DX-BALL
FAQ/WALKTHROUGH
By mnb_0000
Version 1.1
DATE: 8-5-04
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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1. Legal Garbage
2. Update history
3. Basic game dynamics
4. The Powerups
5. Scoring
6. Level Strategies
7. Cheats
8. Credits
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1) LEGAL GARBAGE
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You may read and print this FAQ. You may share this with anyone as long
as you don't get any money and no one else does either. You may link
indirectly through GameFaqs to this FAQ but you may NOT link directly.
You must ask me for permission if you want to use this on your website;
my address if mnb_0000@hotmail.com.
this FAQ is copyright 2002-2004 Matthew Benedict. All rights reserved.
All copyrights mentioned in the guide belong to their respective owners.
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2) UPDATE HISTORY
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Version 1.1: Updated strategy for level 47. Made FAQ 79 characters per
line.
Version 1.0: Basic game dynamics, power-up descriptions, cheats, and
strategies for all 50 levels.
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3) BASIC GAME DYNAMICS:
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1. Object of the game: Get rid of all of the bricks that you can destroy
with your current power-ups. You must keep the ball from falling past
your paddle or you’ll lose a life.
2. How to get rid of bricks: You use your ball to get rid of bricks. If
you have a blaster, you can also use that.
3. The controls:
- Moving the mouse moves the paddle.
- A left click fires the blasters.
- A left click also releases the ball from the grab paddle.
- Press P on the keyboard to pause the game.
- Press CTRL+ALT+ESC to minimize the game.
- Press ESC to end the game.
- Press ALT+F4 to close the game.
4. Types of bricks:
a) Colored bricks: These are the regular old bricks and are easy to
destroy with any ball. They take one hit.
b) Exploding bricks: These are not too common after the first few
levels. They destroy themselves and any bricks next to them when you hit
them.
c) Pink bricks: These are invisible until you hit them or get a “zap
bricks” (see power-ups). They take one hit to destroy with anything once
they are visible.
d) Yellow bricks: These are indestructible with a normal ball or a
blaster, but an exploding brick or a powered-up ball can take them out.
Sometimes, these have pink on them, which means you must hit them once
to turn them yellow and finish the level. You don’t have to destroy
these unless you zap them and turn them orange.
e) Gray bricks: There are light gray, middle gray, and dark gray bricks.
Dark grays take one hit to destroy from a normal ball or a blaster,
middles take two, and lights take 3. When hit, they turn the next shade
down. If you get a “zap bricks”, all gray bricks turn dark gray, making
your life much easier.
5. If there is only one brick left on the screen and you can’t hit it,
don’t fear! Eventually, a lightening bolt will come out and zap it!
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4) THE POWER UPS
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Some power-ups are designed to help you out, but not all of them. The
red ones are considered to be bad, and they seem to show up more than
the blue ones. Gray ones could be good or bad, depending on your
situation.
BLUE POWER-UPS
1. Blaster. This is not a great power-up IMO. You get less points for
destroying bricks with a blaster than you do with the ball. Still, it is
useful for those times when you have 2 or 3 bricks left and your ball
won’t cooperate, or when theres a lot of gray bricks and your ball has
no power-ups.
2. Grab Paddle. When you have this, the ball “sticks” to your paddle
when you hit it until you click the mouse. Very useful for making the
ball go where you want it to go.
3. Thru Bricks. This is a very useful power-up for your ball. It allows
it to go through bricks, destroying any kind of brick in one hit,
instead of bouncing off like a normal ball does. It also increases the
point value of each brick.
4. Fireball. IMO, the most useful power-up. When you hit a brick with
this, it acts as if the brick was an exploding brick. It destroys any
brick with one hit and increases the point value of each brick. This
cures “small ball” as well.
5. Multiply Exploding. This is only useful in levels with exploding
bricks. It takes whatever is above, below, and to the right or left of
any exploding bricks on the level and replaces them with exploding
bricks.
6. Detonate exploding. This sets off all the exploding bricks on the
level, if any exist.
7. Zap bricks. This is very useful when you have no power-ups or when
invisible bricks are giving you grief. It makes all yellow bricks
destructible, turns all gray bricks dark gray, and reveals all invisible
pink bricks.
8. Extra Life. This gives you an extra life, at the cost of any paddle
upgrades other than size. That means you lose blasters and grab paddle.
9. Level Skip. This brings you to the next level at the expense of any
possible points in the level you are on.
10. Slow ball. Slows down your ball and also fixes “small ball”.
GRAY POWER-UPS
1. Paddle enlarger. This makes your paddle bigger. It is useful to get
one or two of these, but getting too many increases your chances of
picking up an annoyingly-placed death.
2. Paddle shrink. These bring your paddle size down a level. Only get
them if your paddle is too big.
3. Split ball. Each of your balls becomes two balls. This is good if you
can keep track of both, but usually I just let the extra one go to avoid
the chance of missing both.
RED POWER-UPS
1. Shrink ball. This isn’t so bad, unless you have a fireball, since it
gets rid of that power-up. However, you keep the “thru bricks” ability
even with a small ball.
2. Falling bricks. This can be bad if you have no power-ups, but it is
easily countered with a “thru bricks” or a fireball. In fact, it can
even help you if you have a “thru bricks”, since it makes it easier to
aim for the bricks.
3. Fast ball. This can be bad if you have a small paddle or if you get
it at a bad time. It instantly speeds up your ball to max speed. If your
ball is already at max speed, all that happens is you gain 100 points.
4. Super Shrink. These are evil. They reduce your paddle to the smallest
possible size and make it a nightmare to keep the ball in the air. Avoid
it whenever possible.
5. Kill Paddle aka “death”. If you pick this up, you lose a life
instantly. These are annoyingly common and often fall right along with
your ball, forcing you to lose a life automatically. This happens more
often if you have a large paddle, though.
POWER-UP COMBOS
1. Blaster + Thru Bricks
When you shoot your blaster, it will go through the ENTIRE ROW of
bricks, including yellow bricks and pink bricks. This method of
destruction is the fastest, but is also worth the least points. It is
also rare.
2. Fireball + Thru Bricks
The ultimate brick destroyer. This leaves a 3-by-3 trail of destruction
through any bricks it touches, making the level seem all to easy. Too
bad you can’t keep power-ups into the next level.
3. Thru Bricks + Falling Bricks
The falling bricks make it easy to aim, and the thru bricks cancels out
the desired ricochet effect that the game tries to create with the red
power-up.
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5) SCORING
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-Every power-up is worth 100 points, including the red ones (even death
is worth 100 points).
- Hitting a destructible brick with a normal ball gives you 8-12 points.
I don’t know exactly how this works.
- Getting a fireball or a thru bricks increases the number of points per
brick (I think its around 16-20).
- Destroying a brick with the blaster decreases its point value (4-6
points).
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6) STRATEGIES FOR THE LEVELS (with names when appropriate)
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I have only actually played up to level 34, but, using the level editor,
I will attempt to write strategies for the other 16 levels.
Level 1
This level has alternating diagonals or bricks, between colored and
exploding. Getting a brick detonator will finish the level for you, as
will a multiply exploding once you hit one of the exploding bricks. All
in all, a very easy level.
Level 2
This is a slightly more difficult level, as a few yellow bricks and some
pink bricks enter the fray. The pink bricks are all around the bottom of
the bricks, but hitting the first row of exploding bricks gets rid of
them. If you get a multiply exploding in this level, you can complete it
by hitting an exploding brick.
Level 3
First get rid of the colored bricks in the middle and the exploding
bricks, and hope for SOMETHING that can get rid of the yellow bricks. If
you can’t get rid of them, you’ll have a hard time hitting the bricks
above them.
Level 4
This level has a lot of invisible bricks; they completely surround the
exploding bricks. You should attempt to repeatedly bounce the ball along
the right wall, hitting the invisible bricks and revealing them. Then,
try to get the ball to destroy the ones it reveals. If you get a
multiply exploding, you are in luck; just hit the exploding bricks and
all the invisible bricks AND all the outer yellow bricks go with them!
Eventually, you will get either a multiply exploding or an exploding
detonator. If you get the latter, pick it up and hope that you get
something that can destroy the outer yellow bricks. If you do, just
destroy the rest of the bricks with ease. If not, good luck.
Level 5
There are invisible bricks between the rows of colored bricks here.
However, this level is very easy because you can bounce the ball up the
right side and it will stay on the top of the bricks for a long time.
While its up there, you will probably get a fireball and/or a thru
bricks, which will make your life easy.
Level 6
There is little noteworthy to say about this level. Just destroy the
exploding bricks on the outside and then go for the colored bricks in
the middle.
Level 7
Ugh, this ones a pain. There are invisible bricks in the spaces between
colored bricks. Get rid of those colored bricks first and hope that
something useful, like a zap bricks, fireball, or thru bricks, comes out
of one of them. If not, you’ll have to hammer slowly at the gray bricks
until you DO get something. I even suggest that you use your blaster in
this level if you get one, which is a rarity for me.
Level 8
This level is nothing special. Blow up the bricks on the outside and
then work on the clump of bricks in the middle. A zap bricks will be
helpful but not necessary.
Level 9
There are invisible bricks all around the exploding bricks on the top.
Having said that, IMO, the best way to go about this level is to keep
the ball on the top as much as you can, hitting the invisible bricks and
then getting rid of them, until you get a useful powerup like a fireball
or a thru bricks. If you get stuck on the bottom with all the gray
bricks, good luck.
Level 10- “The butterfly”
This level only has one difficult thing to overcome: there are four
bricks in the middle that are surrounded, except on the top, by yellow
bricks. There are also invisible bricks around the exploding ones on the
bottom, but thats no big deal. Just hope that you get at least a zap
bricks before you get to those four bricks in the middle.
Level 11
This level is not bad at all. Get rid of the dark gray bricks. Multiply
exploding are surprisingly common in this level and if you get one and
hit an exploding brick, it will destroy the whole top part of the level!
If not, just get up there are do the dirty work yourself; it isn’t tat
hard.
Level 12
There is nothing noteworthy to say about this level; just destroy all of
the colored bricks; there is nothing but what you see when you start.
Level 13- “The Alien”
In this level, I suggest that you work on the bottom bricks first and
hope you get a good power-up. Then try to hit the colored bricks on the
top, and go after the gray bricks last. The colored bricks are
surrounding yellow bricks, which will quickly get annoying if you can’t
destroy them, but its not too bad.
Level 14
This is an interesting level. All of the exploding bricks are surrounded
by invisible bricks on all possible sides. If you get a brick detonator,
it’s all over. If not, just work on them one-by-one until you either
destroy all of them or you get a brick detonator.
Level 15
This level will be VERY, VERY difficult if you don’t get something that
can destroy yellow bricks. There is a line of yellow bricks on top of
the big clump of colored bricks, there is one colored brick that is
stuck in a “hook” of yellow bricks, and there are colored bricks that
are well-sheltered by yellow bricks on top of the large clump.
Basically, if you don’t get a good power-up, you’re doomed, unless
you’re better than I am :/.
Level 16
This is another difficult level thanks to yellow bricks. There is a row
with groups of four yellow bricks followed by groups of empty space four
blocks long, and the pattern is opposite on a higher row. In between
there are many gray and black bricks, and above all that mess is a large
group of normal bricks. This is another level where I hope you get a
good power-up, or you’ll be here for a while...
Level 17- “Green flowers”
This level is pretty easy; the yellow bricks are easy to avoid and there
are no surprise pink bricks. You just have to be careful: if you are
unlucky, you CAN get the ball hopelessly stuck between two groups of
yellow bricks, thus forcing you to restart the game. Just be careful and
hopefully that won’t happen.
Level 18
No surprises in this one; just a whole lot of bricks. Destroy the
exploding bricks first to make the rest of your job easier, and you
should have little trouble.
Level 19- “The American Flag”
Ahh, the American flag level. Again, there are no surprises, although
the area in which you have to aim is relatively small. There are a lot
of gray bricks in this level, but chances are you’ll get a zap bricks
eventually. Honestly, I’ve never NOT gotten one in this level.
Level 20
Hoo boy, this one could give you grief if you aren’t good. Make sure
your first shot hits the only exposed destructible brick, and then wait
and bounce your ball around while the rest of the exploding bricks blow
up. Then keep getting the ball through the 3-brick-wide space that the
explosion created and it will, eventually, destroy the rest of the
bricks.
Level 21
Lots of yellow bricks in seemingly random places here. I suggest aiming
at the clump of destructible bricks on the lower left first, since
they’re the easiest to hit. Then go for the top left, then the one in
the top middle, and tackle the one on the top left last. Hopefully,
you’ll get a zap bricks, thru bricks, or fireball during this escapade,
in which case you can just destroy the yellow bricks in the way of the
pink-and-yellow bricks on the lower right. Also take note that there are
two invisible pink bricks in the middle of the top-right cluster.
Level 22
There are invisible pink bricks around all the exploding bricks on the
bottom. Destroy them first and collect any good stuff they drop. Then,
you must aim for an exploding brick on the top of that mass in the
middle (assuming you didn’t get any really good power-ups). After that,
wait for all the bricks to explode. The rest is easy; just destroy the
rest of the now-exposed bricks.
Level 23
You should have no trouble here. Just like level 18, destroy the
exploding bricks first and then get the ball in there and wreck some
havoc.
Level 24
This is a difficult level; there are lots of yellow brick formations
that are tough to get your ball into. Therefore, while you destroy the
colored bricks that surround them, you should hope for a good power-up.
If not, prepare to take a long time to destroy the colored bricks inside
the yellow bricks.
Level 25
This is the half-way point in the game and, despite the presence of many
yellow bricks, it is not terribly difficult. It is surprisingly easy to
get the ball between the rows of yellow bricks either along the sides or
through the middle. You should have little trouble.
Level 26
This is a very easy level; what you see is what you get. There is
nothing in the way, so just destroy all those bricks unhindered and
enjoy it while it lasts.
Level 27- “Treehouse”
This is a difficult level because of the sheer number of bricks here.
You must get rid of all the colored bricks (there are no pink bricks)
and get around the yellow bricks. This level is easier with, but not
practically impossible without, the good powerups.
Level 28
This is a very easy level. The four yellow bricks are so placed that
they rarely get in your way, so just stroll along destroying the rest of
the bricks, all of which are visible.
Level 29- “The Rose”
Wow, theres nothing here at all! Just destroy the very few colored
bricks and get out of this level.
Level 30
There are a lot of bricks in this level, and many of them, including the
entire bottom row, are gray bricks. You’ll likely take a long time to
complete this level, but it’s not particularly hard.
Level 31
This is an annoying level. It requires luck, more than anything else,
that you can get the ball between the diagonal rows of yellow bricks.
However, once you succeed, it is not terribly hard, just annoying.
Level 32
There are invisible pink bricks all around the center formation or
bricks. Having said that, the best way to tackle this level is to
destroy the center bricks first and then concentrate, one at a time, on
the formations of yellow and orange bricks on the left and right.
Level 33- “Pac-Man”
There are no surprises here. Just destroy what you see.
**NOTE: This is the last level I have completed. I will only give
general level descriptions for the rest and some possible strategies,
but none are guaranteed to work.***
Level 34
This is a very tough level. All the spaces between the yellow bricks and
the exploding ones are invisible pink bricks. You have to aim through
those tiny holes, which get bigger as you destroy the exploding bricks,
to hit the exploding bricks. Once you destroy all those, the rest is
easy; just destroy the colored bricks on the top.
Level 35- “Arrow”
This isn’t a difficult level from the looks of it. Just be sure to note
that there is an invisible brick in front of the one the arrow appears
to be pointing to.
Level 36- “Koala Bear”
This looks very tough. All those spaces in the face in the middle are
invisible bricks. Try to keep track of which ones you’ve already
destroyed or else you’ll have a hard time finding the ones you missed.
That is, unless you get a zap bricks.
Level 37
This does not appear to be a difficult level, although it may be tough
to get through the patterns of yellow bricks to the top rows. As usual,
a fireball/thru bricks/zap bricks will help you with this endeavor, but
it appears that it isn’t too hard anyway.
Level 38
In this level, I suggest that you destroy as many bricks on the bottom
as you can before you attempt to get the ball through one of those small
holes in the yellow bricks. That should make it easier to aim.
Level 39
Go up the middle first, since those are all colored bricks and the rest
are gray. When you get a clear path, hit the ball up there and let it
hit the yellow bricks on each side. Then work on the gray bricks.
Level 40- “Tetris”
Wow, tough level! You’ll have to be very lucky, very skilled, or very
patient to beat this level since all the bricks are in a very large
yellow brick chamber with its entrance near the top! Don’t worry; if you
die here, you’re farther than I ever was.
Level 41
There are invisible bricks all around the exploding ones. Other than
watching out for that, this level appears not to give too much trouble.
Level 42
This is another level with yellow bricks in seemingly random locations.
Just try to get around them to get to the colored bricks and the yellow
ones with pink on them which are surrounded by them. Work on the
bottom-left cluster first.
Level 43
This appears to be an easy level. Destroy the exploding bricks and the
yellow ones go with them, giving you alleyways toward more exploding
ones. Repeat until you’re through.
Level 44
This is just a random cluster of destructible bricks. What do you do?
Destroy them! It doesn’t look too hard since its just like many other
similar levels.
Level 45
All the rows with an extra purple brick on one side and a missing one on
the other are full of pink bricks. Thus, just like in level 36, you MUST
keep track of which ones you’ve destroyed. Other than that, you should
have no trouble, but its a mighty task, so be prepared.
Level 46
This level is full of random gray bricks. It probably is difficult if
you don’t get any good power-ups, but it can be done, especially if
you’ve gotten this far.
Level 47
When I first looked at this level, I thought it would be very hard if I
played it. A fellow player of mine who has actually completed the level
has rebuked me. Here is his input:
“I beat DX ball multiple times. You have a few errors but let me
point out the most annoying one. level 47 is WAY easy. all that
you need to do is get your ball stuck between some of the
indestructible bricks to cause an infinite loop. most people do it
by accident. any way, what happens is all the indestructible bricks
become destructible after like 2 min. very easy. the end.”
Makes sense to me. Thanks Joe.
Level 48
Eek, just when you thought it was over after 47, they throw 48 at you.
All the spaces in the middle are invisible pink bricks. I suggest
working one layer at a time, trying to hit all the exploding bricks on
the sides to help you get through all the yellow bricks. It doesn’t help
that theres only a 2-space opening at the bottom of this mess either.
Luckily, there are more bricks to destroy than in 47, which means that,
sooner or later, you are likely to get a power-up and beat the rest of
the level in style.
Level 49- “Patchwork Quilt”
This is kind of a breather after levels 47 and 48. The level alternates,
in 3x2 boxes, colored bricks and gray bricks which take up the entire
field. It, however, is similar to the other full-screen colored levels;
just take your time and eventually you’ll get a power-up or you’ll just
give up.
Level 50- “Last Level”
This is a very simple level intended as a victory dance for you. Just
destroy all the bricks and pat yourself on the back for beating one of
the most demanding games out there as far as patience goes. You probably
just spent 2-3 hours straight hitting balls with a paddle. Reward
yourself!
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7) CHEATS
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Note that cheats decrease the fun factor of the game and also your
points if you use the blaster. However, I feel obligated to list them
since I used the level editor cheat to help me with the descriptions of
the levels. Note that the in-game cheats must be entered in each level.
- Level Editor: On the title screen (the one before you actually play),
press ctrl and F1 at the same time.
- Grab paddle: While playing, hold control and press F2.
- Blasters: While playing, hold control and press F3.
- Enlarge paddle: While playing, hold control and press F4. You can only
get your paddle one size above the size you start at with this cheat.
- Reverse all paddle power-ups and return the paddle to normal: While
playing, hold control and press F1.
- To make the game play music, hold control and press F5. However, I
suggest you play your own music instead :).
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CREDITS
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I thank and credit:
CjayC for posting this guide,
mnb_0000 for writing this guide,
Micheal P. Welsh for making the game,
Joe Barlow for his input on level 47,
and Softkey Inc. for making the CD “Game Empire 3” on which I found the game.
