Have you ever thought āOh, I wish I could change those boring demos to something else. I wish I could make my own demos.ā ?
Well I havenāt :P
But Iām sure some other people have thought that, and I know how to do it. It isnāt a hugely long article, but it does explain how to do it.
First you have to decide on a level to use, and make some time to record the macro, because you donāt want to leave the computer in the middle of recording it, because that will look bad.
Once you have decided on the level, you have to run JJ2. But wait! You have to do it like this:
Press the start button, then click run. Now type in the path to JJ2 (in quotes), then -spy, then the level filename, then -record.
So, for example, it could be:
āC:\Games\Jazz 2\Jazz2.exeā -spy castle1.j2l -record
All that -spy does is show the spy window (donāt worryā¦it isnāt spying on you or anything).
Get ready, and click OK.
Now play exactly as you want the demo to look like. Remember it records every single move you make in JJ2. When you are done (remember, demos usually arenāt the whole level), exit by pressing the X button in the corner with your mouse. You donāt want to use the ESC->Quit Game thing, because that will record in your macro.
If you are quick enough before it closes, you will see in the spy window the filename that it saves the macro as. It will be levelfilenamewithoutj2lextension.j2m
Take note of that, and start up Windows explorer. Go to your JJ2 path, and in explorer, click View->Arrange Icons->By Type. This arranges the files by their extensions. So scroll down until you get to the .j2m files. Now rename (right click on the file and choose rename) all the ones you donāt like from āwhatever.j2mā to āwhatever.j2m.bakā (unless you hate them so much you just want to get rid of them; in that case, delete them)
Now you will have a few left (or maybe just the one you created) as .j2m, so you are done! Now whenever you leave JJ2 unattended for a while, it will gradually cycle through all of the .j2m files (together with the hi scores and intro and everything)
Now there has got to be some way of running the macros without doing the demo thing, but I donāt know how to do that. When I hexedit JJ2, then I see J2M and J2L near where the command line options are, but when I run JJ2 like āāC:\Games\Jazz 2\Jazz2.exeā castle1.j2mā then it doesnāt work. If anyone has info on how to do this, please post it as a comment here.
aiko on October 27, 2001 04:00
Old news, Link. You should better make a TSF version of your great ChatLogJJ2 proggy :-)
Black Ninja on October 27, 2001 04:00
GREAT article link.
but for some reason my demo NEVER plays. ;p
JordanJett on October 27, 2001 04:00
Iām learning of new (sorta) demo screens waiting through all these to see mine.
Hellraiser on October 27, 2001 04:00
I have a problem with mine⦠I recorded the Devan Boss fight, but it wouldnāt play as āDamn2.j2mā so I replaced the stupid āMarrinated Rabbitā one with mine by naming it ābeach.j2mā.
But now, when JJ2 goes to play it, it gives me an error:
ācannot find tileset for ending.j2lā
But thereās no such level as ending.j2l, and it canāt be referring to āending.j2vā because I didnāt record the ending movie in my marco.
any ideas on how to fix that?
Cesar on October 27, 2001 04:00
Recording could have been funner if you can also record multiplayer games online.
Local split-screen works though.
blurredd on October 27, 2001 04:00
ooo, I just found some other cool stuff that you could do. If anyoneās interested, I could right a little article on it.
et on October 27, 2001 04:00
Even if this was old news, I had never heard of it. This feature could be very useful for tutorials on how to complete huge levels like QoB. Anyone remember that HUGE level by Dethman :). Plus you could use it for previews of level packs. Instead of giving people the tilesets and levels ( you might have to include them anyway) you could make a role playing demo of the level pack so people get the idea of what its like. Thanks Link, for posting up this article.
Thanks link and the person that put up the original
Link on October 27, 2001 04:00
Well even if it is old news, I donāt see another article about it.
I will make a TSF version of ChatLog sometimeā¦but right now Iām working on another program.
FQuist on October 28, 2001 04:00
Spaztic, I think you would have to provide the tilesets too, then. Macros arenāt movies, right?
Tik on October 28, 2001 04:00
Thanks for posting this Link, I had never tried to make macros before, now Iām thinking about releasing some demos of my new pack using macros. Good idea. Or would anyone like a macro of how to get through Mines of Moria? Tehe =) Anyways, thankyouverymuch.
Stijn on October 28, 2001 04:00
Post your stuff, BlurredD!
Stijn on October 28, 2001 04:00
BTW, I didnāt even know that there were other demo files as beach.j2ml and colon1.j2m (they have some weird jazz cinematic sprte errors, soā¦). Anyway, Link, thanks for this great article.
Gzou on October 28, 2001 04:00
Ok, i tried it, it worked BUT⦠There are a few problems.Here is a list of the problems and possible solutions:-
1.I tried changing weapons but in the macro, it dāoesnt change weapon and it starts doing things you didnāt.So DāONT CHANGE WEAPONS DURING RECORDING.
2.My brother likes using cheat codes during single player mode and in the recodring, the cheats didnāt show up(eg:he used the morph code and in the demo jazz didnāt morph into spaz)and jazz starts doing things again that you didnāt.so DāONT USE CHEAT CODES DURING RECORDING.
3.When youāre demo playās once comletley, and if you let it play a second time jazz doesnāt move or do anything!(except things like eating a carrot). I dāont know what the solution to that problem is but if you know it,please e-mail me the solution.
So thatās it. OH! by the way am i the only preson with this problem? If yes then i say good bye to you for a while beacause i have to smash my computer and buy a knew one that works. If no, then i will be releived and i wāont have to pay 3000$ for my new computer.
THATāS all. cya!
stinger on October 28, 2001 04:00
I donāt have the jazz2.exe!
stinger on October 28, 2001 04:00
stinger on October 28, 2001 04:00
It didenāt save my demo
Link on October 28, 2001 04:00
Yesā¦the macros are just commands of what Jazz does. You still need the level file and the tileset to run the macro.
Hellraiser on October 29, 2001 05:00
I changed from BB bouncers to Blaster in mine, and at the part where I killed Devan, (this was damn2.j2l), when it played, Jazz just stood there ans Devan killed him. then the mrco ended. weirdā¦. Guess Iām having Gzouās problem. But I like the Blaster, and when yopu collect BB bouncers, it automoaically switches to them (I really really hate that!!!!!!!!!), so it canāt be avoided. Unless I donāt pick up the ammo⦠but other than trhatā¦.
Stijn on October 29, 2001 05:00
Tik on October 30, 2001 05:00
Youāre right, the evil thing needs the level. Too bad it canāt just encrypt the level into the macro itself. If we ever got ahold of the source code I imagine that the macros would include cheat code, weapon switching, and different characters. Heh, first time I tried to do a short demo I switched to Spaz using jjmorph, and when I ran the demo Jazz just acted like an idiot. Hehness.
Anyway, some other things ā I found out that itās safe to delete those other macros, so then you just include your own instead of Epicās. You can also temporarily move them so that you only have one .j2m file. This way Jazz2 wonāt scroll through all of the other files to get to yours. Very spiffy indeed.
anonymous on December 23, 2001 05:00 [Edit]
this is very nice but it doesnt work in XP
Heew.
No Gzou, youāre not alone.
1. In Dungeon Dilemma I use blaster,
but macro shoots only bouncers.
2. In Tube2.j2l ā da same.
I must get ready for this.. So Iāll record an film in my lvl w/o weapons
;) Iāve got 2 demos around meā¦
Link, U ROCK!
Nobody on October 26, 2004 10:34
The command only works if i go to start menu and go click on run⦠So it works, but only by the run in the start menu. This could be useful if you want to let people see you play in single player. What i dont like is that im a spazzer and dont use jazz as much⦠but i could still play with jazz though.
Alexander on January 05, 2005 16:10
if you use commadn parameter -spaz jazz2 starts up with spaz default. so yo ucan record demos with spaz (Just something I remember remember (or not :P ))
Jarno vos on January 06, 2005 14:58
What For Program I Must Use???????????
Violet CLM on January 06, 2005 23:32
You should use any working version of Jazz Jackrabbit 2.
Janus on March 06, 2005 13:08
If I record my custom level, and the thing plays the demo, it says: \āLevel or tileset not found: .j2l\ā. And with a primary level such as Haunted2.j2l, it works.
Any ideas?
ratboy on January 15, 2006 17:10
this does not work tell more now
Jimbob on July 06, 2006 01:35
Oh yeah, and hereās another glitch:
DONāT END THE LEVELS WHEN U RECORD.
iāve done this before, and when the demo plays,
(if uāve ended the level when recording) it will play the Demo on the next level, with Jazz doing stuff that recorded on the other.
drmooCSW on July 06, 2006 21:48
What supposed to happen when you type the command line?
\āC:\\Games\\Jazz2\\Jazz2.exe\ā -spy castle1.j2l -record
-record doesn\āt record anything. Am I missing something? Software? What\ās wrong?
Jimbob on July 07, 2006 02:41
Drmoo, i think u already had Jazz2 open when u clicked ok.(That was my problem). Run opens it for u (with the level), and records it.
Oh yeah, i almost forgot.
Link, when it saves the filename it saves it in ALL CAPITALS.
example:
if u record on Colon2.j2l, it saves it as
COLON2.J2M
Jimbob on July 07, 2006 22:02
also, DON\āT RECORD THE MACRO TOO LONG.
when u do this, and it plays, Jazz will just stand there acting like an Idiot.
(I Tried recording with TSF and it did this, ācuz the levels in TSF are HUGE, and i usually record the whole level.)
aiko on October 27, 2001 04:00
Old news, Link. You should better make a TSF version of your great ChatLogJJ2 proggy :-)
Black Ninja on October 27, 2001 04:00
GREAT article link.
but for some reason my demo NEVER plays. ;p
JordanJett on October 27, 2001 04:00
Iām learning of new (sorta) demo screens waiting through all these to see mine.
Hellraiser on October 27, 2001 04:00
I have a problem with mine⦠I recorded the Devan Boss fight, but it wouldnāt play as āDamn2.j2mā so I replaced the stupid āMarrinated Rabbitā one with mine by naming it ābeach.j2mā.
But now, when JJ2 goes to play it, it gives me an error:
ācannot find tileset for ending.j2lā
But thereās no such level as ending.j2l, and it canāt be referring to āending.j2vā because I didnāt record the ending movie in my marco.
any ideas on how to fix that?
Cesar on October 27, 2001 04:00
Recording could have been funner if you can also record multiplayer games online.
Local split-screen works though.
blurredd on October 27, 2001 04:00
ooo, I just found some other cool stuff that you could do. If anyoneās interested, I could right a little article on it.
et on October 27, 2001 04:00
Even if this was old news, I had never heard of it. This feature could be very useful for tutorials on how to complete huge levels like QoB. Anyone remember that HUGE level by Dethman :). Plus you could use it for previews of level packs. Instead of giving people the tilesets and levels ( you might have to include them anyway) you could make a role playing demo of the level pack so people get the idea of what its like. Thanks Link, for posting up this article.
Thanks link and the person that put up the original
Link on October 27, 2001 04:00
Well even if it is old news, I donāt see another article about it.
I will make a TSF version of ChatLog sometimeā¦but right now Iām working on another program.
FQuist on October 28, 2001 04:00
Spaztic, I think you would have to provide the tilesets too, then. Macros arenāt movies, right?
Tik on October 28, 2001 04:00
Thanks for posting this Link, I had never tried to make macros before, now Iām thinking about releasing some demos of my new pack using macros. Good idea. Or would anyone like a macro of how to get through Mines of Moria? Tehe =) Anyways, thankyouverymuch.
Stijn on October 28, 2001 04:00
Post your stuff, BlurredD!
Stijn on October 28, 2001 04:00
BTW, I didnāt even know that there were other demo files as beach.j2ml and colon1.j2m (they have some weird jazz cinematic sprte errors, soā¦). Anyway, Link, thanks for this great article.
Gzou on October 28, 2001 04:00
Ok, i tried it, it worked BUT⦠There are a few problems.Here is a list of the problems and possible solutions:-
1.I tried changing weapons but in the macro, it dāoesnt change weapon and it starts doing things you didnāt.So DāONT CHANGE WEAPONS DURING RECORDING.
2.My brother likes using cheat codes during single player mode and in the recodring, the cheats didnāt show up(eg:he used the morph code and in the demo jazz didnāt morph into spaz)and jazz starts doing things again that you didnāt.so DāONT USE CHEAT CODES DURING RECORDING.
3.When youāre demo playās once comletley, and if you let it play a second time jazz doesnāt move or do anything!(except things like eating a carrot). I dāont know what the solution to that problem is but if you know it,please e-mail me the solution.
So thatās it. OH! by the way am i the only preson with this problem? If yes then i say good bye to you for a while beacause i have to smash my computer and buy a knew one that works. If no, then i will be releived and i wāont have to pay 3000$ for my new computer.
THATāS all. cya!
stinger on October 28, 2001 04:00
I donāt have the jazz2.exe!
stinger on October 28, 2001 04:00
Or maby i do
stinger on October 28, 2001 04:00
It didenāt save my demo
Link on October 28, 2001 04:00
Yesā¦the macros are just commands of what Jazz does. You still need the level file and the tileset to run the macro.
Hellraiser on October 29, 2001 05:00
I changed from BB bouncers to Blaster in mine, and at the part where I killed Devan, (this was damn2.j2l), when it played, Jazz just stood there ans Devan killed him. then the mrco ended. weirdā¦. Guess Iām having Gzouās problem. But I like the Blaster, and when yopu collect BB bouncers, it automoaically switches to them (I really really hate that!!!!!!!!!), so it canāt be avoided. Unless I donāt pick up the ammo⦠but other than trhatā¦.
Stijn on October 29, 2001 05:00
Yes ;)
Tik on October 30, 2001 05:00
Youāre right, the evil thing needs the level. Too bad it canāt just encrypt the level into the macro itself. If we ever got ahold of the source code I imagine that the macros would include cheat code, weapon switching, and different characters. Heh, first time I tried to do a short demo I switched to Spaz using jjmorph, and when I ran the demo Jazz just acted like an idiot. Hehness.
Anyway, some other things ā I found out that itās safe to delete those other macros, so then you just include your own instead of Epicās. You can also temporarily move them so that you only have one .j2m file. This way Jazz2 wonāt scroll through all of the other files to get to yours. Very spiffy indeed.
anonymous on December 23, 2001 05:00 [Edit]
this is very nice but it doesnt work in XP
Wazz Wackrabbit on December 25, 2001 05:00
Heew.
No Gzou, youāre not alone.
1. In Dungeon Dilemma I use blaster, but macro shoots only bouncers.
2. In Tube2.j2l ā da same.
I must get ready for this.. So Iāll record an film in my lvl w/o weapons
;) Iāve got 2 demos around meā¦
Link, U ROCK!
Nobody on October 26, 2004 10:34
The command only works if i go to start menu and go click on run⦠So it works, but only by the run in the start menu. This could be useful if you want to let people see you play in single player. What i dont like is that im a spazzer and dont use jazz as much⦠but i could still play with jazz though.
Alexander on January 05, 2005 16:10
if you use commadn parameter -spaz jazz2 starts up with spaz default. so yo ucan record demos with spaz (Just something I remember remember (or not :P ))
Jarno vos on January 06, 2005 14:58
What For Program I Must Use???????????
Violet CLM on January 06, 2005 23:32
You should use any working version of Jazz Jackrabbit 2.
Janus on March 06, 2005 13:08
If I record my custom level, and the thing plays the demo, it says: \āLevel or tileset not found: .j2l\ā. And with a primary level such as Haunted2.j2l, it works.
Any ideas?
ratboy on January 15, 2006 17:10
this does not work tell more now
Jimbob on July 06, 2006 01:35
Oh yeah, and hereās another glitch:
DONāT END THE LEVELS WHEN U RECORD.
iāve done this before, and when the demo plays,
(if uāve ended the level when recording) it will play the Demo on the next level, with Jazz doing stuff that recorded on the other.
drmooCSW on July 06, 2006 21:48
What supposed to happen when you type the command line?
\āC:\\Games\\Jazz2\\Jazz2.exe\ā -spy castle1.j2l -record
-record doesn\āt record anything. Am I missing something? Software? What\ās wrong?
Jimbob on July 07, 2006 02:41
Drmoo, i think u already had Jazz2 open when u clicked ok.(That was my problem). Run opens it for u (with the level), and records it.
Oh yeah, i almost forgot.
Link, when it saves the filename it saves it in ALL CAPITALS.
example:
if u record on Colon2.j2l, it saves it as
COLON2.J2M
Jimbob on July 07, 2006 22:02
also, DON\āT RECORD THE MACRO TOO LONG.
when u do this, and it plays, Jazz will just stand there acting like an Idiot.
(I Tried recording with TSF and it did this, ācuz the levels in TSF are HUGE, and i usually record the whole level.)