| Supaplex | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Dream Factory |
| Designer(s) | Michael Stopp and Philip Jespersen |
| Platform(s) | Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS |
| Release date | 1991 |
| Genre(s) | Scrolling tile-based puzzle game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Media | Floppy disk (1) |
| Input methods | Keyboard, Joystick |
Supaplex is a video game created by Michael Stopp and Philip Jespersen of Dream Factory. A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual that creates Video games A developer may specialize in a certain video A "game designer" is a person who designs Video games or one who designs traditional games such as Board games Video Games Designer A video game designer Michael Stopp (born March 26, 1969) is a programmer and the creator of the Supaplex video game which he made with his friend Philip Jespersen In Computing, a platform describes some sort of Hardware architecture or Software framework (including Application frameworks, that allows The Amiga is a family of Personal computers originally developed by Amiga Corporation. The Atari ST is a home / Personal computer that was commercially available from 1985 to the early 1990s MS-DOS (short for M icro' s' oft D isk O perating S ystem is an Operating system commercialized by Microsoft. See also [[Game classification]] Video games are categorized into Genres based on their Gameplay interaction In Computer graphics, Movies, Television, and other kinetic displays scrolling is sliding text images or video across a monitor or display A tile-based game is a Game that uses Tiles as one of the fundamental elements of play Puzzle video games are a genre of Video games that emphasize Puzzle solving In video gaming, single-player refers to the variant of a particular game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session Digital media (as opposed to analog media) usually refers to Electronic media that work on digital Codes. A floppy disk is an increasingly Obsolete data storage medium that is composed of a disk of thin flexible ("floppy" Magnetic storage medium encased In Computing, a keyboard is an Input device partially modelled after the typewriter keyboard which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. Michael Stopp (born March 26, 1969) is a programmer and the creator of the Supaplex video game which he made with his friend Philip Jespersen It is an extended clone of Boulder Dash. A video game clone is a Video game or game series which is very similar to or heavily inspired by a previous popular game or game series Boulder Dash, aka Rockford, originally released in 1984 is a classic series of Computer games for the Apple II, MSX
Contents |
History
Though originally designed as a version of Boulder Dash that could fit onto a floppy disk, the designers abandoned this approach in order to create better graphics. A floppy disk is an increasingly Obsolete data storage medium that is composed of a disk of thin flexible ("floppy" Magnetic storage medium encased A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual that creates Video games A developer may specialize in a certain video The game comes with 111 levels though many unofficial level sets have been released that greatly increase that number. The game was released for Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS. The Amiga is a family of Personal computers originally developed by Amiga Corporation. The Atari ST is a home / Personal computer that was commercially available from 1985 to the early 1990s MS-DOS (short for M icro' s' oft D isk O perating S ystem is an Operating system commercialized by Microsoft.
Due to hardware dependant programming, the PC version of Supaplex ran twice as fast as PCs became faster. Herman Perk disassembled the game, debugged it and re-assembled it again. The result became known as SpeedFix. Extra features have also been added without changing the game itself.
The developers of the game have declared the software freeware. Freeware is computer Software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee [1]
The Game
Although the levels must be played in order, the game allows up to three levels to be skipped at any given time. The game is very challenging, but unlike many Boulder Dash-related games the difficulty comes from solving the puzzles in each level rather than from semi-responsive controls. Furthermore, Supaplex does not use time limits for solving the puzzles, unlike Boulder Dash.
Most objects are identical in behaviour to those in the original Boulder Dash. [2] Murphy substitutes Rockford, who collects objects called Infotrons, which are reminiscent of schematic representations of atoms, instead of diamonds. In Mineralogy, diamond is the allotrope of carbon where the carbon atoms are arranged in Instead of dirt, the levels are filled with printed circuit board simply called base in the game's manual, and not lined with brick walls, but with computer chips and other hardware, and filled with Zonks instead of rocks. A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect Electronic components using conductive pathways or traces Microchipsjpg|right|thumb|200px|Microchips ( EPROM memory with a transparent window showing the integrated circuit inside Typical PC hardware A typical Personal computer consists of a case or chassis in a tower shape (desktop and the following parts Motherboard In Geology, rock is a naturally occurring aggregate of Minerals and/or Mineraloids The Earth's outer solid layer the ‘ Lithosphere The enemies are moving scissors, called Snik Snaks, and electrons which resemble sparkling stars. Scissors are hand operated cutting instruments consisting of a pair of Metal Blades connected in such a way that the blades meet and cut materials placed
Supaplex introduces a number of new elements that were not present in Boulder Dash, including bugs, pieces of base that randomly cause a life threatening electrostatic discharges, Ports, which limit Murphy's movement to specific directions, and terminals, which set off yellow Utility Disks. Electrostatic discharge ( ESD) is the sudden and momentary Electric current that flows between two objects at different Electrical potentials The term is Utility Disks are explosive floppy disks and come in three different colors: Orange Disks work like Zonks, but explode when hit or when falling. An explosive material is a material that either is chemically or otherwise Energetically unstable or produces a sudden expansion of the material usually accompanied Yellow Disks do not fall yet may be pushed in any direction, and explode when the Terminal is used. Red Disks can be carried and dropped when convenient, exploding seconds after.
Supaplex is the first Boulder Dash-like game that is not fully grid-based: while the playing field is an obvious grid, the objects do not "snap" from one grid position to another, but can be halfway or "in between" grid positions. A tile-based game is a Game that uses Tiles as one of the fundamental elements of play This behavior has led to a number of well-known bugs that can be turned to the player's advantage, many of which need to be exploited to complete fan-made levels. For instance, by turning around quickly, the player can cause an enemy or rock to "bounce" off Murphy.
The authors
Michael W. Stopp's story
The graphics artist of Supaplex, Michael W. Stopp, commented on the development of Supaplex (read it at his homepage as well):
| “ | In the age of the Commodore 64 there was a game called Boulder Dash. Me and my schoolfriend Philip Jespersen adored it. We also adored the capabilities of Commodore's Amiga. The Amiga is a family of Personal computers originally developed by Amiga Corporation. But unfortunately we couldn't play Boulder Dash anymore. In summer 1988 we stopped the mourning and decided to make our own Amiga-version, at that time called "Think!". We added a number of new elements and gravitation. And we decided that there should be a lot of levels: 111 (but it still had to fit on a floppy disk!). Since Philip did the programming somebody had to construct the levels. . . guess who! The first 50 levels or so weren't too difficult, but there was still a long way to go; so this kept me on my toe for the next months.
But what was even worse, was the fact that you had to play all those levels, to see if they were possible. Every little change of code meant that you had to play them all over again. And there were constant changes. . . With 100 or more levels this meant playing to the point where it became difficult to distinguish between game and reality (you'd always feel as if there was a pair of scissors chasing you. . . ). Eventually the game was finished and we had the silly idea that we might try to earn money with it. Surprisingly, the guys of Digital Integration thought the same and so they bought it from us. Due to a trademark conflict, it had to be renamed. That's how it became Supaplex. And now, many years later and thanks to the internet, we found out that there was still a dedicated community of Supaplexers around. If you want to know more about Supaplex check out "Elmer Maarten's Supaplex-Homepage". He provides the most comprehensive and complete information about the game on the Internet. Find solutions to levels as well as new levels and additional software on his page. |
” |
Philip E. Jespersen's story
The programmer of Supaplex, Philip E. Jespersen, commented back in 1996 on the development of Supaplex:
| “ | . . . The Amiga Fever extended into my first "serious" project, which turned to be a computer game called "Think!" which was a BoulderDash inspired game. "Think!" which was eventually released Europe-wide by Digital Integration as "Supaplex" and was written 100% in Assembler and featured many nice programming tricks and high speed graphics. Digital Integration (Robin Heydon) also ported the game to MS-DOS, but I still prefer the Amiga Version, as its controls are better. As a requirement set by Digital Integration "Supaplex" had to run on any 512KB RAM Amiga machine, which turned out to be a serious problem, which only could be solved by writing own direct floppy disk read/write code (MFM coding was quite difficult as there was hardly any documentation available at all). I also had to setup my own stack management, because as the boot code of the floppy got loaded, no "official" stack was created by the operating system, which in any case got completely wiped out anyway by "Supaplex". Hence no Harddisk Version was ever released, although nowadays in would be no problem at all, as everybody today seems to have gigabytes of RAM (well, maybe a bit or two less). . . | ” |
Supaplex clones
Megaplex
Megaplex is a clone of the original Supaplex which runs under Windows. Microsoft Windows is a series of Software Operating systems and Graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. As well as the original 111 levels, the player is able to create and share his own levels with a level editor. A level editor (also known as a map, campaign or scenario editor is a software application used to design levels maps or campaigns Megaplex is based on the exact improved Supaplex machine language code, which makes it 100% compatible with all original Supaplex levels and recorded demos, but it does not include any scoring information.
Other clones
Other Supaplex-like games include such titles as WinPlex, SubTerra, Igor (originally intended to be named "Supaplex-2"), Diamond Dash, and Rocks'n'Diamonds, New Supaplex. Rocks'n'Diamonds is a Scrolling tile-based Computer puzzle game that can be described as a combined Boulder Dash, There is also a version for Macintosh, called Infotron. Macintosh, commonly nicknamed Mac is a Brand name which covers several lines of Personal computers designed developed and marketed by Apple Inc
See also
External links
- Supaplex homepage
- Supaplex Download and Install
- MegaPlex HomePage
- The Supaplex FAQ
- New Supaplex Homepage
- Supaplex page A comprehensive and complete Supaplex page
- Igor homepage
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