Method and a video game system of generating a field map

• US 6,319,129 B1
• Filed: 10/02/2000
• Issued: 11/20/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: KCE Tokyo Incorporated, Konami Corporation (Konami Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: KCE Tokyo Incorporated, Konami Corporation (Konami Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Yamaguchi, Hiroto, Igarashi, Reika, Fukuda, Keisuke, Igarashi, Koji
• Primary Examiner(s): O'Neill, Michael
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jones, Scott E.
• Application Number:
  US09/676,486
• Time in Patent Office: 414 Days
• Field of Search: 463/1, 463/30-31, 345/418, 345/429-430, 345/440-443
• 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 13/822 Strategy games; Role-playing games A63F13/825, A63F13/828 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/66 for rendering three dimensional images
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/807 Role playing or strategy games

Abstract

A method and a video game system that are capable of generating a field map with more natural geographical feature. The method and the video game system firstly divides the field map including a plurality of blocks into a first zone and a second zone by a boundary which consists of sides and comers in the blocks, then determines a first point for each side included in the boundary and a second point for each corner included in the boundary. Finally, the boundary is transformed into a more complex land shape by connecting the first points and the second points. The video game system includes a block division unit that divides the field map into a plurality of blocks, a block assign unit that assigns each of the divided blocks to either a first zone or a second zone using a boundary that consists of sides and comers of the blocks, a first point determining unit that determines a first point for each side, a second point determining unit that determines a second point for each corner, and a transforming unit that transforms the boundary by connecting the first points and the second points.

Claims

1. A method of generating a field map used in a video game, comprising the steps of:

dividing the field map which consists of a plurality of blocks, into a first zone and a second zone by a boundary including sides and corners of the blocks;

determining a first point for each side of the boundary on the basis of a location of each side of the boundary;

determining a second point for each corner of the boundary on the basis of a location of each corner of the boundary; and

transforming the boundary by connecting the first points and the second points.

2. A method of generating a field map used in a video game, comprising the steps of:

dividing the field map into a plurality of quadrilateral blocks;

assigning each of the divided blocks to either a first zone or a second zone;

selecting sides, each of which forms a part of a boundary between the first zone and the second zone, from sides of the blocks;

selecting a point which corresponds to a corner of one of the blocks and which is included in the boundary;

determining a first point for each selected side on the basis of a location of each side of the boundary;

determining a second point for each selected point on the basis of a location of each corner of the boundary; and

transforming the boundary by connecting the first points and the second points.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising the steps of:

selecting two first points, each of which corresponds to a side, the two corresponding sides are adjacent to each other;

selecting one second point which corresponds to a corner formed by the two corresponding side;

determining a third point by moving the selected second point on the basis of an aspect of the assigning of the divided blocks to the first zone or the second zone; and

transforming the boundary by connecting the two selected first points and a point which is optionally selected from the selected second point and the determined third point.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein each block in the first zone belongs to an area, the determination of the third point is performed based on, considering blocks including two columns and two rows, either of (a) the number of the blocks which belong to the first zone, (b) whether the blocks which belong to the first zone belong to different areas or not, and (c) location relationship, when there is at least one block which belongs to the second zone, between the blocks which belong to the first zone and the at least one block which belongs to the second zone.

5. A method of generating a field map used in a video game, comprising the steps of:

dividing the field map into a plurality of quadrilateral cells;

assigning each of the divided cells to either a first zone or a second zone;

determining a first cell which belongs to the first zone and is next to a cell which belongs to the second zone;

selecting a cell which belongs to the first zone and is next to the first cell, and further repeatedly selecting a cell which belongs to the first zone and is next to the selected cell; and

transforming a boundary between the first zone and the second zone by changing cells having a predetermined location relationship to the selected cells to cells which belong to the second zone.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the cells having the predetermined location relationship include the selected cells, first additional cells located on the same column as the selected cells and on a upper row nearest to the selected cells, second additional cells located on a right column nearest to the selected cells, and third additional cells located on the upper row nearest to the second additional cells.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the selecting step randomly selects, as adjacent cell, one of cells located on the upper row, the lower row, the right column, and the left column, all of which are nearest to a previous cell, and repeats the random selection predetermined times.

8. A method of generating a field map used in a video game, comprising the steps of:

dividing the field map into a plurality of quadrilateral blocks including a plurality of quadrilateral cells;

assigning each of the divided blocks to either a first zone or a second zone;

selecting sides, each of which forms a part of a boundary between the first zone and the second zone, from sides of the blocks;

selecting a point which corresponds to a corner of one of the blocks and which is included in the boundary;

determining a first point for each selected side on the basis of a location of each side of the boundary;

determining a second point for each selected point on the basis of a location of each corner of the boundary;

selecting two first points, each of which corresponds to a side, the two corresponding sides are adjacent to each other;

selecting one second point which corresponds to a corner formed by the two corresponding side;

determining a third point by moving the selected second point on the basis of an aspect of the assigning of the divided blocks to the first zone or the second zone;

transforming the boundary by connecting the two selected first points and a point which is optionally selected from the selected second point and the determined third point;

selecting a first cell which belongs to the first zone and is next to a cell which belongs to the second zone;

selecting a cell which belongs to the first zone and is next to the first cell, further selecting a cell which belongs to the first zone and is next to the selected cell, and repeating the selection of a cell; and

transforming the transformed boundary by changing cells having a predetermined location relationship to the selected cells to cells which belong to the second zone.

9. A video game system which generates a field map comprising:

block division means which divides the field map into a plurality of quadrilateral blocks;

block assign means which assigns each of the divided blocks to either a first zone or a second zone;

side select means which selects sides each of which forms a part of a boundary between the first zone and the second zone, from sides of the blocks;

corner select means which selects a point which corresponds to a corner of one of the blocks and which is included in the boundary;

first point determining means which determines a first point for each selected side on the basis of a location of each side of the boundary;

second point determining means which determines a second point for each selected point on the basis of a location of each corner of the boundary; and

first transforming means which transforms the boundary by connecting the first points and the second points.

10. The system of claim 9 further comprising:

first point selecting means which selects two first points each of which corresponds to a side, the two corresponding sides are adjacent to each other;

second point selecting means which selects one second point which corresponds to a corner formed by the two corresponding sides;

third point determining means which determines a third point by moving the selected second point on the basis of an aspect of the assigning of the divided blocks to the first zone or the second zone by the block assign means; and

second transforming means which transforms the boundary by connecting the two selected first points and a point which is optionally selected from the selected second point and the determined third point.

11. A video game system which generates a field map comprising:

cell dividing means which divides the field map into a plurality of quadrilateral cells;

cell assign means which assigns each of the divided cells to either a first zone or a second zone;

first cell selecting means which selects a first cell which belongs to the first zone and is next to a cell which belongs to the second zone;

second cell selecting means which selects a cell which belongs to the first zone and is next to the first cell, further selecting a cell which belongs to the first zone and is next to the selected cell, and repeating the selection of a cell; and

transforming means which transforms a boundary between the first zone and the second zone by changing cells having a predetermined location relationship to the selected cells to cells which belong to the second zone.

12. A video game system which generates a field map comprising:

block division means which divides the field map into a plurality of quadrilateral blocks including a plurality of quadrilateral cells;

block assign means which assigns each of the divided blocks to either a first zone or a second zone;

side select means which selects sides each of which forms a part of a boundary between the first zone and the second zone, from sides of the blocks;

corner select means which selects a point which corresponds to a corner of one of the blocks and which is included in the boundary;

first point determining means which determines a first point for each selected side on the basis of a location of each side of the boundary;

second point determining means which determines a second point for each selected point on the basis of a location of each corner of the boundary;

first point selecting means which selects two first points each of which corresponds to a side, the two corresponding sides are adjacent to each other;

second point selecting means which selects one second point which corresponds to a corner formed by the two corresponding sides

third point determining means which determines a third point by moving the selected second point on the basis of an aspect of the assigning of the divided blocks to the first zone or the second zone by the block assign means;

first transforming means which transforms the boundary by connecting the two selected first points and a point which is optionally selected from the selected second point and the determined third point;

first cell selecting means which selects a first cell which belongs to the first zone and is next to a cell which belongs to the second zone;

second cell selecting means which selects a cell which belongs to the first zone and is next to the first cell, further selecting a cell which belongs to the first zone and is next to the selected cell, and repeating the selection of a cell; and

second transforming means which transforms the transformed boundary by changing cells having a predetermined location relationship to the selected cells to cells which belong to the second zone.

13. A recording medium readable by a computer, tangibly embodying a program of generating a field map used in a video game, comprising the steps of:

dividing the field map into a plurality of quadrilateral blocks;

assigning each of the divided blocks to either a first zone or a second zone;

selecting sides each of which forms a part of a boundary between the first zone and the second zone, from sides of the blocks;

selecting a point which corresponds to a corner of one of the blocks and which is included in the boundary;

determining a first point for each selected side on the basis of a location of each side of the boundary;

determining a second point for each selected point on the basis of a location of each corner of the boundary; and

transforming the boundary by connecting the first points and the second points.

14. A recording medium readable by a computer, tangibly embodying a program of generating a field map used in a video game, comprising the steps of:

dividing the field map into a plurality of quadrilateral cells;

assigning each of the divided cells to either a first zone or a second zone;

selecting a first cell which belongs to the first zone and is next to a cell which belongs to the second zone;

selecting a cell which belongs to the first zone and is next to the first cell, further selecting a cell which belongs to the first zone and is next to the selected cell, and repeating the selection of a cell; and

transforming a boundary between the first zone and the second zone by changing cells having a predetermined location relationship to the selected cells to cells which belong to the second zone.

15. A recording medium readable by a computer, tangibly embodying a program of generating a field map used in a video game, comprising the steps of:

dividing the field map into a plurality of quadrilateral blocks including a plurality of quadrilateral cells;

assigning each of the divided blocks to either a first zone or a second zone;

selecting sides, each of which forms a part of a boundary between the first zone and the second zone, from sides of the blocks;

selecting a point which corresponds to a corner of one of the blocks and which is included in the boundary;

determining a first point for each selected side on the basis of a location of each side of the boundary;

determining a second point for each selected point on the basis of a location of each corner of the boundary;

selecting two first points each of which corresponds to a side, the two corresponding sides are adjacent to each other;

selecting one second point which corresponds to a corner formed by the two corresponding sides;

determining a third point by moving the selected second point on the basis of an aspect of the assigning of the divided blocks to the first zone or the second zone;

transforming the boundary by connecting the two selected first points and a point which is optionally selected from the selected second point and the determined third point;

selecting a first cell which belongs to the first zone and is next to a cell which belongs to the second zone;

selecting a cell which belongs to the first zone and is next to the first cell, further selecting a cell which belongs to the first zone and is next to the selected cell, and repeating the selection of a cell; and

transforming the transformed boundary by changing cells having a predetermined location relationship to the selected cells to cells which belong to the second zone.