GB2390308A

GB2390308A - Touch sensitive pad controlled game apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2390308A
Application number: GB0215148A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Stewart Green
Original assignee: GREEN SOLUTIONS Ltd
Current assignee: GREEN SOLUTIONS Ltd
Priority date: 2002-07-01
Filing date: 2002-07-01
Publication date: 2004-01-07
Also published as: GB0215148D0

Abstract

An apparatus for playing a game comprises a screen 10, arranged to display at least one player 26 and a controlled object, preferably a ball (34, Fig 2), a controller 14, and an input device 12. The input device 12 is a touch sensitive pad. The controller 14 is arranged to control the movement of the controlled object (34) on the screen on the basis of interaction of the object (34) and the player 26. The movement of the player 26 on the screen 10 is controlled by inputs from the touch sensitive pad 12. The movement of an input member (e.g. a finger) across the touch sensitive pad 12 is preferably reflected in the movement of a player 26 on the screen 10, or the controller 14 may respond to an input on the touch sensitive pad 12 by moving a player 26 to a position on the screen 10 reflecting the position of contact on the touch sensitive pad 12. Movement may take place instantaneously with input, and continuous contact may be ignored. The touch sensitive pad 12 may be divided in to areas, each area having control over a group of one or more players. The preferred embodiment is an electronic table football game.

Description

GAMES The present invention relates to games, and in particular to

electronically controlled games in which the game is represented on a screen and inputs 5 are provided for a user to influence what is displayed on the screen.

There is a wide range of computer or arcade games available in which players, such as football players, are moved around the screen by one or..

more control inputs and interact with a ball or puck or otter similar.

10 controlled object to simulate a real game of football, hockey, ice hockey or the like..

À À The present invention provides apparatus for playing a game comprising a screen arranged to display at least one player and a controlled object, 15 control means, and input means comprising a touch sensitive pad, wherein the control means is arranged to control movement of the controlled object on the screen on the basis of interactions between the controlled object and the player, and to control movement of the player on the screen in response to inputs from the touch sensitive pad.

The controlled object may be, for example, a ball, or a shuttlecock or puck, and the control means is therefore preferably arranged to control movement of the controlled object in a manner representative of a real ball, shuttlecock or puck.

Preferably the control means is arranged to respond to movement of an input member across the touch pad by moving the player in a direction determined by the direction of movement of the input member across the touch pad.

Preferably the control means is arranged to respond to an input being made by an input member at a touch position on the touch pad by moving the player to a position on the screen determined by the position of the contact on the touch pad. In this case the input preferably comprises 5 bringing the input member into contact with the touch pad at the touch position. Furthermore the control means is preferably arranged to move the player to said position on the screen substantially instantaneously in response to the input...

:;::: 10 Preferably the control means is arranged to move the player in response to interaction between the player and the controlled member or between À..

the player and another player, but to inhibit such movement of the player À..

in response to maintenance of the input member in contact with the touch.. ..

screen. In this case the player preferably has a resistance to movement.

À 15 which determines the ease with which it will move in response to interaction with the controlled member or another player, and the resistance to movement is determined by the pressure applied to the touch pad by the input member.

20 The player may be movable in one dimension only on the screen in response to movement of the input member in a corresponding dimension on the touch pad, and movement of the input member in another dimension on the touch pad controls a playing action of the player. In this case the playing action is preferably a striking action representing striking 25 of the controlled object by the player.

Preferably the control means is arranged to control the player so as to perform a predetermined action in response to an input on the touch pad, wherein the nature of the action is dependent on the position on the touch 30 pad in which the input is made. In this case the touch pad is preferably

divided into a plurality of areas each of which is arranged to produce a different action of the player in response to an input being made therein.

Preferably the screen is arranged to display a plurality of players. The 5 touch pad may be divided into a plurality of areas, each being arranged provide control over a respective group of one or more of the players.

Alternatively a number of separate touch pads may be provided each for controlling a group of one or more players.., À.

:-- 10 Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in À..

which: À À Figure 1 is a schematic system diagram of an apparatus for playing 15 a game according to a first embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a schematic plan view of the apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a schematic illustration of the operation of the 20 apparatus of Figures 1 and 2; Figures 4 to 7 are schematic representations of an apparatus according to a second embodiment of the invention; and 25 Figure 8 is a schematic representation of an apparatus according to a third embodiment of the invention.

Referring to Figure 1 a game console 8 is arranged to provide an electronic version of conventional table football. The console comprises a 30 display 10 on which the game is represented as a series of images or representations, a number if touch pad input devices 12, and a control

unit 14 which includes a display driver 16 for controlling the display, a central processing unit 18 which controls the operation of the game and provides data to the display driver indicating what needs to be displayed, and an input interface 20 for receiving inputs from the touch pads 12 to 5 allow a user to control the game.

Referring to Figure 2, the display 10 is provided on a screen 22 which is flat and horizontal and displays images representing a number of groups 24a, 24b, 24c, 24d of players 26 movable on a pitch area 28, a goal area 10 30, 32 at each end of the pitch, and a ball 34. All references herein to movements and interactions of the players 26 and ball 34 should be taken to refer to simulated movements and interactions as displayed on the screen 22. As in conventional table football, each group of players 26 can be moved in a straight line along a simulated horizontal bar line 36 across 15 the pitch area 28 and can be rotated about the simulated bar line 36 to intercept, control and strike the ball 34. In Figure 2 only four groups of players are shown, each team having a first group 24a, 24d comprising a single player 26 which is a goal keeper and a second group 24b, 24c of two other players 26. In practice more players would usually be used, for 20 example five, seven, nine or eleven in each team for a game of football.

A touch pad 38a, 38b, 38c. 38d is provided for controlling each of the groups of players 26. The touch pads 38a, 38b for controlling one team are located on one side of the screen 10 and those 38c, 38d for 25 controlling the other team are located on the opposite side. In this example as there are only two touch screens each team can suitably be controlled by a single user operating each of the touch pads on his side of the screen with one hand.

30 Each player is represented as having a head 40, a body 42, legs 44 and a striking region formed as feet 46, and can be rotated between a vertical

orientation, as shown for the first single player group 24a, in which the feet 46 can contact the ball, and a horizontal orientation, as shown for the second two player group 24b, in which no part of the player will contact the ball. Rotating the player within a range of angles around the vertical 5 position will cause the player to 'strike' the ball 34 if the ball is within a predefined area associated with the player, causing the ball to be moved in a direction determined by the exact position of the ball relative to the player when the striking action is made, and at a speed determined by the speed of rotation of the player. The ball is also controlled to move at all 10 times in a manner representative of a real ball. It will therefore continued in a straight line until it is struck by a player or until it reaches the edge of the pitch area in which case it will rebound from edge.

Referring to Figure 3, each of the touch pads 38a, 38b, 38c, 38d operates 15 in the same way, which will be described for touch pad 38a controlling the single player 26 in the single player group 24a. As mentioned above the player 26 can move only in one dimension across the pitch 28, and rotate about a horizontal axis 36. Inputs to the touch pad 38a are made by placing an input member 39, such as the user's finger, in contact with the 20 touch pad 38a, removing it from contact with the touch pad, and moving it across the touch pad while in contact with it. The contact position of the finger on the pad 38a can be defined in terms of a transverse displacement x, in a direction which is aligned with the transverse direction in which the players can be moved across the pitch, and a 25 longitudinal displacement y, which is in a direction orthogonal to the transverse direction, and is aligned with the longitudinal direction of the pitch. When controlling the player, the transverse displacement x of the finger on the pad determines the transverse position of the player on the pitch, and the longitudinal displacement y of the finger on the pad 30 determines the angle of rotation of the player. If the pad is touched in a position and the finger held in contact with the pad for more than a

predetermined short time, the player 26 moves substantially simultaneously to the lateral position and angle of rotation corresponding to the lateral and longitudinal co-ordinates of the touch position. For example if the touch pad 38a is touched in position 'a' which is near the 5 bottom left hand corner as seen in Figure 3 and as seen be the user, the player will move to a position 'a' close to the user and a rotational position which is horizontal with its feet 46 as far to the left as they can go. If the touch pad 38a is touched in position 'b' which is in the centre, À À then the player will move to position 'b' which is upright and central in 10 the lateral direction of the pitch. If the touch pad is touched in position c' which is in the top right hand corner of the pad 38a as seen in Figure 3 and as seen by the user, then the player will move to position 'c' which is on the far side of the pitch from the user and rotated so that its feet are foremost, i.e. furthest to the users right.

If the finger is moved across the pad, thereby changing the lateral and longitudinal co-ordinates of the touch position, the lateral position and angle of rotation of the player on the display are changed accordingly in a substantially continuous manner. Obviously movements in a purely 20 longitudinal direction will cause the player 26 to rotate on the spot, i. e. without changing position, and movements in a purely lateral direction will cause the player 26 to move laterally across the pitch without rotating. This enables the user to move the player 26 so as to control the ball 34 in a manner which corresponds to the control of a player in a 25 conventional table football game.

Therefore there is a central line 50 across the pad 12 which corresponds to the player being in the upright position. AISO, as with conventional table football, there will be a range of angles about the upright orientation 30 at which the player will intercept the ball. Outside that range of angles the ball will be able to pass the player without being affected by it.

Therefore there is a band 52 across the pad 12 which corresponds to the full range of lateral positions of the player, and the limited range of angles of rotation at which the ball can be contacted by the player.

5 The game functions in a very similar manner to conventional table football. Each user controls his team of players 26 so as to control movement of the ball 34, and a goal is scored if the ball is moved into one of goal areas 30, 32. It will be appreciated that, for the game to*. I. .. function, the CPU needs to define a number of parameters relating to the..

10 players and the ball and the interactions between them. For example the speed at which the ball will move in response to being stuck at any . particular speed by a player, the way in which the ball will rebound from the edges of the pitch area, the angle at which the ball will move as. À À À.

À e.. determined by the exact position of the ball relative to the player when it 15 is struck. However, these parameters are well known and will not be described in detail herein.

Referring to Figures 4 to 6, in a second embodiment of the invention the game is again a simulation of table football, but in this case the 20 representation of the players 60, the pitch and the ball 62 is three dimensional and is displayed on a vertical screen in front of the users.

Only one player 60 and the ball 62 are shown in each of Figures 4 to 6 but obviously further players and the whole pitch and goals would be displayed corresponding to those in Figure 2. The touch pad 64 operates 25 in a similar manner to those in Figures l to 3 to enable the player 60 to be moved around the pitch to control the ball. Also in this embodiment the force which the user applies to the touch pad with his finger 66 is measured, and this defines the resistance to movement which the player will exhibit, for example if the player is struck by the ball. Figure 4 30 shows the user's finger 66 held in contact with the touch pad in the central position. This will retain the player 60 in the central vertical

position, so that if the ball 62 contacts the player, the player will remain still and the ball will rebound from it. As shown in Figure 5, if the finger 66 is completely removed from the touch pad 64, then the player is given very low or zero resistance to movement so that, if the ball 62 contacts 5 the player 60, the player will rotate, or move sideways, depending on the direction of impact between the ball and player, allowing the ball to continue substantially in its original direction.

In this embodiment the ball is controlled to move in a manner 10 representative of a real ball. Its movement is controlled by a model which imitates the three dimensional movements of a real ball including bouncing. The ball will therefore move, in a simulation of rolling, bouncing, or moving through the air, in one direction until it is either struck by a player or reach the edge of the playing area. The model of the 15 ball is therefore arranged to simulate gravity, impacts with players and solid objects, and preferably also aerodynamic effects such as wind resistance and changes to the direction of travel of the ball due to it spinning. 20 Figures 6 and 7 demonstrate rotation of the player, by movement of the finger 66 across the touch pad 64. If the finger is moved to the left, as shown in Figure 6, the player is rotated so that his feet move to the left.

If the finger 66 is moved to the right, as shown in Figure 7, then the player is rotated so that his feet move to the right.

In this second embodiment, because the representation on the display is fully three dimensional, the ball can be controlled by parts of the player 60 other than his feet 68. For example the ball can be struck with the head 69 of the player. The movement of the ball and players is therefore 30 simulated fully in three dimensions.

It will be appreciated that the degree of control over the resistance to movement of the player can be varied. For example the players can simply switch between a controlled condition, in which the position is determined absolutely by the touch position on the touch pad 64, and a 5 free condition which is caused be removing the finger from the touch pad, in which they are free to move and offer substantially no resistance to movement. At the other extreme, the player can be controlled as if a force were being applied to it by the user which is proportional to the A, À.

force applied to the touch pad. This would enable the user to control not. ...DTD:

10 only the resistance to movement of a stationary player, but also the force with which the player strikes the ball...DTD: . À $ Àe Referring to Figure 8, in a third embodiment of the invention, the game is representative of a real game of football rather than table football. Each 15 player 70 displayed on the screen 72 has a position on the pitch 74 which is controlled in two dimensions by the touch position on a touch pad 76.

Only one player is shown for clarity. Provided the touch pad 76 is touched for more than a predetermined time, the player will move to a position on the pitch 74 corresponding to the touch position on the pad, 20 and move around the pitch as the finger is moved across the touch pad. In order to make the player interact with the ball 78, the player can be controlled to perform a number of predefined moves, such as left foot kick, right foot kick, and header. These moves are initiated by a single tap, of less than the predetermined time, which might be for example 25 0. 1s, on the touch pad, the position of the tap determining the move that will be made. In this case if the tap is made in a region 80 to the right of the pad 76 will initiate a right foot kick, a tap in a region 82 to the left of the pad 76 will initiate a left foot kick, and a tap in the region 84 at the top of the pad 76 will initiate a header. The direction and speed of 30 movement of the ball in response to each move will depend on the relative position of the ball 78 and the player 70 at the time the move is made.

It will be appreciated that inputs other than single taps on the touch pad can be used, for example double taps, or movements of the input member on the pad in one or more predetermined shapes which can be recognized 5 by the controller and used to determine the response of the control unit, such as straight lines the direction of which can be used to determine the resulting action.

The other players which are not shown can be controlled by separate 10 touch pads, or by different areas of the same touch pad.:. À.

À::. In a modification to this embodiment, the various moves are initiated by touching separate buttons which are placed around the touch pad, so the touch pad is only used to control the location of the player on the pitch.À.

15 À It will be appreciated that, using the principles described above, a varietyA..

Of games can be provided using touch pads as inputs. For example, as well as football, other team games such as basketball, hockey and American football can be simulated, as well as single player games, such 20 as penalty shootouts or tennis. Furthermore, as well as having inputs for two players to play each other, it is obviously also possible for the apparatus to be programmed to play against a single user. Furthermore, while the table football games described above all require a simulated ball, other games which do not use a ball can be simulated, such as 25 badminton in which a shuttlecock would be simulated, or ice hockey or air hockey in which a puck would be simulated.

Claims

1. Apparatus for playing a game comprising a screen arranged to display at least one player and a controlled object, control means, and 5 input means comprising a touch sensitive pad, wherein the control means is arranged to control movement of the controlled object on the screen on the basis of interactions between the controlled object and the player, and to control movement of the player on the screen in response to inputs from the touch sensitive pad.

10 À,..

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the control means is À arranged to respond to movement of an input member across the touch pad by moving the player in a direction determined by the direction of movement of the input member across the touch pad. À

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the control means is arranged to respond to an input being made by an input member at a touch position on the touch pad by moving the player to a position on the screen determined by the position of the contact on the touch pad.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the input comprises bringing the input member into contact with the touch pad at the touch position. 25

5. Apparatus according to claim 3 or claim 4 wherein the control means is arranged to move the player to said position on the screen substantially instantaneously in response to the input.

6. Apparatus according to any foregoing claim wherein the control 30 means is arranged to move the player in response to interaction between the player and the controlled member or between the player and another

player, but to inhibit such movement of the player in response to maintenance of the input member in contact with the touch screen,

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the player has a resistance 5 to movement which determines the ease with which it will move in response to interaction with the controlled member or another player, and the resistance to movement is determined by the pressure applied to the touch pad by the input member.

10

8. Apparatus according to any foregoing claim wherein the player is movable in one dimension only on the screen in response to movement of À À. the input member in a corresponding dimension on the touch pad, and movement of the input member in another dimension on the touch pad À -. controls a playing action of the player. À.

15 À

9. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the playing action is a.

striking action representing striking of the controlled object by the player.

10. Apparatus according to any foregoing claim wherein the control 20 means is arranged to control the player so as to perform a predetermined action in response to an input on the touch pad, wherein the nature of the action is dependent on the position on the touch pad in which the input is made. 25

11. Apparatus according to claim 10 wherein the touch pad is divided into a plurality of areas each of which is arranged to produce a different action of the player in response to an input being made therein.

12. Apparatus according to any foregoing claim wherein the screen is 30 arranged to display a plurality of players and the touch pad is divided into

a plurality of areas, each being arranged provide control over a respective group of one or more of the players.

13. Apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 11 wherein the screen is 5 arranged to display a plurality of players and the apparatus comprises a plurality of touch pads, each being arranged provide control over a respective group of one or more of the players.

14. Apparatus according to any foregoing claim wherein the controlled 10 object comprises a ball, shuttlecock or puck. A.

:--

15. Apparatus according to claim 14 wherein the control means is À.. arranged to control movement of the controlled object in a manner À. representative of a real ball, shuttlecock or puck. À À.

16. Apparatus for playing a game substantially as hereinbefore A..

described with reference to Figures 1 to 3, Figures 4 to 7, or Figure 8 of the accompanying drawings.