Gaming Machine Background Layer Segmentation for Feature Game Triggering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gaming systems lack alternative methods to provide feature games that offer enhanced player enjoyment and larger prize opportunities beyond the base game.
Innovation Solution
A gaming machine and method that select backgrounds and symbols independently for display, triggering events when winning backgrounds are adjacent, with features like second chance events and column modifications to increase jackpot chances.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If feature games are provided in existing gaming systems, then players gain additional opportunities to win larger prizes, but the system lacks alternative methods to provide such feature games
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the game display into multiple independent background layers and symbol layers. Each background can be independently selected and displayed at different display positions, allowing the system to create various feature game configurations without requiring entirely different game systems. This layering approach enables multiple feature game modes using the same basic gaming machine structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a new dimension to traditional slot games by adding background layers behind the symbol layers. This creates a three-dimensional display structure (foreground symbols, middle background, and additional background layers) that enables new feature game mechanics such as adjacent background matching, without fundamentally changing the core gaming system architecture.
2Reliability
If multiple backgrounds and symbols are selected independently for display, then the likelihood of triggering feature events increases, but the game complexity and number of possible outcomes increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-defining specific background patterns as winning configurations (e.g., adjacent backgrounds with matching identifiers). The system evaluates outcomes by checking whether selected backgrounds match these predefined patterns, rather than evaluating all possible symbol combinations. This reduces the computational complexity of outcome evaluation while maintaining high trigger event probability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces background identifiers as an intermediary layer between the visual backgrounds and the outcome evaluation logic. Instead of directly comparing complex background images or symbol arrangements, the system uses simplified identifier matching to determine winning outcomes. This intermediary approach simplifies the evaluation process while enabling multiple independent background selections.
3Measurement precision
If winning backgrounds must be adjacent to trigger events, then the trigger criteria become more specific, but the difficulty of triggering events increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by allowing the system to dynamically adjust the adjacency requirement parameter. Different game modes can be configured with different adjacency thresholds (e.g., 2 adjacent backgrounds, 3 adjacent backgrounds, or wrap-around adjacency). This enables the system to maintain precise trigger definitions while adjusting the ease of triggering to match desired game difficulty levels.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamics by making the trigger criteria adaptable rather than fixed. The system can modify adjacency requirements, evaluate different display position configurations, and adjust trigger sensitivity based on game state. This dynamic approach maintains precise event definitions while allowing the triggering difficulty to be optimized for player engagement.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic gaming machine includes a display in the form of a matrix of rows and columns and a controller configured to conduct a game instance upon receiving a wager via a player input. In conducting each game instance, the controller activates a number of columns on the display based on the wager and controls a display to indicate which columns in the display have been activated. The controller determines if any of the activated columns meets a triggering condition and controls the display to display the activated columns which meet the triggering condition with a modified background. The controller then determines an outcome of the game instance based on whether a predetermined number of activated columns which meet the triggering condition are adjacent one another and makes an award to the player based on the outcome of the instance.