Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

I’m not sure what you were thinking making this level so dark. As you can see from the screenshots, this level is so dark that it’s virtually unplayable with ambient lighting on; even worse, it has pits that are easy to fall in regardless.

The Angelscript file doesn’t work.

But so far I like the Roman army references and the music.

EDIT: Would be good if someone replaced the .j2as file…

I wanted to write a full review but in lack of time, these are quite odd levels again, I specially like the event size Dom/Ctf level. Well actually the single player level is a bit unenjoyable for me. DF is usually very annoying but unique and for me, fun idea.
You might directly go in the opposing way, but I would suggest some more orthodoxity.

Hey people, haven’t done this in a while. Anyway.. I played two duels here and I really liked ‘Rural Mountains’, so I decided to review it here on J2o.

1) The size of this level is good. It’s suitable for duels, but also for 2on2’s and possibly even 3on3’s (but I didn’t try that). The tubes and carrot placement make movement some what predictable here, so it actually plays like a fairly small level.

2) The EC is okay. It’s nothing spectacular, but still better than average. I don’t like how TW didn’t let colours fade on layer 8. The leaf-EC in the upperleft corner is good – you can hide the upperleft +1 behind it (or at least make it harder to see). No area looks empty or low on EC.

3) The ammo placement fits the level. I like how this doesn’t have a Bouncy or Seek PU. They both would’ve been too strong. RF, Blaster and Toaster are the obvious choices for a level like this and TW uses them. RF is especially handy in the top half of the level, while Toaster is very useful in the rest of it. The three +1’s are placed well and spread out through the whole level. It makes the level dynamic and fast-paced, which is always a good thing when you play a duel or 2on2.

4) Then the gameplay to finish with, which is definitely the strong part of this level. However, if you feel like playing a fast duel (for example about 10 minutes) this level isn’t any good, since getting roasts here is pretty difficult. I like the left tube, since it adds to the predictability of movement here. Same goes for the carrot placement, but I said that before. When you’re low on health, you might want to hide in the somewhat cramped bottom half of the level. However, two +1’s are in the top half, so that might make you reconsider that tactic.

Okay, so I really recommend this level for duels and 2on2 TB. I didn’t try it yet for larger games. Keep in mind roasts are hard to get here, so don’t expect to play a fast game here. Anyway, you should really check this out if you like battle levels like Abandoned Robotics Factory and similar stuff.

A level not too bad, but not too good either. The gameplay and the flow is not that bad, however there are camping spots (most notably the fastfire warp, the tube on the right and under the left carrot). There’s a large open area in the middle and I don’t really like that, but I guess it’s fine for an ODT level.

I understand Rag asked not to base the level on eyecandy, but this one could have used more in the background – the repetitive brown wood tends to hurt eyes if you move around too much. Also, there’s a pit; I’m gonna leave it up to Rag to decide if it fits or not.

So what do we have here? A rushed level (the creator admits it) that could have been a bit better. Even small ODT levels would require a bit more work and that’s why I can’t rate it higher than 7.4. DL rec? I’ll think about it.

Welcome
to my Detailed review!

Oddity

Starter

Well what to say, even through it has a name that doesn’t tell much it’s really accurate, I mean the level is irregularly big with numerous weird things, it might also fit the good old orbitus. Even if I fould it very confusing first, it has creative things and interesting parts!

Look/Eyecandy

This tileset has it’s own great atmosphere, what you abused right. The background is great, the decorations aren’t overdone. Also a good thing that the tiles show, or least reflect what can happen there. It’s not hurting my eyes, it feels natural, in the right meaning. You cared about the walls in many places so it doesn’t really feel blank anywhere. Maybe there could be a bit more yellow stuff but it’s quite well done this way too. There is nearly nothing in the foreground covering playable areas, it’s easy to understand how to move in the level, the outfit is definitely not confusing. On top of these I didn’t find any tilebugs. It might feel undone, not made that carefully, yet it’s just appearing to be quite decent.
GJ, but well, I didn’t crap my pants so no max points. xd,,

Rating:23/25

Layout

Basically: huge. It’s using the oldschool two bases facing each other in the sides type. The lower part is appearing to be a bit useless, but i didn’t try it it might work well. Symmetrical, what is appropriate in this size. It takes certain time to understand and learn the layout (and the whole lvl) though.

Rating:11/15

Gameplay
Yes, I will be talking about it without trying it out with ppl.

Referring to the size, it could work with the minimum of 3;3 players, and it could very well be played in JDC events or such. There are quite many PUs with 2 damage, and only +1 Cs what, I believe, can make killing easy. I think the most fighting would be around the bases, they are very vulnerable to BNCs, so a defender might have significant advantage. The shield has only 10 sec, so it doesn’t carry that much strength, still can entitle you to a safe capturing. Just as you wrote about your own lvl, yes the many warps make it confusing and chaotic, what I wouldn’t basically mark as a bad point, just as a property. I think it doesn’t give advantage to a character, a lori player takes care of it. The flow is understandable easily but the float ups are usually more annoying than useful, and as I already mentioned, it takes a little time to learn. (just like any other lvl, but this might take a bit long)

Rating:24/30

Pickups

Ugh, 9 PUs, 7 with Dmg, with most types, excepting Seeker and Electroblaster. I agree with the decision, even if I think seeker could be a good weapon here. There is a shield and only small carrots, so it’s basically not needed. The placements are fine, the most creative, the shield’s warpout, it’s really fun as you can take damage if it’s taken, but I think the other ways shouldn’t be there so that you would be forced to get a hit. The PUs are always in places that ensure you can’t take it to full, In my opinion it’s bad, least the toasters could be simply out. There are lots of ammos spread in the level, mostly just a little, but on the bottom there are big piles, it acts allright. I don’t like the FF placements, I usually took then however I never wanted. There is only one place where I feel like there should be something put, it’s the top middle place. It would be an ammo refiller, but I would more adivse a +1 C. I think that in a 4v4 match or above it would be quite appropriate.

Rating:20/25

Music

It’s not needed to mention I suppose.

Rating:5/5

Overall

It’s quite unorthodox, and doesn’t come with instant understanding, so it might be repellent for random people. It must be definitely fun to play with big armies anyway.

83 out of 100

Sparkling Caves
:3

Starter

I tested this level several times, and now finally there it has it’s cool outfit. Just like Oddity, it’s unorthodox, hm, I’m gonna say Thunderwalker style.

Look/Eyecandy

Yey! It’s really fancy! It’s damn outworked in many places, it differs in many places, It’s pleasuring to be here, really. The concept that the top is light and the bottom is dark is great! It’s not irritating to the eyes, the foregrouns things are just a very few, the eyecandy isn’t confusing. I also like that the warps and that one tube is marked. Okay, enough of the deserved praising, in the bottom the backgrounds and the walls feel a very very little blank.
yeez, I was close to pantscarpping

Rating:24/25

Layout

Ahh! An assymetrical level, with one base at the bottom left and the other in the top right. What is sure that it was irregularly hard a job to balance, and it was worthy, I couldn’t point out any advantage. The leves size is medium. Is fairly easy to learn.

Rating:14/15

Gameplay

As you mention it at the description, yes, it’s definietly fitting to 2v2s and duels. Trough the testings I myself played it a few times, It is cool, but irregular. oppa TW style The fights are a bit crippled, with the types of 2 damage weapons. Also it’s a little similar to Battle moded levels, as it only has +1 Cs. When I was playing here, the fights weren’t that intense, i usually was just walking around in joy without meeting any enemies. It is sharpened to killing anyway, I think it needs more personal strength than teamplay. The flow is good, I didn’t find it annoying anywhere. It doesn’t give adventage to any characters again.

Rating:27/30

Pickups

Mainly, it’s great, the PUs determine the way of the fights, there could be EB, it would make it different though. The FFs are placed out from the playing area, thumb up for that! The PUs and Shield are placed fairly and rightly. Maybe the carrots are a bit closer to the blue base, just a minimal thing. There are enough ammos, but don’t be afraid to put bigger piles of them. The shield as you also mentioned, carries much power. Well, I don’t feel like having anything else to say. Moo

Rating:22/25

Music

Is that a diamondus remix? Hah!

Rating:5/5

Overall

This level is definitely the shine of the pack. Was worth the time to make and test! Just a little note, the warps leading out to pit requires plus.

92 out of 100

Greedy Buddha

Starter

What a name, hah. This is of the not too played gamemode, bank robbery. As you also told above, commenting your own levels, it isn’t made with that effort, what is quite visible.

Look/Eyecandy

The lower part of the level feels a bit boring and just looks plain. The tubes are very unnatural and outstanding. However, the background is amazing, I love it! At a few places the eyecandy is cool. Simply lacking the vast work what was put into Sparkling Caves, this tileset has enormous propriaties to utilise. Not eyehurting view. The tubes and the plain walls let you feel artificial what is in the bottom, I’m sad you didn’t work it out, would be a real masterpiece then with that top.

Rating:19/25

Layout

There are in the 4 corners the bases and the banks. They are placed right, but I think that the banks are very hard to defend. There are 2 +1Cs in the middle what keeps the people alive. There are many very fast and easy ways to access the banks. It probably doesn’t make the game bad, but make it a matter of speed. It’s symmertical, so balanced. Minimal time to learn. Nothing irregular, a bit plain.

Rating:10/15

Gameplay
I didn’t try this online.

There would be a big gush of points, as the banks would be always full of robbers, really, the people wanting to stop them will have a very very hard time. Altrough they can kill them if they stay for too long. It could work properly, but victory will quite depend on the teamplay, whether the bank isn’t filled with too much robbers, and are coming in in right order, to abuse the most gold out. I would love to try it out. Just guessing, I say it would need 3v3+ players. That, the points are got for 100 coins first and then the followings only cost half of it is great idea. The flow is a few times miscoordinated or annoying.

Rating:25/30

Pickups

Well, this will be a part where i complain a lot. Fisrt of all, the only PU there is, the toaster isn’t much, and the level is also poor in other simple ammos. Minimally I would put one more PU, damaging 2. No, pepper PU isn’t a significant thing. Secondly, The bases aren’t carrying much potential, only a little ammos. The fire shields there are bugged or something, I didn’t ever get them. Lastly the small Cs on the middle will heal you up against a potential chaser. Again, don’t be afraid to put a lot of ammo out.

Rating:13/25

Music

I took the time and got it. It’s fitting obviously.

Rating:5/5

Overall

This gamemode is quite underplayed (just like 95% of the gamemodes by the way..), even as there are growing number of good levels in them.
Hard words coming, but this map is significantly decreasing the quality of this upload. You either should’ve put more time/testing to it, or not include it.

72 out of 100

Final Conclusions

Really a precise job done mainly! These rightly made, irregular levels, pointing out the two CTFs, would deserve to be played, however I fear the unorthodoxity will decrease their popularity. Big respect for you sir anyway!

83+92+72=247
247/300 => 8.2/10

8.2 out of 10

~RabidRabb

Really, if you have read this, big respect to you too, dear reader!

It has been a while since I’ve downloaded anything from here but I liked the design so I tried it. I have to say this is a very good level. The often small space and the cave design is very well done. Though I had to get used to the fact that ceiling spikes actually work here (which is good). I got every type of ammo with the exception of seekers and pepper spray. The bouncer got really useful at certain places mostly when I was low on health. Health was actually enough, whenever I needed only 1 hit I got a carrot. Even if not, I survived far enough to get one. I found quite a lot of secrets, I think there were even a few which couldn’t be accessed though I’m not 100% sure. You can argue that it’s too linear, too simple etc. but it depends on who’s playing. For example I like levels which don’t divide 20 times in 35 places. Yes-yes and I’m a horrible person for liking the original levels as well. I like when I know where I’m actually going. Also I couldn’t care less about a story. J.K. Rowling may be a good writer but I doubt she’s a good level creator. So there’s no point in making a bad story for a good level, as well as making good stories for a level that sucks. I think it’s perfectly okay that you used the original music, don’t know how you think about it but I like the original tracks. Another reason why I like this level is because you can see that this wasn’t a 2 hour work. It is really long and still very precisely done. I really can’t find too many things that could lower the rating. Maybe that there are very few saving points. I can’t really complain about the difficulty since in my opinion a level needs about as much difficulty as this level has (well maybe a little bit less).

My rating is no less than 9.5 and even if it’s not a perfectly accurate rating I can calmly recommend this level for any player.

Good tileset,good level,ThundarWhalker!Excuse for my bad english!

[Review changed to quick review, see the review rules.

I tested this too ages ago, and pretty much agree with everything Laro said, some areas need minor reworks, such as the top right in general, and peppermint is pretty unecessary in this level.

The eyecandy didn’t really wow me as such, this set is very versatile; more coulda been done.

The level plays alright though. =)

I betatested this, the C’s are placed wide and nice, easy to get, easy to attack. Pu’s are good but the pepper can be a little bit useless compared with RF pu. Some things are easier for Lori like the tube but that isn’t a big deal, as Spaz’s double jump is very usefull too. Well deserved 7.5.

This level works quite well, the ammo placements are good, power-ups and carrots aswell. After playing a duel in this level with DS, I think the float ups are used very well, and music is fitting aswell.

Use this to convert ur lvl into 1.23:

http://www.jazz2online.com/downloads/5368/tsf-to-123-j2l-converter/

Most of jj2 players have TSF version, but not ALL…

[EDIT]Gladly see. Now its 1.23…

Hi. I have finally found something interesting
Mines Of Diamondus by ThunderWalker:
Now the review:

You start with Jazz/Spaz/LOri and you get to the first text
(which you could fix by the way) , and after that the show begins.

Story: Well no storyline but i won’t deduct too much out of it.

Eyecandy: The typical Diamondus tileset with 90% caves,
there weren’t too many bugs, although i have found one and after that i died because of a bat; it was covered but layer 3 contain the cave blue as well.
The layer 5 is used as well for some background cave, and layer 8 the same, layer 7and 6 with caves and holes full of leaf(or whatever that green thing is.)

Gameplay You start on a platform, it’s quite dark, there are some spikes down so be careful, there are quite a few enemies although it would be more usefull to put hurt floor instead of bees on the spikes, there are bats, hidden everywhere, carrots hidden, coins,ammo crates and barrels, there is a large variety of enemies although some only appear once or appear many in one place, there are a lot of warps, guns, food and many others.
Another thing about spikes: There are near end which is not good!
The checkpoints aren’t quite often met: I died at 1/4 of level and started from the begining, because there are only 2 checkpoints in all the level. Anyway it’s quite linear but it is a good gameplay.
And you could try putting more enemies in hard mode instead of pilling enemies on normal mode. It’s quite hard.

Ammo placement: As i said before there are all weapons, although i just wonder what’s with the electro gun?
Anyway, it’s enough for the entire level,but sometime i just felt like: why don’t just use the blaster instead of all these?
fire on bees, rapiers and raven(that’s arguable).
bouncer for…. enemies..
RF for enemies or boss.
TNT for crates.
and the rest for boss, because from what’ i’ve analysed in the level, all Destruct Scenery are with Weapon 0 so you can shoot them wih anything(except freezer ammo)….

Enemy placement
There are bees on the horisontal spikes, there are bats hidden everywhere, dragons spit fire at you when “you need the most”, a lot of tough turtles, and some are just in one place or more in 1 place and appear once in the whole level.(eg: the rapiers).
The boss is the schwarzenguard; i sincerely hope nobody has 1 life right before he/she fights it. There is a “low” spike from which you can’t escape other than jjfly…
It’s a good thing the spikes before the boss stomp blocks aren’t “spiky”; no hurt event… yeey!.

The Result:
Story: None: 7.5/10
Gameplay: Good but still room for more. 8.5/10
Ammo placement: Good, there are all guns although some are useless…. 8.5/10
Enemy_place. Lots of enemies, though, the fact that there are too many is making it hard 8.5/10
Originality: Yes, original level with a cavey design. 9.3/10
Bugs: Almost none: 9/10
Miscelaneous: You could learn making some texts…. 8/10

Final mark: 7.5+8.5+8.5+8.5+9.3+9+8 / 7 => 8.3 with DR

No offense to you, but i’d suggest you’d lower your seemingly high standards a bit, if this kind of levels are the best you can do.

EDIT: I am not the only one who has noticed/has gotten annoyed by that, btw. also, for the level it seems you could have fixed alot with some small adjustments..

ThunderWalker: I mean small details, like adding some more ec, and adding oneways to some tiles. doing that would greatly help the flow :P

I don’t know who made the music anyway, I couldn’t find it anywhere, but I thought it was Blur, because he was mentioned in VioletCLM’s CrysilisV download and the other two tracks in that download are tracked from JJ1 and not from Sonic.

Edit:
Snooze, you are probably right.

But what do you exactly mean with “small adjustments”?

Blur for the music? What did you smoke to think that?

I guess that was the advice anyway. and you mentioned it’s a sonic track, which i approve. So it would be an remix/conversion.

Anyway, the music is re-tracked by kipling, as the file preview says.

good level

[“good level” doesn’t quite match the 3.0 score you gave. Please write a review that at least matches your rating, however short it is. ~Stijn]

I appreciate the reviews.
I have already made a few changes and I got the text working. Also some collapsing scenery, boll platforms and Spike bolls are added in. I’d re-upload it soon.

Also note that this level is supposed to be narrow with a lot of spikes. You are moving through caves, through mines!

This is fantastic. When I loaded up the level, my first reaction was “here comes the painful slime green and blue of Diamondus” but I quickly forgot that notion after seeing your excellent use of the tileset.

Eyecandy:
There is variety everywhere. This level doesn’t seem to specialize in a particular theme or weapon loadout, which for a standalone level is fine. I love the backgrounds that peek through the hole in the wall. The level doesn’t really suffer from the usual REPETITIVE scenery, but it does get to be a bit much sometimes in relation to how much stuff is crammed into a given area. It’s also a pretty tight squeeze through most (but not all) of the level. Efficient use of space? Definitely. Feeling claustrophobic? A bit.

Gameplay:
There were a few things I took issue with. Mainly:
- The warp portal exit near the second witch spawns you right into her. This is not fun when you’re on your last frog legs.
- One area where the ceiling came to a point, there were some hurt events that I ran into blindly. Throughout the rest of the level I avoided such areas until I realized you only slapped a hurt event onto that particular one. I’d just get rid of it since it’s not obvious. Either that, or you could change all of them to do this which would screw up some areas of the level (the gem trail, etc).
- One of the trigger crates could not be destroyed by Jazz (the one leading to the bouncer ammo). I don’t know whether this was intentional or not. I kinda liked it because it forced me to dig through my backpack for some TNT.

The rest of the gameplay was really quite good. In some of the tight areas – mainly at the beginning of the level – I couldn’t clear the spikes. I would have preferred a spring on the ceiling that pushes you back rather than stalactites. The use of food and gems was very tasteful. Baddies, a little less so but there’s only so much you can do with them.

Using the classic music for DIamondus fit rather well. The whole level had a bit of an oldschool feel to it with the way it was all narrow corridors – the sort of thing you’d see back when you couldn’t fit much on your monitor :p

I could care less that there was no storyline. The level would be better with one, but not by much. I like stories that keep you in suspense over multiple levels anyway.

If I could make any definite recommendations on improving your levelmaking, I’d say… allow the player to “breathe” a bit more. Open areas and more checkpoints (maybe; I don’t like dying, but they were well-placed in this level). I just couldn’t help the feeling that I was being squeezed through a sewer pipe at times. If at all possible, choose a tileset that is less painful on the eyes in the future.

This is real quality work. I hope you make more.

My favorite part about this level is how unapologetically ridiculous it is. There is no storyline, as we learn at the very beginning when even a text sign tile fails to produce any text. There’s a boss at the end, but no explanation is given then either. The level exists entirely within itself, and is nothing more than a darkened, linear, sadistic romp through the emptier caves of Diamondus. It is the most basic part of JJ2 single player distilled: enemies are in your way, as are spikes, and over time you pick up food and ammo to help you. There are two moments when trigger crates became involved, but at that point I didn’t trust the level enough not to perceive them as a threat to avoid stomping until I had made sure there really was an impenetrable obstacle later on in my path.

From the very first screen, you know you’re in trouble. It’s dark, a few enemies are circulating around, and there are spikes you don’t want to fall on. A quick check reveals that ceiling spikes hurt you as well. And that’s what you need to know. There are a lot of spikes, and a lot of enemies, and they’re never really going to let up. There’s not enough ammo to use it constantly, but there’s enough so that whenever you get in a situation warranting it you shouldn’t be defenseless. Toaster and RFs won the day for me as enhanced melee weapons to take out a group of enemies quickly with more firepower than the blaster. I didn’t especially notice any moments when TNT or Electroblaster would have come in handy (outside of a trigger crate for the former), but ice had its moments against the tougher baddies, and bouncers were absent for most of the level and then presented as a lifesaving boon near the end. Seekers were, in keeping with the amount this level wants you to die horribly, nowhere to be found.

Mine of Diamondus is a good example of how to use a lot of different enemies right, in that it staggers them rather than introducing them all at the very start of the level. The more thematically specific ones, such as skeletons and ghosts, are restricted to limited areas which you may assume are more haunted than the rest of the mine. Float lizards only appear at the top of the level — which gives you the prospect of escaping the mine but in fact reveals the far background to be no more than more cave but a little farther away — and fencers and witches at the bottom near the end. (I don’t think the fencers really worked, due to their costumes, and I think they really only do appear in one spot so they would not have been missed.) The level uses two witches and incorporates them into its design philosophy perfectly in that they are presented with no show or preamble at all, are gone with as little fanfare as they appeared, and are not involved with any complicated find-Eva-type level design. Rather, you morph back almost immediately after meeting them: they’re just threats. It’s kind of amazing.

There are several secrets to break up the level, some of which are obvious and some not. The author favors layer 3 secrets that you have to shoot your way into over the ones that you don’t, so eventually I realized that it just made sense to have the blaster firing all the time, and switch to other weapons when the occasion warranted it. Secrets get bigger as the level goes on, giving you carrots and large caches of ammo instead of a measly two red gems, and were all fairly well executed. There were some I saw but never found a way into, and I wouldn’t be too surprised if they weren’t actually accessible and the level was just being sadistic, because that is so much the feeling I got from this level. It was enjoying my pain and looking for subtle, non-flashy ways to increase it. Bats would come out of the floor, secrets would not be where I expected, witches would attack without any warning at all, the top of the level didn’t offer any sight of the sky, and so on. Even the end of the level pits you against a boss in the deepest point of the cave, and there’s no suggestion that beating it will make any progress in getting you out of there, because it’s a dead end at the bottom of a long pit. Even by beating the level you are no less doomed than you were at the start. Yet determination wins out!

I’m not sure how I feel about the eyecandy… it was very basic, letting the level design speak for itself, but still I think at least a little bit more could have been done. The level was, as I’ve said, extremely linear — most of the trigger crates were even before the blocks they removed — and I don’t know whether that’s good or bad, because it certainly made the level all the more inevitable to give me no choice at any time what I would be doing next, outside of finding secrets. And there could have been more creativity in some of the obstacles. I think swinging platforms would have worked well here, and in general some enemies placed more tactfully, since at least most of them only involved getting in the right place to hit with two or three or four bullets. The important thing is to maintain the feeling that the level is deeply, deeply angry at you for something that you did — even if you have no idea what it could possibly have been and would probably apologize if the level would only provide you a text sign — and I don’t think that’s in much danger of going away. The only false note on the obstacle side was an inescapable pit of spikes near the end. Not cool.