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US-12626563-B2 - Central determination system with limited term persistent elements

US12626563B2US 12626563 B2US12626563 B2US 12626563B2US-12626563-B2

Abstract

A central determination gaming system which provides predetermined game outcomes while utilizing limited term persistent elements which persist over a quantity of two or more plays of a game and expire after a conclusion of the quantity of two or more plays of the game.

Inventors

  • Dylan SeLegue

Assignees

  • IGT

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20220719

Claims (11)

  1. 1 . A central determination system server comprising: a processor; and a memory device that stores a plurality of instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: maintain a pool comprising a plurality of seeds, wherein at least one seed of the plurality of seeds is associated with an ordered plurality of predetermined outcomes and a limited term persistent element associated with the ordered plurality of predetermined outcomes, and responsive to receiving, from an electronic gaming machine comprising a housing comprising an access door and a security monitoring circuit supported by the housing, seed request data in association with a first occurrence of a triggering event of a sequence of consecutive triggering events: randomly select a first seed of the plurality of seeds from the pool, responsive to a receipt of data associated with an opening of the access door of the electronic gaming machine detected via the security monitoring circuit of the electronic gaming machine: disable communication of data associated with the randomly selected first seed to the electronic gaming machine, and following a receipt of data associated with at least a closing of the access door of the electronic gaming machine detected via the security monitoring circuit of the electronic gaming machine: enable communication of data associated with the randomly selected first seed to the electronic gaming machine, communicate data associated with the randomly selected first seed to the electronic gaming machine, responsive to the randomly selected first seed being associated with a single predetermined outcome and not associated with any limited term persistent elements, randomly select a second seed of the plurality of seeds from the pool in association with a second occurrence of the triggering event of the sequence of consecutive triggering events, and responsive to the randomly selected first seed being the at least one seed associated with the ordered plurality of predetermined outcomes and the limited term persistent element, refrain from randomly selecting any of the plurality of seeds from the pool in association with the second occurrence of the triggering event of the sequence of consecutive triggering events.
  2. 2 . The central determination system server of claim 1 , wherein the memory device stores a plurality of further instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to prevent the randomly selected first seed from being selected again from the pool.
  3. 3 . A central determination system server comprising: a processor; and a memory device that stores a plurality of instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: responsive to receiving, from an electronic gaming machine comprising a housing comprising an access door and a security monitoring circuit supported by the housing, seed request data in association with an occurrence of a triggering event, communicate data associated with a first seed to the electronic gaming machine, wherein the first seed is randomly selected from a pool of a plurality of seeds, and at least one seed of the plurality of seeds is associated with an ordered plurality of predetermined outcomes and a limited term persistent element associated with the ordered plurality of predetermined outcomes, responsive to the selected seed being associated with a single predetermined outcome and not associated with any limited term persistent elements and responsive to a receipt of data associated with an opening of the access door of the electronic gaming machine detected via the security monitoring circuit of the electronic gaming machine: disable any receipt, from the electronic gaming machine, of additional seed request data in association with a subsequent occurrence of the triggering event and following a receipt of data associated with at least a closing of the access door of the electronic gaming machine detected via the security monitoring circuit of the electronic gaming machine, enable a receipt, from the electronic gaming machine, of additional seed request data in association with the subsequent occurrence of the triggering event, and responsive to the selected seed being the at least one seed associated with the ordered plurality of predetermined outcomes and the limited term persistent element, display any receipt of additional seed request data from the electronic gaming machine in association with the subsequent occurrence of the triggering event.
  4. 4 . The central determination system server of claim 3 , wherein the memory device stores a plurality of further instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to prevent the selected seed from being selected again from the pool.
  5. 5 . An electronic gaming machine comprising: a housing comprising an access door; a security monitoring circuit supported by the housing; a display device; a processor; and a memory device that stores a plurality of instructions that, when executed by the processor upon an occurrence of a triggering event, cause the processor to: when an opening of the access door is detected via the security monitoring circuit: store data associated with content displayed by the display device, disable any determination associated with any limited term persistent elements, and following at least a closing of the access door detected via the security monitoring circuit: load the stored data to reconstitute the content displayed by the display device, enable a determination associated with any limited term persistent elements currently associated with content displayed by the display device, responsive to no limited term persistent elements being currently associated with the displayed content and a receipt, from a central determination system server, of a first seed randomly selected in association with the occurrence of the triggering event being associated with a first plurality of predetermined outcomes and a first limited term persistent element, causing the display device to display a predetermined outcome of the first plurality of predetermined outcomes, and the first limited term persistent element, and responsive to a second limited term persistent element being currently associated with the displayed content, prior a receipt, from the central determination system server, of a second seed randomly selected in association with a prior occurrence of the triggering event being associated with a second plurality of outcomes and without requesting, to the central determination system server, another random selection of another seed in association with the occurrence of the triggering event, cause the display device to display a predetermined outcome of the second plurality of predetermined outcomes and the second limited term persistent element.
  6. 6 . The electronic gaming machine of claim 5 , wherein the memory device stores a plurality of further instructions that, when executed by the processor responsive to the first seed randomly selected in association with the occurrence of the triggering event being associated with a single predetermined outcome and no limited term persistent elements, cause the display device to display the single predetermined outcome without displaying any limited term persistent elements.
  7. 7 . The electronic gaming machine of claim 5 , wherein the memory device stores a plurality of further instructions that, when executed by the processor responsive to no limited term persistent elements being currently associated with the displayed content and the first seed randomly selected in association with the occurrence of the triggering event being associated with the first plurality of predetermined outcomes and the first limited term persistent element, cause the processor to cause the display device to display the first limited term persistent element for a quantity of subsequent occurrences of the triggering event.
  8. 8 . The electronic gaming machine of claim 7 , wherein the quantity of subsequent occurrences of the triggering event comprise one subsequent occurrence of the triggering event.
  9. 9 . The electronic gaming machine of claim 7 , wherein the memory device stores a plurality of further instructions that, when executed by the processor responsive to the first seed being associated with the first plurality of predetermined outcomes and the first limited term persistent element, cause the processor to receive, from the central determination system server, data associated with the quantity of subsequent occurrences of the triggering event.
  10. 10 . The electronic gaming machine of claim 5 , an acceptor supported by the housing, wherein the memory device stores a plurality of further instructions that, when executed by the processor responsive to a physical item being received via the acceptor, cause the processor to establish a credit balance based on a monetary value associated with the received physical item.
  11. 11 . The electronic gaming machine of claim 5 , wherein the display device comprises part of a mobile device in communication with the processor via a network.

Description

PRIORITY CLAIM This application is a continuation of, claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/081,264, filed on Oct. 27, 2020, which is a continuation of, claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/114,493, filed on Aug. 28, 2018, the entire contents of which are each incorporated by reference herein. BACKGROUND Gaming machines may provide players awards in primary games. Gaming machines generally require the player to place a wager to activate the primary game. The award may be based on the player obtaining a winning symbol or symbol combination and on the amount of the wager. BRIEF SUMMARY In certain embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a gaming system including a processor, and a memory device which stores a plurality of instructions. When executed by the processor responsive to an occurrence of a game triggering event, the instructions cause the processor to determine if any persistent elements are currently associated with a game. When executed by the processor responsive to a determination that no persistent elements are currently associated with the game, the instructions cause the processor to communicate, to a server, seed request data, and receive, from the server, data associated with a first seed. Responsive to the first seed being associated with a single predetermined game outcome and no persistent elements, the instructions cause the processor to, for a play of the game, cause a display device to display the single predetermined game outcome, and not associate any persistent elements with the game. Responsive to the first seed being associated with a first plurality of predetermined game outcomes and a first persistent element, the instructions cause the processor to, for the play of the game cause the display device to display a first predetermined game outcome of the first plurality of predetermined game outcomes, and associate the first persistent element with the game for a quantity of subsequent plays of the game. In certain embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a gaming system server including a processor, and a memory device which stores a plurality of instructions which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to maintain a pool comprising a plurality of seeds, wherein each seed is associated with one of: a single predetermined game outcome and no persistent elements, and a plurality of predetermined game outcomes and a persistent element. When executed by the processor responsive to receiving, from an electronic gaming machine, seed request data in association with an occurrence of a game triggering event, the instructions cause the processor to randomly select one of the plurality of seeds from the pool, and communicate data associated with the randomly selected seed to the electronic gaming machine. In certain embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a method of operating a gaming system, the method including responsive to an occurrence of a game triggering event, determining, by a processor, if any persistent elements are currently associated with a game. The method also including, responsive to a determination that no persistent elements are currently associated with the game, communicating, to a server, seed request data, and receiving, from the server, data associated with a first seed. Responsive to the first seed being associated with a single predetermined game outcome and no persistent elements, for a play of the game, the method includes displaying, by a display device, the single predetermined game outcome, and not associating any persistent elements with the game. Responsive to the first seed being associated with a first plurality of predetermined game outcomes and a first persistent element, for the play of the game, the method includes displaying, by the display device, a first predetermined game outcome of the first plurality of predetermined game outcomes, and associating, by the processor, the first persistent element with the game for a quantity of subsequent plays of the game. Additional features are described in, and will be apparent from, the following Detailed Description and the figures. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIG. 1 is a flow chart an example process for operating a gaming system which utilizes predetermined game outcome and limited term persistent elements. FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D are front views of one embodiment of the gaming system disclosed herein illustrating the providing of predetermined game outcomes in association with limited term persistent elements. FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of one embodiment of an electronic configuration of an example gaming system disclosed herein. FIGS. 4A and 4B are perspective views of example alternative embodiments of the gaming system disclosed herein. FIG. 4C is a front view of an example personal gaming device of the gaming system disclosed herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Limited Term Persistent Elemen