Tile: Difference between revisions

(→‎See also: add to terminology)
(Fixed a misspelling of "despawned" as "despanwed" at the end of the Steam section.)
 
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A '''tile''' is a generic square with which [[Chip]], [[monster]]s and [[block]]s can interact in [[Chip's Challenge]]. Tiles have varying functions. The most basic tile is the [[floor]], which any moving object can pass through. Chip himself is a tile that can be controlled by the user, blocks can be moved by Chip to accomplish specific objectives, and [[monster]]s are tiles that move and behave differently according to their type.
'''Tile''' refers, broadly, to any distinct element within the world of [[Chip's Challenge]].  For example, [[Chip]] himself, the iconic [[computer chip]]s, locked [[door]]s, and pushable [[block]]s are all tiles.


Each tile has a number assigned to it, indicating its index in a tile set. For example, the tile [[Floor]] has index 0, [[Wall]] has index 1, and the [[Hint]] has index 47.
Other uses of the term include:


There are four [[Not used|unused tiles]], which have indices 32 (above the [[thief]] in the tile set), 54, 55, and 56 (all adjacent, after the [[Burned Chip]]). Of these, tile 32 (commonly called [[Combination|Combination tile]]) is used internally by [[Chip's Challenge]] as an overlay buffer, which is drawn when a transparent tile is above another tile.
* Elements like the [[toggle door]], which are really a collection of multiple tiles (the "open" and "closed" states are internally distinct in every Chip's Challenge game), but which act like a single entity that changes state.
* An element ''and'' its facing direction, especially when editing for the [[DAT]] format, which encodes such combinations as single bytes.  For example, a west-facing [[glider]] is an available DAT tile, corresponding to the byte <code>0x51</code>.
* A combination of tiles that functions as a single unit, especially if it alters the behavior of its parts.  For example, a "fireball cloner" is really a [[fireball]] on top of a [[clone machine]] (which prevents the fireball from moving), and a "no green keys" sign is really a [[green key]] beneath a [[no sign]] (which prevents the key from being picked up).
* One of the square positions within the grid of a level, which may contain multiple elements.  For example, "[[invalid tile]]" can refer to a ''stack'' of tiles expressible in a [[DAT]] level but that would be impossible on the original [[Lynx]] game.  More pedantically known as a '''cell'''.
* One individual square of artwork used by any version of the game, known more generally in game development as a '''sprite'''.


== The CC tile set ==
== Types of tile ==


[[File:Color Tileset.gif]]
Tiles can be informally grouped into several categories, based on their behavior.
 
* [[Terrain]] — static tiles that cannot move
** [[Acting floor]] — the [[floor]] tile specifically, and others that allow free passage
** [[Acting wall]] — the [[wall]] tile specifically, and others that can't be moved into
** Locked [[door]]s
** Buttons
* [[Item]]s — tiles that can be picked up; may or may not be considered terrain, depending on ruleset
** [[Key]]s
** [[Boot]]s
** [[Computer chip]]s
* [[Actor]]s — tiles that can move
** Players — [[Chip]] and [[Melinda]], the only tiles controlled by the human player
** [[Monster]]s
** [[Block]]s
 
== Layers ==
 
Tiles can also be grouped based on whether two different tiles can coexist in the same cell.  If two tiles ''cannot'', they are said to exist on the same '''layer'''.  The set of layers is defined by a combination of ruleset and file format.
 
=== [[Lynx]] ===
 
The original game was designed around having two layers:
 
* Static tiles — including both terrain and items
* [[Actor]]s — everything that can move
 
The game's internal data structure defined a level as a single 32×32 layer of static tiles, plus one optional actor per cell.  It was thus impossible to create otherwise intuitive combinations like a key on top of [[gravel]], because both the key and the gravel would have had to occupy the same space.
 
=== [[MS]] ===
 
Strictly speaking, [[MSCC]] was only designed to play the [[Chip's Challenge|original levels]], so it was likely ''intended'' to obey the same layering restrictions as Lynx.  However, it takes an unusual approach to layering: each cell is a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack_(abstract_data_type) stack] of any two tiles.  Internally, a gravel tile looks like this:
 
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|[[Image:Gravel.png]] Gravel
|-
|[[Image:Floor.png]] Floor (nothing)
|}
 
If [[Chip]] then steps into this cell, the gravel ''moves down'', and he takes its place:
 
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|[[Image:Chip S.png]] Chip
|-
|[[Image:Gravel.png]] Gravel
|}
 
When he leaves, the gravel will move back up and a floor tile will fill the empty space, returning things to the first diagram.
 
The [[DAT]] format invented for MSCC inadvertently exposes this arrangement to level designers, allowing a level to have ''any'' two tiles stacked atop one another.  The game wasn't designed to handle two actors or two static tiles in the same cell, so various unusual effects may occur.  Combinations of tiles that are technically possible to create in a [[DAT]] level, but could not have been represented in the original Atari Lynx game, are called [[invalid tile]]s.
 
=== [[Steam]] ===
 
Steam rules are designed for the much more expansive set of tiles available in [[Chip's Challenge 2]] and introduced much greater flexibility in layering.  From bottom to top, the layers are:
 
* Terrain
* Item — includes both kinds of [[bomb]] and all three [[time modifier]]s
* Item mod — only the [[no sign]]
* Actor
* [[Thin wall]] and [[Canopy]]
 
Entering or exiting a cell results the tiles to be updated in this order.
 
The order entry collision is checked, on the other hand, is different, and is:
 
* Thin wall and Canopy
* Item mod
* Terrain
* Actor
* Item (If there is an actor on the cell, even if it doesn't block the entrant, the collision check with this layer is skipped)
 
Each cell must have a terrain tile — in fact, CC2's [[C2M]] level format enforces it — but every other layer is optional.
 
For Chip's Challenge 1 tiles, the most notable improvements are the ability to place an item on top of any kind of terrain and the ability to place thin walls, in any combination, atop anything else at all.  The other new layer is dedicated to new CC2 tile: the no sign. Canopies are the same tile internally as thin walls, so, as a consequence, they can be placed on any cell, optionally in combination with thin walls.
 
Weirdly, the C2M format allows for multiple tiles of the same layer to be placed on the same cell, which results in all but the last tile of that layer to be [[Despawning and Respawning Glitch|despawned]].
 
== [[Chip's Challenge 1]] tiles ==
 
{| class="wikitable" border="1" style="width: 50em; table-layout: fixed;"
|[[Image:Chip S.png]] [[Chip]]
|[[Image:Computer chip.png]] [[Computer chip]]
|[[Image:Socket.png]] [[Chip socket]]
|[[Image:Exit.png]] [[Exit]]
|-
|[[Image:Floor.png]] [[Floor]]
|[[Image:Hint.png]] [[Hint]]
|[[Image:Thin wall SE.png]] [[Thin wall]]
|[[Image:Wall.png]] [[Wall]]
|-
|[[Image:Invisible wall.png]] [[Invisible wall]]
|[[Image:Hidden wall.png]] [[Hidden wall]]
|[[Image:Recessed wall.png]] [[Recessed wall]]
|[[Image:Blue wall.png]] [[Blue wall]]
|-
|[[Image:Water.png]] [[Water]]
|[[Image:Fire.png]] [[Fire]]
|[[Image:Ice.png]] [[Ice]]
|[[Image:Force floor S.png]] [[Force floor]]
|-
|[[Image:Dirt.png]] [[Dirt]]
|[[Image:Gravel.png]] [[Gravel]]
|[[Image:Ice NW.png]] [[Ice corner]]
|[[Image:Force floor Random.png]] [[Random force floor]]
|-
|[[Image:Flippers.png]] [[Flippers]]
|[[Image:Fire boots.png]] [[Fire boots]]
|[[Image:Ice skates.png]] [[Ice skates]]
|[[Image:Suction boots.png]] [[Suction boots]]
|-
|[[Image:Blue key.png]] [[Blue key]]
|[[Image:Red key.png]] [[Red key]]
|[[Image:Green key.png]] [[Green key]]
|[[Image:Yellow key.png]] [[Yellow key]]
|-
|[[Image:Blue lock.png]] [[Blue lock]]
|[[Image:Red lock.png]] [[Red lock]]
|[[Image:Green lock.png]] [[Green lock]]
|[[Image:Yellow lock.png]] [[Yellow lock]]
|-
|[[Image:Block.png]] [[Block]]
|[[Image:Teleport.png]] [[Teleporter]]
|[[Image:Thief.png]] [[Thief]]
|[[Image:Bomb.png]] [[Bomb]]
|-
|[[Image:Green button.png]] [[Green button]]
|[[Image:Red button.png]] [[Red button]]
|[[Image:Blue button.png]] [[Blue button]]
|[[Image:Brown button.png]] [[Brown button]]
|-
|[[Image:Toggle wall Closed.png]] [[Toggle wall]]
|[[Image:Clone machine.png]] [[Cloner]]
|[[Image:Tank S.png]] [[Tank]]
|[[Image:Trap.png]] [[Trap]]
|-
|[[Image:Fireball.png]] [[Fireball]]
|[[Image:Glider S.png]] [[Glider]]
|[[Image:Bug S.png]] [[Bug]]
|[[Image:Paramecium NS.png]] [[Paramecium]]
|-
|[[Image:Pink ball.png]] [[Ball]]
|[[Image:Walker NS.png]] [[Walker]]
|[[Image:Teeth S.png]] [[Teeth]]
|[[Image:Blob.png]] [[Blob]]
|}
 
[[MS]] also has the [[clone block]], used to indicate the direction of a block cloner.  This is a tile in the sense that it can be placed within a level, but it exists as an editing trick and is not intended as a distinct game element.  In all other [[ruleset]]s, dirt blocks have a direction like every other moving object, so a separate clone block is unnecessary.
 
=== Invalid tiles ===
 
These tiles are possible to place in a level due to being a part of the [[DAT]] format, and only exist as placeable tiles due to quirks of the implementation. Most of these tiles with graphics behave the same way a [[wall]] does, with Swimming Chip behaving closer to an extra player in a level.
 
* [[Image:Chip in Exit.png]][[Image:Exit2.png]][[Image:Exit3.png]] [[Fake exit]] (appears in [[Planet of the Teeth]])
* [[Image:Swimming Chip S.png]] [[Swimming Chip]] (appears in [[The Block Stops Here]])
* [[Image:Drowned Chip.png]] [[Drowned Chip]] (appears in [[Mads' Rush II]] and [[Loop]])
* [[Image:Burned Chip.png]][[Image:Chip_in_Fire.png]] [[Burned Chip]] (appears in [[Escape from Chipkatraz]])
* The [[Combination]] tile
* Three [[Not used|unused]] tiles
* Additional undefined tiles with strange behaviors (an example can be seen [http://davidstolp.com/old/chips/level.php?set=TCCLPRejects&level=82 in TCCLPRejects here])
 
One of the unused tiles found new life in the "pgchip" patch for [[MSCC]], which replaced it with the [[ice block]] from CC2.


== See also ==
== See also ==


* [[Category:Tiles|List of tiles]]
* [[:File:Color Tileset.gif|The MSCC tileset]] (in the sense of spritesheet)
* [[Category:Tile groups|Tile groups]]
 
* [[Category:Tiles]]
* [[Category:Tile groups]]
* [[Category:Terminology]]
* [[Category:Terminology]]

Latest revision as of 13:52, 6 December 2021

Tile refers, broadly, to any distinct element within the world of Chip's Challenge. For example, Chip himself, the iconic computer chips, locked doors, and pushable blocks are all tiles.

Other uses of the term include:

  • Elements like the toggle door, which are really a collection of multiple tiles (the "open" and "closed" states are internally distinct in every Chip's Challenge game), but which act like a single entity that changes state.
  • An element and its facing direction, especially when editing for the DAT format, which encodes such combinations as single bytes. For example, a west-facing glider is an available DAT tile, corresponding to the byte 0x51.
  • A combination of tiles that functions as a single unit, especially if it alters the behavior of its parts. For example, a "fireball cloner" is really a fireball on top of a clone machine (which prevents the fireball from moving), and a "no green keys" sign is really a green key beneath a no sign (which prevents the key from being picked up).
  • One of the square positions within the grid of a level, which may contain multiple elements. For example, "invalid tile" can refer to a stack of tiles expressible in a DAT level but that would be impossible on the original Lynx game. More pedantically known as a cell.
  • One individual square of artwork used by any version of the game, known more generally in game development as a sprite.

Types of tileEdit

Tiles can be informally grouped into several categories, based on their behavior.

LayersEdit

Tiles can also be grouped based on whether two different tiles can coexist in the same cell. If two tiles cannot, they are said to exist on the same layer. The set of layers is defined by a combination of ruleset and file format.

LynxEdit

The original game was designed around having two layers:

  • Static tiles — including both terrain and items
  • Actors — everything that can move

The game's internal data structure defined a level as a single 32×32 layer of static tiles, plus one optional actor per cell. It was thus impossible to create otherwise intuitive combinations like a key on top of gravel, because both the key and the gravel would have had to occupy the same space.

MSEdit

Strictly speaking, MSCC was only designed to play the original levels, so it was likely intended to obey the same layering restrictions as Lynx. However, it takes an unusual approach to layering: each cell is a stack of any two tiles. Internally, a gravel tile looks like this:

  Gravel
  Floor (nothing)

If Chip then steps into this cell, the gravel moves down, and he takes its place:

  Chip
  Gravel

When he leaves, the gravel will move back up and a floor tile will fill the empty space, returning things to the first diagram.

The DAT format invented for MSCC inadvertently exposes this arrangement to level designers, allowing a level to have any two tiles stacked atop one another. The game wasn't designed to handle two actors or two static tiles in the same cell, so various unusual effects may occur. Combinations of tiles that are technically possible to create in a DAT level, but could not have been represented in the original Atari Lynx game, are called invalid tiles.

SteamEdit

Steam rules are designed for the much more expansive set of tiles available in Chip's Challenge 2 and introduced much greater flexibility in layering. From bottom to top, the layers are:

Entering or exiting a cell results the tiles to be updated in this order.

The order entry collision is checked, on the other hand, is different, and is:

  • Thin wall and Canopy
  • Item mod
  • Terrain
  • Actor
  • Item (If there is an actor on the cell, even if it doesn't block the entrant, the collision check with this layer is skipped)

Each cell must have a terrain tile — in fact, CC2's C2M level format enforces it — but every other layer is optional.

For Chip's Challenge 1 tiles, the most notable improvements are the ability to place an item on top of any kind of terrain and the ability to place thin walls, in any combination, atop anything else at all. The other new layer is dedicated to new CC2 tile: the no sign. Canopies are the same tile internally as thin walls, so, as a consequence, they can be placed on any cell, optionally in combination with thin walls.

Weirdly, the C2M format allows for multiple tiles of the same layer to be placed on the same cell, which results in all but the last tile of that layer to be despawned.

Chip's Challenge 1 tilesEdit

  Chip   Computer chip   Chip socket   Exit
  Floor   Hint   Thin wall   Wall
  Invisible wall   Hidden wall   Recessed wall   Blue wall
  Water   Fire   Ice   Force floor
  Dirt   Gravel   Ice corner   Random force floor
  Flippers   Fire boots   Ice skates   Suction boots
  Blue key   Red key   Green key   Yellow key
  Blue lock   Red lock   Green lock   Yellow lock
  Block   Teleporter   Thief   Bomb
  Green button   Red button   Blue button   Brown button
  Toggle wall   Cloner   Tank   Trap
  Fireball   Glider   Bug   Paramecium
  Ball   Walker   Teeth   Blob

MS also has the clone block, used to indicate the direction of a block cloner. This is a tile in the sense that it can be placed within a level, but it exists as an editing trick and is not intended as a distinct game element. In all other rulesets, dirt blocks have a direction like every other moving object, so a separate clone block is unnecessary.

Invalid tilesEdit

These tiles are possible to place in a level due to being a part of the DAT format, and only exist as placeable tiles due to quirks of the implementation. Most of these tiles with graphics behave the same way a wall does, with Swimming Chip behaving closer to an extra player in a level.

One of the unused tiles found new life in the "pgchip" patch for MSCC, which replaced it with the ice block from CC2.

See alsoEdit