Game device, game processing method, information recording medium, and program

• US 8,287,385 B2
• Filed: 02/01/2007
• Issued: 10/16/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Konami Digital Entertainment Company Limited (Konami Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Konami Digital Entertainment Company Limited (Konami Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Kobayashi, Satoru
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Thien F
• Application Number:
  US12/441,134
• Publication Number:
  US 20100041483A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,084 Days
• Field of Search: 463/31, 463/36, 463/43
• US Class Current: 463/43
• 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 13/56 Computing the motion of game characters with respect to other game characters, game objects or elements of the game scene, e.g. for simulating the behaviour of a group of virtual soldiers or for path finding
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/307 for displaying an additional window with a view from the top of the game field, e.g. radar screen
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6018 where the game content is authored by the player, e.g. level editor or by game device at runtime, e.g. level is created from music data on CD
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/636 involving process of starting or resuming a game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/638 according to the timing of operation or a time limit
• 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 2300/807 Role playing or strategy games

Abstract

In a game device (200), a storage unit (201) stores a position of a player character, a position of an enemy character, and candidate positions for new enemy character appearance. A measuring unit (202) measures an elapsed time from the start of the game. The calculating unit (203) calculates a reference distance for determining a position where the new enemy character is to be produced based on the elapsed time measured by the measuring unit (202). The reference distance monotonically increases with respect to the elapsed time measured by the measuring unit (202). When a new enemy character is to be produced in the game, an appearance setting unit (204) selects from among the candidates stored in the storage unit (201) the candidate having a distance to the player character that is closest to the reference distance, and sets the selected position as the appearance position of the new enemy character.

Claims

1. A game device that executes a game wherein a player character configured to move based on player instructions and an enemy character exist within a virtual space, comprising:

a storage unit which stores a position of the player character, a position of the enemy character, and a plurality of potential candidate positions for an appearance of the enemy character, within the virtual space;

a measuring unit which measures an elapsed time of the game from an initial time;

a calculating unit which calculates a distance that increases as the measured elapsed time increases; and

an appearance setting unit which selects one of the plurality of potential candidate positions, where the selected one of the plurality of potential candidate positions is the potential candidate position whose distance from the player character is closest to the calculated distance, and which stores the selected one of the plurality of potential candidate positions as a position of a new enemy character, to the storage unit.

2. The game device according to claim 1, wherein

the appearance setting unit stores the position of the new enemy character in the storage unit in such a manner that the number of positions of the enemy character stored in the storage unit does not exceed a predetermined threshold.

3. The game device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a moving unit which moves the position of the enemy character closer to the position of the player character and updates information stored in the storage unit, in a case where the position of the player character is a predetermined distance or more away from the position of the enemy character.

4. The game device according to claim 1, wherein

the appearance setting unit, in a case where of the stored potential candidate positions for enemy character appearance there are a plurality of potential candidate positions whose distances from the stored player character are same, selects at random a candidate position from potential candidate positions and stores, as the position of the new enemy character, the selected candidate position to the storage unit.

5. The game device according to claim 4, wherein

the appearance setting unit obtains the movement direction in which the player character moves within a predetermined time period from present, selects at random a position in such a manner that the more in the obtained direction a candidate is, the higher the probability of being selected is, and stores the selected candidate position to the storage unit as the position of the new enemy character.

6. The game device according to claim 1, wherein

the appearance setting unit selects at random, from among the stored potential candidate positions for enemy character appearance, a position from among positions included within a predetermined permissible range from a candidate position that locates at a distance that is closest to the calculated distance, and stores the selected position to the storage unit as the position of the new enemy character.

7. The game device according to claim 6, wherein

the appearance setting unit selects at random a position in such a manner that the closer to the calculated distance a candidate locates at, the higher the probability of being selected is, and stores the selected candidate position to the storage unit as the position of the new enemy character.

8. The game device according to claim 1, wherein

the appearance setting unit, in a case where of the stored potential candidate positions for enemy character appearance there are a plurality of stored candidate positions that are away by the calculated distance or more, selects at random a candidate position from the plurality of candidates and stores the selected candidate position to the storage unit as the position of the new enemy character.

9. The game device according to claim 1, further comprising a deleting unit which deletes a position of the enemy character from the storage unit in a case where the player character wins by attacking the enemy character or in a case where a predetermined length of time has elapsed from a moment the appearance setting unit stored the position of the enemy character to the storage unit.

10. A game processing method executed on a game device comprising a storage unit and a processing unit, which executes a game wherein a player character configured to move based on player instructions and an enemy character exist within a virtual space, the game processing method comprises:

a storing step of storing in the storage unit a position of the player character, a position of the enemy character, and a plurality of potential position candidates for an appearance of the enemy character, within the virtual space;

a measuring step, performed by the processing unit, of measuring an elapsed time of the game from an initial time;

a calculating step, performed by the processing unit, of calculating a distance that increases as the measured elapsed time increases;

an appearance setting step, performed by the processing unit, of selecting one of the plurality of potential candidate positions, where the selected one of the plurality of potential candidate positions is the potential candidate position whose distance from the player character is closest to the calculated distance and storing the selected one of the plurality of potential candidate positions as a position of a new enemy character to the storage unit; and

,

an output step of acquiring the selected one of the plurality of potential candidate positions and the position of the player character from the storage unit and generating a game screen containing a representation of the player character and the enemy character as a function thereof.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable information recording medium storing a program for controlling a computer which executes a game wherein a player character configured to move based on player instructions and an enemy character exist within a virtual space, to function as:

a storage unit which stores a position of the player character, a position of the enemy character, and a plurality of potential candidate positions for an appearance of the enemy character, within the virtual space;

a measuring unit which measures an elapsed time of the game from an initial time;

a calculating unit which calculates a distance that increases as the measured elapsed time increases; and

an appearance setting unit which selects one of the plurality of potential candidate positions, where the selected one of the plurality of potential candidate positions is the potential candidate position whose distance from the player character is closest to the calculated distance, and which stores the selected one of the plurality of potential candidate positions as a position of a new enemy character to the storage unit.