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using Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy game engines
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Message: 6071
Author: Daniel
Date: 28/02/2007
Subject: Puzzles in "GL"/ 'One-to-two' items/Mondegreens
1. Thanks a lot, Andrew, for the tips concerning "Goodnite Luddite".
I was convinced it was not possible to enter enter "SELENTEN PILGRIM
FRIGATE" [53] by going left from "A SUNBURST NIGHT" [52]. I will have
to have a look at it again.
2. Andrew wrote:
> I'm pretty sure that the order in which you collect the items inFor the RZX walkthroughs which I send to the RZX Archive, toilet-time
> Goodnite Luddite should only affect your toilet-time - not
> completability (unless you collect the item in "GOODNITE LUDDITE"
> [35] last, which causes infinite death on the toilet-run).
is very important, because I try to record very elegant and efficient
solutions to the games, and this involves collecting items in an
optimal order, without going back unnecessarily, etc.
It would be fascinating to see a PERFECT walkthrough of a JSW game,
by which I mean pixel-perfect movement of the player at the earliest
moment when the guardian movements make it possible, plus the most
efficient route possible. I suspect it would be possible to write a
computer program which would achieve just that - play a JSW game,
analysing every possible movement and scenario, until finding the
quickest possible solution. It would not be impossible with today's
processing speed - would it?
I do not strive for such perfection, though, I just want to record
decent, elegant and reasonably efficient solutions within the limits
of human possibilities.
3. Andrew wrote:
> The item-table maps items to positions.items",
> Usually, this mapping is one-to-one.
> When you have multiple items at the same position, it's many-to-one.
> When you have an item at different positions, it's one-to-many.
>
> So, I would suggest the term "'one-to-many' item" for an item which
> appears in multiple positions, and reserve the terms "multiple
> "double item", "triple item", &c., for items at the same position.rooms
>
> Or, since a 'one-to-many' item can only appear in two different
> (because J.G. Harston's extension only adds one bit to the room-no?
> number), you may prefer the term 'one-to-two' item.
>
> Even 'many-to-many' items (i.e. 'many-to-two' items) are possible,
I would be strongly opposed to "one-to-many", because it sounds
like "one too many" :-) . Which incidentally, apart from being a
confusing term for JSW ("Should I not collect this item at all?"),
makes me think of the song (originally by Bob Dylan, I think) "One
Too Many Mornings".
"One-to-two" sounds better to me, but since the origin of the
expression is quite technical, I am not sure whether its meaning
would be obvious to a "lay player".
How about "double-item-location effect" or "doubled-item-location
effect" or something along these lines? Or "doubly-located items",
perhaps?
4. A friendly suggestion concerning the update of Andrew's list of
JSW/MM games
Since the number of the unprocessed messages in your inbox seems to
have increased significantly in recent weeks, Andrew, and the update
of your list of JSW/MM games will only take place after you have 0
unprocessed messages, but at the same time you admit that JSW/MM-
related messages constitute only a small part of your whole
correspondence, wouldn't it be possible for you to sort the messages
by subject, and then go in detail just through the JSW/MM-related
stuff in order to be able to update the list?
5. A slightly-off-topic explanation with a possible use for JSW/MM
room names
I was puzzled by the word "mondegreen" used by Andrew, and so I
looked it up. And I found the following explanation of its origin (at
http://www.angielski.edu.pl/mondegreens.html), which is perhaps not
common knowledge among the JSW/MM community (or maybe it is, and I
just underestimate all of you native English speakers :-) ).
The word apparently comes from the British writer Sylvia Wright, who
one day, as a child, heard the Scottish ballad "The Bonny Earl of
Murray". She was convinced it said:
Ye Highlands and Ye Lowlands
Oh where hae you been?
They hae slain the Earl of Murray,
And Lady Mondegreen.
For many years she was convinced the lyrics were about the love of
the noble couple and their tragic death. However, the lyrics in
reality said:
Ye Highlands and Ye Lowlands
Oh where hae you been?
They hae slain the Earl of Murray,
And lain him on the green.
When Sylvia Wright realised her mistake, she was startled by how
easily one can hear things wrong. So she wrote an article about it
and published it in "Harper's Magazine" in 1954, after which the
word "mondegreen" came into use.
There are other interesting examples of mondegreens, some of which
could probably be used as JSW room names :-) :
a)
A song by Janis Joplin which says:
Oh Lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz
was understood by some as:
Oh Lord won't you buy me a mercy dispense
b)
In some music shops, when you asked about Gershwin's "Rhapsody in
Blue", you could hear the answer that they had no "Rap City In Blue".
c)
A Metallica song which says:
So be it... Threaten no more
was understood by some as:
Soviet... Threaten no more
d)
In another Metallica song the phrase:
Hold my breath as I wish for death
was understood by some as:
For my breakfast I wish for tea
e)
In a Type O Negative song the words:
Unjustifiable existence
was understood by some as:
I'm just a fireball existence
f)
In a song by The Bangles the words:
It's just another manic Moday
was understood by some as:
It's just an automatic Monday
[That's a good one for Manic Miner!]
g)
In a Cohen's ballad the verse
A girl with chestnut hair
sounded to some as:
A girl with just no hair
h)
During a law lecture, a student put down the phrase "mister meaner";
afterwards, as he went through his notes, he couldn't understand what
it meant. His friends explained that the professor spoke
about "misdemeanour".
i)
A song by Dire Straits said in the chorus:
Money for nothin' and chicks for free
but some thought it said:
Money for nothing and checks for free
j)
In a song by Jimie Hendrix the words:
'Scuse me, while I kiss the sky
were heard by some as:
'Scuse me, while I kiss this guy.
k) A song by Elton John said:
If I was a sculptor, but then again, no...
and some thought it said:
If I was a skeleton, but then again, a gnome
l)
A song by Vicki Lawrence, which said:
The judge in the town's got bloodstains on his hands.
was understood by some as:
The judge in the town's got love stains on his pants.
m)
The oath:
With liberty and justice for all
is interpreted by some as:
With liver tea and just this for all
n)
A teacher asked his students to write an essay on "Euthanasia". To
his suprise, many of them wrote about "Youth in Asia"...
o)
In a song by Nirvana, the words:
Hey, Wait, I've got a new complaint
sounded to some as:
Hey, Wait, I've got a nuke on plane
p)
Simon and Garfunkel's ballad saying:
Ten thousand people maybe more
sounded to some as:
Ten thousand people making war
q) An American resident (DrUnKeN mAsTeR!!!, perhaps? :-) ) was
looking for a good restaurant while travelling through the States. He
heard he could have a good meal in "The Coat of Arms". What a
surprise he had when he reached "Dakota Farms"...
r)
A song by Sting (also referring toDrUnKeN mAsTeR!!!, it seems :-) )
had a chorus:
I'm a legal alien
but was understood by some as:
I'm an eagle alien
s)
Tina Turner's song:
What's love but a secondhand emotion?
was understood by some as:
What's love but a second hand in motion?
and by others as:
What's love but a suck a candy motion?
:-) :-) :-)
So shall we see any new JSW rooms using any of these mondegreens in
the name?
Daniel
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