Supaplex Cast

This page will discuss the following:

Objects in the game
Some game concepts

Chapter 1 - Objects in the game

If you just read this, without having played the game, you might be confused with the amount of information. Don't worry. It's not that hard. You should just play the game, and check back here in case you want to know something about one of the objects in the game.

I will use a few special "tags" for certain common features of the objects. These are:

[destructable] means the object can be destroyed if an explosion is generated over it.
[edible] means Murphy (the player, you) can eat it (move over it.)
[lethal] means if Murphy touches it, he will die.
[movable] means the object can be moved, either by itself, or when Murphy pushes it.

Murphy
([destructable], [movable]) Murphy is the name of the player. It's the character you control in the game. His job is to collect enough infotrons on every level to open the exit, in order to complete the level. Murphy can be destroyed by a lot of things: Touching a sniksnak or an electron, being caught in an explosion, walking into a moving object, being hit on the head with a falling object will all destroy him. If he's destroyed, you have to start the level over from the beginning (other levels you have completed earlier won't be affected: Phew!)
Base
([destructable], [edible]) A base tile will vanish when Murphy walks over it (other objects can't move over it.) If the gravity is turned on, Murphy can "climb" up along base tiles.
Bug
([destructable], [edible], [sometimes lethal]) This is a dangerous version of the normal Base squares. If you try to remove it while the bug is active (i.e. there is a blue spark on it) you will be toasted (read: die). To remove these safely, remove them as you would do with normal base, but only when they're not active. The nasty thing about these is that you can't distinguish them from base tiles when they're not active. Be careful!
Infotron
([destructable], [edible], [movable]) These are very important in almost every level. You need to collect at least a set number of these before you can leave the level via the exit. To pick one up, simply walk over it, or (when standing next to it, in any direction) press (and hold) spacebar, and then press the arrow key corresponding with the direction the Infotron is in. Infotrons fall down when possible, or roll off eachother, zonks and RAM-chips.
Zonk
([destructable], [movable]) Zonks are a kind of rocks that usually stand in your way. Murphy can push zonks to the side (not up and down) if nothing is blocking it (i.e. there is an empty tile on the other side). He can only push one zonk at a time, so watch out when dropping zonks next to each other! Zonks fall down when possible, or roll off eachother, infotrons and RAM-chips.
Exit
([destructable]) The exit is Murphy's destination at the end of each level. Once he has collected enough infotrons, the exit will be opened. Then Murphy simply has to press against it (just try to walk into it) to finish the level. There can be more than one exit on any given level, and they can also be destroyed by explosions, so be careful with them!
Sniksnak
([destructable], [lethal], [movable]) These are Murphy's enemies. They will be destroyed when an object is dropped on them, or when they are caught in an explosion. If they are destroyed, they will generate a 3x3 explosion cloud, remember that! You can easily predict where a sniksnak will move to: They always turn left if there is an opening to their left. If they can't move left, they try to go straight ahead. If that direction is also blocked, they turn right. If you don't understand, just observe some sniksnaks in action in the game, and you'll get it.
Electron
([destructable], [lethal], [movable]) These behave exactly like sniksnaks until they explode. If they do, in stead of just blowing up and leaving nothing behind, they fall apart into infotrons. Except for hardware, all nine squares in the (3x3 tile) explosion will yield an infotron. This is handy for those levels on which just don't seem to have enough of them for you to pick up.
Ports
([destructable]) These ports are an important aspect of the Supaplex world. Murphy can pass through them but other creatures (sniksnaks and electrons) can not. The ports with one gray side wider than the other are one-way Ports. Murphy can pass though them, but only from the widest to the less wide gray edge. Ports with equal (small) gray sides are two-way ports. Murphy can pass through both sides. The four-way port allows Murphy to pass straight through horizontally and vertically, but he can't make a turn inside.
An important feature of the ports is that they can switch on and off the gravity. This ability is only available for the one-way ports, and is predetermined (read: always the same on a level). Murphy can't see the difference between a switch and a normal port. You will have to try them out to find out.
Orange/Yellow/Red Disk
There are three kinds of disks, they behave differently:
- Orange Disk
  ([destructable], [movable]) Orange disks will fall down whenever they can (though they don't roll off other objects) and when they hit any object in their path they will explode in a nine-field explosion, killing everyting within, except hardware. Be careful with these, because once they fall, they won't stop until they explode.
- Red Disk
  ([destructable], [edible]) Red disks can be picked up, the same way you remove a base tile (walking over it, or pressing space plus a direction arrow). Once you have one or more of these with you, you can drop them somewhere (press and hold space for a while), where they will explode. You can see if you have any if you press the right shift key (look at the bottom right of the screen.) Once you have dropped a Red Disk, make sure you get away in time, because you have very little time before it explodes. Red disks will never fall down.
- Yellow Disk
  All yellow disks on the level will explode when you touch a terminal. Before they explode, you can push them around all you want (one at a time!) They will never fall down. They will not explode when a zonk falls on top, but they WILL explode when an infotron falls on top.
Terminal
([destructable]) These will allow the player to blow up all yellow disks on the level. Press Murphy against (read: try to walk into) a terminal to activate it (read: blow up ALL yellow disks on the level.) Make sure ALL yellow disks are in place before using a terminal, or you will regret it. There might be more terminals on a level, they all have the same function, and you only need to activate one to blow up the disks.
RAM chips
([destructable]) These are similar to hardware with these differences:
- RAM chips can be destroyed by an explosion.
- Zonks and infotrons will roll off RAM chips sideways if possible (if the tile to the side of the object, and the one to the side and down are empty.)
Hardware
Hardware blocks are the most boring part of the game. They don't move, they can't be destroyed, they just sit there, usually bothering you, or just for decoration (that's why there are so many different ones). They act as permanent walls, and objects won't roll off it.
Explosion
([lethal]) There are two types of explosions in Supaplex:
- Normal explosions.
- Explosions to infotrons.
Normal explosions will result in an empty tile when it vanishes, but "explosions to infotrons" will generate an infotron. Explosions created by destroying an
electron will result in such explosions, while all other explosions are normal explosions. The only exception to this rule, applies to chain reactions (where one object explodes to destroy another explodable object, which destroys another, etc...) In chain reactions starting with an electron, all chained explosions will generate infotrons.

Chapter 2 - Some game concepts

Here are some important things you should know about the game.

Gravity

This is an important feature for the higher (read: more difficult) levels. A level begins with a default gravity setting (either on or off) and inside a level, this can be changed by special one-way Ports which will switch gravity on or off when Murphy passes through them. Murphy can't see the difference between a normal Port and a switch Port, so you will have to find out by going through them.

When gravity is OFF, only zonks, infotrons and orange disks fall down, all the rest stays up "in the air" when the tile underneath is cleared. This is usually easier to play with than when the gravity is on.

When gravity is ON, not only zonks, infotrons and orange disks fall down, but also Murphy himself will fall down if he can. The only way to go up, is to "eat" your way upwards through base, because while Murphy is doing that, he won't fall (This is used in some levels to let Murphy walk over a chasm of some sort, or to get back up high.)

Available keys

For a list of keys you can use while playing, please refer to the keys list.

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