Chip's Challenge is a tile-based, puzzle video game for several systems, including the hand-held Atari Lynx, DOS, and Windows (included in Microsoft's Best of Windows Entertainment Pack). The design of the original game was done by Chuck Sommerville, who also made about a third of the levels.
| Chip's Challenge | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Epyx |
| Publisher(s) | Atari (for their Lynx) U.S. Gold for the Atari ST Epyx for DOS Microsoft for Windows |
| Designer(s) | Chuck Sommerville |
| Platform(s) | Windows, MS-DOS, Atari Lynx |
| Release | 1989 (Lynx) |
| Genre(s) | Educational/Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
The basic plot of the game is that high-school nerd Chip has met Melinda The Mental Marvel in the school science laboratory and must navigate through a series of increasingly difficult puzzles in order to prove himself and gain membership to the very exclusive Bit Buster Club.
Gameplay
The game consists of a series of 500
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two-dimensional levels (149 in Microsoft's version) which feature the player character, Chip, and various game elements such as computer chips, buttons, locked doors 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 onto the next level.
Levels can be skipped by entering an appropriate four-letter case-insensitive 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 a simple matter 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 fractal plotter.
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. Some level scores can be improved by completion in less time than previously, or by using fewer attempts to complete a 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 but not all levels have a time limit. Types of levels include:
- Chip solving a block-pushing puzzle (similar to Sokoban) to clear a path to escape from the monsters.=]
- 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.
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 (level 34), but level 145 (which is only present in the Microsoft version) can only be reached by cracking or guessing the password (or using the ignore passwords option).
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. On July 30, 2006, in a posting to the annexcafe.chips.challenge newsgroup, Sommerville stated, "Never give up hope that CC2 will be released, I am continuing to explore opportunities[1]."
Internet community
An informal Internet community of players has developed around the game, particularly the Windows version, producing text, map, and video walkthroughs, FAQs, level editors and screenshots of the game. Most members of the community reside on Usenet at news://news.annexcafe.com/annexcafe.chips.challenge. Chuck Sommerville also posts there. They have produced a second set of 149 levels for the Windows version of the game with the name "CCLP2" (an abbreviation of "Chip's Challenge Level Pack 2") featuring contributions by a large number of people. This version is considered the unofficial sequel in place of CC2.
Other unofficial software produced by them include:
- a level editor known as ChipEdit
- MyChips. Given a Microsoft CC executable, this creates a new executable identical to it except that it uses a different level file and a different score file. The purpose is to make it easier to play fan-made levels.
- ChipCap, a program to assist in recording Chip's Challenge AVI video walkthroughs
- an open source emulation of Chip's Challenge known as Tile World which can be used with the Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and BeOS operating systems. Tile World supports both the original Lynx and the later Windows versions, as the ways in which the elements of the game work diverge in many cases.
- CCTools, a set of utilities for Chip's Challenge, including CCEdit, a level editor, CCLM, a "level manager", and CCHack, a program which can change the resources in CC.
References
- ^ "Annexcafe.chips.challenge newsgroup posting July 30, 2006". Retrieved 2006-12-18.
External links
- Chip's Challenge wiki guide at StrategyWiki (previously located at Wikibooks)
- The Chip's Challenge Corridor, a fan site.
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