Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Computer graphics processing – Animation
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-01
2001-07-03
Zimmerman, Mark (Department: 2671)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Computer graphics processing
Animation
C345S182000, C345S182000, C345S158000, C345S161000, C345S163000, C463S001000, C463S002000, C463S006000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06256047
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of judging a hit, suitable for use in a game system using a cassette-type storage medium including an optical disk, a magnetic disk, or a semiconductor memory storing program data, and also to a computer-readable storage medium storing game data.
2. Description of the Related Art
A great number of game systems have been proposed. They include a home system consisting of a game machine combined with a television monitor, a game machine for use in an amusement arcade, a system consisting of a personal computer or a work station, a display, and an audio output device, etc. In any case, the system includes a controller used by a player to play a game, a storage medium storing game program data, a CPU for controlling the system to generate sounds and images in accordance with the game program data, a processor for generating images, a processor for generating sounds, a CRT for displaying the images, and a loudspeaker for outputting the sounds. As for the storage medium, a CD-ROM, a semiconductor memory, and a cassette including a semiconductor memory are widely used.
One of popular games using such a system is a shooting game. In the shooting game, a player operates a controller so as to move a character (hereinafter referred to as a player character) in a game space and shoot a bullet or a laser beam from the player character toward a character (enemy character) operated by a CPU. If a bullet or a laser beam hits an enemy character, that enemy character disappears from the game scene and the player gets a score. In such a shooting game, it is known to scroll the player character either in a vertical direction or in a horizontal direction. The shooting game usually includes a plurality of events called stages. At each stage, the player is expected to eliminate all enemy characters appearing at that stage while avoiding the player character from being hit by bullets or laser beams shot by enemy characters. In many shooting games, the player character is allowed to be shot by enemies as many times as n. However, if the player character is shot n+1 times, the game is over.
As described above, the shooting game is a simple game in which a player character is operated so as to delete enemy characters. Although an extremely great number of shooting games are proposed by various game software vendors, they are similar to each other and are not very attractive.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a computer-readable storage medium storing program data of an attractive game.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of judging a hit between at least two objects in a game system, said game system being adapted to display a plurality of objects on a screen such that at least one or more objects are moved on the screen in accordance with the operation performed by a player with a controller and/or such that at least on or more objects are moved on the screen by a CPU, said method being characterized in that each said object comprises image information to be displayed and a plurality of areas used to judge a hit.
Preferably, the plurality of areas are moved in accordance with the motion of each corresponding object.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing data of a game in which a plurality of objects are displayed on a screen such that at least one or more objects are moved on the screen in accordance with the operation performed by a player with a controller and/or such that at least on or more objects are moved on the screen by a CPU, and a hit between at least two objects is judged, said computer-readable storage medium being characterized in that each said object in the game data comprises image information to be displayed and a plurality of areas used to judge a hit.
In this computer-readable storage medium, the plurality of areas are preferably moved in accordance with the motion of each corresponding object.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of judging a hit in a game system including a game space in which there are a plurality of objects each having a predefined outer shape, each said object being adapted to move in accordance with a command input by a player via operating means and/or in accordance with a command given by motion control means, said method being adapted to judge a hit by detecting a contact or an overlap between the outer shapes of at least two objects of said plurality of objects in the game space, said method being characterized in that: an area is provided in each said object in addition to the outer shape, said area serving as an area used to detect the contact or overlap between the outer shapes; and a contact or an overlap between the outer shapes of the objects is detected by detecting an overlap between said areas.
In this method, a plurality of said areas may be provided in each said object, and a contact or an overlap between the outer shapes of the objects may be detected by detecting an overlap between any of the plurality of areas of an object and any of the plurality of areas of another object.
Preferably, the area of each object is set to be smaller than the outer shape of the corresponding object.
The areas of each object may be defined in accordance with the outer shape of the corresponding object.
Preferably, the area moves in accordance with the motion of the corresponding object in the game space.
The outer shape of each object can be varied in the game space, and the size of said area is varied in accordance with the variation of the outer shape of the corresponding object.
According to still another aspect of the invention there is provided a game system comprising object storing means for storing a plurality of objects each having a predefined outer shape; operating means for receiving a command given by a player and outputting a command signal corresponding to the command given by the player; and motion control means for moving said objects in the game space in accordance with said command signal and/or in accordance with a predetermined procedure, said game system being characterized in that it further comprises: area storing means for storing an area assigned to each said object in addition to the outer shape, said area serving as an area used to detect the contact or overlap between the outer shapes; and hit judgement means for detecting a contact or an overlap between the outer shapes of the objects by detecting an overlap between said areas. In this game system, a plurality of said areas may be provided in each said object; and said hit judgment means may detect a contact or an overlap between the outer shapes of the objects by detecting an overlap between any of the plurality of areas of an object and any of the plurality of areas of another object.
The area of each object is preferably smaller than the outer shape of the corresponding object.
The areas of each object may be defined in accordance with the outer shape of the corresponding object.
The game system may further include area motion control means for moving the area in accordance with the motion of the corresponding object in the game space.
The game system may further include outer shape control means for varying the outer shape of each object in the game space in accordance with a predetermined procedure; and area varying means for varying the size of said area in accordance with the variation in the outer shape of the corresponding object.
According to still another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing a game program used in a game system in which a plurality of objects each having a predetermined outer shape are provided in a game space, said plurality of objects are moved within the game space in accordance with a command given by a player and/or in accordance with a command given by motion control means, and a
Isobe Keiichi
Kawarazaki Katsuya
Kobayashi Takayuki
Seki Kazue
Seki Teisaku
Jordan and Hamburg LLP
Konami Co. Ltd.
Nguyen Kimbinh T.
Zimmerman Mark
LandOfFree
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