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. ---