Chrome Comet Showdown

1. 01

   Draw k is int(k, W), W = 76 being the sum of the symbol weights; the symbol is the one whose weight range the value falls in. Weights, in the order The Chrome Comet, Baron Moonbolt, Rivet, Rocket car, Atomic wristwatch, Ray gun, Flying saucer, Claw gadget, Crescent token, Splash Burst, Comic shield: 4, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 2, 2.

2. 02

   The first 15 draws fill the grid column by column, top to bottom. A wild drawn on reel 1 or 5 becomes the last low symbol.

3. 03

   Each cascade refills the cleared cells with further draws: columns left to right, top to bottom.

4. 04

   The showdown takes no draw: on each free spin's first grid (its 15 draws), h is the number of cells showing the Chrome Comet and v the number showing Baron Moonbolt; if h is greater than v the spin's first cascade is paid at step min(h − v, 4) of the ladder instead of step 0. Refills are not counted.

5. 05

   Free spins run the same way on the same stream; a bought feature has no spin before it, so its draws begin at k = 0 with its first free spin. The whole spin, feature included, is reproducible from one nonce.

float(k) and the rest of the notation are defined in the byte stream.

5 reels × 3 rows, 243 ways, left to right. Winning symbols clear and new ones fall in; each cascade in a spin climbs 1× → 2× → 3× → 5× → 8×. Wilds land on the three middle reels.

In the free spins, each free spin opens with a showdown on the reels as they land. If the Chrome Comet has more symbols on the grid than Baron Moonbolt, the spin starts that many steps up the ladder: a lead of 1 starts it at 2×, 2 at 3×, 3 at 5×, and 4 or more at 8×, and each cascade still climbs from there. Wilds count for neither side, and symbols that fall in later do not count. If the villain matches or leads, the spin starts at 1×. About one free spin in 3 starts above 1×.

3, 4 or 5 scatters on the first drop of a spin award 12, 15 or 20 free spins; 3, 4 or 5 on a free spin add that many again, up to 60 free spins in all. The feature can be bought for 16.41× the bet with 12 free spins, for 20.52× with 15, or for 27.34× with 20. Each price is what those spins return on average, less the house's share: no tier is a better buy than another.

Bought, the three return 96.40%, 96.41% and 96.39%, as measured (each give or take 0.19 points at most); most buys return less than they cost.

When two scatters are in view, the reels still turning stop more slowly. That is decided only by the reels that have already stopped and happens every time two are in view, whether a third comes or not: it says nothing about what the turning reels will show.

One spin, feature included, pays at most 6,000× the bet: a spin that reaches it stops there and is paid exactly that.

The return printed here was measured, not derived: 96.29%, give or take 0.10 points, over 60 million spins. 34.9% of spins pay something; the free spins come about one spin in 153 and pay 11% of the return.