Aztec 2
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A Jazz Jackrabbit 2 tileset by Blade
.zip contents:
Aztec2.j2lThe main example single player level (built in 1.24+)
Aztec2_2.j2lThe same single player level with warp background (built in
1.24+)
Aztec2.j2tThe tileset (built in 1.24+)
Aztec2.txtThis file
Aztec2_inspiration.txtLearn about artwork of others which helped guide the
art design of Aztec 2
aztec2_notes.pngSome notes to help you get started with Aztec 2
new age.xm"New Age" by Area 51 (Dan Nyman)
Release notes:
"The tileset currently sits at 1430 tiles and this will still go up. I need
to add some vital eye candy
tiles, but all should be ready for launch after that is done."
-- Blade, JCF on February 18, 2018
Me adding "some vital eye candy tiles" seems to mean the addition of 1 200
tiles. My goodness this was
a long run but we are finally here with a finished tileset at our disposal.
Welcome to Aztec 2, my first release for Jazz Jackrabbit 2 in ten years.
Ever since I released Fortress
of Forgotten Souls (2008) at J2O I craved to return to tileset making but
it never came to pass. Until
now, of course.
In the beginning of 2008 I had just started my studies and got to move to
my first own apartment.
These two events uprooted my previously peaceful life to give way to a huge
social rollercoaster
starting with studies at the university of applied sciences, then a year
long student exchange to Krems
an der Donau, Austria (I will forever love that place and Austria in
general) and then a new line of
studies at university of Helsinki. I had some half hearted attempts to make
"Winter War" happen, but
the progress on that halted pretty much completely by the beginning of
2011. I did remain hopeful of
making a comeback, demonstrating that faint hopefulness by returning to
Earlong Royal Encyclopedia
each year to move Winter War's release forward. Of course, during these
last few years that wasn't even
possible anymore.
Then we arrived to autumn of 2017: I found out that Jazz Jackrabbit 2 had
become available at GOG.com.
This combined with a brief visit to Jazz2Online really sparked something in
me and by the end of
December 2017 my work on Aztec 2 was on full swing. I worked on Aztec 2
nearly every evening for four
months. This means hundreds of hours of work put into this piece of level
building art. Considering
how much time I put into making Aztec 2, I really hope you enjoy the
tileset and the example single
player level I have provided and maybe even get inspired to design a level
with the tileset.
Aztec 2 contents description:
With 2360 tiles Aztec 2 is by far the largest tileset I have ever done. A
JJ2 level builder can use it
to create a multitude of different environments or combinations of these
environments. First we have
the original Aztec-esque temple tiles with added flavour such as stone
carvings, ornaments and vegetation
on the side of the stone blocks. Pillars come in normal and wide variants
and all of this can be overlaid
on a background of stone blocks or bricks. Aztec 2 expands on the original
Aztec puny tree: versatile tree
tiles are available. One can build as big tree complexes as one wants with
a large variety of tiles at
their disposal. Leaves come in foreground and background variants, with
both opening possibilities for
complex foliage constructions. In addition there are wooden poles for
foreground, which can be tied together
in various different ways. I meant them to be used on foreground layers,
but nothing stops their use on
layer 4. To make this tileset even larger one has the possibility to create
a nature-ish outdoors
sections with rocky ground tiles. Vines, signs, poles and connecting tiles
are available in huge
quantities. Aztec 2 provides a large amount of eye candy tiles to make a
level made with it seem less
repetitive.
18 different animations are at the disposal of the user. At the center of
them all are the water related
animations, the waterfall for example. Pools of water are easy to create to
all the available environments
bringing further variation to the tileset. Finally we have the background
tiles where the user can place
a mountain range to the layers 5 to 8. Clouds can be placed on the sky
freely. Two schemes for layer 8
are available: a red-yellow sunset sky and a blue sky warp backgound as a
throwback to the original Aztec.
Even at 2630 tiles some aspects of the tileset are not fully realised.
Background leaves tiles can't
be connected on one layer with any other walkable surfaces than branches
and full 32x32 blocks. This was
a conscious decision. Even though the tileset size limitations are now a
thing of the past I wanted to
prevent this tileset from bloating and keep the focus of the tileset in the
environment materials (such
as the stone brick, tree and rocky ground environments) and not in a
gazillion connectivity tiles. So
in case you find a combination of tiles not working together, I apologise.
I gets exponentially harder to
think of all the possible tile combination outcomes as you add new
environments to your tileset.
Additionally Aztec 2 does not completely work in 8 bit mode. Sorry for
that. And now that we are in the
business of apologising, I'd like to mention that while most of the tileset
is in a good logical order,
there are a lot of tiles especially after row 181 which are more or less
out of place. You may need to
scroll up and down in JCS quite a bit, and that is a thing I'd like to
apologise about.
To introduce you to Aztec 2 I have created an example single player level
where you shoot stuff and
learn about the many uses of the many tiles. Please refer to this level if
you have hard time understanding
what my tileset is all about. To address tileset use woes, you may also
want to check out the file
Aztec2_notes.png, which can help you get on track.
Sources of inspiration:
Attached to Aztec 2 zip file you will find a text file with the name
Aztec2_inspiration.txt. In this
file I introduce the artwork of others that have provided me invaluable
inspiration and technical help
when drawing Aztec 2. My way of creating art has always been about finding
inspiration. With Beton it was
Mez's work and with Desert it was Don Rosa's Donald Duck comics. With Aztec
2 the inspiration lies in
many pieces of art and to make them easily viewable I have gathered them
together in that text tile.
A special mention goes out to the art studio Desix with their landscape
design. The colorscape of Aztec 2
background is quite close to their work which is to say it is a really
sweet color scheme.
The following programs were used in creation of Aztec 2. I can give a
hearty recommendation for all
of these fine pieces of software.
- The tileset proper: Corel Paint Shop Pro X9 (19.2.0.7)
- Palette editing: Cyotek Color Palette Editor (1.6.1.278)
- Splashing water animation:GraphicsGale (2.07.08)
- Textured background:XFader (5.00)
- Color slides:PerBang.dk RGB Color Gradient Maker
(http://www.perbang.dk/rgbgradient/)
Soundtrack of Aztec 2:
Aztec 2 was almost completely created to the music of Carbon Based
Lifeforms (with some special guests).
This ambient/downtempo/psybient act is an awesome chose of music for
creative process and as I have found
so much joy and inspiration in their music, I wanted to share five of my
most listened songs from the
period of December 2017 and May 2018. It's funny; Fortress of Forgotten
Souls was created to the sounds
of melodic death metal acts such as Norther, Sentenced, Children of Bodom
and Finntroll. Anyways, the
top 5 is as follows:
1. Carbon Based Lifeforms - Abiogenesis
2. Hol Baumann - Bnars
3. Carbon Based Lifeforms - Gryning
4. Solar Fields - Levitate
5. Carbon Based Lifeforms - Proton / Electron
Go give these awesome tracks a listen!
Aztec 2 example level is played with the tunes of Dan Nyman (Area 51). It
was immensely hard to find
a proper piece of music to express the intended atmosphere of this tileset
and also be a catchy, beautiful
thing to listen to. The best song for this purpose I found was "New Age",
which has its own flaws (wee bit
repetitive composition) but it is my choice because to me it conveys an
array of relaxing, dreamy, hopeful
and optimistic feelings. And it is reminiscent of Vangelis' music which is
greatly appreciated. Thank you
Sir Ementaler for the song recommendation earlier this spring.
Final thank yous:
- You: thank you for your interest in Aztec 2. I am deeply grateful for all
the nice words and
constructive critisism you have provided me along the years.
- JJ2+ team: I can't stress how much I appreciate the work you have put
into our beloved platformer.
- Jazz2Online administrators: Thank you for your awesome site and the
continued support. You are doing
important, awesome work.
- Jazz Jackrabbit 2 developers: I can't believe I am still here designing
tilesets to your game 20
years after the original release. I'd like to argue that it is a definite
proof for the true
uniqueness of this game and its community.
- Special shout outs to Aiko, Blackraptor, Cell, Iceman, JelZe GoldRabbit,
Wille and all the friends
of the good olden days.
- L. Bagans for filling me with determination
Aztec 2 is made by Sampo "Blade" Vesanen. Developed between December 2017
and May 2018. You can
contact me at Jazz2Online or by email at sampo.vesanen@gmail.com.
Have a nice day. Thank you for playing. You are awesome.
