jetsetdanny

Hi SedricAndCharlie, JSW Central should be up to date at this time, with everything that has been gamma-released mentioned there (it does NOT list unfinished projects except on this page). I hope it will help you to catalog your MM/JSW games. You can also download most of them (with an exception or two where the author would not approve of it). Please let me know if you find that anything is missing from JSW Central! Or any incorrect/outdated information that would need correcting - I will be happy to add/change it.

Cool! 👍 Thanks for sharing 🙂 .

Welcome to the forum, AukonDK! 🙂 That's a very wise approach 🙂 . I applied a similar one when creating JSW Central - I started off with a very basic website, and I am gradually developing it both by expanding the already existing resources (like adding walkthrough videos or screenshot galleries to individual games' pages) and by expanding the site itself (by adding new sections). The scope of interest of JSW Central is still limited to the ZX Spectrum games though (and will be in the foreseeable future, because I don't have time to go beyond Speccy).

Whatever one prefers to call them, they are all great to play 🙂 . I have enjoyed playing them so far, and I look forward to the time when I will make a 'proper' recording of "MM40th" for the JSW Central YouTube channel (striving for a high-quality performance)😁.

Bob The Polar Bear has kindly sent me his notes about his three games, i.e. "Manic-4-Noobs" (M4N), "MANIC-minor" (M-m) and "Manic Miner 40th Anniversary Tribute" (MM40th). I've just published them on JSW Central. This is exclusive content, he wrote the notes especially for JSW Central, for which I'm very grateful 🙂 .They are an interesting and valuable background to his three excellent remakes of "Manic Miner".

When I look at the graphics on the label, I believe the name of this product *is* JSW-related - they have this cool platform-game feel to them 🙂. https://www.eebriatrade.com/products/beer/neon-raptor-brewing-co/52765-jet-set-billie-funky-fluid-collab Disclosure: I have no relevant financial or nonfinancial relationships with either Neon Raptor Brewing Co. or Funky Fluid to disclose 😉.

This sounds intriguing 🙂 . And it's great to know you have a MM project - that your "bassification" is not complete 😉 .

Or "Ian's Bassment" to drive the point home! 🤪

Yes, that's exactly how it is! 🙂 Thanks again for MM40th and also for posting here! It's a pleasure to know you are visiting these pages 🙂 .

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! 🙂 👍