Hello everyone, it's your old friend Blade here. I have two things to discuss tonight.


1) Announcement

After 10 freaking years since Fortress of Forgotten Souls I am here to announce my new tileset.

So it happened that late last month I got activated from my Jazz Jackrabbit 2 hibernation. It probably was the recent news about JJ1 and JJ2 entering GOG.com which made me return to these forums. Then I happened to stumble on that thread about Another Dimension and how the fellow player Lem_Gambino somehow still plays that episode. I could not help myself of testing out the thing, and then The Episode and then Energized Action. And just like that I found the inspiration to move forward with a new tileset and now, a month later, I am confident enough to make it public.

Allow me to be sentimental here for a bit. About a week ago my latest J2O release, Fortress, turned ten years old. This spring marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Jazz Jackrabbit 2. I am myself steadily approaching the ripe age of 32 this summer. My whole adult life fits between this moment and the release of Fortress (don't mean to offend anyone who's 21 or under, this is a personal observation looking back). That very thought makes me all nostalgic. Returning to the process of drawing a new tileset and to be able to be here and to talk to you guys after all these years is a huge deal for me. The feeling is similar to reading old diary entries (the good ones): you can't help feeling warm and fuzzy inside.

So I'd like to extend my thank yous to everyone reading this post for being part of this community for all these years and keeping the game and community alive. And to the precious folks who keep J2O running I offer each of you a lengthy, firm, Nordic handshake. Thank you for being able to be years and years away from the scene and after getting a random spur of inspiration, J2O is still here.

Anyway, for now, I want to keep the theme and name of my tileset under wraps. I can say, though, that this tileset is not the one announced as "Winter War" back in 2008. It's still unfinished and will probably stay that way.


2) I am seriously not up to speed with current goings-on with the community and JJ2+ and there are some things I need to understand to make my new tileset as fresh as possible

It's been a long time since I got introduced to JJ2+ but I am quite sure it was the gaming site Rock Paper Shotgun which relayed the word of it to me. Thankfully JJ2+ is very well documented and so far I have been enjoying it to the fullest. There are some things which I'd like to ask and have answers to. Mostly about the direction tileset making has been going in the recent years. I would appreciate a lot your input in this matter.

1) I know that JJ2+ makes those large TSF tileset sizes available to everyone. Are there any downsides to creating for example 2000 tile tileset? (other than probably tileset that large will be hard to comprehend) Does anybody make large tilesets now that it's feasible?
2) How do people use JJ2 tilesets these days? Are single player episodes still a thing? Is AngelScript a must have in all levels now?
3) Are there any new demands on tilesets now? If I don't hear anything about this, I will create a tileset to the same style as in 2008 (essential tiles only comprise of poles, hooks, vines and destructibles)
4) Any other tileset related things I should know about?

That's all I can think of. Thanks a lot. I appreciate your time.

About the new tileset and its eventual release: there is still much work to be done, but at some point this spring you'll be able to download it with an accompanying example single-player level. Could be a month, could be two. Check this thread for (infrequent) updates.

Cheers!