Hero Worship
February 24, 2005 3:59 AM Subscribe
Where is Matthew Smith, fans of seminal platform game Manic Miner and its sequel Jet Set Willy [see also...] are wondering (Allegro.cc perhaps?) Missing in the mid-90s, rumors abound of drug habits, mental institutions and sojourns in the Netherlands, he surfaced again around 2000 with the creation of The Good Stuff, now sadly defunct, which included much of the out-there style and humor of his early games. Since last year, the trail has been cold. Interviews are interesting but perhaps reveal less than the games (and their covers) themselves. Level names in Jet Set Willy 2 include the wonderful We Must Perform a Quirkafleeg (eh?), Rescue Esmerelda and NCC 1501.
c64 Jet Set Willy was impossible to complete with out cheating. I think they fixed it for the other versions, though.
Greta post. Thanks
posted by ZippityBuddha at 4:31 AM on February 24, 2005
Greta post. Thanks
posted by ZippityBuddha at 4:31 AM on February 24, 2005
Matthew Smith was a genius... good to remember back in the day when software houses were run out of a guy's bedroom.
posted by Alexander at 4:43 AM on February 24, 2005
posted by Alexander at 4:43 AM on February 24, 2005
This is a fascinating backstory even though I've never played these games before, thanks for the links.
posted by safetyfork at 9:15 AM on February 24, 2005
posted by safetyfork at 9:15 AM on February 24, 2005
Minor tangental discussion: In this excellent overview of plagiarism in games, there's a mention about how Team17, creators of Worms, took the Jet Set Willy code to create a new game with no payment or credit to Matt Smith.
posted by jscott at 10:14 AM on February 24, 2005
posted by jscott at 10:14 AM on February 24, 2005
I read somewhere that JSW was impossible to complete firstly because some items were impossible to collect but also because even if youcheated and had collected all the items the computer would crash once you got back to the master bedroom.
Anyway, clearly it was too much, too young for Matthew.
posted by dodgygeezer at 2:45 PM on February 24, 2005
Anyway, clearly it was too much, too young for Matthew.
posted by dodgygeezer at 2:45 PM on February 24, 2005
« Older They have a Plan | TV on the internet Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
(The scrolling message at the start of the game was...interesting...too)
posted by Jimbob at 4:25 AM on February 24, 2005