JSW Central - Resource Centre for ZX Spectrum games based on Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy game engines

Resource centre for ZX Spectrum games
using Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy game engines

II. Jet Set Willy (JSW48)

A. New games using Matthew Smith's original Jet Set Willy game engine for the 48K Spectrum and its modifications

34. ZX Willy the Bug Slayer

Author: Geoff Eddy

Year: 2002

Language: English

ZX Willy the Bug Slayer was the first (and so far the only) JSW game to use what later came to be known as "Geoff Mode II" - modifications to the JSW game engine created by Geoff Eddy, going beyond those that were introduced in "Geoff Mode I". These include a rearrangement of memory and the addition of extra guardian types. The use of the so-called Patch Vectors - subroutines that allow special effects beyond what the standard game engine can offer - is intense. The game also features a custom-made ending screen.

After loading the game, the player can choose to play normally, with infinite lives or with one item. The chosen setting can only be modified after reloading the game.

The starting point for the plot is that Willy's Spectrum has stopped working. Investigation reveals that it has become infested with bugs of various sorts, all of which Willy must kill, destroy or otherwise eliminate so that his computer can work again. Further investigation reveals that the bugs emanate from an Evil Power which is trying to take over all the computers in the world. Willy must defeat this Evil Power...

The original game Geoff Eddy was creating in 2001, in which, according to his own words, "patch vectors of devilish cunning took the game to a level undreamed of even by Matthew Smith himself", was lost in a computer crash in the autumn of that year. Fortunately, thanks to a map he had kept, Geoff was able to resurrect the project and incorporate most of the good ideas from the original file.

ZX Willy the Bug Slayer was released in October 2002.

Number of edited rooms: 64

Number of rooms accessible without cheating: 64

Number of rooms which need to be visited to complete the game: 64

Number of items to collect: 234

Bugfix needed after original release? NO

Spare lives at the start: 16

(An Infinite Lives option can be chosen after the game has loaded.)

Completable without loss of life? YES

Starting time: 9999999

(In Geoff Modes there is no clock like in the original JSW, but a timer using a 7-digit number which counts down from 9999999.)

Best documented completion time with no loss of life: 9970622

Download links

Direct game download	Game file in TAP and TZX formats

World of Spectrum	The game's page on WoS

Spectrum Computing	The game's page on Spectrum Computing

Speccy Screenshot Maps	The game's map on Speccy Screenshot Maps

JSW Central	RZX walkthrough of the game showing the best documented completion time without any loss of life.
RZX Archive	RZX walkthrough of the game (this recording was made using a modified game file - only 7 spare lives are displayed on the status bar, instead of 16.)