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Message: 5339

Author: andrewbroad

Date: 21/12/2005

Subject: Manic Person RC: Andrew's comments

 

Alexandra wrote:

>
> Ok, I have posted a release candidate in my files section of the
> Club. There are maybe some very tiny adjustments to be made before
> the official release, which will be ASAP. I may need help with the
> readme, if anyone has any suggestions to improve it I'd appreciate
> it, since it's not my strong point. I'm also wondering about the
> game over message, hard to find anything original (it used to say
> "Bad boy!", now it says "Poor you!" because it's less gender-
> specific).

I liked "Bad boy!" because it reminded me of the following funny
dialogue from _The Man Who Fell to Earth_ (1976 version):
- MARY-LOU: What happens to you when you drink?
- THOMAS JEROME NEWTON (played by David Bowie): I see things.
- M-L: What kind of things?
- TJN: Bodies.
- M-L: Women?
- TJN: And men.
- M-L: Men? Bad boy!


> Also, if you think I gave too many lives in the easy version, I'd
> like to know.

I doubt anyone would try to complete this game without infinite
lives and/or snapshots (except perhaps the DrUnKeN mAsTeR), even in
Easy Mode (as it stands) where I only got as far as "Crash Test
Dummy" before I lost all my lives and had to load a snapshot. :-o

As for Expert Mode, I don't recall ever having to roll back to
snapshots on disk (as opposed to RealSpectrum's instant snapshots)
as many times as I did today. The cunning use of Crumbly cells makes
it all too easy to make mistakes that you have to pay for later!


> Basically, any constructive criticism would be appreciated!

It would be nice if Manic Person and all subsequent MM games could
use the JSW item-sound patch (see TECHNICA.TXT of _Manic Miner:
Neighbours - Allana Truman_). Yes, it would make "Missing
Something?" [12] easier, but invisible items are frustrating enough
as it is without being able to hear them.

In the scrolly, "colour-cycling items" would be a more accurate term
than "flashing objects".


MM-MP Readme.rtf:
>
> Based on the game Manic Miner by Matthew Smith, Manic Person is a
> Spectrum 48k

48K

> game with no real plot, just 40 meticulously crafted levels (20
> Easy and 20 Expert) of hot willy-on-platform

"Willy-on-platform" - unless you mean something else! ;->

> jumping action! There is some mildly sexual imagery including an
> 8x8px piece of genitalia and a bunch of women with whips (though
> not on the same screen, I promise!).

Not to mention the sprite described in the documentation for Adban
De Corcy's Bulgarian Requiem! ;->

In some of my games, I have filters in the BASIC loaders that can be
applied to deal with potentially offensive graphics.


> Room 10 (technical number 9)

I would just state that you're going to number the rooms from 0 to
19, and stick to that convention consistently.


> John Elliott's JSW site - home of JSWED and JSW64 for the best
> MM/JSW experience ever:
> http://www.seasip.demon.co.uk/Jsw/index.html

"index.html" is an unnecessary part of any URL.


> Hard Mode would probably require snapshots as some rooms are very
> difficult such as Catstep Vatstep.

Better to call it "Expert Mode" as you've done everywhere else.

-----
Rooms
-----

I am writing this with three JSWED windows open. In the top-left
corner of my 1024x768 screen is Expert Mode, in the bottom-left is
Easy Mode, and in the top-right is the 20th June 2004 revision.


[0] "Hoping for Frequency": Aww, one fewer Fire-cell than the 20th
June 2004 revision! :-(


[1] "Fruits of the Room": It's still called "Apple Crumble" in the
documentation.

Easy Mode is harder in one aspect: you have to climb up the right-
hand ladder in order to relieve the top-right item of crumbly!

> It was Andrew Broad's idea to put crumbling platforms on top of
> some of the items (i.e. on the same character square), meaning you
> have to crumble the platform before you can collect.

Never say "on top of" unless you mean "in the row above". Just
say "to put some of the items in Crumbly cells".


[2] "Crash Test Dummy": Easy Mode is too hard - just a combination
of little difficulties really lowers the probability of success
without cheating.

> Excuse the bit of cruel deception here, I hope it was in good
> taste ;).

"taste. ;)"

> Also, I removed a static nasty for even more ease.

Well, *two* of them if you want to be pedantic! ;-)


[3] "Paranoia (Don't touch the floor)" / "paranoia": It's nice to
see the old colour-scheme in Easy Mode at least.

> Notice how the solar beam wraps around the screen sometimes!

Yes - an interesting effect yet to feature in a gamma-release
TTBOMK.

The golden rule is never to let the beam go off the bottom of the
screen, as this marks the top of the screen permanently (or could
this be a useful quirky feature? I should investigate whether it
also does unseen damage, such as trampling over memory à la Willy
straddling the top and bottom of the screen (fixed in _Manic Miner:
Neighbours - Allana Truman_), or the Attic Bug in Jet Set Willy).

> It was suggested at the MM/JSW club that I could POKE the ray to
> work on a black background, but the green grew on me.

A reference to Message 4527 would be nice here, seeing as I have yet
to add this information to my Manic Miner Room-Format (which is
relatively low on my to-do list).

> In Easy Mode, I present a much earlier version of this room in
> almost it's original form.

"it's" can only ever mean one thing: "it is".
The word you mean is "its" (by analogy with "his" and "her", which
never have apostrophes).


[4] "Cheating Time?": The top section is a little too difficult in
Easy Mode: if you walk a step too far before dropping into the pits,
it's tough to recover under the pressure of crumbling cells and Fire-
cells on either side.

> If you're having trouble, here is a hint: hitting overhead fire
> blocks is safe if there are earth blocks beside them, since the
> collision in MM/JSW seems to favour the earth over the fire in
> these situations.

Think of it this way: the Earth-cell prevents you jumping up higher
and colliding with the the Fire-cell.

> Also, the collision willy has with the earth

Willy


[5] "Willy's Auto Mining Boots": Nothing easy about Easy Mode here!
I think fewer Fire-cells would be preferable to making the Crumbly
cells last longer.

> Watch out for pac-man's little feet at the end when you are jumping
> up. They got me so many times once that I almost amputated them.

LOL!


[6] "The Beginning is a Delicate Time": This title isn't so
appropriate to Easy Mode, where it's easier just to drop down from
the top-middle, circumventing the challenge that gives the room its
title.

> time-sensetive and changable

time-sensitive and changeable


[7] "Reservoir Dogs":

> consistancy

consistency


[8] "Soluble Dux": This room would be even more interesting if the
jump through the ILB (8,15) were necessary.


[9] (Expert Mode) "Gimme Somethin Oldskool": The lowest item is
rather trivial to collect, so I suggest the following design-
pattern: make the player have to jump up for it from below, and
protect it with a Crumbly cell at the same coordinates, that can
only be crumbled from above.

I'm suggesting that the bottom-right corner of the screen-layout
look like this...

---..++|
-_---.*|
----...|
........
........
>>!!!>>|

...with the item moved one cell to the right so that it coincides
with the Crumbly cell (_).

N.B. You can't move items in JSWED (but you can in MMSE). If you
delete the item and add another, the new item will be BRIGHT 1 (to
agree with the Air colour-attribute), whereas the existing item is
BRIGHT 0.

> poisinous

poisonous

> straightforwards

straightforward


[9] (Easy Mode) "Switch Hitch": A clever new room where you can
actually cut yourself off from an item if you flick the switch too
soon, and you can actually walk through the Kong Beast!

But the bottom-left quarter is redundant because the item can be
collected from the top-left - which could be prevented with Air at
(7,4).


[10] "The Border Room":

> A relevent tip:

relevant

> If you're facing up against a wall, tap the other direction once to
> stand with your back against it - you take up only 1 character
> square that way

one cell-column (two character-squares, one on top of the other).
And if you want to be pedantic, it should be "your pixels take up
only..."


[11] "Innocent-Looking Clocks": Having to remove the crumbly from
the top of the Fire-cell on the conveyor may be a bit too difficult
for Easy Mode, in which case I suggest replacing:

____..
...*..
<<<<<<

with:

___...
...*..
<<<<<<

(cool design-pattern though!)

> ILB's

How are the people who had to be told to turn round to stand in one
cell-column (in the previous room) going to know what ILBs are?

Maybe you should have a little glossary at the front of the document
to define ILBs, HGs and VGs (or define each term at its first
occurrence). In fact I intend to add a MM/JSW glossary to my website
in the near future.

> it's self

itself


[12] "Missing Something?": Suggestions for Easy Mode:
1. Make the items visible and change the room-title.
2. Change the conveyor to an off-conveyor. It's so cool as it is,
but anything that makes you need to save a snapshot is too hard for
Easy Mode.


[13] "Catstep Vatstep": Easy Mode is impossible because of the
following:

|*____| |*..__| |*__..| |*____|
|_____| |_..__| |___..| |_____|
|_____| |_..__| |___..| |_____|
|__...| |.....| |__...| |_____|
|__*..| |..*..| |__*..| |__*__|
|_____| |..*..| |__*..| |_____|
|$____| |..___| |.__..| |$____|
||||||| ||||||| ||||||| |||||||
__(a)__ __(b)__ __(c)__ __(d)__

Diagram (a) shows the screen-layout as it is. Diagrams (b) and (c)
show you what's left if you go down the left- and right-hand sides.
respectively - there's no escape! Diagram (d) is my suggested fix.

Easy Mode is impossible for a second reason: no item is near enough
to the portal to escape angry Eugene!

In Easy Mode, the slowness of the green cat is just frustrating.

In Easy Mode, it would be more consistent with the colour-scheme to
video-invert the portal.


[14] "I am Not a Miner" / "I Am Not a Miner": A slight difference
between the room-titles in the two variants. Since you haven't
capitalised conjugations of the verb "to be" in the other room-
titles, I'd go with "am". There's a whole spectrum of case-
conventions you could adopt:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_case

Easy Mode is impossible because the magenta VG collides with the
lower white HG before you can complete the room.

The blue colour-scheme in Easy Mode changes the atmosphere from warm
and inviting (as in Expert Mode's red colour-scheme) to cold.


[15] "Bad Trip - The Divvy's Lair": Why fewer items in Easy Mode? A
MM room should always use all 5 items IMO, even if some share the
same coordinates (not possible with JSWED v2.2.8, but with MMSE), or
are hidden in the portal. These tricks are really only effective
with the JSW item-sound patch, of course.

> poisinous

poisonous


[16] "The Dining Room (part II)": Chronology shmonology? ;-)

> Erix-1-mode

Erix1-mode

> Had to be copied by hand since copying the room from JSW and
> pasting into MM did not work,

- because MM and JSW use very different room-formats (MM: 1024 bytes
per room; JSW48/128: 256 bytes per room; JSW64: 512 or 1024 bytes
per room, depending on whether it's a 128- or 64-room variant
respectively).

But you could have used SPECSAISIE JSWtoMM to get a head start on
the JSW->MM conversion, had SPECSAISIE 1.3 been beta-released by the
time you wrote this room (which it wasn't).

> yeilded

yielded

> reinactment

reenactment


[17] "The Dungeon of Erotic Punishment": I would remove the white HG
from Easy Mode.

> (only a level without HG's can have directional animation)

(only a level without VG's can have bidirectional animation for HG's)


[18] "Pudding": Three different colour-schemes, with Expert Mode and
the 20th June 2004 revision both looking better than Easy Mode, but
it's difficult to say which of the first two is the more attractive
version of this beautiful room.

Suggestions for Easy Mode:
1. Make the cyan HG full speed (I reserve the term "fast" for
JSW II, Geoff-mode, JSW128 Hacklevel 9(?) and JSW64).
2. Make the magenta VG slower.
3. I would suggest allowing the player to go round again from under
the portal, as you can in Expert Mode, but the obvious solution
would entail removing Fire from either (7,1) or (10,4), neither of
which I'm happy about.

> There is a strange atmosphere to this room because it appears
> tropical with the sand and plants, yet it has ice platforms.
> Oh, why is it called 'Pudding'? I couldn't really think of a better
> name due to the overall lack of theme, but it looks pretty, and
> comes last (kind of).

Don't undersell it! I always thought of "Pudding" as having some
kind of tropical ice-cream atmosphere (maybe white ice-cream on
fruit crumble), and the room-title is just perfect IMO.


[19] "On Our Way "Hmoe" (SIC)": In Easy Mode, I suggest replacing
the lower conveyor with Water, which preserves the essence of the
Fire-cell jump without the need for frame-perfect timing.

> I could have made the time limit much shorter but as this is the
> last room, I didn't like the idea of only getting a few points for
> completing it - Hence the full bar of time to give you a nice
> bonus.

The satisfaction in completing the final room is at seeing the
swordfish (which still appears in the wrong place BTW - see Message
4527) rather than caring how many points I get. In fact the less air
there is left, the more exciting it is to complete a room!

Isn't it annoying that, with the MM/JSW community having adopted the
Greek four-element terminology, "air" now has two completely
different meanings in MM and JSW64?


> btw, I realise the file is quite large what with the map, but I'll
> be deleting it in a week or sooner.

Along with "manic_person.sna"?

--
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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