JP2011110190A - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a gaming machine that produces an unexpectedness or variety of production operations and further a premium feeling by performing pattern change of production patterns without depending on time.
The effect control means of the effect control board of the gaming machine 1 includes an effect selection means and a specific effect determination means. The effect selection means selects a predetermined effect pattern from the effect table among the effect patterns composed of the specific effect pattern and the normal effect pattern whose number of selections is set as a threshold value. When the specific effect pattern is selected by the effect selection means, the appearance rate of the specific effect pattern consisting of the ratio of the threshold value and the number of times already selected is displayed on the screen of the image display 53 by the appearance rate notification means provided in the image control means. Is displayed in the shape of a band graph 10.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a gaming machine, and in particular, a gaming machine including an effect selecting unit that selects an effect pattern that causes the effect device to perform a predetermined effect operation, and an effect control unit that controls the effect operation of the effect device according to the effect pattern. About.

The gaming machine has rendering devices such as a large liquid crystal screen, lights, and speakers, and performs various renderings by controlling the rendering devices with rendering control means provided on the control board of the gaming machine. At this time, the effect control means reads a predetermined effect pattern from a plurality of effect patterns recorded in a storage medium such as a ROM, and controls a predetermined effect operation by the effect devices based on the effect pattern. ing.
Here, the gaming machine described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-198033 is based on a command for controlling the game operation or the elapsed time by measuring the elapsed time with reference to a game store start time or a predetermined time. In addition, each means and a program for executing the means are selected so that a predetermined effect pattern is selected from the plurality of effect patterns, and an effect operation is performed based on the selected effect pattern. And when it reaches the set time set separately from the elapsed time measured from the reference time, change the selection probability of each of the plurality of effect patterns so that the effect patterns selected by the time zone are not biased, The production pattern is not selected with the same selection probability at the same time zone every day.

JP 2006-198033 A

However, the above-mentioned gaming machine relies on time such as the elapsed time from the reference time and the set time for the pattern change of the production pattern, so that, for example, For a player who visits a store during a predetermined time period, such as a player who only visits the store, it is difficult to play a game with an effect operation based on an effect pattern that is used outside the time period.
In addition, for example, as a commemorative opening at the time of new stand replacement or new store opening, a special performance operation based on a special performance pattern is performed for a certain period, and a normal performance operation based on a normal performance pattern is performed after the period has elapsed. Then, a rare value can be given to the special performance operation.
At this time, for a certain period, a premium feeling can be produced by a special production operation with a rare value. Therefore, it is difficult to realize unexpected effects such as the above premium effects.

  Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a gaming machine that produces an unexpectedness of the production operation and a premium feeling by performing the pattern change of the production pattern without depending on time. Objective.

The gaming machine according to claim 1 is a rendering device;
A detecting means for detecting a game ball that has passed a specific area provided on the starting port or the board surface;
A game control means for controlling a series of game operations corresponding to a result of the lottery and lottery according to the passing of the game ball when the detection means detects the passage of the game ball;
An effect table storing a plurality of effect patterns produced by the effect device is provided, and in order to execute the effect operation of the effect device corresponding to the game operation controlled by the game control means, the predetermined effect pattern Production selection means for selecting from the production table;
Production control means for controlling the production operation according to the production pattern selected by the production selection means;
A gaming machine equipped with
The production pattern consists of one specific production pattern and a number of normal production patterns,
The effect selecting means is a specific effect determining means that counts the number of times of selection of the specific effect pattern selected from the effect table by the effect selecting means and compares the number of selections with a threshold value for the number of selections. ,
Appearance rate notifying means for notifying the appearance rate of the specific effect pattern formed from the ratio between the number of selections determined by the specific effect determining means and the threshold;
With
When the determination result of the specific effect determination means is smaller than the threshold value,
The effect selecting means randomly selects one of the specific effect pattern or the normal effect pattern included in the effect table,
When the determination result of the specific effect determination means is equal to or greater than the threshold,
The effect selecting means randomly selects any one of the normal effect patterns included in the effect table.

The gaming machine according to claim 2 is a rendering device;
A detecting means for detecting a game ball that has passed a specific area provided on the starting port or the board surface;
A game control means for controlling a series of game operations corresponding to a result of the lottery and lottery according to the passing of the game ball when the detection means detects the passage of the game ball;
An effect table storing a plurality of effect patterns produced by the effect device is provided, and in order to execute the effect operation of the effect device corresponding to the game operation controlled by the game control means, the predetermined effect pattern Production selection means for selecting from the production table;
Production control means for controlling the production operation according to the production pattern selected by the production selection means;
A gaming machine equipped with
The production pattern consists of a plurality of normal production patterns and a plurality of specific production patterns,
The production selection table includes a normal production table storing the plurality of normal production patterns and a specific production table storing the plurality of specific production tables,
The effect selecting means includes a specific effect specifying means for specifying one specific effect pattern selected by the effect selecting means,
A specific effect determination unit that counts the number of times of selection of the one specific effect pattern specified by the specific effect specification unit and compares the number of selections with a threshold value for the number of selections;
Appearance rate notifying means for notifying the appearance rate of the specific effect pattern formed from the ratio between the number of selections determined by the specific effect determining means and the threshold;
With
When the determination result of the specific effect determination means is smaller than the threshold value,
The effect selection means randomly selects one of the one specific effect pattern or the normal effect pattern included in the effect table,
When the determination result of the specific effect determination means is equal to the threshold value,
The specific effect designation means replaces the one specific effect pattern with another specific effect pattern included in the specific effect table,
The specific effect determining means counts the number of times of selection of the other specific effect pattern replaced, and compares and determines the size of the selected number and the threshold for the selected number of times,
The effect selecting means randomly selects one of the other specific effect patterns and the normal effect pattern included in the effect table.

The gaming machine according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 2, wherein the determination result of the specific effect determination means is equal to the threshold value.
Reset the number of selections of the one specific performance pattern,
The one specific effect pattern is stored in the specific effect selection table.

A gaming machine according to claim 4 is the invention according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the specific effect table is partitioned into a used area and an unused area,
In the use area, the one specific effect pattern selected by the effect selection means is stored,
In the unused area, a plurality of the other specific effect patterns are stored in order,
When the determination result of the specific effect determination means is equal to the threshold value,
Returning the one specific effect pattern to the tail of the other specific effect patterns stored in order in the unused area,
Of the other specific effect patterns, store another specific effect pattern at the head of the unused area in the use area,
The one specific effect pattern and the other specific effect pattern are interchanged.

The gaming machine according to claim 5 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the determination result of the specific effect determining means is equal to the threshold value.
A special performance operation based on the special performance pattern is executed once.

  According to the present invention, since the pattern change of the specific effect pattern is performed based on the number of times of selection of at least one specific effect pattern stored in the effect table, the unexpectedness of the effect operation or without depending on the set time It is possible to provide a gaming machine that produces a variety and a premium feeling.

It is a top view which shows schematic structure of the game machine board surface which concerns on a present Example. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the control board of the game machine which concerns on a present Example. It is a flowchart which shows the timer interruption process regarding the special symbol game of the gaming machine which concerns on a present Example. It is a flowchart which shows the start port switch process regarding the special symbol game of the gaming machine which concerns on a present Example. It is a flowchart which shows the special symbol process regarding the special symbol game of the gaming machine which concerns on a present Example. It is a table | surface which shows the flowchart which shows the jackpot determination process regarding the special symbol game of the game machine which concerns on a present Example, and a jackpot random number table and a jackpot symbol random number table. It is the table | surface which shows the flowchart which shows the fluctuation pattern selection process regarding the special symbol game of the gaming machine which concerns on a present Example, and a reach random number. It is a flowchart which shows the process during stop regarding the special symbol game of the gaming machine which concerns on a present Example. It is a flowchart which shows the big prize opening process regarding the special symbol game of the gaming machine which relates to the example. It is a flowchart which shows the game state setting process regarding the special symbol game of the gaming machine which concerns on a present Example. It is a flowchart which shows the gate switch process regarding the normal symbol game of the gaming machine which concerns on a present Example. It is a flowchart which shows the normal symbol process regarding the normal symbol game of the gaming machine which concerns on a present Example. It is a flowchart which shows the electric tulip process regarding the normal symbol game of the gaming machine which concerns on a present Example. It is a flowchart which shows the timer interruption process regarding the presentation control board of the gaming machine which concerns on a present Example. It is a flowchart which shows the command reception process regarding the production | presentation control means of the gaming machine which concerns on a present Example. It is a flowchart which shows the production pattern determination process regarding the production control means of the gaming machine according to the first embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of the production | presentation table which the production | presentation control means of the gaming machine based on 2nd Example has. It is a flowchart which shows the production pattern determination process regarding the production control means of the gaming machine according to the second embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the special effect pattern change process regarding the effect control means of the game machine which concerns on 2nd Example. It is a flowchart which shows the production pattern determination process regarding the production control means of the gaming machine according to the third embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the log of the specific effect counter regarding the specific effect pattern which the effect control means of the game machine which concerns on a present Example has.

  A gaming machine according to the present embodiment will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a board diagram showing an outline of the board configuration of the gaming machine.

As shown in FIG. 1, the gaming machine 1 includes an image display 53 at the center of the board, a board lamp 56 at a predetermined location on the board, a frame lamp 55 (not shown) on the frame of the gaming machine 1, and a speaker as a production device. 54 (not shown) is arranged. Nails are appropriately arranged on the surface of the gaming machine 1.
On the left side of the image display 53, the gate 13 is arranged.
Below the image display 53, a first start port 15 and an electric tulip 14 large winning port 16 are arranged, and a second start port 17 is arranged in the electric tulip 14.
Also, on the lower right of the board surface of the gaming machine 1, there are a first special symbol display 42, a first special symbol hold number display 45, a second special symbol display 43, a second special symbol hold number display 46, a normal symbol. A display unit 20 in which a display 44 and a normal symbol reservation number display 47 are collected is provided.

  Moreover, the gaming machine 1 having the above-described configuration has the following control board. A description will be given according to the attached drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control board of the gaming machine 1 and devices controlled by the control board.

  The control board of the gaming machine 1 includes a game control board 25, a payout control board 26, an effect control board 27, an image control board 28, a lamp control board 29, and an external information terminal board 30.

  The game control board 25 includes a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as “CPU”) 25a, a random access memory (hereinafter referred to as “RAM”) 25b, and a read-only memory (hereinafter referred to as “ROM”) 25c. There is provided a game control means for controlling the lottery and determining whether or not the lottery has been won and controlling the gaming state.

The game control board 25 has an input / output terminal bidirectional terminal, an input terminal, and an output terminal.
A payout control board 26 is connected to the input / output bidirectional terminal of the game control board 25.
A switch is connected to the input terminal of the game control board 25.
To the output terminal of the game control board 25, an effect control board 27, a solenoid, a symbol display, and a reserved number display are connected.

The switch includes a first start port switch 35, a second start port switch 36, a gate switch 37, a big winning port switch 38, and a general winning port switch 39. The switches 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 are respectively It has a detecting means for detecting the passage of the game ball.
The first start port switch 35, the second start port switch 36, and the gate switch 37 transmit a detection signal that detects the entry of a game ball to the game control board 25. When the game control board 25 receives the detection signal, lotteries relating to the first special symbol game, the second special symbol game, and the normal symbol game are performed, respectively.
Further, the special winning opening switch 38 and the general winning opening switch 39 transmit a detection signal for detecting the entry of a game ball to the game control board 25. When the game control board 25 receives the detection signal, a prize ball payout signal is transmitted from the game control board 25 to the payout control board 26.
When the payout control board 26 receives the payout signal, the payout of the prize ball is performed.

The solenoid connected to the output terminal of the game control board 25 is composed of a big prize opening solenoid 40 and an electric tulip solenoid 41.
The big prize opening solenoid 40 is a control signal for opening / closing operation of the big prize opening 16 transmitted from the game control board 25 when the result of the lottery relating to the first special symbol game or the second special symbol game is “big hit”. Accordingly, a solenoid (not shown) provided at the special winning opening 16 is operated to open and close the special winning opening 16. The opening / closing time of the big prize winning opening 16 is set to be different for the random numbers classified into the long winning symbols and the random numbers classified into the short winning symbols among the big winning symbol random numbers.
The electric tulip solenoid 40 is a solenoid provided in the electric tulip 14 in accordance with a control signal for opening and closing the electric tulip 14 transmitted from the game control board 25 when the result of the lottery related to the normal symbol game is “winning”. (Not shown) is operated to open and close the electric tulip 14. The opening / closing time of the electric tulip 14 is set so as to differ depending on the gaming state related to the special symbol game being performed in parallel when the “winning” is reached.

The symbol indicators 42, 43, and 44 connected to the output terminal of the game control board 25 are a first special symbol indicator 42 that displays a variation display related to the first special symbol game and a lottery result, and a second special symbol indicator 42. It consists of a second special symbol display 43 that displays a variation display related to symbol game and a lottery result, and a normal symbol display 44 that displays a variation display related to a normal game and a lottery result.
Each symbol display 42, 43, 44 has a display unit composed of liquid crystal, dots, or segments, and displays the success / failure result of the lottery concerning the variable display or game by combining the flashing of the liquid crystal, dots, or segments. .

The first special symbol display 42 includes a specific symbol indicating success or failure based on a lottery result related to the first special symbol game selected when the game ball enters the first starting port 15, and the specific symbol A variable display design that blinks randomly until the design is displayed is displayed.
The second special symbol display 43 has a specific symbol indicating the success or failure based on the result of the lottery related to the second special symbol game selected when the game ball enters the second starting port 17, and the specific symbol A variable display design that blinks randomly until the design is displayed is displayed.
Based on the result of the lottery related to the normal symbol game drawn when the game ball passes through the gate 13, the normal symbol display 44 is randomly selected until the specific symbol indicating the success or failure is displayed. A flickering display of flickering is displayed.

The number-of-holds indicator connected to the output terminal of the game control board 25 includes a first special symbol number-of-holds display 45 that displays the number of holds related to the first special symbol game, and the number of holds related to the second special symbol game. Is displayed on the second special symbol hold number display 46 and a normal symbol hold number display 47 on which the number of possessions related to the normal symbol game is displayed.
Each holding number display 44, 45, 46 has a display unit composed of liquid crystal, dots, or segments, and can display up to four holding numbers by combining flashing of liquid crystal, dots, or segments. .
Here, the holding number is the number of game balls that have entered the first start port 15 or the second start port 17 or the game balls that have passed through the gate 13, and is predetermined by the symbol indicators 42, 43, 44. Since the time variation display is performed, the game associated with the special symbol game or the normal symbol game is suspended until the processing related to the variation display related to the previous lottery and the result of the lottery result are completed. The number of spheres.

The payout control board 26 has a CPU 26a, a RAM 26b, and a ROM 26c, and is provided with payout control means for controlling the payout of prize balls when winning.
Between the game control board 25 and the payout control board 26, bidirectional communication of data relating to the game is performed.
The game control board 25 and the payout control board 26 are connected to the external information terminal board 30.
The external information terminal board 30 is provided with a plurality of connectors which are output terminals for transmitting information to the outside.

The payout control board 26 has an input / output terminal bidirectional terminal, an input terminal, and an output terminal.
A game control board 25 is connected to the input / output bidirectional terminal of the payout control board 26.
A payout ball detection switch 48, a ball presence detection switch 49 and a full tank detection switch 50 are connected to input terminals of the payout control board 26. The paid-out ball detection switch 48 detects the paid-out prize balls and counts the number of the prize balls. The ball presence detection switch 49 and the full tank detection switch 50 cooperate to detect whether or not the number of game balls stocked in the gaming machine 1 is an appropriate number.
A payout drive motor 51 for paying out a prize ball is connected to an output terminal of the payout control board 26.

The effect control board 27 includes a CPU 27a, a RAM 27b, and a ROM 27c, and is provided with effect control means for controlling the effect device.
The effect control means includes an image control means provided on the image control board 28 and a lamp control means provided on the lamp control board 29 in response to a command related to a game controlled by the game control means provided on the game control board 25. On the other hand, an effect command related to the entire game is controlled by transmitting an effect command.
In the gaming machine 1 according to the present embodiment, the effect control means, the image control means, or the lamp control means provided on the effect control board 27, the image control board 28, or the lamp control board 29 formed separately cooperate to produce effects. Although the device is controlled, the effect device may be controlled by integrating effect control means, image control means, or lamp control means on one effect control board 27.

The effect control means includes an effect selection means.
The effect selection means selects the effect pattern stored in the effect table provided on the effect control board.
The effect pattern is a combination of a plurality of effect commands for executing video displayed on the image display 53, sound flowing from the speaker 54, or blinking of the lamps 55 and 56. The effect pattern is recorded and stored in an effect table formed on the ROM 27c.
The control of the effect device is performed by randomly reading the effect pattern from the effect table by the effect selection means and transmitting the effect command included in the read effect pattern from the effect control means to the image control means or the lamp control means. .

The effect pattern according to the present embodiment includes a specific effect pattern having a threshold value with respect to the number of selections selected by the effect selecting unit, and a normal effect pattern having no threshold value.
The effect table stores one specific effect pattern and a plurality of normal effect patterns.

Furthermore, the effect control means includes a specific effect determination means.
The specific effect determination unit counts the number of times of selection of the specific effect pattern every time the specific effect pattern is selected by the effect selection unit, and determines whether or not the number of selections exceeds the threshold value.

The effect control board 27 has an input / output terminal bidirectional terminal, an input terminal, and an output terminal.
An image control board 28 is connected to the input / output bidirectional terminal of the effect control board 27.
The game control board 25 and the effect button 52 are connected to the input terminals of the effect control board 27. The effect button 52 is an effect device that is used for an effect that does not affect a lottery related to a special symbol game or a normal symbol game using a game ball. For example, the effect button 52 can be used as an operation button for a simple game or the like. Used to encourage participation in the game.
A lamp control board 29 is connected to the output terminal of the effect control board 27.

The image control board 28 includes a CPU 28a, a RAM 28b, and a ROM 28c, and is provided with image control means for controlling an image displayed on the image display.
The image control means includes an appearance rate notifying means for displaying an appearance rate that is a ratio of the number of selections of the specific effect pattern selected by the effect selecting means with respect to the threshold value.
As shown in FIG. 1, the appearance rate notification means is represented by a band graph arranged on the left side of the screen of the image display 53 of the gaming machine 1.
Furthermore, when the number of times of selection of the specific effect pattern reaches a predetermined number of times or when the effect button 52 is pressed, the appearance rate notifying means indicates how much the specific effect pattern is selected with respect to the appearance rate at that time, that is, the threshold value. You may display the message regarding the achievement which shows whether it is made.
By displaying the achievement level, the player can have a sense of expectation for the appearance of the specific performance pattern.

The lamp control board 29 includes a CPU 29a, a RAM 29b, and a ROM 29c, and a rendering device other than the image display device, for example, a frame lamp 55 arranged on the frame of the gaming machine 1, a board arranged on the board surface of the gaming machine 1. The lamp 56 and the movable decoration device 57 are controlled.
The lamp control board 29 has an input terminal and an output terminal.
An effect control board 27 is connected to an input terminal of the lamp control board 29.
A frame lamp 55, a panel lamp 56, and a movable decoration device 57 are connected to the output terminals of the lamp control board 29.

As described above, the control board of the gaming machine 1 includes the game control board 25, the payout control board 26, the effect control board 27, the image control board 28, the lamp control board 29, and the external information terminal board 30.
The game control board 25 has a game control program for executing game control means.
The effect control board 27 executes an effect control program for executing the effect control means, an effect selection program for executing the effect selecting means, a specific effect selecting program for executing the specific effect selecting means, and a specific effect determining means. There is a specific performance determination program to do.
Further, the image control board 28 or the effect control board 27 has an image control program for executing the image control means, and the lamp control board 29 or the effect control board 27 is a lamp control program for executing the lamp control means. have.
Each of the above programs will be described below with reference to the attached drawings.

The game executed by the gaming machine according to the present embodiment includes a special symbol game and a normal symbol game.
The special symbol game is a lottery with the game balls that have entered the first start port 15, and the first special symbol game that activates the first special symbol display device 42 and the game that has entered the second start port 17. It consists of a second special symbol game in which a second lottery is performed with a ball and the second special symbol display device 43 is operated.
The normal symbol game refers to a game in which a normal symbol display device 44 is operated by performing a lottery with the game balls entered in the gate 13.
When a lottery related to a special symbol game is won, the grand prize winning opening 16 is opened under the jackpot gaming state.
On the other hand, when the lottery related to the normal symbol game is won, the electric tulip 14 is released.
The opening / closing operation of the electric tulip is set differently based on the normal game state, the probability variation game state, the short time game state, and the latent game state related to the special symbol game.
Random numbers are used for the lottery related to the special symbol game and the lottery related to the normal symbol game. As the random numbers, jackpot random numbers, jackpot symbol random numbers, reach random numbers, and the like are set according to the type of lottery.

Here, the gaming state related to the special symbol game is determined by the jackpot symbol, and means a normal gaming state, a jackpot gaming state, a probability variation gaming state, a short-time gaming state, and a latent certainty gaming state.
The normal gaming state refers to a gaming state in which the probability of winning in a lottery relating to a special symbol game is set low, and the probability of winning in a lottery relating to a normal symbol game is also set low.
In the present embodiment, under the normal gaming state, the variation display variation time for the normal symbol game is set to 4 seconds. Moreover, the opening pattern of the electric tulip 14 is set to open once in 0.15 seconds.
Therefore, in the normal gaming state, it is extremely difficult to make the game ball enter the second start port 17 arranged inside the electric tulip 14, so that the second special symbol game is hardly performed. A first special symbol game is performed.

In the lottery related to the first special symbol game performed under the normal gaming state, the jackpot random number, the jackpot symbol random number and the reach random number are acquired. When the jackpot random number is won, the game shifts to a jackpot gaming state.
The jackpot gaming state is a gaming state in which the big prize opening 16 is opened. The opened big winning opening 16 is closed when a predetermined number of game balls enter or after a predetermined time has passed.
The single opening / closing operation of the big prize opening is hereinafter referred to as “one round”. In the big hit gaming state, at least two rounds are executed by the accessory continuous operation means.
In the present embodiment, under the jackpot gaming state, the change display related to the normal symbol game and the opening pattern of the electric tulip 14 are set in the same manner as in the normal gaming state.
Therefore, it is extremely difficult to make a game ball enter the second start port 17 arranged inside the electric tulip 14.
On the other hand, when the game state transitions to the jackpot game state, the game state to be subsequently transitioned is determined by the jackpot symbol random number obtained at the same time during the lottery relating to the first special symbol game. Subsequent gaming states include a probability changing gaming state, a short-time gaming state, a latent certain gaming state, and the like.

The probability variation gaming state is a gaming state in which the probability of winning a lottery related to a special symbol game is set high, and all the lotteries related to a normal symbol game are all set to winning.
In the present embodiment, under the probability variation gaming state, the variation time of the variation display related to the normal symbol is set to 1.5 seconds, which is shorter than the variation time in the normal gaming state and the jackpot gaming state. . On the other hand, the opening pattern of the electric tulip 14 is set to be opened for 1.8 seconds, and the opening is repeated three times.
Therefore, since the game ball can easily enter the second start port 17 arranged inside the electric tulip 14, the second special symbol game is executed.
Also, at this time, the first special symbol game played with the game ball entering the first start port 15 is not disturbed, but in the present embodiment, the second special symbol game has priority over the first special symbol game. Has been done.

The short-time gaming state is a gaming state in which the probability of winning in the lottery related to the special symbol game is set in the same manner as the normal gaming state, and the probability of winning in the lottery relating to the normal symbol game is set in the same way as the probability variation gaming state. Say.
Under the short-time gaming state, although it is difficult to win a “big hit” by lottery related to the special symbol game, the electric tulip 14 is frequently opened over a long period of time, so the second special symbol game is mainly performed. As a result, a lottery relating to a special symbol game can be performed for a long time without reducing the number of game balls.
In the latent game state, the probability of winning in the lottery related to the special symbol game is set in the same manner as the probability variation game state, and the probability of winning in the lottery related to the normal symbol game is set in the same manner as in the normal game state. Refers to the game state.
Under the latent game state, although it is easy to win a “big hit” by lottery related to the special symbol game, the electric tulip 14 hardly opens, so the first special symbol game is mainly performed.
At this time, since there is almost no payout of the prize ball related to the normal symbol game, it is difficult to replenish the game ball. Therefore, as the game progresses, the game ball gradually decreases.

The probability variation gaming state, the short-time gaming state, and the latent probability gaming state are set as a gaming state that shifts from the normal gaming state to the jackpot gaming state as the first stage and further shifts from the jackpot gaming state.
After transitioning to the probable gaming state, the short-time gaming state, and the latent certain gaming state, when winning the lottery related to special symbol games performed under those gaming states, the gaming state is returned to the jackpot gaming state, The big prize opening 16 is opened.
When the number of rounds of “big hit” is large or when the opening time of the big prize opening 16 is long, it is called “per long”, and when the number of rounds of “bonus” is small or the opening time of the big prize opening 16 is If it is short, it is divided into “short hits”.

Furthermore, “small hit” is set without any transition of the gaming state.
The small win is an open / close operation of the big prize opening 16, but the opening time of the big prize opening 16 is set to an extremely short time, and is set as a type of “losing” that is not “big hit”.

Further, in this embodiment, “winning” means that a lottery related to a normal symbol game by a game ball entering the gate 13 is won. As a result of winning, the electric tulip 14 is expanded, and the electric tulip 14 is set to expand at a predetermined time and number of times depending on the gaming state related to the special symbol game. For this reason, the exposure time of the second start port 17 provided in the electric tulip 14 is set so as to change depending on the gaming state related to the special symbol game.
In this embodiment, the “winning” when the gaming state relating to the special symbol game is the probability variation gaming state or the short-time gaming state is set to “first hit” relating to the normal symbol game, and the gaming state relating to the special symbol gaming is The “win” under the normal game state or the latent game state is set as the “second win” related to the normal symbol game.

When the gaming machine 1 is turned on, it rises from peripheral boards of the game control board 25 such as the payout control board 26, the effect control board 27, the image control board 28, and the lamp control board 29, and the game control board 25 comes up last. Then, when the initial setting of each control board 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 is completed, the power supply of the gaming machine 1 is monitored, and a timer circulation process including a counter timer set at a cycle of 4 milliseconds for updating the random number Is started.
The special symbol game and the normal symbol game are controlled by a timer interrupt processing flow 100 that interrupts the timer circulation process and performs processing.

The timer interrupt processing flow 100 is configured as shown in FIG.
Step 105 is a step of performing a random number update process. The updated random numbers are jackpot random numbers, jackpot symbol random numbers and reach random numbers related to special symbol games. The update of the random number is incremented by “1” every time the timer interrupt processing flow 100 is started.
Step 110 is a start port switch processing step, in which lottery and holding balls are processed by game balls that have entered the first start port 15 or the second start port 17. A processing flow constituting the start port switch processing step 110 will be described separately with reference to FIG.
Step 115 is a special symbol processing step. Based on the result of the lottery relating to the first special symbol game or the second special symbol game, processing such as variable display setting and game state setting relating to the special symbol game is performed. Is called. The processing flow constituting the special symbol processing step 115 will be described separately with reference to FIG.
Step 120 is a big winning opening processing step, in which a process of setting an opening pattern of the big winning opening 16 is performed based on the gaming state related to the special symbol game. The processing flow that constitutes the big prize opening processing step will be described separately with reference to FIG.
Step 125 is a prize ball processing step in which a prize ball is paid out by the payout driving motor 51 connected to the payout control board 26 in accordance with the number of game balls that have entered the big winning opening 16. It is a step.
Step 130 is an output processing step, and game data consisting of flags and commands set in the processing flow constituting each step of the timer interrupt processing flow 100 is output to the effect control board 27 as a game control signal. It is a step which performs the process to perform.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the start port switch processing step 110 includes a process flow related to the start of the first start port 15 and a process flow related to the start of the second start port 17. If there is no game ball in both the start ports 15 and 17, the return process 245 returns the arithmetic processing to the timer interrupt processing flow 100 shown in FIG.

  Step 205 is a step of determining whether the first start port switch 35 is on or off. If the first start port switch 35 is not activated, the process jumps to step 225 for determining whether the second start port switch 36 is on or off.

When the first start port switch is actuated, that is, when a game ball is detected at the first start port, it is first determined whether or not the remaining number of retained balls is less than the specified (usually four). (Step 210).
If the remaining number is less than the specified number, the reserved balls can be stored up to the specified number, so the number of reserved balls is increased by one (step 215), and the lottery related to the first special symbol game is performed (step 220). ). In the lottery, a jackpot random number, a jackpot symbol random number, and a reach random number are acquired and stored in the RAM 25b.
On the other hand, if the remaining number is greater than the specified number, the process jumps to step 225.

  Step 225 is a step of determining whether the second start port switch 36 is on or off. Here, if the switch at the second start port is not activated, the routine jumps to return step 245.

When the switch at the second starting port is actuated, that is, when a game ball is detected at the second starting port, it is first determined whether or not the remaining number of retained balls is less than the specified (usually four). (Step 230).
If the remaining number is less than the specified number, the reserved balls can be stored up to the specified number, so the number of reserved balls is increased by one (step 235), and the lottery related to the first special symbol game is performed (step 240). ). In the lottery, a jackpot random number, a jackpot symbol random number, and a reach random number are acquired and stored in the RAM 25b.
On the other hand, if the remaining number is greater than the specified value, the process jumps to return step 245.
In the return step 245, processing for returning the start port switch processing to the timer interrupt processing flow 100 is performed.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5, the processing flow according to the special symbol processing step 100 is started.
Steps 305 to 320 are steps for determining the lottery related to the special symbol game.
In this processing flow, first, it is determined whether or not a flag indicating that the player is in a jackpot gaming state is set (step 305), and whether the first special symbol display 42 or the second special symbol display 43 is performing a variable display. (Step 310), the reserved ball related to the second special symbol game is digested in preference to the reserved ball related to the first special symbol game (step 315), and the reserved ball related to the first special symbol game is If it remains, it is digested (step 320).
If all of the above determinations are denied, a flag indicating that the gaming machine 1 is in a customer waiting state is set, and a command is set in the RAM 25b to produce an effect relating to the customer waiting state (step 325). When the customer waiting process is performed, the process jumps to return step 385.

If the jackpot game flag is set in step 305, the process jumps to the return step of step 385 in order to maintain the already executed jackpot game state.
If the first special symbol display 42 or the second special symbol display 43 is in a variable display at step 310, the process jumps to step 365 for monitoring whether or not the variable time has ended.
If there is a reserved ball related to the second special symbol game in step 315, the reserved ball related to the second special symbol game is consumed in preference to the reserved ball related to the first special symbol game. Performed (step 330). In addition, if there is no reserved ball related to the second special symbol game and at least one reserved ball related to the first special symbol game remains in step 320, the reserved ball related to the first special symbol game is consumed and the special symbol is consumed. Processing related to the game is performed (step 335).

If it is a customer waiting state, the customer waiting state is canceled (step 340).
Then, it is determined whether or not it is a big hit (step 345), and a variation pattern of variation display to be displayed on the first special symbol display 42 or the second special symbol display 43 is selected (step 350).
Here, the processing flow constituting the jackpot determination processing step 345 will be described separately with reference to FIG. Similarly, the processing flow constituting the variation pattern selection processing step 350 will be described separately with reference to FIG.

Then, a variation start command for starting the variation display is set (step 355), and the variation display relating to the special symbol game is started on the first special symbol display 42 or the second special symbol display 43 (step 360). .
Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the fluctuation time has ended (step 365). If the fluctuation time has ended, the process proceeds to step 370. If the fluctuation time has not ended, the process jumps to return step 385.

In order to stop the variable display related to the special symbol game, a variable stop command is set (step 370), and the first special symbol display 42 and the second special symbol display 43 stop the variable display related to the special symbol game. (Step 375). When the variable display is stopped, the stopped process is performed in step 380. The processing flow constituting the in-stop processing step 380 will be described separately with reference to FIG.
When the processing flow constituting the special symbol processing 115 is completed, the arithmetic processing is returned to the timer interrupt processing flow 100 in the return step 385.

  As described above, the jackpot determination processing step 345 includes the processing flow shown below. The processing flow will be described below with reference to the attached FIG.

Step 405 is a process for determining the jackpot random number acquired at the first start port 15 or the second start port 17 by referring to the random number value of the jackpot random number stored in advance as shown in FIG. Step to perform.
Step 410 is a step of performing a process of determining whether or not the acquired random number corresponds to the numerical value set as “big hit”. If it is not “big hit”, the process jumps to step 425.

Step 415 is a step of performing a process of determining the jackpot symbol random number by referring to the random number value of the jackpot symbol random number stored in advance as shown in FIG.
The jackpot symbol random number shown in FIG. 6C is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to this. The jackpot symbol random number can be further divided and set.
Step 420 is a step of performing processing in which the jackpot symbol determined in step 415 is set in the first special symbol display 42 or the second special symbol display 43.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 410 that it is not a big hit, it is further determined whether or not it is a “small hit” (step 425).
If it is a small hit, the small hit symbol is set on the first special symbol display 42 or the second special symbol display 43 (step 430). If it is not a small hit, the lost symbol is displayed on the first special symbol display. Is set in the display 42 or the second special symbol display 43 (step 435).
As described above, when the big win symbol, the small hit symbol, or the lost symbol is set in the first special symbol display 42 or the second special symbol display 43, the process is configured by the special symbol processing step 115 in the return step 440. Return to the processing flow.

  The variation pattern selection processing step 350 performed subsequent to the jackpot determination processing step 345 includes the following processing flow. The processing flow will be described below with reference to the attached FIG.

It is determined whether or not the result determined in the jackpot determination processing step 345 is “big jackpot” (step 505). If it is “big jackpot”, the process proceeds to step 510 and the jackpot table is set in the RAM 25b.
On the other hand, if it is not “big hit”, the process proceeds to step 515.

  Steps 515 and 520 determine if the reach random number is inquired with the reach random number table shown in FIG. 7B in the case of “losing” (step 515). At 525, the reach table is set in the RAM 25b, and when it is not reach, at step 530, the lost table is set in the RAM 25b (step 520).

Here, random numbers specifying a variation pattern are arranged in the above jackpot table, reach table, and lose table. The variation pattern random number acquired by the counter is stored in the address of the RAM 25b (step 535), and the obtained variation pattern random number is determined by referring to the numerical value of the variation pattern shown in each table (step 540). The changed pattern is set in the RAM 25b (step 1045).
Thus, the processing flow related to the variation pattern selection processing step 350 is completed, and the calculation process is returned to the processing flow related to the special symbol processing step 115 in the return step 550.

  As described above, the in-stop process step 380 includes the following process flow. The processing flow will be described below with reference to the attached FIG.

Step 605 is a step for determining whether or not the lottery result relating to the special symbol game is a big hit.
If it is determined that it is a big hit, it is further determined whether or not it is a “long hit” (step 610), and the big hit is distributed to “long win” (step 615) or “short win” (step 620). It is done.

A flag indicating “long win” is set for the assigned “long hit” (step 615), and a flag indicating “short win” is set for the assigned “short hit” (step 620).
And, if the gaming state related to the special symbol game before the big hit is the short-time gaming state, the probability variation gaming state, and the latent probability gaming state, and a flag indicating each gaming state is set, the short-time gaming state is indicated. All of the flag, the flag indicating the probability change gaming state, and the flag indicating the latent probability gaming state are canceled and reset (step 1125). This is because the special winning opening 16 is not opened in the short-time gaming state, the probability variation gaming state, and the latent probability gaming state.
Thereafter, the process proceeds to an opening start step 680.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that it is not a big hit (step 605), it is determined in turn whether it is a short-time gaming state, a probability variation or latent gaming state, or a “small hit”.

Step 630 is a step of performing a process of determining whether or not a flag indicating the short-time gaming state is set. If it is in the short time gaming state, the process proceeds to step 635, and if not in the short time gaming state, the process jumps to step 650.
Step 635 is a step of performing a process of returning one hour-time counter related to the number of lotteries related to the special symbol game set under the hour-short game state. The time counter is measured in step 640 and ends when it reaches “0”.
In the present embodiment, the short-time gaming state ends when the lottery relating to the special symbol game is completed 100 times under the short-time gaming state.
While in the short time gaming state until the end of the 100 lotteries, the time for displaying the variation display related to the special symbol game on the first special symbol display 42 or the second special symbol display 43 is shortened. .
In step 640, it is determined whether or not 100 lotteries have been completed. If all the lotteries have been completed, the flag indicating the short-time gaming state is canceled (step 645). On the other hand, if the number of lotteries remains, the process jumps to step 650.

Step 650 is a step of performing a process of determining whether or not a flag indicating the probability change gaming state or the latent probability gaming state is set. If it is the probability variation gaming state or the latent probability gaming state, the process proceeds to step 655, and if it is not the probability variation gaming state or the latent probability gaming state, the process jumps to step 670.
Step 655 is a step of performing a process of returning one probability variation / latency probability counter relating to the number of lotteries related to the special symbol game. The probability variation / latency probability counter ends when it reaches “0” as determined in step 660.
In this embodiment, the probability variation / latency probability game state ends when the probability variation / latency probability counter counts 10,000 times under the probability variation / latency probability gaming state.
Then, in step 660, it is determined whether or not all the counters of the probability change / latency probability counter have been completed. If all have been completed, the flag indicating the probability change gaming state or the latent probability gaming state is canceled (step 665). On the other hand, if the number of lotteries remains, the process jumps to step 670.

Step 670 is a step of performing a process of determining whether or not the “small hit”.
If it is “small hit”, the process proceeds to step 675 and a process of setting a flag indicating “small hit” is performed. If it is not “small hit”, the process jumps to return step 690.

In step 680 and step 685, with respect to “big hit” or “small win”, the start of the opening at which the round is started (step 680), and the opening command for transmitting the start of the opening to the effect control board 27 Is set (step 685).
When the processing flow that constitutes the above-described stop processing step 380 is completed, the computation processing is returned to the processing flow that constitutes the special symbol processing step 115 in the return step 690.

As described above, the processing flow that constitutes the special processing step 115 has a processing flow that constitutes a jackpot determination process, a variation pattern selection process, and a stopped process, respectively. As shown in the figure, at the return step 385 of the special symbol process flow, the process returns to the timer interrupt process flow 100, and the calculation process is subsequently performed on the process flow constituting the special winning a prize opening process step 120.
The processing flow constituting the big prize opening processing step 120 will be described with reference to FIG.

Step 705 is a step of performing a process of determining whether a flag indicating long hit or short win or a flag indicating small hit is set as a big hit.
If the flag is not set, jump to return step 785.

Steps 710 and 715 determine whether or not the opening is in progress for the opening set in the processing flow of the stop processing step 380 constituting the special symbol processing flow 115 (step 710), and the opening time has elapsed. This is a step of performing a process of determining whether or not it has been performed (step 715).
If it is during opening and the opening time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step 720.
On the other hand, if the opening is in progress and the opening time has not elapsed, the process jumps to return step 785.
On the other hand, when the opening is not in progress, the routine proceeds to step 795.

In steps 720 to 730, the number of rounds related to the special symbol game set under each gaming state is set according to the type of flag indicating “big hit” or “small win” determined in step 705. At the same time, the opening pattern of the big winning opening is set (step 720), the set number of rounds is increased by one (step 725), and the round is started, that is, the opening operation of the big winning opening 16 is started (step 730). This is a step for performing processing.
Table 1 shows an example of the number of rounds and the opening time of the special winning opening regarding “long win”, “short win”, and “small hit”. Here, the difference between “short win” of the jackpot game and whether the bonus game 16 is opened based on the number of rounds, or whether the jackpot 16 is opened based on the number of times of opening. Although there is, it is configured so that it can not be distinguished in the game.

Steps 735 and 740 are steps for determining the end of the opening time of the special winning opening 16.
As described above, the first round is ended depending on whether a predetermined opening time has elapsed (step 735) or whether a predetermined number of game balls have been won in the big winning opening 16 (step 740). If neither condition is satisfied, the round has not ended, and the process jumps to return step 785.
On the other hand, when either one of the conditions of step 735 or step 740 is satisfied, the opening operation of the special winning opening is ended (step 745).

Subsequently, it is determined whether or not a prescribed number of rounds has been executed.
Step 750 is a step of determining whether or not the executed round is the final round.
In the case of the final round, the process proceeds to step 755. On the other hand, if it is not the final round, an interval provided between one round and another round is started (step 790), and the process jumps to return step 785.

  If it is the final round, the ending of the jackpot gaming state is started (step 755), a command for transmitting the start of the ending to the effect control board 27 is set (step 760), and the round number is set to “ It is reset to “0” (step 765).

Step 770 is a step of determining whether or not the ending time in the jackpot gaming state has elapsed.
If not, the process jumps to return step 785.
If it has elapsed, in step 775, a process for setting a game state to be transferred next is performed for the game state related to the special symbol game. In the step 775, for example, a setting for shifting from the jackpot gaming state to the probability variation gaming state is performed.
The game state setting process 755 will be described separately with reference to FIG.

  In step 775, after setting the gaming state to be performed subsequent to the current jackpot gaming state, the flag indicating “long win”, “short hit”, or “small hit” is cleared (step 780), and return step 785 is performed. Thus, the arithmetic processing is returned to the timer interrupt processing flow 100.

On the other hand, Step 795, which is shifted when it is determined that the opening is not being performed at Step 710, is a step of performing a process of determining whether or not the special winning opening 16 is opened.
If the special winning opening 16 is open, it is determined that the round is in progress, and the process jumps to an end determination process (steps 735 and 740) regarding the opening / closing operation of the special winning opening 16.

If the big winning opening 16 is not opened, it is determined whether or not it is in the interval between rounds (step 790) (step 800).
If it is during the interval, the process proceeds to step 805.
On the other hand, if it is not in the interval, it is determined in the determination process so far that the opening is not in progress (step 710) and the special winning opening 16 is not opened (step 795), so that it is determined that the ending is in progress. Jump to ending time elapsed determination step 770.

Step 805 is a step for performing processing for determining whether or not the set time of the interval has elapsed.
If the interval time has not elapsed, the process jumps to return step 785.
If the interval time has elapsed, the number of rounds is decremented by one in step 725 and the next round is started.

  Here, the gaming state setting processing step 775 has a separate processing flow as shown in FIG. This will be described below.

Steps 850 to 860 are steps for classifying the jackpot gaming state processed in the big prize opening processing step 120 according to a specific symbol.
Step 850 is a step of determining whether or not the symbol is a small hit symbol.
If it is not a small winning symbol, the process proceeds to step 855.
If it is a small hit symbol, jump to return step 895.

Step 860 is a step of determining whether or not the symbol is a normal symbol.
If it is not a normal symbol, the process proceeds to step 860.
If it is a normal symbol, the process jumps to Step 885.

Step 860 is a step of determining whether or not the symbol is a probable variation.
If it is not a probable variation, the process proceeds to step 865.
If it is a probable variation, the process jumps to step 875.
In step 775, the game state to be performed following the current jackpot game state is distributed according to the specific symbol relating to the special symbol game in the above step.

Step 865 is a step of performing a process of setting a flag indicating that the game is in the latent game state.
Step 875 is a step of performing a process of setting a flag indicating that the game state is a probability variation gaming state.
Further, step 885 jumped from step 855 is a step of performing a process of setting a flag indicating that the game is in the short-time gaming state.
By setting the flag as described above, the gaming state relating to the next special symbol game following the jackpot gaming state is set.

Further, at step 870, a probability variation counter for counting the number of lotteries in the latent game state related to the special symbol game is set to 10,000 times.
In step 880, the probability variation counter for counting the number of lotteries in the probability variation gaming state related to the special symbol game is set to 10000 times, and the time reduction counter is set to 100 times.
In step 890, the time counter for counting the number of lotteries in the time-short gaming state related to the special symbol game is set to 100 times.
The initial setting number of these counters is not limited to the above number, and can be arbitrarily set.

  The return step 895 is a step for returning the arithmetic processing to the processing flow of the big prize opening processing step 120 when the processing flow constituting the game setting processing step 775 is completed.

The processing flow constituting the big prize opening processing step 120 is configured as described above.
In the timer interrupt processing flow 100, following the special winning opening processing step 120, a prize ball processing step 125 is started mainly by a control signal transmitted to the payout control board 28.

  Further, following the winning ball processing step 125, an output processing step 130 is executed. The output processing step 130 is a step of transmitting a control signal for controlling the gaming state related to the special symbol game from the game control board 25 to the effect control board 27 in one direction.

On the other hand, under the gaming state related to the special symbol game, the normal symbol game is performed as follows.
The gate switch process 900 includes the following steps. This will be described below with reference to FIG.

  Step 905 is a step of determining on / off of the switch by the gate 13. Here, if the switch by the gate 13 is OFF, the process jumps to the return step 925.

If the switch by the gate 13 is on, that is, when a game ball is detected by the detection means provided at the gate 13, first, whether the number of remaining balls is less than the specified (usually four) It is determined whether or not (step 910).
If the remaining number is less than the specified number, the number of reserved balls is increased by one (step 915), and a lottery related to the normal symbol game is performed (step 920).
If the remaining number of reserved balls is larger than the specified number, the process jumps to return step 925.
Step 920 is a step for performing a lottery relating to a normal symbol game. In the lottery, one winning random number related to the normal symbol game and one winning symbol random number are acquired, and the acquired random number is stored in the RAM 27b for the lottery related to the normal symbol game.

  Step 925 is a return step for returning the arithmetic processing to the timer interrupt processing flow 100 when the processing flow of the gate switch processing step 900 is completed.

  Subsequently, the processing flow constituting the normal symbol processing step 1000 is started. The processing flow will be described below with reference to FIG.

In the normal symbol processing step 1000, the symbol indicating the result of the lottery related to the normal symbol game and the symbol indicating the variable display are determined.
Step 1005 is a step of determining whether or not a flag indicating that an auxiliary game is being played is set.
In this embodiment, the auxiliary game refers to a game that opens and closes the electric tulip 14.
If the flag indicating that an auxiliary game is in progress is set, the process jumps to return step 1055.
If the flag indicating that the auxiliary game is being played is not set, the process proceeds to step 1010.
Step 1010 is a step of determining whether or not the variable symbol display is performed on the normal symbol display 44.
If the change is displayed, the process jumps to step 1050.
If the change is not displayed, the process proceeds to step 1015.
Step 1015 is a step of determining whether or not the remaining amount of the reserved ball relating to the normal symbol game is “0”.
If the remaining is “0”, that is, if there is no reserved ball, the process jumps to the return step 1055.
If the remaining is not “0”, that is, if there is a holding ball, the routine proceeds to step 1020.
Based on the above determination, the lottery result is processed using the reserved ball for the normal symbol game.

  Step 1020 is a step of performing a process of determining whether or not the acquired winning random number is winning when the auxiliary game is being played. In the winning determination processing step 1020, as a result of the lottery relating to the normal symbol game, the game is divided into a “winning” game and a “losing” game. Control is performed to expand the electric tulip 14 according to the winning game.

Step 1030 is a step of performing processing for selecting the display time of the variable display of the normal symbol display 44 based on a predetermined pattern.
Step 1035 is a step which performs the process which starts a fluctuation display.

Step 1050 is a step of performing a process of determining whether or not the display time of the variable display displayed on the normal symbol display 44 has ended.
If the fluctuation time has ended, the process proceeds to step 1060. On the other hand, if the fluctuation time has not ended, the process proceeds to return step 1055.

Step 1060 is a step of performing a process of stopping the variable display related to the normal symbol game.
Step 1065 is a step of performing a process of determining whether or not the lottery result relating to the normal symbol game is a win.
If it is determined that the game is a win, a flag indicating that an auxiliary game is being played is set (step 1070), and the process proceeds to return step 1055.
If it is determined to be lost, the process jumps to return step 1055.
The return step 1060 is a step for returning the arithmetic processing to the timer interrupt processing flow 100 at the end of the processing flow related to the normal symbol processing step 1000.

Next, a processing flow according to the electric tulip processing step 1100 will be described with reference to FIG.
Step 1105 is a step for performing a process of determining whether or not a flag indicating that an auxiliary game is being played is set.
If the auxiliary game flag is not set, the process jumps to return step 1135.
If the auxiliary game flag is set, the process proceeds to step 1115.

Step 1115 is a step of performing a process of determining whether or not the opening / closing operation of the electric tulip 14 has been completed.
When the opening / closing operation is completed, the process proceeds to step 1120.
If the opening / closing operation continues, the process jumps to return step 1135.

Step 1120 is a step of performing a process of deleting a flag indicating the auxiliary gaming state.
Steps 1125 and 1130 are steps for performing a process of receiving a flag deletion and setting a stop command for the effect device (step 1125).

  Step 1135 is a return step that ends the processing flow related to the electric tulip processing step 1100 and returns the arithmetic processing to the timer interrupt processing flow 100.

The electric tulip processing flow 1100 is configured as described above.
When the electric tulip processing flow 1100 is completed and the arithmetic processing is returned to the timer interrupt processing flow 100, the winning ball processing step 125 is subsequently executed, and the output processing step 130 is further executed. The output processing step 130 is a step of transmitting a control signal to the effect control board 27.

As described above, regarding the game related to the gaming machine 1, the special symbol game and the normal symbol game are controlled by the game control program for executing the game control means included in the game control board 25.
From the output processing step 130 of the game control means, various commands shown in the process flow are transmitted to the effect control board 27 in one direction.
An effect control program for executing the effect control means provided on the effect control board 27 operates in accordance with the transmitted various commands.
The production control program will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  The process flow constituting the effect control means has a timer interrupt process flow 1200. The timer interrupt processing flow 1200 is configured to circulate periodically so as to synchronize with the timer interrupt processing flow 100 of the game control board 25.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the timer interrupt processing flow 1200 includes a command reception processing step 1205, an effect button processing step 1210, a command transmission processing step 1215, and a return step 1220. The command reception processing step 1205, the effect button processing step Each of 1210 and command transmission processing step 1215 has a separate processing flow.

  As shown in FIG. 15, the command reception processing step 1205 is constituted by a processing flow composed of the steps described below.

Step 1250 performs processing to determine whether or not a start command for the effect device has been received. When the start command is received, the process proceeds to step 1255, and when the start command is not received, the process jumps to step 1265.
Step 1255 is a step of performing an effect pattern determination process of the effect device, and the effect pattern determination process will be described with reference to FIG.

Step 1265 performs processing to determine whether or not a stop command for the rendering device has been received. When the stop command is received, the process proceeds to step 1270, and when the stop command is not received, the process jumps to step 1280.
Step 1270 is a step of performing a process of receiving the stop command of the effect device and resetting the position of the effect device to the initial state. Thus, after the effect device is rendered based on the effect pattern determined in the previous step 1255, the position of the effect device can be changed to the initial state.

Steps 1280 and 1285 determine whether or not a variable display start command relating to a special symbol game or a normal symbol game has been received (step 1280). If it has been received, an effect corresponding to the variable display is provided. This is the step of performing the selection (step 1285) processing.
In the effect selection processing step 1285, the change display start command is analyzed, and the change effect pattern of change display related to the special symbol game or the normal symbol game is selected.
An effect command related to the selected variation effect pattern is set toward the lamp control board 29 and the image control board 28.
On the other hand, if the start command related to the fluctuation display has not been received, the process jumps to step 1290.

Steps 1290 and 1295 determine whether or not a variable display stop command related to a special symbol game or a normal symbol game has been received (step 1290). This is a step of performing a process of setting a stop command for the effect pattern related to the variable display selected in step 1285 (step 1290).
If no stop command has been received, the process jumps to step 1300.

Steps 1300 and 1305 determine whether or not an opening command has been received for a gaming state related to a special symbol game or a normal symbol game (step 1300), and if it has been received, special processing is performed based on the opening command. This is a step of performing a process of selecting an opening effect pattern (step 1305) in accordance with each game state related to the symbol game or the normal symbol game.
The opening selection processing step 1305 analyzes the opening command transmitted from the game control means based on the game state related to the special symbol game or the normal symbol game, selects the effect pattern related to the opening, and produces the effect pattern effect related to the opening Commands are set toward the lamp control board 29 and the image control board 28.
On the other hand, if the opening command has not been received, the process jumps to step 1310.

Steps 1310 and 1315 determine whether or not an ending command has been received for a gaming state related to a special symbol game or a normal symbol game (step 1310). This is a step of performing a process of selecting an effect pattern related to the ending (step 1315) in accordance with each game state related to the symbol game or the normal symbol game.
The ending effect selection processing step 1315 analyzes the ending command according to the game state related to the special symbol game or the normal symbol game, selects the effect pattern related to the ending, and receives the effect command of the effect pattern related to the ending, It is set toward the lamp control board 29 and the image control board 28.
On the other hand, if the ending command has not been received, the process jumps to step 1320.

Step 1320 is a step of performing processing for receiving a customer waiting command and selecting an effect pattern. In the customer waiting command reception selection processing step 1320, it is determined whether or not the customer waiting state is set, and if the gaming machine 1 has not been operated for a predetermined time, a command for producing the customer waiting state is issued. And it is set toward the lamp control board 29.
The return step 1325 is a step for returning the arithmetic processing to the timer interrupt processing flow 1200 when the processing flow related to the command reception processing step 2105 is completed.

FIG. 16 is a process flow related to the effect pattern determination process in step 1255 in the command reception process flow.
Here, the production pattern of the present embodiment counts the number of times of selection, and compares the number of times of selection with the threshold value for the number of times of selection, and a specific performance pattern in which such determination is not made. It consists of a normal effect pattern, and the effect pattern is stored in the effect table.
The effect determination processing flow 1255 described below shows processing for selecting a predetermined effect pattern from each effect table.

  Step 1405 determines whether or not a variation pattern command has been received. The variation pattern command is a command related to variation display transmitted from the game control means to the effect control means.

When the variation pattern command is received, a random number related to the effect pattern is acquired (step 1410), the acquired random number is determined (step 1415), and the effect content based on the effect pattern is determined (step 1420). Here, a process of reading the specific effect pattern or the normal effect pattern from the effect table is performed.
Then, it is determined whether the determined production content is the production content based on the specific production pattern or the production content based on the normal production pattern (step 1425).
When the result of the determination is the specific effect pattern, “1” is added to the counter related to the specific effect pattern (step 1430).
On the other hand, if it is a normal performance pattern, the process jumps to step 1445.
Here, when “1” is added to the counter, the ratio of the appearance rate indicating the number of times of selection of the specific effect pattern is gradually increased and displayed in the band graph represented by the appearance rate notification unit included in the image control unit. The

In this embodiment, the specific effect counter is set so that the threshold for the number of times of selecting the specific effect pattern is “100”. That is, it is determined whether or not the specific effect counter is “100 times” (step 1435). If the specific effect counter is smaller than “100 times”, the process jumps to step 1445.
On the other hand, when the specific effect counter indicates “100”, it is determined that the value is equal to the threshold value, and the process proceeds to step 1440.

Step 1440 is a step of performing processing for deleting the specific effect pattern from the effect table. Thereby, when the number of times of selection of the specific effect pattern becomes equal to the threshold value, or when the number of times of selection of the specific effect pattern becomes larger than the threshold value, the effect device does not execute the specific effect operation based on the specific effect pattern. can do.
Therefore, for example, if a specific effect pattern is stored in the effect table as an opening commemoration when a new stand is replaced, the opening memorial effect based on the specific effect pattern can be executed until the number of times of selection of the specific effect pattern becomes equal to the threshold value. it can. On the other hand, after the number of times of selecting the specific effect pattern becomes equal to the threshold value, the opening memorial effect can be prevented from being performed on the gaming machine 1.

Based on the above determination, an effect start command is set (step 1445), and after the change start command is received (step 1450), the effect operation of the effect device is executed when the game control means starts changing (step 1450). 1455).
When execution of the rendering operation is started, the processing flow returns to the command reception processing flow at return step 1460.

When the processing flow configuring the command reception processing step 1205 is completed, the timer interrupt processing flow 1200 of the effect control board 27 proceeds to step 1210.
Step 1210 is a step in which processing relating to the effect button 52 is performed.
The effect button processing step 1210 determines whether or not the effect button 52 has been pressed, and when pressed, sets a button effect command related to the effect button 52 toward the lamp control board 29 and the image control board 28. ing.

Then, a command transmission processing step 1215 following the production button processing step 1210 is directed to the boards 28 and 29 for the production commands set to the lamp control board 29 and the image control board 28 in the command reception processing step 1210. This is the step of transmitting.
When the command transmission process ends, the return process 1220 ends the interrupt process of the timer interrupt process flow 1200.

According to the gaming machine according to the present embodiment, when the specific effect pattern is selected by lottery using a random number, the effect operation can be given unexpectedness.
As described above, in addition to the normal performance pattern, the specific performance pattern is provided in association with an event such as the opening commemoration, so that the performance operation can be varied.

  In addition, since the specific effect pattern related to the gaming machine according to the present embodiment is drawn by random numbers, even in the gaming machine island where a plurality of the gaming machines are arranged, even if the gaming machines are adjacent to each other, Even though the specific effect pattern is still selected, in the other gaming machine, there is a bias in each gaming machine such that the specific effect pattern is not already selected. Therefore, the player can also play in the gaming machine island, such as whether or not it hits a gaming machine for which a specific effect pattern may still be selected.

Since the outline of the configuration of the gaming machine according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.
Here, the effect control means included in the effect control board provided in the gaming machine according to the second embodiment includes a specific effect specifying means and a specific effect determining means, and includes an effect pattern consisting of a specific effect pattern and a normal effect pattern, and a specific effect pattern. There is an effect table including a specific effect table storing effect patterns and a normal effect table storing normal effect patterns. FIG. 17 shows an outline of the configuration related to the effect table.
As shown in FIG. 17, it is assumed that the first specific effect pattern to the third specific effect pattern are stored in the specific effect table so as to be layered in order. Here, as shown by the hatched lines in FIG. 17, the specific effect pattern that appears on the top layer is set as the specific effect pattern in the use area, and the specific effect pattern arranged below the specific effect pattern on the top layer is not yet displayed. The specific effect pattern in the use area is used.

The specific effect specifying means specifies one specific effect pattern from the specific effect table in which a plurality of specific effect patterns are recorded and stored. The designated specific effect pattern is one of the effect patterns selected by the effect selecting means, as in the first embodiment.
In the present embodiment, the first specific effect pattern, the second specific effect pattern, and the third specific effect pattern are stored in the specific effect table.
Similar to the effect selection process according to the first embodiment, the specific effect determination unit counts the number of times the one specific effect pattern is selected each time one specific effect pattern designated by the effect selection unit is selected. It is determined whether or not the number of selections exceeds a threshold value.

FIG. 18 is an effect pattern determination processing flow 1255A, which is the same as that of the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.
The difference between the first embodiment and the present embodiment is that the specific effect counter is not selected when the specific effect counter satisfies the threshold in the first embodiment, whereas the specific effect counter is the threshold in the present embodiment. Is satisfied, the first specific effect pattern, the second specific effect pattern, the third specific effect pattern, and the specific effect pattern are sequentially replaced.

Specifically, in the effect determination processing flow 1255A according to the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not the specific effect counter satisfies the threshold “100 times” as in the first embodiment (step 1435), and is equal to the threshold. When it becomes, the specific effect counter is reset (step 1441), the specific effect pattern in the use area is returned to the lowest layer of the unused area (step 1442), and the specific effect pattern in the uppermost layer of the unused area is used. The specific effect pattern changing process is performed in the area (step 1443). In other words, the specific effect pattern used in the use area is returned to the end of the unused area, and the specific effect pattern at the head of the unused area is moved up to the use area, whereby the specific effect pattern is replaced. . The processing flow 1443 related to the replacement of the specific effect pattern is shown in FIG.
If the specific effect counter does not satisfy “100 times” in step 1435, the process jumps to step 1445.

FIG. 19 is a processing flow 1443 related to the specific effect pattern changing process.
Step 1505 is a step of performing a process of determining whether or not the first specific effect pattern is in an unused area. If it is in the unused area, the process proceeds to step 1510. On the other hand, if it is not in the unused area, it is in the use area, so the first specific effect pattern is stored in the effect table (step 1515).

Step 1510 is a step of performing a process of determining whether or not the second specific effect pattern is in an unused area. If it is in the unused area, the process proceeds to step 1525. On the other hand, if it is not in the unused area, it is in the used area, so the second specific effect pattern is stored in the effect table (step 1520).
Step 1525 is a step of performing processing for storing the third specific effect pattern in the use area in the effect table.

Then, in return step 1530, the process returns to the effect determination processing flow 1400.
By determining as described above and raising the specific effect pattern from the unused area to the use area, a plurality of specific effect patterns can be used sequentially.

According to the gaming machine according to the second embodiment, one specific effect pattern is specified by the specific effect specifying means from the plurality of specific effect patterns stored in the specific effect table, and stored in the effect selection table.
Then, when a predetermined effect pattern is selected by the effect selecting means from the specified one specific effect pattern and an effect pattern composed of a plurality of normal effect patterns by random numbers, and the number of times of selecting the specific effect pattern becomes equal to the threshold value, The specific production pattern and other specific production patterns were exchanged.
Thereby, since the specific effect based on the specific effect pattern can be mixed in the normal effect operation based on the normal effect pattern, the effect operation of the gaming machine can be given unexpectedness. Further, when the specific effect operation is executed a predetermined number of times, different specific effect operations can be executed depending on the pattern change of the specific effect pattern, so that the effect operation of the gaming machine can be varied.

Since the outline of the configuration of the gaming machine according to the third embodiment is the same as the configuration described in the first embodiment or the second embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.
Here, the production control means included in the production control board provided in the gaming machine according to the third embodiment includes the specific production determination means as in the first embodiment or the second embodiment, and in the second embodiment. As described, a specific effect designation means may be provided. Further, the effect table included in the effect control board has a special effect pattern.
Therefore, the effect table according to the present embodiment includes at least one specific effect pattern provided with a threshold for the number of selections, a plurality of normal effect patterns, and a special effect pattern.
Similar to the effect selection process according to the first embodiment or the second embodiment, the specific effect determination unit counts the number of times the specific effect pattern is selected each time the specific effect pattern is selected by the effect selection unit. It is determined whether the number of times exceeds a threshold value.

FIG. 20 is a processing flow 1255B related to the effect determination, and since the outline is the same as that of the first embodiment or the second embodiment, description thereof will be omitted.
Here, description will be given based on the effect determination processing flow 1255A of the second embodiment.
The difference between the first embodiment or the second embodiment and this embodiment is that a special effect pattern is executed when the number of selections becomes equal to the threshold value.

Step 1435 is a step of determining whether or not the specific effect counter satisfies the threshold “100 times” as in the first embodiment or the second embodiment.
If the specific effect counter does not satisfy “100 times”, the process jumps to step 1445.
On the other hand, when the specific effect counter indicates “100 times” and becomes equal to the threshold value, the specific effect counter is reset (step 1441), and the specific effect pattern in the use area is returned to the unused area (step 1442). The specific effect pattern changing process is performed (step 1443).
Here, in this embodiment, a special effect pattern is designated (step 1444). Thereby, the special effect command related to the special effect pattern is transmitted from the effect control means to the image control means or the lamp control means.
Therefore, the special effect pattern is executed once between the one specified effect pattern specified previously and the other specified effect pattern specified next.

  In addition, when the effect determination processing flow according to the present embodiment is configured based on the effect determination processing flow 1400 shown in the first embodiment, after the specific effect pattern is deleted in step 1440, the special effect pattern is specified in step 1444. (Not shown).

According to the gaming machine according to the third embodiment, when the number of times of selection of the specific effect pattern becomes equal to the threshold value, the special effect pattern is executed once, so that the rare effect is added to the special effect operation based on the special effect pattern. You can have it.
Furthermore, when a plurality of special effect patterns are stored in the special effect selection table, the special effect pattern is selected at the timing when one specific effect pattern and another specific effect pattern are switched. It can be used as a delimiter for a specific performance pattern.

According to the gaming machine described in any one of the first to third embodiments, first, as shown in FIG. 21 (a), a threshold is set for the number of times of selecting a specific effect pattern, and the threshold is set based on the threshold. When the number of times of selection is small, a specific effect pattern is selected from the effect table, and when the number of times of selection is greater than the threshold value, the specific effect pattern is not selected. Can be.
Thereby, until it becomes equal to the threshold value, the gaming machine 1 is due to the unexpectedness of the effect by selecting the specific effect pattern by lottery using random numbers and the fact that the specific effect pattern is selected in addition to the normal effect pattern. With a variety of productions.

Next, as shown in FIG. 21B, one specific effect pattern and another specific effect pattern are interchanged before and after the threshold value.
Thereby, the gaming machine 1 has the unexpectedness of the effect by selecting the specific effect pattern by lottery using random numbers, and the variety of the effects by sequentially switching the specific effect pattern.

And as shown in FIG.21 (c), when the frequency | count of selection of the specific effect pattern and the threshold value became equal, the special effect pattern was further performed.
Thereby, the production operation of the gaming machine has an unexpectedness of the production by executing the special production pattern and a variety of productions by the specific production pattern, the normal production pattern, and the special production pattern.

Further, the image display 53 of the gaming machine 1 according to the present embodiment displays the notification of the appearance rate indicating the number of times of selection of the specific effect pattern with respect to the threshold by displaying the band graph 10.
As a result, the number of times that the specific effect pattern has been selected becomes clear to the player, and the player can set an approximate guide for the remaining number of selections up to the threshold. Therefore, for example, in the gaming machine shown in the third embodiment arranged so as to be adjacent to each other, the specific performance pattern appearance rate of one gaming machine shows approximately 100%, and the specific performance pattern appearance rate of the other gaming machine is In the case of about half, the player aiming to see the special effect pattern that appears after the specific effect pattern is to select and play the former game machine and enjoy the effect of the specific effect pattern multiple times. The player can select and play the latter gaming machine.

1 ... game machine, 10 ... appearance rate graph,
13 ... Gate, 14 ... Electric tulip,
15 ... 1st starting port, 16 ... Grand prize opening, 17 ... 2nd starting port,
20: Display unit,
25 ... Game control board, 26 ... Dispensing control board, 27 ... Production control board, 28 ... Image control board, 29 ... Lamp control board, 30 ... External information terminal board,
35 ... 1st start port switch, 36 ... 2nd start port switch, 37 ... Gate switch,
38 ... Grand prize opening switch, 39 ... General prize opening switch,
40 ... Grand prize opening solenoid, 41 ... Electric tulip solenoid,
42 ... 1st special symbol indicator, 43 ... 2nd special symbol indicator, 44 ... Normal symbol indicator,
45 ... 1st special symbol reservation number indicator, 46 ... 2nd special symbol reservation number indicator, 47 ... Normal symbol reservation number indicator,
48: Discharge ball detection switch, 49: Ball detection switch, 50: Full tank detection switch, 51: Discharge drive motor,
52 ... Production button,
53. Image display,
54 ... Speaker,
55 ... Frame lamp, 56 ... Board lamp, 57 ... Movable decoration device.

Claims (5)

A directing device;
A detecting means for detecting a game ball that has passed a specific area provided on the starting port or the board surface;
A game control means for controlling a series of game operations corresponding to a result of the lottery and lottery according to the passing of the game ball when the detection means detects the passage of the game ball;
An effect table storing a plurality of effect patterns produced by the effect device is provided, and in order to execute the effect operation of the effect device corresponding to the game operation controlled by the game control means, the predetermined effect pattern Production selection means for selecting from the production table;
Production control means for controlling the production operation according to the production pattern selected by the production selection means;
A gaming machine equipped with
The production pattern consists of one specific production pattern and a number of normal production patterns,
The effect selecting means is a specific effect determining means that counts the number of times of selection of the specific effect pattern selected from the effect table by the effect selecting means and compares the number of selections with a threshold value for the number of selections. ,
Appearance rate notifying means for notifying the appearance rate of the specific effect pattern formed from the ratio between the number of selections determined by the specific effect determining means and the threshold;
With
When the determination result of the specific effect determination means is smaller than the threshold value,
The effect selecting means randomly selects one of the specific effect pattern or the normal effect pattern included in the effect table,
When the determination result of the specific effect determination means is equal to or greater than the threshold,
The game machine according to claim 1, wherein the effect selecting means randomly selects any one of the normal effect patterns included in the effect table. A directing device;
A detecting means for detecting a game ball that has passed a specific area provided on the starting port or the board surface;
A game control means for controlling a series of game operations corresponding to a result of the lottery and lottery according to the passing of the game ball when the detection means detects the passage of the game ball;
An effect table storing a plurality of effect patterns produced by the effect device is provided, and in order to execute the effect operation of the effect device corresponding to the game operation controlled by the game control means, the predetermined effect pattern Production selection means for selecting from the production table;
Production control means for controlling the production operation according to the production pattern selected by the production selection means;
A gaming machine equipped with
The production pattern consists of a plurality of normal production patterns and a plurality of specific production patterns,
The production selection table includes a normal production table storing the plurality of normal production patterns and a specific production table storing the plurality of specific production tables,
The effect selecting means includes a specific effect specifying means for specifying one specific effect pattern selected by the effect selecting means,
A specific effect determination unit that counts the number of times of selection of the one specific effect pattern specified by the specific effect specification unit and compares the number of selections with a threshold value for the number of selections;
Appearance rate notifying means for notifying the appearance rate of the specific effect pattern formed from the ratio between the number of selections determined by the specific effect determining means and the threshold;
With
When the determination result of the specific effect determination means is smaller than the threshold value,
The effect selection means randomly selects one of the one specific effect pattern or the normal effect pattern included in the effect table,
When the determination result of the specific effect determination means is equal to the threshold value,
The specific effect designation means replaces the one specific effect pattern with another specific effect pattern included in the specific effect table,
The specific effect determining means counts the number of times of selection of the other specific effect pattern replaced, and compares and determines the size of the selected number and the threshold for the selected number of times,
The game machine, wherein the effect selecting means randomly selects one of the other specific effect patterns or the normal effect pattern included in the effect table. When the determination result of the specific effect determination means is equal to the threshold value,
Reset the number of selections of the one specific performance pattern,
The gaming machine according to claim 2, wherein the one specific effect pattern is stored in the specific effect selection table. The specific production table is partitioned into a use area and an unused area,
In the use area, the one specific effect pattern selected by the effect selection means is stored,
In the unused area, a plurality of the other specific effect patterns are stored in order,
When the determination result of the specific effect determination means is equal to the threshold value,
Returning the one specific effect pattern to the tail of the other specific effect patterns stored in order in the unused area,
Of the other specific effect patterns, store another specific effect pattern at the head of the unused area in the use area,
4. The gaming machine according to claim 2, wherein the one specific effect pattern and the other specific effect pattern are interchanged. When the determination result of the specific effect determination means is equal to the threshold value,
The gaming machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a special performance operation based on the special performance pattern is executed once.

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