DigitalDuck

I played through, albeit not in real-time (so savestates, rollback etc.) - I'm doing it for a max score run because I think it's interesting to watch the game disintegrate as you play. It takes about two hours of perfect play to get to this point so I don't recommend it.

In short: earning enough extra lives corrupts the screen, which acts as floor tiles in most caverns and allow routes that aren't normally available. The following five scores are shown in the video: Abandoned Uranium Workings - 1856 Miner Willy meets the Kong Beast - 4142 Wacky Amoebatrons - 1377 Attack of the Mutant Telephones - 1750 Ore Refinery - 1884

It doesn't use any POKEs, it's possible in both the original Bug-Byte and Software Projects versions without any modifications. However, it's not possible in the high score challenge version of the game.

I've managed to complete Abandoned Uranium Workings with 1856 points, but it's in a very non-standard way and probably shouldn't count in the rankings... I'll reveal more when I'm done exploring other levels.

Sounds like a great idea for another game...

This is the definition I was thinking of - although levels needn't specifically be completed in a linear order (for example, most Mario games have a fairly open structure where you choose a level, and completing that level grants access to additional levels) they are self-contained challenges which have a clear definition of "completion". In the case of Manic Miner, completing a cavern gives you a score bonus based on how quickly you completed the room and then loads the next cavern, refreshing your air and providing a new checkpoint to return to when you die. So each cavern definitely counts as a level. This is an interesting one. I'd definitely say 10 levels and 20 rooms, but I'm not sure if I'd count it as 20, 10, or even 0 caverns (the last being the same way I wouldn't consider the whole of Jet Set Willy as one cavern). The C16 version of Jet Set Willy II is split into four parts this way as well - although you can load each part at any time and there's no requirement to complete them (in fact I'm not even sure it's possible to complete most of them). Personally I'd refer to these as levels as well, as they're effectively just larger versions of the Double Miner case, but it would be interesting to know how this was referred to in the manual. The SAM Coupe version of Manic Miner has three sets of caverns, and the title screen asks you to select a "game"... I'm thinking Deserted Isle is a cavern after all.

For me the difference is that in Manic Miner, you're not free to exit at any time - you must collect all items and then head to the portal, and after heading to the portal you can't return (unless you complete a full loop of the game). In Jet Set Willy, you can (almost) always exit a room without collecting any items, and return later should you wish to. I could define a "room" as one screen of the game, such that both Solar Power Generator and Emergency Generator are rooms; but to make a distinction, Solar Power Generator can also be considered a "level", whereas nobody would consider Emergency Generator as a level, for the reasons above. In that sense, a cavern is a room that is also a level. ... is Deserted Isle a cavern?

Manic Miner Redux supports many thousands of rooms. (What? The original post never mentioned "Spectrum"...)

It'll depend on what programming experience you have already. 1. If you've not done any coding before at all, I definitely wouldn't recommend starting with assembly - follow a Python tutorial (effectively the modern BASIC) and learn the basic concepts before tackling assembly. 2. If you have knowledge of higher-level languages but have never done any assembly, Z80 isn't a bad place to start with that. You could follow the links in 3 and it wouldn't be too difficult. However, I do want to give a special shoutout to MarkeyJester's Motorola 68000 Beginner's Tutorial, as even though it's for a more complex processor it really does break everything down and you can apply the knowledge and concepts to every assembly language out there. I definitely recommend reading it, even if you're not interested in 68k ASM. 3. If you've done assembly before or read MJ's tutorial, or you're just feeling brave, then I'd go with two links. Patai Gergely has a breakdown of the Z80 that makes good initial reading for a surface level understanding. And then there's ChibiAkumas which will take you through the entire process of actually getting Z80 programs running. It's initially CPC-based but at the end of the day Z80 is Z80 and it covers a whole bunch of other platforms later.

I'll definitely use it to help justify the inclusion of any runs I do. I'm certainly not going to do the whole list though...

If they allowed mods in general, you'd have an issue where the site is flooded with the most minor of mods in which there's basically no difference between them and the original game. It makes sense that they only want mods which are effectively completely new games. It just means that there's a higher standard to meet for acceptance.

My Jet Set Willy II+ TAS has just been published to TASVideos, so now I've done the full set of official/semi-official Miner Willy games. I'll probably focus on some other games for a bit before I come back to Miner Willy, but when I do some things I'm thinking of working on: Manic Miner GBA - there's already one TAS for this but I think it can be improved upon using some of the things we found for the Spectrum version. Manic Miner Max Score (no deaths) - since this is how the game is typically played competitively, I should package this together at some point as well, even though it will be 85% identical to the existing run. Jet Set Willy WRITETYPER - I've done it myself in real-time in under 3 minutes and seen RuffledBricks do it even faster, so I think it'd be fun to see just how quickly it could be done if you had superhuman reflexes and three hands. Jet Set Willy II/+ 100% - visit all rooms, collect all items. It's a lot more work but it would be nice to actually show off some of the more interesting parts of the game. Some notable mods - typically these are frowned upon but exceptions can be made for those that are sufficiently different to the originals and provide something new and unique. I'm thinking JSW Nightmare Edition, Manic Panic, and JSW Altered Reality as candidates, as they all do interesting things and would make entertaining viewing when played "perfectly".

Absolutely, I'll look into doing that.

Jet Set Willy Online also had this music, I don't know where it was taken from though.

Can you at least quote the error message? I'm assuming it appears as soon as you try to open it?

I think the CPC versions (and JSW2 Spectrum) also allow you to jump from Emergency Generator to Priest's Hole, although I'm not in a position to check right now.

So speedrunning and score attacking Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy have been around for as long as the games have, in various forms, and I'd argue make the game much more fun than merely playing "for completion". However, I wanted to make a post to highlight some things that go on outside the circles here that CPL, crem, and RuffledBricks have kinda introduced but maybe weren't fully understood due to differences in terminology. So let's cover the terminology, as used by the competitive gaming scene in general: Score attack: only applicable to games which have a score counter, the object is to get the highest score possible. If two players earn the same score, the winner is typically the one who achieved that score more quickly. Manic Miner is the only game in the series to have an explicit score counter, but you could argue the item count in JSW2 is also a score of sorts. In both cases, there is otherwise optional content that must be done to maximise score: defeating the Kong Beasts in Manic Miner, and collecting all items in JSW2. Speedrun: in a speedrun, the object is to complete the game as quickly as possible. Sometimes there will be additional optional restraints placed, for example "no deaths allowed", "no glitches allowed", "must collect all items"; these are typically known as "categories", and competitions usually occur within individual categories. Any of the Miner Willy games can be speedrun; JSW2 even includes an in-game timer which can be used. Both of these can be split further into three types, depending on how the run is performed: Real-time: this refers to completing the run from start to finish in one go, without the use of any additional tools like rollback or snapshots. "Score attack" or "speedrun" by themselves usually imply real-time, but not necessarily depending on context. Segmented: this is also without the use of any additional tools like rollback or snapshots, but rather than require the entire run be completed in one go, it is split into "segments", usually through the use of in-game saves. You could split Manic Miner per-level, using the in-game cheat to select a level and then try to complete that level with the best time or highest score possible. You take as many attempts as you like to optimise that one level, and then move onto the next. These scores and times are usually kept by themselves, in the form of Individual Levels (ILs); but once you've completed all segments to your satisfaction, you could combine the segments and get a total score or time that way, although this is rarely done in the case of score attacks. Tool-assisted: this refers to completing the run using additional tools not intended for use with the game. This includes rollback, snapshots, savestates, and frame advance. You can essentially micro-segment this way, and then recombine everything to get a total score or time at the end of it. Most tools store the inputs along the way so it can be replayed as though it was done in real-time; this is how .rzx works, for example, and the majority of .rzx recordings are tool-assisted as they use rollback. ============ So with that out of the way, there are four major sites for competitive gaming; Twin Galaxies primarily deals with real-time score attacks; Speedrun.com primarily deals with both real-time and segmented speedruns; Speed Demos Archive primarily deals with segmented speedruns; and TASVideos primarily deals with both tool-assisted score attacks and tool-assisted speedruns. For real-time speedruns, I've set up and run boards on Speedrun.com. Video evidence is required, but you don't need to have a timer on-screen - we're capable of verifying the time ourselves. Manic Miner has two major categories: 1 loop requires reaching the swordfish as quickly as possible; the Spectrum record is held by CPL with a time of 13:24. Kong Beast requires defeating the Kong Beast as quickly as possible; the Spectrum record is also held by CPL with a time of 4:35. These categories have sub-categories, meaning that there are separate leaderboards within these; these are effectively just major versions of the game, as it's not fair to compare versions with different level designs etc. In addition, the Game Boy Advance and SAM Coupe have their own categories as they have multiple level sets. Jet Set Willy has three major categories: any% (a common way in speedrunning to say "just beat the game by any means necessary") requires reaching the toilet as quickly as possible; the Spectrum record is held by myself with a time of 19:01, however this is more of a technicality as RuffledBricks' run was performed on the slower 128K; his run is better and you should definitely learn from that run instead. Warpless requires reaching the toilet as quickly as possible, without using unintended room exits (defined as the upwards exits in Rescue Esmerelda, On the Roof, Watch Tower, and The Beach); the Spectrum record is held by RuffledBricks with a time of 21:59. Max Lives requires reaching the toilet as quickly as possible, without any unnecessary loss of life; the Spectrum record is also held by RuffledBricks with a time of 22:19. These categories also have sub-categories for versions; the 2015 bugfix is one such sub-category as it's a notable mod that fixes issues in the game without adding content. There's also a WRITETYPER category, in which the WRITETYPER cheat is allowed to help you beat the game, but that one's more for fun. Jet Set Willy II: The Final Frontier has four major categories: any% requires reaching Central Cavern as quickly as possible; I'm the only one with a recorded Spectrum run with a time of 29:26 (or 55:04 using the in-game timer), and I completely understand why. 100% requires reaching Central Cavern as quickly as possible having completed every item and visited every possible room in the game; nobody has submitted a Spectrum run and I also completely understand why. Cartography Room requires reaching the Cartography Room as quickly as possible; the Spectrum record is held by myself with a time of 1:57 (IGT of 3:24). Cartography Room Item requires collecting the item in the Cartography Room as quickly as possible; the Spectrum record is held by myself with a time of 3:12 (IGT of 5:54). Once again there are sub-categories for versions; JSW2+e.22 is more popular than the original game, probably because it's actually playable. In addition, the C16 version has its own category as it has multiple levels. Finally, Multiple Miner Willy games is just beating all three games one after the other, also known as the "Willogy". I'm the only one with a recorded Spectrum run with a time of 1:03:32, which isn't a surprise as it's also the only run I actually managed to complete. For tool-assisted runs, I've submitted a few runs to TASVideos; the Miner Willy-related runs are Manic Miner (with a lot of help from crem), Jet Set Willy, and Jet Set Willy II: The Final Frontier. Runs on TASVideos are timed differently - rather than starting the timer when you begin playing, they are timed from the moment the computer is turned on until they very last key or button is released, but it's possible to get a real-time equivalent by simply timing the portion that's normally timed in a real-time speedrun. These are listed in the commentary for each run (found by clicking the "Author notes" button). With these, my tool-assisted Willogy time is 51:54.814, more than 11.5 minutes faster than my real-time run. I'm going to continue doing tool-assisted runs for the Miner Willy games, both alternative goal choices for the original games as well as notable mods for the series. So I guess the question is, what would you like to see?

There are already a few cases where it doesn't behave identically to the original game - you can no longer clip into wall tiles by entering them from the corner; you can now jump into narrow hallways from the right as well as from the left; and Willy's head is solid while walking left. I don't plan on porting the original behaviours for these, even as options. I'm happy to implement an option to turn off the wall jump, but as you say it's low on the priority list - there's nowhere in the original game where the level design would even have that effect, and only a couple of levels in the whole of MMR so far.

This is known and it's deliberate to allow climbing walls by alternating solid/non-solid blocks. Unfortunately it looks especially weird when it comes to collapsing ground and I'll probably tweak the behaviour to force a drop if you're not holding the jump key. It wasn't present in the original engine.

The latter - I recognise it matching the sprite from the SAM version but I have no idea what it's supposed to be. Jelly (as it's called in the UK, not to be confused with US jelly which is UK jam, and US jam is also UK jam but a different type of jam... don't worry about it) certainly fits better in a freezer, that was my justification for using the sprite. In every other case of that sprite I replaced it with a fairly generic ball sprite, but in The Freezer the jelly just fit too good. The fix I'm thinking is this: It maintains the idea of "you can drop onto the key but no further", for all settings. Being easy to edit levels is a big benefit when I'm including so many levels! I'm planning on implementing a level editor at some point, and some of the format will need to change, but it'll be the same in spirit; the idea is to make it easy to do it both in the text editor and in-game. I'm glad the other levels are doable with original physics; I did play through the ones that I thought might be problematic to make sure and did fix a couple, but clearly this level escaped. There are still a few additional levels, of course. The levels included in MMR that don't appear in Redux Long are: The Meteor Storm - BBC Micro The Dragon Users Bonus - Dragon 32 The End - Dragon 32 Not Central Cavern - Oric Atmos The Bonus Round - SAM Coupe Tic-Tac-Toe - Special Maze - Special Movable Platform - Special Most of these are just because they didn't really "fit" the existing levels (of course, the special levels were never supposed to). In addition, there are three levels from the original versions that aren't included in MMR at all: In a Deep Dark Hole - Oric Atmos The Twilight Zone, Part I - SAM Coupe The Twilight Zone, Part II - SAM Coupe The reason for not including these three is that they intentionally obscure which tiles have which properties; while these could be included it would take a lot more effort to do so faithfully.

The train is pretty good and also very useful as it's one of the more commonly used sprites. As it stands the game doesn't reasonably support the train because I was mainly focusing on supporting the original game's, so they'd have to be two cells wide at all times while moving horizontally; that said, next version will support these just fine and I'd love to use them basically as-is. I'm not overly fond of the other sprite, mainly the way they're filled, but I think it's fixable. I'm not sure what it was ever supposed to be, but that makes it a fairly normal Manic Miner sprite. For what it's worth, the best way to get a feel for the "point" of a level is to play the original level - the SAM Coupe version of Manic Miner has "lenient" nasty collisions so you're not intended to die when you land on the collapsing platform touching the spike, only once that platform has been spent. That's why I feel that lowering the spikes into the ground is the better solution - it keeps the movement through the level as intended without creating an option that wasn't there in the original game.

Hmmmm. For that one I'll probably have to lower the spikes to keep the intended behaviour.

Well there's definitely going to be another version, especially considering one of the things you've mentioned... I tried to get a good balance - when the delay is too long it becomes frustrating waiting for it to start again. Redux mode adds a short invincibility period at the start of every level to help. I can add both of these as options. Having checked myself, this appears to be true. I don't have any issue with tiny modifications to levels to make this happen (I've moved an item up a cell in one of the other levels for the same reason, as well as reversing a conveyor direction), so I'll probably just move the item up one cell to make it work. Unfortunately I can't reproduce this myself. I'll keep a lookout for it though. I'm still experimenting with the way the modes are laid out, it's likely to be very different next time. I wanted "original" to be the first impression because I know a lot of people interested in this are going to be coming from the original and want to make sure that it plays authentically. I personally think the Redux settings improve the feel of the game, but as you've said it doesn't feel as authentic. Thanks for playing!

Good news, should be seamless in the future then. I explicitly wanted the ability to have different tiles use the same colour scheme - other ports of the game (plus JSW2/+) allow for this, and it means you can do monochrome levels, fake blocks, and other interesting things. Generally speaking for every choice like that I'm picking "the one that gives more options".

I was literally just building for Linux myself - probably worth mentioning that I've done literally zero testing on this so it'll work if Godot "just works" and not otherwise. I guess you're my guinea pig for this... :D The Speccy feel was important for me - it's worth noting that I've deliberately not tried to keep 100% faithful to Spectrum capabilities (obviously it can handle more on screen at a higher refresh rate, there's no colour clash or limit on which colours or how many colours can be used, and the music and sound effects are all pure audio files that could be anything), but for me the key things that give it that feel is the low resolution (fixed at 256x128 for levels and 256x192 for the display in general), the limited colour count at any one time (even if it's not true Spectrum colours, it still feels right if you don't have too many and too similar colours on-screen at once), single-colour sprites, and of course the border. I feel like you can get away with some things being "wrong" if enough things are right, and at the end of the day I also want enough flexibility eventually for some crazier stuff, so the only things that are truly fixed are the resolution and single border colour - everything else is up for change depending on the level. Anyway, Linux build attached, as I said no idea if it works or not. It's just the August build re-exported (current version is not buildable, I'm making a few major changes). ManicMinerRedux11_Linux.zip