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Spirals corruption: Difference between revisions
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The '''Spirals corruption''' is a [[glitch]] in some versions of [[Chip's Challenge]] which concerns an alternate version of [[Spirals]] with one small difference. At [[grid]] coordinate (29, 13) is a [[thin wall]] instead of a [[floor]] space, which causes a ''much'' harder level worthy of a 5 star luck rating. | The '''Spirals corruption''' is a [[glitch]] in some versions of [[Chip's Challenge]] which concerns an alternate version of [[Spirals]] with one small difference. At [[grid]] coordinate (29, 13) is a [[thin wall]] instead of a [[floor]] space, which causes a ''much'' harder level worthy of a 5 star luck rating. | ||
The cause of this alternate level is theorized by [[Ruben Spaans]] to be a result of the conversion between [[MS ruleset|MS]] and [[Lynx]], which caused the [[Transparency Glitch]], [[boosting]] and [[Controller and Boss Glitch]], among with most of the other current glitches known. The programmers appear to have done very little playtesting in the MSCC emulation, and found that Spirals was exceedingly difficult because of the different rules of [[walker]] movement in MS. Although they edited the level, some copies of Spirals, generally found in Windows Entertainment Pack 4 versions of the MS Chip's Challenge, never received the edit. | The cause of this alternate level is theorized by [[Ruben Spaans]] to be a result of the conversion between [[MS ruleset|MS]] and [[Lynx ruleset|Lynx]], which caused the [[Transparency Glitch]], [[boosting]] and [[Controller and Boss Glitch]], among with most of the other current glitches known. The programmers appear to have done very little playtesting in the MSCC emulation, and found that Spirals was exceedingly difficult because of the different rules of [[walker]] movement in MS. Although they edited the level, some copies of Spirals, generally found in Windows Entertainment Pack 4 versions of the MS Chip's Challenge, never received the edit. | ||
This corruption was first brought to the full attention of the public, although isolated reports had been made, on March 23, 1998, in a discovery by Erik Arfeuille: | This corruption was first brought to the full attention of the public, although isolated reports had been made, on March 23, 1998, in a discovery by Erik Arfeuille: | ||
Revision as of 10:57, 20 June 2019
Error: Invalid JSON ($2).{| class="wikitable infobox plainlinks" style="width: 30%; align: right; text-align: center;"
|+ SPIRALS
|-
| colspan="2"|
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Level set
| [[Error: no local variable "LEVELSET" has been set.]]
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Level number
| Error: no local variable "LEVEL" has been set.
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Designer
| [[Error: no local variable "DESIGNER" has been set.]]
|-
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Password
| Error: no local variable "PASSWORD" has been set.
|-
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Password notes
| Error: no local variable "PW_NOTE" has been set.
|-
|- style="display:none;"
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Hint
| {{{hint}}}
|-
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Chips
|
|-
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Chips notes
| Error: no local variable "CHIPS_NOTE" has been set.
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Time limit
| ---
|-
|-
| colspan = "2" | MS (Scores)
|-
|-
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Melinda time
| Error: no local variable "MS_MELINDA" has been set.
|-
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Bold time
| Error: no local variable "MS_BOLD" has been set.
|-
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Public time
| Error: no local variable "MS_PUBLIC" has been set.
|-
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Casual difficulty
| *****
|-
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Bold execution
difficulty
| *****
|-
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Bold routing
difficulty
| *****
|-
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Bold luck
difficulty
| *****
|- |- ! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Mouse Required | Note: This level's bold route requires use of the mouse. |- |- |- | colspan = "2" | Lynx (Scores) |- |- |- ! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Melinda time | Error: no local variable "LYNX_MELINDA" has been set. |- |- ! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Bold time | Error: no local variable "LYNX_BOLD" has been set. |- |- ! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Public time | Error: no local variable "LYNX_PUBLIC" has been set. |- |- ! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Casual difficulty | *****
|-
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Bold execution
difficulty
| *****
|-
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Bold routing
difficulty
| *****
|-
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Bold luck
difficulty
| *****
|- |- |- | colspan = "2" | Steam (Scores) |- |- style="display:none;" ! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Bold time | Error: no local variable "STEAM_TIME_BOLD" has been set. |- |- ! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Bold time | Error: no local variable "STEAM_TIME_BOLD" has been set. |- |- style="display:none;" ! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Public time | Error: no local variable "STEAM_TIME_PUBLIC" has been set. |- |- ! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Public time | Error: no local variable "STEAM_TIME_PUBLIC" has been set. |- |- ! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Casual difficulty | *****
|-
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Bold execution
difficulty
| *****
|-
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Bold routing
difficulty
| *****
|-
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Bold luck
difficulty
| *****
|- |- ! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Bold score | Error: no local variable "STEAM_SCORE_BOLD" has been set. |- |- ! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Public score | Error: no local variable "STEAM_SCORE_PUBLIC" has been set. |- |- ! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Casual difficulty | *****
|-
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Bold execution
difficulty
| *****
|-
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Bold routing
difficulty
| *****
|-
|-
! width="1%" nowrap="nowrap"|Bold luck
difficulty
| *****
|- |- |}[[Category:Error: no local variable "LEVELSET" has been set. Levels]] [[Category:Levels designed by Error: no local variable "DESIGNER" has been set.]] [[Category:Levels with casual difficulty Error: no local variable "MS_CASUAL" has been set. (MS)]] [[Category:Levels with bold execution difficulty Error: no local variable "MS_EXEC" has been set. (MS)]] [[Category:Levels with bold routing difficulty Error: no local variable "MS_ROUTE" has been set. (MS)]] [[Category:Levels with luck rating Error: no local variable "MS_LUCK" has been set. (MS)]] [[Category:Levels with casual difficulty Error: no local variable "LYNX_CASUAL" has been set. (Lynx)]] [[Category:Levels with bold execution difficulty Error: no local variable "LYNX_EXEC" has been set. (Lynx)]] [[Category:Levels with bold routing difficulty Error: no local variable "LYNX_ROUTE" has been set. (Lynx)]] [[Category:Levels with luck rating Error: no local variable "LYNX_LUCK" has been set. (Lynx)]] [[Category:Levels with casual difficulty Error: no local variable "STEAM_TIME_CASUAL" has been set. (Steam)]] [[Category:Levels with bold execution difficulty Error: no local variable "STEAM_TIME_EXEC" has been set. (Steam)]] [[Category:Levels with bold routing difficulty Error: no local variable "STEAM_TIME_ROUTE" has been set. (Steam)]] [[Category:Levels with luck rating Error: no local variable "STEAM_TIME_LUCK" has been set. (Steam)]] [[Category:Levels with casual difficulty Error: no local variable "STEAM_SCORE_CASUAL" has been set. (Steam score)]] [[Category:Levels with bold execution difficulty Error: no local variable "STEAM_SCORE_EXEC" has been set. (Steam score)]] [[Category:Levels with bold routing difficulty Error: no local variable "STEAM_SCORE_ROUTE" has been set. (Steam score)]] [[Category:Levels with bold luck rating Error: no local variable "STEAM_SCORE_LUCK" has been set. (Steam Score)]]
The Spirals corruption is a glitch in some versions of Chip's Challenge which concerns an alternate version of Spirals with one small difference. At grid coordinate (29, 13) is a thin wall instead of a floor space, which causes a much harder level worthy of a 5 star luck rating.
The cause of this alternate level is theorized by Ruben Spaans to be a result of the conversion between MS and Lynx, which caused the Transparency Glitch, boosting and Controller and Boss Glitch, among with most of the other current glitches known. The programmers appear to have done very little playtesting in the MSCC emulation, and found that Spirals was exceedingly difficult because of the different rules of walker movement in MS. Although they edited the level, some copies of Spirals, generally found in Windows Entertainment Pack 4 versions of the MS Chip's Challenge, never received the edit.
This corruption was first brought to the full attention of the public, although isolated reports had been made, on March 23, 1998, in a discovery by Erik Arfeuille:
There definitely was a bug in my chips data file. I used the chip's editor and the instructions given to me by Richard Field and was able to remedy the problem. If you have any knowledge of the Chip's editor: run it, load level 88 and check out square 29,13. On *my* Level 88, this square was blocked to the east by a thin wall! Level unsolvable. Via Richard Field's Chip's site, I learned that I wasn't the only one with this problem. Nobody knows why only some Chips.data files are corrupted in this way.
Ruben Spaans attempted the corrupted level, and found it could indeed be solved with a Texas-size portion of luck, reporting a time of 300.[1] The full text of his theory is quoted as follows:
...I believe [my "corrupted" Chips.dat] is not corrupted. The only difference between [it] and the ["normal"] one ... the blocked spot above the exit on level 88. I did a file compare, and this is the only difference... What's makes this a bit interesting, is that level 88 on both the Lynx and Commodore 64 is exactly like my "corrupted" version... Somehow the walkers aren't as aggressive on the C64 as on the PC, and therefore level 88 isn't at all impossible on the C64 (I haven't played the Lynx version, so I can't speak for that one). My theory is that Microsoft converted all the levels from the Lynx, with too [little] playtesting. Later they discovered that level 88 was way too difficult, so they patched it. Surely you know about all those non-working trap buttons and clone machines, so apparently they slipped up on many levels. But that's just my theory about level 88.... For the technical minded, the level 88 difference in [is?] at byte offset $EC5C in the Chips.dat file. The blocked square version ("corrupted") contains the byte $09, while the open square has the byte $00. So everyone with a hex editor can fix their file.
Since this time, the corrupted version's bold time has reached 304, achieved with turning 3D U 2D 4R 3L at the intersections, and with at most three moves lost. Though still significant, the luck needed is not tremendous, particularly if the player is a bit mindful of how many walkers are created in the first moments of the level. If they see less than ten walkers before picking up the second computer chip, then their chances of at least completing the level are decent. As for fixing a corrupt level, instead of using a hex editor, edit the level in a level editor.
References
See also
- Not All The Bugs Are Yellow: Alice Voith's analysis of the then-known glitches