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6 February 2007: Thanks
Thanks to Heinz Bauschke, Jeff (of the Jumpman Project) and Greg Davidson for their input to this FAQ over the years. I update this occasionally as I receive more Jumpman-related questions and answers. It is not exhaustive; contributions are always welcome at matty@classicgaming.com with anything at all.
1. Getting Jumpman Up And Running 1.1 What Jumpman games are available? 1.2 How can I play Jumpman on my PC? 1.3 How can I play Jumpman on my Mac? 1.4 How can I play Jumpman Jr? 1.5 I need help with emulators. 2. About Jumpman 2.1 On which systems has Jumpman been released? 2.2 Is it legal to play Jumpman? Who owns the copyright? 3. Technical Help 3.1 I'm having problems when playing one of the older-style Jumpman games: 3.1.1 Any problem using Windows XP or newer. 3.1.2 One of the following using older versions of Windows: - No sound. 3.1.3 Jumpman Junior freezes in two-player mode, using Power64 on a Mac. 3.2 How do I solve "In Big Trouble", Level 24 from Jumpman Lives? 3.3 Is Figurit's Revenge on Jumpman Lives harder than it should be? 3.4 How do I solve Grand Puzzle III? 3.6 Is there help available for other Jumpman levels? 4. Jumpman Lounge Queries 4.1 I have created something Jumpman-related. Can the Jumpman Lounge host it / link to it? 4.2 How can I get a Jumpman mug?
1.1 What Jumpman games are available? All available Jumpman games are listed below: Jumpman Zero PC (Windows) Jumpman Zero is the first original Jumpman game created for Windows and it is a beauty. This is a modern take on Jumpman, containing many of the elements that make Jumpman a great game but with much more. Get the current version from www.jumpmanzero.com. Note that it is not a Jumpman remake - if you are looking to revisit Jumpman as you remember it, I'd recommend Jumpman - Under Construction as a starting point. Jumpman - Under Construction (Windows) J-UC is a Windows remake of Jumpman and Jumpman Jr from the Commodore 64. The levels are pixel-perfect, the play mechanics are just about spot-on and the level editor is superb. There are also heaps of extra levels to download and play. Visit members.iinet.net.au/~cleathley/jumpman/index.html to get the current version and the extras. The Jumpman Project (PC Windows/DOS) The Jumpman Project is a Jumpman port of the original 1983 PC Jumpman to today's PCs. Version 1.0, an exact replica of the original game plus the handy addition of a level editor, was released in July 2003. Future versions with a number of extensions, such as enhanced sound and graphics, are under development. Download it from the Jumpman Project Website. Classic Jumpman (PC Windows/DOS) Classic Jumpman is a port of the original 1983 PCjr Jumpman, reprogrammed to run on today's PCs. It's great. Jumpman fans everywhere should have it. Download it from the developer, Ingenieurbüro Franke. Jumpman Lives! (PC Windows/DOS) Jumpman Lives! is a 1991 knock-off of the original. It looks exactly the same as the C64 version but some of the controls are different and there is a mix of Jumpman, Jumpman Jr and original levels. There is a level editor and are quite a few user-made Jumpman Lives! levels available for download. Download Jumpman Lives! here (125K) and check out the Jumpman Lounge Resources page for the extras. Jumpman Zero Palm (PalmOS) Jumpman Zero is an original freeware Jumpman game for colour and black & white Palm Pilots. Released in 2001, it has had a series of rave reviews on a number of Palm websites. Get it at the Jumpman Zero home page. Jumpman Deluxe (Amiga) A Jumpman clone for the Amiga. A Jumpman Lounge review is available here, but it not particularly positive. It can be played in Windows using an emulator, but it probably only a worthwhile option if you have an Amiga. The version available at the Jumpman Lounge is a demo only - please let me know if you have a copy of the full version. Junkman Junior (TI-99/4A) A Jumpman clone for the TI-99/4A. Download it at this dedicated TI-99/4A webpage. I have heard very little about this game but it looks pretty good - drop me a line if you have played it. QBasic Jumpman (DOS) An oddity to say the least. This game, made for a school project by Steve Hanov many years ago, will astound anyone aware of the limitations of the Basic programming language (in which this game was written). Anyone not au fait with Basic is wasting their time, as this is a severely limited game. Download QBasic Jumpman (and the source code) here (62K). Jumpman/Jumpman Jr. Original (C64, ColecoVision & others) To play any of the original versions of Jumpman on Windows or the Mac (or other operating systems), you will need an emulator and the Jumpman/Jumpman Jr ROM. The most popular Commodore 64 emulator for Windows is probably CCS64, which is free to use but is a little tricky to set up. Visit www.lemon64.com for more choices. They also have a CCS64 setup guide which is very useful. The best Commodore 64 emulator for Mac OSX is Power64, but it is very easy to set up and run. Download it from www.infinite-loop.at/Power64/index.html. Unfortunately, you will be limited to using it for 10 minutes at a time unless you register, which costs US$25. You can get the Jumpman and Jumpman Jr ROMs from www.c64.com. For those who want a bit more information, there is an excellent introduction to emulation here. Jumpman 2 (Windows) Randy Glover, Jumpman's original author created an early prototype for Jumpman 2, for Windows, in 1999. Sadly, this promising and ambitious project has fallen by the wayside. Jumpman Reborn (Windows) Jumpman Reborn, an original game written by Steve Adamson and reminiscent of Commander Keen without a gun, reached an early stage of development and was abandoned in late 2002. It was never an official Jumpman game and a playable version was never released. 1.2 How can I play Jumpman on my PC? If you want a superb remake with bells and whistles, get Jumpman - Under Construction from members.iinet.net.au/~cleathley/jumpman/index.html. If you want a great original Jumpman game, get Jumpman Zero from www.jumpmanzero.com. If you want a real Jumpman retro fix, the easiest way to play on a PC is to download this installer (380K). It includes Classic Jumpman and Jumpman Lives! (see here for more detail) as well as some little extras. Even better, it automatically installs both games including links on your Start Menu. Simply download, unzip, then right-click on JUMP.INF and select "Install". That's it. No restarts. No registry changes. 1.3 How can I play Jumpman on my Mac? To play DOS-based Jumpman games, like The Jumpman Project, Jumpman Lives or Classic Jumpman, your best option is to download Radnor, which is an easy-to-use graphical front-end for the DosBox DOS emulator. If you want to play the original, C64 Jumpman games, your best option is to get Power64, which is a C64 emulator. You cannot use it for more than 10 minutes unless you register it for US$25. It is very easy to set up and get running. Get it at http://www.infinite-loop.at/Power64/index.html.You will also need the Jumpman ROM, which you can download from www.c64.com. If you are new to emulators (like DosBox or Power64), I would recommend reading the very good ClassicGaming.com newbie guide. Unfortunately, there is no way that I know of to play the newer Windows-based Jumpman games, like Jumpman Zero and Jumpman - Under Construction. Please let me know at matty@classicgaming.com if you disagree! 1.4 How can I play Jumpman Jr? Your best option is to download Jumpman - Under Construction from members.iinet.net.au/~cleathley/jumpman/index.html, which comes with the original Jumpman Jr levels. Otherwise, download and play Jumpman Lives, which has most of the original Jumpman Jr levels included amongst levels from Jumpman plus a couple of extras. I my opinion it is missing the magic of Jumpman Jr, but it is a complete game that is easy to get set up and running on a Windows PC. Your final option is to download a C64 emulator and play Jumpman Jr exactly as it appeared on the C64. This is quite a bit more involved, but it will allow you to play Jumpman Jr (and any other C64 game) on your PC. The best place to get an emulator and the Jumpman Jr ROM is www.c64.com - if emulation is all new to you, then there is an excellent introduction at ClassicGaming.com newbie guide - I would also be happy to help you set it up. Just drop me a line at matty@classicgaming.com if you need any guidance. 1.5 I need help with emulators. Visit ClassicGaming.com newbie guide. If you need Jumpman Commodore 64 ROMs, visit www.c64.com. Try the ClassicGaming Vault for ROMs for other systems. As always, feel free to email me at matty@classicgaming.com if you have any extra queries. Getting emulators running can be difficult.
On which systems has Jumpman been released? Visit the Jumpman History pages. 2.2 Is it legal to play Jumpman? Who owns the copyright? Randy Glover, Jumpman's programmer, had the rights to Jumpman returned to him in the mid-90's as part of his original contract with Epyx (who released the first Jumpman games in 1983 and 1984). The following games are 100% legal to own and play (under the terms of the respective games' licenses): The following games may not be 100% legal (reasons in parentheses):
3.1 I'm using Windows and I'm having one of the following problems when playing one of the older-style Jumpman games: 3.1.1 Using Windows XP: Windows XP doesn't do a very good job of supporting DOS, so if you're having problems you'll probably need to use a DOS emulator. Try DOSBox, which you can get here. Check out Section 1.5. 3.1.2 Using older version of Windows: - No sound. This is a known problem. More recent versions of Windows do not have Soundblaster support for DOS built-in, so many old games will operate without sound. I'm afraid I do not have a solution at the moment - please email me at matty@classicgaming.com if you have this problem. It should be solvable using DOSBox - refer to Section 3.1.1. - The game freezes for no reason.
- There is a delay when each screen is displayed, so the level starts playing before I can see it. Believed to occur with Classic Jumpman under Windows XP only. Refer to Section 3.1.1. - There is a slight delay before Jumpman jumps. Believed to occur with the Jumpman Project under Windows XP only. Refer to Section 3.1.1. 3.1.3 Using a Mac: - Jumpman Junior freezes in two-player mode, running under Power64 This is a known problem, but can be easily solved by changing your Power64 settings to run in NTSC mode. 3.2 How do I solve "In Big Trouble", Level 24 from Jumpman Lives? Here. 3.3 Is Figurit's Revenge on Jumpman Lives harder than it should be? Yes, it is. The bomb at the top left is one pixel away from its proper location - turning a fairly difficult jump into a very difficult jump. 3.4 How do I solve Grand Puzzle III? Here. 3.5 "Freeze", on Classic Jumpman, runs so fast that I can't dodge the freezers. Is this supposed to happen? Classic Jumpman does not run correctly under Windows 98, causing the freezers in "Freeze"' to run too quickly, making the level all but impossible. The only workaournd is to play the 1994 release of Classic Jumpman (which is missing Freeze but is identical in every other way) - download it here (286 K). Note that the vampire bats in Vampire will continue to move a little faster than they should. 3.6 Is there help available for other Jumpman levels? Yes, The Epyx Shrine has a walkthrough of all the original Jumpman and Jumpman Jr levels. There is also a walkthrough for Jumpman Zero available from www.jumpmanzero.com. Please email me to let me know if there are other guides available elsewhere on the internet. Or (even better), if you have written a guide to one of the various Jumpman games I would be thrilled to host it at the Jumpman Lounge. Email me at matty@classicgaming.com.
4.1 I have created something Jumpman-related. Can the Jumpman Lounge host it / link to it? Absolutely. Email me at matty@classicgaming.com. 4.2 How can I get a Jumpman mug? They are now for sale. Check out the front page. |