PC Gamer 7.11/2002-01_-_Disc_7.11.iso/Software/Demos/Ricochet/RicochetPcGamerSetup.exe/{app}/Readme.txt

Text File | 2001-10-03 | 24KB | 476 lines

RicochetÖ
The future of intergalactic competition, today.
Developed and Published by: Reflexive Entertainment, Inc.  -
http://www.reflexive.net/ Copyright ⌐ 1999-2001, all rights reserved.
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 - thatÆs it!

Object:

The object of Ricochet is simple û 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 û each powerup you pick up will also increase your score.  As
youÆll 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 û 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 û 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:

Mouse                             Move ship left and right

Left mouse button                 Launch ball, fire lasers and missiles
Space Bar                         Launch ball, fire lasers and missiles

Right mouse button                Pause game, Bring Up Menu Screens
Esc                               Pause game, Bring Up Menu Screens
Pause                             Pause game, Bring Up Menu Screens


Main Menu:

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

Buy it Now û If you havenÆt yet upgraded to Ricochet Xtreme, this is the way to
do it.  Through this button, you can access Quick Pay û 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 û 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 û 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 û Through this button, you can use our email server to tell your
friends about Ricochet.  Please do it!  TheyÆll 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 û 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 û 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.  ItÆs up to you to
decide if the points are worth it.

Normal Ball û 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 û 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, youÆre already going at a reasonable
speed, you may not find it worth it to pick this one up.

Fast Ball û 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 û 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
RPAÆs advice: donÆt get overwhelmed!

Fire Ball û 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.  A Fire Ball will also blow up the neighboring bricks of the one you hit.
Thus, in a single bounce, the Fire Ball can destroy 4 bricks!   If it is a small
Fire Ball, then it will only break one brick at a time - but it still does it in
a single hit on any side of any kind of brick.

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

Ball Catch û This nifty powerup creates an electrical field around your shipÆs
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 û 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 youÆre already at the widest.
In that case, itÆs just a free 100 points.

Shield Shrinker û 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, youÆll have
no choice in the matter.

Laser Guns û 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 æem!

Missiles û 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 û 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 youÆll 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 û 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 û These bricks make things a little easier on you by blowing up
neighboring bricks.  ThereÆs just something real satisfying about these ones.
YouÆll find yourself aiming for them when you see them.

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

Power up Bricks û YouÆll 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 arenÆt indestructible, but they might seem that
way.  YouÆll have to hit them a lot of times with a normal ball and even more
with a small ball.  But, take heart û they do not have to be destroyed to win a
level.  But, if youÆre 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!

╜ 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 û 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 û 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, theyÆre all gone.  Doing it in any other order will
make for a long, challenging level.

Concussion Bricks û 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 û These are not destroyed when you 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 û 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 û The first thing youÆll 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.  YouÆll 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 û 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 youÆve got another ball to use!

Why should you upgrade to Ricochet Xtreme?
For only $9.99 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 thatÆs right 170) with 4 difficulty settings
  itÆs 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 everyoneÆs favorite - extra balls
  Other power-ups will change your ball into one of many special kinds of balls
  including fireball and rail ball.
  Penalty æpowerupsÆ 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 $9.99!!

Background Story
How it all began
Interstellar minefields were in bad need of clearing.  So, military engineers
developed the RS42 û 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 pilotsÆ 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 RS42Æs 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 ôRicochetö 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
æsportÆ; 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
pilotÆs 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 customersÆ 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 donÆt feel comfortable transferring your information without this security in
place.

I donÆt use Internet Explorer û I donÆt have it installed.  Can I still use
Quick Pay?

No, youÆll need to install IE5 to use Quick Pay.  If you donÆt 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 û 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 ôIÆm already connectedö

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 doesnÆt 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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The screen is too dark û

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

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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.
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Need more help?

If you have other problems, please feel free to contact Reflexive Technical
Support at: [e-mail].  Also, see the Ricochet site at
www.reflexive.net.  An FAQ and other help will be available soon.