Richard Hallas

As Ian has just said, he emailed me this question directly a few days ago. I might as well reproduce my response to him here… PS Further to the above, it's also worth noting that there are actually only two phrases in the Alchemist theme (both of them repeated), and although the second phrase sounds faster and more complex than the first, that's only because of the pedal note (the repeated upper note, on the fifth of the scale). Without that pedal note, the two phrases actually go at the same speed and are very similar indeed. So really, it boils down to being a single short and slightly modified extract from BWV565, as far as I'm concerned.

Hi, This is nothing to do with me as such; I merely pass on the information. Someone on the StarDot.org.uk forums has just done a comprehensive disassembly of the BBC Micro version of Manic Miner. It's on GitHub.

I was always under the impression that the revised Amoebatron guardians in Amoebatrons' Revenge were supposed to be bugs out of the Bug-Byte logo. But if so, this use of the logo was complemented by the Software Projects impossible triangle logos in The Warehouse, which is the previous screen. So, Software Projects logos in Room 17, Bug-Byte logos in Room 18. I don't know whether there's any real significance to this (e.g. Software Projects now being 'ahead of Bug-Byte').

That's all true, but I was speaking as an experienced Manic Miner player who does know the layouts very well. Certainly, the mod would provide extra challenge if applied to one of the third party MM games with less familiar (or new to the player) layouts. But as someone who's been playing Manic Miner since 1983, I don't find the lack of normal colour attributes in the standard rooms to be a hindrance at all. Also, don't forget that for players who grew up with the Dragon version of the game, there wasn't actually any colour in that one in the first place! :-)

I really like these mods! Gloomy Cavern restores the difficulty to being the same as the unmodified Manic Miner

Hi Daniel! Thanks for your interesting and thoughtful reply. In fact, we're in complete agreement about most things you say

I've just belatedly noticed this thread, so as one of the people who was there, I thought I'd say a few things from my own perspective, particularly about the competition. Danny is correct that my "Join the Jet-Set!" came second in the competition, after "Maria vs Some Bastards". As for the competition itself, I had very mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I was pleased to have one of my games picked at all; that in itself was a real honour, considering the sheer number of JSW games developed, and also considering that mine is one of the very oldest, having been completed back in 1985. But on the other hand, the way the competition was presented and run was simply not fair on any level. What was the criterion on which the games were supposed to be judged? How they played? How they looked? How much they stretched the JSW engine in terms of quirky exploits or new routines etc.? Having a competition for which one is "best" is actually pretty meaningless. The only criterion that the audience was permitted to judge, really, was how the games looked