IP Library › Granted Patent US 8,305,392
Granted Patent B2
US 8,305,392 · App. 11/507,512 · Granted Nov 6, 2012

Storage medium having game program stored therein and game apparatus

Assignee: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,305,392
App. No.
11/507,512
Granted
Nov 6, 2012
Kind
B2
Abstract

A color image viewed from a virtual camera is generated. Next, a fog image is generated by adding a fog color to respective objects in accordance with distances from a position, which is represented by a Z value, of a player object to positions of the respective objects which are represented by Z values. Further, mask processing is performed so as to add to the fog image a predetermined fog color in accordance with distances from a predetermined reference pixel to pixels in a lateral and a longitudinal directions in the fog image. And an image into which the fog image and the color image have been synthesized is displayed as a game image.

Claims (72)

1. A non-transitory storage medium having stored therein a game program which causes a computer in a game apparatus for displaying an image of a virtual game space, which is shot by a virtual camera, to execute:

image generation for generating the image of the virtual game space, which is shot by the virtual camera;

first color blending for blending, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a distance from a predetermined reference position to another position in the virtual game space in a shooting direction of the virtual camera, a first color into a color at the another position in the image generated at the image generation;

two-dimensional second color blending for blending, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a distance from a predetermined reference pixel to another pixel in the image into which the first color has been blended at the first color blending, a second color into a color at the another pixel; and

outputting the image which has been processed at the second color blending.

2. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , having stored therein the game program, wherein the rate of blending the first color into another pixel is decreased in accordance with a decrease in the distance from the reference position to the another position in the shooting direction of the virtual camera in the virtual game space.

3. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , having stored therein the game program, wherein the reference pixel is a pixel corresponding to the reference position.

4. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 3 , having stored therein the game program, wherein the reference position is a position of the player object existing in the virtual game space.

5. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 1 , having stored therein the game program, wherein the rate of blending the second color into the another pixel is decreased in accordance with a decrease in the distance from the reference pixel to the another pixel.

6. A non-transitory storage medium having stored therein a game program which causes a computer in a game apparatus for displaying an image of a virtual game space, which is shot by a virtual camera, to execute:

image generation for generating the image of the virtual game space, which is shot by the virtual camera;

two-dimensional first color blending for blending, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a distance from a predetermined reference pixel to another pixel in the image generated at the image generation, a first color into a color at the another pixel;

second color blending for blending, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a distance from a predetermined reference position to another position in the virtual game space in a shooting direction of the virtual camera, a second color into a color at the another position in the image into which the first color has been blended at the first color blending; and

outputting the image which has been processed at the second color blending, wherein the rate of blending the first color into the another pixel is decreased in accordance with a decrease in the distance from the reference pixel to the another pixel.

7. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 6 , having stored therein the game program, wherein the rate of blending the second color into the pixel is decreased in accordance with a decrease in the distance from the reference position to the another position in the shooting direction of the virtual camera in the virtual game space.

8. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 6 , having stored therein the game program, wherein the reference pixel is a pixel corresponding to the reference position.

9. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 8 , having stored therein the game program, wherein the reference position is a position of the player object existing in the virtual game space.

10. A non-transitory storage medium having stored therein a game program which causes a computer in a game apparatus for storing in a frame buffer a game image obtained through shooting by means of a virtual camera and storing in a Z buffer a depth value of a pixel of the game image, to execute:

first color blending for blending, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a difference between a reference value which is a depth value of a predetermined pixel and a depth value of another pixel in the game image, a first color into the another pixel in the game image;

two-dimensional second color blending for blending, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a distance from a reference pixel, which is a predetermined pixel, to another pixel in the game image into which the first color has been blended at the first color blending, a second color into the another pixel; and

outputting the image which has been processed at the second color blending.

11. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 10 , having stored therein the game program, wherein the rate of blending the first color into the another pixel is decreased in accordance with a decrease in the difference between the reference value and the depth value of the another pixel.

12. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 10 , having stored therein the game program, wherein the reference pixel is a pixel corresponding to the reference value.

13. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 12 , having stored therein the game program, wherein the pixel corresponding to the reference value is a pixel corresponding to a position of the player object existing in the virtual game space.

14. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 10 , having stored therein the game program, wherein the rate of blending the second color into the another pixel is decreased in accordance with a decrease in the distance from the reference pixel to the another pixel.

15. A non-transitory storage medium having stored therein a game program which causes a computer in a game apparatus for storing in a frame buffer a game image obtained through shooting by means of a virtual camera and storing in a Z buffer a depth value of a pixel of the game image, to execute:

two-dimensional first color blending for blending, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a distance from a reference pixel, which is a predetermined pixel, to another pixel in the game image into which the color has been blended, a first color into the another pixel;

second color blending for blending, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a difference between a reference value, which is a depth value of a predetermined pixel, and a depth value of another pixel in the game image into which the first color has been blended at the first color blending, a second color into the another pixel in the game image; and

outputting the image which has been processed at the second color blending, wherein the rate of blending the first color into the another pixel is decreased in accordance with a decrease in the distance from the reference pixel to the another pixel.

16. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 15 , having stored therein the game program, wherein the rate of blending the second color into the another pixel is decreased in accordance with a decrease in the difference between the reference value and the depth value of the another pixel.

17. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 15 , having stored therein the game program, wherein the reference pixel is a pixel corresponding to the reference value.

18. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 17 , having stored therein the game program, wherein the reference pixel is a pixel corresponding to a position of the player object existing in the virtual game space.

19. A game apparatus for displaying an image of a virtual game space, which is shot by a virtual camera, comprising:

an image generation unit for generating the image of the virtual game space, which is shot by the virtual camera;

a first color blending unit for blending, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a distance from a predetermined reference position to another position in the virtual game space in a shooting direction of the virtual camera, a first color into a color at the another position in the image generated by the image generation unit;

a two-dimensional second color blending unit for blending, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a distance from a predetermined reference pixel to another pixel in the image into which the first color has been blended by the first color blending unit, a second color into the color at the another pixel; and

an output unit for outputting the image which has been processed by the second color blending unit.

20. A game apparatus for displaying an image of a virtual game space, which is shot by a virtual camera, comprising:

an image generation unit for generating the image of the virtual game space, which is shot by the virtual camera;

a two-dimensional first color blending unit for blending, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a distance from a predetermined reference pixel to another pixel in the image generated by the image generation unit, a first color into the color at the another pixel;

a second color blending unit for blending, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a distance from a predetermined reference position to another position in the virtual game space in a shooting direction of the virtual camera, a second color into a color at the another position in the image into which the first color has been blended by the first color blending unit; and

an output unit for outputting the image which has been processed by the second color blending unit, wherein the rate of blending the first color into the another pixel is decreased in accordance with a decrease in the distance from the reference pixel to the another pixel.

21. A game apparatus for storing in a frame buffer a game image obtained through shooting by means of a virtual camera and storing in a Z buffer a depth value of a pixel of the game image, comprising:

a first color blending unit for blending, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a difference between a reference value, which is a depth value of a predetermined pixel, and a depth value of another pixel in the game image, a first color into the another pixel in the game image;

a two-dimensional second color blending unit for blending, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a distance from a reference pixel which is a predetermined pixel in the game image, into which the first color has been blended by the first color blending unit, to another pixel, a second color into the another pixel; and

an output unit for outputting the image which has been processed by the second color blending unit.

22. A game apparatus for storing in a frame buffer a game image obtained through shooting by means of a virtual camera and storing in a Z buffer a depth value of a pixel of the game image, comprising:

a two-dimensional first color blending unit for blending, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a distance from a reference pixel, which is a predetermined pixel in the game image, to another pixel in the game image into which the color has been blended, a first color into the another pixel;

a second color blending unit for blending, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a difference between a reference value, which is a depth value of a predetermined pixel, and a depth value of another pixel in the game image into which the first color has been blended by the first color blending unit, a second color into the another pixel in the game image; and

an output unit for outputting the image which has been processed by the second color blending unit, wherein the rate of blending the first color into the another pixel is decreased in accordance with a decrease in the distance from the reference pixel to the another pixel.

23. A method for displaying an image of a virtual game space, which is shot by a virtual camera, comprising:

image generation for generating the image of the virtual game space, which is shot by the virtual camera;

first color blending for blending, using at least one computer, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a distance from a predetermined reference position to another position in the virtual game space in a shooting direction of the virtual camera, a first color into a color at the another position in the image generated at the image generation;

two-dimensional second color blending for blending, using at least one computer, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a distance from a predetermined reference pixel to another pixel in the image into which the first color has been blended at the first color blending, a second color into a color at the another pixel; and

outputting the image which has been processed at the second color blending.

24. A method for displaying an image of a virtual game space, which is shot by a virtual camera, comprising:

image generation for generating the image of the virtual game space, which is shot by the virtual camera;

two-dimensional first color blending for blending, using at least one computer, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a distance from a predetermined reference pixel to another pixel in the image generated at the image generation, a first color into a color at the another pixel;

second color blending for blending, using at least one computer, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a distance from a predetermined reference position to another position in the virtual game space in a shooting direction of the virtual camera, a second color into a color at the another position in the image into which the first color has been blended at the first color blending; and

outputting the image which has been processed at the second color blending, wherein

the rate of blending the first color into the another pixel is decreased in accordance with a decrease in the distance from the reference pixel to the another pixel.

25. A system comprising:

an image generation unit for generating an image of a virtual game space, which is shot by a virtual camera;

a first color blending unit for blending, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a distance from a predetermined reference position to another position in the virtual game space in a shooting direction of the virtual camera, a first color into a color at the another position in the image generated by the image generation unit;

a two-dimensional second color blending unit for blending, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a distance from a predetermined reference pixel to another pixel in the image into which the first color has been blended by the first color blending unit, a second color into the color at the another pixel; and

an output unit for outputting the image which has been processed by the second color blending unit.

26. A system comprising:

an image generation unit for generating an image of a virtual game space, which is shot by a virtual camera;

a two-dimensional first color blending for blending, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a distance from a predetermined reference pixel to another pixel in the image generated by the image generation unit, a first color into the color at the another pixel;

a second color blending unit for blending, at a rate which is calculated in accordance with a distance from a predetermined reference position to another position in the virtual game space in a shooting direction of the virtual camera, a second color into a color at the another position in the image into which the first color has been blended by the first color blending unit; and

an output unit for outputting the image which has been processed by the second color blending unit, wherein

the rate of blending the first color into the another pixel is decreased in accordance with a decrease in the distance from the reference pixel to the another pixel.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 22, 2006
From: MIYAGI, ATSUSHI; ITO, HARUYASU; SASAKI, MAKOTO
To: NINTENDO CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 018219/0049 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP 2005-358139 · Dec 12, 2005 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20070132777A1 · Jun 14, 2007