Ruleset: Difference between revisions

== Microsoft ruleset ==

[[File:MSchips.png|thumb|Screenshot of the Microsoft version]]

The Microsoft ruleset, commonly referred to as the ''MS ruleset'', is the ruleset used in the 1992 port of the game to the PC, which is the game most players are familiar with. Because of software limitations (it was developed for Windows 3.1), this ruleset lacks animated gameplay, and instead [[object]]s jump from square to square. It also appears that too little playtesting was done, and there are numerous rule differences. Due to sloppy programming, many strange [[glitch]]es exist, such as [[slide delay]] and the [[Controller and Boss Glitch]].

As this is the most well-known ruleset, many custom [[level set]]s, especially older ones, are usually designed with this ruleset in mind. [[Chip's Challenge Level Pack 2]], for example, is not completely Lynx-compatible - assuming the original set is being used and not [[Chip's Challenge Level Pack 2 (Lynx)|its Lynx counterpart released a decade later]]. In their original states, 48 levels cannot be played and 21 levels are unsolvable while playing in Lynx. This only leaves 80 solvable levels in the whole set, and even of these, four ([[Ranger Denmark]], [[Traps I]], [[Glider and Fire]], and [[Cloner's Maze]]) are highly unequal in solution difficulty. One level in particular, [[Zartacla]], is ''completely'' busted due to the ability of block slapping in Lynx play. Rarely, levels are designed exclusively with the Lynx ruleset in mind; examples are Scott Feeney's ''Graue1_LYNX.dat'', [[Joshua Bone]]'s ''JoshB_LYNX.dat'', and even CCLXP2 in some cases.

== Lynx ruleset ==

=== Steam ruleset (CC2) ===

{{Distinguish|Steam}}

The 2015 Steam release of [[Chip's Challenge 2]] and re-release of [[Chip's Challenge 1]] use the same engine, which is currently only available on Windows machines but mostly based on the original Lynx ruleset. It contains some deviations from Lynx, such as allowing backwards overrides and shortening [[splash delay]], but otherwise inherits its rules from Lynx, and can be assumed to inherit everything except where these deviations are explicitly pointed out.

== Differences between the various rulesets ==

Except where otherwise specified, the ruleset comparisons here are between the MS ruleset and the Lynx ruleset.

=== Tile rules ===

* In Lynx, the [[hint]], [[yellow key]] and [[green key]] are all monster-[[acting wall]]s, and [[fire]] is an acting wall to everything but [[fireball]]s. In MS, monsters can cross over all keys without altering them. In CC2, a new tile called the [[flame jet]] works more similarly to the way fire works in MS, except that it can turn off and that bugs and walkers can also die in them.

* In Lynx, when the exit is reached, the clock runs down for one more turn before stopping. It is therefore possible to complete a level in Lynx mode with 0 seconds remaining by exiting at the exact last possible moment, a feat which is not possible in MS.

* The [[Concussion Rule]] exists in all rulesets except CC2, where open traps are [[acting floor]] regardless of whether or not the released object can slide forward.

=== Tile functions ===

* In MS, the connections between [[brown button]]s and [[trap]]s are explicitly specified by the level designer, but in the ''original'' Lynx, buttons are automatically connected to the next trap or machine in forwards wrappable [[reading order]]. [[Tile World]]'s Lynx mode behaves like the MS version unless run in Pedantic mode, in which case only a button with ''no'' connections will automatically establish the reading order rule. CC2 inherits its pedantic button connections from Lynx, but also introduces a [[wiring]] system for [[pink button|pink]] and [[black button|black]] buttons to allow for more complex connections.

* In both rulesets, objects can move one space per turn without sliding, but Lynx moves them in real time while MS moves them instantaneously. To work in real time, Lynx has to attempt to move object a quarter of a space every quarter turn, rather than one space every full turn; this means that it is four times as accurate as MS. For example, if a [[fireball]] and Chip are both next to [[flippers]] in Lynx, Chip only has to wait [1/4] to pick up the flippers safely, because the fireball has attempted to move onto the flippers during this time interval, and is now programmed to turn right even if Chip collects them immediately afterwards.<!--This example is poorly worded and i don't know how to fix it.-->

* In Lynx, chips and boots are acting dirt in every way. In CC2, they act a bit differently from dirt: while the player character is still conidered to be on the destination square when moving, monsters can't step onto a player/dirt combo, but they ''can'' step on a player/boot or player/chip combo. Thus, grabbing chips and boots that are guarded by monsters is much more risky than in Lynx.<!--see Blobnet comments on Steam for CC2 version of CC1-->

* In MS, if Chip or a [[teeth]] runs into an [[acting wall]], it must wait until the next time it is permitted to move. Under Lynx, Chip can make a move as soon as a quarter of a turn after a failed move. An example would be [[Ping Pong]]: if Chip runs into one of the [[blue wall]]s around the level, he is delayed by [1/4]. In MS (and in this case, CC2 as well), however, this type of move does not cost anything. On the other hand, if Chip is pressing against the blue walls from the inside, he only has to do it for 1/4 of a move in Lynx before it turns grey and then he can move again, whereas in MS, bumping into the wall costs a full move. In CC2, this latter example is the same as in CC1 Lynx unless a form of block-slapping against walls is used.

* In MS, [[blob]]s and [[walker]]s will not choose a direction that would result in an illegal move on this turn. In Lynx, they will attempt to make any move, so a blob or walker may remain stationary on a space; its direction will change to show the attempted move.

* In Lynx, when a monster moves onto a force floor or ice, their speed will double; in MS, all monsters including the [[teeth]] and [[blob]] will move at Chip's sliding speed of 10 [m/s]. Teeth still move at 10 m/s on sliding tiles in Lynx, because, on normal floor, they truly move at 5 m/s then pause for one step.

* In Lynx, a more rudimentary variation of boosting exists; Chip can only override force floors when previously sliding on other force floors, and only when attempting to make a ''sideways'' move (this last part does not apply to CC2).

* In Lynx, all monsters will exit a trap in the direction they are facing. In MS, [[bug]]s, paramecia, and teeth may [[Controller and Boss Glitch|behave differently]], and blobs can still move out of the trap in any legal direction. As mentioned earlier, in CC2, open traps are treated as floor, but trapped objects will slide forward one tile when they are released by a brown button.

* In Lynx, an animation plays when a [[bomb]] explodes or a block is placed in [[water]], which blocks Chip from stepping on the space for roughly half of a second (specifically, the animation lasts 11-12 ticks, where 20 ticks = 1 second, and usually translates to 10-11 ticks of waiting; this has been reduced to about 5 ticks of waiting in CC2) or unless a [[monster]] touches the space first. This behavior is solely responsible for making [[Teeth (CCLP2 level)|Teeth]] unsolvable.

* In the original Lynx version, as well as CC2, the random seed of randomness-based monsters and mechanics (except blobs) is fixed and will not change with successive attempts of the level. In MS, the path is randomly chosen every time the level starts.

* In the Lynx version, the Steam version, and the TW Lynx emulation, holding two directional keys perpendicular to each other at once will cause you to swap directions whenever you hit a wall. However, only in the original Lynx version, holding two directions also forces you to move in the more recently held direction whenever legal.

=== Compatibility ===

* In MS—and to a lesser extent, CC2—any tile can be placed on another tile. In Lynx, exactly one Chip is allowed and every space consists of 1 non-creature and 0 or 1 creatures (here, "creature" includes blocks and Chip). In Tile World, the unused/internal-use tiles, such as [[fake exit]], [[Burned Chip]], [[Drowned Chip]], and [[Swimming Chip]], can be placed, though most of them are replaced by walls. In the original Atari Lynx version, those tiles, as well as North and West thin walls, don't exist, and Tile World's pedantic Lynx mode generally won't play levels containing them.

=== Miscellaneous data ===

* When its development was active, [[Puzzle Studio]] was being programmed to use Tile World Lynx rules.

* [[Chip's Challenge Level Pack 3|CCLP3]], [[Chip's Challenge Level Pack 1|CCLP1]], and [[Chip's Challenge Level Pack 4|CCLP4]] are all Lynx and MS compatible. Any invalid or impossible level in Lynx (or MS in far more rare cases), or any level where the altered mechanics change the basic route to a significant degree, was excluded from voting.