Pipeline 99 (With Solutions)

Other than the common block puzzle or Town of ZZT like game, you don't find many original puzzle games for ZZT (oh, except for LST and ZZTris).

That's why this game's so cool. You have to be fast about it, or you can mess up big time. Be sure to save at the right points!

This is the best game ive played on the zzt, Up to now????

This is the worlds perfect puzzler as its fast and very accurate.

You have done a great job and well worth the damn download.

Summary:

What can I say? I know that hyping a game isn't really a good idea, but this game could have used it. Massive and filled with nifty theme boards and fun puzzles, Pipeline 99 is one of the neater puzzle games I've played for ZZT.

The premise is simple, and actually sort of overused; you have to arrange objects on a screen so that a ball hits a target. The devil is in the details here; a simple set of tools has to be used, so that the gameplay can be picked up, but the thing can't get too repetitive.

Story:

Well, there is a storyline here. It's a silly one, and is appropriately simple, but it adds a bit to the game. Furthermore, there was one really good joke, which is one more than I expected. This isn't Grim Fandango; this is The Incredible Machine, and any story is a bonus.

Music:

What? No brilliant musical score in a WiL game? I don't think anybody cares, actually.

Gameplay:

The player puts down special pieces on the board that redirect a little ball. Simple enough in theory, but it gets tricky when gravity gets reversed, or the ball sticks to the walls... or the thing just keeps falling into pits.

It's fun, really, and that's all I can say. It gets a bit repetitive when the game drags out to the sixtieth level or so, but an effort is made to keep things fresh and ramp up the difficulty.

Graphics:

Workmanlike; anything complicated would get in the way of the engine, actually.

Overall:

This one's worth a download. It was ignored in its time, so a lot of you have some catching up to do. I don't expect many people will play all of the levels (a branching system, like that of Little Square Things, would have worked better), but it's good to know they're there.