Character display controlling device, display controlling method, and recording medium

• US 6,319,130 B1
• Filed: 09/27/1999
• Issued: 11/20/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Konami Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Konami Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Honda, Kenichiro, Yamane, Kiyohiko, Ooseki, Nobuhito
• Primary Examiner(s): Harrison, Jessica J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): RADA, ALEX P
• Application Number:
  US09/381,942
• Time in Patent Office: 785 Days
• Field of Search: 434/307.A, 434/315, 463/31, 463/35, 463/43, 703/11
• US Class Current: 463/43
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1081 Input via voice recognition
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6063 for sound processing
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8047 Music games
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/00 3D [Three Dimensional] image rendering
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/00 Details of electrophonic musical instruments
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/0008 Associated control or indicating means
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/026 for games, e.g. videogames
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/031 Musical analysis, i.e. isolation, extraction or identification of musical elements or musical parameters from a raw acoustic signal or from an encoded audio signal neural networks for electrophonic musical instruments or musical processing G10H2250/311
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2250/595 ADPCM [adaptive differential pulse code modulation]

Abstract

Characters to be grown, growth factor data representing the growth degree of each character and background information for expressing background environment for each character are stored. According to a result of analysis of a sound characteristic of sound source data analyzed by an input data analyzing section 211, a background information processing section 213 or a character processing section 215 retrieves data for realizing a corresponding expression manner. An image managing section 220 produces CG images representing a character and background environment based on the data in question and allows them to be displayed on a screen, so that a game player can confirm musical taste of the game player by watching the images in the growth process of the character. As a result, there is provided a display control apparatus which can diversify an expression manner of images according to inputted sound source data and thus enhance attractiveness of a game.

Claims

1. A character display control apparatus which image-displays on a given display unit a growth process of a character which grows according to a sound characteristic such as a sound type, sound magnitude, rhythm or tune, said display control apparatus comprising:

a data holding means for holding growth factor data quantitatively representing a growth degree of a figure expression ability peculiar to the character;

a data input means for inputting sound source data;

a detection means for detecting a sound characteristic of the sound source data every time the sound source data is inputted;

a data updating means for, according to the detected sound characteristic, cumulatively updating the growth factor data of the character being displayed on said display unit; and

a control means for, based on the updated growth factor data, continuously changing an expression figure of the character being displayed.

2. The display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the character to be displayed is one of a plurality of characters which are selectable based on identification information peculiar thereto, and

that said data holding means is capable of identifying, when one of the characters is selected, growth factor data peculiar to said selected character.

3. The display control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said data holding means includes an exchangeable memory storing the growth factor data per character and is capable of identifying the corresponding growth factor data from said memory.

4. The display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said data input means is capable of selectively inputting one of plural kinds of sound source data recorded in advance in the apparatus.

5. The display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said detection means detects the sound characteristic by identifying a peak portion of a signal waveform of the sound source data, sampling it and applying a given arithmetic process to the sampled waveform.

6. The display control apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said detection means identifies a frequency characteristic by said arithmetic process and detects the sound characteristic based on said frequency characteristic.

7. The display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the detected sound characteristic is the same as one already held, said data updating means accumulates a continued time of the sound characteristic and changes the growth factor data in sequence according to said continued time or an accumulated time thereof.

8. The display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sound characteristic and the growth factor data are composed of plural kinds of data distinguishable from each other, and that said data updating means changes in sequence growth factor data of a kind corresponding to a kind of a detected sound characteristic.

9. The display control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a background environment image managing means for relating background data for changing background environment of the character displayed on said display unit to the growth factor data of said character and for displaying on said display unit an image of the background environment based on the background data corresponding to the growth factor data upon expressing the figure of the character based on the growth factor data.

10. A character display control apparatus comprising:

an animation data storage means for storing animation data for image-expressing at least one of motion and expression of each of a plurality of characters which are selectively displayed on a given display unit, said animation data classified into a plurality of ranks;

an allocating means for allocating a parameter to each of said plurality of characters, said parameter peculiar to each character and relating to a sound characteristic;

a data input means for inputting sound source data;

a detection means for detecting a sound characteristic of the sound source data every time the sound source data is inputted;

a character selecting means for selecting one of said plurality of characters based on a given command;

a data reading means for determining a rank corresponding to a degree of agreement between the parameter allocated to the selected character and the detected sound characteristic and for calling the animation data corresponding to said rank from said animation storage means; and

a control means for controlling an expression manner of an image of the character displayed on said display unit based on the read animation data,

wherein the motion or expression of the displayed character is changed according to the sound characteristic.

11. The display control apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said animation data storage means stores a plurality of animation data per rank, and

that said data reading means reads the animation data of each rank at random.

12. The display control apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said allocating means updates a ranking factor based on said degree of agreement, and

said data reading means determines the rank based on said ranking factor.

13. A character display control method implemented in an apparatus which image-displays on a given display unit a growth process of a character which grows according to a sound characteristic such as a sound type, sound magnitude, rhythm or tune, said method comprising:

holding a growth factor data quantitatively representing a growth degree of a figure expression ability peculiar to each of characters to be displayed;

detecting a sound characteristic of sound source data every time the sound source data is inputted into said apparatus;

cumulatively updating, according to the detected sound characteristic, the growth factor data of the character being displayed on said display unit; and

continuously changing an expression figure of said character based on the updated growth factor data.

14. The display control method according to claim 13, wherein the contents of the growth factor data of each character are changed in sequence based on at least one of a continued time of the same sound characteristic, an accumulated time of the same sound characteristic and an input frequency of sound source data having the same sound characteristic.

15. The display control method according to claim 13, wherein said sound source data is musical piece data representing a feature of a music sound and/or voice data representing a human uttered sound, and that said sound characteristic is determined according to a type of the sound source data.

16. The display control method according to claim 13, including relating background data for changing background environment of the displayed character to the growth factor data of said character, and displaying on said display unit the background environment corresponding to the growth factor data of said character based on said background data upon image-expressing the figure of the character image.

17. A character display control method for a plurality of characters which are selectively displayed on a given unit, said display control method comprising:

classifying animation data groups for image-expressing at least one of motion and expression of each character into a plurality of different ranks, holding them and allocating a parameter to each of said plurality of characters, said parameter peculiar to each character and relating to a sound characteristic; and

detecting, upon every input of sound source data, a sound characteristic of the sound source data, calling the animation data of a rank corresponding to a degree of agreement between the detected sound characteristic and the allocated parameter, and changing a display manner of the character on said display unit according to said animation data.

18. The display control method according to claim 17, wherein a plurality of animation data are prepared per rank and that these animation data are called at random.

19. The display control method according to claim 17, further comprising updating a ranking factor based on said degree of agreement, and determining said rank based on said ranking factor.

20. The display control method according to claims 19, wherein said ranks and said ranking factor are set secretly.

21. A storage medium storing program codes to be read and executed by a computer having a means for displaying on a given display unit an image of a character which grows according to a sound characteristic such as a sound type, sound magnitude, rhythm or tune and an image of background environment thereof, and a means for inputting sound source data, said program codes causing said computer to execute:

a process of holding growth factor data quantitatively representing a growth degree of a figure expression ability peculiar to the character;

a process of cumulatively updating, upon every input of sound source data, said held growth factor data according to a sound characteristic of the sound source data; and

a process of continuously changing an expression figure of the character displayed on said display unit based on the updated growth factor data.

22. A storage medium storing program codes to be read and executed by a computer having a means for selectively displaying a plurality of characters on a given display unit and a means for inputting sound source data, said program codes causing said computer to execute:

a process of classifying animation data groups for image-expressing at least one of motion and expression of each of said plurality of characters into a plurality of different ranks, and holding them;

a process of allocating a peculiar parameter relating to a sound characteristic to each character;

a process of detecting, upon every input of sound source data, a sound characteristic of the sound source data, and calling the animation data of a rank corresponding to a degree of agreement between the detected sound characteristic and the allocated parameter; and

a process of changing motion or expression of the character displayed on said display unit to a manner corresponding to the called animation data.