Pipe Dream thread
Jun 16, 2011 3:10:28 GMT -5
Post by Weasel on Jun 16, 2011 3:10:28 GMT -5
I've spent the last couple of days tracking down what I consider "the best" version of Pipe Dream, everybody's favorite game of high-stakes plumbing (and Mario doesn't count, there). I actually found Theodor Lauppert's amazingly in-depth page on the game, which describes _almost_ all the versions with the exception of a few more unique takes on the game.
While Lauppert does go on about Bullet-Proof's excellent NES conversion (which has the best soundtrack, in my opinion, having been provided by C64 musician Kris Hatlelid), as well as Visco's arcade machine which introduced some of the essential elements that would be replicated in the many shareware clones, such as in/out teleport pipes, screen wrapping, and the "finish" pipe that is required to complete levels, the page only briefly skims over William Soleau's "Oilcap", and completely ignores BPS's Super Famicom update and Empire Interactive's recent revival (which was not that great in my opinion, with horrible character art and a pretty lame attempt at adding "boss" levels).
Personally, I find the NES Pipe Dream to be the best conversion of the game, as despite it not having support for a mouse-like peripheral, the controls are snappy and tight, and the music is excellent. It does not complicate things by adding too many extra features like the Visco arcade machine, and the occasional "pipetris" bonus levels are amusing (and thankfully impossible to lose any lives to).
The arcade game by Visco was probably the first to add solidly defined levels with pre-designed layouts. The minimum distance limit can be difficult to negotiate given the insane level designs, but bearing in mind this is an arcade game, you aren't expected to last more than 15 minutes at this game. Only extremely elaborate pipe designs (and a lot of luck with the Next piece display) can save you eight levels in. This version has pretty good graphics, and good sound hardware, but unfortunately the latter is squandered on repetitive, irritating music.
William Soleau's Oilcap series was released around 1991 and still maintained to this day, with many other variants and sequels/updates written by him and sold as shareware. They all follow pretty much the same core gameplay: make your pipe contraption as long as possible and each a minimum score goal each level. Instead of losing points for replacing pipes on the board, Oilcap merely locks your controls for 3 seconds as the pipe is replaced. Unused pipes at the end of each round do still count against you, though. In addition to the original Oilcap (which is still sold!), there is also Wallpipe, which could be seen as a mere graphical update, Lavacap, which is almost exactly the same as Oilcap save for some new (smaller) tiles resulting in a larger game board, and the new Oilcap Pro for Windows, which amusingly is "Made with Macromedia" and shows it everywhere, but still isn't even precisely bad. My sole complaint with the Oilcap games, despite their simplicity, is that to place a pipe, you must first click on the pipe in the Next Piece display, which makes it disappear - so you must remember which pipe you've got out.
Of potential interest to Derboo (or whoever it is that does all the articles about Korean games): there is a MAME game called Pipeline by Daehyun Electronics that is more or less a carbon copy of LucasFilm's PC DOS version of Pipe Dream. More information about it can be found on Lauppert's page, as I don't feel qualified enough to write about it here, aside from the fact that it's pretty much inferior to all the other versions I've written about here...and it features a photograph of Marilyn Monroe winking at the player on the attract mode.
Bullet Proof Software's Super Famicom Pipe Dream is pretty much the most elaborate Pipe Dream clone available. The stages take more after Visco's arcade version in that there are often gimmicks present like screen wrapping, and every few stages you can use earned money to buy powerups like extra lives, time extensions, and distance shorteners to make the distance requirement for the level less strenuous. Its music is second only to Visco's version in irritation factor. =P
While Lauppert does go on about Bullet-Proof's excellent NES conversion (which has the best soundtrack, in my opinion, having been provided by C64 musician Kris Hatlelid), as well as Visco's arcade machine which introduced some of the essential elements that would be replicated in the many shareware clones, such as in/out teleport pipes, screen wrapping, and the "finish" pipe that is required to complete levels, the page only briefly skims over William Soleau's "Oilcap", and completely ignores BPS's Super Famicom update and Empire Interactive's recent revival (which was not that great in my opinion, with horrible character art and a pretty lame attempt at adding "boss" levels).
Personally, I find the NES Pipe Dream to be the best conversion of the game, as despite it not having support for a mouse-like peripheral, the controls are snappy and tight, and the music is excellent. It does not complicate things by adding too many extra features like the Visco arcade machine, and the occasional "pipetris" bonus levels are amusing (and thankfully impossible to lose any lives to).
The arcade game by Visco was probably the first to add solidly defined levels with pre-designed layouts. The minimum distance limit can be difficult to negotiate given the insane level designs, but bearing in mind this is an arcade game, you aren't expected to last more than 15 minutes at this game. Only extremely elaborate pipe designs (and a lot of luck with the Next piece display) can save you eight levels in. This version has pretty good graphics, and good sound hardware, but unfortunately the latter is squandered on repetitive, irritating music.
William Soleau's Oilcap series was released around 1991 and still maintained to this day, with many other variants and sequels/updates written by him and sold as shareware. They all follow pretty much the same core gameplay: make your pipe contraption as long as possible and each a minimum score goal each level. Instead of losing points for replacing pipes on the board, Oilcap merely locks your controls for 3 seconds as the pipe is replaced. Unused pipes at the end of each round do still count against you, though. In addition to the original Oilcap (which is still sold!), there is also Wallpipe, which could be seen as a mere graphical update, Lavacap, which is almost exactly the same as Oilcap save for some new (smaller) tiles resulting in a larger game board, and the new Oilcap Pro for Windows, which amusingly is "Made with Macromedia" and shows it everywhere, but still isn't even precisely bad. My sole complaint with the Oilcap games, despite their simplicity, is that to place a pipe, you must first click on the pipe in the Next Piece display, which makes it disappear - so you must remember which pipe you've got out.
Of potential interest to Derboo (or whoever it is that does all the articles about Korean games): there is a MAME game called Pipeline by Daehyun Electronics that is more or less a carbon copy of LucasFilm's PC DOS version of Pipe Dream. More information about it can be found on Lauppert's page, as I don't feel qualified enough to write about it here, aside from the fact that it's pretty much inferior to all the other versions I've written about here...and it features a photograph of Marilyn Monroe winking at the player on the attract mode.
Bullet Proof Software's Super Famicom Pipe Dream is pretty much the most elaborate Pipe Dream clone available. The stages take more after Visco's arcade version in that there are often gimmicks present like screen wrapping, and every few stages you can use earned money to buy powerups like extra lives, time extensions, and distance shorteners to make the distance requirement for the level less strenuous. Its music is second only to Visco's version in irritation factor. =P
