jetsetdanny

Thank you, Ian 🙂

"Bob The Polar Bear" (he prefers to be credited with his nickname only) has just released a new MM game - "Manic Miner 40th Anniversary Tribute" - on the Central Cavern Facebook Group. The direct download link for those who do not frequent FB is here. The game is a redesign of Bob's earlier projects "Manic-4-Noobs" and "MANIC-minor". When adding it to JSW Central, I will have to decide whether to classify it as a new game or a continuation of these two previous editions. I think I will opt for the latter (following the logic behind "Frosya the Cat", "Frosya the Cat - Lite Version" and "Jet Cat Frosya" being classified as one entry on the list of games, which is also the case of "Jet Set Willy: The 2005 Megamix" and "Jet Set Willy: The 2010 Megamix" - but I will make the final decision when I add it to JSW Central. I have just played the game to completion (one set of caverns, I played using the Rollback feature, as I always do) and finished it with a score of 33,313 pts. It could be greatly improved, of course - I was just playing for pleasure, not looking for a high score. I will not make this recording public (I've only shared it with Bob). A few months from now, once everyone interested has had a chance to face the game's puzzles and challenges without any spoilers, I will record a "proper" (high-quality) walkthrough for the JSW Central YouTube channel. I like the game a lot, particularly the graphics and the room titles, also the room designs. The additional graphical elements in the room-title line are a particularly nice touch for me 🙂 . I would encourage everyone to have a go at this anniversary tribute - you will enjoy it! 🙂

When that happens, I might even design a room in your honour called "The Ceding Guitar" 🙂 .

Thanks for the update, Ian! I do hope (for the sake of the scene) that your bass guitar will soon cede some room for JSW/MM. The world really needs your mini puzzles! 😉 And major projects, of course! 🙂

Your meticulous analyses never cease to amaze me, Ian! 🙂 Thank you for this explanation. I wanted to ask the same question - why did the AI fail to detect the best sequence of movements?, but didn't, due to shortage of time. In any case, I wouldn't have analysed the issue myself like you did - wouldn't have even tried. So thanks again! In view of your conclusion, do you think there may be other instances in the game when improvements are still possible?

Thanks for this interesting observation, Ian! 👍

Thank you for your comment and for trying the Quiz! 🙂

Hi Ian, good to see you around 🙂 Thank you for this tip, it was very helpful! I changed the status of the video to 'unlisted', which diminished the number of videos as shown by YouTube to 100. However, since this video was the sole video on a separate playlist, the playlist was still visible, even after I changed it status to unlisted (I was testing it by viewing my channel on a different browser where I'm not logged in). Finally, I have changed the playlist's status to 'private' (the video's status continues to be 'unlisted') which I *think* should do the trick of the video being visible/accessible only if someone has the link and the playlist not being visible at all - which is perfect for me 🙂 . What have you been up to recently in your spare time? Have you done any MM/JSW stuff? Since a "Mini Games" category has been added to the Download section recently, it would be great if you 'officially' released some of the mini games you have created (the ones with quirky puzzles). Just a kind suggestion for something to consider 🙂 .

I am very pleased to say that the number of videos* on the JSW Central YouTube channel has now reached 100 🙂 . The following videos have been added since the last one I mentioned in this thread: "Jet Set Willy II+" (walkthrough) "Jet Set Willy II+" (speedrun) "Dr. Jet Set Willy" "Jet Set Willy 128" "Manic Miner: The Hobbit" (Hard Version) "Manic Miner: The Hobbit" (Easy Version) "Jet Set Willy: The Lord of the Rings" (Hard Version) "Jet Set Willy: The Lord of the Rings" (Easy Version) "Jet Set Willy in Paris" "Mr Top Hat" "Thoroughly Modern Willy" "Jet-Set Willy (again)" "Jet Set Willy: The 2005 Megamix" "Willy Games: The First 30 Years Quiz" There are two videos of "Jet Set Willy II+": one showing the game completed with all items collected and no unnecessary loss of life, and the other one showing the game completed with only the minimum number of items collected necessary to trigger the end sequence (298; plus one collected inadvertently during the toilet run) and with lives lost along the way in order to improve the completion time. For the former, I used the RZX recording I made back in 2017. For the latter, I re-recorded the last part of my respective 2017 recording, improving the completion time from 52:59 to 52:23. I re-recorded several of the games mentioned above, achieving the following improvements of completion times/scores: "Dr. Jet Set Willy" - completion time brought down from 7:30 am to 7:28 am; "Jet Set Willy 128" - completion time brought down from 9:06 am to 8:53 am; "Manic Miner: The Hobbit" (Hard Version) - completion score increased from 21,343 pts. to 22,769 pts.; "Manic Miner: The Hobbit" (Easy Version) - completion score increased from 39,514 pts. to 41,147 pts.; "Jet Set Willy: The Lord of the Rings" (Hard Version) - completion time brought down from 8:48 am to 8:23 am; "Jet Set Willy: The Lord of the Rings" (Easy Version) - completion time brought down from 8:19 am to 8:08 am; "Jet Set Willy in Paris"- completion time brought down from 11:03 am to 10:49 am; "Jet-Set Willy (again)" - completion time brought down from 8:48 am to 8:39 am. The recordings of "Jet Set Willy: The 2005 Megamix" and "Willy Games: The First 30 Years Quiz" were the first ones I ever made. In the former, I achieved a completion time of 10:13 am; the latter was completed with 102 in-game minutes to go (the game starts with 120 minutes to go). All of the newly-recorded RZX files can be downloaded from the games' respective pages on JSW Central. In fact, in case of "Willy Games: The First 30 Years Quiz", if you want to see the best completion time, you will need to download the RZX file, because the YouTube video was made from another RZX file, recorded at a more leisurely pace, to make it viewer-friendly by providing enough time to read all of the questions before the correct answer is shown. The videos of "Mr Top Hat" and "Thoroughly Modern Willy" were made from RZX recordings I made in previous years (no improvement was needed). * "proper videos". There are 101 videos altogether, but one is on the Temporary videos playlist - it is a video of completing a certain PC version with a certain score. I made it in response to a discussion on the Central Cavern Facebook Group once, and I'm sure what to do about it now. I would just delete it, but it did have almost 200 views and 8 likes, so I'm hesitant to delete it...

It has now been more than six and a half years since "Willy Games: The First 30 Years Quiz" was released. Everyone interested has had ample time to have a go at the quiz. I wonder how many people have tried it and if anyone has actually completed it. I have a strong suspicion that nobody has (even though it can be easily completed using "brute force" - by trial-and-error); I would love it to be proven wrong. In any case, I decided it's time the questions and correct answers were revealed. No more mysteries or uncertainty. You can now see the screenshots of all of the Quiz's screens (effectively, the questions) at the game's page on JSW Central. You can also watch my walkthrough of the game on the JSW Central YouTube channel. This video was made from a recording made specially for the purpose of showing it on YouTube, i.e. recorded at a leisurely, viewer-friendly pace, allowing the viewer enough time to read all of the questions before the correct answer is selected. Furthermore, I have recorded a "speedrun" through the quiz (to demonstrate the best completion time), and you can download that RZX recording from the the game's page on JSW Central (it shows the quiz completed with 102 minutes remaining, i.e. during 18 in-game minutes). I just want to add that it's now been ten years since the cutoff date of the quiz (2013). I'm very pleased to say that, after the "inactive" year 2014 (when no new MM or JSW games or versions were released TTBOMK), a lot has happened on the scene and it is still very much alive. In fact, 2023 should go down in JSW history as a very exceptional year. We have already had several quality releases: "Manic Jet Set Willy" v. 3.00 and 3.01, "AmAZiNG WiLLY" v. 3, "WiLLY iN ThE MiRRoRVeRSE" v. 2 and "Jet Set Willy: Role Reversal", plus the new, fixed versions of "Manic Miner 128" and "Jet Set Willy: Key Code Edition", and there is more to come... 🙂 Hopefully, there will be plenty of material for quiz questions by the time "Willy Games: The Second 30 Years Quiz" is to be released in 2045 or thereabouts 😁

Thanks for your replies, Andy, for creating a new category of "Mini Games" in the Downloads section and for adding JSW KCE there 👍. Well, I think there is one significant issue there. I wasn't quite sure what to call the game, because it didn't seem obvious from your posts. So I called it "Jet Set Willy: Key-Coded Lives Edition". taking the second part of the title from the loading screen. However, I now believe that you call it "JSW: KCE" or "Jet Set Willy: Key Code Edition", so I'll correct the info on JSW Central accordingly 🙂 . [EDIT some time later] OK, it's all done 🙂 .

Thank you for this contribution, Richard! 🙂

I have just added "Jet Set Willy: Key-Coded Lives Edition" to the list of Mini games on JSW Central. I have also created a separate page for it, including a screenshot gallery and my RZX walkthrough of the game (Andy's walkthrough was already included in the release package). Andy, please have a look at that page on JSW Central and let me know if everything sounds good, or if you would like to see some corrections. I also have a detailed question. Did you include the map of the game (I assume the PNG file can be called a map) with the original release (i.e. published it on 24th March) or in the modified ZIP file (i.e. published it on 25th March)? The question is related to the (newly-updated) Chronology section on JSW Central. Since you did not mention the map in the description of the changes made on 25th March, I assume it was there in the original release ZIP, but I just want to make sure this is correct, for the sake of accuracy of the information given in Chronology. Perhaps it would be good to create a separate download page in the Downloads section for this mini game?

I have just updated the Chronology section on JSW Central. It was the first update of this section in almost a year and a half. The lack of updates during this time was related to the real-life-imposed limitations of my spare time and my prioritisation of other JSW-related activities. However, from now on I intend to update Chronology pretty much as things happen, and I do hope I will be able to be consistent in it. Please have a look at the 2022 and 2023 pages and let me know if anything is missing. Please remember this Chronology is related to ZX Spectrum games only, and the typical events it makes note of are: public releases of games and versions (both gamma releases and beta or other earlier versions if they are made public, or later revisions and bugfixes), the first time a game's map is published and the first time a complete RZX walkthrough or video of a game is published. Some other events I deem important are mentioned as well. I am a little alarmed at the complete lack of activity in Chronology between February and July 2022. It is possible, of course, that nothing from the above-mentioned categories happened in that period (there had been even longer 'gaps' in previous years). Still, it would be reassuring to know I did not miss anything that should be noted. Any comments or input will be welcome 🙂 .

You are acknowledged on the second page of Bob's introduction in the Bug-Byte version 🙂 .

All right, I have playtested both of Bob's versions from start to finish (also losing lives in every cavern just to check what happens) and I can confirm that they are both perfectly completable. I did not notice any bugs or problems. The only thing I could mention is that in the Software Projects version (i.e. Bob's bugfix and conversion to TAP format of Mihai's original Z80 file) the remaining lives are not 'dancing', regardless of whether the music is on or off. That's just a feature of this version I guess, though. A great thank you to Bob for creating a bugfixed version of Mihai's original AY music version and for creating a separate 128K music version using the Bug-Byte edition of the game! 🙂 👍

I don't think this version has been discussed before. I couldn't find any reference to it on the forum, but perhaps I'm missing something. In any case, there is some relatively fresh news related to it 🙂 . In the early 2000s, Mihai Novitchi created a 128K version of Manic Miner with AY music and a built-in cheat menu. The tune, which is a full-length version of "In the Hall of the Mountain King", goes back to the beginning whenever the player enters a new cavern or loses a life. However, it keeps playing when the game is paused (using the regular pause keys) and during the Game Over sequence. Pressing '1' brings up a cheat menu, in which the player can select infinite lives and infinite air, and turn the in-game tune on or off (if turned off, it actually stays on one note, producing an unpleasant effect, which sometimes disappears after moving to the next cavern). Mihai's variant is based on the Software Projects version of Manic Miner. Mihai announced the project in April 2002. It is not clear when the last version of the game file was created; it was certainly before May 2004. In 2022, Bob Fossil decided to fix the bugs found in Mihai's version, including the problem of the music code playing the last note over and over again when the player turned the music off or ended up on the Game Over screen. He found out that Mihai's code was using an interrupt-based music player for the 128k music and was just enabling and disabling interrupts to start and stop the music. It failed to call the 'stop' routine to silence the AY chip in the music player, which is why the music was getting stuck. Bob first patched Mihai's code and then converted the game into a TAP file with the original Manic Miner animated loading screen. He released his version in August 2022. In April 2023, Mr Scratcher found a bug in Bob's original release (related to Mihai's earlier code modifications) which Bob fixed. Further discussion and playtesting resulted in Bob's repatching the original Manic Miner file from scratch (using the 128k music from Mihai's Z80 snapshot), fixing the bugs that had been discovered, making the teleport cheat work again and adding an invulnerability option. In the process, Bob eliminated the in-game trainer menu and instead added a trainer menu at the start of the game (which means the player has to reload the game in order to change an option). He also released a re-packaged, fixed revision of Mihai's version of Manic Miner 128 based on the Software Projects edition. The game's page on JSW Central is here, and the discussion and download links on Bob's website are here. A file with Mihai's original Z80 file and Bob's TAP files is attached to this message for your convenience. Since from the comments there it seems like there may be still be some 'unfinished business' regarding "Manic Miner 128" (bugs?), I am planning to playtest both of Bob's versions in the near future and report back with the results 🙂 . If anyone has a go at them and notices any issues, please let us know! Manic_Miner_128.zip

Thanks for v. 1.1, DigitalDuck! I hope to be able to play it soon 🙂 .

I've just tried it and I can confirm that it also happens when you enter the Central Cavern with 298 items collected (which is the minimum number of items necessary to trigger the toilet run).

Thanks for mentioning this, Ian! Due to the nature of the project I've mentioned, this is not a problem there... (and I won't say any more about it right now 😉). Well, I'm back 🙂 . I've just moved back to Warsaw, Poland from the United States (where I worked for the last five years) and I'm catching up with things that have been happening on the scene. I do hope I will have more time for JSW in the foreseeable future, and I definitely want to dedicate a significant portion of my spare time to it (various aspects of it: developing JSW Central, developing the JSW Central YouTube channel, assisting with other people's projects and ultimately resuming creation of my own games).

That's extremely impressive! Something that I was already taking for granted (the previously established highest obtainable scores) has turned out to be wrong. Congratulations on obtaining even higher scores and thanks for sharing the video! 🙂 👍 I wonder if this is really it, or if there may still be a surprise or two lurking in those caverns... 😉

Thanks for your recent message, DigitalDuck. I've just tried it. I tried killing Willy in the Central Cavern both after entering it for the first time (with 325 items), and after collecting the additional 5 items there (so with 330 of them), and after exiting the Central Cavern and reentering it with 330 items. Every time the result was the same, i.e. Willy just died. It was only after I killed him repeatedly in the Central Cavern, losing all lives, that I got the "Well Done" screen, which serves as the title screen. In fact, it seems to stay on - after I started a new game and quit it (by pressing the BREAK key, that is, CAPS SHIFT and SPACE), it was still there as the new title screen.

Hello, DigitalDuck, Thank you so much for "Manic Miner Redux"! 🙂 It sounds very impressive from the description 👍. I have just downloaded it and I look forward to actually playing it, which I hope I should be able to do soon. I will certainly report back with some feedback when I've had time to play it (but don't let that stop you from releasing the tweaked version 😉).

Thanks for all your comments 🙂 . Yes, the initial one-byte optimisation I came up with is at #904C, as described by Ian above. I have since rewritten this code completely, gaining a few bytes. The way Matthew set the attributes for Willy and the swordfish (starting at 9052) is unnecessarily complicated and takes more bytes than a simpler solution. He does this (as per SkoolKid's disassembly) like this: Yet it is easier and takes fewer bytes to just set the attributes by doing a series of instructions 21 LD HL,0000 and then 22 LD (0000),HL. Until now I would never have thought I would one day judge and criticise the code Matthew Smith wrote! It sounds like blasphemy and I'm all trembling as I write these words! 😉 But the truth is that by modifying this code I gained a few bytes, which allowed me to achieve what I was looking for 🙂 . Incidentally, this is for a project which is NOT my game, I'm merely adding some finishing touches to it. It's a fantastic game, and it should be released really soon, before the (European) summer is over... Before the release happens, though - or, to be precise, until the end of July - I will be extremely occupied with real-world matters and may not be able to post much here or react to posts I would otherwise like to react to. Please bear with me, I will be back in August 🙂 .

Thanks, Andy! 👍 Yes, I know BC is 0000 just before we get there, that's why I think it's safe to eliminate the instruction in question. However, I haven't tried to "backtrack the history" of BC before #9075, i.e. to see when it becomes 0000 and what makes it become 0000, which is why I asked the question. Having a closer look at it now, I can see that C is set to 00 by the instruction at 903E. At this point (when the game is stopped) B is also 00 (when I checked, but I'm not sure if always). Afterwards, before getting to the celebratory sound, the program draws Willy and the Swordfish graphics and sets attributes for them. As far as I understand the situation, this portion of the code is always executed in the same way (it does not depend in any way on what the player does, as there is no room for any input related to the player's actions or inaction), so the end result always has to be the same. Since C is set to 00 by the instruction at 903E and evidently is also (perhaps: remains, or perhaps: is again) 00 when we get to 9077, after the sprite-printing/attribute-setting code at 903E - 9076 has run its course, I am not really worried about C. I'm more (potentially) worried about B, which apparently is 00 at 903E and continues to be 00 at 9077 (which is great!), but I don't know when and "in what circumstances" it becomes 00 *before* we get to 903E. In other words, I don't have a 100% certainty that I can discard a scenario in which for some reason B would be something else than 00 when we arrive at 903E. Actually, writing these words, I believe I have actually come up with a solution for my uncertainty 🙂 . I do have one spare byte in that general area (thanks to an optimisation which can be applied in relation to the sprite-printing code). So if - taking advantage of that one spare byte - I change the LD C,00 instruction at 903E to LD BC,0000 instruction, I won't have to worry any more, because BC will definitely be 0000 at 903E (no matter what happens before), and if it remains 0000 at 9077, after the sprite-printing/attribute-setting code at 903E - 9076 has run its course, the instruction setting it to 0000 at 9077 can be safely eliminated, because there is no way BC at this point could be anything else than 0000. I believe this solves my problem, but please correct my reasoning if it's flawed in any way 🙂 .