Mysterion

The increase is appreciated! :)

Thanks, dude.

I put a bit of testing time into it earlier today, but still can't get anywhere.  The Foot of the Megatree was about as far as I could manage, which only leaves me about another 50(??) or so rooms to go.

It's only taken me some 30 odd years to get as good as that, as well... :lol:

M

Okay, Willy fans.

This has now been updated to the current version.

I've added the same new code as used in the MM patch. The frame rate gets a little boost in 128k mode, but 48k mode is more or less the same as before.  Both modes, though, get the benefit of an extra little change to speed up the tile printing side of things. It makes things just a bit snappier when jumping between rooms.  It's not a huge difference, but every little bit helps. 

It's just a pity I'm completely crap at this damned game.  Those people that aren't, may appreciate a bit more FPS. :)

The game now has an individual page on JSW Central. There is a link to the page on the main page of the 'Minor modifications of the original Jet Set Willy' section.

 

Please let me know, Mysterion, if you would like any corrections to the information given over there :).

Sorry, dude.

I never noticed this when it you posted it.  The information regards the patch is now out of date as this one works differently.  It now uses a huge list of POP and PUSH instructions.  Doing it this way is a touch faster than the old method, as well as being a good bit smaller.  The whole lot now fits in to one 16k RAM bank, instead of the two it needed previously.  Like before, this code is generated programmatically when you hit the 2 key in the startup menu.

M

Thanks, dude.

I look forward to somebody who can play it better than me sticking a longplay up on YouTube.  I'm still stuck on the Revenge Of The Kong Beast... :rolleyes:

M

It's up there now, dude.  :thumbsup:

M

Well, I finally got around to updating this.

I managed to wring just a touch more speed out of it, in both 48k and 128k modes.  Testing the Central Cavern air timer gives about two seconds shaved off of the previous version and back-to-back testing between the two reveals a slight, but still noticeable increase in frame rate.

An updated Turbo JSW will also follow in a day or two... B)

M

Just had a quick peek around inside it here, dude.  And, it does indeed speed up the attribute copying, using the same routine at 40963 as is used for the pixels.

It's very nicely done.  Certainly far more elegant than my version.

M

Thanks, dude.

It's certainly a very worthwhile improvement over the original game.  Interesting that he stuck the code in with the graphics data for the front screen.  Presumably, he didn't have the benefit of the Skoolkit disassembly showing him where all the unused areas of memory are. B)

Do you know if this one also patches the two attribute buffer copies as well as the pixels?  Turbo MM and JSW both do this for an additional gain.

Doing some quick testing by timing the number of seconds it takes poor Willy to asphyxiate when the air runs out, the original game, with the music off, times out in 2m 21s.  The version above ends after 1m 43s.  Turbo MM in 48k mode is good for 1m 31s and 1m 22s in 128k mode.

There is a second or two still up for grabs for the 128k mode and I will eventually get round to doing it.  It won't be too noticeable when playing it, but it'll make me feel good knowing that it's in there... :thumbsup:

M

Looking through my old stuff, it seems I use that area in JSW for the 48k POP-PUSH mode.  In MM, the same routine is located at 37708.

One thing that puzzled me when doing the JSW patch was that there's a decent amount more useable space going spare, despite it being a much bigger game.  JSW benefits just a touch more in 48k mode than MM as a result.

M

Is that the large unused chunk sitting at 37708?

I did wonder what that might be for.  It seems like a large area of memory just to leave stuffed with garbage for no reason.  Especially when it could be put to much better use.

M

Great stuff! :D

 

As per my comment on the faster Manic Miner here , I can only say the same. The speed improvement is a welcome addition.

Thanks :)

These days, it's the only version of the game I play.  Once you get used to it, the original game feels pretty clunky.  I've been looking through my old stuff and noticed a couple of things in my notes that I never got round to putting in.  So, there may be another percentage or two to come out of it, yet.

M

A couple of questions:

 

Are your versions based on Mark Woodmass's  solution of speeding up the frame rate by replacing the slow LDIR instructions with a stack method to copy the screen data to the Spectrum's video RAM?

 

I wasn't actually aware of the other version, but, yes.  It works in more or less the same way  In 48k mode it uses the POP-PUSH method, which I guess you are familiar with and in 128k mode, it programmatically generates a humungous unrolled section using POP and LD (xxxxx),HL instructions in the 128's unused banks of RAM for a touch extra speed.

Then I patched out the old LDIR parts with a bank switch and CALL to my routine.  The only other thing I did was to set the music to off, by default.  Partly because I find it intensely annoying, but it also slows the game down a fair bit.... B)

Will it be OK to credit you as 'Scott Jensen (Mysterion)' on JSW Central?

 

Sure, dude.  :)

That's really all there is to it, anything else you want to know?

M

edit: I forgot to mention, there is also an excellent version of MM for Atari 8 bit that should definitely be up here.  It's possibly the best 8 bit version of the game***

*** apart from the turbo version on the mighty 128 Speccy, of course... :P

That's them uploaded.  I didn't notice that I could just stick them up myself, haha!

They run quite a bit faster, especially in 128k mode so possibly some of you will find them interesting to play around with. B)

M

Hey, dudes.  I've just found this place and thought you might like to have my patched versions of MM and JSW to stick in your download area.

This site would seem to be the best place for them... :)

M