1.0 - What is Trackballs?

Trackballs is a simple game similar to the classical game Marble Madness on the Amiga in the 80's. By steering a marble ball through a labyrinth filled with vicious spikes, pools of acid and other obstacles, the player collects points. When the ball reaches the destination it continues to the next, more difficult track - unless the time runs out.

It should be noted that this game is not intended to be a replica of Marble Madness but rather inspired by it. For instance the game uses advanced 3D graphics even though the original game had no real use for it. Also we aim at making the game highly configurable by a scripting extension (Guile) and provide a simple editor by which new levels easily can be created.

2.0 - Starting Trackballs

After starting the game you will find yourself presented with menu of different options. If you want to change some settings such as graphics quality, language support or input devices go to the "Settings" screen.

To start playing a game go to the "New game" menu option. On this screen you can enter your name by hovering with the mouse over the "Player name" field and typing on the keyboard. Giving your real name here is a good idea since it lets the game remember some statistics such as which levels you have completed, your best scores etc. After entering your name you should decide which "level set" you want to play. These level sets are like different version of the game with a different feel to them, often made by different people all over the internet. You can browse between the different sets of levels by left and/or right clicking on the name of the level set.

Once you have decided which level set to play you can start the game by pressing the "Start game" button or you can first select difficulty by left/right clicking on the difficulty button.

Tip: You can even customize the appearance of your ball here by left and right clicking on it. Try clicking until you have a good looking ball.

2.1 - Playing the game

Once you are in the game you will see the first level. To actually start playing press the spacebar key. You can now move around the ball using either the mouse, the four arrow keys, the numerical keyboard, the QWAS keys, or by using a joystick if you had configured that in the settings screen. If you get stuck, press 'k' to restart with one life less.

The goal of the game is to get points while moving through the different levels and finding the exits. Usually you have a time limit and will die when the time is up, so you'd better be quick about finding the next exit. On your way you will encounter a number of obstacles of various kinds, some equipment to help you and different terrain which is more of less difficult to get pass.

Good luck!