470. Wow.
As with the previous layout that yielded the long-standing world record first round score of 464, this layout is nearly a perfect pipe. The arrangement of the drops is nothing short of heavenly, and John — being the champion Empiper that he is — recognized this and executed it nearly perfectly. After completion of this level, it was found that a higher score of 478 was technically possible. Regardless, the only 470 ever completed in the history of Empipe is why he's the champion.

464. Timeless. Classy. This is the old world record that stood for nearly two years until it was shattered on the fateful day of November 11^th, 2008. Considering the randomness of the computer placement, this is a nearly ideal arrangement of fixed pieces. A very well planned design, with quick activation of the Accelerate button. Nicely done.

The 490 you see above is not an actual score. This is merely a Photoshopped depiction of what is believed to be the "perfect pipe." This assumes several things. First, the start and finish pieces must be placed in opposite sides of the pane. Second, the two no-drop pieces must be placed in opposite corners, just as shown in the image above. Third, you must activate the Accelerate as soon as the water starts to flow. The likelihood of this arrangement? 1,000,000:1.

Your basic 428
As with the 423 above, this score would have been much higher had I initiated the Accelerate earlier.
A very complicated design, it is calculated that this arrangement would have the highest score if the Accelerate button would have been pressed a mere 10 blocks' worth of water flowage sooner!

A nice score of 423 points
This score would have been much higher had I initiated the Accelerate earlier. A very splendid arrangement of overlapping blocks can be seen on the left side of this playing pane.