JP2002000878A - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game machine capable of reducing the program storage capacity of a controller. SOLUTION: The controller equipped in this game machine stores individual programs for plural different processings to be executed in the controller and a common program in common to the plural different processings. Then, a stack area S for storing restoration information preserved at the time of executing the common program is divided into plural areas (S1 and S2). Then, as the stack area to be used at the time of executing the individual program, one of the divided plural areas (S1 and S2) is specified for each individual program.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gaming machine having a control device for executing a plurality of processes, and more particularly, to a technique for reducing a program storage capacity of the control device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a gaming machine that is highly electronically equipped, such as a pachinko machine, is provided with a large number of electrical equipments, and these electrical equipments are controlled by a separately provided control device.
The control device stores a control program for controlling each electrical device, and the control device causes each electrical device to perform a predetermined operation by appropriately executing the control program.

In the above-mentioned gaming machines, there is a strong demand for players to diversify their gaming effects in order to make the gaming machines more interesting for the players, and in order to satisfy this demand, complicated and diverse operations are required for the electrical equipment. It needs to be done. Therefore, the processing executed by the control device is also diversified, and the program storage capacity of the entire control device is increased accordingly. As a general method for solving such a problem, a program of a common part in each process executed by the control device is made common (subroutine), and when each process is executed, There is a method of executing this subroutine program.
In such a subroutine method, individual processing for each processing is performed by an individual control program, but common parts are performed by one program, which contributes to a reduction in program capacity.

[0004]

However, in some cases, the above-described method of reducing the capacity of the control program by subroutines cannot be simply applied. That is, in the above-described subroutine conversion method, since it is necessary to return to the original processing after executing the subroutine processing, information for this (hereinafter referred to as return information) is stored in a predetermined area (typically, RAM). Must be stored in an area called a stack area). On the other hand, in a gaming machine such as the above-described pachinko machine, it is desired to prevent a problem that a process being performed by a control device is interrupted due to a sudden power failure or unexpected power off in recent years. Therefore, when the power supply is cut off due to a power failure or the like, information (including return information) relating to the processing being executed is stored in the RAM, and after the power supply is restored, the information storage function for restarting the interrupted processing based on the stored information is provided. It is considered to have. Therefore, in a gaming machine having such an information storage function, in order to restart the interrupted process, the information (including the return information) stored in the RAM until the interrupted process is restarted. ) Must be saved without overwriting. Here, when the power is turned on after the power is turned off, the initialization processing of the control device is normally performed, and thus information for specifying the position where the return information is stored (typically,
The stack pointer is also initialized (set to the first address)
Will be done. Therefore, the register specified by the stack pointer stores the return information required to restart the interrupted processing. Therefore, if a subroutine process is executed in the power restoration process after the power is cut off, new restoration information is overwritten on the saved restoration information. For this reason, when performing a power recovery process at the time of power supply recovery in a gaming machine having an information storage function, a subroutine-based program cannot be executed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to divide a storage area for storing return information into a plurality of areas so that a subroutine program can be executed even in the case described above. A gaming machine that can be executed and has a reduced program storage capacity.

[0006]

Means and Effects for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a gaming machine according to claim 1 is provided with a control device for executing a plurality of processes. Individual program storage means for storing an individual program for executing an individual process for each process, and a common program for executing a part of processes common to at least two or more processes of the plurality of processes. Common program storage means, return information storage means for storing return information necessary for resuming execution of the individual program interrupted by executing the common program, and executing the individual program, Necessary to execute the common program and resume execution of the individual program interrupted by executing the common program. Processing means for storing appropriate return information in the return information storage means, and restarting the interrupted individual program based on the stored return information when the execution of the common program ends. The return information storage means is divided into a plurality of areas, and one of the divided areas is designated as an area for storing the return information for each individual program.

In the gaming machine, the return information storage means for storing return information is divided into a plurality of areas, and an area for storing return information is specified for each individual program. For this reason, an area for storing return information required by executing the common program while executing one individual program, and a return area required by executing the common program while executing another individual program The area for storing information can be a separate area. Therefore,
Executing another individual program without changing the return information stored by executing one individual program,
The common program can be executed during the execution.
Therefore, since there is no restriction when executing the common program as described above, the program can be further shared and the program storage capacity can be reduced.

[0008] Here, the above-mentioned "plurality of processes" include processes that are recognized as one of the processes that are largely used when controlling a gaming machine (for example, game processing, power-off processing, power recovery processing, etc.). From, processing that constitutes a part of these processing steps (for example, command creation processing that constitutes a part of the game processing)
Both are included.

Here, the method of specifying the area for storing the return information is not particularly limited, and the common program can be executed when another individual program is executed while the return information of a certain individual program is stored. Thus, it is only necessary that the areas for storing the return information when executing these two individual programs be different areas. Therefore, in the case of individual programs that do not need to have the above-described relationship, they may be stored in the same area. Also, in the case of storing in separate areas, any storage method may be used. Very good. For example, separate areas may be designated in advance, or separately from this, the saved return information may be copied to another area as needed, resulting in separate areas. Alternatively, the storage area may be appropriately changed according to the situation.

The game machine according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of processes include a game process performed during the game and a game process interrupted when power supply from an external power supply is cut off. A power-off process for storing information for performing the power-off process, and a power-recovery process for resuming the game process based on the information stored by the power-off process when the power supply from the external power supply is resumed. In this case, it is preferable that the area for storing the return information stored in the game processing and the area for storing the return information stored in the power recovery processing are specified differently.
According to the above-described configuration, since the return information stored in the game process and the return information stored in the power recovery process are stored in different areas, the return information required to restart the game process is changed. Without executing, the common program can be executed in the power recovery processing.

The gaming machine described in each of the above claims,
It is particularly effective when applied to pachinko machines, slot machines, and the like. This is because the pachinko machine has a limitation in the program storage capacity of the control device from the viewpoint of fraud prevention.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a main control unit of a first-class pachinko machine.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 1 is a front view showing an appearance of a first-type pachinko machine, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control unit of the pachinko machine according to the present embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a memory map, FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of a power supply unit 120, FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a process of a main control unit 100 when power is supplied, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a process of the control unit 100. Figure 1
As shown in the figure, on the game board surface 12 of the pachinko machine 10, a symbol display device 14, a first-type starting port 30, a special winning port 34, and the like are appropriately arranged. The first type starting port 30 is a starting port sensor 5
6 (not shown; however, shown in the block diagram of FIG. 2), and when the pachinko ball wins, like a normal winning opening,
Award ball device 60 provided on the back side of the game board (not shown;
However, a prize ball (prize ball) is paid out from the block diagram of FIG. 2). The winning opening 34 has an opening / closing lid 36, and the flat lid 36 has a solenoid 50 (not shown; however,
(Shown in the block diagram of FIG. 2). During the period in which the opening / closing lid 36 is opened, for example, a predetermined number of pachinko balls (generally, 10
The game ends when a prize is won or 30 seconds elapse after opening.

At approximately the center of the game board surface 12, a symbol display device 14 is assembled as shown in FIG. The symbol display device 14 is provided with a symbol indicator 22 and a reserved ball lamp 28 for displaying the number of times the special symbol has been changed. The symbol display 22 is composed of a liquid crystal display, and three special symbols are variably displayed on the screen under predetermined conditions. The special symbol displayed fluctuatingly on the symbol display 22 is a jackpot game state (the special winning opening 3) depending on the combination of the symbols when the fluctuation is stopped.
4 is released), and plays a role of making the player recognize whether or not to shift to (open state). Here, the symbols used as the special symbols include characters (alphanumeric characters and kanji), symbols, figures, pictures, and the like. In the present embodiment, numerals (0 to 9) are used. Although a liquid crystal display is used as the symbol display 22 in the present embodiment, a CRT display,
An LED display, a plasma display, or the like can be used.

As shown in FIG. 1, the gaming machine 10 includes a lower plate 40 for temporarily storing pachinko balls including prize balls and lending balls, and a cigarette butt, in addition to the gaming board surface 12 described above. An ashtray 42 to be inserted, an upper plate 46 which is a receiving tray for award balls, a speaker 52 provided inside the upper plate 46 and generating a sound effect according to a game state, and the like are provided. In addition, at an appropriate position on the front of the pachinko machine 10, there are provided lamps 16 and the like that emit light in accordance with the gaming state of the pachinko machine 10. Note that the structure and the like of these devices are the same as those provided in a known pachinko machine, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the configuration of an electrical system for realizing a pachinko game by the pachinko machine 10 will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the electric system of the pachinko machine 10 includes a main control unit 100 that controls the entire pachinko machine 10, and various electric devices (the gate sensor 54, the starting port sensor 56, and the like) connected to the main control unit 100. Solenoid 50, symbol display 22, prize ball device 60
And the like, and a power supply unit 120 that supplies power to the main control unit 100 and various electric devices connected to the main control unit 100.
It is composed of

The main control unit 100 includes a CPU 102,
ROM 1 connected to CPU 102 via bus 114
04, a RAM 106, an input processing circuit 108, an output processing circuit 110, a communication control circuit 112, and the like. CPU10
2 controls the pachinko machine 10 by executing various control programs stored in the ROM 104. ROM104
As shown in FIG. 3, the control program stored in the CPU includes processing for implementing a pachinko game (pachinko game processing), processing for saving the contents of the RAM 106 when a power failure occurs (power failure processing), and RAM 106 for recovering from a power failure. Processing to restart the game before the power failure based on the content saved in the game (power recovery processing)
A program for realizing the above is included. Specifically, the pachinko game processing, the power failure processing, and the power recovery processing described above include individual programs (game processing program storage area M1, power-off processing program storage area M2, power-off processing program storage area M2, Electric processing program storage area M
3) and a common program [for example, R
Program for Performing Abnormality Determination Process of AM 106 (Calculation of Checksum, etc.)].

As shown in FIG. 3, the RAM 106 executes the above-described pachinko game processing with the work area W for performing the work for executing each of the above-described programs and the unused area N in order from the top address. And a stack area S2 used when executing the above-described power restoration processing. Addresses 7F00H to 7FAAH are allocated to the work area W, and data (for example, various random numbers, the number of rounds, the number of reserved balls,
Probability variation data) and input / output signals are stored. Also,
The stack area S1 has addresses 7FC6H to 7FF1
The area up to H is allocated. This stack area S
1 includes return information (in the present embodiment, an address) for specifying a place to return to after executing the common program when an instruction is issued to execute a common program that has been converted into a subroutine during pachinko game processing. Is stored.
The position where the return information is stored is specified by a stack pointer. This stack pointer is set at the end address of each stack area at the time of initial setting, and is decremented by one each time return information is stored in the stack area. It has become so. Therefore, when the common program which is multiplexed into subroutines is executed, the return information is stored from the end of the stack area to the youngest address. When returning to the original processing using the return information stored in the stack area, the value of the stack pointer is incremented by one. The stack area S2 has an address 7FF0H
Areas up to 7FFFH are allocated. The stack area S2 also has basically the same function as the stack area S1. The stack area S2 stores return information when a common program converted into a subroutine is executed during power recovery processing. Has become. This RAM 10
The information stored in the storage unit 6 can be retained by the stored power stored in the backup circuit such as a capacitor of the power supply unit 120 during energization even after the energization is cut off. ing.

The input processing circuit 108 includes the gate sensor 5
4. It has a function of receiving a signal output from a sensor such as the start-up opening sensor 56 or a power failure signal output from a power failure detection unit 130 to be described later and converting the signal into a data format that can be processed in the main control unit 100. The output processing circuit 110
In response to the drive data transmitted from the PU 102 via the bus 114, the electronic device such as the solenoid 50 disposed in the pachinko machine 10 is driven. The communication control circuit 112
The display control unit 200, the prize ball control unit 300, and the like
This is a circuit for transmitting the command created in step (1). The display control unit 200 receives the command transmitted from the communication control circuit 112 and controls the symbol display 22. The prize ball control unit 300 receives the command transmitted from the communication control circuit 112. The prize ball device 60 is controlled. In addition, the sound control unit 400 includes the main control unit 1
Based on the command sent from 00, control is performed to generate a timely sound effect as a game effect. For example, when a sound effect corresponding to the effect is generated in accordance with the symbol change of the symbol display 22 and a prize is won in the starting opening during the generation of the variable effect sound, the volume of the current effect sound is reduced, and the prize is simultaneously won. Control is performed so that a sound is generated spontaneously. In addition, during a big hit, a prize sound to a specific winning opening for shifting to the next round is simultaneously generated by reducing the volume of the effect sound effect during the big hit, or when a prize is made during the last round. Conversely, control is performed such that the prize sound is squeezed and generated at a volume that is not recognized by the player, or the effect sound during a big hit is squeezed and the prize sound is changed to a different sound and generated simultaneously. Will be As described above, when the conditions for generating a plurality of sound effects are satisfied, the sound control unit 400 according to the present embodiment performs control to make the player more easily recognize the sound effect to be appealed by the player. The display control unit 200, the symbol display unit 22, and the prize ball control unit 30
0, the prize ball device 60, the sound control unit 400, and the speaker 52,
Since it is the same as a conventionally known pachinko machine and does not particularly characterize the present invention, the description thereof is omitted here.

The power supply unit 120 includes a voltage transformer 140 for rectifying and smoothing a 24 V AC power supplied from an external power supply into a DC supply power supply having a voltage corresponding to each of the electrical components mounted on the pachinko machine 10, And a power failure detection unit 130 that outputs a power failure signal to each control unit (the main control unit 100, the prize ball control unit 300, and the like) of the pachinko machine 10 when the power supply from the external power supply is cut off for the reason described above. As shown in FIG.
Rectifier circuits 142a and 142b for rectifying a power supply waveform;
Smoothing circuits (diodes D1, D2, D3, for smoothing the pulsating waveforms rectified by the rectifier circuits 142a and 142b.
D4 and capacitors C1, C2, C3 and C4), and
It is composed of constant voltage circuits IC1, IC2 and IC3 for converting the waveform smoothed by the smoothing circuit into a constant voltage. In such a voltage transformer 140, the constant voltage circuit I
The +5 V signal generated by C1 is
0 is supplied. Further, at the time of power interruption such as a power failure, the power stored while power is being supplied to the capacitor C1 is supplied to the main control unit 100, so that the main control unit 100 can perform processing after power interruption. Become. Further, the +5 V signal output from the constant voltage circuit IC1 is separated in parallel and connected to the information storage output terminal VBB of the main control unit 100 via the diode D5 and the capacitor C5. And this capacitor C5
The power stored in the RAM is supplied to the RAM 106 of the main control unit 100 when power is cut off due to a power failure or the like.
6 is held.

Next, the processing of the main control unit 100 configured as described above will be described. First, a process performed by the main control unit 100 when the power is turned on to the pachinko machine 10 and a normal pachinko game process is executed will be described.

(1) Pachinko game processing When the power is turned on, the power supply section 120 sends the main control section 10
When the power supply is started to 0 and the voltage applied to the main control unit 100 reaches a predetermined voltage, the processing described below is started. The processing of the main control unit 100 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5, the processing from step S08 to step S14 corresponds to the pachinko game processing. Here, the description will be made from the time of power-on (from step S01). Further, a series of processes of steps S01 to S05, step S15, and step S16 corresponds to a power recovery process, which will be described later in detail.

As shown in FIG. 5, after the power is turned on,
In the main control unit 100, first, an address 8000H is set in the stack pointer (S01). Therefore,
When the subroutine common program is executed in this state, the return information is stored at the address 8000H. Next, an initialization process of the main control unit 100 is performed (S02). Specifically, initialization of the CPU 102,
Initialization of each input / output port is performed. And RAM1
A checksum is calculated to determine the abnormality of 06 (S03). The checksum is an added value obtained by adding the values of the respective registers of the RAM 106 by a predetermined method, and the process of calculating the checksum is performed by executing a common program that has been converted into a subroutine as described above. Therefore, the return information at the time of calculating the checksum in step S03 is obtained by subtracting 1 from the pointer value,
06 address 7FFFH (end of stack area S2)
Is stored in Next, it is determined whether or not the RAM erase switch has been turned on (operated) (S04). Where R
The AM erasure switch is a switch operated to erase the information stored when the power is turned off. That is, the switch is operated when it is not necessary to restart the game using the stored information (for example, at the start of business the next day after the power is turned off due to the end of business, etc.). Then, a signal is output to the main control unit 100. Therefore, in step S04, main control unit 100 determines whether or not a signal output by operating the RAM erase switch has been received. RAM
If the erase switch has been operated (YES in step S04), the process proceeds to step S06, and if the RAM erase switch has not been operated (NO in step S04), whether there is any abnormality in RAM 106 next. Is determined (S05). That is, if the information stored in the RAM 106 has been destroyed for some reason, it is not possible to resume the game using that information, so it is first determined whether or not the information in the RAM 106 can be used.
As a specific method, it is determined whether the checksum value calculated in step S03 matches a normal value. RA
When there is abnormality in M106 [YES in step S05]
In this case, the process proceeds to step S06, and if there is no abnormality in the RAM 106 [NO in step S05], the process proceeds to the process of restarting the process based on the stored information (S15, S16). The contents of the processing in steps S15 and S16 will be described later. In step S06, the main control unit 100
Is cleared (S06), and the address 7FF0H is set to the value of the stack pointer (S07). Therefore, in the pachinko game process from step S08, the return value is stored in order from the end of the stack area S1 (address 7FF1H) by subtracting 1 from the pointer value.

In the pachinko game process, first, an output data creation process is performed (S10). In the output data creation processing, a solenoid for opening and closing the large winning prize opening 34 based on detection signals output from various sensors (the gate sensor 54, the starting opening sensor 56, etc.) provided in the pachinko machine 10 is provided. 50) is generated. The generated output data is output to each electrical device by an interrupt process (hereinafter, simply referred to as a CTC interrupt process) by a CTC interrupt timer separately provided in the main control unit 100. When the output data creation process is completed, a command creation process is performed (S11). In the command creation processing, various sensors (gate sensor 54, starting port sensor 5) provided in the pachinko machine are used.
6), etc., based on the detection signal output, a command to be transmitted to sub-control units such as the display control unit 200 and the prize ball control unit 300 is created. For example, an award ball command for instructing payout of award balls is created in the award ball control unit 200, and a symbol change command for instructing the symbol control unit to change a special symbol is created. The created command is transmitted to each control unit by the same CTC interrupt processing. When the command creation process is completed, an external information creation process is performed (S1).
2). In this external information creating process, during the number of jackpots and the probability fluctuation, a ball-out notification is output to a notification device (symbol display 22, lamp 16, speaker 52, external computer, etc.) to notify a player, a hall clerk, and the like. Information to be created. The created information is also output to each device by the CTC interrupt processing. Next, step S13
Then, a random number update process is performed. In this random number update processing, creation / update of an initial value random number and creation / update of a lost pattern are performed.
When the process of step S13 is completed, a checksum is calculated next (S14). This calculation of the checksum is performed by executing a subroutine-based common program, similarly to the case where the checksum is calculated in step S03. After calculating the checksum, the process returns to step S08 and repeats the pachinko game process from step S08 to step S14. Note that each of the above CTCs
Even when the interrupt processing is executed, the return information for returning to the original processing is stored. The storage location is stored in the stack area S1 specified in step S07.
Will be stored.

(2) Processing at Power Shutdown Next, the operation of the pachinko machine 10 when the power supply to the pachinko machine 10 is cut off due to a power failure or unexpected power OFF will be described. When power supply from the external power supply to the pachinko machine 10 is interrupted, a power failure signal is output from the power failure detection unit 130 of the power supply unit 120 to the main control unit 100. Power failure detection unit 1
The power outage signal output from 30 is input to an NMI terminal (non-maskable interrupt terminal) of the main control unit 100, and the main control unit 100 performs a power outage process. The power supplied to the main control unit 100 for a predetermined time after the power failure signal is output (the time required for performing the power failure process) is stored when the capacitor C1 of the power supply unit 120 is energized as described above. Powered by electricity.

Hereinafter, a power failure process executed in the main control unit 100 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the main control unit 100 receiving the power failure signal
Firstly, the information (address in the program) for specifying the location of the processing being executed when the power failure signal is received is stored in the RA
It is stored in the stack area S1 of M106 (S20). Next, the current value of the stack pointer is stored in the work area W of the RAM 106 (S21). Therefore, in the power restoration process described later, the information (address) stored in step S20 is specified by the value of the stack pointer stored in step S21, and the process when power is cut off is restarted. When such processing is completed, a checksum is calculated (S22). The process of calculating the checksum is performed by executing a subroutine common program, and the return information is stored at the address next to the address stored in step S20. As described above, the value of the stack pointer is also updated in the processing after step S21, but since the value of the stack pointer stored in step S21 is used in the power recovery processing, this is not affected. . Then, the main control unit 100 stores the checksum calculated in step S22 at a predetermined address of the RAM 106 (S23), and finally prohibits access to the RAM 106 and ends the power failure process (S24). Note that power is supplied to the RAM 106 from an information storage power supply (constituted by a capacitor C5) separately provided in the power supply unit 120 when power is cut off, and the information stored in the RAM 106 is held for a predetermined time.

(3) Power restoration processing at the time of restoration of energization Next, FIG. 5 shows the power restoration processing of the main control unit 100 that resumes the interrupted processing by using the information saved in the RAM 106 by the above-described power failure processing. It will be described with reference to FIG.
In the pachinko machine 10 according to the present embodiment, the RAM 1
In order to restart the interrupted process using the information stored in the 06, the power to the pachinko machine 10 is turned on without operating the RAM erase switch. When the power is turned on, the main control unit 100 executes S01 to S05, S
15 and the processing of S16 (power recovery processing). Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the main control unit 100 first sets an address 8000H to a stack pointer (S01). Therefore, when the common program converted into a subroutine is executed in the power restoration process, the return information is stored in order from the address 7FFFH of the stack area S2. Next, an initialization process of the main control unit 100 is performed (S02), and a checksum is calculated to determine abnormality of the RAM 106 (S03). The process of calculating the checksum is performed by executing the subroutine common program as described above, and the return information is stored in the stack area S2 at the address 7FFFH. Next, the RAM erase switch is turned on (operation)
It is determined whether the operation has been performed (S04). Here, since the power recovery process becomes valid when the RAM erase switch is not operated, the determination in step S04 is NO and the process proceeds to step S05. In step S05,
It is determined whether there is any abnormality in the RAM 106 (S0
5). When executing the power recovery process, the determination in step S05 is NO, and the process proceeds to step S15.
The value of the stack pointer is stored in step S2 in the power failure process
1 (see FIG. 6) is set to the value stored (S15). Then, based on the value of the stack pointer set in step S15, the register (the register saved in step S20 of the power-off processing shown in FIG. 6) is restored (S16).
The power restoration process ends. Therefore, when the above-described power restoration process ends, the main control unit 100 starts the process based on the return information (the address stored in step S20 of the power failure process) specified by the stack pointer set in step S15. , Main control unit 100
Is returned to the interrupted address when the power supply is cut off, and the interrupted process is resumed.

Next, a specific description will be given with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8 in order to make it easier to understand the technique of using the stack area according to the present invention. FIGS. 7 and 8 are diagrams for explaining the relationship between the program and the stack when moving to the subroutine processing. 7 and 8 show an example in which a 1-byte data transfer process is performed as a subroutine process. The program shown in FIG. 7 starts with an instruction to jump to a program counter (hereinafter simply referred to as PC) 0100 [address PC0000]. And PC0
When we move to address 100, the value of the stack pointer becomes 8000
The address is set. As a result, when the subroutine processing is performed by the subsequent instruction, the return information (the address of the PC) is stored in order from the address 7FFF obtained by subtracting 1 from the address 8000. Then, when address PC0200 is reached, a subroutine process for the label "DATA" is performed. At this time, the address 0203 of the PC that returns when this subroutine processing is completed is stored in the stack area. That is, 02 is stored in the stack area 7FFF, and 03 is stored in the 7FFE address. In the subroutine processing, the contents (data) of address 7F00 are transferred to address 7F50, and when the processing is completed, the processing returns to the original processing based on the information (PC value) stored in the stack area by the RET instruction. That is, the process returns to address PC0203 to resume the process. Further, when the processing proceeds and the game processing is started, the stack pointer is set to the address 7FF0 at the address PC0300. Thus, when the subroutine processing is performed in the game processing to be performed thereafter, the return information (the value of the PC) is stored in the address 7FFE obtained by subtracting 1 from the address 7FF0. That is, when the subroutine processing of the label "DATA" is performed after proceeding to the address PC0400, the PC value 0403 which is returned when the subroutine processing is completed is stored in a predetermined address of the stack area. That is, the stack area 7F
04 is stored in the EF address, and 03 is stored in the 7FEE address. When the sub-routine processing is completed, the PC
Returning to address 0403, the processing is restarted.

In the power-off program shown in FIG. 8, when a power failure signal is first received at the NMI terminal, the address of the PC under execution (in the example shown in FIG. 8, address PC0450) is stored in the stack area. Is done. That is, PC03
04 is stored in the address 7FEF of the stack area designated by the address 00, and 05 is stored in the address 7FEE.
When the address becomes PC0066, the label "DAT"
The subroutine process "A" is called. At this time, as in the case described above, the address of the PC returning after the completion of the subroutine processing is stored in the stack area. That is, 00 is stored in the stack area 7FED address, and
69 is stored in the EC address. When this subroutine processing is completed, the process returns to PC0069 and the processing is restarted. The processing at the time of power-off is terminated by stopping the CPU by the HALT instruction. When the processing at the time of power-off is completed, the information stored in the stack area is 7
It is stored after the FEF address. Therefore, the stack area used in the power restoration process performed at the time of restoration of power supply is 7
Since the address is different from the FFF address, the information stored in the stack area when the power is turned off is not changed, and a program converted into a subroutine can be executed in the power recovery processing (in the example shown in FIG. 7, the label "DATA" is used). The subroutine process can be called and executed immediately after the restoration of power recovery.)

As is clear from the above description, in the pachinko machine 10 according to the present embodiment, the stack area S1 of the RAM 106 is used in the pachinko game processing, and the stack area S2 is used in the power restoration processing. Therefore, the information stored in the stack area S1 (information for resuming the interrupted process) is not changed even if the subroutine common program is used in the power restoration process. Therefore, a common program (checksum calculation process) converted into a subroutine from the power restoration process can be performed, and the program storage capacity of the main control unit 100 can be reduced.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the present invention can be variously modified and improved based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. It can be implemented in the form described.

For example, in the above embodiment,
Although the main control unit 100 is an example in which different stack areas are designated and used for the pachinko game processing and the power recovery processing, it is needless to say that the technique of the present invention saves predetermined information at the time of power failure and saves the information at the time of power recovery. The present invention can be applied to other control units (for example, the prize ball control unit 300 that controls the prize ball device 60, the symbol control unit 200 that controls the symbol display device 22, and the like) that execute the power restoration process using the information. .

The above-described embodiment is an example in which the present invention is applied to a pachinko machine.
For example, the present invention can also be applied to various game machines such as an arrangement hall machine (a machine in which a predetermined number of steel balls are injected onto a game board to establish a predetermined hit state), a slot machine, a sparrow ball game machine, and a pachislot machine. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external front view of a pachinko machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system of the pachinko machine shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a memory map of a main control unit.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a power supply unit.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a process at the time of energization in a main control unit

FIG. 6 is a flowchart at the time of energization cutoff in a main control unit.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a relationship between a program and a stack when the process proceeds to a subroutine process.

FIG. 8 is a view for explaining the relationship between a program and a stack when the processing shifts to a subroutine processing in a power-off process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10. Pachinko machine 100 Main control unit 200 Prize ball control unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A gaming machine having a control device for executing a plurality of processes, the control device comprising: an individual program storage means for storing an individual program for executing an individual process for each of the plurality of processes; Common program storage means for storing a common program for executing a part of a process common to at least two or more processes of the plurality of processes, and restarting execution of the individual program interrupted by executing the common program Return information storage means for storing return information necessary for executing the individual program, executing the common program as needed, and executing the individual program interrupted by executing the common program Is stored in the return information storage means, and the execution of the common program is terminated. Processing means for resuming the interrupted individual program based on the stored return information, wherein the return information storage means is divided into a plurality of areas, and the divided areas are divided for each individual program. A game machine characterized in that one of them is designated as an area for storing return information. 2. The plurality of processes include a game process performed during a game and a power-off state for storing information for resuming the game process interrupted when power from an external power supply is cut off. And power recovery processing for restarting the game processing based on the information saved by the power-off processing when power supply from the external power supply is restarted. 2. The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein an area in which the information is stored is different from an area in which the return information is stored in the power restoration process.