JP3229935B2 - Slot machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a game machine having a built-in microcomputer, and more particularly to a slot machine characterized by a process of shifting to a re-game.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a slot machine, a hit state called replay is provided because it is necessary to secure a game consumption time per medal number as long as possible. This re-game is a game that is started when a predetermined replay pattern is aligned on a stop line, and is a game that is maintained and extended without a medal insertion operation. For example, 7-10
In the slot machine disclosed in No. 6237, the start lever can be operated without inserting a medal, provided that it is determined that the winning pattern with the medal payout is not aligned and the replay pattern is on the stop line. .

However, if the medal insertion operation is simply omitted, there is a possibility that the number of effective stop lines may not be known during the re-game. The number of valid stop lines (1, 3, 5) is specified according to the number of inserted medals (1, 2, 3) at the start. For example, if the number of inserted medals at the start of the game is three,
First, one stop line is specified, then two additional stop lines are specified, and two additional stop lines are specified.

[0004]

However, since there is no need to artificially insert a medal in the transition to the re-game, it is not necessary for the player to operate the start lever, at least for the player. Some players find it difficult to operate the start lever during a re-game. Particularly, among the skilled players, there are many players who wish to immediately shift to the next game when the replay patterns are prepared, and there are players who find that even the above-described pseudo-insertion operation of medals is complicated. . On the other hand, for a game hall having a slot machine, as a part of customer service, there may be a case where the number of medals consumed per hour is to be minimized so that even a novice can enjoy the game for a long time. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a slot machine in which the process of shifting to a re-game is improved.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling a plurality of vehicles in response to a start operation.
Spinning reels rotate, each time in response to a stop operation.
The spinning reel stops, and in this stopped state, each spinning reel
In a slot machine that competes to see if
Lottery means to determine the game value of the times by lottery operation
And, as a result of the lottery operation,
Each turn, so that the appropriate hit pattern is aligned.
Stopping means for stopping the game, and a permission switch for replaying the game.
Switch press time is measured and the press time exceeds the specified time.
The flag value is switched in a binary cycle.
Switching means, as a result of the lottery operation,
It is determined as a hit, and the corresponding hit patterns are aligned,
Further, when the flag value is a predetermined value, the permission switch
Key is pressed, a pseudo medal insertion operation is performed.
And a transition means for transitioning to a re-game after that.
According to the present invention, when the pressing time of the permission switch exceeds a predetermined time, a pseudo medal insertion operation of medals is performed thereafter without the condition that the permission switch is pressed. Can respond appropriately to tastes.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail based on embodiments. FIG. 1 is an external view showing an example of the slot machine according to the present invention. The illustrated slot machine SL draws a plurality of types of patterns.
Each of the reels 1a to 1c is provided, and the display window 2 allows the picture of each of the reels 1a to 1c to be seen in about three rows in the rotating direction. In this display window 2,
Three lines (L1 to L3) in the horizontal direction and two lines (L
4, L5) stop lines are provided, and the number of effective stop lines changes according to the number of inserted medals from the medal insertion slot 3 (see FIG. 3). Display window 2
On the left side, are provided five display lamps LP1 to LP5, which clearly indicate an effective stop line. For example,
When the first medal is inserted, the display lamp LP1 is turned on, and when the second medal is inserted, the display lamps LP2 and L are displayed.
P3 is further lit, and when the third medal is inserted, the display lamps LP4 and LP5 are further lit. Note that it is customary to insert a large number of medals into the medal slot 3 before starting the game. In such a case, the third and subsequent medals inserted are displayed on the credit display section CR. You.

When the start lever 4 is operated after such preparations, the three rotating reels 1a to 1c start rotating simultaneously or sequentially, and each time the stop button 5a to 5c is pressed, the corresponding rotating reel is rotated. 1a to 1c stop. Then, a predetermined number of medals are paid out from the tray 6 depending on whether or not the patterns are aligned on the stop line. When the game is completed and the game is continued, the medal may be inserted into the medal insertion slot 3 again or one of the medal insertion buttons B1, B2, and B3 may be pressed. Note that the medal insertion buttons B1, B
When the user presses 2, B3, the display of the credit display section CR is changed to -1, -2, -3, respectively, so that one medal is inserted, two medals are inserted, and three medals are inserted.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the internal configuration of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1. The slot machine SL includes a ROM 7, a RAM 8,
The above operation is realized by microcomputer control by the CPU 9. The slot machine SL includes a motor driving unit 10 for rotating each of the rotating reels 1a to 1c by a stepping motor M, and a position detecting unit 11 for detecting a rotating position of each of the rotating reels 1a to 1c based on an output of a position sensor. A number detection unit 12 for detecting the number of inserted medals from the medal insertion slot 3, a stop signal input unit 13 for detecting an operation of the stop buttons 5a to 5c, a medal payout unit 14 for paying medals to the tray 6, A random number generator 15. More specifically, the random number generation unit 15 includes a pulse oscillator 16, a counter 17 for counting oscillation pulses, and a latch circuit 18 for taking in the count value of the counter 17 in synchronization with the latch signal LATCH. A position sensor (not shown) is provided for each of the rotating reels 1a to 1c, and detects a timing at which each of the rotating reels 1a to 1c passes a reference position. Therefore, CP
U9 determines each rotation reel 1a by the output of the position sensor and the number of pulses supplied to the stepping motor M.
1c can be known.

Next, the operation of the slot machine having the above configuration will be described with reference to flowcharts shown in FIGS. When the start lever 4 is operated after the medal is inserted (ST1, ST2), the three rotating reels 1a to 1c start rotating simultaneously or sequentially (ST1).
3). Thereafter, when the player operates the stop buttons 5a to 5c (ST4), it is determined whether or not this is the first stop operation (ST5), and if it is the first stop operation, a lottery operation is performed (ST6). . Although the specific content of the lottery operation is arbitrary, for example, after the determination process of step ST5, the value of the counter 17 is latched, and the value of the counter 17 is compared with the data of a hit table (not shown). . In this example, five kinds of winning ranks are prepared: a big hit (Big), a medium hit (Regular), ten small hits (bell), four small hits (cherry), and a special hit (replay). And the upper 5 bits of the lottery result data b ₇ b ₆ b ₅ b ₄ b ₃ b ₂ b ₁ b ₀ (b ₇ b ₆ b ₅ b ₄
b ₃ ) shall correspond to each winning. In addition, there is one type for each of the big hit pattern and the middle hit pattern.
It is assumed that there are a total of five types of winning patterns as “Regular pattern”, “bell pattern”, “cherry pattern”, and “replay pattern”.

[0010] If there is any hit in the process of step ST6, it is determined whether or not the picture corresponding to the winning rank exists within a predetermined number of frames from the stop line to be stopped (ST7). For example, the corresponding hit pattern is stopped at a predetermined stop line (ST8), and if not present, an appropriate off-going pattern is stopped at a predetermined stop line (ST9). After that, all the rotating reels 1a to
It is determined whether or not 1c has stopped (ST10). If the spinning reel being rotated remains, the process returns to step ST4. On the other hand, when all the rotating reels 1a to 1c have stopped, it is determined whether or not the winning patterns are aligned on the stop line, and if so, the medal payout number is written in the variable P. The operation will be described with reference to FIG. First, after initially setting the variables N and P (ST11), three pictures on the Nth effective stop line are acquired, and it is determined whether or not the winning pictures are completed (S11).
T12). Here, “acquiring three pictures” means stopping picture data S ₇ S ₆ S ₅ S ₄ S ₃ S _{2 for} each of the rotating reels 1 a to 1 c.
It means acquiring S ₁ S ₀ . Also, "Big picture" ~
Stop picture data S ₇ against five per picture of the "Replay pattern" _{S 6 S 5 S 4 S 3} S 2 S 1 each upper 5bit of S ₀ 1bit
In this case, “determining whether or not a winning pattern has been completed” means that the stopped pattern data S ₇ S ₆ S ₅ S ₄ S ₃ S ₂ S ₁ S ₀ for each of the reels 1 a to 1 c is determined. This means that an AND operation is performed.

For example, when the lottery result data in step ST6 is a big hit (Big), each spinning reel 1a
A only when all stop picture data of ~ 1c is 10000000
The stop pattern data after the ND operation is also 10000000,
It is confirmed that “Big picture” has been prepared based on the value after the ND operation. In this way, it is determined whether or not the hit patterns are aligned based on whether or not the stop pattern data after the AND operation is 0, and the type of the aligned patterns can be determined based on the value of the stop pattern data after the AND operation. The value of the variable PAY is appropriately set according to the type of the winning pattern. For example, if "Big picture", PAY = 15, "Regular picture"
If it is PAY = 15, if it is "bell picture", PAY = 10,
The payout number of medals is set such that PAY = 4 for “Cherry pattern” and PAY = 0 for “Replay pattern”.
After the above processing, if the stop pattern data after the AND operation (hereinafter, simply referred to as stop pattern data) is 0 (ST1)
3), the process proceeds to the process in step ST15, if not, the blink the display lamp LP _N stop line L _N of uniform per picture, adding the value of the variable PAY variable P (ST14). Since the value of the variable P means the number of medals to be paid out, if there is a legal upper limit that can be paid out, the processing of limiting the number of medals is performed.

Thereafter, the value of the variable N is incremented by one (ST1).
5) After checking all the valid lines (S
T16) Based on the value of the stop picture data, it is determined whether or not the replay pictures are completed (ST17). If the replay patterns are present, the process returns to step ST3 after the transition process (ST23 to ST24). Although the specific contents of the transition process are not particularly limited, for example, a lamp (not shown) blinks at a predetermined time interval so that the character “Replay” stands out (ST23). Thereafter, a re-insertion operation of the medals inserted at the start of the current game is pseudo and automatically performed (ST24). For example, when the number of medals inserted at the start of the current game is three, the display lamps LP1 and LP3 are turned on in accordance with the beep, the display lamps LP2 and LP3 are turned on, and finally the display lamp LP4 is turned on. And LP5 are turned on (ST24).

That is, the operation of inserting three medals is performed in a simulated manner in accordance with the three beeps.
Therefore, the player can confirm an effective stop line by the pseudo insertion operation. Then, even if the start lever 4 is not operated thereafter, the rotation of the rotating reels 1a to 1c is automatically started (ST3), so that the complicated operation of the start lever is eliminated. On the other hand, if the result of determination in step ST17 is that replay patterns are not aligned, medals corresponding to the value of variable P are paid out (ST18). In the case of a miss (P = 0), processing is performed assuming that 0 medals are paid out. Then, after the payout process, based on the value of the stop picture data,
It is determined whether or not the regular patterns are completed (ST19, S
T20), if they have been completed, the corresponding processing is performed (ST21, ST22). If they are not, no processing is performed, and the process returns to step ST1 to wait for the insertion of a new medal.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are flow charts showing another embodiment of the present invention. In the case of this embodiment, the lottery operation is performed in response to the operation of the start lever (S
T6 '), the re-game is started in response to the operation of the start lever (ST2), and the like, which is different from the embodiment of FIGS. In this embodiment, the replay button BT is provided separately from the medal insertion buttons B1 to B3.
(See FIG. 4), and it is necessary to operate the replay button BT as a condition for shifting to a re-game. The replay button BT is a momentary (mom
entary) type switch. To illustrate the transition process to the re-game (ST30~32) in accordance with the flowchart of FIG. 8, since the indicator lamp LP _N corresponding to the stop line L _N having a uniform pattern already flashing (ST14),
The CPU newly flashes, for example, the character "Replay" (ST30), and waits for the replay button BT to be pressed in this state (ST31). Thereafter, when the replay button BT is pressed, a pseudo closing operation is started (ST32), for example, the display lamps LP1, LP2, LP3, and the display lamps LP4, LP5 are turned on in this order. The momentary-type replay button BT is turned on when pressed, but returns to the off state when released, so in this embodiment, the button operation for shifting to the re-game is always required, and the button The consumption time can be secured, and even beginners can enjoy the game for a long time. Also, since an artificial button operation is always required at the time of the re-game, it is possible to immediately shift to the lottery operation (ST6 ') without waiting for the operation of the start lever (broken line portion in FIG. 7). .

By the way, as a modified example of the processing of FIG. 8, the CPU measures the pressing time of the replay button BT, and when the pressing time T exceeds the predetermined time τ, in the subsequent processing, it is determined in step ST31. May be omitted. In the case of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, prior to the medal insertion determination process (ST1), it is determined whether or not the replay button BT has been pressed (ST40).
When pressed, the pressing time T is measured (ST41),
If the pressing time T exceeds the predetermined time τ, the flag FLG
Is inverted (ST42). Then, when the replay patterns are aligned, as shown in FIG.
After the blinking operation of the character “Replay” (ST45),
The value of the flag FLG is checked (ST46), and FLG =
In the case of −1, the process immediately shifts to the automatic re-entry operation (ST48), while in the case of FLG = 0, the process waits for the replay button BT to be pressed (ST47) and shifts to the automatic re-entry operation. . In this embodiment, the medal insertion (ST
If the player presses the replay button BT for a long time prior to 1), the value of the flag FLG is inverted each time, so that the necessity of pressing the replay button BT in the process of shifting to the re-game can be selected. That is, the operation of the replay button BT can be omitted according to the player's preference, which is convenient.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining another embodiment of the process for shifting to a re-game. In this embodiment, there is no replay button BT. If the replay pattern are aligned, because the display lamp LP _i corresponding to a stop line having a uniform pattern already flashing (ST14), after flashing the word new "Replay" (ST50), the indicator lamp LP _i is returned to the original state (ST51). The CPU, since the memory is turned on at the start of this game is the number of medals (1-3 sheets), at once turns on the display lamp LP _i in accordance with the number of sheets, immediately, the transition to the start lever operation (ST1) Can be done. In the case of this embodiment, the start lever can be operated immediately after confirming that the replay patterns have been prepared, and the waiting time is short, which is a preferable operation especially for a skilled player. In addition, the transition process in which the pseudo medal insertion operation is omitted (ST50 to ST51).
Can be used in other embodiments, for example, in step ST5 instead of step ST32 or ST48.
The first process may be used.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide a slot machine corresponding to a player's skill level and a desire for a play hall.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a slot machine showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an internal block diagram of the device of FIG.

Figure 3 is an illustration in detail a stop line L _i and display lamp LP _i.

FIG. 4 shows a main part of a slot machine provided with a replay button BT.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a continuation of the flowchart in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a continuation of the flowchart in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a modified example of the operation shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a modification of the operation shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of yet another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 SL slot machine BT permission switch (replay button) 1a-1c rotating reel ST6, ST6 'lottery means ST7-9 stopping means ST23-24 automatic start means ST30-32 transition means ST50-51 transition means

Continuation of front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A63F 5/04

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A slot in which a plurality of spinning reels rotate in response to a start operation, and each spinning reel stops in response to a stop operation. In the machine, a lottery means for determining a game value of each time by a lottery operation, and, as a result of the lottery operation, if any win game, stop means for stopping each spinning reel so that the corresponding winning picture is aligned, Switching means for measuring the pressing time of the re-game permission switch, and when the pressing time exceeds a predetermined time, switching the flag value in a binary manner and switching the flag value; In the case where it is determined that the mode is a hit, the corresponding hit patterns are aligned, and the flag value is a predetermined value, the medal simulation is performed on condition that the permission switch is pressed. Specific make-up operation, the slot machine, characterized in that it comprises a shifting unit for shifting the re game thereafter.