JP6082971B2 - Game machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a gaming machine that executes an effect display in accordance with the progress of a game.

  Some gaming machines such as pachinko machines in recent years are equipped with a so-called video display processor (VDP). This video display processor displays various videos for directing the progress of the game on the display device using the character data read from the character ROM in accordance with instructions from the display control processor that controls video display. .

  There has also been proposed a gaming machine provided with a plurality of display devices for displaying the video drawn by the video display processor so as to enhance the visual effect.

  However, when a plurality of display devices are provided in the gaming machine, if a VDP is provided for each of the plurality of display devices, the cost will increase. Therefore, even when a plurality of display devices are provided in the gaming machine, a method is disclosed in which display data for displaying on a plurality of display devices is generated by one VDP (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ).

  In the gaming machine described in Patent Document 1, the image data for the three display devices is synthesized and output, and the drive circuit corresponding to each display device has a preset range of the output image data. The image data is taken in and the image is displayed on the display device by the taken image data.

JP 2003-52957 A

  In the gaming machine described in Patent Document 1 described above, image data for a plurality of display devices is integrally output to each display device, so that a plurality of displays are performed by only one video display processor (VDP). It is possible to display an image on the apparatus.

  However, in the gaming machine disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is possible to handle only by cutting out image data within a specific range of image data input for each line from the video display processor in the drive circuit corresponding to each display device. The image data of the display device to be extracted is taken out. Therefore, when an image for each display device is taken out by such a method, it is necessary that at least the number of lines of each display device is the same, and the sizes of the plurality of display devices are actually the same. It will be necessary. In other words, the method disclosed in Patent Document 1 cannot be applied to a gaming machine provided with a plurality of display devices having various sizes of lines and widths.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a gaming machine capable of displaying an image on a plurality of display devices having different sizes by using a single video display processor.

A gaming machine of the present invention includes a game control unit that controls a game operation using a game medium,
In a gaming machine comprising: an effect control unit that controls an effect operation accompanying the game operation by control of the game control unit; and a plurality of display devices that execute a display operation by control of the effect control unit;
The production control unit
A first nonvolatile video memory that nonvolatilely stores material image data used for displaying a material image necessary for video;
A second nonvolatile video memory for nonvolatilely storing scheduler data including information relating to the configuration of the video to be displayed and information for specifying material image data necessary for rendering each scene constituting the video to be displayed; ,
A first volatile video memory capable of storing the material image data in a volatile manner;
A video display processor for displaying video on the display device;
A command list comprising a plurality of commands for instructing the video display processor to perform video display processing in order to execute a display control program for controlling video display and realize video display based on the scheduler data. A display control processor for generating and transferring to the video display processor;
A second volatile video memory capable of storing volatile data used by the display control processor;
Including
At least one display device of the plurality of display devices is different in size from other display devices, and the video display processor is responsive to a video to be displayed based on a command list transferred from the display control processor. Material image data is read from the first non-volatile video memory and developed in the first volatile video memory, and the plurality of displays are displayed using the material image data developed in the first volatile video memory. Generating a composite image in which a plurality of images to be displayed on the device are spatially combined in one frame;
The plurality of display devices each display an image for the display device based on the composite image generated by the video display processor.

  Further, the composite image may include a non-display area that is not displayed by any display device.

Furthermore, the gaming machine according to the present invention includes a cutting unit that cuts out an image in a set area from the composite image generated by the video display processor.
The image processing apparatus may further include an enlargement unit that enlarges the image cut out by the cutout unit at a set enlargement ratio and outputs the image to a corresponding display device among the plurality of display devices.

  In the gaming machine of the present invention, the video display processor generates a composite image obtained by spatially synthesizing a plurality of images to be displayed on a plurality of display devices, and the plurality of display devices generate by a video display processor. Each of the images for the display device is displayed based on the synthesized image. Therefore, according to the present invention, even when at least one display device of a plurality of display devices is different in size from other display devices, an image is displayed on the plurality of display devices having different sizes by one video display processor. Can be made.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain an effect that an image can be displayed on a plurality of display devices having different sizes by one video display processor.

It is a front view which shows the structural example of the pachinko machine 1 which is one Embodiment of the game machine of this invention. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of an electrical configuration of the pachinko machine 1. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an electrical configuration of a decorative design control board 30. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of VDP330 for performing the video display with respect to the decoration symbol display apparatus 16. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of scalers 341 and 342. FIG. 3 is a memory map showing a configuration example of a storage area of a control ROM 301. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the display scheduler data. 4 is a memory map showing a configuration example of a storage area of a source ROM 340. 5 is a flowchart for explaining reset start processing in the decorative design control board 30; It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of symbol CPU311. It is a flowchart which shows the display process performed in VDP330. It is a figure for demonstrating the image size of the decoration symbol display apparatuses 16 and 26. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the synthesized image produced | generated by the drawing circuit 335 of VDP330 in a 1st specific example. It is a figure for demonstrating a mode that drawing is performed with respect to the two decoration symbol display apparatuses 16 and 26 in a 1st specific example. It is a figure for demonstrating a mode that the image for the decoration symbol display apparatuses 16 and 26 is enlarged in the 1st specific example. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the decoration design control board 30a in a 2nd specific example. It is a figure for demonstrating a mode that drawing is performed with respect to the two decoration design display apparatuses 16 and 26 in a 2nd specific example. It is a figure for demonstrating a mode that the image for decoration design display apparatuses 16 and 26 is enlarged in the 2nd example. It is a figure for demonstrating a mode that drawing is performed with respect to the two decoration symbol display apparatuses 16 and 26 in a 3rd specific example. It is a figure which shows an example of the synthesized image produced | generated by the drawing circuit 335 of VDP330 in a 3rd specific example. It is a figure for demonstrating a mode that the image for decoration design display apparatuses 16 and 26 is enlarged in the 3rd example. It is a figure which shows an example of the synthesized image which spatially combined three images to be displayed on three display devices by one VDP.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a pachinko machine will be described with reference to the corresponding drawings.
(1. Outline configuration example of pachinko machine)
FIG. 1 is a front view showing a configuration example of a pachinko machine 1 which is an embodiment of the gaming machine of the present invention. A plurality of pachinko machines 1 are installed side by side in an island facility of a game hall such as a hall. In the case of a so-called CR (Card Reader) machine, a card unit 12 is installed.
Hereinafter, a schematic configuration example of the pachinko machine 1 will be described first.

  In the pachinko machine 1, a base frame is attached to a wooden outer frame via a hinge mechanism so as to be opened and closed. A front frame (glass frame 5) is attached to the base frame so as to be openable and closable with respect to the base frame via a hinge mechanism. In the present embodiment, the frame bodies such as the base frame and the front frame are collectively referred to as “main body frame 17”. Of these, the game board 2 is detachably fitted into the base frame.

  The glass frame 5 has a plurality of frame lamps (frame decoration lamps 31 and the like) arranged in the vertical direction, and an upper speaker 29a for outputting sound effects and sounds as the game progresses. Further, an effect button 10 or the like that can be appropriately pushed by the player is provided. In addition, an upper plate 4 that accommodates game balls is provided at the lower part of the glass frame 5, and a lower plate 6 is provided at the lower part of the base frame. In addition, a firing handle 8 is provided at the lower right corner of the base frame located under the glass frame 5. The launch handle 8 is an operation unit that is operated by the player to sequentially fire the game balls accommodated in the upper plate 4. A lower speaker 29b is disposed inside the left side position of the upper plate 4.

  The game board 2 has a substantially circular game area formed on the front surface thereof, and an effect device 14 is provided at the center thereof. In the game area, a large number of guide nails (not shown) are driven in a predetermined gauge arrangement, and a windmill (not shown) and various winning ports (start winning port 15b, large winning port 15c, general winning port) Etc.), a gate port 13, a panel decoration lamp (without reference numerals), and the like are arranged as panel components. Each of these various winning openings is provided with a winning detector (not shown in FIG. 1) for detecting the entering of a game ball. The gate port 13 is provided with a gate passage detector (not shown in FIG. 1) for detecting the passage of the game ball.

  In addition, a ball stage 14a is formed at the lower edge of the effect device 14, and when the game ball is guided on the ball stage 14a, the game ball changes its movement while rolling. Given. Further, when the game ball falls to the entrance of the ball guide path 14b formed in the ball stage 14a, the game ball is guided to the ball guide path 14b and enters the start winning opening 15b provided immediately below the ball guide path 14b. A winning is detected by the winning detector.

  A special symbol display device 41 using a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) is provided on the lower right edge of the game board 2. When there is a start winning, the special symbol display device 41 repeats lighting or extinguishing after that (for example, triggered by the starting winning), and after a predetermined time (corresponding to “variation time” described later) has elapsed, Depending on the result of the executed internal lottery (big hit lottery and determination), the lighting state or the extinguishing state is set. Further, a normal symbol display device 42 using a light emitting diode is provided at the lower right edge of the game board 2. The normal symbol display device 42 is also configured to change the lighting state over a variable period triggered by the passage of the gate port 13. Here, when the lighting state of the normal symbol display device 42 becomes a predetermined lighting state, for example, the electric tulip type start winning device (winning detection means) is put into an open state in which it is easy to win a predetermined time. Further, a state display lamp 46 is provided in the vicinity of the normal symbol display device 42.

  In addition, decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 are arranged in the effect device 14. The decorative symbol display device 16 is a display device that displays a decorative symbol that decoratively represents the results of the jackpot lottery and determination. The decorative symbol display device 26 is a display device that displays decorative symbols other than the results of the big hit lottery and determination. In the decorative symbol display device 16, when there is a winning at the start winning opening 15 b, the display content is changed thereafter, and an image or the like representing the variation of the decorative symbol in parallel with the change in the lighting state of the special symbol display device 41. Is displayed. This decoration symbol stops after it fluctuates for a certain period of time (fluctuation time), and when it is won as a result of the jackpot lottery and determination, a predetermined stop symbol pattern (for example, the same type of decoration symbol is 3 The display mode is complete, and the pachinko machine 1 shifts to a special game state (hereinafter referred to as “special game state”). The decorative symbol display device 16 and the decorative symbol display device 26 are display devices having different sizes. Specific sizes and the like will be described later.

  In this special game state, for example, a round operation is repeated for 15 rounds. In each round operation, for example, the special winning opening solenoid 18 is actuated once, so that the special winning opening 15c can receive a game ball. In the decorative symbol display device 16, the display content is switched to a round display with a big hit as the round operation, and a round effect display (a count display of the number of winning prizes, a continuous round count, etc.) is performed. Further, when the special game state in which the round action of 15 rounds is executed is finished and a transition is made to a privilege game (so-called “probability change”, “time reduction”, etc.), information indicating that the privilege game is being performed (“probability change” or “ "Short time") may also be displayed.

  Also, special symbol holding lamps 43 are provided on the left and right sides of the lower edge portion of the production device 14 in the game board 2. The special symbol hold lamp 43 is configured to hold the start winning when the conditions for starting and storing are complete and display the hold status. Specifically, each special symbol holding lamp 43 is provided with semi-transmission areas imitating numbers such as “1”, “2”, “3”, and “4”. From left to right, “1” to “4” are represented and arranged in order. These four semi-transmissive regions represent the number of stored special symbols (1 to 4) according to the light emission (lighting) modes of “1” to “4”.

  Further, a normal symbol holding lamp 44 is provided at the lower edge of the game board 2. The normal symbol hold lamp 44 holds the passage of the gate port 13 while the lighting state of the normal symbol display device 42 is changing, and displays the hold status. In the vicinity of the normal symbol holding lamp 44, a big hit type display lamp 45 is provided. At least one of the big hit type display lamps 45 is turned on when the big hit is made, thereby displaying the type of the big hit. In addition, a main control board and a sub control board are provided on the back of the game board 2, and a display control board (decorative design control board described later) is arranged on the back of the decorative design display devices 16 and 26. Has been. The main body frame 17 is provided with a payout control board and a launch control board (not shown).

(2. Electric configuration example of pachinko machine)
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration example of the pachinko machine 1.
First, the main control board 3 (game control unit) is connected to a board such as the sub control board 35 (effect control unit) and the payout control board 25. The sub control board 35 is connected to the decorative design control board 30 that controls the display operation, and the payout control board 25 is connected to the launch control board 47 and the prize ball payout device 21.

  The decorative symbol control board 30 is connected to the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26. In the present embodiment, the sub control board 35 (effect control board) and the decorative design control board 30 (display control board) are separate, but the sub control board 35 and the decorative design control board are not limited thereto. 30 may be integrated, and the sub-control board 35 (production control unit) may have the function of the decorative design control board 30. When such a form is adopted, the sub-control board 35 is directly connected to the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26.

  The sub control board 35 transmits to the decorative design control board 30 an effect display command for controlling the effect display operation according to the progress of the game during the game operation. The decorative symbol control board 30 receives the effect display command and the like, and displays the video corresponding to the progress of the game on the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 based on the effect display command. This effect display command includes an effect display pattern number designated by the sub control board 35, and this effect display pattern number represents a number corresponding to the effect display pattern to be executed and controlled by the decorative symbol control board 30. Yes. The sub control board 35 controls lighting of the panel decoration lamp 36 and the frame decoration lamp 31 via the lamp relay board 32 and the lamp relay board 34, respectively.

  The main control board 3 includes electronic components such as a CPU 3a (hereinafter referred to as “main CPU”), a RAM 3b, a ROM 3c, an input / output interface, etc. (all not shown). The main control board 3 is connected with a winning detector 15a (winning detecting means) for detecting a winning. This winning detector 15a has entered the various winning holes (start winning hole 15b, large winning hole 15c, general winning hole, etc.) in the game area (hereinafter referred to as starting winning hole 15b). The ball is called “start winning”), and a detection signal is output to the main control board 3. The gate passage detector (gate switch) 13 a detects that a game ball has passed through the gate port 13, and outputs a gate passage signal as a detection signal to the main control board 3.

  Control of the gaming operation by the main control board 3 is performed, for example, by the main CPU 3a executing a control program (hereinafter referred to as “main control program”). The main control program generates a random number on the software, and acquires a random number value (a jackpot determination random number value) in response to a start winning (referred to as “big hit lottery” in the present embodiment). Then, the main control program determines whether or not the acquired random number value matches the jackpot random value at the jackpot determination timing described later (referred to as “determination” in this embodiment), and both random number values are When it is determined that they match, it is determined as “big hit”, while when it is determined that they do not match, it is determined as “out of place”. Here, the big hit determination timing refers to the time when the special symbol variation display based on the start winning is started after the start winning.

  The main control program starts the special symbol variation display by the special symbol display device 41 after the start winning is made in this way, and when the predetermined variation time has elapsed, the special symbol is displayed according to the jackpot lottery result. A stop symbol is displayed on the display device 41. The “big hit” includes so-called “probable big hit” and so-called “ordinary big hit”.

  When the result of the big hit lottery and determination is a big win, the main control program starts the variable display, and after stopping the variable display, shifts to the special gaming state. In this special game state, the main control program repeatedly operates, for example, the special prize opening solenoid 18 for a predetermined number of times (round operation), for example, for 15 rounds, the special prize opening 15c is in a state where it is easy to accept the game ball. . At this time, the player can win more prize balls by winning a game ball (game medium) while the special winning opening 15c is opened. In addition to the above, there are various types of game operation control by the main control board 3, but since all are well-known, detailed description is omitted here.

  The main control program outputs a lottery result and an effect command to the sub-control board 35 after performing the big hit lottery and determination. This effect command includes information related to the time for which the effect operation is to be executed (corresponding to the aforementioned “variation time”).

  The sub control board 35 controls the rendering operation according to the lottery result and the rendering command received from the main control board 3. The sub control board 35 includes electronic components such as a CPU 35a (hereinafter referred to as “sub CPU”), a RAM 35b, a ROM 35c, an input interface (command reception buffer, etc.). In the sub-control board 35, the CPU 35a controls the rendering operation by executing a control program (hereinafter referred to as “sub-control program”).

  When the sub control program receives a command or the like from the main control board 3 (lottery result, effect command, gaming state command, etc.), the received control command is analyzed.

  The sub-control program executes a lottery (hereinafter referred to as “effect lottery”) as to what effect pattern should be controlled according to the lottery result obtained from the analysis result of the command and the variation time. Specifically, the sub-control program manages an effect control scheduler, and this effect control scheduler executes for each lottery result (depending on whether it is a “hit” or “out”). Multiple production patterns to be managed are managed. Furthermore, this production control scheduler includes a plurality of production patterns having different lengths of variation time even if the lottery results are the same. Moreover, even if the same lottery result and the variation time are the same, there are a plurality of effect patterns having different effect contents. In this way, the sub-control program executes the effect lottery to select the effect pattern corresponding to the lottery result and the variation time while referring to the effect control scheduler.

  After executing such an effect lottery, the sub-control program outputs sound from the speakers 29a and 29b according to the effect pattern over the varying time, or lights the panel decoration lamp 36 in a predetermined color via the lamp relay board 32. The frame decoration lamp 31 is turned on or off in a predetermined color via the lamp relay board 34.

  In addition, the sub-control program also selects an effect display pattern related to the variable display by the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26, corresponding to the selected effect pattern. After selecting the effect display pattern, the sub control program controls the sub control board 35 to output an effect display command including information on the effect display pattern and the stop symbol to the decorative design control board 30.

  When the decorative design control board 30 receives the effect display command output from the sub-control board 35, the decorative design control board 30 shifts to a new effect display operation. Specifically, the decoration design control board 30 first analyzes the effect display command received from the sub control board 35, and acquires information related to the effect display pattern and the decoration stop design. The decorative symbol control board 30 displays the decorative symbol on the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 over a variable time based on the effect display pattern, and then performs display control so that the decorative symbol becomes the decorative stop symbol.

  The payout control board 25 includes a CPU 25a (hereinafter referred to as “payout CPU”), a RAM 25b, a ROM 25c, an input / output interface, and the like, and is connected to the main control board 3 so as to be capable of bidirectional communication. That is, the main control board 3 and the payout control board 25 are connected by the upper and lower lines Su and Sd of the serial signal and the transmission lines Au and Ad of the ACK signal provided in parallel therewith.

  For example, when the main control board 3 transmits a prize ball command instructing the payout of a prize ball in the serial format through the down line Sd, the payout control board 25 that has received the command sends an ACK signal to the main control board 3 through the transmission line Au. Send. Further, when the payout control board 25 transmits a status command indicating the state of the payout control board 25 (for example, during payout processing) to the main control board 3 through the uplink line Su, the main control board 3 that has received the command sends the transmission line. An ACK signal is transmitted to the payout control board 25 through Ad.

  The prize ball payout device 21 performs a game ball payout operation under the control of the payout control board 25. That is, when the payout control board 25 receives a prize ball command from the main control board 3, the payout motor 20 of the prize ball payout device 21 is operated to perform the payout operation for the number instructed by the prize ball command. The payout ball detector 22 detects the number of prize balls actually paid out one by one and feeds it back to the payout control board 25. On the other hand, the motor drive sensor 24 detects the rotation state (rotation angle) of the payout motor 20 and feeds it back to the payout control board 25.

  In addition, in addition to the firing motor 49, a signal line from the firing handle 8 is connected to the firing control board 47. The firing handle 8 includes a touch detection unit 48 that detects the contact of a human body (player) and outputs the touch detection signal to the firing control board 47. The firing handle 8 has a built-in firing switch (not shown), and outputs an ON signal to the firing control board 47 by operating the firing handle 8. The launch control board 47 has a function of permitting a game ball launch operation when a card unit connection signal output by the card unit 12 as the inter-bed sand is input via the payout control board 25. Yes. The launch control board 47 permits the drive of the launch motor 49 only after receiving the card unit connection signal, the touch detection signal, and the ON signal, thereby allowing the game ball to be launched.

  When the payout CPU 25a of the payout control board 25 detects a failure such as a so-called ball bite, a ball breakage, a full tank, or a connection abnormality between the main control board 3 and the payout control board 25, error information corresponding to the type of the fault is displayed. Displayed on the payout control board 25. Specifically, the payout control board 25 is provided with a 7-segment LED 4a, and the 7-segment LED 4a displays, for example, an error number for each of the various types of failures.

  The payout control board 25 is provided with an operation switch 4b as an error canceling means, and the operation switch 4b is disposed at a position where it can be operated from the outside. The operation switch 4b is used as a trigger when voice guidance is given on how to deal with each failure when such various failures occur, and when clearing error information (numerical display) displayed on the 7-segment LED 4a. It is the operation means operated by.

(3. Decorative design control board 30)
Next, the decorative design control board 30 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example in which the electrical configuration of the decorative design control board 30 is simplified.

  The decorative design control board 30 (production control unit) includes a control ROM 301, an SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory) 302, a command interface (I / F) 303, a design CPU 311, a VDP (Video Display Processor) 330, A source ROM (character ROM) 340 and scalers 341 and 342 are provided. The symbol CPU 311, SDRAM 302, control ROM 301, and VDP 330 are connected by a bus 307.

  The symbol CPU 311 and the scalers 341 and 342 are connected by serial communication. The symbol CPU 311 sets the scalers 341 and 342 using this serial communication. If a switch is provided between the symbol CPU 311 and the scalers 341 and 342 so that the communication destination of the symbol CPU 311 is switched, the serial channel of the symbol CPU 311 can be limited to only one channel.

  Furthermore, since the settings for the scalers 341 and 342 need only be performed for the first time after the power is turned on, the communication between the symbol CPU 311 and the scalers 341 and 342 using the serial communication in this way enables the bus line and the like As compared with the case where the symbol CPU 311 and the scalers 341 and 342 are connected, the probability of occurrence of a failure due to communication noise can be reduced.

  The decorative symbol control board 30 has a function of controlling an effect display operation based on an effect display command from the sub control board 35 and the like. The decorative design control board 30 is connected to the decorative design display devices 16 and 26 described above, and a video signal corresponding to the video to be displayed based on the effect display command or the like is sent to the decorative design display devices 16 and 26. Output.

  Here, in this embodiment, the video is composed of a combination of a plurality of scenes (story), and each scene is composed of a combination of a large number of frames. Each of these scenes is continuously displayed in a predetermined order. Each scene is visually configured by displaying a number of frames one after another. Each scene includes at least one of a moving image and a sprite image, and is, for example, a video in which one scene of a movie is used as a moving image as a background and a pattern is displayed as a sprite image on the background. In the present embodiment, a video whose display mode is dynamically changed is represented by continuously switching and displaying each frame of the frame group one after another at a frame rate obtained by dividing the video by 60 frames per second. . In the present embodiment, the moving image or sprite image used when creating this frame (frame) is referred to as “scene material”. In the present embodiment, sprite images are mainly exemplified as the scene material except for portions that need to be touched particularly with respect to moving images. Examples of such an image composed of a plurality of scenes include, for example, an image indicating that a power failure state is being restored, an image relating to a symbol change display, and a symbol that is changing is a predetermined stop symbol pattern (for example, the same type of symbol). 3 includes a video related to a so-called reach effect that implies that the display mode may be a combination of three display modes.

(3-1. Example of hardware configuration)
Hereinafter, each component mounted on the decorative design control board 30 will be described in detail.

  The source ROM 340 functions as a nonvolatile video memory that stores various material image data such as sprite data for displaying a sprite image in a nonvolatile manner, and is connected to the VDP 330 by a bus line. The memory space of the source ROM 340 will be described later.

  The sprite data is stored in the source ROM 340 in a state where the data structure is compressed by a preset reversible compression method. On the other hand, the moving image data is stored in the source ROM 340 in a state where the data structure is compressed by a preset irreversible compression method.

  The scalers 341 and 342 perform processing such as clipping and enlargement / reduction of the image of the designated area on the drawing data generated by the VDP 330, and send the processed drawing data to the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26. Output each.

  The command interface 303 receives the effect display command from the sub control board 35 and transfers the received effect display command to the symbol CPU 311.

  The control ROM 301 is configured by a flash ROM, for example, and stores a display control program for controlling the operation of the symbol CPU 311 and display scheduler data (scheduler data). The display scheduler data is data including information for specifying material image data such as information relating to the configuration of the video to be displayed and sprite data necessary for rendering each scene constituting the video to be displayed.

  The symbol CPU 311 operates based on the display control program stored in the control ROM 301, and instructs the VDP 330 to perform video display processing in order to realize video display based on the display scheduler data stored in the control ROM 301. A command list including a plurality of commands is generated and transferred to the VDP 330 by DMA (Direct Memory Access).

  The control ROM 301 stores a plurality of display scheduler data corresponding to various video displays. Therefore, the symbol CPU 311 specifies the content of the video display to be displayed by the effect display command transferred from the command interface 303, reads out the display scheduler data corresponding to the specified video display content from the control ROM 301, and reads it out. A command list is generated so that video display based on display scheduler data is realized.

  The SDRAM 302 is a storage area used for temporarily storing a command list generated by the symbol CPU 311 and temporarily storing various data.

  The VDP 330 functions as a video display processor for displaying video on the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 by sequentially executing a plurality of commands included in the command list transferred from the symbol CPU 311. Based on the command list transferred from the design CPU 311, the VDP 330 reads material image data such as sprite data corresponding to the video to be displayed from the source ROM 340 and decompresses it to draw each scene constituting the video. Various image displays are realized by transmitting the generated drawing data to the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 via the scalers 341 and 342.

  In the present embodiment, only one VDP 330 is provided for the two decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26. The VDP 330 generates a combined image in which two images to be displayed on the two decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 are spatially combined in one frame, and the generated combined image is converted into a scaler 341, 342 is output in common to 342. Then, the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 each display an image for the display device based on the composite image generated by the VDP 330.

  Details of a specific method in which the two decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 display images for their own devices based on the composite image generated by the VDP 330 will be described later.

(3-1-1. Configuration example of VDP330)
Next, the configuration of the VDP 330 for displaying images on the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the VDP 330 includes a CPU I / F (interface) 331, a data transfer circuit 332, a bus I / F (interface) 333, a decompression circuit (decoder) 334, a drawing circuit 335, a data storage memory 336, A frame buffer memory 337 and a display circuit 338 are included.

  The CPU interface (I / F) 331 receives the command list transferred from the symbol CPU 311.

  The data storage memory 336 is a so-called VRAM (Video RAM), and functions as a volatile video memory for developing various material image data necessary for drawing processing such as sprite data and moving image data.

  Based on the command list transmitted from the symbol CPU 311 via the CPU interface 331, the data transfer circuit 332 transmits the material image data such as sprite data and moving image data necessary for video display to be displayed via the bus interface 333. The data is read from the source ROM 340 and expanded in the data storage memory 336 (material image data expansion means). Here, the decompression process includes not only the process of decompressing and storing the material image data stored in compression, but also storing the uncompressed material image data in the memory as it is. Shall be included.

  Since the sprite data is stored in the source ROM 340 with the data structure compressed by a reversible compression method, the sprite data read from the source ROM 340 via the bus interface 333 is decoded by the decompression circuit 334. After being processed (expanded), it is stored in the data storage memory 336.

  The frame buffer memory 337 is realized by a VRAM like the data storage memory 336, and has a configuration capable of temporarily storing the video data drawn by the drawing circuit 335 in a volatile manner. Note that the frame buffer memory 337 can draw and store video data for two frames. While the video data for one frame has been drawn and stored by the drawing circuit 335, the frame buffer memory 337 has already drawn. The data of the frame for which the drawing process has been completed can be displayed on the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 via the display circuit 338.

  The drawing circuit 335 performs drawing processing using material image data such as sprite data and moving image data stored in the data storage memory 336 based on the command list from the symbol CPU 311 received by the CPU interface 331. Then, video data is generated for each frame constituting the video to be displayed and stored in the frame buffer memory 337.

  The display circuit 338 generates a synchronization signal (V blank signal or the like) for the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 and also synchronizes with the synchronization signal while generating image data generated in the frame buffer area of the frame buffer memory 337. Based on this, the video signal is output to the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 via the scalers 341 and 342. Further, the display circuit 338 includes an enlargement unit 339 for enlarging an output image. The enlargement unit 339 enlarges the image data stored in the frame buffer memory 337 at a preset magnification. Note that when the magnification in the enlargement unit 339 is less than 1, the output image is reduced and output, so the enlargement unit 339 is provided with a reduction function as well as an image enlargement function.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the data storage memory 336 for storing the various material image data read from the source ROM 340 in a volatile manner is provided in the VDP 330 will be described. It is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the present invention is similarly applied to a gaming machine having a configuration in which a volatile video memory for volatile storage of various material image data read from the source ROM 340 is provided outside the VDP 330. It is possible to apply. Further, when the data storage memory 336 is provided outside the VDP 330 as described above, the data storage memory 336 and the SDRAM 302 can be configured by the same volatile video memory.

(3-1-2. Configuration Example of Scalers 341 and 342)
Next, the configuration of the scalers 341 and 342 for performing processing such as image clipping processing and enlargement / reduction processing on the drawing data generated by the VDP 330 will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the scaler 341 includes a cutout unit 351, a frame memory 352, and an enlargement unit 353. The scaler 342 includes a cutout unit 361, a frame memory 362, and an enlargement unit 363. Here, the frame memories 352 and 362 are described using a configuration provided in the scalers 341 and 342. However, the frame memories 352 and 362 are realized by externally attaching the memories to the outside of the scalers 341 and 342. There is also a case of a simple configuration. As described above, by externally attaching the memory outside the scalers 341 and 342, the storage capacity of the frame memories 352 and 362 is not unnecessarily large, and can be minimized according to the size of image data to be stored. Hardware cost can be reduced. In addition, it can be applied to image data of various image sizes, and versatility of image data that can be handled is improved.

  The cutout unit 351 cuts out an image in an area set by the symbol CPU 311 via serial communication from the composite image generated by the VDP 330 and stores it in the frame memory 352. The enlarging unit 353 performs a process of enlarging or reducing the image data stored in the frame memory 352 at an enlargement rate set by the symbol CPU 311, and applies it to the decorative symbol display device 16 provided correspondingly. Output.

  Since the operations of the cutout unit 361, the frame memory 362, and the enlargement unit 363 in the scaler 342 are the same as the operations of the cutout unit 351, the frame memory 352, and the enlargement unit 353 in the scaler 341, description thereof is omitted. However, the image data processed by the enlargement unit 363 is output to the decorative symbol display device 26.

(3-2. Memory space of control ROM 301)
Next, the memory space of the control ROM 301 described above will be described.
As shown in FIG. 6, the control ROM 301 stores a display control program 401 for controlling the operation of the symbol CPU 311 and display scheduler data 402. The display scheduler data 402 includes information for specifying material image data such as sprite data necessary for drawing each scene constituting the video to be displayed and information regarding the configuration of the video to be displayed.

(3-2-1. Configuration Example of Display Scheduler Data 402)
When a plurality of characters are displayed in one frame, display scheduler data is provided for each character. Therefore, the display scheduler data 402 is composed of a plurality of display scheduler data 402a to 402f provided for each character, as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the display scheduler data 402a for a certain character includes a frame number 501, a character number 502, an X coordinate 503, a Y coordinate 504, a base point position 505, an X direction enlargement factor 506, and Y The information includes the direction expansion rate 507, transparency (blend rate) 508, and rotation angle 509. Note that the configuration of the display scheduler data 402b to 402f is the same as that of the display scheduler data 402a, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  A frame number 501 indicates to which frame the display scheduler data 402a is displayed. A character number 502 indicates a number for identifying sprite data to be used from among a plurality of sprite data. X-coordinate 503 and Y-coordinate 504 indicate the position where the sprite image is displayed on the display screen. The base point position 505 indicates the location of the base point when designating the display position of the sprite image. The X direction enlargement factor 506 and the Y direction enlargement factor 507 indicate how much the sprite image is enlarged (or reduced) in the X direction and the Y direction, respectively. For example, in the range of 0 to 511%. It can be set. The transparency 508 is a value that specifies how much the sprite image is to be displayed when the sprite image is displayed over the background image. For example, the transparency 508 can be specified within a range of 0 to 100%. ing. A rotation angle 509 is a value for designating an angle for displaying a sprite image.

  Here, the display scheduler data 402 is not prepared for all frames, but the display scheduler data 402 is prepared only for a specific frame, and the video for the intermediate frame is displayed as a prepared display. The data is interpolated and drawn with reference to the scheduler data 402.

(3-3. Memory space of source ROM 340)
Next, the memory space of the source ROM 340 described above will be described.
As shown in FIG. 8, the source ROM 340 displays sprite data 601 for displaying a sprite image generated in advance for displaying a specific video, palette data 602 for specifying a color, and a background image. Various material image data such as moving image data 603 is stored. Note that it is also possible to directly specify a color without using the palette data 602.

(4. Example of operation of gaming machine 1)
Next, the operation of the gaming machine 1 will be described with reference to the drawings.

(4-1. Game control processing)
Here, on the main control board 3, a main control program for controlling the progress of the game is operating, and the main control program acquires a random number for determining a big hit (a big hit lottery) triggered by a start winning prize. When there is a start win, the main control program compares the acquired jackpot determination random number value with a predetermined hit value at the jackpot determination timing based on the start win, and executes the jackpot determination. At the same time, if there is such a start-up prize, the main control program then continues the blinking state (special symbol variation display state) by the special symbol display device 41 for the variation time determined by lottery separately, and then the big hit Depending on the results of the lottery and determination, the special symbol display device 41 is turned on or off (displayed state of the stopped symbols).

  When such a big hit determination is executed, the main control board 3 sends an effect command including information on the result of the big hit determination and the variation time determined by the lottery in parallel with the control of the special symbol display device 41. Output for. In the sub control board 35 that has received the effect command, an effect lottery is further executed, and an effect pattern corresponding to the result of the effect lottery is selected. This effect pattern is a pattern for outputting sound or light. Further, on the sub-control board 35, an effect display pattern corresponding to this effect pattern is selected.

  This effect display pattern represents a pattern related to which effect display operation should be executed among a plurality of prepared effect display operations over a variable time, and includes information corresponding to each scene to be displayed as the effect display operation. .

  Then, the sub control board 35 transmits an effect display command indicating an effect display to be displayed on the decorative symbol display device 16 to the decorative symbol control board 30 based on the selected effect display pattern.

  (5. Example of operation of decorative design display board 30)

(5-1. Reset start processing)
First, reset start processing (initialization processing based on reset) in the decorative design control board 30 will be described with reference to FIG. This reset start process is sequentially executed when the decorative symbol control board 30 is reset by an external reset signal or when a new power is turned on, or when an instantaneous power failure occurs during operation. An example is shown.

  Here, the reset is executed not only in the hardware reset generated by an external circuit such as a reset circuit or a watchdog timer, but also in the software when a power-off is detected, as well as a power-on reset at power-on. Soft reset is also included.

  When power is turned on or a momentary power failure occurs and a reset occurs, first, the decorative symbol display board 30 executes initialization processing of various hardware such as communication ports (step S10).

(5-1-1. Hot / cold determination processing)
Then, after the initialization processing of various hardware is executed, the following hot / cold determination processing is executed. In this hot / cold determination process, it is determined whether a cold start (to be described later) or a hot start (to be described later) should be performed when a reset occurs or when a power failure state is restored (when power is restored). doing.

  The hot / cold determination process will be specifically described below. In the present embodiment, of the data stored in the SDRAM 302, data used for hot / cold determination is referred to as determination data. The symbol CPU 311 has a function of calculating a sum value regarding the determination data of the SDRAM 302 and holding it in another area of the SDRAM 302. In the present embodiment, the sum value held in this way is referred to as a “predetermined sum value”.

  In this hot / cold determination process, first, a sum value is calculated for determination data stored in a specific area of the SDRAM 302, and a sum determination is executed (step S20). Here, in the present embodiment, calculating the sum value with respect to the determination data to be processed is referred to as “sum determination”. Next, the symbol CPU 311 compares the sum value calculated from the determination data stored in the specific area of the SDRAM 302 with a predetermined sum value, and determines whether or not both sum values are equal to each other. Is confirmed (step S30). By determining the thumb value in this way, the symbol CPU 311 determines whether or not the determination data stored in the specific area of the SDRAM 302 is normal without being destroyed at the time of power recovery (determination means). ).

  As a result of the sum determination, if the two sum values match, it is assumed that data other than the determination data stored in the SDRAM 302 is not destroyed, and the symbol CPU 311 sets the activation mode to “hot start”. "(Step S40) to start the operation (referred to as" hot start "in this embodiment). On the other hand, if the two sum values do not match as a result of the sum determination, it is assumed that the determination data is destroyed, and the symbol CPU 311 selects only the area in the SDRAM 302 where the determination data is stored. All other storage areas are cleared to 0 and initialized (step S50). Note that “0 clear” means initialization by filling “0” in the target storage area.

  The symbol CPU 311 sets the activation mode to “cold start” (step S60), sets all data from the beginning, and starts the operation. In the present embodiment, when the power is restored, the design CPU 311 sets data from the beginning and starts the operation is called “cold start”.

  The hot / cold determination process as described above is executed when the determination data of the SDRAM 302 is in a reliable state at the time of power recovery, and the entire memory space of the SDRAM 302 including the area in which the determination data is stored. By presuming that the data stored in the memory is reliable (for example, there is no defect such as missing data), and continuously using the data in the memory space, the gaming state before the power failure is continued even after power recovery Is to be able to.

  Here, even when a power failure state is detected, the data content stored in the RAM may not be destroyed. Generally, the voltage required for the RAM to maintain the memory state is the power failure state. This is because it is lower than the threshold voltage for detection.

(5-2. Example of operation of symbol CPU 311)
Next, an operation example when the decorative symbol display board 30 receives the effect display command from the sub-control board 35 after the reset start process as described above will be described.

  The effect display command from the sub-control board 35 is received by the command interface 303 of the decorative design control board 30 and transferred to the design CPU 311 for processing. The operation of the symbol CPU 311 is shown in the flowchart of FIG.

  When receiving the effect display command from the sub control board 35 (step S101), the symbol CPU 311 reads display scheduler data 402 corresponding to the effect display pattern specified by the effect display command from the control ROM 301 (step S102).

  Then, the symbol CPU 311 generates a command list to be transmitted to the VDP 330 based on the display scheduler data 402 read from the control ROM 301 (step S103).

  Next, the symbol CPU 311 repeats generation of a command list for drawing each sprite image until generation of a command list for all sprite images in one frame is completed, and generation of a command list for all sprite images is performed. When completed (step S104), the generated command list is transmitted to the VDP 330 (step S105).

  Then, the symbol CPU 311 repeats the processes of steps S103 to S105 until all the processes for the frame set by the display scheduler data 402 are completed (step S106).

(6. Display processing)
Next, display processing performed in the VDP 330 that has received the command list transmitted from the symbol CPU 311 will be described.

(6-1. Overall operation of VDP 330)
First, the overall operation of the VDP 330 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  The VDP 330 receives a command list from the symbol CPU 311 and stores this command list in the data storage memory 336 (step S301). Then, based on the received command list, the data transfer circuit 332 reads various material image data such as sprite data and moving image data necessary for video display from the source ROM 340 (step S302).

  The material image data such as sprite data transferred from the source ROM 340 is decoded by the decompression circuit 334 and then stored in the data storage memory 336 (step S303).

  The drawing circuit 335 performs drawing processing using the material image data stored in the data storage memory 336 based on each command included in the command list received from the symbol CPU 311, and the generated image data is stored in the frame buffer memory. The data is sequentially stored in 337 (step S304).

  Finally, the display circuit 338 converts the image data for one frame stored in the frame buffer memory 337 into a video signal, and outputs the video signal to the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 via the scalers 341 and 342 (step S305). ).

  The display process as shown in FIG. 11 is performed for each frame, so that the VDP 330 displays an image constituted by continuous display of each scene based on the command list transferred from the design CPU 311. 16 and 26 can be displayed.

(6-2. Drawing process on decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26)
Next, details of the drawing process on the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 will be described.

(6-2-1. Image size of decorative symbol display devices 16, 26)
First, the image size of the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 12A, the decorative symbol display device 16 in this embodiment has a width of 1024 dots (pixels) and a height of 768 dots. In addition, as shown in FIG. 12B, the decorative symbol display device 26 has a horizontal width of 400 dots and a vertical length of 240 dots.
As described above, the decorative symbol display device 16 and the decorative symbol display device 26 have different image sizes.

  In the present invention, the image size does not indicate the physical size of the image displayed on the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26, but indicates the size based on the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 or the number of pixels constituting the image. ing. That is, in the present invention, the same image size means that the number of pixels in the vertical direction (number of dots) and the number of pixels in the horizontal width of the image are the same.

  In general, even when data having the same number of pixels is displayed, the physical size of the finally displayed image varies depending on the resolution of the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 expressed by DPI (Dot Per Inch) or the like. Resulting in. However, regardless of the physical size of the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26, the VDP 330 draws an image based only on the number of pixels in the vertical and horizontal widths of the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26.

(6-2-2. Specific Example of Drawing Process)
Next, the operation when drawing processing is performed on the two decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 by one VDP 330 will be described with a specific example.

(6-2-2-1. First specific example)
First, a first specific example in which drawing processing is performed on the two decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 will be described.
In the first specific example, the drawing circuit 335 of the VDP 330 generates a composite image as shown in FIG. This composite image is an image having a width of 1024 dots and a height of 600 dots. The composite image has a configuration in which two images of different sizes, image A and image B, are spatially combined within one frame. For this reason, the composite image includes a non-display area that is not displayed by any display device. Here, the image A is an image having a width of 800 dots and a height of 600 dots, and the image B is an image having a width of 224 dots and a height of 136 dots. The image A is an image to be displayed on the decorative symbol display device 16, and the image B is an image to be displayed on the decorative symbol display device 26.

  This synthesized image is stored in the frame buffer memory 337 of the VDP 330 and then output by the VDP 330 via the display circuit 338. The composite image output by the VDP 330 is input in common to the scalers 341 and 342 as shown in FIG.

  In the scaler 341, the cutout unit 351 cuts out the image A for the decorative symbol display device 16 from the composite image from the VDP 330. Then, after the image A cut out by the cutout unit 351 is stored in the frame memory 352, the enlargement unit 353 performs an image enlargement process of 1.28 times as shown in FIG. 15A. . The image A ′ after the enlargement processing by the enlargement unit 353 is output to the decorative symbol display device 16.

  In the scaler 342, the cutout unit 361 cuts out the image B for the decorative symbol display device 26 from the composite image from the VDP 330. Then, the image B cut out by the cutout unit 361 is stored in the frame memory 362, and thereafter, as shown in FIG. 15B, the enlargement unit 363 performs an image enlargement process with an enlargement ratio of 1.78 times. . Then, the image B ′ after the enlargement process is performed by the enlargement unit 363 is output to the decorative symbol display device 26.

  The display circuit 338 of the VDP 330 is provided with an enlargement unit 339 that performs image enlargement processing. However, in the first specific example, the enlargement processing function of the enlargement unit 339 is not used, and is omitted in FIG. ing.

  The image A cut out by the cutout unit 351 is multiplied by 1.28 as shown in FIG. 15A to become an image A ′ having a width of 1024 dots and a height of 768 dots, and the size of the decorative symbol display device 16 And the same size. Further, the image B cut out by the cut-out unit 361 is multiplied by 1.78 as shown in FIG. 15B to become an image B ′ having a horizontal width of 400 dots and a vertical length of 240 dots. It becomes the same size as the size of. The image data output by the scalers 341 and 342 is displayed on the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26, respectively.

(6-2-2-2. Second Specific Example)
Next, a second specific example in which drawing processing is performed on the two decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 will be described.
In the second specific example, a decorative design control board 30a as shown in FIG. 16 is used instead of the decorative design control board 30 shown in FIG. The decorative design control board 30a is configured such that the scaler 341 is deleted from the decorative design control board 30 shown in FIG. 3 and the image data from the VDP 330 is directly output to the decorative design display device 16. .

  In the second specific example, the drawing circuit 335 of the VDP 330 generates a composite image similar to that in the first specific example as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 17, the generated composite image is temporarily stored in the frame buffer memory 337 and then enlarged by the enlargement unit 339 at an enlargement ratio of 1.28. FIG. 18 shows a state where the generated composite image is multiplied by 1.28.

  As shown in FIG. 18, the image A for the decorative design display device 16 is multiplied by 1.28 to become an image A ′ having a width of 1024 dots and a vertical length of 768 dots, and the image B for the decorative design display device 26 is The image B ′ has a width of 287 dots and a height of 157 dots. The composite image multiplied by 1.28 by the enlargement unit 339 is output to the decorative symbol display device 16 as it is.

  In addition, the composite image that has been multiplied by 1.28 by the enlargement unit 339 is also input to the scaler 342. In the scaler 342, the cutout unit 361 cuts out the image B ′ for the decorative symbol display device 26 from the composite image from the VDP 330. Then, after the image B ′ cut out by the cutout unit 361 is stored in the frame memory 362, the enlargement unit 363 performs an image enlargement process of 1.39 times as shown in FIG. 18. Then, the image B ″ after the enlargement process is performed by the enlargement unit 363 is output to the decorative symbol display device 26.

  By multiplying the image B ′ having a width of 287 dots and a height of 157 dots by 1.39 times, an image B ″ having a width of 400 dots and a height of 240 dots becomes the same size as the size of the decorative symbol display device 26. An image will be obtained.

  In the second specific example, the VDP 330 causes at least one decorative symbol display device 16 of the two decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 to display on the decorative symbol display device 26 which is another display device. The image B ′ is displayed while being included outside the displayable area of the display device. However, since the displayable area of the decorative symbol display device 16 has a width of 1024 dots and a vertical length of 768 dots, the image B ′ and non-display area data are not displayed on the decorative symbol display device 16.

(6-2-2-3. Third specific example)
Next, a third specific example in which drawing processing is performed on the two decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 will be described.
In the third specific example, the decorative design control board 30a shown in FIG. 16 is used as in the second specific example described above. In the third specific example, as shown in FIG. 19, in the VDP 330, the image data stored in the frame buffer memory 337 is multiplied by 1.6 by the enlargement unit 339 provided in the display circuit 338. It outputs to the decoration symbol display apparatus 16 and the scaler 342 later.

  The scaler 342 cuts out the image B ′ for the decorative symbol display device 26 from the image data output from the VDP 330, stores it in the frame memory 362, and then outputs it to the decorative symbol display device 26. Specifically, the cutout unit 361 of the scaler 342 cuts out an image in the area set by the symbol CPU 311 from the composite image after being enlarged by the VDP 330. Note that the enlarger 363 is omitted in FIG. 19 because the scaler 342 does not perform an image enlargement process.

  In the third specific example, the drawing circuit 335 of the VDP 330 generates a composite image as shown in FIG. This composite image is an image having a width of 896 dots and a height of 480 dots. In this composite image, the image A to be displayed on the decorative design display device 16 has a horizontal width of 640 dots and a vertical length of 480 dots, and the image B to be displayed on the decorative design display device 26 has a horizontal width. Is 256 dots and the vertical is 152 dots.

  This composite image is formed by reducing two images to be displayed on the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 at the same reduction ratio (1 / 1.6) and spatially combining them in one frame. Has been.

  For this reason, the image A for the decorative symbol display device 16 and the image B for the decorative symbol display device 26, as shown in FIG. The image A ′ and the image B ′ are approximately the same size as the size of the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26. Then, the cutout unit 361 of the scaler 342 cuts out the image B ″ for the decorative symbol display device 26 from the composite image, whereby an image having the same size as the size of the decorative symbol display device 16 is obtained.

(7. Reference to usefulness according to this embodiment)
In the gaming machine of the present embodiment, the VDP 330 generates a composite image that spatially combines two images to be displayed on the two decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26, and the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26. Then, based on the composite image generated by the VDP 330, the image for the own device is displayed. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, even if the sizes of the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 are different, an image can be displayed by one VDP 330.

  Further, in the second specific example described above, as shown in FIG. 17, the decoration design display device 16 is decorated without cutting out the image B ′ to be displayed on the decoration design display device 26. The composite image that is included outside the displayable area of the symbol display device 16 is displayed. Therefore, in the second specific example, as compared with the first specific example, it is not necessary to cut out the image for the decorative symbol display device 16 from the composite image, and the scaler 341 can be omitted. As a result, the circuit configuration can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.

  Further, in the third specific example described above, as shown in FIG. 19, in the VDP 330, two images to be displayed on the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 are displayed at the same reduction ratio (1/1). .6) is reduced and combined spatially in one frame, and when output, it is multiplied by 1.6 by the enlargement unit 339 before being output to the decorative symbol display device 16 and the scaler 342. Therefore, the decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 need only display their own images based on the enlarged composite image. That is, only the image enlargement process is performed in the enlargement unit 339 of the VDP 330, and the scaler 342 does not need to execute the image enlargement process.

  In general, the image enlargement function of the scalers 341 and 342 has higher performance than the image enlargement function of the VDP 330. However, if the image enlargement process is performed only by the enlargement unit 339 of the VDP 330 as in the third specific example, a gaming machine that is advantageous in terms of cost can be obtained by using a scaler that does not have an image enlargement function. Can be realized.

(8. Reference to other embodiments)
In the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the gaming machine including the two decorative symbol display devices 16 and 26 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to such a case. The present invention can also be applied to a gaming machine provided with the above display device. For example, when generating a composite image obtained by spatially combining three images to be displayed on three display devices by one VDP, a composite image as shown in FIG. 22 is drawn and output. . In the image shown in FIG. 22, images A, B, and C for three display devices having different sizes are spatially combined. A method in which each display device displays an image for its own device based on such a composite image can be realized by a method similar to the specific example shown in the above embodiment.

  In this way, even when three or more display devices are provided in a gaming machine and at least one display device is different in size from other display devices, according to the present invention, a plurality of display devices can be displayed by one VDP. An image can be displayed on the apparatus.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the case where this invention was applied with respect to the pachinko machine to which a game state transfers according to the internal lottery result performed with the winning to the starting winning opening of a game ball as a trigger, The present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. The present invention is similarly applied to other pachinko machines such as a pachinko machine having a pair of left and right movable pieces (a so-called “wings”) that opens and closes when a game ball is won at the start opening. It is possible to apply to.

  Furthermore, the present invention is similarly applied to a gaming machine such as a revolving type gaming machine (slot machine) that uses medals or coins as a gaming medium as long as it is a gaming machine having a display device for displaying an effect operation. It is possible to apply. In addition, as an aspect of the spinning type game machine to which the present invention can be applied, the game medium is not limited to a medal or a coin, but may be an aspect using a game ball for a pachinko machine or the like.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the display means (decorative pattern display apparatus etc.) which performs a display operation using a liquid crystal element is illustrated, it is not restricted to this, The display using an EL (Electro Luminescence) element You may apply to the display means using a means or a plasma.

  In addition, in the said embodiment, although the decoration design control board 30 is controlling the production | presentation operation | movement which concerns on a display, it is not restricted to this, For example, the sub control board 35 only produces other production | presentation operations other than the presentation operation | movement concerning a display. Instead, a form having the function of the decorative design control board 30 may be employed.

1 Pachinko machine (game machine)
3 Main control board (game control unit)
3a Main CPU
16 Decorative design display device (display device)
26 Decorative design display device (display device)
30, 30a Decorative design control board (production control unit)
35 Sub-control board (production control unit)
41, 42 I picture 51-79 P picture 301 Control ROM
302 SDRAM
303 Command interface (I / F)
307 bus 311 design CPU (display control processor)
330 VDP (video display processor)
331 CPU interface (I / F)
332 Data transfer circuit 333 Bus interface (I / F)
334 Decompression circuit 335 Drawing circuit 336 Data storage memory 337 Frame buffer memory 338 Display circuit 339 Expansion unit 340 Source ROM (nonvolatile video memory)
341, 342 Scaler 351 Cutout unit 352 Frame memory 353 Enlargement unit 361 Cutout unit 362 Frame memory 363 Enlargement unit 401 Display control program 402, 402a to 402f Display scheduler data 501 Frame number 502 Character number 503 X coordinate 504 Y coordinate 505 Base point position 506 X direction enlargement ratio 507 Y direction enlargement ratio 508 Transparency (blend ratio)
509 Rotation angle 601 Sprite data 602 Palette data 603 Movie data

Claims (1)

A game control unit for controlling a game operation using a game medium;
An effect control unit that controls an effect operation accompanying the game operation by the control of the game control unit,
In a gaming machine comprising a plurality of display devices that execute display operations under the control of the effect control unit,
The production control unit
A first nonvolatile video memory for storing image data in a nonvolatile manner;
A second nonvolatile video memory for nonvolatilely storing data relating to the video to be displayed;
A first volatile video memory capable of storing the image data in a volatile manner;
A video display processor for displaying video on the display device;
From a plurality of commands for instructing the video display processor to perform video display processing in order to execute a display control program for controlling video display and realize video display based on the data relating to the video to be displayed A display control processor that generates and transfers a command list to the video display processor,
A second volatile video memory capable of storing volatile data used by the display control processor;
Including
The video display processor includes a first enlargement unit, reads image data corresponding to a video to be displayed from the first nonvolatile video memory based on a command list transferred from the display control processor, and A plurality of images to be displayed on the plurality of display devices in one frame using the image data developed in the first volatile video memory and developed in the first volatile video memory. A spatially synthesized composite image is generated, and the generated composite image is output as one image data common to the plurality of display devices;
The first enlargement means can enlarge the composite image,
The gaming machine includes a cutout unit that cuts out image data of a specified area from the one image data corresponding to at least one display device of the plurality of display devices, and supplies the cut image data to the corresponding display device. Provided,
The plurality of display devices each display an image for the display device based on the one image data output from the video display processor or image data given through the clipping unit,
The cutout unit cuts out image data expanded in a non-display area that is not displayed on a display device other than the one display device, as image data to be displayed on the one display device, from the one image data. A featured gaming machine.

Images