MM : Freeze-Frame

[Spider]

As per the slightly odd title!

This was a thought I'd had a few months ago but dismissed it at the time.

The basic premise is to freeze the game unless a movement key is pressed, however the air supply will continue to decrement during this state. Inbuilt pause perhaps should be disabled too.

 

This may sound odd however consider the fact that as the guardians and conveyors etc are also frozen, time may be of the essence now as MW will have to either jiggle left/right or jump (wasting more air) to ensure that guardians etc are in suitable places for his manoeuvres.

 

The main loop where guardian and other tasks are called could be bypassed into the free space area with something along the lines of:

> Decrement the air supply and update the display for it etc

> Are we pressing any key ? If so is it a movement key (left/right/jump)

> If it is not a movement key, jump back and decrease the air supply

> If we are pressing a bona-fide movement key for MW then provide that movement and call to animate/move guardians and conveyors

> Jump back to the main loop

 

I have not really explained this too well I suspect however if you pause (no pun) to consider the fact that air will be lost positioning MW in certain caverns it will make the game more tricky.

[Norman Sword]

Remember that keyboard movement is not the only movement Willy makes.

1) forced movement via a conveyor
2) falling
3) jumping
4) collapsing a platform floor.

[Spider]

Thanks Norman.

I must admit I was exceptionally short of time when I typed my initial post in, and I'd not really considered any side-effects as such as you mention.

I dare say it could be reworked to take account of those, in that if MW is falling or jumping the action continues until he lands, same with the crumbly floor perhaps or the conveyor.

The crumbly I'm slightly 50/50 on as that could work either way as sometimes its beneficial to jump "on the spot" to provide correct timing. Horses for Courses I guess with that one.

🙂

[andrewbroad]

It sounds a bit like perpetual motion to me:

• POKE 35976,0 for Manic Miner (Bug-Byte);
• POKE 36801,0 for Jet Set Willy.

[IRF]

22 hours ago, Norman Sword said:

Remember that keyboard movement is not the only movement Willy makes.

1) forced movement via a conveyor
2) falling
3) jumping
4) collapsing a platform floor.

 

And conversely, the fact that a movement key is currently being pressed doesn't necessarily mean that Willy is moving in accordance with that key. e.g.:

1) If he is trying to walk through a solid wall;

2) If he drops vertically down onto a conveyor with the 'upstream' movement pressed, he the key counteracts the effect of the conveyor but he stays on the spot.

[IRF]

I wasn't sure where to put this, but this seemed like as good a place as any...

I encountered a headless Willy just now - see attached screenshot.

No POKES or code changes were involved!  Willy managed to walk away safely though - and his head came back!

Edited April 14, 2021 by IRF

[Spider]

Eugene hungry ? 🙂