Starting with the depot as of 2024-09-07, the data structure for DLC levels was changed and a bug was introduced that causes achievements requiring stars to unlock only when you have double the stated number. Going back to an earlier depot will unlock them retroactively at the actual number, but only the first 30 classic levels and the first DLC are counted (only 20 classic levels are playable in the depot). You could instead get 300 stars on the current version (out of 500 total including all five DLC level sets) if you're having that much fun.
Always back up your save before playing on a depot just in case something happens, but you shouldn't need to do anything with it unless you want to go back to playing on the current depot (progress will not merge).
%localappdata%low\edyBtt Studios\Ball Control
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\edybtt Studios\Ball Control
Registry is probably not needed as it only contains display settings and session count, but I always did both just in case. If restoring save, be sure to restore both. You should only need stats.dat from the appdata folder.
download_depot 3096840 3096841 6692916926178226921
With the above in mind, once you beat the required levels (classic 20 and all 10 of DLC 1 and 2), it's most efficient to focus on stars in DLC 1 and the first 30 classic levels; even if you have more than the 100 available stars in the depot, the overflow is still counted, so you don't have to get all stars in the DLC. The achievements for wins and deaths will come naturally while doing this. Then idle for 100 hours, focus is required (as well as keeping your computer awake and logged in). You can see your tracked time in the stats menu.
Levels are timed and you die if time runs out. In most levels, Easy difficulty gives you plenty of time to take it slowly and learn the level. Then it's easiest to try to speed it up and get the stars while you still have the muscle memory. All of the levels I tried had possible times, but you may want to leave some for later when you've developed more skills. The difficulty varies quite a bit and some levels are better to leave alone after beating once to unlock the next level.
Deck Verified