Jet Set Willy GB

From GameBrew
Jet Set Willy
Jetsetwillygb.png
General
AuthorPaul Taylor
TypePlatform
Version2.beta4
LicenseMixed
SystemCGB, DMG
Last Updated2000/07/13
Links
Download
Website

Jet Set Willy for the Gameboy is a conversion of the original Atari ST version from 1990 (which was in turn a port of the Atari ST version of 1990). It was a completely rebuild of the software in assembly language, drawing heavily on Matthew Smith's original Z80 code for increased portability.

Fortunately, the Gameboy's machine code is very similar to the Z80, allowing much of the original code to remain unchanged. However, adapting it to the Gameboy's distinct hardware architecture proved to be a challenging task, requiring extensive problem-solving to recreate the authentic look and feel of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum version of JSW.

The resulting game closely resembles the original Spectrum version, featuring similar graphics with color clash simulation, sound, and music. The gameplay compensates for the Game Boy's low resolution through scrolling. Additionally, new features like scrolltext, infinite lives, writetyper mode, and a load/save-option were introduced.

JSW was an entry for Bung's 1st Amateur GameboyTM Format Games Coding Competition.

User guide

Save-game functionality is provided, so you can happily attempt The Banyan Tree as many times as you wish , or alternatively use this feature simply to facilitate breaks in play when you're at work or travelling.

The game is saved at the moment when you last entered a room. You may enable infinite lives by pressing Select at the title screen. You may also use the teleporter to move from room to room.

Controls

A - Jump

Left/Right - Movement

Start - Start game, Pause

Select (at title screen) - Infinite lives

Screenshots

jetsetwillygb2.pngjetsetwillygb3.png

jetsetwillygb4.pngjetsetwillygb5.png

Compatibility

Load the game onto a suitable flash-cart device or emulator.

Comaptibility

Version 2.beta4.0 2000/07/13

  • Lower-case characters have now been incorporated into the 32-character font, so that room titles are more authentic.
  • Writetyper has been added.
  • A confirming sound is now played when the game is saved.
  • TODO: Minor keyboard debounce problems in the title screen and pause window need to be fixed.
  • TODO: A number of changes are required to the monochrome version to support homebrew games better.

Version 2.beta3.5 (unreleased)

  • After you died, flashing blocks in the room would sometimes pause for a little while before flashing again. (Fixed).
  • In monochome mode, the rendering of the room blocks has been improved so that the death blocks in the bathroom of JSW:Ivy look right.
  • You may now obtain infinite lives by pressing Select at the title screen.
  • The 'game over' message is now correctly read from the homebrew game image.
  • The original cassette inlay artwork is now displayed as part of the title screen.
  • The game instructions are now read from the homebrew game image and displayed on the title screen.
  • Lower-case characters have been added to the main font (but not yet the 32-character font).
  • TODO: Minor keyboard debounce problems in the title screen and pause window need to be fixed.

Version 2.beta3 2000/07/05

  • I had accidentally left the arrow collision detection routine commented out! The arrows are now deadly.
  • The original pokes to fix The Banyan Tree, The Attic, etc. were missing; they are now included.
  • The title music has been speeded up slightly to match the original more closely.
  • When saving a game in play, it saved Willy's position at the point when he last entered a room; however, it saved the current object count. Therefore, in tricky rooms like The Forgotten Abbey, you only needed to collect the object, save the game, and restart. This restored you to the beginning of the room, with the object in your possession, without needing to renegotiate the route from the object to the room exit! Needless to say, I have now fixed this! (NB Other information, such as the current time, is still saved at the instant you save the game).
  • TODO: Minor keyboard debounce problems in the title screen need to be fixed.
  • TODO: Add support for customized 'game over' messages in homebrew games.

Version 2.beta2 2000/07/01

  • Corrected the bug that displayed Maria and the toilet using the Willy sprite bitmaps on the monochrome Gameboy.
  • In homebrew games, Maria was not always lethal; this has been fixed.
  • Added recognition for the poke to 36477, which allows you to fall as far as you like without dying.
  • The ink colour of Willy and the Foot in the end-game sequence is now read from location 36011.
  • The ink colour of the Barrel in the end-game sequence is now read from location 36018 (used in Afterlife).
  • Added a solid-block character to the room title font, which is used for all character codes less than 32. This is to support the 'paranoia' room of Ivy, although the difference in scale between the 32-column title and the 20-column scrolling view spoils the effect somewhat.
  • Added the title-screen music! (It correctly reads the tune from whichever homebrew game you have used).
  • Added the title-screen flashing effect.
  • Removed the pointless fade in/out routine.

Version 2.beta1 2000/06/30

  • The full map format of the original game engine is supported and displayed correctly using a scrolling view. On Gameboy Color, the original colours, brightness and flashing are maintained. On original Gameboy, shades of grey are used to differentiate the different platform types.
  • The movement of Willy is reproduced identically to the original, thereby maintaining all of the 'tricks' that are available in the original engine.
  • The behaviour of the guardians and travelators is reproduced identically to the original.
  • The travelator of The Nightmare Room is displayed the same as the original game.
  • The pixel-level collision detection with guardians behaves exactly the same as the original.
  • A single save-game slot is provided, which may be restored many times so that particular rooms may be practiced.
  • The total cartridge has a footprint of just 512 Kbits, and has minimal cart RAM requirements. If cart RAM is not available, then the game will still function but will not save the player's progress.
  • The original attribute-clash effect is emulated for the Willy character, with respect to character blocks but not with respect to other sprites. That is, he will turn blue in the bath; however, his nose does not turn blue when he stands close to Maria. (Gameboy Color only).
  • The original attribute-clash effect is emulated for the rope pixels, with respect to character blocks but not with respect to other sprites. That is, the lowest pixel turns blue in the swimming pool; however, the rope does not turn white when Willy is climbing it. (In fact, this is a one-line change, but I thought it was pushing authenticity too far). (Gameboy Color only).
  • The rope implementation fully supports the editing of the rope into shorter sections, and the placement of the rope in different parts of the room. Unfortunately, it does not support the feature of the original whereby a rope pixel touching any other set pixel on the screen triggers the automatic pick-up of Willy (not exploited in the original game).
  • The ink colours of all guardians are emulated, but unfortunately not their paper colours. Therefore, guardians which had previously featured a ghostly 'bright' box that followed them no longer do so, and homebrew levels that make guardians burrow their way through other colours do not look the same. (Gameboy Color only).
  • A change has been made to The Master Bedroom, so that Willy's bed is visible on the Gameboy screen; otherwise, it would not have scrolled into view before Maria had killed him.
  • The status line is, unfortunately, not customizable: it will always show the items collected, current lives, and current time. The bugs in the clock have been corrected, although some may think this a shame.
  • There is currently no support for 'writetyper'-like room selection. This will be fixed in a future release.

Credits

For other information about JSW, please refer to the following invaluable sites:

Many thanks to all of the above webmasters for their fantastic services to the on-line Jet-Setting community.

External links

Retrieved from ‘https://www.gamebrew.org/index.php?title=Jet_Set_Willy_GB&oldid=144043’

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