Chip's Challenge 1

Chip's Challenge
Chip's Challenge 1	1992
Chuck's Challenge 3D	2014
Chip's Challenge 2	2015

Chip's Challenge 1 is a singleplayer top-down view and scrolling action and puzzle game in the Chip's Challenge series.

Originally developed and published for Atari Lynx handheld in 1989 and converted to wide variety of platforms.
Received three different conversions for PC. The Steam release is the most recent version and is based on the engine of sequel.
The 1992 Windows version and the 2015 Steam release don't use the music from the original Atari Lynx version, although the original soundtrack can be modded back to the Steam version.
On October 6, 2020 native Windows version became free.^[1]

General information

Steam Community Discussions for the native Windows version

Steam Community Discussions for the Amiga/C64/Lynx/Mega Drive/SNES/Spectrum ports version

Steam Community Discussions for the DOS port version

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		MS-DOS version with audiovisual presentation patterned after the Atari Lynx original.
Retail		Sold as part of "Microsoft Entertainment Pack 4" & "Best of Microsoft Entertainment Pack"^[2]
Steam		Based on Chip's Challenge 2.
Steam		Amiga/C64/Lynx/Mega Drive/SNES/Spectrum ports.
Steam (unavailable)		The Original DOS Classic.

Monetization

Type	Notes
Freeware	Native Windows version is free since October 6, 2020.^[1]
One-time game purchase	MS-DOS, Windows 3.x, and console port versions require an upfront purchase to access.

Microtransactions

Type	Notes
No microtransactions	None

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%WINDIR%\entpack.ini `(Windows 3.x version)`^{[Note 1]} <path-to-game>/data/options.txt^{[Note 1]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/346850/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

Save game data location

DOS version uses level codes only. Windows 3.x version has both level codes and save file.

System	Location
Windows	%WINDIR%\entpack.ini `(Windows 3.x version)`^{[Note 1]} <path-to-game>/data/games/save.c2l^{[Note 1]} <path-to-game>/data/saves/^{[Note 1]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/346850/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud

Video

General preferences of Windows version

General options of Windows 3.x version

Startup settings of DOS version

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		Windows version size is 630x432 integer-scaled up to 4x. Windows 3.x version size is 520x402.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed		Windows and Windows 3.x versions are windowed mode only.
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
High-fidelity upscaling
Vertical sync (Vsync)		For DOSBox use an unofficial build (see the glossary page for other workarounds).
60 FPS
120+ FPS
High dynamic range display (HDR)
Ray tracing (RT)

Input

Keyboard controls of Windows version

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Windows and DOS versions only, Windows 3.x version does not have remapping. In the DOS version press `R` on the logo/credits screen.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity		Mouse is not used for gameplay.
Mouse input in menus		Windows and Windows 3.x versions only.
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		DOS version only.
Full controller support
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity		In the DOS version press `F10` during gameplay.
Controller Y-axis inversion

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Windows version: Music, Effects sliders. Windows 3.x version: Music, Effects toggles.
Surround sound
Subtitles		No speech.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		Windows version does not mute, Windows 3.x version pauses and mutes.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
DirectDraw		Native Windows version.
DOS video modes	Hercules, CGA, EGA, VGA, Tandy

Executable	16-bit	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows				Windows 3.x version might be playable on a 64-bit OS using winevdm.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP, Vista	7, 8
Processor (CPU)	1 GHz or faster processor
System memory (RAM)	512 MB	1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	100 MB
Video card (GPU)	DirectX 6.0 compatible

Based on the 2015 version.

Notes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/346850/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (346850) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Steam :: Chip's Challenge 1 :: Chip's Challenge 1 now Free - last accessed on 2023-05-16
"It’s been over 30 years since Chuck Sommerville created Chip’s Challenge, so it's now free on Steam"
↑ Microsoft Entertainment Pack - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - last accessed on Aug 12, 2017

[gamedir-3] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

[Proton_path_note-4] 2.0 ^2.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/346850/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (346850) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

[steamfree-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Steam :: Chip's Challenge 1 :: Chip's Challenge 1 now Free - last accessed on 2023-05-16
"It’s been over 30 years since Chuck Sommerville created Chip’s Challenge, so it's now free on Steam"

[2] Microsoft Entertainment Pack - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - last accessed on Aug 12, 2017

[1]

[2]

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

Developers

DOS	Epyx
Windows	Niffler
Publishers
DOS	Epyx
Windows 3.x	Microsoft
Windows	Niffler
Windows	Nkidu Games
Release dates
DOS	1991
Windows 3.x	1992
Windows	May 28, 2015
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, Freeware
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Top-down view, Scrolling
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Puzzle
Art styles	Pixel art
Series	Chip's Challenge