Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Gameplay:4/10
Unfortunately, this level has rather weak gameplay. There are about five power-ups, I believe. However, they seem to just be randomly distributed, with a couple very powerful ones (seekers and rf’s) right near each other and in plain sight, while a more useless one (gun8) is hidden in a bizarre slot in a wall, where no one is likely to find it. Also, there are practically no events other than the power-ups. This means it is possible, that in a game with too many players, some may be stuck with nothing but a blaster. However, the respawn time isn’t particularly long, so this hopefully would not be a problem. The level also has a bit awkward placement of carrots, meaning if someone gets hurt, they’ll possibly have to hide or die. There is a full NRG near the middle, but it’s in a wall hidden behind layer 3, so trying to get it leaves the player too vulnerable. This will also almost certainly result in camping. There is also a +1 c in some vines in the middle, a bit higher up. However, these vines are a bit high off the ground, so spaz can get the carrot a lot easier than jazz, and I doubt lori could get the carrot at all, without a huge blind leap from the blue base. Also, the leftmost masked tiles of the vine do not have the vine event on them, which can lead to collisions that shouldn’t happen. There is another full NRG in the tube up to the blue base. This may throw off the balance between teams a bit though. Also, none of the carrots are generators, so players cannot heal nearly enough over the course of a full game. The level also has a total lack of paths. There is one way to get to each base. and one big flat-ish plain at the bottom of the level. There is no real choice as to where someone wants to go. The combined lack of ammo, well-placed carrots, and paths to choose from gives the level no strategic values as far as I can see, and lends itself to fairly plain gameplay. The red and blue both seem to be fairly even though, which is a plus.

Eyecandy: 6/10
The eyecandy is a bit rough in a few places, but generally good. Nothing stood out to me as brilliantly beautiful. I liked the choice of tileset. The main reasons I didn’t rate it higher is because much of the level looks rather synthetic and forces. Possibly my least favorite point is the set of platforms one must climb to reach the red base. at the bottom, there are some destruct block looking things that just look out of place. The rest of the platforms just kind of float there without anything indicating why they’re there. Also, the blue base is in the middle of a hideous collection of these destruct block type thing. There was an attempt to use layers other than 4, and the background is ok, if a bit boring, standard diamondous type. I dislike the foreground, because it seems to be there just so that there’s something in the foreground, but doesn’t look particularly pretty and seems like it doesn’t really belong. There were some nice touches in eyecandy though too. There were moths (a bit too many maybe, but still they added some variety), and a few lighting changes.

Event Placement:3/10
Events are few and far between here, and those that do exist are often not generators. There is essentially no ammo, and the power-ups are either too obvious and near other power-ups, or too hard to find. Please don’t hide power-ups in holes in the wall behind layer 3. Power-ups should be at least slightly visible, so people who are new to your level will know to look for them. Also, even the people who know they exist will not know if one is still there when they check. People will waste time looking for the bouncy power-up or the full NRG if someone’s already grabbed it before them, and players will end up spending time kicking a wall in a narrow slot in hopes that they’ll hit it when it appears, resulting in some awkward, nasty camping.

Penalties: -1/0
Your upload does not include the tileset used, the music, or the next level. While I happened to have the tileset and music, and plus fixes the nonexistent next level, not everyone will have the same experience, and it’s quite possible several people who download this will end up having it crash on them because of these problems. Also, it would have been nice if you had converted it to 1.23, but I’m not going to take off another point for that.

Overall: 4+6+3-1=12
12 out of 30 possible points =4.0/10 (rounded up)

Unfortunately, I don’t find this level very playable. Please take note of what I have written, and consider it next time you make a level. Also, no amount of written advice will help you improve as much as 1. making more levels, and 2. looking at levels you enjoy. #1 is pretty obvious. Just like with everything else, practice makes perfect. Don’t be discouraged if your levels don’t get the ratings you want, and don’t stop because other people don’t appreciate what you’ve done so far. Just keep making them anyway. #2 is probably what helped me most in my level making. Play jazz a lot. Figure out what your favorite levels are. Figure out why they are your favorite levels. Then make levels that have qualities you like. For example, I like Gauntlet. I like it because there are multiple different ways to heal (2 normal carrots or one full health carrot), and therefore camping isn’t as common. I like it because there is enough ammo that I can shoot whenever I need to, but only if I pay attention and collect ammo when I’m running low. I like it because it’s got enough horizontal space that using rf’s can be useful even when they aren’t powered up. I’m not saying that you should simply copy chunks of your favorite levels, because this leads to boring, repetitive levels. Also, don’t get too stuck in a rut, and only make one type of level. Adding to my example earlier, I also like semi, in part because it just has one carrot. This leads to drastically different gameplay than Gauntlet, but different doesn’t imply better or worse, just different. Your goal isn’t to mash up levels you like, or get level making down to a formula where everything you do has the same number of carrots, same weapons on the map, and similar layouts. Your goal is to understand just what makes a level fun, and then be able to apply these ideas to your own creative works.