JP5744097B2 - Game machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a gaming machine in which an electrical decoration device using a plurality of full-color LEDs as a light source is provided on the front surface of the machine body, and various effects are performed in the electrical decoration device as the game progresses.

  A full-color LED has a configuration in which three types of light-emitting elements that emit red, green, and blue color lights are enclosed in one package. By controlling each light-emitting element individually, light of various colors can be obtained. Can be issued. By utilizing this property, multi-color LED lighting devices using full-color LEDs will be widely introduced in game machines such as pachinko machines and slot machines instead of conventional LED lighting devices using single-color LEDs. (For example, refer to Patent Documents 1 and 2.)

  In many cases, this type of gaming machine is provided with a liquid crystal panel in order to produce an image. Regarding display control in the liquid crystal panel, Patent Literature 3 discloses that alpha value data is associated with display color data of each pixel constituting a display image of various characters, and the alpha value data is changed to change the display image of the character. It is described that an effect display accompanied by a change is performed.

JP 2005-152137 A JP 2008-119401 A JP 2007-175437 A

  The conventional monochromatic light-emitting type lighting device is equipped with a colored reflective cover so that it looks bright even when it is turned off, but the multi-color light-emitting type lighting device transmits various color lights. A colorless transparent or white reflective cover is installed according to need. If the cover is not colored, the casing feels dark when the LED is turned off. Therefore, in a gaming machine equipped with a full-color LED lighting device, the LED is often lit constantly.

  In view of this situation and the fact that the light emission color of each LED can be individually controlled, in a gaming machine equipped with a full-color LED lighting device, there is some movement in the lighting device even during the normal gaming state and standby time. The display with the is to be implemented.

The light emission pattern by the full color LED itself is not something that can be seen as an image, but it develops effects with time series movements, such as changes in the light emission color and brightness, and the movement of light by controlling the blinking of each full color LED. can do.
Furthermore, in the gaming machine, not only simply changing the effect pattern of various modes by the full-color LED according to the progress of the game, but also superimposing the newly selected effect pattern on the effect pattern that has progressed previously Display is performed, or display that varies the relationship of intensity between performance patterns is performed.

  Even in the process of superimposing a plurality of effect patterns using such full-color LEDs, if the control based on the alpha value is performed in the same manner as the display of an image as described in Patent Document 3, the effect patterns that are superimposed are displayed. Since the transparency of the production pattern in front of the can be changed, the production pattern is being superimposed on the production pattern that is being implemented while gradually increasing the intensity, and the intensity of the production pattern before the end is gradually attenuated. It seems that it will be possible to carry out production displays that are more interesting, such as letting go.

  However, in order to control a full color LED, it is necessary to set color data based on a combination of data for each color component of R, G, and B (hereinafter referred to as “color element data”) for each LED. Moreover, since a color data group corresponding to each LED is required for each of the various light emission patterns included in the effect pattern, the existing color data group for effect control alone becomes large. Since the alpha value setting data is also required for each LED and each light emission pattern, if the alpha value setting data is stored, the memory may be compressed.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above-mentioned problem, and it is possible to increase the degree of freedom in displaying the effect pattern by easily setting the alpha value for adjusting the transparency without the need to store in advance. Let's take a challenge.

In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, an illumination device using a plurality of full-color LEDs as a light source is provided on the front surface of the machine body, and the light emission state of each LED in the illumination device is adjusted according to the progress of the game. From the color data for each LED that causes the control device of the gaming machine having the control device to be changed to emit light in the effect by the effect pattern with respect to each of a plurality of types of effect patterns having different light emission state changes in the decoration device. storage means for color data group is stored tied comprising, in response to a predetermined condition is satisfied, the common LED between two or more color data group are linked to each performance pattern by combining such color data for each LED, overlapping each effect pattern by controlling the light emitting operation of each LED based on the color data generated by the synthesis process Effects by Align were displayed providing the performance control means for implementation in the illumination device.

The effect control means includes means for reading out color data corresponding to the LED to be combined from the color data group associated with each of the effect patterns to be superimposed in the electrical decoration device; Means for setting an alpha value from a value indicated by one of a plurality of color element data constituting the color data to be the foreground color in the output color data, together with the color data to be the foreground color and the color data Combining the color element data constituting these with the read background color data for each color element type, and combining the color element data for the combination based on the alpha value for each combination. And means for deriving the composite color data .

The alpha value ranges from 0 to 1. When the maximum value is 1, the background color is completely invisible, and when the minimum value is 0, the foreground color is completely invisible.
In the present invention, since the alpha value is derived from the value indicated by one of the plurality of color element data constituting the color data that is the foreground color without setting the data that indicates the alpha value, the color data that is the foreground color If the intensity is sufficiently increased, the alpha value can be set high based on the value indicated by the color element data constituting the color data to enhance the foreground color and make the background color difficult to see. On the other hand, if the intensity of the color data for the foreground color is set low, the alpha value can also be set low, and the background color can be easily seen by increasing the transmittance of the foreground color.

  The color data group for each effect in the storage means includes a plurality of color data representing the emission colors of individual LEDs. In addition, in order to perform an effect accompanied by a change in the light emission pattern, the plurality of color data are stored for each light emission pattern.

The effect control unit according to the embodiment is configured to set a value indicated by the color element data having the highest intensity among the color data for foreground color read out for the synthesis target LED to a ratio to the upper limit value of the color element data. Convert to and set as alpha value.
For example, when each color element data has a value of 0 to 255 in an 8-bit configuration, if the value of the color element data having the highest intensity is 204, the alpha value is 204/255 = 0.8, and the intensity is the highest. If the value of the high color element data is 102, the alpha value is 102/255 = 0.4.

  According to the above embodiment, it is possible to easily derive the alpha value based on the maximum value among the plurality of color element data constituting the color data indicating the foreground color and adjust the transparency of the special effect pattern.

The effect control means can apply the above alpha value to each color element data for the foreground color and each color element data for the background color to obtain each color element data constituting the composite color data. However, the effect control means adds the color element data for the background color adjusted based on the alpha value and the color element data for the foreground color not adjusted based on the alpha value for each combination of the color element data. Thus, the synthesized color data can also be derived.

  According to the above calculation, the intensity indicated by the original color data is reflected in the foreground color. Therefore, when the intensity is gradually reduced in the color data for a predetermined number of frames, the foreground color is reduced according to the setting. The proportion of the background color can be gradually increased. In this way, when the effect pattern displayed in the foreground is terminated, the intensity of the foreground can be attenuated without feeling uncomfortable.

The effect control means according to another embodiment provides a ratio of the value indicated by the color element data having the highest intensity among the color data for foreground color read out for the LED to be combined to the upper limit value of the color element data. Is multiplied by a predetermined coefficient greater than 1, and if the multiplication value is 1.0 or less, the multiplication value is set as an alpha value. If the multiplication value exceeds 1.0, the alpha value is set. Is 1.0.
In this way, even if the intensity of the foreground color data is gradually reduced, the alpha value is maintained at 1.0 up to a certain intensity, and only the foreground color is displayed. The foreground color can be gradually attenuated. Further, the start time of attenuation and the degree of attenuation can be adjusted by the value of the coefficient.

  In a gaming machine according to another embodiment, in the storage unit, priority value data representing the priority order between the production patterns is stored in association with the plurality of types of production patterns. In addition, when three or more production patterns are to be overlaid, the production control means is a color representing the production pattern with the lowest priority based on the priority value data associated with the production patterns to be overlaid. After performing the color data composition process with the data as the background color and the color data representing the rendering pattern with the second lowest priority as the foreground color, the previous composite color data is used as the background color and the composition process is still performed. The color data combining process using the color data representing the effect pattern having the lowest priority among the effect patterns not to be superimposed as the foreground color, and the combining process using the effect pattern having the highest priority as the foreground color is performed. Repeat until finished.

  According to the above-described embodiment, even when it is desired to display three or more effect patterns in a superimposed manner, each effect can be obtained by performing a multi-stage synthesis process using color data and priority corresponding to each effect pattern. It is possible to easily perform display in which patterns are superimposed in priority order.

Furthermore, in the storage means in the above embodiment, any of a plurality of synthesis types having different color data synthesis methods can be associated with and stored in a plurality of types of effect patterns. In this case, the effect control means performs a process according to the combination type associated with the effect pattern as the foreground color in each color data combining process.
According to said process, the synthetic | combination process based on the synthetic | combination classification suitable for the production pattern can be implemented for every production pattern.

The storage means may include a color data group commonly associated with two or more effect patterns in which at least one of the priority value data and the synthesis type is different. In this way, the color data group used for the production is shared, and a plurality of production displays with different hues, clarity, attenuation, etc. when overlaid with other production patterns are presented. Can do.
Therefore, it is possible to produce a variety of lighting effects even with a small data capacity.

  According to the present invention, without saving alpha value data, a plurality of performance patterns can be displayed in a superimposed manner with varying degrees of transparency, which enhances the interest of the performance. Further, it is possible to realize display control that ends the effect pattern displayed as the foreground while naturally attenuating without causing a sense of incongruity.

It is a front view of the airframe of the slot machine to which this invention was applied. It is a block diagram which shows the electric constitution of the said slot machine. It is a functional block diagram which shows the function set to the sub control part regarding the illumination control. It is a table which shows the relationship between the foreground color by the color data for special effects, the background color by the color data for normal effects, the alpha value used for the synthesis process, and the synthesized color. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the intensity | strength of the color data for special effects, and the intensity | strength of the foreground color in a composite color. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the intensity | strength of the color data for special effects, and the alpha value set by the 3rd setting method. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the electrical decoration control at the time of special production. It is a functional block diagram which shows the function of the sub-control part in a 2nd Example. It is explanatory drawing which shows the data structure of the production | presentation pattern table in FIG. 8, and the definition of the synthetic | combination classification in it. It is explanatory drawing which shows the data structure of the production | presentation list table in FIG. 8 with the example of transition of a list. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the electrical effect production control in 2nd Example. It is a flowchart which shows the detailed procedure in step S110 in FIG.

FIG. 1 shows the appearance of a slot machine to which the present invention is applied.
In the slot machine 100 of this embodiment, a reel unit, a medal dispenser, a control board, and the like are incorporated in a housing 100A having a door 1 attached to the front surface. The door 1 has a metal frame 10 as a main body, and synthetic resin panels 11 and 12 are attached to the center and the lower part of the frame 10, respectively. A liquid crystal panel 13 is provided on the upper portion of the frame body 10, and a pair of left and right speakers 14 and 15 are attached so as to sandwich the liquid crystal panel 13.

  In the center panel 11, a rectangular reel display window 16 is provided at a height position corresponding to the reel unit in the housing, and a numerical display 17 is provided below the rectangular reel display window 16. From the reel display window 16, three reels 3a, 3b, 3c having a plurality of symbols drawn on the outer peripheral surface can be seen.

Between the center panel 11 and the lower panel 12, a medal slot 4, a pair of large and small bet switches 5, 6, a start lever switch 7, three stop button switches 8a, 8b, 8c, a settlement switch 9, and the like Is provided.
The bet switches 5 and 6 are operation switches for betting on a game by pulling down medals stored in the aircraft. When the larger bet switch 5 is operated, three medals are pulled down and small. When one of the bet switches 6 is operated, one medal is withdrawn. The settlement switch 9 is a switch for canceling medal storage.

  A medal payout opening 17 is opened at the lower part of the frame 10 and a medal tray 18 for receiving medals paid out from the medal payout opening 17 is provided. The medal payout port 17 is connected to the medal discharge port of the medal payer 19 shown in FIG.

  In addition to the above-described configuration, the door 1 of this embodiment is provided with an electrical decoration device 200 that includes a large number of full-color light emitting type electrical decoration LEDs 20 (hereinafter simply referred to as “LED 20”). Each illumination LED 20 is divided into several places on the front surface of the door 1 and arranged in a strip shape. Specifically, in this embodiment, a pair of upper and lower band arrays (20a and 20b, and 20c and 20d) are formed along the left edge and right edge of the frame 10, respectively, and the liquid crystal is formed from the band arrays 20a and 20c, respectively. Short band arrays 20e and 20f that branch to the upper position of the panel 13 and a band array 20g that is positioned at the center of the upper edge of the frame 10 are formed.

  The band arrangements 20a to 20g of these LED lights 20 are each covered with a colorless and transparent resin cover (not shown), and various kinds of lighting effects are performed by various colored lights transmitted through the cover from each LED LED 20. Is done.

  FIG. 2 shows a main circuit configuration of the slot machine 100. The slot machine 100 is provided with a main control unit 101 that controls the overall progress of the game, and a sub-control unit 102 that is in charge of control related to effects according to commands from the main control unit 101. In the main control unit 101, in addition to the various switches 5, 6, 7, 8a, 8b, 8c and 9 shown in FIG. 1, medal detection provided in a medal passage (not shown) connected to the medal slot 4 is performed. A sensor 40, a reel drive circuit 30 for driving the reels 3a, 3b, and 3c, a medal dispenser 19, a numerical display 17 and the like are connected.

In addition to the liquid crystal panel 13 and the speakers 14 and 15 being connected to the sub-control unit 102, the individual LED LEDs 20 included in the electric decoration device 200 are connected to be individually controllable.
In this embodiment, the number of sub-control units 102 is one. However, the number of sub-control units is two, and the liquid crystal panel 13 is controlled by one sub-control unit, and the speakers 14 and 15 and the power are controlled by the other sub-control unit. The decoration device 200 may be controlled.

  In the main control unit 101, a medal betting process is performed according to a medal detection signal from the medal detection sensor 40 or an operation of the bet switches 5 and 6, and then a lottery is performed according to an operation of the start lever switch 7 and a reel is driven. The circuit 30 is instructed to start rotation of the reels 3a, 3b, 3c. Furthermore, each time the operation of the stop button switches 8a, 8b, 8c is received, the reel drive circuit 30 is controlled so that the reel corresponding to the operated switch stops at a timing according to the lottery result. When the winning symbol combinations are obtained by this control, the main control unit 101 drives the medal payer 19 to pay out the number of medals according to the established winning type.

In the series of game controls, the main control unit 101 appropriately transmits a command for instructing the production control to the sub control unit 102. In particular, when a big hit occurs or a special game mode is won by lottery, the main control unit 101 transmits a command for instructing the sub-control unit 102 to control for special effects.
The sub control unit 102 controls the image display of the liquid crystal panel 13, the sound effect from the speakers 14 and 15, and the light emitting operation of each of the illumination LEDs 20 according to the command from the main control unit 101.

Hereinafter, among the effects implemented by the control of the sub-control unit 102, the illumination effects implemented in the illumination device 200 will be described in detail.
In this embodiment, an illumination effect that changes the light emission pattern of each illumination LED 20 in a constant cycle is always performed in consideration of the introduction of the illumination device 200 using a full color LED as a light emission source. Hereinafter, the effect that is always performed is referred to as “normal effect”, and the pattern of the effect that is performed in the normal effect is referred to as “normal effect pattern”.

  When the special control command is received from the main control unit 101, the sub control unit 101 changes the special effect pattern corresponding to the received command to the normal effect pattern while maintaining the display cycle of the normal effect pattern. It is designed to be displayed overlaid on. Hereinafter, the effect pattern in the special effect is referred to as a “special effect pattern”.

  FIG. 3 shows functions set in the sub-control unit 102 with respect to the control for the electrical decoration device 200.

  The normal effect pattern and the special effect pattern of this embodiment are intended to change the distribution of color and brightness in each LED LED 20 in various ways. In order to perform such an effect, frame data (color data group representing one light emission pattern) composed of color data for each individual LED 20 is required for a plurality of frames. Each color data indicates a light emission color and brightness in one electric decoration LED 20, and in this embodiment, each color data is constituted by a combination of R, G, B color element data (all 8 bits).

  In the sub-control unit 102, data files 201 and 202 in which color data groups necessary for implementing the effect are registered for each effect pattern. 201 is a data file for special effects, and 202 is a data file for normal effects. For both special effects and normal effects, a plurality of pattern types are set, and a data file 201 or 202 is set for each pattern type, and a plurality of frame data representing the effect patterns are stored in these files in association with the execution order. Has been.

Further, the sub-control unit 102 is set with functions such as a command reception unit 203, an effect selection unit 204, a color data composition processing unit 205, and an effect control unit 206 by a program, and is provided with an association table 210 described later. It is done.
The command receiving unit 203 receives a command from the main control unit 101 and analyzes the content of the command. Upon receiving this analysis result, the effect selection unit 204 selects the effect data file 201 or 202 corresponding to the command, and reads various frame data stored in the selected data file in accordance with the execution order.

The color data group included in the read frame data is transferred to the color data composition processing unit 205, and color data composition processing for each of the illumination LEDs 20 is performed according to a predetermined order. The emission color for is determined.
In this embodiment, the color data is synthesized by using the color based on the color data for normal performance as the background color and the color based on the color data for the special performance as the foreground color. The effect control unit 206 receives the supply of the combined color data from the color data synthesis processing unit 205, and controls the light emission operation of the illumination LED 20 corresponding to the data.

Hereinafter, three methods of color data composition processing for one LED 20 will be described.
First, in the first processing method, the color data composition processing unit 205 calls values of color element data (hereinafter referred to as “R value”, “G value”, and “B value”) that constitute color data for the processing-target electrical LED 20. ) Is extracted, and an alpha value is derived by an operation for converting the maximum value into a ratio to the upper limit value (255) of the data. For example, if the maximum value among the R, G, and B values is 255, the alpha value is 1.0, and if the maximum value among the three values is 153, the alpha value is 0.6.

When the color data composition processing unit 205 receives provision of color data for special effects and color data for normal effects from the effect selection unit 204 for the processing target illumination LED 20, the former color is used as the foreground color, and the latter The alpha value α is obtained by the above method for the foreground color with the color of the above as the background color. Then, the foreground color and the background color are synthesized by executing the following arithmetic expression to which the alpha value α is applied for each of R, G, and B. C _BK is the intensity of the background color, and C _FW is the intensity of the foreground color.
(1-α) × C _BK + α × C _FW = strength after synthesis (Formula 1)

  While performing said synthetic | combination process for every illumination LED 20, each production | generation control part 206 controls the light emission operation | movement of each illumination LED 20 based on the color data after a synthesis | combination, each band of the illumination LED shown in FIG. In the arrays 20a to 20g, it is possible to adjust the appearance of the normal effect pattern and the special effect pattern.

  FIG. 4 shows a specific example of the foreground color by the color data for special effects, the background color by the color data for normal effects, and a composite color of these, together with the alpha value used for the composition processing. In FIG. 4, the R value, G value, and B value of each color data are also shown as a ratio to the upper limit value (255).

  Comparing (1), (2), and (3) in FIG. 4, the background color based on the color data for normal performance is the same color, but the foreground color based on the color data for special performance is different. However, for the foreground color, each intensity varies at an equal ratio so that the intensity ratio among the R, G, and B values is constant between FIGS. 4 (1), (2), and (3). I am letting. Specifically, the foreground intensity in FIG. 4 (2) is 50% and the foreground intensity in FIG. 4 (3) is 20% with respect to the foreground intensity in FIG. 4 (1).

In the foreground color of each setting example, the R value is maximized, and a value obtained by converting the maximum value into a ratio to the upper limit value is set as the alpha value.
In the setting example of FIG. 4A, since the R value of the foreground color is the same as the upper limit value, the calculation according to the above (Expression 1) is performed with α = 1.0. As a result, the composite color is the same as the foreground color, that is, the background color is completely invisible.

On the other hand, in the setting example of FIG. 4B, α = 0.5, so that the foreground color intensity C _FW and the background color intensity C _BK are each extracted by 50% to generate a composite color. . In the example of FIG. 4 (3), α = 0.2, so that a composite color is generated with a value obtained by adding 20% of the foreground intensity C _FW and 80% of the background color intensity C _BK .

  Therefore, assuming that the composite colors according to the settings of FIGS. 4 (1), (2), and (3) are displayed in order, only the foreground color is displayed at first, and each time the display is switched to the second and third display, the foreground color is displayed. And the alpha value are also lower than the previous time, and the synergistic effect reduces the proportion of the foreground color in the composite color. Since the proportion of the background color increases, the foreground color attenuates and the background color becomes dominant as time passes.

  Since the alpha value setting process and the color data combining process are performed using the color data corresponding to each LED 20 for each of the illumination LEDs 20, the color data applied to each LED 20 even in the same effect pattern. The foreground transparency may vary depending on However, during the main period of the special effect, in order to clearly show the special effect pattern, at least one of the R value, the G value, and the B value should be set high for any LED 20. Therefore, the alpha value is considered to be relatively high. Therefore, it is possible to display the special effect pattern as a state where the normal effect pattern is not visible at all or a state where it is almost invisible.

  On the other hand, when the end time of the special effect is approaching, the special effect pattern is obtained by gradually decreasing the intensity of the color data for each LED 20 over time using the mechanism illustrated in FIG. The intensity of the normal performance pattern can be increased by gradually attenuating the colors. Therefore, before the special effect ends and only the normal effect pattern is displayed, the normal effect pattern can be gradually strengthened and displayed, and the display color changes greatly at the same time as the special effect ends. Can be prevented.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, by adjusting the intensity of the color data for special effects to be given to the illumination device 200, the alpha value is changed, and the appearance of the special effect pattern and the normal effect pattern is seen. Can be varied. This control makes it possible to attenuate the special performance as time passes, and gradually enhance the special performance pattern to appear in some areas during the display of the normal performance pattern. Various forms of effects can be developed, such as notifying the lottery result according to the degree of clarity. In any production, if the color data group corresponding to the production to be developed is saved, it is not necessary to save the alpha value setting data, so that the production effect can be enhanced by reducing the data capacity.

  However, according to the above (Equation 1), the intensity of the foreground color in the composite color is adjusted by the alpha value that reflects the intensity of the foreground color itself, so the degree of attenuation of the foreground color in the composite color depends on the original data. It will be greater than the foreground attenuation. For example, if the foreground color shown in FIG. 4 (1) is reduced to 50% intensity as shown in FIG. 4 (2), the 50% intensity and the alpha value set to 0.5 By the multiplication, the intensity of the foreground color in the composite color is attenuated to 25%.

FIG. 5 is a schematic graph showing the foreground color attenuation characteristics in the composite color on the assumption that the intensity of the color data for special effects changes linearly with the passage of time.
As shown in this graph, if the intensity of the foreground color before composition is changed at a certain ratio, the intensity of the foreground color in the composite color changes exponentially, so the attenuation of the period when the intensity of the foreground color is relatively high The degree increases.

In consideration of the above problem, in the second processing method, the alpha value is a value obtained by converting the maximum value among the R, G, and B values into a ratio with respect to the upper limit value (255) as in the previous embodiment. However, in the calculation for deriving the composite color, the following (Expression 2) is used instead of (Expression 1).
(1-α) × C _BK + C _FW = Intensity of composite color (Expression 2)

  According to the above (Equation 2), since the alpha value is not applied to the foreground color, the intensity on the data is applied to the synthesized color as it is. However, if the intensity of the foreground color is gradually reduced, the intensity of the foreground color in the composite color is similarly reduced, and the alpha value is also reduced accordingly, so that the background color in the composite color is gradually increased. Also, the foreground color can be attenuated more slowly than when using (Equation 1).

Next, in the third processing method, the method for deriving the alpha value is changed. The point of extracting the maximum value among the R value, G value, and B value included in the color data for special effects is the same as in the first and second methods, but in the third method, the maximum value is extracted. Is not a value converted to a ratio to the upper limit value of 255, but a value obtained by doubling the ratio is defined as an alpha value. However, since the upper limit value of the alpha value is 1.0, when the doubled ratio exceeds 1.0, the alpha value is set to 1.0.
In the calculation for deriving the composite color, (Equation 1) is used.

FIG. 6 shows the relationship between the change and the alpha value change by the third processing method, assuming that the intensity of the foreground color by the color data for special effects changes linearly with the passage of time. It is shown. According to the third processing method, if the intensity of the foreground color is 50% or more of the upper limit value, the alpha value is uniformly 1.0, but if it is below 50% of the upper limit value, the alpha value is The value is set to twice that of the first embodiment.
Therefore, while the maximum value of the color data for special effects is 50% or more of the upper limit value, only the color of the special effect pattern is displayed, but the intensity of the foreground color is lower than 50% of the upper limit value. The attenuation of the subsequent foreground color is larger than that in the first embodiment.

  Note that the numerical value (coefficient) multiplied by the ratio conversion value of the maximum value among the R value, the G value, and the B value is not limited to “2”, and is not necessarily an integer. By multiplying the above ratio by an arbitrary numerical value greater than 1 (for example, 1.5), it is possible to adjust the time when the special effect pattern starts to be attenuated.

  Next, the special effect may be implemented in all of the band arrangements 20a to 20g of the LEDs 20 shown in FIG. 1, but depending on the type of the special effect to be performed, the place where the special effect is performed may be limited or special. It is also possible to vary the clarity of the performance pattern depending on the location. For this control, in this embodiment, the LEDs 20 are grouped for each of the band arrays 20a to 20g, and the identification information of each group and the identification of the LEDs 20 belonging to each group are displayed in the association table 210 shown in FIG. Information is registered in association with each other.

FIG. 7 shows a detailed procedure in the case of controlling the light emission operation of each illumination LED 20 for each group, and any of the three color composition methods described above is applied.
This process is started when a command instructing execution of a predetermined special effect is received from the main control unit 101 on the assumption that the normal effect is in progress.

  In the first step S1, the special effect data file 201 corresponding to the command from the main control unit 101 is read. In the data file 201, the identification information of the group related to the special effect is registered in association with the color data of each of the illumination LEDs 20 in the group. In the following processing, a group related to the special effect and a group not related to the special effect are identified based on this identification information.

In step S2, a counter n for specifying a frame is set to an initial value of 1.
Thereafter, paying attention to the groups registered in the association table 210 in order (step S3), it is determined whether or not the group being focused on is a group that performs special effects (step S4), and the determination result To switch the processing procedure.

  For a group performing a special effect, in step S5, a counter m for specifying the illumination LED 20 in the group is set to an initial value of 1, and for the illumination LED 20 specified by m, step S6 is set. , S7, S8, S9 are executed. Thereafter, the value of m is incremented by one until the counter m reaches the number of LEDs in the group (steps S10 and S11), and each time the value of m is updated, steps S6, S7, S8, and S9 are executed. .

  In step S6, for the m-th LED 20 in the group under consideration, the nth frame color data is acquired from the special effect data file 201 being read, and the next frame is also executed from the normal effect data file 202. Get the color data.

  In step S7, the maximum value among the R value, G value, and B value constituting the special effect color data acquired in step S6 is extracted, and an alpha value is set based on the maximum value. Specifically, a value obtained by converting the maximum value among the R value, the G value, and the B value into a ratio with respect to the upper limit value, or a value obtained by multiplying the ratio by a predetermined coefficient is defined as an alpha value. However, when the multiplication value exceeds 1 in the method of multiplying the ratio by the coefficient, the alpha value is set to 1.

  In step S8, (1) or (2) is performed using the set alpha value and the two types of color data acquired in step S6, thereby deriving synthesized color data based on each color data. In step S9, the light emission operation of the mth LED 20 is controlled using the composite color data.

  When the above-described steps S6, S7, S8, and S9 are performed on all the illumination LEDs 20 in the group under attention (step S10 is “NO”), the processing for the group under attention is terminated.

  In FIG. 7, the process with respect to the group which is not contained in the object which performs special production is collectively shown as one step S12. For a group that does not implement a special effect, each LED 20 in the group is set as a processing target in order, but here, only the color data group of the frame to be executed next for the normal effect is acquired and processed by the color data. The light emission operation of the target LED 20 is controlled.

  When the process for one group is completed, the process returns to step S3 from step S13 to shift to the process for the next group.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the arrangement of the illumination LEDs 20 is divided into a plurality of groups, and for each group, it is checked whether or not the group is related to the special performance pattern that is currently being implemented, and is related to the special performance pattern. For the group, by executing steps S6 to S9, the color for normal effect and the color for special effect are combined for each of the illumination LEDs 20 in the group, and the combined color is emitted. On the other hand, for the group that is not related to the special effect pattern being executed, only the color for the normal effect is displayed by executing step S12.

  When the processing for all groups is completed (“YES” in step S13), the value of n is updated in step S15, and the process returns to step S3. Thereby, the processing shifts to the next frame.

  Thereafter, the above-described procedure is repeated until the effects relating to all the frames are completed, and when the processing for the last frame is completed (“YES” in step S14), the processing is ended. In the above procedure, the group that performs the special effect is fixed. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and by managing the group that performs the special effect for each frame, there are places where the special effect is performed. You may make it switch on the way.

According to the above procedure, the combination of the groups related to the special effect can be changed for each type of the special effect pattern, so that the target position and the target range of the special effect can be changed variously. Also, the clarity of the special effect pattern can be changed for each frame and each group. Further, by adjusting the intensity of the color data for each LED related to the special effect, it is possible to make a difference in the clarity of the special effect pattern in the same group.
Such control can greatly enhance the interest of special effects.

  In the above embodiment, it is assumed that the color data for each effect is composed of a combination of R, G, and B color element data. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and color data in HSL format is set. There is also. In this case, the data in the HSL format is converted into the RGB format and used for the control of the illumination LED 20, but the alpha value can be derived from the L value (lightness) of the original color data.

  The L value is in the range from 0 to 1, and when the L value is 0.5, the color with the highest saturation (pure color) is obtained. Therefore, the L value in the color data is doubled as the alpha value. (However, if twice the L value exceeds 1, the alpha value is 1.) Using the color data converted from the HSL format to the RGB format and the set alpha value (formula What is necessary is just to implement 1) or (Formula 2).

  Next, in the above-described embodiment, the color data synthesis process is performed between one of a plurality of types of normal effect patterns and one of a plurality of types of special effect patterns. It is also possible to perform color data composition processing between the production patterns. In particular, the above color data combining process is applied to a game machine of a type that selects and implements various aspects of the production at any timing according to the progress of the game without providing a classification such as a normal production and a special production. If introduced, it is possible to easily carry out the process of changing the effect pattern to be emphasized while adjusting multiple types of effect patterns at the same time, and adjusting the brightness change at the start and end of the effect. It is possible to develop a variety of productions. Details of the effect control will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 8 shows a configuration example when the sub-control unit 102 has a function of causing three or more effect patterns to proceed simultaneously. In the configuration shown in FIG. 8, the command reception unit 203, the effect selection unit 204, the color data composition processing unit 205, and the effect control unit 206 have the same functions as those in FIG. The description will be omitted.

The sub-control unit 102 of this embodiment is provided with a plurality of effect data files 211 without distinguishing between normal / special, as well as an effect pattern table 212, an effect list table 213, and a list update unit 207. .
In the effect pattern table 212, a plurality of types of data defining various effect patterns are registered. The effect list table 213 is for storing a list of currently selected effect patterns, and the list update unit 207 is for updating the list.

  FIG. 9 (1) shows a configuration example of the effect pattern table 212. In the effect pattern table 212 of this example, nine types of effect patterns are registered by the type codes P1 to P9, and each data of file type, priority value, and composition type is associated with each effect pattern. . Hereinafter, various types of information associated with one effect pattern including the type code are collectively referred to as “effect pattern information”.

  The file type is identification information (file name) of the effect data file 211 to be used. As shown in the production pattern types P1 and P8 and P2 and P9, in this embodiment, the same value is used for a plurality of production pattern types on the assumption that at least one of the priority value and the synthesis type is set. The effect data file 211 may be linked.

  The priority value indicates the rank between the production patterns. The ranking is set according to the importance level of the effect, and the higher the priority value, the higher the ranking. As described above, in this embodiment, the normal effect and the special effect are not divided, but a small priority value is set for the effect pattern corresponding to the special effect.

  The combination type indicates a method for combining color data. In this embodiment, numerical values of 0 to 4 are assigned to the five synthesis types. A specific definition of these composite types is shown in FIG.

According to FIG. 9 (2), the composition type 0 means that only the foreground color is displayed without composition (that is, the alpha value is always “1”).
The composition type 1 is the first processing method described above, that is, the value obtained by converting the maximum value among the R value, G value, and B value of the foreground color into a ratio with respect to the upper limit value (255) as an alpha value ( The composite color is derived from Equation 1). The combination type 4 is a method for deriving a combined color by using the second processing method, that is, (Equation 2) using the alpha value obtained by the same method as the combination type 1.

  The combination type 2 and the combination type 3 are the third processing method, that is, a value obtained by multiplying a ratio converted from the maximum value among the R value, G value, and B value of the foreground color by a predetermined coefficient as an alpha value. (Equation 1) is carried out. In composition type 2, the coefficient is set to “2”, and in composition type 3, the coefficient is set to “3”. It should be noted that the alpha value is set to 1 when the values obtained by multiplying the coefficients for both the synthesis types 2 and 3 exceed 1.

  In this embodiment, when the command receiving unit 203 receives a designation of presentation from the main control unit 101, the designation is notified to the list updating unit 207. The list update unit 207 refers to the effect pattern table 212 to select an effect pattern according to the designation, and transfers effect pattern information related to the selected effect pattern to the effect list table 213.

  FIG. 10 shows a transition example of the list stored in the effect list table 213. In this list, along with the effect pattern information read from the effect pattern table 212 for the effect pattern corresponding to the effect designation, the number of the frame (frame number) to be executed next for the effect pattern is stored. When a plurality of effect patterns are included in the list, each effect pattern is sorted in ascending order of priority values.

  FIG. 10A shows the contents of the effect list table 213 when only one type of effect is designated and the effect pattern P3 corresponding to the designation is in progress. The list in this example is the one at the time when the effect by the effect pattern P3 is completed up to the ninth frame. While no other effect is specified, the frame number is updated based on the notification from the effect control unit 206 every time the light emission control for one frame is completed.

  FIG. 10 (2) shows a state where another effect designation is entered when five frames have elapsed from the state of FIG. 10 (1), and an effect pattern P2 corresponding to the designation is added to the list. FIG. 10 (3) shows a state in which a third effect designation is entered when five frames have passed and an effect pattern P4 corresponding to the designation is added to the list.

  FIG. 10 (4) shows the contents of the effect list table 213 when 10 frames have elapsed from the state of FIG. 10 (3). Since the production pattern P2 has been completed up to this point, it has been deleted from the list, and the production pattern P1 corresponding to the new designation has been added to the list.

  As shown in FIGS. 10 (1) to (4), each time a new effect instruction is generated, effect pattern information corresponding to the new instruction is added to the effect list table 213 and each record in the list is recorded. Are sorted in ascending order of priority.

The effect selection unit 204 refers to the effect list table 213 and, based on the file type and frame number of each effect pattern included in the list in the table 213, the frame of the next frame to be executed from the corresponding effect data file 211. Read color data group. The color data composition processing unit 205 also derives a composite color for each of the illumination LEDs 20 while recognizing the rank and composition type of each color data by referring to the effect list table 213. The effect control unit 206 controls the light emission operation of each electric decoration LED 20 based on the derived composite color.
When the light emission control for one frame is completed, the list update unit 207 updates the frame number in the effect list table 213. In addition, the effect pattern implemented up to the final frame is deleted from the effect list table 213.

  FIG. 11 shows a processing procedure of illumination effect control performed by the sub-control unit 102 having the configuration shown in FIG. In this control, it is periodically checked whether or not a new performance instruction has been received (step S101). When receiving the instruction, the list update unit 207 reads the effect pattern information of the effect pattern corresponding to the instruction from the effect pattern table 212 (step S102), and the effect pattern information is added to the effect list table 213 (step S102). S103). Further, when the added effect list table 213 includes a plurality of records, the records are sorted in ascending order of the priority values simultaneously with the addition.

The processes after step S104 are repeatedly performed regardless of whether or not a new effect instruction has been received.
First, in step 104, the total number of records stored in the effect list table 213 is set in the variable PN, and in the subsequent step S105, the output buffer is cleared.

This output buffer is for temporarily storing a color data group for controlling the light emission operation of each illumination LED 20, and after being cleared in step S105, it is updated one or more times.
First, in step S106 immediately after the clear process is performed, the color data group of the frame to be executed next is read out from the effect data file 212 of the PN-th effect pattern having the lowest priority order. A group of color data is stored in the output buffer. This processing is performed by the effect selection unit 204 with reference to the PN-th effect pattern information, and the next frame is specified from the frame number, and the effect data file 212 to be read is specified from the file type.

In step S107, PN is set to the counter p for specifying the effect pattern to be referred to, and its value is checked (step S108). If p at this stage is 1, that is, if there is only one record in the effect list table 213 as shown in FIG. 10A, step S108 becomes “NO” and the process proceeds to step S111. .
In step S111, since the light emission operation of each LED 20 is controlled using the color data group in the output buffer, only a single effect pattern is displayed in the above case.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 10 (2), (3), and (4), when a plurality of records are registered in the effect list table 213, step S108 immediately after the processing of steps S104 to S107 is “ YES ”. In this case, after the value of p is reduced by one in step S109, color data is synthesized by referring to the effect pattern information corresponding to the updated p, and output by the derived synthesized color data. The buffer is updated (step S110). Details of this processing are shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 12, various processes included in step S110 are shown as steps S121 to S128. In the first step S121, the composition type in the effect pattern information is set to be valid by referring to the p-th effect pattern information based on the value of p updated in step S109. It should be noted that with this valid setting, other composition types become invalid.

  Thereafter, in step S122, an initial value 1 is set to a counter k for specifying each of the illumination LEDs 20, and thereafter, while incrementing k until the value of k reaches the total number of LEDs (steps S127, S128). ), Steps S123 to S126 are performed for k of every hour.

  In step S123, the kth color data is read from the color data group of the next frame to be executed for the pth effect pattern. In step S124, the kth color data is read from the color data group stored in the output buffer.

  In step S125, the color data read for the p-th effect pattern in step S123 is used as the foreground color, and the color data read from the output buffer in step S124 is used as the background color, and the synthesis process is performed according to an effective synthesis type. To do. In step S126, the kth color data in the output buffer is updated with the synthesized color data derived by this synthesis process.

  Thereafter, by repeating the above process while updating k, the combined color data for all the illumination LEDs 20 is derived, and the output buffer is updated with the combined color data.

  Returning to FIG. When step S110 (steps S121 to S128 in FIG. 12) ends, the process returns to step S108 to check the current value of p. If p at this time is greater than 1, p is subtracted again, and step S110 is performed based on the updated p. Therefore, each time, a composition process is performed in which the color data constituting the p-th effect pattern is the foreground color and the color data stored in the output buffer is the background color.

  Finally, when p becomes 1 and the composition processing using the color data group of the first effect pattern in the effect list table 213 is performed and the output buffer is updated, step S108 becomes “NO”. Then, the process proceeds to step S111. Therefore, the light emission operation of each illumination LED 20 is controlled by the color data group finally stored in the output buffer.

  As described above, when three or more performance patterns are advanced, the color data is superimposed while adjusting the transparency in order from the lowest priority, and finally the color of the performance pattern with the highest priority is displayed. A foreground color combination process is performed to determine the combined color data to be given to the LED 20. According to such processing, it is possible to realize a display in which a highly important effect is emphasized regardless of the order or timing at which the instruction for the effect is received.

  According to the above-mentioned production control, even when receiving an instruction to execute another production while performing some production, it is possible to respond to a new instruction while maintaining the flow of the production pattern in progress. Control related to production can be simplified.

  In addition, when an effect that is more important than an effect that is being executed is instructed, it can be easily handled. For example, as in the example of FIG. 10 (4), when an effect pattern P1 with a combination type of 0 and a high priority is added to the effect list table 213, other effect patterns in progress are erased. Only the pattern P1 is displayed.

  Color data in frames included in the range from the start to the end of the specified time, even for presentation patterns that require a display that gradually rises and becomes clearer or that gradually attenuates at the end. By adjusting the intensity of the group and the intensity of the color data group in a predetermined number of frames before the end of the presentation, a target display can be realized.

Also in this embodiment, similarly to the illumination control shown in FIG. 7, the illumination LEDs 20 are classified into a plurality of groups, and the effect pattern to be synthesized and the effect pattern to be specified are changed by the group. You can also.
In order to vary the selection of the production pattern depending on the group, for example, each record of the production list table 213 may include the group type to which the production by the record is applied. Then, according to the procedure shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, in the case where the synthesis process is performed on the effect patterns stored in the effect list table 213 in order from the lowest priority, Based on the group type associated with the effect pattern to be processed, the color data can be synthesized only for the group to which the effect pattern to be processed is applied.

  Furthermore, according to this embodiment, as shown in the relationship between the effect patterns P1 and P8 and the relationship between the effect patterns P2 and P9, the basic light emission pattern is common, but the priority value and the composition type are changed. By doing so, it is possible to provide a plurality of performance patterns having different colors, clarity, attenuation, and the like. Therefore, it is possible to increase production variations even with a small data capacity.

  The various electrical effects described above can be applied not only to slot machines but also to other gaming machines such as pachinko machines. In addition, although not mentioned in each of the embodiments, an illumination LED provided in a place other than the front surface of the housing 100A (for example, in the example of FIG. 1, for reel illumination above the reel display window 16 on the back side of the frame 10). The lighting mode can be changed by the same control method.

1 door 10 frame 20 illumination LED
20 a, 20 b, 20 c, 20 d, 20 e, 20 f, 20 g LED array 102 Sub-control unit 200 Lighting device 201 Special effect data file 202 Normal effect data file 204 Effect selection unit 205 Color data composition processing unit 206 Effect control unit 207 List update unit 211 Effect data file 212 Effect pattern table 213 Effect list table

Claims (7)

In a gaming machine including a lighting device having a plurality of full-color LEDs as a light source provided on the front surface of the machine body and a control device that changes the light emission state of each LED in the lighting device according to the progress of the game,
The control device is associated with a color data group composed of color data for each LED that emits light in the production by the production pattern for each of a plurality of types of production patterns having different modes of change in the light emission state in the electrical decoration device. The stored storage means and the color data related to the LED common to the color data groups associated with each of the two or more effect patterns according to the establishment of the predetermined game condition for each LED. Effect control means for causing the electrical decoration device to perform an effect by superimposing each effect pattern by controlling the light emission operation of each LED based on the combined color data generated by the combining process. Prepared,
The effect control means is means for reading out color data corresponding to the LED to be combined from the color data group associated with each of the effect patterns to be superimposed in the electrical decoration device; Means for setting an alpha value from a value indicated by one of a plurality of pieces of color element data constituting color data serving as the foreground color in the read color data; the color data serving as the foreground color; and this color data The color element data constituting the background color and the color data read out together with the color data are combined for each color element type, and the color element data related to the combination is synthesized based on the alpha value for each combination. And a means for deriving the composite color data . The effect control means converts the value indicated by the color element data having the highest intensity among the color data for foreground color read out for the LED to be combined into a ratio to the upper limit value of the color element data. The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the gaming machine is set as an alpha value. The effect control means adds, for each combination of the color element data, the color element data for the background color adjusted based on the alpha value and the color element data for the foreground color not adjusted based on the alpha value. The gaming machine according to claim 2, wherein the composite color data is derived. The effect control means converts the value indicated by the color element data having the highest intensity among the color data for foreground color read out for the LED to be combined into a ratio to the upper limit value of the color element data. The value is multiplied by a predetermined coefficient greater than 1, and if the multiplication value is 1.0 or less, the multiplication value is set as an alpha value. If the multiplication value exceeds 1.0, the alpha value is set to 1.0. The gaming machine according to claim 1. In the storage means, for the plurality of types of effect patterns, priority value data representing the priority order between the effect patterns is stored in association with each other,
The effect control means, when three or more effect patterns are to be overlaid, color data representing an effect pattern with the lowest priority based on priority value data associated with each overlap target effect pattern Is used as the background color, and the color data representing the rendering pattern with the second lowest priority is used as the foreground color. The color data composition process using the color data representing the effect pattern with the lowest priority among the effect patterns to be overlaid as the foreground color, and the composition process using the color data with the highest priority as the foreground color is completed. The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the gaming machine is repeated until it is finished. In the storage means, for the plurality of types of effect patterns, any one of a plurality of combination types having different color data combining methods is associated and stored.
The gaming machine according to claim 5, wherein the effect control unit performs a process according to a combination type associated with an effect pattern as a foreground color in each color data combining process.   The gaming machine according to claim 6, wherein the storage unit includes a color data group that is commonly associated with two or more performance patterns in which at least one of the priority value data and the synthesis type is different.

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