Bit Generations: Orbital Guide By James Barnett a.k.a. Ishanji (savage_tech@hotmail.com) Version 0.1 ----------------------- * TABLE OF CONTENTS * ----------------------- 0.0 Legal Garbage 1.0 Version History 1.1 Planned Updates 2.0 About This Guide 3.0 Introduction 4.0 Controls 5.0 Gameplay 5.1 Gameplay Basics 5.2 Tips + Tricks 6.0 Stages 7.0 Closing/Credits ----------------------- 0.0 LEGAL GARBAGE * ----------------------- This file is copyright (c) James Barnett, 2006. This guide is for personal use only. Reproduction on personal websites is allowed as long as the document is unaltered. The only major website allowed to host this FAQ presently is http://www.gamefaqs.com. If you see this FAQ on any other large website, please notify me so I may take appropriate action. That said, feel free to put it up on your fansite or whatever else you've got. If some large website wants to host this, they can e-mail me at the address above and I'll probably say yes, but GameFAQs will be the only place to get the updated version, so check there first. Reproduction for profit of any sort is STRICTLY prohibited, and I'll come after you with a big-ass hickory stick if you do. ----------------------- 1.0 VERSION HISTORY * ----------------------- v0.1 Began on 07/28/06 with Intro, About, Controls, Gameplay, Stages, Closing 1.1 PLANNED UPDATES Sometime in the future, I'll try to add: -High Scores (in three forms; time, points, and time + points combo) -Stage descriptions -Stage maps (probably in .gif or .jpg format, so they'll be outside this guide) -Anything else you, the reader, wants or needs (send ideas to me!) ----------------------- 2.0 ABOUT THIS GUIDE * ----------------------- To search this guide, simply use Ctrl+F (on Windows PCs) and type in the number code for the section you wish to view (for example, for this section, you would input 2.0) and then press Enter. Disclaimer: This guide is far from perfect, this game just came out as of yesterday so if you notice something missing, incorrect, or just plain weird please feel free to email me at the address at the top of the guide. If you contribute anything, I'll make sure you're properly credited! And yes, I know there's some poor formatting and improper English, just ignore that. For now, I'm going to put down some gameplay basics, since all of the Bit Generations series are in Japanese and the manuals are useless to us uninformed gaijin. Since I can't read Japanese (and thus the manual) please excuse my goofy names for the game objects. The game itself doesn't tell you what any of them are, so I'm either assuming or just plain making things up. ----------------------- 3.0 INTRODUCTION * ----------------------- Orbital is a part of the Bit Generations series, 7 minimalistic games published by Nintendo as a sort of affirmation that great gameplay is more important than detailed graphics or orchestral sound. All of the Bit Generations games are simply designed, and yet a blast to play (some more than others). Sadly, the games are only in Japan as of this writing, and it seems as though Nintendo has no plans to bring them over, since they have only acquired ESRB ratings for 6 of the titles (and it seems silly to not bring them all). On the plus side, they are only about $25 to import, which is incredibly cheap! I also recommend DotStream and Digidrive (although the latter is rather complex, it is still fun and I plan to make a guide for it if I can manage to figure it all out). This title casts you as a small planet attempting to absorb other pieces floating in space to increase your size, in a very Katamari Damacy-like manner, until you reach a large enough size and can exit the stage. ----------------------- 4.0 CONTROLS * ----------------------- A - Attract B - Repel Dpad - Look (while in orbit or look mode) Start - Pause/Menu Select - Look mode (pauses the game and lets you scroll the whole stage) Simple, huh? ----------------------- 5.0 GAMEPLAY * ----------------------- 5.1 GAMEPLAY BASICS As I said in the intro, your goal in Orbital is to absorb other matter floating around in space until you eventually get large enough to exit the stage. However, you have no direct control over your planet! Instead, you must use the A + B buttons to draw yourself nearer or push yourself away from the planets and other debris floating around in space. Larger objects have their own orbit, represented by a thin circle around them, which you can latch onto and then launch off of once you're aligned the way you want to be. Each of the few colors used means something in this game, here's a list of the important colors and their meanings: Grey - No effect (your planet) OR will be absorbed OR orbit you (other items) Blue - Repel (your planet) OR will be absorbed and make you grow (other items) Red - Attract (your planet) OR will destroy you (other items) Yellow - Important stuff (stage exit and crescent moon item) Since you've gotta grow to win the stage, you'll probably be going after the blue objects the most. The grey objects do have a use, however, since they can be absorbed for points, or turned into satellites to orbit you. To make a satellite, simply approach the grey object slowly until an orbit ring, much like that of the other planets, appears and then catch the item in your orbit. It can be tricky to master, but it's worth it, since satellites are worth more points than just absorbing the object would be. Note that there are also objects you cannot absorb under any circumstance, but luckily they're also red (remember, red means danger!) and they should look different enough that you'll know them when you see them (so far, I've only seen ones that look like clusters of rocks, but I imagine there are more). Of course, absorbing lots of stuff and making satellites is great and all, but at some point you're going to want to exit the stage. And how do you do that? Well, you might have noticed a red object with a strange number of orbit circles or none at all, depending on the stage). That is your ticket out of the stage, and once you have reached a large enough size, it will turn yellow, and a small crescent moon object will appear somewhere in the stage. You can collect the moon (although it is not required to finish the stage) by taking it into your orbit. If you do, it will be recorded when you complete the stage. To complete the stage, simply take the large yellow object into your orbit and you'll be done! When you finish the stage, you'll receive a score based on the number of objects you absorbed, satellites you made, and time you completed the level. So the more you collect and the less time you take, the higher your score will be! You start any given stage with 5 lives, and you're granted more after completing each stage. If you are destroyed, you lose a life and are launched away from whatever destroyed you in the direction opposite from which you came. If you lose all of your lives, you can retry the stage, and you'll start with 5 lives again. Playing some stages in order can really help you get past a harder stage, since you'll accumulate so many extra lives, but it takes more time as well. 5.2 TIPS + TRICKS -When you're releasing from an orbit, you'll travel in a straight line: . O------------> . . . . . ** . . **** . . ** . . . . . O: You .: Orbit path ->: Path of travel *: Crispy planetary center (note: this diagram assumes you are orbiting clockwise, if you are orbiting counter-clockwise you'd be launched left instead of right) So if you want to launch yourself at something, be parallel to it, not directly across from it. Just like they used to teach it in physics class! -Sometimes the best action is no action at all, since you continuously drift in the same direction until something happens, you can often save yourself a lot of time and work by simply going straight ahead. -Send in your tips so other people (including me!) can benefit from them! ----------------------- 6.0 STAGES * ----------------------- Orbital sports 30 different stages, split up into 6 galaxies with 5 stages each. You unlock these stages in a linear order, but you can replay any stage that you have unlocked already whenever you want. You can look at each stage to see your best score, best time, and whether you've collected the moon for that stage. If you have, the stage will appear yellow instead of white, and will have a small moon by its number, both in the stage menu and whenever you choose to play it again. When you collect all 5 moons in a galaxy, it turns yellow in the galaxy select screen. I assume that collecting all the moons has an effect, which I'll try to discover as soon as possible. The game has only been out for a day now, so give me a break here. ----------------------- 7.0 CLOSING * ----------------------- Thanks to... My future contributors, whose names will sit nicely right here GameFAQs, for hosting this FAQ Nintendo, for an awesome series of games My girlfriend Lacey, for putting up with my nerdy habits