ANNOUNCE: JSW64 Manic Miner: James Bond
To celebrate "Two Double-Oh Seven" before it ends, I am delighted to announce the first gamma-release of JSW64 Manic Miner: James Bond (v1.0), which is available as a free download from:
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/download/
The game is based on the James Bond character created by Ian Fleming, and has 21 rooms, each corresponding to one of the official James Bond 007 films produced by EON Productions (please don't sue me; I'm making no money out of this whatsoever, so just think of it as free advertising that might attract a few more people to the James Bond franchise).
The game is based on John Elliott's JSW64 engine (Variant Z), which combines almost all the features of Matthew Smith's classic Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy, and adds novel features such as new guardians (e.g. diagonal guardians, fast horizontal guardians, triggers and stoppers), new cell-types (Trap-cells feature quite a lot in my game), the ability to have up to 16 different cell-classes in a room (each with its own cell-type, pixel-pattern and colour-attribute), and the ability to enable superjump on a room-by-room basis. In particular, this game is based on John Elliott's conversion of Manic Miner to JSW64.
Using the JSW64 engine has enhanced the game technically, visually and atmospherically. The ability to have different-coloured Air-cells in each room has helped me to capture the atmosphere of two or three locations from each Bond-film.
I believe that "Casino Royale" is the best MM/JSW room I have ever written, combining visual attractiveness with some of my most delightful quirky features (these being my trademark as a MM/JSW author: I know all the tricks, I'm constantly looking for ways to exploit them while I edit, and I believe I've introduced quite a few new ones with this game!).
Although JSW64MM:JB uses features that originated in JSW (such as ramps, arrows and (non-swinging) ropes), it is essentially a Manic Miner game: the only way out of each room is via the portal, which opens (turns red) after you have collected all the items in the room without losing a life (in this game, you only live twice).
On top of the JSW64:Z engine, I have applied several patches of my own: most notably Broadsoft Lifts (allowing you to stand on certain horizontal and vertical guardians), and I have knocked out all the exits at the edges of the screen so that instead of being taken to another room, you wrap around just like in the Manic Miner sequels that allow this. I have also reused Geoff Eddy's patch-vector to flip Willy's horizontal position every 32 time-frames in "The Man with the Golden Gun".
The difficulty of my MM/JSW games is always severe, and JSW64MM:JB is no exception! It's full of quirky features and tight manoeuvres, often requiring pixel-perfect jumps, sometimes with perfect timing. Each room is an intricate network of constraints, forcing you to face every single one of my intended challenges, though you do sometimes have to make difficult choices about the order in which you do things. My use of Crumbly cells, the relationships between guardians, and their relationships with conveyors, all mean that the consequences of your mistakes may return to haunt you several minutes later!
I plan to extend my game as future Bond-films are released. Bond 22 is due in cinemas on 7th November 2008, so that will be added in v1.1. I also intend to add a detailed discussion of each room, edit the music, and produce an easy variant of the game.
Finally, I must confess that I have not playtested the game to completion. I have playtested each room to completion after the last time that I edited it, but the only way to be 100% certain that the game is completable is to playtest the whole thing from beginning to end without any editing in between.
--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/willy/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/download/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/manicminerandjetsetwilly/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/download/
The game is based on the James Bond character created by Ian Fleming, and has 21 rooms, each corresponding to one of the official James Bond 007 films produced by EON Productions (please don't sue me; I'm making no money out of this whatsoever, so just think of it as free advertising that might attract a few more people to the James Bond franchise).
The game is based on John Elliott's JSW64 engine (Variant Z), which combines almost all the features of Matthew Smith's classic Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy, and adds novel features such as new guardians (e.g. diagonal guardians, fast horizontal guardians, triggers and stoppers), new cell-types (Trap-cells feature quite a lot in my game), the ability to have up to 16 different cell-classes in a room (each with its own cell-type, pixel-pattern and colour-attribute), and the ability to enable superjump on a room-by-room basis. In particular, this game is based on John Elliott's conversion of Manic Miner to JSW64.
Using the JSW64 engine has enhanced the game technically, visually and atmospherically. The ability to have different-coloured Air-cells in each room has helped me to capture the atmosphere of two or three locations from each Bond-film.
I believe that "Casino Royale" is the best MM/JSW room I have ever written, combining visual attractiveness with some of my most delightful quirky features (these being my trademark as a MM/JSW author: I know all the tricks, I'm constantly looking for ways to exploit them while I edit, and I believe I've introduced quite a few new ones with this game!).
Although JSW64MM:JB uses features that originated in JSW (such as ramps, arrows and (non-swinging) ropes), it is essentially a Manic Miner game: the only way out of each room is via the portal, which opens (turns red) after you have collected all the items in the room without losing a life (in this game, you only live twice).
On top of the JSW64:Z engine, I have applied several patches of my own: most notably Broadsoft Lifts (allowing you to stand on certain horizontal and vertical guardians), and I have knocked out all the exits at the edges of the screen so that instead of being taken to another room, you wrap around just like in the Manic Miner sequels that allow this. I have also reused Geoff Eddy's patch-vector to flip Willy's horizontal position every 32 time-frames in "The Man with the Golden Gun".
The difficulty of my MM/JSW games is always severe, and JSW64MM:JB is no exception! It's full of quirky features and tight manoeuvres, often requiring pixel-perfect jumps, sometimes with perfect timing. Each room is an intricate network of constraints, forcing you to face every single one of my intended challenges, though you do sometimes have to make difficult choices about the order in which you do things. My use of Crumbly cells, the relationships between guardians, and their relationships with conveyors, all mean that the consequences of your mistakes may return to haunt you several minutes later!
I plan to extend my game as future Bond-films are released. Bond 22 is due in cinemas on 7th November 2008, so that will be added in v1.1. I also intend to add a detailed discussion of each room, edit the music, and produce an easy variant of the game.
Finally, I must confess that I have not playtested the game to completion. I have playtested each room to completion after the last time that I edited it, but the only way to be 100% certain that the game is completable is to playtest the whole thing from beginning to end without any editing in between.
--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/willy/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/download/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/manicminerandjetsetwilly/
Post edited by andrewbroad on
Comments
Necros.
It works for me in RealSpectrum and SPIN. I don't have Spectaculator.
After you press any key, it tries to load a file that overwrites the video-RAM. Could it be that Spectaculator doesn't automatically stop the tape and restart it when you press any key?
--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/
I common with a lot of homebrew Manic Miner games it's simply too damn hard.
I agree. In fact I think it would be easier to save the world in reality.
excellent ideas, make me want to play but its the hard gameplay and "quirky" features that put me off big time
Necros.
It works fine in FuseX, on the XBox.
Thanks for the game, Andrew (hello again, by the way), but like the other posters on here, I'm not too keen on the ultra hard JSW/MM games. They're very clever, but I don't have the patience these days to learn every quirk of the engine and plan a pixel by pixel route through a game.
I guess that many who play these games are MM experts and therefore are pretty good at completing them. At least by making it ultra hard you increase the longevity of the game . Tbh I think that the first 2-3 screens should still ease the gamer in though
I'm glad it features a decent story instead of some bizarre story about that ugly tennis player (Andrew you have to stop your fixation with her !).
I'm not too bad with JSW games but do find this one pretty tricky ! Just two lives as well ?? Struggled on the first screen !!
I didn't score even first room.
really?
i normally give up after about 10 tries :P
1. Program: James Bond
2. Bytes: hiload.jz7
3. Bytes: rooms.jz1
4. Bytes: rooms.jz3
5. Bytes: title.jz7
6. Bytes: rtime.jz2
7. Bytes: main.tun
8. Bytes: cheat.tun
9. Bytes: tune.bin
STOP TAPE HERE
10.Bytes: title.tun
--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/download/
Which they do, I would say. The first really hard room for me is "Thunderball".
I do intend to release an easy variant of the game with v1.1.
There's always the possibility I might one day finish Afrikaan (the sequel to Goodnite Luddite).
You only live twice, Mr. Bond.
--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/download/
Yep.
10 minutes of playing. About a dozen games. Only got Right, Up and Left.
But Bond never actually dies in the books or the films, so maybe the game should have had invincibility mode on all of the time? :smile:
Well, you could use...
POKE 37982,0 (Hex 945E: 00)
and
POKE 37994,0 (Hex 946A: 00)
"Yes! I am invincible!"
...but that would be ridiculously easy. You see, Mr. Bond, like every great artist, I want to create an indisputable masterpiece once in my lifetime. The death of 007 will be mine.
--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/spectrum/download/
Oh, I wasn't really serious, but no doubt some will appreciate the POKEs.
If I do decide to attempt to master the devious quirks you put in your games, then I'd try to beat the games fairly (then probably give in and use the POKEs!).
Thanks.