CB Ricochet — Retro-Gameplay as rhythm engine

Rack

Rows 6

Columns 14

Roof gap 0.09

Brick HP 1

Gaps 0%

Regeneration

Respawn 16 b

Gaps punches deterministic holes in the rack — the ball finds channels through it instead of grinding the front row flat.

Ball & paddle

Balls 1

Ball refill

Speed 1.60

Launch angle 52°

Paddle width 0.24

Paddle

Paddle speed 1.15

English 0.55

With several balls in play, when every ball is lost holds the serve until the field is empty — the ball count thins out as you go and the texture thins with it. Replace each ball on its own puts a lost ball back a beat later and keeps the density constant, which is what you usually want with the paddle on auto.

Paddle speed is in the same units as ball speed. Set it above the ball and it always arrives centred and returns a narrow, repetitive angle. Set it below and it hits off-centre, the return angles scatter, and eventually it misses — that is where the pattern comes from.

Pitch map

Scale

Root

Octave 4

Row →

Melodic span 2 oct

Column →

Note channel 1

Note gate 180

Quantise

Percussion

	Event	Note	Ch	Gate	Vel

Wall and paddle contacts carry the groove once the rack thins out.

Notes

The simulation runs in beat time — speed is field units per beat — so it follows the clock and can be slaved. Collisions are computed one pulse ahead with sub-steps and sent with a fractional timestamp, so a note lands on the actual impact rather than on the next pulse.

No random numbers anywhere. Same settings and same rack produce the same run, every time.

Web MIDI needs https:// or localhost.