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Hamsterball
Copyright © 2002-2004 Raptisoft, LLC
Presented by GameHouse, Inc.
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System Requirements
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* Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP
* 700Mhz or faster Processor
* 32MB RAM
* 16-Bit Graphics Support & Sound Card
* DirectX 8.0 or better

Registration
------------
Upon completion of your purchase of Hamsterball, you should receive a license
name and license code. You need to enter that information into the registration
dialog, and then click on "Enter License Information."
This game can be registered by clicking on the "Buy Now!" button on the trial
dialog, or by visiting the GameHouse.com Store: http://www.gamehouse.com/store/

About GameHouse
---------------
GameHouse, Inc. develops many games for the Internet, Windows, Macintosh and
other platforms such as Palm OS. To view the full complement of games available
and play free games online, visit: http://www.gamehouse.com/

Introduction
------------
Welcome to Hamsterball, the Rowdiest Rodent Racer of all time! Your job is to
roll your Hamster from the race's start to the goal in the least amount of time!
Long falls, dangerous enemies, and other hazards can cause your hamster to get
dizzy, crack, or even go spinning off into space!
There are two different game modes: The Tournament Game is a race against a
countdown clock; while the Time Trial game is good for practicing, since you can
never lose!
In Hamsterball, you do not have lives. You can crack, smash, and all-around
abuse your hamster as much as you want. Whenever you crash a hamster via a long
fall or collision with an enemy, you will receive a new hamster, materializing
somewhere nearby.
Your only true obstacle in Hamsterball is time. Since crashing or cracking a
hamster takes up time, the less you crash, the better you'll do.

Controls
--------
Hamsterball can be controlled with the mouse, trackball, keyboard, or joystick.
To play with the mouse, push your mouse in the direction you want the hamster
to run. The more you move the mouse, the faster your hamster will run in that
direction. You can adjust the sensitivity of the mouse in the options menu. You
can right-click at any time to bring up the menu. When playing with the mouse,
you won't have control of the mouse for normal windows operations during play.
To play with the trackball, just roll the ball in the direction you want the
hamster to run. This is the recommended way to play Hamsterball!
To play with the keyboard, simply press an arrow key and the hamster will run
in that direction. Pressing ESC at any time will bring up the menu.
To play with the joystick, press the joystick pad or lever in the direction you
want the hamster to run. Both digital and analog sticks are supported. Pressing
a joystick button at any time will bring up the menu.

Game Selection
--------------
When you first start Hamsterball, you'll see a menu with "Let's Play!" as an
option. Select "Let's Play!" and you will be presented with the Game Menu.
The Game Menu will give you the choice of a Tournament game, Time Trial games,
or the Mirror Tournament game. Note that the Mirror Tournament is not available
until you win a tournament at a set difficulty.
When you select a Tournament game, you will be asked to choose a difficulty.
The Pipsqueak difficulty is great for beginners, but it won't unlock any of the
races for Time Trial, and it won't unlock the Mirror Tournament if you manage to
win the tournament. Normal and Frenzied are for progressively better players,
and will do full unlocking.
UNLOCKING RACES:
When you start Hamsterball, only three Time Trial races are available, and the
Mirror Tournament is not available. By playing Tournament games on Normal or
Frenzied difficulty, you can unlock Time Trial races simply by reaching them in
the tournament, and the Mirror Tournament by winning a tournament.

Options
-------
You can access the options by selecting "Options" from the main menu.
Resolution: The screen resolutions that are available for your video card.
Higher resolutions will generally cause slower game play, and are recommended
only for faster computers (those with 1Ghz or faster processors).
Fullscreen: When fullscreen is selected, Hamsterball will resize itself to
fill as much of your screen as your monitor and video card allow. If unchecked,
it will appear in a window of the selected resolution.
Color Quality: Hamsterball can be played in 16-bit or 32-bit color quality.
32-bit color offers a better display, but causes performance to drop on slower
machines.
Safe Mode: Some graphics cards that are not 100% DirectX compatible can still
play Hamsterball if Safe Mode is enabled. If you experience graphical glitches,
try turning Safe Mode on.
Sound and Music Volume: Click and drag (or press left/right if you are
navigating with the keyboard) the volume slider button to increase or decrease
the sound and music volume in the game.
Mouse Sensitivity: When playing with the mouse, you can adjust how much the
hamster will move relative to the mouse. So your hamster will respond faster to
High sensitivity than Low sensitivity.

Save/Resume/Pause
-----------------
When you play a Tournament game, the game will be saved whenever you return to
the tournament screen or exit to the main menu. And when you start a Tournament
game later, it will ask you if you want to resume your saved game.
The game will pause whenever the menu is displayed. To display the menu during
game play, you can either right-click the mouse or trackball, press ESC on your
keyboard, or press any button on your joystick.
The game will resume when you select "RESUME" on the menu.

Scoring
-------
Scoring only exists in Tournament games. During Time Trial games, no score is
kept since the only objective is to beat the target time. You constantly score
points while rolling. The faster you roll, the more you score.
When you reach the goal, your remaining time is multipled by 100 and added
to your score. Additionally, each tournament course has a "par" time associated
with it. For beating the par time, you score 1000 points.
There are also scoring modifiers that can be found in certain courses. When
you score a bonus during a level, you will see the score hover over your
hamsterball, indicating how many points you've scored. These include, but are
not limited to:
500 points for smashing a mini 8-ball.
2000 points for knocking an enemy 8-ball out of the race.
5000 points for making certain jumps.
You also score 100,000 bonus points when you win the entire tournament. At
that time, you are also awarded extra "survival" points. The fewer hamsterballs
you smash or lose during the game, the more survival points you score.
When you play a tournament at Pipsqueak difficulty, all scoring is cut in
half. When you play a tournament at Frenzied difficulty, all scoring is doubled.

Tips
----
* Zig-zagging is a very important skill in Hamsterball. Practice switching
your hamster's general direction at high speed as often as you can. This will
 become extremely useful in later levels!
* The Weasel's Time can always be beaten. If it seems impossible, you may need
to approach the race from a different perspective, such as jumping over a gap
that you previously rolled around.
* Most hazard areas of the game will restart you past the hazard if you're
rolling fast enough. When facing a difficult hazard, try to pass at least
half the hazard. That should be enough to restart you all the way past it if
you get destroyed in the meanwhile.
* Because all controls are enabled all the time, you can alternate using them.
If prefer the keyboard, but find a spot that's too hard to pass, try using
the mouse just for that spot. If you use the mouse, but have trouble climbing
a steep hill, use the keyboard to ease you over the top.
* In the Up Race, you can get a time bonus by landing on the big red button
near the goal. It takes some practice, but is worth it.
* Similarly, in the expert race, there is a bell at the end of the giant
ski-jump ramp. When making this jump, try to move your hamster to ring the
bell for a time bonus!
* When going down steep hills, try to keep your hamster moving slowly by
running backwards up the hill. Otherwise, you will build up too much momentum
and lose control completely!

Obstacles & Enemies

-------------------
Each course in Hamsterball presents you with unique obstacles and enemies.
Some are helpful, most are harmful. Here's what you can look forward to as you
go a rollin':
Long Falls: Shatters your hamsterball. You'll restart safely somewhere nearby.
Short Falls: Hamsterballs can survive short falls. But they'll make your
hamster dizzy, and it'll be a little harder to control him for a few seconds.
Pipes: Great for moving your hamster a long way vertically. When you see them,
you can drop into them for a brief, safe trip further along the race.
Bumpers: Whenever you touch one, it'll light up and send your hamster spinning
off at high speed! Bumpers can send you spinning off a cliff, or can speed your
progress through a course!
8-Balls: Your rolling competition. When you get near an 8-ball, it will zoom at
you and attempt to knock your hamsterball away!
Drawbridges: Lifting up and down, they require careful timing to cross!
Spinnies: They twirl around, making it difficult to control your hamsterball.
These are best avoided, or approached at high speed.
Tarbabies: Tarbabies are to be avoided at all costs! Though they will not kill
you, they stop you in your tracks, and then smear sticky tar on your hamsterball
that will slow you down for a few seconds, even as you roll away!
Catapults: Can toss you over gaps and other obstacles that cannot be crossed.
Mashing Maces: Don't get under these! Although you can touch them, when they
come smashing down they can smash a nearby hamsterball to smithereens!
Vacuums: Like pipes in reverse. Get underneath vacuums in order to be sucked up
past cliffs that you couldn't otherwise climb.
Speed Cylinders: Touching one will turn it on, spinning your hamster at up to
20,000 rpm! After a few seconds, your hamster will blast off at a high rate of
speed, allowing you to climb hills or navigate obstacles.
Bonk the Hammer: Chases you, attempting to squash you flat. The only solution
is to zig-zag, fast!
Fanstorms: Attempt to blow you off course with their mighty winds! When caught
in a fanstorm, roll TOWARD the fan!
Buzzblades: They will not only destroy your hamsterball on touch, they'll
actually cut away pieces of the course! When near these guys, you have to think
fast, because the ground might be falling out from under you!
Oddballs: These little silver balls pop out of errant pipes and roll away. They
are not really a threat, except that navigating through dozens of rolling balls
can be a bit difficult!
Toobs: Like pipes, only transparent. Send your hamster into a toob for a
twisty, crazy, rolling ride.
Sawguys: Not as threatening as the Buzzblades. Touching a Sawguy only makes you
dizzy, and that's only if you touch their teeth.
BlockDawgs: These irritating blockheads never show their faces! They just
hunch underneath their little steel contraptions, waddling around, waiting to
drop down right in front of you to block off your path!
Wobbly Platforms: Some platforms aren't secured very well, and the weight of
the hamsterball on them causes them to tip. Respond quickly to compensate!
Mr. Beam: This gigantic magnifying glass tries to focus sunlight on your
hamsterball to get it hot enough to explode! Avoid him by zigzagging as fast as
you can before your ball gets too hot!
Starball: This ball really knows what it's doing, and it'll race you to the
finish, getting in your way every time!

Game Modes
----------
TOURNAMENT:
The Tournament game is the basic Hamsterball game, and is the way you unlock
Time Trial races and the Mirror Tournament.
In Tournament games, you have a pool of time. You must roll your hamster
through each course while you still have time in your pool. The time pool will
count down constantly during a race. After winning a course, the countdown will
stop, and any time remaining in your time pool can be used in the next race.
You can keep track of your progress on the tournament screen where you can see
what race you're on, a brief description of the race, and info on how much time
you have left.
At any time, you can roll back a race to correct mistakes or try for a better
time. However, rolling back a race will disqualify you from posting a high score
when you win the tournament.
You will lose the game if your time pool counts down to zero. After losing the
game, you still have the option to roll back a race and possibly do better on a
second try.
TIME TRIALS:
In Time Trial games, you may choose which race you want to challenge. Races
here are locked until you reach them in a Normal or Frenzied Tournament game.
The goal in a Time Trial race is to beat the Target Time, which will net you
a bronze, silver or gold medal. Your medals will be displayed on the Time Trial
race selection menu, next to the race name.
You can also race to beat the Weasel's Time. The Weasel's Time is the time
it takes to win the race using every sneaky trick in the book: cutting corners,
slipping past obstacles. Beating the Weasel's Time gets you the coveted Golden
Weasel commemorative figurine.
When you replay a Time Trial race, a ghost image of your previous play will
appear right on the course. This way, you can race yourself to the finish! But
note, the ghost image will only appear when you play the same course two or
more times in a row. Switching courses will cause the ghost to reset.
MIRROR TOURNAMENT:
When you've beaten a Tournament game on Normal or Frenzied difficulty, you
unlock the Mirror Tournament. The Mirror Tournament is the tournament as seen
through a mirror, reversing the left and right sides of the screen. This unique
challenge will test your true Hamsterball skills, as every obstacle, ramp, and
pipe is reversed!

Troubleshooting
---------------
DIRECTX:
Hamsterball requires you to have DirectX 8 drivers or later installed. To get
the latest version of DirectX, please go to: http://www.microsoft.com/directx/
RESOLUTION:
Hamsterball can be played in 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768 or 1280x1024
resolution. Game performance decreases greatly as the resolution is increased.
For older computers, 640x480 is recommended.
SCREEN COLOR DEPTH:
Hamsterball can be played in 16-bit or 32-bit screen color depth. You may
experience better performance in 16-bit mode, which is recommended.
SAFE MODE:
Some video cards are not 100% compatible with DirectX. This can cause
graphical glitches, including but not restricted to, foggy screens, strange
black areas and stuttering. The game can be operated in Safe Mode, which will
reduce the graphics quality but increase the compatibility.
BUG REPORTING:
Though we've tried to roll all the bugs out of Hamsterball, sometimes a bug or
two slips through...
If you experience any problems with Hamsterball, please first try to update
your video card drivers. Many graphical bugs are solved simply by obtaining the
latest drivers from your card manufacturer or from Windows Update.
If that doesn't fix the problem you're experiencing, and playing the game in
Safe Mode doesn't help, please visit www.raptisoft.com and follow the "Contact"
link for information on how to report the bug to Raptisoft.

Credits
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Hamsterball was created at Raptisoft, LLC:
Game Design......: John Raptis
Programming......: Nick Raptis
Level Design.....: John Raptis
Gary Clair
Physics..........: Paul Nettle
Music............: Skaven
Creature Design..: John Raptis
Gary Clair
Level Models.....: Steve Warner
Rodent Models....: John Hsia
Play Balancing...: Brady Wright
Game Installer...: Brian Fiete
With additional contribution from GameHouse, Inc.:
Producer.........: Garrett Link
Art..............: Rodney Bambao
Quality Assurance: Teagen Densmore
Brandon Godfrey
Chuck Little
Kazunori Sasakura
Jason Katsanis

Limitations and License

-----------------------
GENERAL PRODUCT LICENSE:
This Copy Of HAMSTERBALL (The "Software") Is Intended Solely For Your Personal
Non-Commercial Home Entertainment Use. You May Not Decompile, Reverse Engineer,
Or Disassemble The Software, Except As Permitted By Law. Raptisoft LLC And Its
Licensors Retain All Right, Title And Interest In The Software Including All
Intellectual Property Rights Embodied Therein And Derivatives Thereof. The
Software, Including, Without Limitation, All Code, Data Structures, Characters,
Images, Sounds, Text, Screens, Game Play, Derivative Works And All Other
Elements Of The Software May Not Be Copied, Resold, Rented, Leased,
Distributed (Electronically Or Otherwise), Used On A Pay-Per-Play, Coin-Op Or
Other For-Charge Basis, Or For Any Commercial Purpose. Any Permissions Granted
Herein Are Provided On A Temporary Basis And Can Be Withdrawn By Raptisoft, LLC
At Any Time. All Rights Not Expressly Granted Are Reserved.
ACCEPTANCE OF LICENSE TERMS:
By Acquiring And Retaining This Software, You Assent To The Terms And
Restrictions Of This Limited License. If You Do Not Accept The Terms Of This
Limited License, Do Not Install or Use This Software.