Mersey Remakes

Well, the games been around long enough now and is certainly stable enough that I guess its time to tell some of the stories behind the rooms. There’s a huge amount of new rooms we created for the game, so here’s a quick guide to the influences and inspiration behind their creation. There’s already a fairly good guide to the new rooms added for Jet Set Willy II courtesy of Steve Wetherill so it’d be rather pointless to dwell on those also - so lets just concentrate on the new stuff in JSWO.

Obviously, this is also going to be pretty copious - so I’ll post this in segments. Hit the jump and lets start with Space from the main map.

Scotts Love Rocket

Originally, just Rocket Room in JSWII. The Rocket Room was your only access to space. Jump up from above We Must Perform A Quirkafleeg, all along The Watchtower (sorry, couldn’t resist) and up to the Rocket would take you to the space segment of the game. With this being a one way route, with access back to the mansion being via teleporters - we figured this would break the flow a tad. Hence “Scotts Love Rocket” was born. I don’t really think I need to explain the title do I?

No longer are you stuck with just the one route, you can head on up to The Docking Bay as in JSWII, left to The Rift (a nod to the abominable Doctor Who spin off Torchwood, which at the time of design had the possibility of showing some promise) and right to the old Teleport room.

Life On Mars?

One of two Space Invaders tribute rooms featured in JSWO and titled after both the Bowie song and the TV series of the same name. Life On Mars is one of the few “death rooms” in JSWO - a concept we toyed with removing, but as infinite death is pretty much tied to the game - we figured that we may as well have some fun and stick a few in for good measure.

Hopefully, you shouldn’t get to see this room, because if you do - its right back to the bathroom post haste.

Rear Thruster and Shafted

Yes, I’ll freely admit that there’s some incredibly childish stuff tucked away in JSWO, both Rear Thruster and Shafted are nothing but immature cock jokes wrapped up in a Jet Set Willy-esque wrapping. Certainly, they’re also not the only cock references in the game… obsessed, us?

Rear Thruster did go under a different name in the earlier versions of the game we released, originally it was titled “Space Yar” as a tribute to Howard Scott Warshaws Atari2600 game Yars Revenge. I have no idea why I changed the room name in the end aside from a vague recollection that despite a worthy homage, the room name was a bit shit.

Event Horizon and Beyond Event Horizon

A tribute to Paul Andersons Hellraiser in space with lots of spikes film, Event Horizon - I’m sure I’m the only person on the internet who believes its an ace film, but hey ho. There’s no accounting for taste is there? It had spikes…okay?

To The Infinity Drive and The Infinity Drive

The Infinity Drive was meant to be a nod and a wink to the Infinite Improbability Drive, but I ran out of space to type the whole name for the rooms. Yes kids, sometimes its a hard life trying to cram all your idea’s into a game with a restricted character limit. However, you have to admit that finding a replica of Willys drive in space is quite improbable - so it’ll do.

Star Drive (Reet Proper)

Answers on a postcard as to why the Reet Proper Star Drive has a rabbit dancing on a table. I don’t have the answers, thats for sure. Just a link room with the naming convention blatantly stolen from Steve Wetherill and DP Rowsons JSWII room Star Drive (Early Brick Version).

Smilas Control Mechanism

Its long been rumoured that t’other half of Mersey Remakes, Mr Smila, was some sort of machine - given the rate he can churn graphics and games out the door - so far be it from us to perpetuate that myth with Smilas Control Mechanism. Originally a makeshift room to replace the Cartography Room from JSWII (a feature we removed as it’d be a logistical nightmare for an online version) - SCM eventually got a stay of execution on the grounds that I like it.

Rumour has it that its powered by Newcastle Brown Ale, but I have no evidence to back that up.

Cunningly Disguised

Beam Me Down Spotty from JSWII given a reskin to fit with the idea that there’s a spaceship hovering off the side of the mansion. Basically a tedious excuse to link an extra route into space within the game. Filed under “shit room names”.

The Foot Room

In JSWII, The Foot Room looks ever so slightly different to the one featured in JSWO. The first few releases of JSWO saw us retaining the same layout and design as the original, however - when it became clear that we needed to open up some extra routes in and around the Space area, The Foot Room needed a slight redesign to make it a little bit more interesting.

Its still not an exceptionally difficult room to pass, but as a shortcut through to Someone Else it serves its purpose.

Not Looking Good Is It?

One of a few portal rooms we placed around the map, Not Looking Good Is It has changed slightly since Bob Ince took this screengrab. The original idea behind adding the portals was to aid those on the run in tag to make a quick escape to another part of the map to elude the baying mob of un-pink Willies that chase them. Depending on wether you escape to the left or the right of the portal rooms lands you in a different area.

In the case of Not Looking Good Is It? exiting left takes you to Under The Megatree and the right to Hero Worship. For those who haven’t found any of the portals yet… try climbing the ropes.

The name comes from the earlier versions (of which this is a screengrab of) whereby as soon as you jumped up into the room you were confronted by two hammers heading in your direction. After watching a few people not manage to make it out alive, I eventually did a bit of editing to ease the room up a tad.

The Rift

I’ve already mentioned The Rift above, you get here by either going left at Scotts Love Rocket or by toddling the long way round from The Teleport (Redecorated) (right at Scotts Love Rocket).

In earlier builds of the game, turning back on yourself from The Rift landed you back at The Bathroom, but after many complaints this “feature” was taken out but the name remains.

Thats about it for the Space section. We’ll cover the Treehouse in the next segment, so stay tuned for more soon.

Screenshots all come courtesy of Bob Ince’s excellent Map of JSWO