Spectrum Computing

I hoped we would find some mutually acceptable middle ground, but I can see we won't. So let me summarise the situation very plainly:

My walkthrough of "The Perils of Willy" was taken down from a website, because someone didn't like the fact that it was there.

The walkthrough I recorded was not of some experimental, development or beta version of a computer program. It was of a publicly released product which the author is encouraging people to pay for. I paid for it. I purchased it.

My walkthrough was denied to the public, because someone didn't like the fact that it was available.

This is censorship. This is what happens in totalitarian regimes. Some books are never published, because someone doesn't want them to be available to the public. Some movies are never screened, because someone does not allow them to be made public. Things are taken down from websites, because someone doesn't like them and decides they shouldn't be there.

My walkthrough was denied to the public this week. Your walkthrough may be denied to the public next week. Or maybe your review, because it will be too short, or showing too little respect for the author's hard work put into creating the game, or encouraging the players to wolf the game down too quickly, contrary to the author's fantasies of how the players should play his game.

When I go to a bookstore and buy a book, I can read it any way I want. The author will not be telling me how to read it. I can read it slowly and thoroughly, I can skim-read it or scan it, I can read just one chapter if I want, or half a chapter. I may not read it at all if I decide it’s not worth it. It is my choice.

When I buy a computer game, I can play it any way I want. The author will not be telling me how to play it. I can play it as is, I can use POKEs or Rollback, I can save and reload snapshots. I can play it for ten hours or for ten minutes. I may not play it at all if I decide it’s not worth it. It is my choice.

My recording was denied to the public because the author of this particular game (or, to be exact: remake of another author's game) wants to enforce – by banning videos – a vision he has of how his games should be enjoyed by the players. He is ready to deny the public the freedom of choice whether or not to watch – before, during, after or without playing the game – a recording of how the game can be completed in order to enforce his fantasies of what should be happening once people have purchased his game – how they should be struggling to complete the consecutive levels in an “honourable” way, comment and write reviews to express their respect for him and his effort while he would be basking in the true spirit of retrogaming.

I can understand that authors can have views on how they think it would be best that people enjoyed their games, and some preferences in this regard. However – both as an author and a player – I am categorically against their trying to enforce their views, illusions and fantasies by withholding information (such as visual solutions to their games) from the public, banning videos and having things taken down from websites.

If you want people to enjoy your games the way you envisage they should, make them so attractive that people will want to play them, taking their time, savouring them like a good meal, even if they have seen their walkthroughs recorded on video. Make your games so thrilling that people will want to write reviews and comments about them independently of whether there are videos of walkthroughs available on the web. If “honourable” actions are an important concept for you, respect the players’ rights and win their respect through a positive engagement, rather than trying to enforce it by blocking access to information, having things taken down from websites and promoting censorship.

My walkthrough of "The Perils of Willy" was taken down from a website, because someone didn't like the fact that it was there.

The walkthrough I recorded was not of some experimental, development or beta version of a computer program. It was of a publicly released product which the author is encouraging people to pay for. I paid for it. I purchased it.

My walkthrough was denied to the public, because someone didn't like the fact that it was available.

It was taken down because the recording enabled the full download of the game to be available in a format that was not approved. The game is freely available for anyone to download from the itch.io page.

This is censorship. This is what happens in totalitarian regimes. Some books are never published, because someone doesn't want them to be available to the public. Some movies are never screened, because someone does not allow them to be made public. Things are taken down from websites, because someone doesn't like them and decides they shouldn't be there.

No, it isn't, it's denial of distibution of something which is available elsewhere.

When I go to a bookstore and buy a book, I can read it any way I want. The author will not be telling me how to read it. I can read it slowly and thoroughly, I can skim-read it or scan it, I can read just one chapter if I want, or half a chapter. I may not read it at all if I decide it’s not worth it. It is my choice.

Absolutely correct. But can you photocopy and publish that book? No, you can't. Is that censorship? no, it isn't.

When I buy a computer game, I can play it any way I want. The author will not be telling me how to play it. I can play it as is, I can use POKEs or Rollback, I can save and reload snapshots. I can play it for ten hours or for ten minutes. I may not play it at all if I decide it’s not worth it. It is my choice.

Absolutely correct. But again, you can't publish yourself doing that if it includes content that you did not create yourself. You can only do that with the consent of the author.

My recording was denied to the public because the author of this particular game (or, to be exact: remake of another author's game) wants to enforce – by banning videos – a vision he has of how his games should be enjoyed by the players. He is ready to deny the public the freedom of choice whether or not to watch – before, during, after or without playing the game – a recording of how the game can be completed in order to enforce his fantasies of what should be happening once people have purchased his game – how they should be struggling to complete the consecutive levels in an “honourable” way, comment and write reviews to express their respect for him and his effort while he would be basking in the true spirit of retrogaming.

Absolutely incorrect. I asked that full walkthrough recordings not be published in the first two weeks of the game being out.

The thing is, I think it's clear just how reasonable I've been. I've been polite, I've been tolerant, I've apologised when I was a bit rude, and I've explained and justified everything. I made a game that anyone can download and play for free if they wish. They can use pokes, rollbacks, whatever. If I published it on real cassette they could wipe their behind on it if they wanted to. In addition, they can express their views of the game, or about me, in public, just as they are doing here. However, publishing footage of the game is always at the author's discretion, and in my particular case, I am not in favour of full walkthroughs being published in the first two weeks of a game's release. This is also the case for most of the coders I have spoken to about it. This is because we have the freedom to decide how our work is used publicly. You have the freedom to decide how it is used privately.

And as for the idea that someone like me who has created a considerable amount of free software and tutorial videos, and actively encourages people to write new games should be shot down in flames and compared to a totalitarian fascist for asking politely for a two week embargo? I'll put that one down to the current situation and the extra tension and pressure we are all under. Stay safe everyone.

highrise wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2020 5:04 am Whether you agree with this or not is not really the point. As you say, once you own a game you can do whatever you like.

You don't own "The Perils of Willy", Allen. You don't own the title, you don't own the character and you don't own the screen layouts if they are the same as in the original game. The IP rights holder who has the rights to the original game - whoever it is today - owns these things.

highrise wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2020 9:55 am Before I answer that, I want to make the very clear point that I am producing work which anyone can use for free, and I'm not 'telling' anyone what to do. The only thing I did was to ask that people don't publish the game being played in its entirety for the first few weeks. I wasn't forcing anyone to do anything

For all practical purposes, you forced the RZX Archive not to make my recording of the game available to the public.

highrise wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2020 9:55 am As regards the game itself, this is an entirely different discussion, and not one which changes the point I made.

It does. If you don't own the game fully, you can't usurp full rights to it, like being able to deny people the right to post videos.

highrise wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2020 9:55 am However, if I did have to defend it I would point out the following:

- no code from the Vic-20 game was used in the making of this game.
- the game is based on a reverse engineered version of the Manic Miner code. It does not use original source code, and is not a hack of any original code.

You don't have any rights to the Manic Miner code. The IP rights holder who is the legal heir of the Software Projects does. I suspect it may be the same entity that holds the rights to "The Perils of Willy".

Incidentally, I don't understand your references to a "reverse engineered version of the Manic Miner code". Reverse engineering is the reproduction of another manufacturer's product following detailed examination of its construction or composition. You didn't have to carry out such an examination, because the code is well known, its complete disassembly has been available online for years.

highrise wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2020 9:55 am - although the levels are based on the Vic-20 game they are built from scratch and due to alternative mechanics, play entirely differently to the original.

The mechanics may be different, but if the visual aspect and layout are the same or very similar, the IP rights holder could still claim you infringed them.

highrise wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2020 9:55 am I would argue therefore that the only issue would be the question of IP. It is possible that using the title of the game, and the use of the character may infringe in that instance. If this is the case however, this would not only apply to this game, but to every other mod of Manic Miner or Jet Set Willy, including the ones made by Danny.

This is not entirely correct. Every other mod of MM and JSW - including those made by me - can be considered to be infringing the IP rights related to the game engine or parts thereof, because they all use at least parts of the original game engines (which defines them as MM and JSW games for me).

Some games do not infringe any IP rights related to the game character or the visual aspect. Games like "Terry The Turtle" have nothing to do with the original characters or concepts whatsoever.

The difference between us is that I have never asked anyone to pay or donate anything for downloading my games and I have never made a penny out of designing them. You have.

highrise wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2020 9:55 am As I said, it's a totally different argument. If someone wants to push the button on that nuclear option and get the game withdrawn, that is their prerogative. All I did was ask people not to post complete walkthroughs of the game in the first two weeks.

You did not hesitate to use the nuclear option to have my walkthrough removed. And, on your website, your are not asking people not to post complete walkthroughs of your remake of "The Perils of Willy" for two weeks: you are asking people not to post full 'walkthrough' videos "for now". You might want to change that if it is indeed a "two-week rule" you are trying to impose in the spirit of censorship.

PaulJ wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2020 11:27 am By the way.. Titanic.. the ship sinks and he dies at the end...

WHAT?! Nooooo

highrise wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2020 1:15 pm

My walkthrough of "The Perils of Willy" was taken down from a website, because someone didn't like the fact that it was there.

The walkthrough I recorded was not of some experimental, development or beta version of a computer program. It was of a publicly released product which the author is encouraging people to pay for. I paid for it. I purchased it.

My walkthrough was denied to the public, because someone didn't like the fact that it was available.

It was taken down because the recording enabled the full download of the game to be available in a format that was not approved. The game is freely available for anyone to download from the itch.io page

Yes, this is correct, but a video was not made of my walkthrough and was not uploaded on the RZX Archive because you requested that this should not be done.

highrise wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2020 1:15 pm

This is censorship. This is what happens in totalitarian regimes. Some books are never published, because someone doesn't want them to be available to the public. Some movies are never screened, because someone does not allow them to be made public. Things are taken down from websites, because someone doesn't like them and decides they shouldn't be there.

No, it isn't, it's denial of distibution of something which is available elsewhere.

Where is a video of my walkthrough available online?

highrise wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2020 1:15 pm

When I go to a bookstore and buy a book, I can read it any way I want. The author will not be telling me how to read it. I can read it slowly and thoroughly, I can skim-read it or scan it, I can read just one chapter if I want, or half a chapter. I may not read it at all if I decide it’s not worth it. It is my choice.

Absolutely correct. But can you photocopy and publish that book? No, you can't. Is that censorship? no, it isn't.

A video of my walkthrough would not be a copy of your game file.

highrise wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2020 1:15 pm

When I buy a computer game, I can play it any way I want. The author will not be telling me how to play it. I can play it as is, I can use POKEs or Rollback, I can save and reload snapshots. I can play it for ten hours or for ten minutes. I may not play it at all if I decide it’s not worth it. It is my choice.

Absolutely correct. But again, you can't publish yourself doing that if it includes content that you did not create yourself. You can only do that with the consent of the author.

Making an RZX recording is creating content. The way I play the game is unique, someone else would not have recorded it exactly in the same way.

highrise wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2020 1:15 pm The thing is, I think it's clear just how reasonable I've been.

I regard blocking videos of walkthroughs from being posted in order to enforce one's fantasies of how players should enjoy one's game as unreasonable. That's all there is to it.

Things are getting a bit heated, and I don't have time to sit and ponder this right now (I need a better afternoon's work than my morning's!). Sorry, going to lock the thread to open later.

EDIT—thread unlocked. It's hard to imagine anyone changing their own point of view on this. Please let's not have this end in a big argument. Now's not the time.

Danny and I have spoken via private message and everything is all fine between us, so if any of you have questions or comments about Perils of Willy, you can resume them now

As mentioned in the comments, the game was built using source code from a reverse engineered Manic Miner. I didn't do the reverse engineering however, what I did was recode the screen, sprite and animation routines in order to accommodate the differences in the Vic version. This was done to make it feel as close as possible to the other games in the series.

So I've played it a bit more yesterday. Similarly to one previous poster I've actually never liked neither Miner nor JSW back in the day - I just suck at platformers in general and find the precise jumping mechanic extremely frustrating.

But I really do like TPoW, maybe it's the retro-charm factor, but the game is undeniably very smooth, which helps with playability. There's none of the control/code hiccups which sometimes hinder older games. I will try the VIC original later, see how this one plays. I also don't know remeber how it compares to MM/JSW difficulty but I actually made it to the 4th screen, which for me is a massive achievement

The title screen is also rather exquisite. The intro music did not bother me...is it really just beeper? And, is it based on a Led Zeppelin tune?

Overall, it's a great job, and a very competent port.

I have a code blog which details a lot of the work done on the game:

https://www.youtube.com/happycodingzx

'Perils of Willy - Bog Roll edition' is a bonus game included in the 'Perils of Willy' ZIP package. It features modified sprites, and the player has to collect rolls of toilet paper scattered around the levels.

Unfortunately, the Bog Roll edition has a critical bug and is impossible to complete as far as I can tell.

The problem lies in the upper left-hand corner of Screen 31, as marked with a white arrow in this image:



Willy can only pass the green shopping cart guardian if he jumps to its right from underneath it, from that particular platform.

In the regular edition of the game Willy can stand on that platform in a one-character position safely; the vertical guardian does not kill him.

However, in the Bog Roll edition the red vertical virus (?) guardian kills Willy no matter how he stands on any of the right side platforms in this initial shaft. Willy can only stand in a one-character position safely on the left side platforms.

In order to outmanoeuvre the green shopping cart guardian Willy would have to be able to stand on the platform indicated in the attached screenshot safely while the shopping cart passes above him, moving towards its left boundary.

Regretfully, this is impossible because the guardian movements are coordinated in such a way that when the green shopping cart is about to reach its left boundary, the red vertical virus is close to its upper boundary, blocking Willy's way (if he wanted to jump from the platform located a little lower on the left) or killing him (if Willy is already standing on the platform where he needs to be to pass the shopping cart). It is impossible, as far as I can tell, either to stand on that critical platform safely while the red virus is next to it in its up-and-down movement, or to jump over the red virus safely so as to stand on that platform in time to wait for the shopping cart to move leftwards above Willy.

Hence, I believe it is impossible to outmanoeuvre the green shopping cart and progress further into the game.

The question arises whether Allan will release a bug-fixed version of the Bog Roll edition if he confirms my diagnosis.

akeley wrote: ↑Fri Mar 27, 2020 10:42 am So I've played it a bit more yesterday. Similarly to one previous poster I've actually never liked neither Miner nor JSW back in the day - I just suck at platformers in general and find the precise jumping mechanic extremely frustrating.

But I really do like TPoW...

Gateway drug.

(EDIT: Didn't realise how old that post was)

clebin wrote: ↑Tue Nov 10, 2020 10:52 am (EDIT: Didn't realise how old that post was)

Maybe you'd be more comfortable over on WoS...

clebin wrote: ↑Tue Nov 10, 2020 10:52 am Gateway drug.

If only. You saw my Manic Miner "performance" in the HSC (didn't get out of the first room). I think PoW is much easier, or perhaps it was a spur of a moment. These games really are "nor for me"

Hi,

... confirms my diagnosis.

Confirmed (not by programmer) ...

$C713, $0C solves and keeps the hard timing

( if you have snapshot, you must lose one life to reload the room data after overwrite the memory address)

ps: it solved only the first problem, the second on the right side falling looks impossible too and not to modify a simple poke...sorry

ps2: $E271,$00 and hard but can fall ... and relax.

Pgyuri

I recommend _everyone_ play both versions of this superb conversion of the rarest of the official
WIlly games, it is excellent, 'Hats off to Highriser' for their superb work. I still do not know the background story though, is there a scan of the
vic20 original tape inlay to read does anyone know?

I'll say it again - be sure to take look at Manic Miner Presto that's bundled with this - it's MM but running about twice as fast as the original. It's amazing!

MtM wrote: ↑Tue Nov 10, 2020 4:54 pm is there a scan of the
vic20 original tape inlay to read does anyone know?

+3code wrote: ↑Tue Nov 10, 2020 5:56 pm

MtM wrote: ↑Tue Nov 10, 2020 4:54 pm is there a scan of the
vic20 original tape inlay to read does anyone know?

That is mega, thank you very much! And yet reading it, it seemed familiar, I must of read it before somewhere.

Thanks again. Who was the original author of TPoW?

Hi guys

I'm afraid I don't frequent this forum too much so I've only just seen these posts. Regarding the 'bog roll' edition, it does seem that the virus sprite is a little bit wider than the original balloon, which makes it impossible to complete the room. To be honest it really was just a bit of fun social commentary more than anything, I just did a light graphics mod. Nevertheless I'll see if I can patch it up at some point.

As for the levels, there are 31 in the original Vic version, but the tape cover declared there to be 32. For this reason the 128k version of Perils Of Willy on the Spectrum does in fact contain an additional 32nd level that I designed myself. Completing this level will give you the 'true' end sequence.

Hi,

The game was great and fun, many thanks Patch is ready, see on page 9.

Pgyuri

MtM wrote: ↑Wed Nov 11, 2020 9:49 am Who was the original author of TPoW?

According to this it was Steve Hearnden and I Lomas.
http://sleepingelephant.com/~sleeping/i ... =10&t=8039
I checked myself and at $2000 in memory it says "S HEARNDEN AND I LOMAS".

Kweepa wrote: ↑Tue Nov 17, 2020 11:32 pm

MtM wrote: ↑Wed Nov 11, 2020 9:49 am Who was the original author of TPoW?

According to this it was Steve Hearnden and I Lomas.
http://sleepingelephant.com/~sleeping/i ... =10&t=8039
I checked myself and at $2000 in memory it says "S HEARNDEN AND I LOMAS".

Hey thanks for that, another piece of the Miner Willy Lore collected!

One day I will put it all in a screen play

highrise wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2020 9:55 am (...) I want to make the very clear point that I am producing work which anyone can use for free, and I'm not 'telling' anyone what to do. The only thing I did was to ask that people don't publish the game being played in its entirety for the first few weeks.

(...)

All I did was ask people not to post complete walkthroughs of the game in the first two weeks.

highrise wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2020 12:29 am
(...) I asked for a two week grace period. Given that people have been waiting 36 years for this game, I am sure they can spare me a couple of weeks grace.

highrise wrote: ↑Sat Mar 21, 2020 9:26 pm (...) I didn't ask people not to post these videos, I only asked that people show a little patience and wait around two weeks before they post or share a full video of a playthrough. I think that is fair.

OK, two weeks have passed since the game's release on 15th March. In fact, almost 38 weeks have passed now, which is almost 20 times more than Allan asked for (and more than the number of rooms in The Perils of Willy or the number of years that we waited for this game ).

So Allan's wish has been respected many times over, so to speak. And now anyone interested can watch a full walkthrough of The Perils of Willy on the JSW Central channel on YouTube. There is also a walkthrough of The Perils of Willy Plus. There is no walkthrough of The Roll Bog Edition, as it is currently incompletable. However, I will be happy to make a video of its completion once a bug-fixed version is released, which I hope will happen soon.

I will say for the record that these videos contain spoilers. Do not watch them if this could diminish your pleasure from playing Allan's excellent conversion of the Commodore VIC-20 classic! I encourage everyone to play this game, as I've had a lot of pleasure during the many hours I spent playing and recording it, and then replaying and re-recording it in order to improve the quality of my (Rollback-assisted) performance .

Thanks Danny. Oddly, it seems that there are some items missing on that final screen! I think I might have released the test version by mistake. That room is meant to be a a lot tougher than that lol. I'll come back and revisit it at some point.

Thanks, Allan.

If you indeed released a test file of the Plus version, then there are two reasons to release a new edition of the game package: this one and the (in)completability of the Bog Roll Edition.

I look forward to playing both variants to (proper) completion once you've released the corrected files!