Melk the Game discovered January 28th 2024

We’re all familiar with the other two games using the Jazz 2 engine: Battery Check and Animaniacs: A Gigantic Adventure. But it’s been easy to forget about the other other two games, because there’s so little reference to them online.

But that changes today: Stijn has just unearthed the installer for Melk the Game, an online multiplayer game made for the Dutch Dairy Association. Head on over to the JCF for how to run the game, and for emerging research on all the files.

The next challenge is for someone to find Orion Software Systems’ sidescroller RPG

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JCS Awards 2023 January 22nd 2024

The 2023 JCS Awards are now open! Vote for your favorite levels, scripts, etc. of 2023 either in a JCF post or submitting a google form. Marvel at how long ago January 2023 feels.

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One of the other major Jazz Jackrabbit websites, jazzjackrabbit.net, has currently been disabled due to hackers. There is not currently a timeline for when it will be restored. According to SuperJazz, if you visited that site and were “told to download and update your Chrome browser, then you have most likely encountered malicious content. In case you happened to click any links or download anything from there, be sure to run a full virus scan on your computer.”

Download here

JJ2+ version 5.12 is released through the above installer link, the manual zip, GOG Galaxy and the GOG website, and Mod DB.

The packet exchange interval code from the last news post has been incorporated into JJ2+, so that movement packets are now sent between server and clients at the maximum possible speed, unless you edit plus.ini. Check out the changelog for full information on that and a dozen or so other improvements!

Way back in 1.21, JJ2’s network code was edited so that servers and clients would update player positions to each other less frequently. However, most of us are not using 56K modems anymore. As such, there’s an experimental new JJ2+ build that allows more frequent update speeds. There are two commands:

/pxiserver sets how often the server tells clients where other players are. In theory, this should have limited effect on gameplay (except for melee attacks), but lower numbers should make the game visually smoother for clients.
/pxiclient sets how often you, a client, tell the server where you are. In theory, lower numbers should mean the server has a more accurate idea of where you are, for purposes of determining whether other players’ bullets hit you.

The hope of this release is to find the best values for each command. JJ2 players vary greatly in their locations around the world, so this will take some doing.

For full details, see SJ’s informative post on the subject. Because this code is experimental, if you are using this version of plus.dll, you will only be able to join other servers using this exact version of plus.dll.

It's a Hullabatwo May 5th 2023

The Birthday Hullabatwo event has begun! Check out our cool revamped Birthday Hullabatwo web portal for everything you need, including:
  • Information about the multiplayer server, including screenshots of almost 700 different Battle and CTF maps
  • A community timeline of important dates and events from 1977 to today
  • Link to our newest giveaway, partnering with Epic Games to give away free Jazz Jackrabbit shirts, never been sold
  • Funky graphics
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2!

Don’t touch that dial! Anniversary Bash 25 was a big hit, but there’s still Sunday, May 7th coming up, the 25th anniversary of the retail release of Jazz Jackrabbit 2 across mainland Europe, the first time people got to finally buy and play the game. In 2018 we celebrated the 20th anniversary of May 7th with the Birthday Hullabaloo event: now it’s time for Birthday Hullabatwo!

Expect the (Zeal-hosted) server to kick off this Friday and run at least through the weekend. The level list won’t be 40 levels long, nor 120, but around 680: every level from every bash ever!

Anything else? You’ll have to wait and see…

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The Battle and CTF level lists are now available for download right here on J2O, alongside every other bash list since 1999.

If you missed the Bash or want to relive it, you can view 20+ hours of livestreamed footage here.

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Thanks for Playing April 11th 2023

Anniversary Bash 25 has come to a close! We had a wild, fun-filled four-day weekend but every party has its end.

Instrumental in organizing this Bash and its level lists were cooba, FawFuL, Loon, PurpleJazz, Seren, and Superjazz. cooba in particular played a big role in keeping us on task, gathering level suggestions, and keeping lists up to date. PurpleJazz’s new level voting mutator was an exciting new way at the end of each level to build anticipation for what would come next. Huge thanks also to DanZeal, provider of the Zeal server network, for hosting the Bash server and keeping it running all weekend long.

These were the largest level lists ever, with 120 levels, ranging from Diamondus Warzone on April 9th 1998 to Tubolation on April 9th 2023. It’ll take us a little longer to get the packs uploaded to J2O but it will happen, just give us some time to rest and figure out the right versions of everything.

We tried to source levels from all eras of JJ2’s history and include numerous significant authors, not just the current level designers. The levels were made by Birdie, Blackraptor, Blackrose, Bluez, BlurredD, CelL, CliffyB, cooba, DanZeal, DarkSonic, Disguise, Dragusela, EvilMike, FawFul, FireSworD, Foly, jeh, Jelly Jam, Lark, Loon, Lynx, martin, minmay, Newspaz, P4ul, PurpleJazz, Quickz, Ragnarok, Sacrush, Seren, ShadowGpW, Slaz, Smoke, Snooze, spy, stripe, Superjazz, TreyLina, Unhit, URJazz, and Violet CLM. Huge thanks to everyone for their contributions!

Four brand-new levels even debuted during the Bash itself: Central Park, Cold Beers Beach, Land of the Snooze, and Tubolation! The real showstopper, though, may have been Smoke’s great new “death circle” mutator, which came out of nowhere and completely transformed the LRS experience. Hopefully everything will find its way to J2O soon for everyone to try out!

The Anniversary Bash is a direct, unbroken line of community history from the beginning till now. One thing that sets it apart from other online servers is the hope that old friends will drop by and say hello. It was great to see Blade, HyperJazz, Mez, NY00123, Salamander, Shadow, and Toxic Bunny, among others! And of course, we have to thank Jazz Jackrabbit 2 itself and its creators… not every video game is still being played 25 years later!

Speaking personally for a moment: I love this game. I had so much fun this weekend, hour after hour, smiling and never wanting it to end. Thank you all so much for coming and playing. We roasted, we chatted, we visited levels old and new, we had the best damn time.

It’s time to find out what’s next!

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