Manual

The future of intergalactic competition, today.

Game Features

How to Play:
Keep the ball in the air until all the bricks are destroyed. Move your ship to the left and right to do this - that's it!

Object:
The object of Ricochet is simple - get the highest possible score. There are four ways to add to your score. They are:

Break Bricks - Each brick you break will add a different number of points to your total. In general, the harder the brick is to break, the more points it will add to your score.

Get a Powerup - each powerup you pick up will also increase your score. As you'll read in the powerup descriptions, they do other nice things for you as well that can have the effect of really cranking up your score.

Destroy a Bomb - When you can manage to direct your ion sphere to intersect the path of a bomb, the bomb is destroyed and you are awarded a point bonus.

End a level - Each time you end the level, you will receive a completion bonus, and a bonus for every ball you manage to keep in play. The more powerful your ball is, the higher your bonus will be!

Controls:

Main Menu:

The main menu is your friend. You can find everything you need there!

Buy it Now - If you haven't yet upgraded to Ricochet Xtreme, this is the way to do it. Through this button, you can access Quick Pay - the fastest way to upgrade, Pay by Phone, and Other Registration options such as Pay Online or Pay By Mail. If you have Problems with any of these features, please see Problems section below.

Play Game - Start a new game of Ricochet, or resume a game in progress. Ricochet will ask you to choose a player, or set up a new player so that statistics can be tracked.

Statistics - Here you can access a wide variety of statistics. Overall high scores as well as information about each player that has been set up can be accessed through this button.

Tell a friend - Through this button, you can use our email server to tell your friends about Ricochet. Please do it! They'll thank you for it, and so will we!

Options - Through this button you can configure sound, configure video, check for updates to Ricochet, and view the credits of the game.

Powerups

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.

Small Ball - This powerup 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.

Normal Ball - This unique powerup 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 a Fire Ball or Rail Ball, it will take that away from you. Get it? Avoid it? It all depends!

Slow Ball - This powerup also depends greatly on your situation. If your ball is traveling at lightning fast speeds, the slowing effect caused by this powerup 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.

Fast Ball - To keep you on your toes, and your reflexes at their best, this powerup boosts the speed of the ball. Get a few of these in a row if you think you can pass the ultimate test of your reflexes.

3 Ball Split - Triple the fun with this ball splitter. Some folks will try to keep all 3 balls in play. Some find this to be too much to handle. Are you the greedy type or the conservative type? This will give you the chance to find out!

8 Ball Split - 8 Balls! What else can you say? Real nice when combined with a Rail Ball or Fire Ball. Imagine the brick clearing power that provides! The RPA's advice: don't get overwhelmed!

Fire Ball - This powerup turns up the heat and increases the damage your ball delivers. Bricks that usually take three hits from the normal ball are destroyed with just one hit. Obstacle bricks are also destroyed in just one hit.

Rail Ball - The Ultimate! Wielding destructive power like nothing else, this ball crashes through whatever is in its path like warm knife through soft butter. You'll want to keep it for as long as you can!

Ball Catch - This nifty powerup creates an electrical field around your ship's shield that has the effect of turning the shield into a very powerful magnet. The 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.

Shield Expander - This powerup increases your chances of keeping your balls in play. There are 3 lengths that the shield can be: small, normal, wide. This powerup will push you up to the next level unless you're already at the widest. In that case, it's just a free 100 points.

Shield Shrinker - A powerup in name only, this will shrink your shield to the next size 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.

Laser Guns - This power up gives you the ability to shoot at the bricks with deadly accuracy. Each shot fired will do the equivalent damage of a Normal Ball so have at ‘em!

Missiles - This power up is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face! Enjoy the quick strike firing ability of the missiles, which do equivalent damage to a Fire Ball. These babies make quick work of most any level.

Bombs - When too many people began entering Ricochet competitions, the level of talent really began to degrade. So, to separate the real athletes, and as a tribute to the origins of the sport, the RPA added these bombs to introduce a little life and death fear to the game. They announce themselves with a whistle and you'll want to make sure your ship is well clear of them.

Specialty Bricks

Moving bricks- These bricks move at a predetermined path just to make your task a little tougher. Sometimes you can use them to your advantage - sometimes they just plain get in your way. Either way, they spice things up and give you a little something to think about..

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.

3-hit bricks - Space, Lava, and Infinity levels all feature these stubborn bricks that must be hit 3 times before they'll give way. Real skill testers are the ones that require you to hit them from a particular side (top or bottom)!

Power up Bricks - You'll learn real quickly which bricks are the ones that hide the powerups. These hold the gems that can turn a hard level easy. Try to hit them first!

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 level. But, if you're the kind of person that wants everything cleared up, Fireballs, Railballs and Missiles do a pretty good job on them. Clearing them out of the way usually make a level a lot easier!

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

Half Bricks - Advanced RPA members really like the way these bricks play with the ball. Pay attention because they can change the direction of a ball in mid-flight!

Off on and Detonator bricks - This combination of bricks must be in the right state before any of them will blow up. Turn the two on and then hit the Detonator. If you do that, they're all gone. Doing it in any other order will make for a long, challenging level.

Concussion Bricks - When these bricks are destroyed they will impart a little shock to neighboring bricks causing them to move around. Just another little twist that the RPA thought would make things a bit more interesting.

Nudge brick - These bricks are not destroyed when you hit them.  Instead, they move in a particular direction and push along all the bricks that are in their way.  A nudge brick can push a whole row or column of bricks.  They cannot, however, push exploding bricks or brick shredders. Any brick nudged into an exploder or shredder will be destroyed.

Brick Shredders - These bricks are indestructible, and also can do damage to any brick that is pushed into them. Nudge a few bricks into these and see what happens.

Changing Bricks - The first thing you'll notice about these bricks is that they seem to be two half bricks shoved together. Well, the left side of the brick indicates what bricks it can change, and the right side indicates the type of brick it will change those bricks to. You'll like the ones that are indestructible on the left, and exploding on the right. They can really make things a whole lot easier. Watch out for the ones that have the opposite effect!

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. Set them free, and activate them with your shield an you've got another ball to use!

Why should you upgrade to Ricochet Xtreme?

For only $19.99 you and your entire family will enjoy:

• Countless hours of exhilarating, easy to learn game play
• Simple controls and non-violent game play that make sure the entire family can participate.
• Extraordinarily addictive game play with something new to see on each one of the 170 levels.
• Rich 3D rendered artwork with over 65 thousand colors
• Four different arenas with unique brick sets and background themes
• Each arena has at least 40 unique brick layouts.
• A total of 170 rounds/levels (yes that's right 170) with 4 difficulty settings it's the equivalent of 680 levels!
• As you improve, you will encounter numerous specialty bricks including exploding bricks, seemingly indestructible bricks, multi-hit bricks, power-up and penalty hiding bricks, moving bricks, and bricks that change their neighboring bricks with a chain reaction effect.
• Awesome power-ups including laser guns, missile launchers, electrical ion sphere catchers, sphere multipliers, sphere decelerators, shield expanders, and everyone's favorite - extra balls
• Other power-ups will change your ball into one of many special kinds of balls including fireball and rail ball.
• Penalty ‘powerups' that should be avoided because they have negative effects such as sphere acceleration, shield shrink, and sphere shrink.
• Dynamic particle system effects increase the reality of the simulation.
• Your personal High Scores (and other player statistics such as games played, total time played, and highest level achieved are tracked. Very soon, you will be able to optionally post them to Internet. The RPA will soon establish a website where the weekly, monthly, and all time high score will be posted.
• A suspend game mode which allows competitors to walk away from a game in progress and pick it up at a later time with all earned spheres and score still in tow.
• Purchasing the full version has never been easier. Using the Quick Pay feature, your free demo version can be instantly upgraded with a credit card. This will immediately open the full version and does not require an additional download!

Your Challenge
Can you be the Ricochet Champion of your house? Your neighborhood? The entire world? Upgrade to Ricochet Xtreme and find out!

Only $19.99!!

Background Story

How it all began

Interstellar minefields were in bad need of clearing. So, military engineers developed the RS42 - a ship featuring lightning quick acceleration and nimble controls. Combined with an ion sphere, it was the perfect ship for the job. Pilots could clear out mine fields by bouncing the sphere from mine to ship and back. To train pilots for this task, instructors developed a unique exercise where pilots were required to keep an ion sphere within predetermined boundaries for as long as possible. As the pilots' skills increased, instructors introduced destructible bricks in the boundaries to serve as stand ins for the mines they would encounter in active duty. These bricks also provided good targets so that pilots could become familiar with the RS42's weapons systems as well.

Getting Good

One day, an interested observer noted how enthusiastic pilots were about this drill. He discovered that they had in fact placed side wagers on who could be the best pilot in the class and noted that all pilots strived to obtain the highest possible score. At the end of a particular training rotation, the pilot with the highest overall score was known as the “Ricochet” Champion. It became quite a matter of prestige to bear this title, and in fact the Champion usually drew the best assignments.

Aspiring to capitalize on what he thought would be the universal appeal of this ‘sport'; the hopeful observer established a professional league that pitted retired pilots against one another. It was not long before news of the competition swept the galaxy and soon was the most popular inter-stellar sport going. Military recruiting surged as youngsters sought to learn to compete in the Ricochet Arena.

Getting better

Continued enhancements were made to the professional game. Different bricks were created and power ups and penalties were hidden among some of the bricks. Some of these helped the pilot and some of them had devastating effects on a pilot's score. Upgrades included shield extenders, extra ion spheres, lasers, missiles, and sphere modifiers that turned the ion sphere into a fire ball or rail ball that could blast its way through any obstacle.

Hidden penalties included sphere shrinkers, shield reducers, sphere accelerators and bombs that hurled themselves at a player. Competitors and fans alike embraced these enhancements and marveled at how they improved a game that was already great. Popularity soared.

And better

When prize money increased, players soon began to travel from place to place, competing to beat the scores of the best Ricochet players in the RPA (Ricochet Players Association) of the local area. Four different arenas soon became the most popular because each of these arenas had developed unique bricks that affected game play a unique way. When these 4 arenas joined together, the professional RPA tour was founded. Each year, four lucky competitors qualify for the galactic Ricochet Championship where one lucky contestant will successfully navigate 40 different brick arrangements in each of the Four Arenas and amass the highest score. That person will go home with the coveted Ricochet Master of the Universe award.

Can you be the best?

Now, through the a special arrangement with the RPA and the power of your home PC, Reflexive Entertainment has captured all the excitement of this intergalactic competition and has brought it to you via the officially RPA licensed home version of Ricochet.

The home version features all the same intense game play as the sport, but can be played on any Windows PC in the comfort of your own home. The 3D rendered graphics and digital audio are so realistic that you will feel like you are really competing to win the coveted title of the Ricochet Master of the Universe.

Your Ship

To keep the playing field even all players play with the same ship. The RPA agreed at an early stage that Ricochet competition is a test of piloting skill, not equipment. All competitors compete in RPA approved ships that feature identical accelerating, handling, and weapon firing abilities. All ships are equally upgraded by power ups. Likewise, all ships are equally hampered by penalties. While your ship is a fine piece of engineering, the Champion will rest assured knowing that the competition was won based on skill, not on fancy equipment.

The Ion Sphere

Built from a highly durable alloy of the most impact resistant materials in the universe, an official Ricochet Ion Sphere is a true accomplishment in design and production. Ion Spheres are built to withstand thousands of collisions at high speeds, and can endure temperature changes of thousand of degrees in just a matter of seconds. The spheres expand and contract in size and form an incredibly strong bond with electricity.

System Requirements

IBM Compatible System

Pentium II 266 Mhz Processor

32 Megs of Ram

Keyboard and Mouse

Microsoft DirectX 2.0 or greater. As of the ship date in October 2001, DirectX 8.0a is currently the latest version of Microsoft's DirectX. You can download Direct X from www.Microsoft.com/directx/

Internet Connection - if you want to participate in online score posting (coming soon!), Quick Pay, or the tell a friend program.

FAQ About Quick Pay

What is Quick Pay?

Quick Pay is a safe and remarkably fast way to pay for select games from Reflexive Entertainment. Using a secure system (industry standard SSL), your credit card information is transferred, verified, and processed - all without leaving the game. Once your card has been approved, your copy of Ricochet is instantly upgraded to Ricochet Xtreme!

Is it safe?

In a word, Yes. Quick Pay is just as safe as buying anything else on the Internet. We use an encrypted and secure connection to protect your information. Your information is not shared with anyone at any time under any circumstance according to our privacy policy. Reflexive places the utmost importance on our customers' privacy. We do everything within our ability to protect ensure the confidentiality of your personal information.

Is it fast?

If your computer is connected to the Internet, it usually takes only about 30-45 seconds to process your card and unlock the game. It is tremendously faster than old systems requiring a second download of a full version.

Why do you need to have Internet Explorer 5 (IE5)?

IE5 has certain encryption abilities that we use to protect your information. We don't feel comfortable transferring your information without this security in place.

I don't use Internet Explorer - I don't have it installed. Can I still use Quick Pay?

No, you'll need to install IE5 to use Quick Pay. If you don't want to install IE5, please use one of our other fast purchase options such as Pay Online or Pay by phone.

PROBLEMS?

Purchasing Problems

Quick Pay - If you are having a problem using the Quick Pay feature to upgrade to Ricochet Xtreme, please be sure that your computer is connected to the Internet. Quick Pay requires that your computer be connected to the Internet. Usually, the following procedure will solve the problem: 1) Minimize Ricochet, 2) Start your internet connection as you normally would 3) Return to Ricochet 4) Click on the Quick Pay button 5) Click “I'm already connected”

If you have started your Internet connection and followed the above steps and Quick Pay still does not work, click the Pay Online button found under the Other Registration Options button. (Be sure your computer is still connected to the internet) and follow the onscreen instructions.

If that doesn't work, go to the following website:

https://secure.hypermall.com/reflexivenet/perfectpay.cgi?form=ricochet

If that does not work, please use the Pay by Phone feature. Our sales representative will help you upgrade.

Problem with Colors?

If you have a problem with the colors being all messed up: 1) Click Options 2) Click Configure Video 3) Click the Info Tab 4) Click Fix Colors

Improving Performance on slower machines

If you are experiencing choppy or slow game play, each of the tips below will speed up the game. We recommended that you try them in order and only do as many as are required to make the game perform at an acceptable level.

1. From the 'Configure Sound' dialog, turn 'Stereo' to 'Mono'.

2. From the 'Configure Sound' dialog, turn 'Mixing' to 'Faster'.

3. From the 'Configure Sound' dialog, mute the music. This will stop the music from streaming.

4. From the 'Configure Sound' dialog, mute the Master sound volume. This will avoid the overhead of mixing and playing all sounds.

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 DirectX 8 but some manufactures have newer drivers than those included with DirectX 8. Be sure to contact the specific manufacture for 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: support@reflexive.net. An FAQ and other help will be available soon.

Developed and Published by: Reflexive Entertainment, Inc. - Copyright © 1999-2001, all rights reserved.