Ricochet Lost Worlds/Manual (Readme File)

## Manual

This manual you are reading is current as of the original release of Ricochet Lost Worlds. It is possible that there is more updated information available at:  www.ricochetlostworlds.com. If you do not find the help you are looking for below, please check here.

## Basic Controls

To pilot your ship, simply move your mouse in the direction you want the ship to move.

The **Left mouse button** or space bar will launch the ball into play and shoot your weapons  - if you have collected the appropriate power up.

The **Right Mouse Button** will pause the game and bring up menu screens.

The **Escape Key** and **Pause** key will also pause the game and bring up menu screens

***Ball control**. You can control what angle the ball ricochets off of your ship by bouncing it off of different parts of the ship's deflector. You should practice this and master it.  To learn to play Ricochet Lost Worlds well, you must be able to control where the ball goes.*

***Level of Difficulty** – Ricochet Lost Worlds offers 4 levels of difficulty to challenge a wide range of skill levels. It is important to play at a level of difficulty appropriate for your skill level. A level of difficulty that is too hard can be very frustrating and an easy level of difficulty is no fun either. Make sure you find the correct level of difficulty for you. You can select your level of difficulty each time you begin a new game. Try a few until you settle on the best one. To change the level of difficulty, select Play Game, then choose a layer. Before clicking on the image of the round you would like to begin with, select a level of difficulty by clicking the appropriate button above the round images.*

## Goals

There are three main goals of Ricochet Lost Worlds. The first is to keep your ball in play for as long as possible so that you can advance to the next round. You will keep the ball in play by simply keeping it from going past your ship and out of bounds.
The second is to accumulate the highest score possible by breaking as many bricks, collecting as many power ups and destroying as many bombs as you can.
The third goal is optional, yet highly engaging. Can you collect every single ring on each round? Can you collect every ring in the game?  Read more about this in the Rings section.

## Rules of Play

To begin with, you are allotted three Ion Spheres. The number of reserve balls available to you is displayed on the scoreboard under the heading Ion Spheres. Any ball that goes ‘out of bounds’ (ie past your ship and off the bottom of the play field) is lost forever. It will be automatically replaced by one of your reserve Ion Spheres and you can launch it into play by clicking the left mouse button or pressing the space bar. If you have no reserve Ion Spheres, the game is over. As long as you are able to keep at least one ball in play, your game will continue.

Each of Ricochet Lost Worlds’ 160 rounds is comprised of a varying number of ‘bricks’.  Most of these bricks are destructible by bouncing your ball off of them (or shooting them) between one and three times.  When all such one to three hit bricks have been cleared, you will have successfully completed the round and play on that round will cease and you will advance to the next round.

Many rounds contain obstacle bricks that are not required to be cleared for a round to be successfully completed.

All rounds in the game are grouped into sets of 10. When you are able to complete a given set of 10 rounds you have reached a ‘check point’ and the next set of 10 is opened up to you. For example, you may not play Round 11 until you have successfully completed rounds 1 through 10. If you have the misfortune of losing all your balls in the middle of a set of rounds, you must resume play at the beginning of that set. For example if you successfully complete rounds 11 through 18, but lose your last ball on round 19, you cannot resume play on round 19. You must start back at round 11.

Once you have reached a check-point, you are no longer required to start from the beginning of the game, or from the beginning of that set of rounds.  Continuing the above example, once you do conquer round 20 and thereby complete the second set of rounds, you can begin a new game with round 21 the next time you play.  You can also start from any round in the second set if you wish.  That is if you want to re-play level 17 over and over (perhaps to get all the rings on that level) you can.  To do this, click on the image of the Second round set, and then select the image of round 17.

## Main Menu

The main menu provides access to different things you’ll need to know how to do while playing Ricochet Lost Worlds:
*Buy it Now* – If you haven’t yet upgraded to the full version of Ricochet Lost Worlds, this is the way to do it! We appreciate your patronage.
*Play Game –* Start a new game, or resume a game in progress. You will be asked to choose a player, or set up a new player so that per player statistics can be tracked. If you do not wish to have personalized statistics tracked, choose “anonymous guest”.
When you choose a player, you will be taken to the New Game Options Window that is a grouping of 16 images. Each one of these images represents 10 rounds. Click on an image of a set of rounds from which you would like to start.  If it is your first time playing, the only round available to you will be round 1. As you advance through the game, more and more of these images will become available to you as described in the previous section. Now let’s say it is your second time playing and you have previously conquered rounds 1-10, but you want to try them again to see if you can do better. When you click on the image of Round 1, you will now be taken to a second window that asks you to choose which specific level in that set you want to start from.
*Options*  - Through this button you can access high score lists, configure sound, configure video, access this help file, see sneak previews (demos) of advanced rounds, and view the credits of the game.
*Exit -* This closes the Ricochet Lost Worlds program and returns you to your desktop.

## Editing/Deleting a Player and Choosing a Paint Job

If you click Options and then High Scores you will see a window entitled Statistics. Now move your mouse cursor over any player (other than Anonymous Guest) and click to select that player. Next click the “Edit Player” button at the bottom of the screen. A menu will appear that allows you to change the paint job on the ship for that player. Each member of your family can have a different paint job if you like.

You can also reset the tutorial here if you want to see the in game help windows again.

You can Delete a player by selecting a player on the list and clicking “Delete Player”

## Suspend / Resume

From time to time you may want to stop playing but do not want to lose any progress you have made. This is when you should use the Suspend/Resume feature. This feature allows you to halt play whenever you feel like it, and pick up play from the beginning of that round at a later time. Your points and Ion Spheres you have earned will still be with you when you resume.

To use this feature, click Esc or Pause during game play and then select “Suspend Game” from the menu that appears. Read the description and choose “Suspend Game” once again.

To resume this game, click Play Game from the main menu, and choose your player name. On the window that appears, choose resume game.

Please note that this is not intended to be a save game feature. That is, you cannot start from level 3-15, lose all your balls, and then be able to start from 3-15 again.

## The Lost Worlds

There are 4 environment types in Ricochet Lost Worlds spanning different lost worlds. In order of appearance, they are: Sunken City, Volcanic Crust, Mayan Temple, and Alien Tech. Each environment type features bricks that can only be found on that environment type. The basic rules of play are the same in each environment, but the different specialty bricks make each one a new and different challenge.

## Power Ups

Power ups are available across all environment types.  They have the potential to both help and hinder you as you try to complete each round.  You’ll find yourself striving to get them as they can really change the pacing of a given round.

In general, red power ups have undesirable effects and usually should be avoided.

Many power ups work in combination with each other, but some will cancel out the effect of other power ups.

A description of each of power up in Ricochet Lost Worlds follows.

 ***3-Way Split*** - This power up will cause a single ball in play to instantly split into 3 giving you 3 times the brick breaking ability.

 ***8-Way Split*** - 8 balls - what else can you say? Real nice when combined with an Acid Ball or Laser Ball. Imagine the brick clearing power that provides - but don’t get overwhelmed!

 ***Acid Ball-*** This power up gives your Ion Sphere the extra destructive power of highly concentrated acid. It gives you the ability to break any brick with a single hit – including obstacle bricks, 3 hit bricks, and bricks that otherwise must be hit from a specific side. It replaces the effect of the Laser Ball.

 ***Ball Catcher -*** This nifty power up creates an electrical field around your ship’s shield that has the effect of turning the shield into a very powerful magnet. A ball will stay glued to the shield until you let it go with the left mouse button. This temporarily overrides the electric effect and releases the ball. The electricity is only powerful enough to hold one ball at a time, so if there are two or more balls in play, you can save one ball for later if you wish. If you prefer to play as normal, you can completely nullify the electrical field by keeping your left mouse button pressed.

 ***Bomb*** - They announce themselves with a whistle and you’ll want to make sure your ship is well clear of them as they (hopefully) pass you by. You can destroy them by hitting them with a ball and earn 1,000 points in the process. However, some rounds have lower yield bombs that are worth fewer points.

 ***EMP Ball*** - This devastating power up breaks bricks like no other. When you catch it, it attaches an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) charger to your ship, and an EMP delivery chassis to any ball in play. To release the power of the EMP, simply click your left mouse button when you feel the EMP ball is in the ideal place to do the most damage. When that spent ball returns to your ship, the EMP chassis is recharged and ready to do even more damage at the click of your left mouse button.

 ***Extra Ball*** - When you run out of balls, the game is over, so the benefits of extra balls are obvious. The more of these you can collect, the longer your game will last, and the higher your score can be.

 ***Laser Blaster Gun*** - This power up gives you the ability to shoot at the bricks with deadly accuracy. Either click the left mouse button or push the space bar to fire away.  Catch two of these power ups and double your shooting power. Each shot fired will do the equivalent damage of a Normal Ball so have at ‘em! This power up replaces Stinger Missles.

 ***Laser Ball*** - This power up turns your Ion Sphere into a self-minded trigger-happy drone. Each shot fired by the ball does the equivalent damage of a Normal Ball and can make quick work of lots of bricks. Replaces the effect of an Acid Ball.

 ***Normal Ball*** - This unique power up will make you happy sometimes and sad at others. When you have a small ball, it will make it bigger. But, when you have a more powerful ball like an Acid Ball or Laser Ball, it will take that away from you. Get it? Avoid it?  It all depends!

 ***Normal Ship*** - In the same way that the Normal Ball gives and takes away, this power up will help you if you’ve had the misfortune to catch a few shield shrinkers and ruin your mood if you’re enjoying Laser Blasters or Stinger Missiles.

 ***Safety Bumper*** - Sometimes it’s just impossible to get to a runaway ball, but with this power up, the bumper that spreads across the bottom of the playfield will save the day.  When it’s hit it disappears, but it’s strong enough to redirect that rogue ball back into play. It doesn’t last long when you have a Laser Ball, so you’ll have a choice to make!

 ***Shield Shrinker*** - A power up in name only, this will shrink your shield to a maximum of two sizes down. Most people will avoid it, but if you want to challenge yourself, go ahead and shrink the shield! Other times, of course, you’ll have no choice in the matter.

 ***Slow down*** - This power up will slow down your ball. It does not slow it down to a specific speed. Instead, it slows the ball down relative to the speed it is currently traveling. Thus, catching multiple slow power ups will have a cumulative effect. The desirability of this power up depends greatly on your situation. If your ball is traveling at lightning fast speeds, the slowing effect caused by this power up will be a welcome change. If however, you’re already going at a reasonable speed, you may not find it worth it to pick this one up.

 ***Small Ball*** - This power up is really not the best. Sure, it adds a hundred points to your score and sometimes makes it easier to fit into tight spaces, but it also shrinks your ball, making it harder to keep track of. Worse, it causes your ball to do less damage to certain stronger bricks. It’s up to you to decide if the points are worth it.

 ***Speed up*** - To keep you on your toes, and your reflexes at their best, this power up boosts the speed of the ball. Get a few of these in a row and find out if you can pass the ultimate test of your reflexes.

***Ball Generator*** – When empowered with this power up, your Ion Sphere generates something very much like a trapped ball each time it hits a brick. Bounce this new creation off your ship’s shield and it will be converted into a full-fledged Ion Sphere.

 ***Stinger Missiles*** - This power up is just the thing when you’ve got a hard to get to brick standing between you and the end of a round. When equipped with this power up, clicking your left mouse button launches a ferocious brick seeking missile that make quick work of just about any round. When you catch multiple stinger missile power ups, the number of missiles you can fire increases. These will replace laser blaster guns.

## General Specialty Bricks and Obstacles

*The following types of specialty bricks and obstacles appear across all environment types.*

 ***Concussion Change Bricks*** – You’ll note these bricks as they constantly emit a particle effect. When you hit one with your ball, it will change bricks in a given radius into the brick that it is. Often times these are moving, so if you can, be sure to time your hit so they will have the greatest positive effect for you.

 ***Exploding Bricks*** – These bricks make things a little easier on you by blowing up neighboring bricks. There’s just something real satisfying about these ones. You’ll find yourself aiming for them when you see them.

 ***Floating Balls*** – Fully empowered, all they’re waiting for is for you to hit and release them. They will begin destroying bricks immediately thereafter.

 ***Obstacle Bricks*** – These bricks aren’t indestructible, but they might seem that way. You’ll have to hit them a lot of times with a normal ball and even more with a small ball. But, take heart – they do not have to be destroyed to win a round. But, if you’re the kind of person that wants *everything* cleared up, acid and EMP Balls do a pretty good job on them. Clearing them out of the way usually make a round a lot easier!

 ***½ Obstacle*** – These bricks are only indestructible if you approach them from the wrong side. Makes for nice challenging rounds. Hit the brick on one side, nothing happens, hit it from the other – boom! Brick gone!

 ***Power up Bricks –*** You’ll learn real quickly which bricks are the ones that hide the power ups. These hold the gems that can turn a hard round easy. Try to hit them first!

 ***Ball Accelerator –*** This isn’t really a brick, but you may wish it was after your ball passes over it – and suddenly accelerates!  Never fear, the effect is temporary (if of course you keep the ball in play long enough).

 ***Ball Decelerator –*** The equal and opposite effect of the Ball Accelerator. Could be just the thing you need to keep a ball in play just long enough for you to get under it.

  ***Teleporters*** – What goes in must come out, but not always where you want it. These bricks come in paired colors. One of the bricks is ‘in’, and the other is ‘out’. Your balls are instantly transported from one to the other. If you notice an ‘out’ low on the play field, you’ll want to keep an eye on it.

 ***Trapped Balls*** – These balls have no destructive capabilities until they come in contact with your shield. They are often placed in the midst of several bricks bouncing harmlessly against them. They are also generated when your ball is empowered with a Ball Generator power up. Activate them with your shield and you’ve got another ball to use!

## Environment Specific Specialty Bricks and Obstacles

*The following specialty bricks and obstacles appear only in the indicated environment type.*

### Sunken City

 ***Starfish*** - One of the things you’ll notice about the Sunken City environment is that in some cases, starfish have attached themselves to the bricks  These starfish are actually useful to you. When you break the brick that they are living on, they will attach themselves to your ball! Guide the starfish encased ball to a special starfish brick and the starfish will unlock that brick for you and remove it from your way.

 ***Starfish Obstacle*** – Much larger than a brick, you cannot break it with any ball (with or withour a power up) or by shooting it. You must somehow find a way to attach a starfish to your ball and then deliver that starfish to this brick. When you’ve done this, the starfish brick will be eliminated.

### Volcanic Crust

 ***Rail Brick*** – this brick has the devastating effect of destroying any brick in its path. When you hit it accelerates and begins its destruction.

 ***Rail Push Brick*** – this brick will push any brick in its path out of the way and crush it against the walls of the playfield.

 ***Multi-Directional Rail Brick*** - This brick is similar to a Rail Brick but with the added feature that it will launch in whatever direction its arrow is facing when struck.

### Mayan Temple

 ***Brick Factory*** – This brick when struck will generate another brick. If there is already a brick next to the factory it will push it out of the way. By the way, sometimes you’ll like what it a brick factory generates - and sometimes you won’t.

 ***Factory Shut Down –*** These bricks will immediately eliminate all Brick Factories from the round. You may or may not want to target them as soon as possible.

 ***Brick Shredders* –** These bricks are like obstacle bricks except that they will shred any brick that is pushed into them. Push a few bricks into these and see what happens.

### Alien Tech

 **Levitron Bricks** – These bricks are colorful for a reason. When you activate two of the same color they crash towards one another destroying any brick that happens to be in between them.  When you activate two of different colors they push away from each other with equal force – also destroying any brick that gets in their way.

 ***Ball Factory*** – You’ll like these bricks. The more you hit them, the more fully powered balls they generate (to a limit). Unlike trapped balls, the balls they generate begin destroying bricks immediately.

## Rings

 If you see a ring on a round, get it!  Each and every time you collect a total of 35 rings you are awarded an extra Ion Sphere.  Beginning with the second round of the game, there are 5 rings placed on every round in varying places throughout the round.  They are sometimes in plain sight and sometimes impossibly hidden - but there are always 5.  If you are able to collect all 5 rings on a given round, you are awarded a bonus of 5 rings for a total of 10 rings for that round.  You are also awarded some bonus points.  If you’re able to collect every ring on every level, you will earn a free Ion Sphere every fourth round!

To collect a ring you must hit it with a ball.  Sorry, shooting them is not good enough.  Often times getting a ring can be a brainteaser as well as a skill test - can you do it?

You can keep track of what round you have successfully gathered all rings (and which rounds you have not) by noting the ring that appears on a round (or round set’s) starting image.  You will begin to see these as early as the second time you play a new game using the same player name.  You will see these images only if you were able to beat rounds 1 through 10 **and** you were successful in getting all 5 rings on at least one level the last time you played.

To see these ring images, click Start Game, then choose your player.  If you see a ring spinning on this first New Game Options Window, it means that you have gathered all 5 rings on all 10 rounds in that set of rounds.  If you do not see a ring, choose Round Set 1.  If you see a ring spinning here, it means that you were able to get all 5 rings on that round.  If you do not see any spinning rings anywhere, it means you have not yet collected all 5 rings on any level.

## System Requirements

Windows Compatible System
Pentium III 550 Mhz Processor, or better
64 Megs of Ram
Keyboard and Mouse

## Improving Performance on slower machines

If you are experiencing choppy or slow game play, we recommended that you try disabling the background animations (fish, smoke etc).  You can do this by pressing the F5 key during gameplay.  Pressing F5 once will stop major animations.  Pressing F5 a second time will remove the background altogether and allow you to play on a black background.  Pressing it a third time will bring back both the background and the animations.

## Soundcard Problems

Many older soundcards aren't fully compatible with Microsoft DirectX.  Usually, simply updating your soundcard drivers will fix any strange sound problems you may encounter. Check with your manufacturer (or your soundcard manufacturer's web site) for the latest drivers.

## Configuration Problems

If you need to reset the original Ricochet configuration, you can delete the Ricochet.cfg file. This will reset video mode, sound levels, and controls.

## The screen is too dark –

You can adjust the brightness levels from the 'Configure Video' menu.

## Lockup or crashing problems

If you experience any lockups or crashes, make sure that you have the latest DirectX drivers for your video and audio hardware.  Most problems can be fixed by installing the latest version of DirectX.  Be sure to contact the specific manufacturer of your hardware for the latest drivers.  Also be sure to reboot your computer before playing after a crash.  Often times, without a reboot, the problem may lie in memory and will occur again.

## Need more help?

If you have other problems, please feel free to contact Reflexive Technical Support at: [[1]].