jetsetdanny Posted December 18, 2020 Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 Thanks to MtM for bringing this to our attention: https://blakearts.artstation.com/projects/0nlgw5?album_id=2519164 I watched the playthrough and I really like it. The graphics are great, some of the guardians are really cool and feel very Manic-Minerish (like the seals), and I like the lifts-as-portals idea. Blake Robinson has done a great job on this project and I hope one day he will release the game, with all of the original MM levels 👍. EDIT: Edited a typo. Spider, IRF, MtM and 1 other 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuffledBricks Posted January 23, 2021 Report Share Posted January 23, 2021 Discussed this on stream some months ago and I had some thoughts about the project. Firstly, Blake's soundtrack is superb. I love the combination of the orchestral composition with the 8-bit sounds laid over the top. Plus the inclusion of the original sound effects is cool too, and Eugene's "Yesyesyesyes" is funny. The dark and dingy aesthetic of the levels is very nice. One of the things you can easily forget in the original MM is that each of the levels is meant to be a cavern, as the bright colours and often strangely open-air level themes (Skylab anyone?) don't exactly scream 'underground lair'. So it's nice to have an art style that closer matches the situation now, and there's some beautiful details like the squid in the Cold Room. Plus it makes the end sequence where Willy reaches his house seem a lot more idyllic in this version. That said, one of the things I really like about the original is its surrealness - that there are penguins skating in the Cold Room or seals doing ball tricks in the Abandoned Uranium Works, for example, and you just have to accept it. Some of this playfulness seems to have been lost in the redesign, as the penguins now just hobble about and the seals' balls have been replaced with brain domes with their eyes hanging out. It seems like there's also broadly more of a shift towards the grotesque - Chomper's gums; the blood splatter in the Game Over screen; the, erm, suspicious stains on Eugene and his crew - which isn't quite as fun to me (although the redesign of Eugene as a shades-wearing urinal is inspired, as are the toilet spider legs). Maybe I'm just a bit squeamish. My only real qualm with the game in its current form is that I think Blake could push the level designs further and make more use of the third dimension. At present, most of the levels are heavily modelled on the originals, but with the elements distributed around the perimeter of the room. The best restructuring thus far is Abandoned Uranium Works, in which he's actually made the seals into a credible threat (which they weren't in the original). It'd be nice to see more reinterpretations like this. Overall though, I'd definitely be interested in seeing a finished version of this. Although I must admit I'd be more intrigued to see Jet Set Willy 3D... MtM, jetsetdanny, IRF and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtM Posted January 23, 2021 Report Share Posted January 23, 2021 8 hours ago, RuffledBricks said: Discussed this on stream some months ago and I had some thoughts about the project. Firstly, Blake's soundtrack is superb. I love the combination of the orchestral composition with the 8-bit sounds laid over the top. Plus the inclusion of the original sound effects is cool too, and Eugene's "Yesyesyesyes" is funny. The dark and dingy aesthetic of the levels is very nice. One of the things you can easily forget in the original MM is that each of the levels is meant to be a cavern, as the bright colours and often strangely open-air level themes (Skylab anyone?) don't exactly scream 'underground lair'. So it's nice to have an art style that closer matches the situation now, and there's some beautiful details like the squid in the Cold Room. Plus it makes the end sequence where Willy reaches his house seem a lot more idyllic in this version. That said, one of the things I really like about the original is its surrealness - that there are penguins skating in the Cold Room or seals doing ball tricks in the Abandoned Uranium Works, for example, and you just have to accept it. Some of this playfulness seems to have been lost in the redesign, as the penguins now just hobble about and the seals' balls have been replaced with brain domes with their eyes hanging out. It seems like there's also broadly more of a shift towards the grotesque - Chomper's gums; the blood splatter in the Game Over screen; the, erm, suspicious stains on Eugene and his crew - which isn't quite as fun to me (although the redesign of Eugene as a shades-wearing urinal is inspired, as are the toilet spider legs). Maybe I'm just a bit squeamish. My only real qualm with the game in its current form is that I think Blake could push the level designs further and make more use of the third dimension. At present, most of the levels are heavily modelled on the originals, but with the elements distributed around the perimeter of the room. The best restructuring thus far is Abandoned Uranium Works, in which he's actually made the seals into a credible threat (which they weren't in the original). It'd be nice to see more reinterpretations like this. Overall though, I'd definitely be interested in seeing a finished version of this. Although I must admit I'd be more intrigued to see Jet Set Willy 3D... Jet Set Willy 3d has been something I have wanted to see since seeing the original Tomb Raider on the Sega Saturn / PSX in November of 1996, as soon as I saw it made me think that this is how it could be realised. The interpretation of MM in 3D is fair, but also makes me think of Nebulous on the Spectrum and C64, as well as various Mario games on various Nintendo bits of hardware. I agree that perhaps there is something more that could be done to it, though it would take more thought. I am not a complete fan of the implementation as it stands, but I would love to see it finished and would certainly pay for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewbroad Posted January 24, 2021 Report Share Posted January 24, 2021 12 hours ago, RuffledBricks said: one of the things I really like about the original is its surrealness - that there are penguins skating in the Cold Room or seals doing ball tricks in the Abandoned Uranium Works, for example, and you just have to accept it. I love surrealism. The original MM and JSW are actually quite realistic by my standards. I miss those vicenarian nights when I would have really weird, inspiring dreams and remember them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetsetdanny Posted January 24, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2021 "Vicenarian Nights" would make a nice room title in a new JSW game 🤪. andrewbroad 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewbroad Posted January 25, 2021 Report Share Posted January 25, 2021 3 hours ago, jetsetdanny said: "Vicenarian Nights" would make a nice room title in a new JSW game 🤪. No promises, but I have added it to my list of MM/JSW room-ideas. jetsetdanny 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuffledBricks Posted January 25, 2021 Report Share Posted January 25, 2021 13 hours ago, jetsetdanny said: "Vicenarian Nights" would make a nice room title in a new JSW game 🤪. Followed by another room called "Like Vicenarian Days". Spider 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetsetdanny Posted January 26, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2021 Or "Tricenarian Nights" 😀 Spider 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewbroad Posted January 26, 2021 Report Share Posted January 26, 2021 I did have a few good dreams as a tricenarian, but my vicenarian dreams were by far the best. Spider 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtM Posted January 27, 2021 Report Share Posted January 27, 2021 On 1/26/2021 at 2:02 AM, andrewbroad said: I did have a few good dreams as a tricenarian, but my vicenarian dreams were by far the best. Is this something to do with playing games in Vice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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