JSW Central

[IRF]

Well done on the updates to JSW Central, Danny! It is a valuable resource for Willyholics!

[jetsetdanny]

Thank you both for your kind words :).

[jetsetdanny]

There was a significant update of JSW Central on 3rd December 2018. I had worked hard to make it happen and I did mean to announce it later, but a whirlwind of real life activities prevented me from doing it. I would now like to mention it for the record, although I will probably not describe all of the changes as accurately as I would have done in early December.

 

The main change was the launch of a new section: 'Versions and minor mods of the original Manic Miner'. Apart from its main page, it features 18 individual sub-pages for each discussed variant (in one case - variants, where a few very minor hacks are discussed together), with general info, info about the completability of the game (or lack thereof), download links and a screenshot gallery, illustrating new elements / differences from the original MM. Over 350 new screenshots related to this section were added to the site.

 

There were also various other improvements, such as switching to HTTPS, the addition of individual pages for "Manic Miner: Back to the Mine" (by LiganTM, 2018) and "Manic Mixup" (by Ian Rushforth and Andy Ford, 2018) to the Manic Miner games section, the addition of information about "JSW 128 VK3" and "JSW 128 VL5" (both by Norman Sword, 2018) as well as "Thoroughly Modern Willy" (by Bob Fossil, 2018) to the "Games of MM and JSW interest" section, a Chronology update, etc.

 

I am now going to move on and start adding individual pages for the JSW games listed on the main page of JSW Central.

[Spider]

Great to see/read about the changes, improvements and 'expansion' (if that's the correct word) on the site Danny. :)

[jetsetdanny]

Thanks, Andy! :)

[IRF]

I'll second Andy's comments.  It's a great resource, Danny!  :)

[jetsetdanny]

Thanks, Ian! :)

[jetsetdanny]

JSW Central has just been updated significantly. Almost all parts of the website have undergone some changes. The highlights:

 

- All games included in the main "List of Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy games for the ZX Spectrum" (or rather several lists which comprise it) now have their individual pages with info, download options and other links. Most of the newly-added pages are still work in progress in the sense that they do not have full screenshot galleries yet, and in some cases the info about the game given there is not complete (e.g. there is info about the total number of edited rooms, but there is no info about how many of them need to be visited to complete the game).

 

- Games which were previously in the "Games of MM/JSW interest" section, in the "I. Games of special interest" subsection have now been moved to the main "List of Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy games for the ZX Spectrum", as a separate group called "MM and JSW games using other game engines".

 

- Some games have been added to the "Games of MM/JSW interest" section and all of the games included there now have links to their respective pages on Spectrum Computing.

 

- Some new links have been added to the Links page.

 

- One new entry was added to the list of MM games ("A Manic Minor's 80's Christmas Shopping Trip") and some new entries were added to the "Versions of the original MM" and "Versions of the original JSW" sections ("Manic Miner: A ten-cavern challenge", "Jet Set Willy: The Mr Noseybonk Edition" and "Jet Set Willy 25-100").

 

- Chronology was updated to the point of going into the future (!) - having a mention of the celebration of JSW

[jetsetdanny]

I am pleased to announce that I have just launched a significant update of JSW Central. The highlights:

 

 

- The panel on the left side has been modified. It now provides direct access to the various game categories.

 

 

- A new category of "Mini Games" has been added to the main list. It currently has four entries: Andrew Broad's Jet Set Willy - Super Pre-School Edition (moved from the "Versions of the original JSW" section), John Elliott's Jet Set Willy 2: Super Pre-School Edition (new entry), the DrUnKeN mAsTeR's Jet Set Bulimic (new entry) and Ian Rushforth's Jet Set Willy Heaven and Hell (new entry). Although I do have some qualms - ironically, a game classified as a version of the original JSW (i.e. not a new game) can easily have more new rooms than a mini game (i.e. a new game) - adding the mini games section has solved my problem of where to list the three entries which were not part of any list on the site previously.

 

 

- Individual Manic Miner game pages have been modified. They now feature download links presented in the same way as on the other pages, short text introductions to most games and embedded YouTube videos. The way they are now is more or less what I would ultimately want each individual game page on JSW Central to look like.

 

 

- Individual pages of "Versions of the original MM" and "Versions of the original JSW" have been modified as well, mainly in the download links sections.

 

 

- Currently all individual game pages feature links to those games' pages on World of Spectrum and/or Spectrum Computing, as well as maps on Speccy Screenshot Maps, RZX walkthroughs on RZX Archive and YouTube videos (and links to their homepages if pertinent). The videos will continue to be embedded as work on the site progresses.

 

 

- Download links have been rearranged. There are now download folders for games in each category. Each of them has a subfolder called "dgd" (Direct Game Download). Most of them also have subfolders called "oth" (Other Downloads) and some have subfolders called "cen" (which stands for JSW Central Downloads).

 

In the Direct Game Download folders there are game files only (no text files, maps, etc.). Ideally, I would like to have a TAP and a TZX file for each pertinent version of each game. In rare cases where providing the files in such format was impossible, they are in another format (usually SNA or Z80). In any case, every game listed on the site can be downloaded from those folders in one format or another.

 

In the Other Downloads folders there are typically original ZIP files in the actual shape their authors released them in (most of them with the Readmes and many with other additions). In some cases original individual release files have been packed into one ZIP file (where the author did not release a ZIP, but some individual files only). This section will still be developed, because I can provide more of the original ZIPs, but I have to look for them among my files or on the internet. 

 

In the JSW Central Downloads folders there are files which reflect my creative input of some kind, if I may say so, such as bug-fixed or finished versions of games I have prepared for JSW Central, or RZX walkthroughs showing superior performances to their equivalents hosted on RZX Archive (i.e. the best publically available solutions to some games).

 

There are links to those files on the individual game pages. Furthermore, these folders are not protected in any way, so anyone can browse the Download folder and grab anything they need / want. So, as Gawp (Gary Pearce) once said on his website (on the Games Archive page, which doesn't always open from the direct link), "Download Willy games like there's no tomorrow!" :)

 

 

- Some individual game pages have been modified:

 

After further scrutiny, Jet Set Willy 25-100 has been promoted to the "Advanced modifications of the original JSW" category.

 

The sole entry in the Jet Set Willy II category has been split into two entries: Jet Set Willy II [by Derrick P. Rowson, Software Projects, 1985] and Jet Set Willy II+ [Derrick P. Rowson, 2016] (Version +e.22, 2017). I believe this reflects the reality better than just one entry for these two vastly different versions of the game.

 

The two "Versions of the original JSW" pages dedicated to April Showers and Storm Warning Mix have been merged and are now a single entry (under the name Jet Set Willy: April Showers) as the comparison of their SNA files has confimed something I had long suspected: that there is no difference between them for the player. In fact, the only difference between them in the range of addresses #8000-#FFFF is at #FEBB - #FED3, i.e. in code unused by the game, where the leftover Tandy code that reads, "© Copyright 1982 by LSI" in the original JSW and, consequently, also in the April Showers version, has been modified to read "RUSS J & DARREN S - JSW! " in the Storm Warning Mix version.

 

 

- Chronology has been updated up to the present moment and some earlier entries (related to the creation of versions of the original MM and JSW) have been added.

 

 

I will continue to develop JSW Central gradually, as the real-world distractions permit. Please support this effort by letting me know about any games that are missing from it, any errors you find there and any suggestions for improvement you might have! :)

Edited May 29, 2019 by jetsetdanny

[IRF]

Well done Danny!

 

I wonder if your statement here:

 

 

The two "Versions of the original JSW" pages dedicated to April Showers and Storm Warning Mix have been merged and are now a single entry (under the name Jet Set Willy: April Showers) as the comparison of their SNA files has confimed something I had long suspected: that there is no difference between them for the player.

 

was facilitated by your having utilised the SPECSAISIE comparison tool for the task?  (Which you recently installed and used in relation to the MM10CC project.)