Game device, game processing method and information recording medium

Abstract

Smooth, stable and high quality game image is provided by accurately pre-reading background data required for image processing each time. The game device therefore reads background data required for a game that displays a condition of a moving vehicle within a virtual three-dimensional space together with a background in the main memory from a CD-ROM (recording medium) prior to image processing. This device comprises a pre-reading unit for pre-reading background data from a recording medium when reading a start line (reference line) set at a distant position in a specified distance away from the limit line of the visual field direction of display is crossing a new area. A recording medium is a medium that records background data by dividing it into a plurality of areas in advance, and the pre-reading unit comprises a unit for judging on which of the areas the reference line is crossing, and a reading unit for reading in memory the background data of the area judged as being crossed with the reference line.

I claim: 
     
       1. A game device that reads from comprising a game executing means, an image processing means, a work memory, a control means for a player to enter control instructions, and a mounting means to which a storage means is detachably mounted,
 prior to image processing, backgroundwherein the storage means stores a game program that responds to control instructions from the player that are executed on the game device to move a moving object in an arbitrary direction on a terrain that includes a predetermined racing road and areas off the predetermined racing road, the terrain comprising a plurality of branching routes for reaching a destination in which a route to the destination is not specified and the moving object is moved in an unrestricted route on the terrain in response to the control instructions to reach the destination, and the storage means stores terrain data required in games for displaying a the moving object within a virtual three-dimensional space together with a background, comprising: the terrain by dividing the terrain into a plurality of areas selectable in accordance with a heading direction of the moving object, 
 pre-reading means for pre-reading said background data from said storage means by establishing an area for pre-reading which includes:wherein the game device executes the game program, in response to manipulation by the player of the control means, to perform operations of: 
 (a) determining a current position and current heading direction of the moving object on one of the plurality of areas on which the moving object is currently located; 
 (b) setting a predetermined angle-of-visibility based on a view angle viewed from a viewpoint, which is set at the current position of the moving object, toward the current heading direction of the moving object, the current heading direction being selected on one of the plurality of areas by the player; 
 (c) setting a limit-line of a visual field, beyond which a scene of the terrain viewable from the viewpoint is omitted from being displayed, at a predetermined distance towards a front of the visual field, and away from the viewpoint within the view angle ahead in the current heading direction; 
 (d) setting a pre-reading start line at a predetermined distance beyond a front of away from the limit-line of the visual field that moves within the view angle further ahead in the current heading direction of the moving object when viewed from the moving object, wherein said storage means stores said background data by dividing said background data into a plurality of areas in advance; 
 said pre-reading means comprising judging means for judging which of said(e) determining a specific one of the plurality of areas saidwhich crosses the pre-reading start line is crossing to determine a specific area from among the plurality of areas, and;  
 reading means for reading(f) pre-reading the backgroundterrain data ofcorresponding to the determined specific area judged as being crossed with said pre-reading start line by the judging means, wherein said plurality of areas are respectively stored in saidfrom the storage means by dividing the content of background data per type; said game device further comprising ainto a memory space of the work memory;  
 including a plurality of memory blocks each set at a same memory capacity, wherein said reading means includes means for storing the background data of the crossed area in an integral number “n” of said memory blocks in said work memory in accordance with the amount of the background data to be stored, and wherein said reading means includes means for judging whether one or more of said memory blocks of said work memory are a vacant space or not, and means for successively storing the background data of said crossed area in said integral number “n” of said memory blocks when said integral number of said memory blocks are judged as vacant space and of sufficient capacity to store the background data; said game device further comprising counting means for detecting whether said moving object exists within said areas corresponding to memory blocks storing background data, or an area that exists within the visual field, in said work memory, and counting said moving object or visual field area (g) if, as the moving object moves, the limit line moves on the determined specific area, then displaying the terrain corresponding to the determined specific area based on the data read into the work memory in operation (f); and 
 (h) executing operations (a) to (g) periodically, wherein said reading means includes means for determining the memory block to store said background data based on a count value determined for each of said memory blocks by said counting means when it is judged that there is no vacant space in said work memory in accordance with changes of the current location and the current heading direction of the moving object on the terrain in response to manipulation by the player of the control means. 
 
     
     
       2. A The game device according to claim  1  9, wherein said reading means includes determining means for determining a plurality of consecutive memory blocks are used when background the terrain data to be stored requires a plurality of memory blocks. 
     
     
       3. A The game device according to claim  1  10, wherein said determining means is for determining a plurality of consecutive memory blocks representing a highest or lowest value by comparing said count values of said plurality of consecutive memory blocks are selected for storing the terrain data. 
     
     
       4. A The game device according to claim  1  9, wherein said determining means is for determining a plurality of consecutive memory blocks representing a highest or lowest value are determined by computing average values for said plurality of consecutive memory blocks. 
     
     
       5. A The game device according to  claim 1 , wherein said the moving object is a vehicle that moves within said the virtual three-dimensional space. 
     
     
       6. A The game device according to  claim 1 , wherein said background the moving object is a vehicle and the terrain data is landform data prepared to enable a the vehicle to travel in arbitrary directions on land represented by the background terrain data. 
     
     
       7. An A non-transitory computer-readable information recording medium having recorded therein said background the terrain data and programs the game program for executing the respective means according to operations specified in  claim 1 . 
     
     
       8. A data processing method for a game computer device, comprising: a data processing means, a work memory, a control means for a player to enter control instructions, and a mounting means to which a recording medium is detachably mounted,
 reading background data required for a game that displays a moving object within virtual three-dimensional space together with a background in working memory from memorizing means prior to image processing, wherein said background data is pre-read from a recording medium by establishing an area for pre-reading which includes:wherein the recording medium stores a game program that responds to control instructions from the player that are executed on the computer device to move a moving object in an arbitrary direction on a terrain, and the recording medium further stores data for the terrain by dividing the terrain into a plurality of areas selectable in accordance with a heading direction of the moving object, the method comprising: 
 (a) determining a current position and current heading direction of the moving object on one of the plurality of areas on which the moving object is currently located, wherein the terrain on which the moving object is currently located includes a predetermined racing road and areas off the predetermined racing road, the terrain comprising a plurality of branching routes for reaching a destination in which a route to the destination is not specified and the moving object is moved in an unrestricted route on the terrain in response to the control instructions to reach the destination; 
 (b) setting a predetermined angle-of-visibility based on a view angle viewed from a viewpoint, which is set at the current position of the moving object, toward the current heading direction of the moving object, ;  
 (c) setting a limit-line of a visual field, beyond which a scene of the terrain viewable from the viewpoint is omitted from being displayed, at a predetermined distance towards a front of the visual field, andaway from the viewpoint within the view angle ahead in the current heading direction; 
 (d) setting a pre-reading start line at a predetermined distance beyond a front of away from the limit-line of the visual field that moves within the view angle further ahead in the current heading direction of the moving object when viewed from the moving object; said recording medium storing said background data by dividing said background data into a plurality of areas in advance, said plurality of areas being respectively stored in said recording medium by dividing the content of background data per type and approximately the same size; 
 judging(e) determining a specific one of the plurality of areas which of said areascrosses said pre-reading start line is crossing to determine a specific area from among the plurality of areas, and; 
 (f) reading the background terrain data of corresponding to the determined specific area judged as being crossed with said pre-reading start line from the recording medium into a memory space of the work memory; 
 (g) if, as the moving object further moves, the limit line moves on the determined specific area, then displaying a scene of the terrain corresponding to the determined specific area based on the data read into the work memory in (f); and  
 storing background data of the crossed area in an integral number “n” of memory blocks in said working memory in accordance with an amount of the background data to be stored, said working memory including a plurality of memory blocks each set at a same memory capacity; judging whether one or more memory blocks of said working memory are a vacant space or not, and successively storing the background data of said crossed area in said integral number “n” of said memory blocks judged as vacant space and of sufficient capacity to store the background data; detecting whether said moving object exists within any of said plurality of areas corresponding to memory blocks storing background data, or an area that exists within the visual field, in said working memory, and counting said moving object or area (h) executing (a) to (g) periodically; and determining the memory block to store said read background data based on a count value determined for each of said memory blocks by said counting when it is judged that there is no vacant space in said working memory in accordance with changes of the current position and the current heading direction of the moving object. 
 
     
     
       9. The game device according to claim 1, wherein the work memory is defined to include a plurality of memory blocks set at a same memory capacity and step (f) comprises:
 storing the terrain data corresponding to the specific area in an integral number “n” of the memory blocks in the work memory in accordance with an amount of the terrain data to be stored;   judging whether or not one or more of the memory blocks of the work memory are a vacant space, and   successively storing the terrain data corresponding to the specific area in the integral number “n” of the memory blocks when the integral number “n” of the memory blocks are judged as vacant space and of sufficient capacity to store the terrain data.   
     
     
       10. The game device according to claim 1, wherein the work memory is defined to include a plurality of memory blocks each set at a same memory capacity and the game device further comprises a counting means and performs steps of:
 periodically counting a frequency when pre-read data has been used for displaying the terrain with respect to the memory blocks; and   selecting one of the memory blocks based on the counted frequency, for storing terrain data when it is judged that there is no vacant space in the work memory.   
     
     
       11. A game device comprising a game executing means, an image processing means, a work memory, a control means for a player to enter control instructions, and a mounting means to which a storage means is detachably mounted,
 wherein the storage means stores a game program that is executed by the game device and responds to control instructions from a player that are executed on the game device to move an object indicative of a car vehicle in an arbitrary direction on a terrain that includes a predetermined racing road and areas off the predetermined racing road, the terrain comprising a plurality of branching routes for reaching a destination in which a route to the destination is not specified and the object is moved in an unrestricted route on the terrain in response to the control instructions to reach the destination, and the storage medium further stores data for the terrain by dividing a plurality of areas selectable in accordance with a heading direction of the object,   wherein the image processing means displays a scene of the terrain from a view angle viewed from a viewpoint, which is set at a current location of the object, in concert with a heading direction of the object in response to manipulation by the player of the control means,   wherein the game device executes the game program in response to manipulation by the player of the control means, to perform operations of:   (a) determining a current position and current heading direction of the object on one of the plurality of areas on which the object is currently located;   (b) setting the view angle viewed from the viewpoint toward the current heading direction of the object, the current heading direction being selected by the player between the current position and the destination;   (c) setting a limit-line, beyond which the scene of the terrain viewable from the viewpoint is omitted from being displayed, at a distance away from the viewpoint within the view angle ahead in the current heading direction;   (d) setting a reference line at a certain distance away from the limit-line further ahead in the current heading direction;   (e) determining a specific one of the plurality of areas, which includes the reference line within the view angle viewed from the viewpoint at which the object is currently positioned among the plurality of areas of the terrain;   (f) pre-reading the terrain data corresponding to the determined specific area from the storage means into a memory space of the work memory before the limit-line reaches the specific area;   (g) if, as the object further moves, the limit line moves on the specific area, then displaying a scene of the terrain corresponding to the determined specific area based on the terrain data which was already read into the work memory at operation (f); and   (h) executing operations (a) to (g) repeatedly in accordance with changes of the current position and the current heading direction of the object in response to manipulation by the player of the control means.   
     
     
       12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a game program and data readable by a computer,
 wherein the game program is executed by the computer in response to control instructions of a player that are executed by the computer to move an object in an arbitrary direction on a terrain that includes a predetermined racing road and areas off the predetermined racing road, the terrain comprising a plurality of branching routes for reaching a destination in which a route to the destination is not specified and the object is moved in an unrestricted route on the terrain in response to the control instructions to reach the destination, and the storage medium further stores data for the terrain by dividing a plurality of areas selectable in accordance with a heading direction of the object, and   the game program is executed by the computer in response to manipulation by the player to performs operations of:   (a) determining a current position and current heading direction of the object on one of the plurality of areas on which the object is currently located;   (b) setting a view angle viewed from a viewpoint, which is set at the current position of the object, toward the current heading direction of the object;   (c) setting a limit-line, beyond which a scene of the terrain viewable from the viewpoint is omitted from being displayed, at a distance away from the viewpoint within the view angle ahead in the current heading direction;   (d) setting a reference line at a certain distance away from the limit-line further ahead in the current heading direction;   (e) determining a specific area, which includes the reference line, among the plurality of areas of the terrain;   (f) reading the data corresponding to the determined specific area from the storage means into a memory space of the work memory before the limit-line reaches the specific area;   (g) if, as the object further moves, the limit line moves on the determined specific area, then displaying a scene of the terrain corresponding to the determined specific area based on the data read into the work memory at operation (f); and   (h) executing operations (a) to (g) repeatedly in accordance with changes of the current position and the current heading direction of the object.   
     
     
       13. The storage medium of claim 12, wherein:
 the object is indicative of a car vehicle, and   data for the terrain is stored by dividing the terrain into areas of a town, a city, a village, and a prairie.