Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Raneforus V, the tileset that has been barely used in general, has been used really well for the theme that the level here uses, the level that was chosen for the JJNet ladder’s mappool. The theme in ‘Canyon Grove’ is indeed well executed, although cause of the theme, the level’s name could as well be ‘Jungle’s Inside’(reference to ‘Jungle’s Edge’.)

However the level of course is more than just a jungle, as it’s more like a ruined temple in the jungle. The background consists of the tileset conversions’ classic JJ1 background tiles and it fits just well in my opinion, as it’s been all done in detail like the rest of the level. The tileset of course hasn’t been used to it’s fullest potential, as only tiles that were necessary for the theme were used. However, the amount of visuals is just brilliant and there is certainly no need for more of them, as it would make the eyecandy rather excessive and distracting if all the tiles in the tileset were used, even when they weren’t really needed.

Now, the level design itself is what completely surprised me when I saw it the first time, as it’s really ideal for CTF with still a lot of room to make various plays. The designing is partly the type of designing that I would expect to see from the legendary BlurredD himself. It may at first seem overly complex, but really, in the end it all just makes sense. There is a good mix of solid and thin walls/platforms, and there are many corridors where a player can hide, but with the wise usage of ammo the level won’t turn into a campfest either. There is also enough space to shoot, and yet there aren’t any too open areas which would increase ‘lag-dependency’ in online games. I really do like the design around bases especially.

One of the questions may be that; Is this level too big for normal games? Well, certainly not for typical 3on3 games and bigger. I tried one here and it played really well in my opinion, there was enough scoring and roasting. However, I’m not yet certain about duels or 2v2 games, as I’ve tried out neither of them, but at least the long spawn-times of carrots (25-30) should make them plausible.

One of the major concepts here concerns the ammunition, for which some AngelScripting has been used. The script will never let you have more than a maximum of 25 seeker ammo at once, which discourages massive seeker spamming in the level wherever you go, and forces to make wise use of them instead which is a good thing. The other part of the concept is the power up placement. In the latest JJ2+ there is the new type of ammunition; Fireball which replaces Pepperspray(Gun8) which all JJ2+ users should know by now. Since the Fireball deals damage value of 2 when powered up, it makes for an equal alternative for the RF power up. Since pepperspray power up deals always a damage value of 1, powered up or not, that would certainly be too underwhelming against the RF power up. As these 2 power ups have been divided among the team sides, the script prevents the disable of Fireball, which ensures fair games in all cases.

I’m now sure that this is my favourite level of PurpleJazz so far, as it shines of sheer brilliance in both gameplay and visuality. There are only a couple of minor flaws that I would complain about, one being the flow error at the level edges, requiring a player who comes from the bottom of the level to jump by the bases’ platform to get up to the spring that takes you to the next level. The other flaw being the slightly confusing use of One way events, since there is no clear logic which of the thin platforms have it and which not, except that it’s somewhat obvious under the bases and wherever springs make the flow. Well, I guess it also helps to counter camping with the seeker ammo. Also, whether or not this level works well in duels/2v2 is yet to be seen for me. But at least the level is ideal for 3on3 games and JDC Events.

Too long/Didn’t read/Summary part: Here is a very high-quality level by PurpleJazz that offers exotic gameplay in exotic environment(cheesily said.) Download this!

This tileset is a bit overrated. The quality is decent and all, but it uses too much dithering, and lacks versatility. Some of the colours are close to the rabbit pallette, like the pavement/stony ground and greenery, which could’ve been used for efficiency so you can sneak more colours in, allowing to make it even smoother.

Arcane Observatory

Someone cycled to the level and people started to criticise it, what i will use in my review.

Theme

Arcane Observatory, this name refers to WarCraft 3’s building where there are these magical floating stuffs in a building. What can I say, this level is totally based around that thing, thus there is the big building made of floating platforms, with a dark forest at the background, raining heavily with the really nicely fitting music (what is made by Alexander Brandon who made the musics for jj2 too), that adds a lot to the feeling while being at the this level. I feel like I was at a mediveal, magical sorcery place, genious, I love the Theme of the level.
[18:07:20] RabRabCC: the theme of the level is nice though
[18:07:25] PurpleJazzCC: well yes

20 out of 20

Eyecandy

Mainly it’s dark over there, it’s relaxing for the eyes. I especially like the background, even though it’s the basic offering of the tileset. There are some nice background parts, many windows, it’s simple but natural, what means you’ve put there the right amount of decoration. There aren’t confusing things, except for the BNC PUs, they are a little hidden but once you found them it’s no big deal, I mean, a part of them is visible. This amount of Eyecandy is really right for a CTF level (or anything else basically). It’s definietly nice.

20 out of 20

Layout

Well after all these nice points, I’m sad about it, but i have to say that the level is a little too much focused on the Theme and the look, what causes the level’s gameplay and layout to have problems.
Firstly I would explain it’s simplified layout: Bases in the middle routes side by side, Powerups at the 4 corners of the level, carrot in the middle. That sounds allright, it’s obviously balanced, fairly easy to understand. The carrot’s box is problematic though, since there is only a full carrot, and it’s really campy. The entrance of the carrot is campy, the box is a trap, and the exit of the box is also very campy, this makes a larger team game carrotless, as the flagholder can’t risk going to the carrot , because he/she has hardly any way to get out with more health. Moreover in these two critical places, the entrance of the carrot box and the exit from the box are the two ways where you can go to the other side, and they have seekers close so they are ultimate camp places. That is bad.
[18:05:45] -t3’: this dead end is a terrible design decision
[18:06:07] -t3’: it could just have a passage to the other side
He is talking about 69 23 to 73 25. I have to agree with him, there is a solution with triggers, so that the person can go up with the tube (or if he/she wants to get out he can get out by buttstomping) and the person who wants to go to the other side has one other nice way to do so.
[18:11:41] PurpleJazzCC: i don’t really like the platformish layout
Well In my view of things, being platformish isn’t an issue of layout, but okay, the level is platformish, I will come back to it at the gameplay section.
The layout is simple anyway, there aren’t many tactical issues, you can’t really chase else than in liner paths when the enemy isn’t far, you can rather camp.
It’s unique so that’s a good point.

16 out of 30

Gameplay

Duels work, since there is only one carrot, maybe in duels the carrot problem i explained right above is nonexsistent. It’s quite big though, so it might take a lot of time if someone decides to run around and hide. The size suggests 3v3, but the carrot and it’s campyness suggests 2v2 rather. In 3v3 it becomes a carrotless map, it might still be fun it does work then too, but it’s somewhat bad. The RF is crucial, BNC is useful too, and as there are both of them in both sides, it gives enough supply. The BNC’s dead-end is a bit dangerous, but I don’t think it’s a problem. The ammos are allright, they are functional in the level, yet there could be some non powerupped toaster, they might had some use. Ah and EB seems to be a little useless, there are no walls you could use it on else than the carrot box. The ammo placement is a bit agureable, you shouldn’t put seeks close a campy place.
Pits:
[18:06:20] PurpleJazzCC: i think the pits here are annoying and
[18:06:23] PurpleJazzCC: unnecessary
[18:06:46] PurpleJazzCC: they were fine in coffee
[18:06:52] PurpleJazzCC: but here they just seem really random
[18:07:12] PurpleJazzCC: a bit of a risky design choice considering this
[18:07:18] PurpleJazzCC: was to make a new mappool level
Many people (excluding me) hates pits. PJ is right, these pits aren’t carrying something tactical or intended, they are just there, like “why not?”. I can assume, the reason why the pits are there is the name, the theme’s concept, and now comes back what I said earlier, the theme is more in the focus than the gameplay. The base areas are neat, they can be approached from many ways, can be defended with seeks or something.
[18:09:52] Kenny-CDF-: i dont really like its flow :/
[18:12:20] PurpleJazzCC: yea lots of jumping required here
That’s true, you gotta jump a lot, but mainly the flow is allright I mean you don’t crush to unexpected obsticles, if I ignore occasionally falling down.
As the last thing about the gameplay I will say, the platformish layout. There are plenty of ways you can go on, you can always change direction, there aren’t anything to control your movement, like you needn’t go up, in the route you can just go right along, and this makes the players be very unexpectable, you can’t really predict where to go, and if you even could, you can not get in front of your enemy, or you can’t shoot him from a place. The carrot box and the middle place is an exception to this said, but I already told what’s bad about them.

14 out of 30

Conclusion

This is a nice level, it’s pretty, has a catchy feeling, yet the gameplay is dull, not too tactical, with a campy carrot box. What advice i would give is that, you need to plan the gameplay ahead and then decorate the level, what you, comrade, do quite right.

-RabidRabb

Although the level has a high overall attention to detail (the background looks great), the amount of layer 4 eyecandy can be distracting at first. Not sure if I like the repetition of the 3×2 leaf clusters. However, the level has a very solid layout and hence is fun to play. It might be slightly too large for 2vs2, but 3vs3+ works well here.

I know a charity worker that often visits Africa to build on a children’s school. They got a laptop sponsored, I might just pre-apply this patch and burn a copy of JJ2 and ‘sponsor’ it to them. lol

Awesome work though!

reg ;)

http://www.microsoft.com/Language/en-US/Search.aspx?sString=joystick&langID=af-za

:-)

“joystick” is “speelstang” in Afrikaans? This is wonderful…

the level looks fun, and the tubes are great fun to run around in (seriously really fun, cool idea), however i didnt like the powerups being gun9-only, the campy campy c, and the fact that it takes 3 seconds to go from base to base :(… some of the passageways on the bottom don’t flow amazingly either and could be improved x

Yet another level using a battleships-tileset by rag, and that just tells you can expect high quality. The level is still very innovative with a good-looking palette which I haven’t yet seen for this tileset, and the gameplay isn’t too mainstream with the extra passages that become available for you when you obtain certain types of ammo. DL rec.

Overall, this isn’t as good as the 2nd pack. Some levels are cool, while some are just bad, lasting a lame 3 seconds. Infected is the worst level, with everyone annoylingly pushing because of the same start pos, dying there out of your own control, as well as being far too small and risky for seekers. I will make a longer review later.

Before reviewing, I’d like to say that I didn’t actually host this level or participate in an actual multiplayer session. I merely observed the layout from the perspective of both bases and the road to back and forth, including ammo etc. Still, my opinion should be taken with a grain of salt. :P

First thing I noticed was that the gameplay is very speed-based and there’s little room for camping, except maybe in the middle-down area that is only accessable by tubes. Next there’s the obvious (and intended) lack of serious ammo placement and PU’s. I got to say that it’s an unusual design choice but could be interesting especially for 3v3 games that are normally very hectic.

The upper vertical pathways involve sucker events that pull you up, which took me some time to get used to. It feels rather gimmicky to me, and I’d rather see small platforms there. It does however allow you to carelessly hop up allowing for easy speed and flow of the game.

And lastly, the eyecandy and overall look of the level is plain and simple, but OK for the kind of gameplay it’s intended for. The rain/lightning background is dark but pretty original (though I say it, who shouldn’t :P).. There’s little that reminds you it’s actually a Tubelectric level, and the blocky diagonal platforms are ‘foregrounded’ to (again) allow for more speed.

Overall a simple yet original level ideal for a no-nonsense match as the title of the level suggests, but don’t expect a miracle in CTF land. Download recommended, and I think a 6.7 is a good rating here. Don’t take this the wrong way, you should really give this level a go for the purpose it was made for: No-nonsense skill testing, especially for movement speed and team coordination!

Very fitting climax music. Easely something Robert Allen could’ve mixed in. The added guitar tune blends in perfectly with the ending music that is to come.

Gameplay: 2.1 / 3.4

Placement: 0.3 / 0.8

Although the powerups are placed nicely, perhaps you could have placed at least one above, as they are all on the bottom of the level. The carrot slightly compensates it, though it can fall down easily. Ammo pickups are placed nicely and don’t think there is a lack of them.

Flow: 1.8 / 2.6

This level consists out of many small areas. They are however, big enough to have nice individual combat there. Also little springs are used, players can gain altitude by jumping on higher platforms or using vines, those are actually the only 2 ways in this level. Both teams have a warp to get to the bottom of the opponents base, though you can move through the carrot area only from one base, so that’s a bit biased. If this level had some spectacular original gameplay it would have been even better.

Eyecandy: 2.3 / 3.3

The background looks very detailed and certainly adds to the feeling the level gives you. The platforms all look much alike, of course you are bounded to the tileset though. Not much foreground to be seen here, you could’ve decided to add the things hanging from the ceiling to the foreground.

Originality: 2.0 / 3.3

As said before, this level lacks real inventive gameplay. Though the layout doesn’t really look much like other levels. Also the potential carrot area is quite a big part of the level, you did a good job there. I also like the hollowed out dead end at the toaster PU which causes the dead end to be not much of a problem.

Final Grade: 6.4

Can’t touch this!

Im not sure what u mean with the foreground.

The level doesn’t have a lot of ammo because normal ammo is regarded the same as a powerup here. If you would have actually played it in a game you would have seen that it respawns way faster than most ammo in other levels.

Whenever rag touches battleships it turns into something great. Basic things like flow and ammo placement are well done. The original concept of this level is the ice/rf you need to move around. Imo it’s well done in this level and is not annoying. What I liked most is that this is fun to play, I’d love to see this added in the multiladder mappool.

Good Job its Funny i like it:P

Meh, this causes more problems than solves them. Causes graphical glitch on the Deckstar boss, really messes up the Dreempipes and Laguncius ones, screws up the audio pitch on Ceramius, etc.

Sounds pretty cool.

Even though this may be a first level, I find it overrated, and I’ll explain the bad points (because I’m evil and it’s easier to point out);

Game breaking bugs come first. I’m not sure whether this is an awful trap or a serious bug, but the bottom left corner with the shield is seriously messed up. Once I got down into the room, I couldn’t get back up, no matter what character. EVENTS WILL NOT work properly when placed in the complete left/right corners of the map. Also, masking issue.

I think mazes could be more fun providing the player still at least gets a reward for taking the wrong path, like some pickup. I’m not a big fan of mazes myself, though having a risk-reward scenario (if they take the wrong path, which may be more risky, they get a decent reward) could make them more engaging. There’s some of it in this level, though.

Some of the parts in the level are just plain cheap; Things you get punished for because you don’t know they’re there, or things where you must flail around because knowing some “secret” (unindicated area) is required to pass. This may be personal preference, because there are probably are players who don’t mind it, though I don’t find it fun at all myself, as it’s unrewarding time of play that can make the level drag on longer than it’s supposed to, and make you feel stupid.

Here’s an example of it in this level: Making players require to pass something thats invisible. While it may be okay as a secret, when you make parts required to pass that are invisible, players can become confused and lose their bearings, and lose interest in passing properly (and then just “cheat”). At some point I looked it up in JCS, only to find out the trigger was invisible to pass. Then you approach a ““trap”” which actually makes you pass the level with cheap level design as the trigger crate is invisible…seriously, what?

No support for easy mode: There’s events for hard mode, but not easy. And let’s be honest, this level is easy and gets way too generous with useful pickups, such as full carrots, seekers and the blaster PU (it’s a lot stronger in SP than it is in MP). Are players that bad at SP that a million seeker pickups and powered blaster somehow doesn’t make the level too easy? Perhaps a bunch of seeker pickups and the blaster PU could be carried over to easy mode.

Oh boy, the invisible walls/winds. They just feel really tacky and unnatural. And some wierd invisible poles. They seem to suggest that you can go there, or it’s empty…but you can’t. The wierdest invisible wall is near a warp secret. The solid tiles don’t even need to be there. Due to the nature of the level design, there isn’t much that can be changed about that other than giving it a complete overhaul. So I think at least changing the wind speed to 16 would look nicer, because it doesn’t jitter the screen. And just stack them to the left/right so Lori can’t kick through them. You could remove the wind/invisible walls where you wouldn’t fall out of the level. I disagree about it adding an atmosphere, because an atmosphere comes from the eyecandy, sound and music, not the gameplay style.

There’s plenty of useless pickups, like a bunch of coins, because there’s no coin warp (or at least, I don’t see one. If there is, why would you hide such a crucial thing? What’s next, hiding the exit?). Gems don’t do anything either, unless it’s treasure or they’re scripted to give some perk. It’s not really bad, though unecessary. Yeah, okay…they add score, but who cares about scores anymore? You’ll get a higher score from the original SP pack.

There’s an awful bug with Spazkick that allows him to spam kick at some bosses, killing them in 2 seconds, and this boss isn’t an exception. Though, it’s a relatively not well known bug.

The Witch placement is lol. You can simply run across it and not get hit at all, then there’s a wierd row of TNT. God knows what it’s there for, but it looks pretty tacky the way it has been placed and adds nothing.

Lori can get stuck inside some of the masks (by kicking through thin walls), which could’ve easily been prevented. Just patch them up with full masks and it should no longer happen. Right click and show mask should help (both in tileset and level). If it causes tilebugs, just put the correct fitting tiles onto layer 3, so it should look fine.

There’s no music, and more could be done with the eyecandy (like more layers, this tileset has tiles for it!). I guess the level creator got frustrated at trying to figure out the other layers, which are awkward to learn when you add movement to them. Tile width and height really helps for the other layers. Also, please don’t use untitled as a filename. It’s really generic, and could overwrite existing levels. Even if you can’t think of a name, anything is better than untitled (since it’s the default).

Conclusion

Compared to others players first levels, it’s not as half-baked, as there’s some effort to at least make the tiles look used properly, and a decent length of playtime. There appears to be some use of unused events that do nothing, which may suggest the creator is still exploring JCS (which is probably a good thing, even though invincibility in the walls and dim light do nothing). However, there’s a lot to improve on.

Anyway, that’s enough critique for now, and I’ve probably overwhelmed you already. Don’t take it personally, I just want to help new levelmakers improve at level design. Check if you’re a hardcore classic SP fan and if you like invisible trial and error gameplay, and don’t mind novice EC. If not, skip this download.