Mask Data Transparency for Game Character Visibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
In video games, player characters can become hidden behind buildings due to existing transparency techniques that alter the game atmosphere and increase processing load as the number of objects increases, requiring determination of positional relationships for each object.
Innovation Solution
A video game device and program that uses mask data to make objects transparent only in specific areas around the player character, reducing the need to determine overlapping relationships, thereby maintaining the game atmosphere and reducing processing load by performing transparency operations only when necessary.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the entire wall or obstacle is made transparent when hiding the player character, then the player character can always be seen, but the atmosphere of the game field is significantly altered
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making only the specific area where the player character is hidden transparent, rather than making the entire wall or obstacle transparent. This is achieved by determining the precise overlapping region between the player character and the wall/obstacle, and applying transparency only to that localized area, thereby preserving the overall atmosphere of the game field while ensuring player character visibility.
2Reliability
If transparency determination is performed for each of multiple objects, then the player character can be seen behind any object, but the processing load increases as the number of objects increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the transparency determination process by performing a unified determination of whether the player character is hidden behind any wall or obstacle, rather than performing separate determination for each object. The system integrates the transparency application across multiple objects simultaneously, reducing the overall processing load while maintaining the ability to handle any number of objects in the game field.
3Reliability
If the viewpoint is shifted to make the player character visible, then the player character can always be seen, but the game image quality and atmosphere are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses transparency (a visual property similar to color change) to make the wall or obstacle transparent in the specific area where the player character is hidden, rather than shifting the viewpoint. This allows the player character to remain visible while maintaining the original viewpoint and game image quality, as the transparency effect is localized and does not alter the overall scene composition.
Data Source
AI summary
A character object CH1 is first projected onto a screen plane, and a masked area is rendered as a circular area that is centered about the position of the character object CH1 projected onto the screen plane. The obtained image data is stored in a main memory as mask data, and is used when rendering each object in a virtual game space. A transparency flag is set in advance for each of field objects OB1 to OB3. The field object OB1 whose transparency flag is “1” is rendered by using the mask data, whereas the character object CH1 and the field objects OB2 and OB3 whose transparency flag is “0” are rendered normally. Thus, it is possible to provide a video game device capable of displaying a particular object such as the player character so that it can always be seen, with minimum detraction from the atmosphere of the game field.