Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

J2Ov1 news now available in archive form - September 9th 2013

If you feel like going on a nostalgia trip, knock yourself out, as I’ve (finally?) imported the news from the first version of Jazz2Online, which happened to be sitting in some dark, unused corner of the J2O webspace, into the current site’s news system. So you can now read news back to 2001 in our news archives! This will mostly be interesting for those who have been around for a really long time, think 10+ years.

(also this means Dethman’s infamous statement about the JMMB’s closing is available again, praise the lord)

[Final Update] Custom levels get Let's Played - September 3rd 2013

The Let’s Play Jazz Jackrabbit series has concluded the JJ1 leg, with three(!) videos showcasing the community’s custom works.

Stay tuned for the Jazz 2 part of the Let’s Play!

Poll Turnover Time - August 26th 2013

Best JJ1 episode?

Turtle Terror	6 votes (15%)
Ballistic Bunny	10 votes (26%)
Rabbit's Revenge	3 votes (7%)
Gene Machine	3 votes (7%)
The Chase Is On	3 votes (7%)
The Final Clash	2 votes (5%)
Outta Dis World	4 votes (10%)
Turtle Soup	0 vote (0%)
Wild Wabbit	0 vote (0%)
Holiday Hare ('94)	3 votes (7%)
Holiday Hare ('95)	2 votes (5%)
Bonus Levels	2 votes (5%)
Total votes: 38

This poll change is long overdue, but then aren’t they all? Let’s talk about multiplayer levels! Some people like to upload single levels at a time, like “One Silver Penny” or “Employee of the Month.” Sometimes there’ll be two or three at a time. Other times you get a large pack, either drawing exclusively from one single gamemode or comprising a whole bunch of levels, some battle, some CTF, some maybe Jailbreak, whatever. The packs made a lot of sense before JJ2+‘s level list support, since they made it easier to host a server that kept people interested instead of restarting the same level over and over, especially if passwords were involved. But that’s not an issue anymore, since you can cycle from any level to any other level anytime you want, so are packs less important than they used to be? Or do you just like the convenience of getting a whole lot of levels to try out at once, as long as you’ve already bitten the bullet and decided to download a .zip anyhow? And how do you feel about multiple gamemodes in a single set? Talk about that here and answer the poll.

Note that this is specifically asking about what you like to download and hopefully then review ahaha who am I kidding nobody reviews anymore, not what you like to upload. If you love 20-level CTF packs but only ever upload single battle levels, vote for the pack option.

Retro Game Music Bundle moves on (EDITED) - August 13th 2013

Source: Retro Game Music Bundle

The Retro Game Music Bundle folks, who earlier this year released the JJ1 through JJ3 soundtracks commercially for the first time ever, have moved on to a new bundle, which suggests to me that they’re never going to fix the issues still present in said still-available soundtracks.

EDIT: soundofjw has shown up in the comments to dispute my misgivings! Awesome! You can follow updates here.

Level contest - August 10th 2013

Source: JJNet forums

EDIT: The deadline has been extended to September 5th.

From JJNET:

JJNet ladder season 8 is approaching and with it come as always changes to the mappool. This time, however, we are holding a contest where brand new levels can make it into the mappool. The best three maps (supposing there are three that meet our quality-standards) as selected by the admins will be added to the mappool on a temporary basis for the next season. As the season progresses, when a clan reaches 50 points, a vote will be held to determine whether those maps are to be kept in or removed from the mappool.

What are we looking for? Mostly the same things as in most level making contests.

These are the rules :

• We are looking for CTF levels (a contest for the multi-ladder might well be held at another time)
• The level must be playable in 1.23. (If you are going to convert the level from 1.24 afterwards, make sure you pick a tileset that works in 1.23 too.)
• Only new levels will be accepted. Edits of existing levels will not. If a level was started/finished before this contest began, it can however be entered if it was never officially published before.
• Only one entry per person. Collaborations are allowed, but they will count as a whole entry for each collaborator. This is meant to encourage people to focus all their effort on one level, rather than rush many. Quality over quantity.
• As long as the contest stays open, you are allowed to edit/fix/remake your entry as much as you want even after you have submitted it.
• Upload your level to Jazz2Online once you are finished, in order to make it easily available to everyone. Prefix the upload name with [JJnetS8].

Aside from the rules, there are some additional guidelines (if you don’t follow them you’re not likely to get very far):

• The level should be playable in both 2on2 and 3on3.
• The level should have at least decent eyecandy as usual. Most importantly there should be no distracting visual decorations.
• The level should be balanced. You do not need to make the level 100% symmetrical, but try to keep no team significantly advantaged over the other.
• All characters should be playable in the level (Lori too.) Flow differences between characters do not matter, but all characters should be able to reach all objects at least without needing to use tricks like walljumps.
• Try to make the level spacious enough so that there is room for players to dodge bullets for example, but still not too open, as that will increase “lag-dependency”, e.g. lots of long linear paths where players usually get “airhit” from afar (especially if the level contains a lot of seekers, thus avoid the use of Seeker Powerup.)
• For the same reason, add some slightly safer areas so that people have somewhere to hide for a second after they get airhits. However, don’t let the level become a campfest. Try to design base areas with thought.
• Originality is a nice bonus, but we are not looking for full gimmick-levels. Use of AngelScript is allowed, but again, try to not draw the gameplay too far from classic CTF.

You have exactly two weeks starting now on to finish and upload your entry. The contest will close on August 22.

Get your JJ1 level played in a Let's Play - July 22nd 2013

Source: The Something Awful Forums

You might, or might not, have heard of the stupidly good Jazz Jackrabbit Let’s Play by our former members Segmentation Fault, Garnavis and Donnor. In case you haven’t, here’s the deal: they will be covering all four games in detail, with snappy commentary and brilliant Technicolor™ 480p.

So far, Jazz Jackrabbit 1 has been almost fully covered – the only thing left are the custom levels, made by no one else than us. And even though there is no shortage of those, the guys saw how making JJ1 levels is very simple nowadays, and decided to hold a level making jam!

Make a Jazz 1 map and share it here with us! At the end of the Jazz 1 section of the LP, we’ll showcase all the maps people have made! There’s only two requirements for your map to be a part of the jimmmjgh:

1. It must actually run in Jazz.
2. It must have an end-of-level sign somewhere in the level.

The deadline is Thursday, July 25th, which can be worryingly close – but that shouldn’t stop you from getting your jam on! Start by downloading J1E, the template level, and make something cool in a couple hours. And if this couldn’t be easier, remember that there is a modification of JCS rejigged just for the purpose of editing JJ1 levels in the way you edit JJ2 levels. Plus, if you always considered making a JJ1 level but decided against since “nobody would play it”, keep in mind that the average views per video is currently about 350…

JJ2+ splash screen contest - July 11th 2013

Source: JCF thread

Aren’t you people tired of seeing the same splash screen everytime? I know I am. So is incumbent JJ2+ overlord Violet, who just announced a contest for a brand new screen:

If you draw us a great enough new splash screen, we’ll put it in future releases of JJ2+ to replace the original!

Head over to the JCF thread for more info.