Manual

# Ricochet: Infinity Manual

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

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Contents:

3 Cool Things to Know

The Basics

Basic Controls
Recall
Goals
Rules of Play
Main Menu Navigation
Editing, Deleting and Creating a Player
Choosing a Ship and Ship Specialties

MouseParty or playing multiplayer on the same screen at the same time!
Trophies
Suspending and Resuming a Game
Power Ups
General Specialty Bricks
Environment Specific Bricks
Rings
Earning Ranks and Unlocking Ships and Balls
Other Galactic Adventures or how to play User Made Levels
Level Editing
Help On Getting Past Specific Levels or "Help! I'm stuck!"
System Requirements and Troubleshooting

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# 3 Cool Things to Know

OK, so there are probably a lot more than 3, but here are some of the more useful tidbits that you may not know:

1) Pressing the Escape key (ESC), Pause button or Middle Mouse Wheel button will pause your game in progress.

2) When the game is paused, you can use your mouse to left-click on the Pause Screen that appears and "drag" it to the side to look at the board. With the game paused, this might give you some insight on how to beat a tough level.

3) MouseParty means Multiplayer. On the same computer. All you need to do is to plug in another mouse to your USB port. It's easy and lots of fun. Find out more about MouseParty 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 activate the Recall feature. In MouseParty TailGunner Mode, it will change which ball you are shooting from.

The Escape key, Pause key and Middle Mouse Wheel button will 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. Using this in conjunction with the Recall Ability is vital. You should practice this combination and master it. To learn to play Ricochet: Infinity well, you must be able to control where the ball goes.

Level of Difficulty – Ricochet: Infinity offers 5 levels of difficulty to challenge a wide range of skill levels, including a Kids Mode. 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. When you create a character you select a level of difficulty, this can be changed 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, Select a Quest Mode, then choose a Planet. Before clicking on the image of the level you would like to begin with, select a level of difficulty by clicking the appropriate button above the level images.

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### Recall

Recall gives you a lot more control of the ball during the game. Activated by pressing the RIGHT mouse button, Recall will pull all of the balls in play towards your ship, regardless of where they are on the screen. Recall can be used on any level, at any time.

This feature effectively allows you to "steer" the ball while it is in flight. It is important to know that the ball will try and take the shortest route back to the ship when Recall is activated. This means that what direction a ball goes when it is "Recalled" is totally dependant upon where the ship is located when Recall is pressed. The shortest distance between itself and the ship is the way that the ball will try and go.

The tricky part is using this ability sparingly...little bits at a time. While simply holding the RIGHT mouse button down has its uses, such as really bashing a bunch of bricks from above, Recall can best be used in quick bursts to help direct the ball around obstacles to get that last Gold Ring, or between objects to get the ball where you want it to go.

This ability can take some experience to master, but the payoff is well worth it. Remember, it's main purpose is to give you more control during the game.

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### Goals

There are three main goals of Ricochet: Infinity. The first is to keep your ball in play for as long as possible so that you can advance to the next level. You will keep the ball in play by simply keeping it from going past your ship and out of bounds.

The second goal, while optional, is important to unlocking new ships and balls and is highly engaging. Can you collect every single ring on each level? Can you collect every ring in the game? Read more about this in the Rings section.

The third is to accumulate the highest score possible on the Planet, or collection of levels, by breaking as many bricks, collecting as many power ups and destroying as many bombs as you can.

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### Rules of Play

To begin with, you are allotted a certain number of Ion Spheres. This starting number is dependant upon what difficulty setting you choose, and 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: Infinity's 216 levels 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 level and play on that level will cease and you will advance to the next level.

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

You can also start from any level that you have previously completed. 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 Planet you would like to play on, and then select the image of level 17.

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You can earn more lives during a game by scoring points. There is an extra life awarded for scoring your first 30,000 points, and for every 50,000 points thereafter. You can also get more lives by collecting the Extra Ball powerup.

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# Main Menu

The main menu provides access to different things you’ll need to know how to do while playing Ricochet: Infinity:

Buy it Now – If you haven’t yet upgraded to the full version of Ricochet: Infinity, this is the way to do it! We appreciate your patronage.

Play Game – If you have not played before, you will be asked to create a player. Otherwise, the last player who played is chosen by default.

You will be taken to the Choose Quest screen that has 3 selectable quests. The top one is Main Tournament Quest...a good starting point. The second quest, the Delta Quadrant, is unlocked by finishing the Main Tournament Quest. The third quest, Other Galactic Adventures, is a large selection of online levels that are downloaded inside the game for you to play and are quickly accessible.

On the Main Tournament Quest, you will be taken to a selection of Planets. Clicking on a Planet will bring up another screen with a grouping of images. Each one of these images represents a level. Click on an image of a level from which you would like to start. If it is your first time playing, the only level available to you will be level 1. As you advance through the game, more and more of these images will become available to you to start from.

MouseParty - This button starts up multiplayer mode where you can play Ricochet: Infinity either cooperatively or competitively with another person. You will need a second mouse hooked up to your computer to play. For more information, please see the MouseParty section.

Options - Through this button you can access many things, including the ability to configure sound, configure video, access this help file, see your Trophy Room, and view the credits of the game.

Exit - This closes the Ricochet: Infinity program and returns you to your desktop.

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# Editing, Deleting and Creating a Player

When you click Play Game on the Main Menu, the Quest Select screen pops up. At the top of this screen is the currently selected player. Click the Change button in the upper right corner. Another window will pop up with player names on it.

To Edit a Player, move your mouse cursor over any player 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 name and location for that player. You can also change the default Difficulty setting as well, though this can be changed each time a game is played by selecting a new Difficulty at the top of the Level Select screen on the Planet itself.

To Create a Player, move your mouse cursor over the "New Player" button at the top of the list and select it. Then type in the new Player's name, location (if you want to) and default Difficulty setting. Click "Save" when you are done...and you are done!

You can Delete a player by selecting a player on the list and clicking “Delete”...but be careful. This cannot be undone.

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# Choosing a Ship and Ship's Specialties

Choosing a new ship is easy...simply click on any available ship on the top bar of the Main Menu or on the screen in-between levels. You can also select a new ball in the same fashion. Simply click on balls that surround the menu options. While the new ball images just affect the way your ball looks, changing your ship actually can change the way your game plays by changing what the Ship Specialty power up does...and each ship's Specialty is unique.

These Specialties are activated by picking up a special power up in the game (see the Ship's Specialty power up) that activates your ship's unique Specialty.

Hover over each of the ships on the Main Menu to see what the Specialty for each ship is.

Each Specialty is basically a combination of power ups in the game. Sometimes a Specialty is a single power up, and sometimes it is a combination of several power ups. One of the coolest things about the ship's Specialty is that it increases the chance that you will see that particular power up, or power up combination, in the game. So please choose the ship that has a power up combination that you would like to see more and one that best suits your gaming needs.

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# MouseParty

Connecting another mouse to your system will allow two players to play at the same time on the same screen!

First, hook up another mouse. This is usually pretty easy to do. Simply hook a USB mouse up to an available USB port, and Windows will do the rest if you have Windows XP or newer. If you have an older version of Windows, sorry, hooking a mouse up in this fashion will not have the desired effect of controlling a separate mouse cursor and this game mode may be unavailable.

Second, click on the MouseParty button on the Main Menu. Another screen will appear with 3 game Options:

1) Competitive. Play this mode if you want to compete with the other person. Not only are you competing to see who can get the highest score on the levels that you play, but you can "steal" the other person's ball by touching it with your ship, and thus earning the points that the ball breaks. This can get fairly competitive, so make sure that you either are both good sports OR you don't have to spend 4 hours in a car with the other person immediately afterward.

2) Cooperative. Feeling friendly? This mode allows both players to help each other out and finish the level. There is no ball stealing...it's all good friendly fun!

3) Tail Gunner. This mode is wacky. The first person controls the ship, and the second player controls a gun attached to the ball! Wherever the second person aims, that's where the laser blast goes. This mode can be especially fun if you have a younger child or someone that is typically intimidated by video games to give it a try. All they have to do is aim the cursor...no mouse clicks required. It's even up to the first player to keep the ball in play, so the second player has it made! However, if you are feeling cool, the player controlling the ball can also switch which ball he is shooting from if there are 2 or more balls in the air. Just click with your RIGHT mouse button (as the player firing the gun) and you will immediately "jump" over to another ball in play. This will happen automatically if the ball you are firing from is lost by the player controlling the ship.

> In Tail Gunner Mode, these Power Ups, in addition to what they normally do, also have these effects...

> Laser Blaster Gun - This Power Up gives the ball a "spread shot". The first power up will give the ball a triple shot, and each additional Power Up will give +2 shots, for a maximum of 13 shots at once. Try it out!

> Meg-O-Blaster Gun - This Power Up gives the ball the ability to fire explosive bazooka charges. Picking up another Power Up will increase the rate of fire. Sorry, only one increase possible.

> Stinger Missiles - This Power Up gives the ball the ability to fire incredibly destructive brick-seeking missiles. Picking up another Power Up will increase the rate of fire. Sorry, only one increase possible.

> Normal Ball - This Power Up now does double-whammy action! In addition to removing other effects, like the Fireball, it will also remove all of the powers given by the 3 power ups above and give you your normal single laser shot back. Ouch!

Once you have chosen a game mode, choose the level that you would like to start on and dive in!

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# Trophies

Trophies are earned in the game by doing certain activities well, or by playing the game a bit differently and mastering that style.

The Trophy Room can be viewed from the Option Menu from the Main Menu, or by clicking on the Trophy Room button that appears on the screen inbetween levels.

You may want to go look at them after you have been playing for a while to see what Trophies there are to earn, and what you need to do to win them.

They run the gambit from easy to earn to downright hard to earn. The Ring Master Grand Champion Trophy is beckoning...good luck!

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 level 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 “Save and Exit” from the menu that appears. Read the description and choose “Save and Exit” once again.

To resume this game, click Play Game from the main menu (making sure you are the player that is currently selected), and choose the Planet you stopped playing on. On the window that appears, choose Resume Play.

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# The Infinite Galaxy

There are 10 environment types in Ricochet: Infinity spanning 14 different Planets in the Ricochet Galaxy. 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 level. You’ll find yourself striving to get them as they can really change the pacing of a given level.

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: Infinity 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 Fire Ball, Laser Ball, Rail Ball and Lightning Ball.

Blossom - This power up charges your Ion Sphere with destructive plasma that can be discharged in every direction from the ball. When you catch it, it attaches a plasma charger to your ship, and plasma shooters to any ball in play. To release the plasma, simply click your left mouse button when you feel the Blossom ball is in the ideal place to do the most damage. When that spent ball returns to your ship, the plasma shooters are recharged and ready to do even more damage.

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 levels 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.

Fire Ball - This power up turns your Ion Sphere into a very destructive ball of fire. It gives you the ability to break any brick it hits AND bricks that are close to it as well. All normal bricks, as well as obstacle bricks, 3 hit bricks, and bricks that otherwise must be hit from a specific side are blown apart. It replaces the effect of the Lightning Ball, Laser Ball, Rail Ball and Acid Ball.

Freeze - This mostly bad power up freezes your ship in place for exactly 2 1/2 seconds. You simply cannot move. However, it's only "mostly" bad because, IF you can survive the freezing process and not lose all of your balls in play, it gives you a healthy survival bonus. The trick here is to grab it when either the ball has no chance of coming back down to you before the time is up OR you are getting so cocky with your Recall ability that ship mobility is not that important and you like the challenge...of course, the other option is that you had no choice and that the 2 1/2 seconds is the longest 2 1/2 seconds you've spent in a while.

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. Up to 10 Laser Blaster power ups can be caught to increase your firepower, but you may find you've destroyed every brick on the level before you can catch that many. Each shot fired will do the equivalent damage of a Normal Ball so have at ‘em! This power up replaces the Meg-O-Blaster and 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. It replaces the effect of the Fire Ball, Acid Ball, Rail Ball and Lightning Ball.

Lightning Ball - This power up turns your ball into a ball of electrical energy, ready to discharge at the brick closest to it. Just move your ball close to some destructible bricks and ZAP! Catch two of these power ups and the destructive reach of your electrical zap increases. Catch up to 5 for an awesome display of electrical zapping dominance...something everybody needs from time to time. It replaces the effect of the Fire Ball, Laser Ball, Rail Ball and Acid Ball.

Meg-O-Blaster Gun - This incredibly powerful...uhh...power up gives you the ability to shoot explosive bazooka charges that destroys everything in the vicinity of contact. 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. Up to 10 power ups will increase your firing power to the stratosphere, though anything over 3 is just silly, crazy overkill that will simply feed your lust for destruction and may cause you to go mad with power. This power up replaces the Laser Blaster and Stinger Missles.

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.

Nuclear Beam - Phenomenal Nuclear Power in an itty-bitty power up. This one-shot blast will almost instantly decimate all bricks in its path that can be destroyed. Simply click on the Left Mouse Button to use it. If the thing you want to destroy can't be destroyed by the Nuclear Beam, just stop trying.

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# Probe - This "thinking person's" power up is all about positioning your ball. Location, location, location. When you catch it, it attaches a Probe Charger to your ship, and a Probe to any ball in play. To launch the Probe, simply click your left mouse button. The Probe will be launched from your ball and head straight for your ship, destroying just about everything in between. When a ball without a Probe touches your ship, a Probe is added to that ball and ready to be launched again at the click of your left mouse button.

Rail Ball - This is THE most destructive ball power up in the Ricochet Universe. Your Ion Sphere is changed into an almost unstoppable blazing blue ball of destruction. It literally goes through almost everything without bouncing off or slowing down. Luckily, your ship's shield causes it to bounce and change direction, but not much else does. Get ready for the next level pretty quickly after you get this beautiful ball of energy. It replaces the effect of the Fire Ball, Laser Ball, Lightning Ball and Acid Ball.

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 Expander - Enlarges your shield to a maximum of two sizes up...this is a good thing. It makes the ball easier to hit because your paddle is bigger, and your ship just looks cooler. This is normally a decent power up, but when you've gotten the Shield Shrinker (below), then this turns into a good to maybe even great power up.

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. This is countered by the Shield Expander (above).

Ship Helper - Talk about breathing easy. This stress-relieving power up will add bumpers to the sides of your ship that will help you keep your balls in play. They can be hit over and over, unlike the Safety Bumper (above), and they move with your ship. Break out the happy snacks.

Ship Specialty - This power up activates your ship's Specialty. Since this Specialty is unique for each ship, this power up changes what it does depending on what ship you are using when you pick it up. Each of the ship's Specialties can be read about by hovering over the ship in the Main Menu. Other than the cool look of each ship, what happens when you catch this power up is the only other distinguishing feature between each of these ships. Honest. Swearing that the ship you like handles better than another ship is still just swearing and should be avoided.

Sight Laser - Can't figure out where your ball is going? Well, you're in luck. With this power up, your ball will project a harmless laser that shows exactly where it is going to go. The Sight Laser can be combined with the Ball Catcher for some very accurate shots.

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 inactive 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 level. 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 level. When you catch multiple stinger missile power ups, the number of missiles you can fire increases. These will replace Laser Blasters and Meg-O-Blasters.

# General Specialty Bricks and Obstacles

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

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.

Brick Slayer – An indestructible hunk of metal with spikes that can destroy just about any brick that it touches. Bounce your ball against the Brick Slayer to move it around the screen and direct it's destructive potential. Sometimes you may come across this ball without it's spikes...simply touch it with your ball and the spikes will pop out. This brick is mostly good, but it can definitely be trouble when you want it out of the way.

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. There's typically something red and moving on these bricks.

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

Guns – These bad boys typically help you destroy bricks on the screen, so they're not that bad...they just look like they should be. Just about every time you run across one, they will be waiting for you to do something before they open fire. It could be as simple as hitting something or getting your ball to a certain spot, but whatever it is, these guys are ready for action. They are MOSTLY indestructible, but some of the more deadly power ups will take these guys down, so be careful...unless "careful" is your middle name...then go ahead and be a bit more dangerous. You've earned it.

Instant Power Ups – This instantly gives your ball a power up just by rolling over it. The power up given will be displayed in the center of this object, right on top of where the crackling electrical beams intersect. Sometimes these Instant Power Ups are single use items, and will disappear after rolling over it once...other times, they disappear after 2 or 3 or 5 roll-overs, and other times they never go away.

Invader – Trouble with a capital "T". Invaders randomly appear and move across the screen, "infecting" bricks that they touch. If your ball hits an infected brick, your ball is sped up temporarily. If you can destroy the Invader before he leaves the area, then all the bricks that he touched have the infection removed. If he gets away, then the infected bricks remain infected. In addition, sometimes he is carrying bombs with him, so be extra careful...unless "careful" is your middle name and then...oh never mind.

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, acid and EMP Balls 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!

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 level easy. Try to hit them first!

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.

Triggers – Each environment has a "trigger" brick, or a brick that triggers an event to happen when it is hit. Since there are tons of possible events that can be triggered by this trigger, you will have to try it out and see what it does on the level that you are on. One thing's for sure...it's usually important to hit these.

Inactive 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!

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#### Environment Specific Specialty Bricks and Obstacles

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

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###### 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.

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###### Alien Vista

Slot Machine Bricks – No, you can't win money with them, but you CAN win power ups. Hitting this brick with a ball or shot of some kind will cause the image to change. Matching the images on each of these bricks will cause these bricks to break and the power up pictured to fall. Sometimes you will get both the Blue and Orange varieties of this brick on the same level. They are independant of each other, so blue Slot Machine Bricks match with other blue ones and orange Slot Machine Bricks match with other orange ones.

##### Infinity

Power Nudge - It's less of a nudge and more of an explosive push, but the idea is the same. This brick will detonate, but instead of destroying the bricks that are nearby, it violently shoves them away, causing bricks to sometimes be places that you may not want them to be.

# 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 level. 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.

###### Space

Energy "Key" - Sometimes you will see bricks on the screen with this pulsing energy effect on them. When you break the brick with this Energy Key, the key attaches itself to your ball. Hit the Circular Lock (below) with this Energy Key to break the Circular Lock and get it out of your way.

Magnetic Circular "Lock" – This circular lump of unbreakable metal is impervious to everything in the known universe...except for an Energy Key! (above) The trick here is to get the Energy Key to the Circular Lock to destroy it. We know...a key in a lock is a tricky new concept here, but we're OK with taking a chance on the latest and greatest inventions.

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##### 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.

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##### Triangular Space

Detonator - You need to turn all of these bricks "on" in a level for them all to be destroyed. Hitting them with your ball will toggle them on and off. When there's two on a level, it's pretty easy. When there are 8, it is a lot harder. Luckily, they can be destroyed with explosives, acid and the power of the Rail Ball, so sometimes they can be removed without having to actually turn them all on.

# Underwater

Single Nudge– When struck with a ball or shot, this brick moves across the screen, pushing other bricks in front of it. Plenty of times, these are restricting access to something you want to get to. Keep hitting them until they've moved out of your way or have destroyed themselves against the sides of the screen.

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.

##### Volcanic Crust and Pod People

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.

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# Rings

If you see a Gold Ring on a level, get it! Every level has 5 rings placed in varying places throughout the level. They are sometimes in plain sight and sometimes impossibly hidden - but there are always 5. Collect Gold Rings to move up in Rank and thus unlock new player ships and balls!

Silver Rings replace Gold Rings on levels where you have collected the Gold Ring before. They don't count towards your Gold Ring count, but they are still worth points. Another way to see a Silver Ring is if you are playing a level created by a user that has more than 5 Gold Rings on it to begin with. Since any level can only have 5, the other ones are by default Silver.

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 level you have successfully gathered all rings (and which levels you have not) by noting the ring that appears on a level (or level 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 the level and you were successful in getting all 5 rings on the 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 the Planet in the Choose Planet Screen, it means that you have gathered all 5 rings on every level on that Planet. If you do not see a ring, choose that Planet and look at the level images on the next screen. If you see a ring spinning on the level image, it means that you were able to get all 5 rings on that level. If you do not see any spinning rings, it means you have not yet collected all 5 rings on that level.

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# Earning Ranks and Unlocking Ships and Balls

Ranks are earned in the game by collecting Gold Rings.

There are 31 Ranks you can earn by collecting all of the Gold Rings in both the Main Tournament Quest and the Delta Quadrant Quest. There are 19 more (for a total of 50) that can be earned by downloading and playing user-made sets in the Other Galactic Adventures section. The Ranks get progressively tougher to achieve, as more and more Gold Rings are needed to earn the next ranking. The 50th Rank is extremely difficult to achieve and that ultimate accomplishment is only for those that have indeed eaten their Galactic Wheaties.

Every time you go up in rank for the first 31 Ranks, you will either unlock a ship or a ball. While the balls are for visual appeal only, each ship has a unique Specialty that is associated with it. After the first 31 Ranks, each Rank does NOT unlock a new ship or a ball...however, there are a few more "mystery" ships and 1 ball to unlock over the final 19 Ranks that are typically more powerful than what was unlocked previously. The one unlocked on the 50th Rank is incredibly powerful...but again, this is only for those that are indeed true Ricochet Masters.

These balls and ships are displayed on the Main Menu and can be quickly selectable for you to use in the game by simply clicking on them.

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# Other Galactic Adventures

Other Galactic Adventures are basically levels that are created by users from all around the world and are accessed after clicking on Play Game from the Main Menu.

There are literally thousands of levels to choose from, and we guarantee that there are some level sets that you will love, and some that...you won't love, but all of them are MADE with love. To this end, there are different sorting options to try and help you find the type of levels that you like to play.

When you go to the Other Galactic Adventures section, the game will ask if you want to connect to the Internet to download the latest catalog of available games. Since this entire section is basically an integrated way to download levels inside the game itself, you may want to do this often to see what's new and to get the latest recommendation updates.

Once you make a choice, and assuming you have an Internet connection and have downloaded a catalog of game levelsets at some point, you will see a screen with a list of level sets that are available to play. This list is absolutely gigantic, isn't it? Well, you can shrink this list a bit and make it more manageable by clicking on the Category Pulldown Arrow (in the upper left hand corner) and selecting something besides "All". Some of the options available for selection include:

Autoplay (some levels will play themselves with no interaction from you needed)

Easy (levels that are pretty easy to play through and win)

Holidays (levels that have a holiday theme to them)

Ringfest (levels that have more than 5 rings on them...typically much more)

Sparkly (levels that have extra sparkly effects added to the bricks, sometimes so many you can't see the bricks)

...and many others...

Once you've made your selection, you can also shrink this list a bit more by clicking on the "Options" button on the bottom of the screen and looking at the available selections. You can weed out older levels, or non-Infinity levels (Ricochet Lost World levels typically play fine on Infinity, but you may want to not look at them sometimes) and, best of all, you can also weed out levels that have gotten low ratings, which is something that YOU can contribute to!

Every time you play a level, you will be asked to rate the level in several categories. These ratings are then figured into the overall ratings of the level for others to use! In this fashion, the best levels rise to the top for others to enjoy. If you would rather your data was not sent to be figured into the overall ratings, then please don't enter it in.

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# Level Editing

You can create levels for others to play and potentially become the next Ricochet Level Creating sensation!

Whether you want to just make them for yourself, a few friends, or to show them off to the world, creating levels can be a blast! All of the level editing tools that were used to create Ricochet Infinity are included with the game, so you get to be as creative as we were...and maybe more so!

For more information, please check out the Level Editing Documentation, also included with the game...or, from the Main Menu inside the game, press the Options button and the the Edit Level button for a very "hands-on" approach.

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# Help On Getting Past Specific Levels

What follows are some hopefully helpful hints on specific levels in the Main Tournament Quest and Delta Quadrant Quest that may be troublesome. If these don't answer your questions, don't seem to help, or your level isn't listed here, please go to the Ricochet Infinity forums and hopefully one of our other players can help you out!

Planet: Barrakis Level: 3, Side Rails. While there are rail bricks that pop in and out of the left and right hand sides of the screen, you don't have to destroy these bricks to finish the level. They are only there to help you destroy the bricks in the top part of the screen. If you still can't seem to get a bead on the last few bricks as they are moving around, keep trying until you get the moving brick count down to 3. Within a few seconds, some Stinger Missiles will drop from above every so often so that you get the firepower you need to finish the level.

Planet: New Venus Level: 14, Alien Disaster. After the Levitron bricks in the middle are taken care of, there will be an explosive brick that pops out below the indestructible bricks in the top middle of the level. It can be tricky to hit that explosive brick as it pops out, since not much of it is showing, but it is vital to getting to the next part of the level.

Planet: Terminous Level: 15, Turn The Gun On. The gun on the left hand side of the screen pops out of its enclosure after you hit the switch at the top of the screen. For about 8 seconds, it aims at your ball with it's lasers before the gun turns off. Try to position your ball appropriately so it does the most damage.

Planet: Terminous Level: 17, Ninja Stars Aim At The Ball. The trick here is to hit the switch that pops in and out from behind the center metal obstacles. Once hit, a countdown will appear that counts down to 1. When the countdown reaches zero, a "ninja star" is launched at the ball, destroying all of the bricks that it comes close to. Try and manuever your ball so that the ball is in front of bricks when the star is launched so that the bricks are broken. If after 3 minutes, you still haven't broken more than half of the bricks on the screen, a tutorial will pop up trying to help explain how to do it. If after 5 minutes you haven't finished the level, a lot of the indestructible bricks will move aside, making the level a lot easier to finish.

Planet: Vulcan's Forge Level: 5, Perfect Pong versus The EMP. The moving metal bar at the top of the screen tracks your ball flawlessly so that you can't get your ball past it. However, if you can get to the EMP instant power up on the left hand side of the screen, you can use that to "set off" the EMP right when it touches the moving metal bar. This will cause the bricks that it is protecting to blow up. Keep doing that until all the bricks it is protecting are destroyed.

Planet: Vulcan's Forge Level: 18, Boiling Cauldron. The moving switch on the top of the "cauldron" causes the bricks to switch between destructible and indestructible. All the bricks on this level, except the switch, have to be destroyed, so try not to hit the switch when the bricks CAN be destroyed and destroy them all.

Planet: Deviation Level: 4, Mimic Side Bricks. The bricks on this level move in relation to how you move your ship, which can be disorienting. Move left, and the bricks on the right hand side come into play...move right, and the bricks on the right hand side go away, and the left side bricks come in. It's hard to do, but the best way is to have your ball go to one side of the screen, while your ship is on the other. This can be difficult. In addition, there are 4 Detonator bricks that all have to be turned "on" for the level to be completed...two on the top row of bricks, and one on each of the sides.

Planet: Deviation Level: 8, Recall Rotates It. As the level says, use Recall by holding the RIGHT mouse button to make the bricks rotate around the circle faster.

Planet: Deviation Level: 12, Path of Invisibility. There is an invisible "zone" that projects upwards from the ship. Whatever indestructible brick lines that are in this "zone" will fade if you stay there for a second. The trick here is to get your ball through one of these "zones" after your ship has made one, then move your ship away quickly so that the ball stays up there and can't come back down.

Planet: Yucatan Level: 3, Walking Through Walls. On this level, the bricks try to move away from the ball. If the ball moves toward the center zone, the bricks move to the outside areas, and vice versa. The best hope is to actually aim your ball towards the edges, where the big metal bars will move out of your way and let your ball through so you can get to the Probe power ups near the top of the level. If your ball gets going fast enough, your ball may hit some of these moving metal bars, making the level more difficult. Make sure to pick up slow down power ups if they fall to help with this problem. In any case, if you have still been playing the level for more than 3 minutes, the bricks will eventually move to their starting postions and stay there for easy destruction.

Planet: Old Capricana Level: 6, Three Step Progression. There is a switch you have to hit to get the bricks moving. Once that is done, you have to get your ball up to the top of the level and get it "captured" behind the lines of indestructible bricks, THEN you have to destroy all of the bricks that are up there. THEN, the Brick Slayers come out, and you have to use them to destroy the lines of indestructible bricks. If, however, you've destroyed the top bricks and are having problems, 2 minutes after you broke all of the bricks on top, a Rail Ball power up will drop. Pick that up to destroy the level.

Planet: Beeblebraxis Level: 7, Slayer is Useless When Probing For Gold. The metal bars seperating your ball from the bricks can't be broken through. The trick here is to maneuver your ball above the bricks and use your Probe to destroy the bricks that you can't break with your ball. The Brick Slayer on this level really just gets in your way. It has no other purpose. If you have been playing this level for more than 3 minutes, the bricks behind the metal bars will move further to the left to make it easier to destroy them with your Probe. If you've been playing for 3 1/2 minutes AFTER HITTING the Split 3 Power Up at the top of the level, then a lot of the metal bars will move out of the way and a lot of bricks will turn into exploding bricks so that the level can be finished off quickly.

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#### System Requirements

OS: Windows Compatible

Processor PII 733 Mhz or better

Memory: 256 MB

###### 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). This can be done from the Main Menu by clicking on the Options button and then the Display Options button. On the window that appears, there will be a pull-down menu that has "Animated Background" selected by default. Click on the small down arrow right next to this to bring up two other options...No Background Image and Still Background Image. Selecting "Still Background Image" should probably be enough to increase your performance, but if not, or if you just want to see the bricks on top of a black background, select "No Background Image".

The next option on this same Display Options menu says Mascot. By default, it says "Show Rico". Using the pull-down arrow here to select "No Mascot" will turn the mascot off in the lower right hand corner of the game play screen, and may also increase performance.

Having the screen run in a window instead of taking up the whole screen may also affect performance. If neither of the previous options help your performance issues, or if you would just like to try playing the game a bit differently, then try clicking on the "Window" checkbox at the bottom of this same Display Options screen.

###### 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 'Display Options' 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: support@reflexive.net.