5 reel multi-line mechanicals
Is that fairly universal?
In a post from last year discussing the possibility of deconstructing mechanical slots CrystalMath said "If it is a multi line game, you could still use data for the off payline symbols since each symbol must have the same frequency on every line." Are you sure this is true of mechanical multi-lines? By implication this statement suggests that they are not weighted; weighted reels would almost certainly lead to different symbol frequencies on different lines.
My own research (using the wizard's videotaping method) suggests even multi-line mechanicals are weighted, but that's only from one machine.
Quote: LocNguyenGotta try to resuscitate the question above, because I still haven't been able to find a clear answer. Can anyone confirm that 5 reel multi-line mechanicals are weighted?
In a post from last year discussing the possibility of deconstructing mechanical slots CrystalMath said "If it is a multi line game, you could still use data for the off payline symbols since each symbol must have the same frequency on every line." Are you sure this is true of mechanical multi-lines? By implication this statement suggests that they are not weighted; weighted reels would almost certainly lead to different symbol frequencies on different lines.
My own research (using the wizard's videotaping method) suggests even multi-line mechanicals are weighted, but that's only from one machine.
I came up with an example of a weighted reel that is also designed so that each symbol has the same weight on any line:
| Symbol | Weight |
|---|---|
| blank | 3 |
| seven | 2 |
| blank | 1 |
| one bar | 3 |
| blank | 1 |
| cherry | 1 |
| blank | 1 |
| diamond | 4 |
| blank | 3 |
| one bar | 2 |
| blank | 2 |
| three bar | 2 |
| blank | 2 |
| seven | 3 |
| blank | 4 |
| one bar | 3 |
| blank | 4 |
| diamond | 1 |
| blank | 2 |
| two bar | 2 |
| blank | 2 |
| one bar | 2 |
Let's look at the seven, for instance. The total weight of all the sevens together is 5. Now, look at the total weight of all symbols that appear below the sevens. This is also 5. Again, looking at the weight of all the symbols above the sevens, we get 5. The reel strip is designed so that all symbols work out to have the same weight on the line, above the line, and below the line.
For the reels I've seen info on, a given physical stop is typically mapped to (or from) 1-10 virtual stops. Do you guys ever find machines where more than 10 virtuals correspond to a single physical? What's the most you've seen? I mean mapped to a specific physical stop, as opposed to the total number of occurences of a symbol on a virtual reel.
Quote: LocNguyenVery interesting, CrystalMath. Thankyou for elaborating.
For the reels I've seen info on, a given physical stop is typically mapped to (or from) 1-10 virtual stops. Do you guys ever find machines where more than 10 virtuals correspond to a single physical? What's the most you've seen? I mean mapped to a specific physical stop, as opposed to the total number of occurences of a symbol on a virtual reel.
The longest virtual reel I've seen is 512 symbols. Because there are 22 physical symbols on a reel (usually 11 symbols and 11 blanks), the average # of virtual stops per symbol on this reel is 512/22 ~= 23.
It is far, far, more common to have shorter virtual reel stops than 512 and I think that most games would be 1-10 like you describe.
