Many years ago (too many), I posted in this forum announcing a new single player project. That eventually turned into five episodes and wasn't even completed until this year.

I figured I'd post here again, since I'm now working on a new project. I can't give you an ETA, or screenshots, or anything like that: what I've done so far is in the very early stages, with only a little bit of JCS work and a lot of writing. But that's how everything begins with me. You probably shouldn't expect anything more than a demo/preview (which I plan on making for this) until the middle of next year.

It's adapted from a very rough outline I wrote about a year ago, and also takes a lot of elements from my original plans for episode three (it was going to be way different originally). But now the entire story is plotted out and probably won't change much.

This project isn't going to be some sprawling epic that takes five or more hours to beat, and five or more years for me to finish. It also isn't going to be a true sequel to the previous story. It will be set in the same "universe", but the plotline will only be distantly connected. So, it's not really an Episode Six, and by the time this is done, it will probably have a different name.

It's going to take place in the time between episodes 3 and 4, and it will focus on one of the warships that retreated from Carrotus (seen at the end of ep3, and inserted in there in case I ever wanted to do a story like this). The ship picks up a mysterious passenger on Exoticus, and travels off to a distant and unknown planet. On this planet is a large complex of ruins, an old rabbit living in it who really shouldn't be there (or then), and the one thing every good set of ancient ruins needs: a chaotic rift in the fabric of time and space.

What's more interesting is the gameplay. I told myself, and others, that I'd never make an SP episode again unless I was able to do a number of things which JCS (and frankly, the game itself) doesn't let you accomplish. Lately I discovered that these things are probably going to be possible way sooner than I expected (I was kind of expecting somewhere in the area of "never", to be truthful), and they also don't require nearly as much modifying of the game as I previously thought they would.

Basically, I'm tired of making big levels, and I'm tired of the same old JJ2 gameplay. So instead, I'll take away all of the special moves, and then throw in complete non-linearity with smaller levels that have 3 or more exits, and maybe even have a central store that uses coins. The entire thing (except for a prologue) would take place in the mysterious ruins. Oh, and you'll unlock the special moves (and spaz too) as you play. The buttstomp will probably be the last to be unlocked. Little to no use of triggers: progress will come from finding weapons and special moves. So basically, it's JJ2 meets Metroid.

Think of it as one episode where the whole thing is a giant level that uses multiple tilesets. Also, it's going to require JJ2+, 1.24 (probably), and something else. (that last one is the important one)

Anyway, I'm probably not going to say much more for now about the story, except that it has two main characters and I personally think it's more interesting than my previous attempt.


Me making this thread means two things.

The first is that you can offer suggestions or comments, or questions about this thing. Maybe you think it's a bad idea? Or have a way it could be improved?

The second thing this means is that I actually have to finish it now. I've gone and announced this project, so it's official. This is actually the main reason for the thread. I'm more motivated when people know I'm working on something and nag me about it.