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58-441: The name "Chex" reflects the square checkerboard logo of Ralston Purina. For many years, advertisements for the cereal featured the characters from Charles Schulz 's Peanuts comic strip. Chex cereal traces its lineage back to Shredded Ralston , which was first produced in 1936. One 1936 grocery store advertisement for the cereal described it as, "ready to eat, made from pure whole wheat . . . Cooked, shredded, and toasted to

116-572: A Chex cereal promotion aimed at children aged 6–9 and up. It is a total conversion of the more explicitly violent video game Doom (specifically The Ultimate Doom version of the game). Chex Quest won both the Golden EFFIE Award for Advertising Effectiveness in 1996 and the Golden Reggie Award for Promotional Achievement in 1998, and it is known today for having been the first video game ever to be included in cereal boxes as

174-503: A completely invisible form. This also goes for items like the partial invisibility, berserker pack, light amp goggles, and all skull keycards. In addition, the music from the original registered Doom as well as the overworld graphics (depicting Gigeresque scenes of death and hell) and maps that were not modified (E1M6 through E4M9) were left intact, allowing anybody with WAD file editing knowledge to create their own copy of registered Doom (specifically The Ultimate Doom ). On release,

232-401: A delicious golden brown; new in flavor." Bite-sized Shredded Ralston was described in one early promotional article as whole wheat that had been "shredded and baked into crisp-bite-size biscuits."  In addition to being recommended as a breakfast cereal, it was suggested as soup croutons, a snack with melted butter, and as the heart of a homemade candy flavored with honey and lemon. One of

290-447: A devoted cult fanbase who still create fan-art, new WAD files , and even full sequels to the game 20 years after the game's original release—a fact that has been used to highlight the capacity for PC games to foster and support community innovation. Chex Quest has gained a devoted fanbase since its cereal-box release in 1996. Often simultaneous fans of Chex cereal and the Doom series ,

348-553: A different reason to enjoy the cereal. By 1939, Ralston Purina had begun hoping to entice customers with box-top giveaways, such as a pen and pencil set that was still aimed at the whole family. By 1941, however, while their advertising still hoped to entice mothers and wives, the promotions had begun to be aimed at children, such as Tom Mix comic book give-aways. By 1951, Rice Chex and Wheat Chex were tied up with prized and box-top giveaways squarely aimed at children, such as ripcord helicopter toys. Ralston Purina attempted to redefine

406-522: A few remaining relics (e.g. levels from other Ultimate Doom episodes and some in-game text). While Doom has a cheat code scheme in which every cheat starts with "id", the codes in Chex Quest are based on the names of the people in the production crew of the game, with a few exceptions. PC speaker sound effects from the MS-DOS version of Doom have been modified and are used in Chex Quest . Whereas Doom

464-515: A high definition remake of the original game called Chex Quest HD was in development using Unreal Engine 4 with the permission of General Mills. A trailer for the remake was released in February 2019. Like the original game it contains five levels and was released for free. The Chex Warrior, the protagonist of the original game, is given the name Fred Chexter in the remake. The remake was released on May 18, 2020, and can be acquired through Steam. It

522-405: A museum, and the eponymous city (Chextropolis), until reaching the sewers to confront an end boss named "The Maximus". In 2008, Chex Quest 3: Invasion! was developed and released as a service to fans by former Digital Café members Charles Jacobi (art director and lead artist) and Scott Holman (programmer). Former Digital Café sound design leader Andrew Benson also contributed several songs for

580-468: A number of modifications. The zorchers, for instance, were originally intended to look like a classic raygun , though they were changed to look like a remote control or Star Trek tricorder due to Ralston's concerns that it looked too much like a violent gun. All of the higher-powered weapons were then designed on the tricorder model. However, the Zorch launcher and Phasing Zorcher were modified again toward

638-442: A prize . The game's cult following has been described by the press as being composed of unusually devoted fans of an advertising vehicle from a bygone age. In 2019, General Mills rereleased Chex Quest and its previously unofficial 2008 sequel, and presented a mini-documentary on YouTube . Originally based on the Doom engine, the gameplay present in Chex Quest is substantially identical to its predecessor. The game

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696-414: A sizeable cult following, and its fanbase has been noted with interest by critics for the continued devotion to the game despite its great age. Other critics, however, have characterized the game as bad even for a Doom clone. In a retrospective review, AllGame editor Jonathan Sutyak referred to Chex Quest as "a good game", and that it is suitable for a "child who might enjoy a first-person shooter but

754-402: Is a game board of checkered pattern on which checkers (also known as English draughts ) is played. Most commonly, it consists of 64 squares (8×8) of alternating dark and light color, typically green and buff (official tournaments), black and red (consumer commercial), or black and white (printed diagrams). An 8×8 checkerboard is used to play many other games, including chess , whereby it

812-414: Is even}},\\{\text{white}}&{\text{if}}\ m+n{\text{ is odd}}\\\end{cases}}} The element ( m , n ) = ( 0 , 0 ) {\displaystyle (m,n)=(0,0)} is black and represents the lower left corner of the board. Chex Quest 2 Chex Quest is a non-violent first-person shooter video game created in 1996 by Digital Café , originally intended as

870-543: Is known as a chessboard . Other rectangular square-tiled boards are also often called checkerboards. In The Netherlands, however, a dambord (checker board) has 10 rows and 10 columns for 100 squares in total (see article International draughts). Martin Gardner featured puzzles based on checkerboards in his November 1962 Mathematical Games column in Scientific American. A square checkerboard with an alternating pattern

928-530: Is not ready for the violence that occurs in most games of this genre". Digital Café's 1997 sequel entitled Chex Quest 2: Flemoids Take Chextropolis was made freely available for gamers to download from the Chex Quest homepage. Developed on an even tighter schedule than the original game, Chex Quest 2 was rushed to completion and consequently the level design and progression notably suffered. Plans were drafted to allow individual WAD file levels and updates to

986-404: Is played in a first person perspective with the player character navigating through quasi-3D environments while enemies attempt to attack and immobilize him. Along the way, various cereal-themed power-ups, weapons, and ammunition can be found that can boost the player character's health and make him better able to counterattack or flee his enemies. When the final boss is defeated in the last level,

1044-527: Is rated M for Mature, Chex Quest was made to be a child-friendly game for all audiences. Nearly all of the graphics and audio from Doom have been replaced, from textures to enemies to weapons. Chex Quest has only the first five levels from The Ultimate Doom converted for the game. Some leftover levels are playable (as Chex Quest conversions) only via the level warp parameter at startup. These leftover levels include maps 6 through 9 from episode 1 as well as all maps in episodes 2, 3, and 4. In these levels

1102-432: Is still essentially a disguised version of Doom with basically unaltered game dynamics. Indeed, the game has been recognized for having a sense of humor about its identity and origins. Humorous aspects of the conversion take the form of ironic in-jokes related to Doom resulting from the more or less exact "translation" of previous non-essential Doom decorations into their non-essential Chex Quest equivalents. Thus

1160-1169: Is used for games including: The following games require an 8×8 board and are sometimes played on a chessboard . Given a grid with m {\displaystyle m} rows and n {\displaystyle n} columns, a function f ( m , n ) {\displaystyle f(m,n)} , f ( m , n ) = { black if   m ≡ n ( mod 2 ) , white if   m ≢ n ( mod 2 ) {\displaystyle \displaystyle {f(m,n)}={\begin{cases}{\text{black}}&{\text{if}}\ m\equiv n{\pmod {2}}\,,\\{\text{white}}&{\text{if}}\ m\not \equiv n{\pmod {2}}\\\end{cases}}} or, alternatively, f ( m , n ) = { black if   m + n  is even , white if   m + n  is odd {\displaystyle \displaystyle {f(m,n)}={\begin{cases}{\text{black}}&{\text{if}}\ m+n{\text{

1218-565: The Doom status bar. Because time was limited, pre-existing tools popular with the Doom fan community (such as the level creation tool Doombuilder ) were utilized in level design, and sound effects such as the distinctive vocalization of the Flemoids were created by creative director Dean Hyers and audio designer Andrew Benson playing around in a sound booth. During development, aesthetic decisions had to be run by Ralston for approval and this resulted in

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1276-506: The Federal Trade Commission required General Mills to permit the production of private label (store brand) versions of Chex, including by Ralcorp itself. Source: Source: In its early days, Shredded Ralston (what became Wheat Chex) was promoted as a cereal for the whole family. One common 1937 advertisement said, "Its flavor knows no limits," and then proceeded to explain with six-year old Bobby and older family members all had

1334-491: The AOL software and a "50 Free Hours" subscription offer . WatersMolitor also created a telephone help-line for gamers who encountered problems with the game and hired fledgling new media company, Digital Café , to provide coding, plot, animations, original music and art for the game. Some parameters used to start Doom are also used to start Chex Quest . Despite Chex Quest 's major changes from its predecessor, there are still

1392-516: The Chex brand in 1956 by running copy on cereal boxes and in some newspapers which declared that they would no longer be putting prizes inside the boxes or targeting children: "This box contains 12 ounces of crunchable, munchable Wheat Chex - the only cereal made on purpose for Grownups." Even so, later ad campaigns for Chex varieties were not so restrained: "Now in every box of Sugar Frosted Chex, you can get one of nine different prizes.  Kids will love

1450-474: The ZDoom or GZDoom folder. The plot for this sequel is set ten years later than the events of the first two Chex Quest games, with the invasion of the planet Ralston by the Flemoids. The breadth of the story was expanded to a much larger scale, possessing a seemingly more grim scenario than the predecessors—the latter of which Charles Jacobi dispelled as unintentional, in that he simply "wanted it to feel bigger" than

1508-562: The active Chex Quest fan community has produced a host of fan-made sequels, and numerous unofficial projects have been undertaken including the Chex Trek series and the Zorchmatch mod. Other examples which have arguably entered the fanon include a fan-made Chex Quest 3 and Chex Quest 4 , and such .wad and Game Maker sequels as Return of the Chex Warrior , Chex Quest Project Z , and

1566-502: The bloodied bodies and the twitching torsos from Doom become the goo-covered cereal pieces and the cereal victims twitching to extract themselves from goo in Chex Quest . Likewise, according to the plot the "health" meter represents the Chex Warrior's ability to move, with 0% representing being completely covered in slime and unable to move. The picture of the Chex Warrior in the status bar display becomes progressively more coated in slime, as opposed to bleeding as does Doomguy 's face in

1624-476: The caverns of Bazoik, where the Flemoids have established their colony. Their principal weapon is the use of mucus as a projectile. Produced with a small team of developers on a budget of around $ 500,000, Chex Quest began life as the brainchild of the WatersMolitor promotion agency – an award-winning group that had been hired by Ralston Foods to reinvigorate the Chex cereal brand. The original game concept

1682-409: The cost of the cereal box. The development of Chex Quest differed from traditional video game development in that the basic game engine had already been created and the bulk of the creation process consisted of aesthetic changes made to the music and artwork from The Ultimate Doom . For budgetary reasons, Id Software was contacted and an inexpensive license was obtained for the Doom engine which

1740-431: The early distinctive characteristics of Chex was its shape. When Rice Chex was introduced in 1950, one advertisement described it as, "Golden-toasted shreds of rice, crisscrossed into hollow, Bit Size waffles.  Shaped just right for easy eating." In 1951, Shredded Ralston was rebranded as Wheat Chex , initially stating "We are changing the name of Shredded Ralston to Shredded Ralston Wheat Chex," but often using both

1798-476: The end of the design phase to have a more distinctive look. Zorch weapons were also originally going to "neutralize" flemoids with nutritional foods like banana slices, milk, and strawberries, but due to Ralston's worries that this might encourage food fighting , this was changed so that the zorcher emitted pink light and "sent back" the flemoids, making them vanish. Early designs for the Chex Warrior also had his head and body all as one giant Chex piece. However, this

Chex - Misplaced Pages Continue

1856-430: The first two games. In response to an interview question regarding the possibility of a canonical Kickstarter -funded Chex Quest 4 , Jacobi pointed out that the franchise is owned by General Mills so a funded project would likely violate copyright and trademark laws. However, freely distributed non-tarnishing modifications created by hobbyists would probably be protected as free speech. In 2016, Jacobi revealed that

1914-435: The game is won. A few notable differences from Doom are evident, however, regarding enemy profiles (specifically the loss of long-range attacks in low-level enemies and the loss of movement in high-level enemies) and the number of levels in each world (restricted to 5 levels in Chex Quest ). Set on a distant planet named Bazoik, the game follows the Chex Warrior, a soldier clad in a Chex-shaped suit of armor , as he foils

1972-491: The game to be posted on the company Web site as an effective way of generating traffic there, and an end sequence suggesting a possible third installation was available for viewing. Before a third title in the series was developed, the promotion came to an end and both the original Chex Quest and Chex Quest 2 became effectively unavailable until they were posted for download on Internet fan pages several years later. A number of fangame editions were completed by fans to act as

2030-432: The game to its forerunner ( Doom ) and to other similar games of the day were often unfavorable to Chex Quest , which was pejoratively labeled a " Doom clone", and the game was regarded as an imitation with little to no innovation. Noted cereal scholar Scott Bruce decried General Mills' decision to invent a new mascot for Chex cereal for such frivolous purposes, and dismissed the Chex Warrior as not compelling enough to sell

2088-437: The game was received largely positively by players. Consumers of diverse ages gave enthusiastic feedback, and there were many requests for the development of sequels. Corporate sales of Chex cereal also saw a tremendous boost with incremental volume over base increasing by 295% and volume share increasing 48% from the previous year. These increases were directly attributed to the release of Chex Quest , and General Mills deemed

2146-874: The game. Originally intended as a single standalone level, Jacobi announced the development of a full sequel at the Chex Quest Fan Page (Chexquest.org) in June 2008, and the full game was released in September of the same year. Chex Quest 3 employs the ZDoom source port (version 2.3.1), and is considerably larger in size than the previous two games. Jacobi's release of Chex Quest 3 also included ZDoom-based versions of Chex Quest and Chex Quest 2 , with significant enhancements and noted problems redressed. Chex Quest 2 in particular had been remastered, with some levels significantly revised or completely overhauled. Charles Jacobi credited

2204-424: The invasion of the planet by the 'Flemoids': a species of slimy, green invertebrates, who have infested the planet and captured many helpless colonists, whom the Chex Warrior must save. His main weapons are devices called "zorchers", which teleports his enemies to their home dimension. The game starts at the landing pad of the research center on Bazoik; other levels include the laboratory, the arboretum, and finally,

2262-430: The latter two end sequences feature a decapitated rabbit named Daisy. Episode intermission texts which originally (i.e. in Doom ) were displayed upon completion of E1M8, E2M8, E3M8, and E4M8 are now found in modified form for Chex Quest . Thus completion of E1M5 in Chex Quest now displays the new message: "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. ARE YOU PREPARED FOR THE NEXT MISSION? PRESS THE ESCAPE KEY TO CONTINUE..." Completion of

2320-543: The leftover level E2M5 displays the message: "YOU'VE DONE IT!" which never appears in The Ultimate Doom . Likewise, the episode intermission text displayed upon completion of E3M5 reads: "WONDERFUL JOB!", and that displayed upon completion of E4M5 reads: "FANTASTIC" again neither of which ever appeared in the original game. Charles Jacobi has said that there were never any plans to produce more than five levels and that he knew Scott Holman, another programmer, ran through

2378-458: The level before it, and similarly E4M9 cannot be reached from E4M2 as previously. Completion of E2M5 (via either exit) displays the end graphic originally displayed at the end of The Shores Of Hell, the second episode of the original Doom , and completing E3M5 displays the end sequence from Inferno, the third episode. Likewise, completing E4M5 displays the end graphic from Thy Flesh Consumed, the fourth and final episode of The Ultimate Doom . Both of

Chex - Misplaced Pages Continue

2436-425: The music reverts to the original score from Ultimate Doom . After the level warp parameter is used to access maps E3M1 or E4M1, the remainder of the levels (through map 5) within the episode selected can be accessed by completing the levels in the episode in order (just as with the standard level progression in Doom or Chex Quest ). Unfortunately, bugs prevent any of the other levels from launching upon completion of

2494-616: The original mix) to add flavor. Commercial and homemade varieties exist and the snack is often served during the holiday season in the United States. Chex Mix recipes were regularly featured on Chex cereal boxes, and several varieties of commercially prepared Chex Mix are sold in supermarkets. Chex can also be used to make a chocolate snack called "Chex Muddy Buddies", also known as Puppy Chow . Checkerboard A checkerboard ( North American English ) or chequerboard ( Commonwealth English except Canada ; see spelling differences )

2552-465: The player takes on the role of a Chex Warrior clad in Chex Armor. The games use a modified version of DOOM 's IWAD (graphics, sounds, levels, etc.) and executable . Chex is also the basis for a baked snack called " Chex Mix ", in which different kinds of Chex are mixed with nuts, pretzels, and baked crackers, and then often baked again with butter and various other spices ( Worcestershire sauce in

2610-408: The praise and compliments of fans, especially through fan-made projects such as one titled "The Ultimate Chex Quest", as inspiration to complete this project. If anyone wishes to play Chex Quest 3 in latest versions of ZDoom and GZDoom, then download Chex Quest 3 (version 1.4, dated 24 June 2009) and extract its contents, download the latest version of the desired port, then copy the chex3.wad file into

2668-403: The primary sponsor of the popular TV and radio show Space Patrol , which ran for over 1,000 television episodes and 129 radio episodes. These episodes included many advertisements, promotional offers, and prizes related to Chex cereal, specifically Wheat Chex and Rice Chex. In 1968, Chex ran a series of TV commercials on the adventures of The Chexmates, a cartoon threesome who ate Chex to get

2726-417: The product. In modern times, Chex Quest is often considered to have been highly innovative and to have pioneered the use of licensed modding to insert product placement into established titles. Although at least 5 million copies were released, the original CDs are uncommon on the secondary market as they were noted by collectors as having great collectible value in the mid-1990s. The game has attracted

2784-426: The promotion "highly successful." Although the promotion only lasted 6 weeks, the game continued to be played well beyond the promotional period and promotional marketing groups considered the brand image to have been revitalized "from old-fashioned and stodgy to exciting, fun and modern." Despite this, what little critical attention Chex Quest received in the video game press tended to be negative. Comparisons of

2842-588: The secret agent ring or invisible spy pen..." The 1970s varieties Sugar Chex and Super Sugar Chex featured Casper the Friendly Ghost on the box. During the 1930s, Ralston Purina sponsored the Tom Mix radio show, produced Tom Mix comic books and give-aways, and promoted Shredded Ralston (what became Wheat Chex) as, "the Tom Mix Bite Size cereal that's rich in 'Cowboy Energy.'" From 1950 to 1955, Chex served as

2900-523: The short name and the longer name within the same ad copy. Side by side photos in the early 1950s show that the shape of Wheat Chex was not yet changed to the waffle-shape of Rice Chex, retaining its denser, biscuit-like form. When Corn Chex was released in 1959, it was given the Rice Check "criss-crossed" shape, described as helping it stay crispy in milk. When Ralcorp sold the Chex Brand to General Mills,

2958-439: The strength they needed to travel to Mars, overcome tough obstacles or subdue evil-doers. The characters were a muscular man named Chexter, an Asian karate expert named Chop Louie, and a blonde cowgirl named Jessie Jane. Their voices were provided by John Erwin , Tommy Cook and Julie Bennett . Chex is featured in a series of first-person shooter computer games ( Chex Quest , Chex Quest 2 , and Chex Quest 3 ) in which

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3016-403: The text strings and changed any that seemed inappropriate, without knowing where they went. The skins for the more difficult enemies from Doom have not been converted as these enemies were not employed in Chex Quest levels, but rather the skins have been removed entirely. This introduces an additional experience for those playing the "leftover levels" as these difficult enemies still exist in

3074-538: The third game in the series. However, nearly a decade would pass before a second sequel was created with any claim of canonicity with the original two games. In this sequel's plot, the Chex Warrior returns to his home planet and lands in Chex City only to discover that the Flemoid threat has reached his homeworld. There, the player battles through a terrestrial spaceport, a cinema (showing three videos each endlessly looping),

3132-495: Was added to the front of all boxes containing the game; a 30-second television advertisement was broadcast; and a website (chexquest.com) was launched to present game tips, Chex recipes, and further plot details such as character biographies. To cut down on development costs, WatersMolitor formed a promotional partnership with America Online who actually manufactured the CDs in exchange for which all copies of Chex Quest came bundled with

3190-457: Was also released on March 11, 2022, for the Nintendo Switch . Similarities have been drawn by fans between Chex Quest and GoldenEye with respect to the legal rights to the game subsequent to the original creators' purchase by larger companies. These corporate events have made the likelihood of later official sequels rather uncertain. As with GoldenEye , however, Chex Quest still has

3248-532: Was changed due to aesthetic similarities to the M&;M's animated characters . The flemoids were originally yellow, but this was changed to green due to limitations in the Doom color palette. Additional development team members include: Producer Kimberly Hyers, Technical Coordinator Dave Brus, Project Manager Mary Bregi. In support of the promotion, coupons and advertisements were included in newspapers and magazines with total circulation of 42 million; promotional art

3306-406: Was considered obsolete in light of Id's then-recent release of Quake . Chex Quest was the first foray into professional game development for lead artist Charles Jacobi and programmer Scott Holman, though both had previously modded Doom levels in the past. In an interview with PC Gamer magazine in 2009, Jacobi stated that the biggest reason for the lasting success of Chex Quest has been that it

3364-481: Was created by Dean Hyers and Mike Koenigs as a non-violent CD-ROM computer game to be released with 5.7 million boxes of Rice Chex, Wheat Chex, and Corn Chex cereals in order to cast Chex as a cereal that was exciting and fun for children while appealing to modern sensibilities by targeting home PC owners. The game would be a high-quality program whose normal retail value would be between $ 30 and $ 35. However, it would be offered to consumers for free with no increase to

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