JP2003062162A - Slot machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a slot machine capable of generating a special game state considered to be a game mode advantageous to a player without depending on only mere drawing processing. SOLUTION: In the slot machine 1, the generation condition of an assist time defined as the game mode advantageous relatively to a player than usual time is stored in a ROM 31a. A CPU 30a reads the generation condition from the ROM 31a and carries out decision processing on whether the result of a game within a prescribed decision game period satisfies the read generation condition. Then, when the slot machine 1 is shifted to the decision game period, the generation condition is given as information identifiable for the player by a liquid crystal display part 19 and a speaker 17.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to so-called challenge time (hereinafter abbreviated as CT) and assist time (hereinafter A).
The present invention relates to a slot machine configured to exhibit a special game state defined as a game mode that is more advantageous to a player than a normal game, such as T), replay time (hereinafter abbreviated as RT), and a central role.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, slot machines constructed so as to exhibit special game states such as CT, AT, and RT have become popular in addition to the conventional winning games such as big bonus games and regular bonus games. ing. There are various types of game control modes in these states, but a control that presents a very preferable state for the player, such as a specific winning combination is likely to be won, medals can be obtained one after another, or medals do not easily decrease from the hand. Is executed.

The requirements for occurrence of these special game states vary, but it is generally determined by the following mechanism whether or not to shift to those states. That is, in advance, a random number lottery process is performed during a normal game that is not in a special game such as a bonus game, or a random number lottery process is performed when a big bonus flag is established. It has been done.

[0004]

Therefore, whether or not the above-mentioned conditions such as CT and AT occur depends on luck, and it is no exaggeration to say that there is no room for the player to intervene. And this is one of the causes of lack of playability of the slot machine. The slot machine is configured so that the player himself can stop the reels, and is most characterized in that he can actively participate in the game. From the viewpoint of playability, it is better not to have a mechanism that hinders active participation in the game.

Therefore, the present invention provides CT, AT and RT.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a slot machine configured to be able to generate a special state such as, without depending on a simple lottery.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problem and Actions / Effects In order to solve the above problems, the slot machine of the present invention causes a special game state defined as a game mode that is relatively advantageous for a player as compared with a normal time. A storage device in which the conditions are stored, and an arithmetic device that reads out the generation condition from the storage device and executes a determination process as to whether or not the game result within a predetermined determination game period satisfies the read out generation condition, When the slot machine shifts to the determination game period, a notification device that notifies the occurrence condition as information that can be identified by the player, is provided.

Generally speaking, the special game state defined as a game mode relatively more advantageous than the normal time is, as described above, various bonus games represented by big bonus games and regular bonus games, CT,
There are AT, RT, and a central role. These are CPs according to a program stored in advance in a ROM (fixed storage device).
Normally, a lottery process is executed by a control device centering on a U (arithmetic device) and a RAM (main storage device), and the result of the lottery usually determines whether or not the generation condition is satisfied.

In the present invention, the following is carried out regardless of such a complete lottery process. A storage device such as a ROM stores a control program on the premise that the generation condition of the special game state is disclosed to the player using a notification device such as a liquid crystal screen. The timing of disclosing the occurrence condition of the special game state to the player indicates the above-mentioned determination game period and corresponds to, for example, various bonus games. Then, based on the game result obtained by the player within the determination game period, it is determined by a computing device such as a CPU whether to generate a special game state. The criterion for determination is, of course, stored as the above-mentioned control program, and is read out as necessary.

The game result within the judgment game period is the result of the game played by the player, and can be exemplified by the number of medals obtained during that period, the number of winnings of a specific winning combination, the game time, and the like. In most cases, these can be finely adjusted by the player's own intention by operating the stop button. Therefore, there is room for the player to intervene regarding whether or not an advantageous mode such as CT or AT occurs. In this way, it is possible to provide a slot machine that has acquired new game playability by breaking away from complete machine-side control.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, FIG. 1 is a front view of the slot machine of the present invention. Slot machine 1
The front part has a housing configured by an opening / closing door, and three reels formed in an annular shape are accommodated in the housing. Each of the three reels is attached with cells with a pattern as shown in FIG. 3, and a stepping motor for individually rotating them is attached to the center of the ring, and the variable display unit is attached. Is formed. Each reel is visible through the display window 18.

The mechanism of operation of the slot machine 1 is shown in FIG.
Using a block diagram schematically showing the circuit configuration of, a description will be given together with the game procedure. First, when a medal is inserted into the medal insertion slot 10, the number of inserted medals is detected by the inserted medal detection unit, and the activated lines 12, 13, 14 are accordingly detected.
Is activated and the lamp corresponding to each line is lit. Almost at the same time when the pay line is activated, the start lever 11 for starting the game is also activated. Each activated line corresponds to the number of inserted coins of 1 to 3, and the coins of more than that are accumulated as credit medals and displayed on the credit display unit 21. Also BE
When the T button 15 is operated, the credit medal is used for the game. The credit can be canceled by operating the settlement button 16.

When the start lever 11 is operated to start the game, the reel is rotated and the display window 1
Symbols are displayed one after another through 8 to be displayed in a variable manner. After the variable display of the symbols is started, the stop buttons 20L, 20C, 20R corresponding to the respective reels are activated.
And these stop buttons 20L, 20C, 20R
The motor stop signal is output based on the operation of the, and the stepping motor and the reel attached thereto stop operating. At this time, when the symbols lined up on the activated line indicate a predetermined prize mode, the prize is won and the medals are paid out (some prizes are not paid out).
The number of payout medals is displayed on the payout display unit 22 formed of, for example, an LED.

Speakers 17, 17 functioning as an informing device for providing audio information to the player are provided in a pair on the upper part of the housing. Further, a liquid crystal display unit 19 that functions as a notification device that provides image information to the player is provided between the speakers 17 and 17. With these notification devices, information about the game image,
The player is informed of colors, sounds, or a combination thereof.

Description will be made by moving to the block diagram of FIG. As shown in the figure, the control device of the slot machine 1 includes CPUs 30a and 30b, which are arithmetic devices, and ROMs 31a and 31b, which are read-only storage devices in which various programs and / or various determination tables are stored in advance. A main board 100 (main control unit) and a sub-board 101, each of which has a RAM 31a, 31b as a work area, which is a main storage device during operation of the slot machine 1.
(Sub-control unit).

On the main board 100, detection signals from sensors provided in various operating sections are input to the CPU 30a via an I / O interface (not shown). Sensors in various operating parts are the start lever sensor 1
1 ', stop button sensor 20L', 20C ', 20
R ', input medal sensor 15', payment button sensor 1
6'and the like are exemplified. The process while the game is being played is executed according to the progress of the game in such a manner that the sequence program stored in the ROM 31a is sequentially read by the CPU 30a and temporarily stored in the RAM 32a. The execution result of the processing is obtained from the CPU 30a via the I / O interface in each operation unit (stepping motor 25
It is output to the medal payout unit 23, various display units 21 and 22, lamps, etc.).

The stepping motor 25 has a CPU 30a.
The operation is controlled by the drive pulse signal output from the. When a predetermined number of drive pulse signals are output from the CPU 30a to the stepping motor 25, the pulse counter stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 31a is counted up. The value of the pulse counter is
Since it corresponds to each of the 21 symbols, the CPU 30a accurately grasps the information as to which symbol is at which position during the reel rotation. This pulse counter memory is cleared every time the reel 26 makes one rotation. The rotation of the reel 26 is sensed by the rotation detection unit 27 for each rotation, and is input to the CPU 30a as a reel rotation signal. In this way, since the reel 26 is controlled accurately, no error such as showing the prize mode even if the winning combination is not realized does not occur.

On the other hand, the liquid crystal display unit 19 and the speaker 17 described above are directly controlled by the sub-board 101 (sub-control unit). The sub-board 101 controls a device for game production, is electrically connected to the main board 100, and has various I / O interfaces provided by the sub-board 101, which are provided with various signals by one-way communication from the main board 100. It controls the liquid crystal display unit 19, the speaker 17 and the like based on the reception via the.

The sub-board 101 is electrically connected to the AMP 17A (amplifier) and the display control board 19A via an I / O interface (not shown). The ROM 31b stores a display image program, display image data, a voice program, a voice data, etc., and the CPU 30b according to the operation of the slot machine 1.
Read out and stored in the RAM 32b. Along with the execution of each program, the display control board 19A, the AMP 17A
An image data signal and an audio data signal are output respectively to the. The liquid crystal display unit 19 adopts a form controlled via the display control board 19A.

Now, the prize mode of the slot machine 1 will be described. FIG. 3 shows the symbol arrangement of the slot machine 1 and the winning mode thereof. As shown in (a), there are 3 cells each with 21 patterns drawn in each column.
It is attached corresponding to the reel of the body. When each reel stops, if the symbol stops on the above-mentioned effective line in the mode shown in (b), it is a prize.

As the winning combination in the slot machine 1, a big bonus, a regular bonus, two winning combinations, a replay, and 12 types of 15 winning combinations are pre-programmed as prizes (bonus in and jack in:
Only valid during big or regular bonus games). Of these, when a big bonus or a regular bonus is won, a special game mode (collectively referred to as a bonus game mode) corresponding to each is started.

In the slot machine 1, a special game mode different from the bonus game mode is programmed to occur when a predetermined condition is satisfied. The game mode is a game mode generally called an assist time (= AT), and when the flag of the combination of 15 cards is established, the player is notified so that which of the 12 types is established can be identified. It is a game mode. This is very advantageous for the player, because winning a winning combination of 15 cards becomes much easier than usual.

A technique for determining and controlling the occurrence of the bonus game mode by a random number lottery process executed for each game is well known and will not be described.

A control method until the occurrence of AT will be described. The characteristic flow is picked up and explained as follows. That is, the AT generation condition defined as a game mode that is relatively advantageous to the player as compared with the normal time is:
It is stored in the ROM 31a. The CPU 30a reads the generation condition from the ROM 31a, and executes a determination process as to whether or not the game result within a predetermined determination game period satisfies the read generation condition. Then, when the slot machine 1 shifts to the determination game period, the above-described generation condition is notified by the liquid crystal display unit 19 and the speaker 17 as information that can be identified by the player.

Specifically, during the determination game period, for example, the above-mentioned bonus game mode different from AT can be adopted. In most bonus game modes, the number of games is preset.
It is suitable for setting a predetermined game period. Alternatively, it may be during the time when the games are played a predetermined number of times after the bonus game modes are finished. The game result within the determination game period is stored in the game result memory of the RAM 32a while being sequentially updated within the determination game period. Alternatively, a third special game state (chance time) different from the bonus game mode and the AT can be generated by the random number lottery process, and the determination game period can be set during the chance time. In the present embodiment, the big bonus game is set as the determination game period.

Specifically, the above-mentioned game result can be set, for example, to the number of medals to be won, the number of small winning games (when the big bonus game is in the judgment playing period), the number of winnings of a specific winning combination, and the like.

FIG. 6 shows a conceptual diagram of a determination table for determining AT occurrence, which is stored in the ROM 31a. The AT occurrence conditions are stored in the ROM 31a, which are classified into a plurality of types such as the number of acquired games, the number of small winning games, and the number of times of winning a specific winning combination. Then, by the CPU 30a, one of the plurality of types
Information is selectively read as information to be used in the subsequent determination process. Each of them is selected by random number lottery with a probability of 3/10. If ANY is won, the AT flag is surely turned ON and AT occurs after the bonus game ends. In this way, since the AT generation condition changes variously, it is possible to realize a variety of game effects.

Further, as shown in the conceptual diagram of the determination table of FIG. 6, the AT generation conditions are classified into two or more (three levels of levels 1 to 3 in this embodiment) stepwise condition achievement level. It is stored in the ROM 31a, and the CPU 30a executes determination processing for determining which condition achievement level the game result in the big bonus game corresponds to when the big bonus game ends, and the AT according to the determination processing result. The game control form in is changed. In a simple manner, it is possible to preferably adopt a mode in which the number of AT games obtained varies depending on the achievement level even if the same occurrence condition is satisfied. However, it is not limited to this form. The value at each level is changed by the level value fluctuation parameter (represented by p, q, and r, respectively) each time the judgment game period is entered, which contributes to unpredictable game production. . The parameters p, q, and r can be easily changed by a known random number lottery process.

For example, when the "acquired number" is selected as the generation condition, it is divided into level 1 to level 3 among them, and the number of AT games to be generated later is 10 times in a form corresponding to each level. , 20 times, 30 times and so on. When it does not fall into any of the levels, it is out of sync and no AT occurs. As described above, since there is enough room for the player to intervene regarding whether or not AT occurs, the player tries to participate in the game more actively. Since it is not just a lottery process by a computer, interest in the game is greatly increased. In addition, as shown in the figure, A corresponding to each level
The number of T games is also set to change each time by random number lottery processing.

4 (a) to 4 (d) show examples of display screens on the liquid crystal display section 19 when each generation condition is selected. The number of AT games depending on the AT generation condition, the level (10 to 30 times), and the achievement status of the AT generation condition are "current acquisition number", "current cherry acquisition number", etc. in real time. Is displayed in. As shown in (c), the number of AT games may not be displayed. "ANY" shown in (d) indicates that the AT is surely entered.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a display screen on the liquid crystal display unit 19 during AT. During AT, you can navigate which of the 12 types of 15 winning combinations has been established by the symbol (see Fig. 5 (a)), so if you aim for the symbol as it is, you will win the 15 winning role. Cheap. The number of remaining AT games is also displayed. The audio information using the speaker 17 is also notified in synchronization. In this way, the navigation of the winning combination is executed by the image, the color, the sound, or a combination thereof.

When the above control is expressed in a form along the flow of actual processing, it becomes roughly as shown in the flow charts of FIGS. 7, 8 and 9. In the slot machine 1, the control regarding the AT is executed by the above-described sub board 101.

First, when a game start signal is input from the main board 100 (S1), it is determined whether the signal includes a big flag signal (S2). Big flag signal, in the game that won the big bonus,
This signal is output from the CPU 30a of the main board 100 and input to the CPU 30b of the sub board 101. S2
In case it is judged that the big flag is not included,
In the next step S3, it is determined whether or not the AT flag = 1. The AT flag is stored in the RAM 32b and indicates that the ON (= 1) state is AT. When it is determined that the AT flag is not turned on, the normal display process is executed (S4) and the process returns. If the AT flag is ON, the process proceeds to the step for executing the AT process.

When it is determined in S2 that the big flag is included, it is determined in the next step S5 whether or not the AT flag = 1. When the AT flag = 1,
The AT mark on the liquid crystal display 19 is once erased (S1
3) At the same time, the display process for winning the big bonus is executed (S14), and after the big bonus game is over, the AT mark is displayed again and the AT game is restarted (S15).

If it is determined in S5 that the AT flag is not 1, the AT generation condition determination table described above is selected by a known random number lottery process (S6).
When a big bonus establishment signal is newly input to the CPU 30b from the CPU 30a of the main board 100 (S
7) The liquid crystal display unit 19 is switched to the big medium screen (S8), and the AT generation condition previously read from the ROM 31b and stored in the RAM 32b is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 19 (9). .

During the big bonus, a process of displaying the AT occurrence condition and the achievement degree thereof is executed (S10). Succeedingly, when a big bonus end signal is received in S11, a game result determination process during the big bonus stored in the RAM 32b is executed (S12).

Turning to FIG. 8, the process of determining the game result during the big bonus (within the determination game period) will be described. First, it is judged whether or not the game result corresponds to any level of the selected judgment table (in this case, "judgment"
Are also synonymous with each other) (S20). If the level does not correspond to any of the levels, it means that the AT is out of order, so that a process of displaying a misalignment message is executed on the liquid crystal display unit 19 (S25), and in the subsequent step S26, the screen is switched to the normal display screen.

When it is determined in S20 that the level corresponds to any of the levels, the AT flag memory in the RAM 32b is turned on (S21), and the AT game number is set in the AT counter memory. In the following step S23, a process of displaying the AT rush message on the liquid crystal display unit 19 is executed (S23), and the screen is switched to the in-AT screen (S24). Then, the process proceeds to the step of executing the AT processing.

Turning to FIG. 9, processing during AT will be described. In the AT game, the navigation of 15 winning combinations is executed. Therefore, first, in S30, it is determined whether or not the 15-combination winning flag has been input. If the flag is not input, the process returns. If the flag for the 15-card combination is included (input), the AT counter memory is read in step S31. If the AT counter is not 1, the flag establishment symbol is displayed (S32) (see FIG. 5A). AT
When the counter = 1, the number of remaining AT games is 1, so that "????" is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 19 (S33) (see FIG. 5B).

When the game end signal is input in the subsequent step S34, the AT counter is decremented (S35). While updating the number of remaining AT games is executed (S36), it is determined whether or not AT counter = 0. If the AT counter is not 0, the AT is continued, and the process returns.

If the AT counter = 0, it is determined in a succeeding step S38 whether or not 15 winning combinations have been won in the AT final game. In this embodiment, the navigation is not executed only in the final game of AT. In the final game without navigation, when 15 winning combinations can be won, the AT counter is reset to the initial value (S39). That is, it becomes possible to continuously play AT games under the same conditions.

In S40, after the update process of the AT remaining game number display is executed, the AT restart message display process is executed (S41). In the AT final game, if the winning combination of 15 cards is not won, it means that the AT has ended, so the end message display processing is executed (S42), and the AT flag stored in the RAM 32b becomes O.
It is FFed and returns.

As another aspect for regenerating AT, the following method can be exemplified. For example, a case where a specific winning combination (not limited to 15 winning combinations) wins a predetermined number of times or more during the AT game, a case where a specific winning combination wins in the AT final game, and the like can be illustrated. The process flow in this case is A
With the T flag ON, the flow of a lottery of a specific combination and the number of times to win the prize → storing in memory → AT game digestion → determination as to whether or not the condition is cleared when AT ends is shown. The case is almost the same.

Further, in this embodiment, if the AT generation condition is satisfied, the AT flag is immediately set to O in the next step.
N (see S20 and S21 in FIG. 8-), but A
The AT lottery process is provided as step S20 ′ in the step before the T flag is turned on. If the lottery is won, the AT flag is turned on, and if the lottery is missed, the AT disengagement process (proceeding to S25 in FIG. 8) is performed. It may be performed.

As another aspect of the step S20 ', the following method can be exemplified. That is, when it is determined in step S20 of FIG. 8 that the AT condition is satisfied, a random number lottery determination table for high probability is read from the ROM 31b and used for lottery in subsequent step S20 ′. When it is determined that the AT condition is not satisfied, the low probability random number lottery determination table is read.

Further, when it is determined in step S2 of FIG. 7 that the big bonus flag is input, a lottery is executed to determine whether or not the big bonus game is to be the AT determination game period, and the lottery is won. Only when the determination game period is reached, the AT generation condition may be displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 19 as shown in FIG. Alternatively, whether or not to notify the AT occurrence condition itself may be determined by a lottery.

In this way, if the determination based on the probability is also used while leaving room for the player to intervene, it is easy to predict the exit rate, so that it is easy to manage even at a game shop or the like. Also, since the processing steps can be complicated compared to the conventional one,
It also leads to prevention of fraud, such as radio wave goto in a game store (attempting to illegally obtain a medal by malfunctioning a computer by using electromagnetic waves).

Further, in the notification mode of the flag establishment symbol shown in FIG. 5 (a), the notification operation of all three reels is executed, but only a part of the flag establishment symbol (for example, corresponding to the left reel). You may make it display only a design). Whether or not all of these symbols are displayed can be determined according to the level of the AT generation condition described above.

As described above, according to the present invention, therefore, AT, C
With regard to whether or not a game mode advantageous to the player such as T and RT occurs, there is room for the player to intervene, and a slot machine that has gained a new gaming property by getting out of complete machine-side control. It becomes possible to provide. It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the scope of the invention. It should be noted that the attached drawings are schematic and conceptual for understanding and do not limit the invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a slot machine of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing a circuit configuration of a slot machine.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a symbol array and a prize mode.

FIG. 4 is a display example of a liquid crystal screen during a determination game period.

FIG. 5 is a display example of a liquid crystal screen in a special game state.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram of a determination table used to determine a game result within a determination game period.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing executed by the sub control board during the special game state.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart following FIG. 7;

9 is a flowchart following FIG. 7.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 slot machine 17 Speaker (Notification device) 19 Liquid crystal display (notification device) 30a, 30b CPU (arithmetic unit) 31a, 31b ROM (storage device) 32a, 32b RAM (storage device) 100 Main board (main control unit) 101 Sub board (sub control unit)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A storage device in which a condition for generating a special game state, which is defined as a game mode that is relatively more advantageous to a player than a normal time, is stored, and the generation condition is read from the memory device, and a predetermined determination is made. When the game result in the game period determines whether or not the read out occurrence condition is satisfied, an arithmetic unit, and when the slot machine concerned shifts to the determination game period, the occurrence condition is set by the player. A slot machine, comprising: a notification device that notifies the user of the information as identifiable information. 2. The determination game period is a game mode which is relatively advantageous to a player such as a big bonus game and a regular bonus game as compared with a normal time and which is different from the special game state. Slot machine. 3. The special game state occurrence conditions are classified into a plurality of types and stored in the storage device, and one of the plurality of types is selected by the arithmetic device as information to be used in subsequent determination processing. Read-out
Or the slot machine described in 2. 4. The special game state generation conditions are classified into two or more stepwise condition achievement levels and stored in the storage device, and the arithmetic device terminates the determination game period and plays the game in that period. 4. A determination process for determining which of the condition achievement levels a result corresponds to, and further, the game control form in the special game state changes according to the determination process result. The slot machine described in Section.