Gaming Machine Persistence Feature with Symbol Locking
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Solution Overview
Problem
The gaming industry faces challenges in creating a balance between player engagement and long-term financial yield, processing speed, and efficient use of resources, while also providing innovative animations to encourage prolonged and frequent player participation.
Innovation Solution
A gaming system that includes an electronic display device showing an array of symbol positions, with game-logic circuitry animating spins and awarding values based on landed symbols, using value-bearing, redemption, and reset symbols to manage player interaction and excitement, while optimizing processing efficiency through straightforward value aggregation and flexible theme adaptation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the gaming system uses advanced graphics and special effects to make games more entertaining, then player engagement is improved, but processing speed and efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The display is divided into multiple symbol positions arranged in rows and columns, with each position independently controllable. This segmentation allows the system to animate specific positions without affecting the entire display, improving processing efficiency while maintaining visual engagement.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically controls the animation of symbol positions based on game state. Different symbol positions can be animated independently at different rates, allowing the system to optimize processing speed by only animating positions that are currently relevant to the game outcome, while maintaining engaging visual effects.
2Ease of operation
If the gaming system implements multiple bonus features with different game formats to increase entertainment value, then player engagement is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The same array of symbol positions and registers serves multiple functions across different game formats. The system can implement picking games, reel spins, wheel spins, and other arcade-style play mechanics using the same basic infrastructure, reducing device complexity while maintaining high entertainment value through versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes parameters such as symbol positioning, animation timing, and register association to transform between different game formats. By modifying these parameters rather than implementing separate hardware systems for each game type, the system achieves multiple bonus features without proportionally increasing device complexity.
3Ease of operation
If the gaming system performs multiple random outcome determinations per feature to increase volatility, then player engagement is improved, but processing efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-determines random outcomes for multiple symbol positions before the actual game feature is executed. By performing these random outcome determinations in advance and storing them in registers associated with specific symbol positions, the system can quickly display results without performing complex real-time calculations, thus maintaining high volatility while improving processing efficiency.
4Ease of operation
If the gaming system uses persistence features with registers to accumulate values, then player engagement is improved, but memory resource usage increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple functions are merged into the register system. The same registers that accumulate values for persistence features also serve as storage for game state information, animation timing data, and outcome determination results. By merging these functions, the system achieves high player retention through persistence features without proportionally increasing memory resource usage.
Data Source
AI summary
A gaming system comprises a gaming machine and game-logic circuitry. The gaming machine comprises a display device that presents a symbol array. The game-logic circuitry presents a first outcome by populating the symbol array with a plurality of symbols, locks, in response to the first outcome including at least one value-bearing symbol in a subset of the array, the value-bearing symbol in the subset, initiates a subset counter associated with the subset in response to the first outcome, presents at least one subsequent outcome by populating the array with another plurality of randomly selected symbols, locks any additional value-bearing symbols populating the subset, provides, in response to a number of value-bearing symbols meeting a trigger amount, an award as a function of values indicated by the locked value-bearing symbols, and, in response to the subset counter meeting a termination count, removes any locked value-bearing symbols from the subset.