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EP0807903A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Video game system using terrain profile information
Assignee: Konami Group Corp
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Filing: 1997-05-07
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2017-05-07
Abstract
Abstract A video game system for simulating a golf game displays three-dimensional image information indicative of the terrain profile of a golf course and image information of a golf ball on the display screen of a television monitor. The golf ball is moved on the display screen based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile and a command from a controller operated by the game player. A guide comprising a matrix of lines is displayed on the display screen, and the luminance and length of each of said lines are established based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile. The guide is three-dimensionally displayed over the three-dimensional image information indicative of the terrain profile on said display screen. The three-dimensionally displayed guide allows the game player to visually recognize heights and distances of various areas of the golf course in an intuitive fashion, and hence allows the game player to operate the controller in a manner to match terrain features of the golf course in the game space.
Inventors
- 👤 Yuji Kikuchi
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 02:05
CPC Classifications
A; A63; A63F; A63F13/00; A63F13/50; A63F13/53; A63F13/537; A63F13/5378; A63F13/10; A63F13/45; A63F13/52; A63F13/5375; A63F13/80; A63F13/812; G; G06; G06T; G06T17/00; G06T17/05; A63F2300/00; A63F2300/30; A63F2300/303; A63F2300/60; A63F2300/64; A63F2300/66; A63F2300/80; A63F2300/8011
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 48
Claim 1
Independent Claim
32 words
A method of displaying image information indicative of a terrain profile on a display screen, comprising the step of displaying a guide in connection with said terrain profile on said display screen.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
83 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein: said image information includes at least the height of a vertex on said display screen; said guide includes lines between vertices present in a predetermined range of said image information on said display screen; and a luminance of each of said lines is established depending on the relationship between the height of a vertex corresponding to a starting point of the line and the height of a vertex corresponding to an ending point of the line.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
93 words
A method according to claim 2, wherein the luminance of each of said lines is established such that the luminance is progressively lower from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is greater than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point and the luminance is progressively greater from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is smaller than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
84 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein: said image information is displayed in a video game system together with image information of a movable object, the movable object being moved on the display screen based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile and a command from a controller; said guide includes a plurality of lines on the display screen; and a luminance and a length of each of said lines are established based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
51 words
A method according to claim 4, further comprising the steps of: three-dimensionally displaying said image information indicative of the terrain profile on said display screen; and three-dimensionally displaying said guide as a matrix of said lines over the three-dimensionally displayed image information indicative of the terrain profile on said display screen.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
47 words
A method according to claim 4, wherein said video game system comprises a golf game system, said image information indicative of the terrain profile comprises image information indicative of a golf course, and said image information of the movable object comprises image information of a golf ball.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
33 words
A method according to claim 4, wherein said image information indicative of the terrain profile comprises a plurality of polygons, and said lines displayed as the guide extend between vertices of said polygons.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
69 words
A method according to claim 4, wherein said image information indicative of the terrain profile includes information representative of the height of a vertex, further comprising the step of: establishing a luminance of each of said lines depending on the relationship between the height of a vertex corresponding to a starting point of the line and the height of a vertex corresponding to an ending point of the line.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
45 words
A method according to claim 4, further comprising the steps of: establishing a direction in which said movable object is to move; and three-dimensionally displaying said image information indicative of the terrain profile and said guide on said display screen depending on the established direction.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
93 words
A method according to claim 8, wherein said luminance of each of said lines is established such that the luminance is progressively lower from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is greater than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point and the luminance is progressively greater from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is smaller than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
86 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein: said image information is displayed in a video game system together with image information of a movable object, the movable object being moved on the display screen based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile and a command from a controller; and said guide includes a plurality of lines which are displayed on the display screen based on said image information indicative of the terrain profile, if the command from the controller indicates display of the guide.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
45 words
A method according to claim 11, further comprising the steps of: establishing a direction in which said movable object is to move; and three-dimensionally displaying said image information indicative of the terrain profile and said guide on said display screen depending on the established direction.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
172 words
A method according to claim 11, wherein said step of displaying a guide comprises the steps of: establishing minimum and maximum addresses of the terrain profile; determining minimum and maximum addresses of a display range in which said guide is displayed, based on the position of said movable object; substituting the minimum address of said display range in an address variable; subtracting height data of said movable object from height data of said terrain profile which corresponds to an address indicated by said address variable thereby to correct the height data of said terrain profile with respect to the height data of said movable object; determining luminance data corresponding to the corrected height data; incrementing a value of said address variable; determining whether the value of said address variable falls within said display range; and issuing a graphic command to display a line on said terrain profile at a position represented by said value of said address if the value of said address variable is determined as falling within said display range.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
27 words
A method according to claim 13, wherein said step of determining luminance data includes the step of limiting the luminance data between upper and lower limit values.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
113 words
A method according to claim 11, further comprising the steps of: determining whether a flag has a value indicative of display of the guide or a value indicative of non-display of the guide; if the flag has a value indicative of display of the guide, changing the value of the flag to the value indicative of non-display of the guide before said minimum and maximum addresses of the terrain profile are established; and if the flag has a value indicative of non-display of the guide, changing the value of the flag to the value indicative of display of the guide, and is suing a command to erase the guide from the display screen.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
51 words
A method according to claim 11, further comprising the steps of: three-dimensionally displaying said image information indicative of the terrain profile on said display screen; and three-dimensionally displaying said guide as a matrix of said lines over the three-dimensionally displayed image information indicative of the terrain profile on said display screen.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
33 words
A method according to claim 11, wherein said image information indicative of the terrain profile comprises a plurality of polygons, and said lines displayed as the guide extend between vertices of said polygons.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
47 words
A method according to claim 11, wherein said video game system comprises a golf game system, said image information indicative of the terrain profile comprises image information indicative of a golf course, and said image information of a movable object comprises image information of a golf ball.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
69 words
A method according to claim 11, wherein said image information indicative of the terrain profile includes information representative of the height of a vertex, further comprising the step of: establishing a luminance of each of said lines depending on the relationship between the height of a vertex corresponding to a starting point of the line and the height of a vertex corresponding to an ending point of the line.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
93 words
A method according to claim 19, wherein said luminance of each of said lines is determined such that the luminance is progressively lower from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is greater than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point and the luminance is progressively greater from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is smaller than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
175 words
A video game system comprising: display means for displaying image information of a terrain profile and image information of a movable object movable on the terrain profile on a display screen; controller means for entering commands; and control means for moving the movable object displayed on said display screen based on the image information of the terrain profile and a command from said controller means; said control means comprising: address establishing means for establishing minimum and maximum addresses of said terrain profile on said display screen; address acquiring means for acquiring minimum and maximum addresses of a display range in which a guide indicative of terrain features based on the image information of the terrain profile is displayed over said terrain profile; height data correcting means for correcting height data indicative of heights of portion of the terrain profile in said display range based on a height of the position of said movable object; and guide display means for displaying said guide over said terrain profile with a luminance based on the corrected height data.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
53 words
A video game system according to claim 21, further comprising: command detecting means for detecting a content of a command from said controller means; and guide output decision means for determining whether the content of the command detected by said command detecting means indicates display of the guide or non-display of the guide.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
51 words
A video game system according to claim 21, wherein said image information indicative of the terrain profile is three-dimensionally displayed on said display screen, and said guide is three-dimensionally displayed as a matrix of said lines over the three-dimensionally displayed image information indicative of the terrain profile on said display screen.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
35 words
A video game system according to claim 21, wherein said image information indicative of the terrain profile comprises a plurality of polygons, and said lines displayed as the guide extend between vertices of said polygons.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
49 words
A video game system according to claim 21, wherein said video game system comprises a golf game system, said image information indicative of the terrain profile comprises image information indicative of a golf course, and said image information of the movable object comprises image information of a golf ball.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
68 words
A video game system according to claim 21, wherein said image information indicative of the terrain profile includes information representative of the height of a vertex, and a luminance of each of said lines is established depending on the relationship between the height of a vertex corresponding to a starting point of the line and the height of a vertex corresponding to an ending point of the line.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
95 words
A video game system according to claim 26, wherein said luminance of each of said lines is established such that the luminance is progressively lower from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is greater than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point and the luminance is progressively greater from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is smaller than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
31 words
A recording medium having recorded therein program data for displaying image information indicative of a terrain profile on a display screen and displaying a guide in connection with said terrain profile.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
84 words
A recording medium according to claim 28, wherein: said image information includes at least the height of a vertex on said display screen; said guide includes lines between vertices present in a predetermined range of said image information on said display screen; and a luminance of each of said lines is established depending on the relationship between the height of a vertex corresponding to a starting point of the line and the height of a vertex corresponding to an ending point of the line.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
85 words
A recording medium according to claim 28, wherein: said image information is displayed in a video game system together with image information of a movable object, the movable object being moved on the display screen based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile and a command from a controller; said guide includes a plurality of lines on the display screen; and a luminance and a length of each of said lines are established based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
50 words
A recording medium according to claim 30, wherein said image information indicative of the terrain profile is three-dimensionally displayed on said display screen, and said guide is three-dimensionally displayed as a matrix of said lines over the three-dimensionally displayed image information indicative of the terrain profile on said display screen.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
50 words
A recording medium according to claim 30, wherein said game program data comprises program data for a golf game, said image information indicative of the terrain profile comprises image information indicative of a golf course, and said image information of a movable object comprises image information of a golf ball.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
42 words
A recording medium according to claim 30, wherein said image information indicative of the terrain profile comprises a plurality of polygons, and said guide is displayed together with said image information indicative of the terrain profile based on a predetermined viewpoint position.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
67 words
A recording medium according to claim 30, wherein said image information indicative of the terrain profile includes information representative of the height of a vertex, and a luminance of each of said lines is established depending on the relationship between the height of a vertex corresponding to a starting point of the line and the height of a vertex corresponding to an ending point of the line.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
44 words
A recording medium according to claim 30, wherein a direction in which said movable object is to move is established, and said image information indicative of the terrain profile and said guide are three-dimensionally displayed on said display screen depending on the established direction.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
94 words
A recording medium according to claim 34, wherein said luminance of each of said lines is established such that the luminance is progressively lower from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is greater than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point and the luminance is progressively greater from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is smaller than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
87 words
A recording medium according to claim 28, wherein: said image information is displayed in a video game system together with image information of a movable object, the movable object being moved on the display screen based on the image information indicative of the terrain profile and a command from a controller; and said guide includes a plurality of lines which are displayed on the display screen based on said image information indicative of the terrain profile, if the command from the controller indicates display of the guide.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
173 words
A recording medium according to claim 37, wherein said step of displaying the guide comprises the steps of: establishing minimum and maximum addresses of the terrain profile; determining minimum and maximum addresses of a display range in which said guide is displayed, based on the position of said movable object; substituting the minimum address of said display range in an address variable; subtracting height data of said movable object from height data of said terrain profile which corresponds to an address indicated by said address variable thereby to correct the height data of said terrain profile with respect to the height data of said movable object; determining luminance data corresponding to the corrected height data; incrementing a value of said address variable; determining whether the value of said address variable falls within said display range; and issuing a graphic command to display a line on said terrain profile at a position represented by said value of said address if the value of said address variable is determined as falling within said display range.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
119 words
A recording medium according to claim 37, wherein said game program data further comprises the steps of: determining whether a flag has a value indicative of display of the guide or a value indicative of non-display of the guide; if the flag has a value indicative of display of the guide, changing the value of the flag to the value indicative of non-display of the guide before said minimum and maximum addresses of the terrain profile are established; and if the flag has a value indicative of non-display of the guide, changing the value of the flag to the value indicative of display of the guide, and is suing a command to erase the guide from the display screen.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
29 words
A recording medium according to claim 37, wherein said step of determining the luminance data includes the step of limiting the luminance data between upper and lower limit values.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
50 words
A recording medium according to claim 37, wherein said image information indicative of the terrain profile is three-dimensionally displayed on said display screen, and said guide is three-dimensionally displayed as a matrix of said lines over the three-dimensionally displayed image information indicative of the terrain profile on said display screen.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
34 words
A recording medium according to claim 37, wherein said image information indicative of the terrain profile comprises a plurality of polygons, and said lines displayed as the guide extend between vertices of said polygons.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
51 words
A recording medium according to claim 37, wherein said game program data comprises program data for a golf game, said image information indicative of the terrain profile comprises image information indicative of a golf course, and said image information of a movable object comprises image in formation of a golf ball.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
67 words
A recording medium according to claim 37, wherein said image information indicative of the terrain profile includes information representative of the height of a vertex, and a luminance of each of said lines is established depending on the relationship between the height of a vertex corresponding to a starting point of the line and the height of a vertex corresponding to an ending point of the line.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
94 words
A recording medium according to claim 44, wherein said luminance of each of said lines is established such that the luminance is progressively lower from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is greater than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point and the luminance is progressively greater from said starting point toward said ending point if the height of the vertex corresponding to the starting point is smaller than the height of the vertex corresponding to the ending point.
Claim 46
Independent Claim
160 words
A method of establishing a hitting position for hitting a movable object thereby to move the movable object in a game space of a video game system in response to operation of a controller by a game player, comprising the steps of: displaying the movable object at a fixed position in the game space; displaying a horizontal position establishing image for horizontal movement with respect to the movable object; storing a horizontal position of said horizontal position establishing image when the game player presses a corresponding button on the controller; displaying a vertical position establishing image for vertical movement with respect to the movable object; storing a vertical position of said vertical position establishing image when the game player presses a corresponding button on the controller; and determining said horizontal position and said vertical position as a hitting position for hitting the movable object when the game player operates the controller to hit the movable object in the game space.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
129 words
A video game system for hitting a movable object thereby to move the movable object in a game space response to operation of a controller by a game player, comprising: means for displaying the movable object at a fixed position in the game space; image display means for displaying horizontal and vertical position establishing images for horizontal and vertical movement with respect to the movable object; storage means for storing horizontal and vertical positions of the respective horizontal and vertical position establishing images when the game player presses corresponding buttons on the controller; and position determining means for determining said horizontal and vertical positions as a hitting position for hitting the movable object when the game player operates the controller to hit the movable object in the game space.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
169 words
A recording medium readable by a computer and having recorded therein game program data of a video game for hitting a movable object thereby to move the movable object in a game space response to operation of a controller by a game player, said game program data comprising the steps of: displaying the movable object at a fixed position in the game space; displaying a horizontal position establishing image for horizontal movement with respect to the movable object; storing a horizontal position of said horizontal position establishing image when the game player presses a corresponding button on the controller; displaying a vertical position establishing image for vertical movement with respect to the movable object; storing a vertical position of said vertical position establishing image when the game player presses a corresponding button on the controller; and determining said horizontal position and said vertical position as a hitting position for hitting the movable object when the game player operates the controller to hit the movable object in the game space.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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