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Chip's Challenge

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Chip's Challenge
Screenshot of the first level of the Windows version
Developer(s)Epyx
Publisher(s)Atari (Atari Lynx version)
U.S. Gold for the Atari ST, Amiga and ZX Spectrum
Epyx for DOS
Microsoft Home for Windows
Designer(s)Chuck Sommerville
Tony Krueger
Platform(s)Windows, MS-DOS, Atari Lynx, Atari ST, Amiga, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC
Release1989 (Lynx)
Genre(s)Puzzle
Mode(s)Single player
File:Atari-lynx-chips-challenge.png
Screenshot of the first level in Lynx CC

Chip's Challenge is a tile-based, puzzle video game for several systems, including the hand-held Atari Lynx, Amiga, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum,[1] DOS, and Windows (included in the Microsoft Entertainment Pack and Best of Microsoft Entertainment Pack). It has also been ported to the TI-84+ calculator and the TI-89 Titanium.[2] The original game was designed by Chuck Sommerville (photo below) who also made about a third of the levels.[3] Most of the conversions from the Atari Lynx original to other formats were carried out by Images Software of Fareham.

The Windows version is 16-bit and therefore cannot run on 64-bit versions of Windows; it can, however, run on 64-bit versions of Unix-like systems, e.g. Linux, using Wine. Template:Computing platform requirements

The premise of the game is that high-school nerd Chip McCallahan has met Melinda The Mental Marvel in the school science laboratory and must navigate through Melinda's "Clubhouse" (a series of increasingly difficult puzzles) in order to prove himself and gain membership to the very exclusive Bit Buster Club.

Gameplay

The games consists of a series of 148 two-dimensional levels (149 in Microsoft's version) which feature the player character, Nerdy Chip McCallahan,[4] often called just Chip, and various game elements such as computer chips, buttons, locked doors, water and lethal monsters. Gameplay involves using arrow keys, directional pad or mouse to move Chip about each of the levels in turn, collecting enough chips to open the chip socket at the end of each level, get to the exit, and move on to the next level.

Levels can be skipped by entering an appropriate four-letter non-case-sensitive password. For the PC versions, game progress is automatically saved. On the Windows version of the game, the passwords can easily be cracked, thus making it easy to skip levels without playing; if one is having a lot of trouble with a level, the game allows the player to skip to the next level. The Microsoft version has another, hidden, option, "Ignore Passwords", that appears in the Game menu when one of several key combinations is pressed, including Control-D.

In the Lynx version of the game, entering the password "MAND" gives the player access to an Easter egg: a Mandelbrot set and a Julia set fractal plotter.[5]

Progress is not just measured in terms of completed levels but also in terms of the player's score, which is a sum of the scores obtained on each level. Level scores for timed levels can be improved by quickly completing the level (e.g. with more time left on the clock), and scores on all levels can be improved by using fewer attempts to complete the level.

Levels

While the same set of rules applies to each level, there are many different kinds of levels. Some are action-oriented and some are puzzle-oriented. Most levels have a time limit. Types of levels include:

  • Chip solving a block-pushing puzzle (similar to Sokoban) to clear a path to the level exit.
  • Chip must actively dodge enemies (creatures which move in various ways) and make his way to the end.
  • Chip must find his way through a maze. The maze can take various forms, such as a path across an icy surface with set points where he can make turns.

The first eight levels are "lesson levels" or tutorial levels.

Level 34, CYPHER, has the passwords to some later levels hidden in its layout.

The ending sequence plays on completion of level 144. There are, however, four (five in the Microsoft version) levels beyond this which can only be reached by password. On completion of level 149, the ending sequence plays again. The password for level 146 is hidden in the earlier level CYPHER, but level 145 (which is only present in the Microsoft version) can only be reached by cracking or guessing the password, which is "TONY", or using the cheat code (Ctrl-K) which unlocks all levels.

Music

For the Windows version, the game's soundtrack features two looping midi tracks titled "chip01.mid" and "chip02.mid". If "canyon.mid" is found in the Windows directory, the game will alternate among the three songs.

Chip's Challenge 2

The success of Microsoft's version eventually led Chuck Sommerville to create a sequel, Chip's Challenge 2, usually abbreviated to "CC2". CC2 included many new kinds of elements and many new levels in addition to the original ones. However, the game has never been released to the public, as Sommerville and the copyright holder of the game could not agree on terms. Currently Chuck Sommerville is involved in Chuck's Challenge.

Chuck gave a full video interview on the 12th April 2012 via the Chuck's Challenge Youtube Channel [6] explaining what he has been doing over the last two decades, and the status of Chip's Challenge 2.

Chip's Challenge Level Pack 3

Chip's Challenge Level Pack 3 (CCLP3) was released on December 24, 2010. Voting took place from April 1, 2010 to August 14, 2010.[7]

Chuck's Challenge

Chuck's Challenge[8] has been released by Niffler, which Chuck Sommerville is founding member of. Sharing similar gameplay, enemies, and puzzles to Chip's Challenge, it is Chuck's way of creating a new Chip's Challenge game without violating copyright. The premise is that Sommerville, the creator of Chip's Challenge, has been summoned by an alien called Woop to create video games for them to play.

File:Chuck's Challenge Logo.jpg File:Chuck's Challenge iOS.jpg File:Chuck's Challenge 3D Unity.jpg

Chuck's Challenge includes 100 levels, multi-player racing, weekly puzzles, and a built-in level editor. The game has been design so that players can upload the levels they create across multiple devices:

  • Chuck's Challenge iOS version 1.0 was released on December 17 2010 for iPhone, iPad & iPod Touch.
  • Chuck's Challenge 3D a version in Unity3D for PC & Mac was successfully funded on the 29th April 2012 by a Kickstarter Project. The launch date is set for July 2012.

Emulators

Many emulators exist, though the most notable are WebCC and Tile World. These emulators, presented as freeware, are primarily used by players who do not own the original version, or have 64-bit computers that do not run the original version.

WebCC

WebCC is one of the most notable emulators.[according to whom?] The website hosts free and online map packs with user-generated levels and a forum for submitting new tile ideas. WebCC also has versions for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad for sale in the App store.

Tile World

Screenshot of Tile World emulating the first level
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tile World.

Tile World is a game designed to emulate Chip's Challenge. It was written by Brian Raiter in platform-neutral C and SDL. To avoid copyright infringement with Chip's Challenge, the game does not use the original graphics, sound, or music.[9]

Tile World has two rulesets intended to emulate two different implementations of Chip's Challenge: the Microsoft Windows implementation and the Atari Lynx version. The two rulesets have many differences: Under the Microsoft ruleset, the player and monsters move one tile at a time, in effect disappearing from their current locations while simultaneously appearing on their destination locations, without any between-tile animation frames to smooth out the movement. Many bugs from the Microsoft implementation are also emulated, in order for scores obtained from Tile World to be consistent with that implementation. With the Lynx ruleset, all objects move smoothly from one tile to the next. The Lynx and MS rulesets also have a variety of subtle differences in how monsters and other game elements work. For instance, in the original Lynx version, most monsters avoid fire; in the MS version, most monsters enter the fire and die. In addition, in the Lynx ruleset only a restricted subset of tile objects, which include Chip, monsters and blocks, are allowed to coexist with other tiles at the same location (e.g. Chip on ice). The Microsoft implementation however uses two layers of tiles, therefore allowing all possible combinations of 2 tiles to coexist in one location, as can be seen in many fan-made levels. The Lynx ruleset does allow some things the actual Lynx implementation of the game does not, such as arbitrary connections of buttons to traps and clone machines (in the actual Lynx game the connections are made implicitly based on positions of the buttons and objects), a concept borrowed from the Microsoft implementation.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ Chip's Challenge at World of Spectrum
  2. ^ Chip's Challenge for TI-83+ - ticalc.org
  3. ^ "Message from Chuck Sommerville on Richard Field's Chip's Challenge Page". Retrieved 2007-04-19.
  4. ^ AGH Lynx Review - Chip's Challenge
  5. ^ Chip's Challenge Easter Eggs - Eeggs.com
  6. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fGhOPX6ACk YouTube
  7. ^ "CCLP3 Home Page". Retrieved 2010-12-23.
  8. ^ Niffler. "Chuck's Challenge".
  9. ^ Brian Raiter. "Tile World". Retrieved 2007-07-16.
  10. ^ Brian Raiter. "Chip's Challenge: Differences between the MS and Lynx versions". Retrieved 2007-07-16.
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