jetsetdanny

Two problems I see there: - *If* the game was originally created on the ZX Spectrum (like back in 1985 or something), it would be like re-converting something to the original platform from another one. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but you probably wouldn't end up with the original, but a variant of it :wacko: . - Since it was (probably still is?) released as a commercial product, converting it to anything could mean encroaching upon the copyright and provoking the copyright's holders anger :o .

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 :).

Thanks for your detailed commentary, Ian!

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it !:)

Thanks for this version, Andy! :)

Hello, Mysterion! Welcome to the forum, and thank you for uploading your Turbo versions of "JSW" and "MM". They are great stuff, they run really fast! :) I have just: 1. approved both files - they are now visible to all users (they weren't before, I believe - you can't quite 'stick them up yourself' without proper privileges); 2. moved the topic you created to the 'JSW' section - I believe this is a much more appropriate place for it than Chat. I will add info about your versions on JSW Central when I next update the site. 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? Will it be OK to credit you as 'Scott Jensen (Mysterion)' on JSW Central? Will you be releasing any info about the technical side of your files (how you achieved the speeding up of the games), especially if your method is different from Mark Woodmass's? Once again, welcome and thanks for your valuable contribution! :)

I hope you invested that

Manic Miner fans may like this demo: Harder, Better, Manic, Miner by Gasman / Hooy-Program. The download links are here. You can also watch it on YouTube.

Thanks for the recordings, Ian! :)

Thanks for your explanations, Ian!

Sorry, I misnamed the file. I called it 'After Rewrite alternative item collection.rzx', while it should have been called 'Before Rewrite alternative item collection.rzx'. I've corrected it now and re-uploaded the (same) file (with a changed name).

Ian, attached below is an RZX recording with the items you've mentioned collected in a different way than in my first recording. Please let me know if this is what you wanted to see :). TBH, I'm not quite sure what you mean about the rightmost item in "Emergency Generator". It just sits on the floor, so there's no quirky manoeuvre involved in collecting it, it's just necessary to outmanoeuvre Esmerelda. In the attached recording I got to the vicinity of the item in a different way than in the previous one, but I'm not sure if this is the way you wanted the item to be collected. EDIT: File name changed Before Rewrite alternative item collection.rzx

I would agree that an argument could be made for the validity of a game being completed using WRITETYPER. After all, it's something that is there, so one may argue there is no reason why it shouldn't be used. I agree with this. However: On JSW Central, I mention the highest documented scores in MM games / best completion times in JSW games (where pertinent). The condition is that they should be achieved without cheating (by which I mean using the WRITETYPER or POKing / modifying the game) and (in case of JSW games) without unnecesary loss of life (if an item can be collected without loss of life, it *must* be collected without loss of life; kamikazing some items could yield a significant time gain). I could envisage (but it's hypothetical at the moment, because I have no time for this, JSW Central needs other kind of development first) having four categories for best completion times in JSW: - No unnecessary loss of life, no use of WRITETYPER; - No unnecessary loss of life, but the use of WRITETYPER permitted; - Lose as many lives as you want, but no use of WRITETYPER; - Lose as many lives as you want plus the use of WRITETYPER permitted. The last category should produce the best completion times. However, I would NEVER even consider telling the players they should not perform some manoeuvres which are possible to do in an unmodified game file. As explained above, for me it's a kind of designer-versus-player game. If the designer made some mistake and left some unintentional loopholes, it is perfectly OK for the player to exploit them, because they are there. Although being a little bit of a designer myself, I have a strictly player-centred perspective on these matters. The player loads a game and plays it. He doesn't have to know - and in many, many cases doesn't know - *anything* about the designer, who he/she was, what his/her intentions were, nothing. They may not even know the designer's name. All they get is a product, a game, which they face and need to solve. Whatever can be done in an unmodified game is perfectly valid. Now, how does WRITETYPER fit in here? It is something that can be done in an unmodified game, so yes, I would agree that in a sense it is perfectly valid. However, it introduces a new quality into the way the game is played, one that can affect the completion time significantly. It is for that reason that best completion times achieved using WRITETYPER (where possible) and not using it cannot be classified together - because we are talking about two different ways of playing the game. It's a bit like if the designer places a cheat menu up front in the game (which does happen in some hacked versions of the original JSW) and provides, e.g. invulnerability to guardians. It is an option which the designer has provided in an unmodified product (from the point of view of the player, let's say I'm taking about an original game, not a hacked version), so in that sense it's perfectly valid to use. However, *obviously* playing the same game with invulnerability to guardians and without it are two very different modes of playing the game. Therefore, if the best completion times were to be discussed, there would *have to* be two separate categories for these two modes of playing the game. It's exactly the same with WRITETYPER. Please note that an additional thing is that cheats such as WRITETYPER are perfectly definable in whether they have been used or not. However, if one started speculating about the author's intentions, you would get into a grey area of uncertainty. Did the author really intend it this way or not? And even if he did, and failed, as mentioned before - I believe it's his problem, not the player's, because it's not about the author's intentions, but about what can - or cannot - be done in the finished product, which is the game the player loads into his emulator / Vega / real hardware / GBA / whatever. One more point: it's interesting that MM has a built-in cheat which allows the player to explore the game / practise playing each room easily, but the use of which prevents the appearance of the swordfish sign at the game's completion. In a sense it's a shame that Matthew Smith didn't implement something similar in JSW (which would be really easy to do with a simple check, I think) which would be: if WRITETYPER has been used, Maria doesn't disappear even if all items have been collected (or she does disappear, but the toilet run doesn't start upon reaching the bed - no "true" ending).

Great stuff, Ian! Congatulations again! :) The sound effects are really nice and fitting :D . One thought (I'm not sure whether it would need implementing if you thought it worth it, or would happen automatically): In some MM games there is something like fast crumbling cells. I can't remember right now whether it's in the original 48K game engine or in JSW64 only (If it's JSW64 only, ignore my comment for the time being - until you get to implementing the headbutt effect in that game engine :) ). The thought is that the speed / intensity of the sound / border effect could be adjusted for the regular and fast crumbling cells, being appropriately faster for the fast ones (like the PV effect in "Rocky Road to Double Inn" in the Special Edition of "Willy's New Mansion", where the higher up you are in the part of the room where the effect happens, the faster it is). Just a thought that came to my mind after watching your impressive SFX :).

Thank you both for your kind words :).

Thanks! :)

I got in touch with Ian Collier (fortunately, his e-mail hasn't changed in the last 13 years, since our last exchange of messages!) and he let me know that his version of JSW was created back in 1985 or 1986 and released in 1994 (not 1995, as I wrote originally, following the date stamp on the file; this has now been corrected). His post announcing the release is here.

I got in touch with Ian Collier (fortunately, his e-mail hasn't changed in the last 13 years, since our last exchange of messages!) and he let me know that his version of JSW was created back in 1985 or 1986 and released in 1994 (not 1995, as I wrote originally, following the date stamp on the file; this has now been corrected). His post announcing the release is here.

It was in Crash magazine apparently, according to the info here: Matthew Smith, when writing the legendary Jet Set Willy, originally called this screen "The Gaping Pit", and it appeared as such in Crash Magazine when they got the scoop preview of it. However the retail release called it "We must perform a Quirkafleeg", this is because Matthew read some rather strange magazines, specifically, Fat Freddy's Cat - an American comic book, itself a spin-off from the Amazing Furry Freak Brothers. Most of these comics are about smoking pot, drinking beer, and not washing for several years, or all three, and are consequently very funny.

The 'Game' Menu page IS a part of JSWED's GUI, isn't it? :P * This is what I meant - being able to apply it without resorting to Hex editor and any particular knowledge about code modifications. * After my having said that, you'll probably tell me that the Hex editor is part of JSWED's GUI. too :lol: .

I am pleased to inform everyone interested that J. G. Harston has updated his version of 'JSW' :) . The files hosted on his website are now completable. In fact, I have recorded an RZX walkthrough of this version, which can be downloaded from RZX Archive. "I'm sure I've seen this before.." is there now, but not where you would normally expect it to be... B)

Andy, Thank your for the file and your interesting analysis :). First of all, I would kindly suggest that this topic be moved to the general area (JSW section). I think it doesn't have to be limited to Contributors only, as it doesn't contain any 'sensitive' information :) and the file has 'always' been available for download also from here. I analysed this version (in a different way than you did here) on JSW Central. Following the info provided by Andrew Broad, I believe that it is, indeed, Ian Collier's hack which is called "a Z80-version with megatrainer" on Gary Pearce's old JSW website. Furthermore, apparently the so-called 'Gaping Pit' version originated from it (the only change being the name of the room "We must perform a Quirkafleeg", I think - although I didn't try to confirm it by comparing the files). The file "JETSETHK.z80" I have in my archive is dated 19.02.1995 (I think it's the same as yours - are you sure yours is from 19 January 1995, not February? - if you download the file from here, it's also 19.02.1995), while the "GAPING.SNA" file which is the 'Gaping Pit' version is dated 04.05.1999, so - if the time stamps on the files are correct - it was created four years after Ian Collier's version. An interesting variant it is, indeed, with the megatrainer and four new rooms :). It can be completed if "Under the Roof" (42) is chosen as the starting room in the cheat menu, which allows the player to reach the items in "Conservatory Roof" (43) without climbing the Banyan Tree (which is not fixed and there's no option to fix it in the trainer). I did just that and made an RZX recording of my walkthrough, which can be downloaded from RZX Archive.

Ian, the 'headbutt' idea is truly great stuff. I really like this effect! It feels refreshing and it certainly allows for some interesting design patterns and challenges :D . I wish the ability to apply this feature was added to JSWED's GUI at some point...

I am pleased to announce that JSW Central has just been updated. The main change is the launch of a new section: 'Minor modifications of the original Jet Set Willy'. Apart from its main page, it features 22 individual sub-pages for each discussed variant (in one case - variants, where a few very minor hacks are discussed together), with general info, info about the completability of the game (or lack thereof), download links and a screenshot gallery, illustrating new elements / differences from the original JSW. In all, over 630 new screenshots have been added to the site. Subsection 'B. Advanced modifications of the original JSW' of section II. Jet Set Willy (JSW48) has also been modified, with Darren McCowan's Jet Set Willy: Wet Sunday Afternoon Graphical Remix included there as the first entry (I meditated on this a lot, but finally decided to do it, because the modified graphics accompany the player throughout the game, giving it a different feel to the original). The update includes some 'JSW Central Special' download items, which are mainly bug-fixes / completable versions of some variants, which had not been available online before (TTBOMK). These are: New standalone, ready-to-play variants of games with additional rooms exported from very old editors - JSW - The Softricks editor version - JSW - Mark Woodmass's fast version - La casa di Jack / La casa de Jack (which is also available for download from this forum). Furthermore, my new RZX recordings of 17 variants of JSW can be downloaded from RZX Archive. Please let me know if you have any comments about the update or JSW Central in general :).

Thanks, I've downloaded it :).