JP2017056305A - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game machine capable of displaying an image at time when the image should be displayed without any problems even if storage means having a slow read speed is used as storage means of image information.SOLUTION: At least partial image data are transferred to a resident video RAM 189 during initialization immediately after power on to be resident. Thus, after completion of the initialization processing, drawing processing of an image can be performed by an image controller 188 while using image data resident in the resident video RAM 189. Therefore, since corresponding image data need not be read from a character ROM 187 composed of a NAND-type flash memory 187a having a slow read speed in image drawing, time required for the reading can be abbreviated, thus displaying an image drawn on an auxiliary display part 65 by instantly drawing the image.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10

Description

  The present invention relates to a gaming machine.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in gaming machines, various effect images are displayed on a display device such as a liquid crystal display device to improve the interest of the game. In such a gaming machine, generally, image information of an image to be displayed on a display device is stored in advance in a storage unit, and when displaying an image, the corresponding image information is read from the storage unit, and image processing is performed. In addition, the image is displayed on the display device.

JP 2006-223598 A

  Now, as a storage means for storing image information for displaying an image on a display device, a device having a slow speed for reading information (reading speed) is generally used. When such storage means is used, if the corresponding image information is read from the storage means after the image to be displayed is specified, the generation of the image to be displayed by the time to be displayed is not in time, and the time There is a problem that images may not be displayed.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems and the like, and an object thereof is to provide a gaming machine capable of displaying an image without any problem.

  In order to achieve this object, a gaming machine according to claim 1 is characterized in that main control means for performing main control of the game, sub-control means that operates based on a command transmitted from the main control means, and the sub-control Image display means for displaying an image based on control by the means, wherein the sub-control means is a first storage means in which image information for causing the image display means to display an image is stored. The second storage means for storing the image information stored in the first storage means and the read operation at a speed higher than that of the first storage means. A third storage means for storing the image information stored in the first storage means; and the image display means based on at least the image information stored in the second storage means and the third storage means. Displayed on Image control means for controlling the image, first transfer processing execution means for executing a first transfer process for transferring a part of the image information stored in the first storage means to the second storage means, When image information not held in the second storage means is used for image control by the image control means, the image information is transferred from the first storage means to the third storage means before the image information is used. Second transfer process execution means for executing the second transfer process, wherein the second storage means stores the image information transferred by the first transfer process execution means at least until a predetermined trigger is reached. The image information held and stored in the third storage means is updated by being overwritten with the image information transferred by the second transfer processing execution means, and the first transfer process is Image table Including at least part of the image information necessary for displaying the rear image to be displayed on the means, transferred from the first storage means to the second storage means, and the sub-control means is faster than the first storage means. And a fourth storage means capable of reading operation, and the second transfer process stores the image information stored in the first storage means in the first storage means when transferring the image information to the third storage means. The transferred image information is once transferred to the fourth storage means, and then the image information transferred to the fourth storage means is transferred to the third storage means.

  The gaming machine according to claim 2 is the gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the gaming machine is a pachinko gaming machine or a slot machine.

  According to the gaming machine of the present invention, main control means that performs main control of the game, sub-control means that operates based on a command transmitted from the main control means, and an image based on control by the sub-control means. An image display means for displaying the image, wherein the sub-control means is a first storage means for storing image information for causing the image display means to display an image, and the first storage means. The second storage means for storing the image information stored in the first storage means and the read operation at a higher speed than the first storage means can be performed. Control of an image to be displayed on the image display unit based on at least the second storage unit and the image information stored in the third storage unit, and a third storage unit that stores the image information stored in the storage unit. Image to do Control means, first transfer processing execution means for executing a first transfer process for transferring a part of the image information stored in the first storage means to the second storage means, and non-holding in the second storage means When the image information is used for image control by the image control means, a second transfer process for transferring the image information from the first storage means to the third storage means is executed before the image information is used. Second transfer processing execution means, wherein the second storage means holds the image information transferred by the first transfer processing execution means until at least a predetermined trigger is reached, and the third storage The image information stored in the means is updated by being overwritten with the image information transferred by the second transfer processing execution means, and the first transfer process is performed on the rear surface displayed on the image display means. Picture Including at least part of the image information necessary for display of the image data, the image data is transferred from the first storage means to the second storage means, and the sub-control means can perform a reading operation faster than the first storage means. A fourth storage unit, wherein the second transfer process temporarily stores the image information stored in the first storage unit when transferring the image information stored in the first storage unit to the third storage unit; Since the image information transferred to the fourth storage unit and then transferred to the fourth storage unit is transferred to the third storage unit, the image can be displayed without any problem.

It is a perspective view of the slot machine of the state where the front door in one embodiment was closed. It is a perspective view of the slot machine in a state where the front door is opened. It is a rear view of a front door. It is a front view of a housing | casing. It is an arrangement | sequence diagram which shows the symbol arrangement | sequence of each reel. It is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between the symbol which can be visually recognized from a display window, and a combination line. It is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between a winning aspect, the stop symbol corresponding to the winning aspect, a winning probability, and a medal payout number. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the slot machine. (A) is a schematic diagram schematically showing an example of a three-sheet lottery table, (b) is a schematic diagram schematically showing an example of a two-sheet lottery table, and (c) is one sheet. It is a mimetic diagram showing typically an example of a lottery table at the time of hanging. It is a block diagram which shows the electric constitution of a display control apparatus. It is the schematic diagram which showed typically the scanning area | region of the screen which an auxiliary | assistant display part has, and the display area where an image is actually displayed on the screen. It is a flowchart which shows the timer interruption process performed by MPU of a main controller. It is a flowchart which shows the normal process performed by MPU of a main controller. It is a flowchart which shows the lottery process performed by MPU of a main controller. It is a flowchart which shows the lottery table setting process performed by MPU of a main controller. It is a flowchart which shows the reel control process performed by MPU of a main controller. It is a flowchart which shows the bonus state process performed by MPU of a main controller. It is a flowchart which shows the display main process performed by MPU of a display control apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the start command process performed by MPU of a display control apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the lottery result command process performed by MPU of a display control apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the error command process performed by MPU of a display control apparatus.

  In the following, an embodiment in the case of application to a spinning-reel type gaming machine, which is a kind of gaming machine, specifically, a slot machine will be described in detail based on the drawings. First, the structure of the slot machine 10 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  1 is a perspective view of the slot machine 10 with the front door 12 closed, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the slot machine 10 with the front door 12 open, FIG. 3 is a rear view of the front door 12, and FIG. 2 is a front view of a body 11. FIG.

  In the slot machine 10, when a player inserts a medal as a game medium from the medal insertion slot 45 and operates the start lever 41, the three reels 32L, 32M, and 32R with a plurality of symbols are rotated. When the player operates stop switches 42, 43, 44 provided corresponding to the reels 32L, 32M, 32R, the corresponding reels 32L, 32M, 32R are stopped, and the reels 32L, 32M, 32R are stopped. When the combination of symbols displayed by stopping is a predetermined combination, a privilege for giving a predetermined number of medals or a privilege for shifting to a gaming state is given to the player.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the slot machine 10 includes a housing 11 that forms an outer shell thereof. The casing 11 is formed in a box shape with the front face opened as a whole by combining wooden panels, and is attached by, for example, nailing a so-called island facility when installed in the game hall. The casing 11 may be composed of a synthetic resin panel or a metal panel in addition to being composed of a wooden panel, or may be composed of a synthetic resin material or a metal material formed into an integral box shape. Also good.

  A front door 12 is attached to the front side of the housing 11 so as to be openable and closable. That is, the housing 11 is provided with a pair of upper and lower support shafts 13a and 13b on the left side when viewed from the front, and the front door 12 has a bearing portion 14a at a position corresponding to each support shaft 13a and 13b. , 14b are provided. When the support shafts 13a and 13b are inserted into the bearing portions 14a and 14b, the front door 12 rotates about an opening / closing axis extending in the vertical direction connecting the support shafts 13a and 13b to the housing 11. The front door 12 can be opened and closed by rotating the front door 12 so as to be movable.

  Moreover, the locking device 20 is provided in the back surface on the opposite side of the opening / closing axis | shaft of the front door 12, and the front door 12 is made into the locked state which cannot be opened by the locking device 20. FIG. A key cylinder 21 that is integrated with the locking device 20 is provided on the upper right side of the front door 12, and is configured such that the locked state is released by a predetermined key operation on the key cylinder 21. The position where the key cylinder 20 is provided is the thin upper portion of the front door 12, and as a result, a versatile key cylinder 21 having a short overall length can be employed. In this embodiment, Omlock (registered trademark) having a high function of preventing unauthorized unlocking is used as the key cylinder 21.

  A game panel 25 for notifying the player of the game state is provided above the center of the front door 12. The game panel 25 is formed with three vertically long display windows 26L, 26M, and 26R, and the inside of the slot machine 10 is visible through the display windows 26L, 26M, and 26R. The display windows 26L, 26M, and 26R may be combined into a single display window.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the inside of the housing 11 is divided into upper and lower parts by a partition plate 30, and a reel unit 31 constituting variable display means is attached to the upper part of the partition plate 30. The reel unit 31 includes a left reel 32L, a middle reel 32M, and a right reel 32R each formed in a cylindrical shape (annular shape). Each of the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R is rotatably supported so that the central axis thereof is the rotation axis of the reel. The rotation axes of the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R are disposed on the same axis extending in the substantially horizontal direction, and the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R correspond to the display windows 26L, 26M, and 26R on a one-to-one basis. . Accordingly, a part of the surface of each reel 32L, 32M, 32R is visible through the corresponding display windows 26L, 26M, 26R. Further, when the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R are rotated forward, the surfaces of the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R are projected as if moving from top to bottom through the display windows 26L, 26M, and 26R.

  Here, the configuration of the reel unit 31 will be briefly described. Each of the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R is connected to a stepping motor, and each reel 32L, 32M, and 32R can be individually rotated, that is, independently driven by the driving of each stepping motor. . For example, the stepping motor is set to rotate once by giving a drive signal of 504 pulses (hereinafter also referred to as an excitation pulse). Be controlled. In the reel unit 31, a reel index sensor for detecting that the reel has made one rotation is installed on each of the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R. When the reel index sensor detects that the reel has made one rotation, a detection signal is output to the main controller 101 described later each time the reel is detected. Therefore, main controller 101 determines the angular position of each reel 32L, 32M, 32R for each rotation based on the detection signal of the reel index sensor and the number of excitation pulses output until the detection signal is input. It can be confirmed and corrected.

  On the outer peripheral surface of each reel 32L, 32M, 32R, a plurality of symbols as identification information are drawn in the long side direction (circumferential direction). The details will be described later with reference to FIG. 5. For each reel 32L, 32M, 32R, 21 symbols are drawn at equal intervals, and three consecutive symbols among them are displayed on the display windows 26L, 26M, 26R is configured to be visible at each of the upper, middle, and lower positions. Therefore, in order to switch the symbol at a predetermined position to the next symbol, it is necessary to output 24 pulses (= 504 pulses / 21 symbols) of excitation pulses. Further, the main control device 101 grasps the symbols visible from the display windows 26L, 26M, and 26R based on the number of excitation pulses output after the detection signal of the reel index sensor is input, or displays the display window. It is possible to perform control to stop a predetermined symbol at a position where it can be visually recognized from 26L, 26M, and 26R.

  On the lower left side of the game panel 25, a start lever 41 that is operated to start rotation of the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R is provided. The start lever 41 is a lever that is pushed by a hand (the direction in which the player is pushed is not limited) when the player starts a game (game). The start lever 41 is operated when a predetermined number of medals are inserted. Then, the rotation of the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R is started at the same time (however, it is not necessary to be simultaneous).

  On the right side of the start lever 41, button-like stop switches 42 to 44 that are operated to individually stop the rotating reels 32L, 32M, and 32R are provided. Each of the stop switches 42 to 44 is disposed immediately below the display windows 26L, 26M, and 26R corresponding to the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R to be stopped. That is, when the left stop switch 42 is operated, the rotation of the left reel 32L is stopped. When the middle stop switch 43 is operated, the rotation of the middle reel 32M is stopped and the right stop switch 44 is operated. In this case, the rotation of the right reel 32R is stopped.

  At this time, when the stop switches 42 to 44 are operated, only the stop mode in which the reaching symbols that have reached the base point position (the lower positions of the corresponding display windows 26L, 26M, and 26R in this embodiment) are stopped as they are. In addition, a stop mode in which the corresponding reel is stopped after sliding for one symbol, a stop mode in which the corresponding reel is stopped after sliding for two symbols, a stop mode in which the corresponding reel is stopped after sliding for three symbols, and a four-slip pattern There are five patterns for the stop mode to stop after the stop. As a result, the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R are set to stop in a predetermined stop manner until the specified time (190 msec) elapses from the timing when the stop switches 42 to 44 are operated. It is possible to give the player an impression as if the symbol arrangement (hereinafter also referred to as “stop appearance”) that stops within a visible range from 26L, 26M, and 26R is determined by the player's operation. In addition, by adopting a configuration capable of sliding up to 4 symbols, a combination of symbols corresponding to a winning mode (see FIG. 7) described later that has won the lottery as much as possible within the specified time will be described later. While being able to stop on an effective line (refer FIG. 6), it can be made to avoid stopping the combination of the symbol corresponding to the winning mode which is not won by lottery on an effective line.

  On the lower right side of the display windows 26L, 26M, 26R, a medal insertion slot 45 for inserting medals is provided. The medals inserted from the medal insertion slot 45 are guided to either the storage passage 47 or the discharge passage 48 by a selector 46 as passage switching means provided on the back surface of the front door 12. More specifically, the selector 46 is provided with a medal path switching solenoid 46a. When the medal path switching solenoid 46a is not excited, the medal is guided to the discharge path 48, and when the medal path switching solenoid 46a is excited, the medal is switched. Is guided to the storage passage 47 side. The medal guided to the storage passage 47 is guided to the hopper device 51 housed inside the housing 11. On the other hand, the medal guided to the discharge passage 48 is guided to the medal tray 50 from the medal discharge port 49 provided in the lower front portion of the front door 12 and returned to the player.

  The storage passage 47 is provided with a inserted medal detection device (not shown) that detects the passage of the inserted medal. The output signal of the inserted medal detection device is input to the main control device 101, and the main control device 101 counts the number of medals based on the detection result of the inserted medal detection device. In addition, when the movement of the inserted medal (medal passing direction) is determined based on the detection result of the inserted medal detection apparatus, and the movement of the medal is different from the normal, the main control device 101 may clog the medal, It is determined that there is a possibility that fraud such as a medal is pulled out, and an upper lamp 63, a speaker 64, an auxiliary display unit 65, etc., which will be described later, are configured to notify that a sensor error has occurred. Yes.

  The inserted medal detection device includes a first inserted medal detection sensor 45a and a second inserted medal detection sensor configured by a photocoupler having a pair of light projecting portions and light receiving portions (each not shown) via medals passing therethrough. 45b (see FIG. 8). The first inserted medal detection sensor 45a and the second inserted medal detection sensor 45b are juxtaposed on the upstream side and the downstream side, respectively, in such a state that they are close enough to detect one passing medal at the same time. The detection sensors 45a and 45b are set to output a “Lo” signal when receiving light and a “Hi” signal when shielding light.

  When the medal inserted by the player is guided to the storage passage 47 side by the selector 46, the medal passes through the inserted medal detection device. At this time, first, the first inserted medal detection sensor 45a disposed on the upstream side is first shielded and outputs a “Hi” signal, and then the second inserted medal detection sensor disposed on the downstream side. 45b becomes a light shielding state and outputs a “Hi” signal, and medals are simultaneously detected by the two inserted medal detection sensors 45a and 45b. When the medal further advances downstream in the storage passage 47, the first inserted medal detection sensor 45a disposed on the upstream side first enters a light receiving state and outputs a “Lo” signal. The second inserted medal detection sensor 45b disposed on the downstream side is in a light receiving state and outputs a “Lo” signal.

  That is, when a medal normally passes through the inserted medal detection device, the signal output from each inserted medal detection sensor 45a, 45b is first "Hi" by the first inserted medal detection sensor 45a, and then the second inserted medal. The detection sensor 45b becomes “Hi”. Then, after each inserted medal detection sensor 45a, 45b becomes “Hi”, the first inserted medal detection sensor 45a becomes “Lo”, and finally the second inserted medal detection sensor 45b becomes “Lo”. In the main control device 101, when the signals output from the inserted medal detection sensors 45a and 45b change at such timing, it is determined that the medal has been inserted normally, and the number of inserted medals is counted. Up.

  On the other hand, when a medal is jammed while passing through the inserted medal sensor device, or when a medal is pulled out illegally, a signal output from the two inserted medal detection sensors 45a and 45b is a case where the medal passes normally. Change at different times. The main control device 101 monitors changes in signals output from the inserted medal detection sensors 45a and 45b, and if the change is different from the change when the medal normally passes through the inserted medal detection device, It is determined that clogging or fraud has occurred, and the occurrence of a sensor error is notified to the display control device 81 described later by an error command. In the display control device 81, when the occurrence of a sensor error is notified from the main control device 101, the occurrence of the sensor error is notified from the upper lamp 63, the speaker 64, the auxiliary display unit 65, and the like.

  The hopper device 51 includes a storage tank 52 that stores medals, and a payout device 53 that pays out medals to a player. The payout device 53 rotates a medal payout rotating plate (not shown) to discharge the medal to the opening 48 a provided in the discharge passage 48 and to pay out the medal to the medal tray 50 through the discharge passage 48. It has become. Further, a reserve tank 54 is provided on the right side of the hopper device 51 to avoid storing a predetermined amount or more of medals in the storage tank 52. Inside the storage tank 52 of the hopper device 51, a guide plate 52a for discharging medals from the storage tank 52 to the reserve tank 54 is provided. Therefore, when medals are stored more than the height at which the guide plate 52 a is provided, the medals are stored in the reserve tank 54.

  A button-like return switch 55 is provided below the medal slot 45. When the return switch 55 is operated in a situation where the medal inserted into the medal insertion slot 45 is jammed in the selector 46, the selector 46 is mechanically operated, and the medal jammed in the selector 46 is medaled. It is returned from the discharge port 49.

  A settlement switch 59 is provided on the left side of the start lever 41. The slot machine 10 has a credit function for storing and storing surplus inserted medals up to a predetermined maximum value (for 50 medals) and payout medals when winning a prize as virtual medals. When the checkout switch 59 is operated under the current situation, the virtual medal is paid out from the medal discharge port 49 as an actual medal.

  On the lower left side of the display windows 26L, 26M, 26R, there is provided a first credit insertion switch 56 for inserting three credited virtual medals as game media at a time. Further, a second credit insertion switch 57 and a third credit insertion switch 58 are provided on the left side of the first credit insertion switch 56. The second credit insertion switch 57 is for inserting two virtual medals at a time, and the third credit insertion switch 58 is for inserting one virtual medal.

  Below the display windows 26L, 26M, and 26R of the game panel 25, a credit display section 60 that displays the number of credited virtual medals, and a remaining payout number that displays the number of remaining medals to be paid out before the bonus state ends. A display unit 61 and a payout number display unit 62 for displaying the number of medals paid out at the time of winning are provided. Although these display parts 60-62 are comprised by the 7 segment display, it is naturally possible to substitute by a liquid crystal display etc. FIG.

  The upper part of the front door 12 has an upper lamp 63 that lights up or flashes as the game progresses, and a pair of left and right sounds that produce various sound effects as the game progresses and inform the player of the gaming state. Speaker 64 and an auxiliary display unit 65 for giving various information to the player. The auxiliary display unit 65 executes various display effects as the game progresses, and notifies the state when the power is turned on or when an error occurs. The auxiliary display unit 65 mainly plays games by the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R. In this embodiment, the auxiliary display unit 65 is referred to because it can be considered that the display unit is used. A display control device 81 for driving the upper lamp 63, the speaker 64, and the auxiliary display unit 65 is provided on the back surface of the auxiliary display unit 65. Details of the display control device 81 will be described later with reference to FIG.

A lower plate 66 on which a model name, a character related to a game, and the like are displayed is mounted above the medal tray 50. In addition, an ashtray 69 that can be reversed to the lower side on the front side is provided on the left side of the medal tray 50.

  A power supply box 70 is provided on the left side of the hopper device 51 inside the housing 11. The power supply box 70 houses a power supply device 91 (see FIG. 8), and includes a power switch 71, a reset switch 72, a setting key insertion hole 73, and the like. The power switch 71 is a start switch for supplying power to each unit including the main controller 101 described later.

  The reset switch 72 is a switch for resetting various states of the slot machine 10. This slot machine 10 has a backup function for various data, and even if a power failure occurs, it retains the state at the time of the power failure and returns to the state at the time of the power failure at the time of recovery from power failure (power recovery). It can be done. Therefore, for example, when the power supply is turned off in the normal procedure, such as when the game hall is closed, the state before the turn-off is stored and held. However, if the power switch 71 is turned on while pressing the reset switch 72, the backup data is reset ( Initialized). If the reset switch 72 is pressed while the power switch 71 is on, the error state is reset.

  The setting key insertion hole 73 is used by a hole manager or the like to adjust the appearance of medals. That is, when the hole manager or the like inserts a setting key into the setting key insertion hole 73 and rotates it, the setting state of the slot machine 10 (setting of the winning probability of each winning mode) is changed from “Setting 1” to “Setting 6”. ”Can be changed. When the setting state is set to “setting 1”, the lottery of the winning mode (role) is performed so that the expected value of the medal payout number is the lowest, and when the setting state is set to “setting 6”, The lottery of the winning mode is performed so that the expected value of the medal payout number is the highest. The reset switch 72 is operated not only when resetting the error state but also when changing the setting state of the slot machine 10.

  Above the reel unit 31, a main control device 101 that manages and manages games is attached to the housing 11. The details will be described later with reference to FIG. 8, but the main control device 101 includes an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) 102 that controls the main control, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 105 that stores a game program, and the progress of the game. A random access memory (RAM) 106 that temporarily stores necessary data, a free-run counter 107 that generates random numbers, a port 104 that communicates with various devices, and a clock that is used for time counting and synchronization. A main substrate including the circuit 103 and the like is provided, and the main substrate is housed in a substrate box made of a transparent resin material or the like. The board box includes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped box base and a box cover that covers an opening of the box base. The box base and the box cover are connected to each other by a sealing unit so as not to be opened, and thereby the substrate box is sealed. In addition, it is good also as a structure which connects a box base and a box cover so that opening is impossible using a key member.

  Next, the symbols drawn on the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is an arrangement diagram showing a symbol arrangement of the left reel 32L, the middle reel 32M, and the right reel 32R. As shown in the figure, 21 symbols are arranged in a row on each of the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R. Further, numbers from 0 to 20 are assigned to the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R. These numbers are symbols that are visible to the main controller 101 from the display windows 26L, 26M, and 26R. Is a number for recognizing and not actually attached to the reels 32L, 32M, 32R. However, in the following description, the number is used for explanation.

  As symbols, “7” symbol (for example, 20th of left reel 32L), “youth” symbol (for example, 19th of left reel 32L), “replay” symbol (for example, 18th of left reel 32L), “ “Cherry” symbol (for example, 17th of left reel 32L), “Bell” symbol (for example, 16th of left reel 32L), “Watermelon” symbol (for example, 15th of left reel 32L), “Star” symbol (for example, There are 6 types of the middle reel 32L). As shown in FIG. 5, the numbers and arrangement orders of various symbols on the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R are completely different.

  Each of the display windows 26L, 26M, and 26R is formed so that there are three symbols from which the entire symbol can be visually recognized out of the twenty-one symbols attached to the corresponding reel. Therefore, when all the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R are stopped, 3 × 3 = 9 symbols are visible through the display windows 26L, 26M, and 26R.

  In the slot machine 10, five combination lines are set so as to connect the positions where the symbols are visible. Here, with reference to FIG. 6, the combination line set in the slot machine 10 will be described. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the symbols that are visible from the display windows 26L, 26M, and 26R and the combination lines.

  6, the upper line L1 connecting the upper symbol of the left reel 32L, the upper symbol of the middle reel 32M, the upper symbol of the right reel 32R, the middle symbol of the left reel 32L, the middle symbol of the middle reel 32M, the right The middle line L2 connecting the middle symbols of the reel 32R, the lower symbol of the left reel 32L, the lower symbol of the middle reel 32M, the lower line L3 connecting the lower symbols of the right reel 32R, the upper symbol of the left reel 32L, and the middle reel A lower right line L4 that connects the lower symbol of 32M and the lower symbol of the right reel 32R, and a right upward line L5 that connects the lower symbol of the left reel 32L, the middle symbol of the middle reel 32M, and the upper symbol of the right reel 32R are set. ing. Then, when the combination line that has been activated, that is, when the symbols are stopped in a predetermined combination on the activated line, a privilege that a predetermined number of medals are paid out is given as a winning combination, or a privilege that the gaming state is shifted is provided. It has come to be granted.

  The maximum number of combination lines may be 6 or more, or less than 5. Further, the maximum number of combined lines may be changed according to a predetermined condition. For example, a V (reverse V) -shaped line or an L-shaped line may be used as an effective line.

  Next, referring to FIG. 7, the winning mode that the slot machine 10 can take, the stop pattern on the active line where the winning is established in each winning mode, the winning probability of each winning mode in the general gaming state, The medal payout number when winning is established in the winning mode will be described. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the winning mode, the stop symbol, the winning probability in the general gaming state, and the medal payout number. In FIG. 7, the winning probability when the setting state of the slot machine 10 is set to “setting 1” will be described as an example. However, when the setting state is set to “setting 2” to “setting 6” In addition, the expected value of the number of medals to be paid out per game from “Setting 1” to “Setting 6” while maintaining the magnitude relationship of each winning probability determined by each winning mode and the number of inserted medals (the number of bets). Each winning probability is set so as to increase.

  As shown in FIG. 7, there is a BB (Big Bonus) prize as a status transition prize that gives a player a privilege that the gaming status shifts. When the “7” symbol, “7” symbol, and “7” symbol are stopped from the left on the active line, a privilege to shift the gaming state to a bonus state that is a special gaming state is given as a BB prize. However, even if the “7” symbol stops along the left, middle and right on the active line, no medal is paid out. That is, when the combination of the “7” symbols is established on the active line, only the bonus state is transferred. In other words, it can be said that the “7” symbol is a state transition symbol for shifting the gaming state to the bonus state.

  Here, the bonus state will be described. The bonus state is composed of a plurality of RB (Regular Bonus) states, and the RB state is composed of 12 JAC games. The JAC game is a game in which the probability of winning a watermelon prize and a bell prize, which will be described later, which is a small part prize, is very high compared to the general gaming state. If the winning is established 8 times during the JAC game, the RB state is ended even before the JAC game is played 12 times. Further, the bonus state ends when the number of medals paid out reaches a predetermined number (250 in this embodiment). That is, when the BB winning is established, the medal payout number at that time is 0, but when the gaming state of the gaming machine is shifted to the bonus state in accordance with the BB winning, 250 medals are given to the player. It is ensured that the payout is made with a smaller number of medals than in the general gaming state. In addition, when the number of medals paid out reaches a predetermined number during the RB state, not only the bonus state but also the RB state ends. This is a contrivance for suppressing the player's euphoria by giving an upper limit to the number of medals to be paid out in the bonus state and ensuring the soundness of the game. Further, in the present embodiment, the combination of symbols that shift to the RB state is not set, and the configuration shifts to the RB state immediately after the transition to the bonus state and immediately after the RB state ends. Therefore, it can be said that the bonus state is a game that continuously shifts to the RB state until a predetermined number of medals are paid out.

  This slot machine 10 corresponds to the number of medals inserted at the start of the game (the number of bets) by one, two, or three, and the winning probability of BB winning in the general gaming state (BB winning in one game) Is set differently according to the number of medals inserted at the start of the game (the number of bets). Specifically, the probability of winning the BB prize is set to 1/65536 in the case of 1 and 2 and the setting is 1/256 in the case of 3. As described above, the winning probability of the BB winning in the general gaming state is set to be lower than the case of three cards when the number of cards is one or two.

  Next, as a small role winning in which medals are paid out, there are a watermelon winning and a bell winning. If you stop alongside the "Watermelon" symbol, "Watermelon" symbol, or "Watermelon" symbol from the left on the active line, a watermelon prize will be established, and the "Bell" symbol, "Bell" symbol, " If you stop alongside the “Bell” symbol, you will receive a Bell prize. Then, when the game is executed with three cards, 12 medals are paid out when a watermelon winning is established, and 6 medals are paid out when a bell winning is established. In addition, when the game is executed with one or two sheets, if a watermelon prize or a bell prize is established, three medals are paid out. In addition, the winning probability of winning a watermelon in the general gaming state is set to 1/65536 in the case of 1 and 2 sheets, and is set to 1/8 in the case of 3 sheets. On the other hand, the winning probability of the bell winning in the general gaming state is set to 1/65536 for the case of 1 and 2 and is set to 1 / 5.1 for the case of 3s. In this way, the watermelon prize and the bell prize are set so that those prizes are easily established in the case of three sheets, while in the case of one and two sheets, those prizes are rarely established. It is set not to.

  On the other hand, in this slot machine 10, a special small role winning is prepared that is realized only when the game is executed with one or two cards, or only when the game is executed with one card. . Special child role winning includes Cherry Bell winning and 7 Bell winning. Among these, the Cherry Bell prize is a special small part prize that is only established when one or two cards are used. The “Cherry” symbol of the left reel 32L and the “Bell” symbol of the middle reel 32M are on the effective line. It is established in the case of stopping at 3 and 3 medals are paid out. Also, the 7-bell winning is a special small role winning that is established only when the number of cards is 1 and when the “7” symbol of the left reel 32L and the “bell” symbol of the middle reel 32M are stopped on the active line. As a result, two medals are paid out.

  Here, the symbols that stop on the effective line of the right reel 32R for both the Cherry Bell winning and the 7 Bell winning may be any symbols. In addition, when the game is executed with three cards, even if the “watermelon” or “7” symbol on the left reel 32L and the “bell” symbol on the middle reel 32M are stopped on the active line, the cherry bell wins. Alternatively, it is determined that a 7-bell prize has not been established and that it has been missed. Similarly, when the game is executed with two cards, even if the “7” symbol of the reel 32L and the “bell” symbol of the middle reel 32M stop on the active line, the 7-bell winning is not established. Judged as out. If the game is executed with three cards, the “Cherry” symbol or “7” symbol of the left reel 32L and the “Bell” symbol of the middle reel 32M are not stopped on the active line at the same time, and a cherry prize is awarded. Alternatively, a 7-bell prize may not be established. Similarly, when the game is executed with two cards, the “7” symbol of the left reel 32L and the “bell” symbol of the middle reel 32M are not stopped on the active line at the same time so that the cherry prize is not established. You may comprise.

  The probability of winning the Cherry Bell in the general gaming state is set to about 1 / 6.0 when the number is 1 and about 1 / 1.8 when the number is 2. In addition, the winning probability of winning 7 bells in the general gaming state is set to about 1 / 6.0 for only one card.

  Now, in a conventional slot machine, when a game is executed with one or two cards, the probability that various benefits are granted is extremely low as compared with the case where the game is executed with three cards. There is a three-seat dedicated machine that can be set, or cannot play a game with one or two cards and can only play a game with three cards. This is made as a device for increasing the operating rate of the slot machine in the hall, and aims to allow the player to play one game with three medals as much as possible.

  However, since the number of medals lent out from the hall before the game is not necessarily a multiple of 3, it is generally rented in units of 50, so it is highly probable that the number of medals is less than 3 There was a possibility of remaining. And if there are fewer than three medals, you can't play a game with the remaining medals on a three-seat dedicated machine, and you can hang one or two However, since the probability of granting a privilege is low, there is a risk that a medal is left in the hall or the player leaves the remaining medal. If a medal is left in the hall, the player loses by the value of the medal, and if the player brings back the remaining medal, the medal lent out in the hall cannot be collected, and the game There is also a problem that a player may play a game using a medal brought back from another hall, and the hall side suffers damage.

  On the other hand, in this slot machine 10, when a game is played with two cards, a Cherry Bell winning is established with a high probability of about 1 / 1.8, and when a game is played with one card The Cherry Bell prize is established with a high probability of about 1 / 6.0, and three medals are paid out. Therefore, in the slot machine 10, when one or two medals remain in the player's hand even though the winning probability of the BB winning in the case of one or two is extremely low In addition, it is possible to cause the player to execute the game with one or two cards while giving a sense of expectation that a Cherry Bell prize will be established in which three medals are paid out. If the result of this game is a Cherry Bell winning, three medals are paid out, and the player uses the three medals under conditions that are more advantageous than one or two. The game can be played with a sense of expectation that a BB prize will be won. Further, even if the game is out of play, the game can be completed without leaving extra medals for the player.

  In addition, when a game is played with one card, a 7-bell prize is established with a high probability of about 1 / 6.0, and two medals are paid out. Therefore, in the slot machine 10, when one medal remains at the player's hand, two medals are paid out together with a sense of expectation that a Cherry Bell winning will be achieved in which three medals will be paid out. It is possible to cause a player to execute a game by multiplying one while giving a sense of expectation that a 7-bell prize will be established. If the result of this game is that a 7-bell prize is established, two medals are paid out, and the player uses the two medals to make a Cherry Bell prize where another three medals are paid out. You can enjoy the game with the expectation of being won.

  In this way, even if one or two medals remain at the player's hand, the one or two medals will be used and three medals will be paid out. A player can be caused to play a game aiming for a 7-bell prize where medals are paid out. Therefore, the slot machine 10 can give the player the motivation to use up the medals without surplus.

  Here, referring again to FIG. 5, the “cherry” symbol, the “7” symbol, and the “bell” symbol of the middle reel 32M in the reels 32L and 32M of the left reel 32L in which the cherry bell winning and the seven bell winning are established. The arrangement position will be briefly described.

  First, in the left reel 32L, the “cherry” symbols are arranged such that the interval between the symbol that reaches the lower stage first and the symbol that reaches the next is 7 symbols. For example, the 3rd “cherry” symbol and the 10th “cherry” symbol on the left reel 32L are arranged so that the interval is 7 symbols. Since the reels No. 0 and No. 20 are actually arranged adjacent to each other, the interval between the 17th “cherry” symbol and the 3rd “cherry” symbol of the left reel 32L is 7 symbols. ing. On the other hand, the symbol “7” is also arranged in the left reel 32L such that the interval between the symbol that reaches the lower stage first and the symbol that reaches the next is 7 symbols. For example, the 6th “7” symbol on the left reel 32L and the 13th “7” symbol are arranged so that the interval is 7 symbols, and the 20th “7” symbol on the left reel 32L The 6th “7” symbol is arranged so that its interval is 7 symbols.

  Thus, both the “cherry” symbol and the “7” symbol are arranged on the left reel 32L so that the interval between the symbols of the same kind is 7 symbols. As described above, each of the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R can be stopped after sliding for a maximum of four symbols from the timing when the stop switches 42 to 44 are operated. Therefore, by adopting such a symbol arrangement, the “Cherry” symbol or the “7” symbol can be used when the Cherry Bell winning or 7 Bell winning is established, regardless of the timing at which the left stop switch 42 is operated. The display window 26L can be stopped at any of the upper, middle, and lower positions.

  For example, when the left stop switch 42 is operated when the third “cherry” symbol of the left reel 32L reaches the lower stage, the “cherry” symbol is stopped at the lower stage if the left reel 32L is stopped as it is. If the left stop switch 42 is operated when the 4th “replay” symbol of the left reel 32L reaches the lower stage, the 10th “ The “cherry” symbol can be stopped in the upper stage, and if the left stop switch 42 is operated when the fifth “bell” symbol of the left reel 32L reaches the lower stage, the left reel 32L is slid by four symbols. If it stops later, the number 10 “cherry” symbol can be stopped in the middle.

  If the left stop switch 42 is operated when the 6th “7” symbol of the left reel 32L reaches the lower level, the “7” symbol is stopped at the lower level if the left reel 32L is stopped as it is. If the left stop switch 42 is operated when the No. 7 “watermelon” symbol on the left reel 32L reaches the lower stage, the No. 13 “No. 7 ”symbol can be stopped in the upper stage, and if the left stop switch 42 is operated when the number 8“ replay ”symbol of the left reel 32L reaches the lower stage, the left reel 32L is slid by 4 symbols. If stopped later, the 13th “7” symbol can be stopped in the middle.

  On the other hand, in the middle reel 32M, the “bell” symbol is arranged so that the interval between the symbol that reaches the lower stage first and the symbol that reaches the next symbol is 5 symbols or less. For example, the “bell” symbol of No. 0 and the “bell” symbol of No. 5 on the middle reel 32M are arranged so that the interval is 5 symbols, and the “bell” symbol of the ninth reel 32M is arranged. And the 12th “bell” symbol are arranged so that the interval is three symbols. In this way, the “bell” symbol is arranged on the middle reel 32M so that the interval between the symbols of the same type is 5 symbols or less. By adopting such a symbol arrangement, the middle stop switch 43 can be operated at any timing. Even in such a case, the “bell” symbol can be stopped at the middle position of the display window 26M when the Cherry Bell winning or the 7 Bell winning is established.

  For example, when the middle stop switch 43 is operated when the 11th “7” symbol of the middle reel 32M reaches the lower level, the “bell” symbol is stopped at the middle level if the middle reel 32M is stopped as it is. If the middle stop switch 43 is operated when the 12th “bell” symbol of the middle reel 32M reaches the lower stage, the middle reel 32M can be stopped after sliding the middle reel 32M for four symbols and then the number “17”. The “bell” symbol can be stopped in the middle.

  In this way, regardless of the timing at which the stop switches 42 and 43 are operated, the “cherry” symbol or the “7” symbol can be stopped in any of the upper, middle, and lower stages of the display window 26L. In addition, a “bell” symbol can be displayed in the middle of the display window 26M. Therefore, if a Cherry Bell prize or a 7-bell prize is won in the prize drawing lottery, it corresponds to a stop symbol corresponding to the Cherry Bell prize or a 7-bell prize regardless of the operation timing of the stop switches 42 to 44 of the player. Since the stop symbol can be displayed on any one of the middle line L2, the lower right line L4, and the upper right line L5 (see FIG. 6), the so-called Cherry Bell prize or the 7 bell prize can be established without being missed.

  Returning to FIG. 7, the description will be continued. As other winning modes that the slot machine 10 can take, a replay winning that is established when the “replay” symbol, the “replay” symbol, and the “replay” symbol are stopped from the left on the active line is provided. When the replay winning is established, the medal payout and the state transition are not performed, but the player can play the next game without reducing the medals owned and without inserting medals. Therefore, when a replay winning is achieved, the medals are paid out for the number of medals (the number of bets) inserted in the game, that is, 1 for 1 and 2 for 3 and 2 for 3 In this case, it can be considered that three medals are paid out. Note that the probability of winning a replay winning in the general gaming state is not limited to the number of medals inserted (the number of bets), and it is as high as about 1 / 7.3 in the case of 1-, 2-, 3- Set to probability. If this replay prize is established with a high probability, a special small role prize (Cherry Bell prize or 7 bell prize) will be established if a BB prize or a game with one or two cards is played. A lot of sense of challenge can be given to the player.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, the “replay” symbols for establishing the replay winning are each reels 32L, 32M so that the interval between the symbol that reaches the lower stage first and the symbol that reaches the next is 5 symbols or less. , 32R. For example, the 8th “replay” symbol and the 11th “replay” symbol on the left reel 32L are arranged so that the interval is 3 symbols, and the 1st “replay” symbol on the middle reel 32M and 6 The “replay” symbols of the numbers are arranged so that the interval is 5 symbols. As described above, the “replay” symbols are arranged on the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R so that the interval between the symbols of the same type is 5 symbols or less. As described above, the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R can be stopped after sliding a maximum of 4 symbols from the timing when the stop switches 42 to 44 are operated. In any case, the “replay” symbol can be stopped at the middle position of the display windows 26L, 26M, and 26R when the replay winning is established. For example, if the left stop switch 42 is operated when the 3rd “cherry” symbol on the left reel 32L reaches the lower level, the 4th “replay” symbol is stopped in the middle level if the left reel 32L is stopped as it is. If the middle stop switch 43 is operated when the first “replay” symbol of the middle reel 32M reaches the lower stage, the middle reel 32M is slipped by four symbols and then stopped. The “replay” symbol can be stopped in the middle. Therefore, when the replay winning is won, the “replay” symbol can be stopped at the middle line L2 (see FIG. 6) regardless of the timing of the stop switches 42 to 44 being operated. Therefore, a replay winning can be established without so-called losing.

  In other cases, that is, when the combination of symbols described above on the active line does not stop, the medal payout or the game state transition is not performed at all, and the game goes off. That is, the “youth” symbol on each of the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R, the “cherry” symbol on the middle reel 32M and the right reel 32R, and the “star” symbol on the middle reel 32M are not involved in any winnings. In other words, it can be said that each of the symbols is a no-benefits symbol unrelated to the privilege given to the player. That is, each of the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R is provided with a bonus symbol related to winning such as a “bell” symbol and a non-privileged symbol irrelevant to winning such as a “young” symbol, for example. In the following, a combination of symbols corresponding to each prize is also referred to as a combination of winning symbols. For example, the BB symbol combination is a symbol BB winning combination, that is, a combination of “7” symbol, “7” symbol, and “7” symbol.

  As described above, in this slot machine 10, the probability of winning a BB prize when a game is played with three medals inserted is sufficiently higher than when the game is played with one or two medals inserted. Since it is set, the player can expect to receive a lot of medals when the BB winning is established, and can play one game by inserting three medals. As a result, medals are consumed quickly, and the utilization rate of the slot machine in the hall can be increased.

  On the other hand, if a game is played with one or two medals inserted, a Cherry Bell winning prize with three medal payouts is set as a winning combination candidate, and the winning probability is set high. 1 or 2 medals remaining at hand while expecting the player to get 3 medals paid out when the Cherry Bell prize is established if 1 or 2 medals remain at the player's hand Can be entered to play a single game. Thus, if three medals are paid out due to the Cherry Bell winning, the player can play another game while inserting the three medals and expecting the BB winning. The player can enjoy the game to the end without leaving any extra medals. Further, even if the result of the game executed by inserting one or two medals is not good, the game can be ended without leaving extra medals for the player. Thus, the slot machine 10 can entertain the game to the end without leaving extra medals to the player. And the problem that the player loses by ending the game without using the lent medal, the player can not collect the medals lent out by bringing back the remaining medals, or brought it back from another hall By using the medal by the player, it is possible to avoid the problem that the hall side is damaged.

  Also, when a game is played with one medal inserted, a 7-bell winning prize with two medal payouts is also set as a winning combination candidate, and the winning probability is also set high. Once a medal is left in the game, if the 7-bell prize is established, the player will expect to receive 2 medals, and once the remaining medal is inserted, The game can be played. As a result, when two medal payouts are made due to the completion of the 7-bell prize, the player inserts the two medals and expects the Cherry Bell prize to be completed, in which three more medal payouts are made. , You can enjoy another game. If the Cherry Bell prize is established, the player can play the game by inserting three medals that are paid out while expecting the BB prize to be established. You can enjoy the medals and you can use up your medals even if you miss. Therefore, it is possible to entertain the game to the end without leaving extra medals while giving the player more enjoyment of the game.

  In addition, in the lottery of the winning mode, when a Cherry Bell prize where three medals are paid out or a 7 bell prize where two medals are paid out is won, regardless of the timing when the stop switches 42 to 44 are operated. Because the stop pattern can be stopped on the active line without missing, as a result of the lottery of the game that the player started with one or two, the Cherry Bell winning or 7 Bell winning was won as the winning role In such a case, it is possible to reliably establish those winnings without depending on an artificial operation. In addition, the game can be played in anticipation of the establishment of a Cherry Bell prize or a 7-bell prize while aiming for other prizes (for example, a BB prize).

  Here, the expected value of the number of medals to be paid out in the general gaming state in the case of one-sheet and two-sheet game will be described. First, in the case of playing one card, the winning probability in the general gaming state of the watermelon winning and the bell winning is set to 1/65536, and if any winning is achieved, 3 medals are paid out. In addition, the winning probability in the general gaming state of the cherry bell winning and the 7 bell winning is set to about 1 / 6.0, respectively, and when the cherry bell winning is achieved, three pieces, when the 7 bell winning is achieved Two medals will be paid out. In addition, the winning probability in the general game state of the replay winning is set to about 1 / 7.3, and when the replay winning is achieved, as described above, it is equivalent to the case where one medal has been paid out. Can think. On the other hand, the winning probability in the general gaming state of the BB winning is set to 1/65536, and when the BB winning is established, the gaming state shifts to the bonus state, but the medal payout number is zero. Here, the expected value of the number of medals paid out per game under the general gaming state is equal to the value obtained by multiplying the number of medals paid out corresponding to each winning probability and adding the multiplication results. Expected value is about 0.96. That is, in the general gaming state, the ratio of the number of medals paid out with respect to the number of bets (one) is about 96%, and it is expected that the number of medals owned by the player decreases by about 0.04 for every game played. .

  In addition, in the case of two cards, the winning probability in the general gaming state of the watermelon winning and the bell winning is set to 1/65536, and when any winning is achieved, 3 medals are paid out. In addition, the winning probability in the general game state of the Cherry Bell winning is set to about 1 / 1.8, and when the Cherry Bell winning is established, three medals are paid out. In addition, the winning probability in the general game state of the replay winning is set to about 1 / 7.3, and when the replay winning is established, as described above, it is equivalent to the case where two medals are paid out. Can think. On the other hand, the winning probability in the general gaming state of the BB winning is set to 1/65536, and when the BB winning is established, the gaming state shifts to the bonus state, but the medal payout number is zero. Therefore, the expected value of the number of medals to be paid out per game under the general gaming state with two cards is about 1.94. In other words, in the general gaming state, the ratio of the number of medals paid out to the number of bets (2) is about 97%, and it is expected that the medals owned by the player will decrease by about 0.06 for every game played. .

  In this way, in both cases of 1 and 2 sheets, the ratio of the number of medals paid out to the number of bets is set to a value close to 100%, so that the gaming machine can be used with 1 or 2 sheets. In this case, the medal is returned to the player with an expected value of almost 100%. In other words, even if a game is played with one or two cards, the medals will hardly decrease, so if one or two medals remain in the player's hand, the player will have one remaining Or you can make sure that you want to play a game using two medals. Therefore, it is possible to further reduce the possibility that the player will leave the medal and finish the game.

  On the other hand, if the game is played with 1 or 2 cards, it is expected that the number of medals will decrease slightly, so if you repeat the game with 1 or 2 cards, the number of medals will increase. Instead, it has been reduced. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the player from aiming for an increase in medals by repeatedly playing the game with one or two. Therefore, when there are three or more medals, it is possible to cause the player to play a game with three cards having a high probability of winning a BB prize.

  In this embodiment, the number of medals to be paid out is set to 3 which is the maximum bet number when the game is played with one or two cards and the Cherry Bell winning is established, and the game is performed with one card. The number of medals to be paid out when the 7-bell prize is established is set to 2, but the number of medals to be paid out when the Cherry Bell prize is established is set to a multiple of 3, and the number of medals to be paid out when the 7-bell prize is established. It may be set to a multiple of 2. However, if the number of payouts is set to 3 or 2 when the Cherry Bell prize or the 7-bell prize is established, even if the expected value of the medal payout number is set to less than 100%, The winning probability can be set high. Therefore, it is possible to increase the possibility that a Cherry Bell prize or a 7-bell prize will be established and to increase the probability that three or two medals will be given to the player. You can make me want to play a game using medals.

  In FIG. 7, the winning probability when the setting state is “setting 1” is shown, but even if the setting state is set to any of “setting 2” to “setting 6”, one win and The winning probability corresponding to each winning mode in the case of two is set so that the ratio of the number of medals paid out to the number of bets is less than 100%. In the present embodiment, the winning probabilities corresponding to each winning mode in the case of 1 and 2 are changed according to the setting state ("Setting 1" to "Setting 6"). The winning probability of multiplying and two sheets may be constant regardless of the setting state. In other words, the winning probability may be changed according to the set state only in the case of three sheets. In addition, in the case of 1- and 2-seats, the winning probability of at least one of BB winning, watermelon winning, bell winning and replay winning according to the setting state ("Setting 1" to "Setting 6") Although changed, the winning probabilities of the Cherry Bell winning and 7 Bell winning, which are special small role winning in the case of 1 and 2 wins, are not changed and may be fixed values.

  In addition, in this slot machine 10, the winning mode is established only when the game is played with one or two cherry bells. When the game is played with three cards, the left reel 32L Even if the “Cherry” symbol is stopped and the “Bell” symbol is stopped on the middle reel 32M, the Cherry Bell prize will not be established and it will be handled as a detachment. It is possible to draw attention to the player as a winning prize. Therefore, when the game is played with one or two cards, if the symbol stops at the cherry bell winning stop symbol, the player can be given great joy.

  Similarly, the winning mode is established only when a 7-bell winning game is played with one card, and when the game is played with two or three cards, a “7” symbol is displayed on the left reel 32L. Even if the “bell” symbol stops on the middle reel 32M, the 7-bell prize will not be established and will be handled as a detachment. It can be noticed. Therefore, when the game is played with one piece, if the symbol stops at the stop symbol of 7-bell winning, a great joy can be given to the player.

  Also, in the present slot machine 10, even when a game is played with one or two cards, the BB winning is set although the winning probability is very low. Thereby, even when a game is played with one or two cards, it is possible to give the player a sense of expectation that a BB prize will be established.

  In the slot machine 10, when a game is played with one or two cards, a watermelon prize or a bell prize, which is a normal small prize other than a BB prize or a replay prize, is established. Also, unlike the medal payout number when the game is played with 3 cards, 3 medal payouts are made as in the case of the Cherry Bell winning, so that payout 3 medals are inserted and the player can play another game while expecting the BB prize to be established, and the player can surely enjoy the game without leaving any extra medals. it can. In the slot machine 10, the probability of winning a watermelon or a bell is reduced when a game is played with one or two cards, while the probability of winning a cherry bell or a seven bell is set high. As a result, the player can be further impressed by the fact that the Cherry Bell or 7-Bel prize is a special small part prize with one or two cards, and one or two cards. When a game is played, the player can have a sense of expectation that a Cherry Bell prize or a 7-bell prize will be established.

  Next, the electrical configuration of the slot machine 10 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the slot machine 10.

  The main controller 101 is equipped with a microcomputer centering on the MPU 102 which is an arithmetic processing means. In addition to the power supply device 91, the MPU 102 is connected to a clock circuit 103 that outputs a rectangular wave having a predetermined frequency, an input / output port 104, and the like via an internal bus. The main control device 101 functions as a main board built in the slot machine 10.

  On the input side of the main controller 101, a reel unit 31 (more specifically, a reel index sensor that individually detects that each of the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R has made one rotation) and a start detection sensor that detects an operation of the start lever 41 are provided. 41a, stop detection sensors 42a to 44a that individually detect operations of the stop switches 42 to 44, a first insertion medal detection sensor 45a and a second insertion medal detection sensor 45b that detect medals inserted from the medal insertion slot 45, A payout detection sensor 51a for detecting medals paid out from the hopper device 51; credit insertion detection sensors 56a to 58a for individually detecting operations of the respective credit insertion switches 56 to 58; an adjustment detection sensor 59a for detecting an operation of the adjustment switch 59; Reset that detects the operation of the reset switch 72 Various sensors such as a setting key detection sensor 73a for detecting that the setting key is inserted into the key detection sensor 72a and the setting key insertion hole 73 and turned ON are connected, and signals from these various sensors are input / output ports. The data is output to the MPU 102 via 104.

  A power supply device 91 is connected to the input side of the main control device 101 via an input / output port 104. The power supply device 91 includes a power supply unit 91 a that supplies driving power to the electronic devices of the slot machine 10 including the main control device 101, a power failure monitoring circuit 91 b, and the like.

  The power failure monitoring circuit 91b monitors the power-off state and generates a power failure signal not only at the time of power failure but also when the power switch 71 powers off. For this reason, the power failure monitoring circuit 91b monitors the stabilized drive voltage of 12 VDC in this example output from the power supply unit 91a, and determines that the power supply has been shut off when this drive voltage drops below, for example, 10 volts. Power outage signal is output. The power failure signal is supplied to each of the MPU 102 and the input / output port 104, and the MPU 102 recognizes this power failure signal and executes a power failure process described later. The power failure signal is also supplied to the display control device 81.

  The power supply unit 91a is configured to output a stabilized voltage of 5 volts that is used as a drive voltage in a control system such as the main controller 101 even when the output voltage drops below 10 volts. As a time for outputting the stabilization voltage, a time sufficient for executing the power failure process by the main controller 101 is secured.

  On the output side of the main controller 101, a reel unit 31 (more specifically, a stepping motor for rotating the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R), a medal path switching solenoid 46a provided in the selector 46, a hopper device 51, a credit A display unit 60, a remaining payout number display unit 61, a payout number display unit 62, a display control device 81, an external concentration terminal board 121 that can transmit information to a hall management device (not shown), and the like are connected via an input / output port 104. Yes.

  The display control device 81 is a control device for driving the upper lamp 63, the speaker 64, and the auxiliary display unit 65. Although details will be described later with reference to FIG. 10, the MPU 181, the image controller 186, and a substrate on which various memories are integrated are provided. The device 81 independently drives and controls the upper lamp 63, the speaker 64, and the auxiliary display unit 65. Therefore, the display control device 81 is a sub-board that performs auxiliary control in relation to the main control device 101 that is a main board that manages and manages games. Various display units 60 to 62 may be configured to be driven and controlled by the display control device 81.

  In the display control device 81, the character ROM 187 for storing various image data to be displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 is constituted by a NAND flash memory which is a small area and has a large storage capacity and is an inexpensive memory. . Thus, the capacity of the character ROM 187 can be easily increased, and a large number of images can be prepared as images to be displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65. Therefore, in order to enhance the player's interest, the auxiliary display unit The images displayed on the screen can be diversified and complicated. Note that the NAND flash memory facilitates an increase in the capacity of the ROM, while the reading speed is slower than other ROMs (mask ROM, EEPROM, etc.), the display control device 81 has a memory with a slow reading speed. Even when image data is used as a storage means for image data, an invention has been made to display an image without any problem at a time when it is desired to be displayed. Details thereof will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The above-described MPU 102 includes a ROM 105 that stores various control programs executed by the MPU 102 and fixed value data, and a work area that temporarily stores various data when executing the control program stored in the ROM 105. A RAM 106 for securing and a free-run counter 107 for generating random numbers are incorporated. The MPU 102 also includes various processing circuits necessary for the slot machine 10, such as an interrupt circuit, a timer circuit, a data transmission / reception circuit, and various counters such as a credit counter for counting the number of credits, as is well known. Built in.

  The free-run counter 107 is a counter configured by hardware that generates and updates random numbers from 0 to 65535 in a short cycle. After confirming the operation of the start lever 41 based on the output signal of the start detection sensor 41a, the MPU 102 latches the value of the free-run counter 107 by a hardware circuit and stores the latched value in the RAM 106. By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to quickly acquire a random number at the timing when the start lever 41 is operated, and it is possible to avoid occurrence of problems such as synchronization. The hardware circuit of the slot machine 10 is configured to latch the value of the free run counter 107 each time the start lever 41 is operated. The value of the free-run counter latched and stored in the RAM 106 is used to draw a winning mode (combination) of a game started by operating the start lever 41.

  The ROM 105 and the RAM 106 constitute a main memory as storage means, and a program for executing various processes shown in the flowcharts of FIG. 12 and subsequent figures is stored in the ROM 105 as a part of the control program. The ROM 105 is provided with at least a lottery table storage area 105a for storing a lottery table used for lottery in a winning mode.

  Here, the lottery table will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram schematically showing a lottery table selected in the general gaming state when the setting state is set to “setting 1”. FIG. 9A shows three inserted medals. (3) Multi-drawing lottery table used when (3), (b) is a 2-ply lottery table used when the number of inserted medals is 2 (2), (c) is The drawing shows a 1-sheet drawing lottery table used when the number of inserted medals is 1 (1).

  Each lottery table is set with an index value IV, and each index value IV is uniquely associated with a winning mode for winning, and a point value corresponding to the winning probability corresponding to the winning mode. PV is set for each lottery table. Specifically, BB winning is associated with IV = 1 as a winning mode, Watermelon winning is associated with IV = 2, Bell winning is associated with IV = 3, and IV = 4. Is associated with a cherry bell prize, IV = 5 is associated with a 7-bell prize, and IV = 6 is associated with a replay prize.

  Also, in the three-sheet drawing lottery table, as shown in FIG. 9A, PV = 256 is associated with IV = 1 (BB winning), and PV = 256 with IV = 2 (watermelon winning). 8192 is associated, PV = 12850 is associated with IV = 3 (bell prize), PV = 0 is associated with IV = 4 (cherry prize), and IV = 5 (7 bell prize). ) Is associated with PV = 0, and IV = 6 (replay prize) is associated with PV = 8980.

  Here, the lottery method of the winning mode will be briefly described. When the random number value of the free run counter 107 is latched by the operation of the start lever 41 and stored in the RAM 106, first, the value of the point value PV associated with IV = 1 (BB winning) (FIG. 9A). In the lottery table shown in FIG. 14, 256) is added to the value of the latched random number, and this is used as the determination value DV (see S304 in FIG. 14). If the determination value DV is larger than 65535, the BB winning is determined as the winning combination of the game (see S305 and S306 in FIG. 14), and the lottery is ended. That is, when a lottery is performed using the three-sheet drawing lottery table shown in FIG. 9A, when the latched random number value is in the range of 655280 to 65535, the BB winning prize is determined as the winning combination. . Therefore, the winning probability is set to 1/256 as shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, when the determination value DV is 65535 or less, the index value IV is incremented by 1 (see S307 in FIG. 14), and the value of the point value PV corresponding to the value of the index value IV after the increase is added to the determination value DV. Then, the determination value DV is updated (see S304 in FIG. 14). If the updated determination value DV is larger than 65535, the winning mode corresponding to the index value IV after the advance is determined as a winning combination, and the lottery is completed. Further, the index value IV is incremented by 1 to update the determination value DV (addition of the point value PV corresponding to the IV after the advancement), and determination of the updated determination value DV (whether the determination value DV is larger than 65535). ) Is repeated until the winning combination is determined or until there is no determined combination (IV exceeds the maximum value) (see S304 to S308 in FIG. 14).

  Accordingly, when a lottery is performed using the three-sheet drawing lottery table shown in FIG. 9A, the watermelon winning is determined as a winning combination when the latched random number value is in the range of 57088 to 655279, When the value of the latched random number is in the range of 44238 to 57087, the Bell winning combination is determined as a winning combination, and when the value of the latched random number is in the range of 35258 to 44237, the winning of the replay is determined as a winning combination. . Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the winning probability of each winning mode is set to 1/8 for the watermelon winning, is set to about 1 / 5.1 for the Bell winning, and is approximately set for the replay winning. It will be set to 7.3.

  In the three-sheet drawing lottery table shown in FIG. 9A, the point value PV corresponding to IV = 4 (Cherry Bell winning) and IV = 5 (7 Bell winning) is set to 0. Therefore, even if the determination value DV is updated using this value, the value does not change before and after the update. When the point value PV corresponding to IV = 4 and IV = 5 is added to the determination value DV, since the determination value DV is 65535 or less, when IV = 4 and IV = 5 Even if the determination value after the update is determined, it is not determined to be larger than 65535. Therefore, by setting the point value PV corresponding to IV = 4 (Cherry Bell prize) and IV = 5 (7 Bell prize) to 0, the Cherry Bell prize and the 7 Bell prize are not selected as the winning combination. It has become.

  In the two-sheet drawing lottery table shown in FIG. 9B, PV = 1 is associated with IV = 1 (BB winning), and PV = 1 is associated with IV = 2 (watermelon winning). , IV = 3 (Bell Winner) is associated with PV = 1, IV = 4 (Cherry Bell Winner) is associated with PV = 36400, and IV = 5 (7 Bell Winner) is PV. = 0 and PV = 8980 is associated with IV = 6 (replay winning). Therefore, when a lottery is performed using the two-sheet lottery table shown in FIG. 9B, when the value of the latched random number is 65535, the BB winning is determined as a winning combination, and the latched random number When the value is 65534, the watermelon winning is determined as the winning combination, and when the latched random value is 65533, the bell winning is determined as the winning combination, and the latched random number is within the range of 29133 to 65532. At some point, the Cherry Bell winning combination is determined as the winning combination, and when the latched random number value is within the range of 15153 to 29132, the replay winning combination is determined as the winning combination. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 7, the winning probability of each winning mode is set to 1/65536 for the BB winning, the watermelon winning, and the bell winning, and is approximately 1 / 1.8 for the cherry bell winning. The replay winning is set to about 1 / 7.3. Since the value of the point value PV corresponding to IV = 5 (7-bell winning) is set to 0, as described above, the 7-bell winning is not set as a winning combination.

  Further, in the one-sheet drawing lottery table shown in FIG. 9C, PV = 1 is associated with IV = 1 (BB prize), and PV = 1 is associated with IV = 2 (watermelon prize). PV = 1 is associated with IV = 3 (Bell Prize), PV = 10880 is associated with IV = 4 (Cherry Bell Prize), and IV = 5 (7 Bell Prize). PV = 10880 is associated, and PV = 8980 is associated with IV = 6 (replay winning). Therefore, when a lottery is performed using the one-sheet lottery table shown in FIG. 9C, when the value of the latched random number is 65535, the BB winning is determined as the winning combination, and the random number of the latched random number When the value is 65534, the watermelon winning is determined as the winning combination, and when the latched random number value is 65533, the bell winning is determined as the winning combination, and the latched random number value is in the range of 54653-65532. At some point, the Cherry Bell winning combination is determined as a winning combination, and when the latched random number value is in the range of 43773 to 54652, the 7 Bell winning combination is determined as the winning combination, and the latched random number value is 34793-43772. When it is within the range, the replay winning is determined as the winning combination. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the winning probability of each winning mode is set to 1/65536 for the BB winning, the watermelon winning, and the bell winning, respectively, and about 6.0 for the cherry bell winning and the 7 bell winning. It is set to 1 / minute, and the replay winning is set to about 1 / 7.3.

  In the lottery table storage area 105a, for each “setting 1” to “setting 6”, a one-hatch lottery table, a two-hatch lottery table, and a three-hatch lottery table for the general gaming state are stored. Yes. Also, a bonus state lottery table used when the slot machine 10 is in the bonus state is prepared for each of “setting 1” to “setting 6”. Then, a lottery table used for the lottery of the winning mode (combination) is set according to the setting state and gaming state of the slot machine 10 and the number of inserted medals (number of bets). That is, when the number of bets is three in the general gaming state, a three-sheet lottery table corresponding to the setting state of the slot machine 10 is set, and when the number of bets is two, When a two-sheet lottery table corresponding to the setting state is set and the number of bets is one, a one-sheet lottery table corresponding to the setting state of the slot machine 10 is set. When the gaming state of the slot machine 10 is in the bonus state, a bonus state lottery table corresponding to the set state of the slot machine 10 is set (see FIG. 15). Then, using the set lottery table, a lottery of a winning mode is performed.

  Note that, as the lottery table used when the gaming state of the slot machine 10 is in the bonus state, a different lottery table is not provided according to the number of bets (1 to 3). This is because the game is played with the number of bets being limited to three in the state. Therefore, in the bonus state, the corresponding bonus state lottery table is simply set according to the setting state (“Setting 1” to “Setting 6”) of the slot machine 10.

  In this slot machine 10, when in the general gaming state, the three-hatch lottery table, the two-hatch lottery table, and the one-hatch lottery table shown in FIGS. BB winning prize probability when the game is played with three medals inserted can be set sufficiently higher than when the game is played with one or two medals inserted. . Therefore, as described above, it is possible to have one player play a game by inserting three medals while expecting the player to obtain a lot of medals when the BB winning is established. As a result, medals are consumed quickly, and the utilization rate of the slot machine in the hall can be increased.

  In addition, when a game is played by inserting one or two medals, it is possible to set a Cherry Bell winning prize with three medal payouts as a winning combination candidate, and to further increase the winning probability. Therefore, if one or two medals remain at the player's hand, the player expects the player to get three medals when the Cherry Bell prize is established, while the one or two remaining at hand. A single game can be played by inserting medals. Thus, if three medals are paid out due to the Cherry Bell winning, the player can play another game while inserting the three medals and expecting the BB winning. The player can enjoy the game to the end without leaving any extra medals. Further, even if the result of the game executed by inserting one or two medals is not good, the game can be ended without leaving extra medals for the player.

  In addition, when a game is played by inserting one medal, a 7-bell winning prize with two medal payouts can be set as a winning combination candidate, and the winning probability can be set higher. If one medal remains in the player's hand and the player expects the player to get two medals if the 7-bell prize is established, the player will throw in the remaining medal. Can be played once. As a result, when two medal payouts are made due to the completion of the 7-bell prize, the player inserts the two medals and expects the Cherry Bell prize to be completed, in which three more medal payouts are made. , You can enjoy another game. If the Cherry Bell prize is established, the player can play the game by inserting three medals that are paid out while expecting the BB prize to be established. You can enjoy the medals and you can use up your medals even if you miss. Therefore, it is possible to entertain the game to the end without leaving extra medals while giving the player more enjoyment of the game.

  Thus, the slot machine 10 can entertain the game to the end without leaving extra medals to the player.

  Further, by using the 1-sheet drawing lottery table or the 2-sheet drawing lottery table stored in the lottery table storage area 105a, the winning probability of each winning mode can be set to the value shown in FIG. As described above with reference to FIG. 7, the ratio of the number of medals paid out with respect to the number of bets can be set to a value less than 100% and as close as possible to 100% in both cases of 1 and 2 sheets. it can. Therefore, even if a game is played with one or two cards, the medals will hardly decrease, so if one or two medals remain in the player's hand, the player will have one remaining in the hand Alternatively, it is possible to reliably make a player want to play a game using two medals, and the possibility that the player leaves the medal and finishes the game can be further reduced. On the other hand, if the game is repeated with one or two cards, the number of medals decreases, so the player can increase the medal by repeating the game with one or two cards. It can be made not to aim. Therefore, when there are three or more medals, it is possible to direct the player to play the game with three pieces having a high probability of winning a BB prize.

  In addition, by switching and using each lottery table according to the number of bets, the winning mode is established only when the game is played with one or two cherry bells. If it is done, it can be handled as a miss without establishing a Cherry Bell prize, so pay attention to the player as the Cherry Bell prize is a special small role prize dedicated to one or two. Can be made. Similarly, a winning mode that is established only when a 7-bell prize is played with a single game is used, and a 7-bell prize is not established when a game is played with two or three cards. Since it is handled as a detachment, it is possible to draw attention to the player, assuming that the 7-bell prize is a special small role prize dedicated to one piece. Therefore, when the game is played with one or two cards, if the symbol stops with the cherry bell winning symbol or the seven bell winning symbol, a great joy can be given to the player.

  In addition, even if the game is played with one or two cards, it can be set so that a BB winning is achieved although the winning probability is very low. Even when a game is played, the player can have a sense of expectation that a BB prize will be established.

  In the slot machine 10, the probability of winning a watermelon or a bell winning when a game is played with one or two is reduced, while the probability of winning a cherry bell or seven bell is set high. It is possible to give the player a further impression that the Cherry Bell prize or the 7-bell prize is a special small role prize with one or two cards, and one or two cards. When a game is played by hanging, it is possible to give the player a sense of expectation that a Cherry Bell prize or a 7-bell prize will be established.

  In this embodiment, the point value PV corresponding to IV = 5 (7-bell winning) is set to 0 in the 2-sheet lottery table, and IV = 4 (Cherry Bell winning in the 3-sheet lottery table. ) And IV = 5 (7-bell winning), by setting the point value PV to 0, the winning mode is selected, while the winning mode is not selected, but the winning mode is selected. It is good also as a structure which does not win the said winning aspect by not setting the index value IV which becomes and not performing the lottery of those winning aspects.

  Returning to FIG. 8, the description will be continued. The RAM 106 is configured to retain (backup) data by being supplied with a backup voltage from the power supply device 91 even after the power to the slot machine 10 is cut off. In the RAM 106, a memory for temporarily storing various data, a winning flag storage area 106a for storing a lottery result of a combination, and a sliding table used when stop control of each reel 32L, 32M, 32R is performed. In addition to the sliding table storage area 106b for storing the game information, the status information storage area 106c for storing the gaming status such as the bonus status, etc., at least a backup area is provided.

  The backup area is an area for storing the value of the stack pointer when the power is shut down due to the occurrence of a power failure or the like (including power shutdown by operating the power switch 71; the same applies hereinafter). Yes, when the power failure is resolved (including power-on by operating the power switch 71; the same applies hereinafter), the state of the slot machine 10 can be restored to the state before power-off based on the backup area information. . Writing to the backup area is executed when the power is shut off by the power failure process (see S103 in FIG. 12), and the restoration of each value written to the backup area is executed in the main process when the power is turned on.

  Further, the power failure signal from the power failure monitoring circuit 91b is input to the NMI terminal (non-maskable interrupt terminal) of the MPU 102 when the power is shut down due to the occurrence of a power failure or the like. When the power is shut off, an NMI interrupt process as a power failure flag generation process is immediately executed.

  Next, the electrical configuration of the display control device 81 of the slot machine 10 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the display control device 81. In the description of FIG. 10, the detailed description of the portions described in the electrical configuration of the slot machine 10 of FIG. 8 is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the display control device 81 is a control device for driving the upper lamp 63, the speaker 64, and the auxiliary display unit 65. An image controller 188 for drawing and displaying the drawn image on the auxiliary display unit 65 at a predetermined timing, and a character ROM 187 storing image data displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 are mounted.

  The MPU 181 is connected to an input / output port 186, a character ROM 187, and an image controller 188 via an internal bus, and a signal latch circuit 182 that latches a control signal such as a command transmitted from the main controller 101, and a predetermined A clock circuit 183 that outputs a rectangular wave having a frequency, a program ROM 184 that stores various control programs executed by the MPU 181 and fixed value data for driving the upper lamp 63, and the like, and is stored in the program ROM 184. A work RAM 185 for securing a work area for temporarily storing various data when executing the control program is connected. Note that a one-chip microcomputer in which the program ROM 184, the work RAM 185, the signal latch circuit 182 and the clock circuit 183 described above are built in the MPU may be used.

  The MPU 181 is connected to a power supply device 91, an upper lamp 63, a speaker 64, and an auxiliary display unit 65 via an input / output port 186. The power supply device 91 is configured to receive a power failure signal that is output when the drive voltage drops below, for example, 10 volts. Further, the MPU 181 performs various control processes based on various commands transmitted from the main control device 101, and executes drive control of the upper lamp 63, the speaker 64, and the auxiliary display unit 65 via the input / output port 186. . Hereinafter, the upper lamp 63, the speaker 64, and the auxiliary display unit 65 are collectively referred to as an auxiliary effect unit.

  The work RAM 185 is provided with at least a received command storage area 185a and a bet number storage area 185b. The received command recording area 185a is an area for temporarily storing various commands transmitted from the main controller 101. When the display control device 81 receives the command transmitted from the main control device 101, the display control device 81 latches the received command by the signal latch circuit 182 and generates a command interrupt signal toward the MPU 181. The MPU 181 executes command interrupt processing (not shown) triggered by the generation of the command interrupt signal, and stores the command latched by the signal latch circuit 182 in the received command storage area 185a. The received command storage area 185a is configured to operate as a FIFO (First In First Out) type ring buffer, and a command received from the main controller 101 is received in the received command storage area 185a by main processing executed by the MPU 181. If stored, the commands are read in the order in which they are stored, and processing corresponding to each command (for example, start command processing shown in FIG. 19, lottery result command processing shown in FIG. 20, error command processing shown in FIG. 21, etc.) ).

  The bet number storage area 185b is an area for storing information relating to the number of medals (the number of bets) inserted at the start of the game. In the slot machine 10, when a predetermined number of medals are inserted and the start lever 41 is operated by the player, the number of medals inserted (the number of bets) by a normal process executed by the MPU 102 of the main controller 101. A start command including information related to this is set (see S209 in FIG. 13), and the start command is transmitted from the main control apparatus 101 to the display control apparatus 81 by timer interrupt processing executed by the MPU 102 of the main control apparatus 101 (see FIG. 13). (See S110 in FIG. 12). By receiving this start command, the display control device 81 grasps that the start lever 41 has been operated and a game start command has been generated, and executes a start command process (see FIG. 19). Information regarding the included bet number is extracted and stored in the bet number storage area 185b (see S801 in FIG. 19). In the bet number storage area 185b, information regarding the bet number included in the start command may be stored as it is, or information regarding the bet number may be stored in a format different from the information regarding the bet number included in the start command. You may make it store.

  In the display control device 81, based on the information stored in the bet number storage area 185b, the number of medals inserted at the start of the game (the number of bets) is grasped, and the auxiliary effect section is executed based on the bet number. Control the production mode. For example, when it is determined that the game is started with the number of bets being three based on the information stored in the bet number storage area 185b, the display control device 81 receives various commands received from the main control device 101. The production mode is selected based on the gaming state of the slot machine 10 determined by the determination and the result of the lottery (the determination of whether or not the winning mode is determined) based on the start command, and the auxiliary production unit executes various types of production (FIG. 20). S902).

  As an effect corresponding to the number of bets of three, for example, as a normal effect, a character that performs a predetermined action is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 as a “normal effect”, and the auxiliary display unit 65 is “Challenge BB! The message “BB winning challenge production” is displayed to prompt the player to arrange the stop symbols corresponding to the BB winning mode, and the message “BB winning selection!” Is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65, and the upper lamp A random number counter (not shown) prepared in the display control device 81 includes a lighting of 63 and an audio output from the speaker 64, and a “BB winning announcement effect” for notifying that the BB winning mode is set as a winning combination. )) And the result of lottery (judgment determination of winning combination) grasped by a lottery result command received from the main controller 101, which will be described later, received from the main controller 101. Depending on the game state of the slot machine 10 to be grasped by the state command, it determines the representation embodiment to be executed by the auxiliary rendering unit from among the rendition.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the game is started with the number of bets being one or two, the auxiliary control unit executes the result based on the result of the lottery performed based on the generation of the start command by the main control device 101. The production mode to be selected is selected. For example, it is determined that the number of bets is one and the cherry bell winning mode, the 7-bell winning mode or the replay winning mode is won by the lottery result command received from the main control device 101, or in which winning mode If it is determined that the player has not won, the display control device 81 causes the auxiliary display unit 65 to display the message “Challenge 7 bell challenge!” And output a dedicated sound from the speaker 64. The auxiliary effect section is controlled to execute “Cherry Bell Winning / 7 Bell Winning Challenge Effect” in which the upper lamp 63 is lit in a dedicated manner (see S911 in FIG. 20). In addition, it is determined that the number of bets is two and either the Cherry Bell winning mode or the replay winning mode is won by the lottery result command received from the main control device 101, or any winning mode is not won. If it is determined, the display control device 81 causes the auxiliary display unit 65 to display a message “Challenge is a challenge!”, And causes the speaker 64 to output a dedicated sound, so that the upper lamp 63 is in a dedicated mode. The auxiliary effect section is controlled to execute “Cherry Bell winning challenge effect” to be lit (see S910 in FIG. 20).

  When a game is played with one card, the expectation that 3 or 2 medals will be paid out according to the establishment of the 1 Cherry Bell Award or 7 Bell Award Mode by "Cherry Bell Award / 7 Bell Award Challenge Direction" Can be strongly held by the player. In addition, when a game is played with two cards, the “Cherry Bell winning challenge production” can give the player a strong sense of expectation that three medals will be paid out when the Cherry Bell winning mode is established. . Therefore, the player can play the game with one or two cards while having fun, and can make the player strongly think that he wants to play the game without leaving an extra medal.

  It should be noted that the “Cherry Bell Award / 7 Bell Award Challenge Effect” and the “Cherry Bell Award Challenge Effect” may be effects produced in at least one of the upper lamp 63, the speaker 64, and the auxiliary display unit 65. . Separately from these, a lamp is provided on the game panel 25. For example, when a single board is used, the lamp is lit red, and when two boards are used, the lamp is lit blue. May be configured to be executed.

  Further, when it is determined that the number of bets is one or two, if the BB winning mode is determined by the lottery result command received from the main control device 101, the display control device 81 displays the BB As an effect of notifying the player that the winning mode has been set as a winning combination, a “BB winning notification effect” for displaying the message “BB winning!” On the auxiliary display unit 65 is executed (see S904 in FIG. 20). ), If it is determined that the watermelon winning mode is won, the display control device 81 displays “watermelon winning” on the auxiliary display unit 65 as an effect to notify the player that the watermelon winning mode is set as a winning combination. “Watermelon winning announcement effect” that displays the message “Win!” Is executed (see S906 in FIG. 20), and if it is determined that the bell winning mode is won, the display control device 81 Then, as an effect of notifying the player that the bell winning mode has been set as a winning combination, a “Bell winning notification effect” is executed in which a message “Bell winning winning!” Is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 (FIG. 20). (See S908).

  Here, when the player starts the game with one or two cards, that is, when the number of bets is one or two, BB is determined according to the lottery table shown in FIGS. 9B and 9C. The winning probability of the winning mode, the watermelon winning mode, and the bell winning mode are kept very low, while the winning probability of the Cherry Bell winning mode and the 7-bell winning mode is set high, so that the player can select the BB winning mode, There is a high possibility of playing a game without expecting the formation of the watermelon winning mode and the bell winning mode, and conversely expecting the establishment of the cherry bell winning mode and the 7-bell winning mode. In addition, in the slot machine 10, the Cherry Bell winning mode and the 7 Bell winning mode are effective with the stop pattern corresponding to the stop switches 42 to 44, which are not missed at any timing once they are won as the winning combination. Since it is configured to stop on the line, the player who started the game with one or two is attached to each reel 32L, 32M, 32R displayed on the display windows 26L, 26M, 26R. There is a high possibility of operating the stop switches 42 to 44 without looking at the symbols.

  Therefore, when a game is played with one or two cards, even if any of the BB winning mode, the watermelon winning mode, and the bell winning mode is won as a winning role, and the player is not aware of it, Since the BB winning mode, the watermelon winning mode, and the bell winning mode are all winning modes that may be missed, the BB winning mode and the like may be missed. In addition, the winning of the BB winning mode is valid across the game until the BB winning mode is established (that is, until the stop symbols corresponding to the BB winning mode are aligned on the effective line). If the player finishes the game without noticing the winning of the winning mode, another player establishes the BB winning mode based on the winning of the BB winning mode, and the player who has won the winning of the BB winning mode As a result, there is a risk of loss.

  On the other hand, in the case where the game is played with one or two slots, the slot machine 10 has a BB winning mode, a watermelon winning mode, or a bell winning mode. Winning is notified by the display of the auxiliary display unit 65. Then, as will be described later with reference to FIG. 14, the notification is made while the stop switches 42 to 44 cannot be operated by the player. Therefore, before operating the stop switches 42 to 44, the player can know the winning of any of the BB winning mode, the watermelon winning mode and the bell winning mode. Accordingly, when the player plays a game with one or two cards, if this notification is made by the auxiliary display unit 65, the winning combination (BB winning mode, watermelon winning mode or bell winning) ascertained by the notification is obtained. Since the stop switches 42 to 44 can be operated aiming at the stop symbol in order to stop the stop symbol corresponding to the mode) on the active line, those winning modes can be established with a higher probability. In addition, when the winning of the BB winning mode is announced, even if the player misses the game, the player can receive a new medal and continue the game until the BB winning mode is established. it can.

  The above notification may be made by turning on the upper lamp 63 or outputting sound from the speaker 64. Two or more kinds of display of the auxiliary display unit 65, turning on the upper lamp 63, and outputting sound from the speaker 64 may be performed. It may be performed by a combination. In addition, a notification-dedicated lamp may be provided on the game panel 25, and a notification effect corresponding to each winning combination may be performed according to the lighting color of the lamp.

  As described above, the character ROM 187 is a memory that stores image data displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65, and is connected to the MPU 181 via an internal bus. An image controller 188 is also connected to the internal bus, and the MPU 181 directly accesses the character ROM 187 to transfer the image data stored in the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189 connected to the image controller 188 or the normal use. It can be transferred to the video RAM 190.

  The character ROM 187 is composed of a NAND flash memory 187a. Since the NAND flash memory has a feature that a large storage capacity can be obtained with a small area, the capacity of the character ROM 187 can be easily increased. For example, in the present slot machine, many images are stored as images to be displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 by using the NAND flash memory 187a having a capacity of 2 gigabytes. Thereby, in order to raise a player's interest more, the image displayed on the auxiliary | assistant display part 65 can be diversified and complicated.

  The NAND flash memory 187a has a defective data block in which data cannot be written due to its nature. Therefore, the character ROM 187 is provided with a known arbitration circuit 187b (see, for example, Patent Document 1) that performs data address conversion so that data is read from and written to the NAND flash memory 187a while avoiding a defective data block. Provided. The arbitration circuit 187b analyzes the defective data block of the NAND flash memory 187a in the character ROM 187 and avoids access to the defective data block, so that the MPU 181 has a different defect in each NAND flash memory 187a. The character ROM 187 can be easily accessed without considering the address position of the data block. Therefore, even if the NAND flash memory 187a is used as the character ROM 187, it is possible to prevent the access control to the character ROM 187 from becoming complicated.

  The image controller 188 is a digital signal processor (DSP) that draws an image and displays the drawn image on the auxiliary display unit 65 at a predetermined timing, and is connected to the MPU 181 via an internal bus. Then, based on an instruction from the MPU 181, an image to be displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 is drawn, and data (drawing image data) corresponding to the drawn image is input through the input / output port at a predetermined timing. Then, the drawing image data is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65.

  A resident video RAM 189 and a normal video RAM 190 are connected to the image controller 188, and image data necessary for drawing an image by the image controller 188 is read out from the character ROM 187 in advance by the MPU 181 before drawing. It is transferred to the video RAM 189 for normal use or the video RAM 190 for normal use. At this time, the MPU 181 determines whether to transfer to the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190 (and to which address to store it) according to the contents of the image based on the program or table stored in the program ROM 184. To decide.

  When the image controller 188 draws an image, image drawing processing is executed using the image data stored in the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190 without using the image data in the character ROM 187. As a result, even if the character ROM 187 is configured by the NAND flash memory 187a having a slow reading speed, the image controller 188 uses the image data stored in advance in the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190 from the character ROM 187. Since the drawing is performed, the image can be immediately drawn without being affected by the slow reading speed of the character ROM 187. Therefore, a desired image can be displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 at a desired time.

  The MPU 181 determines whether the image data required when the image controller 188 draws an image is stored in the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190 (and at which address) the MPU 181 stores the program ROM 184. Is determined according to the contents of the image based on the program or table stored in the image storage, and when the image controller 188 is instructed to draw the image, the necessary image data storage destination (resident video RAM 189 and normal video) Which address of the RAM 190 is stored and which address is stored). The image controller 188 reads necessary image data from a predetermined address of the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190 based on an instruction from the MPU 181. As a result, the image controller 188 does not need to determine the storage location where the necessary image data is stored, and thus can concentrate on drawing the image.

  When the image controller 188 receives an image drawing instruction from the MPU 181, the image data required for drawing is stored based on the type of image required for drawing (in the resident video RAM 189 and the normal video RAM 190. It may be determined in which address it is stored and at which address it is stored. In this case, when the MPU 181 stores image data from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190, the image controller 188 displays the type of image (or corresponding image) displayed by the stored image data. The address of the character ROM 187 storing the data) and the storage location of the image data are determined based on the control signal from the MPU 181, and the image type (or corresponding) is stored in the RAM provided in the image controller 188. The address of the character ROM 187 storing the image data) and the storage destination of the image data may be stored in association with each other. Then, based on the information stored in the RAM, the image controller 188 may determine the storage location of the image data necessary for the image. By determining the image data storage destination by the image controller 188, the processing load on the MPU 181 can be reduced.

  The resident video RAM 189 is constituted by a DRAM (Dynamic RAM) having one input / output port (hereinafter referred to as “1-port type”), and image data transferred from the character ROM 187 is overwritten while the power is turned on. It is used so that it can be kept without being lost. As a result, the image data transferred from the character ROM 189 is resident in the resident video RAM 189. The resident video RAM 189 includes data corresponding to an image displayed when the power is turned on among images displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65, data corresponding to an image displayed frequently, and the main control device 101. Alternatively, data corresponding to an image to be displayed immediately among images determined to be displayed by the display control device 81 is transferred from the character ROM 187 and is resident.

  On the other hand, the normal video RAM 190 is used so that data is overwritten and updated as needed, and is constituted by a one-port DRAM (Dynamic RAM). In the normal video RAM 190, when the image controller 188 draws an image to be displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 using image data not resident in the resident video RAM 189, the image data read from the character ROM 187 in advance is drawn. Is for storing temporarily. The image data (drawn image data) drawn by the image controller 188 is also stored in the normal video RAM 190, and the drawn image data stored in the normal video RAM 190 by the image controller 188 in accordance with the display timing of the auxiliary display unit 65. Is transmitted to the auxiliary display unit 65, an image corresponding to the drawing image data is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65.

  The resident video RAM 189 is provided with a power-on main image area 189a, a background image area 189b, a character symbol area 189c, a notification effect image area 189d, and an error message image area 189e.

  The power-on main image area 189a is an area for storing data corresponding to the power-on main image displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 while the display control device 81 is performing initialization processing at the time of power-on. The main image when the power is turned on is a message image for notifying a player or the like that initialization processing is being performed when the power is turned on, such as “Waiting for power! Please wait for a while”. Is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 until the initialization process of the display control device 81 is completed.

  In the display control device 81, when the power switch 71 is turned on and power is supplied from the power supply device 91 to the display control device 81, the MPU 181 accesses the character ROM 181 directly, and the character ROM 181 first corresponds to the main image when the power is turned on. Data is read out and transferred to the main image area 189a at the time of power-on of the resident video RAM 189 via a buffer RAM 188a described later provided in the image controller 188 (see S702 and S703 in FIG. 17). When the image data is stored in the power-on main image area 189a, the MPU 181 instructs the image controller 188 to draw the power-on main image (see S70 in FIG. 17). As a result, the image controller 188 draws the power-on main image using the image data stored in the power-on main image area 189 a and displays the drawn power-on main image on the auxiliary display unit 65. . The main image at the time of power-on is controlled to be displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 until the initialization process of the display control device 81 is completed.

  Here, for initialization processing of the display control device 81, other image data to be stored in the resident video RAM 189 (image data other than the main image when the power is turned on) is read from the character ROM 187 and transferred to the resident video RAM 189. Processing is included (see S707 to S710 in FIG. 17). That is, since all the image data to be resident is transferred to the resident video RAM 189 after the power is turned on, the image controller 188 uses the image data resident in the resident video RAM 189 after the initialization process. Image drawing processing. Thus, if the image data used for the drawing process is resident in the resident video RAM 189, it is not necessary to read the corresponding image data from the character ROM 187 configured by the NAND flash memory 187a having a low reading speed when drawing the image. Therefore, the time required for the reading can be omitted, and the drawn image can be displayed immediately on the auxiliary display unit 65 by drawing the image.

  In particular, the resident video RAM 189 is resident with image data of frequently displayed images or image data of images to be displayed immediately after the display is determined by the main control device 101 or the display control device 81. Even if the character ROM 187 is composed of the NAND flash memory 187a, the responsiveness from the operation of the start lever 41 and the stop buttons 42 to 44 by the player to displaying some image on the auxiliary display unit 65 can be kept high. it can.

  Further, immediately after the power is supplied, the display control device 81 transfers the image data corresponding to the main image at power-on from the character ROM 187 to the main image area 189a at the time of power-on of the resident video RAM 189. After the input main image is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65, control is performed so that the power-on main image is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 until the initialization process of the display control device 81 is completed. After being displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65, the main image at power-on is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 until all the image data to be stored in the resident video RAM 189 is transferred from the character RO187 to the resident video RAM 189. Continue to be.

  In this slot machine 10, since the NAND flash memory 187a is used for the character ROM 187, all the image data to be stored in the resident video RAM 189 is resident from the character ROM 187 due to the slow reading speed. Although it takes a long time to be transferred to the video RAM 189, after the power is turned on, first, the main image at power-on is first transferred from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189, and the main image at power-on is supplemented. Since the image data to be resident in the remaining resident video RAM 189 after being displayed on the display unit 65 is transferred from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189, the remaining image data to be resident is transferred to the resident video RAM 189. While being played, players and hall personnel , Main image when displayed power-on the auxiliary display unit 65 can be confirmed. Therefore, the display control device 81 can transfer the remaining image data to be resident from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189 over time while displaying the main image on the auxiliary display unit 65 when the power is turned on. it can. On the other hand, since the player or the like can recognize that some initialization processing is being performed while the main image is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 when the power is turned on, the image to be resident in the remaining resident video RAM 189. Until the data is transferred from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189, it is possible to wait until the initialization is completed without worrying about whether the operation has stopped.

  Further, the image data corresponding to the main image at power-on is stored in the main image area 189a at power-on of the resident video RAM 189, so that when a power failure occurs instantaneously, the image data is resident in the resident video RAM 189. If the remaining data remains, the power-on main image data can be immediately displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 using the image data resident in the power-on main image area 189a at the time of power recovery.

  The background image area 189b and the character design area 189c are regions for storing image data corresponding to background images and character designs used in various effects displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65, respectively.

  In the display control device 81, when it is determined that the gaming state of the slot machine 10 shifts to a different gaming state (for example, from the normal state to the bonus state) based on the command received from the main control device 101, the background image and the character design are displayed. When changing or performing various other effects, the background image and the character design are changed, and the background image and the character design are required to change immediately according to the contents of the received command.

  On the other hand, in the slot machine 10, the image data corresponding to the background image and the character design is respectively transferred from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189 during the initialization process performed in the display control device 81 when the power is turned on. The background image area 189b and the character design area 189c are transferred in advance via a buffer RAM 188a described later provided in the image controller 188 (see S707 to S710 in FIG. 17). When the display control device 81 changes the background image or the character design based on the content of the command received from the main control device 101, the display control device 81 does not newly read the corresponding image data from the character ROM 187, but the resident video RAM 189. The image controller 188 can draw a predetermined image by reading out the image data previously resident in the background image area 189b and the character design area 189c. Thereby, since it is not necessary to read the corresponding image data from the character ROM 187, the background image and the character design can be changed immediately even if the NAND flash memory 187a having a low reading speed is used for the character ROM 187.

  In the background image area 189b, image data corresponding to all background images may be resident, or image data corresponding to some background images may be resident. When image data corresponding to some background images is resident, at least data corresponding to a background image to be displayed immediately in response to a received command from the main control apparatus 101 may be resident. As a result, when the background image is changed immediately after receiving the reception command from the main control device 101, the background image area 189b always has image data corresponding to the changed background image resident. An image can be immediately drawn by the image controller 188 using the image data and displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65.

  When the background image is scrolled and displayed over time, the image data corresponding to the entire range to be scrolled may be resident in the background image area 189b, or within a predetermined time from the time when the background image is changed. The image data corresponding to the scroll range displayed on the screen may be resident in the background image area 189b. Further, for a predetermined background image such as a background image displayed after power-on, image data corresponding to the entire range to be scrolled is resident in the background image area 189b, and for another background image, a predetermined time from the time when the background image is changed. The image data corresponding to the scroll range displayed inside may be resident in the background image area 189b. As a result, at least the image data corresponding to the scroll range displayed within a predetermined time from the change time of the background image is resident in the background image area 189b, and therefore, when changing to a background image that is scrolled over time. Even in such a case, an image can be immediately drawn by the image controller 188 using the image data resident in the background image area 189 b and displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65.

  In addition, when changing to a background image displayed by scrolling, it is more preferable to always start display from a fixedly set initial position as the position of the background image displayed at the time of change. . As a result, the image data to be resident in the background image area 189b can be limited to the image data corresponding to the scroll range displayed within a predetermined time from the fixedly set initial position, and the data amount can be reduced. Can be suppressed.

  When image data corresponding to the scroll range displayed within a predetermined time from the time when the background image is changed resides in the background image area 189b, the image data resident in the background image area 189b by the image controller 188 is used. While the image is drawn and the drawn image is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65, the MPU 181 reads out image data corresponding to the remaining scroll range from the character ROM 187 and transfers it to the normal video RAM 190. It may be.

  Thus, while the background image is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 in the scroll range corresponding to the background image data resident in the background image area 189, the scroll range not resident in the background image area 189 is supported. Since the background image data is transferred to the normal video RAM 190, the background image data already stored in the normal video RAM 190 is used when displaying the background image of the scroll range that is not resident in the background image area 189. Thus, an image can be immediately drawn by the image controller and displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65. Therefore, the background image is read again from the character ROM 187 when the background image of the scroll range resident in the background image area 189b is shifted to the display of the background image of the scroll range not resident in the background image area 189b. Since there is no need, the background image can be smoothly transferred even when the character ROM 187 uses the NAND flash memory 187a having a low reading speed.

  On the other hand, in the character symbol area 189c, data corresponding to all character symbols may be resident, or data corresponding to some character symbols may be resident. Further, when data corresponding to a part of character symbols is resident, at least data corresponding to character symbols to be displayed immediately in response to a received command from the main control device 101 may be resident. As a result, when the character design is changed immediately upon receiving a reception command from the main control device 101, image data corresponding to the character design after the change is always resident in the character design area 189c. An image can be immediately drawn by the image controller 188 using the image data and displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65.

  The notification effect image area 189d is an area for storing image data corresponding to the notification effect displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65, and the error message image area 189e is used when an error occurs in the slot machine 10. In this area, image data corresponding to an error message displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 is stored.

  For example, if the game is played with one or two bets, and the result of the lottery is that one of the BB winning mode, the watermelon winning mode, or the bell winning mode is won as a winning combination, the display control device 81 In accordance with the winning combination, the auxiliary display unit 65 is configured to perform control so that a BB prize announcement effect, a watermelon prize announcement effect, and a bell prize announcement effect are performed (see S903 to S908 in FIG. 20). In this case, in the display control device 81, the winning combination is grasped by the lottery result command received from the main control device 101, and various announcement effects are performed according to the grasped winning combination. It needs to be performed before the stop buttons 42 to 44 are operated by the player. In addition, since the main control device 101 operates the start lever 41 by the player after the start lever 41 is operated, the stop buttons 42 to 44 can be operated by the player after the start lever 41 is operated. In a very short time until the main control device 101, the main control device 101 draws a winning combination, and the lottery result is notified from the main control device 101 to the display control device 81 by a lottery result command. The corresponding notice effect must be performed by the means 81. In this slot machine 10, the image data corresponding to each of the BB prize notice effect, the watermelon prize notice effect, and the bell prize notice effect is provided in the notice effect image area 189d. Is resident in advance, the display control device 81 is based on the lottery result command received from the main control device 101. When performing the BB winning announcement effect, the watermelon winning announcement effect, or the bell winning announcement effect, the corresponding image data is not newly read out from the character ROM 187, but is previously resident in the notice effect image area 189d of the resident video RAM 189. Each notification effect image can be drawn by the image controller 188 by reading out the image data. As a result, it is not necessary to sequentially read the corresponding image data from the character ROM 187. Therefore, even if the NAND flash memory 187a having a slow reading speed is used as the character ROM 187, the stop button is received after receiving the lottery result command for each notification effect image. 42 to 44 can be displayed before they can be operated by the player.

  Further, in the slot machine 10, the main controller 101 causes the inserted medal to be inserted based on the detection result of the inserted medal detection device (the first inserted medal detection sensor 45a and the second inserted medal detection sensor 45b). When it is determined that the medals are jammed or the medal is pulled out illegally, the main control device 101 notifies the display control device 81 of the occurrence of a sensor error by an error command as described above. Also, when the occurrence of other errors is detected by the main control device 101, the main control device 101 notifies the display control device 81 of the occurrence of the error together with the content of the error by an error command. The display control device 81 is configured to display an error message corresponding to the received error on the auxiliary display unit 65 when an error command is received.

  Here, the error message is required to be displayed almost simultaneously with the occurrence of the error from the viewpoint of the player's fraud prevention and the player's protection against the error. Since the image data corresponding to the various error messages is resident in advance, the display control device 81 newly updates the image data corresponding to the predetermined error message from the character ROM 187 based on the error command received from the main control device 101. The image controller 188 can immediately draw each error message image by reading the image data previously resident in the error message image area 189e of the resident video RAM 189 instead of reading the image data. As a result, it is not necessary to sequentially read out image data corresponding to error messages from the character ROM 187, so even if the NAND flash memory 187a having a low reading speed is used as the character ROM 187, each error message is immediately received after receiving the error command. Can be displayed.

  The image controller 188 is provided with a buffer RAM 188a. This buffer RAM 188a functions as a buffer memory for data transfer from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190, and has a storage capacity (for example, 132) of the NAND flash memory 187a provided in the character ROM 187. It is configured by SRAM (Static RAM) having kilobytes, and is configured to be directly accessible from the MPU 181.

  When transferring image data from the character ROM 187 to the normal video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190, the MPU 181 reads data for one block from the character ROM 187 and temporarily stores it in the buffer RAM 188a. When the RAM 190 is not used, the image data stored in the buffer RAM 188a is transferred to the resident RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190.

  If the buffer RAM 188 is not provided and image data is directly transferred from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190, the character ROM 187 is constituted by the NAND flash memory 187a, so that the reading speed is low. Therefore, during the transfer of the image data of the desired size, the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190 constituted by the 1-port DRAM is occupied by the transfer of the image data from the character ROM 187 for a long time. Time and other data access cannot be performed. Accordingly, during that time, the image controller 188 cannot read the image data from the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190 to draw an image or transfer the drawn image data to the auxiliary display unit 65. There is a possibility that the image display of the auxiliary display unit 65 is delayed. Further, even when a multi-port type DRAM (a type in which a plurality of input / output ports are provided) is used for the resident video RAM 189 and the normal video RAM 190, one port is occupied by image data transfer from the character ROM 187. Therefore, control using the resident video RAM 189 and the normal video RAM 190 in the image controller 188 is limited, and the control may be complicated.

  On the other hand, since the slot machine 10 is provided with the buffer RAM 188a composed of SRAM capable of high speed operation in the image controller 188, the image data read from the character ROM 187 over time is temporarily stored in the buffer RAM 188a. Then, the image data can be transferred from the buffer RAM 188a to the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190 in a short time. Therefore, while the image data is transferred from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190, the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190 is prevented from being occupied for a long time by the transfer of the image data. be able to.

  The display of the image on the auxiliary display unit 65 is periodically performed at regular time intervals (for example, about every 30 milliseconds), and the image controller 188 displays the image display timing on the auxiliary display unit 65. In accordance with this, drawing of the image and drawing image data must be transferred to the auxiliary display unit 65. Therefore, the access to the resident video RAM 189 and the normal video RAM 190 needs to give priority to reading of image data necessary for drawing and writing and reading of drawing image data.

  In the slot machine 10, a resident video RAM access flag (not shown) indicating that the image controller 188 is accessing (that is, in use) the resident video RAM 189, and the image controller 188 is for normal use. The image controller 188 is provided with a normal video RAM access flag (not shown) indicating that the video RAM is being accessed (that is, being in use). These access flags are both set to ON when the image controller 188 is accessing the corresponding video RAM, and set to OFF when not accessing. When the MPU 181 transfers the image data from the buffer RAM 188a to the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190, the MPU 181 checks the contents of the access flag corresponding to the transfer destination video RAMs 189 and 190, and reads out the image data necessary for drawing. In addition, it is confirmed whether or not the transfer destination video RAMs 189 and 190 are in use by the image controller 188 for writing or reading the drawing image data. Then, when the transfer destination video RAMs 189 and 190 are not used, control is performed to transfer the image data. Thus, the image data can be transferred from the buffer RAM 188a to the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190 without interrupting the reading of the image data necessary for drawing and the writing or reading of the drawing image data.

  Here, with reference to FIG. 11, the display timing of the image in the auxiliary display unit 65 will be described. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram schematically showing a scanning area of the screen included in the auxiliary display unit 65 and a display area where an image is actually displayed on the screen. As shown in FIG. 11, an area larger than a display area where an image is actually displayed is set as a scanning area, and when an image is displayed on the screen of the auxiliary display unit 65, Scanning from the left to the right and from the top to the bottom of the screen is performed while driving each pixel constituting the screen (a so-called raster scan). At this time, since the drawing image data is actually set only in the display area where the image is displayed, the period during which the blank area that is the scanning area other than the display area is scanned (so-called blank period) The image controller 188 does not transfer drawing image data to the auxiliary display unit 65. That is, during the blank period, even when the auxiliary display unit 65 is scanned to display an image, it is not possible to draw an image using image data stored in the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190. In addition, the drawing image data stored in the normal video RAM 190 is not read out and transferred to the auxiliary display unit 65. Therefore, since there is always a period in which the resident video RAM 189 and the normal video RAM 190 are not used during this blank period, the transfer of the image data from the buffer RAM 188a to the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190 is as follows. By using the unused period of each of the video RAMs 189 and 190 generated during the blank period, it can be performed reliably.

  In the MPU 181, as a method for confirming whether the resident video RAM 189 and the normal video RAM 190 are in use, signals transmitted / received between the image controller 188 and the resident video RAM 189, or an image controller The MPU 181 may monitor a signal transmitted / received between the 188 and the normal video RAM 190 and check whether the resident video RAM 189 and the normal video RAM 190 are in use from the state of the signal. Further, when the image controller 188 starts access to the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190 or ends access, the MPU 181 notifies the MPU 181 of the information from time to time so that the MPU 181 Based on the notification, it may be determined whether the resident video RAM 189 and the normal video RAM 190 are in use.

  Further, when the image controller 188 scans the auxiliary display unit 65, the MPU 181 confirms the driving state of the image controller 188 or a notification from the image controller 188 to determine whether the blank period is in progress. When the scanning state is in the blank period, it may be determined that the video RAMs 189 and 190 are not used. Thereby, only the scanning state of the auxiliary display unit 65 of the image controller 188 is confirmed, and it is determined whether or not the auxiliary display unit 65 is not used. Therefore, the determination can be easily performed.

  Next, each control process executed by the MPU 102 of the main control apparatus 101 will be described. The processing of the MPU 102 is roughly divided into a main processing that is started when the power is turned on, a timer interrupt processing that is started periodically (in this embodiment, at a cycle of 1.49 msec), and a power failure signal to the NMI terminal. There is an NMI interrupt process activated in response to an input. In the following, a process related to the progress of the game, that is, a timer interrupt process and a normal process performed in the main process will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

  First, with reference to FIG. 12, a timer interrupt process periodically executed by the MPU 102 of the main control apparatus 101 will be described. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the timer interrupt process. In the MPU 102 of the main controller 101, for example, a timer interrupt is generated every 1.49 msec, and the timer interrupt process shown in FIG. 12 is executed by the MPU 102 in response to the timer interrupt.

  In this timer interrupt process, first, a register saving process is performed (S101). In this register saving process, the values of all registers in the MPU 102 used in normal processing to be described later are saved in the backup area of the RAM 106. Next, it is confirmed whether or not a power failure flag is set (S102). If the power failure flag is set (S102: Yes), a power failure process is executed (S103).

  Here, an outline of the power failure process executed in S103 will be described.

  When the power is shut off due to the occurrence of a power failure or the like, a power failure signal is output from the power failure monitoring circuit 91b of the power supply device 91, and the power failure signal is input to the main controller 101 via the NMI terminal. When a power failure signal is input, main controller 101 immediately executes NMI interrupt processing and sets a power failure flag in a power failure flag storage area (not shown) provided in RAM 106.

  In the power failure process, it is first determined whether or not the command transmission has been completed. If the transmission has not been completed, this process is terminated and the process returns to the timer interrupt process to terminate the command transmission. When the command transmission is completed, the stack pointer value of the MPU 102 is stored in the backup area of the RAM 106. Thereafter, the output state of the output port in the input / output port 104 is cleared, and all actuators (not shown) are turned off. This prevents the reel unit 31 from running out of control until the power supply is completely cut off, and abnormal output from an output device such as the auxiliary display unit 65 and the speaker 64.

  Then, a RAM determination value for determining whether or not the data in the RAM 106 is normal when the power failure is eliminated is stored in the backup area, thereby prohibiting subsequent RAM access. After performing the above processing, an infinite loop is entered in preparation for the case where the power supply is completely shut down and the processing cannot be executed. In consideration of, for example, the case where the power failure flag is set erroneously due to noise or the like, it is confirmed whether or not a power failure signal is output until the infinite loop is entered. If the power failure signal is not output, it means that the power failure state has been recovered. Therefore, writing to the RAM 106 is permitted, the power failure flag is reset, the process returns to the timer interrupt process, and the process proceeds to S104. If the power failure signal is continuously output, the infinite loop is entered. Incidentally, it is confirmed whether or not a power failure signal is output even under an infinite loop, and when the power failure signal is not output, the main processing is performed.

  Returning to the description of the timer interrupt process, when the power failure flag is not set in the process of S102 (S102: No), various processes after S104 are performed. That is, in the process of S104, a watchdog timer clearing process for initializing the value of the watchdog timer for monitoring the occurrence of malfunction is performed. Next, the MPU 102 itself performs an interrupt end declaration process that allows the next timer interrupt to be set (S105), and the stepping motors of the respective rotary drive motors to rotate the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R. A stepping motor control process for driving the motor is performed (S106). Next, the states of various sensors (see FIG. 8) such as the stop detection sensors 42a to 44a, the first inserted medal detection sensor 45a, the second inserted medal detection sensor 45b, and the payout detection sensor 51a connected to the input / output port 104 are read. At the same time, a sensor monitoring process is performed to monitor whether the reading result is normal (S107).

  In this sensor monitoring process, when there is an abnormality in the reading result of each sensor, for example, the inserted medal is clogged or pulled out from the detection result of the first inserted medal detection sensor 45a and the second inserted medal detection sensor 45b. Is detected, it is determined that a sensor error has occurred, and the auxiliary effect unit (upper lamp 63, speaker 64, auxiliary display unit 65) is notified of the occurrence of the sensor error. An error command including information is transmitted to the display control device 81.

  In the subsequent process of S108, a timer calculation process for subtracting the value of each counter or timer is performed (S108), and the number of bets to be output to the external concentration terminal board 121 is the result of counting the bet number of medals and the number of payouts. In / out counter processing is performed (S109).

  Next, command output processing for transmitting various commands such as a start command and a lottery result command to be described later to the display control device 81 is performed (S110). After that, a segment data setting process for setting segment data displayed in the credit display unit 60, the remaining payout number display unit 61, and the payout number display unit 62 is performed (S111), and then the segment set in the segment data setting process A segment data display process for supplying the data to the display units 60 to 62 and displaying the corresponding numbers, symbols, etc. is performed (S112).

  Then, port output processing for outputting data corresponding to the I / O device from the input / output port 104 is performed (S113), and the values of the registers saved in the backup area in the processing of S101 are stored in the MPU 102, respectively. (S114). Thereafter, an interrupt permission process for permitting the next timer interrupt is performed (S115), and this series of timer interrupt processes is terminated.

  Next, normal processing executed by the MPU 102 of the main controller 101 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the normal processing.

  The normal process is a process for performing main control related to the game. When the normal process is executed by the MPU 102, first, an interrupt permission process for permitting the next timer interrupt is performed (S201), and then the game can be performed. A pre-start process is performed for this (S202). In this pre-start process, the process waits until the display control device 81 and the like finish initialization. When the initialization of the display control device 81 and the like is completed, the game management process shown in the subsequent S203 to S213 is performed.

  As the game management process, first, in the process of S203, data such as various game information stored in the RAM 106 (for example, random numbers used in the previous game, each winning flag indicating winning of each winning except for the BB winning), and the like. Clear and start wait processing is performed in the subsequent processing of S204.

  In the start waiting process of S204, it is determined whether or not a replay winning has been established in the previous game, and if a replay winning has been established, an automatic inserting process of automatically inserting the same number of virtual medals as the previous bet. To complete the start wait process. In the automatic insertion process, virtual medals are inserted without reducing the number of virtual medals displayed on the credit display unit 60. That is, when a replay winning is established in the previous game, the player can play the current game without reducing the number of medals owned and without inserting medals.

  On the other hand, if none of the replay winnings has been established, a sensor for confirming whether an abnormality has occurred in the sensor reading result obtained in the sensor monitoring process of the timer interrupt process (see S107 in FIG. 12). An abnormality confirmation process is performed. When an abnormality has occurred, the slot machine 10 is set to an error state and an abnormality occurrence process for notifying the occurrence of the error is performed. Such an error state is maintained until the reset switch 72 is operated.

  If the sensor reading result is normal, it is determined whether or not the settlement switch 59 has been operated. If the settlement switch 59 has been operated, a medal return process for paying out the same number of medals as the credited virtual medal I do. After completion of the medal return process or when the settlement switch 59 is not operated, whether or not the medal insertion or the credit insertion switches 56 to 58 are operated between the previous start waiting process and the current start waiting process If either one is performed, a medal insertion process is performed, and the start waiting process is terminated. Further, if neither the medal insertion nor the credit insertion switches 56 to 58 are operated between the previous start waiting process and the current start waiting process, the start waiting process is ended as it is.

  After completion of the start waiting process in S204, it is then determined whether or not the bet number of medals has reached a specified number (S205). If the bet number has not reached the specified number (S205: No), S204 Returning to the start waiting process, the processes after the sensor abnormality confirmation process are performed. In the present embodiment, the specified number of bets is set according to the gaming state of the slot machine 10.

  That is, when the gaming state of the slot machine 10 is in the general gaming state, the prescribed number is set to 1 to 3, and when it is in the bonus state, the prescribed number is set to 3. Thereby, in the general gaming state, the game can be started even when the number of bets is not only three but one or two. When the game is started with one or two bets (one or two), the above-described one-lot drawing table or two in the lottery process (see S210) described later. The winning lottery table is set and the winning mode (role) lottery is performed. Therefore, when the game is played with one or two cards, there is a high probability that the number of medals to be paid out is three. It is possible to establish a winning or 7-bell winning with two medal payouts. If three medals are paid out due to the Cherry Bell winning, the player can play another game while inserting the three medals and expecting the BB winning. The player can enjoy the game to the end without leaving extra medals. Also, if two medals are paid out due to the completion of the 7-bell prize, the player inserts the two medals and expects the Cherry Bell prize to be completed, where another 3 medals are paid out. You can enjoy another game. If the Cherry Bell prize is established, the player can play the game by inserting three medals that are paid out while expecting the BB prize to be established. Can enjoy. Further, even if the result of the game executed by inserting one or two medals is not good, the game can be ended without leaving extra medals for the player. As described above, even if the number of bets is one or two in the general gaming state, the player can update the player by using the one-sheet lottery table and the two-sheet lottery table set in this embodiment. The game can be enjoyed and the game can be enjoyed to the end without extra medals.

  On the other hand, by setting the specified number of bets when the gaming state of the slot machine 10 is in the bonus state, in the bonus state, the watermelon having a large medal payout number is set while allowing the player to insert three medals. By increasing the winning probability of winning a prize or winning a bell and setting the expected value of the number of medals to be paid out in one game high, the total number of medals paid out in the bonus state can be achieved to 250 with a small number of games. Therefore, the player can receive a lot of medals in a short time, while the operating rate of the slot machine 10 can be increased on the hall side.

  If the number of bets has reached the specified number as a result of the processing of S205 (S205: Yes), it is then determined whether or not the start lever 41 has been operated (S206). If the start lever 41 is not operated (S206: No), the process returns to the start waiting process in step S204, and the processes after the sensor abnormality confirmation process are performed.

  On the other hand, when the start lever 41 is operated (S206: Yes), the slot machine 10 is configured such that a game can be started when the start lever 41 is operated in a situation where a prescribed number of medals are bet. Therefore, it means that a start command has been issued to start the game. Therefore, in such a case, the medal path switching solenoid 46a is switched to a non-excited state to prohibit bet acceptance (S207). In the subsequent process 208, an effective line setting process for setting an effective line is performed (S208). In this effective line setting process, all combination lines of the upper line L1, the middle line L2, the lower line L3, the lower right line L4, and the upper right line L5 are set as effective lines.

  Then, a start command is set (S209). Here, the start command is a command transmitted to the display control device 81 in order to grasp that a start command has been generated. In this normal process, information regarding the bet number (the number of medals inserted) accepted in the process of S205 is included in this start command and set. The start command set here is temporarily stored in a ring buffer (not shown) for storing various commands generated in the normal process, and the timer interrupt process (FIG. 12) executed every 1.49 ms. This is transmitted to the display control device 81 by the processing of S110 of (see). Thereby, the display control device 81 grasps that the start command of the game is generated by receiving the start command and grasps the number of medals (the number of bets) inserted by the player for the game. It is possible to cause each auxiliary effect unit (upper lamp 63, speaker 64, auxiliary display unit 65) to execute various effects according to the number of bets.

  Thereafter, the lottery process of S210, the reel control process of S211, the medal payout process of S212, and the bonus state process of S213 are executed in order, and the process returns to S203. Then, in the interruption process (S103) of the timer interruption process (see FIG. 12), the processes from S203 to S213 are repeatedly executed until the power switch 71 is turned off or an infinite loop due to a power failure is entered.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 14, the lottery process (S210) executed in the normal process (see FIG. 13) in the MPU 102 of the main controller 101 will be described. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the lottery process.

  In the lottery process, first, a random number used when the winning mode (role) is selected is acquired (S301). In the slot machine 10, as described above, each time the start lever 41 is operated, the hardware circuit is configured to latch the value of the free run counter 107 at that time. By reading the value of the counter 107 and storing the value in a predetermined area of the RAM 106, a random number value used for the lottery is obtained.

  After the random number is acquired by the process of S301, a lottery table setting process for setting a lottery table for performing a lottery in a winning mode is performed (S302). Here, the details of the lottery table setting process in S302 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a lottery table setting process executed in the MPU 102 of the main controller 101. In this lottery table setting process, the current gaming state of the slot machine 10 is determined, and further, according to the number of inserted medals (the number of bets) and the setting state set in the slot machine 10, the lottery table storage area 105a. A corresponding lottery table is set from among a plurality of lottery tables stored in.

  In this process, first, it is determined whether or not the gaming state of the slot machine 10 is a bonus state (S401). As a result, if it is not a bonus state (S401: No), the gaming state of the slot machine 10 is a general game. Since it is in a state, it is then determined whether or not the number of inserted medals (number of bets) is 3 (3) (S402). If the number of bets is three (S402: Yes), six three-sheet lottery tables provided corresponding to the setting states “setting 1” to “setting 6” that the slot machine 10 can take. Among them, a three-sheet lottery table corresponding to the currently set state is set (S403), the lottery table setting process is terminated, and the process returns to the lottery process. As a result, when the gaming state of the slot machine 10 is the general gaming state, when the game is started with three bets, a three-sheet lottery table corresponding to the setting state of the slot machine 10 is set. .

  If it is determined that the number of bets is not 3 as a result of the process of S402 (S402: No), it is then determined whether or not the number of bets is 2 (2) (S404). If the number of bets is two (S404: Yes), the six two-sheet lottery tables provided corresponding to the setting states of “setting 1” to “setting 6” that the slot machine 10 can take. Among them, a two-sheet lottery table corresponding to the currently set state is set (S405), the lottery table setting process is terminated, and the process returns to the lottery process. Thus, when the gaming state of the slot machine 10 is the general gaming state, when the game is started with two bets, a two-sheet lottery table corresponding to the setting state of the slot machine 10 is set. .

  If it is determined that the number of bets is not two as a result of the process of S404 (S404: No), it can be determined that the number of bets is one (multiply by one). Of the six one-sheet drawing lottery tables provided corresponding to the setting states of “Setting 1” to “Setting 6”, the one-sheet drawing lottery table corresponding to the currently set setting state is set. (S406), the lottery table setting process is terminated, and the process returns to the lottery process. As a result, when the gaming state of the slot machine 10 is the general gaming state, when the game is started with one bet, a one-hatch lottery table corresponding to the setting state of the slot machine 10 is set. .

  On the other hand, if the gaming state of the slot machine 10 is the bonus state as a result of the processing of S401 (S401: Yes), the setting is provided corresponding to the setting states of “setting 1” to “setting 6” that the slot machine 10 can take. Of the six bonus state lottery tables, the bonus state lottery table corresponding to the currently set state is set (S407), the lottery table setting process is terminated, and the lottery process is returned to. Thereby, when the gaming state of the slot machine 10 is the bonus state, a bonus lottery table corresponding to the setting state of the slot machine 10 is set.

  Thus, in the lottery table setting process, the lottery table storage area 105a stores the current gaming state of the slot machine 10, the number of inserted medals (the number of bets), and the setting state set in the slot machine 10. A corresponding lottery table is set from the plurality of lottery tables.

  Returning to FIG. 14, the description of the lottery process will be continued. When the lottery table setting process in S302 is completed, the index value IV is set to 1 (S303), and the determination value DV used when performing the lottery (win / no decision) of the winning mode is set (S304). In this decision value setting process, a new decision value DV is set by adding a point value PV corresponding to the current index value IV to the current decision value DV. In the initial determination value setting process, the random value acquired in step S301 is set as the current determination value DV, and a new point value PV corresponding to 1 that is the current index value IV is added to the random value. The determination value is DV.

  Thereafter, in step S305, a lottery of a winning mode corresponding to the index value IV is performed. In this lottery, it is determined whether or not the determination value DV exceeds 65535. If it exceeds 65535 (S305: Yes), the winning flag of the winning mode corresponding to the index value IV at that time is set in the winning flag storage area 106a of the RAM 106 (S306). That is, when the determination value DV exceeds 65535 when IV = 1, in the process of S306, the BB winning winning flag is set in the winning flag storage area 106a, and when IV = 2, the determination value DV exceeds 65535. In the process of S306, the watermelon winning / winning flag is set in the winning flag storage area 106a. When IV = 3, the determination value DV exceeds 65535. If it is set in the storage area 106a and the determination value DV exceeds 65535 when IV = 4, in the process of S306, the cherry bell winning winning flag is set in the winning flag storage area 106a, and determination is made when IV = 5. When the value DV exceeds 65535, in the process of S306, the 7-bell winning winning flag is set to the winning flag storage area 106a. Set, if the determination value DV exceeds 65535 at IV = 6, in the processing of S306 sets the replay winning winning flag to the winning flag storage area 106a.

  By the way, if the set winning flag is one of the watermelon winning flag, the bell winning flag, the cherry bell winning flag, the 7 bell winning flag, or the replay winning flag, the corresponding flag is set. It is reset after the played game is over (see S203 of the normal process shown in FIG. 13). On the other hand, when the set winning flag is the BB winning winning flag, the BB winning winning flag is reset as one of the conditions that the BB winning is established. In other words, the BB prize winning flag may be valid for a plurality of games. For example, after the BB winning winning flag is set, if the symbols are not aligned in the BB winning mode stop pattern, that is, if the BB winning is not established, the BB winning winning flag is not reset and is carried over to the next game. It is.

  In the process of S306 in a state where the BB winning winning flag is carried over, if the current index value IV is 1, the BB winning winning flag is not set, and if the current index value IV is 2 to 6, the index value is set. Set the winning flag corresponding to IV. In other words, in a game in which the BB prize winning flag is carried over, if a winning mode other than the BB winning is won, the corresponding winning flag is set, whereas if the BB winning prize is won, the corresponding BB winning flag is set. Do not set.

  If it is determined in the process of S305 that the determination value DV does not exceed 65535 (S305: No), it means that the winning mode corresponding to the index value IV is lost. In such a case, the index value IV is incremented by 1 (S307), and then it is determined whether or not there is a winning mode corresponding to the index value IV, that is, whether or not there is a determinant to be drawn by lottery (whether or not is determined) ( S308). Specifically, it is determined whether or not the index value IV added by 1 exceeds the maximum value of the index values IV set in the lottery table. If there is a determinant to determine whether or not to win (S308: Yes), the process returns to S304, and the determination of whether or not the winning mode is successful is continued. At this time, in the process of S304, the point value PV corresponding to the current index value IV is added to the determination value DV (that is, the current determination value DV) used for the determination of whether or not the previous winning combination is a new determination value DV. In the process of S305, whether or not the winning mode is successful is determined based on the determination value DV.

  Here, when the gaming state of the slot machine 10 is in the general gaming state by the lottery table setting process of S302, the three-hatch lottery table for the general gaming state, the two-hatch lottery table, the one-hatch lottery table Since the lottery table to be used is set from the table according to the number of bets, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 9, the winning probability of the BB winning when the game is played by inserting three medals is 1 A lottery in a winning mode is performed after the game is set to be sufficiently higher than when the game is played by inserting one or two medals. Therefore, as described above, it is possible to have one player play a game by inserting three medals while expecting the player to obtain a lot of medals when the BB winning is established. Therefore, medals are consumed quickly, and it becomes possible to increase the operating rate of the slot machine in the hall.

  In addition, when a game is played by inserting one or two medals, a Cherry Bell winning prize with three medal payouts is set as a winning combination candidate and the winning probability is set high, and the winning mode is Since a lottery will be held, if one or two medals remain at the player's hand, if a Cherry Bell prize is established, it will be possible to obtain three medal payouts that can aim at the establishment of the BB prize with a high probability While expecting the player, one or two medals remaining at hand can be inserted to allow one game to be played. In addition, when a game is played by inserting one medal, a 7-bell prize with two medal payouts is also set as a winning combination candidate and the winning probability is set high, and the lottery of the winning mode is selected. So, if one medal remains in the player's hand, the player expects that two medal payouts aiming for the Cherry Bell prize will be obtained again if the 7-bell prize is established, One game can be played by inserting one remaining medal. Therefore, it is possible to entertain the player to the end without leaving extra medals.

  Further, when a lottery table for one-sheet drawing or a lottery table for two-sheet drawing is set and a lottery in a winning mode is performed, as described above with reference to FIG. Even in this case, the ratio of the number of medals paid out with respect to the number of bets can be set to a value less than 100% and as close to 100% as possible, and the lottery of the winning mode can be performed. Therefore, even if you play a single or double game, the medals will hardly decrease, so if one or two medals remain in the player's hand, use that one or two medals. And you can be sure that you want to play games. On the other hand, if the game is repeated with one or two cards, the number of medals will decrease, so that the player can not aim for an increase in medals by repeating the game with one or two cards. If there are three or more medals, the player can be directed to play the game with a high probability of winning a BB prize.

  In addition, by switching each lottery table according to the number of bets and performing a lottery in a winning manner, as described above with reference to FIGS. The winning mode is established only when the game is played, and when the game is played with 3 cards, it can be handled as a miss without establishing the Cherry Bell winning, so there is one Cherry Bell winning It is possible to draw attention to the player as a special small role prize dedicated for hanging and two-seat. Similarly, a winning mode that is established only when a 7-bell prize is played with a single game is used, and a 7-bell prize is not established when a game is played with two or three cards. Since it is handled as a detachment, it is possible to draw attention to the player, assuming that the 7-bell prize is a special small role prize dedicated to one piece. Therefore, when the game is played with one or two cards, if the symbol stops with the cherry bell winning symbol or the seven bell winning symbol, a great joy can be given to the player.

  In addition, even when the game is played with one or two cards, although it is an extremely low winning probability, it is possible to perform a lottery of the winning mode by setting so that the BB winning is established. When a game is played with one or two cards, the player can have a sense of expectation that a BB prize will be established.

  In addition, when the game is played with one or two cards, the chances of winning a watermelon or a bell are reduced, while the probability of winning a cherry bell or a 7-bell is set high, and lottery So that the player can be further impressed that the Cherry Bell prize or 7-bell prize is a special small part prize with one or two cards. When a game is played with two cards, the player can have a sense of expectation that a Cherry Bell prize or a 7-bell prize will be established.

  After the winning flag is set in the process of S306, or when it is determined that there is no determinant to be lottery in the process of S308 (S308: No), it means that the lottery of the winning mode has ended. In such a case, a lottery result command is set (S309). Here, the lottery result command is a command transmitted to the display control device 81 in order to grasp the result of the winning / failing determination of the winning combination, and the winning mode corresponding to the winning flag set in the winning flag storage area 106a is displayed. A lottery result command is generated so that information suggesting that the winning combination is included. Therefore, not only the winning flag set by the lottery of the current game but also the BB winning mode is a winning combination when the BB winning winning flag is carried over from the past game and stored in the winning flag storage area 106a. This is suggested by the lottery result command. If the winning flag is not set in the winning flag storage area 106a, it is suggested by the lottery result command that there is no winning combination.

  The lottery result command set here is temporarily stored in a ring buffer (not shown) for storing various commands generated in the normal process, and is executed every 1.49 ms, like the start command. It is transmitted to the display control device 81 by the process of S110 of the interrupt process (see FIG. 12). By receiving the lottery result command, the display control device 81 executes drive control of the upper lamp 63 and the auxiliary display unit 65 to suggest a winning combination, for example.

  In the present embodiment, the lottery result command is set before the reel control process (S211 in FIG. 13) for controlling the rotation of the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R after the winning mode lottery is performed. The lottery result command is transmitted to the display control device 81 within about 1.5 ms at the latest after the command is set (that is, after a time lag until the command is transmitted by the timer interrupt process). The display control device 81 is configured to execute a lottery result command process (see FIG. 20) described later without delay when a lottery result command is received. Therefore, after the start lever 41 is operated by the player. While the operation of the stop switches 42 to 44 is impossible, an effect or the like suggesting a winning combination can be executed by the auxiliary effect unit (upper lamp 63, speaker 64, auxiliary display unit 65). Therefore, the player can grasp the winning combination suggested by the presentation before operating the stop switches 42 to 44, and the operation timing of the stop switches 42 to 44 based on the recognized winning combination. Can be adjusted.

  Next, a slip table setting process for setting a slip table (stop table) for reel stop control is performed (S310), and the lottery process is terminated. Here, the slip table is a table in which it is determined how much the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R are slid (rotated) and stopped from the timing when the stop switches 42 to 44 are operated. That is, the slip table is a reaching symbol (arrival symbol) that has reached the base point position (in the present embodiment, the lower position of each of the corresponding display windows 26L, 26M, and 26R) when the stop switches 42 to 44 are pressed. No.) and a stop data group capable of deriving the relationship between the stop symbol (stop symbol number) actually stopped at the base point position.

  As described above, in the slot machine 10, as a stop mode for stopping the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R, when the stop switches 42 to 44 are operated, the reaching symbol reaching the base point position is stopped as it is. A stop mode, a stop mode in which the corresponding reel is stopped after sliding for one symbol, a stop mode in which the corresponding reel is stopped after sliding for two symbols, a stop mode in which the corresponding reel is stopped after sliding for three symbols, and a four symbol portion Five patterns of stop modes are prepared, including a stop mode for stopping after sliding. In the sliding table, for each symbol number of each of the reels 32L, 32M, 32R, the stop mode to be set when the symbol indicated by the symbol number becomes the reaching symbol is defined from among the five patterns. A number of sliding tables are prepared for each winning mode.

  By setting this sliding table, the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R are set to stop in a predetermined stopping manner from when the stop switches 42 to 44 are operated until a specified time (190 msec) elapses. It is possible to make the player feel as if the symbol arrangement (stop appearance) that stops within the visible range from the display windows 26L, 26M, and 26R is determined by the player's operation.

  In the slip table setting process of S310, the winning flag set in the winning flag storage area 106a of the RAM 106 is confirmed, and the smooth table uniquely corresponding to the set winning flag is stored in the smooth table storing area of the RAM 106. Set to 106b. This makes it possible to stop a combination of symbols corresponding to a winning mode (see FIG. 7), which will be described later, as much as possible within the specified time, on the active line (see FIG. 6), It is possible to avoid the combination of symbols corresponding to the winning mode not winning the lottery from stopping on the active line.

  Here, as described above, the BB winning winning flag is configured so that once the flag is set, it is carried over to the next game until the BB winning is established, so the lottery performed in one game The winning flag corresponding to any of the watermelon winning, bell winning, cherry bell winning, 7 bell winning, and replay winning and the carry-over BB winning winning flag which are carried over are simultaneously set in the winning flag storage 106a. There may be. In this case, instead of the BB winning, the processing is performed so that the sliding table corresponding to the watermelon winning, the bell winning, the cherry bell winning, the 7 bell winning or the replay winning in which the winning flag is set is set in the smooth table storage area 106b. Done. As a result, the winning flag is cleared for each game, and if the winning is not established, the status as a winning role will be lost. The watermelon winning, bell winning, cherry bell winning, 7 bell winning, The replay winning can be established more reliably. The BB winning winning flag corresponding to the BB winning that has not been won here is continuously maintained and carried over to the next game.

  When the cherry bell winning winning flag is set in the winning flag storage area 106a in the slip table setting process of S310, the cherry bell winning winning table is stored in the smooth table storing area 106b. Here, the “cherry” symbol which is the stop symbol of the left reel 32L when the cherry bell winning is established is arranged on the left reel 32L so that the interval between the symbols of the same kind becomes seven symbols. As described above, the “cherry” symbol can be stopped at any one of the upper, middle, and lower positions of the display window 26L regardless of the timing of operating the left stop switch 42. In addition, the “bell” symbol, which is the stop symbol of the middle reel 32M when the Cherry Bell winning is established, is arranged on the middle reel 32M so that the interval between the symbols of the same kind is five symbols or less. As described above, even when the middle stop switch 43 is operated at any timing, the “bell” symbol can be stopped at the middle position of the display window 26M.

  Therefore, in the cherry bell winning slide table, no matter what symbol arrives at the base point position when the left stop switch 42 is pressed (that is, whatever symbol number is reached), the display window 26L A stop mode in which the “cherry” symbol can be stopped is set at any of the upper, middle, and lower positions, and any symbol arrives at the base point position when the middle stop switch 43 is pressed (that is, The stop mode is set so that the “bell” symbol can be stopped at the middle position in the display window 26M. Thus, when the Cherry Bell winning flag is set, the stop symbol corresponding to the Cherry Bell winning is displayed on the middle line L2 by the Cherry Bell winning sliding table regardless of the operation timing of the stop switches 42 to 44 of the player. , A right-down line L4, or a right-up line L5 (see FIG. 6). Therefore, the so-called Cherry Bell winning can be established without missing.

  Further, when the 7-bell winning winning flag is set in the winning flag storage area 106a, the 7-bell winning sliding table is stored in the sliding table storing area 106b. Then, the “7” symbol, which is the stop symbol of the left reel 32L when the 7-bell winning is established, is arranged on the left reel 32L so that the interval between the symbols of the same kind is 7 symbols, like the “Cherry” symbol. In addition, as described above, the “bell” symbol which is the stop symbol of the middle reel 32M when the 7-bell winning is established is arranged on the middle reel 32M so that the interval between the symbols of the same kind is 5 symbols or less. Has been.

  Therefore, in the 7-bell winning table, as with the Cherry Bell winning table, no matter what symbol has arrived at the base point position when the left stop switch 42 is pressed (that is, any reaching symbol number). However, any stop position that can stop the “7” symbol is set at any of the upper, middle, and lower positions in the display window 26L, and the base point position is changed when the middle stop switch 43 is pressed. Even if the symbol has arrived (that is, with any symbol number), a stop mode in which the “bell” symbol can be stopped is set at the middle position in the display window 26M. As a result, when the 7-bell winning winning flag is set, the 7-bell winning sliding table displays the stop symbol corresponding to the 7-bell winning in the middle line L2 regardless of the operation timing of the stop switches 42 to 44 of the player. Can be displayed on any of the right-down line L4 and the right-up line L5 (see FIG. 6). Therefore, it is possible to establish a 7-bell prize without so-called failure.

  As described above, in the case of winning the lottery in the winning mode, when the Cherry Bell prize where three medals are paid out or the 7 bell prize where two medals are paid out is won, the player operates the stop switches 42 to 44. Regardless of the timing, the stop symbol corresponding to the cherry bell winning or the stop symbol corresponding to the seven bell winning can be displayed on any one of the middle line L2, the lower right line L4, and the upper right line L5 (see FIG. 6). Therefore, it is possible to establish a cherry bell prize or a 7-bell prize without so-called missing. Therefore, when the player starts the game with one or two cards, it is possible to reliably establish the cherry bell prize or the seven bell prize without depending on an artificial operation. In addition, a game can be played in anticipation of the establishment of a Cherry Bell prize or a 7-bell prize while aiming at a stop pattern of other prizes (for example, a BB prize).

  Next, with reference to FIG. 16, the reel control process which is the process of S211 of the normal process (see FIG. 13) will be described. FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the reel control process executed by the MUP 102 of the main controller 101.

  In the reel control process, first, a rotation start process for starting rotation of the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R is performed (S501). In the rotation start process, it is checked whether or not a predetermined wait time (for example, 4.1 seconds) has elapsed since the reel started to rotate in the previous game. Wait until When the wait time has elapsed, a wait time for the next game is reset, and a motor control initialization process for setting rotation start information in a motor control storage area (not shown) provided in the RAM 106 is performed. Do. By performing such processing, stepping motor acceleration processing is started in the stepping motor control processing (see S106 in FIG. 12) of the timer interrupt processing, and the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R start to rotate. For this reason, even if the player bets a specified number of medals and operates the start lever 41, the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R may not immediately start rotating. Thereafter, the process waits until the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R rotate at a constant rotation speed at a predetermined rotation speed, and the rotation start process ends. Further, when the rotation speed of each reel 32L, 32M, 32R becomes a constant speed, the MPU 102 can generate a stop command by lighting up a lamp (not shown) of each stop switch 42 to 44. To the player or the like.

  After the rotation start process of S501, a pre-stop process is then performed by the processes of S502 to S505. In the pre-stop process, it is first determined whether any of the stop switches 42 to 44 has been operated (S502). If none of the stop switches 42 to 44 is operated (S502: No), the process of S502 is repeatedly executed to stand by until any of the stop switches 42 to 44 is operated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that any of the stop switches 42 to 44 has been operated (S502: Yes), the process proceeds to S503, whether or not the stop switch corresponding to the rotating reel has been operated, that is, a stop command. Whether or not has occurred is determined (S503). If no stop command has been issued (S503: No), the process returns to S502 and waits until any of the stop switches 42 to 44 is operated. Thereby, when the stop switch corresponding to the non-rotating reel is operated, it is ignored.

  On the other hand, if a stop command is generated (S503: Yes), then whether or not the current stop command is the third stop command, that is, whether or not the stop switch is operated when only one reel is rotating. Is determined (S504). If the current stop command is the third stop command (S504: Yes), the subsequent process of S505 is skipped, the pre-stop process is terminated, and the process proceeds to S506. On the other hand, in the case of the first stop command that is generated when all the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R are rotating, or the second stop command that is generated when two reels are rotating (S504: Yes), The process proceeds to S505, the first change process of the slip table is performed, and the pre-stop process is terminated. Then, the process proceeds to S506.

  Here, the first change process of the slide table is a process of changing the slide table stored in the slide table storage area 106b of the RAM 106 before stopping the reel corresponding to the stop command. In the first change process of the slide table, for example, when the first stop command is generated by operating the stop switches 43 and 44 other than the left stop switch 42, the slide table is changed.

  Now, when the pre-stop processing of S502 to S505 is completed, it means that the stop switch corresponding to the rotating reel is operated to advance the game, and a stop command is generated. In such a case, a stop control process shown in S506 to S512 is then performed in order to stop the rotating reel.

  First, in S506, the symbol number of the symbol that has reached the lower stage at the timing when the stop switch is operated is confirmed. Specifically, the symbol number of the reaching symbol reaching the lower stage is confirmed by the number of excitation pulses output from the time when the detection signal of the reel index sensor is input. Subsequently, the number of slips of the reel to be stopped this time is calculated from the data of the symbol number corresponding to the reaching symbol among the slip tables set in the slip table storage area 106b (S507). Thereafter, the calculated number of slips is added to the symbol number of the reaching symbol, and the symbol number of the stop symbol that is actually stopped at the lower stage is determined (S508). Then, it is determined whether or not the symbol number of the reaching symbol of the reel to be stopped this time is equal to the symbol number of the stop symbol (S509). If they are not equal (S509: No), the process of S509 is repeatedly executed. If they are equal (S509: Yes), a reel stop process for stopping the rotation of the reels is performed (S510). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not all the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R are stopped (S511). When all the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R are not stopped (S511: No), the second change process of the slip table is performed. This is performed (S512). And it returns to the process of S502 and performs the process before a stop again.

  Here, the second change process of the slide table is a process of changing the slide table stored in the slide table storage area 106b of the RAM 106 after the reels are stopped. In the second change process of the slide table, the slide table is changed based on the set winning flag and the stoppage of the stopped reel. For example, in a situation where only the bell winning winning flag is set, when the 12th “bell” symbol of the left reel 32L and the 12th of the middle reel 32M is stopped in the middle stage, the upper part of the left reel 32L No. 13 and No. 13 “7” symbol of the middle reel 32M are stopped, so the sliding table is changed to avoid the establishment of the BB winning.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in the process of S511 that all the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R are stopped (S511: Yes), a payout determination process is performed (S513), and this process ends. The payout determination process is a process of setting the number of medals to be paid out as one of the conditions that a combination of winning symbols is arranged on an active line.

  In the payout determination process, a combination of symbols formed on each active line is derived from the symbol number of the stopped symbol stopped at the lower stage of each reel 32L, 32M, 32R, and whether or not a winning is achieved on the effective line. Determine. If a winning combination has been established, it is further determined whether or not the winning combination matches the winning flag set in the winning flag storage area 106a. If the winning combination and the winning flag match, the winning combination and the number of payouts corresponding to the winning combination are set in a payout information storage area (not shown) provided in the RAM 106. On the other hand, if the winning combination does not match the winning flag, an abnormality occurrence process for notifying the occurrence of the error is performed while the slot machine 10 is in an error state. Such an error state is maintained until the reset switch 72 is operated. When the payout determination is completed for all the active lines, the payout determination process is ended.

  Next, the outline of the medal payout process in S212 of the normal process (see FIG. 13) will be described. In the medal payout process, it is determined whether or not the number of payouts set in the payout information storage area (not shown) in the payout determination process in S513 of the reel control process (see FIG. 16) is zero. If the number of payouts is 0, it means that it has been determined in the previous payout determination process (see S513 in FIG. 16) that a winning for paying out medals has not been established. In such a case, it is determined whether or not a replay winning has been established based on the winning combination set in the payout determination processing. Then, if the replay winning is not established, the medal payout process is finished as it is. If the replay winning is established, the replay state setting process is performed to change the gaming state to the replay state, and the medal payout process is finished. To do. In the start waiting process (see S204 in FIG. 13) executed in the normal process described above, the automatic insertion process is performed when it is determined that the current game state is the replay state.

  On the other hand, if the number of payouts set in the payout information storage area is not 0, the same number of medals are paid out, and the medal payout process is terminated. Specifically, regarding the payout of medals, when the count value of the credit counter has not reached the upper limit (the number of stored medals is 50), the payout number is added to the count value of the credit counter and the value after the addition is added. It is displayed on the credit display unit 60. In addition, when the count value of the credit counter reaches the upper limit, or when the count value reaches the upper limit during the addition of the payout number, the medal payout rotating plate is driven and the medal is discharged from the hopper device 51. It pays out to the medal tray 50 through the exit 49. In the medal payout process, a process of changing the payout number displayed on the payout number display unit 62 in accordance with the medal payout is also performed. If the current gaming state is a bonus state, the payout number is subtracted from the value of a remaining payout counter, which will be described later, and the remaining payout number displayed on the remaining payout number display unit 61 is subtracted. .

  Next, with reference to FIG. 17, the bonus state process executed in S213 of the normal process (see FIG. 12) will be described. FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing bonus state processing executed by the MPU 102 of the main control apparatus 101.

  First, an outline of this bonus state process will be described. In the bonus state process, when the gaming state of the slot machine 10 is in the bonus state, a game that continuously shifts to the RB state is performed until a predetermined number of medals are paid out (250 in the present embodiment). is there. Then, 12 JAC games are played in one RB state, and if a winning is established 8 times during the JAC game, the RB state is ended even before the JAC game is played 12 times. Further, the bonus state is ended when the medal payout number reaches the predetermined number, and when the medal payout number reaches the predetermined number in the middle of the RB state, not only the bonus state but also the RB state is ended.

  Next, details of the bonus state process will be described. In the bonus state process, first, it is determined whether or not the gaming state of the slot machine 10 is a bonus state (S601).

  In this BB determination process, first, it is confirmed whether or not the BB winning winning flag is set in the winning flag storage area 106a (S602). When the BB winning winning flag is set (S602: Yes), the reel control is performed. Based on the winning combination set in the payout determination process executed in S513 of the process (see FIG. 16), it is confirmed whether or not a BB winning has been established (S603).

  When the BB winning is established in the process of S603 (S603: Yes), the BB start process is executed (S604). In the BB start process, the BB winning winning flag stored in the winning flag storage area 106a is reset and the setting flag stored in the state information storage area 106c is cleared, and then the BB setting flag is changed to the state information storing area 106c. To BB game, which is a kind of bonus game. Also, a process of setting 250 to the remaining payout number counter provided in the state information storage area 106c for counting the number of remaining medals that can be paid out during the BB game and displaying 250 on the remaining payout number display unit 61. I do. Incidentally, whether or not the current gaming state is the bonus state (see S601) is determined based on whether or not the BB setting flag is set in the state information storage area 106c.

  Subsequently, in the process of S605, an RB start process is executed (S605). In the RB start process, 8 is set in the remaining JAC winning counter for counting the number of possible JAC winnings, and 12 is set in the remaining JAC game counter for counting the remaining number of JAC games. Each counter such as the remaining JAC winning counter and the remaining JAC game counter is provided in the state information storage area 106c. In the RB start process, an RB command transmitted to the display control device 81 is also set in order to grasp that the RB game is started.

  Next, in the process of S606, a status command is set (S607). Here, the state command is a command transmitted to the display control device 81 in order to grasp the current gaming state. That is, if it is determined in the processing of S602 that the BB winning winning flag is not set (S602: No), a status command indicating that the game is a normal game is set, and a BB winning is established in the processing of S603. If it is determined that the game has not been performed (S603: No), a state command indicating that the game is a BB carryover game is set, and if the RB command is set in the process of S605, it indicates that the game is a BB game. Set the status command.

  Then, after the process of S607, a game number display process is performed (S607), and this process ends. In the game number display process, when the current game state is not a BB game (RB game), a process of clearing the display of the remaining payout number display unit 61, the payout number display unit 62, and the like is performed.

  Also, in the process of S601, when the gaming state is the bonus state (S601: Yes), based on the winning combination set in the payout determination process executed in the process of S513 of the reel control process (see FIG. 16). It is confirmed whether or not a watermelon winning or a bell winning that is a role winning is established (S608). When a watermelon winning or a bell winning is established in the processing of S608 (S608: Yes), the value of the remaining JAC winning counter is decremented by 1 (S609), and further, the value of the remaining JAC game counter is decremented by 1 (S610). Further, when the watermelon winning and the bell winning are not established (S608: No), one JAC game is consumed, so the value of the remaining JAC game counter is subtracted by 1 without performing the processing of S609 ( S610).

  Subsequently, in the processing of S611, it is confirmed whether either the remaining JAC winning counter or the remaining JAC game counter has become 0 (S611). In the process of S611, when any of them is 0, that is, when the JAC winning is established 8 times or the JAC game is digested 12 times (S611: Yes), it means that the RB game end condition is established. Therefore, an RB end process for resetting the values of the remaining JAC winning counter and the remaining JAC game counter is executed (S612). Accordingly, the JAC game is performed 12 times in one RB state, and if the winning is established 8 times during the JAC game, the RB state can be ended even before the JAC game is performed 12 times.

  Then, it is confirmed whether or not the count value of the remaining payout number counter is 0 (S613). If it is not 0 (S613: No), the number of medals paid out during the BB game has not reached the predetermined number. Since this means that the BB game end condition is not satisfied, the above-described RB start process is executed (S614). Thereafter, a state command indicating that the game is a BB game is set (S606), a game number display process is executed (607), and this process is terminated.

  On the other hand, when neither the remaining JAC winning counter nor the remaining JAC game counter is 0 in the processing of S611, that is, when the JAC winning is not yet established 8 times and the JAC game is not consumed 12 times. (S611: No), it is confirmed whether or not the count value of the remaining payout number counter is 0 (S615). If the counter value is not 0 in the process of S615 (S615: No), it means that the number of medals paid out during the BB game has not reached the predetermined number and the BB game end condition is not satisfied. Therefore, a state command indicating that the game is a BB game is set (S606), a game number display process is executed (S607), and the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if the count value of the remaining payout counter is 0 in the process of S615 (S615: Yes), it means that the BB game end condition is satisfied, so the bonus state end process shown in S616 to S617 is performed. Execute. In the bonus state end process, first, the above-described RB end process is executed (S616), and then the BB end process for clearing the data in the state information storage area 153b is executed (S617). Further, in the above-described processing of S613, even when the count value of the remaining payout counter is 0 (S613: Yes), it means that the BB game end condition is satisfied, so the BB end processing of S617 is executed. To do. After the BB end process is performed, a state command indicating that the game is a normal game (that is, a general game state) is set (S606), a game number display process is performed (S607), and this process ends. Thereby, the bonus state can be terminated when the number of medals paid out reaches 250. If the medal payout amount reaches 250 in the middle of the RB state, not only the bonus state but also the RB state can be ended by the processing of S616.

  Next, each control process executed by the display control device 81 will be described with reference to FIGS. The MPU 181 is roughly classified into a display main process that is activated when the power is turned on, a display timer interrupt process that is activated periodically (in this embodiment, at a cycle of 1 msec), and a command input from the main controller 101. And command interruption processing for storing received commands in the received command storage area 185a. The command stored in the received command storage area 185a is checked during the display main process, and various processes are performed according to the contents of the command. Hereinafter, among the display main process, the command stored in the received command storage area 185a, the start command process for performing the process for the start command, the lottery result command process for performing the process for the lottery result command, and the process for the error command are performed. The error command processing will be described.

  First, the display main process executed by the MPU 181 of the display control device 81 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the display main process. This display main process is executed when the power is turned on by recovery from a power failure or by turning on the power switch 71, and the display control device 81 and the initial stage of various devices such as an auxiliary effect unit controlled by the display control device 81 are initialized. Processing, command check processing received from the main control device 101, power failure processing when a power failure occurs, and the like are performed. Also, the transfer processing of the resident image data from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189 is executed by display surface processing as one processing of the initialization processing.

  When the display main process is executed, first, as one process of the initialization process, the value of the stack pointer is set in the MPU 181 and various settings for the register group in the MPU 181 and the I / O device are performed. (S701). Next, the process proceeds to S702, and as an initialization process, an image that is resident in the resident video RAM 189 in S702 to S710, that is, a power-on main image, a background image, a character design, and an announcement Image data corresponding to each image such as an effect image and an error message image is read from the character ROM 187 and transferred to the resident video RAM 189.

  Specifically, in the process of S702, first, the main image data at power-on is first read from the character ROM 187, and the data is temporarily stored in the buffer RAM 188a (S702). When the power-on main image data is stored in the buffer RAM 188a, the power-on main image data stored in the buffer RAM 188a is then transferred to the resident video RAM 189 and stored in the power-on main image area 189a. (S703). If the data capacity of the main image data at power-on is less than or equal to the capacity of one block (eg, 132 kilobytes) of the NAND flash memory 187a, which is also the storage capacity of the buffer RAM 188a, the process of S702 and S703 is performed once. Since all the main image data is transferred to the resident video RAM when the power is turned on, the process directly proceeds to S704. If the data capacity of the main image data at power-on is larger than the capacity of one block of the NAND flash memory 187a, all the main image data at power-on will be the main image area at power-on of the resident video RAM 189. The process of S702 and S703 is repeatedly executed until it is stored in 189a, and then the process proceeds to S704.

  In step S704, the image controller 188 is instructed to draw a main image when the power is turned on (S704). As a result, the image controller 188 reads the power-on main image data stored in the power-on main image area 189a of the resident video RAM 189, draws the power-on main image, and draws the drawn power-on main image. The corresponding drawing image data is temporarily stored in the normal video RAM 190 and then transferred to the auxiliary display unit 65 in accordance with the display timing of the auxiliary display unit 65. Therefore, the main image when the power is turned on is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65. In this display, other resident image data is transferred to the resident video RAM 189, and a normal image is drawn by the processing of S711 described later. Until it is instructed to continue.

  In this slot machine 10, since the NAND flash memory 187a is used for the character ROM 187, all the image data to be stored in the resident video RAM 189 is resident from the character ROM 187 due to the slow reading speed. It takes a long time to be transferred to the video RAM 189. Therefore, as in the main display process, after the power is turned on, first, the main image at power-on is first transferred from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189, and the main image at power-on is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65. As a result, while the remaining image data to be resident is transferred to the resident video RAM 189, the player or the hall related person can check the main image at the time of power-on displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65. . Therefore, the display control device 81 can transfer the remaining image data to be resident from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189 over time while displaying the main image on the auxiliary display unit 65 when the power is turned on. it can. On the other hand, since the player or the like can recognize that some initialization processing is being performed while the main image is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 when the power is turned on, the image to be resident in the remaining resident video RAM 189. Until the data is transferred from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189, it is possible to wait until the initialization is completed without worrying about whether the operation has stopped.

  Also, in an operation check in a factory or the like at the time of manufacture, the main image at the time of power-on is immediately displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65, so that the slot machine 10 can be immediately started operating without a problem when the power is turned on. The use of the NAND flash memory 187a with a slow reading speed for the character ROM 187 can suppress the deterioration of the efficiency of the operation check.

  After the processing of S704, it is then confirmed whether or not the system state is a voltage drop state, that is, whether or not the drive voltage has dropped to a predetermined voltage (less than 10 volts in this embodiment) (S705). When it is in a lowered state (S705: Yes), it is determined that the power supply is cut off, and a power failure process is executed (S706).

  On the other hand, if the system state is not a voltage drop state in the processing of S705 (S705: No), then the image data to be resident except the main image data at power-on is sequentially stored from the character ROM 187 in the NAND flash memory 187a. One block is read out and temporarily stored in the buffer RAM 188a (S707). When one block of image data is stored in the buffer RAM 188a, the resident video RAM 189 determines whether or not the resident video RAM 189 is in use by reading accompanying drawing of the main image when the power is turned on (S708). While the video RAM 189 is in use (S708: Yes), the process of S708 is repeatedly executed to wait for the process. When it is determined that the resident video RAM 189 is not used (S708: No), the image data stored in the buffer RAM 188a is transferred to the resident video RAM 189, and an area corresponding to the image data, that is, a background image is transferred. It is stored in any of the area 189b, the character design area 189c, the notification effect image area 189d and the error message image area 189e (S709).

  As described above, when image data is transferred from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189, the time passes from the character ROM 187 configured by the NAND flash memory 187a having a low reading speed by interposing the buffer RAM 188a configured by SRAM. Is temporarily stored in the buffer RAM 188a, and when the resident video RAM 189 is not used, the image data is transferred from the buffer RAM 188a to the resident video RAM 189 in a short time. Can do. Thus, while image data is transferred from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189, the resident video RAM 189 can be prevented from being occupied for a long time by the transfer of the image data. The data stored in the resident video RAM 189 at the time of image drawing can be read without delay, the image to be displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 can be drawn without delay, and the drawn image data can be transferred to the auxiliary display unit 65. Can do.

  After the processing of S709, it is determined whether or not all the image data to be resident has been transferred to the resident video RAM 189 (S710). If untransferred resident target image data remains (S710: No) Returning to the process of S705, the processes of S705 to S710 are executed again, and the process of transferring the image data for one block from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189 is performed. Here, by the processing of S705, it is determined whether or not the system state is a voltage drop state every time image data for one block is transferred. As a result, even if the system state becomes a voltage drop state while transferring the resident target image data from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189 over time, the state can be reliably grasped. it can.

  If it is determined by the processing of S710 that all the image data to be resident has been transferred to the resident video RAM 189 (S710: Yes), then it is displayed in normal time (when a special effect is not displayed). The image controller 188 is instructed to draw a normal image (S710). As a result, the image controller 188 reads the background image and the character design stored in the background image area 189b and the character design area 189c of the resident video RAM 189, draws the normal image, and temporarily renders the drawn image data to the normal video. After being stored in the RAM 190, a process of transferring to the auxiliary display unit 65 in accordance with the display timing of the auxiliary display unit 65 is executed. Therefore, a normal image is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65, and a player or a hall-related person can recognize that the initialization of the display control process has ended.

  Further, the image data to be resident is all transferred to the resident video RAM 189 during the initialization process immediately after the power is turned on by the processes of S702 to S710. The image controller 188 can perform image drawing processing while using the resident image data. Thus, if the image data used for the drawing process is resident in the resident video RAM 189, it is not necessary to read the corresponding image data from the character ROM 187 configured by the NAND flash memory 187a having a low reading speed when drawing the image. Therefore, the time required for the reading can be omitted, and the drawn image can be displayed immediately on the auxiliary display unit 65 by drawing the image.

  In particular, the resident video RAM 189 is resident with image data of frequently displayed images or image data of images to be displayed immediately after the display is determined by the main control device 101 or the display control device 81. Even if the character ROM 187 is composed of the NAND flash memory 187a, the responsiveness from the operation of the start lever 41 and the stop buttons 42 to 44 by the player to displaying some image on the auxiliary display unit 65 can be kept high. it can.

  Subsequently, an interrupt mode permitting the command interrupt process and the display timer interrupt process is set (S712), the initialization process is terminated, and the process proceeds to S713. In the process of S713, it is confirmed whether or not the system state is a voltage drop state, that is, whether or not the drive voltage has dropped to a predetermined voltage (less than 10 volts in the present embodiment) as in the process of S705 (S713). If the system state is a voltage drop state (S713: Yes), it is determined that the power supply is cut off, and a power failure process is executed (S714).

  On the other hand, when the system state is not a voltage drop state in the processing of S713 (S713: No), it is then determined whether display timer interrupt processing has been performed (S715), and display timer interrupt processing has been performed. If so (S715: Yes), a drive data output process for outputting drive data to the auxiliary effect section is executed (S716). Thereby, the output of the drive data to the auxiliary effect section is controlled so as to be executed at a cycle of 1 msec in which the display timer interruption process is performed. The determination as to whether or not the display timer interrupt process has been performed is turned on every time the display timer interrupt process is executed, and is turned off every time the drive data output process is executed. (Not shown) is provided in the work RAM 185, and is performed by detecting the value of this interrupt processing execution flag. That is, if the interrupt process execution flag is on, it is determined that the display timer interrupt process has been performed (S715: Yes), and the drive data output process is executed (S716).

  If it is determined in S715 that the display timer interrupt process is not executed (S715: No), or if the process in S716 is completed, an unprocessed received command is stored in the received command storage area 185a. It is determined whether or not (S717). If there is an unprocessed received command (S717: Yes), the received command check process is executed (S718), the received command stored in the received command storage area 185a is analyzed, and the received command is determined. Processing is executed (S719). For example, if the received command is a start command, start command processing (see FIG. 19) is executed, if it is a lottery result command, lottery result command processing (see FIG. 20) is executed, and if it is an error command, error command processing (see FIG. 19). (See FIG. 21). Details of each command processing will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  Whether it is determined in the processing of S717 that there is no unprocessed received command in the received command storage area 185a (S717: No), or if the processing of S718 is completed, then the random number value used when selecting an auxiliary effect, etc. The update process is executed (S719), the process returns to S713, and thereafter the processes of S713 to S719 are repeatedly executed.

  Next, the start command process executed by the MPU 181 of the display control device 81 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing start command processing. This start command process is a process executed when the start lever 41 is operated and a start command indicating that a game start command has been received is received from the main controller 101. The MPU 181 stores a command received from the main control device 101 in the received command storage area 185a of the work RAM 185 in the received command check process (see S718 in FIG. 18) of the display main process, and the command is a start command. If it is determined, the start command processing is executed.

  In this start command process, first, information related to the bet number included in the start command is extracted, and the extracted information related to the bet number is stored in the bet number storage area 185b of the work RAM 185 (S801). As described above in the description of S209 in FIG. 13, the bet number suggested by the information included in the start command is the medal inserted by the player for the game indicated by the start command to be started. The display control device 81 stores the information related to the bet number in the bet number storage area 185b, thereby assisting the production of the game to be started in accordance with the number of bets placed on the game. Control can be performed by an effect section (upper lamp 63, speaker 64, auxiliary display section 65).

  In the start command process, other processes corresponding to the start command are executed in response to the start command of the game ascertained by receiving the start command, such as control for causing the auxiliary effect unit to execute various effects (S802). ), This process is terminated. Thereby, various effects can be made to be performed by the auxiliary effect unit at the start of the game.

  Next, a lottery result command process executed by the MPU 181 of the display control device 81 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing lottery result command processing. This lottery result command processing receives from the main control device 101 a lottery result command indicating the result of a lottery (whether or not a winning combination determination) is performed in the main control device 101 in response to a game start command by operating the start lever 41. This process is executed when The MPU 181 stores the command received from the main control device 101 in the received command storage area 185a of the work RAM 185 in the received command check process (see S718 in FIG. 18) of the display main process, and the command is a lottery result command. If it is determined that there is, the lottery result command process is executed.

  In the lottery result command processing, first, information on the bet number stored in the bet number storage area 185b is confirmed, and whether the number of bets placed on the game whose start command is indicated by the start command is three. It is determined whether or not (S901). If the number of bets is three (S901: Yes), an effect corresponding to the number of three bets is started in the auxiliary effect section (upper lamp 63, speaker 64, auxiliary display section 65). Set (S902), and the lottery result command processing ends. Thus, each auxiliary effect unit is driven so that the set effect is executed by the drive data output process (S716 in FIG. 18) of the display main process.

  At this time, when the background image or character design to be displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 is changed based on another command received from the main control device 101, it corresponds to the background image area 189b or the character design area 189c of the resident video RAM 189. If the image data of the background image or character design to be resident is resident, the image controller 188 reads the image data corresponding to the background image or character design from the resident video RAM 189 and draws the image. As a result, the time for newly reading the corresponding image data from the character ROM 187 constituted by the NAND flash memory 187a having a long read time can be omitted, so that the image controller 188 can immediately draw and generate a predetermined image. . Therefore, the background image and the character design can be changed immediately even if the NAND flash memory 187a having a low reading speed is used for the character ROM 187.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the number of bets is not three as a result of the process of S901 (S901: No), the number of bets placed on the game for which the start command is indicated by the start command is one or two. It can be understood that it is a sheet. Therefore, it is next determined whether or not the winning combination grasped by the lottery result command, that is, the winning combination of the game started by the start command is in the BB winning mode (S903). If the BB winning mode is a winning combination (S903: Yes), a message “BB winning winning!” Is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 to notify the player that the winning combination is a BB winning mode. “BB winning announcement effect” is set (S904), and the lottery result command is terminated. Accordingly, each auxiliary effect unit is driven so that the BB winning notification effect is executed by the drive data output process (S716 in FIG. 18) of the display main process.

  If the winning combination is not in the BB winning mode as a result of the processing of S903 (S903: No), then the winning combination grasped by the lottery command, that is, the winning combination of the game started by the start command is the watermelon winning It is determined whether it is an aspect (S905). If the watermelon winning mode is a winning combination (S905: Yes), the message “Watermelon winning winning!” Is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 to notify the player that the winning combination is a watermelon winning mode. “Watermelon winning announcement effect” is set (S906), and the lottery result command is terminated. Accordingly, each auxiliary effect unit is driven by the drive data output process (S716 in FIG. 18) of the display main process so that the watermelon winning notification effect is executed.

  If the winning combination is not in the watermelon winning mode as a result of the processing of S905 (S905: No), then the winning combination grasped by the lottery command, that is, the winning combination of the game started by the start command is the Bell winning combination. It is determined whether or not it is an aspect (S907). If the bell winning mode is a winning combination (S907: Yes), a message “Bell winning winning!” Is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 to notify the player that the winning combination is a bell winning mode. “Bell winning announcement effect” is set (S908), and the lottery result command is terminated. Thus, each auxiliary effect section is driven so that the bell winning notification effect is executed by the drive data output process (S716 in FIG. 18) of the display main process.

  As described above, the winning combination in the game in which the number of bets is set to 1 or 2 by the process of S903 to S908 is determined by any of the BB winning mode, the watermelon winning mode, and the bell winning mode. If it is, it is possible to cause the auxiliary effect section to execute a BB prize announcement effect, a watermelon prize announcement effect, and a bell prize announcement effect for notifying the player that the role has been won.

  Here, as described above, when the number of bets is one or two, the winning probability of the BB winning mode, the watermelon winning mode, and the bell winning mode is suppressed to be extremely low. There is a high possibility of playing a game in anticipation of the establishment of the Cherry Bell winning mode or the 7 Bell winning mode. In addition, when the Cherry Bell winning mode or the 7 Bell winning mode is a winning combination, the winning combination can be established without losing any of the stop switches 42 to 44, so that one winning or the A player who has started a game with two cards is likely to operate the stop switches 42 to 44 at an arbitrary timing. Therefore, if any of the BB winning mode, the watermelon winning mode, or the bell winning mode is won as a winning role, and the player does not notice it, the BB winning mode, the watermelon winning mode, and the bell winning mode are all overlooked. Since there is a possibility of winning, there is a risk of missing the winning combination. In addition, since the winning of the BB winning mode is valid across the game until the BB winning mode is established, if the player finishes the game without noticing the winning of the BB winning mode, another player However, the BB winning mode is established based on the winning of the BB winning mode, and the player who has won the winning of the BB winning mode may lose as a result.

  On the other hand, if any of the BB winning mode, the watermelon winning mode and the bell winning mode is won in the game in which the number of bets is set to one or two by the processing of S903 to S908, the winning Are announced through a BB prize announcement effect, a watermelon prize announcement effect, and a bell prize announcement effect. Since the notification is made without delay in accordance with the reception of the lottery result command transmitted from the main control device 101, as described above, the notification is performed while the stop switches 42 to 44 cannot be operated by the player. Is called. Therefore, before operating the stop switches 42 to 44, the player can know the winning of any of the BB winning mode, the watermelon winning mode and the bell winning mode. Accordingly, when the player plays a game with one or two cards, if this notification is made by the auxiliary display unit 65, the winning combination (BB winning mode, watermelon winning mode or bell winning) ascertained by the notification is obtained. Since the stop switches 42 to 44 can be operated aiming at the stop symbol in order to stop the stop symbol corresponding to the mode) on the active line, those winning modes can be established with a higher probability. In addition, when the winning of the BB winning mode is announced, even if the player misses the game, the player can receive a new medal and continue the game until the BB winning mode is established. it can.

  In addition, when the BB winning mode is carried over from the past game and a plurality of winning combinations are set together with the winning combination in the current game lottery, the slip table setting process executed by the MPU 102 of the main control device 101 In S310 of FIG. 14, a sliding table corresponding to a winning combination other than the BB winning mode is set. In this lottery result command processing, a lottery is performed when the number of bets is set to one or two. The winning combination determined by the result command is determined from the BB winning mode (see S903). As a result, if the winning combination in which the slip table is set is a watermelon winning aspect or a bell winning aspect, the winning combination may be missed, but if the BB winning aspect is set as a winning combination, Since the BB winning announcement effect is preferentially performed, the player can be surely grasped that the BB winning mode more advantageous to the player is the winning combination.

  In addition, as described above, in the lottery result command process, the command received from the main control device 101 is stored in the received command storage area 185a of the work RAM 185 by the main process executed by the MPU 181. It is executed when it is determined to be a command. The lottery result command is a reel control process (S211 in FIG. 13) for controlling the rotation of each of the reels 32L, 32M, and 32R after the lottery (whether the winning combination is determined) accompanying the game start command. (See S309 in FIG. 14), and within about 1.5 ms later (that is, after a time lag until the command is transmitted by the timer interrupt process), the lottery result command is displayed. Is transmitted to the device 81.

  Further, in the display control device 81, image data corresponding to images displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 in various notification effects such as a BB winning notification effect, a watermelon winning notification effect, and a bell winning notification effect are notified in the resident video RAM 189. Since the display control device 81 is resident in advance in the effect image area 189d, the display control device 81 performs the BB winning notification effect, the watermelon winning notification effect, and the bell winning notification effect based on the lottery result command received from the main control device 101. When the image controller 188 determines that the image controller 188 does not newly read the corresponding image data from the character ROM 187 but reads the image data previously resident in the notification effect image area 189 d of the resident video RAM 189, the image controller 188. Each notice effect image can be drawn. As a result, it is not necessary to sequentially read the corresponding image data from the character ROM 187. Therefore, even if the NAND flash memory 187a having a low reading speed is used as the character ROM 187, each notification effect image is immediately received after receiving the lottery result command. These notification effect images can be displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65.

  Therefore, after the player operates the start lever 41, it assists the notification effect etc. of the winning combination from when the player operates any of the stop switches 42 to 44 to stop the rotation of the reels 32L, 32M, 32R. It can be executed by the production unit (upper lamp 63, speaker 64, auxiliary display unit 65). Therefore, since the player can grasp the winning combination before operating any of the stop switches 42 to 44, the recognized winning combination (BB winning mode, watermelon winning mode or bell winning mode) is established. Can be surely aimed at the player.

  As a result of the processing of S907, if the winning combination is not in the Bell winning mode (S907: No), if the number of bets is 2, whether the Cherry Bell winning mode or the replay winning mode is set as the winning combination, If the number of bets is one, it can be determined that the Cherry Bell winning mode, the 7 Bell winning mode, or the Replay winning mode is set as a winning combination, It can be understood that the combination is not set (that is, it is out of place). Therefore, next, information regarding the bet number stored in the bet number storage area 185b is confirmed, and it is determined whether or not the number of bets placed on the game indicated by the start command is two. Determination is made (S909).

  If the number of bets is two (S909: Yes), the message “Challenge!” Is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65, and a dedicated sound is output from the speaker 64, and the upper lamp 63 is dedicated. The “Cherry Bell winning challenge effect” to be lit in the above manner is set (S910), and the lottery result command processing is terminated. Thus, each auxiliary effect unit is driven by the drive data output process (S716 in FIG. 18) of the display main process so that the cherry bell winning challenge effect is executed. If the number of bets is not two (S909: No), it can be grasped that the number of bets is one, so the auxiliary display unit 65 displays a message “Cherry Bell and 7 Bells Challenge!” A special sound is output from the speaker 64 and a “Cherry Bell Winning / 7 Bell Winning Challenge Effect” for turning on the upper lamp 63 in a dedicated manner is set (S911), and the lottery result command processing is terminated. As a result, the auxiliary effect units are driven so that the cherry bell winning and 7 bell winning challenge effects are executed by the drive data output process (S716 in FIG. 18) of the display main process.

  By the processing of S910, the “Cherry Bell winning challenge effect” is executed in the auxiliary effect section, so that when the game is played with two cards, it is expected that three medals will be paid out when the Cherry Bell winning mode is established. The player can have a strong feeling. In addition, in the process of S911, the “Cherry Bell Award / 7 Bell Award Challenge Effect” is executed in the auxiliary effect section. Therefore, when the game is played with one piece, the Cherry Bell prize or the 7 bell prize mode is displayed. It is possible to give the player a strong sense of expectation that three or two medals will be paid out upon establishment. Therefore, the player can play a game with one or two cards while having fun, and can make the player feel more strongly that he wants to play the game without losing extra medals.

  Next, error command processing executed by the MPU 181 of the display control device 81 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing error command processing. This error command process is a process in which an error detected by the main control device 101 is notified by the auxiliary effect unit, and the MPU 181 performs the work RAM 185 in the received command check process (see S718 in FIG. 18) of the display main process. When the command received from the main control device 101 is stored in the received command storage area 185a and it is determined that the command is an error command, this error command processing is executed.

  In this error command process, first, information on the error type included in the error command is extracted (S951). Then, display of an error message corresponding to the extracted error type is set (S952), and this error command processing is terminated. As a result, an error message corresponding to the auxiliary display unit 65 is displayed by the drive data output process (S716 in FIG. 18) of the display main process, the upper lamp 63 is blinked, and an alarm sound is emitted from the speaker 64. Each auxiliary effect section is driven.

  Here, as described above, the error message is required to be displayed almost simultaneously with the occurrence of the error from the viewpoint of preventing the player's fraud and protecting the player against the error. Since the image data corresponding to various error messages is resident in the message image area 189e in advance, the display control device 81 reads out the resident image data based on the error command received from the main control device 101. Thus, each error message image can be immediately drawn by the image controller 188. Therefore, it is not necessary to sequentially read out the image data corresponding to the error message from the character ROM 187. Even if the NAND flash memory 187a having a low reading speed is used as the character ROM 187, each error message is immediately received after receiving the error command. Can be displayed.

  As described above, according to the slot machine 10 of the present embodiment, all the image data to be resident is transferred to the resident video RAM 189 during the initialization process immediately after the power is turned on. After completion, the image controller 188 can perform image drawing processing while using the image data resident in the resident video RAM 189. Thus, if the image data used for the drawing process is resident in the resident video RAM 189, it is not necessary to read the corresponding image data from the character ROM 187 configured by the NAND flash memory 187a having a low reading speed when drawing the image. Therefore, the time required for the reading can be omitted, and the drawn image can be displayed immediately on the auxiliary display unit 65 by drawing the image. In particular, image data of frequently displayed images and image data of images to be displayed immediately after the display is determined by the main control device 101 or the display control device 81 are made resident in the resident video RAM 189. Responsiveness from the operation of the start lever 41 and the stop buttons 42 to 44 by the user to displaying some image on the auxiliary display unit 65 can be kept high.

  In the slot machine 10, since the NAND flash memory 187 a is used for the character ROM 187, all the image data to be stored in the resident video RAM 189 is transferred from the character ROM 187 due to the slow reading speed. Although it takes a lot of time to be transferred to the resident video RAM 189, after the power is turned on, the main image at power-on is first transferred from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189, and the main image at the time of power-on. Is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65, while the remaining image data to be resident is transferred to the resident video RAM 189, the player or the hall-related person can display the main power-on time displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65. The image can be confirmed.

  Therefore, the display control device 81 can transfer the remaining image data to be resident from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189 over time while displaying the main image on the auxiliary display unit 65 when the power is turned on. it can. On the other hand, since the player or the like can recognize that some initialization processing is being performed while the main image is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 when the power is turned on, the image to be resident in the remaining resident video RAM 189. Until the data is transferred from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189, it is possible to wait until the initialization is completed without worrying about whether the operation has stopped. Also, in an operation check in a factory or the like at the time of manufacture, the main image at the time of power-on is immediately displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65, so that the slot machine 10 can be immediately started operating without a problem when the power is turned on. Can be confirmed. Therefore, the use of the NAND flash memory 187a having a slow reading speed for the character ROM 187 can suppress the deterioration of the operation check efficiency.

  Although the present invention has been described based on the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be easily made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It can be guessed.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the MPU 181 directly accesses the character ROM 187, reads the image data from the character ROM 187, and transfers the image data to the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190. It is not limited. For example, the MPU 181 transmits an image data transfer command to the image controller 187, and the image controller 181 receives the transfer command and transfers the image data from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190. You may go. In this case, the image data is stored in the address of the character ROM 187 storing the image data to be transferred, the transfer destination video RAM (resident video RAM 189 or normal video RAM 190), and the transfer destination video RAM. The power address is specified in the transfer command transmitted by the MPU 181, and the image controller 188 reads the image data stored in the address position of the character ROM 187 specified by the transfer command, and specifies the specified transfer destination. The read image data may be stored in a designated address area of the video RAM. In this case, the image controller 188 temporarily stores the image data read from the character ROM 187 in the buffer RAM 188a. When the image controller 188 does not use the transfer destination video RAM, the image data stored in the buffer RAM 188a is stored. May be stored in the video RAM of the transfer destination.

  In the above embodiment, the MPU 181 does not manage each video RAM by using the addresses of the resident video RAM 189 and the normal video RAM 190, but uses them in common with the resident video RAM 189 and the normal video RAM 190. In the address system, a different address area may be assigned to each video RAM to manage each video RAM. In this way, the MPU 181 does not directly specify the video RAM (resident video RAM 189 or normal video RAM 190) to be accessed from the image controller 189, but simply designates the address, and at that address. The image controller 189 can determine whether the designated area is for the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190. That is, when designating the video RAM to be accessed and the address of the video RAM area from the MPU 181 to the image controller 188, it is only necessary to designate an address set in a common address system. It is possible to simplify the configuration of the instruction for performing the designation.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the character ROM 187 is directly connected to the internal bus to which the MPU 181 and the image controller are connected has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the character ROM 187 is directly connected to the image controller 188. It may be provided. Further, a bridge circuit for converting the input / output specification of the character ROM 187 into the input / output specification of the mask ROM may be provided, and the character ROM 187 may be connected to the internal bus or the image controller 188 via the bridge circuit. By providing this bridge circuit, a character ROM 187 configured by a NAND flash memory 187a using an existing image controller 188 or an internal bus designed on the assumption that a general mask ROM is used as a character ROM. Can be connected. Even if the character ROM 187 is connected via the image controller 188 or a bridge circuit, it is desirable that the MPU 181 can directly access the character ROM 187.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the character ROM 187 is configured by the NAND flash memory 187a has been described. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto, and is configured by a large-capacity and inexpensive non-volatile storage unit, for example, a hard disk or the like. May be. Such a large-capacity and inexpensive storage means generally has a low reading speed, but the display control device 81 is configured as described in the above embodiment, so that an image can be displayed without any problem at a desired display time. be able to.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the resident video RAM 189 is connected to the image controller has been described. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and the MPU 181, the character ROM 187, and the image controller 188 are directly connected to the internal bus. May be provided. When the character ROM 187 is connected to the internal bus or the image controller 188 via a bridge circuit, a resident video RAM 189 may be connected to the bridge circuit. If the resident video RAM 189 is connected to the bridge circuit, the resident video RAM can be connected to the display controller even if the existing image controller 188 or the internal bus is not configured to be directly connectable to the resident video RAM 189. 81 can be easily provided.

  In the above embodiment, the case where one resident video RAM 189 and one normal video RAM 190 are provided in the display control device 81 has been described, but the number of various video RAMs is not limited to this, and more A video RAM may be provided. Further, a plurality of resident video RAMs 189 may be provided, and image data corresponding to images corresponding to various modes may be resident in each, and the resident video RAM to be used may be selected according to the mode.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the resident video RAM 189 and the normal video RAM 190 are configured by a 1-port type (input / output port is 1 port) DRAM has been described. A type of RAM may be used.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the resident video RAM 189 and the normal video RAM 190 are configured by separate memories has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and one RAM is divided into a resident area and a normal area. The same content as that of the resident video RAM 189 and the normal video RAM 190 may be stored in each area. When a resident area and a normal area are configured with one RAM, the input / output port of the memory is prevented from being occupied by read or write processing by one of the resident area and the normal area. It is desirable to use a multiport RAM.

  The type of image data stored in the resident video RAM 189 in the above embodiment is an example, and the type may be appropriately set according to the content of the image displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65. In this case, it is preferable that at least image data corresponding to an image to be displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 is made resident at least in the resident video RAM 189 in response to a received command received from the main control device 101 or other input from the outside. .

  In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which a part of the image data stored in the character ROM 187 is transferred to the resident video RAM 189 and made resident. However, all the image data stored in the character ROM 187 is transferred to the resident video RAM 189. May be. In this case, since there is no image data stored in the non-resident character ROM 187 in the resident video RAM 189, the normal video RAM 190 is used as a dedicated memory for storing the drawn image data obtained by drawing by the image controller 188. It may be used.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the content of the resident video RAM 189 is retained without being overwritten while the power is turned on has been described. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and based on a command received from the main control unit 101. The image data to be resident in the resident video RAM 189 may be overwritten and updated based on a predetermined opportunity, for example, when the image to be displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 is greatly different. In this case, a predetermined transition image may be displayed as the transition period while the image displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 is changed. Further, the image data corresponding to the transition image is stored in the resident video RAM 189 when the power is turned on, and is kept in the resident video RAM 189 without being updated when other resident images are updated. It may be left. While the transition image is being displayed, the MPU 181 directly accesses the character ROM 187 to read out newly resident image data, and the read image data is stored in the resident video RAM 189 via the buffer RAM 188a. You may make it transfer during unused (namely, during the period when the image data corresponding to a transfer image is not read). When updating the resident video RAM 189, image data corresponding to the transition image is transferred from the character ROM 187 to the normal video RAM 190 in advance, and the transition image is supplemented using the image data stored in the normal video RAM 190. While being displayed on the display unit 65, the MPU 181 may directly access the character ROM 187 to read out newly resident image data, and transfer the read out image data via the buffer RAM 188a. By updating the contents of the resident video RAM 189 while the transition image is displayed, the resident video RAM 189 can be updated without making the player feel uncomfortable.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the buffer RAM 188a is provided in the image controller 188 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the buffer RAM 188a may be provided outside the image controller 188. For example, the buffer RAM may be configured alone and connected directly to the internal bus. When the character ROM 187 is connected to the internal bus or the image controller 188 via a bridge circuit, a buffer RAM may be provided in the bridge circuit. Further, the resident video RAM 189 may be directly connected to the bridge circuit having the buffer RAM. In this case, image data can be transferred from the character ROM 187 connected to the bridge circuit to the resident video RAM 189 via the buffer RAM provided in the bridge circuit, which is affected by the internal bus where data signals are frequently exchanged. Therefore, the transfer can be performed efficiently.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the storage capacity of the buffer RAM 188a is one block of the NAND flash memory 187a has been described. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and the display screen scanning period of the auxiliary display unit 65 is not limited to this. Of these, image data is transferred from the buffer RAM 188a to the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190 during a period (blank period) of scanning a blank area which is a scanning area other than the display area where an actual image is displayed. The data capacity sufficient to complete the process may be used as the storage capacity of the buffer RAM 188a. Thereby, the transfer from the buffer RAM 188a to the image data to the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190 can be reliably performed by using the unused period of each of the video RAMs 189 and 190 generated during the blank period. .

  In the above embodiment, the case where one buffer RAM 188a is provided has been described. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and two or more buffer RAMs may be provided. In this case, the image data stored in the resident video RAM 189 may be transferred from another buffer RAM while the image data read from the character ROM 187 is stored in one buffer RAM. . In addition, while the area is divided into two or more in one buffer RAM and the image data read from the character ROM 187 is stored in one area, another area in which the image data is stored is stored. The image data may be transferred from the area to the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190. In any case, the writing of the image data read from the character ROM 187 to the buffer RAM and the transfer of the image data written to the buffer RAM to the resident video RAM 189 or the normal video RAM 190 are performed in parallel. Processing time can be shortened.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the image data corresponding to the power-on main image is transferred from the character ROM 187 to the power-on main image area 189a of the resident video RAM 189 after the power is turned on has been described. The corresponding image data may be transferred from the character ROM 187 to the normal video RAM 190 after the power is turned on. Thus, the image data corresponding to the main image at power-on stored in the normal video RAM 190 is used to display the main image at power-on on the auxiliary display unit 65, and the image data 187 is resident from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189. Image data to be transferred can be transferred. During this time, since the image data is not read from the resident video RAM 189, the image data can be transferred from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189 without monitoring the usage state of the resident video RAM 189. The transfer can be completed quickly, and the processing can be simplified.

  In the above embodiment, the case where image data corresponding to the main image at power-on is transferred from the character ROM 187 to the main image area 189a at power-on of the resident video RAM 189 via the buffer RAM 188a has been described. Since the image data is not read from the resident video RAM 189 while the image data corresponding to is transferred, the image data corresponding to the main image when the power is turned on is not transferred from the character ROM 187 via the buffer RAM 188a. May be directly transferred to the main image area 189a when the power is turned on. In addition, image data corresponding to the main image at power-on is transferred from the character ROM 187 to the normal video RAM 190 after power-on, and auxiliary display is performed using the image data corresponding to the main image at power-on stored in the normal video RAM 190. The image data is not read from the resident video RAM 189 while the image data to be resident is transferred from the character ROM 187 to the resident video RAM 189 by displaying the main image when the power is turned on in the unit 65. In this case, the image data to be resident may be directly transferred from the character RAM 187 to the resident video RAM 189 without going through the buffer RAM 188a. Thereby, the transfer of the image data can be completed more quickly without using the buffer RAM 188a.

  In the above embodiment, the display control device 81 has been described for changing the background image displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 based on the content of the command received from the main control device 101. In addition, or Separately from this, an operation button that can change the background image of the auxiliary display unit 65 by the player is provided in the slot machine 10, and the background image is changed when the operation button is operated by the player. Also good. Specifically, when an operation button is operated by the player, an output signal output from the operation button is input to the input / output port 186 of the display control device 81, and the MPU 181 receives an input from the operation button. When it is confirmed that the operation button has been operated by the player, the change of the background image is determined, and the image data corresponding to the background image to be displayed after the change stored in the background image area 189b of the resident video RAM 189 is obtained. It may be used to instruct the image controller 188 to draw an image. Thus, after the player operates the operation button, the background image after the change is immediately displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 using the image data stored in the background image area 189b of the resident video RAM 189. be able to. Therefore, even when the character ROM 187 is configured using the NAND flash memory 187a having a reading speed, the background image after the change is displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 in response to the player's operation immediately. be able to.

  In the above embodiment, the output signals of the first inserted medal detection sensor 45a and the second inserted medal detection sensor 45b are input to the main control device 101, and when a sensor error is detected by the main control device 101, an error command is displayed. The case where the display control device 81 immediately displays an error message on the auxiliary display unit 65 using the image data resident in the error message image area 189e of the resident video RAM 189 by transmitting to the control device 81 will be described. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto, and the output signals of the first inserted medal detection sensor 45a and the second inserted medal detection sensor 45b are also input to the display control device 81, and the display control device 81 determines whether there is a sensor error. When a sensor error is detected in the display control device 81, Immediately to the auxiliary display unit 65 by using the image data that has been resident in the error message image area 189e of parking video RAM189 may display an error message. As a result, transmission / reception of an error command from the main control device 101 to the display control device 81 is not necessary, so that an error message can be displayed on the auxiliary display unit 65 earlier.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the upper lamp 63 and the speaker 64 are driven by the display control device 81 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the upper lamp 63 and the speaker 64 drive the auxiliary display unit 65. You may comprise so that it may drive with the audio | voice lamp control apparatus provided separately from the display control apparatus 81. FIG. In this case, the command transmitted from the main control device 101 is received by the sound lamp control device, and the display control device 81 is based on the command transmitted from the sound lamp control device based on the command from the main control device 101. The auxiliary display unit 64 may be controlled. Further, the command transmitted from the main control device 101 may be received by the display control device 81, and the display control device 81 may transmit the command to the sound lamp control device in accordance with the received command. By separately providing a display control device 81 for driving the auxiliary display unit 65 and an audio lamp control device for driving the upper lamp 63 and the speaker 64, the display control device 81 can concentrate on driving control of the auxiliary display unit 65. In addition, the auxiliary display unit 65 can execute more diverse and complicated image display, and can increase the interest of the player.

  In the above-described embodiment, the configuration including only one type of BB winning as a winning mode in which a privilege to shift to a bonus state when a winning is established has been described, but as a configuration including a plurality of types of state transition winning combinations Also good. Further, the total number of medals paid out in the bonus state may be set to a different value depending on the state transition winning combination in which the winning is achieved. That is, in the process of S604 of the bonus state process (see FIG. 17), the value set in the remaining payout counter may be changed according to the state transition winning combination in which a winning is achieved. In addition, in the process of S606 of the bonus state process (see FIG. 17), when the state command meaning that the game is a BB game is set, the type of the state transition winning combination in which the winning is achieved is also set. May be. Thereby, in the display control apparatus 81, the effect performed by the auxiliary display part 65, the speaker 64, and the upper lamp 63 can be changed according to the state transition winning combination in which the winning is established.

  In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which the total number of medals paid out in the bonus state that is shifted to when the BB winning is established is set to 250 (see the setting of the remaining payout counter in S604 in FIG. 17). However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and the value set as the medal payout total number (remaining payout number) may be an arbitrary number within a range determined by law or the like.

  In the embodiment described above, in the JAC game that is performed when the gaming state is in the bonus state, the case where the winning probabilities of the watermelon winning and the bell winning as the small role winning are set higher than the general gaming state has been described. The winning probability of either the watermelon winning or the bell winning may be set higher than the general gaming state. In addition, each winning probability in the bonus state may be determined so that the degree of increase in the winning probability of the watermelon winning with a large number of medal payouts is larger than that of the bell winning. As a result, the expected value of the number of medals paid out per game can be increased, so that the player can receive a large number of medals with a small number of medals. Further, since medals can be paid out for the total number of medals paid out in a short time, the operating rate of the slot machine 10 can be increased also for the hall side. In addition, a bonus-only winning mode that is established only when the gaming state is in the bonus state is set, the number of medals to be paid out is set larger, and the winning probability of the bonus dedicated winning mode is set higher than other winning modes in the bonus state. You may comprise. Furthermore, winning establishment of this bonus exclusive winning mode may be performed only in the case of three. Thereby, even if it is a case where a bonus game can be performed by 1 or 2 sheets, it is possible for a player to perform a bonus game by 3 sheets.

  In the above embodiment, the Cherry Bell prize, which is a special small role prize, is established only when the game is played with one or two medals inserted, that is, when the game is played with one or two cards. Although the case where the lottery table is set so as to be described is not necessarily limited to this, when the game is played with the number of inserted medals being three, that is, when the game is played with three cards Alternatively, a lottery table may be set so that a cherry bell winning is established. When a game is played with three cards and a Cherry Bell winning is achieved, the number of medals paid out may be three or any other number. Further, the winning probability of winning the cherry bell when the game is played with three cards may be set by a lottery table so as to be smaller than other BB winning, watermelon winning, bell winning, and replay winning. This makes it difficult for the player to recognize that the Cherry Bell winning is a special small role winning because it is difficult to be established when three Cherry Bell winnings are made.

  Similarly, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the lottery table is set so that the 7-bell winning, which is a special small role winning, is established only when the game is played with one piece is described. The lottery table may be set so that a 7-bell prize is established even when a game is played with two or three cards. When a 7-bel prize is established by playing a game with two or three, the number of medals paid out may be two or any other number. If a 7-bell prize is established when two cards are used, it is more preferable to set the medal payout number to three. This is because the player can play another game using the three medals, so that the player can enjoy the game to the end without leaving extra medals. . Also, the winning probability of winning 7 bells when a game is played with 3 cards may be set by a lottery table so as to be smaller than other BB winnings, watermelon winnings, bell winnings, and replay winnings. This makes it difficult for the player to recognize that a 7-bell prize is won when three cards are put on, so that it is a special small role prize. On the other hand, the winning probability of winning 7 bells when playing a game with 2 cards, together with other winnings including the Cherry Bell prize, is such that the expected value of the number of medals paid out in one game is less than 2. It is preferable to be set by a lottery table.

  In the above embodiment, when a game is played with one or two cards, when a watermelon prize or bell prize, which is a normal small part prize, is established, three medals are paid out as the number of medals to be paid out. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and other medal payout numbers may be set. In this case, different medal payout numbers may be set for the watermelon win medal payout number and the bell win medal payout number. In addition, as the number of medals to be paid out for the watermelon winning or the bell winning at the time of 1 or 2 sheets, a number larger than the maximum bet number (3 in the above embodiment) may be set. Thereby, when a game is played with one or two cards, it is possible to cause the player to play the game while expecting the formation of a watermelon prize or a bell prize in which many medals are paid out. In addition, a multiple of the maximum bet number (3 in the above embodiment) may be set as the medal payout number for watermelon winning or bell winning when 1 or 2 is applied. As a result, if a watermelon prize or a bell prize is established, a medals can be obtained simply by playing a game (three-game game) in which the maximum number of bets that can be expected to be paid out as a result of establishing a BB prize is obtained. Therefore, the player can enjoy the game until the end without leaving extra medals. Also, as the number of medals to be paid out for the watermelon winning or the bell winning at the time of 1 or 2 sheets, 12 and 6 sheets may be set as in the case of 3 sheets. Thereby, since it is not necessary to change the medal payout number according to the number of bets, an increase in processing load can be suppressed. In addition, the watermelon winning medal payout number may be set differently for the case of 1-sheet and 2-sheet, and similarly, the case of 1-sheet and the number of 2-sheets Depending on the case, the number of medals to be paid out for the Bell prize may be set to a different number. Further, the medal payout number of at least one of the watermelon winning and the bell winning at the time of putting one may be set to two. Accordingly, the player can enjoy another game while expecting the completion of the Cherry Bell prize in which the two medals are inserted and another three medals are paid out. The winning probability of each winning mode is set by the lottery table so that the ratio of the expected value of the number of medals paid out in one game with respect to the number of medals inserted is less than 100% when one or two is multiplied. desirable. Further, the ratio is more preferably less than 100% and close to 100%.

  In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which a game is played with one or two cards, and three medals are paid out when a Cherry Bell winning is achieved. In this case, as a medal payout number, a multiple (for example, 6 or 9) of the maximum bet number (3 in the above embodiment) may be set. Even after this, if the Cherry Bell prize is established, the player can consume the medals simply by playing a game (three-game game) in which the maximum number of bets that can be expected with the establishment of the BB prize is high. You can enjoy the game to the end without leaving extra medals. On the other hand, it may be configured such that the number of medals to be paid out when a Cherry Bell winning is established at the time of placing one is set to two. As a result, the player can enjoy another game while inserting the two medals and expecting the completion of the Cherry Bell prize in which three more medals are paid out, without leaving any extra medals. You can enjoy the game to the end. In these cases, it is desirable that the winning probability of each winning mode is set by the lottery table so that the ratio of the expected value of the medal payout number in one game to the medal inserted number is less than 100%. Further, the ratio is more preferably less than 100% and close to 100%.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the game is played with one card and the 7-bell prize is established is described so that two medals are paid out. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this. In this case, as the number of medals to be paid out, a multiple (for example, 3, 6, 9, etc.) of the maximum bet number (3 in the above embodiment) may be set. As a result, if a 7-bell prize is established, the medals will be consumed just by playing a game (a game with 3 cards) with the maximum number of bets that can be expected to be paid out for many medals after the BB prize is established. Since it is possible, the player can enjoy the game to the end without leaving extra medals. In this case as well, it is desirable that the winning probability of each winning mode is set by the lottery table so that the ratio of the expected value of the number of medals paid out in one game to the number of medals inserted is less than 100%. Further, the ratio is more preferably less than 100% and close to 100%.

  In the above embodiment, when a game is played with one card, whether or not the Cherry Bell or 7 Bell is won as a candidate for the winning role is drawn by lottery. If the Cherry Bell is won, three medals are paid out. In the above description, the case where the 7-bell prize is established is configured so that two medals are paid out. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and two medals are awarded when the Cherry Bell prize is established. If a payout is made and a 7-bell prize is established, three medals may be paid out. As a result, when the Cherry Bell winning is achieved, two medals are paid out, so the player inserts the two medals and expects the Cherry Bell winning that three medals are paid out. However, another game can be enjoyed, and the game can be enjoyed to the end without leaving extra medals. In addition, when the 7-bell prize is established, three medals are paid out, so that the player can play another game while inserting the three medals and expecting the BB prize to be established. Yes, you can enjoy the game to the end without leaving extra medals. On the other hand, when a game is played with one piece, it may be configured to determine whether or not only a cherry bell winning is made. As a result, in any case where the number of bets is 1 to 3, 7-bel prize winning is not included as a winning combination, so the index value IV = 5 can be omitted from the lottery table, and the lottery storing the lottery table The storage capacity of the table storage area 105a can be reduced and the processing load of the lottery process can be reduced. In this case, if the number of medals to be paid out when the cherry bell winning is established is set to three, the three medals to be paid out when the cherry bell winning is established, and the player Furthermore, another game can be performed while expecting the establishment of the BB prize, and the game can be enjoyed to the end without extra medals. Also, if the number of medals to be paid out when the Cherry Bell winning is established is set to two, the two medals to be paid out when the Cherry Bell winning is established, and the player further adds three medals. While expecting the completion of the Cherry Bell prize where medals are paid out, another game can be enjoyed, and the game can be enjoyed to the end without leaving any extra medals. In these cases, it is desirable that the winning probability of each winning mode is set by the lottery table so that the ratio of the expected value of the medal payout number in one game to the medal inserted number is less than 100%. Further, the ratio is more preferably less than 100% and close to 100%. For example, when a special child role prize for one player does not include a 7-bell prize and only a cherry-bell prize is supported, if the number of medals to be paid out in the cherry-bell prize is set to 3, the winning probability is about 3 It may be set to 1/6, and when the number of medals paid out in the Cherry Bell prize is set to 2, the winning probability may be set to about 1/2.

  In the above embodiment, in the lottery table, any one of a BB prize, a watermelon prize, a bell prize, a cherry bell prize, a 7-bell prize, and a replay prize is assigned as a prize mode corresponding to the index value IV. In the above description, the case where any one of these winning modes is set as a winning combination has been described. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and a plurality of winning modes among these winning modes for one index value IV are described. When a mode is assigned and winning is determined at that one index value IV, a plurality of winning modes assigned to that one index value IV may be set simultaneously as winning combinations. For example, by assigning a BB prize and a Bell prize to one index value IV, a BB prize and a Bell prize may be simultaneously set as a winning combination, or a watermelon prize and a replay prize are assigned to one index value IV. May be assigned as a winning combination at the same time. Here, when a BB winning that is carried over to the next game when a winning is not established and another winning mode (for example, a bell winning) that is not carried over to the next game are set as a winning combination at the same time, The sliding table corresponding to another winning mode (bell winning) that cannot be carried over may be preferentially stored in the sliding table storage area 106b. As a result, it is possible to establish a winning establishment in the other winning modes, and it is possible to carry over the BB winning to the next game and establish a winning establishment. In addition, if a watermelon prize and a replay prize are set at the same time as a winning combination, a slide table is prepared so that either the watermelon prize or the replay prize stops on the active line. You may make it store in the storage area 106b. As the sliding table, the stop symbol corresponding to the watermelon winning that is more advantageous to the player than the replay winning can be stopped from the reaching symbol that has reached the base position when the stop switches 42 to 44 are operated. If the stop mode is defined to stop at the stop symbol corresponding to the watermelon winning, and the stop symbol corresponding to the watermelon winning cannot be stopped, the stop is stopped at the stop symbol corresponding to the replay winning. It is good to use what the aspect was prescribed | regulated. As a result, a watermelon winning that is more advantageous to the player than a replay winning is established as much as possible, and if a watermelon winning cannot be achieved, a replay winning can be established. In this case, the player can replay without medal insertion.

  In the above-described embodiment, when a game is played with one card and a 7-bell prize is established and two medals are paid out, the gaming state of the slot machine 10 remains in the general gaming state, but one card is multiplied. The game state of the slot machine 10 may be shifted to the special game state when two cards are played when the game is played and a 7-bell prize is established and two medals are paid out. And, when the game state is shifted to the 2-game special game state, the lottery table may be configured so that the winning probability of the cherry bell winning mode at the time of 2-game play is set higher than that in the general game state. Good. As a result, when two medals are paid out by winning a 7-bell prize when one card is put, the player inserts the two medals and is strong in establishing a Cherry Bell prize where three medals are paid out. You can enjoy another game while expecting it.

  In the above embodiment, when the player is in the general gaming state, the prescribed number of medals bet is set to 1 to 3 and the game can be applied to either 1 or 2 or 3 However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and the prescribed number of medals bet is set to 1 and 3 and only 1 and 3 are used. Correspondingly, the game may be started. As a result, if two medals remain at the player's hand, the player expects that the player will be able to pay out three medals when the Cherry Bell prize is established, and the remaining medals are inserted one by one. And you can entertain a total of at least two games.

  Also, not only in the general gaming state, but also in the bonus state, the prescribed number of medals bet is set to 1 to 3 and can be used for 1-, 2-, 3- The game may be started. Alternatively, even in the bonus state, the prescribed number of medals bet may be set to 1 and 3 and the game may be started in response to 1 and 3 medals. . If a bonus game is played with 1 or 2 cards, the lottery table should be configured so that the winning probability of the Cherry Bell and 7 Bell winnings is set low or the winning probability is zero. Also good. In addition, the lottery table may be configured so that the winning probability of the watermelon winning or the bell winning in the case of 1 and 2 is higher than the winning probability in the general gaming state. In addition, the number of medal payouts for watermelon winning or bell winning for 1 and 2 wins may be set to be larger than the number of medal payouts (3) in the general gaming state. However, the winning probability and the number of medals to be paid out for each winning mode are set so that the expected value of the number of medals paid out per game in the case of one and two bonuses in the bonus state is smaller than the expected value in the case of three cards. May be set. Thereby, it is possible to cause the player to play the bonus game with three pieces as much as possible. Further, the winning probability and the medal payout number corresponding to each winning mode when the game is played with one or two in the bonus state may be set to be the same as in the general gaming state. In this case, the ratio of the expected value of the number of medals paid out per game to the number of bets is less than 100% for both 1 and 2 medals, so when the game is repeated with 1 or 2 medals, the number of medals However, it decreases. Therefore, it is possible to cause the player to play a bonus game with three cards.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the game is configured to be able to be played by one and two cards in the general gaming state is described, not limited to the remaining number of medals at hand of the player. The winning mode, the winning probability, and the number of medals to be paid out in the above embodiment can be obtained by multiplying by 1 or 2 only when the number of virtual medals stored and stored by the credit function is less than 3. You may comprise so that a game may be performed. For example, in the process of S205 of the normal process (see FIG. 13), when determining whether or not the bet number is a specified number, the value of the credit counter that counts the number of virtual medals is confirmed, and the value is 3 If this is the case, by setting the specified number of bets to 3, the game can be played only by multiplying 3 cards. If the value of the credit counter is less than 3, the specified number of bets is set to 1 and By setting the number to 2, the game may be played with the winning mode, the winning probability, and the medal payout number of the above-described embodiment by multiplying 1 and 2 sheets. As a result, when there are three or more virtual medals, the game can always be played with only three medals, so that the medals are consumed quickly and the operating rate of the slot machine in the hall can be reliably increased. . On the other hand, if there are fewer than three virtual medals, use one or two medals to win a Cherry Bell prize where three medals are paid out or a 7 bell prize where two medals are paid out. Since the player can aim and play the game, the slot machine 10 can give the player the motivation to use up the medals without leaving an extra.

  In the above embodiment, not only the remaining number of medals at hand of the player, but also in the general gaming state, the winning mode, winning probability, and medal payout number of games that are played by 1 and 2 are fixed. Although the case where it comprised is described, it is not necessarily restricted to this. For example, when it is determined that there is a start command in the process of S206 of the normal process (FIG. 13), the value of the credit counter (that is, the number of virtual medals) immediately before the start command is temporarily held in the RAM 106. In the lottery table setting process (see FIG. 15), when the one-sheet lottery table (see S406) or the two-sheet lottery table (see S405) is set, or in the reel control process (see FIG. 16), the payout determination When performing the process (see S513), if the number of virtual medals immediately before the start command stored temporarily is three or more, the medal payout per game with one or two medals The winning mode, winning so that the expected value of the number is smaller than the expected value obtained by the winning mode, winning probability and medal payout number shown in FIG. The rate and medal payout number may also be set. In this case, the expected value may be reduced by setting the winning probability of the Cherry Bell winning or the 7 Bell winning when the game is played with one or two cards. As a result, when there are three or more virtual medals, it is possible to play a game with conditions that are much more advantageous when playing a game with 3 cards than when playing a game with 1 or 2 cards. The player starts playing the game with three cards, and the medals are consumed quickly. Therefore, it is possible to reliably increase the operating rate of the slot machine in the hall. On the other hand, when the number of virtual medals immediately before the start command stored temporarily is less than 3, the winning mode shown in FIG. The winning probability and the medal payout number may be set. As a result, when there are less than three virtual medals, one or two medals are used and a 7-bel prize is awarded in which 3 medals are paid out or 2 medals are paid out. Therefore, the slot machine 10 can give the player the motivation to use up the medals without surplus.

  Further, in addition to the two modified examples described above or separately from the two modified examples, when the number of virtual medals stored and stored by the credit function is two, the above-described FIG. You may comprise so that a game may not be played with the winning aspect shown in 9, the winning probability, and the medal payout number. In this case, it may be configured so that a single-ply game is not performed at all, and the expected value of the number of medals paid out per single-ply game is the winning mode shown in FIGS. The winning mode, the winning probability and the medal payout number may be set so as to be smaller than the expected value obtained by the win probability and the medal payout number. In the former case, in the process of S205 of the normal process (see FIG. 13), when it is determined whether or not the bet number is a specified number, the value of the credit counter that counts the number of virtual medals is confirmed. If the number is 2, the set number of bets may be set to 2 so that a game with 1 card cannot be played. In the latter case, when it is determined that there is a start command in the process of S206 of the normal process (FIG. 13), the value of the credit counter (that is, the number of virtual medals) immediately before the start command is temporarily stored in the RAM 106. In the lottery table setting process (see FIG. 15), when the one-sheet lottery table (see S406) is set, or in the reel control process (see FIG. 16), a payout determination process (see S513) is performed. In this case, if the number of virtual medals immediately before the start command stored temporarily is two, the expected value of the number of medals paid out per game when one is multiplied is shown in FIGS. The winning mode, the winning probability and the medal payout number are set so as to be smaller than the expected value obtained by the winning mode, the winning probability and the medal payout number shown. It may be. As a result, when only two virtual medals remain, the player can play the game with two. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether or not three medals are paid out in one game.

  In the above embodiment, even when the game is played with one or two cards when the BB winning flag is carried over, the winning mode and the winning probability of the game performed by the one and two cards are determined. Although the case where the BB winning winning flag is configured to be the same as the case where it is not carried over has been described, it is not necessarily limited thereto. For example, in the lottery table setting process (see FIG. 15), when setting the one-sheet lottery table (see S406) or the two-sheet lottery table (see S405), the winning flag storage area 106a is carried over from the previous game. If the BB winning winning flag is set, the lottery table may be set so that the probability of losing is high. As a result, if the result of the lottery is lost, since only the BB winning winning flag carried over is set in the winning flag storage area 106a, the smooth table setting executed in S310 of the lottery process (see FIG. 14) is set. In the process, a sliding table corresponding to the BB winning can be stored. Therefore, the probability that a BB winning will be established can be increased.

  In the above embodiment, the case where information regarding the bet number is included in the start command and transmitted from the main control device 101 to the display control device 81 has been described. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and a command different from the start command is used. Information regarding the number of bets may be transmitted from the main control device 101 to the display control device 81. For example, information relating to the number of bets may be transmitted by a dedicated command (hereinafter referred to as “bet number notification command”), or may be transmitted by being included in a lottery result command. When preparing a bet number notification command, in the main process executed by the MPU 181 of the display control device 81, the command received from the main control device 101 is stored in the reception command storage area 185a, and the command is notified of the bet number. If the command is a command, the bet number notification command process is executed. By the bet number notification command process, information regarding the bet number included in the bet number notification command is extracted, and the information regarding the extracted bet number is stored in the bet number storage area. You may make it store in 185b. In addition, when including information on the bet number in the lottery result command, information on the bet number is extracted from the lottery result command and stored in the lottery result command process (see FIG. 20) before the process of S901 is performed. You may make it store in the area 185b. Note that when the information related to the number of bets is transmitted from the main control device 101 to the display control device 81 by a command different from the start command or the lottery result command, the transmission timing of the command is determined after the start command is transmitted. Preferably before the transmission of. Thereby, in the display control device 81, based on the number of bets placed on the game started by operating the start lever 41 and the result of the lottery performed on the game, the auxiliary effect section (upper lamp 63, Various aspects of the effects performed by the speaker 64 and the auxiliary display unit 65) can be determined, and the player can play a game with various senses of expectation by the effects of the auxiliary effect unit.

  In the above embodiment, in the lottery result command process executed by the MPU 181 of the display control device 81, when the number of bets is one or two, the winning combination notified by the lottery result command includes a plurality of BB winning modes. In the case of the winning combination, the auxiliary production unit (upper lamp 63, speaker 64, auxiliary display unit 65) is started so that the BB prize announcement production informing that the BB winning mode is the winning combination is given priority. The case of controlling has been described (see S903 and S904 in FIG. 20), but when the winning combination notified by the lottery result command is the BB winning mode and the watermelon winning mode, the BB winning mode and the watermelon winning mode In order to start “BB winning / watermelon winning announcement production” in the auxiliary production department to announce that the two are set as winning roles. It may be. In addition, when the winning combination notified by the lottery result command is the BB winning mode and the Bell winning mode, it is notified that two of the BB winning mode and the Bell winning mode are set as the winning combination. It may be controlled to start the “BB winning / bell winning notification effect” in the auxiliary effect section. Thus, when the player performs the “BB winning / watermelon winning notification effect” or the “BB winning / bell winning notification effect” in the auxiliary directing unit, the BB winning mode and the watermelon winning mode or the bell winning mode are simultaneously performed. You can see that it is set as a winning combination. Therefore, for the game in which the announcement effect is performed, the player can be directed to operate the stop switches 42 to 44 to establish the watermelon winning mode or the bell winning mode, and the BB winning mode in the subsequent games. The game can be continued by the player with the expectation that is established.

  In the above embodiment, in the lottery result command process executed by the MPU 181 of the display control device 81, the winning combination notified by the lottery result command when the number of bets is one or two is the BB winning mode. In this case, the case where the BB winning announcement effect is announced to notify that the BB winning mode is a winning combination is described. However, as a candidate for a winning combination when the number of bets is one or two, a transition to a special gaming state is made. In the case where a plurality of types of state transition winning combinations for providing a privilege are provided, in the lottery result command processing executed by the MPU 181 of the display control device 81, a predetermined state transition winning combination is notified to the winning combination notified by the lottery result command. If it is determined that a role is included, an auxiliary effect section (notifying the announcement that the predetermined state transition winning combination is a winning role) Part lamp 63, the speaker 64 may be controlled so as to execute the auxiliary display unit 65). It should be noted that the predetermined state transition winning combination in which the notice effect is performed may be a part of the plurality of types of state transition winning combinations, or may be all winning combinations.

  Further, in the above embodiment, in the lottery result command processing executed by the MPU 181 of the display control device 81, the winning combination notified by the lottery result command when the number of bets is one or two is determined as the watermelon winning mode, In the case of the Bell winning mode, the case of performing the watermelon winning notification effect or the bell winning notification effect informing that the watermelon winning mode or the Bell winning mode is a winning combination was explained. If there is another winning combination that may be missed depending on the operation timing of the player's stop switches 42 to 44 as candidates for a winning combination at a certain time, the winning combination is executed by the MPU 181 of the display control device 81. In the lottery result command processing, the winning combination notified by the lottery result command can be missed If it is determined that the winning combination is a winning combination, it is controlled to cause the auxiliary production unit (upper lamp 63, speaker 64, auxiliary display unit 65) to execute a notification effect for notifying that the winning combination is a winning combination. May be. If there are multiple winning combinations that may be missed, the announcement effect may be executed only when some of them win the winning combination. On the other hand, when it is a winning combination, an announcement effect may be executed.

  The stop symbol of each winning form in the above embodiment is an example, and is not limited to the above stop symbol. However, it is desirable that the symbols that will not be missed be set as the symbols for stopping the Cherry Bell and 7-bell winning.

  The probability of winning each winning form in the embodiment is an example, and is not limited to the winning probability. In addition, the number of medals paid out for the watermelon winning or the bell winning in the above embodiment is an example, and is not limited to the number of medals paid out. However, it is desirable to set the probability of winning a Cherry Bell prize or a 7-bell prize higher than other prize-winning modes in one or two. In addition, the winning probability and medal payout number for each winning mode are set so that the ratio of the expected value of the medal payout number to the bet number is less than 100% and close to 100% in the case of 1 or 2 It is desirable to do.

  In the above embodiment, a slot machine having three reels arranged in parallel and having five lines as effective lines has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, a slot machine having five reels arranged in parallel Alternatively, it may be a slot machine having three effective lines. The active line may be changed according to the number of bets. For example, if the number of bets is 3, the effective line is set to 5 lines, if the number of bets is 2, the effective line is set to 3 lines, and if the number of bets is 1, the effective line is set. May be set to one line. When the effective line is set to three lines, for example, the upper line L1, the middle line L2, and the lower line L3 shown in FIG. 6 may be set, or the middle line L2, the lower right line L4, and the like may be set. The upper right line L5 may be set.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the maximum bet number is 3 has been described. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and the maximum bet number may be set to an arbitrary value of 2 or more. For example, the maximum bet number may be four. In this case, if the game is played with a bet number less than the maximum bet number, the winning probability of each winning mode should be set so that the winning mode in which the maximum bet number (or a multiple thereof) is paid out is won with a high probability. That's fine. In addition, when the maximum bet number is 4, if a game is played with one card, for example, winning of each winning mode with one card is won so that a winning mode in which two medals are paid out is won with high probability. If you set a probability and play a game with 2 cards, for example, set the winning probability of each winning mode with 2 cards so that the winning mode with 3 medal payouts won with high probability, When a game is played by multiplying, for example, the winning probability of each winning aspect in three pieces may be set so that a winning aspect in which four medals are paid out is won with high probability. In this way, when the number of bets is small, by setting a small number of medal payout numbers in the winning mode that is won with high probability, the ratio of the expected value of the medal payout number to the bet number is less than 100%. Even when the winning probability is set, the winning probability of the winning mode can be increased. It is desirable to set the winning probability and the medal payout number for each winning mode so that the ratio of the expected value of the medal payout number to the bet number is less than 100% and close to 100%.

  In the above embodiment, a so-called A type slot machine has been described. However, a B type, a C type, a combined type of A type and C type, a combined type of B type and C type, and a type equipped with a CT game, etc. The present invention may be applied to any slot machine, and in any case, it is clear that the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained. In addition, examples of bonus winning in each type include BB winning, RB winning, SB winning, CT winning and the like.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the slot machine 10 is embodied has been shown. That is, in the slot machine, instead of the medal insertion and medal payout functions, a gaming machine having a ball insertion and ball payout function such as a pachinko machine may be used. If such a gaming machine is used in place of a slot machine, only a ball can be handled as a gaming value in the gaming hall. Problems such as the burden on equipment due to the separate handling of medals and balls and restrictions on the location of the gaming machine can be solved.

  Hereinafter, in addition to the slot machine and the gaming machine of the present invention, concepts of various inventions included in the above-described embodiments are shown.

  A main control means for performing main control of the game, a sub-control means that operates based on a command transmitted from the main control means, and an image display means for displaying an image based on control by the sub-control means. In the slot machine, the sub-control unit is capable of performing a reading operation faster than the first storage unit storing image information for displaying an image on the image display unit and the first storage unit. A second storage means having a first storage area for storing the image information stored in the first storage means, and display on the image display means based on at least the image information stored in the second storage means; An image control means for controlling the image to be transferred, and a first transfer process for transferring image information stored in the first storage means to the first storage area of the second storage means at the time of start-up by power-on First transfer processing execution means to be executed, and the first storage area of the second storage means holds image information transferred by the first transfer processing execution means at least until a predetermined trigger is reached. A slot machine 1 characterized in that

  Note that the image information transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means by the first transfer processing execution means may be all image information stored in the first storage means, or a part of the images. It may be information.

  According to the slot machine 1, the sub-control means stores image information for displaying an image on the image display means in the first storage means, and the image information stored in the first storage means is turned on. Is transferred by the first transfer processing execution means to the first storage area of the second storage means capable of reading operation faster than the first storage means. The first storage area of the second storage means holds the image information transferred by the first transfer processing execution means at least until a predetermined trigger is reached. The first storage area of the second storage means Based on the image information held in the image, the image control means controls the image displayed on the image display means. As a result, even if a memory having a slow reading speed of the first storage means is used, the image control means causes the image display means to display using the image information held in the second storage means capable of high speed reading operation. Since the image is controlled, the image can be displayed at a desired time without any problem.

  A main control means for performing main control of the game, a sub-control means that operates based on a command transmitted from the main control means, and an image display means for displaying an image based on control by the sub-control means. The sub-control unit is capable of performing a reading operation at a higher speed than the first storage unit storing image information for displaying an image on the image display unit and the first storage unit. A second storage means having a first storage area for storing the image information stored in the first storage means, and display on the image display means based on at least the image information stored in the second storage means; An image control means for controlling an image to be executed, and a first transfer process for transferring image information stored in the first storage means to the first storage area of the second storage means when the power is turned on You First transfer processing execution means, and the first storage area of the second storage means holds the image information transferred by the first transfer processing execution means at least until a predetermined trigger is reached. A gaming machine A1 characterized by that.

  Note that the image information transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means by the first transfer processing execution means may be all image information stored in the first storage means, or a part of the images. It may be information.

  According to the gaming machine A1, in the sub-control means, image information for displaying an image on the image display means is stored in the first storage means, and the image information stored in the first storage means is turned on. Is transferred by the first transfer processing execution means to the first storage area of the second storage means capable of reading operation faster than the first storage means. The first storage area of the second storage means holds the image information transferred by the first transfer processing execution means at least until a predetermined trigger is reached. The first storage area of the second storage means Based on the image information held in the image, the image control means controls the image displayed on the image display means. As a result, even if a memory having a slow reading speed of the first storage means is used, the image control means causes the image display means to display using the image information held in the second storage means capable of high speed reading operation. Since the image is controlled, the image can be displayed at a desired time without any problem.

  In the gaming machine A1, the sub control means can perform a reading operation at a higher speed than the first storage means, and has a second storage area for storing the image information stored in the first storage means. The image control means controls the image to be displayed on the image display means based on at least the image information stored in the second storage means and the third storage means, and the first transfer process includes: A part of the image information stored in the first storage means is transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means when the power is turned on, and the sub control means When image information that has not been transferred to the first storage area of the second storage unit is used for image control by the image control unit, the third storage unit stores the third storage unit before the image information is used. Before the means Gaming machine A2, characterized in that it comprises a second transfer process executing means for executing a second transfer process of transferring the image information to the second storage area.

  According to the gaming machine A2, a part of the image information stored in the first storage means is transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means when the power is turned on. The image information transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means is held at least until the predetermined trigger is reached. On the other hand, when image information that has not been transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means is used for image control by the image control means, the image information is processed by the second transfer processing execution means before the image information is used. And transferred from the first storage means to the second storage area of the third storage means. As a result, the image control means is transferred to the image information held in the second storage means and the third storage means capable of high-speed reading operation even when the memory having a low reading speed of the first storage means is used. Since the image displayed on the image display means is controlled using the image information, the image can be displayed without any problem at the time when the image is desired to be displayed. In addition, since part of the image information stored in the first storage unit is stored in the first storage area of the second storage unit, an increase in the storage capacity of the second storage unit is suppressed. can do.

  In the gaming machine A1 or A2, the sub control means includes first determination means for determining whether or not the image information stored in the second storage means is being read out by the image control means, The first transfer process is stored in the first storage means when it is determined by the first determination means that the image information stored in the second storage means is not read out by the image control means. The gaming machine B1 is characterized in that the transferred image information is transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means.

  According to the gaming machine B1, the first transfer process is executed when the first determination unit determines that the image information stored in the second storage unit is not read by the image control unit. Since the image information stored in the first storage means is transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means by the transfer processing execution means, the image control means transfers the image information to the second storage means by the first transfer processing. The image displayed on the image display means can be controlled while reading the image information stored in the second storage means in a state where the influence of the transfer of the image data is suppressed. Thereby, the first transfer processing execution means transfers the image information stored in the first storage means to the first area of the second storage means, and uses the image information already stored in the second storage means, A desired image can be displayed on the image display means without any problem at a desired time.

  In the gaming machine A2, the sub-control means includes second determination means for determining whether or not the image information stored in the third storage means is being read out by the image control means. The transfer process is stored in the first storage unit when it is determined by the second determination unit that the image information stored in the third storage unit is not read by the image control unit. A gaming machine B2 that transfers image information to the second storage area of the third storage means.

  According to the gaming machine B2, the second transfer process is executed when the second determination unit determines that the image information stored in the third storage unit is not read by the image control unit. Since the image information stored in the first storage means is transferred to the second storage area of the third storage means by the transfer processing execution means, the image control means transfers the image information to the third storage means by the second transfer processing. The image displayed on the image display means can be controlled while reading the image information stored in the third storage means in a state where the influence of the transfer of the image data is suppressed. Thereby, the second transfer processing execution means transfers the image information stored in the first storage means to the second area of the third storage means, while using the image information already stored in the third storage means, A desired image can be displayed on the image display means without any problem at a desired time.

  In the gaming machine B2, the sub-control means includes first determination means for determining whether or not the image information stored in the second storage means is being read out by the image control means. The transfer process is stored in the first storage unit when it is determined by the first determination unit that the image information stored in the second storage unit is not read by the image control unit. A gaming machine B3, wherein image information is transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means.

  According to the gaming machine B3, the first transfer process is executed when the first determination unit determines that the image control unit does not read the image information stored in the second storage unit. Since the image information stored in the first storage means is transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means by the transfer processing execution means, the image control means transfers the image information to the second storage means by the first transfer processing. The image displayed on the image display means can be controlled while reading the image information stored in the second storage means in a state where the influence of the transfer of the image data is suppressed. Thereby, the first transfer processing execution means transfers the image information stored in the first storage means to the first area of the second storage means, and uses the image information already stored in the second storage means, A desired image can be displayed on the image display means without any problem at a desired time.

  In the gaming machine B1 or B3, the first determination unit is in a state where the control of the image by the image control unit is scanning a region where there is no image to be displayed in the image scanning region of the image display unit. In addition, it is determined that the image information stored in the second storage means is not read out by the image control means.

  According to the gaming machine B4, when the control of the image by the image control means is in a state of scanning an area where there is no image to be displayed among the image scanning areas of the image display means, (2) Since it is determined that the image information stored in the storage unit is not read by the image control unit, the determination can be easily performed from the control state of the image control unit.

  In the gaming machine B2, the second determination unit is in a state where the image control by the image control unit is scanning a region where there is no image to be displayed among the image scanning regions of the image display unit. A gaming machine B5, wherein it is determined that the image information stored in the third storage means is not read by the image control means.

  According to the gaming machine B5, when the control of the image by the image control means is in a state of scanning an area where there is no image to be displayed in the image scanning area of the image display means, 3 Since it is determined that the reading operation by the image control unit of the image information stored in the storage unit is not performed, the determination can be easily performed from the control state of the image control unit.

  In any one of the gaming machines A1, A2, B1 to B5, the sub-control device includes a fourth storage unit that can perform a read operation at a higher speed than the first storage unit, and the first transfer process includes the first transfer process, When transferring the image information stored in one storage means to the first storage area of the second storage means, the image information stored in the first storage means is once transferred to the fourth storage means, and then The gaming machine C1, wherein the image information transferred to the fourth storage means is transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means.

  According to the gaming machine C1, when the image information stored in the first storage unit is transferred to the first storage area of the second storage unit by the first transfer process, the image information stored in the first storage unit is temporarily stored. The image information transferred to the fourth storage means and then transferred to the fourth storage means is transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means. Here, since the fourth storage means is configured to be able to perform a reading operation at a higher speed than the first storage means, when image information is transferred from the fourth storage means to the second storage means, it is directly from the first storage means. Compared with the case where image information is transferred to the second storage means, the transfer can be completed in a short time. That is, since the time during which the second storage means is actually receiving the image information can be shortened, the image control means suppresses the influence of the transfer of the image information to the second storage means by the first transfer process. In this state, the image displayed on the image display unit can be controlled while reading out the image information stored in the second storage unit. Therefore, the image information stored in the first storage means is transferred to the first area of the second storage means by the first transfer processing execution means, and the image information already stored in the second storage means is used to generate an image. A desired image can be displayed on the display means at a desired time without any problem.

  In any one of the gaming machines A2, B2, B3, and B5, the sub-control device includes a fifth storage unit that can perform a read operation at a higher speed than the first storage unit, and the second transfer process includes the second transfer process, When transferring the image information stored in one storage means to the second storage area of the third storage means, the image information stored in the first storage means is once transferred to the fifth storage means, and then A gaming machine C2, wherein the image information transferred to the fifth storage means is transferred to the second storage area of the third storage means.

  According to the gaming machine C2, when the image information stored in the first storage unit is transferred to the second storage area of the third storage unit by the second transfer process, the image information stored in the first storage unit is temporarily stored. The image information transferred to the fifth storage means and then transferred to the fifth storage means is transferred to the second storage area of the third storage means. Here, since the fifth storage means is configured to be able to perform a reading operation at a higher speed than the first storage means, when image information is transferred from the fifth storage means to the third storage means, it is directly from the first storage means. Compared with the case where image information is transferred to the third storage means, the transfer can be completed in a short time. In other words, since the time during which the third storage unit is receiving the image information can be shortened, the image control unit can suppress the influence of the transfer of the image information to the third storage unit by the second transfer process. In this state, it is possible to control the image to be displayed on the image display unit while reading out the image information stored in the third storage unit. Therefore, the second transfer processing execution means transfers the image information stored in the first storage means to the second area of the third storage means, while using the image information already stored in the third storage means, A desired image can be displayed on the display means at a desired time without any problem.

  In the gaming machine C2, the sub control device includes a fourth storage unit capable of performing a reading operation at a higher speed than the first storage unit, and the first transfer process is performed by image information stored in the first storage unit. Is transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means, the image information stored in the first storage means is once transferred to the fourth storage means, and then transferred to the fourth storage means. A gaming machine C3, wherein the image information is transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means.

  According to the gaming machine C3, when image information stored in the first storage means is transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means by the first transfer process, the image information stored in the first storage means is temporarily stored. The image information transferred to the fourth storage means and then transferred to the fourth storage means is transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means. Here, since the fourth storage means is configured to be able to perform a reading operation at a higher speed than the first storage means, when image information is transferred from the fourth storage means to the second storage means, it is directly from the first storage means. Compared with the case where image information is transferred to the second storage means, the transfer can be completed in a short time. In other words, since the time during which the second storage means is receiving the image information can be shortened, the image control means can suppress the influence of the transfer of the image information to the second storage means by the first transfer process. In this state, it is possible to control the image displayed on the image display unit while reading out the image information stored in the second storage unit. Therefore, the image information stored in the first storage means is transferred to the first area of the second storage means by the first transfer processing execution means, and the image information already stored in the second storage means is used. A desired image can be displayed on the image display means without any problem at a desired time.

  In C3, the fourth storage means and the fifth storage means are configured by the same memory.

  According to the gaming machine C4, since the fourth storage means and the fifth storage means are constituted by the same memory, an increase in the capacity of the memory used for the sub-control means can be suppressed.

  In any one of the gaming machines C1, C3, and C4, the sub-control unit scans an area where there is no image to be displayed in the image scanning area of the image display unit when the image control unit controls the image. Third determining means for determining whether or not the image is in a state, and the first transfer process scans an area in the image scanning area of the image display means where there is no image to be displayed by the third determining means. The image information once transferred from the first storage means to the fourth storage means when transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means, The fourth storage means is configured with a storage capacity capable of completing the transfer of image information to the second storage means while scanning an area where no image to be displayed exists in the image scanning area of the image display means. Have Gaming machine C5, characterized in that the at it.

  According to the gaming machine C5, the third determination means determines whether or not the image control by the image control means is in a state of scanning an area in which no image to be displayed exists in the image scanning area of the image display means. When the third determination unit determines that the region where the image to be displayed does not exist is scanned in the image scanning region of the image display unit, the first transfer is executed. The image information once transferred from the first storage means to the fourth storage means is transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means by the processing execution means. Here, the fourth storage means is configured with a storage capacity capable of completing the transfer of the image information to the second storage means while scanning the area where the image to be displayed does not exist in the image scanning area of the image display means. Therefore, the transfer of image information from the fourth storage means to the first storage area of the second storage means performed by the first transfer processing execution means includes an image to be displayed in the image scanning area of the image display means. This can be done while scanning the non-scanning area. Therefore, while scanning the area where the image to be displayed exists in the image scanning area of the image display means, the image control means is in a state where the influence of the transfer of the image information to the second storage means by the first transfer process is suppressed. Thus, the image information stored in the second storage means can be read to control the image.

  In any of the gaming machines C2 to C4, the sub-control means is in a state where the image control by the image control means is scanning an area where there is no image to be displayed among the image scanning areas of the image display means. A third determination unit configured to determine whether or not the second transfer process is performed, and the third determination unit scans an area in the image scanning area of the image display unit where an image to be displayed does not exist. The image information once transferred from the first storage means to the fifth storage means is transferred to the second storage area of the third storage means when determined to be in the state; The storage means is configured with a storage capacity capable of completing transfer of image information to the third storage means while scanning an area where no image to be displayed exists among the image scanning areas of the image display means. Gaming machine C6, characterized in that.

  According to the gaming machine C6, it is determined by the third determining means whether the image control by the image control means is in the state of scanning the area where the image to be displayed does not exist among the image scanning areas of the image display means. And when the third determination unit determines that the region where the image to be displayed does not exist is scanned in the image scanning region of the image display unit, the second transfer is executed. The image information once transferred from the first storage means to the fifth storage means is transferred to the second storage area of the third storage means by the processing execution means. Here, the fifth storage means is configured with a storage capacity capable of completing the transfer of the image information to the third storage means while scanning the area where the image to be displayed does not exist among the image scanning areas of the image display means. Therefore, the transfer of image information from the fifth storage means to the second storage area of the third storage means performed by the second transfer processing execution means includes an image to be displayed in the image scanning area of the image display means. This can be done while scanning the non-scanning area. Therefore, while scanning the area where the image to be displayed exists in the image scanning area of the image display means, the image control means is in a state where the influence of the transfer of the image information to the third storage means by the second transfer process is suppressed. Thus, the image information stored in the third storage means can be read to control the image.

  In any one of the gaming machines A2, B2, B3, B5, C2 to C5, the sub-control unit displays one of the plurality of types of background images on the image display unit while moving one background image in a predetermined direction. And a background image display means for changing the background image displayed on the image display means by the background image display means based on a second predetermined opportunity, and the changed background image is displayed from the predetermined position to the image display means. Image information transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means by the first transfer process in a predetermined direction with respect to each of the plurality of background images. Of the range of images displayed on the image display means while being moved, included in at least a predetermined range from the predetermined position displayed as a background image after being changed by the background image changing means Gaming machine D1 which comprises an image information need images to be displayed on the image display means.

  According to the gaming machine D1, the background image display means displays one of the plurality of types of background images on the image display means while being moved in a predetermined direction. Then, based on the second predetermined opportunity, the background image displayed on the image display unit by the background image display unit is changed by the background image change unit, and the background image after the change is displayed on the image display unit from a predetermined position. The Here, the image information transferred to the first storage area of the second storage unit by the first transfer process includes an image displayed on the image display unit while moving in a predetermined direction with respect to each of the plurality of background images. The image information necessary for causing the image display unit to display at least an image included in the predetermined range from the predetermined position displayed as the background image after being changed by the background image changing unit is included. Thereby, the image control means transfers to the first storage area of the second storage means when the background image displayed on the image display means is changed by the background image display unit based on the second predetermined trigger. Using the image information thus made, it is possible to immediately perform control for displaying the changed background image on the image display means while moving the background image from a predetermined position to a predetermined range in a predetermined direction. Therefore, even if the first storage means having a low reading speed is used, the changed background image can be displayed while being moved in response to the second predetermined trigger immediately.

  The “predetermined range” is used to display the remaining moving range while displaying the predetermined range when the background image is displayed while being moved in the predetermined direction by the background image display means. The image information necessary for the transfer may be in a range in which the image information necessary for the transfer can be transferred from the first storage unit to the second area of the third storage unit.

  In the gaming machine D1, the plurality of types of background images have an initial position fixedly set for each background image, and the background image changing unit is configured to display the image display unit by the background image display unit. When the background image displayed on the screen is changed, the background image after the change is displayed on the image display means from the initial position set in the background image after the change as the predetermined position. A gaming machine D2.

  According to the gaming machine D2, the initial position is fixedly set for each background image, and when the background image displayed on the image display means is changed by the background image changing means, the background image after the change is changed. The changed background image is displayed on the image display means from the initial position set in FIG. That is, since the display is always started from the fixed initial position, the image information necessary for causing the image display means to display an image included in at least a predetermined range from the initial position is obtained by the first transfer process. If it is included in the image information transferred to the first storage area of the storage means, it is possible to immediately display the changed background image from its initial position. As described above, in order to display an image included in at least a predetermined range from the initial position on the image display unit as the image information necessary for displaying the background image transferred to the first storage area of the second storage unit. Since it can be limited to necessary image information, the storage capacity of the first storage area of the second storage means can be kept small. Further, the transfer time from the first storage means to the first storage area of the second storage means can be shortened.

  In the gaming machine D1 or D2, the second transfer process is performed by the background image changing unit using the image information resident in the first storage unit of the second storage unit to the image control unit. While performing the control to display the changed background image while moving from the predetermined position to the predetermined range in a predetermined direction, the background images not included in the predetermined range among the changed background images The game machine D3 is characterized in that image information necessary for displaying is transferred to the second storage area of the third storage means.

  According to the gaming machine D3, the background image is changed from the predetermined position to the predetermined range by using the image information resident in the first storage means of the second storage means to the image control means by the background image changing means. The background image that is not included in the predetermined range among the background images after the change by the second transfer processing execution unit that executes the second transfer processing while performing display control while moving the image in the predetermined direction. Is transferred to the second storage area of the third storage means. Thus, image information for displaying the remaining range is displayed in the second storage area of the third storage unit while the background image is moved and displayed from the predetermined position to the predetermined range on the image display unit. Since it is stored, the background image of the remaining range following the predetermined range can be displayed on the image display means without delay.

  In any one of the gaming machines D1 to D3, the background image display means sets a predetermined background image among the plurality of background images as an initial background image that is first displayed after power-on. The image information resident in the first storage area of the second storage means by one transfer process is all displayed while being moved in the predetermined direction with respect to the predetermined background image set as the initial background image. A game machine D4 including image information necessary for displaying an image in a range of 5 on the image display means.

  According to the gaming machine D4, the image information resident in the first storage area of the second storage means by the first transfer process is set as the initial background image that is displayed first after the power is turned on by the background image display means. The image information necessary for causing the image display means to display the entire range of images displayed while moving in a predetermined direction with respect to the predetermined background image is included. Therefore, when the background image display unit changes the initial background image as the background image displayed on the image display unit based on the operation of the operation unit by the player, all the ranges displayed by the movement in the predetermined direction Can be displayed on the image display means using the image information resident in the first storage area of the second storage means. In this case, the second transfer process for displaying the initial background image is executed. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the processing load.

  In the gaming machines D1 to D4, the sub-control means includes operation means operated by a player, and the background image changing means is operated by the player as one of the second predetermined opportunities. The background image displayed on the image display unit is changed by the background image display unit based on the operation, and the changed background image is displayed on the image display unit from a predetermined position. A gaming machine D5.

  According to the gaming machine D5, based on the operation means being operated by the player, the background image displayed on the image display means is changed by the background image display means by the background image changing means, and the background image after the change is changed. It is displayed on the image display means from a predetermined position. As a result, the image control means is configured such that when the background image displayed on the image display means is changed by the background image display unit based on the operation of the operation means by the player, the first storage means Using the image information transferred to the storage area, it is possible to immediately perform control to display the changed background image on the image display means while moving the background image from a predetermined position to a predetermined range in a predetermined direction. Therefore, even if the first storage means having a slow reading speed is used, the background image after the change can be displayed on the image display device while moving in response to the player's operation.

  In the gaming machines A1, A2, B1 to B5, C1 to C6, D1 to D5, the image information held in the first storage area of the second storage means is an image frequently displayed by the image display means. A gaming machine E1 that is image information for display.

  According to the gaming machine E1, image information for displaying an image that is frequently displayed by the image display means is held in the first storage area of the second storage means, so that the image display means displays the image. Since it is not necessary to read out the image information from the first storage means each time, the frequently displayed image can be reliably displayed at a desired time.

  In any one of the gaming machines A1, A2, B1 to B5, C1 to C6, D1 to D5, and E1, image information to be held in the first storage area of the second storage means is transmitted from the main control means. The gaming machine E2 is image information for displaying an image to be displayed on the image display means immediately under the control of the sub control means based on a command or a signal input to the sub control means. .

  The signal input to the sub-control means may be input signals from various sensors such as a vibration sensor provided in the gaming machine and a gaming medium detection sensor that detects gaming media loaded in the gaming machine. It may be an input signal from a button operated by the player. The image to be displayed immediately on the image display unit may be, for example, an image for notifying an error or a background image displayed on the image display unit.

  According to the gaming machine E2, on the basis of a command transmitted from the main control means or a signal input to the sub control means, an image for displaying an image to be displayed immediately on the image display means under the control of the sub control means. Since the information is resident in the first storage area of the second storage means, after the command transmitted from the main control means or the signal input to the sub control means is input, the image to be displayed immediately is displayed. The image control means can control the image by using the image information resident in the second storage means without reading out the image information for the purpose from the first storage means. Therefore, it is possible to reliably display an image to be displayed immediately at a desired time.

  Any one of the gaming machines A1, A2, B1 to B5, C1 to C6, D1 to D5, E1, and E2, the first storage means is constituted by a NAND flash memory.

  According to the gaming machine E3, the first storage means is constituted by a NAND flash memory. Here, the NAND flash memory is characterized in that a large storage capacity can be obtained with a small area and is inexpensive, so that the capacity of the first flash memory can be increased while suppressing an increase in cost. Can do. Therefore, since a large amount of image information for displaying an image on the image display means can be stored in the first storage means, the image displayed on the image display means can be diversified and complicated, and the player's interest Can be improved. On the other hand, the NAND flash memory is characterized by a slower reading speed than other memories, but any one of the gaming machines A1, A2, B1 to B5, C1 to C6, D1 to D5, E1, E2 The image control means controls the image to be displayed on the image display means by using the image information resident in the second storage means capable of reading operation at high speed, so that the first storage means Even with the NAND flash memory, a predetermined image can be displayed at a desired time without any problem. Therefore, it is possible to display a predetermined image without any problem at a desired time while diversifying and complicating the image to be displayed on the image display means.

  A gaming machine E4, wherein the gaming machine is a slot machine in any one of the gaming machines A1, A2, B1 to B5, C1 to C6, D1 to D5, and E1 to E3. Above all, the basic configuration of the slot machine is “equipped with variable display means for confirming and displaying the identification information after dynamically displaying an identification information string composed of a plurality of identification information, and for operating the starting operation means (for example, an operation lever). As a result, the dynamic display of the identification information is started, and the dynamic display of the identification information is stopped due to the operation of the stop operation means (stop button) or after a predetermined time has elapsed. The game machine is provided with special game state generating means for generating a special game state advantageous to the player on the condition that the confirmed identification information is specific identification information. In this case, examples of the game media include coins and medals.

  One of the gaming machines A1, A2, B1 to B5, C1 to C6, D1 to D5, and E1 to E3, the gaming machine is a pachinko gaming machine. Above all, the basic configuration of a pachinko gaming machine is provided with an operation handle, and a ball is launched into a predetermined game area according to the operation of the operation handle, and the ball is placed in an operation port disposed at a predetermined position in the game area. As a necessary condition for winning a prize (or passing through the operating port), the identification information dynamically displayed on the display device is confirmed and stopped after a predetermined time. In addition, when a special gaming state occurs, a variable winning device (specific winning opening) disposed at a predetermined position in the gaming area is opened in a predetermined manner so that a ball can be won, and a value corresponding to the number of winnings is obtained. Examples include those to which values (including data written on magnetic cards as well as premium balls) are given.

Gaming machines A1, A2, B1 to B5, C1 to C6, D1 to D3, E1 to E3, wherein the gaming machine is a combination of a pachinko gaming machine and a slot machine Machine E6. Among them, the basic configuration of the merged gaming machine includes “a variable display means for confirming and displaying the identification information after dynamically displaying an identification information string composed of a plurality of identification information, and a starting operation means (for example, an operation lever). Due to the operation of the identification information, the change of the identification information is started, and the dynamic display of the identification information is stopped due to the operation of the stop operation means (for example, the stop button) or after a predetermined time has passed Special game state generating means for generating a special game state advantageous to the player on the condition that the fixed identification information at the time of stoppage is specific identification information, and using a ball as a game medium, and the identification information The game machine is configured such that a predetermined number of balls are required at the start of the dynamic display, and a large number of balls are paid out when the special gaming state occurs.
<Others>
Conventionally, in gaming machines such as slot machines, various effect images are displayed on a display device such as a liquid crystal display device to improve the interest of the game. In such a gaming machine, generally, image information of an image to be displayed on a display device is stored in advance in a storage unit, and when displaying an image, the corresponding image information is read from the storage unit, and image processing is performed. In addition, the image is displayed on the display device (Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-223598).
In recent gaming machines, images displayed on a display device have been diversified and complicated in order to further enhance the interest of the player. As storage means for storing such image information of an image, there is a demand to use an inexpensive device that can provide a large storage capacity with a small area.
However, some inexpensive storage means that can provide a large storage capacity with a small area have a low speed for reading information (reading speed). When such a storage means is used, an image to be displayed is specified. Then, if the corresponding image information is read from the storage means, there is a problem that the generation of the image to be displayed by the desired time is not in time and the image cannot be displayed at that time.
This technical idea has been made to solve the above-described problems and the like, and even if a storage means with a slow reading speed is used as a storage means for image information, an image can be displayed without any problem at the time when it is desired to be displayed. It is an object to provide a gaming machine that can be made to play.
<Means>
To achieve this object, the slot machine of the technical idea 1 includes a main control means for performing main control of a game, a sub-control means that operates based on a command transmitted from the main control means, and a sub-control thereof. Image display means for displaying an image based on control by the means, wherein the sub-control means is a first storage means for storing image information for causing the image display means to display an image; A second storage means having a first storage area capable of reading out image information stored in the first storage means and capable of reading operation faster than the first storage means; and at least in the second storage means Based on the stored image information, the image control means for controlling the image to be displayed on the image display means, and the image information stored in the first storage means at the time of start-up upon power-on, are stored in the second memory. First transfer processing execution means for executing a first transfer process for transferring to the first storage area of the means, and the first storage area of the second storage means is at least until a predetermined trigger is released, The image information transferred by the first transfer processing execution means is held.
Note that the image information transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means by the first transfer processing execution means may be all image information stored in the first storage means, or a part of the images. It may be information.
The gaming machine of the technical idea 2 includes a main control unit that performs main control of a game, a sub-control unit that operates based on a command transmitted from the main control unit, and an image based on control by the sub-control unit. The sub-control unit includes a first storage unit that stores image information for causing the image display unit to display an image, and the first storage unit. The second storage means having a first storage area for storing the image information stored in the first storage means and at least the image information stored in the second storage means. The image control means for controlling the image displayed on the image display means, and the image information stored in the first storage means at the time of start-up upon power-on to the first storage area of the second storage means Forward First transfer processing execution means for executing the first transfer processing, and the first storage area of the second storage means is transferred by the first transfer processing execution means at least until a predetermined trigger is reached. Stored image information.
Note that the image information transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means by the first transfer processing execution means may be all image information stored in the first storage means, or a part of the images. It may be information.
The gaming machine of technical idea 3 is the gaming machine of technical idea 2, wherein the sub-control means is capable of reading operation faster than the first storage means, and is stored in the first storage means. Third storage means having a second storage area for storing image information is provided, and the image control means displays on the image display means based on at least the second storage means and the image information stored in the third storage means. In the first transfer process, a part of the image information stored in the first storage means is stored in the first storage of the second storage means at the time of startup by turning on the power. When the image information not transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means is used for image control by the image control means, the sub-control means uses the image information. Before And a second transfer process executing means for executing a second transfer process of transferring the image information to the second storage area of said third storage means from the first storing means.
In the gaming machine according to technical idea 4, in the gaming machine according to technical idea 2 or 3, the image information held in the first storage area of the second storage unit is frequently displayed by the image display unit. Image information for displaying an image to be displayed.
The gaming machine according to the technical idea 5 is the gaming machine according to any one of the technical ideas 2 to 4, wherein image information to be held in the first storage area of the second storage means is transmitted from the main control means. Image information for displaying an image to be immediately displayed on the image display unit under the control of the sub control unit based on a command or a signal input to the sub control unit.
The signal input to the sub-control means may be input signals from various sensors such as a vibration sensor provided in the gaming machine and a gaming medium detection sensor that detects gaming media loaded in the gaming machine. It may be an input signal from a button operated by the player. The image to be displayed immediately on the image display unit may be, for example, an image for notifying an error or a background image displayed on the image display unit.
<Effect>
According to the slot machine described in the technical idea 1, in the sub-control means, image information for displaying an image on the image display means is stored in the first storage means, and the image stored in the first storage means The information is transferred by the first transfer processing execution means to the first storage area of the second storage means capable of reading operation faster than the first storage means when the power is turned on. The first storage area of the second storage means holds the image information transferred by the first transfer processing execution means at least until a predetermined trigger is reached. The first storage area of the second storage means Based on the image information held in the image, the image control means controls the image displayed on the image display means. As a result, even if a memory having a slow reading speed of the first storage means is used, the image control means causes the image display means to display using the image information held in the second storage means capable of high speed reading operation. Since the image is controlled, the image can be displayed at a desired time without any problem.
According to the gaming machine described in the technical idea 2, in the sub-control means, image information for displaying an image on the image display means is stored in the first storage means, and the image stored in the first storage means The information is transferred by the first transfer processing execution means to the first storage area of the second storage means capable of reading operation faster than the first storage means when the power is turned on. The first storage area of the second storage means holds the image information transferred by the first transfer processing execution means at least until a predetermined trigger is reached. The first storage area of the second storage means Based on the image information held in the image, the image control means controls the image displayed on the image display means. As a result, even if a memory having a slow reading speed of the first storage means is used, the image control means causes the image display means to display using the image information held in the second storage means capable of high speed reading operation. Since the image is controlled, the image can be displayed at a desired time without any problem.
According to the gaming machine described in the technical idea 3, in addition to the effects achieved by the gaming machine described in the technical idea 2, some of the image information stored in the first storage means is not activated when the power is turned on. The image information transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means is transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means by the first transfer processing execution means and at least until a predetermined trigger is released. Retained. On the other hand, when image information that has not been transferred to the first storage area of the second storage means is used for image control by the image control means, the image information is processed by the second transfer processing execution means before the image information is used. And transferred from the first storage means to the second storage area of the third storage means. As a result, the image control means is transferred to the image information held in the second storage means and the third storage means capable of high-speed reading operation even when the memory having a low reading speed of the first storage means is used. Since the image to be displayed on the image display means is controlled using the image information, there is an effect that the image can be displayed without any problem at a desired time. In addition, since part of the image information stored in the first storage unit is stored in the first storage area of the second storage unit, an increase in the storage capacity of the second storage unit is suppressed. There is an effect that can be done.
According to the gaming machine described in the technical idea 4, in addition to the effect produced by the gaming machine described in the technical idea 2 or 3, image information for displaying an image frequently displayed by the image display unit is the second information. Since it is held in the first storage area of the storage means, it is not necessary to read out the image information from the first storage means each time the image is displayed on the image display means. There is an effect that it can be displayed at a desired time.
According to the gaming machine described in the technical idea 5, in addition to the effect produced by the gaming machine described in any of the technical ideas 2 to 4, a command transmitted from the main control means or a signal input to the sub-control means Based on this, image information for displaying an image to be displayed immediately on the image display means under the control of the sub-control means is resident in the first storage area of the second storage means, and is transmitted from the main control means. Image information resident in the second storage means without reading from the first storage means image information for displaying an image to be displayed immediately after a command or a signal input to the sub-control means is input. Can be used to control the image by the image control means. Therefore, there is an effect that an image to be displayed immediately can be surely displayed at a desired time.

10 Slot machines (gaming machines)
65 Auxiliary display (image display means)
81 Display control device (sub control means)
101 Main controller (main control means)
187a NAND flash memory (first storage means)
188 Image controller (image control means)
188a Buffer RAM (fourth storage means, fifth storage means)
189 Resident video RAM (second storage means)
190 Normal video RAM (third storage means)
S702 to S710 (first transfer processing execution means)
S708 (first determination means)

Claims (1)

Main control means for performing main control of the game, sub-control means operating based on a command transmitted from the main control means, and image display means for displaying an image based on control by the sub-control means, In the equipped gaming machine,
The sub-control means is
First storage means storing image information for displaying an image on the image display means;
A second storage means capable of reading operation faster than the first storage means, and storing image information stored in the first storage means;
A third storage means capable of performing a reading operation at a higher speed than the first storage means, and storing image information stored in the first storage means;
Image control means for controlling an image to be displayed on the image display means based on at least the image information stored in the second storage means and the third storage means;
First transfer processing execution means for executing a first transfer process for transferring a part of the image information stored in the first storage means to the second storage means;
When image information not held in the second storage means is used for image control by the image control means, the image information is transferred from the first storage means to the third storage means before the image information is used. Second transfer process execution means for executing a second transfer process for transferring,
The second storage means holds the image information transferred by the first transfer processing execution means at least until a predetermined trigger is reached,
The image information stored in the third storage means is updated by being overwritten with the image information transferred by the second transfer processing execution means,
The first transfer process includes transferring at least part of image information necessary for display of a rear image to be displayed on the image display unit, from the first storage unit to the second storage unit,
The sub-control means is
A fourth storage means capable of performing a read operation at a higher speed than the first storage means;
In the second transfer process, when the image information stored in the first storage unit is transferred to the third storage unit, the image information stored in the first storage unit is temporarily transferred to the fourth storage unit. And then transferring the image information transferred to the fourth storage means to the third storage means.

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