Gaming Machine Persistence Feature for Player Engagement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gaming systems face challenges in balancing yield versus randomness and volatility to create a feeling of luck, while also improving processing speed and efficiency to enhance player engagement through advanced graphics and special effects.
Innovation Solution
A gaming machine with a display device and game-logic circuitry that implements a symbol array persistence feature, where trigger symbols are locked and unlocked based on random outcomes, modifier events, and subset counters to determine awards, optimizing processing and enhancing player interaction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If trigger symbols are locked and held across multiple cycles to accumulate awards, then player engagement and excitement are improved, but processing complexity and memory resource usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The symbol array is divided into multiple subsets, with each subset independently tracking triggered symbols. This segmentation allows the system to manage locked symbols more efficiently by processing smaller groups rather than the entire array, reducing overall processing complexity while maintaining player engagement through the persistence feature.
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-identifies and locks trigger symbols when they appear in the symbol array, holding them for subsequent cycles. This preliminary action prepares the data structure in advance, allowing efficient accumulation of awards without requiring complex real-time processing during each game cycle, thus improving player engagement while managing processing complexity.
2Ease of operation
If advanced graphics and special effects are implemented to enhance player experience, then player engagement improves, but processing speed decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary identification and locking of trigger symbols before the main game cycle processing. By preparing the data structure in advance and pre-processing symbol outcomes, the system reduces the computational burden during actual game execution, allowing advanced graphics and special effects to be rendered without significantly impacting processing speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The persistence feature maintains continuous tracking of locked symbols across multiple cycles, creating a seamless player experience. This continuity allows the system to efficiently manage graphics rendering and special effects by maintaining consistent data structures, thereby enhancing player engagement while minimizing interruptions to processing speed.
3Ease of operation
If multiple bonus features with different game formats are added to increase entertainment value, then player engagement improves, but processing efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The symbol array persistence feature serves multiple functions: it tracks trigger symbols for award accumulation, manages subset counters for different game formats, and coordinates modifier events across various bonus features. This multi-functionality allows the system to support multiple bonus features with different game formats while maintaining processing efficiency through a unified data management approach.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the symbol array into multiple subsets, each capable of independently supporting different game formats and bonus features. This segmentation allows efficient processing by enabling parallel handling of different feature types without requiring the entire system to process all features simultaneously, thereby improving processing efficiency while maintaining high player engagement through diverse entertainment options.
Data Source
AI summary
A gaming machine includes a display device and game-logic circuitry that causes the display device to: present cycle outcomes by populating a symbol array with randomly selected symbols; lock any trigger symbols from the randomly selected symbols in the symbol array; present a subset counter for an array subset with locked trigger symbols; in response to a modifier event associated with a first trigger symbol locked within the subset, present a first award value associated with the first trigger symbol; in response to a number of trigger symbols within the subset meeting a trigger amount, provide an award at least partially as a function of the first award value; and in response to the subset counter meeting a termination count, remove any locked trigger symbols from the subset.