JP2017185151A - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase interest of a player by making a motion of a movable accessory significantly different according to a scene.SOLUTION: A game machine comprises: a performance control unit for controlling a performance according to a game; a handle accessory and a lamp accessory which are movable members operating in a predetermined performance; and a lamp control unit for controlling the operations of the movable members according to an executed performance and moving the movable members to predetermined initial positions at predetermined timing. The lamp control unit performs the operation control of the movable members with different positions as initial positions in a first state in which a first performance is performed by control of the performance control unit and a second state in which a second performance different from the first performance is performed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 39

Description

  The present invention relates to a gaming machine.

  In a gaming machine such as a pachinko gaming machine, effects using various effect members are performed along with the game. The movable accessory that is one of the production members operates in accordance with the production scene, and realizes a flashy production with movement. In general, the movable accessory is controlled so as to return to a reference initial state in accordance with a predetermined condition based on a specific timing in the production, a gaming state, or the like (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Further, when an abnormality occurs in the operation of the movable accessory, the movable accessory is returned to the initial state as an operation for restoration (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

JP-A-2015-89448 JP 2008-12194 A

  In the production using the movable accessory, different operations may be performed depending on the scene of the production and the game state. In such a case, as the initial state of the movable accessory, the different states of the movable accessory can be individually set according to the scene of the production and the game state, so that the operation of the movable accessory can be greatly varied. .

  An object of the present invention is to enhance the interest of a player by making the movement of a movable accessory greatly different depending on the scene.

The present invention that achieves the above object is realized as the following gaming machine. This gaming machine (for example, pachinko gaming machine 100)
Production control means (for example, production control unit 300) for controlling production according to the game;
A movable member (for example, a movable accessory 115, a handle accessory 410, a lamp accessory 420) that operates in a predetermined production;
Operation control means (lamp control unit 320) for controlling the operation of the movable member according to the effect to be executed, and operating the movable member to a preset initial position at a predetermined timing;
The operation control means has different positions in a first state in which the first effect is performed by the control of the effect control means and a second state in which a second effect different from the first effect is performed. Performing an operation control of the movable member as an initial position;
A gaming machine characterized by
By setting it as such a structure, according to the scene of the effect to be performed, the operation | movement of a movable member can be varied greatly by changing the initial position of a movable member.
Further, the present invention provides the above gaming machine,
Detection means (for example, position sensors 511, 512, 513) for detecting that the movable member is in a predetermined position,
The operation control means includes
In the first state, when the movable member is detected by the detection means, the movable member recognizes that the movable member is at an initial position;
In the second state, when the movable member is not detected by the detection unit, it is recognized that the movable member is in an initial position.
If comprised in this way, the initial position of a movable member can be changed without changing the structure of a detection means by changing the logic which judges whether a movable member is in an initial position.

  In addition, the said code | symbol in this column is attached | subjected illustratively in the description of this invention, and this invention is not reduced by this code | symbol.

  According to the present invention, the interest of the player can be enhanced by making the movement of the movable accessory greatly different depending on the scene.

It is a schematic front view of the pachinko gaming machine according to the present embodiment. (A) is an enlarged view showing an example of a display device arranged at the lower left of the game board, (b) is a partial plan view of a pachinko gaming machine. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of the control unit of the pachinko game machine of this Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing of the image / sound control part and lamp | ramp control part of this Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the game control part of this Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the basic process by a game control part. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the process at the time of the power supply cutoff by a game control part. It is a flowchart which shows the main control processing of a game control part. It is a flowchart which shows the content of a start port switch process. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the gate switch process. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the special symbol process. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the jackpot determination process. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the fluctuation pattern selection process. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the process during a stop. It is a flowchart which shows the content of a customer waiting | standby setting process. It is a flowchart which shows the content of normal symbol processing. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the big prize opening process. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the game state setting process. It is a flowchart which shows the content of an electric tulip process. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the random number used by this Embodiment, (a) is a figure which shows the structural example of jackpot random number, (b) is a figure which shows the structural example of jackpot symbol random number, (c ) Is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a reach random number, and (d) is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a hit random number. It is a figure which shows the example of a setting of the variation pattern used in a variation pattern selection process, and a table. It is a block diagram explaining the structural example of RAM of a game control part, (a) is a block diagram which shows the structure of a storage area, (b) is a block diagram which shows each structure of the memory | storage part shown to (a) It is. It is a block diagram explaining the structural example of RAM of an effect control part, (a) is a block diagram which shows the structure of a storage area, (b) is a block which shows each structure of the memory | storage part shown to (a) FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the prior determination process. It is a figure which shows the structure of a command, (a) is a figure which shows the data structure of a command, (b) is a figure which shows the structure as a bit string of a command. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the command storage area in RAM. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the output process by an output control part. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of an effect control part, (a) is a figure which shows a main process, (b) is a figure which shows an interruption process. It is a flowchart which shows the content of command reception processing. It is a figure which shows the example of a setting of a mode flag. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the prior determination effect selection process of FIG. 26, and the effect selection process. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the process during completion | finish of the fluctuation effect of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the big hit effect selection process of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the ending effect selection process of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the customer waiting command reception process of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the content of effect button processing. It is a figure which shows the specific example of a movable accessory. FIG. 35A is a diagram showing an operation of the handle accessory, FIG. 35A is a diagram showing one reference state of the handle accessory, and FIG. 35B is a diagram showing another reference state of the handle accessory. . FIG. 36A is a diagram showing an operation of the lamp accessory, FIG. 36A is a diagram showing one reference state of the lamp accessory, and FIG. 36B is a diagram showing another reference state of the lamp accessory. . It is a figure which shows a mode before a player operates a handle accessory. It is a figure which shows a mode after a player operates a handle part. It is a chart shown about the initial state of a handle combination and a lamp combination.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[Basic configuration of gaming machine]
FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a pachinko gaming machine 100 according to the present embodiment.
A pachinko gaming machine 100 as an example of the gaming machine shown in FIG. 1 is configured to pay out a prize ball when a gaming ball launched by an instruction operation by a player wins. The pachinko gaming machine 100 includes a game board 110 on which game balls are launched, and a frame member 150 surrounding the game board 110. The game board 110 is detachably attached to the frame member 150.

The game board 110 has, on the front, a game area 111 for playing with a game ball, a rail member 112 that forms a passage where a game ball launched from below rises toward the upper position of the game area 111, and a game A guide member 113 for guiding the game ball is provided on the right side of the region 111.
In the present embodiment, an image display unit 114 that displays various images for production is provided at a position of the game area 111 that is easily visible to the player. The image display unit 114 includes a display screen such as a liquid crystal display, and displays a decorative symbol for notifying the player of a symbol lottery result (symbol variation result), for example, as the game progresses by the player. An effect image by the appearance of a character or the appearance of an item or an effect image using a later-described hold display is displayed.
In addition, a movable accessory 115 and a board lamp 116 used for various effects are provided on the front surface of the game board 110. The movable accessory 115 performs various effects by operating on the game board 110, and the board lamp 116 performs various effects by emitting light. In the pachinko gaming machine 110 of the present embodiment, the frame member 150 is also provided with a movable accessory 115. In the configuration example shown in FIG. 1, support bodies 500 are provided on the left and right of the upper portion of the frame member 150, and a handle accessory 410 and a lamp accessory 420 as a movable accessory 115 are provided between the supports 500. Is provided.

  The game area 111 is provided with a game nail and a windmill (not shown) for changing the direction in which the game ball falls. Further, in the game area 111, various bonuses relating to winning and lottery are arranged at predetermined positions. In addition, the game area 111 is provided with a discharge port 117 through which game balls launched into the game area 111 that have not been won in the winning area are discharged out of the game area 111.

  In the present embodiment, as various functions related to winning and lottery, a special symbol lottery (a jackpot lottery) starts when a game ball wins, and it is normal when a game ball passes. A start gate (hereinafter simply referred to as a gate) 124 for starting a symbol lottery (open / close lottery) is disposed on the game board 110. In FIG. 1, the gates 124 are provided on the left and right sides of the game area 111, the left gate 124 is indicated as 124L, and the right gate 124 is indicated as 124R. Moreover, the 1st starting port 121 and the 2nd starting port 122 here say the winning opening used as the operation opportunity of the predetermined 1 special symbol display. Specifically, the first start port 121 and the second start port 122 are provided with switches (a first start port switch 211 and a second start port switch 212 described later) that detect the passage of a game ball when winning a prize. It has been. And when a game ball wins the 1st starting port 121 or the 2nd starting port 122, this switch will detect the passage of a gaming ball as an opportunity to operate a special symbol display.

  The second start port 122 includes an electric tulip (opening / closing member) 123 as a normal electric accessory that is turned on and off by a pair of blades in the shape of tulip flowers that are opened and closed by an electric solenoid. In the electric tulip 123, when the blade is closed, it is difficult for the game ball to enter the second start port 122, but when the blade is opened, the entrance of the second start port 122 is expanded and the game ball is moved to the second start port 122. It is configured to be easy to enter. When the electric tulip 123 wins the normal symbol lottery, the blade opens for a specified time (for example, 0.15 to 1.8 seconds) and for a specified number of times (for example, 1 to 3 times) while lighting or blinking.

The pachinko gaming machine 100 has, as gaming states, a low probability state with a low winning probability and a high probability state with a higher winning probability than the low probability state based on the winning probability of the jackpot lottery. Then, the state is controlled to be either a low probability state or a high probability state based on a predetermined condition. In addition to the low probability state and the high probability state, it is possible to set a medium probability state in which the winning probability of the special symbol lottery is higher than the low probability state and lower than the high probability state. In this case, the pachinko gaming machine 100 is controlled to one of a low probability state, a medium probability state, and a high probability state based on a predetermined condition.
Further, the pachinko gaming machine 100 has a short time state where there are few winning opportunities at the second start port 122 and a short state when there are more winning opportunities at the second start port 122 than in the short time state. Then, under a predetermined condition, the state is controlled to either the timeless state or the timeless state. The short-time state is, for example, any one of shortening the special symbol variation time and normal symbol variation time, extending the opening time of the electric tulip 123, and increasing the probability of winning the normal symbol lottery. A gaming state controlled by one or more combinations. In the short time state, the special symbol variation time of the special symbol may be shortened.

Also, in this embodiment, as other prizes and lottery items, a lottery is performed even if a game ball wins a grand prize opening 125 as a special electric bonus that opens according to the result of the special symbol lottery. An ordinary winning opening 126 that is not present is arranged on the game board 110. The big prize opening 125 is provided with a big prize opening door 125D for opening and closing the big prize opening 125. In the following description, the opening / closing state and the opening / closing operation by the special winning opening door 125D may be described as the opening / closing state and the opening / closing operation of the special winning opening 125 for convenience.
In the present embodiment, a display 130 for displaying a lottery result and the number of holds is arranged at the lower left position of the game board 110.

  Also, on the back side of the game board 110, a game control board that determines whether or not a special symbol is won, an effect control board that comprehensively controls effects, an image control board that controls effects by images and sounds, various lamps, Various substrates (not shown) such as a lamp control substrate for controlling the effect by the movable accessory 115 are attached. In addition, a switching power supply (not shown) that converts the supplied 24V AC power source into a DC power source and outputs it to various boards and the like is disposed on the back surface of the game board 110.

When the player touches the handle 151 and rotates the lever 152 in the clockwise direction, the frame member 150 moves the game balls at a predetermined time interval (for example, 100 per minute) with a hitting force according to the operation angle. And a launching device (not shown) for electrically firing. In addition, the frame member 150 includes a supply device (not shown) that sequentially supplies game balls to the launching device one by one at a timing in conjunction with the operation of the player's lever 152, and a game ball that the supply device supplies to the launching device. And a plate 153 for temporarily storing. For example, a payout ball by a payout unit is paid out to the plate 153.
In the present embodiment, the plate 153 is configured as an integrated upper and lower plate, but a configuration example in which the upper plate and the lower plate are separated is also conceivable. A configuration example in which the handle 151 of the launching device emits light under a predetermined condition is also conceivable.

The frame member 150 also includes a stop button 154 for temporarily stopping the launch of the game ball even when the player is touching the handle 151 of the launch device, and a game ball stored in the tray 153. A take-out button 155 for dropping and taking out the box (not shown).
Further, the frame member 150 includes a speaker 156 and a frame lamp 157 for notifying the gaming state and situation of the pachinko gaming machine 100 and performing various effects. The speaker 156 performs various effects using music, voice, and sound effects. The frame lamp 157 is composed of a light emitting body such as an LED, and performs various effects by light depending on a pattern due to lighting and blinking, a difference in emission color, and the like. In addition, about the frame lamp 157, the structural example which enables performing the effect which changes the irradiation direction of light can be considered.
The frame member 150 also includes a transparent plate (not shown) for separating the game board 110 from the player.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the pachinko gaming machine 100 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2A is an enlarged view showing an example of the display unit 130 arranged at the lower left of the gaming board 110. FIG. 2B is a partial plan view of the pachinko gaming machine 100.
As shown in FIG. 2A, the display 130 of the pachinko gaming machine 100 receives a first special symbol display 221 that operates in response to winning of the first starting port 121 and a winning of the second starting port 122. A second special symbol display 222 that operates correspondingly and a normal symbol display 223 that operates corresponding to the passage of the gate 124 are provided. The first special symbol display 221 displays the lottery result by stopping and displaying the special symbol on the basis of the winning of the first start port 121 after variably displaying. The second special symbol display 222 displays the lottery result by stopping and displaying the special symbol based on the winning of the second start port 122 after variably displaying. Based on the fact that the game ball has passed through the gate 124, the normal symbol display unit 223 displays the lottery result by stopping and displaying the normal symbol after being variably displayed. In the present embodiment, the first special symbol display 221 and the second special symbol display 222 are each configured by a display device in which LEDs are arranged, and a symbol indicating a lottery result of the special symbol lottery is displayed according to the lighting mode. The Similarly, the normal symbol display 223 is also composed of a display device in which LEDs are arranged, and a symbol indicating the lottery result of the normal symbol lottery is displayed according to the lighting mode.

  In addition, the indicator 130 operates in response to the hold in the first special symbol display 221 and the first special symbol hold indicator 218 that operates corresponding to the hold in the first special symbol display 221 and the second special symbol display 222. 2 a special symbol hold indicator 219 and a normal symbol hold indicator 220 that operates in response to the hold in the normal symbol indicator 223. In the present embodiment, the first special symbol hold indicator 218, the second special symbol hold indicator 219, and the normal symbol hold indicator 220 are each configured by a display device in which LEDs are arranged, and the number of holds is determined depending on the lighting mode. Is displayed.

  Here, the hold will be described. If a game ball wins in the first start port 121 or the second start port 122 during the special symbol change display operation (while the change display for one win is being performed), the special symbol is changing. In addition, the special symbol variation display operation based on the subsequent winning cannot be started. Therefore, the number of subsequent winnings is memorized up to a specified number (for example, 4), and the right to start a special symbol for the winning game ball is until the variable display operation for the previously winning game ball ends. Deferred. For normal symbols, the same processing as for special symbols is performed. The fact that such a hold has been made and the number of hold (unchanged number) are displayed on the first special symbol hold indicator 218, the second special symbol hold indicator 219 and the normal symbol hold indicator 220.

  Furthermore, the display device 130 includes a state display device 224 that displays the state of the pachinko gaming machine 100. In the present embodiment, the status indicator 224 is configured by a display device in which three LEDs are arranged. One of the three LEDs notifies whether or not the state of the pachinko gaming machine 100 is in a high probability state where the winning probability of the special symbol lottery is high. The other one is to notify by lighting whether the state of the pachinko gaming machine 100 is in a short time state in which it is easy to win a prize at the second start port 122. Still another one is to notify by lighting whether or not the player is in a state advantageous to the player by making a right strike (by changing the hitting force of the game ball).

  The state of the pachinko gaming machine 100 displayed by the state display 224 is not limited to the above example, and other states can be displayed. For example, when the state of the pachinko gaming machine 100 is set to a medium probability state in which the winning probability is higher than the low probability state and the winning probability is lower than the high probability state, the state indicator 224 indicates whether or not the state indicator 224 is in the medium probability state. May be notified by lighting.

  In addition, the indicator 130 includes a round number indicator 225 for displaying the number of rounds when the big winning opening 125 is operated in the jackpot game performed according to the lottery result of the special symbol lottery. The jackpot game will be described later. The round number display 225 is configured by a display device in which LEDs are arranged, and the number of operating rounds of the big winning opening 125 in the jackpot game is displayed according to the lighting mode.

  The frame member 150 of the pachinko gaming machine 100 includes an input device for a player to input an effect. As shown in FIG. 2B, in the present embodiment, as an example of an input device, an effect button 161, an effect key 162 that is adjacent to the effect button 161 and includes a plurality of keys arranged in a substantially cross shape, Is disposed on the frame member 150. In the example shown in the figure, a case is considered where an effect of accepting an operation of selecting one image from a plurality of images is performed. In this case, for example, when the player operates an effect key 162 including four keys arranged in a cross, one of a plurality of images displayed on the image display unit 114 is instructed, and the effect button 161 is pressed. By performing the operation, it is possible to produce an effect of selecting the instructed image. In addition to the effect buttons 161 and the effect keys 162 shown in the figure, various input forms such as levers, dials, and the like can be adopted as the input device.

[Configuration of control unit]
Next, a control unit that performs operation control and signal processing in the pachinko gaming machine 100 will be described.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the control unit of the pachinko gaming machine according to the present embodiment.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the image / sound control unit and the lamp control unit of the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit includes a game control unit 200 that determines whether a special symbol is won or the like as main control means. In addition, as the sub-control means, an effect control unit 300 that comprehensively controls the effect and a payout control unit 330 that controls payout of the payout ball are provided.

[Configuration and function of game control unit]
The game control unit 200 is used as a CPU 201 that performs arithmetic processing when determining whether or not a special symbol is won, a ROM 202 that stores programs executed by the CPU 201, various data, and the like, a working memory of the CPU 201, and the like. RAM 203 to be provided.

  The game control unit 200 controls the gaming state of the pachinko gaming machine 100 in either a high probability state or a low probability state, a time-short state or a time-short state. As a result, the gaming state of the pachinko gaming machine 100 is a high probability state and a short time state, a high probability short time gaming state, a low probability state and a short time state, low probability short time gaming state, a high probability state, and a short time short state. It is one of a short-probability state with no probability, a low-probability state, and a short-probability state with a low probability. Then, the game control unit 200 switches between the high probability state and the low probability state based on a predetermined condition, and switches between the short time state and the short time state. In addition, the game control unit 200 performs control such as increasing the probability of winning the normal symbol lottery in the short time state, shortening the normal symbol variation time, and extending the opening time of the electric tulip 123 in the short time state. I do.

  The game control unit 200 performs a special symbol lottery when the game ball is won at the first start port 121 or the second start port 122. Then, a special game such as a jackpot game is performed according to the determination result of the special symbol lottery. In the special game, the game control unit 200 performs a predetermined number of rounds that maintain an open state until the special winning opening 125, which is a special electric accessory, satisfies a predetermined condition (for example, 29.5 seconds have passed or 10 game balls have been won). Control to repeat only. And the game control part 200 controls the opening-and-closing operation space | interval at the time of the jackpot big winning opening 125 opening.

In addition, the game control unit 200 performs a normal symbol lottery when the game ball passes through the gate 124. And the action | operation of an electric tulip is controlled according to the determination result of a normal symbol lottery.
In addition, the game control unit 200 holds the game ball when the game ball wins the first start port 121 or the second start port 122 during the special symbol change, or the game ball passes through the gate 124 during the normal symbol change. Set the hold that occurs.
Further, the game control unit 200 accompanies the game control such as the determination result of the special symbol lottery and the normal symbol lottery, the change information of the high probability state and the low probability state, the change information of the short time no state and the short time state, the setting information of the hold, etc. Information is sent to the production control unit 300 by a command to be described later.

Further, when the game ball is won in the first start port 121, the second start port 122, the big winning port 125, and the normal winning port 126, the game control unit 200 per game ball according to the place where the game ball has won. The payout control unit 330 is instructed to pay out a predetermined number of prize balls. For example, when a game ball wins at the first start port 121, three prize balls, when a game ball wins at the second start port 122, four prize balls, and when a game ball wins the big prize port 125, thirteen prizes. When a game ball wins the ball, the normal winning opening 126, an instruction command (command) is sent to the payout control unit 330 so as to pay out 10 prize balls. Even if it is detected that the game ball has passed through the gate 124, the payout control unit 330 is not instructed to pay out the prize ball in conjunction therewith.
When the payout control unit 330 pays out a prize ball in accordance with an instruction from the game control unit 200, the game control unit 200 acquires information on the number of prize balls paid out from the payout control unit 330. As a result, the number of prize balls paid out is managed.

As shown in FIG. 3, the game control unit 200 includes a first start port detection unit (first start port switch (SW)) 211 that detects a winning of a game ball to the first start port 121, as shown in FIG. , A second start port detection unit (second start port switch (SW)) 212 that detects a winning of a game ball to the second start port 122, an electric tulip opening / closing unit 213 that opens and closes the electric tulip 123, and the gate 124. A gate detection unit (gate switch (SW)) 214 for detecting the passage of the game ball is connected.
Furthermore, the game control unit 200 includes a grand prize opening detection unit (large prize opening switch (SW)) 215 that detects the winning of a game ball to the big prize opening 125 and a big prize opening door 125D of the big prize opening 125. A large winning opening door opening / closing unit 216 set to a closed state and an open state with a protruding slope, and a normal winning port detecting unit (normal winning port switch (SW)) 217 for detecting the winning of a game ball to the normal winning port 126, , Is connected.

In addition, the game control unit 200 includes a first special symbol hold indicator 218 for displaying the number of unreserved reserves won in the first start port 121 during the change of the special symbol, and the second special symbol hold indicator 218 during the change of the special symbol. A second special symbol hold indicator 219 that displays the number of unchanged reserves that have been won at the start port 122, and a normal symbol hold indicator that displays the number of unchanged symbols that have passed through the gate 124 while the normal symbol is changing. 220 are connected.
Further, the game control unit 200 includes a first special symbol display 221 for displaying a special symbol variation display and a special symbol lottery result performed by winning a game ball in the first starting port 121, and a second starting port. The second special symbol display 222 that displays the result of the special symbol variation display and special symbol lottery performed by winning the game ball to 122, and the normal symbol display that displays the normal symbol variation display and the normal symbol lottery result A device 223 and a state indicator 224 for displaying the state of the pachinko gaming machine 100 are connected.

  Then, detection signals detected by the first start port switch 211, the second start port switch 212, the gate switch 214, the big winning port switch 215 and the normal winning port switch 217 are sent to the game control unit 200. In addition, the control signal from the game control unit 200 includes an electric tulip opening / closing unit 213, a prize winning door opening / closing unit 216, a first special symbol hold indicator 218, a second special symbol hold indicator 219, and a normal symbol hold indicator 220. The first special symbol display 221, the second special symbol display 222, the normal symbol display 223, and the status display 224. Thereby, the game control unit 200 performs various controls related to the number of payout prize balls.

  Further, a board external information terminal board 350 for transmitting various information to a host computer (not shown) installed in the hall is connected to the game control unit 200. Then, the game control unit 200 transmits the information about the number of paid-out prize balls acquired from the payout control unit 330 and the information indicating the state of the game control unit 200 to the host computer via the board external information terminal board 350. To do.

[Configuration and function of payout control unit]
The payout control unit 330 includes a CPU 331 that performs arithmetic processing when controlling payout of payout balls, a ROM 332 that stores programs executed by the CPU 331, various data, and the like, and a RAM 333 that is used as a work memory for the CPU 331 and the like. And.
The payout control unit 330 controls payout of the payout ball based on the command sent from the game control unit 200.
Specifically, the payout control unit 330 acquires, from the game control unit 200, a command for paying out a predetermined number of prize balls according to the place where the game ball has won (the first start port 121 or the like). Then, the payout driving unit 334 is controlled so as to pay out the number of prize balls specified by the command. Here, the payout drive unit 334 is constituted by a drive motor that sends out the game ball from the game ball storage unit.

The payout control unit 330 includes a payout ball detection unit 335 that detects the number of prize balls actually paid out from the game ball storage unit by the payout driving unit 334, and a game ball in the storage unit (not shown). Detecting unit 336 for detecting presence / absence of storage of the game, and detecting whether or not the plate 153 for holding the game ball used when the player plays the game or the paid-out prize ball is full. A full tank detection unit 337 is connected. The payout control unit 330 receives the detection signals detected by the payout ball detection unit 335, the ball presence detection unit 336, and the full tank detection unit 337, and performs predetermined processing according to these detection signals.
Further, the payout control unit 330 is connected to a frame external information terminal board 340 that transmits various types of information to a host computer installed in the hall. Then, the payout control unit 330, for example, information on the number of prize balls instructed to pay out to the payout driving unit 334, information on the number of prize balls actually paid out detected by the payout ball detection unit 335, etc. Is transmitted to the host computer via the frame external information terminal board 340. Also, similar information is transmitted to the game control unit 200.

[Configuration and function of production control unit]
The effect control unit 300 includes a CPU 301 that performs calculation processing when controlling the effect, a ROM 302 that stores programs executed by the CPU 301 and various data, a RAM 303 that is used as a work memory of the CPU 301, and the like. And a real-time clock (RTC) 304 for measuring.
The effect control unit 300 sets the contents of the effect, for example, based on the determination result of whether or not the winning in the special symbol lottery sent from the game control unit 200 and the variation pattern. At that time, in response to an operation input from the user using the effect button 161 or the effect key 162, the effect content corresponding to the operation input may be set. In this case, for example, a signal (operation signal) corresponding to an operation is received from a controller (not shown) such as the effect button 161, and the operation content identified by the operation signal is reflected in the setting of the effect.
In addition, when the game is interrupted for a predetermined period, the effect control unit 300 instructs the setting of the screen display for waiting for a customer as one of the effects.
Furthermore, the production control unit 300 sets the production content based on the change information of the high probability state and the low probability state received from the game control unit 200, and the change information of the short time state and the short time state.
In addition, the effect control unit 300 sends a command for instructing execution of the set effect contents to the image / sound control unit 310 and the lamp control unit 320.

  Furthermore, the effect control unit 300 is connected to an image / sound control unit 310 that controls an effect using an image and sound, and a lamp control unit 320 that controls an effect using various lamps and the movable accessory 115. Has been.

[Configuration / Function of Image / Sound Control Unit]
As shown in FIG. 4, the image / sound control unit 310 stores an image that expresses the contents of presentation and a CPU 311 that performs arithmetic processing when controlling sound, a program executed by the CPU 311, various data, and the like. A ROM 312, a RAM 313 used as a working memory for the CPU 311, a VDP (Video Display Processor) 314, a CGROM 315, and an SNDROM 316 are provided.

Then, the image / sound control unit 310 controls the image displayed on the image display unit 114 and the sound output from the speaker 156 based on the command sent from the effect control unit 300.
Specifically, the CGROM 315 has a symbol image or background image displayed during the game on the image display unit 114, a decorative symbol for notifying the player of the lottery result, a character for displaying a notice effect to the player, Image data such as items is stored. The SND ROM 316 stores various types of acoustic data such as music and sound output from the speaker 156 in synchronization with the image data or independently of the image data, and sound effects such as jingles.
Based on the hold number command or the change start command sent from the effect control unit 300, the CPU 311 performs analysis of the animation pattern, creation of a display list in which commands related to drawing are created, transmission of the display list to the VDP 314, and the like. .

Based on the display list received from the CPU 311, the VDP 314 reads image data and acoustic data stored in the CGROM 315 and SNDROM 316, respectively. Furthermore, the VDP 314 performs drawing processing for background image display, symbol image display, symbol image variation, character / item display, and the like, and audio processing using the read acoustic data, using the read image data. . The VDP 314 controls screen display on the image display unit 114 based on the image data subjected to the drawing process. The VDP 314 controls the sound output from the speaker 156 based on the sound data that has been subjected to sound processing.
In the present embodiment, the VDP 314 is configured to perform audio processing in addition to the drawing processing. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a processor that performs dedicated audio processing may be provided separately.

[Configuration and function of lamp control unit]
The lamp control unit 320 stores a CPU 321 that performs arithmetic processing when controlling the light emission of the panel lamp 116 and the frame lamp 157 and the operation of the movable accessory 115, and programs executed by the CPU 321 and various data. A ROM 322 and a RAM 323 used as a working memory for the CPU 321 are provided.
The lamp control unit 320 controls lighting / flashing of the panel lamp 116 and the frame lamp 157, the emission color, and the like based on the command sent from the effect control unit 300. Further, the operation of the movable accessory 115 is controlled. As will be described in detail later, the lamp controller 320 receives detection results (outputs) of position sensors 511, 512, and 513 provided on the support 500 of the frame member 150, and is movable based on the acquired detection results. The state of the accessory 115 (the handle accessory 410 and the lamp accessory 420) is determined.

Specifically, the ROM 322 of the lamp control unit 320 stores lighting / flashing pattern data and emission color pattern data (emission pattern) for the panel lamp 116 and the frame lamp 157 according to the production contents set by the production control unit 300. Data) is stored. The CPU 321 selects and reads out the light emission pattern data stored in the ROM 322 corresponding to the command sent from the effect control unit 300. The lamp controller 320 controls the light emission of the panel lamp 116 and the frame lamp 157 based on the read light emission pattern data.
The ROM 322 of the lamp control unit 320 stores operation pattern data of the movable accessory 115 corresponding to the production content set by the production control unit 300. The CPU 321 controls the operation of the movable accessory 115 based on the read operation pattern data.

  In the present embodiment, game control unit 200, effect control unit 300, image / sound control unit 310, lamp control unit 320, and payout control unit 330 are each a main board disposed on the rear surface of game board 110. The game control board, the effect control board as the sub board, the image control board, the lamp control board, and the payout control board are individually configured.

[Functional configuration of game control unit]
Next, the functional configuration of the game control unit 200 will be described.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the game control unit 200. As shown in FIG. 5, the game control unit 200 includes a random number acquisition unit 231, a normal symbol determination unit 232, a special symbol variation control unit 233, and a special symbol determination unit 234 as functional units that execute various lottery processes. And a normal symbol fluctuation control unit 236.
In addition, the game control unit 200 includes a variation pattern selection unit 235 as a functional unit that executes a process associated with special symbol variation.
In addition, the game control unit 200 is a function unit that executes operation control of various types of objects and data processing related to a prize ball, etc. As a function unit, a prize winning opening operation control unit 237, an electric tulip operation control unit 238, and a prize ball processing unit 239 are provided. And an output control unit 240 and a random number control unit 241.

The random number acquisition unit 231 acquires a random number value used for the special symbol lottery and a random value used for the normal symbol lottery. In the case of a random number value used for the special symbol lottery, specifically, on the condition that a game ball has won a prize at the first starting port 121 or the second starting port 122, a numerical value in a predetermined range is obtained for each type of random number. One numerical value (random number value) is selected (obtained) from the inside. The acquired random number value is used for determination by the special symbol determination unit 234. As will be described in detail later, the random numbers used in the special symbol lottery include a jackpot random number indicating whether or not the jackpot, a symbol random number indicating the type of jackpot, a variation pattern random number, a reach random number, and the like.
Further, in the case of a random number value used for the normal symbol lottery, specifically, one numerical value (random number value) is selected (acquired) from a predetermined range of values on condition that the game ball has passed through the gate 124. ) The acquired random number value is used for determination by the normal symbol determination unit 232. In addition, as a random number used for the normal symbol lottery, a symbol random number indicating a winning type, a variation pattern random number, or the like may be set in addition to a winning random number indicating whether or not the winning is made.
When the special symbol lottery is performed, the special symbol fluctuation control unit 233 controls the fluctuation of the special symbol in the first special symbol indicator 221 or the second special symbol indicator 222 according to the lottery result.

  The special symbol determination unit 234 uses a random number table as shown in FIG. 20 at the start of the variation of the special symbol, and determines whether the lottery result of the special symbol lottery is “hit or not”, "," Whether it is a small hit or not when a big win is not won "is determined. That is, the random number acquisition unit 231 acquires a random number value related to a special symbol when the first starting port switch 211 or the second starting port switch 212 serving as a detection unit detects passage of a game ball, and determines a special symbol. The unit 234 determines based on the acquired random number value whether or not to play a special game (such as a big hit game) advantageous to the player. The special symbol lottery (big hit lottery) described above refers to processing in the random number acquisition unit 231 and the special symbol determination unit 234.

  Here, the “hit” is divided into a plurality of types according to the gaming state that occurs after the end of the jackpot game. Specifically, the type of jackpot is determined depending on the combination of the short-time state or the short-time state and the high-probability state or the low-probability state. In other words, the type of jackpot based on the gaming state that occurs after the end of the jackpot game is a jackpot that becomes a high probability short-time gaming state having both a short-time state and a high-probability state after the jackpot game ends (hereinafter, high probability A jackpot that becomes a low probability short-game state with both a short-time state and a low-probability state (hereinafter, a jackpot of a low-probability short-game state), both a short-time non-state state and a high-probability state A jackpot that becomes a low probability short-time non-game state that has both a short-time no-game state and a low-probability state that has both a short-time and low-probability state There is a possibility of a jackpot of probable short gameless state). Each of these jackpots is associated with an individual special symbol, and the type of jackpot is determined according to the type of special symbol won in the special symbol lottery.

  In addition, the “bonanza” may be divided into a jackpot that can be expected to pay out a large amount of gaming balls for a long time, and a jackpot that can hardly be expected to pay out gaming balls because the jackpot game time is short. The former is called “long hit” and the latter is called “short hit”. For example, in “long win”, a round that is maintained until the open state of the grand prize opening 125 satisfies a predetermined condition (for example, 29.5 seconds have passed or 10 game balls have been won) is repeated a predetermined number of times (for example, 15 times). It is. In the “short win”, a round in which the special winning opening 125 is opened for a certain time (for example, 0.1 second) is repeated a predetermined number of times (for example, 15 times).

In addition, in the case of “small winning” when the big winning is not won, for example, a small winning game is performed in which the big winning opening 125 is opened for a predetermined number of times (for example, 15 times) for 0.1 seconds. At the time of winning the small hit, the game state before the small win is continued even after the small hit game is completed. That is, when the game state at the time of winning the small hit is the high probability short game state, the high probability short time gaming state is continued even after the small hit game ends, and the gaming state does not shift. Similarly, when the gaming state at the time of winning the small hit is the low probability short non-game state, the low probability short non-game state is continued even after the small hit game ends, and the gaming state does not shift.
Further, “small hit” is a kind of “out of game”, and none of the above gaming states that are advantageous to the player is set.

The variation pattern selection unit 235 selects a variation pattern (variation time) of a special symbol displayed on the first special symbol display 221 or the second special symbol display 222. Specifically, the variation pattern selection unit 235 determines the variation pattern based on the determination result whether or not to play the jackpot game, the determination result whether or not to reach and the like. Then, based on the variation pattern selected by the variation pattern selection unit 235, the special symbol variation control unit 233 controls the variation of the special symbol. Details of operations of the fluctuation pattern selection unit 235 and the special symbol fluctuation control unit 233 will be described later.
Here, “reach” is an effect for causing a player to expect a big hit in a decorative pattern to be described later.

The normal symbol determination unit 232 determines whether the lottery result of the normal symbol is “winning” or not using a random number table at the start of the variation of the normal symbol. That is, the normal symbol determination unit 232 determines whether or not to perform an auxiliary game that opens and closes the electric tulip 123 based on the random number value for normal symbol lottery acquired by the random number acquisition unit 231. When a plurality of types of winning are set in the normal symbol lottery, the normal symbol determining unit 232 determines “winning type” when the determination result is winning. The normal symbol lottery is a process performed by the random number acquisition unit 231 and the normal symbol determination unit 232.
When the normal symbol lottery is performed, the normal symbol fluctuation control unit 236 controls the fluctuation of the normal symbol by the normal symbol display unit 223 according to the lottery result.
The electric tulip movement control unit 238 opens the electric tulip 123 for a predetermined time and a predetermined number of times when the normal symbol determination unit 232 determines “winning” in the normal symbol lottery, and a game ball is placed at the second start port 122. Generate a state that makes it easy to win. Further, when it is determined as “displacement”, such an open state of the electric tulip 123 is not generated.

When the special symbol determination unit 234 determines that it is a “big hit” in the special symbol lottery, the big winning mouth operation control unit 237 uses the operation pattern specified based on the type of the winning jackpot as the jackpot game. The opening operation of 125 is controlled. Also, the special winning opening operation control unit 237 opens the special winning opening 125 for a specified time and a specified number of times as a small winning game when the special symbol determining unit 234 determines “small hit” in the special symbol lottery. .
The prize ball processing unit 239 sets commands for controlling the number of prizes received for various types of winning-related items and lottery, and for controlling the payout of prize balls according to the prizes.
The output control unit 240 controls the output of control commands from the game control unit 200 to the effect control unit 300 and the payout control unit 330.
The random number control unit 241 updates various random number values that the random number acquisition unit 231 acquires at a predetermined timing.

[Basic operation of gaming machine]
Next, the basic operation of the pachinko gaming machine 100 will be described.
When the power is turned on, the game control unit 200 of the pachinko gaming machine 100 performs initialization and initial setting of various devices as a basic process at the time of activation. And after performing a basic process, the game control part 200 repeatedly performs the main control process which is a series of processes regarding progress of a game. In addition, when the power is shut off, the game control unit 200 executes a series of power-off processing.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the basic processing performed by the game control unit 200.
When the power of the pachinko gaming machine 100 is turned on, the game control unit 200 first permits access to the RAM 203 (see FIG. 3) (step (hereinafter, “step” will be referred to as “S”) 601). Then, the game control unit 200 determines whether or not a RAM clear switch for clearing the RAM 203 is ON (S602).
When the RAM clear switch is OFF (No in S602), the game control unit 200 next determines whether or not the backup flag related to the operation at the time of power-off is ON (S603).
If the backup flag is ON (Yes in S603), the game control unit 200 next determines whether the checksum created when the power is turned off is normal (S604).
If the checksum is normal (Yes in S604), the game control unit 200 next executes a return process (S605). In this return process, the game control unit 200 performs setting of the sub-control means such as the effect control unit 300 accompanying the return from the state where the power is cut off. Specifically, the game control unit 200 determines the gaming state of the pachinko gaming machine 100 when the power is cut off (whether it is a big hit game, either a high probability state or a low probability state, a short time state and a short time state) The command for setting the sub-control means is output to the effect control unit 300 so that any one of them is reflected. In this return process, the game control unit 200 turns off the backup flag.

  On the other hand, if the RAM clear switch is ON (Yes in S602), the backup flag is OFF (No in S603), and the checksum is abnormal (No in S604), then the game control unit 200 is initialized. As processing, the stored contents of the RAM 203 are cleared (S606), and the work area of the RAM 203 is set (S607). Then, the game control unit 200 outputs a command for setting (initializing) the sub control means to the effect control unit 300, and sets the sub board (sub control means) (S608). The setting of the sub board includes clearing the RAM 303, RAM 313, and RAM 323 mounted on each sub board.

After the return process (see S605) is completed or after the setting of the sub-board (see S608) is completed, the game control unit 200 sets various counters and timers used for game control (S609). Then, the game control unit 200 determines whether or not the interrupt permission (S610), the interrupt prohibition (S611), the symbol random number control process (S612), the initial value random number update process (S613), and the power cutoff flag are ON. (S614) is repeatedly executed as a loop process.
Here, interrupt enable (S610) and interrupt disable (S611) are provided to enable execution of interrupt processing during execution of the loop processing (S610 to S614). In the present embodiment, main control processing in game control is executed by this interrupt processing. Details of the main control process will be described later.
In the symbol random number control process (S612), the game control unit 200 updates the variation pattern random number used in the special symbol lottery.
In the initial value random number update process (S613), the game control unit 200 updates initial values of various random values used in the game control.
In the determination of the power cut-off flag, if the power cut-off flag is OFF (No in S614), the power of the pachinko gaming machine 100 is not cut off, and the game control unit 200 performs main control by interruption together with the loop processing (S610 to S614). Repeat the process. On the other hand, when the power shut-off flag is ON (Yes in S614), the game control unit 200 starts a process for shutting off the power of the pachinko gaming machine 100 (power shut-off process).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of power-off processing performed by the game control unit 200.
In the power-off process, the game control unit 200 first clears the setting of the output port for performing various outputs (S701). Next, the game control unit 200 creates a checksum and stores it in the RAM 203 (S702). Next, the game control unit 200 turns on the backup flag (S703), prohibits access to the RAM 203 (S704), and shifts to an infinite loop.

[Main control processing of gaming machines]
Next, main control processing of the pachinko gaming machine 100 will be described.
In the main control process, the game control unit 200 controls the game in the pachinko gaming machine 100, instructs the effect control unit 300, which is a sub-control means, to control the effect, and gives the payout control unit 330 a prize ball Instructs payout control.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing main control processing of the game control unit 200.
The main control process includes a series of processes in game control, and is repeatedly executed every predetermined time (for example, 4 milliseconds). In the present embodiment, the game control unit 200 generates an interrupt every predetermined time set in advance, and when the interrupt is permitted in the loop process shown in FIG. 6 (see S610), the main control is performed as the interrupt process. Execute the process. As shown in FIG. 8, in the main control process, a random number update process, a switch process, a symbol process, an electric accessory process, a prize ball process, and an output process are sequentially executed (S801 to S806).

  In the random number update process (S801), the game control unit 200 calls a function (subroutine) of the random number control unit 241, and updates various random number values used in the game control by the game control unit 200.

As the switch process (S802), a start port switch process and a gate switch process are performed.
In the start port switch process, the game control unit 200 calls the function (subroutine) of the random number acquisition unit 231, monitors the states of the first start port switch 211 and the second start port switch 212 in FIG. If this happens, a special symbol lottery process is executed. In addition, when performing preliminary determination processing in the first start port switch 211 and the second start port switch 212, each function (subroutine) of the special symbol determination unit 234 and the variation pattern selection unit 235 is called and processing for preliminary determination is performed. Execute.
In the gate switch process, the game control unit 200 calls the function (subroutine) of the normal symbol determination unit 232, monitors the state of the gate switch 214 in FIG. 3, and for the normal symbol lottery when the switch is turned on. Execute the process.

As the symbol processing (S803), special symbol processing and normal symbol processing are performed.
In the special symbol process, the game control unit 200 calls the functions (subroutines) of the special symbol variation control unit 233, the special symbol determination unit 234, and the variation pattern selection unit 235, and executes the special symbol variation and the process associated with this symbol variation. To do.
In the normal symbol process, the game control unit 200 calls the functions (subroutines) of the normal symbol determination unit 232 and the normal symbol variation control unit 236, and executes the normal symbol variation and the process associated with this symbol variation.

As the electric accessory process (S804), a big prize opening process and an electric tulip process are performed.
In the special prize opening process, the game control unit 200 calls a function (subroutine) of the special prize opening operation control unit 237 and controls the opening operation of the special prize opening 125 which is a special electric accessory based on a predetermined condition.
In the electric tulip process, the game control unit 200 calls the function (subroutine) of the electric tulip operation control unit 238 and controls the opening operation of the electric tulip 123 that is a normal electric accessory based on a predetermined condition.

  In the prize ball processing (S805), the game control unit 200 calls a function (subroutine) of the prize ball processing unit 239, and sets a command for controlling the number of winning prizes and a control for paying out prize balls according to the winning prize.

  In the output process (S806), the game control unit 200 calls a function (subroutine) of the output control unit 240, outputs a command for effect control to the effect control unit 300, and sends a command for payout control to the payout control unit 330. Output. The effect control command is generated in each process from S802 to S804, and stored (set) in the control command storage area provided in the RAM 203. The payout control command is generated in the processing of S805 and stored (set) in the control command storage area provided in the RAM 203. A storage area is set in the RAM 203 for each type of control command.

  The output control unit 240 sequentially checks the storage area of each control command in the RAM 203, and if the control command is stored in each storage area (that is, the control command is generated in the processing of S802 to S805). The control command is read out and output to the output destination (the effect control unit 300 or the payout control unit 330).

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, output processing is performed at the end of a series of main control processing. That is, the command generated in each process of S802 to S805 by the above functions as the first processing means is stored in a corresponding storage area of the RAM 203 in each process. After these processes, the output control unit 240 as a second processing unit collectively outputs the commands generated in each process accumulated in the storage area of the RAM 203. In other words, in this embodiment, when the main control process is executed for one cycle, the command generated in the execution of the one cycle is output after the last command generation in the execution of the one cycle is performed.

[Modified example of basic operation of gaming machine]
In the operation example described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8, the interrupt is permitted in the loop process portion of the basic process, and the main control process including a series of processes is executed as the interrupt process. However, the main control process only needs to be configured to be repeatedly executed at regular intervals, and the specific implementation means (execution procedure) is not limited to the examples illustrated in FIGS. For example, the main control process may be incorporated in a series of operations of the basic process, the elapsed time may be measured at a predetermined timing, and the process may return to the main control process every certain time (for example, 4 milliseconds). If the main control process is incorporated into the series of operations of the basic process, an interrupt is generated at regular intervals as in the operation described with reference to FIGS. It may be configured to return to the main control process incorporated in the basic process.

  When a command generated in the basic process is output, in principle, every time a command is generated, the command is stored in the command storage area of the RAM 203, and the output control unit 240 serving as the second processing means in the main control process is stored. Call and output the function. Unlike the main control process related to the progress of the game, the basic process is a special process such as an initial operation performed when the power is turned on. Also, in the basic process, the process procedure may vary depending on the branching based on conditions such as the state of the pachinko gaming machine 100 when the power is turned on, so the generated command is promptly output so that there is no omission in the output process. . In addition, when a command is continuously generated by a plurality of related processes, a process procedure for storing a plurality of commands in the command storage area of the RAM 203 and outputting them in response to a specific process request is adopted. May be.

[Random number update processing by game control unit]
A random number value as determination information used for various types of lotteries in game control such as special symbol lottery is counted by a counter, and a random number update process (S801) of the main control process shown in FIG. 8 starts from a predetermined initial value. Each time it is done, it is incremented by one. Then, the value at the time when each lottery is performed is acquired by the start port switch process and the gate switch process, and is used in the special symbol process and the normal symbol process. This random number counter is an infinite loop counter, and the counted random number value is the maximum value of the set random number (for example, a jackpot random number in which 300 random number values “0” to “299” are set). After reaching the value “299”), the value returns to the initial value (value “0” in this example) again. In addition, since the random number update process is performed at regular intervals, if the initial value of each random number is specified, the winning value may be estimated based on the update interval and the initial value information. Therefore, after returning from the main control process to the basic process shown in FIG. 6, in the initial value random number update process of S613, the initial value of each random number is randomly changed.

[Start-up switch processing by game control unit]
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the contents of the start port switch process in the switch process shown in S802 of FIG.
In the start port switch process, a process for winning at the first start port 121 and a process for winning at the second start port 122 are sequentially performed. Referring to FIG. 9, the game control unit 200 first determines whether or not a game ball is won at the first start port 121 and the first start port switch 211 is turned on (S901). If the first start port switch 211 is turned on, the game control unit 200 next determines whether or not the unchanged hold number U1 in the winning of the first start port 121 is less than the upper limit value (S902). . In the example shown in FIG. 9, the upper limit value is four. If the number of holds U1 has reached the upper limit value (No in S902), it is not possible to hold any more unchanging winnings, so the process for winning at the first start port 121 is terminated.

  On the other hand, when the pending number U1 is less than the upper limit value (Yes in S902), the random number acquisition unit 231 of the game control unit 200 acquires a random value for determination by the current winning and stores it in the RAM 203 (S903). . Here, since the first starting port 121 is won, a random number value for special symbol lottery is acquired. The random value acquired at this time is a value updated by the random number update process of S801. Then, the result of the special symbol lottery is determined in the later special symbol processing by this random number value. Random numbers here include jackpot random numbers that determine jackpot, jackpot or loss, jackpot type (short or short state after the end of jackpot game, short or short state, high probability state and low probability state, long hit, short Symbol random number value to determine the winning), variation pattern random value to identify the variation pattern in the symbol variation, reach random number value to determine whether or not to have the effect with reach described later , Etc. are included.

  Next, the game control unit 200 performs a prior determination process (S904). The pre-determination process means that a random number is obtained by a special symbol process for a winning ball (holding ball) for which a random number has already been acquired by a winning at the starting opening but a random symbol has not yet been determined by a special symbol process to be described later. This is a process of determining the random number before the determination (preliminary determination).

  And the production | generation control part 300 of this Embodiment determines a random number by the special symbol process based on the determination result (predetermined result) of the random number determined by the prior determination process, and notifies the determination result. Before that, it is possible to perform a notice effect that suggests the determination result. For example, in response to the occurrence of a winning ball (holding ball) for which random number acquisition has already been performed by winning a prize at the start opening but random number determination has not yet been performed by special symbol processing, the image display unit This is performed using a hold display effect (described later) displayed on 114. The notice effect based on this advance determination suggests to the player the determination result when the random number is determined by special symbol processing for the reserved ball corresponding to the advance determination related to the advance effect. Thereby, the player can play a game while expecting the reserved ball.

Then, the game control unit 200 adds 1 to the value of the holding number U1 (S905).
Thereafter, the game control unit 200 sets a pre-determination result command including the pre-determination information by the pre-determination process in S904 in the RAM 203 in order to notify the effect control unit 300 of the pre-determination result (S906).
Furthermore, the game control unit 200 sets a hold number increase command for notifying the effect control unit 300 of an increase in the hold number U1 in S905 (S907), and ends the process for winning in the first start port 121. .

  Next, a process for winning in the second start port 122 is performed. Referring to FIG. 9, next, the game control unit 200 determines whether or not the game ball has won the second start port 122 and the second start port switch 212 is turned on (S908). If the second start port switch 212 is turned on, the game control unit 200 next determines whether or not the number of unreserved hold numbers U2 in the winning of the second start port 122 is less than the upper limit value (S909). ). In the example shown in FIG. 9, the upper limit value is four. If the number of holds U2 has reached the upper limit (No in S909), it is not possible to hold any more unchanging winnings, and the process for winning at the second start port 122 is terminated.

  On the other hand, if the pending number U2 is less than the upper limit value (Yes in S909), the random number acquisition unit 231 of the game control unit 200 acquires a random number value for the lottery by the current winning and stores it in the RAM 203 (S910). . Here, since the winning of the second starting port 122 is won, random numbers for special symbol lottery (big hit random number value, big hit symbol random number value, reach random number value, fluctuation pattern random number value, etc.) are acquired as in S903 above. Is done. The random value acquired at this time is a value updated by the random number update process of S801. Then, the result of the special symbol lottery is determined in the later special symbol processing by this random number value.

Next, the game control unit 200 performs a prior determination process (S911). The content of this pre-determination process is the same as that of said S904.
Then, the game control unit 200 adds 1 to the value of the holding number U2 (S912).
Thereafter, the game control unit 200 sets a pre-determination result command including pre-determination information obtained by the pre-determination process of S911 in the RAM 203 in order to notify the effect control unit 300 of the pre-determination result (S913).
Furthermore, the game control unit 200 sets a hold number increase command for notifying the effect control unit 300 of the increase in the hold number U2 in S912 in the RAM 203 (S914), and ends the process for winning at the second start port 122. .

[Gate switch processing by game control unit]
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the contents of the gate switch process when a game ball passes through the gate 124.
In this gate switch process, the game control unit 200 first determines whether or not the game ball has passed through the gate 124 and the gate switch 214 is turned on (S1001). If the gate switch 214 is turned on, the game control unit 200 next determines whether or not the unchanged holding number G is less than the upper limit value (S1002). In the example shown in FIG. 10, the upper limit value is four. If the number of reserves G has reached the upper limit (No in S1002), no more unchanging winnings can be reserved, and the gate switch processing is terminated.

  On the other hand, when the number G of holding is less than the upper limit value (Yes in S1002), the random number acquisition unit 231 of the game control unit 200 acquires a random value for the lottery by the current winning and stores it in the RAM 203 (S1003). . Here, since the gate 124 is won, a random number value (such as a winning random number value) for normal symbol lottery is acquired.

Next, the game control unit 200 adds 1 to the value of the holding number G (S1004).
After the value of the holding number G is added in S1004, the game control unit 200 sets a holding number G increase command for notifying the effect control unit 300 of the increase in the holding number G in S1004 in the RAM 203 (S1005). The process for winning in the gate 124 is terminated.

[Special symbol processing by game control unit]
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the contents of the special symbol processing in the symbol processing shown in S803 of FIG.
In this special symbol process, the special symbol variation control unit 233 of the game control unit 200 first checks whether or not the jackpot game flag is ON in the setting of a flag set in the RAM 203 (hereinafter, flag setting) ( S1101). Here, the jackpot game flag is a flag that is set to identify that the result of the special symbol lottery is a jackpot. Depending on the type of jackpot, either a long hit game flag or a short hit game flag is set. In the present embodiment, these are collectively referred to as a jackpot game flag.

  When the jackpot game flag is ON, the pachinko gaming machine 100 is already in the jackpot, so the special symbol processing is terminated without starting the special symbol variation (Yes in S1101). On the other hand, if the jackpot game flag is OFF (No in S1101), the special symbol variation control unit 233 next determines whether or not the current state of the pachinko gaming machine 100 is in the special symbol variation (S1102). If the special symbol is not changing (No in S1102), then the special symbol fluctuation control unit 233 performs processing related to the number U1 and U2 (see FIG. 9) of the special symbols that have not been changed (S1103 to S1106). In the present embodiment, the number of holds U1 related to winning of the first start port 121 and the number of holds U2 related to winning of the second start port 122 are distinguished, so this processing is also performed for each corresponding start port. .

Specifically, the special symbol variation control unit 233 first determines whether or not the number of holds U2 related to winning in the second start port 122 is 1 or more (S1103). When the number of reservations U2 is 1 or more (Yes in S1103), the special symbol variation control unit 233 subtracts 1 from the value of the number of reservations U2 (S1104). On the other hand, if the hold number U2 = 0 (No in S1103), the special symbol variation control unit 233 next determines whether the hold number U1 related to winning in the first start port 121 is 1 or more (S1105). When the number of reservations U1 is 1 or more (Yes in S1105), the special symbol fluctuation control unit 233 subtracts 1 from the value of the number of reservations U1 (S1106). On the other hand, if the holding number U1 = 0 (No in S1105), it means that there is no winning for starting the special symbol lottery, so the special symbol change is not started, and the waiting process for waiting for customers set in another routine To finish the process (S1116).
In the present embodiment, priority is given to the processing related to the holding number U2 related to winning in the second start port 122. That is, when the number of holdings U2 is 1 or more, the processing related to the number of holdings U2 is performed, and when the number of holdings U2 = 0, the processing related to the number of holdings U1 is performed (see S1103 to S1106). On the other hand, regardless of whether the first start port 121 or the second start port 122 is won, it is also possible to perform control such that the hold numbers U1 and U2 are subtracted in the order of winning.

  After subtracting the holding number U1 or the holding number U2 in S1104 or S1106, the special symbol fluctuation control unit 233 turns off the customer waiting flag set in the flag setting of the RAM 203 (S1107). The customer waiting flag is a flag for identifying that the pachinko gaming machine 100 is in the customer waiting state, and is set in the customer waiting setting process (S1116, see FIG. 15).

  Next, the special symbol variation control unit 233 executes jackpot determination processing and variation pattern selection processing by separate routines (S1108, S1109). Although details will be described later, the setting information for changing the special symbol displayed on the first special symbol display 221 and the second special symbol display 222 by the jackpot determination processing and the variation pattern selection processing (the jackpot symbol, game State, variation pattern, etc.) are determined. These pieces of information are included in a change start command sent to the effect control unit 300.

  Thereafter, the special symbol variation control unit 233 is displayed by the first special symbol display unit 221 and the second special symbol display unit 222 shown in FIG. 2 based on the setting contents determined in the jackpot determination process and the variation pattern selection process. The special symbol change is started (S1110). Then, a change start command including setting information (a jackpot symbol, a gaming state, a change pattern, etc.) indicating the setting contents is generated and set in the RAM 203 (S1111). The variation start command set in S1111 is transmitted to the effect control unit 300 by the output process shown in S806 of FIG.

  When it is determined in S1102 that the special symbol is changing (Yes in S1102), or after the change start command is set in S1111, the special symbol fluctuation control unit 233 determines whether or not the fluctuation time has elapsed (S1112). ). That is, it is determined whether or not the elapsed time from the start of the variation of the special symbol in S1110 has reached the variation time set in the variation pattern selection process in S1109. If the variation time has not passed (No in S1112), the special symbol variation is continued, and the special symbol processing is terminated as it is.

  On the other hand, when the variation time has elapsed (Yes in S1112), the special symbol variation control unit 233 first determines the variation of the special symbol in the first special symbol display 221 and the second special symbol display 222 as a big hit determination process in S1108. It stops at the symbol determined in (S1113). A change stop command for stopping a decorative design to be described later is set in the RAM 203 (S1114). Then, a stop routine process of another routine is executed (S1115). The contents of the stop process will be described later. The change stop command set in S1114 is transmitted to the effect control unit 300 by the output process shown in S806 of FIG.

[Big hit judgment processing by game control unit]
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the contents of the jackpot determination process (S1108 in FIG. 11).
In this jackpot determination process, the special symbol determination unit 234 of the game control unit 200 first determines a jackpot random number value in the current special symbol lottery (S1201), and determines whether or not the jackpot or small hit is made (S1202). , S1205). Whether the jackpot or the jackpot is determined is whether the jackpot random number obtained in S903 or S910 in FIG. 9 matches the value set as the jackpot winning value or the value set as the jackpot winning value It is determined by judging whether (refer Fig.20 (a)).

  If the result of the random number determination in S1201 is a big hit (Yes in S1202), then the special symbol determination unit 234 determines a big hit symbol random number value (S1203). Depending on the result of this determination, the type of jackpot (high or low probability state, short or short state, short or short state, long or short hit) is determined. Which jackpot is determined is determined by whether the value of the jackpot symbol random number acquired in S903 or S910 in FIG. 9 matches one of preset values for each jackpot type (FIG. 20 ( b)).

  After the above determination, the special symbol determination unit 234 sets the symbol representing the jackpot type determined by the determination of the jackpot symbol random number (the jackpot symbol) in the RAM 203 as setting information (S1204).

  If the result of the random number determination in S1201 is a small hit (No in S1202, Yes in S1205), then the special symbol determination unit 234 uses a symbol indicating that it is a small hit (hereinafter referred to as a small hit symbol) as setting information. It is set in the RAM 203 (S1206).

  If the result of the random number determination in S1201 is neither big win nor small win (No in S1202 and S1205), then the special symbol determination unit 234 uses the symbol indicating that the lottery is lost (hereinafter referred to as a lost symbol) as setting information in the RAM 203. (S1207).

[Change pattern selection process by game control unit]
FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the contents of the variation pattern selection process (S1109 in FIG. 11).
In this variation pattern selection process, the variation pattern selection unit 235 of the game control unit 200 first refers to the gaming state of the pachinko gaming machine 100 (whether it is a short time state or a short time state, and a high probability state or a low probability state). (S1301). Then, using the determination result of S1202 of the jackpot determination process (FIG. 12), it is determined whether or not the jackpot was won in this special symbol lottery (S1302). If it is a big hit (Yes in S1302), the fluctuation pattern selecting unit 235 reads the big hit fluctuation pattern table from the ROM 202 and sets it in the RAM 203 (S1303).

On the other hand, if the jackpot is not hit (No in S1302), the variation pattern selection unit 235 then determines a random number value for determining whether or not to perform a so-called reach effect for causing the player to expect a jackpot. (S1304). Whether or not the reach effect is performed is determined by determining whether or not the reach random number value acquired in S903 or S910 in FIG. 9 matches a preset value (see FIG. 20C). .
As a result of the determination using the random number value, when the reach effect is performed (Yes in S1305), the variation pattern selection unit 235 reads the variation pattern table for reach from the ROM 202 and sets it in the RAM 203 (S1306). When the reach effect is not performed (No in S1305), the variation pattern selection unit 235 reads the variation pattern table for loss from the ROM 202 and sets it in the RAM 203 (S1307).
Here, the fluctuation pattern table includes a plurality of fluctuation patterns prepared in advance (fluctuation time 3 seconds, 7 seconds, 13 seconds, 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 60 seconds, 90 seconds, etc.) and values of fluctuation pattern random numbers. Is a table in which

  Next, the variation pattern selection unit 235 determines the variation pattern random value using the variation pattern random value acquired in S903 or S910 of FIG. 9 and the variation pattern table set in S1303, S1306, and S1307 (S1308). ). That is, the fluctuation pattern selection unit 235 refers to the fluctuation pattern table set in the RAM 203 and selects a fluctuation pattern corresponding to the random value of the fluctuation pattern random number. Therefore, even if the same random number value is acquired, the gaming state of the pachinko gaming machine 100 (whether it is a short-time state or no-short-time state, and a high-probability state or a low-probability state), the result of a special symbol lottery (whether or not it is a big hit The variation pattern table to be referred to differs depending on the difference in whether or not the reach effect is performed when the jackpot is not hit.

  Thereafter, the variation pattern selection unit 235 sets the variation pattern selected in S1308 as setting information in the RAM 203 (S1309). The variation pattern setting information set in S1309 is included in the variation start command set in S1111 of FIG. 11, and is transmitted to the effect control unit 300 by the output process shown in S806 of FIG. Details of the variation pattern selected in this embodiment and its setting will be described later.

[Processing during stop by game control unit]
FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the contents of the suspension process (S1115 in FIG. 11).
In this stop process, the game control unit 200 first checks whether or not a flag indicating that the time is short (hereinafter, a time short flag) is turned on in the flag setting of the RAM 203 (S1401). When the time reduction flag is ON (Yes in S1401), the game control unit 200 subtracts 1 from the value of the number of lotteries (number of fluctuations) J in the time reduction state (S1402), and whether or not the number of lotteries J has become zero. (S1403). If the number of lotteries J = 0 (Yes in S1403), the time reduction flag is turned OFF (S1404). It should be noted that the operation for turning on the hourly flag and the setting of the initial value of the lottery count J are performed in a game state setting process (FIG. 18) in a special winning opening process (FIG. 17) described later.

  If the time reduction flag is OFF (No in S1401), or after the time reduction flag is turned OFF in S1404, or if the value of the lottery count J after subtraction in S1402 is not 0 (No in S1403), then game control The unit 200 checks whether or not a flag indicating a high probability state (hereinafter, probability variation flag) is set to ON in the flag setting of the RAM 203 (S1405). When both the probability variation flag and the previous time-short flag are ON, the high-probability short-time gaming state is established, and when the probability variation flag is ON and the time-short flag is OFF, the high-probability time-short no-game state.

  When the probability variation flag is ON (Yes in S1405), the game control unit 200 subtracts 1 from the value of the number of lotteries (number of variations) X in the high probability state (S1406), and whether or not the number of lotteries X has become 0. This is checked (S1407). If the number of lotteries X = 0 (Yes in S1407), the probability variation flag is turned OFF (S1408). Note that the operation for turning on the probability change flag and the setting of the initial value of the lottery number X are performed in a game state setting process (FIG. 18) in a special prize opening process (FIG. 17) described later.

  If the probability change flag is OFF (No in S1405), or after the probability change flag is turned OFF in S1408, or if the value of the number of lotteries X after subtraction in S1406 is not 0 (No in S1407), then game control The unit 200 determines whether or not a big win has been won in this special symbol lottery (S1409). If it is a big hit (Yes in S1409), the game control unit 200 next determines whether or not the type of the big win is a long win (S1410).

  Here, the determination of whether or not the jackpot is possible can be made based on the determination result of the jackpot determination process (FIG. 12). For example, if any of the symbols shown in the diagram of FIG. 20B to be described later is set, Yes is obtained in S1409. If a lost symbol or a small bonus symbol is set in the RAM 203 by the big hit determination process, No in S1409.

  If the jackpot type is a long win (Yes in S1410), the game control unit 200 turns on the long win game flag (S1411). Thereby, the setting of the gaming state in the RAM 203 becomes a jackpot gaming state (long winning gaming state) in which the jackpot type is long winning. In addition, here, in the long hit, it is not distinguished whether it is a high probability state or a low probability state. Whether the state is a high probability state or a low probability state is specified by turning on a corresponding flag in a game state setting process (FIG. 18) in a special prize opening process (FIG. 17) described later.

  If the jackpot type is not long hit (No in S1410), the game control unit 200 turns on the short hit game flag (S1412). Thereby, the setting of the gaming state in the RAM 203 becomes a big hit gaming state (short winning gaming state) in which the big hit type is short hit. Similar to the case of long hit, the case of short hit does not distinguish between a high probability state and a low probability state.

  After turning on the jackpot game flag in S1411 or S1412, the game control unit 200 initializes the values of the lottery times J and X (S1413). Further, the game control unit 200 turns off the time reduction flag when the time reduction flag is ON in S1401 and the lottery count J is not 0 in S1403 (S1414). Similarly, when the probability variation flag is ON in S1405 and the number of lotteries X is not 0 in S1407, the probability variation flag is turned OFF (S1414).

After initializing the values of the lottery times J and X in S1413, the game control unit 200 starts an opening operation (S1417). Here, the content of the opening operation differs depending on whether the winning game flag is turned ON in S1411 or S1412. That is, depending on the state of the big hit game flag, one of the opening operations set in each of the long win games and the short win game state is performed.
Thereafter, the game control unit 200 sets an opening command for performing an effect in the opening operation according to the jackpot game flag in the effect control unit 300 in the RAM 203 (S1418), and ends the in-stop process. This opening command is transmitted to the effect control unit 300 in the output process shown in S806 of FIG.

On the other hand, when the result of the special symbol lottery this time is not a big hit (No in S1409), the game control unit 200 determines whether or not the result of the special symbol lottery this time is a big hit (S1415). ). If it is not a small hit (No in S1415), the in-stop process is terminated.
On the other hand, when it is a small hit (Yes in S1415), the game control unit 200 starts a small hit game (S1416). Thereby, the setting of the gaming state in the RAM 203 becomes the small hit gaming state. In the small hit game, as described above, the special winning opening 125 is opened and closed a predetermined number of times, and is ended after a predetermined time has elapsed.

[Customer waiting setting process by game control unit]
FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the contents of the customer waiting setting process (S1116 in FIG. 11).
In this customer waiting setting process, the game control unit 200 first checks whether or not the customer waiting flag is ON in the flag setting of the RAM 203 (S1501). Here, the customer waiting flag is a flag that is set to identify that the pachinko gaming machine 100 is in a customer waiting state.

  If the customer waiting flag is ON, the pachinko gaming machine 100 is in a customer waiting state, and thus the processing is terminated as it is (Yes in S1501). On the other hand, when the customer waiting flag is OFF, the game control unit 200 generates a customer waiting command and sets it in the RAM 203 (S1502), and turns on the customer waiting flag (S1503). The customer waiting command set in S1502 is transmitted to the effect control unit 300 in the output process shown in S806 of FIG. The customer waiting flag is set in a state where there is no suspension with the special symbol change stopped.

[Normal symbol processing by game control unit]
FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the contents of the normal symbol processing in the symbol processing shown in S803 of FIG.
In this normal symbol process, the normal symbol variation control unit 236 of the game control unit 200 first checks whether or not the auxiliary game flag is ON in the flag setting of the RAM 203 (S1601). Here, the auxiliary game flag is a flag that is set when a normal symbol lottery is won. The state in which the auxiliary game flag is set is a state in which the electric tulip 123 is opened in accordance with the electric tulip process (FIG. 19) described later and it is easy to win the second start port 122 (auxiliary game state).

  When the auxiliary game flag is ON, since the auxiliary game state has already been reached and the normal symbol is stopped, the normal symbol process is terminated without starting the normal symbol variation (Yes in S1601). On the other hand, if the auxiliary game flag is OFF (No in S1601), then the normal symbol variation control unit 236 determines whether or not the current state of the pachinko gaming machine 100 is in the normal symbol variation (S1602). If the normal symbol is not changing (No in S1602), then the normal symbol variation control unit 236 determines whether the number G of the normal symbols remaining unchanged (see FIG. 10) is 1 or more (S1603). If the holding number G = 0 (No in S1603), it means that there is no winning for starting the normal symbol lottery, and therefore the processing is terminated without starting the normal symbol variation.

  On the other hand, when the reserved number G is 1 or more (Yes in S1603), the normal symbol variation control unit 236 subtracts 1 from the value of the reserved number G (S1604). Then, the normal symbol determination unit 232 determines a winning random number in the current normal symbol lottery to determine whether or not the normal symbol lottery has been won (S1605). Whether or not the winner has been won is determined by determining whether or not the value of the winning random number acquired in S1003 in FIG. 10 matches the value set as the winning value in the table shown in FIG. It is determined.

  Next, the normal symbol fluctuation control unit 236 sets the normal symbol according to the result of the normal symbol lottery (S1606). That is, when a normal symbol lottery is won, a symbol representing the winning (hereinafter referred to as a winning symbol) is set in the RAM 203 as setting information. On the other hand, when the normal symbol lottery is not won, a symbol indicating that the lottery has been lost (hereinafter referred to as a lost symbol) is set in the RAM 203 as setting information.

  Next, the normal symbol variation control unit 236 sets the variation time of the normal symbol (S1607). This variation time is set based on the time reduction flag set in the processes of S1404 and S1414 in FIG. 14, and S1804 and S1807 in FIG. That is, when the time reduction flag is ON in the setting in S1607, it is set to a short time (for example, 1.5 seconds), and when the time reduction flag is OFF, it is set to a long time (for example, 4.0 seconds). Is done. After this setting, the normal symbol fluctuation control unit 236 starts normal symbol fluctuations in the normal symbol display 223 shown in FIGS. 2A and 3 based on the setting contents of S1607 (S1608). In addition, the fluctuation pattern of a normal symbol can also be determined by lottery. In this case, for example, when the game ball passes through the gate 124, the random number acquisition unit 231 acquires the normal pattern variation pattern random value, and in S1307, the normal symbol variation control unit 236 generates the normal symbol variation pattern random value. By determining, the variation time is set.

  After starting the change of the normal symbol in S1608 or when it is determined that the normal symbol is changing in S1602 (Yes in S1602), the normal symbol change control unit 236 determines whether or not the change time has passed (S1609). ). That is, it is determined whether or not the elapsed time from the start of fluctuation of the normal symbol in S1608 has reached the fluctuation time set in S1607. If the variation time has not passed (No in S1609), the normal symbol variation is continued, and the normal symbol processing is terminated as it is.

  On the other hand, when the fluctuation time is over (Yes in S1609), the normal symbol fluctuation control unit 236 stops the fluctuation of the normal symbol in the normal symbol display 223 (S1610). Then, the normal symbol variation control unit 236 determines whether or not the determination result in S1305 is a win (S1611). If it is a win (Yes in S1611), the auxiliary game flag is turned ON (S1612). On the other hand, if the lottery is off (No in S1611), the normal symbol processing is terminated without turning on the auxiliary game flag.

[Large winning mouth processing by game control unit]
FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the contents of the special prize opening process in the electric accessory process shown in S804 of FIG.
In this big prize opening process, the big prize opening operation control unit 237 of the game control unit 200 first checks whether or not the big hit game flag is ON in the flag setting of the RAM 203 (S1701). When the big hit game flag is OFF, there is no winning in the big winning opening 125, and the big winning opening process is ended (No in S1701). On the other hand, when the jackpot game flag is ON (Yes in S1701), the big prize opening operation control unit 237 opens in the operation control at the time of jackpot that is started in the pachinko gaming machine 100 being stopped (FIG. 14) It is determined whether or not the operation is in progress (S1702).

  If the pachinko gaming machine 100 is opening (Yes in S1702), the next prize opening operation control unit 237 determines whether or not a predetermined time (opening time) for performing the opening operation has elapsed. (S1703). If the opening time has not elapsed, the opening operation at the special winning opening 125 is continued, and the special winning opening process is terminated (No in S1703). On the other hand, if the opening time has elapsed (Yes in S1703), the special prize opening operation control unit 237 performs the operation setting of the special prize opening 125 (S1704), and initializes the winning number C (C = 0). Then, the value of the number R of rounds of operation of the big prize opening 125 is incremented by 1 from the current value (S1706), and the big prize opening 125 is started (opened) (S1707).

  In the operation setting of S1704, the operation pattern of the special winning opening 125 and the number of rounds (operation round number) operated by the operation pattern are set. As the case where the big prize opening 125 is operated, there are a case where it is a big win per long or short in a special symbol lottery and a case where it is a small win. The operation pattern and the number of rounds are variously set according to the hit type. In the jackpot game, it is stipulated that the winning prize opening 125 is continuously operated a plurality of times (a plurality of rounds). As an example, in the case of a long hit, for example, 15 rounds (15R) are operated, and 29.5 seconds are released once in one round. In the case of a short hit, for example, 15 rounds (15R) are operated, and one round is performed once for 0.1 seconds. In the case of a small hit, for example, one round (1R) is operated, and 0.1 second is released 15 times in this round. Here, when the operation with short hits and the operation with small hits are compared in the above examples, both 0.1 seconds of opening is performed 15 times. That is, the action of the big winning opening 125 that can be seen by the player is the same for the case of short win and the case of small win, and the short win and the small win are distinguished only from the action of the big winning opening 125 on the game board 110. I can't do it.

  As another example, 15 rounds (15R) are activated per long, 29.5 seconds are released once per round, 2 rounds (2R) are activated per short, and 0 are rounded per round. .9 seconds are opened twice, and with a small hit, one round (1R) is operated, and 0.9 seconds is opened twice in this round. In this case as well, when the operation with short hits and the operation with small hits are compared, both 0.9 seconds are released twice, and the action of the big prize opening 125 that can be seen by the player is in the case of short hits. It is the same in the case of small hits.

  The law stipulates that the cumulative opening time of the special winning opening 125 must be set within 1.8 seconds for a small hit. On the other hand, in the case of a big hit (long hit or short win), the big winning opening 125 must be continuously opened a plurality of times. Therefore, when trying to make it difficult to visually distinguish the operation with a small hit and the operation with a short hit as described above, within the range that satisfies the cumulative open time within 1.8 seconds in one operation, An operation mode in which the big prize opening 125 is opened two or more times is set, and in the short win, the same number of rounds as the number of small hits is set.

  Next, the special winning opening operation control unit 237 determines whether or not the opening time in the operation pattern set in S1704 has elapsed (S1708). If the open state at the big prize opening 125 has not passed the opening time (No in S1708), then the big prize opening operation control unit 237 has a predetermined number (for example, 9) It is determined whether or not (S1709). If the opening time has not elapsed and the number C of winning prizes is less than the prescribed number, the operating state (open state) of the big winning opening 125 is continued, so the big winning opening process is terminated (No in S1709). ). On the other hand, if the opening time has elapsed (Yes in S1708) or the winning number C reaches the specified number (Yes in S1709), the special winning opening operation control unit 237 terminates the operation of the special winning opening 125 (closing). (S1710).

  Next, the special winning opening operation control unit 237 determines whether or not the number R of rounds of operation of the special winning opening 125 has reached the maximum value set in S1704 (S1711). If the maximum value has not been reached, the remaining operations are performed, and the special winning opening process is terminated (No in S1711).

If the number R of rounds of operation of the special prize opening 125 has reached the maximum value (Yes in S1711), the special prize opening operation control unit 237 then starts an ending operation (S1712). Here, the content of the ending operation corresponds to the state of the big hit game flag among the ending operations set in the long win game and the short win game.
Thereafter, the special winning opening operation control unit 237 sets an ending command for performing an effect in the ending operation according to the big hit game flag in the effect control unit 300 in the RAM 203 (S1713). This ending command is transmitted to the effect control unit 300 in the output process shown in S806 of FIG.

  Next, the special winning opening operation control unit 237 resets the round number R of the operation of the special winning opening 125 to 0 (S1714), and then performs an ending operation in which an elapsed time from the start of the ending operation is set in advance. It is determined whether the power time (ending time) has elapsed (S1717). If the ending time has not elapsed, the ending operation is continued, and thus the big prize opening process is terminated (No in S1717). On the other hand, if the ending time has elapsed (Yes in S1717), next, the big prize opening operation control unit 237 goes through the game state setting process by the game control unit 200 (S1718), and then turns off the big hit game flag, The big prize opening process is terminated (S1719). The contents of the game state setting process will be described later.

  If it is determined in S1702 that the pachinko gaming machine 100 is not opening (No in S1702), the special winning opening operation control unit 237 determines whether or not it is ending (S1715). If the ending is in progress (Yes in S1715), the operations after S1717 are executed.

On the other hand, if the pachinko gaming machine 100 is not ending (No in S1715), the special winning opening operation control unit 237 next determines whether or not the special winning opening 125 is operating (opening) (S1716). If it is not in operation (No in S1716), the operation after S1705 is executed. If it is in operation (Yes in S1716), the operation after S1708 is executed.
The effect performed in the small hit game described above is the same as the effect performed in the short hit game, and it is not possible to distinguish short hit and small hit from the effect.

[Game state setting process]
FIG. 18 shows the content of the game state setting process (S1718) performed by the game control unit 200 when the ending time has elapsed (Yes in S1717).
When the game state setting process is performed, the jackpot game flag is set to ON in S1701 of FIG. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 18, the game control unit 200 first determines the type of jackpot (S1801, S1802, S1803, S1806). These determinations can be made based on, for example, the type of symbol set as setting information in the RAM 203 in the jackpot determination process (FIG. 12). Since these determinations are substantially the same as S1202, S1203, and S1205 in the jackpot determination process (FIG. 12), the determination results of S1202, S1203, and S1205 may be used.

If it is a small hit (Yes in S1801), the gaming state is not changed, so the gaming state setting process is terminated.
When the type of jackpot is a jackpot in the low probability short game state (No in S1801, Yes in S1802 and S1803), the game control unit 200 turns on the short flag (S1804). Thereby, the setting of the gaming state in the RAM 203 becomes the low gaming state when the probability is low. In addition, the game control unit 200 sets an initial value of the lottery count J (S1805) and ends the game state setting process. The initial value of the lottery number J is 100 in the illustrated example. Therefore, if the lottery in the low probability short game state is performed 100 times, the low probability short game state is ended and the low probability short short game state is entered.

  On the other hand, when the type of jackpot is a jackpot of the low probability short-time non-game state (No in S1801, Yes in 1802, No in S1803), the game control unit 200 ends the process without turning on both the time-short flag and the probability change flag. To do. Therefore, the setting of the game state of the RAM 203 for the game after the jackpot becomes a low probability short time no game state.

  When the type of jackpot is a jackpot of the short probability gaming state with high probability (No in S1801, S1802, Yes in S1806), the game control unit 200 sets the hour flag to ON (S1807) and sets the initial value of the number of lottery times J. (S1808). In this case, the initial value of the number of times of lottery J is 10,000 in the illustrated example. Further, the game control unit 200 turns on the probability change flag (S1809), and sets the initial value of the number of lotteries X (S1810). The initial value of the number of times of lottery X is 10,000 in the illustrated example. As a result, the setting of the gaming state in the RAM 203 becomes a high probability and short gaming state. If the lottery in the high probability short game state is performed 10,000 times, the high probability short game state is terminated and the low probability short short game state is entered.

  On the other hand, when the type of jackpot is a jackpot of the high probability short-time non-game state (No in S1801, S1802, and S1806), the game control unit 200 turns on only the probability variation flag (S1809), and the initial value ( 10000 times) is set (S1810). Thereby, the setting of the gaming state in the RAM 203 becomes a high probability short time no gaming state. Then, if the lottery in the high probability short-time non-game state is performed 10,000 times, the high-probability short-time non-game state is finished and the low-probability short-time non-game state is entered.

[Electric tulip processing by game control unit]
FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the contents of the electric tulip process in the electric accessory process shown in S804 of FIG.
In the electric tulip process, the electric tulip operation control unit 238 of the game control unit 200 first checks whether or not the auxiliary game flag is ON in the flag setting of the RAM 203 (S1901). When the auxiliary game flag is OFF, the electric tulip 123 is not released, and thus the electric tulip process is terminated (No in S1901). On the other hand, when the auxiliary game flag is ON (Yes in S1901), the electric tulip operation control unit 238 determines whether or not the electric tulip 123 is operating (S1902).

  When the electric tulip 123 is not in operation (No in S1902), the electric tulip operation control unit 238 sets the operation pattern of the electric tulip 123 (S1903), and operates the electric tulip 123 with the set operation pattern (S1904). . Here, the operation pattern is set based on the time reduction flag set in the processes of S1404 and S1414 in FIG. 14, S1804 and S1807 in FIG. For example, when the time reduction flag is OFF at the time of setting in S1903, an operation pattern that opens once with an opening time of 0.15 seconds is set, and when the time reduction flag is ON, the opening time of 1.80 seconds is set. An operating pattern that opens three times in time is set. Thus, normally, when the time reduction flag is ON (when it is in the time reduction state), the electric tulip 123 is opened a plurality of times for a long time, and the winning support that makes it easy to win the second start port 122 (electricity chewing support). Is done. A plurality of operation patterns (types of auxiliary games) of the electric tulip 123 when the time flag is ON or OFF are prepared, and the operation is performed according to the type determined in the normal symbol processing (see FIG. 16). You may comprise so that a pattern may be set.

  When it is determined in S1902 that the electric tulip 123 is in operation (Yes in S1902), or after the electric tulip 123 is operated in S1904, the electric tulip operation control unit 238 passes the open time in the set operation pattern. It is determined whether or not it has been done (S1905). If the opening time has not elapsed, the operation state (open state) of the electric tulip 123 is continued, and thus the electric tulip process is terminated (No in S1905). On the other hand, if the opening time has elapsed (Yes in S1905), the electric tulip operation control unit 238 sets the auxiliary game flag to OFF and ends the electric tulip process (S1906).

[Random number judgment method]
Here, a determination method using random numbers performed in the jackpot determination process (FIG. 12), the variation pattern selection process (FIG. 13), the normal symbol process (FIG. 16), and the like will be described in detail.
FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a random number (determination table) used in the special symbol lottery and the normal symbol lottery in the present embodiment.
FIG. 20 (a) shows a configuration example of jackpot random numbers used in the special symbol lottery, FIG. 20 (b) shows a configuration example of jackpot symbol random numbers used in the special symbol lottery, and FIG. 20 (c) shows a special symbol lottery. A configuration example of reach random numbers used, and a configuration example of hit random numbers used in normal symbol lottery are shown in FIG.

  Referring to FIG. 20 (a), as the jackpot random number determination value, the jackpot when the gaming state of the pachinko gaming machine 100 at the time of jackpot determination is a low probability state and the jackpot when the game state at the jackpot determination is a high probability state 2 types and small hits are set. The range of values of random numbers (big hit random numbers) is 300 from 0 to 299 in all cases. In the case of a special symbol lottery in a low probability state (a jackpot lottery), only one winning value is set, and the winning probability is 1/300. In the case of a special symbol lottery in a high probability state, 10 winning values are set, and the winning probability is 10/300 (= 1/30). That is, in the example shown in the figure, if the winning symbols 121 and 122 are won in the high probability state and the special symbol lottery is performed, the winning probability is 10 times that in the case where the special symbol lottery is performed in the low probability state. Further, three winning values are set regardless of the low probability state or the high probability state, and the winning probability is 3/300 (= 1/100).

  Referring to FIG. 20B, five types of jackpot symbols are prepared: low probability symbol A, low probability symbol B, high probability symbol A, high probability symbol B, and latent symbol symbol. Here, the low-probability symbol A and the low-probability symbol B are symbols indicating that the low-probability state is a big hit. Of these, the low-probability symbol A is a long win (low-probability short-time gaming state), and the low-probability symbol B is Represents each short hit (low probability, short no-game state). The high-probability symbol A and the high-probability symbol B are symbols representing a jackpot of a high-probability state. Among these symbols, the high-probability symbol A is a long win (high-probability short-time gaming state) and the high-probability symbol B is a short-win ( High probability short-time non-game state). The latent symbol is a symbol representing that it is a big hit in a high probability short-time no-game state. Therefore, the high probability symbol B and the latent probability symbol have the same gaming state after the jackpot game, but the latent probability symbol is a condition for performing a latent effect that does not clearly notify the player that the probability state is high. Therefore, it is provided separately from the high probability symbol B. The range of random number values is 250 from 0 to 249. In addition, in the jackpot symbol random number, a winning value is set for each of the first start port 121 and the second start port 122 that trigger the special symbol lottery.

In the low probability pattern A, 35 values are assigned as winning values in both the first start port 121 and the second start port 122. Therefore, the probability of winning with the low probability symbol A when winning a jackpot is 35/250 (= 7/50).
In the low probability symbol B, 15 values are assigned as winning values for both the first start port 121 and the second start port 122. Therefore, when winning the jackpot, the probability of winning with the low probability symbol B is 15/250 (= 3/50).

In the high probability symbol A, 25 values are assigned as winning values when winning in the first start port 121. Therefore, the probability of winning with the high-probability symbol A is 25/250 (= 1/10) in the case of winning the jackpot in the special symbol lottery started by winning the first starting port 121.
On the other hand, 175 values are assigned as winning values when winning at the second start port 122. Therefore, the probability of winning with the high-probability symbol A is 175/250 (= 7/10) in the case of winning the jackpot in the special symbol lottery started by winning the second starting port 122.

In the high-probability symbol B, 75 values are assigned as winning values when winning in the first start port 121. Therefore, the probability of winning with the high-probability symbol B in the special symbol lottery started by winning the first starting port 121 is 75/250 (= 3/10).
On the other hand, 25 values are assigned as winning values when winning at the second start port 122. Therefore, the probability of winning with the high-probability symbol B in the special symbol lottery started by winning the second starting port 122 is 25/250 (= 1/10).

In the latent symbol, 100 values are assigned as winning values when winning at the first start port 121. Therefore, the probability of winning in the latent symbol when winning a big win in the special symbol lottery started by winning the first starting port 121 is 100/250 (= 2/5).
On the other hand, the winning value in the latent symbol is not assigned to the second starting port 122, and when winning in the second starting port 122, it is not won in the latent symbol.

  As described above, in the example shown in FIG. 20B, the jackpot when winning the first starting port 121 has a probability of becoming a jackpot (high probability symbol B, latent probability symbol) of the high probability short-time non-game state. The probability that the jackpot when winning the second start port 122 is high is a jackpot (high probability symbol A) in the short game state with high probability is high. In this way, by making the winning probabilities of the jackpot types different when winning at the first start port 121 and when winning at the second start port 122, various game characteristics can be provided. Further, the arrangement of the first start port 121 and the second start port 122 on the game board 110 is devised so that it is easy to aim at either the first start port 121 or the second start port 122 in a specific state (mode). By configuring the above, it is possible to encourage the player to participate in more aggressive games.

Next, the determination of reach random numbers will be described.
Referring to FIG. 20C, the range of random number values is 250 from 0 to 249, and 22 random numbers are assigned to the lottery result (with reach) for performing the reach effect, and the reach effect is not performed. 228 random numbers are assigned to the result (no reach). In other words, in the illustrated example, when a special symbol lottery is not won, a reach effect is performed with a probability of 22/250 (= 11/125). Here, the reach effect is an effect performed in the image display unit 114 when the special symbol changes. Hereinafter, the effect at the time of the special symbol change that does not perform the reach effect is referred to as an effect without reach, and the reach effect is also referred to as an effect with reach.

  In many cases, when the special symbol changes, the first special symbol display 221 and the second special symbol display 222 (hereinafter referred to as the special symbol display units 221 and 222 if they are not distinguished) are linked with display control. In the image display unit 114, an effect using a decorative design is performed. The decorative design is configured, for example, by displaying three rows of symbols composed of a number sequence in which numbers 1 to 9 are continuously written in the vertical direction. Then, at the same time when the special symbol display on the special symbol indicators 221 and 222 is started, the decorative symbol displayed on the image display unit 114 starts scrolling. Also, after a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the special symbol variation display (decorative symbol scroll start), the special symbol is stopped and displayed at the same time. Generally, when the determination result of the special symbol lottery is a big hit, three identical numbers are arranged on a straight line extending horizontally or diagonally in the stop display of the decorative symbol. An effect using a decorative symbol performed in accordance with the variation display of the special symbol is referred to as a variation effect.

In the production with reach, the following operation is performed on the decorative design as a variation production. First, when the decorative symbol scrolling stops and each symbol is stopped and displayed, first, any two symbols (sequence) stop first. At this time, the same number is stopped and displayed on a straight line extending horizontally or diagonally. Next, the last row gradually slows down the scroll speed, giving the player a sense of expectation that three identical numbers will be aligned on a straight line. In such an effect with reach, a so-called SP (super) reach effect or SP / SP reach effect in which various characters appear or stories develop before the last one column of scrolling stops. There is a case. Further, as shown in FIG. 21, which will be described later, in this embodiment, when the variation time is longer (for example, 90 seconds or 60 seconds), the SP reach or SP / SP reach effect is set to be executed. . Note that the above-described variation effect performed together with the reach effect is also referred to as a reach variation effect.
On the other hand, in the non-reach effect, the design is stopped and displayed in a state where the same numbers are not aligned on a straight line extending horizontally or diagonally without producing an effect that gives the player a sense of expectation as in the effect with reach.

As described above, the reach random number is used to determine whether to perform an effect with reach or an effect without reach in the image display unit 114 when the determination result of the jackpot random number is a loss. A reachable effect appears with a probability, so that the player is appropriately expected.
In addition, when a big win is won, a reachable effect is always performed, and finally the decorative symbols are stopped and displayed in a state where the same numbers are aligned on a straight line extending horizontally or diagonally. On the other hand, in the case of winning with a small win or loss, the decorative symbols are stopped and displayed in a state where the same numbers are not aligned on the straight line.

Next, the determination of the winning random number used for the normal symbol lottery will be described.
Referring to FIG. 20 (d), the range of random number values is 10 from 0 to 9, and one value is assigned as the winning value when the time-short flag is OFF, and the winning value when the time-short flag is ON. Nine values are assigned. Therefore, when the game ball passes through the gate 124 and the normal symbol lottery is performed in the timeless state, it is won with a probability of 1/10. On the other hand, if the game ball passes through the gate 124 and the normal symbol lottery is performed in the short-time state, the player wins with a probability of 9/10.
In addition, although not particularly illustrated, it is possible to set a plurality of hits with different contents of the auxiliary game (open pattern of the electric tulips 123) performed when it is determined that the normal symbol lottery is won. In this case, for example, the winning symbol random number for specifying the winning type in the normal symbol lottery is set in the same manner as the jackpot symbol random number for specifying the winning symbol type in the special symbol lottery (see FIG. 17B). Then, the game control unit 200 acquires the random number value of the winning design random number together with the random number value of the winning random number in the gate switch process (see FIG. 7) by the random number acquiring unit 231, and is acquired by the normal symbol determining unit 232. The hit type is specified based on the random value.
Note that the random number range, winning value ratio, and winning value shown in the configuration example of each random number in FIG. 20 are merely examples, and are not limited to the illustrated values.

[Setting example of fluctuation pattern]
Next, an example of setting the variation pattern and table used in the variation pattern selection process shown in FIG. 13 will be described.
FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a setting example of the variation pattern and table used in the variation pattern selection process shown in FIG. FIG. 21 shows a setting example that is selected when a game ball is won at the first start port 121 and the gaming state is a low probability short-time non-game state or a high probability short-time non-state. .

  Although not shown in the present embodiment, as the setting of the variation pattern used for the variation pattern selection process, the variation selected when the gaming state is the low probability short gaming state or the high probability short gaming state. There are also patterns. Then, a variation pattern table for a short time state that is referred to when selecting those variation patterns is provided, and has different setting contents from the variation pattern table for a short time state. Furthermore, regarding the case where a game ball wins at the second start port 122, a table for setting a variation pattern selected in the variation pattern selection process may be provided individually, or a game ball wins at the first start port 121. In this case, the table to be referenced may be shared and referenced.

  As illustrated in FIG. 21, the variation patterns A to D are variation patterns that are selected when the determination result of the special symbol lottery is a big hit (Yes in S1302 in FIG. 13). The variation patterns E to H are variation patterns that are selected when the determination result of the special symbol lottery is out of order and the reach effect is performed (Yes in S1305 in FIG. 13). The variation patterns I to K are set as variation patterns that are selected when the determination result of the special symbol lottery is out of order and the reach effect is not performed (No in S1305 in FIG. 13). Since the reach effect is always performed when the determination result of the special symbol lottery is a big hit, the presence or absence of the reach effect is not referred to when the variation patterns A to D are selected.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 21, four types of variation patterns A to D are set as variation patterns when the determination result of the special symbol lottery is a big hit (in the case of Yes in S1302 in FIG. 13). Also, seven types of variation patterns E to K are set as variation patterns when the determination result of the special symbol lottery is out of place (in the case of No in S1302 in FIG. 13). The fluctuation time is 90 seconds for fluctuation pattern A, 60 seconds for fluctuation pattern B, 30 seconds for fluctuation pattern C,
Fluctuation pattern D is 15 seconds, fluctuation pattern E is 90 seconds, fluctuation pattern F is 60 seconds, fluctuation pattern G is 30 seconds, fluctuation pattern H is 15 seconds, fluctuation pattern I is 13 seconds, fluctuation pattern J is 7 seconds, fluctuation Pattern K is set to 3 seconds.

Further, as shown in FIG. 21, the range of the random number (variation pattern random number) value is 250 from 0 to 249 in all cases.
When the determination result of the special symbol lottery is a big hit, 100 random numbers are assigned to the variation pattern A, and a variation time of 90 seconds is set with a probability of 100/250. Also, 75 random numbers are assigned to the fluctuation pattern B, and a fluctuation time of 60 seconds is set with a probability of 75/250. Furthermore, 50 random numbers are assigned to the variation pattern C, and a variation time of 30 seconds is set with a probability of 50/250. Then, 25 random numbers are assigned to the variation pattern D, and a variation time of 15 seconds is set with a probability of 25/250.
That is, among the variation patterns A to D selected when the determination result of the special symbol lottery is a big hit, the variation pattern A is selected at the highest rate, the variation pattern B is selected at the next highest rate, and the next It is possible to set so that the variation pattern C is selected at a higher rate and the variation pattern D is selected at the lowest rate. And, when winning the jackpot, it is easy to execute the variation effect over a relatively long time.

Also, when the determination result of the special symbol lottery is out of order and an effect with reach is performed, 25 random numbers are assigned to the variation pattern E, and a variation time of 90 seconds is set with a probability of 25/250. The Further, 50 random numbers are assigned to the variation pattern F, and a variation time of 60 seconds is set with a probability of 50/250. Furthermore, 75 random numbers are assigned to the fluctuation pattern G, and a fluctuation time of 30 seconds is set with a probability of 75/250. Then, 100 random numbers are assigned to the variation pattern H, and a variation time of 15 seconds is set with a probability of 100/250.
In other words, the variation pattern H is selected at the highest rate among the variation patterns E to H selected when the determination result of the special symbol lottery is out of order and the effect with reach is performed, and the variation pattern at the next highest rate. It can be set such that G is selected, the variation pattern F is selected at the next highest rate, and the variation pattern E is selected at the lowest rate. When the effect with reach and the effect with reach is performed, the variation effect over a relatively short time is easily executed.

  When the determination result of the special symbol lottery is out of order and a reachless effect is performed, 250 random numbers are assigned to the variation patterns I to K. The variation pattern I is selected when the number of holdings is 0, the variation pattern J is selected when the number of holdings is 1 or 2, and the variation pattern K is selected when the number of holdings is 3 or 4. Is set as a fluctuation pattern. That is, in the case where an effect without reach and a reachless effect is performed, the average time of symbol variation is set to be shorter as the number of pending determinations in the special symbol lottery is larger.

  The game control unit 200 determines the variation pattern random number value (see S903 and S910 in FIG. 9) acquired when the game ball wins the start openings 121 and 122, the gaming state of the pachinko gaming machine 100, presence / absence of reach effect, The variation pattern of the special symbol is determined based on the condition such as the number. Then, the information of the determined variation pattern of the special symbol is included in the variation start command and is sent from the game control unit 200 to the effect control unit 300. As will be described later, in the effect control unit 300, an effect corresponding to a change time specified based on information of a change pattern included in the change start command (executable during the change time) as an effect when the special symbol changes Is selected and executed.

[Configuration of the RAM of the Game Control Unit and the RAM of the Effect Control Unit for Performing the Prediction Effect Based on Prior Determination]
Next, the configuration of the RAM 203 of the game control unit 200 and the RAM 303 of the effect control unit 300 in the present embodiment for executing a notice effect based on prior determination will be described.
FIG. 22 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the RAM 203 (see FIG. 3) of the game control unit 200 according to the present embodiment. 22A is a block diagram showing the configuration of the storage area 204, and FIG. 22B is a block diagram showing the configuration of each storage unit shown in FIG. 22A.

  As shown in FIG. 22A, the RAM 203 includes a storage area 204 as a special symbol holding storage area for storing the jackpot random number acquired by the jackpot random number lottery. This storage area 204 has eight storage units corresponding to the maximum number of reservations of the first start port 121 and the number of reservations of the second start port 122 (when the upper limit value of each reservation number is 4). . Specifically, the storage area 204 includes a first storage unit 204a, a second storage unit 204b, a third storage unit 204c, a fourth storage unit 204d, a fifth storage unit 204e, a sixth storage unit 204f, and a seventh storage. Part 204g and eighth storage part 204h.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG.22 (b), each of these memory | storage parts 204a-204h is an area | region where the information showing the distinction of the winning start port (1st start port 121 or 2nd start port 122) is memorize | stored. And an area for storing the acquired jackpot random number, an area for storing the design random number, an area for storing the reach random number, and an area for storing the variation pattern random number. That is, the jackpot random number, the design random number, the reach random number, and the variation pattern random number are stored in each of the storage units 204a to 204h.

  Here, each random number is stored in order from the first storage unit 204a. More specifically, for example, when no random number is stored in any of the first storage unit 204a to the eighth storage unit 204h, the acquired random number is stored in the first storage unit 204a. Further, for example, when random numbers are already stored in the first storage unit 204a to the fourth storage unit 204d, the acquired random number is stored in the fifth storage unit 204e.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the RAM 303 (see FIG. 3) of the effect control unit 300 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 23A is a block diagram showing the configuration of the reserved storage areas 305 and 306, and FIG. 23B is a block diagram showing the configuration of each storage unit shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 23A, the RAM 303 includes a first reserved storage area 305 and a second reserved storage area 306 as a reserved status storage area for storing a status where a reserved ball is held. The first holding storage area 305 and the second holding storage area 306 correspond to holding for winning in the first starting port 121 and holding for winning in the second starting port 122, respectively. Have. Specifically, the first reserved storage area 305 includes a first storage unit 305a, a second storage unit 305b, a third storage unit 305c, and a fourth storage unit 305d. The second reserved storage area 306 includes a first storage unit 306a, a second storage unit 306b, a third storage unit 306c, and a fourth storage unit 306d.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 23B, each of these storage units 305a to 305d and 306a to 306d has a hold flag storage area for turning ON / OFF the hold flag, and a notification flag storage for turning ON / OFF the notification flag. And a region. The hold flag is a flag for identifying the presence or absence of a hold ball for each of the storage units 305a to 305d and 306a to 306d. That is, for example, when the number of holds due to winning at the first start port 121 is 3, the hold flag is turned ON in the three hold flag storage areas of the first to third storage units 305a, 305b, and 305c. The notification flag is a flag for setting whether or not a notice effect is to be performed based on the result of prior determination for each reserved ball. In the pachinko gaming machine 100 according to the present embodiment, the effect control unit 300 can set whether or not to perform a notice effect based on a pre-determination result in accordance with the gaming state and the state of the effect. Therefore, the notification flag is set to ON when the notice effect is performed, and the notification flag is set to OFF when the notice effect is not performed. For example, when the notice effect is performed for the third reserved ball among the three reserved balls, the notification flag is turned ON in the notification flag storage area of the third storage unit 305c.

  That is, the RAM 203 and the RAM 303 function as a storage unit that stores hold information that is start information based on establishment of a predetermined start condition with a predetermined number as a limit in the game control unit 200 and the effect control unit 300. In addition, the game control unit 200, based on the hold information that is the start information, before the determination of the special symbol determination unit 234 triggered by the establishment of the start condition corresponding to the start information, It is a prior determination means which performs the prior determination process regarding whether to transfer to. The effect control unit 300 is an effect control unit that performs a notice effect for giving a notice (improvement) of a preliminary determination result.

  Although not particularly shown, the RAM 203 has an area for storing prior determination information (hereinafter referred to as a prior determination information storage area) separately from the configuration shown in FIG. The pre-determination information is information obtained by the pre-determination process based on each random number (see S904 and S911 in FIG. 9). The content of the prior determination information is the same as the information obtained as various determination results in the special symbol processing (see FIG. 11), and specifically, whether or not a big hit (and whether or not a big hit), a big hit If it is, the type of the jackpot and the content of the production are information for indicating whether the production is a reachable or non-reach production, or the content of the variation pattern (variation time). The pre-determination information stored in the pre-determination information storage area is unique or independent from the hold information corresponding to the winning ball (holding ball) subjected to the pre-determination process (hereinafter referred to as hold information). At the timing, it is included in the prior determination result command and sent from the game control unit 200 to the effect control unit 300.

[Preliminary judgment processing]
Next, the prior determination process (see S904 and S911 in FIG. 9) will be described in detail.
In the pre-determination process in the present embodiment, the game control unit 200 makes a pre-determination using the same random number table as the random number configuration example described with reference to FIGS. 20 and 21 as follows.

FIG. 24-1 is a flowchart showing the contents of the pre-determination process (S904, S911 in FIG. 9) according to the present embodiment.
As illustrated in FIG. 24-1, the game control unit 200 first determines whether or not the gaming state is a high probability state (S2401), and if it is determined that the gaming state is a high probability state (Yes in S2401), the high probability state. Is selected, and a jackpot random number and a jackpot symbol random number are pre-determined (S2402). On the other hand, if it is determined No in S2401, the table for the low probability state is selected, and the jackpot random number and the jackpot symbol random number are determined in advance (S2403).

After pre-determination of the jackpot random number and jackpot symbol random number in S2402 or S2403, the game control unit 200 determines whether or not the gaming state is a short-time state (S2404), and determines that it is a short-time state (Yes in S2404), The table for the short time state is selected, and the reach random number is determined in advance (S2405). Further, the table for the short time state is selected, and the fluctuation pattern random number is preliminarily determined (S2406).
On the other hand, if it is determined No in S2404, a table for time reduction and no state is selected and a reach random number is determined in advance (S2407). Further, a table for timelessness and no-time state is selected, and a variation pattern random number is preliminarily determined (S2408).

  Thereafter, the game control unit 200 obtains the results of the jackpot random number prior determination obtained as described above, the results of the jackpot symbol random number prior determination, the reach random number prior determination result, and the variation pattern prior determination result. It is stored in the advance determination information storage area as advance determination information (S2409). Further, in order to transmit the advance determination information to the effect control unit 300, the advance determination result command including the advance determination information is set in the RAM 203 (S2410).

  Here, the above-described prior determination includes a random number value (see S903 and S910 in FIG. 9) acquired according to the winning of a game ball to the start ports 121 and 122, and a determination table used in the jackpot determination process (FIG. 20). And a determination table having the same configuration as that of the reference). That is, the determination itself after selecting the determination table to be used is the same as the determination in the jackpot determination process (see S1201 in FIG. 12). Therefore, in this embodiment, the jackpot determination processing subroutine (see S1108 in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12) used in the special symbol processing (see FIG. 11) is called to determine the random number in the above-described prior determination.

  With this configuration, in the present embodiment, it is not necessary to prepare a processing function (subroutine) for determining a random number separately from the jackpot determination process in order to determine a random number in the prior determination process. Therefore, the number of control instructions can be reduced, and an increase in the size of the program related to the jackpot determination process and the prior determination process can be suppressed. Further, as described above, when the determination table used for the pre-determination is configured similarly to the determination table used for the jackpot determination, the determination table used for the jackpot determination may also be used for the pre-determination.

  Further, here, only the prior determination (whether or not a big win) related to the special symbol lottery has been described, but in the present embodiment, the variation pattern when the special symbol variation display and stop display are performed is also pre-read (preliminary determination). I do. The selection of the variation pattern in the special symbol lottery is performed by selecting a variation pattern selection random number (see S903 and S910 in FIG. 9) and a variation pattern table (FIG. 21) acquired in accordance with the winning of the game ball to the start ports 121 and 122. (See S1109 in FIG. 11 and FIG. 13). Therefore, even in the prefetching of the variation pattern, it is selected using the random number value for variation pattern selection acquired at the time of winning and the prefetch table having the same configuration as the variation pattern table used in the variation pattern selection processing of the special symbol processing. The variation pattern can be prefetched.

  In this case, in order to prefetch the variation pattern selected in the variation pattern selection processing, the variation pattern selection processing subroutine (see S1109 in FIG. 11 and FIG. 13) used in the special symbol processing (see FIG. 11) is called and used. be able to. Further, regarding the prefetch table used for prefetching of the variation pattern selection, the variation pattern table used in the variation pattern selection processing of the special symbol processing may be used. With this configuration, it is possible to reduce the number of control instructions relating to the prefetching of the variation pattern selection and to suppress an increase in the program size.

  Note that if the pre-determination process and the jackpot determination process at the time of special symbol change are performed in the same subroutine using the same determination table group, the execution time of each process is different, so the pre-determination result and the special symbol change time There is a case where the determination result by the jackpot determination process is different. That is, it is a case where the gaming state of the pachinko gaming machine 100 (high probability state or low probability state, short time state or short time state) changes after the execution of the pre-determination process until the start of the special symbol change. In this case, since different types of determination tables are used depending on the gaming state, the specific determination table used for determination differs between the execution of the pre-determination process and the execution of the jackpot determination process. . Therefore, even if the same random number value acquired at the time of winning the start openings 121 and 122 is used, the prior determination result and the determination result of the jackpot determination process may be different. In such a case, in the effect control unit 300, if the game state changes before the start of the special symbol variation after the execution of the pre-determination process, the control based on the pre-determination result is not executed (prohibition). You may do.

[Command structure and transmission method]
Here, the configuration and transmission method of commands (effect control commands and setting commands) output from the game control unit 200 to the effect control unit 300 will be described.
FIG. 24-2 is a diagram illustrating a command configuration. FIG. 24-2 (a) shows the data structure of the command, and FIG. 24-2 (b) shows the structure of the command as a bit string.

  As shown in FIG. 24-2 (a), the command output from the game control unit 200 to the effect control unit 300 is composed of 2 bytes. This command is composed of a 1-byte “code” as the first data portion and a 1-byte “data” as the second data portion. “Code” indicates the type of command, and “Data” indicates the value of the command. This command is transmitted from the game control unit 200 to the effect control unit 300 using asynchronous synchronization by one serial signal. More generally, the “code” that is the first data part has a size of a bit (a is an integer of 2 or more), and the value of the leading 1 bit is specified as either 1 or 0. The “data” as the second data part has a size of n × a bits (n is an integer of 1 or more), and the value of the first 1 bit is different from the value of the first 1 bit of the first data part. Specific to the value.

  Since start-stop synchronization is used, a start bit (bit indicated as “S” in the figure) is provided at the head of each of “code” and “data” constituting the command, and 1 at the end. End bits of bits (bits indicated as “E” in the figure) are provided. Each of the “code” and “data” constituting the command is provided with one parity bit (bit indicated as “P” in the figure).

  As shown in FIG. 24-2 (a), both the “code” and “data” constituting the command have a data size of 1 byte (8 bits). When transmitted, the “code” and “data” are provided with a start bit, an end bit, and a parity bit, respectively. For this reason, it is not easy for the presentation control unit 300 that receives a command to identify whether the received data string is a “code” or “data” of the command from the outline of the data string. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a flag for identifying “code” and “data” is set. Specifically, the value of the specific portion of the 8-bit value constituting the “code” is made different from the value of the portion corresponding to the specific portion of the “code” among the 8-bit values constituting the “data”. .

  In the example shown in FIG. 24-2 (b), the first 1 bit of each of “code” and “data” is used as a flag. That is, in the 8-bit value constituting the “code”, the first 1-bit value is “1”, and in the 8-bit value constituting the “data”, the first 1-bit value is “0”. . Thereby, the effect control unit 300 can identify whether the data string is “code” or “data” by examining the value of the first 1 bit following the start bit of the received data string. The specific value of the flag is merely an example, and a value different from the above value may be used as long as “code” and “data” can be identified.

  Here, since the value of the first bit of “code” is specified as “1”, the range of values that can be taken by “code” is 128 from 10000000B (= 80H) to 11111111B (= FFH). It is. Note that the letter “B” attached to each value indicates binary notation, and the letter “H” indicates hexadecimal notation. In addition, since the value of the first 1 bit of “data” is specified as “0”, the range of values that “data” can take is 128 from 00000000B (= 00H) to 01111111B (= 7FH). is there. That is, according to the configuration shown in FIGS. 24-2 (a) and (b), it is possible to set 128 types of commands, each of which can take 128 types of values.

  By the way, in the pachinko gaming machine 100, many types of effects are executed according to the gaming state, the determination result of the special symbol lottery, and the like. Therefore, a large number of commands are prepared for the commands for effect control. In particular, the “data” that is the value indicating the specific content of the command may be insufficient with the above 128. On the other hand, the “code” indicating the type of command is usually smaller than the above 128. Therefore, it is conceivable to use a part of the bit string of “code” to describe the value of “data”.

  For example, consider the case where the last 1 bit of “code” is used to describe the value of “data”. Hereinafter, each bit in the 8-bit bit string constituting “code” and “data” is referred to as first to eighth bits. Separately from the bit string that makes up the “code”, the “code” value that actually indicates the type of command is called the “code value”, and separately from the bit string that makes up the “data”, the actual command value is The value of “data” shown is called “data value”. Then, the code value is described using the first to seventh bits in the “code” bit string, and the data value is all of the “data” bit string (from the first bit to the eighth bit). , And the 8th bit of “code”.

  With this configuration, the possible range of the code value is that the value of the first bit is specified as “1” and the total size is 7 bits, so that the range from 1000000B (= 40H) to 1111111B (= 7FH) ) Up to 64). The possible range of the data value is 128 values represented by 8 bits of “data” in which the value of the first bit is specified as “0”, and values “0” and “8” of the 8th bit of “code”. 1 ”is 256. Therefore, it is possible to set a command having 256 kinds of values as data values.

  Note that the above configuration in the case where a data value is described using a part of the “code” is merely an example, and the specific number of bits and value are not limited to the above configuration example. For example, the data value may be described using the seventh bit and the eighth bit of the “code”. More generally, a predetermined type of data (data value) using a predetermined bit constituting “code” as the first data portion and a bit constituting “data” as the second data portion. Is recorded. Then, by using the remaining bits excluding the predetermined bits in the “code” which is the first data portion, other types of data (code values) different from the predetermined types of data (data values) are recorded. The In other words, a bit constituting “data” as the second data part and b bit (b is smaller than a−1 and an integer of 1 or more) constituting “code” as the first data part. In use, a data value having a size of (a + b) bits is recorded.

  Further, as a means for increasing the number of data values that can be handled, it is conceivable to increase the bit string of “data” describing the data values. For example, it is conceivable to prepare “first data” and “second data” as bit strings describing data values. In this case, if each bit string is 8 bits, a data value can be described by a bit string of 16 bits in total. In order to distinguish between “first data” and “second data”, if the second bit of the 8-bit bit string is used as a flag, for example, the first bit and the second bit of “first data” Can be “00B”, and the first and second bits of “second data” can be “01B”. The first bit has a value “0” as a flag for identifying “code”. That is, the “data” that is the second data portion is a bit string (“first data”, “second data”,...) That represents each data value every 8 bits (more generally, For each a bit), the same value as the value of the first 1 bit is set.

  With this configuration, the range of values that the “first data” can take is 64 from 00000000B (= 00H) to 00111111B (= 3FH), and the range of values that the “second data” can take is Since there are 64 from 01000000B (= 40H) to 01111111B (= 7FH), the total is 4096 (= 64 × 64). Here, the first bit is used as a flag for identifying “code” and “data” (“first data” and “second data”), and “first data” and “second data” Although the second bit is used as a flag for identifying the first and second bits, a flag for identifying four types of bit strings may be set using the first and second bits. For example, “code” may have the value of the first and second bits “11B”, and “data” may have the value of the first and second bits “00B”, “01B”, and “10B”. Conceivable.

[Configuration Example for Command Output in RAM of Game Control Unit]
FIG. 24C is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a command storage area in the RAM 203.
As shown in FIG. 24-3, the RAM 203 of the game control unit 200 has a command storage area (storage area) to which individual commands generated by various processes such as the main control process shown in FIG. 8 are assigned. . In the example illustrated in FIG. 24C, 31 command storage areas from area 1 to area 31 are set in the RAM 203. Here, the command allocation to each command storage area does not necessarily have a one-to-one correspondence. For example, a plurality of commands that are not generated at the same time can be assigned to the same command storage area. In the example shown in FIG. 24-3, a plurality of commands are assigned to the region 1, the region 9, the region 12, the region 19, the region 20, the region 21, the region 22, the region 23, and the region 30, and other commands. One command is assigned to each storage area.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 24-3, a command relating to power-on is assigned to the area 1. Commands relating to power-on include a command for controlling power-on at the time of RAM clear and a command for controlling power-on at the time of recovery. Since these commands are generated in different scenes, they are not generated at the same time, and are all assigned to the area 1.

  In the areas 2 to 4, three commands related to winning at the first starting port 121 (described as “starting port 1 winning” in the figure) are assigned. One of the commands related to winning at the first starting port 121 is a command (in the figure, "Special Fig. 1") showing a determination (pre-reading) result in advance determination (see S905 in FIG. 9) based on winning at the first starting port 121. "Design pre-read"), and is assigned to region 2. The other one is a command (denoted as “Special Figure 1 Variation Pattern Prefetch” in the figure) indicating the variation pattern prefetching (preliminary determination) result specified together with the determination result, and is assigned to the region 3. Another one is a command ("Special figure 1 hold (+1)" in the figure) indicating that the number of special symbol lottery reservations has been updated (in this case, the value is increased by 1) based on the winning at the first starting port 121. And is assigned to the area 4.

  In the areas 5 to 7, three commands related to winning at the second start port 122 (described as “start port 2 winning” in the figure) are assigned. One of the commands related to winning at the second starting port 122 is a command ("special figure 2 pattern look-ahead" in the figure) indicating the determination result in the prior determination based on winning at the second starting port 122 (see S911 in FIG. 9). And is assigned to the area 5. The other one is a command (shown as “special figure 2 variation pattern prefetch” in the figure) indicating the prefetch result of the variation pattern specified together with the determination result, and is assigned to the region 6. Another one is a command ("Special figure 2 hold (+1)" in the figure) indicating that the number of special symbol lottery reservations has been updated (in this case, the value is increased by 1) based on the winning at the second starting port 122. And is assigned to the area 7.

  In the areas 8 to 10, five commands related to the normal symbol lottery (in the figure, “Temporary Map Hold”, “Typical Map Type”, “Typical Map Confirmation”, “Typical Map Open / Close”, and “Typical Map Hold” are described. ) Is assigned. Of the normal symbol lottery commands, one of the “general symbol hold” commands indicates that the number of normal symbol lotteries has been updated (in this case, the value is increased by 1) based on the fact that the game ball has passed through the gate 124. It is a command (denoted as “general map hold (+1)” in the figure) and is assigned to area 8. The “ordinary symbol type” command designates a normal symbol representing the determination result in the normal symbol lottery, and indicates that the variable symbol display on the normal symbol indicator 223 is started (denoted as “normal symbol variation start” in the diagram). And is assigned to area 9. The “general symbol confirmation” command is a command that indicates that the normal symbol display 223 is stopped and displayed in the normal symbol lottery and the normal symbol representing the determination result of the normal symbol lottery is fixed (“normal symbol confirmation” in the figure). And is assigned to the area 9. The “open / close map” command is a command (indicated as “open / close of normal train”) indicating that the electric tulip 123, which is a normal electric accessory, is operated (auxiliary game) based on the determination result of the normal symbol lottery. Yes, assigned to area 9. Another one of the “pending custom map” commands is a command indicating that the number of holdings has been updated (in this case, the value is decreased by 1) due to the normal symbol lottery process (in the figure, “pending general drawing (- 1) ”and assigned to the area 10.

  Here, in the normal symbol lottery process, the normal symbol variation display, the normal symbol stop display, and the operation of the electric tulip 123 by the auxiliary game are sequentially executed as a series of operations. Then, the normal symbol variation display based on the fact that another game ball has passed through the gate 124 during the operation of the electric tulip 123 is not started (see FIG. 16). For this reason, the above three types of commands “general map type”, “general map confirmation”, and “general power open / close” are not generated at the same time. Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 24-3, these three types of commands are assigned to the same command storage area (area 9).

  In the areas 11 to 14, nine commands related to special symbol lottery (in the figure, described as “special figure variation” and “special figure special electricity”) are assigned. Of the commands related to the special symbol lottery, one of the “special diagram change” commands is a command (indicating whether the current gaming state of the pachinko gaming machine 100 (high probability state or low probability state, short time state or short time state). In the figure, it is described as “gaming state”) and is assigned to the area 11. Another one of the “special symbol change” commands is to designate a special symbol representing the determination result of the special symbol lottery in the special symbol lottery, and display the fluctuation on the first special symbol indicator 221 and the second special symbol indicator 222. Is a command (denoted as “special drawing designation” in the figure) indicating that it has started, and is assigned to the area 12. Still another special symbol variation command is a command for specifying a variation pattern of special symbol variation performed in the special symbol lottery (described as “variation pattern” in the figure), and is assigned to the region 13. Still another of the “special figure change” commands is a command (in the figure, “special figure hold (in the figure) indicating that the number of holds has been updated (here, the value is decreased by 1) due to the special symbol lottery process being performed. -1) "), and is assigned to the area 14.

  On the other hand, one of the “special drawing special electric power” commands is a command indicating that the pachinko gaming machine 100 is in a customer waiting state (denoted as “customer waiting” in the figure), and is assigned to the area 12. Another one of the “Special Figure Special Electric” commands is a command (in the figure, “Special Electric, Special Bonus Games”) indicating that the special winning combination 125 is operated based on the determination result of the special symbol lottery. And is assigned to the area 12. Still another special command special command is a command (denoted as “big jack OP” in the figure) indicating that the opening operation of the jackpot game has been started, and is assigned to the area 12. Still another special command special command is a command (denoted as “big jack ED” in the figure) indicating that the jackpot game ending operation has started, and is assigned to the area 12. Yet another one of the “Special Figure Special Electric” commands is that the first special symbol display 221 and the second special symbol display 222 are stopped and displayed, and the special symbol representing the determination result of the special symbol lottery is confirmed. The command (shown as “special drawing confirmation” in the figure) is assigned to the area 12.

  Here, in the special symbol lottery process, the change display of the special symbol, the special symbol stop display, and the operation of the special winning opening 125 by the special game are sequentially executed as a series of operations. Then, during the execution of the special game, the special symbol variation display based on the winning of another game ball is not started (see FIG. 11). In the jackpot game, the opening operation, the operation of the big prize opening 125, and the ending operation are sequentially executed as a series of operations. Therefore, the “special drawing designation” command and the five types of “special drawing special electricity” commands in the above “special figure change” command are not generated at the same time. Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 24-3, these six types of commands are assigned to the same command storage area (area 12).

  In the areas 15 to 18, four commands related to switch detection (described as “switch passing” in the figure) are assigned. One of the commands related to the switch detection is a command indicating that the game ball has passed through the left gate 124 </ b> L of the game area 111 (described as “pass left gate” in the figure), and is assigned to the area 15. Another command related to the switch detection is a command indicating that the game ball has passed through the gate 124R on the right side of the game area 111 (denoted as “pass right gate” in the figure), and is assigned to the area 16. . Still another command related to the switch detection is a command (denoted as “passing through the start port SW2 (electric chew)” in the figure) indicating that a game ball has won the second start port 122, and is assigned to the area 17 It has been. Still another command related to the switch detection is a command indicating that a game ball has won the big winning opening 125 (denoted as “big winning opening winning” in the figure), and is assigned to the area 18.

  In the areas 19 to 30, a command related to an error (described as “error” in the figure) is assigned. As an error detected by the game control unit of the pachinko gaming machine 100, for example, a full error indicating that the payout ball is full in the tray 153 (see FIGS. 1 and 2B), the front frame of the frame member 150, Door open error indicating that is in an open state, payout error indicating that it is no longer possible to pay out game balls by the payout unit, and various detection switches such as the gate switch 214 and the start port switches 211 and 212 are not connected There is a switch disconnection error or the like indicating that In the example shown in FIG. 24-3, these errors are assigned to areas 19 to 23, respectively. In addition, for each error, a command indicating that each error has occurred (described as “˜error start” in the figure) and a command indicating that each error has been resolved (described as “˜error end” in the figure). Are assigned to the same command storage area.

  In addition, various control items and error items are set in accordance with the specifications and functions of the pachinko gaming machine 100, and the error is resolved depending on the command according to the control item, the command indicating that an error has occurred, and the type of error. A command or the like indicating that may be generated. These commands can be appropriately assigned to the command storage area. In the example shown in FIG. 24-3, commands relating to various errors are individually assigned to the areas 24-30. Further, a command (denoted as “winning notification designation” in the figure) for detecting and notifying a specific winning is assigned to the area 31.

As described above, in the command storage area provided in the RAM 203 of the game control unit 200, one or more types of commands are associated with one command storage area. Then, in the main control process shown in FIG. 8, the game control unit 200 stores the generated command in a command storage area associated with the command.
Here, in the main control process, not every command is necessarily generated every time one cycle of the process is executed. For example, when there is no winning at the first starting port 121 or the second starting port 122, the above-mentioned commands relating to winning at the starting ports 121 and 122 and the “special figure change” command are not generated. Of the commands related to the normal symbol lottery, the “open / close map” command and the “special drawing special electricity” command are not generated unless it is time to operate these electric accessories. In addition, a command related to the occurrence of an error is not generated unless an error has occurred.
Therefore, when the output process of the main control process (see S806 in FIG. 8) is performed, commands are usually stored in some command storage areas among the command storage areas provided in the RAM 203. Commands are not stored in other command storage areas.

[Command output operation]
FIG. 24-4 is a flowchart illustrating the contents of output processing by the output control unit 240.
In the present embodiment, the output control unit 240 pays attention to the command storage areas of the RAM 203 shown in FIG. 24-3 in order (in order of area numbers), and outputs the commands stored in the command storage areas. .

  As shown in FIG. 24-4, the output control unit 240 of the game control unit 200 first has a command storage area at the head of the command storage areas provided in the RAM 203 (area 1 in the example shown in FIG. 24-3). (S2411), it is checked whether a command is stored (S2412). If the command is stored (Yes in S2412), the output control unit 240 reads out the stored command and outputs it to the effect control unit 300 (S2413).

  If no command is stored in the focused command storage area (initially area 1) (No in S2412), or after outputting the command stored in the command storage area in S2413, the output control unit 240 It is checked whether there is a command storage area of the next area number (S2414). When there is a next command storage area (Yes in S2414), the output control unit 240 pays attention to the command storage area (S2415), returns to S2412, confirms the presence / absence of a command (S2412), and outputs (S2413). repeat. If the last command storage area (area 31 in the example shown in FIG. 24-3) has been processed, there is no command storage area of the next area number (No in S2414), and the output process ends. To do.

[Set command output order]
In the main control process, when a command is generated in each process described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 19, the generated command is usually stored in a corresponding command storage area of the RAM 203. That is, commands are generally stored in the command storage area in the order in which the commands are generated.
On the other hand, as described with reference to FIG. 24-4, in the output processing by the output control unit 240, the command storage areas are stored in a fixed order (in the order of area numbers in the above example). Output the command. In other words, the commands are output in a predetermined specific order regardless of the order in which the commands are generated. This is because it may be desirable to transmit specific commands to the effect control unit 300 in a specific order in order to prevent confusion in the effect control of the effect control unit 300 based on the command. That is, as will be described in detail later, the effect control unit 300 executes effect control based on commands in the order received from the game control unit 200, and therefore, the confusion such as inconsistency in effect control due to the difference in the order of receiving commands. This may need to be prevented.

[Operation of production control unit]
Next, the operation of the effect control unit 300 will be described.
FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing the operation of the effect control unit 300.
The operation of the effect control unit 300 includes a main process shown in FIG. 25A and an interrupt process shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 25 (a), the production control unit 300 first performs initial setting at the time of activation (S2501), sets the cycle of the CTC (Counter / Timer Circuit) (S2502), and then follows the set cycle. The interrupt process is accepted while updating the random number used in the production control (S2503).

  The interrupt process is periodically performed according to the cycle set in S2502. Referring to FIG. 25B, in this interruption process, the effect control unit 300 receives a command from the game control unit 200 and performs a command reception process (S2511). In this command reception process, the effect content (effect pattern) is selected. In addition, the effect control unit 300 performs effect button processing for accepting an operation of the effect button 161 and the like by the player (S2512). Thereafter, the effect control unit 300 performs a command transmission process of transmitting a command including information on the selected effect pattern to the image / sound control unit 310 and the lamp control unit 320 (S2513). As a result, effects such as image display on the image display unit 114, sound output, operation of the movable accessory 115, light emission of the panel lamp 116 and the frame lamp 157 are performed.

[Command reception processing by the production control unit]
FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing the contents of the command reception process (S2511 in FIG. 25B).
In this command reception process, the effect control unit 300 first determines whether or not a prior determination result command and a pending number increase command have been received (S2601). Note that the advance determination result command and the hold number increase command are set in the start port switch process shown in FIG. 9 in the game control unit 200 (S906, S907, S913, S914), and the output process (S806) shown in FIG. ) Is a command transmitted to the production control unit 300.
If it is determined that the advance determination result command and the hold number increase command have been received (Yes in S2601), the effect control unit 300 adds 1 to the hold number value held in the RAM 303 (S2602). Further, the effect control unit 300 performs a pre-decision effect selection process based on the pre-decision result command and the hold number increase command (S2603).

If the received command is not a prior determination result command or a pending number increase command (No in S2601), the effect control unit 300 determines whether the received command is a change start command (S2604). This variation start command is a command that is set in the special symbol process shown in FIG. 11 in the game control unit 200 (S1111) and transmitted to the effect control unit 300 in the output process (S806) shown in FIG.
When the received command is a change start command (Yes in S2604), the effect control unit 300 executes an effect selection process (S2605). When a change start command is received, a random number value for effect control used in the effect selection process is acquired. This random number value is a random value that is periodically updated in S2503 of the main process shown in FIG.

When the received command is not a prior determination result command, a pending number increase command, or a change start command (No in S2601 and S2604), the effect control unit 300 determines whether the received command is a change stop command (S2606). This variation stop command is a command set in the special symbol process shown in FIG. 11 in the game control unit 200 (S1114) and transmitted to the effect control unit 300 in the output process (S806) shown in FIG.
If the received command is a variation stop command (Yes in S2606), the effect control unit 300 executes a process during the end of the variation effect (S2607).

When the received command is not a prior determination result command, a pending number increase command, a change start command, or a change stop command (No in S2601, S2604, and S2606), the effect control unit 300 starts the opening operation of the jackpot game It is determined whether or not it is an opening command (S2608). This opening command is set in the stop process shown in FIG. 14 (S1418), and is sent to the effect control unit 300 in the output process (S806) shown in FIG.
When the received command is an opening command (Yes in S2608), the effect control unit 300 executes a jackpot effect selection process (S2609).

When the received command is not a prior determination result command, a pending number increase command, a change start command, a change stop command, or an opening command (No in S2601, S2604, S2606, and S2608), the effect control unit 300 determines that the received command is a big hit game It is determined whether it is an ending command for starting the ending operation (S2610). This ending command is a command that is set in the special winning opening process shown in FIG. 17 (S1713) and transmitted to the effect control unit 300 in the output process (S806) shown in FIG.
When the received command is an ending command (Yes in S2610), the effect control unit 300 executes an ending effect selection process (S2611).

  When the received command is not a prior determination result command, a pending number increase command, a fluctuation start command, a fluctuation stop command, an opening command, or an ending command (No in S2601, S2604, S2606, S2608, and S2610), the effect control unit 300 then Then, a customer waiting command reception process for shifting the received command to the customer waiting state is executed (S2612). Details of the customer waiting command reception process will be described later.

FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating a setting example of the mode flag.
When an effect is performed by the effect control unit 300, various effect patterns are selected and executed based on the set effect mode. This effect mode is determined by a mode flag set in the RAM 303. Here, the mode flag is set to any value from 0 to 4, and five types of effect modes from A mode to E mode are assigned to each mode flag. The mode flag is set according to the lottery result of the special symbol lottery or the number of lotteries of the special symbol lottery.
Mode flag 1 for jackpot of high probability symbol A, mode flag 2 for jackpot of low probability symbol A, mode flag 3 for jackpots of high probability symbol B and low probability symbol B, and jackpot of latent symbol symbol A mode flag 4 is assigned to each small hit. Here, the types of these symbols are the same as those shown in FIG. The mode flag 0 is not assigned to any jackpot. In mode flags 1 to 4, mode flag 0 is set by executing special symbol lottery a predetermined number of times.
Further, in the example shown in FIG. 27, the parameter M (M value) used in the process during the end of the changing effect is individually set for each mode except the A mode. As will be described later, the value of the parameter M undergoes special symbol variation, and is decremented by 1 each time it stops.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing the contents of the advance determination effect selection process (S2603) and the effect selection process (S2605) of FIG.
In the prior determination effect selection process shown in FIG. 28A, the effect control unit 300 first analyzes the prior determination result command received from the game control unit 200 (S2801). Further, the effect control unit 300 analyzes the pending number increase command received from the game control unit 200 (S2802). Then, the effect control unit 300 selects an effect pattern (pre-determined effect pattern) used in the notice effect (pre-determined effect) based on the prior determination based on the prior determination result command and the pending number increase command (S2803).

  Here, as the pre-decision effect pattern, various effect patterns can be provided so as to notify the determination result of the random number by the special symbol process before the start of the variation based on the determination result of the random number by the special symbol process. For example, an effect such as a hold display effect or a continuous notice effect can be provided as a prior determination effect pattern. In the present embodiment, when a reserved ball is generated, a display indicating the number of held balls is displayed on the first special symbol hold indicator 218 and the second special symbol hold indicator 219 of the display 130 (see FIG. 2). At the same time, the image display unit 114 performs a hold display that suggests the occurrence of a hold or the number of holds (hold display effect). Therefore, in this hold display effect, by reflecting the prior determination result on the display mode of the hold display, etc., the determination result when the random number is determined by special symbol processing for the hold ball is then given to the player. It can be a preliminary determination effect to suggest. In addition, although the case where the hold display effect is used as the prior determination effect has been described here, it is reflected in various effect contents performed before the determination result (lottery result) of the random number by the special symbol process is notified. It becomes possible to perform various notice effects. For example, an effect using an effect image displayed on the image display unit 114, an effect due to light emission of the panel lamp 116 or the frame lamp 157, an effect due to the operation of a movable accessory, an effect due to sound output such as music or sound effects, etc. It can be set as a determination effect pattern.

  In addition, the pre-decision effect is executed in accordance with the symbol variation for the other winning spheres performed prior to the symbol variation for the winning ball (holding ball) for which the prior determination is performed. In the present embodiment, the upper limit of the number of holding balls is four per one start port (first start port 121 or second start port 122) (see FIG. 9). In addition, priority is given to the digestion of the reserved balls in the second start port 122. In this case, for example, if a determination is made in advance for the reserved ball with the second start port 122, before the symbol variation for the reserved ball is performed, the currently changing variation (referred to as the variation) is included. The symbol variation for up to four winning balls will be performed. In a notice effect related to a reserved ball for which a prior judgment has been made, if a plurality of symbol changes are made before the symbol change for the reserved ball is made, a notice effect that spans the multiple symbol changes (continuous notice effect) ) May be performed.

  Then, the effect control unit 300 sets the number-of-holds command including the value of the number of hold after the addition and information on the pre-decision effect pattern selected in the pre-decision effect selection process in the RAM 303 (S2804). In addition, the number-of-holds command includes information indicating the pattern in order to notify the CPU 311 of the image / sound control unit 310 of the selected pre-decision effect pattern. By receiving the hold number command, the CPU 311 creates a display list or the like for drawing and outputting the image and sound corresponding to the selected pre-decision effect pattern on the VDP 314. Based on the display list or the like, the VDP 314 reads image data and sound data for representing the selected pre-decision effect pattern from the CGROM 315 or SNDROM 316 and expresses the pre-determination effect using the image display unit 114 or the speaker 156. .

  In the effect selection process shown in FIG. 28B, the effect control unit 300 first analyzes the received change start command (S2811). Further, the effect control unit 300 refers to the current mode flag of the pachinko gaming machine 100 from the setting of the RAM 303 (S2812), and subtracts 1 from the value of the number of reservations held in the RAM 303 (S2813). Then, the effect control unit 300 is based on various setting information (information about jackpot type, gaming state after jackpot game, variation pattern, etc.) obtained from the analysis result of the change start command and the effect mode determined by the mode flag. Then, the variation effect pattern of the symbol variation by the image displayed on the image display unit 114 in the effect mode is selected (S2814).

  Finally, the effect control unit 300 sets a variable effect start command for instructing the execution start of the selected effect in the RAM 303 (S2815). The change effect start command includes information indicating the selected change effect pattern to notify the CPU 311 of the image / sound control unit 310 of the selected change effect pattern. Upon receiving the hold number command, the CPU 311 draws an image or sound corresponding to the selected variation effect pattern on the VDP 314 and creates a display list or the like for output processing. Based on the display list or the like, the VDP 314 reads image data and acoustic data for representing the selected variation effect pattern from the CGROM 315 and the SNDROM 316, and expresses the variation effect using the image display unit 114 and the speaker 156.

  Although not described in detail, in the selection process of the variation effect pattern of symbol variation in S2814, the effect mode, the variation pattern, and the effect random number (one of the random numbers updated in S2503 of FIG. The random production pattern is determined based on the fact that the production random number value is sometimes obtained). Based on the variation effect pattern determined here, the variation display of the decorative symbol, the background effect, the notice effect, and the like are determined. The decorative symbol variation display is an effect display performed by the image display unit 114 in accordance with the special symbol variation display performed by the first special symbol display 221 or the second special symbol display 222. In this variable display of decorative symbols, a reach effect or the like is executed.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing the contents of the changing effect end process (S2607) of FIG.
In this variation effect end process, the effect control unit 300 first analyzes the received variation stop command (S2901). Further, the effect control unit 300 refers to the current mode flag of the pachinko gaming machine 100 from the setting of the RAM 303 (S2902). Then, the production control unit 300 determines whether or not the lottery result of the special symbol lottery is a big hit or a small hit based on the information indicating the type of the symbol when the special symbol fluctuation is obtained from the analysis result of the fluctuation stop command. Judgment is made (S2903). If it is a big hit or a small hit (Yes in S2903), the mode flag set in the RAM 303 is changed based on the setting example shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, when the lottery result of the special symbol lottery is not a big win or a small win (No in S2903), the effect control unit 300 next checks whether or not the value of the mode flag is 0 (S2905). When the mode flag is not 0 (No in S2905), the effect control unit 300 subtracts 1 from the parameter M (S2906) and checks whether the value of M has become 0 (S2907). That is, the value of the parameter M is decremented by 1 each time a variation stop command is received (that is, every time a special symbol variation stops), unless it is 0 when the variation stop command is received. If the value of M becomes 0 (Yes in S2907), the effect control unit 300 sets the mode flag to 0 (S2908).

  If the mode flag is 0 in S2905 (Yes in S2905), if the value of the parameter M is not 0 in S2907 (No in S2907), or after setting the mode flag to 0 in S2908, or in S2904 After changing the mode flag, the effect control unit 300 sets a change effect end command for instructing the end of the effect of symbol change in the RAM 303, and ends the process during end of change effect (S2909). Here, referring to FIG. 27, when the mode flag is changed in S2904, the effect mode after the end of the change effect is an effect mode corresponding to the type of jackpot. If the mode flag is 0 in S2905 and if the mode flag is set to 0 in S2908, the effect mode after the end of the change effect is the A mode. If the value of the parameter M does not become 0 in S2907, the previous production mode is continued.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart showing the contents of the jackpot effect selection process (S2609) of FIG.
In this jackpot effect selection process, the effect control unit 300 first analyzes the received opening command (S3001), and selects an effect pattern (a jackpot effect pattern) according to the contents of the effect mode based on the mode flag (S3002). . Then, the effect control unit 300 reads image data and sound data used for the effect by the selected jackpot effect pattern from the ROM 302, and sets a jackpot effect start command for instructing the selected effect in the RAM 303 together with these data. The jackpot presentation selection process is terminated (S3003). As a result, the performance during the big hit is determined. In the selection of the jackpot effect pattern (S3002), the determination may be made based on the random value acquired when the command is received.

FIG. 31 is a flowchart showing the contents of the ending effect selection process (S2611) of FIG.
In this ending effect selection process, the effect control unit 300 first analyzes the received ending command (S3101), and selects an effect pattern (ending effect pattern) according to the contents of the effect mode based on the mode flag (S3102). . Then, the effect control unit 300 reads image data and sound data used for the effect by the selected ending effect pattern from the ROM 302, and sets an ending effect start command instructing the selected effect in the RAM 303 together with these data. The ending effect selection process is terminated (S3103). In the selection of the ending effect pattern (S3102), the determination based on the random value acquired at the time of command reception may be performed.

FIG. 32 is a flowchart showing the contents of the customer waiting command reception process (S2612) of FIG.
The production control unit 300 determines whether or not a customer waiting command for shifting to the customer waiting state has been received (S3201). When the customer waiting command is received (Yes in S3201), the effect control unit 300 starts measuring the elapsed time (S3202) and turns on the measurement flag in the RAM 303 (S3203). On the other hand, when the received command is not a customer waiting command (No in S3201), the effect control unit 300 determines whether or not the measurement flag held in the RAM 303 is ON (S3204). If the measurement flag is OFF (No in S3204), the customer waiting command reception process is terminated.

  When the measurement flag is ON (Yes in S3204 or after being turned ON in S3203), the effect control unit 300 next determines whether or not the measurement time has reached a predetermined time-up time (S3205). . If the time is not up (No in S3205), the customer waiting command reception process is terminated. On the other hand, when the time is up (Yes in S3205), the production control unit 300 turns off the measurement flag held in the RAM 303 (S3206), and sets a customer waiting production command for performing the customer waiting production in the RAM 303. The customer waiting command reception process is terminated (S3207).

  When the command reception process is completed as described above, the RAM 303 is set with any one of a variation effect start command, a variation effect end command, a jackpot effect start command, an ending effect start command, and a customer waiting effect command.

FIG. 33 is a flowchart showing the contents of the effect button process (S2512 in FIG. 25B).
In this effect button process, the effect control unit 300 first determines whether or not an operation means such as the effect button 161 by the player has been operated (S3301). Here, the operation of the operation means includes turning on the effect button 161 and turning it on when the center key and the surrounding keys of the effect key 162 are pressed. In addition, when an operation device other than the effect button 161 and the effect key 162 such as a touch panel is provided in the pachinko gaming machine 100, this includes detecting the operation of the device. The effect control unit 300 receives an operation signal from the controller of these devices and detects that an operation has been performed.

  If the operation means such as the effect button 161 is operated (Yes in S3301), the effect control unit 300 sets an effect button command including information indicating the operation content of the operation means in the RAM 303, and ends the effect button process. (S3302).

  Thereafter, the effect control unit 300 performs the command transmission process (S2513) of FIG. 25B, and the command set in the RAM 303 by the command reception process and the effect button process described above is displayed in the image / sound control unit 310 and the lamp. It transmits to the control part 320. Then, the image / sound control unit 310 and the lamp control unit 320 display an image on the image display unit 114, sound output, operation of the movable accessory 115, light emission of the panel lamp 116 and the frame lamp 157 based on the received command. Is controlled to execute the set effect.

[Control of movable objects]
Next, the control of the movable accessory 115 used for producing the pachinko gaming machine 100 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 4, the movable accessory 115 is an effect member that operates under the control of the lamp control unit 320 in the effect controlled by the effect control unit 300. The movable combination 115 receives a driving force from a motor (for example, a stepping motor) as a drive source via a guide means such as a gear, and the configuration of the movable combination 115 itself or the configuration of the support member that supports the movable combination 115. Depending on the, it works differently.

  This movable accessory 115 operates in a mode determined as part of the production. That is, when an effect accompanied by the operation of the movable accessory 115 is performed, the same operation of the same movable accessory 115 is performed in the same scene in the effect. In order to realize this operation control, one or more reference states are set for the movable accessory 115, and the movable accessory 115 is controlled to be in the reference state at a predetermined timing. There are various modes such as movement, rotation, and deformation in the movement of the movable accessory 115. In any case, by detecting whether or not a predetermined part of the movable accessory 115 exists at a predetermined position. It can be determined whether or not the movable accessory 115 is in the reference state.

  In order to detect whether or not a predetermined part of the movable accessory 115 exists at a predetermined position, various existing detection means can be used. As an example, by using a position sensor in which a light emitting element and a light receiving element are combined, a predetermined part of the movable accessory 115 is blocked by blocking a light emitted from the light emitting element to the light receiving element. Is considered to be present at a predetermined position. Further, a reflective material is provided at a position facing the position sensor in the movable accessory 115, and the light receiving element senses light from the light emitting element reflected by the reflective material, so that a predetermined part of the movable accessory 115 is detected. A configuration for detecting the presence at a predetermined position is conceivable. In addition, detection means having various configurations can be employed depending on the configuration of the movable accessory 115 and the mode of operation.

  Hereinafter, a predetermined part of the movable accessory 115 used for determining whether or not the movable accessory 115 is in the reference state is referred to as a target, and a predetermined position where the target should exist in the reference state is referred to as a reference position. . In addition, the reference state of the movable accessory 115 that is initially set in the production is referred to as an initial state, and the reference position where the target should exist in the initial state is referred to as an initial position (or origin).

[Configuration example of movable accessory]
FIG. 34 is a diagram showing a specific example of the movable accessory 115.
The movable accessory 115 shown in FIG. 34 includes a handle accessory 410 that is a handle-type movable accessory 115 and a lamp accessory 420 on which a lamp is mounted as a first accessory. The handle combination 410 and the lamp combination 420 are instructed by a support 500 provided on a part of the frame member 150 at the top of the pachinko gaming machine 100.

  FIG. 35 is a view showing the operation of the handle accessory 410. FIG. 35 shows a state where the handle accessory 410 and the support body 500 are viewed from the left side toward the game board 110 by removing the left support body 500 toward the game board 110 of the pachinko gaming machine 100. ing. For convenience of explaining the operation of the handle accessory 410, the lamp accessory 420 is not shown. FIG. 35A shows a state in which the handle accessory 410 is in one state, and FIG. 35B shows a state in which the handle accessory 410 is in another state. The handle accessory 410 operates in such a way as to be in the state shown in FIG. 35A or the state shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 34 and FIG. 35, the handle accessory 410 includes a rod-shaped grip portion 411 for a player to hold with a hand, and an arm portion 412 that supports the grip portion 411.
Both ends of the grip portion 411 are fixed to the arm portion 412, and are provided sideways in front of the support body 500 of the frame member 150 in the upper part of the pachinko gaming machine 100.
The arm portion 412 is a pair of two rod-like members provided at both ends of the grip portion 411. As shown in FIG. 35, the arm portion 412 has an end opposite to the side fixed to the grip portion 411 attached to the support 500 so as to be rotatable within a certain range. Thereby, the arm part 412 can swing in a certain range about the end part attached to the support body 500 as a rotation axis in the production.

Further, the handle accessory 410 has two reference states, a state shown in FIG. 35A and a state drawn with a solid line in FIG. As shown in FIG. 35, two position sensors 511 and 512 used to determine whether or not the handle member 410 is in the reference state are provided on the opposing surfaces of the support member 500 of the frame member 150. It has been.
The position sensor 511 is provided at a position facing the arm portion 412 when the handle accessory 410 is in the state shown in FIG. Therefore, when the position sensor 511 detects the arm portion 412, it can be determined that the handle accessory 410 is in the reference state shown in FIG.
The position sensor 512 is provided at a position facing the arm portion 412 when the handle accessory 410 is in the state indicated by the solid line in FIG. Therefore, when the position sensor 512 detects the arm portion 412, it can be determined that the handle accessory 410 is in the reference state indicated by the solid line in FIG.

  FIG. 36 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the lamp accessory 420. FIG. 36 shows a state in which the lamp accessory 420 and the support body 500 are viewed from the left side toward the game board 110 by removing the left support body 500 toward the game board 110 of the pachinko gaming machine 100. ing. For convenience of explaining the operation of the lamp accessory 420, the handle accessory 410 is not shown. FIG. 36A shows a state in which the lamp accessory 420 is in one state, and FIG. 36B shows a state in which the lamp accessory 420 is in another state. The lamp accessory 420 operates in a state as shown in FIG. 36A or a state shown in FIG. 36B in the production under the control of the lamp control unit 320.

As shown in FIG. 34 and FIG. 36, the lamp accessory 420 is spindle-shaped and is provided between the supports 500 of the frame member 150 with the axial direction set sideways.
As shown in FIG. 36, both ends of the lamp accessory 420 can move forward and backward (in a direction in which the lamp accessory 420 moves away from or approaches the surface of the game board 110) on the inner surface of the support 500. It is attached as follows. For this reason, in the state shown in FIG. 36A, the lamp accessory 420 is accommodated between the supports 500, and in the state shown by the solid line in FIG. Jump out.

The lamp accessory 420 has two reference states, a state shown in FIG. 36A and a state drawn with a solid line in FIG. As shown in FIG. 36, a position sensor 513 used to determine whether or not the lamp accessory 420 is in the reference state is provided on the opposing surfaces of the support member 500 of the frame member 150.
The position sensor 513 is provided at a position facing the end of the lamp accessory 420 when the lamp accessory 420 is in the state shown in FIG. Therefore, when the position sensor 513 detects the lamp accessory 420, it can be determined that the lamp accessory 420 is in the reference state shown in FIG. On the other hand, as will be described in detail later, when the position sensor 513 does not detect the lamp accessory 420, it can be determined that the lamp accessory 420 is in the reference state shown in FIG.

[Operation example of movable accessory]
The handle combination 410 and the lamp combination 420 which are the movable combination 115 shown in FIGS. 34 to 36 operate in conjunction with each other. That is, when the handle accessory 410 is in the reference state (first reference state) shown in FIG. 35A, the lamp accessory 420 is in the reference state (first reference state) shown in FIG. When the handle accessory 410 is in the reference state (second reference state) shown in FIG. 35B, the lamp accessory 420 is in the reference state (second reference state) shown in FIG. Here, in order to be in the first reference state in which the handle accessory 410 is raised, the lamp accessory 420 is in the first reference state stored between the support members 500 of the frame member 150. is necessary. On the other hand, in order for the lamp accessory 420 to be in the second reference state protruding from between the supports, the handle accessory 410 needs to be in the second state in which it is lowered. That is, the handle accessory 410 and the lamp accessory 420 interfere with each other in operation.

37 and 38 are diagrams showing an example of the operation of the movable accessory.
In this operation example, the handle combination 410 and the lamp combination 420 are operated in response to the player's operation. FIG. 37 is a diagram illustrating a state before the player operates the handle accessory 410, and FIG. 38 is a diagram illustrating a state after the player operates the handle accessory 410.
In this operation example, it is assumed that the handle accessory 410 and the lamp accessory 420 are initially in the first reference state. That is, as shown in FIG. 34, the lamp accessory 420 is housed between the supports 500 of the frame member 150, and the handle accessory 410 is raised. In this state, the position sensor 511 detects the arm portion 412 (target) of the handle accessory 410 and the position sensor 513 detects the lamp accessory 420 (target).

  When the handle accessory 410 and the lamp accessory 420 are operated in a predetermined effect, first, an instruction effect for instructing the player to operate the handle accessory 410 is performed. This instruction effect can be performed, for example, by displaying a message instructing to operate the handle accessory 410 on the image display unit 114 or outputting a voice. And after this instruction | indication effect is performed, the operation which pulls down the handle | steering-wheel object 410 is received for a fixed time (effective period).

  When the instruction effect is performed, the player performs an operation of holding the handle item 410 by hand as shown in FIG. 37 and pulling it down as shown in FIG. 38 during the effective period. Then, the arm portion 412 of the handle accessory 410 is not detected by the position sensor 511 and is detected by the position sensor 512. Thereby, the lamp control unit 320 determines that the handle accessory 410 is in the second reference state, operates the lamp accessory 420, and shifts to the second reference state as shown in FIG.

[Switching the initial state of movable objects]
In the above operation example, the initial state of the handle accessory 410 and the lamp accessory 420 is the first reference state. Therefore, when the movable accessory 115 is returned to the initial state at a predetermined timing such as immediately before performing the effect of operating the handle accessory 410 and the lamp accessory 420 or when an operation error occurs, the lamp control unit 320 may 410 and the lamp accessory 420 are shifted to the first reference state. In contrast, in the present embodiment, the initial state of the handle accessory 410 and the lamp accessory 420 is switched to the second reference state on condition that the pachinko gaming machine 100 is in a specific state. In this case, when the movable accessory 115 is returned to the initial state at a predetermined timing, the lamp control unit 320 shifts the handle accessory 410 and the lamp accessory 420 to the second reference state.

FIG. 39 is a chart showing an initial state of the handle accessory 410 and the lamp accessory 420.
In the present embodiment, the first state and the second state are set as the state of the pachinko gaming machine 100. In the first state, the initial state of the handle accessory 410 and the lamp accessory 420 is set as the first reference state, and the second state In the state, the initial state of the handle accessory 410 and the lamp accessory 420 is the second reference state. The first state and the second state are the gaming state of the pachinko gaming machine 100 (high probability state or low probability state, time-short state or non-time-short state), a scene where a predetermined effect is executed, and an effect mode It can be set according to the above. For example, the low probability state may be set as the first state, and the high probability state may be set as the second state. Alternatively, a state where a specific effect (first effect) can be executed may be set as the first state, and a state where another specific effect (second effect) can be executed may be set as the second state. The switching setting of the initial state of the handle accessory 410 and the lamp accessory 420 accompanying the change of the state of the pachinko gaming machine 100 may be performed by the effect control unit 300, or based on the state change information acquired from the effect control unit 300. The lamp controller 320 may perform this.

With reference to FIG. 39, the setting of the initial state of the handle accessory 410 will be further described.
As shown in FIG. 39, in the first state, the first reference state is the initial state. That is, the initial position of the arm portion 412 of the handle accessory 410 is a position corresponding to the position sensor 511. Therefore, when the position sensor 511 detects the arm portion 412, it is determined that the handle accessory 410 is in the initial state. On the other hand, in the second state, the second reference state is the initial state. That is, the initial position of the arm portion 412 of the handle accessory 410 is a position corresponding to the position sensor 512. Therefore, when the position sensor 511 is not detected and the position sensor 512 detects the arm portion 412, it is determined that the handle accessory 410 is in the initial state.

  Thus, for the handle accessory 410, the position sensor 511 that detects the arm portion 412 when in the first reference state, and the position sensor 512 that detects the arm portion 412 when in the second reference state. Therefore, when the position sensor 511 or the position sensor 512 detects the arm portion 412 of the handle accessory 410 and determines whether the arm portion 412 is in the initial position, the handle accessory 410 is switched. It is possible to switch the initial state between the first reference state and the second reference state.

The setting of the initial state of the lamp accessory 420 will be further described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 39, in the first state, the first reference state is the initial state. That is, the initial position of the lamp accessory 420 is a position corresponding to the position sensor 513. Therefore, when the position sensor 513 detects the lamp accessory 420, it is determined that the lamp accessory 420 is in the initial state. On the other hand, in the second state, the second reference state is the initial state. That is, the initial position of the lamp accessory 420 is a position that does not correspond to the position sensor 513. Here, in the present embodiment, only the position sensor 513 is provided as a detection means for detecting the lamp accessory 420. Therefore, in the second state, when the position sensor 513 is not detected, it is determined that the lamp accessory 420 is in the initial state.

  Thus, for the lamp accessory 420, when the position sensor 513 detects the lamp accessory 420, it is determined that the lamp accessory 420 is in the initial position, or the position sensor 513 detects the lamp accessory 420. If it is not, the initial state of the lamp accessory 420 can be switched between the first reference state and the second reference state by switching the determination logic such as determining whether the lamp accessory 420 is in the initial position. Is possible.

  Here, referring to FIG. 36, the position sensor 513 detects the lamp accessory 420 when the lamp accessory 420 is in the first reference state, and therefore, based on the detection result (output) of the position sensor 513, the lamp accessory 420 is detected. It is possible to reliably determine that the accessory 420 is in the first reference state. On the other hand, if the lamp accessory 420 is not in the first reference state, the position sensor 513 does not detect the lamp accessory 420. Therefore, even if the position sensor 513 is not detected, the lamp accessory 420 is reliably second. It is not always the reference state. For example, the position sensor 513 is not in the non-moving state even when the lamp accessory 420 slightly moves in the direction from the first reference state to the second reference state and is between the first reference state and the second reference state. It becomes detection. However, in the case of a simple operation in which the movement of the movable accessory 115 is merely going back and forth between the first reference state and the second reference state, if it is not the first reference state, it becomes the second reference state (in contrast, If it is not the second reference state, the first reference state is set.) As described above, there is no particular problem even if the state of the movable accessory 115 is determined based on whether the detection result of one position sensor is detected or not detected. . However, in the case where the operation interferes with another movable accessory 115 or the like such as the lamp accessory 420 shown in FIGS. 34 to 38, the judgment based on only the detection result of the position sensor may be an erroneous judgment result. There is a possibility.

This will be specifically described based on the configuration of the handle accessory 410 and the lamp accessory 420 shown in FIGS.
When the operation of shifting the lamp accessory 420 from the first reference state to the second reference state is performed, if the handle accessory 410 is not pulled down (not in the second reference state), the lamp accessory 420 is Cannot hit the handle part 410 and cannot enter the second reference state. However, since the movement from the first reference state is started, the lamp accessory 420 is removed from the position facing the position sensor 513, and the position sensor 513 is not detected. Therefore, in the second state shown in FIG. 39, when it is determined whether or not the lamp accessory 420 is in the initial state (second reference state) based only on the detection result (output) of the position sensor 513, the initial state is obtained. Although it is not, there is a possibility that it is erroneously determined that the initial state has been reached.

Therefore, in such a case, the state of the lamp accessory 420 is determined by taking into account information on the state of the handle accessory 410 that is linked to the lamp accessory 420. Specifically, in the second state shown in FIG. 39, the position sensor 513 is not detected, the lamp accessory 420 is no longer in the first reference state, and the position sensor 512 detects the handle accessory 410 to detect the handle. When it is determined that the accessory 410 has entered the second reference state, it is determined that the lamp accessory 420 has entered the initial state (second reference state).
In this way, when combined with the state determination for the other movable accessory 115 that is linked or interferes with the operation, the determination logic is switched using only a single position sensor to determine a plurality of initial states. However, it is possible to improve the determination accuracy.

  In the present embodiment, the handle combination 410 and the lamp combination 420 which are the movable combination 150 provided on the frame member 150 have been described as examples. However, the reference state of the movable combination 115 according to the present embodiment and The application target of the control in the initial state is not limited to the movable accessory 115 having the above configuration. Similarly, with respect to the movable accessory 115 having various configurations provided on the front surface of the game board 110, the setting of the reference state by the position sensor and the switching of the judgment logic using the detection result (output) of one or more position sensors are performed. It is possible to control the switching of the initial state by.

  The pachinko gaming machine 100 (see FIG. 1) is an example of a gaming machine. The game control unit 200 (see FIG. 3) is an example of a game control unit. The effect control unit 300 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) is an example of effect control means. The movable accessory 115 (see FIG. 1), the handle accessory 410 (see FIGS. 34 and 35), and the ramp accessory 420 (see FIGS. 34 and 36) are examples of movable members. The lamp control unit 320 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) is an example of an operation control unit. The position sensors 511, 512, and 513 (see FIGS. 35 and 36) are examples of detection means.

100 ... Pachinko machine (an example of a game machine)
115: Movable accessory (an example of a movable member)
300 ... Production control unit (an example of production control means)
320 ... Lamp control section (an example of operation control means)
410 ... Handle (an example of a movable member)
420: Lamp accessory (an example of a movable member)
511, 512, 513... Position sensor (an example of detection means)

Claims (2)

Production control means for controlling the production according to the game;
A movable member that operates in a predetermined production;
An operation control means for controlling the operation of the movable member according to the effect to be executed, and for operating the movable member to a preset initial position at a predetermined timing;
The operation control means has different positions in a first state in which the first effect is performed by the control of the effect control means and a second state in which a second effect different from the first effect is performed. Performing an operation control of the movable member as an initial position;
A gaming machine characterized by Further comprising detecting means for detecting that the movable member is in a predetermined position;
The operation control means includes
In the first state, when the movable member is detected by the detection means, the movable member recognizes that the movable member is at an initial position;
2. The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein in the second state, when the movable member is not detected by the detection unit, the movable member is recognized as being in an initial position.

Images