Yes, there is an actual download, and yes, this patch does change more than just details in levels.

The Jazz Jackrabbit 3D Enhancement Patch is supposed to fix most of the game's problems and revive some of it's unfinished parts. On top of that, it does some important design changes and adds greater level of detail to not only the levels, but also the gameplay and overall look.

NOTE:
1.3 is the final release of this patch. I won't work on more of these, but everyone is free to edit and improve on top of my work! You can distribute this anywhere and anyhow you like (My content, that is, not Jazz3D itself), but please do credit me.

Screenshots (Click to enlarge):


More:
http://i40.tinypic.com/2qc1s1y.png

Videos:
Early Alpha of v1.2
New camera in the upcoming 1.3 release

Changed (Short list):
* Improved camera control.
* Improved controls.
* Better physics.
* Improved Graphics.
* Heavily updated main menu.
* Greater level of detail in many of the maps.
* Higher difficulty.
* A long list of bugfixes.
* More balanced gameplay (Still working on this though).
* Xbox 360 controller support

The complete lists of changes and to-dos are included in the ReadMe.txt file!

The package also includes a new map called "Q.unr"
To load this map, open the Console with "~" (Tilde) and type "open q" (Or q.unr).
The Q map is a test map I created for testing various gameplay features. You can test a lot of those there, if you want to!

Downloads::
V 1.3c

Old Unsupported versions:
V 1.2
V 1.1B
V 1.1
V 1.0

** How to install (In case if someone had any problems with this.):
Extract the package in your game directory and replace all the files (If it doesn't ask you if you want to replace them, you're doing it wrong). Yes, that's it. =)

If you come across problems in this patch (And you will), please let me know about any of them, because if by some chance i missed those, I may fix them.

I also accept criticism, so don't hesitate to speak your thoughts!

Thank you and enjoy!

Don't listen to robo, he/she is notorious around here for having a 'commitment' to legality and the likes. Great job on the patch and it's great to see someone showing interest! It shows that something can still be done with that beta. Keep it up.

Originally Posted by GoldRabbit

Don't listen to robo, he/she is notorious around here for having a 'commitment' to legality and the likes. Great job on the patch and it's great to see someone showing interest! It shows that something can still be done with that beta. Keep it up.

Thanks!

And Robo:

I've never decompiled the game though, I used the exact same editor that this and the original Unreal comes with. In fact, it's an official Fixed version that runs on newer systems, othervise this patch wouldn't even be possible... Not at this level at least.

Also, I'm not sharing the demo with anyone, this is just a Patch (Or more like an Enhacement mod, if you will). If someone wants to get this "Illegal" game, it is completely up to them.

But thanks for sharing some more info about Jazz 3D. While I know most of it's history, I don't recall reading about there being two different versions.

Robo, JJ3 is abandonware. Stop complaining about the law here.
And before you start shouting (again!) that I have got the term 'abandonware' wrong, please read THIS, completely, and then come back.

So, if you have it, delete it if you do not wish to break the law.

He already broke the law, so there's no point of deleting it anymore.

Good job man on posting and making this. I guess I will test it as soon as I have free time to download the game and test the patch.

I take issue with the thread title, since it's not the first Jazz 3 patch -- there was a lot of work done to get its multiplayer mode functional, back in the day -- but otherwise this all looks good. Asking as someone who has no experience with UTK and such at all: what are the chances of being able to add stuff that truly expands the game, e.g. other weapons or enemies?

Originally Posted by Violet CLM

I take issue with the thread title, since it's not the first Jazz 3 patch -- there was a lot of work done to get its multiplayer mode functional, back in the day -- but otherwise this all looks good. Asking as someone who has no experience with UTK and such at all: what are the chances of being able to add stuff that truly expands the game, e.g. other weapons or enemies?

Alright, I changed the title, hopefully this works better.
I remember trying to get some sort of patch like that to work, but I couldn't for some reason, did it use some sort of server that is no longer up? (Sorry, I'm not actually that much into the whole online web functionality stuff)

As for truly expanding the game - In short, the chances are great.

The first thing I will do later on to expand the game's content like that is to get some of the other Dream Cells to work. There are a lot of other Dream Cells in the code actually, but none of them work properly besides the three available ones in the actual demo ( Normal, Ice and Fire ).

Adding models to the game is just... I don't know, I can't do it at the moment, so weapons and enemies will have to wait.

If I do figure out the model part at some point (Maybe someone can help out?), the first thing I would most probably do is to reanimate Jazz's model and add more animations, maybe even enhance the model itself in order to make it look better (I'll be honest with you, the model isn't exactly... very good, but it does the job).

Edit: A little update:
I got the Xbox 360 controller functionality to work properly now, though I have to do a bit more coding in order to improve the controls (The invert option effects Jazz's Forwards/Backwards movement, but the camera's Pitch movement is always inverted)

Back in the day I played around with this alot, I'm willing to help out.

First off, do you have the J3CS patch?

Originally Posted by JazzGruff

If I ever release an update, here's some stuff that I have yet to work on/fix
* Improve menus, fix some display problems.
* Make the jumping height depend on how long you hold the Jump key.

Menu's. Ill take a look into this. Jump height thing, I would suggest just a short/high jump, not the many midgrounds.

Originally Posted by JazzGruff

I remember trying to get some sort of patch like that to work, but I couldn't for some reason, did it use some sort of server that is no longer up? (Sorry, I'm not actually that much into the whole online web functionality stuff)

As for truly expanding the game - In short, the chances are great.

The first thing I will do later on to expand the game's content like that is to get some of the other Dream Cells to work. There are a lot of other Dream Cells in the code actually, but none of them work properly besides the three available ones in the actual demo ( Normal, Ice and Fire ).

Adding models to the game is just... I don't know, I can't do it at the moment, so weapons and enemies will have to wait.

The treasure hunt code works perfectly fine online already. The battle code needs to be completely restructured, but that could be snatched in part from UT99 if there is motivation to. CTF works pretty well too but you only ever join Red Team.

EDIT:
In the code there is content for Assault, CTF, Deathmatch and Domination copied directly from UT99 that could potentially be activated. It also includes halfwritten code for a Co-OP mode, and a game called "Leader of the Pack"
ENDEDIT

If I recall, there are some dream cells that did work properly in the demo, Ill play around an let you know. I think Bubble and Earth were the ones that did though.

Model Importing, you know I think I actually have a solid idea how to do that, let me experiment.

Next off,
-the inventory (Default "n") needs fixing or removal.
-When you change the "Target" setting to detached mouse in the options all Jazz's animations break
-when going to JRocket2 you get an Error "Cannot Find starting point"

Maybe it's by chance that I was doing some reading on JJ3 when I found this, but great work. So many attempts to re-make it have been attempted and all have failed so my hopes aren't that high.

That being said, I may dust off my copy and try this patch out. I'd love to see this go somewhere, as there is already a base at hand. I know nothing of modeling or modding, but from what I know unreal is pretty good with mod support so with the proper knowledge, I"m sure you can get somewhere. I'll be watching this to see if it goes anywhere. nice work and best of wishes.

Originally Posted by plunK

First off, do you have the J3CS patch?

You mean this?
http://www.angelfire.com/jazz/jj3mp/
No, I'm not using that, but it shouldn't be a problem to copy over existing code to this patch (Assuming I know where to look)
If it's something else though, what is it and where can I find it?

Originally Posted by plunK

Menu's. Ill take a look into this. Jump height thing, I would suggest just a short/high jump, not the many midgrounds.

By menus I meant the main and pause menu being quite glichy, I've already started working on it and made it much more consistant. You may notice that there is no option for the roaming camera in the controls menu anymore.
I think I broke the Roaming camera *Trollface*, but it was not very useful. I might redo it later, but there are some more important things now to do.

Also, the graphics menu is actually quite broken (I'm partially to blame), but I'm working on it.

About the jump height - All i'd have to do is find where the keys are defined and add a variable for holding the jump key. In this way I could just decrease the Z velocity of Jazz if he's going up and the player isn't holding the jump key.

Making two specific jump heights would actually be kind of hacky and not exactly very good overall. There is actually code for a double jump, which really does work, but I feel that a dynamically changing jump height actually fits here much better.

Originally Posted by plunK

The treasure hunt code works perfectly fine online already. The battle code needs to be completely restructured, but that could be snatched in part from UT99 if there is motivation to. CTF works pretty well too but you only ever join Red Team.

EDIT:
In the code there is content for Assault, CTF, Deathmatch and Domination copied directly from UT99 that could potentially be activated. It also includes halfwritten code for a Co-OP mode, and a game called "Leader of the Pack"
ENDEDIT

Interesting, I'll take a look into this. Hopefully we can eventually get this to work.

Originally Posted by plunK

Model Importing, you know I think I actually have a solid idea how to do that, let me experiment.

It had something to do with writing special actors that would load the *.3D files from somewhere. My problem is that I can't seem to find a proper converter that would work with files exported from Blender (I can use 3ds max, too, but... I'm kinda being really "Legal" for some time now... and no, I don't think Jazz3 really counts.)

Originally Posted by plunK

-the inventory (Default "n") needs fixing or removal.

Yeah, I was thinking about that, too, the interface itself is kind of broken in the game, there's a lot to do, and it is on my list.

Also, there is the Tab key, that by default acts as the "Talk/Say" key in Unreal. It locks your controls, but it's fixed once you hit Escape. This key will be disabled alltogether in the next release (You can actually disable it in the User.ini file).

Originally Posted by plunK

-When you change the "Target" setting to detached mouse in the options all Jazz's animations break

Like I previously mentioned, I kinda broke the Controls menu. If you hit the Enter key, it probably acted as if you changed the camera mode to roaming - Like I said, I kind of broke the code, so it's pretty glitchy now.

This will be fixed in the next release though.

Originally Posted by plunK

-when going to JRocket2 you get an Error "Cannot Find starting point"

Oh? I have to take a look into this...

Hey Nauris, I had a chance to try this yesterday, it's looking good!
I really like the new controls, although I would have liked a little more control when jumping, especially when you have no acceleration. Grabbing onto platforms right above you can be a little tricky! Battles are much better now though, they make much more sense than they did and I really like the new effect when you hit an enemy!
I'll help you out with this as much as I can but it'll have to wait 'till summer!

Originally Posted by JazzGruff

Anyhow, I hope to continue contributing to this community if this kind of content is not forbidden, since (As far as I know) J2Online really is the only truly alive community of Jazz Jackrabbit, and because of that I feel that JJ3 simply deserves more love.

I made a newspost on the other major community website! Good work (I assume, because I'm not really interested in 3D-games myself so I haven't tested it)!!

http://jazzjackrabbit.net/

Originally Posted by Grytolle

I made a newspost on the other major community website! Good work (I assume, because I'm not really interested in 3D-games myself so I haven't tested it)!!

http://jazzjackrabbit.net/

Wow, thanks! =D

I've always liked JJ3. The main problem is that it's, well, unfinished. :P This is a great start to making a more complete game though, at least judging from the list of changes. I'll try it out soon.

EDIT:
Okay, this is pretty awesome. Just the improvements to Jazz's walking animation (i.e. the directions) and the fixed lizards make this really cool. A bug you might be aware of, though, is that if you move in another direction than forward while shooting, and then stop shooting while still moving, Jazz's legs go in the wrong direction for a moment.

Jumping can be a little awkward as you have little control over your direction when jumping from a standstill, which I think was better originally (might be wrong.) This is more realistic, but it feels wrong and make some jumps really difficult. Also, I had trouble jumping out of the lava in the canyon level since it seems to do strange things to Jazz's direction and jumping for some reason.

Now for a personal request: one pet peeve of mine in JJ3 has to do with the music. The game seems to really like messing with the volume whenever it feels like it (including when booting the game and starting a new game), which is annoying because it makes it much too soft. Additionally, the way the music volume lowers when going into the menu is kind of jarring; a fade would be preferable--while if possible, it shouldn't do it at all on the title screen, since you're not actually pausing a running game.
Also, there's a weird thing where the playing song resets while loading a new map.

Now don't get me wrong, this is still an awesome patch. The wall of text above is just my selfish suggestions for more improvements. :P

Robo4900 :

Just chill out man!

Haha, thanks Nick (F2bnp).

Here are some things you can expect in the upcomming update:
* Somewhat proper controller support - I explained this before I think, it's not perfect yet, but the game is playable with an xbox 360 controller that I tested it with. I am not too sure about other controllers though.
* Improved menus - I mostly fixed some of the problems found in the Controls menu.
* A few random bugfixes that don't think I have to explain in detail.
* I'm also working on getting the difficulty setting actually matter. I added one more difficulty - Turbo. Getting the weapons use more ammo or making it recharge slower is going to be easy, but it seems like the filtering for pawns is broken, i'll see what I can do and hopefully I can actually add some sort of replay value to this, hahaha.

About the problem with the JRocket2 map - I am not exactly sure what causes this since I can't seem to trigger it myself. Maybe it was just a one-time glich or perhaps it has something to do with the fact that there are two versions of the game floating around on the internet. (Actually... Is it even true that there are two versions?)

EDIT:
Ok, I take my words back, the stuff surrounding the difficulty settings turn out to be way harder than I expected. I decided to turn to something else - I am now working with the inventory, hopefully I can make it actually useful (I already made it easier to use)

First off, props to Grytolle for posting an update on patching to the Digiex Page for JJ3, its good to spread the word.



Anyone know who this was any what exactly they were editing in 2005?


Too Lazy to quote everything, but heres quite a list of stuff that covers the last few posts:

-In my many explorations and searchings of JJ3, it is, in fact, TRUE, that there are Two Major versions of JJ3 floating around. As far as I know, both contain J3CS version 0.41.0.722 and I believe (not 100%) think that both are Version: 400 (Nov 17 1999) The difference was that After the leak began spreading, at some point someone tried to fix a small bit and hide the copyright stuff. The most common version in logo.bmp (the start screen) says "Non-Public Test Demo", but in the rarer alternate version this has been covered up by some other logo (can't remember what on the top of my head.) there were a few other minor differences like that. Theoretically based on what I've seen they SHOULD (99% sure) have no significant coding errors of any kind. Past this, the first and most common version actually has dozens of varients based on when and where they were first configured from the initital stated. I have 2 versions, and their boot files show as follows:

V1:
Log: Log file open, 10/19/01 23:55:05
Init: Detected: Microsoft Windows 98 4.10 (Build: 67766446)
Init: Version: 400
Init: Compiled: Nov 17 1999 19:44:01
Init: Computer: N1A7K0
Init: User: **CENSORED** (used his actual name)

V2:
Log: Log file open, 11/10/05 17:38:16
Init: Detected: Microsoft Windows NT 5.1 (Build: 2600)
Init: Version: 400
Init: Compiled: Nov 17 1999 19:44:01
Init: Computer: BLACKFISH
Init: User: Kevin

Long story short, don't worry too much about the many versions out there, they are all the same as far as the hardcoding goes.


-Yes those are the right patches (mostly the editor one). The J3CS one doesn't alter any of the code, just adds dll's and such that were missing which is handy. I don't have the D3D one for JJ3 but I do for Unreal, and to be honest it doesnt do alot. The 49 shot weapon bug, dunno what exactly that is but might be good.

-Double jumps should only be for Spaz =P

-I'm making a bit of progress (I think?) on trying to find out an effective way of model importing. I'll keep you posted, as I'm 100% sure it is possible

-The "n" key inventory, I liked it when the coins spun before =P

-Please DO NOT remove/disable the Tab Key. 1) pressing enter will end the control freeze, 2) its fully functional online. You cant see it in Single Player but its actually there and invisible, hence why pressing enter fixes it.

-Upon exploration i discovered that JRocket2 is broken in my non-patched version of JJ3, to be honest I probably broke it back in the day when playing with the level editor. I'll hunt down a new one

-If we make new maps we should make the one that plays "Haunted Terrero" (tek11bak.s3m) a bigger map. A long, neat song and the mpap is like 30 seconds.

NEW COMMENTS:
-Has anyone else noticed that the map linking is weird? The current setup goes: Starting Map --> Rocket Pathway --> Rocket or Start --> Forest --> Rocket Path --> rocket, but if you actually look at how the map is set up you enter a metal gate to get to pathway (Should be to Rocket), and you exit for the Canyon (Middlemap between the canyon path in the forest and the canyon exit is missing. If we get to a map making point I want to fix this.

-presing F5 opens white text in the top left displaying "TESTING TESTING TESTING". what does this do?

-pressing F6 saves the game, saving is broken. Not even just the maps, even recording preferences. Every time I change the movement to WASD and every time I reboot its arrows again

-Pressing F7 tries to open the JJ3 website URL but fails and displays an error

-Pressing F9.....don't know what this actually does but it causes particle emitters to reset, sometimes briefly flashes to the main menu and causes huge lag.

EDIT --> F9 takes screenshots, nevermind my confusion

-Brightness by default isnt wha it says it is.

-Advanced Settings say Godmode is on by default, which isnt true

-Exiting while in the middle of a map with the "x" in the top right causes an "Assertion Failed UnObj.cpp" Error

-check out the file JAZZ3D.log, there are TONS of script warnings when the game runs, particularily for movement.

-All the texturs in castle city wildy flash colours and its a bit distracting. Not sure if intentional or glitch

Okay, speaking as myself and not an admin...

I personally see no problem with a patch if it is just that: a patch, and not the modified result or the original program. For example, the plusifier in jj2+ applies a patch to jj2.exe, but does not contain either the original or the modified jj2.exe (and so it's completely useless without actually having jj2.exe). It's more dubious if the "patch" is actually a set of modified files that still need the original program installed to be useful, and I'll punt to the other admins for that as they own the website

/me puts admin hat on: Abandonware is much more clear-cut, and is still prohibited here. That includes JJ3.

Soo... this means it's pretty much a "Game Over" now?

And I was already starting to think this will actually go somewhere..
There isn't much point in working on it any more if it's forbidden in one of the only few communities that actually care. Oh well.

Wtf? You got a lot of positive reactions here All they say is that you can't link to the abandonware in your thread, but you can to the patch

Originally Posted by Grytolle

Wtf? You got a lot of positive reactions here All they say is that you can't link to the abandonware in your thread, but you can to the patch

Oh, haha, thanks for clearing that up.

I must mention that english is not my first languange, nor do I live in a place where people speak english. So obviously time to time I'll do some serious mistakes in my posts, same with understanding what others say.

Sorry about that.

EDIT:

A little update - I managed to make Jazz jump higher if you keep holding the jump key ( If you just press it, jazz will simply do a small hop ) It's not exactly the most useful feature, but it makes the platforming a lot better.

I also improved the console - it now takes much less space on the screen.

EDIT:

More updates - I accidentally found out how you can actually set up the keys that can be used for gameplay. You can now use the Crouching key! It doesn't do much on ground except making you go slower, but it can be used to make Jazz swim down, instead!

I also improved the Movement and Action control menus (The ones where you can set your keys up) by making the vertical spaces more narrow and the opening effect quicker (Although I'd like to make it nearly instant). There are also more keys to bind, like the previously mentioned crouching key (In the game it appears as "Duck").

EDIT:

More keys are now available in the controls menu!
These include:
* Talk
* Team Talk
* Look Up
* Look Down
* Pause

The look Up/Down keys actually work, and the turning is quicker - keyboard camera control may be useful for those who want to play on (My case) netbooks or other types of portable devices with keyboards.

EDIT:

More updates! Ok, I know you guys aren't reading this, but still.
* Fixed the sideways shooting rockets!
* The main menu's backgroud no longer stops upon entering the menu
* The title screen's logo is much more dynamic, it moves around the screen nicely depending on what you do (Can't get much into detail right now)
* The title screens background is much more dynamic, too! It now shifts around to view different parts of the map depending on what menus you open!
* The game mode menu has been re-enabled. I haven't done much work on it yet, but that will come soon!

I am reading your changelists! I played the unaltered JJ3 beta as if it were a full game back in the days, hehe. It's nice to see that you've put some work and passion into it.

I'll try your patch as soon as I find the time to install the beta again. Unfortunately, I have never build any experience with Unreal modding besides simple .ini tweaks, so I can't help.

Originally Posted by Slaz

I am reading your changelists! I played the unaltered JJ3 beta as if it were a full game back in the days, hehe. It's nice to see that you've put some work and passion into it.

I'll try your patch as soon as I find the time to install the beta again. Unfortunately, I have never build any experience with Unreal modding besides simple .ini tweaks, so I can't help.

Heh, thanks! :P

By the way, the new 1.1 release is coming very soon (Maybe even tomorrow, who knows).
Besides the actual updates you can also expect a complete changelist, user wishlist and a To-Do list, as well. I'll be updating that in the following releases, as well.

EDIT Here it is! The 1.1 Release
*Check the first post if you're interested in this outdated and unsupported release*
EDIT: The 1.1B release is here.
I noticed there were some nasty problems in the 1.1 version, so I decided to quickly
update it and release as the latest version.

http://www.mediafire.com/?pzu83wj8hnwtw9x
Enjoy, and don't forget to leave freedback!

EDIT

Alright guys, looks like i've bumped into something awesome:


It looks like multiplayer of sorts does actually work!
I tested this between my PC and Netbook, it didn't work so well though. While the speed was great (Well, obviously), it seemed like the multiplayer game code just didn't cooperate with the code that I had been changing this whole time (By that I mean the stuff I did with the character code).

So I think It is clear now. The next target is pretty much the multiplayer!


Edit:

Kind of bad news actually. I can't seem to be able to fix the other character's rotation in the multiplayer (It still uses the old rotation code where jazz would rotate in the camera's direction), maybe I'm looking in the wrong place? I've been editing the PlayerPawn actor (from the Engine package), but I can't see any difference when playing. And yes, I did put a copy of the package on my Netbook, as well (It wouldn't actually work othervise).

While multiplayer is important, I would still like to see most of the singleplayer glitches and whatnot ironed out first. Then multi player, and from there wherever.

Originally Posted by SonicNathan 1

While multiplayer is important, I would still like to see most of the singleplayer glitches and whatnot ironed out first. Then multi player, and from there wherever.

Of course, that's the idea, but please, give me ideas and point out flaws that I should fix! I see a lot of stuff I could fix and improve actually, but I need a little help here, because there are some vital problems that I might not have really noticed.

EDIT:

Hey guys, actually there won't be a lot of updates for a while now, I am quite busy with exams and such, so I'll put this aside for a couple of weeks.

Don't worry though, an update will be made sooner or later, just don't let this die off so easily - Spread the word!

Also, don't hesitate doing requests and posting found problems that you'd like to get fixed. I'd even accept nitpicking, haha.

Either way, I hope you have enjoyed this patch until now! (Assuming you have tested it already, and if not, then I hope you will once you do!)

EDIT:

A little update:


I created a completely new actor and put it on the treadmill that I originally scrapped. I did some coding with my badass coding skills (I'm kind of being sarcastic here...), and managed to change that model's texture accordingly when the user changes the skins. It looks far better than the floating character on the screen and really makes the whole image seem better.

I can't really decide if I should or shouldn't allow the user to start a different game mode from the in-game pause menu anymore.
I'm thinking of this because of the fact that the game is still working in the background.

Either way, I'll probably add an "Exit to Main Menu" feature soon.


Also, I think I'm pretty much done with the main menu now (There's a few other minor things, but those don't really matter right now) - I added different 3d views for each of the selected options in the settings menu (Audio, Controls, etc..).

I also noticed how actually broken the controller support is. for some reason you can only jump once unless you stop shooting, and if you're holding any of the keys on your controller (actual buttons, that is, not the analog sticks), the jump height control would no longer work and jazz will jump as high as he would before I added this feature.

Sorry for the double post.

I've put together a new video for the upcomming 1.2 version!
You can check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd3a9_uXO7w

Note that it does pretty much show every new part of the main menu. There are a few other changes, but I hope to do more for this update later before releasing it.

Also, I put some more screenshots on the first post.

P.S. I can't seem to be able to edit the first post anymore, what's wrong?
It says:
"Stop!
Your journey ends here.
Sorry, you're not allowed to view this page. Perhaps you can find what you were looking for at Jazz2Online."

Great video! You've done an amazing job and I hope this doesn't die. Take you're time, we've waited for something like this for years. I think we can all wait a little longer.

Originally Posted by JazzGruff

I just made a nifty JJ3 patch

You are my absolute god......

Originally Posted by plunK

You are my absolute god......

Haha, thanks! =D

Ok, here's a little non-release update.

I decided to some work with the weapons, dream cells and collectables.

* Added a "bobbing" effect to all of the collectables and items (They basically move up and down)
* Firing rockets makes you fly back a bit. I am not sure if I'll keep this, but it is kinda fun so far.
* Jazz now actually kind of turns around when going in the opposite direction with the keyboard (He does a really quick turn though, but it looks nicer than the insta-turn).
* Ammo no longer recharges unless you let go of the fire button - this almost fixes the problem of the fights being just way too easy, because before you could still shoot relatively rapidly when you ran out of ammo - now you have to wait and/or retreat before attacking again.
* Up/Down keys are now replaced with the Duck and Jump keys when the character has grabbed onto a ledge. In other words, if you want to drop down, you have to press the Ducking key, and when you want to climb up (It's pretty much just a "jump up on the ledge"), you have to press your Jumping key. Directional keys no longer work here.

I was thinking about some improvements that I could do later on when I discover how to do certain things, for instance, control the user's camera (I still can't find the right piece of code...).

* Fixed camera and controls in dialogs.
Think Outcast, where after asking another person into a conversation, the camera nicely locks onto them and both characters share some sort of info. This could allow Jazz to actually say something, too, but not only that, it could be possible to have different conversations by giving the player the ability to sometimes choose what to say.

I know this sounds like really way too different from what Jazz Jackrabbit really is all about, and I'd totally agree. But let's be real here, Jazz 3 is just so different from the originals already, I'm not sure if it would really matter, I mean the game was really being built as if they wanted to make it more of an adventure game, with the shops and one-time-pickup items that give you more powers. In fact, the game even has code for some sort of level-up system.

Anyway, I'd like to know what you guys think about it!

* Realtime cutscenes
I can't WAIT to find out how to change the camera's target and location.
Once that is done, I'll most certanly at least try to make a cutscene or two. These probably won't be anything special (Just characters running through certain paths and such), but this could make the game just so much more interesting and fun, because this could open up more possibilities in the game progression. For instance, sometimes it's really hard to introduce something new or show some kind of event without actually showing an animation.

Maybe you have some cool ideas?


Also, I'd love to get some kind of assistance for importing models in the game. It'd be an incredibly huge help, because I could actually use multiple models for Jazz (Like The arms and head would be detached, allowing jazz to aim and look in any direction he wants, ultimately improving the animation infinitely).


On another note, I really still can't seem to be able to edit the first post. What's going on here, did I do something wrong?

Thanks!

EDIT:
Another short non-release update!

(Click to enlarge)


Improved ledge climbing code!
It is now possible to move the camera around, just like you should, but not only thay, jazz actually grabs the ledge correctly, by facing it and aligning to it perfectly.

There are some horrible bugs though, sometimes if the gemoetry is a bit too complex, jazz would go inside walls and jumping or dropping off may actually kill him.
I am working on this though, but it's a great step forwards!

I hope to find the right camera code soon, though.

These improvements all look fantastic! Next week once exams are done I'll be sure to test out alot more stuff! Out of curiosity, what are you basing new levels off of? I saw the waterfall one in diagrams but the others not as much. If I threw a few level ideas at you would that be okay?

I would like this to have online competition just like in JJ2! Keep working on this, once you finish it, it will be popular I believe.

Originally Posted by plunK

These improvements all look fantastic! Next week once exams are done I'll be sure to test out alot more stuff! Out of curiosity, what are you basing new levels off of? I saw the waterfall one in diagrams but the others not as much. If I threw a few level ideas at you would that be okay?

Great to hear it! The levels you see before you are all edited, improved versions of the originals, except the map "Q.unr", which is a test level I created for.. well... testing. The waterfall level is actually JLow.unr, which is actually a pretty cool map, but it feels extremely early and far from finished. I did, however, fix some fundemental problems with it. for instance, originally the water zones didn't have water physics at all, so Jazz would just all through it.

Originally Posted by Just a Random User

I would like this to have online competition just like in JJ2! Keep working on this, once you finish it, it will be popular I believe.

Once I get around understanding why the physics are different in the multiplayer mode and how to fix them (Along with the animations of the other characters), The multiplayer mode should be fully functional in no time, though I can't say how soon that will be.

But you'd still have to use something like Hamatchi in order to play it around the world, but the local multiplayer actually technically works very well. But yeah, it's something I'd like to do, but not as much right now as making the single player experience better.

Also, after all that I'll see what I can do with the cooperative play, which I am actually much more excited than the competitive mode (Even though the battle mode is easier to make ~ sort of). =D

So I am officially free from exams! I might actually look into JJ3 code more now that Im not busy all-day long.

Have you done any work with the code for the surfboard thing or any of the dream cells yet?

Also, I would be more than willing to do playtesting/bugfinding if needed before you release the next patch. It is University spring break so Ive got a deal of free time at hand.

Originally Posted by plunK

So I am officially free from exams! I might actually look into JJ3 code more now that Im not busy all-day long.

Have you done any work with the code for the surfboard thing or any of the dream cells yet?

Also, I would be more than willing to do playtesting/bugfinding if needed before you release the next patch. It is University spring break so Ive got a deal of free time at hand.

Awesome!

I haven't looked into the hoverboard that much, but from what I can tell, I think I broke the controls for it, since it uses the character's code as the base. So Left and Right strafing buttons will actually make jazz (On the board) sort of spin around.

I'll look into it more later on, but i believe it will need far more work, like extra animations and such. I think creating an actual vehicle (Without visible jazz) would actually be kind of easier and more plausible at the moment. Since there is a primitive vehicle model in the code, making something like the basic hovering vehicles in the UT games should be relatively easy.

Also, I am completely recreating the village map at the moment, though more like technically. I think I made some errors when I didn't know about Unrealed as much as I do now, so every time I compile it, there's a ton of BSP holes all over the place. I now have to copy all of the shapes and rebuild the map piece by piece. Though I'll try to improve it as well!

Anyway, do you happen to use Skype or MSN?

Originally Posted by JazzGruff

I'll look into it more later on, but i believe it will need far more work, like extra animations and such. I think creating an actual vehicle (Without visible jazz) would actually be kind of easier and more plausible at the moment. Since there is a primitive vehicle model in the code, making something like the basic hovering vehicles in the UT games should be relatively easy.

Fair Enough. It was mostly a curiosity I remember finding playing around with JJ3 before. If it doesnt make the patch I don't think we're suffering a huge loss.

Originally Posted by JazzGruff

Also, I am completely recreating the village map at the moment, though more like technically. I think I made some errors when I didn't know about Unrealed as much as I do now, so every time I compile it, there's a ton of BSP holes all over the place. I now have to copy all of the shapes and rebuild the map piece by piece. Though I'll try to improve it as well!

The city map always dissapointed me in the fact that there were so many unfilled buildings and permanently locked doors. I would love to see it become more technical. Also, from my (basic) UnrealEd Knowledge (mostly with the UT3 much updated version), BSP holes are about the most game-breaking thing the Unreal Engine has at times so its best to spend the extra time to get rid of them.

Originally Posted by JazzGruff

Anyway, do you happen to use Skype or MSN?

Check your PMs

Why would you need hamachi? o.O

Originally Posted by Grytolle

Why would you need hamachi? o.O

I guess because the multiplayer only works for local networks, and what hamachi does is kinda like create a local network.

So it's not TCP then?

Alright, I've been working on this for some time now.
There are a lot of changes made, so I won't get into all of those, but here are some of the highlights:

* The Village map has been totally rebuilt with a huge amount of details, the lake section has been completely redesigned and redone due to horrible BSP issues it caused (The whole section was just one big brush - that wasn't a good sign to begin with).
* The changelist now lists everything (Even changes in maps), and new changes are listed under the corresponding version.
* I finally figure out how to edit the camera's movement!
I haven't found everything about it yet, but I have already done a few nice touches regarding this. For instance, the camera indicates damage by moving and tilting sideways, it also bounces up and down if you land, and does it way more if you get hurt by falling. The camera's movement is kind of delayed (I faked this, but it already makes things look smoother!)
* All of the signs are their own individual actors - this does nothing at the moment, but this will help me to move the camera in front of the sign if Jazz reads it, and then back to him if he decides to make a dumb comment.

There's way more, but I'll leave that to later.
As some of you may already know, there is no way of updating Jazz3D's editor to 2.0, which can be easily done with the original Unreal/Unreal Tournament.
But yes, I have tried to kind of copy the files to that and see if it works... It didn't, but that was a LONG time ago.

I will see what I can do now that I've learned so much more. Perhaps instead of a simple 1.2 update, you guys will get a completely new, major release with the UnrealED 2.0!

I have been trying to import meshes for the past few days and I can't seem to get it to work. In fact, i've gotten to the point where it displays errors that I can't even make out. This leads me to believe that the problem may actually not be in what I'm doing, but reather with Jazz3D itself. Maybe the first release of the UnrealED had a different way of importing meshes?

Either way, once I get things set up, I'll try to copy scripts and such over to Unreal with UnrealED 2.0. If things go well, awesome stuff like the PhysX mod might actually work!

Alright guys! Some actual noticable progress now!

* I managed to get pretty much all the files in UnrealEd 2.1 - I just have yet to port the engine code over to it so the rest works properly. It's quite teadious, so don't expect that to arrive in the following update just yet.

* Thanks to the awesome guys from UnrealSP.org, I was finally able to import a model in Jazz3!

Notice the edited tree model on the right.
I will need to look into this more in order to fix the transparency problem. It's weird because the textures are the same ones - so they shouldn't have the black edges.

Anyway, next big target - animated models. Haven't tried this yet, but will later though.
I can already enhance the game by a ton now, I can easily add more models for special effects and items like new dreamcells and weapons!

P.S. Sorry about the double post. :/

EDIT
Alright, I fixed the transparency problems! Turns out there's an awesome tool that allows adding different sorts of effects and properties for each one of the triangles (that includes transparency for textures that have transparent areas).
I fixed the collisions with the palm tree (Now the center of mass is where the trunk starts, so Jazz collides with it correctly... unless you try to jump on top of it). Also added a new tree that you can see in the above screenshot (Except with fixed textures), it's the same tree, but with leaves facing downward, making it look more like an actual tree!