Actual Reality

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1. Jet Set Willy Welcome to the first in what could be an unfeasibly long-running series on alternative ways to play Speccy games. The aim is to find out what games can be successfully converted to real-life. First up, it's Jet Set Willy. The basic game for Matthew Smith's masterpiece revolves around one man's attempt to clear up all the glasses strewn around his house. The first thing we need is a house, for which we'll be using Nathan's parents' house. Next, we need a set of glasses (no problems there), and we need someone to 'be' Miner Willy - enter Jon (and a top hat). So, the scene is set. A number of glasses have been placed in awkward places around the house, and Jon has to collect them all, while Nathan provides the ever-present enemies and obstacles. In keeping with the spirit of the game, he started in the bathroom. The Bathroom Jon found no problems collecting the glass at the end of the bath, and quickly proceeded out onto the landing. The Landing At once he was smashed in the knees with a vacuum cleaner, rolled with force towards him. Cursing under his breath he limped towards the nearest bedroom, only to be punched squarely on the chin, with the explanation that this was 'The Master Bedroom' (and he'd just had another life ticked off his list). Pausing only to pick up a glass from the window- sill, Jon decided to go downstairs. The Second Landing Jon had several seconds to look around for more glasses before being hit in the back of the head with an apple, losing a life. He succeeded in dodging the following fruit that were hurled at him, and, collecting the glass, proceeded to the kitchen. The Kitchen A quick check in the fridge and the oven provided Jon with another couple of glasses, and a slight delay in his leaving the room provided him with a sharp rap across the temple with a wooden spoon (delivered by Nathan, wearing a hastily-assembled chef's outfit). Another life lost. The Back Door Beginning to get into the swing of things, Jon managed to evade the thrown chicken nuggets and work his way across the drive and out into the street, where he was directed to a nearby tree. The Base of the Megatree Despite vociferous protest, Nathan insisted on keeping to the spirit of the original and chased Jon with a hedge-trimmer. This provided ample motivation for Jon to begin his ascent. The Megatree While Nathan continued to hurl fruit at Jon from the ground, Miner Jon himself became remarkably adept at both dodging the projectiles and collecting the assorted glasses perched in the branches. Unfortunately Jon's skills at descent were less apparent. Under constant fire from Granny Smith's legacy, he took what was, in hindsight, a rather foolish decision to jump from a height great enough to cause an Infinite Death Loop. (Suggestions that he emulate such 'to keep to the spirit of the original' were met with disapproval from the paramedics.) Conclusion So there we have it. A rather successful game, wouldn't you say? Hopefully Jon'll be out of hospital by next month so we can try re-enacting another Spectrum classic. Toodle-pip!

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