Pipeline (game)

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Pipeline

Developer(s)	Ian Holmes and William Reeve
Publisher(s)	Superior Software
Designer(s)	Ian Holmes and William Reeve
Platform(s)	BBC Micro Acorn Electron Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)	1989
Genre(s)	Arcade-adventure; Puzzle game
Mode(s)	Single player
Input methods	Keyboard

Pipeline is a computer game for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron, originally published by Superior Software in 1989.

1 Storyline
2 Game development
3 Re-releases
4 See also
5 External links

Storyline

The game is a fast four-way scrolling arcade adventure with a look similar to previous Superior hits Repton and Ravenskull, but with a higher frame rate. It is set on a mining platform above Io, the sulfur-rich moon of Jupiter.

Pipeline was bundled with graphics and level designers, allowing players to design their own game scenarios incorporating keys and doors, patrolling guards, explosions, throwable objects, moving walls, transport puzzles in the style of Sokoban, pipes, teleports and other simple kinds of puzzle logic.

Game development

The game was written by Ian Holmes and William Reeve, two 15 year olds from Cambridge, England. As publishers they chose Superior Software, partly because of managing director Richard Hanson's championing of young independent game developers' rights.

The original game concept, strongly influenced by the earlier game Ravenskull, was of an action RPG. By collecting treasure and completing quests, the player would progress through medieval guilds in a fantasy setting: the working title was 'GuildMaster'. A change in direction was suggested by Hanson, who commented that "'GuildMaster' sounds like an application".

The name 'Pipeline' arose from the gameplay element of fast transport to distant parts of the map through topologically interwoven pipes (novel to the BBC micro at the time; see Super Mario Bros. or Sonic the Hedgehog for other well-known examples).

Instead of a medieval city, Hanson suggested setting the game on a contemporary oil platform with a red-headed protagonist nicknamed Red O'Hare collecting oil drums and putting out fires (a satire on Red Adair). This plotline was, however, quickly transplanted to a science-fictional setting, following the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988.

Re-releases

The game re-appeared in volume 11 of the Play It Again Sam compilation series. It was also re-released in 1991 as part of the Superior/Blue Ribbon budget range. Although the inlay made no mention of the game editing programs, they were included on the cassette.

A new expanded version for Windows PCs titled Pipeline Plus is available from Superior Interactive.