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Message: 6151

Author: andrewbroad

Date: 20/05/2007

Subject: Re: Which JSW games are linear?

 

The MM-to-JSW conversion in the Party Willy box-set is completely
linear (and bidirectional).

Party Willy (Part 1) is predominantly linear, whereas Part 2 has a
high branching-factor.

There is huge potential for more linear JSW games in the form of
JSW64:MM games. :-) But apart from John Elliott's JSW64:MM and
JSW64:DragonMM conversions - and to a lesser extent Ultimate Manic
Miner - this genre hasn't really taken off yet.

Manic Miner: Outside will be a linear JSW64:MM game (if I ever get
round to it), so will Manic Miner: Masquerade, and so would James
Bond (if it's going to be done, it must be done in 2007 - any
volunteers?).

--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/willy/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/download/

In manicminerandjetsetwilly@yahoogroups.com, Daniel wrote:

Which JSW games are predominantly linear?
Which JSW games feature one challenge after another, without too many choices of which room to visit next?
Which JSW games have only one way forwards from each room? (It may or may not be possible to go back to the previous room, and the last room may or may not loop back to the first room.)

A very quick answer, without any in-depth checking, going back to my archives, etc.

"Willy's Hoard" is predominantly linear. You have to go back and forth between some rooms, and there are some side rooms branching off from the main path, so to speak, but basically you start at one end of the map, and you complete the game - if you are successful - at the other end.

At various points there are rooms which have one-way exits and from
which you cannot go back to the previous section of the game.

If you reach the end of the game and find out you haven't collected all of the items yet, you can get back even to the very beginning of the game (by climbing the rope in "The Canal Bank", I hope I remember the room name correctly).

Of the other 48K games:

"Jet Set Willy III" is very linear. It has four loops which meet near the starting point. One of the rooms is actually a map of the game -

look at the game in JSWED and you will know what I mean (the room has a a name which shows you clearly it represents a map of the game).

"Jet Set Willy IV - Willy's New Hat" is very linear. There are some
rooms branching off to the sides, but it's basically a journey from the starting point to the ending point.

"Jet Set Willy: The Lord of the Rings" has some parts which are pretty linear, I would say, you just go one way.

"Jet Set Willy: Monstrum!" is very linear, it's a one-way journey
basically, until you get back to the starting point, or at least to
rooms which form the same thematic cluster as the starting-point

room.

"Mr Top Hat" has several one-way routes which you take and then at the end of each of them, after collecting the item (there are only 6 items to collect in the game, if I remember correctly), you get back to the central "hub" and can take another linear route. It's kind of similar to "Jet Set Willy III" in a sense, but has more loops.

Of the JSW128 games, "Bizarre" is totally one-way, with just a few
rooms branching to the sides. There are one-way exits on the way,
preventing you from going back to the previous sections of the game
(it's actually deadly if you miss an item along the way, because then you quest is doomed to failure at the end).

Of the JSW64 games, "Maria on Tour" has some pretty linear sections
(inluding the sequence of redesigned rooms from "MM") and I think - I haven't played it yet - that "Ultimate Manic Miner" has a kind of
linear idea, too.

I hope that helps. A quick-and-dirty answer, only, without checking the room names and other details properly :-) .

Daniel

P.S. You are not working on a "Jet Set Scribbler", are you :-) ?

 

 

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