Manic Person

[jetsetdanny]

On behalf of Sendy (Alex Cornhill), I am thrilled to announce the release of her game "Manic Person".

"Manic Person" is Sendy's first Manic Miner game. It was started in 2005 and beta-released that year, but later abandoned alongside Sendy's other project at the time – "Jet Set Willy: Role Reversal". Fortunately, earlier this year Sendy decided to revisit these old files and they were given an extra coat of paint and polish with the help of yours truly.

"Manic Person" has all new levels, new challenges, puzzles and atmospheres in relation to the original "Manic Miner". The game features two difficulty ratings: Human (normal) and Inhuman (extremely hard) versions. These are separate games but most of the rooms are substantially changed not just in difficulty but also in visuals. One cavern has a unique layout that is different in each version.

The game also has some extra features, like unique background tunes for each screen (20 128-byte-long tunes, i.e. 40 times as much in-game music as in the original MM, which has just one 64-byte-long tune), additional special effects (including the item collection sound from JSW) and an additional screen after the completion of the game.

The game was released yesterday (7th October 2023), so please use this date for any database entries.

"Manic Person" can be downloaded from the Jet Set Willy & Manic Miner Community or from JSW Central. Download, enjoy and share your feedback!

✓ PROCESSED

DH 08/10/23

[R-Tape]

I love what I've seen so far, but for the life of me I can't work out how to finish level 2! The bit at the top left has me flummoxed. I'm close, but I'm either missing a trick or overcomplicating it (I'm not after spoilers yet - I should get there under my own steam).

Anyway thanks Danny for posting and thank Sendy for making.

[spider]

I've yet to play this myself aside from a cursory glance (with week time available) although @R-Tape are you referring to the 'human' or 'inhuman' version ? I'm taking a wild guess you're starting out with the former, which should be a bit easier.

[clebin]

I love what I've seen so far, but for the life of me I can't work out how to finish level 2! The bit at the top left has me flummoxed. I'm close, but I'm either missing a trick or overcomplicating it (I'm not after spoilers yet - I should get there under my own steam).

Anyway thanks Danny for posting and thank Sendy for making.

I did it, but I'm not sure if it's the best way as it felt sooo close to going wrong.

Spoiler

I jumped up to remove floating platforms first, before doing the route with the ladder afterwards so I was able to drop down quick enough to avoid the nasty.

[R-Tape]

@spider *definitely* the Human version!

Thanks @clebin. I think that's the only way to do it. I've been trying that but I just need to work on implementing.

In terms of difficulty, level one is comparable to Central Cavern, but Level 2 is worthy of Andrew Broad.

[jetsetdanny]

Well done on negotiating the first two levels. There is something in level 3 that will surprise you. And it's not easy...

Generally speaking, this is not a game to be played without an infinite lives POKE or Rollback/snapshots saving and reloading. Especially the Inhuman Version, of course, it has some extremely difficult moments, truly worthy of Andrew Broad. But there some real challenges in the Human Version, too. Do save a snapshot before you start playing level 6 ("Willy's Auto-Mining Boots") - there's some fast action there...

[DVDfever]

Got some gameplay here of both versions, but I didn't get too far.

[R-Tape]

Another death by Apple Crumble!

[DVDfever]

I need a million lives

[Lee Bee]

Brilliant! I've always found the Manic Miner games quite ugly, so this makeover is very welcome. Looks great! IMHO, the only thing I feel has been overlooked is the font - the game could really sparkle with one of @damieng's beautiful typefaces.

[damieng]

Game looks great - I have to admit a nice font would polish it off.

I tried your screenshot with a bunch of my ZX Origins fonts and nothing quite felt Manic enough so I modified one of my fonts in two different ways to see what it would look like. Let me know if you like them and I'll send you the 768 byte font file over (free of course).

A (7 pixel ascenders/caps)


B (6 pixels ascenders/caps to avoid touching gameplay area)


Or, of course, check out the site for something else you like such as ZX Baveuse:

[R-Tape]

Phew. Apple Crumble complete. Loving the challenge here.

I did it, but I'm not sure if it's the best way as it felt sooo close to going wrong.

Spoiler

Yep that's about as close as it gets. There are probably some marginal gains to be had, like moving a bit to the right before jumping, which might give us the munificence of 2 pixels grace.

Anyway, onwards to level 3. That'll probably give us a breather...

[R-Tape]

Level 3 has a cruel, CRUEL, but quite brilliant twist.

[jetsetdanny]

Game looks great - I have to admit a nice font would polish it off.

I tried your screenshot with a bunch of my ZX Origins fonts and nothing quite felt Manic enough so I modified one of my fonts in two different ways to see what it would look like. Let me know if you like them and I'll send you the 768 byte font file over (free of course).

A (7 pixel ascenders/caps)


B (6 pixels ascenders/caps to avoid touching gameplay area)


Or, of course, check out the site for something else you like such as ZX Baveuse:

Thank you for your kind offer of a font, Damien. However, it won't be possible to use any of your fonts in this project.

Short explanation why: no spare space.

Long explanation:

The author of the game is Sendy (Alexandra Cornhill), so it is really up to her to decide about any possible changes to the game. Nevertheless, I'll reply as the person who has applied some "finishing touches" to the game and hence knows its memory layout very well.

All of the existing free space has been used to add some enhancements to the game, most notably the in-game music, which occupies a total of 2560 bytes, i.e. 40x as much as in the original "Manic Miner" (where there's just one in-game tune which is 64 bytes long). Free space in memory has been used pretty much to the last byte, including areas that would not normally be used (like unused guardian data).

So adding an extra 768 bytes of meaningful data to the game is not on the cards. It would require introducing optimisations to the game engine that are beyond what I am able to do at this time.

Having said that, I would be happy to use some of your fonts in other projects I am currently working/will be working on. According to your website, "they are freely available to be used in games you create in exchange for a mention in the credits section". If I use any of them, I will be sure to give you proper credit; I can also let you know directly that such thing has happened .

Cheers,

Daniel

[damieng]

Short explanation why: no spare space.

That is the best reason and not that uncommon! Some games back in the day had to make the same call. I assume this is why Yie Ar Kung Fu had the regular ROM font on the 48K and a rather spiffy brush-style font on the 128K version.

Feel free to use any in your future games - always great to see them in use

Damien

[jetsetdanny]

Thank you, Damien, it is greatly appreciated! I will make sure to credit the use of the font properly and also to let you know about it.

[stupidget]

Level 3 has a cruel, CRUEL, but quite brilliant twist.

You're not wrong there. I just had to keep playing until I sussed it out.

[R-Tape]

Yep. There's some great level design here. I don't think I'll be playing the inhuman version in a hurry though.

Spoiler

The number of times I tried to make that jump at the end. I thought it was like the end of The Processing Plant where you just need that extra pixel to reach the exit, and eventually the penny dropped.

[Sendy The Endless]

Hello, designer of the levels here. Thanks for all your kind words. You seem to be taking the sadism of some of the screens in good spirits

Crash Test Dummy is I guess my take on Eugene's Lair. Once you know, you know, so it's a try and die type thing. These designs are very old, and my attitude to difficulty has mellowed considerably since then, which is why I made the Human version which should be possible for anybody to complete with infinite lives. I even made the Inhuman version easier - most caverns had time limits that had very little slack, and there were even invisible platforms in one level (yes, what was I thinking?! Gross!). Also some frame-perfect jumps which I decided to edit out. While playtesting I realized it had difficulty that not even a mother could love.

Coming soon will be Strangel 2, a 128-room JSW game similar to Strangel, but with none of the brick hard difficulty, no quirky features, some interesting puzzles and layouts but mostly - a world which is easy to explore and map out. That's right, in other words, it's NOTHING like Strangel

Daniel will be helping me polish that game up too, which I'm excited to see the results of!

Sendy

[R-Tape]

Welcome @Sendy The Endless!

Crash Test Dummy is I guess my take on Eugene's Lair.

You don't mean Cheating Time do you? I'm annoyed with myself that I didn't see that one coming. Every angle I try 'Eugene' beats me. At least with each failed attempt I'm learning something, like 'Ah that's why that block is placed there - to make it masochistically difficult!'.

It might just be like Crash Test Dummy where I'm doing the right thing but not well enough. I'll keep at it...

[R-Tape]

I'll keep at it...

Sussed it. On to level 6...

Spoiler

I took turns deciding that each option for collecting the final item was impossible, until it became clear the bottom left was the least impossible. It wasn't toooo bad in the end.

[jetsetdanny]

Any more progress?

[R-Tape]

Any more progress?

Level 8 - Reservoir Dogs. It's looking very Kong Beast but I havent finished it yet

[Lee Bee]

Welcome to the forum, Sendy!

Is everyone aware that Sendy is also a pretty awesome electronica musician? You can hear her music on Soundcloud!

[clebin]

Any more progress?

Level 9, Soluble Dux. This game is fiendish!

Spoiler

I'm at a loss on how to get the item between the two spikes above the conveyer belt. I've got the others, but that one seems impossible!