This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-132426, filed Jun. 14, 2011, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The present invention relates to a game machine which executes a game which proceeds according to whether or not a bullet hits a target.
There has been well known a game machine which executes a shooting game which proceeds by shooting a bullet to a target e.g., an enemy character, for bringing down the enemy character (for instance, see Patent literature 1). Patent Literature 1 JP-A-2005-253724.
In the shooting game, a position aimed by a player is indicated by a cursor having a certain degree of size, and a bullet is then shot toward the center of the cursor. In the case of a beginner player, when a bullet is aimed at and is then shot toward a target, the target is often shifted from the center of the cursor and cannot be hit by the bullet, resulting in spoiling the enjoyment in the game. On the other hand, an advanced player prefers a game at high difficulty level, so that an actual bullet shooting direction is required to be flexibly controlled.
Thus, the present invention aims to provide a game machine capable of controlling a shooting direction of a bullet flexibly and a storage medium.
The game machine of the present invention is a game machine comprising: a direction determination device which determines a shooting direction of a bullet based on a direction instructed from an input device; wherein the direction determination device has a position detection device which detects the position of a target in the direction instructed from the input device, and a shift controlling device which controls a shift between the position of the target detected by the position detection device and the shooting direction of the bullet based on the direction instructed from the input device.
According to the game machine of the present invention, when the position of the target to be shot is shifted from the direction instructed, the shift is controlled by determining the actual shooting direction of the bullet based on the position of the target and the direction instructed from the input device. For instance, when the target is shifted from the direction aimed by the player for shooting the target, the shooting direction of the bullet can be controlled to be directed to the position of the target or a bullet can be controlled to be bad shot even when the target is present in the direction instructed from the input device. Therefore, it is possible to give the feeling of satisfaction in game play to the player and to enhance the enjoyability of the game by controlling the shooting direction of the bullet flexibility according to purpose. It should be noted that the “direction” used herein also includes the concept of a “position”. The shift of the “direction” in which a bullet is shot is controlled in the present invention, but the “direction” can also be considered as a “position” into which a bullet is shot, as a focus. Therefore, the present invention is also applicable to a two-dimensional space as well as to a three-dimensional space.
As one aspect of the game machine of the present invention, the shift controlling device operates to eliminate the shift by setting a direction in which the target is positioned, as a reference direction, based on the position of the target and the direction instructed from the input device and determining the shooting direction of the bullet based on the reference direction. According to this, when the direction instructed by the player for aiming at the target is shifted from the direction in which the target is positioned, the direction in which the target is positioned is determined as the reference direction to shoot a bullet in the reference direction. Thereby, even when the bullet shot in the direction instructed by the player misses the target, it can hit the target, so that the feeling of satisfaction in bullet hit can be given to the player.
As one aspect of the game machine of the present invention, the direction determination device generates a shot range of a predetermined size, centered on a base point on the direction instructed from the input device, and when the target is present in the shot range, the position detection device detects the position of the target. According to this, the shot range is determined based on the direction instructed from the input device, and if the target is present in the shot range, the position of the target is detected, thereby controlling the shift between the direction in which the target is positioned and the instructed direction. Since the shot range is determined based on the instructed direction, the possibility that the target in the shot range is aimed by the player is high, so that the shift between the direction in which the target is positioned and the instructed direction is controlled to enable the shooting direction of the bullet to be flexibly controlled.
In the aspect in which the shot range is generated, the position detection device detects the position of the target which is present in the shot range when the player shoots a bullet. According to this, the bullet is shot toward the position in which the target is present when the player shoots the bullet. The bullet is simply shot into the position in which the target is present at that time, and when the target moves after the bullet is shot, the bullet cannot hit the target. Further, in the aspect in which the shot range is generated, the position detection device detects the position of the target which is closest to a position of a character operated by the player when a plurality of targets is present in the shot range. According to this, when a plurality of targets is present in the shot range, the target which is closest to the character operated by the player is selected, so that the bullet can be performed to naturally hit the target.
In the aspect in which the shot range is generated, the direction determination device changes the size of the shot range based on game data showing the skill degree of the player. According to this, the size of the shot range is changed according to the skill degree of the player, so that the difficulty level according to player can be set more finely to enable the enjoyment in the game to be increased.
In the aspect which determines the direction in which the target is positioned as the reference direction, the direction determination device further has an accuracy calculation device which calculates accuracy which represents the shooting direction of the bullet as a probability distribution in the reference direction. According to this, the accuracy is calculated in the reference direction, so that the shooting direction of the bullet is shifted from the reference direction. It is possible to diversify the game properties and to enhance the enjoyability of the game by calculating the accuracy differently according to the state of the game.
A storage medium of the present invention is a storage medium storing a computer program for a computer of a game machine to function as: a direction determination device which determines a shooting direction of a bullet based on a direction instructed from an input device; a position detection device which detects the position of a target in the direction instructed from the input device; and a shift controlling device which controls a shift between the position of the target detected by the position detection device and the shooting direction of the bullet based on the direction instructed from the input device. It is possible to function as a game machine of the present invention by executing the program of the present invention on the computer of the game machine.
As described above, according to the present invention, when the position of the target to be shot is shifted from the direction instructed, the shift is controlled by determining the actual shooting direction of the bullet based on the position of the target and the direction instructed from the input device. It is possible to give the feeling of satisfaction in game play to the player and to enhance the enjoyability of the game by controlling the actual shooting direction of the bullet flexibility according to purpose.
The input device 2 includes a plurality of operating portions (not shown) which receives the operations of the player, and issues signals corresponding to the operations of those operating portions to the control unit 10. The input device 2 includes a gun controller 6 which is similar to a gun. The gun controller 6 is provided as an input device which represents a weapon provided to the player. The player can shoot a target displayed on the screen of the monitor 3, as needed, by directing a muzzle 6a of the gun controller 6 to the target to operate a trigger lever 6b. The gun controller 6 is equipped with a focus detection sensor 7 which detects to what position on the screen of the monitor 3 the muzzle 6a is directed.
Various well-known sensors can be used as the focus detection sensor 7. As an example, a sensor which receives infrared light emitted from a plurality of positions around the target to be observed (monitor 3) toward the observer (player) by a light receiving portion provided on the observer side, and detects, based on the light received state, a direction of the light receiving portion, can be used as the focus detection sensor 7. Or a direction of the muzzle 6a may be detected by providing a camera around the monitor 3 to process an image taken by the camera. Further, the direction of the muzzle 6a may be detected by using various sensors such as a gyro sensor, a magnetic field sensor, and acceleration sensor.
The external storage device 5 is a storage device including a non-volatile storage medium such as a magnetic storage medium, an optical storage medium, and an EEPROM. In the external storage device 5, an operating system for realizing the basic control of the control unit 10, a game program 11 as application software for executing the game by a predetermined procedure, and game data 12 referred by the game program 11, are stored as needed. In the control unit 10, various logic devices necessary for executing the game are generated by reading and executing the game program 11. And control unit 10 executes various calculations processing necessary for the proceeding of the game executed by the game machine 1. As one of the logic devices, a direction determination portion 13 is generated in the control unit 10.
When the player directs the gun controller 6 to the game screen 100, a cursor 104 as a shot range of a predetermined size, centered on the focused position (not shown) detected by the focus detection sensor 7, is displayed. The size of the cursor 104 is set to be different for each weapon used by the player character PC. When the enemy object 103 is present in the cursor 104, the position of the enemy object 103 is detected to shoot a bullet toward the enemy object 103. At this time, the bullet is shot in a shooting direction of the bullet obtained by calculating accuracy with respect to the parameter of a reference direction D2 (see
Like the size of the cursor 104, the accuracy is set to be different for each weapon. The accuracy is shown as the distribution of a shooting direction of the bullet, centered on the reference direction D2, and is influenced by ease of bullet hit. When the accuracy is low, the shooting direction of the bullet is shifted from the reference direction D2, and when the accuracy is high, the shooting direction of the bullet is focused onto the reference direction D2. Further, the accuracy is changed according to the operation state of the player character PC, e.g., to whether or not the player character PC is moving or whether or not the player character PC is sitting down on its heels, and to the operation mode whether or not the point at which the player's eyes are directed is fixed. When the player character PC is moving, the accuracy is lower than that when the player character PC is stopping. And when the player character PC is sitting down on its heels, it is easily aimed at, so that the accuracy is set to be higher. In addition, when the point at which the player's eyes are directed is fixed, it is easily aimed at, so that the accuracy is set to be higher.
The main image 101 is an image which displays a virtual three-dimensional space from the point at which the player's eyes are directed.
When the enemy object 103 is present in the cursor 104 in the step S1, the control unit 10 goes to the step S3 to detect the position of the enemy object 103. As the position of the enemy object 103, when a targeted position which is previously defined for each enemy object 103 is present in the cursor 104, the targeted position may be detected, and when part of the enemy object 103 enters into the cursor 104, the center position with respect to the part may be calculated and detected. The position detection may be changed according to the specifications of the game, as needed. The position of the enemy object 103 detected here is detected based on the state that the bullet is shot. Further, when a plurality of enemy objects 103 are present in the cursor 104, the position of the enemy object 103 which is closest to the player character PC is selected. The present invention is not limited to this, and when a plurality of enemy objects 103 are present in the cursor 104, any one of them may be selected.
In the next step S4, the control unit 10 calculates the reference direction D2 based on the position detected in the step S3. The position P of the muzzle 6a and the position of the enemy object 103 are connected to calculate the reference direction D2. Thereby, the reference direction D2 is determined in the cursor 104. The control unit 10 goes to the step S5, and calculates the accuracy with respect to the reference direction D2 set in Step S4. For instance, in the case of a weapon like a shotgun, the accuracy having a distribution in which the direction from the position P is spread, centered on the reference direction D2, is set. And in the case of a weapon like a rifle, the accuracy having a distribution in which the direction from the position P is focused onto the reference direction D2 is set. The accuracy is represented in the probability distribution in the shooting direction of the bullet, centered on the reference direction. The accuracy set for each of the weapons used, which is added with the operation state of the player is calculated with respect to the bullet shot by the player. The accuracy represents the shift of the bullet shooting direction due to the weapon and the operation state. Then, in the step S6, the control unit 10 determines the shooting direction of the bullet based on the result calculated in the step S5. After in the step S5, the accuracy is calculated, centered on the reference direction D2, the bullet is shot toward the direction centered on the reference direction D2 (actually, since the accuracy is calculated, the shooting direction of the bullet is shifted, centered on the reference direction D2, with the result that there is a possibility that the shooting direction of the bullet cannot coincide with the reference direction D2). Then, the control unit 10 ends this processing.
According to the above processing, when the enemy object 103 is present in the cursor 104 (the step S1), the position of the enemy object 103 is detected (the step S3), and the reference direction D2 is determined based on the position (the step S4). Then, the accuracy is calculated, centered on the reference direction D2 (the step S5), and then, the shooting direction of the bullet is determined based on the result (the step S6). When the enemy object 103 is not present in the cursor 104, the normal processing is executed (the step S2), the accuracy is calculated, centered on the determined direction (the step S5), and the shooting direction of the bullet is determined (the step S6). The steps S5 and S6 are executed when the player directs the muzzle 6a of the gun controller 6 toward the game screen 100 and operate the trigger lever 6b during the execution of the game, and the steps S1 to S4 are processed at all times during the execution of the game to be shot regardless of the presence or absence of the operation of the trigger lever 6b. The processing timing of the direction determination processing is not limited to the processing timing described here. For instance, all the processing of the steps S1 to S6 are executed at the time of the operation of the trigger lever 6b, so that the direction determination processing may be processed at the appropriate timing according to game design and processing ability.
In the direction determination processing, the step S3 corresponds to the position detection portion 14, the steps S2 and S4 correspond to the reference direction determination portion 15, and the step S5 corresponds to the accuracy calculation portion 16. Referring to the function block diagram of
Conventionally, when a bullet is shot to the enemy object 103 which is present in the cursor 104 but is shifted from the center of the cursor 104, the hit probability is low since the reference direction D2 is set in the direction in which the gun controller 6 is directed, that is, in the direction toward the focused position at the center of the cursor 104. In this embodiment, since the reference direction D2 is determined toward the position of the enemy object 103, the hit probability becomes high. In particular, in the case of a beginner player, even when the enemy object 103 is positioned to be shifted from the center of the cursor 104, a shot bullet is directed in the direction of the enemy object 103, so that the feeling of satisfaction in shooting the enemy object 103 can be obtained and that the enjoyment in the game cannot be spoiled.
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and can be realized in various kinds of embodiments. For instance, in this embodiment, the reference direction D2 is determined with reference to the position information of the enemy object 103, but the present invention is not limited to this. For instance, the reference direction D2 may be determined to be shifted from the enemy object 103 which is present in the cursor 104. According to the state of the player character PC and the characteristic of the weapon being used, the reference direction D2 may be determined with reference to the position information of a position apart from the position of the enemy object 103 by a predetermined distance in a predetermined direction. In that case, the shooting direction of the bullet can be determined with reference to the direction D1 in which the gun controller 6 is directed and the position information of the enemy object 103. The reference direction D2 may be determined by predicting a shot position, not only from the position information of the enemy object 103, but also from a moving speed, a moving direction, a bullet shooting position, and a bullet moving speed. When the shooting direction of the bullet is determined, the accuracy is calculated in the step S5, but the accuracy is not always required to be calculated. Unless the accuracy is calculated, a bullet is shot toward the reference direction D2. The gun controller 6 has been described as the input device, but the present invention is not limited to this. For instance, the direction may be instructed by a controller having a cross key or a controller having an operating lever. The input device having various shapes is applicable.
In the above embodiment, the direction or the position indicated by the reference direction D2 is not displayed on the game screen 100, but the present invention is not limited to this and the direction or the position indicated by the reference direction D2 may be displayed. For instance, a small cursor indicating the reference direction D2 may be displayed on the enemy object 103 on the main image 101 of
Further, the size of the cursor 104 may be changed, as needed. For instance, a player who is not skilled in the game has a low game level and a low hit probability of the bullet, so that based on the game data 12 describing those data, when the skill degree of the player is low, the size of the cursor 104 may be changed to be larger. On the contrary, for a player who is skilled in the game, the size of the cursor 104 may be changed to be smaller based on the game data 12. The size of the cursor 104 can be changed, as needed, according to the skill degree of the player. The cursor 104 is the guide of the shooting direction of the bullet shown to the player, so that the inside of a range smaller than the range indicated by the cursor 104 may be used in the step S1 for determining whether or not the enemy object 103 is present therein and that on the contrary, the inside of a range larger than the range indicated by the cursor 104 may be used in the step S1 for determining whether or not the enemy object 103 is present therein. The targeted range is not always required to be shown to the player, and is not required to be displayed on the game screen 100. In that case, a range used for determining whether or not the enemy object 103 is present therein may be set, or the entire range displayed on the main image 101 may be used for determining whether or not the enemy object 103 is present therein. A range used for determining whether or not the enemy object 103 apart from the cursor 104 and the range indicated by the cursor 104 is present therein can be changed, as needed, according to the difficulty level of the game and the skill degree of the player.
The detection of the position of the enemy object 103 has been described in the step S3 of the direction determination processing, but in this case, even when the enemy object 103 moves after the position of the enemy object 103 is detected, that is, after the player operates the trigger lever 6b, a bullet cannot follow the direction of the enemy object 103 and cannot hit the enemy object 103. The present invention is not limited to such a embodiment, and for instance, a bullet may follow the enemy object 103. At the time of using a weapon in which a bullet follows the enemy object 103 or of setting for a game beginner, the detection of the position of the enemy object 103 whose position is detected in the step S3 may be continued to change a bullet moving direction based on the position. In this case, only the detection of the enemy object 103 in the cursor 104 may be performed in the step S3.
Further, in the direction determination processing, the position of the enemy object 103 inside and outside the cursor 104 is detected to determine the reference direction D2 (the steps S1 to S4), and then, the accuracy is calculated (the step S5) to determine the shooting direction of the bullet (the step S6), but the present invention is not limited to this. For instance, the processing of the step S5 may be performed first to calculate the accuracy, after a shift state with respect to the reference direction D2 to be determined may be determined, the processing of Steps S1 to S4 may be performed. The order of the processing can be changed, as needed.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2011-132426 | Jun 2011 | JP | national |