Jet Driver
Release type: Shareware
Release date: July 20, 1994
Levels: 5
Author: Matthew Groves
Website: mgroves.com
Registration bonus: new levels, level maps, 1-year subscription to bimonthly newsletter
Registration price: $10
Related games: none
Not to be mistaken for Alan Caudel's Jet!.
Whereas Matthew Groves' Space Cadet and Mystery series were conceived and completed as discrete trilogies, Jet Driver seems like it was more of an ongoing process. The shareware version contains five tracks, and registration gets you a bunch more plus a bunch of new graphics and sound resources. As with Groves' other games, if it's not in the shareware version then it's probably gone.
Although Groves describes Jet Driver as a sort of early draft of Grand Theft Auto, perhaps a more apt description would be Spy Hunter without the shooting, or Bump 'N Jump without the jumping. You can drive in four directions, or hit "B" to brake. Touch another vehicle and you instantly explode, Pole Position style. Run over children, and be rewarded with a sound clip of screaming.
Thanks to Game-Maker's set map size, the tracks are all short. Some of the tracks take a swerve far enough to the side to allow the map to loop. Since Game-Maker's sense of momentum is fairly limited, and the ability to combine moves is perhaps even more limited, driving isn't as smooth as it might be. Thus those curves can be a bit of a problem to navigate. No one's fault; the game is an experiment.
Jet Driver is awkward and experimental, and there may be reasons why it resembles no other Game-Maker game. Yet it's also fascinating, and designed with the same clean style and genial spirit as Groves' other games. And again, hey. Someone's got to push the boundaries.
Contents
Story[edit]
Have you ever wanted to speed past a police car or run down those silly kids who play in the middle of the road? Sure! Now you can do it without hurting anybody!
In Jet Driver, you can speed past police cars, outrun other Jet Drivers, run over silly kids to get extra points and all while you enjoy the gorgeous scenery.
So have fun!
Instructions[edit]
Control
- UP - Accelerate
- DOWN - Go back
- RIGHT - Move right
- LEFT - Move left
The above applies both to Joystick and Keyboard
B is to hit the brakes.
Press F1 during play for additional functions.
Credits[edit]
Design
Graphics
- Matt Groves
Sound Effects
- Matt Groves
- Steph Groves
Programming
- Matt Groves
- Game-Maker Software
Testing
- Matt Groves
- Jeff Bussey
- Nathan Groves
- Alyssa Groves
Music
- PD and FreeWare
- Assorted Music
- Files (CMF and ROL)
Title Screen
- Shareware CD-ROM
Availability[edit]
This game seems to have been made available on several shareware compilation CD-ROMs. More precise details TBD.
Archive History[edit]
On October 16, 2010 Matthew Groves responded to a Facebook message regarding Space Cadet. He replied that he did have copies of Jet Driver and Mystery Mansion on 5-1/4" floppy disk, but had no way to retrieve the information. He also mentioned that he had completed the promised registered versions of all of his games, though was unable to find surviving copies of the games. He agreed to send the disks along for processing.
On November 29, the data was extracted using a custom 486 tower PC, built with an Ethernet port to pass along the recovered files.
Links[edit]
Interviews / Articles[edit]
Misc. Links[edit]
Downloads[edit]
- Jet Driver (207.7 kB)
- Level 1 map (22.0 kB)
- Level 2 map (26.8 kB)
- Level 3 map (78.0 kB)
- Level 4 map (30.2 kB)
- Level 5 map (23.4 kB)
