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- Black Box Rules
- ---------------
-
- The Black Box playing field consists of an 8x8 field, bordered by 32
- 'lasers.' A number of balls are hidden within the field at random
- locations. The object of Black Box is to locate the hidden balls by
- firing laser beams into the field.
-
- When fired, the laser will inform you of the behavior of the beam
- by displaying a symbol. An arrow pointing to a verticle bar, that
- indicates a hit(the beam struck the ball and did not exit the field.
- If you see a circled arrow, then the beam was reflected so that it
- exited the field from the same place that it entered. All other
- symbols indicate that the beam deflected so that it exited from a
- point other than that which it entered.
-
- Every laser that you fire adds one point to your score. You want to
- locate the balls with as few points as possible. The best(low) score
- for each level is displayed next to your current score.
-
- To fire a beam into the Black Box, tap on one of the 32 lasers
- around the border of the field. You will immediately see the results.
- When you believe that you have located a ball, tap on the black cell
- where you think it is located. A white ball will mark the cell. Tap
- again to unmark the cell. After you have located all of the balls,
- tap on the Check button to reveal the cells and obtain your final
- score. 5 points are added for each mismarked ball.
-
- Some examples follow.
- These examples will only be readable on a fixed-pitch display
-
- Legend:
-
- H = Hit
- R = Reflected
- 1,2,3,4,5 = Deflections
-
- ---
- H H
- . . . | . | . .
- . . . | . | . .
- H ------O---|----H
- . . . | . | . .
- H ------|---O----H
- . . . | . | . .
- . . . | . | . .
- . . . | . | . .
- H H
-
- As you can see, a hit occurs when a ball is struck directly, the
- beam must be in the same row or column as the ball for a hit to
- occur.
- ---
- 1 2
- . | . | . . . .
- 1--| . |--------2
- . . O . . . . .
- 3--| . |--------H
- . | . | . . . .
- 4--|---|--------4
- . | . | . . . .
- . | . O . . . .
- 3
-
- Here, 1-3 represent beams that have been deflected off of a ball
- and sent out of the field. You can also achieve a hit when your
- beam strikes a ball after being deflected by another. '4' is a
- beam that hit no balls and passed directly through the field.
- ---
- . . . . . . . .
- . . . . . . . .
- . . O . . . . .
- R----.----------R
- . . O . . . . .
- . . . . . . . .
- . . . . . . . .
- . . . . O . . .
- R H R
-
- Here are some examples of reflection; the return of a beam to
- the laser from which it was shot. The two balls at the upper
- part of this field both try to deflect the beam and together
- reverse its course. The ball at the bottom causes a reflection
- because it doesn't allow the beam to leave the laser.
- ---
- . . . . . . . .
- . . . . . . . .
- . . . O . . . .
- R----| . . O----H
- . . | . . O----H
- . O . O . O----H
- . . . . . . . .
- . . . . . . . .
-
- Here's an example of a deflected reflection and some hits.
- ---
- . . . . . . . .
- . . . O . . . .
- . . O . |------1
- 1--| . . | . . .
- . ------- . . .
- O . . . . O . .
- . |-----| . . .
- . | . . | . . .
- 2 2
-
- Here's a coupe examples of multiple deflections.
- ---