VENICE DELUXE version 1.0 June 26, 2007 Developed and published by PopCap Games: www.popcap.com Thanks for downloading Venice Deluxe. We hope you enjoy the game! GETTING STARTED Create Your Profile When you first launch Venice, you will be asked to enter your name. This allows your progress and high scores to be saved when you quit. If there are several people playing on one computer, create separate profiles for each. To do this, click on the link in the lower left-hand side of the Main Menu that says "If this is not you, click here." A dialog box will appear allowing you to select another identity, or create a new one. MAIN MENU The Main Menu screen appears at the beginning of the game, and can be accessed while playing the game by clicking on the Menu button in the lower left corner of the screen. Play Now Venice has four game modes: Journey, Flood, Trickshot and Survival. At the beginning of the game only the Journey modes is available. Flood mode becomes available once you have completed Building 2 in Journey mode. Trickshot mode becomes available once you have completed Journey mode, and Survival mode become available once you have completed Flood mode. High Scores The High Scores screens show high scores for the various game modes. Journey mode high scores appear first; clicking "Next" will cycle through Flood, Trickshot and Survival high scores. Options The Options are accessible from the Main Menu screen, which appears at the beginning of the game and can be accessed by clicking the Menu button in the lower left corner while playing the game. The options are: - Music Volume: This slider allows you to set the music volume to your taste. - Sound Volume: This slider allows you to set the volume of the sound effects to your taste. - HW Acceleration: This box can be checked to improve performance on computers with supported video cards. - Fullscreen: If this is checked, Venice will use your entire computer screen. If it is not checked, Venice will be played in a window. Help The Help Screen shows the basic elements of Venice gameplay. Credits The Credits Screen displays the names and various duties of the people who made the game. Exit To shut down Venice click "Exit" on the Main Menu. In windowed mode you can also exit by clicking the "X" box in the upper right corner of the window. PLAYING THE GAME GOAL Venice is sinking! The buildings have lost their treasures and are slowly subsiding beneath angry waves. Your job is to launch the various treasures up into their proper places on the plates attached to the walls and towers of the city. It's up to you to restore the treasures and the city to glorious life! THE BASICS The majority of the Venice game screen shows a Venetian building. Attached to the walls of the building are plates that contain silhouetted slots of the different kinds of treasures. At the bottom of the screen is a golden gondola that holds treasures. Your task is to launch the treasures from the gondola up into the corresponding slots in the plates. When all the slots in a plate are filled, the plate disappears. When all the plates on a screen are filled, the building sinks and the screen scrolls upward to reveal more plates. Fill all the slots on all the plates on a building to restore the building, raise it from the waves and complete a level. CONTROLS In Venice, you control a cursor that you can move around the screen. At the bottom of the screen is a gondola that moves to stay under the cursor. The gondola holds two treasures; one large main treasure on the deck of the gondola and a smaller secondary treasure contained in a circle underneath the main one. Click the left mouse button to launch the main treasure. The treasure will fly directly up towards the place the cursor was when you clicked, and the secondary treasure will move up to the main position on the gondola. Click the right mouse button to switch the main and secondary treasures. TREASURES There are seven kinds of treasures in Venice: Keys, Hearts, Coins, Rings, Vases, Stars and Lyres (Lyres only appear after Building 30[?]). All treasures launch and score identically. However, there are small differences in the way they bounce off obstacles due to their varying shapes. A treasure flies upward upon launch from the gondola. If it strikes or comes close to a matching slot in a plate, it will attach to and fill that slot. Unattached treasures in flight will be deflected or redirected by already- attached treasures, bumpers, blocks, bricks, chutes, teleports, baskets or the sides or top of the screen. A treasure bouncing around the screen will shatter after around 20 bounces. If a treasure falls in the water, it is gone (in Journey Mode this costs the player one life; in Flood or Survival mode this raises the water level). If the gondola catches a treasure before it hits the water, the caught treasure replaces the gondola's main treasure and leaves the gondola's secondary treasure unaffected. PLATES Plates, and the treasure-shaped slots they contain, are the targets in Venice. Plates come in a variety of different shapes such as bars, circles, half- circles, T-shapes, X-shapes and more. They may hold as few as one and as many as eight treasure slots. Most plates have a hinge point around which they can rotate; placing a treasure on one side will cause the plate to swing or see-saw. Plates may be stationary or they may move along a predetermined path. When all the treasure slots in a plate have been filled, the plate disappears. If a plate with unfilled slots sinks beneath the water line, the player loses. TUMBLE COMBOS Matches tumble down for combos. That is, if you place a treasure in a high slot and there are lower empty slots of the same type nearby, then the treasure tumbles down to the lower slots and fills them as well. Tumble bonus points are scored with each tumble. Super tumble bonus points are awarded if a treasure tumbles more than twice. First slot - 10 points 1st tumble - 100 points 2nd tumble - 200 points 3rd tumble (super tumble) - 300 points 4th tumble (super tumble) - 400 points 5th tumble (super tumble) - 500 points 6th tumble (super tumble) - 600 points 7th tumble (super tumble) - 700 points 8th tumble (super tumble) - 800 points 9th tumble (super tumble) - 900 points ... and so on. Creating tumble combos is the primary challenge of the game. Not only do tumble combos generate lots of points, but particularly elaborate tumbles spawn power- ups that you can catch and use. OBSTACLES & COMPLICATIONS Besides plates, there are several other kinds of objects on the game screen that can impede or complicate your progress. - BUMPERS: Bumpers are stone walls or ledges off of which treasures will bounce. Some bumpers have arrows on them; hitting these bumpers with a treasure will cause the bumper to move in the direction indicated. If bumpers sink below the top of the gondola, they become transparent and the player can shoot through them. - LOCKS: A lock is a special padlock-shaped plate with a single treasure slot. Filling this slot will cause a block to disappear (see Blocks). - BLOCKS: Blocks are special bumpers that disappear when a lock is filled. If blocks sink below the top of the gondola, they become transparent and the player can shoot through them. - BRICKS: Bricks are bumpers made of a special brittle material that crumbles when hit by a treasure. - CHUTES: Chutes are cylindrical objects that swing around a base. Any treasure shot into the base of a chute will be redirected in whatever direction the chute is pointing at the time. - SHELVES: A shelf is a single-slot plate on which a number of treasures or Wild Shots can rest. If the slot is filled, the shelf disappears and the treasures fall to the bottom of the screen, filling any matching slots they encounter on the way. - TELEPORTS: Teleports are swirling objects that cause treasures to warp from point to point. Treasures exit the exit teleport in the same direction and speed as they enter the entry teleport. So, for example, a treasure fired up to the bottom of one teleport will exit going up the top of the other, and a treasure traveling rightward into the left side of one teleport will emerge traveling rightward from the right side of the other teleport. In cases where there are more than two teleports, trial and error will show which teleport is connected to which. - BASKETS: Baskets are basket-shaped objects that catch treasures, then turn over and drop them down. POWER-UPS Power-ups are coins of various kinds that pop up and confer different powers if you catch them with the gondola. Power-ups can appear in several different ways. They appear on the third tumble of a tumble combo, sometimes they rest on top of plates or shelves and are released when their perches are disturbed, and other times they pop spontaneously out of a plate as it is cleared. - Power Shot: The power shot allows you to shoot a treasure up through various barriers including bumpers, blocks, bricks and already-placed treasures. When a power shot is active, a shimmering "laser guide" projects up from the gondola towards the top of the screen. The power shot lasts for 7 shots. - Combo Shot: The combo shot allows you to fill all empty slots of a particular treasure shape by hitting any slot of that treasure shape. Put another way, the combo shot acts like an all-directional tumble combo. When the combo shot is active, sparkles and tiny versions of the main treasure spray off of the gondola, and once the launched treasure fills a slot then all the empty slots of that treasure type glow as the combo shot fills them. The combo shot lasts for one shot. - Wild Shot: The wild shot is a rolling rainbow-colored orb that passes through empty slots and fills them as it goes. Slots that have been filled with a wild shot do not set off tumble combos. Wild shots last for one shot. In Journey mode, some shelves hold wild shot orbs. If the shelf is made to disappear, the wild shot orbs fall and fill any blank slot they hit. You can catch those falling wild shot orbs, but you do not receive the wild shot power- up for doing so. - Wings: The wings power-up allows you to fly the gondola around anywhere on the screen and place treasures wherever you please. It lasts for about eight seconds, after which the gondola returns to the bottom of the screen. - Cupid: The Cupid power-up summons Cupid the angel to assist you. He assumes a position on the left side of the screen, and if you shoot him a treasure, he will fly up and place it as high as he can. [Treasures placed by Cupid do not, however, set off tumble combos.] Cupid sticks around and helps for three shots. If not given any pieces for 8 seconds, Cupid flies away. - X2 Score Multiplier: The score multiplier power-up doubles the score for shots. It lasts for the rest of the level, or until you die. Multiple X2 score multipliers stack their effects, so catching two will quadruple your score for shots, catching three will octuple your score for shots, and so on. - 1-Up (Journey mode only): In Journey mode, the 1-Up power-up gives you another try, and thus another chance to survive in case a treasure falls into the sea. - Reverse (Flood and Survival modes only): In Flood or Survival modes, the spiral-shaped reverse power-up moves the building up out of the water and gives you more time to fill the remaining empty slots before the plates sink into the sea. SKILL SHOTS Some shots of greater difficulty give you bonus points. - Bank Shot: Bounce a treasure off a bumper and into a slot. 500 points. - Lucky Bounce: Bounce a treasure off of 4 or more bumpers and into a slot. 500 points. GAME MODES Venice has four game modes: a sequential story mode (Journey), a more challenging time pressure mode (Flood), an endless endurance mode (Survival) and a special trick shot mode (Trickshot). JOURNEY Journey mode is the primary mode, and it is available at the beginning of the game. In Journey, the buildings do not sink, allowing you time to carefully pick your shots. You begin each building with three tries and you lose a try each time you launch a treasure, fail to place it in a slot and allow it to fall into the water. If you lose all your tries you lose your score for that building and must go back to the beginning of the level. In Journey, the levels come in groups of three: two regular building levels and a trickshot level. The levels are further organized into eight neighborhoods made of nine levels each. The neighborhoods are: Welcome to Venice, Lunar Lanes, Cupid's Cove, Venetian Villa, Grotto Ghetto, San Marco Square, Vesta's Vista and Lavender Lair. FLOOD Flood is the secondary mode, and it is available once you have completed Building 2 in Journey mode. Flood is similar to Journey mode in that it is also organized into eight neighborhoods that comprise 9 levels each. Unlike in Journey mode, however, the buildings are constantly sinking, which in turn places time pressure on your efforts to place the treasures. In addition to the buildings’ natural sink rate, each shot causes them to sink a bit more. There are no tries in Flood mode, so there is no penalty other than a drop in your shot percentage for losing a treasure in the water. However, if a plate with unfilled slots sinks below the water line, you will lose and must go back to the beginning of the level. TRICKSHOT Trickshot is a secondary bonus mode, and it is unlocked when you complete Journey mode. Trickshots are puzzle levels in which you get one shot to set off the correct tumble bonus and fill all open slots. In Trickshot mode the levels are not grouped into neighborhoods but simply come in waves of [5?] levels each, all of which you must successfully complete before you can play the next wave of levels. SURVIVAL Survival is a secondary bonus mode, and it is unlocked when you complete Flood mode. Survival is a pure time-pressure challenge. Like Trickshot mode, there are no neighborhoods; rather, there is only one building which constantly sinks as in Flood mode. Your task is to fill plates on this infinite building for as long as you can before allowing a plate to slip beneath the waves. SCORING GENERAL Placing a treasure - 10 points 1st tumble - 100 points 2nd tumble - 200 points 3rd tumble (super tumble) - 300 points (spawns a power-up) 4th tumble (super tumble) - 400 points 5th tumble (super tumble) - 500 points 6th tumble (super tumble) - 600 points 7th tumble (super tumble) - 700 points 8th tumble (super tumble) - 800 points 9th tumble (super tumble) - 900 points and so on... 100 points is added to the tumble score for each successive tumble. Clearing a plate - 500 points Double combo (clearing two plates in one tumble)- 300 points??? X2 Score Multiplier - doubles score on shot Bank Shot - 500 points Lucky Shot - 500 points Catching a power-up coin near the end of a level - 500 points LEVEL-END POINTS (JOURNEY & FLOOD modes) Accuracy -(# shots placed / #shots fired) x 10,000 points, rounded down to nearest 100 points (Cupid-placed shots count as fired but not as placed) Time taken - 100,000 / # of seconds, rounded down to nearest 100 points Tumble Combos - # tumble combos x 100 points Try Bonus - 10,000 points win on 1st try - 2,000 points 2 tries used - 0 points 3 tries used Completing Trickshot Level (in Journey & Flood mode) - 10,000 points TRICKSHOT MODE Complete a level - 1000 points 2 in a row - 2000 points 3 in a row - 3000 points 4 in a row - 4000 points etc... GAMEPLAY TIPS GENERAL TIPS - Place treasures in higher slots to set off tumble combos. - You can shoot pieces against a flat block to cycle and catch treasures. - Try to fire toward the outside of plates to initiate more effective tumbles. - Make big combos to get power-ups. - Time your shot so that the plate spins when hit. This can result in your shot getting combos that it might not otherwise get, because you can base the combo off the top of the spin. - There are some levels where you can get into trouble by filling treasures into slots while you still need to shoot through that slot to hit something else. Don't get suckered into blocking yourself. While it won't be impossible to win after that, it can be much more difficult. - Don't forget you can right-click to swap your ready treasure with one held in reserve. This is a good way to hang on to a wild shot if you would otherwise be forced to waste it when the screen is mostly clear. - Try to disable locked blocks early on, as doing this will make an area much easier. - When bricks appear, clear them away first before placing treasures. - Use Wild Shots and Power Shots to take out hard to reach slots. - As your skill increases, try making more Bank Shots--the bonus points really add up. - Don't spend too much time reading the introductory quotes or you may find yourself talking that way and dreaming about gondolas... ;) JOURNEY MODE - If you've got a shot that you can't reach, wait a few moments and Cupid will come in to help. - In Journey, take it slow. Shoot one shot at a time, and concentrate on catching the treasure in case it's about to fall in the water. - Try to shoot around objects when you can in Journey mode--the fewer ricochets you have, the easier it is to catch pieces. - Try to plan ahead a little in Journey mode so that you don't work yourself into a corner. FLOOD MODE - Don't rapid fire in Flood mode unless you're in a confined area where catching pieces is guaranteed. - If slots get close to the water in Flood mode and you don't have access to the correct piece, fire one to get a new reserve piece--the one you need will often appear. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION (c)2007 PopCap Games, Inc. All rights reserved. Venice, PopCap Games and the PopCap Games logo are trademarks of PopCap Games, Inc., which may be registered in the United States and other countries.