The Perils of Willy

People are still making stuff for the Sinclair related machines. Tell us about new games and other software that runs on the Spectrum, ZX80/ZX81, Pentagon and Next.
User avatar
R-Tape
Site Admin
Posts: 6353
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:46 am

Re: The Perils of Willy

Post by R-Tape »

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.
highrise
Manic Miner
Posts: 296
Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2020 11:29 pm

Re: The Perils of Willy

Post by highrise »

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.
akeley
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1025
Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2020 5:47 pm

Re: The Perils of Willy

Post by akeley »

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 :D

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.
highrise
Manic Miner
Posts: 296
Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2020 11:29 pm

Re: The Perils of Willy

Post by highrise »

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

https://www.youtube.com/happycodingzx
jetsetdanny
Dizzy
Posts: 85
Joined: Thu May 02, 2019 10:22 pm
Contact:

Re: The Perils of Willy

Post by jetsetdanny »

'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:

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.
Website: JSW Central
User avatar
clebin
Manic Miner
Posts: 965
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2020 1:06 pm
Location: Vale of Glamorgan
Contact:

Re: The Perils of Willy

Post by clebin »

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)
User avatar
PROSM
Manic Miner
Posts: 472
Joined: Fri Nov 17, 2017 7:18 pm
Location: Sunderland, England
Contact:

Re: The Perils of Willy

Post by PROSM »

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... :mrgreen:
All software to-date
Working on something, as always.
akeley
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1025
Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2020 5:47 pm

Re: The Perils of Willy

Post by akeley »

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" ;)
Pgyuri
Drutt
Posts: 25
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2020 8:36 am

Re: The Perils of Willy

Post by Pgyuri »

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
MtM
Dizzy
Posts: 88
Joined: Sun May 17, 2020 10:09 pm

Re: The Perils of Willy

Post by MtM »

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?
User avatar
uglifruit
Manic Miner
Posts: 700
Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2019 12:41 pm
Location: Leicester
Contact:

Re: The Perils of Willy

Post by uglifruit »

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!
CLEAR 23855
+3code

Re: The Perils of Willy

Post by +3code »

MtM wrote: Tue Nov 10, 2020 4:54 pm is there a scan of the
vic20 original tape inlay to read does anyone know?
Image
MtM
Dizzy
Posts: 88
Joined: Sun May 17, 2020 10:09 pm

Re: The Perils of Willy

Post by MtM »

+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?
Image
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?
highrise
Manic Miner
Posts: 296
Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2020 11:29 pm

Re: The Perils of Willy

Post by highrise »

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.
Pgyuri
Drutt
Posts: 25
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2020 8:36 am

Re: The Perils of Willy

Post by Pgyuri »

Hi,

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

Pgyuri
User avatar
Kweepa
Manic Miner
Posts: 311
Joined: Sat Feb 03, 2018 6:14 pm
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico

Re: The Perils of Willy

Post by Kweepa »

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".
MtM
Dizzy
Posts: 88
Joined: Sun May 17, 2020 10:09 pm

Re: The Perils of Willy

Post by MtM »

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 ;-)
jetsetdanny
Dizzy
Posts: 85
Joined: Thu May 02, 2019 10:22 pm
Contact:

Re: The Perils of Willy

Post by jetsetdanny »

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 :) .
Website: JSW Central
highrise
Manic Miner
Posts: 296
Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2020 11:29 pm

Re: The Perils of Willy

Post by highrise »

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.
jetsetdanny
Dizzy
Posts: 85
Joined: Thu May 02, 2019 10:22 pm
Contact:

Re: The Perils of Willy

Post by jetsetdanny »

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! :)
Website: JSW Central
Post Reply