Supaplex

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Supaplex
Studio Philip Jespersen and Michael Stopp
Publisher Digital integration
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 1991
platform Amiga , MS-DOS
genre Skill game
Game mode Single player
control Keyboard , joystick
medium diskette
language English

Supaplex is a computer game developed by Philip Jespersen and Michael Stopp . It was published in 1991 and distributed by Digital Integration .

The game principle is based on Boulder Dash , published in 1984, but contains new, own elements.

history

The Supaplex developers and school friends Michael stop and Philip Jespersen began their work in the game in 1988. First under the name Think! they wanted to write their own Boulder Dash version for the Amiga , which should also fit on a single floppy disk .

After the completion, the idea came up to make money with the game. The game makers from Digital Integration expressed interest and bought the rights to the game, although the developers were more concerned with flight simulations . The name of the game has been changed to what we know today because Think! has already been used in another game. In addition to the Amiga version, the game was also sold for MS-DOS . A demo version comprising a few levels was sent to various game magazines for advertising and marketing .

The game has been freeware since 1994 and is available as a download after Maarten Egmond became aware of the game and was allowed to distribute it free of charge. Herman Perk made his SpeedFix available to him because computer performance had developed rapidly since the game was released and Supaplex often ran twice too fast as a result.

Gameplay

Supaplex contains 111 levels , which have to be played through one after the other. The level of difficulty increases, but a total of 3 levels can be skipped. Unlike Boulder Dash, there are no time limits in the game.

The player controls Murphy in each level , who has to collect infotrons . If a certain number has been collected, the exit for successfully completing the game section can be activated.

In between, however, there are usually numerous obstacles and tasks that the player has to solve. Zonks correspond to the boulders from Boulder Dash , while Sniksnaks and Electrons move through the game world as opponents. The developers also introduced novel game elements - for example, remotely controlled exploding discs . In some parts of the game, Murphy is subjected to a gravitational force , which can only be avoided by moving on solid elements or by bases that often fill large areas .

Supaplex was the first in a long line of Boulder Dash- based games in which the position of the game elements was not based entirely on the game grid. Movable elements navigated "fluently" through the game world or could be controlled more precisely. However, this behavior also led to some known bugs that sometimes caused elements to get stuck between fields. Some levels created by players could only be successfully completed by skillfully exploiting such errors.

Similar games and adaptations

Some players and fans ( “supaplexers” ) reprogrammed their own versions of the game so that they can also be played on new computers or under new operating systems . The games are often based entirely on the original game, but in some cases new game elements have been introduced without changing the character of the game.

Megaplex

A version of the game that could be played under Windows was released as freeware under the name Megaplex , programmed by Frank Schindler and expanded by Paulo Matoso. It includes the 111 original levels as well as a level editor and the ability to record or play your own demos. Since Megaplex is based on the original SpeedFix code, the game is compatible with Supaplex level packs and demo recordings.

Information on scores does not exist in the beta versions, as all levels are accessible from the start and do not have to be unlocked one after the other. Paulo Matoso from Portugal only completed the first official release version 1.0 in 2012, including saved games.

Infotron

Infotron is a Supaplex adaptation for the Macintosh from 1995. The program is freely available for download.

Igor

Igor's gameplay is based heavily on Supaplex , but there are numerous new game elements. Since it was released in November 2002, patches have been released that fix minor bugs or add new levels to the game .

Igor is not freeware , but a demo version is available for download.

Others

There are numerous other games that copy the game principle of Supaplex . Examples are WinPlex , New Supaplex or Supaplex 3000 . For Android -based mobile devices , there is a cost and ad-free "Supaplex" - app . The adaptation DroidPlex! Is also available for Android . offered.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Download from elmerproductions.com
  2. ↑ http://www.elmerproductions.com/sp/history.html
  3. ↑ http://www.elmerproductions.com/sp/cast.html
  4. ↑ http://delver.org/dave/software/ ( Memento of March 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ http://www.elmerproductions.com/igor/patches.phtml

Web links