***Frequently Asked Questions***

v 0.9

First of all, read the help.

Alphabounce FAQ

The purpose of this topic is to cover most, if not all newbie questions frequently asked in the Alphabounce (International) forum. Hopefully, this will reduce the amount of repeated questions, as well as the need of the forum’s search function (since experienced members can simply link to this thread).

The main problem with newbie questions currently is that, while the search function is useful, newbies get addressed to it far too often. As a result, when one uses the search function, they find a large pile of topics asking the same question, and more often than not, the advice given is to use the search function; not exactly useful after a while.

SPOILERS ARE TO FOLLOW. PUT BLUNTLY, I WILL MAKE NO ATTEMPT AS TO NOT SPOIL THE GAME.

Here is a content table describing what each question addresses so that you can just skip to the one you want instead of looking through them:
1. “Connection Lost” message – What should I do about it?
2. WHERE DID MY LIVES GO?
3. Capsules.
4. No item dropping from a [?] block.
5. Coordinates given by Douglas.
6. Where and how to find Salmeen.
7. Salmeen – aftermath (aka now what?).
8. Rewards from completing planets/cleanups?
9. Easy route to Spignysos Rock. Choice between keyboard or mouse control.
10. “WHERE IS MOLTEAR?”
11. Difficulty at obtaining the OX-Soldier ball.
12. Karbonis Belt – Karbonis Belt warning.
13. Location of antimatter. Area damage capabilities of the MAS-Z.
14. What the radar does. Importance of the radar.
15. Damaged Radar – Antiradars – Fixing the radar.
16. Tips for Balixt.
17. Landing on planets.
18. What to do after completing all missions inside the Belt (cleanups excluded).
19. What FURI is. How to stay with ESCorp or join FURI.
20. PID Map – Earth and aftermath – Maximum Security Units.

Without any further delays and introductions, I will begin to list questions frequently asked that go unanswered since the newbie is almost always redirected to the search function.

1.
Q: I got a “Connection Lost” message and because of it I failed a mission! Can I get a refund?
A: Motion-Twin does not give refunds for lost fuel because of connection errors. Best advice I can give is, if you see the connection with the Alphabounce site being unstable (eg many Connection Lost messages) try playing later. Hopefully, the connection should have stabilized by then.
If you get the error it is recommended that you DO NOT RELOAD/REFRESH THE PAGE. Doing so results in you losing the game, if you don’t reload, the game will keep trying every now and then to contact the server, and if it manages to do so you will, in all likelihood, avoid loss of level/fuel.

2.
Q: I lost my lives and only have one on each level now, what happened?
A: You are out of ESCorp’s “newbie protection”, so to speak. That means that your emergency envelopes, aka your extra lives, got taken away from you. Do not worry, you will find more extra lives as you progress the game, 2 of which are possible to get very early (one automatically obtained a few levels after you complete the Distress Call mission, another is buyable at an in-game shop for a rather small amount of minerals).

3.
Q: How do I use capsules and what do they do?
A: To use capsules, pause the game while playing a level (press Esc or P) and click on the capsule you want to use. Most of the capsules turn your ball into a Flame, Volt, or Glacial ball, and the Void capsule acts as a [Q] power-up. Once you use a capsule you lose it and need to repurchase it.
Additionally, pressing the Enter key during gameplay activates the first capsule from the right.

4.
Q: I hit a [?] block but nothing fell from it! What happened?
A: [?] blocks not dropping their items can happen for various reasons. Usually, these are:
-The [?] block was hit by a Glacial ball.
-The [?] block was sucked in by a [Q] power-up (or you used a TrueNoir capsule).
-The [?] block was pushed off the stage due to an [O] power-up.
-The [?] block was transformed due to the effects of the [T] power-up.
In all these cases you must replay the level until the item drops, so make sure none of the above happen. If you do destroy the [?] block, it is recommended that you fail the level on purpose so you don’t waste fuel going back and forth from the level with the [?] block.

5.
Q: When Douglas, that guy from the Distress Call mission, died, he gave me a set of coordinates. What are they?
A: The actual coordinates you want to go to are [399][76] and they lead to a planet called Samosa, the biggest planet in Alphabounce.

6.
Q: How do I get Salmeen?
A: Wander around Tiboon for a while. Going to [9][-10] triggers the Life on Tiboon mission, after that, you can find Salmeen on [7][-10].

7.
Q: I found Salmeen but I can’t understand his language. What do I do?
A: Simply play a few levels. After a while you will get a message saying that you can understand his language and the mission Salmeen the Mechanic Part 1 will appear.

8.
Q: What do I get if I complete all levels on a planet?
A: Nothing, unless there’s a mission asking you to do so (and once that mission has been unlocked, of course). For example, you will get nothing from clearing Lycans or Spignysos. If you clear Soupaline however, you will get the reward the mission gives, provided the mission has appeared. If you have already cleaned a planet for which a mission to clean up is supposed to appear, you will get the mission’s reward one or two levels after being given the mission.
NOTE: The same goes for ESCorp’s clean-up missions.

9.
Q: I got to Spignysos but the pad is slowed down too much and I can’t complete any levels on it. What am I supposed to do?
A: Well, the answer now depends on your reason to be on Spignysos. Since this FAQ is directed to newbies, I will assume you are there to get the second rock for the AR-57. The slow-down can be countered, but since you just want the Spignysos Rock, there’s a much simpler way to go about this; simply circle around the planet until you can get to [-39][-7] in one move. On that stage, release the orange-ish little 3-ball thing in one of the lowest blocks. Lose a life on purpose and then let that destroy all blocks for you without shooting your ball. Then go to the level with the Spignysos Rock, concentrate all your efforts on the [?] block. Once you get it, lose the level on purpose and get away from the planet.
(as a sidenote, if you are using Keyboard control, switch over to mouse for Spignysos, as it is near impossible to do it with the keyboard, since the envelope moves just way too slow)

10.
Q: Where is Moltear?
A: If you just completed to AR-57 mission, it’s just south from Spignysos. If you are not around there, head to around [-55][34] (the coordinates to the centre of Moltear).
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SALMEEN WITH YOU. There are several things you can do on Moltear. These are:
1. Getting the OX Soldier ball (available after you finish the AR-57 mission).
2. Getting the Zonkerian Medallion (piece coordinates are [-58,30], [-51,37] and [-54,40]).
3. Getting the Ambro-X (requires Salmeen to be with you).
4. There’s also an anti-matter nucleus nearby, at [-30][42], for the MAS-Z missile.
5. If you have done the Invasion mission (though I doubt it), there’s the Turquoise Star at [-54][49]. The Star is only obtainable if you have the Star dust mission.

11.
Q: I can’t get the OX Soldier, every level on Moltear is just too hard!
A: Can’t really help much on this one. Everyone’s been through this, so don’t worry. Try different routes and you will eventually manage to obtain the OX Soldier (and with it, you will be able to finish levels on Moltear much more easily)!

12.
Q: ESCorp gave me a warning about “Karbonis Belt” and tells me to go to [0][0]. What is the Karbonis Belt? What should I do?
A: The wording of that message is really bad. Karbonis Belt is an asteroid belt surrounding many planets. As for going back to [0][0], it won’t matter. At all. Only go if you need to. Just don’t cross the belt until you are ready. For more information on when to cross the belt, refer to question 17.

13.
Q: Where can I find the Antimatter Nuclei? And is MAS-Z as powerful as the AR-57?
A: The Antimatter Nuclei coordinates are:
[-30][42]
[30][61]
[35][-28]
[18][-40]
And yes, the MAS-Z can too destroy up to 9 blocks, just like the AR-57.

14.
Q: What does the Radar do?:
A: Your radar level decides how far space “lights up” around an explored square. If you have, for example, a level 1 radar, all the blocks in a 5x5 box with the explored square at the centre light up, basically, 2 squares away from you in every direction. A level 2 radar would increase that by 1, so it would become a 7x7 box.
Now, you should easily notice that you can only move 1 square away from the area that’s lighten up, no matter your Engine level. As such, the more lighten up areas there are, the easier exploring is, especially through areas you’ve never gone to before.

15.
Q: The game says my radar was damaged! What does that mean and how do I fix it?
A: There are a few levels on Alphabounce that have what most people call Anti-Radars. When you play on one of these levels, your radar will be damaged. This basically means that your radar level will be degraded by 1, making moving around slower. To fix this, simply visit any shop near you. The typical cost of repairing the radar is in the range of 30-70 minerals.

16.
Q: Balixt is too hard. Any tips?
A: Yes. First of all, check to see if you have the most needed stuff:
-At least one drone (yellow/orange bug thingie).
-At least 2 extra lives.
-A Glacial and a Volt capsule.
The shop on Balixt sells Volt capsules, but come equipped with one anyway. You don’t want to travel back and forth to the shop to get them.
Now, general tips:
-Glacial balls freeze Sentinels. The shop on Balixt doesn’t sell Ice Capsules, so come equipped with one and make good use on it (use only if you fail a level many times in a row without even clearing out half the blocks on it, for example).
-Volt balls do not trigger the Sentinels (but neither do they destroy them). Use on levels with many Sentinels to give time to your drone to disassemble them.
-If you get a [C] and there are still Sentinels around, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, DO NOT RELEASE THE BALL YOURSELF. The more time your drone has to disassemble the Sentinels, the higher your chances of success.
-This one should be obvious, try to aim your ball away from Sentinels even if there aren’t any bricks there. And if there are bricks near the Sentinels, go for the ones the furthest away from the Sentinels first.
-When you see the ball is going to hit a Sentinel, move away from where you estimate your ball will fall after it hits the Sentinel. This may take some time getting used to, but you DO NOT WANT the ball to be returning with a Sentinel laser shot along with it.
Take note that large part of the Balixt levels depend on luck, specifically, the order your drone chooses to disassemble Sentinels.

17.
Q: How do I land on planets?
A: You must have completed Salmeen the Mechanic Part 2 first. Even then, most planets have an unbreathable atmosphere and require you to have the Space Suit, which is fairly easy to obtain. In addition, the planets Senegarde and Folket lack a ground, making landing impossible (however, it is possible that there is a solid centre as hinted to by Folket’s description, but reaching it requires as of yet unimplemented equipment).
!NOTE! For the rest of this section, I will assume you are using mouse control.
Now, to the landing part. Once you are over a planet, you can choose to land by clicking an icon on the bottom left corner of the game area. To be able to initiate the landing sequence you will need at least one fuel capsule. Once the landing sequence has begun, you will see your envelope slowly descending and a fuel indicator on the top right of the game area. The position of the mouse cursor decides the direction your envelope is facing. Pressing and holding the left mouse button initiates function of your engine which uses up fuel and slows your descent. To land on a planet, you need to be very close to the surface, somewhat horizontally aligned with it, and with a very slow speed. As such you need to be very careful at that point, or you are risking crashing. If you crash, it’s as if you lose a level. Surface minerals will be gone and you will be back above the planet, losing the fuel you used to attempt landing.
Once you have landed, you can click the button on the bottom left with a human outline to leave your envelope and move around to collect minerals and talk to aliens you may find in houses. You can jump by clicking on yourself, and a second click (while holding the mouse button) activates the jetpack of the space suit, which allows you to move around faster. When you are ready to leave, go under your envelope, jump, and try to aim yourself at the centre of the envelope. You need to make yourself drop at the centre of the envelope. Then hold the left mouse button to fire your engines and take off.
Additionally, there will most probably be confusion as to which objects and ground formations belong to the foreground, and which to the background. On the first few times landing on a planet, treat everything as foreground objects to avoid needless crashing.

18.
Q: What am I supposed to do with the Star mission and the 3rd ball mission since I’m not allowed to go there?
A: Now, you have a choice to make. But make sure the only missions you have left are clean-up missions, the 3rd ball mission, and the Star mission (and the Karbonis belt notice, though this isn’t really a mission). This means that you should have completed all the Salmeen missions too (except for taking him to his homeland).
Once you have all that covered, your choices are:
Keep doing clean-up missions and stay with ESCorp, or…
Leave the Karbonis belt before completing 52 clean-up missions and defect to FURI.

19.
Q: FURI? What’s that?
A: Story-wise, it’s a rebel organization against ESCorp. The basic idea is that you join FURI or stay with ESCorp and you get some items specific to each faction.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Once you complete 52 clean-up missions you CANNOT join FURI anymore.
Similarly, if you leave the Karbonis belt before you do 52 clean-up missions, you can NEVER go back to ESCorp.

!!NOTE!! The subject in choosing between the 2 factions is large enough to be deserving of it’s own thread; as such I will not describe the advantages and disadvantages of each faction here.

20.
Q: What’s the PID? And who are the people in “Maximum Security Unit” list?
A: The PID map pieces are scattered throughout the Zonkerian system, available for purchase from merchants, usually on the surface on planets and asteroids. Once the player collects all 42 pieces you can view the completed PID map on your profile, and a set of coordinates will appear within.
At these coordinates (which differ for each player and are very far away from the origin) you can find the Earth. Upon landing on the Earth you are given the option to either return to [0][0] with a better radar and engine, or “retire”, which basically sends you to an “alternate universe”, a harder mode of difficulty of Alphabounce.
!!NOTE!! If you chose to restart in Hard Mode, you will LOSE ALL YOUR UPGRADES, ALL YOUR MINERALS, EVERYTHING. THAT INCLUDES THE EXTRA ENVELOPE YOU MAY HAVE GOTTEN FROM THE FIRST TRANSACTION AT THE INTERSTELLAR BANK, AND AS OF YET IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO RE-ACQUIRE IT.
Those who are listed in the Maximum Security Unit list are the players who once completing the PID and reaching Earth, decided to restart the game in Hard Mode.


~YF-23


Q: When do I get my capsules ?
A: At midnight server time. You can look here to see the current server time.

Q: Hey, the thing I wanted to know isn't in this FAQ, what do I do ?
A: Use the search
function on these forums and see if your question already has been answered.

[mod money: updated to 0.12]
[removed FURI/ESCorp]
[updated to 0.13]
[updated to 0.131]
[updated to 0.5]
[updated to 0.7 and removed HELP tag]
[updated to 0.8]
[updated to 0.81, changed capsule names]
[updated to 0.811, moved 19 to top, renamed "lost lives" subtitle]
[updated to 0.9, merged FAQ with other important questions]

These coordinates, [-399][-76], are, in fact, FALSE. The actual coordinates are [399][76][-399,-76] is where you find Douglas, but measured from his origin which is different than yours.
Reversing Douglas's [-399,-76] from your [4,-4] (where you find him) indicates his origin is [403,72] on your coordinates, which is near Samosa.


Q: I found Salmeen but I can’t understand his language. What do I do?
A: Simply play a few levels.Actually it seems one needs to move away from Tiboon.

And a new one:
Q: What reward do I get for completely exploring planets?
A: Nothing if you don't have a mission asking for it.
The first is "A new colony" on Soupaline for 200 and 12.
The 4 others are far enough not to worry about them early in game.

[-399,-76] is where you find Douglas, but measured from his origin which is different than yours.
Reversing Douglas's [-399,-76] from your [4,-4] (where you find him) indicates his origin is [403,72] on your coordinates, which is near Samosa.
Actually it seems one needs to move away from Tiboon.

Well, every post I have read on the forum says to revert the coordinates, but I see where you are coming from. However, since this is intended to b a guide for newbies, I won't make any truly major changes (for the sake of simplicity). But yeah, I need to rephrase that "WRONG" bit, probably.

And a new one:
Q: What reward do I get for completely exploring planets?
A: Nothing if you don't have a mission asking for it.
The first is "A new colony" on Soupaline for 200 and 12.
The 4 others are far enough not to worry about them early in game.

I like this question. It will be added whenever I release the next version, with a little bit of rephrasing, of course.

According to YF23's demand, this thread received a little clean-up to have only one page.
It is still locked, it's a general Help.
Please ask your questions about it here.
Thanks.