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Suggestions for Christmas-themed Miner Willy games


jetsetdanny

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Following Ian's suggestion, this is a new topic to discuss ideas for Christmas-themed Miner Willy games.

There aren't any explicitly Christmas versions of MM or JSW, which is strange, given the number of versions and variants in existence.

I'll start this topic by describing an idea for a Christmas JSW game I've had for some time. NOT a version of the original JSW, but a new game using one of the JSW game engines. If I ever find the time, energy and propitious circumstances to launch this project, it will be called "Willy's Christmas Caper" and it will feature a giant Christmas tree forming the vertical axis in the centre of the game map, splitting it in two. Willy will start out at the entrance to the house in the lower left corner of the game map (there will be no house as such, only the entrance, the giant Christmas tree will be outside). He will be able to go to the right side of the tree at the ground level, but when going up, he will only be able to explore the branches either on the left or on the right side; the trunk of the tree will not let him through at any point, creating a lot of "Promised Lands" on its other side.

The tree graphics will be repetitive to streamline the designing process.

The toilet run (or whatever-it-will-be run, as it won't involve a toilet in all probability) will take place at the bottom of the tree.

So that's "Willy's Christmas Caper" at the back of my mind 🙂.

 
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Here are some further ideas:

The collectable items could be Christmas presents.  (Either that or fairy lights, since the items do 'twinkle'!)

Deadly baubles on the branches?

I think the water/ramp cells in 'Out on a Limb' look very 'coniferous'.

I wonder whether this should be a mini-game (10 to 20 rooms), as 64 rooms of tree branches might be a bit repetitive?

If it is a full game, then perhaps the lower levels should be a few rooms across, with only the upper reaches being a single room (split down the middle by the trunk) wide?  That way, it would taper inwards from the bottom to the top, like a Christmas tree!

Obviously there should be either a star (a multi-component guardian, like the demon in 'Entrance to Hades'?) or a guardian fairy - something difficult to navigate past anyway - at the very top of the tree!

Maybe there is a nativity scene under the tree on the far side, and the mission is to reach the stable and deliver all the presents to the Baby Jesus?  You have to get past Mary/Maria first though!

'Jingle Bells' would fit perfectly as a 64-note in-game tune.  With a different Christmas carol as the title tune, to accompany a snazzy Christmassy title screen.

Willy's sprite is wearing a Santa hat.

Edited by IRF
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A smaller map would be good within reason, also would cut down development time.

I'm half tempted to say a the 48K standard game engine may well suffice here, it worked quite well for the previous games and last year's Woot! JSW12RM for instance (no I'm not saying this game should be 12 screens)

May be best perhaps to think of Pyramid type blocks to 'build' a map ?

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Yes, my original idea was of a game of some 20 to 30 rooms, I would say. I didn't try to count exactly (from the game map image I have in my head), but I think that would be more or less correct.

Personally, I wouldn't call it a "mini-game" with this number of rooms. For the purposes of classification on JSW Central I have defined a "mini-game" as having "fewer than 5 rooms". This one would have significantly more than that.

I am glad various people seem to like my idea and I wouldn't mind at all its being developed as a "community project" 🙂 . I won't be able to participate in it right now, and personally I don't think it would be a good idea to rush this kind of game just to create "something" before Christmas 2020, but if serious development along the lines presented above happens at some point (perhaps aiming at next year's X-mas release?), I might be able to make some contribution to it.

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On 12/11/2020 at 10:28 PM, jetsetdanny said:

Yes, my original idea was of a game of some 20 to 30 rooms, I would say. I didn't try to count exactly (from the game map image I have in my head), but I think that would be more or less correct.

Personally, I wouldn't call it a "mini-game" with this number of rooms. For the purposes of classification on JSW Central I have defined a "mini-game" as having "fewer than 5 rooms". This one would have significantly more than that.

I am glad various people seem to like my idea and I wouldn't mind at all its being developed as a "community project" 🙂 . I won't be able to participate in it right now, and personally I don't think it would be a good idea to rush this kind of game just to create "something" before Christmas 2020, but if serious development along the lines presented above happens at some point (perhaps aiming at next year's X-mas release?), I might be able to make some contribution to it.

That is fair comment I think, but there is part of me that would like some rough and ready few levels to play now for this Christmas, I know that is a bit selfish of me. There was the tremendous MM done for the start of lockdown this year with 10 levels, I know not much changed in it but none the less, there is such expertise on these forums. But I know too people are busy with Christmas. It is more realistic to think something could be done for next Christmas I guess.

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I think all in all the idea is brilliant however there is so little time left, I suspect if anything was rushed together (assuming people -can- find some time, I know I'm very short on this at the moment) it may not be what it should. I suspect now there may be things that would be realised after release etc.

If anyone has started anything, please don't stop! 😄 Read on...

In an ideal world although I realise with the site having an extended Summer and Fall/Autumn holiday it was not possible it would of been ideal to start to throw ideas together for this around that time of year. Having said that although its tempting to say "put it on the back burner for now until Aug/Sept" there's no reason to not actually start something provided interest can be maintained and it could be pushed out the door in very good time for next Christmas maybe.

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On 12/16/2020 at 12:39 PM, Spider said:

I think all in all the idea is brilliant however there is so little time left, I suspect if anything was rushed together (assuming people -can- find some time, I know I'm very short on this at the moment) it may not be what it should. I suspect now there may be things that would be realised after release etc.

If anyone has started anything, please don't stop! 😄 Read on...

In an ideal world although I realise with the site having an extended Summer and Fall/Autumn holiday it was not possible it would of been ideal to start to throw ideas together for this around that time of year. Having said that although its tempting to say "put it on the back burner for now until Aug/Sept" there's no reason to not actually start something provided interest can be maintained and it could be pushed out the door in very good time for next Christmas maybe.

For what it is worth, I am all in favour of something as rough and ready as you like, just a few Christmas screens might be fun, especially in MM.

 

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  • 8 months later...

It would not run on my machine (W7x64 on ESU) , I had a full screen then a blank black window at the upper left and not much else.

I'll try it virtually perhaps later.

Norman, did the one that would not run throw any errors ? in particular anything along the lines of complaining about cwsdpmi (or similar) libraries, compilation errors etc , also a sign its a 16bit which as you know x64 Windows is not terribly happy about. i386/x32 yes usually will work in a vague sense.

 

The issue I had with the attached file -may- be limited to me as my machine was quite in need of a reboot anyway, 38 days is a long time for Windows!

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