Spider

This is a port of the ZX81 version of Manic Miner back to the Spectrum, written by Russell Marks in 2003. The 'original' ZX81 version was authored by Alex Martinik around 1984 and is available here as per the 'original' the actual in-game language is Czechoslovakian.
 
Note this does actually require a 128K Spectrum to run.
 
The authors notes and documentation read as follows:

The initial idea of this game was to take a different twist on the release of the "Manic Miner - Hi-Score Challenge" game, which, although was reasonably successful in itself, did have some quite limiting factors, namely being forced to either POKE or reload to change the cavern, which meant multiple cavern completion times were not possible.
 
With this in mind, Andy decided to make a cut-down version of “Manic Miner”, featuring a mere ten caverns. For the sake of traditionalism the first and last caverns, (those obviously being “Central Cavern” and “The Final Barrier”) were kept.
It was decided to simply create two other, new versions of it based on what we had, so we would have a total of three games. The new ones being an ”easy” version and a ”hard” version. The thoughts here were to make the ”easy” version a little bit more player- friendly than the original and the hard version slightly more trouble for the player.
More details of the changes and details between each version amongst other things are in the readme file.
The download .zip contains a standard .tap file of the game as well as a more detailed readme.txt file
We hope you enjoy this game as much as we did putting it together and look forward to seeing your high-scores, reading any comments and/or feedback on it. We feel it is an interesting slight twist to the original in offering the choice of skill levels to play at.

A small patch file for the Dragon 32/64 version of Manic Miner
Written in 1997 by Paul Burgin
Several options are presented with either a Y/N prompt or numerical input:
Infinite lives
Number of lives
Continue facility
Starting level
 
The supplied .zip contains a standard .cas file for the Dragon. This should be loaded first then once options are chosen you're prompted to load in MM
 

Manic Miner 2020 - Special Edition
 
This small eight cavern mini game is dedicated to all essential workers in any industry or sector who are continuing to keep things moving during these highly unprecedented times of the 2020 lockdown. We say "Thank You"
The game engine itself is slightly modified from standard, the main changes of note being:
 
The caverns themselves are identical in layout of guardians and cells to the original except they are mirrored versions!
There is approximately a 30 seconds air grace period upon entering each cavern
If the air supply should for some reason actually run out during play the game will continue without loss of a life
The bonus for making Kong fall into the Portal is increased
Pressing Break during play to abort the same will unlike the default Manic Miner update the highscore
 
The caverns to play are as follows:
Eugene's Lair
Miner Willy meets the Kong Beast
Wacky Amoebatrons
Attack of the Mutant Telephones
Ore Refinery
Skylab Landing Bay
The Warehouse
Solar Power Generator
Should perhaps also be noted that both Kong and Amoebatron's screens in the original game are used twice, here the versions used are the second appearance of each as these variants are a fraction more difficult.
We will keep a top-x record of players scores too:
 
:1st: - 41842 - jetsetdanny
:2nd: - 40173 - Spider
:3rd: - 36281 - MtM
4th -
5th -
 
Thank you , and enjoy! 🙂

This is a small tool to dertermine what attributes are being used on the screen and where. This may prove quite useful if you intend to split them out from the pixels and wish to find any errant incorrectly coloured blocks.
 
It should be noted this is a tool rather than a solution in itself. :)
 
It is very simple to use, simply load and run it.
 
You are offered the option to load in a real screen$ file or if you have an .scr you can use this instead. The next option offers a choice of enabling 'OVER' or not to overwrite the pixel data and finally a choice of 5 fill characters to choose from.
 
Generally the asterisk is the best choice, combined with overwrite being enabled as ultimately (although the output is not pretty) it will show you if you have any ink blocks where there should not be any.

This is a very much modified version of the Spectrum 'Artist' screen compressor.
 
I have rewritten most of it to make it a lot, lot easier to use as well as more friendly and more friendly by providing 'step by step' instructions during its use.
 
Simply load the compressor then load in your screen$. You can elect to load in a normal screen or a headerless file, the latter was added as it permits you to load in a screen that is shorter than standard length if necessary for any reason too.
 
Once a screen is loaded, the reduced size is shown and you are offered the option to save it or load a new one. Also offered is a simple colour change for the menu itself as its new default is black text on yellow, but a keypress will cycle through other combinations.
 
The code is saved at 28350 however it is completely relocatable (above this address) without further modification. It is generally recommended to issue a CLS after loading the screen code before executing it and ideally the paper and ink colours should be set the same before the CLS but this is completely optional.
 

Enjoy!

Thoroughly Modern Willy v0.02
--------------------------------
(April 23rd spectrumcomputing.co.uk minigame competition)
Whilst sorting through boxes in an attempt to tidy up the attic, Willy stumbled across some machinery left by the previous owner, Dr Jones. As he investigated further, he knocked a switch over and the machinery started to hum into life. Before Willy can say 'Quirkafleeg' there is a blinding light...
As his sight returns, Willy determines he is no longer in the attic. He's been flung into the future - space year 2018 to be precise. Willy proceeds to do what he's always done when faced with a tight spot - collect all the flashing objects - strewn across six screens - and hope for the best!
Some hints for getting by in the future:
- Switches can change the layout of a room and make areas safe or unsafe.
- It's unwise to move around in the dark.
- Willy's box moving skills are still useful in the future.
Credits:
Code: Bob Fossil
Graphics: Matthew Smith (Manic Miner / Jet Set Willy), Steven Kerry and Terry Lloyd (Auf Wiedersehen Monty)
 
The download .zip includes:
the game file in .tap format
a readme text file
two .scr files of the game
a map (from maps.speccy.cz)
a .pok file (from Spider)
an .rzx (by Pavel Plíva)