"The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural."
[Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith]
This page will be updated as I write Advanced MM/JSW Trainer - that page refers to features not yet listed here, but the game itself is incomplete, currently covering just over half of the features listed here.
28th May 2008: Edited various sections (changes in red).
I keep a catalogue of quirky features in MM/JSW (which I add to whenever I think of another one) so that I can systematically incorporate them into my MM/JSW games. I play through all the MM/JSW games specifically to look for such patterns to make a note of in my catalogue. I look for both patterns that are deliberately exploited, and those that occur unintentionally (e.g. I have noticed several unintended Innocent-Looking Blocks in JSW Ivy, and the Adam Britton triptych). I also think laterally about new patterns to invent (e.g. "I just cut that jump much closer than I needed to. What if I put a Fire-cell there so that you have to cut it that close?").
The patterns in this document are presented as ASCII text-diagrams using the code below. I have long considered using screenshots; however this is prohibitive in the time it would take to save them and crop them, and in terms of my website's limited storage-space and bandwidth. Text-diagrams also have the advantage that I can use generic cell-types such as ? and =. If you don't like my text-diagrams, I can only suggest you play Advanced MM/JSW Trainer, which covers these patterns systematically, and in a similar structure to this document.
Key (symbols in cyan are not currently used in this document)
. Air - Water + Water 2 (MM) _ Crumbly | Earth * Fire ! Fire 2 (MM) < Conveyor left > Conveyor right ~ sticky Conveyor \ Ramp left / Ramp right ^ Trampoline (JSW64) ; Trap = any stand-onable cell-type ? any cell-type $ Item £ Item in a Crumbly cell WW Willy WW ## Portal ## TT Teleporter TT HH Horizontal guardian HH h in the path of a horizontal guardian h VV Vertical guardian VV vv in the path of a vertical guardian
All patterns can - unless otherwise stated - be laterally inverted.
(1) =.....= (0x5) (2) WW...= (2x4) WW.... =.....
WW...== (can land on here...) WW..... =.....= (...or here)
WW-... (can land on here...) WW...- (...here...) =..... ...... .....= (...or here)
(1) ..WW =.WW (1x1) ..=. (2) ....| ..WW| =.WW| (1x2 with an Earth-column in the way) ...=|
(a) ?|..|? (b) ?|..|? ...... ...... ...... ...... WW.... WW.... WW.... WW.... ==...= ==?*?= ??***?
?|.... ...... ...... ....WW ....WW .....= =..... ...... .=????
(1) ?????? (2) ?..... ?..... ?..... |..... |..... ...... ....WW ....WW ....WW ....WW .....= .....= .....? .....? .....? .....? .....? =....? =....? (can land safely if you hit the Earth-cell whilst jumping)
(1) ......| (as in "Ballduins Ballhaus" in MM2) ======= (2) .....|. (the Innocent-Looking Block, as in JSW: The Deadly Mission, ....... which dumps you slap through the floor - one of my favourites! :-) ) ======= (3) .....|. (a blocked ILB) .....|. ======= (4) ......| (a bit like an ILB - see "The Road to Isengard" in JSW:LOTR) =====..
WW.... (jump right onto the conveyor, WW.... then left into the Earth-cell) |..... ==<<<<
...|. ..... WW... WW.|- =====
||WW ..WW ====
(1a) ... (1b) |.. (1c) .... |.. |.. ||.. .WW -WW ?-WW .WW -WW ?-WW ?== ?== ??== (2a) .... (2b) |... |... |... .... -... ..WW -.WW ..WW ?.WW ??== ??== (3a) ..... (3b) ..... .$... ..... ||... |.|.. (Daniel Gromann's overhead ILB) ...WW ...WW ...WW ...WW ...== ....= ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ?==?? ?==??
(1) .... .... ||.. |.WW ||WW ==== (2) ..... .|... (if Willy jumps through this overhead Earth-cell, .-... his head ends up in this row) .|.WW .|.WW =====
...... ...... ...|.. ....WW ...|WW (can land on the left platform if you stand close enough to the Earth-cells, ==...= or fall into this gap if you stand far enough back)
(1) ?..... ...... ...... (facing right, in your leftmost sprite-frame, WW..|| jump right twice in successive time-frames WW..|| to land completely inside these four Earth-cells) ==???? (2) ????? (no need to keep this row clear) ..... (facing right with your legs apart, ..... jump right twice in successive time-frames ....| to jump through this Earth-cell) WW.?? WW|?? =====
(1) ..... ..... =*?*= (dangerous, but can be cleared by a pixel-perfect jump) (2) ?*|*? ..$.. (safe to jump for this item) ..... ..... =====
(1) ....WW .*..WW <<<<<< (2) .......... ...*..*... ========== (3) ...... ..**.. ====== (4) *...* ..... ..... ..... ..... =...= (5) .....* ...... ...... WW.... (has to be pixel-perfect from left to right) WW.... ====*= (6) =...WW ....WW ....== .*.... (trying to land to the left of the Fire-cell) =????? (7) ......| ....... ....... .....WW .....WW *=....<
..* ./* ===
(1) ..WW.... ..WW..*. ===..=== (2) .....*. ....... ....... .....WW *..*.WW =======
(1) ?||**... ======== (2) ...*.=.. ========
*........ .....>>>> (carries you to certain death if you jump from the very edge) ......... =.....=== (can safely land on here)
..*.. ..... =====
*......* |||.$.|| (this item has to be jumped up for from below) ===---==
Trap-cells are now an iron-clad feature of JSW64; see Message 5326 of the Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy Yahoo! Group for POKEs to turn Fire-cells into Trap-cells in MM48 and JSW48/128.
(1) ==;.;== is equivalent to =.....= (2) ...;== is equivalent to .....= ...... ...... ==;... =.....
;==;... ....... ==;.;==
....;|| (the rightmost Earth-cell can be entered by jumping over the Trap-cell) =======
(1) |;.. (can walk left into the Earth-cell, then jump straight up) .... ==== (2) ..;| (have to jump right into this one) .... ====
(1) WW (Willy moves right) WW <> (2) WW (Willy moves right until he's off the > cell, WW then oscillates between both cells >< until you walk away in either direction)
(1) ....vv.. (2) ....vv.. (3) ||||vv|| ....vv.. ||||vv|| ....vv.. ||||vv|| ....vv.. ....vv.. ....VV.. ....VV.. ....VV.. ....VV.. ....VV.. ....VV.. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>
(1) ?.$? (first exploited in "Sex and the Church" ?..? in MM: The Buddha of Suburbia) *..* ?... ?... ?>>> (2) ???? ???? *??* ?--. ?... ?>>>
WW.=..- (the only way to collect the item is to jump right WW/...$ when you're next to the foot of the ramp, ~~~~~~? facing right with your legs apart)
../ (you can walk right onto this Ramp-cell - =.. you don't fall through the gap)
.WW.. .WW.. ../.. (can safely walk off the left edge of this ramp, but not the right) ..... ..... ..... ..... =====
?WW WW? .WW WW. ../ \..
WW...= WW.... \.....
WW. WW. =.. ... ... ... ../
||| WW. (if you walk right, you fall through the Ramp-cells, WW. but if you hold jump as you walk right, you don't fall through) \\\
******* ....../ ...../. ..../.. WW./... (must jump from your rightmost right-facing frame) WW/**.. =======
(1) ......../| (as in "The Chapel": WW...../.. <- can jump into either this Ramp-cell, WW..../... <- or this one) ========== (2) ......../| WW...../.. WW..../-.. (must jump into this Ramp-cell) ========== (3) ......../| ......./.. WW..../-.. (must jump into this Ramp-cell) WW.../|=== ========== (4) WW....? (as in "*really rampant rampy rope room*" in where's woody; WW..../ must jump into this Ramp-cell ======/ to be able to walk left off this one)
(1) .....\WW. ......\W. .......\. =.......\ (as in "barrier 2" in strangel) (2) ..../..... WW./...... WW/*??*..* (as in "gunzan money" in strangel) ==========
|///// |///// |///// |///// |$//// |*****
(1) /*/ (2) ////// /// *////* /// ////// /// ////// /// /*/
Crumbly: \_ (it crumbles) Conveyor: \< (you move left and up the Ramp-cell) \> (you move right and down the Ramp-cell) Trampoline: \^ (you jump) Trap: \; (you fall down onto the cell-row below)
\|. .|/
\?| |?/
(1) ..| (stops you walking down the ramp) \.. (2) |.. (can walk down the ramp) ../
(1) ??| WW. (you get stuck here, but can walk right through the ramp WW/ if you hold down a jump-key) ?=? (2) |?? .WW (you can walk up through the Earth-cell! \WW or jump left at the foot of the ramp to walk left through the ramp) ?=? (3) |||. |\.. (a nice application of the above) |$\. ====
|WW (you can, however, jump left through this Earth-cell - \WW though you must stand back if you're trying to land on it!) ?== WW| (you cannot jump right through this Earth-cell - WW/ no need to stand back) ==?
(1) /\ (no conflict - behaves as you'd expect) (2) \/Case (2) is particularly interesting. When walking across it from left to right, the \ cell takes precedence and you fall through instead of walking up the / cell. However, when walking across it from right to left, the \ cell appears to take precedence as you walk up it - but you still fall through it the moment you step off the / cell!
(3) \/ (as soon as you set foot on /, =. you appear at the top of \!) (4) \./ (you fall through when crossing in both directions) (5) WW. WW/ (walk right and you fall through) \.. (6) .WW \WW (you can walk left onto \) ../
....|? ...... ...... .hWWHH .hWWHH *=====
(1) ....|? ....VV ....VV WW..vv WW..vv >>..== (2) ......vv WW....vv WW....vv >>>>*.VV ?????.VV ?????=== (3) ......|? vv...... vv...... VV....WW VV....WW ?=....<<
(1) *..... *..... *..... *..... *..... ====== (2) Room above: ...|.. (note the overhead Earth-cell to force Willy to land on his leftmost sprite-frame!) ....WW ....WW ..**== Room below: *.???? (you have to walk LEFT immediately when entering from above!) *.???? ==????<
......=You could jump onto this Water-cell from the room to the left, but you couldn't jump back into the room to the left.
.....$*$..... ......*...... ............. ............. ............. <<<<<<<<<<<<<
(1) ?*? |$. ('$' = item) ... ... === (2) |$* (incredible, but true!) ... ... === (3) |$* ... ... ... ===
The following cell-types can be combined by giving them the same colour-attribute (this doesn't work in JSW64):
Here are some that are specific to Manic Miner (and JSW64):
==...... .._...WW =.....WW .......=In fact this pattern can be used in one of two ways:
..$.. (can be jumped over, unlike a Fire-cell!) ..... =====
...?????????????????????????.... ...?????????????????????????.... ...?????????????????????????.... .WW?????????????????????????...* .WW?????????????????????????...? ..=?????????????????????????=..? ...????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????
The following cell-types can be combined by giving them the same colour-attribute (this doesn't work in JSW64):
|||| .... .... WW.. WW.. ==.. ??.. ??== (you die if you fall onto here after jumping up against the Earth)
..*.. ..... =====