How to play Blue Print online
- Move through the neighbourhood: arrow keys
- Speed burst, and fire the finished machine: Space bar
- Set the machine’s gun power before you shoot: up arrow
- Start a new game: F12 (the console’s Reset switch)
- Save and load your progress: Ctrl + 0–9 saves to a slot, Alt + 0–9 loads it
Gameplay
Each neighbourhood hides the parts of your contraption inside its houses, and some houses hold a bomb instead. You carry each part to the blueprint and drop it into place. Parts must go in order, from the bottom of the machine to the top, so you often have to come back for one later. Every part placed is worth 100 points.
A bomb’s colour shows its fuse: yellow is long, blue is medium and red is short. Carry it to the Bomb Pit in the lower right corner and drop it straight in for 25 points. If it explodes, you lose a life.
Meanwhile Ollie chases Daisy. If he catches up with her, a distress signal sounds and you have only a few seconds left. With the machine complete, you set its gun power and fire at Ollie. Lower power means a slower shot but a bigger bonus. If you miss, the power resets and you can try again while time lasts. Each neighbourhood also has a Fuzzy Wuzzy, once in love with Daisy himself, who costs you a life if he touches you.
You start with three lives and earn an extra one after saving Daisy for the third time. Later neighbourhoods have more parts and fewer entrances. Your speed supply is limited, and the background colour shows what is left: green is plenty, yellow is reserve, red is empty. Placing a part tops it up. Two players can take turns.
Tips
- Remember the houses. Once you know which house holds which part, you waste far less time running back and forth.
- Deal with red bombs first. Their fuse is the shortest, so carry them straight to the pit before doing anything else.
- Save your speed. Use the burst for long runs, not for every trip, and place parts regularly to refill it.
- Take the slow shot when you can. A low-power shot pays the biggest bonus. Switch to a faster shot only when the distress signal is sounding.
The story behind Blue Print
The arcade game was developed by Zilec Electronics and released by Bally Midway in 1982. CBS Electronics, which also brought Bally Midway’s Gorf, Wizard of Wor and Solar Fox to the 2600, released this home version in 1983. The 2600 cartridge loses some of the arcade’s graphics, but the game itself survives largely intact.
Like Solar Fox, Blueprint came with a contest. Players who beat the game earn one letter per level and end up with a secret word, TEALPEHN, meant as a hint about a coming CBS game. It can be unscrambled to “The Plane”, perhaps a nod to the never-released Wings, or to “Elephant”. Nobody has explained which, if either, was meant.
