Jet-Set Willy (again)

=====================

By Philip Bee

(c) 2000, 2005 Filsoft

The plot
--------

It's New Year's Eve 1999; the last day before the new millennium. Willy is
looking forward to a double celebrationary night tonight; it's fifteen
years since he began jet-setting, and Andre says that he has arranged for Willy
to meet Esmerelda in the Pigeon and Flag in time for the midnight celebrations!

Willy managed to blag a pair of tickets to the Millennium Dome, which he was sure
would impress Esmerelda. Surely everyone will be rushing to see what is bound to
be a huge success?

However, Maria is waiting to be paid and will happily stop Willy leaving
and thus missing what promises to be Willy's best ever party. It seems that
Maria is happy to miss out on the New Millennium celebrations to spite Willy.

Willy is desperate. He offered to let Maria have six weeks off to go visit
her newly-born niece (always a good excuse to have another party, having
Maria out of the way!), but she refused. She wants cash. Sensing that Willy
is desperate, Maria demands quadruple pay here and now, or Willy has to once
again clean up by collecting all the items scattered around the extension to
the mansion.

Willy hasn't got enough money on him, and he hasn't time to go back to The
Bank (it's a long way away and besides, he doesn't want to get his new suit
dirty), so he reluctantly agrees to Maria's demands.

Many people have asked Willy why he doesn't just fire Maria - she doesn't
do any cleaning, and that's her job! Willy first met Maria outside a
television studio (he'd just finished filming a television series about his
mining exploits). She invited herself over to his mansion, recommended her
friend Andre as cook, and told Willy a story that broke his heart.

Whenever Willy thought about firing or even reprimanding Maria, he thought

about her story and he just couldn't bring himself to sack her. Maria, it
seems, is here to stay...

Resolved to tidy up and fully explore his new extension (Willy thought that
the builders had taken a very long time to just add a few rooms) before
midnight, Willy poured himself some vodka before walking down the stairs
leading to the extension.

Willy spilt vodka on the stairs which helped him to lose his footing on the
staircase and fall over. He grabbed the banister, thus preventing a nasty
fall. Willy sat on the stairs wondering what he would find in his new
extension. He once overheard the builders talking about submarines and a
roo (whatever that is).

Willy looked at his watch. It is almost 7:00 am; Willy hasn't been to bed
since... well, he can't remember.

Finishing what was left of the vodka, Willy threw the glass up the stairs,
took a deep breath and stood up. He reached the last step and walked off.
His new adventure was just about to begin.

Background information
----------------------

[Comments enclosed in square brackets are new]

[Jet-Set Willy (again) could have been released way back in 2000; in fact,
I released the whole game as a gift to the MM/JSW Yahoo! Group in December
2000. This is the exact same version, only as a tape image.]

[I only had to finish writing the documentation, but I never attempted for
years and years. Until now. On a whim, I thought a proper release was long
overdue, so here it is! A message posted at the MM/JSW Yahoo! Group by The
Drunken Master recently about how much he liked JSW Ivy led me to load it up,
and I enjoyed looking at the rooms. I booted up JSW (again) and I thought
it was too good to just sit on my hard drive - so here it is!]

The game started life as an experiment - for reasons I cannot now remember,
I decided to limit myself to using the original guardian graphics and
guardian classes from the original JSW. However, I did allow myself to
change where the guardians appear in each room (i.e. the guardian instances),
as I didn't want the game to be just JSW with different block placements.

My experiment means that (almost) all the guardian graphics are the same as
in the original JSW, which may give this game a tired, unoriginal look. I
hope that this will not detract from the design and 'feel' of the game,
however.

The only 16x16 graphics that I did edit were the flying pig (now a bouncy
submarine), the lavatory (now a weird-looking door), something else, and
Willy himself. I also edited the colour attributes of Maria and what was
the lavatory.

The title screen and in-game tunes are both 'borrowed' from Richard Hallas'
Join the Jet-Set!, both tunes originally being in-game tunes.

The title screen features Maria - the result of my working out the format of,
and how to edit, the title screen.

This game has been in development since late 1998. I've been working on it
on-and-off since then (alongside many other MM/JSW games), and it's finally
ready to be released! I can confirm that it is possible to complete the
game without losing a life.

The Rooms
---------

[Not all of the rooms were covered in my original document; I have not
added any more comments]

I recommend that you play the game a bit before reading the following room
descriptions, as they contain playing tips and potential spoilers.
"]": A tribute to "[", Room 47 in the original JSW. This room is also
number 47, and the item graphic is the same as in "[".

The red character in the room description line was added because I wanted to
have "]" in the same position as the original "[" and in a different colour.

"2th Ache": So called because all of the guardians are multiples of two.

The background blocks act as conveyors (if Willy is partially 'standing' on

a background block and there is a non-background block to the left or right
(depending on the direction of the conveyor), Willy will move onto the
block - this is achieved by giving conveyor the same colour attribute as
background). The rightmost item (the 'changing of the guard' guardian goes
through it) takes some skill to collect. If you wait around long enough,
two of the guardians will collide, hence the "ache" part in the title! :-)

"A Close Call": Just as it looks that Willy will catch Infinite Death
Syndrome, the rope magically teleports you to safety. Note that the rope
can take you to the other side of the screen without you exiting the room.

"Aviary": Simply jump over the birds and collect the bird seed. It is possible
to go down from this room, but only advanced players (or cheats!) are likely to
be able to do so!

"Block Storage Room Number One": Ever wondered where Filsoft stores unused
blocks? Wonder no more! To collect the top-left block requires Willy to
visit a furry friend!

"Bouncy Submarine": JSW (again)'s Nightmare Room. "Bouncy Submarine" was

the first title I came up with for this room, with "Deep Sea Skiving" as an
alternative - I hadn't edited the flying pig graphic, and I wanted to see
which I preferred, a submarine or a diver. I designed my attempt at a surreal
submarine and quite liked it, so it stuck.

"Bro ken Pier": It would seem that this pier is indeed br ok en;
fortunately Willy can jump over the gap.

I wanted a room to show what could be achieved with the control code effect
(as first seen in "paranoia" in JSW Ivy), so I designed a long tall structure,
and I thought that it looked a bit like a pier. I then had the idea of
creating a companion 'pier' room, thinking of a room called "pier pressure",
but deciding on "Peerless".

"Calmer Chameleons": All the guardians in this room are 'hiding' behind red
blocks. The title is a mondegreen of the Culture Club song Karma
Chameleon.

"Dr Jones will believe this...": A similar pun to "Dr. Jones WOOD Believe
This!" in Lee Tonks' Tales From a Parallel Universe (MM3). Both puns are
based on the room "Dr Jones will never believe this" from the original JSW,
which was renamed to "I mean, even I dont believe this" in JSW II.

The room features my rather poor attempt at constructing a dog out of blocks.
Just in case you can't make out what it is meant to be, I've kindly written
what it is at the top-right of the room! :-)

"Erroneous Cake": Not quite sure what the title is referring to, but this
room is suitably odd.

"Esmerelda's 'do'": Strange - Esmerelda is holding her own party (and Willy
isn't invited!).

"Fictional Hamster": Another odd title. The puzzles are quite good fun, as
is the fact that you need to time when to jump through the innocent-looking
block, for failure to do so can result in death!

"Find the hidden item": As the title suggests, there is an invisible (i.e.
blank) item somewhere in this room. Just keep on looking!

"Glittering Delights": The title is a tribute to BBC Radio One's Mark

(Mark Radcliffe) and Lard (Marc Riley). Manchester (where they usually
broadcast their radio show from) is home to their "palace of glittering
delights". [Of course, since I wrote that, they have left Radio One]

"Heresy": A spin on the original JSW's "Entrance to Hades", this time

featuring the god of Commodore! The giant lettering can be translated as
"I love Commodore"; I can only advise you to leave this room as soon as
possible! ;-)

"Intrinsic Visitation": So called because you need to visit this room in

order to complete the game.

"itemerant": The title is a word that I made up especially for this room;
it is a pairing of the words "item" (which you collect in your travels)
and "itinerant" (which means travelling from place to place, which Willy
does a lot).

So, "itemerant" means "travelling around looking for items".

A close relative of the word "itemerant" is "itemerary" (a mixture of the

words "item" and "itinerary" (one meaning of which is a detailed route),
which is what people who play JSW should make if they want to complete the
game in good time! :-)

"Jet-Set Willy (again)": The loading screen, which was the last room to be
designed. It's not an especially brilliant room (if it were, I'd have
included it in the game); I just quickly cobbled it together because I wanted
the loading screen to be based on a JSW room.
[The loading screen has been lost in the sands of time]

"Leftmost Place": As the title suggests, this is the leftmost room in the
game. All the blocks act as ramps in this room so be careful.

"Lineation": Home of 'invalid' arrows. This room has two different types of
invalid arrows, the first of which goes through blocks and Willy without any
ill effects. The second invalid arrow 'draws' on the screen and wipes out any
block pixels it encounters on its journey.

"Not all it seems": This room lives up to the title by having a hidden
rope and more besides. You need to exit upwards in order to get an item
from "Glittering Delights".

"Oblique": An unusual-looking room, consisting mainly of diagonal lines.

Quite a nice effect, even if I do say so myself!

"Occupied Isle": A tribute to the "Deserted Isle" in JSW II, using the same
block graphics. The occupant of said isle looks a bit like a puppy with
big floppy ears, but I'm not altogether sure.

"Off to Sea": Nary a yellow brick road in sight (this isn't "Off to Sea the
Wizard"! ;-) The 'ghost conveyor' effect, as first seen in JSW Ivy, makes
another appearance.

"On your marks, Jet-Set, GO!": The start room and also the first room I
designed for JSW (again). I wanted an unorthodox beginning to the game,
and this is what I came up with.

"Once a tribune...": Use the innocent-looking block to go down to the

second storey. The wall blocks were corrupted by the Block Graphics Bug and
I liked the result, so I didn't fix it!

"One for the adroit among you": Possibly the hardest room in this game,
requiring expert timing to pass without losing a life. I'm quite pleased
with how this room turned out, seeing as I didn't edit the monks' paths.

"One in the oven": Another awful pun! Quite an easy room, but try not to jump
on top of the cooker - you may get burnt! ;-)

"Pabulum": The title is Latin and it roughly translates to 'head food'.

You need nerves of steel to collect all the items in this room, or perhaps
just a good sense of timing. ;-)

"Paid authority": Maria is waiting for you to bring her all the items. She
says that she will go away when you do so, but she wants her money by the
weekend! You can make Maria vanish before your eyes by collecting one of the
items in this room last!

"Palmgate": This room uses some of the block graphics from one of the
garbage rooms from the original JSW. Palmgate is a place that I made up
for this game (the title just seemed right), but we may well hear of it
again in future JSW games.

"Pawn Shop": Featuring Maria in a column, doing what she does best - making
Willy feel insecure and guilty! You need to think about what you are doing
if you want to raise her opinion of you...

"Peerless": A tribute to my all-time favourite computer, the Sinclair ZX

Spectrum! The letters Z and X are the same as in the Spectrum font. This
room forms half of the 'pier' suite; the other room being "Bro ken Pier".

"Persona Grata": A visually attractive room, with the penguin from the
original JSW guarding a couple of items.

"plash <---> pleach": Both words "plash" and "pleach" roughly

mean entwined branches or the like (although "plash" isn't in my dictionary),
and this room features vine-like nasty blocks.

"Rampant": The background blocks in this room act as conveyors - see the
description of "2th Ache" for further details of this intriguing trick. It
is possible to collect all of the items without losing a life - you need
to be patient and think about it!

"Refulgent Emancipation": This room makes good use of innocent-looking

blocks (ILBs) to weave a tricky puzzle. The conveyor and arrows don't help
matters

"RI VEN REN DEZ VOUS?": A titular nod to Andrew Broad's excellent JSW game,
We Pretty. This is where the front door is located. There is a conveyor and
a ramp hidden behind the door, which explains why Willy can get stuck on top
of the door. If Willy manages to collect all the items the front door will
open, allowing him to go to the Pigeon and Flag for a well-deserved drink!

"Simon says "JUMP!"": Simon says "This room requires good jumping skills to
negate the top floor, and either luck or skill to go down from this room."
I'm inclined to agree with Simon. :-)

"Something In The Air": A tribute to my favourite track from David Bowie's

album, 'hours...'.

This room has 'something in the air', but that didn't prevent me from adding
guardians to the room - they simply move in character blocks, which prevents
them from hitting the background pixels.

Most of the block graphics are left over from the garbage room
(room 63 in the original JSW). The lyrics of the song "Something In The
Air" include the line "We can't avoid the clash," which seems very apt for
the Speccy as a whole and this room especially!

"The Full Monty": Another tribute to Monty Mole (he had two cameos in JSW
Ivy), the star of several platform games released by Gremlin Graphics.

"The Unfinished Roo": I don' kno what happene her; the roo seem not to hav
bee complete! This roo has a colum of nast block whic require the playe to
hold righ whe enterin the roo. Failur to do so wil resul in Will losin live
unti righ is presse!

"Too Many Cooks...": ...spoil the broth, the adage goes. Here are several
Andres all cooking up a storm. A fairly easy room.

"Treasure Trove": Another "Deserted Isle" tribute. Although it looks very

similar to "Occupied Isle", you need to be wary - all is not as it seems!

"unfair": This room is aptly named - there are hidden nasty blocks in this
room! You can see them briefly when Willy dies, but that is of little
comfort if you are trying to complete the game without loss of life! :-)

"Wax Wing": Ten candles (the budget couldn't stretch to fifteen)

for you to extinguish. Avoid the demons (they like the heat) and snuff out
those flames! The title is a pun on "West Wing" in the original JSW, and a
wax wing is a type of bird, hence our green-feathered friend in this room
(although he's not *that* friendly! ;-) )

"West Sea": A pun based on the North Sea. Not an especially interesting
room, notable only for the 'ghost conveyor' effect.

Distribution
------------

I release this game into the Public Domain - you are free to do with it what
you want. You may use any ideas etc. in this game in your own games, but
please give credit where credit's due.

You may freely distribute JSW (again) as long as this file (JSWAGAIN.TXT)
accompanies the game.

Contacting me
-------------

I can be reached via email at pbee444@hotmail.com

Will I ever release another Miner Willy game? I have (or had) various MM and
JSW games in various states of completition, but almost all of these are lost in
the mists of time. That doesn't answer my question, though...

Acknowledgements
----------------

A big "thank you!" goes out to the following people, without whom JSW (again)
wouldn't be what it is today:

Sir Clive for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, my favourite computer of all time.

Matthew Smith for writing Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy.

Paul Rhodes for writing the superb JetSet Editor.

Andrew Broad for his numerous useful comments on the game and for his
contributions to the expanding MM/JSW community.

Richard Hallas for permission to use his tunes in the game and his MM/JSW
music document.

I would also like to send my support to everyone involved in creating new

Spectrum MM/JSW games, all of which have contributed to the numerous delays
in the release of JSW (again)! Keep them coming! :-)

And finally...
--------------

Collecting items isn't the most productive of pastimes, but it sure is fun!