JET SET WILLY A GUIDED TOUR
“I’d been forced into ‘normal’ hours by the people harassing me. I would still code at night and try to sleep in the day”
Matthew Smith
If you had to choose one game character to represent the British 8-bit home computing scene, Miner Willy would be a sound choice, and his creator, Matthew Smith, similarly epitomised the heroic ‘bedroom coder’ of that pioneering period. He began programming arcade clones for his Tandy TRS-80 before using the machine to produce Spectrum titles, beginning with Styx in 1983 and then Manic Miner later the same year, which became a huge critical and commercial success. His legacy was secured the following year with the sprawling and surreal Jet Set Willy, but its creation took its toll on Matthew and he would not produce another full game again. Love for Miner Willy’s games and fascination with their mercurial creator has endured, though, and there is still hope that both Willy and Matthew might yet make a triumphant return.
01 THE BATHROOM
The enemy at the top is two Earths, rolling after each other, based on an episode of Space 1999. I think they crashed two moons into each other with no apparent ill effect. RG: “Did you ever wake up in the bath after a heavy night?” Nah, my Willy is an original work of art and is not based on any person living or dead. And I deny ever having slept in a bath.
02 TOP LANDING
That’s a barrel with three Xs on it and it’s red, so that’s obviously Watneys. I had a Swiss Army knife so that went in. Having eight lives was my decision. I could see three lives wasn’t enough, so I thought, ‘What’s a good number? What is there room on the screen for?’ Eight seemed about right. It’s a lucky number in Chinese. And in electronics.
03 MASTER BEDROOM
The housekeeper was based on a Greek lady who lived over the road. Yeah, her name was Maria. I don’t think she ever knew she was in the game. RG: “Her sprite looks a little odd… what’s going on with her chest?” I’m not commenting. She might still be living there. I do not wish to discuss [it].
04 FIRST LANDING
About 40 years later. I think it
