JP2000189603A - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the load of a game control means by outputting the display made information showing display mode and the pattern information showing variable display operation pattern in time series as display control information at the time of starting the variable display operation for bringing out and displaying the display result of a variable display device. SOLUTION: When a shot ball gets in a starting port 10, a pattern variable display is started in a variable display device 3 having 9 pattern display parts arranged in 3×3 matrix form by patterns of rotating drums 4a-4b. When the display result at the stop of the variable display corresponds to a specified combination of display modes, the opening and closing plate 14 of a variable prize ball device 1 is opened to impart a prescribed game value. At the time of starting the variable display operation of the variable display device 3, each of display mode information and pattern information showing the variable display operation pattern is outputted in time series as display control information to reduce the load of a game control means, compared with the case of outputting the variable display operation one by one at real time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a game machine represented by a pachinko game machine, a coil game machine or a slot machine. Specifically, for example, a variable display device whose display state can be changed has a specific game state that is advantageous to the player on condition that the display result of the variable display device has a predetermined specific display mode. The present invention relates to a gaming machine that can be controlled.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a game machine of this type, a display generally composed of, for example, a combination of symbols, such as a zigzag pattern, is displayed on a variable display device after a variable display device. On the condition that the result is derived and displayed, there has been a configuration in which it is possible to control a specific game state (big hit state) which is advantageous for the player.

In this conventional game machine, a game control means comprising a microcomputer or the like for controlling the game state of the game machine and outputting display control information for controlling the variable display device, and the like. A display control means including a microcomputer or the like for receiving the output display control information and controlling the variable display device according to the display control information is provided.

[0004]

On the other hand, in this type of conventional gaming machine, when the display control information is transmitted from the game control means to the variable display control means, the state in which the variable display device is currently variably displaying is set. A method is conceivable in which command information for designation is transmitted one by one in real time. However, in the case of such a configuration, the game control means must output command information for designating the current display state of the variable display device in real time, and transmission of the display control information of the game control means is required. However, there is a drawback that the burden associated with is increased.

The present invention has been conceived in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a gaming machine capable of reducing a burden associated with outputting display control information of game control means.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a variable display device capable of changing a display state, and a display result of the variable display device is a predetermined specific display mode. A gaming machine that can be controlled to a specific gaming state advantageous to a player on the condition that the gaming machine controls the gaming state of the gaming machine and outputs display control information for controlling the variable display device. Game control means, and variable display control means for receiving the output display control information and controlling the variable display device according to the display control information, wherein the game control means includes a display result of the variable display device. At the start of the variable display operation for deriving and displaying the display mode information indicating the display mode derived and displayed as the display result of the variable display device and the pattern information indicating the variable display operation pattern. And characterized by outputting toward the time sequence the variable display control means sequence as the display control information.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a variable display device having a variable display state, a game machine for controlling a game state of a gaming machine, and outputting display control information for controlling the variable display device. Control means, and variable display control means for receiving the output display control information and controlling the variable display device according to the display control information, wherein the game control means displays a display result of the variable display device. At the start of the variable display operation for deriving and displaying, each of display mode information indicating a display mode derived and displayed as a display result of the variable display device and pattern information indicating a variable display operation pattern is used as the display control information. It is characterized in that it is sequentially output to the variable display control means in time series.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first or second aspect, the pattern information is a reach display operation when a reach state occurs in the variable display device. It is characterized by information indicating a pattern.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration according to any one of the first to third aspects, the variable display device includes a variable display device capable of variably displaying a plurality of types of identification information. A plurality of display areas, wherein the display mode information sequentially outputs information indicating identification information derived and displayed as a display result in each of the plurality of variable display areas in time series for each of the variable display areas. Features.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, display control information for controlling the variable display device is output by the operation of the game control means for controlling the game state of the gaming machine. By the function of the variable display control unit that receives the output display control information, the variable display device is controlled according to the received display control information. By the function of the game control means, at the start of the variable display operation for deriving and displaying the display result of the variable display device, display mode information indicating the display mode derived and displayed as the display result of the variable display device and the variable display Each of the pattern information indicating the operation pattern is
The display control information is sequentially output in time series to the variable display control means.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, display control information for controlling the variable display device is output by the operation of the game control means for controlling the game state of the game machine.
By the function of the variable display control unit that receives the output display control information, the variable display device is controlled according to the received display control information. By the function of the game control means, at the start of the variable display operation for deriving and displaying the display result of the variable display device, display mode information indicating the display mode derived and displayed as the display result of the variable display device and the variable display Each of the pattern information indicating the operation pattern is sequentially output as time-series display control information to the variable display control means.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the operation of the first or second aspect of the present invention, the pattern information is a reach display when a reach state occurs in the variable display device. This is information indicating an operation pattern.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the functions of the first to third aspects,
The variable display device includes a plurality of variable display areas capable of variably displaying a plurality of types of identification information. The display mode information is information indicating identification information derived and displayed as a display result in each of the plurality of variable display areas, and the information is sequentially output in time series for each of the variable display areas.

[0014]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a game board surface of a pachinko game machine as an example of the game machine according to the present invention. When a player operates a hitting operation handle (not shown), pachinko balls stored in a hitting waiting gutter (not shown) are driven one by one into a game area 2 formed on the front surface of the game board 1. . In the game area 2, a variable display device 3 using a rotating drum capable of variably displaying a plurality of types of identification information is provided, and a starting port 10 is provided. The winning pachinko balls in the starting opening 10 are respectively detected by a starting winning ball detector (starting opening switch) 11. The variable display device is not limited to a device using a rotating drum, but may be a device using a liquid crystal display device or a CRT (cathode ray display tube).

Based on the detection signal of the starting port switch 11,
Each symbol display section of the variable display device 3 is variably started. The variable display device 3 is formed with nine symbol display sections arranged in a matrix of 3 rows × 3 columns by the symbols of the rotating drums 4a, 4b, 4c, and each of the drum lamps 7a to 7
i is illuminated from behind. Each symbol display section sequentially rotates and displays a predetermined plurality of symbols during variable display. Then, based on the elapse of the predetermined time, the leftmost rotating drum 4a first stops, and then the rightmost rotating drum 4c stops,
Finally, the central rotating drum 4b stops. Note that the stop sequence is not limited to this, and stop control may be performed in the order of, for example, left, center, and right. The number of rotating drums is not limited to three, and may be two or less or four or more. Further, the variable display of the variable display device 3 is stopped by the player pressing the stop button (not shown), or the predetermined time elapses or the player presses the stop button, whichever is earlier. Alternatively, the stop control may be performed based on the fact that it has been performed.

When the display result at the time of stop is a combination of predetermined specific display modes, the opening and closing plate 14 of the variable winning ball device 12 is opened to set a first state which is advantageous to the player and a predetermined game value. Is set in a state where can be given. If the conditions for the combination of the specific display modes are satisfied when the left and right symbols stop, this is called a reach state.

As described above, the symbols displayed by the variable display device 3 are arranged in a 3 × 3 matrix.
With this matrix, three horizontal lines,
A total of five display lines including two diagonal lines are formed.
In the present embodiment, each of the five lines is a combination effective column, and a specific combination of display modes (for example, “777” or “FEVE”) is displayed on this line.
If “R”) is stopped and displayed, the gaming machine is controlled to be in the first state. Further, a specific symbol (for example, red “7”, blue “7”) is called a probability variation symbol. The probability of a big hit is five times that of normal times. In addition, if the probability variation symbols become even big hits while the probability is high, the high probability state is maintained from that time until the big hit occurs twice more. However, during the big hit, the probability of the big hit occurrence is returned to the normal value.

If the pachinko ball wins the starting opening 10 during the variable display of the variable display device 3, the start winning is stored, and after the variable display of the variable display device 3 is stopped, the variable display device 3 is again stored based on the storage. Is variably started. The upper limit of the starting winning memory is set to, for example, "4". The start prize storage count is displayed by the start storage display 8. In addition, guide members 9 for guiding the pachinko balls above the start port 10 are provided on the left and right of the start port 10 below the variable display device 3.

On the other hand, the variable winning prize ball device 12 is in a second state which is disadvantageous for a player who cannot normally enter the opening 13 because the opening 13 is closed by the opening / closing plate 14 at normal times. However, when the opening / closing plate 14 is opened, the pachinko ball enters a first state which is advantageous for a player who can win the opening 13. The first state of the variable prize ball device 12 is that the condition of winning a predetermined number (for example, 10) of pachinko balls into the opening 13 or the lapse of a predetermined time (for example, 30 seconds), whichever comes first, is satisfied. And the variable winning ball device 12 is switched to the second state. The number of winning balls in the opening 13 is counted by a 10 count switch 16 and a V switch 17. The number of winning balls that have won the variable winning ball device 12 is displayed by the winning number display 18.

On the other hand, a specific winning area is formed at a predetermined position (right side in the figure) in the opening 13, and when a pachinko ball that has won the variable winning ball device 12 wins in this specific winning area, a V switch is activated. 17, after the first state of the variable prize ball device 12 at that time ends and the state changes to the second state, the opening / closing plate 14 is opened again, and the first state is repeatedly and continuously controlled. The upper limit number of the repetition continuation control is set to, for example, 16 times. In the figure, 15
Is a solenoid for driving the opening and closing plate 14 to open and close.

The second state of the variable prize ball device 12 may be a state in which it is difficult for a hit ball to win, instead of a state in which a hit ball cannot be won at all.

A cover 5 is provided above the variable display device 3. Further, in the game area 2, a lucky number display LED 19, a rail decoration lamp 20, and a normal winning opening are provided. FIG. 2 shows a pattern formed on each of the rotating drums 4a to 4c of the variable display device 3 in a developed view format. Design code 00H for each design
~ 14H (hexadecimal notation) is assigned. The left symbol and the middle symbol are the same symbol, but only the right symbol is slightly different in arrangement from the other symbols. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control circuit used in the pachinko gaming machine.
The control circuit 39 of the pachinko gaming machine includes a main basic circuit 21 for controlling the gaming machine according to a program for controlling various devices, and detection signals from the starting port switch 11, the V switch 17, and the 10 count switch 16. Circuit 29 for providing the signal to the main basic circuit 21
The solenoid 15 is driven in accordance with a command from the main basic circuit 21, the rail decoration lamp 20 is driven in accordance with data provided from the main basic circuit 21, and the big hit information, the probability variation information, and the effective starting information are transmitted to a hall management computer or the like. A lamp / solenoid / information output circuit 28 for outputting the start-up storage display 8 and the V display LE in accordance with data provided from the main basic circuit 21.
A 7-segment / LED drive circuit 28 for driving the D35, the winning number display 18, the number-of-openings display 6 and the lucky number display LED 19, and the speaker 34 according to the sound data given from the main basic circuit 21; A sound circuit 26 for generating a sound effect.

The main basic circuit 21 is provided with an initial reset circuit 24 for resetting the main basic circuit 21 when the power is turned on, and a reset pulse is periodically (for example, every 2 msec) applied to the main basic circuit 21 to give a predetermined pulse. A clock reset pulse generating circuit 23 for repeatedly executing the game control program from the beginning, and an address signal provided from the main basic circuit 21 are decoded, and ROM, RAM, I / O ports, etc. included in the main basic circuit are decoded. And an address decode circuit 25 for outputting a signal for selecting one of the two.

The main basic circuit 21 and the clock reset pulse generating circuit 23 supply the drum lamps 7a to 7i according to the detection signals of the drum sensors 37a to 37c included in the drum unit 38 and the instructions from the main basic circuit 21. The sub basic circuit 22 for controlling variable display by the drum motor left 36a, the drum motor middle 36b, and the drum motor right 36c is connected. The drum lamps 7a to 7i are connected to the drum basic circuit 22, the drum motors 36a to 36c are connected to the motor circuit 31, and the drum sensors 37a to 37c are connected to the sub basic circuit 22 via the sensor circuit 32. Sensor circuit 32
Are also connected to the main basic circuit 21.

In the control circuit of the pachinko gaming machine, A
A power supply circuit 33 that is connected to a C24V AC power supply and generates a plurality of types of DC voltages is included. Power supply circuit 3
3 also includes a drum lamp power supply 33A.

The main basic circuit 21 and the sub basic circuit 22 of the control circuit 39 are both provided on the same gaming machine control board 40. The main basic circuit 21 and the sub basic circuit 22 are connected not by a cable but by a wiring on a substrate 40, and the length of the connection line is different from that of the main basic circuit 21 in the variable display device. It is much shorter than when provided on a control board. Therefore, when the display control signal is transmitted from the main basic circuit 21 to the sub basic circuit 22, there is an effect that the possibility that noise is mixed into the display control signal is reduced.

Note that the variable display device 3 may be provided with a noise prevention buffer in order to prevent noise from being mixed into the display control signal from the sub basic circuit 22 to the variable display device 3. Specifically, an element that conducts when a voltage equal to or higher than a predetermined potential, such as a zener diode or a varistor, is used. When an excessive level of noise is input, the noise flows to, for example, a ground potential. To

The main basic circuit 21 includes a switch circuit 2
The following signals are provided via 9. The ten-count switch 16 gives a detection signal of a winning ball which has won the variable winning ball device 12 to the main basic circuit 21 via the switch circuit 29. The V switch 17 is connected to the variable winning ball device 12.
Is detected, and a detection signal is given to the main basic circuit 21 via the switch circuit 29. The starting port switch 11 detects a pachinko ball that has won the starting port 10 and supplies a detection signal to the game control main basic circuit 21 via the switch circuit 29.

The sub basic circuit 22 is controlled by the main game control main basic circuit 21 to perform display as follows. First, the sub basic circuit 22 normally stops all three rotating drums 4a to 4c. When a start winning prize is generated and variably started, all the rotating drums rotate at a high speed. After a predetermined time has elapsed, the rotating drum left 4a is stopped. That is, the rotating drum left 4a is the one of the scheduled stop symbols.
It becomes a slow rotation before the symbol and stops at the scheduled stop symbol. The stop symbol is determined in advance by using a random number based on a winning start.

When a predetermined time elapses after the left rotation drum 4a stops, the right rotation drum 4c stops. That is, the rotating drum 4c is slowly rotated six symbols before the scheduled stop symbol to stop at the scheduled stop symbol. After a lapse of a predetermined time, the rotating drum 4b is similarly stopped. That is, the rotating drum 4b is slowly rotated from 11 symbols before the scheduled stop symbol, and stopped at the scheduled stop symbol. However, in this case, if a reach line occurs at the time when the rotating drum right 4c stops, the rotating drum 4b is scrolled slowly longer (for example, for 10 seconds) than at the time of the normal stop, and the scheduled stop symbol is displayed. Stop.
In the case of an out-of-reach situation, the time from the start to the stop of the variable display is controlled to be a predetermined time.

Depending on the display result at the time of stoppage, a combination of specific display modes (for example, “7
77 ”) is a big hit. In this case, the main basic circuit 21 drives the speaker 34 to generate a fanfare sound.

While the variable winning ball device 12 is in the open state due to the big hit, the symbol at the time of stop is displayed on the sub basic circuit 22, and the drum lamps 7a to 7d are displayed from the back side of the line where the big hit combination is established. 7i blinks.

When there is a V prize, a predetermined number (for example, 10) of pachinko balls are won in the variable prize ball device 12, or a predetermined time (for example, 30 seconds) elapses, and then the variable prize ball device is temporarily set. After the 12 is closed, the variable winning ball device 12 is opened again at an interval of 2 seconds. The upper limit of the repetition continuation number is limited to a predetermined number (for example, 16 times).

The number of times the variable winning ball device 12 is continuously repeated is 1
When the final opening is completed six times, the big hit control ends.

In the case where a large hit occurs with the probability variation symbols aligned as described above, the probability of the big hit at the time of variable display becomes five times that of the normal time until the big hit occurs twice thereafter. . In addition, if the probability variation symbols become even bigger while this probability is high,
The high probability state continues from that time until two more big hits occur. In this embodiment, the normal probability is 1
/ 352, the probability at the time of high probability is 5/352. This probability variation information is output to the hall management computer.

The rail decoration lamp 20 turns on, off, and blinks according to the game state, and the speaker 34 generates a predetermined sound effect according to the game state. The solenoid 15 opens and closes the variable winning ball device 12 under the control of the main basic circuit 21. The start storage display 8 stores and displays the number of start winnings during variable display and the like. The winning number display 18
The number of winning pachinko balls in one opening of the variable winning ball device 12 is displayed.

The variable display device may display a boxing game, for example, and give a predetermined game value if a boxer on the player side wins. In that case,
For example, if a player boxer takes down twice, KO
It is determined in advance whether or not to be able to win the first down by winning based on the random number generated by the random number generating means. In other words, the present invention is not limited to one in which a plurality of types of symbols are scroll-displayed or switched and displayed, and may be one in which the display result is continuously variably displayed even after the derived result is displayed.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a main routine for explaining the operation of control circuit 39 shown in FIG.

The main routine program shown in FIG. 4 is executed, for example, once every 2 msec as described above. This execution is performed by the clock reset pulse generation circuit 2 shown in FIG.
3 is started in response to a reset pulse generated once every 2 msec. First, step S (hereinafter simply referred to as S)
The stack set processing is performed by 1 and R is performed by S2.
A determination is made as to whether an AM error has occurred. This determination is made based on the R included in the main basic circuit 21 as described later.
This is performed by reading the contents of a predetermined address of the AM and checking whether or not the value is equal to a predetermined value (6802H in the present embodiment). At the time of program runaway or immediately after power-on, the data stored in RAM is undefined.
The answer to this determination is NO, and control proceeds to S3.

In S3, predetermined initial processing such as writing initial data to a predetermined address of the RAM is performed. This content will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Note that, in the gaming machine of the present embodiment, this initial processing is performed in a plurality of times. By dividing into a plurality of times, the number of processes performed in response to one reset pulse input is small, and the time required for the process is short, so that the reset pulse generation interval is unstable, for example, immediately after power-on. Therefore, even if a subsequent reset pulse is input in a relatively short time, there is little possibility that the process will shift to the normal game control while the initial processing is incomplete.

After S3, the control proceeds to S15. The processing after S15 will be described later. The predetermined initial data is written to the RAM by executing S3 a plurality of times, so that when the main routine is executed thereafter, the answer to the determination in S2 is YES, and the control proceeds to S4.

Subsequently, in S4, it is determined whether or not the 10-count motor error flag is set. In this process, the 10 count switch 16 and the V switch 17 are connected to the motors 36 of the rotating drums 4a to 4c.
This is for determining whether an abnormality has occurred in a to 36c and the like. If no error has occurred, the control proceeds to S5, where it is determined whether or not the motor recovery flag has been set. The motor recovery flag is set when it is determined that an error has occurred in the motor, the motor is stopped, and a certain error reset operation as described later is performed. Is to be restored to a predetermined initial state.
Therefore, if the motor recovery flag is set, the process proceeds to S6, the motor recovery flag is cleared, the voltage applied to the motor is set to the normal voltage, the motor is turned on, and the process flag is set to the sub CPU command set. It is set to a value of "13" indicating the inside. This process flag is necessary for controlling the pachinko gaming machine while maintaining a predetermined control time in the processing of S7 described below. After S6, the control proceeds to S7. Further, when it is determined in S5 that the motor recovery flag is not ON, that is, during normal operation, the process proceeds from S5 to S7.

The process processing of S7 is a step for performing necessary processing according to various processes of the game, as described later with reference to FIGS. 6 (b) to 11.

After the process has been executed, in S8, the sub basic circuit 22 shown in FIG.
) Is output from the I / O port to the sub CPU. By this processing, a command for performing display according to the game state is provided to the sub CPU. The contents of these commands will be described later with reference to FIG. 14, but the method of transmitting the commands has a feature of the present invention.

Subsequently, in S9, switch input processing for inputting detection signals from various detectors is performed. This content will be described later with reference to FIG.

Next, an error recovery check process is performed in S10. This process has a 10 count error, V
This is a process for checking whether or not any reset process for restoring an error of a switch, a motor, or the like has been performed. Actually, this reset processing is performed by releasing the state in the case of disconnection, short circuit or jamming of the 10-count switch and the V switch. If not detected or a motor error has occurred,
The game is performed by passing one game ball through a 10-count switch or a V switch. When the control circuit detects that one game ball has been passed through the 10-count switch in the error state, the control circuit performs a recovery process from the error state in response thereto. Details of the error recovery check processing will be described later with reference to FIG.

Subsequently, in S11, processing for setting a command corresponding to the current game state to the sub CPU to the output port is performed. This processing is described in FIG.
This will be described later with reference to FIG.

In step S12, a process of outputting the probability variation information and the effective starting information to the hall management computer via the lamp / solenoid / information output circuit 28 (see FIG. 3) is performed.

At S13, a process is performed to check whether an abnormality such as a disconnection, a short circuit, or a ball jam has occurred in the V switch and the 10 count switch.

Next, in S14, the motor sensors 37a to 37a are output.
In order to know whether or not the detection signal of the reference position of the motor is input from 37c, the motor sensors 37a to 37
A motor step check process for checking an input from c is performed. This processing will be described later with reference to FIG.

Next, in S15, a process of updating the count value of the random 1 counter is performed. This random 1 counter indicates a display result when the variable display device 3 is stopped,
A combination of specific identification information that causes a big hit (for example, 7
77).

Subsequently, in S16, processing for setting data for driving the LED in the I / O port is performed.

Then, the program proceeds to S17, in which it is determined whether the number of resets is "0" or "1 to 15". The number of resets means the number of times the main basic circuit 21 has been reset in accordance with a periodic reset pulse issued from the clock reset pulse generating circuit 23. Each time the main basic circuit 21 is reset, it is incremented by one from "0". After reaching “15”, it is set to “0” by being further advanced. If the number of resets is “0”, S
The program proceeds to S18, where processing for changing the lucky number display LED 19 is performed, and the procedure proceeds to S20. When the number of resets is other than "0", select the output data table,
A process for setting LED / lamp data is executed.
Based on this control, display control of the rail decoration lamp 20 and the like described above is performed. After S19, the control proceeds to S20.

At S20, a prize storage area storing process described later with reference to FIG. 13A is performed. The post-processing of S20 proceeds to S21, where random 2 counter, random 3
The updating process of the counter, the random 4 counter, and the random 5 counter is performed. The random 2 counter is used to determine a stop symbol at the time of a big hit. Random 3
The counter is used to determine a left symbol, a middle symbol, and a right symbol at the time of loss. The random four counter is used to determine whether or not to rotate the symbol one symbol more at the time of symbol fluctuation. The random 5 counter is used to determine the stop position of the lucky number display LED 19. The processing in S21 is performed during the time (2) that is reset by the clock reset pulse generation circuit 23.
The processing from S1 to S20 is performed within msec), and the processing is performed using the reset waiting time which is the remaining time. Since the processing time from S1 to S20 is random, the processing time in S21 is also random. As a result of the update processing in S21, the random 2 counter, the random 3
The count values of the counter, the random 4 counter, and the random 5 counter take random values.

FIG. 5A is a flowchart showing a subroutine program of the system initial process performed in S3 of FIG. This system initial process is executed a plurality of times after power-on until all the initial data is written in the RAM.

First, in S22, it is determined whether or not the pattern data is "2086H". This pattern data is data to be written to a predetermined address of the RAM. When the system initial processing is first executed, the "2"
086H ”is written, and when this system initial process ends, a value“ 6802H ”is written. In S2 described above, this pattern data is "6
It is checked whether the value is "802H", and if it is "6802H", the process proceeds to S4. Therefore, even if "2086H" is written to this address in S23 to be described later, as a result of the determination in S2, control proceeds to S3, and this system initial process is repeatedly executed.

At S22, the pattern data is "2086H".
If not, the process proceeds to S23, where "1" is set to a variable "initial step" indicating the stage of the system initial process, and the pattern data "2086H" is written to the specific address described above. . S
After 23, it waits for a reset pulse. "208" in S23
Since "6H" has been written, the result of the determination in S2 of FIG. 4 is "NO", but in the subsequent system initial process, the result of the determination in S22 is YES, and the control proceeds to S24.

When the system initial process is executed for the second time, the control proceeds to S24 as described above. S2
At 4, a determination is made as to whether the content of the initial step is "1". If it is “1”, it is the second stage of the system initial process, otherwise, it is the third stage or later of the system initial process. Therefore, if the result of determination in S24 is YES, control proceeds to S25, where the variable "initial step" is incremented by one, and the RAM area is cleared to zero. After S25, it waits for a reset. If the result of the determination in S24 is NO, the control proceeds to S26 since the third stage of the system initial process is performed.

When the system initial process is executed for the third time, the answer to the determination in S22 is YES, S2
The answer to the determination at 4 is NO. Therefore, the control proceeds to S26, in which data for initializing the gaming machine is output from the input / output port. Subsequently, in S27, it is determined whether or not the value of the variable “initial step” is “2”. If "2", the control goes to S28; otherwise, control goes to S31.
Proceed to.

At S28, the third stage of the system initial process is performed. First, in S28, a time indicating a drum initialization wait time (about 10.77 seconds) is set in a process timer for controlling the progress time of the process, and the value of the variable “initial step” is incremented by one. Subsequently, in S29, a process of writing necessary initial data in the RAM is performed. Subsequently, in S30, a process of initializing the sound generator is performed, and the process waits for a reset. Since 1 is added to the initial step in S28, when this system initial process is executed next, the result of the determination in S27 is NO, and the control proceeds to S31.

When this system initial process is executed for the fourth time, the control proceeds to S31 as described above, and S3
In step 1, a motor step check process is performed. This motor step check processing is the same as that shown in S14 of FIG. 4, and the contents thereof are shown in FIG.
It will be described later with reference to FIG. After S31, control proceeds to S32.

At S32, the variable “initial step”
Is determined as to whether the value of is equal to three. If it is 3, the control proceeds to S33, and if it is other than 3, the control proceeds to S35. In the fourth execution of the system initial process, since the initial step is 3, the control proceeds to S33. After the process timer check process is performed, the process of incrementing the variable “initial step” by 1 is performed in S34, and a reset wait is performed. Becomes Since the initial step is incremented by 1 in S34, the result of the determination in S32 is NO in the fifth and subsequent executions of this system initial process, and the control proceeds to S35.

The process timer check processing executed in S33 is shown in FIG. First, in S43,
A determination is made as to whether the process timer has reached zero. If it is 0, this subroutine ends. If it is not 0, the process of decrementing the process timer by 1 is performed in S44, and this subroutine ends. Therefore, each time the process timer check processing is executed once, the count is decremented by one until the process timer reaches 0.

In the fifth execution of the system initial process, the control proceeds to S35 as described above. The value of the variable “initial step” is 4. In S35, a determination is made as to whether the initial step is four. In the fifth execution of the system initial process, the result of this determination is YES, and control proceeds to S36. In S36, the above-described process timer check processing is performed, and in S3
Go to 7. In S37, it is determined whether or not the process timer has become 0 as a result of the processing in S36. If it is not 0, the system initial process is immediately terminated.
Proceed to 38. That is, control proceeds to S38 only after the process timer in which the drum initialization waiting time is set in S28 becomes 0, so that the state of the drum is completely initialized before S38 is performed. become.

After S38, the process proceeds to S39, where it is determined whether or not the drum rotation counter is less than 12. The drum rotation counter is for counting the number of rotations of three drums, and is incremented by one when one drum makes one rotation. In the case of this embodiment, it is determined that the initialization of the drum has been completed only after each drum has rotated four times. Therefore, if the result of the determination in S39 is YES, the motor is rotating normally. If not, the control proceeds to S41. If the result of the determination in S39 is NO, the control proceeds to S40 because it is determined that the initialization of the drum is performed normally and the motor is rotating normally.

At S40, the variable "initial step"
Is set to “0”, and “6802” is set as the pattern data.
"H" is written and the process is terminated. Since the pattern data “6802H” is written in S40, a determination of YES is made in S2 of FIG. 4 after execution of S40, and normal game control after S4 is performed. On the other hand, if the decision result in the step S39 is YES, a value "08H" indicating a motor error is set in an error flag in a step S41, and a value "0" is set in a variable "initial step" in a step S42.
FH "is set, and this subroutine ends. That is, if the system initial process is not completed normally, an error flag is set, and a specific value is set to the value of the variable “initial step”.

As described above, the system initial processing shown in FIG.
Each time, the process of the fifth stage is repeatedly executed until the process timer set in S28 expires. By executing the system initial process in a plurality of times as described above, the number of processes performed in each system initial process is extremely reduced. When the power of the gaming machine is turned on, the reset pulse generation interval for resetting the main basic circuit may not be constant, and the reset pulse is input at an interval shorter than the scheduled interval, and as a result the scheduled There is a risk that the next process will be started before the process that has been completed can be completed to the end. However, by dividing the system initial process into multiple processes and terminating each process in a short time, the system initial process can be started. This has the effect of reducing the risk of shifting to normal game control before all processing is completed.

FIG. 6 (a) is a diagram showing S14 of FIG. 4 and FIG.
It is a flowchart which shows the subroutine program of the motor step check process shown in S31 of (a).
First, in step S45, a process of inputting a signal from the motor sensor is performed. Subsequently, in S46, it is determined whether or not the output of the motor sensor is ON as a result of the input in S45. If it is ON, the control proceeds to S48; otherwise, the control proceeds to S47.

In S47, a process of setting the value of the sensor ON counter to the initial value "2" is performed in order to determine that the motor sensor is OFF. This sensor ON
The counter is provided to prevent erroneous determination due to chattering of the input of the motor sensor. S4
After 7, the control proceeds to S 52.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the output of the motor sensor is ON, it is determined in S48 whether the value of the sensor ON counter is 0. Sensor O
The N counter is set to the initial value “2” in S47 as described above, and is decremented by 1 in S51 described below each time it is determined that the signal from the motor sensor is ON. Therefore, while the motor step check process is performed three times, only when the signal from the motor sensor is continuously ON, the answer to the determination in S48 becomes YES and the control proceeds to S50. In S50, the drum rotation counter prepared in advance for each drum is incremented by 1, and it is determined that the drum corresponding to the motor sensor has rotated once. After S50, the control proceeds to S51.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S48 that the sensor counter is not yet 0, the control proceeds to S49, where it is determined whether the sensor ON counter is greater than 0. If it is larger than 0, the control proceeds to S51, otherwise, the control proceeds to S52. S51
Then, a process of subtracting 1 from the value of the sensor ON counter is performed.

Subsequently, in S52, it is determined whether or not the processing in S46 to S51 has been completed for all the sensors. If the processing has been completed, this subroutine ends. If not, the processing from S46 onward is repeated again.

As described above, in this motor step check processing, the input from the motor sensor of a certain drum is
Only when it is turned ON three consecutive times, the value of the drum rotation counter is incremented by 1 in S50. If noise is mixed into the input signal from the motor sensor, it is considered that the signal level of the noise increases in a short time and returns to the normal level again in a short time. Therefore, if the determination of YES is made once in S46 due to such noise, the determination of NO is made first in S48, and the process goes from S49 to S51 to decrement the value of the sensor ON counter by one. When the process is performed, since the signal level is OFF, the result of the determination in S46 is NO, and the process proceeds to S47. Therefore, the initial value "2" is set again in the sensor ON counter in S47, so that there is no possibility that the noise may erroneously determine that the drum has rotated once.

FIGS. 6B to 11B show S7 in FIG.
6 is a flowchart showing a subroutine program of the process processing indicated by. Control jumps to each subroutine with reference to the value of the process flag. This process flag is determined in S56, S60, S65, and S7 described later.
4, S87, S99, S103, S111, S115,
S121, S125, S128, S130, S132,
The values are set to the respective values by the processing of S137, S142, S144, S152 and the like, and are necessary for controlling the pachinko gaming machine while maintaining a predetermined control time. A subroutine program to be executed is selected according to the value of the process flag.

When the process flag is "0", FIG.
The normal processing shown in FIG. 7B is performed. In the case of "1", the drum rotation preprocessing shown in FIG. 7A is performed. In the case of "2", the big hit symbol set shown in FIG. The process is performed, and in the case of "3", the lost symbol setting process shown in FIG. 8A is performed, and in the case of "4" to "11",
A lost symbol check process shown in FIG.
In the case of "2", the processing during the sub CPU command setting shown in FIG. 9A is performed, and in the case of "13", the processing in FIG.
During the output of the sub CPU command shown in FIG.
In the case of “4” to “18”, the drum stop waiting process shown in FIG. 10 (14 is a left drum stop process, 15 is a right drum stop process, 16 is a middle drum stop process, 17 is a middle symbol stop process at the time of reach, 18 is a middle symbol stop process at the time of reach in the probability variation symbol, and in the case of "19", FIG.
The jackpot check process shown in FIG.
In the case of "1", processing of pre-opening processing (20 is normal time, 21 is a jackpot with a probability variation symbol) is performed, and "22 to 2"
In the case of "5", the processing during opening (22 is before V winning, 23 is V
(After winning, 24 is before the V prize in the jackpot with the probability variation symbol, 25 is after the V prize in the jackpot with the probability variation symbol)
Is performed, and in the case of “26, 27”, the post-opening process (2
6 is before the V prize, 27 is after the V prize) and "28"
In this case, the big hit operation end waiting process shown in FIG. 11B is performed. A flowchart of the pre-opening process, the during-opening process, and the post-opening process and the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 6B is a flowchart showing a subroutine program for normal processing in the process processing shown in S7 of FIG. First, in S53, it is determined whether or not there is a winning memory. The winning memory is incremented by "1" in S177 described later, and is decremented by "1" each time the variable display for the start winning is started.

When there is no winning memory, control is passed to step S54.
Go to the big hit information to the hall management computer OF
The F output and the OFF output of the solenoid 15 are set, and this subroutine ends. On the other hand, if there is a winning memory, the control proceeds to S55, where a timer for outputting valid start information to the hall management computer is set. This timer is for measuring the time for outputting the effective start information to the outside, and is a value corresponding to 0.5 seconds in the present embodiment. Further S5
At 6, the process flag is set to 1 and the pre-rotation time is set to the process timer. In the case of the present embodiment, a value corresponding to 128 ms is set in the process timer. Since the process flag is set to 1 in S56, if S7 in FIG. 4 is performed next, FIG.
The drum rotation pre-processing shown in FIG. After S56, this subroutine ends.

FIG. 7A is a flowchart of the drum rotation pre-processing performed when the value of the process flag is "1" in the processing performed in S7 of FIG. This process is executed when it is determined in the normal process that there is a winning memory.

First, in S57, it is determined whether or not the process timer set in S56 of FIG. 6B has expired. If not, the process proceeds to S58, where the process timer is decremented by one. At S59, a determination is again made as to whether the process timer has expired. If not, the subroutine ends.

If it is determined in step S57 or S59 that the process timer has expired, a process of setting the process flag to 2 is performed in step S60. Since 2 is set in the process flag, a jackpot symbol setting process, which will be described later, will be performed when the process process is performed next.

At S61, the value of the random 1 counter stored in the winning storage area 1 is read. This winning storage area is an area for storing the value of the random 1 counter at the time of the start winning, and a total of four places are prepared in order to hold four winning memories. I have. In S61, the value of the random 1 counter is read from the area 1 for storing the oldest data.

Subsequently, at S62, the read random 1
A determination is made as to whether the value of the counter matches a predetermined jackpot determination value (one way). If they match, the subroutine ends immediately. Therefore, if it is a big hit, the value of the process flag becomes “2”, and the big hit symbol setting processing is performed next as described above. on the other hand,
If it is determined that the value is not the big hit determination value, the control is shifted to S6.
Proceed to 3. In S63, a determination is made as to whether or not the probability variation flag is currently set. The probability variation flag is a flag that is set when a big hit occurs in a specific probability variation symbol as described above. If this flag is set, two big hits occur after the big hit occurs. Up to five times the probability of a big hit occurring.

If it is determined in S63 that the probability variation flag has not been set, the control proceeds to S65. on the other hand,
When it is determined that it is set, the process proceeds to S64,
A determination is made as to whether the read value of the random 1 counter is equal to the jackpot determination value at the time of probability fluctuation. The jackpot determination value at the time of the probability change is predetermined in four ways in addition to the jackpot determination value used in S62. Therefore, when the probability variation flag is set, the probability of a big hit becomes five times as described above as compared with other cases. If it is determined in S64 that the read value of the random 1 counter is equal to one of the jackpot determination values, this subroutine is immediately terminated. If it is determined that they do not match, the process proceeds to S65.
In S65, “3” is set in the process flag.
If the process flag is set to "3"
When the process process shown in S7 is executed next time, a missing symbol setting process is performed.

FIG. 7B is a flowchart showing a subroutine program of a big hit symbol setting process executed when the process flag is "2" in the process process shown in S7 of FIG. First, in S66, a process of setting the winning symbol corresponding to the value of the random 2 counter stored in the winning storage area 1 to the left, middle, and right stop symbol numbers with reference to the big hit symbol table is performed.
In this case, when the left middle right symbol arrangement is the same and the hit line is only one line, the left symbol number, the middle symbol number, and the right symbol number may be matched, as in this embodiment. There is no need to use a jackpot symbol table.

At S67, the drum lamp data of the drum lamp control data of which command code is transmitted as "2" among the sub CPU command data as described above in accordance with the hit symbol line set at S66. 1, 2 (reach) and drum lamp data 1, 2
(Big hit) are set respectively. These drum lamp data 1, 2 (reach) and drum lamp data 1,
2 (big hit) is data of 8 bits each. As described above, the display column on the variable display device is 3 × 3 = 9.
There are columns. Drum ramp data 1 and 2 (reach) and drum ramp data 1 and 2 (big hit) each have a total of 16
Bit data, 9 out of the 16 bits
A bit is assigned to each column one bit at a time, and the blinking of the drum lamp in each column is designated by each bit.

In S68, "big hit, reach" is set in the big hit flag, and the flow advances to S69. In S69, S66
A determination is made as to whether or not the stop symbol set in is a probability variation symbol. If the symbol is not the probability variation symbol, the control proceeds to step S71.
Go to 0 respectively. In S70, "big hit, certainty big hit, reach, certainty reach" is set in the big hit flag, and the routine proceeds to S71.

At S71, a process of setting the number of idle rotation symbols based on the current value of the random 4 counter is performed. The number of idle spinning symbols is the number of changes when the number of symbols fluctuating until the symbol stops is changed by a predetermined number. Specifically, when the value of the random 4 counter is an odd number, “1” is set as the number of idle rotation symbols, and when the value is an even number, “0” is set.

In S72, referring to the drum re-rotation table, the number of re-rotation symbols corresponding to the random number 4 and the jackpot check waiting time are set. The number of re-rotated symbols is used in the following drum control at the time of a big hit. In the present embodiment, before the symbol of the variable display device stops, whether or not a big hit has been determined in S62 or S64 of FIG. 7A. Therefore, when it is determined that a big hit has occurred, in order to enhance the interest of the game, in addition to the stop method of sequentially stopping the symbols in a straight line after a predetermined time after the start of the variable display of the symbols, the symbol for the central drum 4b is also changed. , The symbol is temporarily changed, the symbol is changed again, and then the symbol is stopped at the big hit symbol. The number of re-rotated symbols set in S72 is the number of symbols that fluctuate again after stopping once. The value of the random 4 counter can take 40 values from 0 to 39, but if it is 0 to 19, the pattern is stopped straight, and if it is 20 to 39, it is stopped once and then re-rotated to win a big hit. Stop at the symbol. That is, when the random 4 counter is 20 to 39, the number of re-rotated symbols in S72 is determined. There are 21 symbols, and it is not meaningful to stop once at the stop symbol, then re-rotate and stop again at the same symbol, so any one of 20 types of re-rotated symbols is set. Is done.

Next, in S73, a process of setting the stop position of the lucky number display LED 19 based on the value of the random 5 counter is performed.

In S74, "12" is set in the process flag. By setting the process flag to 12, the next time the process processing of S7 is executed, the processing during the sub CPU command setting described later with reference to FIG. 9A is executed. After S74, this subroutine ends.

[0092] By the processing of S62 to S64, the variable
The display result when the display device is stopped is a combination of specific display modes
Is determined. 21 for each rotating drum
The symbol combination is drawn, and it is a combination of symbols that will be a big hit
There are 5 lines of 8 big hits, that is, 40 lines
Therefore, the probability of occurrence of a jackpot on the display is 40/21. ^Three
≒ 1 / 231.5. On the other hand, it is a big hit on software
The probabilities that can be obtained can be seen from S62 to S64 in FIG.
Is determined by the range of possible values of the random 1 counter
Round. In this embodiment, the random 1 counter is
It takes a value of 0 to 351.
Are five types (when probable). Therefore, the software
As described above, the probability of occurrence of
352.

FIG. 8A is a flow chart showing a subroutine program of a lost symbol set which is performed when the process flag is "3". This process is executed when the process flag is set to “3”, that is, when it is determined that the result of the lottery has been lost.

First, in S75, lower-order data of the value of the random 3 counter stored in the winning storage area 1 and
A process of adding the previous left stop symbol number is performed. In S76, it is determined whether or not the result of the addition in S75 is 21 or more.
At 77, 21 is subtracted from the addition result and the process proceeds to S78 S7
A new left stop symbol number is determined by 5-S77, and is set in S78. By determining the stop symbol numbers in S75 to S78, there is an effect that the appearance of each symbol (the appearance) is less biased than in the case where the stop symbols are determined only by random 3.

S79 to S82 and S83 to S86 are processes for performing the same processing as S75 to S78 in the stopped symbol number and to the right of the stopped symbol number, respectively. Except that the values of the three random counters used for the addition are medium and high, respectively, these processes are the same as the processes for determining the stop symbol number left, so the details are omitted here.

In S87, the big hit flag is cleared, the number of re-rotating symbols is cleared, and the big hit check waiting time (24
5 or 490 ms), the address of the big hit symbol table is set, and the process flag is set to 4. The big hit symbol table address indicates the head of the table address when data is read from the big hit symbol table in S88 of a lost symbol check process in FIG. In addition, since "4" is set in the process flag, when the next process process is executed, a missing symbol check process is performed.

FIG. 8 (b) shows that the process flags are "4" to "4".
It is a flowchart of the subroutine program of the missing symbol check process performed at "11". This process determines where the reach line is occurring,
This is a process for judging whether or not there is a line in which a stopped symbol is accidentally formed as a big hit combination as a result of the lost symbol setting process performed in (a). In the case of a variable display device using a rotating drum as in the present embodiment,
There are a total of five lines where a big hit may occur. There are eight big hit symbols displayed on the left, middle, and right symbol display sections. Therefore, in this lost symbol check processing, each time this lost symbol check processing is executed once, only one of the eight symbols is checked for the above-described five lines, and is repeatedly executed eight times in total. In this way, all eight symbols are checked. Process flags 4 to 11 respectively correspond to these eight symbols. Checking only one symbol at a time as described above reduces the number of processes during the execution of this main routine once, and is reset before the predetermined process is completed, so that the game control becomes abnormal. This is to prevent that.

First, in S88, data is read from the big hit symbol table according to the big hit symbol table address set in S87. Then, “5” is set to the variable “number of checks”.

In S89, it is determined whether or not the number of checks is zero. If it is 0, the process proceeds to S99, and if it is not 0, the process proceeds to S90. In S90, it is determined whether or not the big hit symbol table has been completed. When the processing has been completed, the control proceeds to S99, and when not completed, the control proceeds to S91. In S91,
A determination is made as to whether the left symbol of the stop symbol is a hit symbol of the table. If it is not a hit symbol, go to S93,
If it is a winning symbol, the control advances to S92. S92
Then, a determination is made as to whether the right symbol of the stopped symbol is a hit symbol. If it is a hit symbol, control goes to S94,
If it is not a winning symbol, the control proceeds to S93. S9
If YES is obtained in step S1 and YES is obtained in step S92, it is determined that a reach occurs.

In S93, the address of the big hit symbol table is updated, the number of checks is decremented by 1, and the process returns to S89.
When the control has proceeded to S93, the symbol set in the outlier symbol setting process of FIG. 8A is not the combination of the jackpot or the reach. Therefore, it is necessary to repeat the processing of S89 to S93 for all five lines. Therefore, the number of checks is decremented by 1 in S93, and this processing is repeatedly executed until the number of checks becomes 0 in S89.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S92 that the reach has occurred, it is not necessary to further check another line of the symbol. Therefore, in this case, the control proceeds to S94, and a check for the reach time is further performed after S94.

First, in S94, drum lamp data 1,
In 2 (reach), data specifying the corresponding line is set. In S95, "reach" is set in the big hit flag. In S96, the number of idle rotation symbols is set based on the value of the random 4 counter. In S97, it is determined whether or not the middle symbol of the stopped symbol is a hit symbol. If it is a hit pattern, this line is not just a reach, but a big hit combination.
At 98, the stop symbol number is forcibly shifted by 1 to make a combination of misses. When it is determined in S97 that the symbol is not a hit symbol and after S98, the post-control is S99.
Proceed to.

In S99, the address of the big hit symbol table to be referred next time is set, and 1 is added to the process flag. Therefore, when the process flag is 4 to 10, the unsuccessful symbol check process is continuously performed in the next process process. When the process flag is 11, the sub-C is displayed when the next process process is executed.
Processing during PU command set is performed.

FIG. 9A is a flowchart of the sub CPU command setting in-process executed when the process flag is 12. First, in S100, a process of shifting the winning storage area is performed. By this processing, the contents of the prize storage area 2 are shifted to the prize storage area 1, the contents of the prize storage area 3 are shifted to the prize storage area 2, and the contents of the prize storage area 4 are shifted to the prize storage area 3. Is cleared. In S101, the drum rotation flag is set to a value (00H) indicating normal rotation. This drum rotation flag is stored in area 8 in FIG.
Are data transmitted from the game control microcomputer to the sub CPU. Further, in S102, processing during sub-CPU command setting, which will be described later, is performed. In S103, 1 is added to the process flag, and the processing during sub-CPU command setting ends. When the process flag is set to 13 and the next process is to be executed, the process for outputting the sub CPU command shown in FIG. 9C is performed.

FIG. 9B is a flowchart of a subroutine program of the sub CPU command set processing as control data shown in S102 of FIG. 9A.
First, in S104, a process of setting fixed values to the command headers 0 to 6 shown in FIGS. 14A and 14B is performed. In S105, a process of setting “01” to the command code as the type data is performed. Thereby, it is set so that the drum rotation control data is transmitted as the sub CPU command. In S106, the contents of the drum rotation flag set in S101 of FIG. In S107, the left, middle, and right values of the stopped symbol number set in the big hit symbol setting process or the lost symbol setting process are respectively set in areas 9 to
The process of setting to 11 is performed.

In S108, a process for setting the content of the big hit flag is performed. The big hit flag is 1-byte data, and the value of the drum rotation increase counter is set in bits 0 and 1, bit 3 is set to 1 when reaching, and bit 4 is set to 1 when reaching in the probability variation symbol. Bit 5 is set to 1 when a big hit occurs in the probability variation symbol, and bit 7 is set to 1 when a big hit occurs.

At S109, the number of idle rotation symbols is increased, and at S110, the number of re-rotation symbols is increased.
Is set in step S111, the command output counter is set to "1". This command output counter is for counting the number of data transmitted from the main CPU to the sub CPU. If the command output counter is 1, the first data (first byte) of the sub CPU command is used. Will be sent.
In the case of drum rotation control data, the sub CPU command is output until the command output counter becomes 15 as described later, and in the case of drum lamp control data, it becomes 13 until the command output counter becomes 13.

FIG. 9C is a flowchart of a sub CPU program output sub-routine program executed when the process flag is 13. First, S11
In step 2, a process of turning on the motor, that is, a process of setting the voltage applied to the motor to the normal voltage is performed. Subsequently, in S113, it is determined whether or not the command output counter is 0. If it is 0, the control proceeds to S114, and if it is not 0, this subroutine program ends immediately.

At S114, 0 is set to the drum rotation counter, and then, at S115, a value corresponding to the left drum stop waiting time is set to the process timer. In the case of this embodiment, the left drum stop waiting time is about 0.64.
6 seconds are set. Further, 1 is added to the process flag, and this subroutine program ends. Since the process flag is incremented by 1, the left drum stop waiting process is executed when the next process process is executed.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a subroutine program of a drum stop waiting process performed when the process flag is 14 to 18. Process flag is 1
At 4, the left drum stop waiting process, at 15, the right drum stop waiting process, at 16, at the middle drum stop waiting process, at 17, at the middle drum stop waiting process (reach), at 18, at the middle drum stop waiting process. Processing (probable change reach) is performed respectively.

First, in S116, it is determined whether or not the process timer has reached 0. If it is 0, the control proceeds to S119. If it is not 0, the process proceeds to S117, in which the process timer is further decremented by 1. In S118, it is determined whether or not the process timer has become 0.
If the process timer is 0, the process proceeds to S119. That is, the process proceeds to S119 and the subsequent steps only after a predetermined time has elapsed until the process timer becomes 0, and the corresponding drum is stopped.

In S119, data of the drum stop sound is set. In S120, a determination is made as to whether the process flag is 14. Process flag is 1
4 indicates that the process is waiting for the left drum to stop. 1
Otherwise, control proceeds to S122. If it is 14, the process proceeds to S121, where the right timer stop waiting time (0.8 seconds) is set in the process timer, the process flag is incremented by 1, and this subroutine program ends. Since the process flag is 15, the next time the process is executed, the right drum stop waiting process is performed, and the process proceeds to S1.
The answer to the determination at 20 is NO.

At S122, a determination is made as to whether the process flag is 15. In cases other than 15, the flow proceeds to S132. If it is 15, the process proceeds to S123, and it is determined whether the drum rotation counter is less than 12. If the drum rotation counter is less than 12, it is determined that the motor has stopped for some reason.
The control advances to 24, where a value (08H) indicating a motor error is set in the error flag, and this subroutine program ends. If it is equal to or greater than 12, the process proceeds to S125, in which the middle timer stop waiting time (0.8 seconds) is set in the process timer, and 16 is set in the process flag. When the process is executed next time because the process flag is set to 16, the middle drum stop waiting process is performed. Subsequently, in S126, a determination is made as to whether or not the jackpot flag has been reached. If it is reach, the process proceeds to S127, but if it is not reach, this subroutine program ends as it is.

In S127, the reach time table prepared in advance is prepared according to the result obtained by subtracting the value in the previous stop symbol number and the number of re-rotated symbols from the value in the stopped symbol number and the number of idle-rotating symbols. A process of calculating the reach time with reference to the process is performed. The reach time indicates a time from when the right drum stops to when the middle drum finally stops. Further, 17 is added to the process flag in S128.
Is set. Since the process flag is set to 17, the next drum processing wait processing (reach) is executed when the next process processing is performed. S
The post-processing of 128 proceeds to S129.

In S129, it is further determined whether or not the big hit flag is a value indicating the probability change reach.
If the reach is certain, the process flag is set to 18 in S130, and the process proceeds to S131. If not, the process proceeds directly to S131. When 18 is set in the process flag, the middle drum stop waiting process (probable change reach) is executed in the next process process.

In S131, the time calculated in S127 is set in the process timer, and this subroutine program ends.

FIG. 11A shows a flowchart of a subroutine program of a jackpot check process performed when the process flag is 19. First, in S133, it is determined whether or not the process timer has reached 0. If the process timer is not yet 0, this subroutine program ends immediately and the process timer
Only then does the control proceed to S134.

In S134, processing for turning off the motor, that is, processing for lowering the voltage applied to the motor, is performed. Subsequently, in S135, a process of storing the middle symbol number in the previous middle symbol number storage area is performed.

Subsequently, in S136, it is determined whether or not the big hit flag is a big hit.
If it is not a jackpot, 0 is set in the process flag in S137, and this subroutine program ends. Therefore, in this case, the control returns to the normal processing.
If the big hit flag is a big hit, the control proceeds to S138.
In S138, a determination is made as to whether the probability variation counter is 0. This probability variation counter is set to “2” when a large hit occurs in a probability variation symbol. If it is 0, the control immediately proceeds to S140, but if it is not 0, the probability variation counter is decremented by 1 in S139 and S140
Go to 140. That is, the probability variation counter is set to “2” when a large hit is made in the probability variation symbol, and is thereafter decremented by one each time a big hit occurs. If it is 0, the probability of a big hit is low (normal) probability, and 0
Otherwise, the probability is high.

At S140, a process for clearing the probability variation flag is performed. This is to reduce the probability of the occurrence of the big hit once during the big hit even at the time of the high probability. Then, in S141, the lucky number display LED
Is set to the stop position of the lucky number display LE
The fluctuation time of D is set. Further, in S142, the pre-opening time is set in the process timer. In the case of the present embodiment, a time corresponding to 5 seconds is set as the pre-opening time. Then, the process flag is set to 20, and the process proceeds to S143. Since the process flag is set to 20, the pre-opening process will be performed the next time the process process is executed.

At S143, a determination is made as to whether the big hit flag is a probability variable big hit. If it is a probability change jackpot, the control proceeds to S144 and 21 is set in the process flag. After S144, and if the big hit flag is not the probability variable big hit, this subroutine ends. If the process flag is set to 21, the pre-opening process (probable change big hit) will be executed the next time the process process is executed. In the processing before opening (probable change big hit), the sound effect, the drum lamp, and the other lamp control are changed from the normal processing before opening, so that the interest of the game is further improved.

FIG. 11B is a flowchart of a subroutine program of a jackpot operation end waiting process which is performed when the process flag becomes 28. First, S1
At 45, a determination is made as to whether the process timer has expired. S1 only after the process timer expires
The control advances to 46, and the jackpot information and the probability variation information transmitted to the hall management computer and the like are turned off.
Subsequently, in S147, a determination is made as to whether or not the big hit flag is a probability variable big hit. If it is not a probability variable hit, the control proceeds to S149. If it is a probability variable hit, the probability variation counter is set to 2 in S148 and then S14.
Go to 9.

In S149, the process of setting the value of the probability variation counter as it is to the probability variation flag is performed.
Subsequently, in S150, it is determined whether or not the probability variation flag is set, that is, whether or not the probability variation flag is 0. If it is 0, the control proceeds to S152, but if it is not 0, the hall management is performed in S151. After the probability variation information output to the computer is turned on, S152
Proceed to. In S152, after the release counter is cleared, the process flag is set to 0, and the normal processing is executed thereafter. By the jackpot operation end waiting process, the occurrence probability of the jackpot once returned to the low probability during the jackpot is reset to the high probability when the probability changes.

FIG. 12A is a flowchart of a subroutine program of the error recovery check processing shown in S10 of FIG. First, in S153, a determination is made as to whether or not the error flag has been set. If not, the subroutine program terminates immediately without doing anything. If it is set, the process proceeds to S154.

In S154, V switch error recovery check processing is performed, and in S155, 10 count switch error recovery check processing is performed. In these two processes, it is checked whether or not a process corresponding to a predetermined error flag reset process using a V switch or a 10-count switch has been performed. If it is determined that the operation has been performed, the error flag is reset. For example, if no winning ball is detected or a motor error occurs during one opening of the variable winning ball device 12 during a big hit, in the case of the present embodiment, a game ball is set to the 10 count switch. 1
The error flag is reset by passing through.

In S156, it is determined whether or not the error flag has been set after the processing in S154 and S155. If it is still set, control proceeds to S161. If not, control proceeds to S157.

In S157, a determination is made as to whether the process flag is less than 13. If it is less than 13, the control proceeds to S161. If it is 13 or more, the control is S15
Proceeding to 8, a determination is made as to whether the process flag is greater than 18. If it is larger than 18, the control proceeds to S161. If it is less than 18, control is S159.
Proceed to. By the processing of S157 and S158, the control proceeds to S159 only when the process flag is 13 or more and 18 or less, that is, only when the motor should be rotating. In other cases, it is not necessary to restore the motor again, and the direct control proceeds to S161 as described above.

In S159, a motor recovery flag for causing the drum motor to perform an initial operation using the sub CPU is set. Subsequently, in S160, a sub CPU command set process is performed. This sub CPU command set processing has already been described with reference to FIG. S1 in the sub CPU command set process
At 06, the value of the motor recovery flag (0 at normal time, 1 at recovery) is set as it is.

If it is determined in S156 that the error flag is set, if it is determined in S157 and S158 that the process flag is less than 13 or greater than 18, and after S160 is executed, the control proceeds to S16.
Proceeding to 1, the contents of the error flag are set and this subroutine program ends.

FIG. 12B is a flowchart of the sub CPU command output setting process and the subroutine program shown in S11 of FIG. First, in S162, a determination is made as to whether the command output counter is 0. If 0, this subroutine program ends immediately. If it is not 0, the control proceeds to S163, where the sub C
The PU command output is set. Subsequently, the command output counter is incremented by 1 in S164. Further, S165
Then, it is determined whether the command code of the area 7 shown in FIGS. 14A and 14B is "01". If it is 01, it is transmission of drum rotation control data having a total of 15 areas, otherwise, it is output of drum lamp control data having a total of 13 data. Therefore, if the command code is 01, S16
Proceeding to 6, a determination is made as to whether the command output counter is 15 or less. If it is less than 15, this subroutine program ends. S if it exceeds 15
Proceeding to 168, processing for clearing the command output counter to 0 is performed, and this subroutine program ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S165 that the command code is not 01, the flow advances to step S167 to determine whether the command output counter is 13 or less. If it is less than 13, this subroutine program ends immediately. If it exceeds 13, the process proceeds to S168, the command output counter is cleared to 0, and this subroutine program ends.

FIG. 13A is a flowchart showing a subroutine program of the winning storage area storing process shown in S20 of FIG. In S169, it is determined whether or not the starting winning number is “0”. The start winning number is incremented by "1" in S177 described later, and decremented by "1" in S171 described later. If the start winning number is "0", the subroutine program is terminated as it is. If the start winning number is not 0, the process proceeds to S170, and processing for storing the values of the random 1 counter, random 2 counter, and random 3 counter in the corresponding areas of the starting winning storage area is performed. The start winning storage area has a plurality of (four in the present embodiment) count value storing areas for storing the values of the respective random counters according to the number of start winning storage.

Then, the flow advances to S171 to perform a process of subtracting "1" from the start winning number as described above.
Return to 69. The processing of S169 to S171 is repeatedly performed until the start winning number becomes “0”. By the winning storage area storing process, the values of the random 1 counter, random 2 counter, and random 3 counter corresponding to the start winning are stored in the respective winning storage areas.

FIG. 13B is a flowchart showing a subroutine program of the switch input process shown in S9 of FIG. First, in S172, a process of inputting detection signals of various detectors from the I / O port is performed. Next, in S173, a process of checking whether or not an error such as a disconnection or a short circuit has occurred in the 10-count switch (winning number detector) 16 by checking whether an error flag is set is performed. If it has occurred, control proceeds to S178.

If the error flag has not been set, the control proceeds to S174, in which it is determined whether or not the signal from the starting port switch is ON. If it is ON, control proceeds to S178, but ON
If not, the control proceeds to S175. In S175, a determination is made as to whether it can be determined that the winning prize ball has won the starting port switch. That is,
A determination is made as to whether or not the winning timing has come. In the case of the present embodiment, it is determined that the winning opening timing has been reached when the starting port switch has been ON for a predetermined time and has fallen to OFF.
A determination process such as 75 is performed.

If it is determined in S175 that it is not the winning timing, the flow proceeds to S178, but if it is the winning timing, the flow proceeds to S176.

At S176, a determination is made as to whether or not the number of stored prizes is four or more. If it is four or more, there is no room for further storage, and the control proceeds to S178.
If it is less than 4, the process proceeds to S177, and the winning storage number and the starting winning number are both incremented by one. After S177, the control proceeds to S178.

At S178, a process is performed to check whether or not an error has occurred in the V switch. If an error has occurred, a V switch error flag is set. Similarly, in S179, a process is performed to check whether an error has occurred in the 10-count switch. If an error has occurred, a 10-count switch error flag is set.

When a pachinko ball is awarded in the starting port 10 and detected by the starting switch 11, the starting switch 11
A detection pulse having a predetermined pulse width is derived,
The basic circuit 21 is provided. In this case, every time the subroutine of the switch input process is executed during the time of the pulse width of the detection pulse, the determination of YES is continuously performed in S174. Each time the ON counter of the starting port switch is counted up, the count value reaches a predetermined value (for example, 3) or more, and the determination of YES is made in S175 only after the starting port switch is turned OFF again.
It is determined that there is a winning start. On the other hand, there is a case where the output from the start switch 11 is instantaneously determined to be ON due to noise due to static electricity or the like. In such a case, the input from the start switch 11 has a pulse width. The signal becomes almost zero. for that reason,
Even if the determination in S174 is made once and the value of the ON counter is incremented by one at the same timing as the timing at which such noise is input, the ON counter subsequently performed in S175 at the falling edge of the pulse Is determined to be a predetermined number (for example, 3), the determination is NO, and thus it is not immediately determined that the starting port switch 11 has detected a pachinko ball. Then, when the subsequent switch input process is executed, the noise has already fallen, so the determination in S175 is always NO, and the ON counter of the starting port switch is cleared. Therefore, there is no possibility that the start port switch is erroneously determined to be ON due to noise.

FIG. 14 shows S11 of FIG. 4 and FIGS.
It is a schematic diagram which shows the content of the sub CPU command shown in (c).

Referring to FIG. 14A, the sub CPU command areas prepared in the game control microcomputer have fixed data (“1FH”, “00H”).
“01H” “02H” “04H” “08H” “10
H ") are stored therein, and a command code area 7 for indicating whether the following data is drum rotation control data or drum ramp control data. Of the sub CPU command areas 1 to 14, the sub basic circuit (sub CP
U) 22 is also provided as a sub CPU command input area, and data of each data area of the drum control command area of the basic circuit 21 is transmitted to a corresponding data area of the sub CPU command input area.

When the command code is "01", the next seven areas of the command code are valid,
Each of the drum rotation code areas (00 indicates normal rotation, 01 indicates abnormal recovery) 8 and 2
Left that can take one value (00 to 14 in hexadecimal)
Areas 9, 10, 11 for designating each stop symbol on the middle and right
And an area 12 for a jackpot flag (drum rotation increase counter, reach, reach by a probability variation symbol, jackpot by a probability variation symbol, jackpot), and the number of idle rotation symbols (0
An area 13 for storing two patterns (0 and 01) and an area 14 for storing the number of re-rotated symbols at the time of a big hit (21 patterns of 00 to 14H). The number of re-rotated symbols is to improve the interest of the game at the time of a big hit by stopping the design once at the time of a big hit, before stopping it finally, then turning it again and then stopping at the last stop design It is.

When the command code is "02", five areas are valid, and each of the six areas has a value (00 to 05, 00 is usually, 01 is drum rotating, 02
Is an area 8 for storing a drum control code that can be used during a reach or a release interval, 03 indicates before opening, 04 indicates during opening, and 05 indicates after opening, and an area 9 for storing drum ramp data during reaching. , And 10,
There are areas 11 and 12 for storing drum lamp data at the time of a big hit.

The sub CPU determines whether the head of the input data is 1F or not, and whether the subsequent 6 bytes match the fixed header, and determines that the sub CPU command has been input. Command code of 7 is 01
Or 02 is determined, and the subsequent seven or five areas are data for drum rotation control,
It is determined whether the data is for drum lamp control.

Generally, the drum rotation control data need only be sent to the sub CPU at the time of variable start. The sub CPU controls the drum motor according to the sent drum rotation control data, and is specified by the sub CPU command. Stop the motor with the stop symbol. Therefore, it is not necessary to transmit the drum rotation control data to the sub CPU when the variable display is not being performed and after the variable display is started. On the other hand, the drum lamp control data needs to be transmitted regardless of whether the variable display is being performed. Therefore, two types of sub CPU commands are prepared as described above, and data of the command code "01" is transmitted only at the start of variable display, and data of the command code "02" is transmitted at other times. By doing so, the amount of data transmitted at one time is reduced as compared with the case where data for drum rotation control and data for drum lamp control are transmitted simultaneously, and the time required for transmission is also reduced. Therefore, there is an effect that the load on the microcomputer for game control is reduced.

In the gaming machine of the present embodiment, information for specifying each stop symbol is transmitted from the game control microcomputer to the sub CPU, and information indicating the current display symbol is not transmitted. However, the present invention is not limited to this. If necessary, information for designating which symbol is to be displayed is transmitted from the game control microcomputer to the sub C
You may make it transmit to PU.

Referring to FIG. 14 (b), the drum lamp control code takes any one of 00 to 05H. 00 is the normal state, 01 is the drum rotating, 02 is the reach rotation or off interval, 03 is before opening, 04 is open, 05 is after open Is shown. The drum ramp data 1 and 2 (reach) and the drum ramp data 1 and 2 (big hit) are data specified to indicate which line has a reach or a big hit.

FIGS. 15 to 21 are flowcharts of a control program for the variable display device executed by the sub CPU. FIG. 22A shows a motor control area.
FIG. 2B shows a motor control data table referred to during acceleration / deceleration of the motor.

FIG. 15A is a flowchart of a main routine of the sub CPU for controlling the variable display device. This main routine is repeatedly executed from the beginning at predetermined time intervals in response to a reset pulse from the clock reset pulse generating circuit 23 shown in FIG.

First, in S201, initialization of an I / O port and setting of an interrupt mask are performed. Then S
At 202, data at a predetermined address in the RAM is read,
By determining whether the value is a predetermined value (for example, 6805H), it is determined whether the RAM is in a normal state. Immediately after the power is turned on, the contents stored in the RAM are undefined, so the result of the determination in S202 proceeds to S203, and the system initial process is performed. In this system initial process, predetermined data (6805H described above) is written to a predetermined address of the RAM as described later. Therefore, after the system initial process is completed, the result of the determination in S202 is YES, and the control proceeds to S204. The contents of S203 will be described later with reference to FIG.

In S204, I / O is output, and in S205, the display timer is updated. The display timer is a timer used as a clock for display, and is incremented by one every 8 msec.
Further, in S206, a process for jumping to each process routine is performed according to the value of the operation flag prepared in advance in the program of the sub CPU. This processing is exactly the same as the processing of S7 shown in FIG.
7 corresponds to the operation flag in FIG. Each process routine will be described later. When the operation flag is 0, the operation is stopped, when the operation flag is 1, the drum rotation is started, and when the operation flag is 2, processing during the drum rotation is performed. Then S
In 207, a drum lamp data set process, a sub CP
U command check processing and sub CPU command input processing are performed. The details of the processing in S207 are shown in FIGS. 15B, 18A, and 17 respectively.
This will be described later with reference to FIG.

FIG. 15B is a flowchart of a subroutine program of the drum lamp data setting process performed in S207. First, in S237, the drum lamp control code is 0, 1, 2, 3, or 5,
A determination is made as to The drum lamp control code indicates data transmitted from the main CPU and stored in the area 8 in the drum lamp control data of FIG.

When the drum lamp control code is 0, normal processing is performed and the drum lamp is
Data for blinking at s intervals is set.

When the drum lamp control code is 1, the setting of the drum lamp data corresponding to the processing during the rotation of the drum is performed. That is, in S239, data for turning on all the drum lamps is set.

When the drum lamp control code is 2, the data corresponding to the reach rotation or the off-interval is set. First, in S240, it is determined whether or not the big hit flag is reach. If reach, the process proceeds to S241. If not, the process proceeds to S239. In S239, data for turning on all the drum lamps is set as described above. On the other hand, S
At 241, data for lighting the drum lamp corresponding to the reach is set. That is, the middle drum lamp is turned on, and the areas 9 and 1 in FIG.
Data for blinking the left and right drum lamps at 128 ms intervals is set according to the drum lamp data (reach) indicated by 0.

When the drum lamp control code is 3 or 5, drum lamp data corresponding to the pre-opening process and the post-opening process are respectively set. First S24
In FIG. 2, drum lamp data (big hit) transmitted from the main CPU through areas 11 and 12 in FIG.
Is set for blinking the drum lamps of the row determined according to the above at intervals of 256 ms.

When the drum lamp control code is 4, the control of the drum lamp corresponding to the processing during opening is performed. That is, in S243, according to the drum lamp data (big hit) transmitted from the main CPU, data setting for blinking the drum lamp of the line where the big hit has occurred at 128 ms intervals is performed. When these processes end, the subroutine program of the drum lamp data setting process ends.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of a subroutine program of the system initial process shown in S203 of FIG. This system initial process is executed in seven stages as described later. Of these steps, the first to third steps are performed once, and the subsequent processing is repeatedly executed until a predetermined process timer expires.

First, at S208 and S209, RA
A determination is made as to whether the pattern data at the predetermined address of M is 5086H. If it is not 5086H, it is determined that the system initial process is to be executed for the first time (first time), and the process proceeds to S210. S21
At 0, the variable “Initial step” is set to “1” as the first stage processing, and 5086 is set to the pattern data.
H is set and this subroutine program ends. Since the data of 5086H is written to the predetermined address of the RAM in S210, S202 of FIG.
The answer of the judgment in is still NO, but S208,
The answers to the determinations in S209 (FIG. 16) are both YES.
When the system initial process is executed next, the process proceeds to S211.

At S211, it is determined whether or not the initial step is one. If the initial step is 1, the process proceeds to S212, the initial step is incremented by 1, and the RAM area is cleared to 0. This S2
Twelve processes correspond to the second stage process. After S212, this subroutine program ends.

If it is determined in step S211 that the initial step is not 1, control is passed to step S213.
Proceed to. In S213, I / O output is performed, and in S214, it is determined whether or not the initial step is 2. If it is 2, the control proceeds to S215,
The third stage of the system initial process is performed. That is, in S215, the motor excitation pattern 3
Is output, 250 (0.5 seconds) is set in the process timer, and 1 is added to the initial step.
After S215, this subroutine program ends.

Since the initial step is incremented by 1 to 3, the next time the system initial process is executed, the result of the determination in S214 is NO, and the control proceeds to S216. In S216, a determination is made as to whether the initial step is 3. If it is 3, the process proceeds to S217, and the fourth of the system initial processing is performed
Stepwise processing is performed. First, in step S217, the process timer set in step S215 is decremented by one, and in step S218, a determination is made as to whether the process timer has become zero. If it is not 0, this subroutine program ends, and control becomes advanced to S219 only when it becomes 0. That is, the processing of S219 is performed only after 0.5 seconds have elapsed. In S219, the motor excitation pattern 0 (reference pattern) is output, and the process timer returns to 250.
(0.5 second) is set, and the initial step is incremented by one. After S219, this subroutine program ends. Since the initial step is incremented by 1 and becomes 4, the result of the determination in S216 is NO when the system initial process is next executed,
The control proceeds to S220.

At S220, a determination is made as to whether the initial step is four. If it is 4, S22
Proceeding to step 1, the fifth stage of the system initial process is performed. First, in S221, the process timer set in S219 is decremented by 1, and in S222, it is determined whether or not the process timer has expired. If not, the subroutine program ends, and the control proceeds to S223 only after the process timer ends. In S223, an initial timer is set,
An initial value (70) is set in the sensor check counter. Further, in S224, a drum rotation start process described later is performed. In S225, 1 is added to the initial step, and this subroutine program ends. Since the initial step is 5, the result of the determination in S220 is NO in the execution of the next system initial process, and the control proceeds to S226.

At S226, a determination is made as to whether the initial step is five. If it is 5, S22
Proceeding to 7, the processing of the sixth stage of the system initial processing is performed. First, in S227, it is determined whether or not the initial timer set in S223 is 0. If it is 0, the process proceeds to S229, but if it is not 0, S2
After the initial timer is decremented by 1 at 28, the process proceeds to S229. The initial timer is used to provide at least a predetermined interval between the fifth stage and the seventh stage of the system initial process as described later.

In S229, a drum rotation process described later is performed. Subsequently, in S230, it is determined whether or not the operation flag is 0. This operation flag is 0
In step S231, the initial step is incremented by one and the subroutine program ends. If the operation flag is not 0, this subroutine program ends immediately. If the initial step is incremented by 1 in S231 to 6 and the system initial process is executed next, the result of the determination in S226 is NO and the control proceeds to S232.

Step S232 and subsequent steps correspond to the final stage (seventh stage) of the system initial process. First, in S232,
A determination is made as to whether the initial step is six. If it is not 6, this subroutine program is immediately terminated. If it is 6, the control proceeds to S233, and S
A determination is made as to whether the initial timer set at 223 is zero. If it is not 0, the process proceeds to S234, and the initial timer is decremented by 1. Further, in S235, it is determined whether or not the initial timer is 0. If the initial timer is 0, the process proceeds to S236. If not, the subroutine program is immediately terminated. Therefore, the process of S236 is performed only after the initial timer set in S223 expires. In S236, first, the sub CPU
The command length is set to 14, the display timer is set to the initial value, the initial step is set to 0, and the pattern data is set to 6805H. After S236, this system initial process ends. By writing 6805H to the pattern data in S236, if the main routine of FIG. 15A is executed next, the result of the determination in S202 is YES, and
Steps 204 and below are executed.

FIG. 17A is a flowchart of a sub CPU command input processing subroutine program for receiving a sub CPU command from the main CPU on the sub CPU side. This process is performed in S207 of FIG.

First, in S330, the input data is "1".
F "is determined. This is because, as shown in FIGS. 14A and 14B, since the header 0 of the sub CPU command is “1F”, whether or not to start the command input by detecting this header 0 is determined. Is determined. If it is determined in S330 that the input data is 1F, the process proceeds to S331, where the value of the command input counter is set to 1, and the subroutine program ends. On the other hand, if it is not 1F, the process proceeds to S332, and it is determined whether or not the command input counter is 0. If it is 0, it means that the input of the sub CPU command has not been started, and this subroutine program ends. If it is not 0, the process proceeds to S333.

At S333, the transmitted sub CPU is transmitted.
Sub CPU command set processing for storing one byte of the command in a predetermined storage area is performed. Then S3
At 34, a determination is made as to whether the command input counter is seven. If it is not 7, the control proceeds to S338, and if it is 7, the control proceeds to S335. The processing in S334 is for performing different processing between the headers 1 to 6 of the sub CPU command shown in FIG.
In S335, since the sub CPU command set in S333 is the data of the area 7, that is, the command code, it is determined whether or not this command code is "01". If it is "01", FIG.
Since it is the drum rotation control data shown in FIG.
At 336, 14 is set as the command length, and the flow advances to S338. If it is not 1, since it is the drum lamp control data shown in FIG. 14B, the flow advances to S337 to set 12 as the command length, and then to S338.

In S338, the command input counter is set to 1
The command input counter after the addition in S339 is
A determination is made as to whether the length is less than the command length set in S336 or S337. If the result of the determination in S339 is YES, this subroutine program is immediately terminated, but if NO, the process proceeds to S340, in which processing for indicating that command input is completed,
That is, the command input flag is set and the command input counter is cleared. As for the command length, 14 or 12 is set in S336 or S337, respectively, and this value is not cleared. Therefore, the result of the determination in S334 is NO, and S338
When the control proceeds from step S339 to step S339, if the counter is 6 or less, the command length set in the previous sub CPU command input processing is used. Or S33
The command length set in 7 is used. Even if the previous command length is used when the counter is 6 or less, since the command length in the current sub CPU command input process is correctly set when the counter becomes 7, the judgment in S339 is Correct execution is performed based on the command code of the current sub CPU command.

FIG. 17B is a flowchart of a subroutine program of the drum rotation start process executed in S224 of FIG. First, in S341, the motor control flag is set to a value indicating acceleration / deceleration, and the number of symbols for constant-speed feeding is set. The number of the constant-speed feed symbols
After the rotation of the drum starts, it means the number of symbols that are rotated and displayed until the respective drums stop after reaching a predetermined speed, "1" for the left drum, "11" for the middle drum, right “6” is set for each drum. In addition,
In the case of constant speed feed, one step of the motor is 20 ms, and eight steps are required to send one symbol. Therefore, at the time of constant speed feed, the symbol is fed at a speed of one symbol per 160 ms. In this embodiment, one motor control area for controlling each of the left, middle, and right drum motors is provided. The motor control area is schematically shown in FIG.

Before explaining the following processing, FIG.
(A) will be briefly described. Referring to FIG. 22A, for example, the left motor control area includes a motor control flag area, a stop symbol number area, a one-step timer area, a next one-step timer data save area, and a current motor step number area. , Sensor ON
It includes an area for a counter, an area for a sensor check counter, an area for sensor mask data, an area for the number of steps in one symbol, an area for the current symbol number, and an area for the constant-speed feeding symbols.

The motor control flag area uses the lower 4 bits. The least significant bit 0 indicates acceleration / deceleration. In this case, table data is used for motor control. The contents will be described later. Bit 1 indicates constant speed processing. Bit 2 indicates the stop processing. Bit 3 indicates a temporary stop processing corresponding to the temporary stop of the symbol at the time of the big hit. The current motor step number takes any value in the range of 00 to 03. The sensor check counter is used for detecting a motor error. The sensor mask data is 10H for the left motor and 20H for the middle motor.
H, 40H is used for the right motor. Since the number of steps in one symbol is 8 as described above,
One of the values in the range of 00 to 07 is stored. The current symbol number indicates the symbol number currently being displayed. Since there are 21 patterns as described above, the symbol numbers take a value of 00 to 14H.
As described above, the number of constant-speed feeding symbols is 01H for the left motor and 0BH for the middle motor (1 in decimal notation).
1), 06H is set for the right motor, respectively.

Referring to S342, an initial value of a one-step timer is set for each motor. In this embodiment, 1 is set for the left motor, 2 is set for the middle motor, and 3 is set for the right motor. Subsequently, the number of steps in area 3 of each motor control area is set to an initial value. That is, 0 is cleared. Subsequently, a process of setting a drum control data address is performed with reference to each motor control area in the middle left and right. The drum control data is provided to make the time required from the start of rotation of the symbol to the end thereof constant regardless of the symbol at the start of rotation. One example is shown in FIG.
2 (b). FIG. 22 (b) shows two drum control data tables as an example, and this table can be sent to the target symbol in a fixed time regardless of the relationship between the symbol at the start of rotation and the target symbol. Thus, a total of 21 types are prepared.

The data table of, for example, DRTB16 of FIG.
It is a data table when 8 steps are sent in 6300 ms. This number of 6300 ms is common to all data tables. In DRTB16, ","
(For example, 16/2, 14 /
2) indicates the number of timer counts per step, that is, the time required for the step feed. The right side of “,” indicates the number of steps to be sent by the timer count per one step described on the left side. When the number of steps is summed vertically, in the case of the DRTB 16, the total is 968 steps. As described above, eight steps are required for one symbol, so in 968 steps, 121 symbols, that is, five rotations of the drum and sixteen symbols are fed.

On the other hand, the DRTB 17 is a data table in the case of performing 808 steps of symbol feed during 6,300 ms. The 808 steps correspond to 101 symbols, that is, 4 rotations of the drum and 17 symbols.

When the DRTB 16 and the DRTB 17 are compared, the values from the top to the fifth row are equal to the values from the bottom to the sixth row. The fifth line from the top corresponds to the start of the rotation of the drum, and the sixth line from the bottom corresponds to the stop of the drum. The data from the 6th line from the top to the 7th line from the bottom is
While rotating the drum at a substantially constant speed, it is used to adjust the time so that the difference in the number of steps is absorbed and the time until the symbol finally stops is matched.

In this way, by keeping the time from the start of rotation of the drum to the stop of the drum constant, the main CPU
Only one type of timer is required to control the variable display. Therefore, there is an effect that the time management of the control for the variable display on the main CPU side can be easily performed.

Referring again to FIG. 17B, after S342, in S343, it is determined whether or not the big hit flag (see FIG. 14A) transmitted from the main CPU has reached the reach. It is. If it is not reach, the control proceeds to S345, but if it is reach, S
Proceeding to 344, the medium drum control table 0 is set. By the process of S344, in the case of the reach, the symbol displayed for the middle drum at the end of the drum control data returns to the first symbol. In S345, "2" is set in the operation flag, and this subroutine program ends. Since the operation flag is set to "2", if the main routine program of FIG. 15 is to be executed next, a process during drum rotation is performed in S206.

FIG. 17C shows S229 (see FIG. 16).
9 is a flowchart of a subroutine program of a drum rotation process performed in step S. S346, S347, S34
At 8, the left, middle, and right drum control processes are performed. FIG. 19A shows the details of the drum control process.
It will be described later with reference to FIG.

Subsequently, in S349, it is determined whether or not each motor control flag is stopped. If the motor control flag is stopped, the process proceeds to S350, and the operation flag is set to 0. Since the operation flag is set to 0, each motor is stopped. This subroutine program ends when it is determined NO in S349 or when the process of S350 ends.

FIG. 18A is a diagram showing S207 of FIG.
10 is a flowchart of a subroutine program of a sub CPU command check process performed in step (a). First S24
At 4, a determination is made as to whether the command input flag is set. This command input flag is a flag set in S340 of FIG. 17A, and indicates whether the reception of the sub CPU command has been completed. If it is set, in S245,
This command input flag is cleared. Then S24
At 6, it is determined whether the headers 1 to 6 of the received sub CPU command are normal data. As shown in FIG. 14A, fixed data is predetermined for the headers 1 to 6, respectively. Therefore, it is to determine whether or not to make the received command valid depending on whether or not this fixed data is correctly received as headers 1 to 6. S24 if normal
Steps 7 and below are performed, but if not, this subroutine program ends.

At S247, it is determined whether the command code of the received sub CPU command is 2. If it is 2, the control proceeds to S248, otherwise the control proceeds to S249. In S248, a drum lamp control code command extraction process is performed. Details of this processing will be described later with reference to FIG. After S248, the subroutine program ends.

On the other hand, in S249, the command code is 1
A determination is made as to whether If it is 1, the control proceeds to S250, where a drum rotation command extraction process is performed. The details of the drum rotation command extracting process will be described later with reference to FIG. If it is determined in S249 that the command code is not 1, the subroutine program is terminated because it is determined that the received data is not normal.

FIG. 18B is a flowchart of a subroutine program of the drum lamp control code command fetching process shown in S248. First, in step S251, a drum lamp control code is set from the sub CPU command input area to a storage area in the RAM. Then S25
2, the drum lamps 1 and 2 data (reach) are stored in S25
At 3, the drum lamps 1 and 2 data (big hit) are set in the same manner. In S254, the display timer is cleared and the display timer is set to an initial value. In the case of the present embodiment, a value corresponding to 2.048 seconds is set as an initial value. After S254, this subroutine ends.

FIG. 18 (c) is a flowchart of a subroutine program of the drum rotation command fetching process performed in FIG. 18 (a). First, in S255, after seven from the head (header 1) of the drum rotation control data,
That is, by checking whether or not the drum rotation data of the area 8 is "10H", it is determined whether or not the command is a drum rotation command for abnormal recovery. If normal, control is S2
Proceed to 57. If it is a recovery process, the process proceeds to S256, where 70, which is an initial value, is set in the sensor check counter. After S256, the control proceeds to S257.

In S257, the left of the stop symbol number is set. In S258, the middle stop symbol number is set, and the data of the set middle stop symbol number is set in the storage area. This middle stop symbol number of the storage area is used in S329 of FIG. 21B described later. In S259, the right stop symbol number is set, and in S260, the content input as the sub CPU command is set in the big hit flag. Similarly, S26
1. In S262, the number of idle rotation symbols and the number of re-rotation symbols of the sub CPU command are set as variables in the program.

At S263, a determination is made as to whether the number of re-rotated symbols set at S262 is zero.
If it is 0, the process proceeds to S268, but if it is other than 0, the control proceeds to S264. In S264, the number of re-rotated symbols is subtracted from the middle stop symbol number, and in S265, it is determined whether the subtraction result is 0 or more. 0
If so, the process proceeds to S267.
The process proceeds to step 6, where 21 is added to the calculation result. This allows
The operation result takes any value from 0 to 20. Subsequently, in S267, a process of setting the calculation results of S264 to S266 in the stopped symbol number is performed, and the process proceeds to S268.

At S268, 1 is set to the operation flag. Since 1 is set in the operation flag, FIG.
In the next execution of S206 of (a), a drum rotation start process is performed. After S268, this subroutine program ends.

FIG. 19 (a) is a flow chart of S34 of FIG. 17 (c).
6 is a flowchart of a subroutine program of a drum control process performed in steps S347 and S348. First, in S369, it is determined whether or not the motor control flag is stopped. If it is stopped, this subroutine program ends without doing anything. If the motor is not stopped, the process proceeds to S270, and a process of inputting an output from the motor sensor is performed. Subsequently, in S271, it is determined whether or not the signal from the motor sensor is ON. If not ON, S27
Proceed to 2. In S272, it is determined whether or not the ON counter is 0. If it is 0, the control proceeds to S276, and if it is not 0, the control proceeds to S273. In S273, the sensor ON counter is decremented by 1, and the process proceeds to S276.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S271 that the sensor is ON, the flow advances to S274 to determine whether or not the content of the sensor ON counter is 3 or more.
If it is 3 or more, nothing is performed and the control proceeds to S276. If it is less than 3, 1 is added to the ON counter in S275 and S27 is executed.
Proceed to 6. By the processing of S270 to S275, the addition of the ON counter is performed up to 3 while the signal from the sensor is ON.
Control proceeds to 276. When the motor is not at the reference position, the output of the motor sensor is OFF, so if the ON counter is 0, the control is performed at S271, S272, S27.
If it is not 0, proceed to S until the ON counter reaches 0.
271, S272, and S273 are performed.

By using the ON counter in this way, if spike noise is mixed in the signal from the motor sensor for some reason, the process goes to S274 and S275.
Even if the ON counter is incremented through the step S271, when the drum control process is executed next, the spike noise falls to the OFF level.
The process advances to 272 and S273, and the ON counter is decremented by one. ON when it is determined that the motor is at the reference position
This is when the counter is 2 or more, and therefore, there is little possibility that the motor is erroneously determined to be at the reference position due to spike noise.

At S276, the motor control flag sets the acceleration /
A determination is made as to whether deceleration has occurred. If it is not acceleration / deceleration, the flow proceeds to S278, but if it is acceleration / deceleration, the flow proceeds to S277, and drum acceleration / deceleration processing is executed. This processing will be described later with reference to FIG.

In S278, a determination is made as to whether the motor control flag is at a constant speed. If the speed is constant, the drum constant speed process is executed in S279; otherwise, the drum temporary stop process is executed in S280, and the subroutine program ends. S279 drum constant speed processing,
FIG. 2 shows the drum pause process at S280.
This will be described later with reference to 1 (a) and (b).

FIG. 19B is a flow chart of S277 of FIG.
5 is a flowchart of a subroutine program for drum acceleration / deceleration processing shown in FIG. In S281, FIG.
It is determined whether or not the one-step timer set in S342 has expired. If not, the subroutine program is terminated, and the control proceeds to S282 only after the one-step timer expires. S
At 282, a step check process is performed. The step check process is a process for checking whether any abnormality has occurred in the motor, and details thereof will be described later with reference to FIG. S
At 283, it is determined whether or not the operation flag is set to 0 as a result of the process of S282. The case where the operation flag is 0 indicates a case where the motor is stopped for some reason or a case where the motor should be stopped. If 0, this subroutine program ends. If it is not 0, the process proceeds to S284, where timer data for the next one step is set. In S285, it is determined whether or not the number of steps set to 3 (see FIG. 22) in the motor control area has been completed.
If not, the control proceeds to S296, and if not, the control proceeds to S286.

In S286, it is determined whether or not the drum control table has been completed. If it has been completed (if the data is $ FF), the process proceeds to S288.
If not, the process proceeds to S287.
In S287, the next control data is set in the storage area in the program, and the address of the control data is updated. After S287, the control proceeds to S296.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S286 that the drum control table has been completed, the flow advances to S288 to determine whether the motor under control is the motor of the middle drum. If the motor is not the middle drum, the control proceeds to S293. If the motor is the middle drum, the control proceeds to S28.
Go to 9 respectively. First, the middle drum will be described.

First, in S289, it is determined whether or not a rotation increase counter for increasing the number of rotations of the middle drum during reach is zero. If it is 0, a determination is made in S291 as to whether or not the number of idle rotation symbols is zero.
If it is 0, the process proceeds to S293. If it is not 0, the process proceeds to S292 and the number of steps is one symbol step number (8 steps)
Is set, and the number of idle rotation symbols is decremented by one, and the flow proceeds to S296. On the other hand, if the rotation increase counter is not 0, the process proceeds to S290, the reach rotation increase step number is set as the step number, the rotation increase counter is decremented by 1, and the process proceeds to S296.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S288 that it is not the middle drum and if it is determined in S291 that the number of idle rotation symbols is 0, the flow proceeds to S293, in which the motor control flag is set to a constant speed, and in S294, the initial is set. Step (Figure 1
6) is 0. 0
If so, the control proceeds to S296 because it is a normal time, but if it is other than 0, the drum acceleration / deceleration processing is performed in the system initial processing of FIG.
At S295, 0 is set to the stop symbol number and S29
Proceed to 6. Since the stop symbol number 0 is "red 7", "red 777" is aligned at the center of the drum of the variable display device during the initial operation.

In S296, the motor output data is set, and this subroutine program ends.

FIG. 20 is a flow chart showing the operations of S270 to S2 in FIG.
75 is a flowchart of a subroutine program of a step check process for determining a state of the motor based on a signal from the motor sensor obtained by the process of 75.

This motor sensor detects the reference position of the rotation of the motor. When the motor is turned on for a predetermined time or more using the ON counter of FIG. It is determined as detection.

FIG. 20A is a diagram showing S282 in FIG. 19B.
The specific contents of the program shown in are shown below. FIG. 20 (a)
The "motor excitation pattern" shown in S297 is an excitation pattern for exciting the coil of the stepping motor, and there are four types of excitation patterns of the stepping motor including the reference pattern. Of the motor excitation patterns, the motor reference pattern is set to “0”.

One rotation of the drum is one rotation of the stepping motor.
Since this corresponds to 68 steps, the number of reference excitation patterns during one rotation of the drum is 168/4 = 42 times, and YES is determined 42 times in S297 during one rotation of the drum. If YES is determined in S297, S
Proceeding to 298, it is determined whether the sensor ON counter is less than two. This sensor ON counter is incremented by 1 in S275 of FIG. 19 and decremented by 1 in S272.
This counter takes a value of 3, and is provided to prevent erroneous determination due to chattering of the output signal of the motor sensor as described above. The sensor ON counter is normally 0, and 3 or 2 when there is a valid input.

If it is determined that the sensor ON counter is equal to or greater than 2, the drum has reached the reference position, and as shown in S299, step NO.
To 0 and the current symbol NO. Is set to 0.

Step NO. In one symbol And the current symbol NO.
Briefly, the number of steps corresponding to one symbol is eight steps, so the step number in one symbol is NO. Can take on values from 0 to 7. Also, since the number of symbols drawn on the drum is 21, the current symbol NO. Can take on values from 0 to 20. Then, step NO. If the value of the symbol has reached 8, the current symbol NO. Is added to the value of step NO. Is set to 0, and as a result of addition, the current symbol NO. If the value of has reached 21,
The current symbol NO. Is also set to 0. These processes are shown in FIG.
This is performed in the motor output data setting process indicated by 0 (b). However, if the motor sensor is determined to be ON when the motor reference pattern is reached, both are performed in S299 regardless of the state of the motor output data setting process. It will be set to 0.

Next, in S300, it is determined whether or not the value of the sensor check counter is "100" or more.
At the time of power-on or recovery, the sensor check counter changes from the initial set value “70” of S223 in FIG.
Is counted down by S305 each time the motor ON sensor is determined to be OFF in. Also, during the variable display, the value of the sensor check counter at the time of the ON determination in S298 is initially set to “100” in S303, and is then counted down 42 times in S305. Become. Therefore, as long as it operates normally, S300, S30
2 is determined to be NO, and the value of the sensor ON counter is updated to “100” in S303. The reason why the sensor check counter is initialized to “70” is to set it to “0” to prevent an error from being determined in S306 when the power is turned on or when the power is restored.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S300 that the sensor check counter is less than “100” and in S302 it is determined that the sensor check counter is “82” or more, the process proceeds to S3.
The process proceeds to 07, where 0 is set in the operation flag. That is,
If it is determined that the motor sensor is ON before the drum is rotated by about half a rotation after the detection of the reference position, a process for stopping the operation of the motor is performed in S304. The cause of this error is, for example, a failure of the sensor or a shift in the reflection position of the motor reference position.

Next, if NO is determined in S298 and the value of the sensor check counter is "100" or more, the sensor check counter is incremented by "1" in S301, and the sensor is turned on in S304.
A determination is made as to whether the counter is less than "105".
If it is equal to or more than "105", the process proceeds to S307, and 0 is set in the operation flag. That is, since the sensor check counter normally has an initial value of 100 as described above, if the ON state of the drum sensor continues more than five times in the reference pattern, the drum sensor has failed or the drum sensor has failed. May be disconnected, the operation flag is set to 0 in S307.
Is set.

The motor sensor is not determined to be ON when the motor reference pattern is reached (ON counter is less than 2)
In this case, the sensor check ON counter is decremented by "1" in S305. In other words, the number of times the motor reference pattern has been reached from the time when the motor sensor is turned off to the time when the motor sensor is next turned on is counted down in S305. Motor reference pattern is 4 when normal
If it occurs twice, the drum has made one rotation, so that this sensor ON counter takes a value of 100 to 58.
If it is determined in step S306 that the value of the sensor ON counter is equal to or less than “7”,
If the non-reflection portion is not detected even after the rotation beyond the rotation, the process proceeds to S307, and the operation flag is set to 0. In this case, the motor error may be caused by a failure, the motor or the reel being in contact with a part of the variable display device, or the stepping motor not rotating due to an external force caused by a player forcibly stopping the drum. Can be

FIG. 20B is a diagram showing S296 of FIG. 19B.
6 is a flowchart of a subroutine program of a motor output data setting process performed in step S1. First, S308
Thus, data is read from the corresponding address in the motor control area. In step S309, the motor step number is set to S31.
At 0, the step number in one symbol is incremented by one. In S311, it is determined whether or not the step number in one symbol has reached the maximum value (8 in this embodiment) as a result of the addition. If it is the maximum value, control proceeds to S312; otherwise, control proceeds to S316.

In S312, since the display of one symbol has just been completed, the current symbol number is incremented by one. Subsequently, in S313, a determination is made as to whether or not the current symbol number has reached the maximum value (21 in the present embodiment) as a result of the addition. If it is not the maximum value, the control proceeds to S315, but if it is the maximum value, the current symbol number is set to 0 in S314, and then the flow proceeds to S315.
In S315, a process of setting the step number in one symbol to 0 is performed, and the process proceeds to S316.

At S316, a process of setting a motor excitation pattern according to the motor step number is performed. After S316, this subroutine program ends.

FIG. 21A is a diagram showing S279 of FIG. 19A.
5 is a flowchart of a subroutine program of a drum constant speed process shown in FIG. First, in S317, it is determined whether the one-step timer has expired. If not, this subroutine ends immediately. When the one-step timer expires, control proceeds to step S3.
The program proceeds to S18, where the step check processing of FIG. 20 is performed, and the program proceeds to S319. In S319, it is determined whether or not the operation flag has become 0 as a result of the step check process. If the operation flag is 0, this subroutine program ends immediately. If the operation flag is other than 0, the control proceeds to S320, where a check is made on the step number in the current symbol.
Then, in S321, it is determined whether or not the step number in the symbol is 0. If it is other than 0, the symbol is in the middle of the design, and the control proceeds to S323. If it is 0, the process proceeds to S322, and it is determined whether or not the current symbol number matches the stopped symbol number. When they match, the control proceeds to S324, and when they do not match, the control proceeds to S323. In S323,
Subsequently, the motor output data is set, and the rotation of the drum is continued. After S323, this subroutine program ends.

On the other hand, if the current symbol number matches the stopped symbol number, "stopped" is set in the motor control flag in S324. In S325, it is determined whether or not the number of re-rotated symbols is 0. If the number is 0, the subroutine program is ended. If not, the process timer is set to 245 (490m) in S326.
s) is set, and “temporary stop” is set in the motor control flag. Since the motor control flag is set to the temporary stop, the middle symbol is temporarily stopped for the time set in the process timer, and then the control is started again to stop at the stop symbol.

FIG. 21B is a diagram showing S280 of FIG. 19A.
5 is a flowchart of a subroutine program of a drum pause process shown in FIG. This process is performed when the motor control flag is "temporarily stopped". First, S327
Then, a process of subtracting 1 from the process timer set in S326 is performed, and in S328, it is determined whether or not the process timer has expired. If not, the subroutine program ends. Control proceeds to S329 only after the process timer expires. S3
In step 29, the data in the stop symbol number stored in the stop symbol number storage area is reset as a stop symbol number, a one-step timer (equivalent to 20 ms) at a constant speed is set, and the motor control flag is set to "fixed". Speed "
A process of clearing the number of re-rotated symbols is performed. S329
After this, the program ends.

As described above, in this embodiment, the contents of the command data transmitted by the command code are included in the sub CPU command transmitted from the main CPU to the sub CPU, including the command code. Data for controlling the rotation of the drum, such as a stop symbol, may be sent only when the rotation of the drum starts, and need not be sent in other cases. Therefore, in the gaming machine of the present embodiment, it is not necessary to constantly transmit data that does not normally need to be transmitted to the sub CPU as a sub CPU command.
The transmission data decreases, and the time required for transmission can be reduced. Therefore, the time required for transmission can be shortened, and the adverse effect of variable display control on game control can be minimized.

In this embodiment, an example will be described in which the probability of a big hit is improved when a big hit is made with a specific probability variation symbol, and the normal probability and the probability at the time of the high probability are fixed. Was. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and by providing a probability setting switch, the probability may be changed in normal time, high probability, or both, or the probability may not be changed.

The variable display device 3 constitutes a variable display device whose display state can be changed. Then, it becomes possible to control to a predetermined specific game state (big hit state) on condition that the display result of the variable display device becomes a predetermined specific display mode (for example, 777).

S66 to S70, S138 to S140, S
According to 147 to S149 and S62 to S64, when a predetermined special game state generating condition (a condition that a predetermined hit symbol becomes a probability variation symbol) is satisfied, at least the next specific game state occurs at least. Game state control for performing control to generate one of a special specific game state that can be controlled to an easy special game state (probability variation state) and a normal specific game state that cannot be controlled to the special game state Means are configured. S14
4 and the above-described processing before opening (probable change big hit) executed thereby, when the special game state generating condition is satisfied and the special specific game state occurs, the normal specific game state occurs. Notification means for performing a notification operation in a specific mode different from the case is configured. As described in S151, the special game state information (probability variation information) indicating that the special game state has been entered is output to the outside.

As described above, there are a plurality of specific display modes (for example, 777 or FEVER of various colors).
Stipulated. Then, the game state control means determines that the display result of the variable display device is a predetermined special display mode (for example, a positively-changed pattern such as red 777 or blue 777) among the plurality of types of specific display modes. In this case, after the control of the specific game state is completed (S1
The special game state is controlled (after it is determined that the process timer has expired by 45) (the value of the probability variation counter is set to the probability variation flag by S149,
A determination of YES is made in S63, and a determination step of S64 is executed).

The original application of the large book of the present application (Japanese Patent Application No. 5-1297)
3), the main basic circuit 21 controls the gaming state of the gaming machine and display control information for controlling the variable display device. Is output.

The sub basic circuit 22 constitutes variable display control means for receiving the output display control information and controlling the variable display device according to the display control information. Paragraph number 0140 of the original application, FIGS.
As disclosed in FIG. 9, FIG. 12, and FIG. 14, at the start of the variable display operation for deriving and displaying the display result of the variable display device, the game control means Each of display mode information (stop symbol No. left, middle, right) indicating the display mode to be derived and displayed and pattern information (number of idle rotation symbols, number of re-rotation symbols, drum rotation increase counter) indicating the variable display operation pattern The display control information is sequentially output in a time series to the variable display control means (each process routine shown in FIG. 9 and S11 are executed every 2 msec, and a plurality of commands divided every 2 msec are output by one. Is output at a time).

The pattern information is information (number of idle rotation symbols, number of re-rotation symbols) indicating a reach display operation pattern when a reach state occurs in the variable display device (S1).
27).

A variable display area capable of variably displaying a plurality of types of identification information is constituted by an area where the rotary drums 4a, 4b, 4c are visible from the front side. Then, the display mode information is information indicating identification information derived and displayed as a display result on each of the plurality of variable display areas, and the information is sequentially output in time series for each of the variable display areas ( FIG. 14 and FIG. 12 (b)).

[0226]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the game control means outputs display control information at the start of the variable display operation for deriving and displaying the display result of the variable display device. The output operation is reduced and the load on the game control means is reduced as compared with the case where the game control means outputs the variable display operation in real time. Moreover, the display control information to be output is display mode information indicating a display mode derived and displayed as a display result and pattern information indicating a variable display operation pattern. Thus, the display of the variable display device can be controlled according to the contents of the display control information. Furthermore, since the display control information is sequentially output to the variable display control means in a time series, even if the display control information is information having a large amount of data, it can be output without difficulty by outputting it stepwise. Thus, the variable display control means, which is the receiver, can receive the data without difficulty.

According to the present invention, the game control means outputs the display control information at the start of the variable display operation for deriving and displaying the display result of the variable display device. The output operation is reduced and the load on the game control means is reduced as compared with the case where the means outputs the variable display operation in real time. In addition, the display control information to be output is display mode information indicating a display mode derived and displayed as a display result and pattern information indicating a variable display operation pattern. Thus, the display of the variable display device can be controlled according to the contents of the display control information. Furthermore, since the display control information is sequentially output in chronological order to the variable display control means, even if the display control information is information having a large amount of data, it can be output without difficulty by outputting the information stepwise. Thus, the variable display control means, which is the receiver, can receive the data without difficulty.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first or second aspect of the present invention, the pattern information is a reach display operation pattern when a reach state occurs. According to the received reach display operation pattern, the variable display control means can perform the reach display operation when the reach occurs.

According to the present invention described in claim 4, in addition to the effects of the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 3,
Since information indicating identification information derived and displayed as a display result in each of the plurality of variable display areas is sequentially output in time series for each variable display area and transmitted to the variable display control means, each variable display area Each piece of information can be received one by one without fail, and erroneous display control due to a reception error can be prevented as much as possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a gaming area of a pachinko gaming machine as an example of a gaming machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing various symbols displayed by each rotating drum of the variable display device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control circuit used in the pachinko gaming machine.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a main routine of a program for explaining the operation of the main basic circuit shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a subroutine program of a system initial process and a process timer check process.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a subroutine program of a motor step check process and a normal process.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a subroutine program of drum rotation pre-processing and big hit symbol setting processing.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a subroutine program of a lost symbol setting process and a lost symbol check process.

FIG. 9: Processing during sub CPU command set, sub CP
It is a flowchart of the subroutine program of a U command set process and a sub CPU command output process.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a subroutine program of a drum stop waiting process.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a subroutine program of a jackpot check process and a jackpot operation end waiting process.

FIG. 12 shows an error recovery check process and a sub CPU.
It is a flowchart of a subroutine program of a command output set process.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a subroutine program of a winning storage area storing process and a switch input process.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing a command area for transmitting data from the game control microcomputer to the sub CPU.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of a main routine executed by the sub CPU and a subroutine program of a drum lamp data setting process.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of a subroutine program of a system initial process.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of a subroutine program of a sub CPU command input process, a drum rotation start process, and a drum rotation process.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of subroutine programs for a sub CPU command check process, a drum lamp control code command extraction process, and a drum rotation command extraction process.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart of a subroutine program for drum control processing and drum acceleration / deceleration processing.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart of a subroutine program of a step check process and a motor output data setting process.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart of a subroutine program of a drum constant speed process and a drum temporary stop process.

FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram showing a motor control area and two examples of a drum control data table.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is a game board, 3 is a variable display device, 4a to 4b are rotating drums, 6 is an opening number display, 12 is a variable winning ball device, 7a
7i is a drum lamp, 8 is a start memory display, 9 is a guide member, 10 is a start port, 11 is a start port switch, 15 is a solenoid, 16 is a 10 count switch, 17 is a V switch, and 18 is a winning number display. , 21 are the main basic circuit,
22 is a sub basic circuit, 39 is a control circuit, and 40 is a gaming machine control board.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A variable display device whose display state is changeable, wherein a specific game state advantageous to a player is provided on condition that a display result of the variable display device becomes a predetermined specific display mode. A game machine that is controllable, while controlling a game state of the gaming machine, a game control unit that outputs display control information for controlling the variable display device, and the output display control information Variable display control means for receiving and controlling the variable display device according to the display control information, wherein the game control means, at the start of a variable display operation for deriving and displaying the display result of the variable display device, The display mode information indicating the display mode derived and displayed as the display result of the variable display device and the pattern information indicating the variable display operation pattern are sequentially sequenced in time series as the display control information. A game machine for outputting to the variable display control means. 2. A variable display device whose display state can be changed; a game control means for controlling a game state of the gaming machine and outputting display control information for controlling the variable display device; Variable display control means for receiving the display control information and controlling the variable display device according to the display control information, wherein the game control means performs a variable display operation for deriving and displaying a display result of the variable display device. At the start of each of the display mode information indicating the display mode derived and displayed as a display result of the variable display device and the pattern information indicating the variable display operation pattern, the variable display control is sequentially performed in time series as the display control information. A gaming machine characterized by outputting to means. 3. The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the pattern information is information indicating a reach display operation pattern when a reach state occurs in the variable display device. 4. The variable display device includes a plurality of variable display areas capable of variably displaying a plurality of types of identification information, and the display mode information is derived and displayed as a display result in each of the plurality of variable display areas. 4. The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the information is identification information, and the information is sequentially output in a time series for each of the variable display areas.