Resource centre for ZX Spectrum games
using Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy game engines
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Manic Miner & Jet Set Willy Yahoo! Group
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Message: 6455
Author: Daniel
Date: 19/08/2008
Subject: Jet Set Willy: The 2009 Megamix
Over two months have passed without any messages being posted in the
Group. I hope it's not because people are busy with other things or
they've lost interest, but because they are so busy working on their
MM/JSW projects they have no time to post! :-)
Well, let me break the summer lull with some news about my current
project, which I have been working on quite regularly in the last
months. What was originally conceived as a Special Edition of "JSW:
The 2005 Megamix" (after I discovered there was still a lot of empty
space in memory), then promoted to become "JSW: The 2007 Megamix",
then altered to "JSW: The 2008 Megamix", will finally become, time
and all other circumstances permitting, "Jet Set Willy: The 2009
Megamix". Well, I will certainly do my best to release it next year,
and the guarantee for it is the fact that it has a room called "Jet
Set Willy's 25th Birthday", with the dates 1984 and 2009 drawn
inside it, so the game should really be released next year.
I know I have mentioned most of this before, but just as a reminder,
some basic facts about the game:
- It will be a development version of "JSW: The 2005 Megamix", of
which I am a compiler and co-author, with a lot of rooms and sprites
being the work of other authors (the starting point for the project
was actually the unfinished "JSW'96 Remix" by John Equinox Collins).
- It will make full use of the 128K memory, leaving no free space
for any more rooms or sprites.
- It will feature over 70 new playable rooms (up to 80, perhaps, I
haven't counted exactly). Many of them are developed and modified
versions of JSW 2 for the BBC rooms converted to JSW64 game engine
by John Elliott. Some (my most recent additions) are the best (IMHO)
rooms from "Willy's New Hat", modified, with added guardians, etc.
Some are brand-new rooms designed from scratch by Yours Truly, and
these are typically VERY difficult.
- Due to the above, the game will come in two versions, Easy (or
Lite) and Hard. I will "officially" consider them equal, but
emotionally the Hard version will always be "the first among the
equals" for me :-) .
- The difficulty of the new rooms is due to an extensive use of the
quirky features of the game engine, fast-moving guardians, etc.
Invalid arrows technology has been applied in several rooms, and I
hope that in a couple of rooms I will be able to come up with
solutions which may be considered novel in various ways.
- A number of issues from the 2005 edition of the Megamix, such as
unfair infinite-death scenarios, will be corrected. Some graphics
will be improved too. The Easy version will be a closer (in many
cases: unchanged) rendition of the 2005 edition, while the Hard
version will (hopefully, I haven't worked on it yet) have
some "difficulty enhancements" also in the older rooms.
- I will do my best to "package" the game attractively, with a
loading screen, nice title screen and so on.
- I will do my best to present the beta version of the game to the
Group some three months in advance of the gamma release, so that you
can all share your comments and suggestions. I also plan to consult
some elements (such as room names) even before the beta release.
I do not want to give any time predictions as to both releases. I
will do my best to gamma-release the game before the end of 2009,
which would make the beta release necessary by the end of September
of that year. It might happen sooner, the project is very advanced
already, but there's also a huge amount of things still to do, and
they cannot be rushed, quality is what counts.
Anyway, that's my current involvement. It would be very interesting
and, in fact, uplifting for me to know that other people are working
on their projects, too. Herve? Drunken Master? Sendy? Adban de
Corcy? Anyone else, any surprises? And Dr. Broad, are you back from
your tennis distractions yet, Sir? :-)
Let's hear some good news from all of you guys!
Cheers,
Daniel
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