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Message: 4221

Author: john_elliott_uk

Date: 13/05/2004

Subject: Re: Versioning / Avoiding infinite death

 

In manicminerandjetsetwilly@yahoogroups.com, andrewbroad wrote:

Question for John Elliott: What is the difference between a Version
and a Hacklevel of JSW128? Why the two numbering-schemes?

Originally it was an affectation. But by now, Hacklevel refers to
the game engine, while Version refers to the room data. If you load a
JSW128 game into JSWED it'll upgrade it to the latest Hacklevel.
Version would only ever reach 1.0 for a proper JSW128 that implemented
all 256 rooms - I never seriously attempted to implement this, since I
find designing room editors is more fun than designing rooms.

Under this patch, each room specifies a single start-position for
after you lose a life; unfortunately this does not vary according to where you entered the room, so it would be unsuitable for Promised
Lands as well as undermining the design of rooms which should be
crossed in more than one direction. This patch is no substitute for
fair game-design and thorough playtesting.

It's also specific to the original JSW (at least until one of the
editors gains support for it) since the positions only apply to JSW
rooms.
Interestingly, the Dragon version also tries to prevent infinite
death. If Willy dies while falling (whether through hitting the ground
or a guardian) he is returned to the last place he was standing on
solid ground; even if this is is in a different room. It leads to a
different infinideath scenario, though, because it may bring him back
on top of a guardian.

 

 

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