U.S. patent application number 13/525876 was filed with the patent office on 2013-01-24 for computer program product.
This patent application is currently assigned to Kabushiki Kaisha Sega D/B/A/ Sega Corporation, Kabushiki Kaisha Sega D/B/A/ Sega Corporation. The applicant listed for this patent is Junichiro Matsuura, Masaru Moriguchi, Masayuki SUMI, Takeshi Yamaguchi. Invention is credited to Junichiro Matsuura, Masaru Moriguchi, Masayuki SUMI, Takeshi Yamaguchi.
Application Number | 20130023314 13/525876 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32288630 |
Filed Date | 2013-01-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130023314 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
SUMI; Masayuki ; et
al. |
January 24, 2013 |
COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT
Abstract
An object of the present invention is to propose image
processing technology whereby even a player with a low skill level
can enjoy a shooting game with more excitement. To achieve this
object, according to the present invention, if a player outputs a
slow regeneration request signal when processing transits to the
status where an enemy-character is about to fire a bullet, the
enemy-character and the bullet fired by the enemy-character are
regenerated slowly. By this, the player can aim at the bullet with
extra time.
Inventors: |
SUMI; Masayuki; (Tokyo,
JP) ; Matsuura; Junichiro; (Tokyo, JP) ;
Yamaguchi; Takeshi; (Tokyo, JP) ; Moriguchi;
Masaru; (Tokyo, JP) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
SUMI; Masayuki
Matsuura; Junichiro
Yamaguchi; Takeshi
Moriguchi; Masaru |
Tokyo
Tokyo
Tokyo
Tokyo |
|
JP
JP
JP
JP |
|
|
Assignee: |
Kabushiki Kaisha Sega D/B/A/ Sega
Corporation
|
Family ID: |
32288630 |
Appl. No.: |
13/525876 |
Filed: |
June 18, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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12901222 |
Oct 8, 2010 |
8221233 |
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13525876 |
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10682418 |
Oct 10, 2003 |
7837552 |
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12901222 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
463/2 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63F 13/537 20140902;
A63F 2300/6692 20130101; A63F 2300/8076 20130101; A63F 13/57
20140902; A63F 13/10 20130101; A63F 13/04 20130101; A63F 2300/66
20130101; A63F 2300/303 20130101; A63F 13/837 20140902; A63F 13/52
20140902 |
Class at
Publication: |
463/2 |
International
Class: |
A63F 9/24 20060101
A63F009/24 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Oct 11, 2002 |
JP |
2002-299521 |
Claims
1. A computer program product, in which a player-character who
virtually fires bullets responding to the input operation of a
player, and an enemy-character who is computer-controlled to
virtually fire bullets at said player-character are disposed in a
virtual space, and a computer program for causing a computer system
to execute processing for displaying the status in said virtual
space viewed from a virtual viewpoint on a screen is recorded in a
computer-readable recording medium, wherein said computer program
causes said computer system to determine whether a visual effects
request for requesting visual effects processing was input by a
player, if said visual effects request was input, said computer
program causes said computer system to execute image display
processing with visual effects such that the display speed of at
least said enemy-character and each one of the bullets fired from
said enemy-character becomes slower than the display speed of
objects displayed in association with the player operation, said
computer causes said computer system to determine whether at least
one of said enemy-characters to be the shooting target and the
bullet fired from said enemy-character will collide with the moving
locus of the bullet fired from said player character, if said
shooting target will collide with the moving locus of the bullet
fired from said player-character, said computer program causes said
computer system to display the image of said shooting target being
shot at on said screen, and said computer program causes said
computer system to display the elapsed amount of the remaining time
when image display processing with said visual effects can be
executed on said screen.
2-6. (canceled)
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to image processing technology
suitable for shooting games.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-86038
discloses image processing technology for shooting games using
computer graphics. In such shooting games, while a status of a
player-character which the player operates, and an enemy-character,
which is the target of the shooting of the player who shoot at each
other, are displayed as an image viewed from a predetermined
viewpoint on a screen, a shooting game is performed, but in image
processing, if the shooting input is detected in a status where the
shooting target and the coordinates of the aiming position match in
a frame, the image of the shooting target being shot at is written
in the frame memory, and this is converted into video signals and
displayed as an image in the next frame, so the status of the
bullet flying is not displayed on the screen, only the flying locus
of the bullet is temporarily displayed.
[0005] In the above image processing, however, the flying time of
the bullet is virtually 0, so if the player-character is fired at
by an enemy character, the player-character is always shot at and
cannot avoid the bullet as long as the player-character and the aim
match. Particularly in the case of a beginner, whose skill level is
not high, the game ends in a short time, so improvements so that
players do not become bored are necessary.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] With the foregoing in view, it is an object of the present
invention to provide an image processing technology suitable for
shooting games.
[0007] To solve the above problem, the computer program product of
the present invention is a computer program product where a
player-character, who virtually fires bullets responding to the
input operation of a player, and an enemy-character, who is
computer-controlled to virtually fire bullets at the
player-character, are disposed in a virtual space, and a computer
program for causing a computer system to execute processing for
displaying a status in the virtual space viewed from a virtual
viewpoint on a screen is recorded in a computer-readable recording
medium, wherein the computer program causes this computer system to
determine whether a visual effects request for requesting visual
effects processing was input by a player, and if the visual effects
request was input, the computer program causes the computer system
to execute image display processing with visual effects such that
the display speed of at least the enemy-character and each one of
the bullets fired from the enemy-character becomes slower than the
display speed of the object displayed in association with the
player operation, causes the computer system to determine whether
at least one of the enemy-characters to be the shooting target and
the bullet fired from the enemy-character will collide with the
moving locus of the bullet fired from the player-character, and if
the shooting target will collide with the moving locus of the
bullet fired from the player-character, the computer program causes
the computer system to display the image of the shooting target
being shot at on the screen, and displays the progress amount of
the remaining time when image display processing with visual
effects can be executed on the screen.
[0008] According to the present invention, the player voluntarily
requests visual effects processing on the condition that the
enemy-character transits to bullet firing wait status, then the
enemy-character and the bullet fired from this enemy character are
slowly regenerated, therefore the player can shoot aiming at the
enemy character or at this bullet with extra time, which makes a
shooting game more exciting.
[0009] In the computer program product of the present invention,
the computer program causes the computer system to determine
whether processing transits to bullet fire wait status where a
bullet is fired from the enemy-character to the player-character at
least within a predetermined time, and if processing transits to
the bullet fire wait status, the computer program causes the
computer system to determine whether a player input the visual
effects request.
[0010] In the computer program product of the present invention,
the computer program causes the computer system to measure the
elapsed time amount at which image display processing with visual
effects is not executed, and increase the remaining time according
to the elapsed time amount. By this, time when the visual effects
processing can be executed can be increased, so a shooting game can
be more exciting.
[0011] In the computer program product of the present invention,
the computer program causes the computer system to determine
whether the mode is a mode where two or more players play, and
update the remaining time so that the increasing amount of
remaining time, when it is determined that the mode is a mode where
two or more players play, becomes different from the increasing
amount of remaining time in a mode where one player plays. By this,
time when the visual effects processing can be executed can be
adjusted according to the play mode, so a shooting game can be more
exciting.
[0012] In the computer program product of the present invention,
the computer program causes the computer system to determine
whether the image display processing with visual effects is being
executed, and if determined that the image display processing with
visual effects is being executed, the computer program causes the
computer system to execute image effects processing for changing
the display mode visually before and after the image display
processing with visual effects is executed for at least the
enemy-character. By executing the image effects processing so that
the display mode of the enemy-character is changed before and after
the visual effects processing, a shooting game can be more
exciting.
[0013] It is preferable that the visual effects request input is a
control signal which is output to the computer system when a foot
pedal, connected to the computer system, is stepped on by a player.
In a shooting game, manual input is normally used, but by
controlling input using the foot, a player can focus only on manual
input for shooting.
[0014] For the computer readable recording medium, an optical
recording medium (a recording media where data can be optically
read, such as CD-RAM, CD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, PD disk, MD
disk and MO disk), a magnetic recording medium (a recording medium
where data can be magnetically read, such as a flexible disk,
magnetic card and magnetic tape), or a portable recording medium,
such as a memory cartridge comprising a memory element (a
semiconductor memory element such as DRAM, a ferroelectric memory
element such as FRAM), are preferable.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting the hardware of a game
machine according to the present embodiment;
[0016] FIG. 2 is a diagram depicting the moving vector of an
object;
[0017] FIG. 3 is a flow chart depicting the procedure of visual
effects processing of the present embodiment;
[0018] FIG. 4 is a table showing the registration content of a time
scale conversion table;
[0019] FIG. 5 is a diagram depicting the game screen in a shooting
game; and
[0020] FIG. 6 is a diagram depicting the game screen in a shooting
game.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0021] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be
described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0022] FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting the hardware of a game
machine according to the present embodiment. As FIG. 1 shows, to
the game machine 10, gun-type controllers 20 and 21 and foot pedals
22 and 23 as the input means for the player to control the game, a
video monitor (CRT display) 24 as the image display means for
displaying the game, and a speaker 25 as the sound output means for
outputting sound effects, are connected respectively. The gun type
controller 20 and the foot pedal 22 are the means for player A to
control input, and the gun type controller 21 and the foot pedal 23
are the means for player B to control input. In other words, in a
same virtual space, two players can execute a shooting game
simultaneously. The present embodiment shows the system
configuration for two players as an example, but the system is not
limited to this, but is designed such that a plurality of players
can play by adding gun type controllers.
[0023] Gun type controllers 20 and 21 are controllers which have
such an appearance as a machine gun, pistol, rifle and shot gun,
and comprise trigger
[0024] S switches 20a and 21a for the player to instruct firing
bullets, and infrared emitters 20b and 21b for emitting infrared
radially. By the input operation of the trigger switches 20a and
21a, infrared is emitted from the infrared emitters 20b and 21b to
the video monitor 24. On the video monitor 24, a plurality of light
receiving sensors 24a are disposed surrounding the frame of the
screen 24b, and the sensor output of the light receiving sensor 24a
is written to the input/output interface 11. The input signals
(trigger control signals) of the trigger switches 20a and 21a by
the player are output to the input/output interface 11 in the game
machine 10. Foot pedals 22 and 23, on the other hand, are input
means for the player to execute foot input for the main CPU 12 to
execute the later mentioned visual effects processing, and if it is
detected that foot pedals are pressed down with a predetermined
stepping amount, a foot input signal is output to the input/output
interface 11. The visual effects processing will be described in
detail later.
[0025] The game machine 10 is comprised of an input/output
interface 11, main CPU 12, ROM 13, work RAM 14, video processor 15,
frame memory 16, D/A converter 17, sound processor 18 and sound
memory 19. The input/output interface 11 determines the aiming
position of the player, the presence of a fired bullet, and the
number of fired bullets from the sensor output signals and the
trigger control signals of the light receiving sensor 24a, and
writes the corresponding flag to a predetermined address in the
work RAM 14. The work RAM 14 is a random access memory which
functions as a work area for the main CPU 12 to execute various
operations for game processing. In the ROM 13, a game program 13a,
polygon data 13b, geographic data 13c and time scale conversion
table 13d are stored respectively. When the system is started up,
the game program 13a, loaded in the work RAM 14, is
command-interpreted and executed by the main CPU 12, and game
processing is executed.
[0026] The polygon data 13b is a data group of the relative
coordinates or the absolute coordinates of each vertex of a
plurality of polygons constituting various objects (e.g. characters
and game backgrounds) to be displayed on the game screen. The
geographic data 13c, where a virtual viewpoint moves in the virtual
space according to developments of the game, is a data group of
relative coordinates or absolute coordinates of each vertex of
polygons, which have relatively rough settings, required for
displaying a desired game screen. The time scale conversion table
13d is a table where the values of the time scale of all the
objects displayed on the game screen are stored, and are set such
that the time scale of a predetermined object is changed at the
later mentioned visual effects processing. Here the time scale is a
multiplication coefficient of a moving vector (or moving amount) of
an object in one frame unit, and is normally set to 1.0.
[0027] For determining the contact of the aiming and the shooting
target, it is determined which position on the two-dimensional
coordinates that a player is aiming at by the sensor output signal
of the light receiving sensor 24a, then the two-dimensional
coordinates are converted into three-dimensional coordinates, and a
bullet is virtually fired in the depth direction. If the later
mentioned visual effects processing is not executed, the image of
the target being shot at is displayed at the aiming position, and
the status of the bullet flying is not displayed, but if the visual
effects processing is executed, the status of the bullet flying is
written in the frame memory 16 for several frames, and the flying
bullet is displayed on the video monitor 24 for a predetermined
time.
[0028] In the above description, a light receiving sensor 24a is
disposed on the video monitor 24, and the aiming position of a
player is judged from the output signal of this sensor, but the
present invention is not limited to this, and it is acceptable that
a plurality of infrared light emitting elements, instead of the
light receiving sensor 24a, are disposed on the video monitor 24,
lights emitted from the light emitting elements are detected by the
light receiving sensor disposed in a gun type controller, and the
aiming position of the player is determined according to the
received light intensity from each infrared light emitting
element.
[0029] FIG. 2 is a diagram depicting the moving vector of an
object. In FIG. 2, if it is assumed that the position vector of an
object at the nth frame is pos, the position vector of an object at
the (n+1)the frame is nextpos, and the moving vector of an object
is spd*time_ratio, then next_pos=pos+spd*time_ratio is established.
Here spd is a moving speed (moving amount for each frame) of an
object, and time_ratio is a time scale. When the visual effects
processing, such as slow regeneration, is executed, the moving
speed of the object can be set to 1/n of normal speed by changing
the time scale from 1.0 to 1/n (1.ltoreq.n). In the time scale
conversion table 13d, an object for which the time scale is changed
when the visual effects processing, such as slow regeneration, is
executed, and the corresponding time scale of the object before and
after time scale conversion, are stored in advance.
[0030] FIG. 4 shows the content of the data registered in the time
scale conversion table 13d, where the time scale of an
enemy-character and the bullet fired by this enemy-character are
registered respectively. Here the time scale before conversion is
1.0 and the time scale after conversion is 1/n.
[0031] The main CPU 12 reads the polygon data 13b, geographic data
13c and time scale conversion table 13d based on the game program
13a, determines the coordinate value of each object in the world
coordinate system based on the control signal from such input means
as the gun type controllers 20 and 21, and converts this coordinate
value into the visual field coordinate system in a conversion
matrix. The video processor 15 pastes texture to the object
converted into the visual coordinate system, and writes the drawing
data to be displayed in the (n-1)th frame in the frame memory 16,
and also reads the drawing data to be displayed in the nth frame
from the frame memory 16 by double buffering, performs D/A
conversion by the D/A converter 17, and displays the computer
graphics image on the video monitor 24. The sound processor 18, on
the other hand, writes digital sound data to the sound memory 19 so
as to output sound corresponding to the game scene, and reads this,
performs D/A conversion, and outputs such sound as sound effects
via the speaker 25.
[0032] FIG. 5 shows a screen example in the shooting game. In FIGS.
5, 31a, 31b and 31c are enemy-characters, 32a, 32b and 32c are lock
on cursors, 33 is the slow gauge, 34 is the remaining number of
bullets that a player can fire, 35 is an icon to display weapons
that can be selected, and 36 is the score that a player amassed. In
the virtual space, a player character operated by the player is
disposed in addition to the enemy-characters 31a, 31b and 31c shown
in FIG. 5, and an image viewed from a predetermined virtual
viewpoint is displayed on the video monitor 24 as a game screen. In
this case, the virtual viewpoint is set near the head of the
player-character, and an image viewed from the viewpoint of the
player-character (subjective viewpoint) is displayed, but the image
is not limited to this, and an image viewed from an objective
viewpoint, where both the player-character and the enemy-characters
31a, 31b and 31c are displayed on the game screen, may be displayed
(this is the same for the later mentioned description in FIG. 6).
In this case, as FIG. 5 shows, an image viewed from the subjective
viewpoint of the player-character is displayed.
[0033] The enemy-characters 31a, 31b and 31c are programmed so as
to fire bullets at the player-character according to a
predetermined attack pattern based on computer control. Each one of
the lock on cursors 32a, 32b and 32c is a cursor which moves
tracking each enemy-character 31a, 31b and 31c respectively, and
the firing of a bullet from an enemy character 31a, 31b or 31c is
shown to the player by changing the color from green (indicated by
a dotted line) to red (indicated by a solid line). The present
invention can be applied even if the lock on cursors 32a, 32b and
32c are not displayed. The slow gauge 33 will be described in
detail later. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the lock on cursor
32a which is locked to the enemy-character 31a is displayed in
green, but the lock on cursors 32b and 32c locked to the enemy
characters 31b and 31c are displayed in red. If the enemy
characters 31b and 31c tire bullets here, and if the aim matches
with the coordinates of the player-character, the player is
instantaneously shot and damaged, without any time to avoid the
bullet. This is because it has been programmed such that the image
of the player-character being shot is displayed in a frame next to
the frame where the enemy characters 31b and 31c fired the
bullets.
[0034] Therefore in the present invention, the visual effects
processing is performed on the game screen under predetermined
conditions (hereafter called "visual effects processing enable
conditions") to provide the player extra time to avoid a bullet.
The visual effects processing enable conditions are conditions to
be prerequisites to perform the visual effects processing on the
game screen, and, for example, these conditions are met when the
status transits to the status where an attack from the
enemy-character 31 starts, that is when the status transits to the
bullet firing wait status, such as when the green color of the lock
on cursor 32 changes to red. The main CPU 12 sets the visual
effects processing enable flag to "1" in the work RAM 14 when the
visual effects processing enable conditions are established (when
the status transits to the bullet firing wait status). The visual
effects processing is when, for example, when slow regeneration
processing is performed only for the enemy-character 31 and the
bullet by changing the time scale of the enemy-character 31 and the
bullet fired by the enemy-character 31 to 1/n. By such visual
effects processing, the operation speed of the player-character can
be virtually quickened. In other words, the moving speed of the
enemy-character and the bullet thereof become 1/n that of the
player-character, so the player can avoid the bullet with
sufficient extra time, and also the player can blast the bullet by
aiming at this bullet. For the value of n, n=10 for example is
preferable.
[0035] FIG. 6 shows a screen example of a shooting game when the
visual effects processing of the present embodiment is performed.
Identical reference numerals as FIG. 5 indicate identical composing
elements for which detailed explanations are omitted. When the lock
on cursors 32b and 32c, locking the enemy characters 31b and 31c,
turn from green to red, the visual effects processing enable
conditions are established. Then shortly after this, the bullets
40a and 40b are fired from the enemy-characters 31b and 31c. If the
player inputs a visual effects request when the visual effects
processing enable conditions are established, the main CPU 12
generates a game screen where the visual effects processing is
performed, so the player performs the desired processing; such as
changing of the time scale. For the visual effects request input, a
control signal, when the player inputs by stepping on the foot
pedals 22 and 23, for example, is preferable. This foot control
signal is output to the input/output interface 11 and is detected
by the main CPU 12. However the visual effects request is not
limited to foot pedals, but may be the input control of a switch
for a visual effects request input, which is disposed on the gun
type controllers 20 and 21. Also the visual effects request may be
the input control of a switch for slow regeneration, which is
disposed on the body of the game machine 10, without using the gun
type controller. When the visual effects request input from the
player is detected, the main CPU 12 converts the time scale for a
predetermined object (the enemy-character 31 and bullet 40 in this
case), and performs slow regeneration processing.
[0036] Then the bullets 40a and 40b, which have not been visually
displayed, are displayed on the game screen in slow regeneration.
In this case, many lines 60, which are like after images extending
from the edge of the screen to an area roughly at the center, are
displayed, which is Image effects processing as if the
player-character were virtually moving at high-speed. By this, the
player can experience the sensation as if they were moving at high
speed, and can avoid the bullets 40a and 40b with the extra time,
since the moving speed of the enemy-characters 31b and 31c and the
bullets 40a and 40b is slow, and the player also can blast the
bullets 40a and 40b by adjusting the orientation of the gun type
controllers 20 and 21, pulling the trigger switches 20a and 21a
with aligning the aiming cursors 50a and 50b at the bullets 40a and
40b. Here the aiming cursor 50a is an aiming cursor of the player
A, and the aiming cursor 50b is the aiming cursor of the player B.
The blast processing of the bullet 40 by the aiming cursors 50a and
50b can be performed with a normal operation time. In other words,
the time from the player executing the bullet firing operation to
the bullet reaching the shooting target, the time from the player
selecting a weapon displayed at the icon 35 to the weapon being
displayed on the screen in response to the selection, and the
display speed of an object related to player operation, such as the
moving time of the aiming cursors 50a and 50b, are based on the
normal display speed before the visual effects processing is
executed. The slow gauge 33 is for indicating the progress of time
when slow regeneration processing, as the visual effects
processing, can be executed, which is designed such that the value
of the gauge decreases as the time for executing the visual effects
processing elapses, and the visual effects processing cannot be
executed as game processing if this value becomes 0. As FIG. 6
shows, the display of the slow gauge 33 is enlarged on screen while
visual effects processing is being executed, where the remaining
time, when the visual effects processing can be executed, is
indicated for the player.
[0037] FIG. 3 is a flow chart depicting the procedure of the visual
effects processing executed by the main CPU 12. At first, the main
CPU 12 monitors the work RAM 14 and checks whether "1" is set at
the visual effects processing enable flag (step S1). If it is
detected that "1" is set at the visual effects processing enable
flag (step S1: YES), the main CPU 12 checks whether the foot pedals
22 and 23 are stepped on, and the foot input signal is detected
(step S2). If the stamp input signal is detected (step S2: YES),
the main CPU 12 changes the time scale of a predetermined character
(enemy-character 31 and bullet 40 in this case) to 1/n (step S3),
and executes the visual effects processing based on slow
regeneration (step S4). And if the time, when the visual effects
processing can be executed in a status where the foot pedals 22 and
23 are stepped on, has elapsed (step S5: YES), the main CPU 12
returns the time scale of the above mentioned predetermined
character to the original value (that is, time_ratio=1.0) (step
S6), and sets the visual effects processing enable flag to "0"
(step S7). This may be constructed such that the timescale of the
above mentioned predetermined character is returned to the original
value in the stage when the player releases their foot from the
foot pedals 22 and 23, regardless the processing in step S5.
[0038] While the visual effects processing is performed, slow
regeneration processing is executed only for the objects related to
the enemy-character 31, and the speed of the player-character and
the objects related to the operation of the player-character, such
as the speed of the value of the slow gauge 33 decreasing, the
speed of the remaining number of bullets 34 decreasing, the speed
of the display mode of the icon 35, and the speed of the
increasing/decreasing speed of the number of points of the acquired
score 36, are at normal speed, for which it is programmed such that
slow regeneration processing cannot be executed. In the above
description, the moving speed of the enemy-character 31 and the
bullet 40 fired by this enemy-character 31 are set to 1/n, and the
moving speed of the objects related to the player's operation is
maintained at 1.0, but the present invention is not limited to
this, and it may be constructed such that the moving speed of the
enemy-character 31 and the bullet 40 fired by the enemy-character
31 is set to 1/n, and the moving speed of the objects related to
the player's operation are set to 1/m using n and m which
relationship is n>m>1. In other words, the objects related to
the player operation is also displayed somewhat slower, but the
moving speed of the enemy-character 31 and the bullet 40 is
regenerated slower than this.
[0039] When the duration of the visual effects processing exceeds a
predetermined value, the value of the slow gauge 33 becomes 0, and
visual effects processing can no longer be executed, but it may be
constructed such that the value of the slow gauge 33 is increased
according to the duration in normal operation status, where the
visual effects processing is not performed. In this case, it can be
programmed such that the maximum value of the slow gauge 33 is 6000
points (10seconds if converted into time), and after a
predetermined time (e.g. 2 seconds) has elapsed since the value of
the slow gauge 33 becomes 0, the value of the slow gauge 33 is
increased at every 2 points for 5 frames. If constructed in this
way, the value of the slow gauge 33 recovers, so the player can use
the visual effects processing again. In the case of the two player
play mode, the recovery points of the slow gauge 33 may be set to
be different from the recovery points of the one player play mode.
It also may be constructed such that for the recovery processing of
the slow gauge 33, a predetermined number of points (e.g. 4 points)
are recovered if a bullet is fired at the enemy-character 31, a
predetermined number of points (e.g. 8 points) are recovered if the
enemy-character 31 is shot, a predetermined number of points (e.g.
1200 points) are recovered if a vital point of the enemy-character
31 Is shot, and a predetermined number of points (e.g. 20 points)
are recovered if the enemy-character 31 is hit continuously two or
more times.
[0040] In this way, according to the present embodiment, only the
enemy-character 31 and the bullet 40 are slow-regenerated by the
player stepping on the foot pedals 22 and 23 when the visual
effects processing enable conditions are established, so even-a
player whose game control is not very good can avoid the bullet 40,
which allows implementing a shooting game that is not boring. If
the player has an advanced skill level, the bullet 40 can be aimed
at and blasted while the bullet 40 fired from the enemy-character
31 is slow-regenerated, so a more exciting shooting game can be
provided. In the present embodiment, an example when the
player-character and the enemy-character fight each other was
shown, but the present invention is not limited to this, but can be
applied, for example, to a shooting game where an object simulating
a fighter aircraft or a combat vehicle are operated.
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