BobbleNET FAQ
Written by Benny Chow
January 2002

*******************************************************
What is BobbleNET?
*******************************************************

BobbleNET is the multi-player adaptation of Taito's Puzzle Bobble.  The game is real simple to learn but highly addictive, especially when you play with your friends.  The basic idea is to connect 3 or more balls of the same color to form a chain.  Any balls touching a ball on the chain without a direct path to the top of the field is also considered part of the chain.  All of these balls will fall off your field and if playing against other players, be sent over to clutter their fields.  When the balls in your field cross the lower field bar, then you lose.  Be careful about the red shot gauge above the bottom edge of your field.  If you do not shot by the time it reaches the right, then the game will shoot automatically for you.  Also, after shooting 10 balls (configurable) your field will grow a row.


*******************************************************
What is the required hardware/software requirements?
*******************************************************

Windows. You need to have DirectX 6 or above installed on your computer.  Currently, this includes Windows 95,98,ME and 2000.  No NT.  No UNIX.

*******************************************************
How do I get a multi-player game going with my friends?
*******************************************************

Have one friend, the host, go to the Setup view and hit Start Server.  Now, the host must give all other players his IP address.  (Type: ipconfig.exe at the CMD prompt)  Each client player goes to the Setup view and enters the host IP and hits Connect.  

*******************************************************
How do I chat while playing the game?
*******************************************************

During game-play, you can hit 't' and an edit box will magically appear for you to talk trash into.  =)

*******************************************************
How do I control the gun?
*******************************************************

Use the arrow keys to turn the gun left and right.  Up arrow key will center the gun.  Press SPACE key to fire.

*******************************************************
Why can't I connect to the server?
*******************************************************

Make sure you can ping your server's IP. (Type: ping <Server IP> at the CMD prompt)  If you are behind a proxy or firewall and you want to connect to a server outside, you will need to setup your proxy or firewall to open a range of ports required for Microsoft's DirectPlay to work.  You can read Microsoft's knowledge base article for this at:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q240/4/29.asp?LNG=ENG&SA=ALLKB

Or here's the ports to setup:

Using DirectX 7
Connection 			Ports for Client Configuration 
Initial TCP Connection 		47624 Outbound 
Subsequent TCP Inbound 		2300-2400 
Subsequent TCP Outbound 	2300-2400
Subsequent UDP Inbound 		2300-2400 
Subsequent UDP Outbound 	2300-2400

Using DirectX 8
Connection 			Ports for Client 
Initial TCP Connection  	6073 Outbound
Subsequent UDP Inbound 		2300-2400
Subsequent UDP Outbound 	2300-2400

*******************************************************
What do the server settings mean?
*******************************************************

These settings affect gameplay and update immediately when the host makes changes to them.

Ball Before Field Drop - A player must fire this many balls before their field drops and a new row of balls are added to the top.

Minimum Ball Required for Attack - When a player forms a chain and X balls fall off his field.  Then X - this parameter balls will be sent over to clutter other player fields.  Increase this setting when you have many players.

Collision Detection Sensitivity - This setting is for telling the game how close do two balls need to be before they are considered touching.  Increase the number if you want the game to be more exact (~28).  Decrease this number to be able to squeeze balls through impossible cracks.  You can come up with some pretty creative shots (~10).

Time Limit - If after this many seconds have passed and you still have not shot, the game will automatically shot for you.

Game Speed - Overall game speed.  Decreasing this number makes it faster.

Allow Guide Pointers - It's cheap to have this, but it allows you to see exactly where your shot will go.  Use 'G' to toggle the Guide Pointer if it's enabled here.  If the server has disabled the guide pointer, then all client will also have it disabled.

*******************************************************
I suck at this game!  How do I get better?
*******************************************************

Only way to beat your opponents is to send them a lot of balls.  Try to setup two adjacent balls of the same color and stack as many balls as you can underneath so that they are only connected to the field through those two adjacent balls.  When you have a large stack going and have a ball that's the same color as the two adjacent balls, make the chain and send your opponent a mother load.  Other tip is to always watch your Next Ball to help you setup big combos.

*******************************************************
Who wrote this game?
*******************************************************
I wrote it!  Benny Chow.  This game was written in my free time for fun.  It's written in MFC and DirectX using Visual Studio.  I used Photoshop with KAI's power tool to create the ball and field bitmaps.  The rotated gun bitmap was generated using another program I wrote called SpriteShop.  You can download it at www.bennychow.com  I'd like to know what you think about this game and any improvements you can suggest.  Let me know at benny_chow@hotmail.com.  Thanks!!!






