Anniversary Bash 20

[PurpleJazz]

Anniversary Bash 20

https://i.imgur.com/UtAdLHS.jpg

What is the Anniversary Bash?
The Anniversary Bash (commonly abbreviated to AB or just the Bash) is an annual event celebrating the full release of Jazz Jackrabbit 2 (April 9th, 1998). A dedicated server with a pre-prepared levellist is hosted for the duration of the nearest weekend to this date; normally for 4 days straight. The first Bash only had Capture the Flag levels, but Battle levels were included for the first time in AB2 in recognition of the gamemode's importance to the community. This server typically comprises the largest gathering of players in the JJ2 calendar, with several "oldies" usually making a guest appearance. This Bash (AB20) in particular can be considered with special importance as it marks the 20th anniversary of JJ2!

How does the Bash server work?
The Bash is divided into two aforementioned gamemodes; Battle and CTF, in which levellists are put together (typically comprising 15-25 levels each) and hosted continuously on loop. The gamemodes and their respective levellists are normally changed on alternate days, i.e. Battle for Day 1, CTF for Day 2, Battle for Day 3 etc. In more recent bashes, variations of the standard Battle/CTF gamemodes introduced by JJ2+ such as Team Battle or Death CTF have been used on repeat days in order to keep things fresh. This is a public server, so everyone is welcome (but please be civil!). Since this Bash is extra special, it's very likely that there will be as many as 30-40 levels per gamemode so that a range of levels from across the whole of JJ2's history can be included.

When is this year's Bash?
The provisional dates are Friday 6th to Monday 9th April. These may be subject to slight change and may possibly even be extended. If you want one (or more) of your new Battle or CTF level(s) to be considered for inclusion, you have until Wednesday 4th April to submit it (or them) in order to ensure that there is sufficient time to properly test the Bash level packs. The lists will then be finalized and there will be no more further changes. I highly recommend you go and make something, as the Bash more than any other time of the year (outside of JDC) is a fantastic opportunity to give your levels the exposure they deserve!

Who is organizing the Bash this year?
The privilage of being an indepedent Bash organizer, and thus having direct control over the levellists is a long-standing tradition. Currently there are no confirmed organizers, so if you are interested in being involved, please say so below. Priority will be given to those with proven knowledge of JJ2 level design and whom have not recently organised a Bash themselves. In addition, everyone is encouraged to make recommendations in this thread for "classic" and/or "modern" levels they would like to see included in this year's Bash.

There may also be a few other cool things happening around this time, so stay tuned!

#hyped :lori:

[Loon]

I'm interested in being involved of this years edition. Including the levellist.

[Jelly Jam]

People are sure gonna get JCSing! =)

Always excited for the bash.

[snzspeed]

Could I be involved in organising the list? :)

[FireSworD]

I'm up for at least helping someone organize the lists.

[Treylina]

I had made a fairly long post of classic map suggestions, but all my progress got deleted for saying the token got expired (and yes, I pressed back and tried refresh.) . Goddamnit.

So instead I'll try to suggest when the map organisers are around, I suppose.

[Stijn]

What is there to "organising the lists" besides making a list of levels? I feel that the most immediate way of contributing is probably going to be suggesting levels that should be included. So if you want to be involved in that, start listing/linking levels, I'd say :)

[Violet CLM]

It's rumored that the bash lists have started to be organized, by FireSword, Loon, and PurpleJazz; and that there will be two separate lists per gamemode, one modern and one classic. Presumably the open April 4th submission deadline is still in effect, and recommendations in this thread are still encouraged. Hopefully an announcement to some similar effect will come soon.

[Stijn]

Some levels I want to see:

- Hyperviolence!
- Riddlehamhope Hall
- Firgun
- Forsaken Hot Springs
- Alcatraz
- Relics of Minoria's Temple
- The Warden Woods
- ELEKTREK TEMPLE
- The Corsair's Coast
- Ancient Acropolis

- Helldome
- Skyward Showdown
- ISLAND LEVEL WITH ISLANDS
- Electric Express
- Best CTF party good luck

[Festive_meadmoonlight]

This may gradually turn into in some ways a year~long celebration, following this main event!!

[Festive_meadmoonlight]

I didn't realize for more than ten years, but, i had backed up my Jazz2 folder onto a CD, and it seems to have quite many CTF and Battle levels, as well as a huge amount of levels within the Cache folder, most of which are from 2000 and earlier! I am sure there are some lost gems, I will be looking through and hopefully posting some of them here very soon (especially after checking to see if they are in the J2O archive or not!)

[Violet CLM]

New caches to explore are always exciting news! Another place to look through, although it's a lot harder since there's no built-in search function like J2O has, is the <a href="https://j2c.jazz2online.com/lightfast.htm">J2C archive</a>.

[Festive_meadmoonlight]

https://www.sendspace.com/file/xcfioi

Here are a few so far; more for people interested in this topic to download them if they wish; than to suggest them, although they are each quite good!

These are not on J2O, but may indeed be somewhere on J2C!

Funky Trousers, by Gizmo, Battle
Dino Dynamics, by Dino, CtF
Loon Lagoon, by (not sure!), Battle (uniquely large and spread out for Battle, but very coherent and fun level design!)

One more is on J2O; I thought at first that it is by MErlin, but I couldn't remember whether or not MErlin actually made levels, so this may be someone with a similar name: Merlyn
Rockingham Gardens, Battle

[PurpleJazz]

It's rumored that the bash lists have started to be organized, by FireSword, Loon, and PurpleJazz; and that there will be two separate lists per gamemode, one modern and one classic. Presumably the open April 4th submission deadline is still in effect, and recommendations in this thread are still encouraged. Hopefully an announcement to some similar effect will come soon.

Yes, this is all correct. The lists are very much a collaborative effort and we encourage as many suggestions for levels as possible :)

Expect some draft lists to go public very shortly.

[FireSworD]

The modern lists, at least, are being very carefully organized, because they are fulfilling many requirements such as variety, quality, popularity, placement, size, references etc. It's not as easy as one might think.

I am looking for good and memorable "novelty" levels for the modern lists. Best CTF party good luck is suggested, but I'd like other suggestions.

[Loon]

I'd like to give this thread a bump and say we have some classic lists for you to check out!
So let's start with the Classic Battle List, shall we?

Classic Battle List:
cbat01 - Ain Mosni
cbat02 - E. Prime
cbat03 - Firebreather
cbat04 - Panic!!
cbat05 - EvilMike's Evil Fortress
cbat06 - Green Beret
cbat07 - Conflux
cbat08 - The Impossible Metropolis
cbat09 - Garden Brawl
cbat10 - Triton Armory
cbat11 - Sandstone Ruins
cbat12 - Starlit Basin
cbat13 - Jagged Ectoplasm
cbat14 - Wooden wonders
cbat15 - Abandoned Robotics Factory
cbat16 - Surreal Supersuburbs (TSF version)
cbat17 - Hectic Housewars
cbat18 - Galactic Feedback v2
cbat19 - Condemned
cbat20 - Delta Halo
cbat21 - Starlight Falls II
cbat22 - Stalactite Labratory
cbat23 - Carrotus Squash
cbat24 - The Warden Woods
cbat25 - Sandstrand O' Hazes
cbat26 - Apocalyptic End
cbat27 - Frozen Lake
cbat28 - Rainy Rain Forest
cbat29 - The Temple Of Suffering
cbat30 - Relics of Minorias Temple


That's a fair ammount of maps that were created 20 - 5 years ago. But we aren't finished yet! We have 30 more maps for you to check out! This time we will settle ourselves in the beloved Capture The Flag mode.

Classic Capture The Flag List:
cctf01 - Sacrifice
cctf02 - Big Apple Beatdown
cctf03 - Demon Rampart
cctf04 - Knightmare Castle
cctf05 - Pinball Arena 2k5
cctf06 - Golem Landscapes
cctf07 - City of the Sn00zE
cctf08 - Radiation
cctf09 - Facing Worlds
cctf10 - Crimson Diamond
cctf11 - Starlit CTF
cctf12 - Zaitox Station 67
cctf13 - ISLAND LEVEL WITH ISLANDS
cctf14 - Superconductor CTF
cctf15 - Fukushima
cctf16 - Very Stupid Floating Castle
cctf17 - Dirty Laundry
cctf18 - The Canyon
cctf19 - Charnel Keep
cctf20 - Blackjack
cctf21 - Darker Science
cctf22 - Helldome
cctf23 - Wicked Wood
cctf24 - Sanguinary Sanctuary
cctf25 - Personal Park
cctf26 - Industrial Intersect
cctf27 - Quasar Quandary
cctf28 - Rainbow Hills
cctf29 - Destroyed Cassis Factory
cctf30 - MALCH

[Superjazz]

Excellent classic lists from what I see!

Maybe as a minor detail I would personally start the CTF list with a level that has a more traditional gameplay, like CotS, for example. But maybe that's just me.

I'd also like to see Crystalline CTF and Frontier Falls in the CTF list. Not sure what to take out tho.

[ShadowGPW]

Wouwie, Ain Mosni and Darker Science made it? How cool! :D

[Jelly Jam]

Great lists, I like the battle one especially.

No complaints about the levels chosen, although I have to admit I was expecting Semi in the CTF list.

[FireSworD]

Modern Battle list (Draft) :

1. Djibouti - Loon
2. Twin Stalactites - FireSworD/HyperJazz
3. ELEKTREK PYRAMID - Smoke
4. Seasons of Diamondus - PurpleJazz
5. Academy - SuperJazz/CJ
6. Dilapidation - PurpleJazz
7. Press Garden - Smoke
8. Space Dump - Loon
9. Orbital Barrage - Treylina
10. Decimation - Sir Ementaler/'
11. Hyperviolence! - PurpleJazz
12. Rovaniemi - Loon
13. Water Processing Plant - DarkSonic/DS
14. Thermae - Jelly Jam
15. Horizon Approaching - Sir Ementaler/'
16. Nocturne - Blackraptor/Blacky
17. Gloom - FawFuL
18. Bastion Keep - Snooze/snz
19. Rift - BlurredD/blur
20. Outgrown - FireSworD/HyperJazz

Some of the levels are from the previous bash, but they've been updated. The list is filled with tons of references etc.

The Modern CTF list is still a WIP.

[ShadowGPW]

Sorry I didn't submit a level on time. Because I want to push my new levels a bit more with thanks to MLLE. I really love how powerfull that tool has become. So maaaaaaaybe next year? :-)

[Slaz]

No level submission from me this year, but like last year I'm available as a backup host using the dedicated CDF server, which has more than enough spare bandwidth available. That worked out last time for a few hours when the original server crashed.

[PurpleJazz]

Without further ado, I present the final lists!

CTF (Modern)

1. Eden - Loon
2. Re-Purposed Offshore Platform - FireSworD
3. Shrine of Enlightenment - Sir Ementaler
4. Trepidation - Plumbe
5. Fishing Village - PurpleJazz
6. Ancient Museum - FireSworD
7. Ivankiv Raion - Loon
8. Stronghold - Superjazz
9. Sky Gardens - Foly
10. Frontier Falls - FawFuL
11. Corridors of chaos - Jelly Jam
12. Mt. Cinder - PurpleJazz
13. Zanzibar - Loon
14. Underrated Paradise - Sir Ementaler
15. Pinball Arena 2k15 - Blackraptor
16. Daybreak - Ragnarok
17. Skyward Showdown (Night) - PurpleJazz
18. Complete Pipe Dream (Cobalt) - FireSworD
19. Evoked - TreyLina
20. The Price of Admission - cooba

Battle (Modern)

1. Djibouti - Loon
2. Twin Stalactites - FireSworD
3. ELEKTREK SPACE PYRAMID - Smoke
4. Seasons of Diamondus - PurpleJazz
5. Academy - Superjazz
6. Maelstrom - Ragnarok
7. Press Garden - Smoke
8. Space Dump - Loon
9. Orbital Barrage - TreyLina
10. Decimation - Sir Ementaler
11. Wilderness - cooba
12. Rovaniemi - Loon
13. Water Processing Plant - DarkSonic
14. Thermae - Jelly Jam
15. Horizon Approaching - Sir Ementaler
16. Nocturne - Blackraptor
17. Gloom - FawFuL
18. Bastion Keep - Snooze
19. Rift - BlurredD
20. Outgrown - FireSworD

CTF (Classic)

1. Sanctuary - CelL
2. Big Apple Beatdown - Ragnarok
3. Demon Rampart - P4ul
4. Knightmare Castle - Unhit
5. Pinball Arena 2k5 - Blackraptor
6. Golem Landscapes - FireSworD
7. City of the Sn00zE - PurpleJazz
8. Radiation - Snooze
9. Facing worlds - DanZeal
10. Crimson Diamond - Martin aka Partydude
11. Starlit CTF - Plumbe
12. Zaitox Station 67 - CelL
13. ISLAND LEVEL WITH ISLANDS - EvilMike
14. Superconductor CTF - Stripe
15. Fukushima - Loon
16. Very Stupid Floating Castle - Ragnarok
17. Dirty Laundry - BloodBunny
18. The Canyon - Dodges
19. Charnel Keep - Blackraptor
20. Slab RatZ - ShadowGpW
21. Black Jack - Superjazz
22. Helldome - EvilMike
23. Wicked Wood - FawFuL
24. Sanguinary Sanctuary - cooba
25. Personal park - Sacrush
26. Industrial Intersect - DarkSonic
27. Quasar Quandary - Nielsje
28. Rainbow Hills - Quickz
29. Destroyed Cassis Factory - Snooze
30. MALCH - Birdie

Battle (Classic)

1. Ain Mosni - ShadowGpW
2. E.Prime - BlurredD
3. Firebreather - Snooze
4. Panic!! - DarkSonic
5. EvilMike's Evil Fortress - EvilMike
6. Green Beret - Bluez
7. Conflux - Superjazz
8. The Impossible Metropolis - cooba
9. Garden Brawl - FireSworD
10. Triton Armory - PurpleJazz
11. Sandstone Ruins (Lite) - Quickz
12. Starlit Basin - Ragnarok
13. Jagged Ectoplasm - Lark
14. Wooden wonders - Sacrush
15. Abandoned Robotics Factory - FireSworD
16. Surreal Supersuburbs - FireSworD
17. Hectic Housewars - Disguise
18. Quick Death Valley - BlurredD
19. Condemned - PurpleJazz
20. Delta Halo - Loon
21. Starlight Falls II - BlurredD
22. Stalactite Labratory - FawFuL
23. Carrotus Squash - Martin aka Partydude
24. The Warden Woods (v2) - cooba
25. SandStrand O' Hazes - Spy
26. Relics of Minoria's Temple - Past of Leveldesign
27. Frozen Lake - Snooze
28. The Corsair's Coast - Blackraptor
29. The Temple of Suffering - P4ul
30. Apocalyptic End - BlurredD

[DawidPracki012]

It looks great and I can come on AB20 :d

[Superjazz]

Looking like a bunch of fun. I'm very honored to have levels of mine featured in each of the lists. Thank you! :)

[Viv1r]

Hi everyone

[FireSworD]

How did everyone enjoy Anniversary Bash 20?

Please reply, because your comments could be useful for future bashes.

[Jelly Jam]

Yeah, it was fun!

[ShadowGPW]

Screenshots screenshots.. anyone made them?

Yes, I loved this year's AB. Mez! and Skulg even showed up a bit :D

The only critism I have is, we didn't hype it enough. Felt rushed :)

[Blackraptor]

I didn't bother taking very many since Shaker was streaming the bash this year, but here ya go:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qcbipsdrt7mm8qd/AAD3m6bSqIyTh6mi9m-jMMK1a?dl=0


I enjoyed it and it was nice seeing old faces again :)

Thanks to everyone who took part in organizing and hosting it!

[Treylina]

Attendance rate was rather disappointing this year, but at least we got more recurring oldies. Better in one way, worse in the other. Mez was the highlight player of ab20, since the renowned tileset maker mysteriously disappeared for 10 years.

I think splitting the levels into classic and modern is something that should only be done once every 10 years. Or else we'd end up with lots of recent repeats/same authors in the modern lists. But I'm not against making the general lists more than 20 levels per gamemode.

I also felt like the classic CTF list was missing something, like old Blur CTFs and more very old levels and dusk v3 -cough-. But it did have quite a few good ones.

[cooba]

I wasn't going to comment on this bash much, but the "future bashes" comment just got on my bad side.

I thought this was a particularly lame bash, made all the worse by the fact of being probably the last occassion for a huge and festive celebration of the game. Instead it was a wet fart with zero hype and poor attendance.

There was so much time to take any sort of action, like contact oldies about the bash far in advance to ensure better attendance, contact gaming news about how CliffyB's Jazz Jackrabbit 2 pulls more players on its 20th anniversary than his latest game, contact GOG and offer a special sale, or maybe even a "free weekend" kind of deal, etc. Good luck getting anything of the above done next year.

(Of course now I'm going to hear "well why didn't you do anything Cooba? :roll:" and I'm already reminded of FQuist's words from over 10 years ago how "nobody will make anything in this community if we don't organise it ourselves"...)

Disappointingly, the only thing the organisers thought of were the lists - in case of which, why were they so poor? At least they weren't a disaster like the in-progress lists of last year, which were so bad they made PJ personally intervene, but still the classics lists were pretty much a joke. Lots of levels that nobody would ever have called "a classic", and yet over half of the JCS award winning levels missing??, I would have thought winning best Battle/CTF of each year would be a good definition of what the community considers classic...

With 19 "best-of" lists from previous years available the only thing to do was to merge them all into one super big list, introduce a proper vote skip mutator (not that the one I wrote last year was any good, but at least it existed), and just let the thing stew for a weekend. Tada, there's your Anniversary Bash 20 list, no need for inventing two lists for each gamemode, asking people for suggestions (only to ignore them in the end) or cutesy "allusions" that nobody really cares about.

As I find myself growing out of the game and largely moving on from the community, I'm really disappointed that what was probably the last bash I attend was mishandled in such a way. I really hope the "future bashes" do better (though it's unlikely at this point), but for pepe's sake get some new blood in and don't let FireSworD anywhere near organising again.

[FireSworD]

My involvement was mainly with the modern Battle and CTF lists.

If there is someone more competent than I at organizing level lists, I'd love him or her to have the position.

[Treylina]

Actually, the Jazz games were on sale around the bash. Only a 15% discount, but still something.

I'm not sure if new blood would really help with the future lists. It helps a ton to have extensive knowledge of what levels there are, and those others that do, don't feel like taking on such a responsibility (but hey, I'll gladly be proven wrong).

I got the impression that a lot of people simply moved on with JJ2 or were busy with something else, hence they wouldn't come over.

Back when I managed organizing lists, I insisted on hunting down alright/decent, but overlooked unused levels. It took me a while to realize that not many, if anyone cares about that. Nowadays I'd do a bash list differently. Though I'd probably still slide in one overlooked gem or two.

I can't imagine an UNniversary-style list...there's a -lot- of crap and repeats. That's why I had went through refining them and yet it still wasn't enough.

[SAMI]

I stopped playing JJ2 because of not being able to run it properly without issues. It became more like a chore.

So yeah, people moved on for several reasons.

[Jelly Jam]

Sorry to hear that :(

[FireSworD]

If anyone is dissatisfied with the lists, I am encouraging them to post lists with the changes they would rather have seen.

[XxMoNsTeRXM]

I got the impression that a lot of people simply moved on with JJ2 or were busy with something else, hence they wouldn't come over.

I actually wanted to play on the Anniversary Bash server, but I've been busy with other things during the bash period.

[Stijn]

I didn't join this year and had other things going on at the time, so I never really looked at the final lists either.

That said, I don't think the level lists are the thing to focus on if the question is how this event could have been more successful. While compiling them is a good tradition, actually they aren't very important. It's nice to have lists of levels to run, but between mutators and JJ2+'s server admin commands they're guidelines at best (or should be).

The level lists may be able to create hype among people who make levels that have a chance of getting into them, but otherwise, meh. If the goal is to drum up some enthusiasm prior to and during the event, I think it would be more useful to focus on fun things everyone can enjoy. Interviews, retrospectives, maybe a small tournament or something. You don't even have to convince CliffyB or Arjan to answer questions, it would be fun to take a look at the stories behind famous levels or community figures or events as well. Maybe write a mutator that allows Jazz2Online visitors to influence the game somehow. Anything that actually offers people something fun to do that's not just playing the same levels they've been playing for 20 years, but in a slightly more busy server. That's an important part of the event, and I wouldn't advocate getting rid of it, but clearly it's not enough on its own.

Or don't change the formula and call it quits after 20 editions. It wouldn't be unreasonable. But I think we can still find ways to make it fun, it would just require doing a little more than just compiling a list of levels and hosting it for a few days.

[Treylina]

Seems like the main issue were other players being busy. Maybe we should reconsider the dates (to be later) next time? I also think the bash should only be two to three days instead of four.

AB19 may have been unusually late, but it felt like more players had free time.

[Stijn]

Me being busy had little to do with the specific date. But it might make a difference for people who are tied to a university or school semester's planning, I suppose.

[Superjazz]

I didn't join this year and had other things going on at the time, so I never really looked at the final lists either.

That said, I don't think the level lists are the thing to focus on if the question is how this event could have been more successful. While compiling them is a good tradition, actually they aren't very important. It's nice to have lists of levels to run, but between mutators and JJ2+'s server admin commands they're guidelines at best (or should be).

The level lists may be able to create hype among people who make levels that have a chance of getting into them, but otherwise, meh. If the goal is to drum up some enthusiasm prior to and during the event, I think it would be more useful to focus on fun things everyone can enjoy. Interviews, retrospectives, maybe a small tournament or something. You don't even have to convince CliffyB or Arjan to answer questions, it would be fun to take a look at the stories behind famous levels or community figures or events as well. Maybe write a mutator that allows Jazz2Online visitors to influence the game somehow. Anything that actually offers people something fun to do that's not just playing the same levels they've been playing for 20 years, but in a slightly more busy server. That's an important part of the event, and I wouldn't advocate getting rid of it, but clearly it's not enough on its own.

Or don't change the formula and call it quits after 20 editions. It wouldn't be unreasonable. But I think we can still find ways to make it fun, it would just require doing a little more than just compiling a list of levels and hosting it for a few days.

I pretty much agree with Stijn here. The level lists were not that important to me either, although it's always an honor to see levels of mine getting chosen. I was satisfied with what we had in the end.

Why was the attendance so minor then? Maybe people just moved on and are no longer lurking around for the news, hard to tell. In the end I found it more exciting to play with other competitive players in Camel Duels rather than join an empty or almost empty (Jety) Bash server.