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IRF

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  1. IRF
    Another significant milestone for the site! (Unless you're a hexadecimaphile like myself!!)
  2. IRF
    Unless they're overhead ones (like in the Wine Cellar) - I presume he can jump up and hit them (because his jump doesn't take him high enough to be 'above' the Fire cells)?
  3. IRF
    I was expecting that Willy could walk on Water cells (e.g. the floor of The Bathroom), but if he jumped up through them (e.g. the head-height platform at the bottom of the ramp in The Bathroom), then he would fall through (because they would turn to Air and then remain as Air) - but that is NOT the case (because it's only a 'secondary buffer' effect). I did anticipate that he could safely walk through Fire cells (in either direction?) - although he is still killed if he steps onto a Fire cell!
  4. IRF
    It's only affecting the secondary attribute buffer though - I was thinking it might turn cells through which Willy passes into Air, but that would involve changing the primary buffer (the primary is copied across to the secondary each 'tick', so the colour clash is actually only temporary). So it's not quite as 'quirky' as I had anticipated! :blush:
  5. IRF
    I haven't tried this out yet, but studying the code, it seems like it should have some interesting quirky effects: POKE #9623, 00
  6. IRF
    Oops, please ignore the above - when the game file is opened up in SPIN in 48K mode, page #5B of the code just holds values of zero! It is only when the file has been opened up in 128K mode that some seemingly random code manifests itself in that range of addresses. This seems to arise from the way in which the Spectrum 128K mode operates, rather than being newly-discovered remnants of source code as I suggested earlier. :blush:
  7. IRF
    From the Manic Miner disassembly: http://skoolkid.github.io/manicminer/reference/facts.html#sourceCodeRemnants Further to the above, I've just discovered that in Manic Miner the range of addresses #5B00-#5BFF also appears to contain remnants of source code. (In JSW, the upper end of that range of addresses is used by the program for the stack, but in MM the stack is located elsewhere.) Some editors such as JSWED 'tidy' up these addresses, so they appear to be blank in the hex editor. However, if you open up the game file in SPIN and then use the debugger to PEEK at those addresses, you can see the unused source code in situ.
  8. IRF
    Aah yes, I see it now. I was trying the ENTER+1 keypress during the scrolly message, rather than the credit screen (which appears after one 'demo mode' cycle through the caverns ).
  9. IRF
    Norman has already answered this point, but I would just add that the 'alternative movement regime' is similar to what you get in JSW2. And I believe that it was implemented by changing a couple of values in the 'Left-Right Movement lookup table' [which is at #8421 in JSW; #8408 in MM]. I couldn't figure out what the Easter Egg is??
  10. IRF
    I believe that placing files into a Zip folder is one way of uploading files that the interface will otherwise refuse to upload.
  11. IRF
    The ability to slow the game down would be useful for the room 'The Garden' in JSW2 [original version], the crossing of which requires a succession of well-timed, pixel-perfect jumps. :o
  12. IRF
    I actually find it difficult to progress by a single frame of animation (a useful manoeuvre in some tight* spots) because the game engine is so fast, and therefore so sensitive. For that reason, it is very useful that you provided the ability to slow the game down (using the K or L key, the other key speeding the game back up again - I forget which is which). (* No pun intended on the former use of the Bear Brand Factory that was discussed earlier!)
  13. IRF

    Willy HQ

    IRF replied to IRF's topic in Chat

    I live up just past the Cobden Vaults which is marked on the top of the map.
  14. IRF

    Willy HQ

    IRF replied to IRF's topic in Chat

    What lamp post pic?
  15. IRF

    Willy HQ

    IRF posted a topic in Chat

    I knew that I was living in the same region as 'where it all began' i.e. the Merseyside area. However, I recently discovered that I am located even more closer geographically to 'Willy HQ' than I thought. It transpires that Software Projects were based at the old Bear Brands site in Woolton Village, which is less than half a mile away from my house (and is now the home of my local branch of Tesco's!)
  16. IRF
    How easy would it be to fix the 'uncollectable item' in 'West of Kitchen'? I'm guessing that relocating the item into a background cell would be easier than trying to remove the block in which it is apparently embedded?
  17. IRF
    Norman, is the theoretical maximum number of items 255 or 256, with your game engine rewrite? (I know there are about a dozen fewer than that in reality.)
  18. IRF
    I note that Norman has now uploaded a revised version of this project, with the 'Superjump' cheat disabled (except in rooms where it is supposed to be present, as indicated by the 'arrow' icon), and the 'sun' icon removed from the status bar. (Technically, the sun is still drawn on the status bar - all four small icons in that 2x2 character square [heart/sun/ammo/arrow] are permanently drawn there - but its colour attribute has been changed to black INK on black PAPER, rendering it invisible. This leaves open the possibility that the sun icon may be resurrected if in future Norman remembers what it was supposed to signify!) The West of Kitchen item is still uncollectable. :mellow:
  19. IRF
    However, despite that West of Kitchen remaining stubbornly uncollected, I have just managed to complete the game! The item count starts at 243; I got it down to 000 (the last three items that I collected were in the room 'A Cut Above' which is the 'alternate reality' version of 'The Nightmare Room', and where the precise logic followed by the movement of the guardians still eludes me!) and then went to the Master Bedroom and Maria had disappeared. So there must actually be 244 items in the game, but you only need to collect 243 (unless the one in West of Kitchen [near the top of the ladder that leads up to Banyan Tree] is a 'false item'?) My in-game completion time was 13:07:01 (I can be that precise because the clock stops ticking at the point when Willy starts to worship the White Porcelain God...) The meaning of the yellow sun icon on the status bar in some rooms still eludes me though? Anyway, congratulations Norman - the new rooms and new features in this 'alternate reality' JSW mansion were a delight to explore!
  20. IRF
    The item in West of Kitchen would appear to be uncollectable, as it sits over a Water cell.
  21. IRF
    The four symbols that I mentioned only occupy a single character, then on top of that there are some 2x2 icons that appear (or not) depending on the room: - Willy firing a gun (white): means that he can shoot guardians by pressing 'G' (number of bullets left is written below the icon in red); - Foot (yellow): means that water cells collapse when Willy jumps on them; - Collapsing ceiling (green): means that Willy can headbutt wall tiles from beneath. Then there is the rabbit/snail pair of icons (in cyan), which indicate the speed of the game engine (changeable by pressing 'K' for faster or 'L' for slower. 'H' to activate Superjump seems to work everywhere, except when Willy is near the top of the room that he is in. EDIT: That's 'H' being pressed in conjunction with one of the regular Jump keys, not 'H' on its own except in a room with the magenta 'arrow' symbol on the status bar.
  22. IRF
    A few observations: - Ropes only pick Willy up when he has white INK, which he normally does, but not immediately after he has lost a life and his next life is temporarily 'shielded' (indicated by his sprite colour-cycling); - Using the Superjump facility, Willy can jump into wall tiles (presumably because he ascends and descends twice the distance in each time frame, so the new check for a wall tile below his sprite, intended to prevent him jumping into one during a normal jump, does not take effect); - I notice that some rooms have a heart symbol on the status bar, indicating an extra life is granted when he collects an item in that room; or an 'extra ammo' symbol which works in a similar way for his ammunition. However, in The Swimming Pool, there are two extra symbols - a yellow sun and a magenta arrow (or compass point?) - and I'm not sure what the significance of those are? EDIT: I've since noticed that the magenta arrow symbol (but not the sun) appears in The Bow. And all four (arrow/sun/heart/ammo) appear in On a Branch Over the Drive. FURTHER EDIT: In rooms with the upwards pointing (magenta) arrow, the 'H' key alone causes Willy to do a Superjump. (N.B. In all other rooms, pressing 'H' along with one of the regular jump keys allows him to perform a Superjump - this is a bit of a 'cheat' [unintentional?] as it allows him to dodge many of the obstacles throughout the whole game!) That just leaves the mystery regarding the sun symbol.
  23. IRF
    Norman, am I right in thinking that you have resolved the sudden downwards jerking when Willy's head enters a wall tile on the descent part of a jump*, presumably by only executing the code at #8EBC during the ascent part of a jump? * e.g. when jumping in the gap between overhead and underfoot wall blocks in The Wine Cellar.
  24. IRF
    I like the 'sinking floor' effect in Top Landing when Willy jumps on the floor tiles. :)
  25. IRF
    Superjump!
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