# The &kbounce; Handbook

## Introduction

### Gametype:

Puzzle, Arcade

### Number of possible players:

One

&kbounce; is a single player arcade game with the elements of puzzle.

It is played on a field, surrounded by walls, with two or more balls that move about in the field bouncing off of walls. The player can build new walls, decreasing the size of the active field.

The goal of the game is to fill at least 75% of the field and advance to the next level.

## How To Play

The player is presented a rectangular tiled field surrounded by walls. Two or more balls move about in the field and bounce off of the walls. The object of the game is to limit the size of room for the balls.

The size of the active area of the field is decreased by making new walls that enclose areas without balls in them. To complete a level, the player must decrease the size of the active field by at least 75% within the time allowed.

New walls are built by clicking the &LMB; in an active area of the field, at which point one wall will begin to grow in opposite directions from the square the mouse was clicked in. Only one wall in each direction may be growing on the screen at any given time.

When the mouse is on the field, the cursor is shown as a pair of arrows pointing in opposite directions, either horizontally or vertically. The arrows point in the direction the walls will grow when the &LMB; is clicked. This direction can be changed by clicking the &RMB;.

A new wall has a head which moves away from the point where the mouse was clicked. A wall is not permanent until this head runs into another wall. If a ball collides with any part of the wall except the head, before the head has run into another wall, the new wall will disappear completely and one life will be lost. If a ball collides with the head in the direction of the wall's growth, the wall will stop growing there, and become permanent, with no loss of life. If a ball collides with the head from any other side, the ball will bounce off and the wall will continue to grow normally.

## Game Rules, Strategies and Tips

### Game Rules

The game starts with level 1 in which two balls move around in the field. The player has two lives and 90 seconds to successfully complete the level.

In n-th level there are n + 1 balls. The player is given n + 1 lives. They have 30 * ( n + 2 ) seconds to complete it.

When a ball collides with a growing wall the player looses one life. An exception is the collision with wall's head when no life is lost.

The goal of each level is to cover at least 75% of the field with wall.

The loss of all lives and exceeding the time allowed result in the end of the game.

If a player completes a level he receives 15 points for each life left, and a bonus depending on the number of balls and the number of tiles filled above 75%. They also advance to the next level.

### Strategies and Tips

- Many players find the game becomes quite difficult by only the third or fourth level, given the number of balls on the field at once.

- The trick playing &kbounce; successfully is to build corridors. To build a corridor, start a pair of walls growing close to another wall, and time it so that one of the walls will be hit by a ball and one of the walls will not, and thus become permanent.

  Building a corridor Building a corridor

  This will leave a narrow corridor only a few squares high on the field, surrounded on three sides by walls. Wait for the balls to bounce into the open end of the corridor, and close the corridor behind the ball with a new wall. Although you will most likely lose a life for each corridor created, you can trap several balls in a single corridor.

  Capturing balls in a corridor Capturing balls in a corridor

- A final tip — take your time! There is plenty of time, as shown in the Time display at the bottom of the screen. Rushing will just get you in trouble!

## Interface Overview

### The Tool Bar

The toolbar provides buttons for the commonly used functions.

### Toolbar Buttons

Button | Name | Menu Equivalent | Action
New Game Button | New | Game New | Starts a new game. If a game is currently played clears the field and sets the level to 1.
Pause Button | Pause | Game Pause | Pauses or resumes the current game.

### The Menu Items

#### The Game Menu

&Ctrl;N Game New

- Starts a new game.

&Ctrl;&End; Game End Game

- Ends the current game.

P Game Pause

- Pauses or resumes the game.

&Ctrl;H Game Show High Scores

- Opens a dialog that displays different high score tables.

&Ctrl;Q Game Quit

- Quit and close &kbounce;. If a game is currently played, it's status is lost.

#### The Settings Menu

Settings Play Sounds

- If checked, &kbounce; game sounds are played.

Settings Difficulty

- Select a game difficulty. On higher difficulty levels the walls are build slower while balls move faster. That makes it harder to fence an area in the board.

Additionally &kbounce; has the common &kde; Settings and Help menu items, for more information read the sections about the Settings Menu and Help Menu of the &kde; Fundamentals.

## Frequently asked questions

I want to change the way this game looks. Can I?

Yes. To change &kbounce; visual theme you can use Settings Configure &kbounce;... option on the menubar.

I have made a mistake. Can I undo?

&kbounce; does not have an Undo feature.

Can I use the keyboard to play this game?

No. &kbounce; cannot be played using keyboard.

I have to quit the game now, but I am not finished yet. Can I save my progress?

&kbounce; does not have a Save feature at the moment.

## Game Configuration

The &kbounce; configuration dialog allows you to select visual themes for &kbounce;.

To select a new theme simply choose the theme from the selection list. Each item in the list shows a small preview left to the theme name. A selection is immediately applied.

You can select random background pictures from a user defined folder with images.

Once you are satisfied with the theme you have selected you can click the OK button, located at the bottom part of this dialog.

## Credits and License

&kbounce;

- Stefan Schimanski schimmi@kde.org - Original Author

- Sandro Sigala ssigala@globalnet.it - Highscore

- Benjamin Meyer ben+kbounce@meyerhome.net - Contributions

- Dmitry Suzdalev dimsuz@gmail.com

- Tomasz Boczkowski tboczkowski@onet.pl - Port to KDE4 and KGameCavas

Documentation copyright 2002, &Aaron.J.Seigo; &Aaron.J.Seigo.mail;

Documentation copyright 2007, Tomasz Boczkowski tboczkowski@onet.pl

This handbook is dedicated to Dennis E. Powell.

&underFDL; &underGPL;
&documentation.index;