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using Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy game engines
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Message: 4246
Author: andrewbroad
Date: 27/05/2004
Subject: manic person - andrew's comments
andrewbroad wrote:
>[0] "hoping for frequency": a tough opening room with good use of
> Anyway, I've had a quick go of _manic person_, and it seems most
> impressive visually and technically, and has a `sendyish'
> atmosphere. It's very tough too - I'm not even sure that it's not
> impossible... but I may get back to you with detailed comments
> when I've had time for a serious play.
crumbling floors and an attractive colour-scheme.
[1] "fruits of the room": an exceptional room - the way you have to
jump under horizontal guardians with your timing constrained by two
crumbling-floor blocks is a masterstroke worthy of inclusion in a
catalogue of design-patterns. i would put crumbling-floor blocks at
the same coordinates as the upper items, making the player have to
clear the crumbling floor from above before collecting them. what
are the guardians supposed to be - wombs?
[2] "crash test dummy": a similar theme to "Speed 4" [15] in _Ma
jolie_, this is a relatively easy room except for the false portal
and the way you have to clear a path in advance to the true portal -
not one for the player who relies on a single series of snapshots!
;-) it's nice to see a white guardian collecting an item for you
> from time to time.[3] "paranoia": any relation to the room of that name in JSW Ivy,
or "TH E CAR ROT OF REF LEC T I O N" [63] in We Pretty which also
has happy and sad faces? a good example of using crumbling floors to
create a sense of urgency.
[4] "naturland": another unique challenge. what does "AD" stand for?
[5] "willy's auto mining boots": a wonderfully innovative room,
combining fast crumbling floors with a "Vat"-like challenge, and
quite aesthetically pleasing too.
[6] "the beginning is a delicate time": a prime example of a room
where early mistakes come back to haunt you later, and the clever
manoeuvre required to collect the bottom item and escape is a stroke
of genius - and one very good reason to release this as a MM game
rather than convert to JSW64, where collected items are retained
after you lose a life.
[7] "reservoir dogs": an excellent room technically, visually and
atmospherically, requiring lovely moves such as jumping from two
steps under a static nasty, and jumping to avoid a higher platform
and land on a lower one. my only quibble is that there is no
apparent reference to the ear-cutting scene in that film! ;-)
[8] "soluble dux": a real sendyish atmosphere, the technical
highlights being the way you have to stop on the conveyor and jump
straight up, and avoidance of the vertical guardians. i like the
duck graphic, which reminds me somewhat of the static nasty in "The
second Floor" [2] in Jet Set Willy III.
[9] "thin life": clearly this room must have been abandoned, as it
is a total mess, uncrossable, and some of the items are
uncollectable because they're at the same coordinates as floor-
blocks. i'm not even sure where this room is going.
overall this is an outstanding game so far, and it would be a real
shame for the MM community if it were never released, or if it were
only released as a JSW64 game.
--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/willy/
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