SkiFree

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Opening screen

SkiFree is a computer game created by Chris Pirih, who was working as a programmer at Microsoft at the time. The object of the game is simple: ski down a seemingly endless slope and avoid the obstacles.

1 History
2 32-bit version
3 Gameplay
4 Abominable Snow Monster
5 Miscellaneous
6 External links

[edit] History

Pirih had created SkiFree in C on his home computer for his own education and entertainment. The game eventually attracted attention of a program manager for Microsoft Entertainment Pack when he noticed Pirih playing it at work, leading to the inclusion of the game in the next Entertainment Pack release under Pirih's consent.

The game was featured in the Best of Windows Entertainment Pack and was available as a ported version for the original Macintosh.

In 1993, Pirih started work on a second version of the game, but it was abandoned for other projects as the original source code was lost.

On April 4, 2005, Pirih announced the rediscovery of the game's source code and the creation of a 32-bit version of SkiFree. The updated version is made available on his official SkiFree website.

[edit] 32-bit version

Because the initial SkiFree release was a 16-bit Windows program, compatibility issues arose when running the game in newer versions of Windows. Pirih noted that users of Windows XP can configure the operating system to run 16-bit Windows programs, resolving the problem for some.

The problem has since been addressed as Pirih rediscovered the game's source code in April 2005, and created a more compatible 32-bit version of the game.

[edit] Gameplay

At the beginning of the game, the user has four choices:

Enter the Free-style course (with the objective of collecting "style points" by doing flips, going over moguls, etc).
Enter the Slalom course (with the objective of completing an opened slalom course in the shortest time possible).
Enter the Tree Slalom course (similar to the Slalom course, but longer, with trees interspersed).
Enter none of the courses, and just "ski free".

[edit] Abominable Snow Monster

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The Abominable Snow Monster

Once the player has completed his or her run, the game does not abruptly end. Rather, the player continues skiing until he or she encounters an "abominable snow monster" who chases and attempts to eat the skier. From that point on, the player can ski until the monster catches them.

The monster appears at the 2000m mark and pursues the player downhill. Further down the hill (20-30m) another monster also gives chase, but uphill. An angled route avoids both of them, but afterwards the distance starts counting down from -2000m. The world loops around on itself, and everything outside the boundary of the piste triggers the monster. However, if the player returns within the invisible border, the monster stops.

Other snowmen appears when the player travels 120m upwards from the beginning or 500m to the left or right.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Miscellaneous

A tree with feet.

A tree on fire.

Throughout the game there are trees that seem to grow feet and may even walk. It is possible to set fire to the dead trees when a player jumps over them. When a player walks uphill over tree stumps, they transform into a small spotty mushroom. If a player skis over one of the dogs that roam horizontally or walks into it twice in a row it will bark and sit down. Pressing the 'f' key on the computer keyboard while playing increases the game's speed; pressing it again returns the game to normal speed.