Hint: Difference between revisions

|cc1 = Yes

|cc2 = Yes

== Mechanics and glitches ==

In Chip's Challenge 1, the hint is set for each level, not for each hint tile. Therefore, a level cannot have two different hints even if it had two different hint tiles. ([[Special]] is the only CC1 level with multiple hints.) However, in [[Chip's Challenge 2]], each hint tile can have it's own hint. Thus, there can be multiple hints per level in CC2. The maximum length of the hint text in Chip's Challenge 1 is 255<!--", since 255 is the highest number of characters that can be indicated with one byte" I'm commenting this out because it doesn't make sense. The number of bits used to represent a character has nothing to do with the number of characters that can be stored.-->. If the hint exceeds this length, its level will not play, and the screen will instead show [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuTqJpys5Mo the picture of Chip at the end of the game], with a [[computer chip]] in his hand and held up by the Bit Busters. In MSCC, a shorter hint may still not display if it cannot fit within the hint panel. A lengthy hint can also contribute to a crash due to the [[Data Size Glitch]].

== Levels with hints ==

Hints may be immediately available, but some are often disguised and can be made deliberately dangerous or time-wasting to reach: [[Crypts of Aganorak]] will be [[cook]]ed if Chip reads the hint for [4] or longer, and simply stepping onto the hint of [[Pyramid]] will trap Chip behind a [[recessed wall]]. If Chip reads the hint for [[You Must Be Joking]] for too long, he will run out of time. They can include valuable clues such as the key objective of the level, buried [[item]]s or where to find the [[exit]] ([[Ladder Needs a Wash]]), explain why the player has just cooked the level ([[Zelgon's Lair]]), fill in backstory important to solving the level or enriches the experience ([[Captured]]), or elucidate the level design and/or name if, perhaps, there are proper names, references or fictional locations that need such explanation. [[The Ghosts at the Massingham Mansion]], [[Oil Rig]], [[Super Chip]], [[Get a Clue]] and [[And Then There Were... Four?]] are several such levels, whilst [[Chip Alone: Lost in Chip City]]'s hint message references the movie ''Home Alone 2: Lost in New York'' in a way that the movie's plot is a hint to the player.

Only 21 levels in [[Chip's Challenge 1]] contain hints. With increasing difficulty in [[CCLP2]] and [[CCLP3]], more hints are included in these levelsets; CCLP3's running storyline also demanded more gap-filling. There are four missing hints ([[Deconstruction]], [[Hmmm!]], [[Ray of Light]] and [[CircleMaze]]) and 37 official hints in CCLP2, while CCLP3 contains ''58'' official hints and two blank hints - [[Vague Dream]] and [[Suspended Animation]].

[[Category:Messages]]