Tile World is a reimplementation of the game "Chip's Challenge". The player controls Chip, navigating him through his challenges. The object of each level of the game is to find and reach the exit tile, which takes you to the next level. The levels contain many different kinds of obstacles, creatures both hostile and indifferent, tools, protective gear -- and, of course, chips.
The main display shows Chip in the current level and his immediate surroundings. To the right of this display is shown the basic information about the current level. The most important data shown here are how many seconds are left on the clock, and how many chips still need to be collected. (On some level the clock does not show a time. These levels have no time limit.)
The object of every level is to find and reach the exit before the time runs out. The exit is frequently (but not always) guarded by a chip socket. To move past the chip socket, Chip must collect a certain number of computer chips; the amount needed is different in each level. As you play a level, the information display on the right shows the number of chips that still need to be collected in order to open the socket. (Remember that getting enough chips to open the chip socket is only a subgoal, not the main goal. Some levels do not require any chips to be collected; some levels have no chip socket at all.)
Also occupying many of the levels are other creatures. Most (but not all) of them move about in simple, predictable patterns, and without regard for Chip's presence. The creatures know enough to avoid running into each other, but a collision with Chip is fatal. The complete taxonomy of creatures is: tanks, balls, gliders, fireballs, walkers, blobs, teeth, bugs, and paramecia.
In addition to the socket and the main exit, there are also four different kinds of doors. These doors can be opened with the right kind of key. The doors and the keys are color-coded -- red, green, blue, and yellow -- so you can tell them apart. Like the chip socket, a door that has been opened stays open. Keys are picked up simply by stepping upon them. The key disappears from the map and appears in your possession. Keys in your possession are displayed on the right-hand side of the window.
Besides keys and chip, there are also four kinds of special footgear that Chip can collect. Like keys, boots can be picked up simply by walking over them. (There is no limit to the number of boots you can have.) These boots permit Chip to walk across four different kinds of surfaces, just as if they were normal flooring. Fire and water are two kind of tiles that are normally fatal to Chip, but fire boots and water boots will permit safe passage across these. Stepping onto ice sends Chip sliding at high speed unless he has a pair of ice boots. Finally, there are force floors that push Chip along in a specific direction; these can be counteracted with force boots.
Two other types of surfaces are more useful to Chip, in that they keep other creatures out. These are dirt and gravel, and they are special in that Chip is the only one who can walk on them. However, when Chip steps onto a dirt tile, it is cleared away and becomes normal flooring. Gravel, on the other hand, is permanent.
There are numerous other objects scattered around the various levels, which Chip can interact with, although he cannot pick them up. Bombs are one kind of object which should always be avoided, as they explode when stepped on. The thief tile should also generally be avoided; entering this tile will cause Chip to lose any footgear he has collected.
Dirt blocks are large, movable squares of dirt. Chip can push them about, and use them to wall off areas or to safely detontate bombs. Furthermore, if a block is pushed into water, the tile will turn into dirt (which will become normal flooring when Chip steps on it). Finally, note that blocks can sometimes be resting on top of other objects, both helpful (such as a key) and harmful (such as a bomb).
Some levels have teleports. Entering a teleport causes Chip to vanish and instantaneously reappear at another teleport.
Even some of the walls can demonstrate surprising behavior. The so-called blue walls can either be actual walls, or empty mirages. The only way for Chip to tell which is which is to attempt to walk through one. There are also popup walls -- Chip can walk across these only once, for they turn into walls as he walks over them.
There are four different types of pushbuttons. Like keys and boots, they are color-coded. Stepping on a pushbutton activates it.
The green buttons control the toggle walls. Toggle walls have dotted green outlines, and they change between being open (passable, like any other floor) and open (unpassable, a wall). When a green button is pressed, the closed toggle walls are opened and the open toggle walls are closed.
Brown buttons control bear traps. Anything that wanders into a bear trap will be stuck there until the brown button connected to it is pushed.
Blue buttons exercise some control over the tanks. Normally, a tank moves directly forward until it hits an obstacle, whereupon it stops. But when a blue button is pressed, all tanks turn around 180 degrees and begin moving again.
The objects with the most potential for help and hindrance are the clone machines, which are controlled by red buttons. Every clone machine contains a dirt block, a tank, or some other creature. When the clone machine's red button is pressed, a duplicate of whatever the clone machine contains is created and set loose.
Once in a while there will also be hint buttons. These have a question mark displayed on them. When Chip steps onto a hint button, a short bit of information will be displayed in the lower right-hand area of the window.
Here are some general hints for successful play:
Every level has a four-letter password. The password for a level is shown in the information display at the upper-right of the window. The obstensible purpose of passwords is to allow you to come back to a level. Howver, normally you will never need to remember passwords, as Tile World will automatically store the passwords for you. However, if you somehow manage to learn the password of a level that you have yet to achieve, you can use the password to gain early access to that level.
For each level in a set that you complete, the game awards 500 points times the level's number. Furthermore, if the level is timed, an extra 10 points is added for every second left on the clock when you finish the level. You can thus sometimes improve your score by returning to already-completed levels and playing them again.
During game play, the arrows are the most important keys; they move Chip through the level. The keys 2 4 6 8 on the numeric keypad can also be used for the same purpose. Other keys have the following functions:
Ctrl-H | pauses the game; press any key to resume play. |
Ctrl-N | stops the current game and moves forward to the next level. |
Ctrl-P | stops the current game and moves back to the previous level. |
Q | quits the current level. |
Ctrl-R | starts over at the beginning of the current level. |
? | pauses the game and displays a list of topics for which help is available within the program. |
V | decreases the volume level. (If the volume level is reduced to zero, then the program will display sound effects textually, as onomatopoeia.) |
Shift-V | increases the volume level. |
At the start of a level, before game play begins, the following key commands are available:
Q | returns to the list of available level sets. |
Spc | starts the current level without moving (i.e., standing still). |
N | moves to the next level. |
P | moves to the previous level. |
PgUp | moves ahead ten levels. |
PgDn | moves back ten levels. |
G | displays a prompt and accepts a password, then jumps to the level with that password. |
Ctrl-I | plays back the best solution for that level. |
Ctrl-X | deprecates the best solution for that level. If the level is then succesfully completed again, the saved solution will be replaced with the new one, whether or not it had a better time. |
S | displays the list of known levels and their current scores. The score list also permits changing the current level. |
? | displays a list of topics for which help is available within the program. |
At most other points, the Q key will abort the current activity and return to the start of the current level.
Finally, the program can be exited at any time by pressing either Ctrl-C or Alt-F4.
The most notable difference between the two rulesets is that in the MS ruleset, movement between tiles is instantaneous, whereas under the Lynx ruleset motion occurs across several "ticks". (This probably reflects the fact that the latter ran on dedicated hardware, while the former ran on 33 MHz PCs under a non-preemptive multitasking OS.) Although the basic mechanics of the game are the same under both rulesets, there are also a host of subtle differences between the two.
Each level set file includes a flag that indicates which ruleset it is to be played under. Some level sets can be played under both rulesets (most notably, the original set of levels), but this is the exception.
Level sets are defined by data files. By convention these file are named with a .dat extension. Typically the name proper contains the author's first name, last initial, and a single digit -- for example, EricS1.dat. (The digit is used to give the sequence in case the author, for whatever reason, stores their creations in more than one file.)
When a new data file is obtained, it may simply be copied into the level set directory (cf Directories), and Tile World will then make it available for playing.
An alternate method is to use a configuration file (see Configuration Files below).
tworld [-hvVdlstpqH] [-DLRS DIR] [LEVEL-SET] [LEVEL-NUMBER]
tworld is normally invoked without arguments. The program begins by displaying a list of the available level sets. After a level set is chosen, the program jumps to the first unsolved level to begin play. However, the name of a level set can be specified directly on the command line, as well as the number of a level to start with.
The available command-line options are enumerated in the following table. (Windows users: The options that cause the program to display something on standard output actually go to a file named stdout.txt instead.)
-D DIR | Read level data files from DIR instead of the default directory. |
-d | Display the default directories used by the program on standard output, and exit. |
-H | Upon exit, display a histogram of idle time on standard output. (This option is used for evaluating optimization efforts.) |
-h | Display a summary of the command-line syntax on standard output and exit. |
-L DIR | Look for level sets in DIR instead of the default directory. |
-l | Write a list of available level sets to standard output and exit. |
-p | Turn off all password-checking. This option allows the normal sequence of levels to be bypassed. |
-q | Run quietly. All sounds, including the ringing of the terminal bell, are suppressed. |
-R DIR | Read resource data from DIR instead of the default directory. |
-S DIR | Read and write solution files under DIR instead of the default directory. |
-s | Display the current scores for the selected level set on standard output and exit. (A level set must be specified on the command line for this option to be generally useful.) |
-t | Display the best times for the selected level set on standard output and exit. (A level set must be specified on the command line for this option to be generally useful.) |
-V | Display the program's version and license information on standard output and exit. |
-v | Display the program's version number on standard output and exit. |
Configuration files are used to override some of the settings in a data file, or to set values not provided for by the data file format. Configuration files are by convention named with a .dac extension. A configuration file is stored in the level set directory in the place of the data file, which then goes into the data directory (cf Directories).
The configuration file is a simple text file. The first line of a configuration file must have the following form:
file = DATAFILE
where DATAFILE is the filename of the data file. (Arbitrary whitespace is permitted around the equal sign, but there cannot be any whitespace embedded at the beginning of the line.) After this initial line, the configuration file can contain any of the following lines:
usepasswords = y/n
This line permits password-checking to be enabled/disabled when playing the levels in the set. The default is y.
ruleset = ms/lynx
This line allows the configuration file to override the ruleset setting in the data file. This is mainly useful in the case where one level set is playable under either ruleset (as is the case with the original level set). The author can then provide one data file and two configuration files to make both versions available.
lastlevel = levelnum
This line marks an arbitrary level as being the last level in the set. The game will stop when this level is completed, instead of proceeding to the next level. (Note that if the data file contains any levels beyond this one, they will only be reachable via a password.)
Tile World loads various resources at runtime from its resource directory (cf Directories). These resources include the program's font, graphic images, and sound effects. The actual files that it loads is determined by the contents of a file named rc (short for "resource configuration", not "runtime commands") in the same directory.
The rc file is a plain text file, and contains lines of the form
resource = filename
where resource is a symbolic resource name, and filename is the name of a file in the resource directory.
The resources can be set differently depending on the ruleset that the program is using. A line in the rc file of the form
[ruleset]
indicates that the lines that follow only apply when that ruleset is in effect (where ruleset is either MS or Lynx). Resources that are defined before any such line apply to both rulesets, and are also used as fallbacks if a ruleset-specific resource could not be loaded. (The font and the text-color resources also need to have ruleset-independent values, as these are used when the program is displaying the initial file list.)
A line of the form
TileImages = FILENAME
identifies the file that provides the images used to draw the game. These images are stored in a Windows bitmap. The layout of this bitmap is documented here.
A line of the form
Font = FILENAME
identifies the file that provides the program's font. The font is stored as a Windows bitmap. The layout of this bitmap is documented here.
Four resources define the colors used in rendering text:
BackgroundColor = RRGGBB
TextColor = RRGGBB
BoldTextColor = RRGGBB
DimTextColor = RRGGBB
The value of RRGGBB is a string of six hexadecimal digits defining the red, green, and blue values of the color (as with the color specification used in HTML or X Windows, but without the preceding octothorpe).
The remaining resources all define the game's sound effects. The sounds are stored as Microsoft .wav (RIFF) files. Unlike the tile images, each sound effect is defined as a separate file. The complete list of symbolic resource names is as follows:
(Note that the symbolic names for the shared and MS-only sounds match the names in the entpack.ini file used by the Microsoft program. This makes it easy for someone with a copy of Microsoft's "Chip's Challenge" to use the sound effects that were provided with that version of the game. In a similar vein, the bitmap stored in the Microsoft executable can be used as the TileImages resource.)
TWORLDDIR
Specifies a top-level directory for the program's resource, level set,
and data file directories.
TWORLDSAVEDIR
Specifies a directory for solution files.
By default, the following directories are used by Tile World. They can be changed at compile-time, so these are actually the default defaults. They can also be set at runtime via command-line options and/or environment variables.
/usr/local/share/tworld/sets
This directory is used to hold the available level sets. The files in
this directory are either data files or configuration files.
/usr/local/share/tworld/data
This directory is used to hold the data files that are referenced by
configuration files.
/usr/local/share/tworld/res
This directory stores the graphics and sound files used by the
program.
~/.tworld
This directory is used to hold the solution files.
Tile World is copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by Brian Raiter.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but without any warranty; without even the implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
Please send bug reports to breadbox@muppetlabs.com.
"Chip's Challenge" was created by Chuck Sommerville, and was originally written for the Atari Lynx handheld game console. ("Tile World" was his working title for the game.) "Chip's Challenge" was published by Epyx (the company who designed the Lynx before selling the rights to Atari) in 1989, and was among the first set of games made available for the Lynx.
"Chip's Challenge" was subsequently ported to several other platforms: MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, Amiga, and the Commodore 64. (A NES port was also planned, but never completed.) The most well-known port was the Windows version, done by Microsoft and sold as part of Windows Entertainment Pack 4 (and later as part of Best of Windows Entertainment Pack).
In the process of recreating the game for the 16-bit Windows platform, Microsoft introduced a surprising number of changes to the mechanics of the game. Some were clearly intentional, some were done through ignorance or indifference, and others were simply bugs in the program.
The programs in WEP4 came pre-installed on many PC computers sold during the 1990s, which is part of the reason for its widespread popularity. A small but fanatically loyal community of adherents to the game connected via a MSN chatroom (and later through the internet). A few members of this community managed to decipher the format of the MS game's data file, and John K. Elion subsequently created a freeware level editor, called ChipEdit. As a result there are now dozens of new level sets, created by fans of the game and all freely available.
Atari discontinued support for the Lynx in 1994. When Epyx went under, the rights to their games were purchased by Bridgestone Multimedia. Responding to the success of "Chip's Challenge", Chuck Sommerville created a sequel ("Chip's Challenge 2"). The sequel included the original game as a proper subset, and Bridgestone holds the rights to both games. Unfortunately, the company has not seen fit to actually release "Chip's Challenge 2", and by now it is highly unlikely that they ever will. Since Chuck Sommerville no longer has rights to either game, and Microsoft no longer sells either of the Entertainment Packs, "Chip's Challenge" is no longer available (except by purchasing a used version, or obtaining an illegal copy of same).
In 2001, the author began writing "Tile World" with the intention of recreating a version of the MS game for the Linux platform. At the encouragement of Chuck Sommerville, this project was expanded to include the goals of recreating the original Lynx game as well, and also making the program work under MS Windows in addition to Linux.
"Chip's Challenge" has seen several incarnations. Each had its own graphical rendering, and thus many of the objects in the game are known by more than one name. For example, the four types of boots in the MS version of the game were known as fire boots, flippers (for water), skates (for ice), and suction boots (for force floors). In the original Lynx version, however, they were not even boots -- the four tools were fire shields, water shields, cleats, and magnets, respectively.
Several of the creatures have seen a variety of names. The list of creatures given in Overview of the Game corresponds to the MS version of the game. In the original Lynx version, the paramecia were centipedes instead. In still other versions of the game, gliders were referred to as ghosts or sharks, fireballs were flames, and teeth were called frogs. (You will also occasionally see bugs referred to as bees, and walkers referred to as dumbbells.)
Finally, the thief tile was called a spy in the MS version.
None of this information is needed in order to play the game, but it helps to explain the titles of some of the user-created levels.