Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

JDC Season 27 starts next friday - August 6th 2017

Source: JDC News

As the UNniversary Bash is winding down, the next big event looms on the horizon: Season 27 of the Jazz Duelist Challenge kicks off next friday the 11th.

Apart from promising a few weeks of frantic playing to get the most points and become the Star of This JDC, this edition also includes a new clan ranking parallel to the individual tournament, which should provide an exciting addition to the team play scene.

Head on over to the JDC Website for more info and to activate your account for this season. As always, Good luck to You all!

UNniversary Bash 3 has begun - August 5th 2017

The Unniversary Bash, a regular event in which we play back through many of the greatest hit levels from the last nearly twenty years, has started! You’ll need a registered copy of Jazz Jackrabbit 2, version 1.23 or 1.24 to join, as well as the latest release of the JJ2+ patch.

Click here to join.

The Bash will last at least two days, possibly four depending on interest. Today the focus is on free-for-all Battle levels; tomorrow we’ll switch over to Capture the Flag. This event is purely casual and any and all players are welcome to join and have a rabbity good time.

Jazz cameo in Fortnite - July 27th 2017

Source: h/t/ Snook

Coming not long after the discovery in Horizon Zero Dawn, Jazz has turned up in another 3D game, this time Epic’s Fortnite, which has just been released:

Interestingly, it’s not a straight copy+paste of the Jazz 1 artwork, unless there’s a general filter applied to all art in the game that makes it look like that. The poster was found by Snook in an official level (in the Xbox One version).

UNniversary Bash 3 scheduled - July 14th 2017

Source: JCF Thread

We’ve posted about the annual UNniversary party here before, and now it’s that time again. The UNniversary is Treylina’s brainchild, a casual multiplayer event that looks back through levels hosted in all the previous ANniversary bashes, although this time only a carefully chosen subset of those levels. Expect a mixture of familiar and forgotten maps in a variety of styles.

This year, the UNniversary will be hosted August 5 and 6, a few days after JJ1’s 23rd anniversary.

"Jazz˛ Resurrection" launched - July 1st 2017

Source: JCF Thread

The newest Jazz 2 recode on the block is Jazz˛ Resurrection, following in the footsteps of Project Carrot (last substantive update in February), Carpaintergeril’s project (updated in response to interest from this post!), Jazz Jackrabbit: The Web Adventure (seemingly totally dead), WebJJ2 (likewise, but you never know), OpenJazz2 (don’t hold your breath), and maybe more.

This new project boasts a fairly impressive list of features, despite apparently relying on Project Carrot’s alternate data files instead of reading the .j2l, .j2t, etc files directly. Here’s a video and some screenshots. You’ll notice various inaccuracies, particularly in the player physics, but maybe those will improve with time. Notably, DeathKiller (the project’s author) reports having successfully built and played Jazz˛ Resurrection on an Android device, although no downloads of any kind are available at this time.

One way or another it’s great to see that in 2017, people are still seeing Jazz 2 and thinking “I want to make a game with that engine!” It’s only a few steps from this kind of direct remake to the kind of spinoff we got with Battery Check or Animaniacs.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps announced at E3 - June 12th 2017

A sequel to the 2015 game “Ori and the Blind Forest,” a product of two community members (and a bunch of other people too) just been announced. You can find an atmospheric teaser trailer here, although it doesn’t seem to contain any actual gameplay footage or release date.

Perennial offhand mention Fortnite also got a trailer at E3, as did a bunch of other stuff that I haven’t looked at but which you’re welcome to discuss in the comments anyway.

(And while I have your attention, Arjan and CliffyB’s new game got a name at some point: LawBreakers.)

JJ2+ v5.5 released - June 2nd 2017

Source: JCF announcement

A new version of JJ2+ has arrived! It’s a relatively big one this time – some highlights:

• JJ2+ is now distributed with an installer, which will also automatically make the necessary .ini changes for you (and do other useful things).
• Various changes that give people hosting servers more command-line options and make servers send more data to the list server.
• The list server “message of the day” is now displayed in the server browser, if available.
• Speed improvements, especially for levels with many lighting effects.
• A less obnoxious spectator mode interface.
• As usual, lots of bugfixes.

The full list of changes is in the changelog. Download the new version here!

Tests cross over to Commander Keen - April 23rd 2017

Community alumnus NY00123 has done some quality outreach for Jazz Jackrabbit 2 and ported the concept of ‘test levels’ (if you don’t know what that is join Puke Nuk3m Tests sometime) to that other classic 2D platformer, Commander Keen.

The info and links are all on the PCKF. Give it a try if you fancy testing your jump timings in one of the best DOS platformers ever made!

The Top Gun Contest - April 22nd 2017

Source: JCF thread

Another contest is here, this time run by me. Create a new weapon in Angelscript and win a prize!

Visit the JCF thread for more details, rules, etc.

Jazz Jackrabbit 2 turns 19 - April 9th 2017

Source: The calendar

19 years ago today, the shareware demo of Jazz Jackrabbit 2 was released to the world.

The Jazz 2 Online staff is very happy to see the community is still going, with new downloads, frequent fan made updates to the game, active online competition, and level design contests still happening!

It is absolutely amazing that even after this time, there is a legion of dedicated people who are keeping this game alive – even you, if you’re reading this!

Remember to join the Anniversary Bash on April 14th-17th and celebrate the game’s birthday!