JP2013027423A - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game machine capable of preventing illegal play without excessively consuming a storage area of a memory and without excessively increasing control loads of a CPU.SOLUTION: The game machine includes a subordinate control part for executing performance motion based on a control command received from a main control part. A monitoring value is added to a reference command which specifies a result of a lottery in a lottery processing. The properness of a monitoring value added to a control command is determined (ST41b), and if the properness is not recognized, the play is controlled to avoid the motion based on the control command and based on a prescribed number of control commands received thereafter (ST43). If the properness of the monitoring value is recognized, a performance lottery processing is executed on condition that a specific winning state is defined; and if the lottery is won, the motion to assist a player in the game operation is executed (ST62).

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic game machine with a built-in computer device, and is particularly preferably applied to a spinning game machine.

  In a spinning machine such as a slot machine, when a player inserts a medal into a medal slot and operates a start lever, the rotation of the rotating reel is started accordingly. When the player presses the stop button to stop the rotating reel, when the symbols are aligned on an effective stop line (hereinafter referred to as an effective line), a payout medal corresponding to the symbol is paid out.

  However, in reality, the success / failure state of each game is determined in advance by an internal lottery process (hereinafter also referred to as a symbol lottery process) in the main control unit before the player starts the stop operation. The payout medal is paid out when the player arranges the symbols won in the lottery process on the active line.

  Of the winning symbols, the Big Bonus (BB) symbol is particularly valuable. When the BB symbol is won internally and the player aligns the BB symbol on the active line, a big bonus game is started. After that, the winning probability of the small role symbol is maintained at a very high level. The number of dividend medals can be expected. However, since the big bonus game has a high game value, the winning probability has to be set lower accordingly. Therefore, other winning states are also prepared so that players other than the big bonus game can fully enjoy themselves.

  For example, a winning state called an assist time (AT) is provided, and in a game during this assist time (for example, about 50 games), a game in which a specific small role symbol won internally can be surely aligned on an active line. Assisting the person. Specifically, for example, if the player is notified of the stop order of the three rotating reels, and the rotating reels are stopped in that order, the small winning symbols that have been internally won can always be aligned. The small role symbol is, for example, a cherry symbol, a watermelon symbol, a bell symbol, etc., and a winning state called an assist replay time (AR) that increases the winning probability of the replay symbol is provided during the assist time (AT). There is also.

  In any case, whether or not to enter the assist time winning state (AT winning state) is determined not by the main control unit but by AT lottery executed by a sub-control unit that receives a control command from the main control unit. The winning probability of this AT lottery is different based on the winning state of the symbol lottery process in the main control unit. For example, when a control command indicating the winning state of the cherry symbol is received, the probability of the watermelon symbol is 1/20. When receiving the control command indicating the winning state, the sub-control unit controls the AT winning with a probability of 1/50 and receiving the control command indicating the winning state of the bell symbol with a probability of 1/1000.

JP 2010-259499 A JP 2010-233594 A JP 2010-068971 A JP 2010-046237 A JP 2010-005090 A JP 2009-213727 A

  As described above, when the assist time state is entered, medals can be prevented from being missed. Therefore, there is also a concern that an unauthorized control command is transmitted to the sub-control unit and an AT winning state is frequently generated. For example, if a camouflaged command indicating the winning state of a cherry symbol with a high AT lottery probability is repeatedly transmitted to the sub-control unit, it will eventually become an AT winning state with a probability of 1/20, thus generating a gaming state advantageous to the player Can be made.

  Various methods have been proposed as crime prevention measures for eliminating such illegal activities (for example, Patent Documents 1 to 6), but the memory space that can be used in the main control unit is legally limited. Since it is limited, it is not possible to take measures that put a burden on the main control unit. In addition, even if the AT is selected, the number of medals that can be increased per game is an average of about +1 to +1.5, and it is appropriate to raise the security level even at the expense of other game controls. Not.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a gaming machine that can prevent illegal games without consuming the storage area of the memory and without overloading the control load of the CPU. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention executes a lottery process based on a random number value defined in correspondence with a predetermined switch signal, so that any of game states advantageous to a player divided into a plurality of stages is achieved. A main control unit that mainly controls a game operation including a lottery process, and a sub that executes an effect operation based on a control command received from the main control unit. A monitoring value that is appropriately updated is added to a part of the control command, and is executed by the main control unit, and the control command with the monitoring value added is sent to the sub-control unit. A first means for transmitting a control command; a second means executed by a sub-control unit that has received the control command transmitted by the first means; By two means In the case where the validity of the visual value is not recognized, the third means for controlling to avoid the operation based on the control command and a predetermined number of control commands received thereafter, and the validity of the monitoring value by the second means Is recognized, the fourth means for determining whether or not to execute the specific winning state by executing the effect lottery process on the condition that the control command defines the specific winning state And a fifth means for effecting a specific winning state by executing an operation that supports the player's gaming operation when winning the effect lottery process.

  The control command of the present invention is preferably divided into a reference command for specifying the lottery result of the lottery process and a plurality of other effect commands, and a monitoring value is added to the reference command. In this case, the transmission order from the main control unit to the sub-control unit is defined in advance in the reference command and other effect commands, and if the reception of the reference command does not follow the proper transmission order, Preferably, operations based on the control command and a predetermined number of control commands received thereafter are avoided.

  The monitoring value update rule is preferably changed at an appropriate timing. Further, the present invention is preferably configured so that each game is started in response to a game operation, and the second means includes a monitoring value transmitted in the previous game and a monitoring value transmitted in the current game. It is preferable to determine the legitimacy of the monitoring value in comparison with

  According to the above-described present invention, illegal games can be prevented without consuming the storage area of the memory and without increasing the control burden of the CPU.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the slot machine according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a right side view (a) and a plan view (b) of the slot machine of FIG. 1. It is the figure which illustrated the front panel of the slot machine from the back. It is an internal front view of the main body case of the slot machine. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the slot machine of FIG. 1. It is a block diagram which shows the circuit structure of a main control board. It is a circuit diagram which shows a counter circuit. It is a block diagram which shows the circuit structure of a power supply board. It is a flowchart explaining the main process in a main control part. It is a flowchart explaining the regular interruption process of an effect control part. It is a flowchart explaining a part of FIG. 10 in detail. It is a flowchart explaining a modification. It is a flowchart explaining 2nd Example. It is a flowchart explaining the 3rd example.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail based on examples. 1 to 4 illustrate a slot machine SL according to an embodiment. In this slot machine SL, a rectangular box-shaped main body case 1 and a front panel 2 fitted with various game members are connected via a hinge 3 so that the front panel 2 can be opened and closed with respect to the main body case 1. (FIG. 2). 1 is a front view of the front panel 2, FIG. 2 is a right side view (a) and a plan view (b) of the slot machine SL, FIG. 3 is a rear view of the front panel 2, and FIG. A front view is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a symbol rotating unit 4 including three rotating reels 4 a to 4 c is disposed in the approximate center of the main body case 1, and a medal payout device 5 is disposed below the symbol rotating unit 4. On each of the rotating reels 4a to 4c, a BB symbol, an RB symbol, various fruit symbols, a replay symbol, and the like are drawn. The medal payout device 5 is provided with a medal hopper 5a for storing medals, a payout motor M, a medal payout control board 55, a payout relay board 63, a payout sensor (not shown), and the like. Here, the medal is derived from the payout opening 5b toward the front of the drawing based on the rotation of the payout motor M. Note that medals stored exceeding the limit amount are configured to fall into the auxiliary tank 6 through the overflow portion 5c.

  A power supply board 62 is arranged adjacent to the medal payout device 5, a main control board 50 is arranged above the symbol rotation unit 4, and a rotating drum setting board 54 is arranged adjacent to the main control board 50. ing. In addition, inside the symbol rotating unit 4, a rotating LED relay substrate 58 and a rotating relay substrate 57 are provided, and an external concentrated terminal plate 56 is disposed adjacent to the symbol rotating unit 4.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a liquid crystal display unit 7 is disposed on the upper portion of the front panel 2, and three display windows 8a to 8c corresponding to the rotating reels 4a to 4c are disposed on the lower portion thereof. Through the display windows 8a to 8c, about 3 symbols can be seen in the rotational direction of each of the rotating reels 4a to 4c, and a total of 9 symbols in the horizontal direction and 2 in the diagonal direction. Becomes a virtual stop line.

  On the left side of the display window 8a, an LED group 9 indicating a gaming state is provided. Below that, a payout display unit 10 for displaying the number of medals to be paid out as a gaming result, and the number of medals in a credit state are displayed. The storage number display part 11 to display is provided.

  In the center of the front panel 2 in the vertical direction, a medal insertion slot 12 for inserting medals is provided, and adjacent thereto, a return button 13 for returning medals filled in the medal insertion slot 12 is provided. Also, a credit check button 14 for paying out a credit medal, an insertion button 15 for artificially inserting one credit medal in place of inserting a medal into the medal slot 12, and a credit medal in a pseudo manner A maximum loading button 16 for loading three sheets is provided.

  Below these game members, a start lever 17 for starting the rotation of the rotating reels 4a to 4c and stop buttons 18a to 18c for stopping the rotating reels 4a to 4c are provided. In addition, below the front panel 2, a horizontally long tray 19 for storing medals and a medal outlet 20 communicating with the payout port 5b of the payout device 5 are provided. Speakers SP are arranged on the left and right sides of the medal outlet 20.

  As shown in FIG. 3, on the back side of the front panel 3, a medal sorting device 21 that sorts medals inserted into the medal slot 12, and medals that are determined to be inappropriate by the medal sorting device 21 A return passage 22 that guides the vehicle 20 is provided. A substrate case 23 that houses the effect control board 51, the effect interface board 52, the liquid crystal control board 61, and the like is disposed on the upper back side of the front panel 3. A game relay board 53 that relays signals between the various game members shown in FIG. 1 and the main control board 50 is provided on the medal sorting device 21.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of the slot machine SL according to the embodiment. As shown in the figure, this slot machine SL realizes an effect operation based on a main control board 50 that controls the operation of various game members including the rotating reels 4a to 4c and a control command received from the main control board 50. The control board 51 and a power supply board 62 that converts an alternating voltage (24V) into a direct voltage (5V, 12V, 24V) and supplies them to each part of the apparatus are mainly configured.

  The main control board 50 outputs, to the effect control board 51, control commands for realizing the sound effect by the speaker SP, the lamp effect by the LED lamp or the cold cathode ray tube discharge tube, and the symbol effect by the liquid crystal display unit 7. doing. Then, the effect control board 51 executes AT lottery based on a predetermined control command (game start command) received from the main control board 50 as to whether or not to enter the assist time winning state.

  The effect control board 51 is connected to the liquid crystal control board 61 through the effect interface board 52, and the liquid crystal control board 61 realizes an appropriate symbol effect in the liquid crystal display (LCD) unit 7.

  The effect control board 51 realizes lamp effects in various LEDs and cold cathode ray tube discharge tubes via the LED board 59, the inverter board 60, and the rotary LED drive board 58 together with the effect interface board 52. In addition, the effect control board 51 drives the speaker SP through the effect interface board 52 to realize an audio effect.

  Then, in a predetermined number of games (during AT) after winning the AT lottery on the effect control board 51, in the small role winning state, the player can set the stop order of the three rotating reels so that the symbols can be aligned with the stop line. To inform. This assist operation is executed as all or part of the symbol effect, the lamp effect, and the sound effect.

  The main control board 50 is connected to various game members of the slot machine through the game relay board 53. Specifically, the start switch of the start lever 17, the stop switch of the stop buttons 18a to 18c, the input switch of the input buttons 15 and 16, the liquidation switch of the checkout button 14, and the photointerrupters PH1 and PH2 constituting the input number determination unit 21d The blocker solenoid 31 constituting the inserted medal return unit 21c and the various LED elements 9 to 11 are connected.

  Further, the main control board 50 is connected to the three stepping motors for rotating the rotating reels 4a to 4c and the index sensor for detecting the reference position of the rotating reels 4a to 4c via the rotating relay board 57. Has been. Then, by rotating or stopping the stepping motor, the rotating operation of the rotating reels 4a to 4c and the stopping operation at the target position are realized.

  The main control board 50 is also connected to the medal payout device 5 through the payout relay board 63. The medal payout device 5 is provided with a medal payout control board 55, a medal payout sensor, and a payout motor M. The medal payout control board 55 is based on a control command from the main control board 50. Is rotated to pay out a predetermined amount of medals.

  In addition, the main control board 50 is also connected to the external concentration terminal board 56 and the rotary setting board 54. The external concentrated terminal board 56 is connected to, for example, the hall computer HC, and the main control board 50 outputs the number of inserted medals and the number of paid out medals through the external concentrated terminal board 56. Further, the rotating drum setting board 54 outputs a setting key signal indicating a setting value set by the staff using the setting key.

  Here, the set value defines the winning probability of the lottery process executed on the gaming machine in six stages from setting 1 to setting 6, and is appropriately set based on the sales strategy of the gaming hall. . For example, a gaming machine set to the highest rank is most advantageous to the player because the expected value of the number of medals to be paid out is the highest level.

  FIG. 6 illustrates the circuit configuration of the main control board 50. As shown in the figure, the main control board 50 includes a one-chip microcomputer 64, an I / O port circuit 65 for inputting / outputting 8-bit parallel data, a counter circuit 66 for generating random numbers in hardware, an effect control board 51, and the like. The interface circuit with the external board is mainly configured. Here, the one-chip microcomputer 64 incorporates a CTC (Counter / Timer Circuit) 64b, an interrupt controller 64c, and the like in addition to a Z80 equivalent CPU core 64a, ROM, RAM, and the like.

  The CTC 64b is a circuit in which an 8-bit counter and a timer are integrated, and adds a periodic interrupt, a pulse output creation function (bit rate generator) and a time measurement function to the Z80 system. Therefore, in this embodiment, a timer interrupt (FIG. 13A) is applied to the Z80 CPU 64a at a time interval τ of about 1.5 mS using the CTC 64b.

  As an interface circuit, an interface circuit 67 with a power supply circuit, an interface circuit 68 with a game relay board 53, a rotary motor driving circuit 69, an effect control board and an interface circuit 70 with 51 are provided. Yes. When the power is shut off, a voltage drop interrupt is applied to the Z80 CPU 64a through the interface circuit 67. Note that the rotating motor driving circuit 69 is a circuit that generates a driving signal for the stepping motors of the rotating reels 4 a to 4 c, and the interface circuit 70 is an 8-bit parallel port for outputting a control command to the effect control board 51. It is.

  FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram illustrating the counter circuit 66 in more detail. The counter circuit 66 shown in the figure includes an input unit 24 that receives a start switch signal SG indicating ON operation of the start lever 17, a signal acquisition unit 25 by two D-type flip-flops 25a and 25b, and the lower 8 bits of hardware random numbers ( LOW) and an IC counter 26H that generates upper 8 bits (HI) of hardware random numbers. The output terminals (QA to QH) of the IC counters 26H and 26L are connected to the one-chip microcomputer 64 (CPU core 64a) through a data bus.

  The input unit 24 includes a low-pass filter including a resistor and a capacitor, and a Schmitt trigger type inverter. Therefore, the negative logic start switch signal SG is logically converted and supplied to the signal acquisition unit 25.

  The signal acquisition unit 25 includes two D-type flip-flops 25a and 25b connected in series. A reference pulse Φ is supplied to each clock terminal CLK, and data at the D input terminal is acquired and output to the Q output terminal at the rising edge timing of the reference pulse Φ. Therefore, after the start switch signal SG changes to L level, the lock terminal RCLK of each IC counter 26L, 26H rises to H level at the rising edge of the second reference pulse Φ.

  The reference pulse Φ is preferably oscillated separately from the system clock by a dedicated oscillation circuit, but for simplicity, a system clock for operating the one-chip microcomputer 64 may be substituted for the reference pulse Φ.

  Each of the two IC counters 26 includes an 8-bit binary counter and an 8-bit output register. When the clock signal supplied to the clock terminal CCLK is binary counted, when the holding signal is received at the lock terminal RCLK, the counter value of the binary counter at that moment is stored in the built-in output register. Yes. The counter value stored in the output register is output to the external output terminals (QA to QH) on condition that the output enable terminal OE is at the L level.

  As illustrated, in the counter circuit 66, as long as the power supply voltage value (DC5V) is a normal value, the reference pulse Φ is supplied to the clock terminal CCLK of the lower IC counter 26L via the NAND gate. On the other hand, the carry signal RCO of the lower IC counter 26L is supplied to the upper IC counter 26H. Therefore, the two IC counters 26 function as a 16-bit counter as a whole, and the two internal counters circulate between 0000H to FFFFH (decimal number 65535) counter values. The subscript H means a hexadecimal number including the following cases.

  As described above, when the start switch signal SG changes to L level, the lock terminal RCLK of each IC counter 26L, 26H rises to H level correspondingly, and the value of the internal binary counter is held in the output register. Is done. On the other hand, chip select signals CS0 and CS1 are supplied from the one-chip microcomputer 64 to the output enable terminals OE of the IC counters 26L and 26H. Therefore, the one-chip microcomputer 64 can acquire the data QA to QH held in the output registers built in the IC counters 26L and 26H by changing the chip select signals CS0 and CS1 to L level when necessary.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the power supply board 62. The power supply board 62 includes a rectifying unit 80 that receives AC 24V and converts it into a pulsating voltage, a first voltage converting unit 81 that converts the pulsating voltage into DC 5V, and a second that converts the pulsating voltage into DC 12V. A voltage conversion unit 82; a third voltage conversion unit 83 that converts the pulsating voltage into 24V DC; a power storage unit 84 that stores the output voltage of the first voltage conversion unit 81; And a power supply monitoring unit 85 that outputs

  The power storage unit 84 includes a capacitor C having a large capacity (about 1 Farad), limiting resistors r1 and r2 for overcurrent, and a diode D that blocks reverse current. The limiting resistance r1 is about 75Ω, and the limiting resistance r2 is about 10Ω. The voltage across the capacitor C is supplied to the one-chip microcomputer 64 as a backup power source.

  This backup power is supplied to an SRAM (static ram) built in the one-chip microcomputer 64, and even if the power supply voltage is cut off, the stored contents of the RAM (Random Access Memory) are usually held for 7 to 8 days. I have to. In this embodiment, the storage capacity of the RAM is about 512 bytes used as a work area for the gaming machine.

  The power supply monitoring unit 85 monitors the voltage level of the AC input voltage 24V and the voltage level of the DC power supply voltage 5V. Then, when any one level falls below a predetermined value, the detection signal RES changes to the L level. When an abnormality such as a momentary power failure or a power failure occurs, first, the detection signal RES is quickly output in response to the voltage drop of the AC input voltage.

  This detection signal RES is supplied to the interface circuit 67 (FIG. 6) of the main control board 50, and becomes a positive logic abnormality signal ALM and a negative logic abnormality signal ALM bar. A positive logic abnormality signal ALM is supplied to the I / O port circuit 65, while a negative logic abnormality signal ALM bar is supplied to an interrupt terminal INT (maskable Interrupt) of the one-chip microcomputer 64. Therefore, at this time, if the CPU core 64a is in the interrupt enabled state, the voltage drop interrupt process is started based on the negative logic abnormality signal ALM bar.

  The interface circuit 67 in FIG. 6 also includes a power reset circuit. When the power is turned on, the reset signal generated by the interface circuit 67 is supplied to the reset terminal RST0 of the one-chip microcomputer 64. As a result, the CPU core 64a is reset, and execution of the control program after the head address of the ROM is started.

  Next, the control operation realized by the one-chip microcomputer 64 (hereinafter referred to as the main control unit 50) of the main control board 50 will be described. FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining a control program executed by the main control unit 50. The control program of the main control unit 50 includes an infinite loop main process (FIG. 9) that is started when the power is turned on, a timer interrupt process (not shown) that is started by a periodic interrupt from the CTC, and a power supply board when the power is turned off. And a voltage drop interrupt process (not shown) activated by a detection signal RES from 62. However, since the timer interrupt process and the voltage drop interrupt process are not related to the gist of the present invention, the description thereof will be omitted, and the main process of FIG.

  When the power is turned on, after an appropriate initial process (ST1), the initial value of the monitoring counter WTH is randomly determined as the monitoring value NUM (ST2). The monitoring value NUM is given to a predetermined control command in order to eliminate illegalities related to AT lottery, and in this embodiment, has a 3-bit length (0 to 7) (see FIG. 9B). The method for determining the initial value is appropriate as long as a random value is selected in the numerical value range of 0 to 7. For example, the value of the lower 3 bits of the R register (refresh register) of the Z80 CPU is used.

  After such processing, a control command (initial value command) for specifying the initial value of the monitoring value NUM is transmitted to the effect control unit 51 (ST3). Note that the same initial value command in which the monitoring value NUM is written twice (3 bits + 3 bits) is repeatedly transmitted a plurality of times in order to reliably avoid garbled monitoring value NUM.

  On the other hand, the effect control unit 51 that has received the initial value command extracts the monitoring value NUM from the initial value command and stores it in the monitoring value buffer BUF (FIG. 10D) in order. This monitoring value buffer BUF is an area for storing not only the initial value of the monitoring value NUM but also the monitoring value NUM extracted from a series of control commands (rotation start command to winning command) transmitted thereafter. In principle, all the stored values in the monitoring value buffer BUF are the same value. However, if different values are stored, the initial value of the monitoring value NUM is also included. The monitoring value MUM is specified by the majority logic or the like.

  Returning to the operation of the main control unit 50, the description will be continued. In the main control unit 50, after the process of step ST3, a main process that is regularly and repeatedly executed is started. Is cleared, and the monitoring counter WTH is incremented (+1) (ST4). Since the monitoring counter WTH is 3 bits long, it is updated cyclically in the range of 0-7.

  When the process of step ST4 is completed, a game state flag in the game is generated (ST5). The game state flag is a flag for specifying a game state such as whether the current game is “in bonus game”, “in bonus-winning”, “AT (assist time)”, or “in normal game”. It is.

  Next, a medal insertion management process is executed for a medal actually inserted from the medal insertion slot 12 and a medal that is artificially inserted by pressing the insertion buttons 15 and 16 (ST6). In the medal insertion process (ST6), a medal inserted or pseudo-inserted by the player is detected, the number of inserted medals is determined, and then the subroutine process ends when the start lever 17 is turned on. In this case, each time a medal is inserted, a control command (insertion command) indicating that is sent to the effect control unit 51. At this timing, a clearing command indicating a clearing operation by the player may be transmitted.

  By the way, as described with reference to FIG. 7, when the start lever 17 is turned ON, the start switch signal SG changes to L level, and the counter value at that moment is stored in the output register built in each IC counter 26H, 26L. It is retained and stored (see FIG. 7).

  Therefore, following the medal insertion process (ST6), random numbers stored in the IC counters 26H and 26L are acquired (ST7). Specifically, the one-chip microcomputer 64 changes the chip select signals CS0 and CS1 to the L level, acquires the counter value held in the counter circuit 66, and obtains the random value RND (numerical range: 0). ~ 65535) is stored in the corresponding address of the RAM.

  Next, an internal lottery process (symbol lottery process) is executed based on the stored random number value RND (ST8). In this symbol lottery process, it is determined whether or not the bonus symbol is won, whether or not the small role symbol is won, and whether or not the replay symbol indicating replay is won, and a control command indicating the determined lottery result (Game start command) is transmitted to the effect control unit 51. Examples of the small role symbol include “cherry symbol”, “bell symbol”, “watermelon symbol”, and the like.

  To this game start command, the 3-bit length of the monitoring value NUM updated in the process of step ST4 is added (see FIG. 9B). Note that the same applies to a series of control commands (hereinafter, collectively referred to as effect commands) transmitted thereafter, in that the monitoring value NUM is added.

  When the internal lottery process (ST8) with the random number value RND is completed, next, preparation work for rotating the rotating reels 4a to 4c is executed, and the rotation control of the rotating reels 4a to 4c by timer interruption is enabled (ST9). ~ ST10). Then, at the start of rotation of the rotating reel, a control command (rotation start command) indicating that is transmitted to the effect control unit 51 by specifying the monitoring value NUM.

  Thereafter, when the stop buttons 18a to 18c are pressed, a rotating cylinder stop process for stopping the corresponding rotating reels 4a to 4c is executed (ST11). In this spinning cylinder stop process, stop control is executed in accordance with the result of the internal lottery process (ST8).

  That is, as a result of the internal lottery process (ST8), if there is any internal winning state, the symbols of the rotating reels 4a to 4c are aligned so as to match the winning result on condition that the player performs an appropriate stop operation. However, if the timing at which the player presses the stop button or the order of the stop operation is inappropriate, the player is stopped in a lost state pattern. As a result, the small winning combination at the corner is wasted, but the bonus winning is carried over after the next game. If the AT (assist time) is in progress, the correct stop operation order is notified to the player when the small role is won, so that it is possible to avoid missing medals.

  Further, in this spinning cylinder stop process (ST11), each time the stop buttons 18a to 18c are pressed, a control command (stop reception command) for specifying the operated stop button is transmitted to the effect control unit 51. Each time the stop control for each of the rotating reels 4 a to 4 c is completed, a control command (stop result command) indicating the stop position is transmitted to the effect control unit 51. Corresponding to the stop operation being performed three times, both the stop acceptance command and the stop result command are transmitted three times, and the same monitoring value NUM is assigned to any command.

  In this way, when the three stop operations and the stop control operation are completed and all the rotating reels 4a to 4c are stopped, it is determined whether or not the winning symbol is aligned on the effective line, and the control indicating the result is performed. A command (winning command) specifies the monitor value NUM and is transmitted to the effect control unit 51 (ST12). If the winning symbols are available, a required number of medals are paid out and a control command (payout command) indicating the medal payout is transmitted to the effect control unit 51 (ST13). In the present embodiment, the monitor value NUM is not added to the payout command.

  Next, a necessary process is executed by managing the game digest number of RT (replay time) (ST14). Next, it is determined whether or not the player is in the replay winning state (ST15). If the player is in the replay winning state, a re-game operation start process (ST18) is executed, and then the process proceeds to step ST4.

  If it is not in the replay winning state, it is determined whether or not the present is in the bonus game (ST16), and if it is in the bonus game, the corresponding process (ST19) is executed and the process proceeds to step ST4.

  On the other hand, if the determination in step ST16 is NO, it is determined whether or not the bonus symbols are aligned (ST17). If the bonus symbols are aligned, the bonus game start process (ST20) is executed. The process proceeds to step ST4.

  By the way, as described above, in the main process, (1) input command (ST6) → (2) game start command (ST8) → (3) rotation start command (ST10) → three times [(4) stop acceptance command → Control commands are transmitted in the order of (5) stop result command] (ST11) → (6) winning command (ST12) → (7) payout command (ST13).

  Therefore, the production control unit 51 should receive the control commands in the above order for each game. If this order is not maintained, the control command is garbled or some illegal action is possible. Sex is conceivable. Therefore, the production control unit 51 manages the reception order of predetermined control commands, and if the reception order is not correct, the production operation of that game is avoided (this point is not shown in the figure). 11 will be described later).

  Moreover, all of the above-mentioned seven types of control commands are 2 bytes long, and are transmitted for each byte. As shown in FIG. 9B, the upper byte is composed of an MSB (Most Significant Bit) set to “1”, a monitoring value NUM having a 3-bit length, and MODE data having a 4-bit length. Has been. On the other hand, the lower byte is composed of MSB set to “0” and EVENT data having a 7-bit length. The MODE data specifies a command type, and the EVENT data specifies details about the command type specified by the MODE data. Note that the monitoring value NUM is not added to the control command preceding the game start command, such as the input command, the settlement command, and the setting confirmation command, or the payout command, but is not particularly limited.

  Next, the operation of the CPU of the effect control board 51 (abbreviated as effect control unit 51) will be described based on the flowcharts of FIGS. Although not shown, in the power-on process that is started when the power is turned on, the initial value of the monitor value NUM is set to the monitor value buffer based on the initial value command transmitted in step ST3 of the main control unit 50. It is stored in the BUF (FIG. 10 (d)).

  When receiving a control command, a reception interrupt process (not shown) is activated, and the control command acquired for each byte is stored in order in the reception buffer area RCV shown in FIG. The reception buffer area RCV has a ring buffer structure. A control command having a 2-byte length is written in an area indicated by the write pointer WR, and a control command indicated by the read pointer RD is read in the temporary area TEMP. It is put out and used for directing operations.

  Based on the above, timer interrupt processing (periodic interrupt) will be described. As shown in FIG. 10A, in the periodic interrupt process repeated every predetermined time, first, a random value for randomizing the rendering operation is updated (ST30), and it is determined whether or not a control command is being received. (ST31).

  Whether or not a control command is being received is determined based on whether or not a 2-byte length control command is stored in the reception buffer RCV, and a 2-byte length control command is stored in an unprocessed state. If so (ST32), this is copied to the temporary area TEMP, and the command determination process is executed (ST33). Whether or not the control command is in an unprocessed state is determined based on the values of the read pointer RD and the write pointer WR.

  As shown in FIG. 10B, in the command determination process (ST33), it is determined whether or not the control command copied to the temporary area TEMP is a series of effect commands related to the effect. , Do nothing and finish the process. As a series of effect commands, in this embodiment, (2) game start command, (3) rotation start command, (4) stop acceptance command, (5) stop result command, and (6) winning command are defined. Yes.

  If any one of the series of effect commands is received, it is determined whether or not it is a game start command (ST40). As described above, the game start command specifies the lottery result of the internal lottery process (ST8). In this embodiment, when the small role symbol is won, AT lottery is executed (see ST58 in FIG. 11).

Therefore, there is a possibility that an illegal game start command may be transmitted. Next, a 3-bit monitoring value NUM is extracted from the game start command, and its legitimacy is determined (ST41). Specifically, the monitoring value NUM _O in the previous game specified from the monitoring value buffer BUF is compared with the monitoring value NUM _{N of the} current game extracted from the game start command. In the monitoring value buffer BUF, the initial value of the monitoring value NUM is set based on the initial value command received from the main control unit 50 (see ST3 in FIG. 9), and thereafter each time a series of effect commands for effect control are received. In addition, a monitoring value NUM is stored based on the 3-bit length extracted from the effect command (see ST47 in FIG. 10B).

Then, the main control unit 50 increments (+1) the monitoring value NUM to update it before starting the game (see ST4), and adds it to a series of effect commands. Therefore, in step ST41, it is determined whether or not the current monitoring value NUM _N is in the relationship of the previous monitoring value NUM _O +1. Incidentally, when a plurality of the storage value of the monitoring value buffer BUF (monitoring value NUM) do not match, for example, since the monitor value NUM _O to be adopted by the majority logic is specified, any chance to any demonstration commands Even if bit corruption occurs, there is no possibility of erroneous determination.

Further, in this embodiment, since a configuration to re-store the monitored value NUM _O new for each game, as in the case of a monitored value to update the single counter WTH 'provided in the sub-control unit, Once garbled bits are generated, there will be no adverse effect such that the misjudgment continues continuously. According to the present embodiment, for example, even if the monitoring counter WTH of the main control unit 50 is not normally updated and the counter value may jump, as long as the subsequent counter value is updated by +1, the above-mentioned The monitored operation is automatically restored normally.

In a normal case, a relationship of NUM _N = NUM _O +1 is established between the previous monitoring value NUM _O specified from the monitoring value buffer BUF and the current monitoring value NUM _N extracted from the game start command. Therefore, when this relationship is established, both the AT prohibition flag and the inconsistency flag are turned off, and the process is terminated (ST42, ST44 to ST45).

  In this embodiment, when the AT prohibition flag is ON, execution of AT lottery is prohibited (see ST57), and when the inconsistency flag is ON, subsequent acquisition of the effect command is prohibited. (ST34). Therefore, as a result of setting the AT prohibition flag and the inconsistency flag to the OFF state (ST44 to ST45), the game control operation is normally continued thereafter.

On the other hand, if the relationship of NUM _N = NUM _O +1 is not satisfied in the determination in step ST42, it is possible that an illegal game start command has been received. In other words, in this embodiment, the AT lottery is executed at the time of winning the small role, and in particular, the winning probability of the AT lottery is high in the winning state of the “cherry symbol”. There is also a possibility of receiving.

  Therefore, if the monitoring value NUM is not valid, the AT prohibition flag is set to the ON state and the process proceeds to step ST45 (ST42). As is apparent from the above processing, in this embodiment, even when the monitoring value NUM is not valid, the inconsistency flag is maintained in the OFF state, so that the subsequent received command handling processing (ST35) is executed. It becomes possible.

  In this way, when the game start command is received, a series of effect commands should be received in the order of rotation start command → stop acceptance command → stop result command → winning command as the game progresses.

  Therefore, when such an effect command is received, in the command determination process (ST33), the monitoring value NUM extracted from each effect command is stored in the corresponding area of the monitoring value buffer BUF (ST47). In addition, since all the monitoring values NUM extracted from each production command are the same value, it may be unnecessary to store them in the monitoring value buffer BUF one by one. However, as shown in the present embodiment, by storing a plurality of monitoring values NUM in the monitoring value buffer BUF, even if the data is garbled, the determination in step ST41 is valid according to the majority logic or the like. It is possible to specify a monitoring value NUM.

  In any case, when the storage process (ST47) of the monitoring value NUM ends, the AT prohibition flag is determined (ST48). The AT prohibition flag is set to the ON state when there is a mismatch in the matching determination of the monitoring value NUM for the game start command (ST43).

  Therefore, in such a case, in order to ignore the received effect command, the inconsistency flag is set to the ON state (ST51), and the effect command is deleted from the temporary area TEMP, and the process ends (ST52).

  When the inconsistency flag is set to the ON state by the process of step ST51, the reception command handling process (ST35) is skipped by the subsequent determination of step ST34 (FIG. 10A). In this way, in this embodiment, the reason why the alarm operation or the like is not executed only by avoiding the production operation is based on the fact that the harmful effects caused by the illegal acts are not so serious.

  On the other hand, when the AT prohibition flag is OFF, the reception order of the effect commands is determined (ST49). In this embodiment, the main control unit 50 transmits the effect commands in the order of rotation start command → stop acceptance command → stop stop result command → winning command, so it is determined whether or not they are received in this order.

  If the reception order is not correct, it is considered that the effect command is garbled. Therefore, in order to avoid an unreasonable effect operation, the inconsistency flag is set to ON (ST51), and the effect command is changed. The process is terminated after erasing from the temporary area TEMP (ST52). As a result of setting the inconsistency flag to the ON state, the subsequent received command handling process (ST35) is skipped.

  By the way, as is apparent from the processing in step ST48, once the AT prohibition flag is set to the ON state, all the subsequent production commands are discarded (ST52), and thereafter, the production operation is executed at all. Will not be. Therefore, in order to avoid the continuation of such an abnormal state, in this embodiment, the timing of ending the game that received the game start command suspected of fraud, specifically, the AT prohibition flag after the winning command is discarded. Is returned to the OFF state (ST53). Note that if a legitimate game start command is received immediately after a game start command suspected of fraud, the monitor value NUM is matched, and therefore the AT prohibition flag is returned to the OFF state by the process of step ST44.

  Although the processing of steps ST51 to ST53 has been described above, in the normal case where the reception order is determined to be correct by the reception order determination processing (ST49), the command determination processing ends with the inconsistency flag being OFF. .

  When the command determination process (ST33) as described above is completed, a process corresponding to the received effect command is executed on the condition that the inconsistency flag is not in the ON state (ST35). And based on the production | generation scenario produced | generated by the process of this step ST35, or the production | generation before it, production | presentation operation is advanced and a regular interruption process is complete | finished (ST36-ST37).

  FIG. 11A is a flowchart for explaining command response processing (ST35) when a game start command is received. As described above, the game start command specifies the lottery result of the internal lottery, and if it is a winning state for a small role symbol such as “cherry symbol” “bell symbol” “watermelon symbol”, AT A lottery is executed. Note that, even when an abnormality occurs when the monitoring value NUM becomes inconsistent, the inconsistency flag is turned OFF only when a game start command is received (ST45), so this received command handling process is executed.

  To explain based on the above, first, it is determined whether the current time is AT (assist time) (ST50) or BB (bonus game) (ST51), and the effect control unit 51 and the liquid crystal control unit 61 are determined. The effect lottery table for determining the effects to be executed in the lottery is specified (ST52 to ST54).

  Next, an effect lottery is executed based on the specified effect lottery table and the random number value updated in step ST30, and an effect scenario that specifically defines the effect content to be executed is determined by lottery (ST55). ).

  Subsequently, on the condition that the current AT is not already in progress (ST56), it is determined whether or not the AT prohibition flag is ON (ST57). The AT prohibition flag is turned ON in the process of step ST43 when the illegality is suspected because the monitoring value NUM is not valid.

  Therefore, if the AT prohibition flag is in the ON state, the process is terminated without doing anything in order to avoid execution of the AT lottery. In this case, the effect scenario specified in step ST55 may be canceled.

  On the other hand, at the normal time when the AT prohibition flag is OFF, AT lottery corresponding to the gaming state and the winning combination is executed (ST58). Although not limited in any way, an AT winning is configured such that if the “Cherry Symbol” is in the internal winning state, the winning is performed with a high probability, and if the “Bell Symbol” is in the internal winning state, the winning is performed with a low probability.

  If the AT winning state is entered, the gaming state is set to AT and the subroutine processing is terminated (ST60). As in this embodiment, after the game state is set during the AT, it may be immediately shifted to the AT (assist time) state. However, after the predetermined number of games are consumed, the AT (assist time) state is shifted to. You may let them.

  In any case, when the AT (assist time) state is reached (ST56 is Yes), it is determined based on the game start command whether or not a predetermined small role symbol is in the internal winning state (ST61). If in the small role winning state, an assist operation is executed (ST62). That is, since the rotation reel stop operation order is notified in order to make the small combination winning state effective, the player can obtain a profit that the amount of medal dropout is reduced.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been specifically described above, the specific description is not particularly intended to limit the present invention and can be appropriately changed.

  For example, in the configuration of FIG. 11 (a), the AT state once started is continued regardless of the subsequent reception of an illegal command (game start command). However, when an illegal game start command is detected, the AT state is detected. It is also suitable to eliminate

  FIG. 11B shows a processing procedure for realizing such an operation. Prior to the determination in step ST56, the AT prohibition flag is determined (ST57 ′), and if the AT prohibition flag is in the ON state. The subroutine processing is finished without doing anything.

  In the above-described embodiment, the monitoring counter WTH and the monitoring value NUM are incremented. However, this operation is not limited at all. FIG. 12 shows a modification in which the monitoring value NUM is irregularly determined by randomly determining the difference value δ of the monitoring value NUM update process.

  That is, in this modification, the difference value δ is randomly selected from the odd values (1, 3, 5, 7) (ST2 ′), and this is transmitted to the effect control unit 51 by the difference command (ST3 ′). ). In the updating process of the monitoring counter WTH in the main control unit 50, the calculation of NUM ← NUM + δ is executed within the numerical range of 0 to 7 (ST4a to ST4d).

Corresponding to this operation, in the determination process (ST41) of the effect control unit 51, it is determined whether or not the relationship of NUM _N = NUM _O + δ is established. For example, when δ = 3, the monitoring value NUM is 0 → 3 → 6 → 1 → 4 → 7 → 2 → 5 → 0... Δ = 5, 0 → 5 → 2 → 7 → 4 → 1 → 6 → 3 → 0... Δ = 7, 0 → 7 → 6 → 5 → 4 → 3 → 2 → 1 → 0 It is effective in preventing illegal games. Note that the method for irregularly updating the monitoring value NUM is appropriate, and a shift process or a rotation process may be used in combination. In this case, for example, the value of the monitoring value NUM changes as 001 → 010 → 100 → 001.

In the first embodiment described above, the monitoring value NUM is all given to the series of effect commands, but the monitoring value NUM may be given only to the game start command. In this case, the monitoring value NUM _O extracted and stored from the game start command of the previous game and the monitoring value NUM _N extracted from the game start command of the current game are to be determined. Further, the use of the inconsistency flag can be omitted.

  FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of the second embodiment, and is configured without using the inconsistency flag as shown in the scheduled interrupt processing of FIG. 13A (ST34 is not between ST34 and ST35). Existence). In the second embodiment, the command determination process (FIG. 13B) is executed only for the game start command, and the process ends without receiving anything when receiving other effect commands (ST40).

On the other hand, during the reception of the game start command, the command determination processing (FIG. 13 (b)), first, the monitoring value NUM _O previous game stored in the monitoring value buffer BUF is read (ST41a). Next, the monitor value NUM _N is extracted from the game start command received for the current game, and the relationship between NUM _N and NUM _O is compared (ST41b). If the validity is not recognized, the AT prohibition flag is set to the ON state (ST43), while if the validity is recognized, the AT prohibition flag is set to the OFF state (ST44).

Thereafter, for any determination result, the current monitoring value NUM _N is stored in the monitoring value buffer BUF, and the process is terminated (ST45b).

  Corresponding to this configuration, the received command corresponding process is executed as shown in FIG. 11 for the game start command, but the process shown in FIG. 13C is executed for the other effect commands. Specifically, first, when the AT prohibition flag is OFF, the command reception order is determined (ST48, ST49), and the process corresponding to the effect command is executed only when the reception order is correct. (ST350).

  On the other hand, if the reception order is not correct, the AT prohibition flag is set to ON (ST51). When the AT prohibition flag is in the ON state including such a case, the received effect command is discarded from the temporary area TEMP (ST52), and the effect command received thereafter is processed from step ST48 to ST52. As a result, the execution of the received command handling process (ST35) is skipped. When the winning command is discarded, the winning prohibition flag is set to OFF (ST53). Therefore, for the next game, as long as the monitoring value NUM is a normal value, the normal performance operation is resumed.

  However, in the second embodiment, since the monitoring value NUM is only given to the game start command, not only when an illegal game start command is received, but also when the game start command is garbled, The production operation (production operation including AT lottery) is avoided, and the production operation of the next game is also avoided.

  That is, in the next game, since the illegal monitoring value acquired in the current game is compared with the legitimate monitoring value acquired in the next game, the AT prohibition flag is set to the ON state again (ST43). However, (1) Bit corruption of the game start command occurs very rarely, and (2) In the next game, the monitoring value is judged to be normal and the normal performance operation is resumed. There seems to be no problem.

  By the way, in the second embodiment, if an illegal game start command is repeatedly received, the monitoring value NUM determination process (ST41b) may be illegally broken through. Therefore, the update method of the monitoring counter WTH should be a slightly complicated method except simple increment processing (see FIG. 12 and the like). Also, a difference command for specifying the difference value δ and an update command for specifying the update method are repeatedly transmitted from the main control unit 50 to the effect control unit 51 at an appropriate timing, and the difference value δ and the update method are randomly selected. It is also effective to change to

  In order to increase the security level, it is also preferable to eliminate the game start command transmitted at random timing based on the improper transmission timing by determining the reception order of the game start command. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the command determination process of the third embodiment.

  In the third embodiment, the reception order of the game start command is first determined (ST49 '). If not received in the correct order, the AT prohibition flag is set to the ON state (ST43). In this embodiment, only when the signals are received in the correct order, the process proceeds to the monitoring value determination process (ST41a to ST41b). Therefore, it is possible to appropriately cope with illegal times such as repeatedly transmitting illegal game start commands without determining illegal monitoring values. In the third embodiment as well, a non-simple method exemplified in FIG. 12 or the like is adopted as a method for updating the monitoring counter WTH.

  As described above, in the second embodiment and the third embodiment, the monitoring value assigned to the game start command is exclusively saved (ST45b), but the monitoring value assigned to another effect command is saved. Of course, it may be used for the determination in step ST41b.

  In the first embodiment, the same monitoring value is assigned to a series of effect commands and game start commands transmitted during the same game, but the present invention is not necessarily limited to the case of other embodiments. For example, in all of the embodiments, it is also preferable in terms of security to intentionally mix production commands with different monitoring values.

  In such cases, the monitoring value used in the determination process can be easily selected by majority logic, but is not necessarily limited. For example, the monitoring value given to commands acquired in a specific order May be used in the determination process. In this case, the transmission order of commands that cause a problem in the determination process is notified by a command from the main control unit when the power is turned on and / or at an appropriate timing.

50 Main control unit 51 Sub control unit NUM Monitoring value ST8 First means ST41b Second means ST43 Third means ST58 Fourth means ST62 fifth means

Claims (5)

A gaming machine that executes a lottery process based on a random value defined in accordance with a predetermined switch signal, and determines whether or not a game state advantageous to a player divided into a plurality of stages is generated. Because
Consists of a main control unit that mainly controls game operations including a lottery process, and a sub-control unit that executes a rendering operation based on a control command received from the main control unit. Are appended with monitoring values that are updated accordingly,
A first means that is executed by the main control unit and transmits a control command to which the monitoring value is added to the sub-control unit;
A second means that is executed by the sub-control unit that has received the control command transmitted by the first means and determines the validity of the monitoring value added to the control command;
A third means for controlling to avoid an operation based on the control command and a predetermined number of control commands received thereafter when the validity of the monitored value is not recognized by the second means;
When the second means confirms the validity of the monitoring value, the effect lottery process is executed on the condition that the control command defines a specific winning state, and the specific winning state is made effective. A fourth means for determining whether or not,
A fifth means for effecting a specific winning state by executing an operation that supports the player's gaming operation when winning the effect lottery process;
A gaming machine characterized by having a structure.   The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the control command is divided into a reference command for specifying a lottery result of the lottery process and a plurality of other effect commands, and a monitoring value is added to the reference command. The transmission order from the main control unit to the sub-control unit is defined in advance in the reference command and other production commands,
The gaming machine according to claim 2, wherein when the reference command is not received in accordance with a valid transmission order, an operation based on the control command and a predetermined number of control commands received thereafter is avoided.   The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring value update rule is configured to be changed at an appropriate timing. Each game is configured to start in response to a game operation,
The second means determines the validity of the monitoring value by comparing the monitoring value transmitted in the previous game with the monitoring value transmitted in the current game. Gaming machine.

Images