08-Sep-2019, 7:47 PM
There is available online a reproduction of a 1991 catalog of games for the Atari Lynx. Chip's Challenge got two whole pages devoted to it:
https://atariage.com/catalog_page.php?Sy...rentPage=5
https://atariage.com/catalog_page.php?Sy...rentPage=6
(Despite the website's labeling, this is indeed a Lynx catalog, not 2600.)
The different names given to things are amusing.
Also of interest are the maps and tips given for three levels: BLOCK FACTORY, NIGHTMARE, and PLAYHOUSE. The map for BLOCK FACTORY is especially intriguing, because it is different from the one in the actual game as we received it. Specifically, the force floors paths extend right to the top, making it more difficult to collect the topmost chip. I was wondering if this was perhaps an earlier version of the level, but that would be odd as this catalog was released well after Chip's Challenge.
There are some more clues, however. The map for PLAYHOUSE is missing a wall at (21, 16), which looks very much like a mere error on the part of whoever created the map. There are also two balls missing. The maps for NIGHTMARE and PLAYHOUSE do not, in general, show the monsters in their actual starting positions, and that for BLOCK FACTORY shows several blocks at the end of the force floor slide. All this points to the conclusion that the maps were not automatically generated from the level data, but manually put together by someone playing the game. This was executed imperfectly, and the different BLOCK FACTORY layout is the most striking mistake.
The catalog also has a page describing a contest:
https://atariage.com/catalog_page.php?Sy...entPage=27
Look at question 2.
https://atariage.com/catalog_page.php?Sy...rentPage=5
https://atariage.com/catalog_page.php?Sy...rentPage=6
(Despite the website's labeling, this is indeed a Lynx catalog, not 2600.)
The different names given to things are amusing.
Also of interest are the maps and tips given for three levels: BLOCK FACTORY, NIGHTMARE, and PLAYHOUSE. The map for BLOCK FACTORY is especially intriguing, because it is different from the one in the actual game as we received it. Specifically, the force floors paths extend right to the top, making it more difficult to collect the topmost chip. I was wondering if this was perhaps an earlier version of the level, but that would be odd as this catalog was released well after Chip's Challenge.
There are some more clues, however. The map for PLAYHOUSE is missing a wall at (21, 16), which looks very much like a mere error on the part of whoever created the map. There are also two balls missing. The maps for NIGHTMARE and PLAYHOUSE do not, in general, show the monsters in their actual starting positions, and that for BLOCK FACTORY shows several blocks at the end of the force floor slide. All this points to the conclusion that the maps were not automatically generated from the level data, but manually put together by someone playing the game. This was executed imperfectly, and the different BLOCK FACTORY layout is the most striking mistake.
The catalog also has a page describing a contest:
https://atariage.com/catalog_page.php?Sy...entPage=27
Look at question 2.