I remember this game! it was awesome!!!!!!!!!A couple of night's ago while trying to remember the first computer game i ever played Pip's Adventure popped in to my head, a quick google search for "BBC computer game Pip's adventure" later and here I am!
I was also a child in the late 80's early 90's and remember the 30 minutes allotted to pupils to use the computer in pairs! I also remember that my primary school tried a number of fund raising activities through out the year to buy more computers at the end of the year we had raised enough to buy 3! which were proundly displayed during assembly. (I don't recall if these were BBC or some sort of new flashy windows systems)
From photos on the net i'm sure the system we played the Pip game on was a BBC, I recall the distict keyboard.
Adding to your description, NinjaRabbit, of Pip's adventure I also recall the landing on a island then maybe a cave or passage way and encountering a native of some sort and one of the first challenges being some sort of word guessing game like traditional hangman but you may of been given a few of the letters to start, every time you got a letter wrong the native would move forward too many incorrect guesses and he would touch and capture Pip. (This may have been a mathematics problem also maybe a guessing game? not sure) We got captured the first time but learned from our mistakes on a second play-through and narrowly avoided capture (I think! - I recall relief). I vaguely recall an underground environment that may of been the dungeon you mention and you could move Pip around using the arrow keys though this may of been a later puzzle. There were definitely more characters through the adventure that stopped and challenged you along the way too. I'm sure there was some sort of serpent or dragon like character near the end of the adventure that also challenged you with another puzzle.
I hope that due to time I haven’t mixed up many different games in to one. But I'm encouraged that we shared similar memories before I read your original post
I think the character looked very similar to the Play with Pip graphic, as I remember thinking at first that the antenna were his arms and debating this with a classmate. But do remember him being distinctly red not the purple seen in Play with Pip
Your note that the main character may have been called Chip does actually make me question my own memory! Maybe he was called Chip (but then what are the chances of us both being identically incorrect?) Do too many of our memories support Pip for it to be a coincidence? Maybe it was a new character? Pip does have a brother Pop in 'Play with Pip' maybe you were playing as Pip or Chip and trying to find Pip or Chip? Maybe my imagination is taking over it's done this before with fond memories like adding in particular shots or scenes to movies i've watched which don't exist but are as clear a day in my mind????
I may have played "Play with Pip" also at school as (from playing the emulation from leenew) recalled the ship graphic and the treasure hunt map. but this may be incorrect and what i am actually remembering is Pip's Adventure and changing my memories to suit.
As part of the exercise at school we had to print our progress at each stage and, I think, colour Pip in as we only printed black and white!) and stuck them on to large sheets of sugar paper to create an book fastened with split pins that we all called "Pip's Adventure". This was my favourite project and I allways kept it on top of all the other piles of school work I done and brought home from primary school
I think i remember the detail of the game so clearly as we (me and a class mate) really did only have 30 minutes to play through the game once each. I allowed my friend to go first (or he just sat in front of the keyboard first - not sure) and remembering it taking ~20 minutes for his play-through and me getting worried that I would not finish the game in time when my turn came. Of course I didn't finish my play-through it in time and we were kicked out of the room to make way for the next pair, my adventure print outs unfinished! I remember trying to hand draw the last one or two parts copying from what I’d seen earlier and from friends which I think was the dragon/serpent bit or a challenge from another native type character. Thus solidified my fear of failure and not finishing what I start! ha ha (maybe seriously!)
That is my entire memory dump ha ha!
...Now years on I’m a 3D artist and novice Unity 3D developer. I'm making a casual game and considering an educational side plot to it, you could say partly inspired by Pip's Adventure!
If anyone else is reading this (at any point in the future) has any more info on Pip it would be great to learn more, are you the person that programmed or knew someone that worked on the game? come on help us restore some fond memories! Thanks for the trip down memory lane guys!
