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Bill Darrah (edit)

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Fleshed out information on Darrah's CC1 designer hypotheses, and added the table of levels Darrah designed in CC2
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(Fleshed out information on Darrah's CC1 designer hypotheses, and added the table of levels Darrah designed in CC2)
 
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'''Bill Darrah''' is a professional designer of puzzles who is best known in the CC community for designing approximately 1/3 of the original [[Chip's Challenge]] levels, as well as 7 levels that were included in [[Chip's Challenge 2]].
'''Bill Darrah''' is a professional puzzle designer who is best known in the CC community for designing approximately 1/3 of the original [[Chip's Challenge]] levels, as well as 7 levels that were included in [[Chip's Challenge 2]].  


Bill's level design style is often distinctly recognizable for its homogeneity, mathematical precision, and emphasis on sprawling mazes. His levels in many cases are known for being equal parts beautiful, tedious, and difficult (for example [[Doublemaze]], [[Rink]], and [[Force Field]]).
<blockquote>''"I hired [Bill] as a contractor to design levels for CC1. He was the only contributor who wasn't a full time Epyx employee. I knew him, because we were already friends and he had a passion for designing puzzles, and had written for 2 text adventures."''<br>-- [[Chuck Sommerville]] </blockquote>
 
Bill's level design style is often distinctly recognizable for its homogeneity, mathematical precision, and emphasis on sprawling mazes. His levels in many cases are known for being equal parts beautiful, tedious, and difficult.
 
== Trivia ==
* Darrah has an online shop called [https://www.shapeways.com/shops/yorkhouse Yorkhouse Puzzles and Surprises] where he designs and sells mechanical puzzles. The logo bears an obvious resemblance to the castles in the [[Chip's Challenge 1|CC1]] levels [[Yorkhouse]] and [[Castle Moat]].
 
* According to [[Joshua Bone]], there is a word-of-mouth story from [[Chuck Sommerville]] about the level [[Castle Moat]]. Darrah reportedly designed the level, and Sommerville later inserted the now-infamous [[flippers|water shield]] shortcut without telling him.


== [[:Category:Levels designed by Bill Darrah|Levels in official packs]] ==
== [[:Category:Levels designed by Bill Darrah|Levels in official packs]] ==
=== [[Chip's Challenge 1|CC1]] ===
=== [[Chip's Challenge 1]] ===
It is not known exactly which levels in CC1 Bill Darrah designed; however due to his distinct design style it is possible to make educated guesses. According to [[Joshua Bone]], these are the CC1 levels that were most likely designed by Bill.
It is not known exactly which levels in CC1 Bill Darrah designed, as even he does not fully remember. In a series of emails with [[Joshua Bone]] in 2020, Darrah was able to confirm the following levels with varying degrees of certainty.
 
==== Levels Darrah is certain he made ====
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! # !! Name !! class="unsortable" | Darrah's comments
|-
| 18 || [[Castle Moat]] || Absolutely sure it's mine
|-
| 23 || [[Blobnet]] || Absolutely sure it's mine
|-
| 65 || [[Amsterdam]] || Absolutely sure it's mine
|-
| 73 || [[Morton]] || Absolutely sure it's mine
|-
| 88 || [[Spirals]] || Absolutely sure it's mine
|-
| 105 || [[Short Circuit]] || Absolutely sure it's mine
|-
| 136 || [[Doublemaze]] || Absolutely sure it's mine
|-
| 138 || [[Partial Post]] || Absolutely sure it's mine
|-
| 139 || [[Yorkhouse]] || Absolutely sure it's mine
|-
| 142 || [[Pentagram]] || Absolutely sure it's mine
|}


==== Levels Darrah thinks he probably made ====
{| class="wikitable sortable"  
{| class="wikitable sortable"  
! # !! Name
! # !! Name !! class="unsortable" | Darrah's comments
|-
| 10 || [[Brushfire]] || Mine, I think
|-
| 16 || [[Cellblocked]] || Pretty sure it's mine
|-
| 25 || [[Blink]] || Sure looks like mine
|-
| 30 || [[Mishmesh]] || Sure looks like mine
|-
| 32 || [[Scavenger Hunt]] || Sure looks like mine
|-
| 44 || [[Refraction]] || Pretty sure this is mine.
|-
| 47 || [[Pier Seven]] || Pretty sure this is mine.
|-
| 61 || [[Rink]] || Sure looks like mine
|-
| 67 || [[Chipmine]] || Sure looks like mine
|-
| 81 || [[Writers Block]] || Probably mine, not sure
|-
| 85 || [[Telenet]] || Probably mine, not sure
|-
|-
| 16 || [[Cellblocked]]
| 100 || [[Colony]] || Sure looks like mine
|-
|-
| 18 || [[Castle Moat]]
| 101 || [[Apartment]] || Sure looks like mine
|-
|-
| 22 || [[Forced Entry]]
| 103 || [[Memory]] || Sure looks like mine
|-
|-
| 23 || [[Blobnet]]
| 143 || [[Stripes?]] || Probably mine
|-
|-
| 25 || [[Blink]]
| 144 || [[Fireflies]] || Looks like mine
|-
|-
| 30 || [[Mishmesh]]
| 147 || [[Force Field]] || Sure looks like mine
|}
 
==== Levels Darrah thinks he might have made ====
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! # !! Name !! class="unsortable" | Darrah's comments
|-
|-
| 32 || [[Scavenger Hunt]]
| 19 || [[Digger]] || Could be mine. I wanted to make a level that could be played boldly and fast or safely and slow
|-
|-
| 37 || [[Seeing Stars]]
| 22 || [[Forced Entry]] || Might be mine, not sure
|-
|-
| 50 || [[Digdirt]]
| 28 || [[Ping Pong]] || Might be mine. not sure
|-
|-
| 51 || [[I Slide]]
| 31 || [[Knot]] || Might be mine. not sure
|-
|-
| 53 || [[Traffic Cop]]
| 50 || [[Digdirt]] || Might be mine, not sure
|-
|-
| 61 || [[Rink]]
| 51 || [[I Slide]] || Looks like mine, not sure
|-
|-
| 64 || [[Spooks]]
| 72 || [[Reverse Alley]] || Might be mine, not sure
|-
|-
| 65 || [[Amsterdam]]
| 75 || [[Steam]] || Might be mine, not sure
|-
|-
| 67 || [[Chipmine]]
| 80 || [[Vanishing Act]] || Might be mine, not sure
|-
|-
| 72 || [[Reverse Alley]]
| 94 || [[Now You See It]] || Might be mine, not sure
|-
|-
| 73 || [[Morton]]
| 115 || [[Oversea Delivery]] || Might be mine, not sure
|-
|-
| 75 || [[Steam]]
| 130 || [[Ice Cube]] || Might be mine, not sure
|}
 
==== Levels Darrah isn't sure if he made ====
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! # !! Name !! class="unsortable" | Darrah's comments
|-
|-
| 80 || [[Vanishing Act]]
| 14 || [[Teleblock]] || This doesn't look like style, but it does seem like my kind of theme
|-
|-
| 81 || [[Writers Block]]
| 21 || [[Iceberg]] || No memory
|-
|-
| 85 || [[Telenet]]
| 64 || [[Spooks]] || ?
|-
|-
| 88 || [[Spirals]]
| 91 || [[Jumping Swarm]] || No memory
|-
|-
| 94 || [[Now You See It]]
| 148 || [[Mind Block]] || Might be mine, probably not
|}
 
==== Levels Darrah thinks he did not make ====
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! # !! Name !! class="unsortable" | Darrah's comments
|-
|-
| 98 || [[Shrinking]]
| 37 || [[Seeing Stars]] || I doubt this is mine
|-
|-
| 100 || [[Colony]]
| 53 || [[Traffic Cop]] || I doubt this is mine
|-
|-
| 101 || [[Apartment]]
| 87 || [[Cityblock]] || I think this is not mine
|-
|-
| 103 || [[Memory]]
| 97 || [[Metastable to Chaos]] || Not mine.  I should remember who, but I don't
|-
|-
| 105 || [[Short Circuit]]
| 98 || [[Shrinking]] || I doubt this is mine
|-
|-
| 115 || [[Oversea Delivery]]
| 117 || [[The Marsh]] || This resembles my kind of level, but I don't think it is
|-
|-
| 130 || [[Ice Cube]]
| 134 || [[Pain]] || I doubt this was mine
|-
|-
| 136 || [[Doublemaze]]
| 146 || [[Cake Walk]] || I doubt this was mine
|}
 
=== [[Chip's Challenge 2]] ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! # !! Name
|-
|-
| 138 || [[Partial Post]]
| 8 || [[Swivels]]
|-
|-
| 139 || [[Yorkhouse]]
| 107 || [[Wing and a Prayer]]
|-
|-
| 142 || [[Pentagram]]
| 122 || [[Fire and Ice]]
|-
|-
| 143 || [[Stripes?]]
| 127 || [[Bomber Maze]]
|-
|-
| 144 || [[Fireflies]]
| 156 || [[In the Slime]]
|-
|-
| 147 || [[Force Field]]
| 196 || [[Swamp]]
|-
|-
| 148 || [[Mind Block]]
| 198 || [[Chip Off the Block]]
|}
|}
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