Pixel Stonk

Ha ha, thanks. I will probably get a cheap one at some point just for this purpose anyway as I do intend to publish other games for Mac eventually. It was made using a game development program called Stencyl.

Sorry @MtM, I don't have a Mac and I would need one to do this.

I have attached a zip of the latest version of Jet Set Willy 3. This has the bug fix for The Tower. It also replaces the Sound menu option with Options, to which has been added the option to change the game size (full screen or various window sizes). Replacing the old version of JSW3 will not remove any existing save data, so feel free to start using this without worrying about losing progress. Jet Set Willy 3.zip

@Sendy The Endless Wow! That's fantastic! I see you're missing one location. It's not so easy to find, but doing so will help enormously. ; )

@Sendy The Endless Thanks for letting me know about the bug with The Tower. I'm not sure why that's happening as I've only recently tried that myself. I'll try to get that fixed this week. Also happy to hear you are still enjoying the game and have made so much progress in it! The game changes significantly now you have reached that important milestone! @SymbolShift Thanks a lot for your suggestion of allowing the game to be played in a window. I'll try to implement that option this week as well. Once I have made these changes I will upload the new version.

Yes I don't think it's realistic for this game to be ported to the Spectrum. Even if the number of rooms wasn't an issue, I think the sheer amount of other additional content would be. @Sendy The Endless Wow, thank you so much! I don't know what you've found so far but I'm really glad you're enjoying it. 😊 @IRF Yes, I am aware of that game and the many other unofficial Jet Set Willy sequels and remakes that have been made, a few of which were also called Jet Set Willy 3 in one way or another. The most recent 'official' game in the Manic Miner series was Jet Set Willy 2: The Final Frontier (a play on the Star Trek elements added to the game), and as it was the original intention for this to be the first licensed, commercially released sequel in the series since that game, Jet Set Willy 3: The Subsequent Generation (a similar play on the Star Trek series and the fact that it stars Miner Willy's heir rather than the man himself) seemed to make sense. It has just been a shame that after being so very close to acquiring the licensing rights for the game, everything fell through. Nevertheless, the game is still here and I hope you can all enjoy it for what it is.

Yes, the built-in physics in Stencyl were no use at all for this so I had to write a new engine to handle the specific way Willy moves and animates. The biggest hurdle I had was definitely the stairs.

Wow, thanks everyone for such a positive response so far! Sorry to hear that lag is apparently such an issue on this version. I have uploaded an executable of the game for PC now, which should run much more smoothly and remove any weird glitches that have been cropping up. I was averse to doing this as I thought some people may be dubious about running a .exe, but I can assure everyone it is completely safe. However, one downside of running this is that any progress made on the browser-based version won't carry over to the .exe one (yes, progress is tracked and rewarded in this game...) To answer a few questions: @jetsetdannyThe main game has nearly 400 rooms, plus there's an unlockable side area with another 100. I've just had a look at the video of Willy's New Mansion and the cinema does look quite similar actually! That's quite amusing as I'd never seen that before. @SymbolShiftThe game was created using a development tool called Stencyl. It's ideal for creating simple 2D games. Thanks again all. I hope you continue to enjoy it. 😄 This file has been removed and a later version attached to a more recent post

Thanks for trying it out Sendy and thanks for the feedback! Yes, it may not run as smoothly as it could as it is a browser-based version of the game. I haven't encountered any serious lag problems myself when testing, and I have had to make a few updates today which may have caused some slowdown while the new files were uploading. Hopefully it will run better from now on.

Also, note that although the game should load ok on mobile devices, it requires a keyboard to play so it may not be practical. As such it is probably best played on a desktop computer or laptop.

Thanks everyone. I've decided that it is too much hassle to pursue making this an official release. As such, for now, I have setup a website that will allow anyone to play an HTML version of JSW3. You can simply visit this website on any modern browser and play the game here: jsw3.co.uk No downloading is required as the game is entirely in the page. It takes a while to load for the first time (it is quite a big game), but once it does it is all fully playable in the browser. Controls are simple. Left and right arrow moves Willy, up or spacebar makes him jump. The game does not play 100% like the original games. Certain quality of life changes have been made to make things a little smoother. One of these changes is in how ropes work, as left and right make Willy climb based on different rules than in the original JSW games. Please bear in mind that this although it has been tested quite extensively, it was never completely finished and tested, so there may some small bugs. I hope you enjoy JSW3. All feedback is appreciated. 🙂 Thanks again.

Thanks everyone. I believe you may be right, SymbolShift, which is why I have been hesitant about releasing the game, even for free. During development of this game I was actually in correspondence with Steve Wilcox regarding licensing or publishing of this game, as my research to that point strongly suggested that Elite did own the exclusive worldwide rights to all JSW and MM IP. Things were going well and we had almost reached an agreement when, about a year ago, he decided to back out due to the dispute with Matthew Smith over ownership. Although I suggested bringing Matthew Smith into the conversation and perhaps trying to come to a mutual arrangement that would benefit us all, Steve Wilcox was not interested and insisted that I do not release the game. To be honest, even if Matthew Smith has no legal rights to any of the IP, I would have had no problem with him getting something out of this as I think he deserves it. I also would have greatly valued his input and endorsement. I guess I will have to wait for now, and keep my ear to the ground for when and if this mess ever gets sorted out.

Sadly I've hit a brick wall with regard to who actually owns the IP for Jet Set Willy and Manic Miner, as it appears both Matt Smith and Steve Wilcox of Elite Systems claim they own it. It's a very messy area, and I'm not sure how, if ever, it will be resolved. In the meantime, if you are on Steam you can play a demo for another game that I'm working on at the moment, very similar to but much more in-depth than Jet Set Willy, called Whim. Here's a link to the website if you fancy checking it out: http://whimgame.com As fans of JSW and Manic Miner, feedback on this game would be appreciated! Of course, I'm still keen to get JSW3 off the ground so I would be grateful for any further advice they may have on this. Thanks all!

Of course, as this is JSW and not MM, the MM rooms have been slightly modified so they now interconnect. They still need to be played through in order though, and it is still necessary to collect the items in each room to progress to the next (each room has a door that only opens once the items are collected). I also added in the Air mechanic just for these rooms too.

Thanks everyone. And yes you are right jetsetdanny. I made the trailer when the main game consisted of just 384 rooms (so 230 new ones - it does contain all MM rooms deep underground accessible through an opening on the right hand side of Down T' Pit). Since making this I added an additional and unlockable side game mode (a challenging 50-floor tower with two playable rooms on each floor), adding another 100 to take it up to 484.