Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Source code FAQ & Myths

There is a lot of misinformation occuring regarding the future of Jazz Jackrabbit 2 and its source code. The writing of this FAQ was directly triggered by a discussion in a server but is not written because of this discussion, but because it became more apparant than it already was that such a faq was needed.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Source Code?

Any game is made out of several parts, one of which is the programming code (others are sprites, sounds, etc.). The code is what is needed to get the program to function. The "Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Source Code" is the code that, when compiled, creates Jazz2.exe. When you have access to the source code, you can easily modify a game with additional features and bug fixes. Without it, you can modify a game, but without being able to see the original code, only what the code resulted in, which is harder to modify, since it does not contain the clarity of the source code.

Why are we talking about this?

Very little games, a huge minority, have their source code released. There are a few games that are free and open source from the start, which are modified by anyone who wishes to. This way communities create their own games, outside of companies. To see why the source code of JJ2 is being talked about so much is part a history lesson.

Epic Games, the publisher of Jazz Jackrabbit 2, and Orange Games, which created the code for Jazz Jackrabbit 2, mostly stopped supporting the game after a few patches. The game, which was rushed in the end, with some odds and ends left, only went up to version 1.23. The 1.23 patch is the only patch people bother installing, and the released versions are usually 1.21 or 1.22. That's not a whole lot of patches. This is not talking about TSF, which runs the engine version 1.24, which had some improvements, mainly regarding tileset sizes and a new character.

Initially, there were plans for more patches, but for some reason these were discontinued. On a prod by a developer/Epic person (Jeh I think), webmaster StevenT of Jazz Central in the old days created a page (props for anyone who digs it up in the Wayback Machine) in which people could submit suggestions for a new patch. This page caught on but obviously no patch was ever made.

FQuist, a community member then involved with a few relatively unpopular fansites, had both developers of Jazz 2 on his ICQ list, and occassionally talked to them. In one of the conversations, in the days they weren't as busy as now, Michiel Ouwehand (coder of the multiplayer code (or at least the 'netcode') for Jazz Jackrabbit) said that he was interested in releasing the source code, and he felt Orange Games should send a few lawyers to Epic Games sometime to arrange it. FQuist is not the only source for this information, similar sentiments were later made to other community members which confirm Orange Games' interest in releasing the source code.

Nothing ever happened with it, but this shows that on Orange Games', the developer of the source code's side, there has been true interest in releasing the source code. These events, and several hoaxes, and the holy grail feeling that resonates from the '1.25' thing, have caused the constant interest in the release of the source code by the community.

So what happened?

Lots of things happened. One of the most important perhaps is the use by Orange Games and later Lost Boys Games (see next question) of the Jazz Jackrabbit 2 engine (earlier on also used in Battery Check) in other projects, one being a game for a dutch milk company. It is suggested that the active use of the Jazz Jackrabbit 2 engine made the release of the source code harder, because it was still being used to commercial advantage for its company. Michiel/Arjan (one of them, possibly both) said that they had to wait until things 'quieted down' with releasing the source. Then contact with the developers got more sloppy.. one reason being: (read on to next question)

What happened to Orange Games?

The Earlong Royal Encyclopedia on Orange Games might help out here:

Orange Games is the company that, together with Epic Megagames (now called Epic Games), created Jazz Jackrabbit 2. Orange Games was responsible for all game code, including the engine. All game content like graphics was created mostly by freelancers hired by Epic Megagames. Later, Orange Games was merged into Lost Boys Games. Lost Boys Games has now merged with another gaming company and has become Guerrilla Games (Games division of the Media Republic company). In December 2005 (news was announced at the 8th) Guerilla Games was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment.

Orange Games was led by Arjan Brussee, now Development Director at Guerrilla Games. Besides Jazz Jackrabbit 1 and Jazz Jackrabbit 2 they have done several other projects, like Battery Check, which uses the Jazz Jackrabbit 2 engine. Early in 2005 Guerilla games published their first FPS game called Killzone. Killzone is a derivative of the Core project they have worked on ever since they finished Jazz2.

The personell of Orange Games has obviously been thrown around a lot, and they've been very busy with new projects and growing as a company. This makes contact hard, and lessens the interest in this community from their side. There *has* been interest, though. Arjan and Michiel were scheduled to visit a community meeting, even, but something got inbetween. Arjan and Michiel have semi-regularly talked to ShadowGPW and FQuist, and have asked FQuist to 'bother them more'.

What is Epic Games' opinion on releasing the source code?

Epic Games seems to have a sympathetic standpoint towards releasing the source code. They have not, ever, explicitly, claimed to not favouring a release.

What followed after the announcement of the 'imminent' release of the Source Code by Michiel Ouwehand?
Or: What is the history of the 1.25 council?

The 1.25 council was established by Roaster and FQuist (I think). The council, officially 'led' by these two, invited knowledgable and influential people in the community to convene about what should happen when the source was released. Its centre is a hidden forum on the JCF. List of bugs and feature requests were collected, and a general direction for future development was set. While the council is inofficial and unrecognised by the developers, as most of the important members of the community are in it, its influence is not entirely trivial, and its forum contains more information (on bugs, what causes them, features, and source code/community history) than you'll find at the rest of the forum.

As of 2010, the council no longer really exists and the forum is inactive. Development of JJ2 features is mainly centered around jj2+ nowadays.

How do I get into the council?

The council is inactive and does not accept new members at this time.

Facts & Myths:

MYTH: The source code will never be released

FACT: People at both involved companies have displayed interest from a slight interest to a large interest, and this is more than can be said about the majority of PC games. It is obvious that there is interest by individuals to release it, but there is a lack of contact between the involved and a lack of time and ambition. Saying that Epic Games has vowed to never release it is not supported by any statement made at any time ever (afaik).

MYTH: The source code will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars/euros/etc

FACT: The source code would most likely cost nothing. No such thing as the above has ever been said by any genuinely involved individual at any time ever. This would possibly hold true for Jazz Jackrabbit 3, which uses a commercial, expensive, engine (The Unreal Engine) with a license that costs thousands and thousands of euros, but this engine is not used by Jazz Jackrabbit 2. The Jazz Jackrabbit engine is old, and is losing its commercial value quickly. Asking a lot of money for it would just mean it would never get utilised, which is not in the interest of any company.

MYTH: We have to collect money to buy the source code

FACT: This is an irresponsible and useless thing to do until a monetary sum is specified by the involved individuals. Most likely, the source code will cost nothing, and *if* they would ever charge they would not charge in the region that a few hundred usually underage fans could afford (unless it's just costs for the trouble, like lawyer costs, which would be presumptious to collect for right now already) .

MYTH: The source code is of no use

FACT: The community has a history of modding Jazz Jackrabbit 2 through external tools, and lately through editing the JJ2 assembly code. There's been a large amount of tools. Many features that were once considered pipe dreams are now available though JJ2+. However, access to the original source code would make integrating and adding new features easier, as no reverse engineering would be required and developers would have a better sense of what they can and cannot do on top of the base game. It would also be interesting to be able to look at unfinished or hidden features that are hinted at by e.g. the contents of Anims.j2a; how would the Tweedle boss have worked? Is there anything left of the planned 3D bonus stages? Such content would be interesting if nothing else, and could perhaps be developed into a working feature.

Additionally, as there are very little opensource platformers, having the source would give the community a boost, in that it would attract new people. Currently the wells are pretty dry, but open source applications everywhere attract attention from coders who love to hack away with code.

MYTH: We already have the source code, in the form of decompiled code/editing the compiled files

FACT: The source code contains logic and information that make it exponentially easier to edit the game. There are very interesting things you can do (as shown by Unknownfile's "1.25" project (link)) with just editing the game without the source, but you'll have to set aside a lot of time if you ever want to fix the more complex bugs or - god forbid - add features.

This is mostly a draft I made a while back, it will be improved and edited later. I've not had time to work on it recently. Constructive suggestions are welcome. Destructive complaining, off-topic replies and tired debates are not.

I didn't proof-read it a lot so if you find something that is wrong please correct.

The topic name-drops me a bit improportionally, but that's mostly because.. I was kind of the guy who was central to getting the meme out there.

And for those curious, the JJ2 source code was written in Visual C++.

IMO a better name:

JJ2 Source Code FAQ: Facts and Myths revealed! Free A3 fold-out included. Only £2.99.

Also, the answer of the second question should instead be something like 'To understand why the source code of JJ2 is being talked about so much requires a bit of history...', with the '...' being there to add some excitement.

Very little games, a huge minority, have their source code released

Thats the first time I've heard of a huge minority; is it liek dark light or millitary inteligence?

fact i know someone with the sorce code so screw you oh uh sounded a bit mean here have a free cup

fact im getting sick of your insults because they suck oops sounded mean have a free copy of jazz3d

Fact: You are lying, jamster. Have a nice day ^_^

Originally Posted by ThunderPX

Fact: You are lying, jamster. Have a nice day ^_^

Originally Posted by the jamster

fact i know someone with the sorce code so screw you oh uh sounded a bit mean here have a free cup

I don't play baseball D=

Originally Posted by the jamster

fact i know someone with the sorce code so screw you oh uh sounded a bit mean here have a free cup

You obviously didn't read the first two posts.

He did, but they used big words.

Originally Posted by UNKNOWNFILE

fact im getting sick of your insults because they suck oops sounded mean have a free copy of jazz3d

Get it here for free

Lol.

Trying to get the Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Source Code is pointless. Its so much easier to program your own Jazz Jackrabbit game using game maker systems, I have the tools to program games, not only that I know how to program games using such programs like Java and Visual C++ and even Delphi 6. I have an awesome game development program that is not only free to the public but as endless possibilities. I've created many 2d and some 3d games with this tool. There are tons of game creation tools, but this one is the best, it’s called "Game Maker" Easy to use once you've read the book, it has its own programming language but it’s based of Delphi 6. And you can make a game better than Jazz 2 people! Heck we could make a Jazz 3d with this! Anyways if anyone wants more info, I have a lot of experience with this software. Also if you don’t like Game Maker there is also another site with a crap load of game creation tools www.thegamecreators.com loads of game development tools. My site will host a variety of all game creating software all at one site, I'll keep yall posted

-Ultramecha

Originally Posted by ultramecha

There are tons of game creation tools, but this one is the best,

Opinion. But not the place for discussion. Keep Gamemaker to your own thread.

Oke, Go make a game then!
But you will show some more before try to get people in your "team" or what your are doing...
Try to make a demo then! Good luck

Originally Posted by ultramecha

Trying to get the Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Source Code is pointless. Its so much easier to program your own Jazz Jackrabbit game using game maker systems, I have the tools to program games, not only that I know how to program games using such programs like Java and Visual C++ and even Delphi 6.
-Ultramecha

Do you have enough money to pay Epic Games and Orange and all the alive creators of Jazz Jackrabbit 2 when you get sued?

Originally Posted by ShadowRabbit

Do you have enough money to pay Epic Games and Orange and all the alive creators of Jazz Jackrabbit 2 when you get sued?

This whole concept has been brought up and debunked in another thread. Don't bring it here.

Really. It's pointless trying to get the source code. I've tried. They say it's not for sail. And you right it is just easier to make it in gamemaker.

You lost me at hello

Pleeeeeease don't revive threads without good reason. So what, Epic may not release it now. But in the future, keyword, FUTURE, they may or may not, you never know. And just because only one person tried doesn't mean it's useless -_-

Now if we only had a TARDIS...

If only we had what? Ya your right. But another key word is far into the future?

Then a TARDIS would be of very much help.

(*Suddenly notices that nobody knows what he's talking about*)

Check wikipedia.

Sorry if I make Spam,but I have a really important question:

Do you people have Jazz Jack Rabbit 3 ?
If you have it.....excelent......,if not i'll tell you how to get Jazz 3 FULL!

JJ3 is illegal to posess although many people in the community have it, distribution of it is also illegal.

Why it's illegal?

It was privately released and was not mean't to be distributed to anyone but the people it was originaly intended to.

So,now i have to unistall it?

That would be the right thing to do.

But Epic stopped caring about it a while ago, so you don't really NEED to...

You would need to in order to abide by the law. This has been explicitly requested not just by Epic but by the team of people who made Jazz3 without getting any compensation for it.

your wiki is wrong about battery check.. it is not impossible to get a copy, i have 2 different versions... beta, and finished

and no, you can't have them, i promised Viper i wouldn't share it.

i have it .really.don't make me tell you how.....

Originally Posted by VashTheStampede

your wiki is wrong about battery check.. it is not impossible to get a copy, i have 2 different versions... beta, and finished

and no, you can't have them, i promised Viper i wouldn't share it.

It's freeware now >_>

Betaaaaaaa?

Originally Posted by VashTheStampede

your wiki is wrong about battery check.. it is not impossible to get a copy, i have 2 different versions... beta, and finished

and no, you can't have them, i promised Viper i wouldn't share it.

Which is ironic, because I gave Viper the full version willingly and said "Share this as much as you want".

With Battery Check now freeware will the source code for Battery Check be given out? Somebody should send Epic a formal email/letter asking for Battery Check's source. If we can get that it'll be further then we've ever gotten to unlocking some insights of Jazz Jackrabbit 2.

The Copyright on the engine still applies, so it won't be released unfortunately.