corresponding to a starting point of the line and the height of a vertex corresponding to an ending point of the line, the luminance of each of said lines being established such that the luminance is progressively lower from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is greater than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point and the luminance is progressively greater from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is smaller than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point.

17. A method of displaying a guide in a display space in a video game system for displaying image information indicative of a terrain profile and image information of a movable object on a display screen, said image information indicative of the terrain profile including information representative of the height of a vertex in which the vertex is a point on the terrain profile, and moving the movable object on the display screen based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile and a command from a controller, comprising the steps of:

displaying a guide comprising a plurality of lines on the display screen; and

establishing a luminance and a length of each of said lines based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile, the luminance of each of said lines being established depending on the relationship between the height of a vertex corresponding to a starting point of the line and the height of a vertex corresponding to an ending point of the line and being established such that the luminance is progressively lower from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is greater than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point and the luminance is progressively greater from said starting point toward said ending point if the heightof the vertex corresponding to the starting point is smaller than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point.

18. A method according to claim 17, further comprising the steps of:

three-dimensionally displaying said image information indicative of the terrain profile on said display screen; and

three-dimensionally displaying said guide as a matrix of said lines over the three-dimensionally displayed image information indicative of the terrain profile on said display screen.

19. A method according to claim 17, wherein said video game system comprises a golf game system, said image information indicative of the terrain profile comprises image information indicative of a golf course, and said image information of the movable object comprises image information of a golf ball.

20. A method according to claim 17, wherein said vertices are vertices of a plurality of polygons, said lines being displayed as the guide extending between vertices of said polygons.

21. A method according to claim 17, further comprising the steps of:

establishing a direction in which said movable object is to move; and

three-dimensionally displaying said image information indicative of the terrain profile and said guide on said display screen depending on the established direction.

22. A method of displaying a guide in a display space in a video game system for displaying image information indicative of a terrain profile and image information of a movable object on a display screen, and moving the movable object on the display screen based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile and a command from a controller, comprising the step of:

displaying a guide comprising a plurality of lines on the display screen based on said image information indicative of the terrain profile, if the command from the controller indicates display of the guide, said step of displaying a guide comprising the steps of;

establishing minimum and maximum addresses of the terrain profile;

determining minimum and maximum addresses of a display range in which said guide is displayed, based on the position of said movable object;

substituting the minimum address of said display range in an address variable;

subtracting height data of said movable object from height data of said terrain profile which corresponds to an address indicated by said address variable thereby to correct the height data of said terrain profile with respect to the height data of said movable object;

determining luminance data corresponding to the corrected height data;

incrementing a value of said address variable;

determining whether the value of said address variable falls within said display range; and

issuing a graphic command to display a line on said terrain profile at a position represented by said value of said address if the value of said address variable is determined as falling within said display range.

23. A method according to claim 22, wherein said step of determining luminance data includes the step of limiting the luminance data between upper and lower limit values.

24. A method of displaying a guide in a display space in a video game system for displaying image information indicative of a terrain profile and image information of a movable object on a display screen, and moving the movable object on the display screen based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile and a command from a controller, comprising the steps of:

displaying a guide comprising a plurality of lines on the display screen based on said image information indicative of the terrain profile, if the command from the controller indicates display of the guide;

determining whether a flag has a value indicative of display of the guide or a value indicative of non-display of the guide;

if the flag has a value indicative of display of the guide, changing the value of the flag to the value indicative of non-display of the guide before minimum and maximum addresses of the terrain profile are stablished; and

if the flag has a value indicative of non-display of the guide, changing the value of the flag to the value indicative of display of the guide, and issuing a command to erase the guide from the display screen.

25. A method of displaying a guide in a display space in a video game system for displaying image information indicative of a terrain profile and image information of a movable object on a display screen, said image information indicative of the terrain profile including information representative of the height of a vertex in which the vertex is a point on the terrain profile, and moving the movable object on a display screen based on a command from a controller, comprising the steps of:

displaying a guide comprising a plurality of lines on the display screen based on said image information indicative of the terrain profile, if the command from the controller indicates display of the guide;

establishing a luminance of each of said lines depending on the relationship between the height of a vertex corresponding to a starting point of the line and the height of a vertex corresponding to an ending point of the line, said luminance of each of said lines being determined such that the luminance is progressively lower from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is greater than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point and the luminance is progressively greater from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is smaller than the height of the, vertex corresponding to the ending point.

26. A method according to claim 25, further comprising the steps of:

establishing a direction in which said movable object is to move; and

three-dimensionally displaying said image information indicative of the terrain profile and said guide on said display screen depending on the established direction.

27. A method according to claim 25, further comprising the steps of:

three-dimensionally displaying said image information indicative of the terrain profile on said display screen; and

three-dimensionally displaying said guide as a matrix of said lines over the three-dimensionally displayed image information indicative of the terrain profile on said display screen.

28. A method according to claim 25, wherein said image information indicative of the terrain profile comprises a plurality of polygons, and said lines displayed as the guide extend between vertices of said polygons.

29. A method according to claim 25, wherein said video game system comprises a golf game system, said image information indicative of the terrain profile comprises image information indicative of a golf course, and said image information of a movable object comprises image information of a golf ball.

30. A recording medium having recorded therein game program data fro displaying image information indicative of a terrain profile and image information of a movable object on a display screen, said image information indicative of the terrain profile including information representative of the height of a vertex in which a vertex is a point on the terrain, moving the movable object on the display screen based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile and a command from a controller, displaying a guide comprising a plurality of lines on the display screen, and establishing a luminance and a length of each of said lines based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile, said image information indicative of the terrain profile including information representative of the height of a vertex in which a vertex is a point on the terrain profile, the luminance of each of said lines being established depending on the relationship between the height of a vertex corresponding to a vertex corresponding to a starting point of the line and the height of a vertex corresponding to an ending point of the line, said luminance of each of said lines being established such that the luminance is progressively lower from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is greater than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point and the luminance is progressively greater from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is smaller than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point.

31. A recording medium having recorded therein game program data for displaying image information indicative of a terrain profile and image information of a movable object on a display screen and moving the movable object on the display screen based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile and a command from a controller, said game program including the step of:

displaying a guide comprising a plurality of lines on the display screen based on said image information indicative of the terrain profile, if the command from the controller indicates display of the guide;

establishing minimum and maximum, addresses of the terrain profile;

determining minimum and maximum addresses of a display range in which said guide is displayed, based on the position of said movable object;

substituting the minimum address of said display range in an address variable;

subtracting height data of said movable object from height data of said terrain profile which corresponds to an address indicated by said address variable thereby to correct the height data of said terrain profile with respect to the height data of said movable object;

determining luminance data corresponding to the corrected height data;

incrementing a value of said address variable;

determining whether the value of said address variable falls within said display range; and

issuing a graphic command to display a line on said terrain profile at a position represented by said value of said address if the value of said address variable is determined as falling within said display range.

32. A recording medium according to claim 31, wherein said step of determining the luminance data includes the step of limiting the luminance data between upper and lower limit values.

33. A recording medium having recorded therein game program data for displaying image information indicative of a terrain profile and image information of a movable object on a display screen and moving the movable object on the display screen based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile and a command from a controller, said game program including the step of:

displaying a guide comprising a plurality of lines on the display screen based on said image information indicative of the terrain profile, if the command from the controller indicates display of the guide;

determining whether a flag has a value indicative of display of the guide or a value indicative of non-display of the guide;

if the flag has a value indicative of display of the guide, changing the value of the flag to the value indicative of non-display of the guide before said minimum and maximum addresses of the terrain profile are established; and

if the flag has a value indicative of non-display of the guide, changing the value of the flag to the value indicative of display of the guide, and issuing a command to erase the guide from the display screen.

34. A recording medium according to claim 33, wherein said image information indicative of the terrain profile is three-dimensionally displayed on said display screen, and said guide is three-dimensionally displayed as a matrix of said lines over the three-dimensionally displayed image information indicative of the terrain profile on said display screen.

35. A recording medium according to claim 33, wherein said image information indicative of the terrain profile comprises a plurality of polygons, and said lines displayed as the guide extend between vertices of said polygons.

36. A recording medium according to claim 33, wherein said game program data comprises program data for a golf game, said image information indicative of the terrain profile comprises image information indicative of a golf course, and said image information of a movable object comprises image information of a golf ball.

37. A recording medium having recorded therein game program data for displaying image information indicative of a terrain profile and image information of a movable object on a display screen and moving the movable object on the display screen based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile and a command from a controller, said image information indicative of the terrain profile including information representative of the height of a vertex in which the vertex is a point on the terrain profile, said game program including the step of displaying a guide comprising a plurality of lines on the display screen based on said image information indicative of the terrain profile, if the command from the controller indicates display of the guide, a luminance of each of said lines being established depending on the relationship between the height of a vertex corresponding to a starting point of the line and the height of a vertex corresponding to an ending point of the line, said luminance of each of said lines being established such that the luminance is progressively lower from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is greater than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point and the luminance is progressively greater from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is smaller than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point.