I know when I play a slot machine, my outcome is determined by a random number generator. If I’m playing a video slot with a bonus game and I trigger the bonus, has the bonus game outcome already been determined from the spin which triggered the bonus game?
If that doesn’t happen, is the outcome of the bonus game set at the time of the trigger? If not, is each spin of the bonus game an independent event with a separate payout determined by the random number generator?
The problem with this question is that manufacturers all do it differently, and don’t really have any reason to tell the public. The best you can get are from third parties who can’t tell you which manufacturer told them what. And that’s not even getting into bonuses, which can be different on different machines.
However, there does seem to be some common themes, and, from that, I can make a general hypothesis. The machines constantly generate numbers, but the number is only remembered after a certain event. This even is usually either putting in the last coin, or pulling the lever. However, when it does this, it has to get three random numbers, one for each slot. Thus it would seem odd for any extra numbers to be generated for the bonus games.
So, it would seem to me that the bonus games have to be generated anew. For those who grab the number on the pull, I would assume that would carry over to any bonus game that also uses a pull. For those that work with the last coin, I would guess they grab the numbers when the bonus is activated.
Hmmm…some of the bonus games don’t use a pull. There will be a number of objects on the screen, and the player selects some of them by touching the screen to reveal a prize–either a set number of coins, free spins, multipliers, etc. In those games, I suspect the location of the largest possible prizes is determined on triggering the event, but that’s pure speculation.