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Instruction Manual
• Basic Controls
• Goals
• Rules of Play
• Main Menu
• Editing/Deleting a Player and Choosing a Paint Job
• Suspend/Resume
• The Lost Worlds
• Power-Ups
• General Specialty Bricks and Obstacles
• Environment Specific Specialty Bricks and Obstacles
• Rings
• System Requirements
• Troubleshooting
• Registration and Credits
Basic Controls
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To pilot your ship, simply move your mouse in the direction you want the ship to move.
The Left mouse button or spacebar will launch the sphere into play and shoot your
weapons - if you have collected the appropriate power-up.
The Right mouse button, Esc key, or Pause key will also pause the game and bring up
menu screens.
Sphere Control: You can control what angle the sphere 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 sphere goes.
Difficulty: Four levels of difficulty are available to challenge a wide range of skill
levels. Experiment to see which difficulty level is appropriate for your personal skill
level. You can select your level of difficulty each time you begin a new game. To change
the level of difficulty, select Play Game, choose a player, then click on the desired
difficulty level above the images of the rounds.
Goals
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There are three main goals of Ricochet Lost Worlds:
1) Keep your sphere in play for as long as possible to advance to the next round.
2) Accumulate the highest score possible by breaking as many bricks, collecting as
many power-ups, and destroying as many bombs as you can.
3) 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
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To start, you are given three Ion Spheres. The number of reserve spheres is displayed
on the scoreboard under the heading Ion Spheres. Any sphere that goes "out of
bounds" (i.e. past your ship and off the bottom of the playfield) is lost forever. It will be
automatically replaced by one of your reserve spheres and can be launched into play
by clicking the left mouse button or pressing the spacebar. If you have no reserve
spheres, the game is over.
Each of Ricochet Lost Worlds’ 160 rounds is comprised of a varying number of bricks.
Most of these bricks are destructible by bouncing your sphere 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 will advance to the next
round.
Many rounds contain obstacle bricks that do not need to be cleared.
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 "checkpoint" and the next set of 10 will be
opened. 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 spheres in
the middle of a set of rounds, you must resume play at the beginning of that set. So if
you lose your last sphere on round 19, you must start back at round 11.
Once you have reached a checkpoint, 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 replay
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
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Options available when you start Ricochet Lost Worlds:
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 statistics can be tracked. If you do not
wish to have personalized statistics tracked, choose "Anonymous Guest." After you
choose a player, you will be taken to the New Game Options window. Each of the 16
images here 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.
High Scores: Takes you to the Statistics window where you can view player statistics,
edit player information, view a list of all high scores, and view high scores by difficulty
level.
Level Editor: Create your own levels! After clicking on this option and entering the
editor window, go to the File menu and click on Select/Create Round Set to start
creating. For some basic instructions, go to Help and click on Quick Start - Editor
Basics.
Options: Access sound, video, and controller configurations, as well as this manual,
the level editor, and credits.
Exit: Closes the game and returns you to your desktop.
Editing/Deleting a Player and Choosing a Paint Job
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On the Main Menu, click on "High Scores" to get to the Statistics window. Click on any
player (other than Anonymous Guest) to select that player, and click the "Edit Player"
button at the bottom of the screen. A menu will appear that allows you to change the
player's name, reset his/her tutorial, and change the paint job on the ship. Or, after
selecting a player, click on "Delete Player" to remove that player and all associated
scores. You may need to exit and re-enter the Statistics window to see their scores
removed.
Suspend/Resume
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Occasionally, 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 the right mouse button, or press Esc or Pause on your
keyboard during game play, and then select "Suspend Game." Read the description
and choose "Suspend Game" again to confirm your selection. To resume that game,
click "Play Game" from the main menu, choose your player, then choose "Resume
Game." Note that this is not intended to be a save game feature. That is, you cannot
start from level 3-15, lose all your spheres, and then be able to start from 3-15 again.
The Lost Worlds
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There are four 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 features bricks that can only be found in that
environment. 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
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Power-ups are available across all environments. They have the potential to both help
and hinder you (would those be power-downs, then?) 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.
3-Way Split
Causes a single ball in play to instantly split into 3 giving
you three 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 would provide.
Acid Ball
Gives your sphere the extra destructive power of highly
concentrated acid, allowing you 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
Creates an electrical field around your ship’s shield
turning it into a powerful magnet. The ball will stay glued
to the shield until you let it go with the left mouse button.
This temporarily overrides the electrical effect and
releases the ball. The electricity is only powerful enough
to hold one ball at a time. If you prefer to play as normal,
you can completely nullify the electrical field by keeping
your left mouse button pressed.
Ball Generator
When empowered with this power-up, your ball
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.
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 your ball and earn 1,000 points in the process.
However, some rounds have lower yield bombs that are
worth fewer points.
EMP Ball
Breaks bricks like no other. When you catch it, it attaches
an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) charger to your ship, and
an EMP delivery chassis to any ball in play. To release the
power of the EMP, 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.
Laser Ball
Turns your 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.
Gives you the ability to shoot the bricks with deadly
accuracy. Either click the left mouse button or press the
spacebar to fire away. Catch two of these power-ups and
Laser Blaster Gun
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 Missiles.
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 something more
powerful 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. It doesn’t
last long when you have a Laser Ball, so you’ll have a
choice to make!
Shield Shrinker
Shrinks your shield to a maximum of two sizes down.
Most people will avoid it, but if you want to challenge
yourself, go ahead and grab it!
Slow Down
Slows down your ball relative to the speed it is currently
traveling. Thus, catching multiple Slow Downs 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. But if 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 might add a hundred points to your score
and sometimes make 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.
Stinger Missiles
Just the thing for when you’ve got a hard-to-reach brick
standing between you and the end of a round. When
equipped with this power-up, clicking your left mouse
button or spacebar launches a ferocious brick seeking
missile that will make quick work of just about any
round. When you catch multiple Stinger Missile powerups, the number of missiles you can fire increases. These
will replace Laser Blaster Guns.
General Specialty Bricks and Obstacles
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The following types of specialty bricks and obstacles appear across all four
environments:
1/2 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 side and ... boom!
Brick gone!
Power-Up Bricks
You’ll learn very quickly which
bricks are the ones that hide the
power-ups. These hold the gems
that can make a hard round seem
easy.
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 'em.
These bricks 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
Concussion Change Bricks
is. Oftentimes these are moving, so
if you can, be sure to time your hit
so they will have the greatest
positive effect for you.
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 makes a
round a lot easier!
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 the ball in
play long enough to get under it.
Teleporter
What goes in must come out, but
not always where you want it. These
bricks come in paired colors. One
serves as the "in," and the other is
the "out." Your balls are instantly
transported from one to the other. If
you notice an "out" low on the
playfield, 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
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The following specialty bricks and obstacles appear only in the indicated environment
type:
Starfish
(Sunken City)
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. When you
break the brick that they're 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
(Sunken City)
Much larger than a brick, you cannot
break it with any ball (with or without a
power-up) or firepower. You must
attach a starfish to your ball and then
deliver that starfish to this brick to
eliminate it.
Rail Brick
(Volcanic Crust)
This brick has the devastating effect of
destroying any brick in its path. When
you hit it, it accelerates and begins its
destruction.
Rail Push Brick
(Volcanic Crust)
This brick will push any brick in its path
out of the way and crush it against the
walls of the playfield.
This brick is similar to a Rail Brick but
Multi-Directional Rail Brick with the added feature that it will
(Volcanic Crust)
launch in whatever direction its arrow
is facing when struck.
Brick Factory
(Mayan Temple)
When struck, this brick 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 a brick factory generates, and
sometimes you won’t.
Rings
Factory Shut Down
(Mayan Temple)
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
(Mayan Temple)
Shreds any brick that is pushed into
them. Push a few bricks into these and
see what happens.
Ball Factory
(Alien Tech)
You’ll like these bricks. The more you
hit them, the more balls they generate
(to a limit). Unlike Trapped Balls, the
balls they generate begin destroying
bricks immediately.
Levitron Bricks
(Alien Tech)
These bricks are colorful for a reason.
When you activate two of the same
color, they will crash towards one
another, destroying any bricks that
happen to be between them. When you
activate two that are different colors,
they will push away from one another
with equal force, destroying any bricks
that get in their way.
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If you see a ring, hit it with your ball (sorry, shooting them isn't good enough) to collect
it! For every 35 rings you grab, you will be awarded an extra Ion Sphere. Beginning with
the second round of the game, there are 5 rings placed on every round in varying
places. 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 will be awarded
a bonus of 5 rings for a total of 10 rings for that round, as well as some bonus points.
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 the images of the rounds. You
will see these ring images only if you were able to beat rounds 1 through 10 and were
successful in getting all 5 rings on at least one level the last time you played. A
spinning ring means you've gotten all rings in that round.
System Requirements
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• Windows Compatible System
• 400Mhz or faster Processor (550Mhz recommended)
• 64MB RAM
• DirectX 7.0 or better
Troubleshooting
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Improving Performance on Slower Machines:
If you're experiencing choppy or slow gameplay, 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 F5 a third time will bring back both the background and the
animations.
Sound Card Problems:
Many older sound cards aren't fully compatible with Microsoft DirectX. Usually, simply
updating your sound card drivers will fix any strange sound problems you may
encounter. Check with your manufacturer (or your sound card manufacturer's web
site) for the latest drivers.
Configuration Problems:
If you need to reset the game to the original configuration, delete the "Ricochet Lost
Worlds.CFG" file from the installation directory. This resets video mode, sound levels,
and controls.
Screen is Too Dark:
You can adjust the brightness level by clicking on "Configure Video" in the Options
menu.
Lockup or Crashing Problems:
If you experience any lockups or crashes with Ricochet Lost Worlds, make sure you
have the latest DirectX drivers for your video and audio hardware, as well as the latest
version of DirectX ( http://www.microsoft.com/directx/ ). 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 restart your computer before
playing again after a crash. Oftentimes, without a restart, the problem may lie in
memory and may occur again.
Registration and Credits
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Upon completion of your purchase of Ricochet Lost Worlds, you will receive a license
name and license code. When you start the game, you will see a registration dialog
with fields for that information. Enter your license name and code exactly as provided
to you into the appropriate fields and click on the "Enter License Information" button.
Ricochet Lost Worlds can be registered by clicking on the "Buy Now!" button on the
trial dialog, or by visiting the GameHouse Store: http://www.gamehouse.com/store/
Ricochet Lost Worlds was created at Reflexive Entertainment with additional
contribution from GameHouse, Inc.:
Garrett Link
Chance Warner
Jason Katsanis
Chuck Little
Teagen Densmore
Brandon Godfrey
Kazunori Sasakura