Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

The original team battle level was not strictly a battle 1 remake, but it certainly contained elements from it. It was meant as a strong homage though, not a remake. The level used an original design that deliberately tried to avoid battle 1 style gameplay (part because it’s meant to be played with 3 hearts, and part because I never liked battle 1 much, even 10 years ago). To me, a proper “remake” of battle 1 should preserve the gameplay and overall feel of the original map, and not just have a bunch of rooms that look similar.

The level uploaded here is obviously a remake though. Also contains elements from other levels, which is interesting. Looks a lot better than my original version too, which I hope can now be considered obsolete.

@minmay: I would suggest rating the levels first and foremost, since Morten chose to upload this as “single player” and not as “tileset”. Although, it would also be relevant to let the tileset’s quality influence your rating. This upload seems to be more along the lines of “level pack with custom tilesets” rather than “tilesets with example levels”.

I like this level. It as a decent layout, it’s big, and it looks good. I’m not going to go into too much detail on these aspects, since other people have. So instead of just describing the level, I’ll look at a few of the things that don’t work and comment on those.

I’ve played this level quite a few times, and so I know the layout about as well as I can. However, I still find that I often have no idea where I am. The problem here is partially one of size, but also because much of the level uses the same style of eyecandy. Whether I am on the left side or the right side, it all looks about the same. To give an example: I know where the warps go, but if I didn’t, I would have no idea which side of the level they took me to. The only thing I have to go by is the ctf arrows.

This level really could have benefitted from some “pointers” in the eyecandy. What I mean by this is stuff (usually in the background) that the player can use to get a good idea of where they are. For example, this level could have used more of those gargoyle statues, which conveniently point left or right (and used them so they always point toward the middle of the level). Other levels do a similar thing with colour, although waz18 doesn’t really have much in that area. There are even subtler ways of doing this – for example, in my most recent CTF level, I used waterfalls to indicate which side of the base is towards the edge of the level (the wrong way to go).

Another problem is the ammo. Most of it respawns fairly quickly, but there isn’t very much of it for a level this size. In large games (6vs6 or larger) it’s quite easy to find yourself using the blaster 3/4 of the time. This can be fixed a bit by turning fast ammo respawn on, but it’s still an issue. I would have liked to see more ammo placed along the common routes here, with things like seekers being kept more out of the way.

A final, more minor comment has to do with the placement of the springs. This level goes out of its way to make you not use them – they are put inside gaps in the floor (forcing you to stop if you want to hit them), or put above bridges so you literally run underneath the springs. I understand why this is done, but it runs counter to what pretty much every other level does. Generally speaking, if you see a spring in front of you which you don’t want to use, you will jump over it. You do not expect the level to have an invisible bridge event that will let you run underneath it. And likewise, if you want to use a spring, you usually will expect to be able to use it if you just run into it (no jumping required). Basically, this level messes with your regular intuitions when it comes to how these things work. This isn’t a major issue, but I feel like this feature, which I assume is intended to make the level flow better, is having the opposite effect it is supposed to.

Aside from all of that, this is still an enjoyable level and I recommend it for any large CTF game. It’s also a good level to look at if you want to see how this tileset ought to be used (it’s probably the best use of it I’ve seen, or maybe tied with medieval skyscrapers).

The bottom corners mainly are there for easy access to seeker ammo near the spawn. Copters would be an interesting addition though. I never actually thought of that (and no one suggested it). I’m going to have to test that, and maybe update the level.

As for the trigger doors, a big effect they give is that it makes your side a bit easier to defend, especially because you can drop down from the exit spot at the top, grab the carrot, and then reenter your base (this also makes things slightly easier for defenders, because campers have to take the long way back unless they use rfs). I also think that if both were left open, then there’d be far less of a reason to use the bottom of the level. So it’s not entirely a timing thing.

I’m not actually sure if the easy defendability/campability is a problem though, especially since that’s a major focus of the level. Against a good team I think you’ll need someone as spaz with rf jumping skills on your side, to add an extra entrance to the enemy base. Otherwise, if the team isn’t 100% organized you should be able to get through (barely). The main “problem” is really the area around the exit sign (try killing someone who is hiding there), but it’s not totally impenetrable.

Edit: Oh yeah, and that is not a remix of marbelara :P. It’s just the regular jj1 track, as far as my ears can tell.

The sequel thing isn’t so much due to the layout or gameplay. It’s more of a thematic thing. EMEF is a cloudy, stormy, fortress level. EMNSEF is cloudy, peaceful, and also has a sort of fortress. They also have similar backgrounds as you pointed out.

@Toni: That’s not a tilebug. Consider it a hint to a very, very hidden secret. I left it there on purpose.

This is a very pretty level and I like the openness of it but it has a number of gameplay problems.

What I like about it is that there are a bunch of ways to get through it (with a lot of secret areas), there’s good support for difficulty levels, and it’s just large enoguh to work as a stand-alone level.

Two things detract from the level. First of all, the tileset usage, while looking cool, tends to be a little confusing at times. This level has a habit of using masked tiles (ie stuff that belongs in layer 4) in the background, which means you don’t always know what’s solid and what isn’t. A little bit of this sort of thing can be ok, but it is excessive in some places here.

My second problem is that the level is just a bit too frustrating. I beat it without cheating, but the death pits got me a few times, and the lack of checkpoints makes them very annoying. In the end, I wound up just rushing through the level instead of exploring it, since I felt like I had wasted enough time already. There are also parts where enemies are nearly unavoidable (the level is especially guilty of this in the moving platform sections). They probably should have been put on hard mode or just removed.

8 is lower than anyone else has given this, but I think it is fair, considering the problems I mentioned. If I were to rate this on eyecandy alone it would get a 10. Music is also good (07-Magic Mushrooms-ZAiK_iNT.mp3).

I’d give you a negative rating if I could.

Loon: can you at least read the description before writing a review?

There are no bugs in this level.

Also, don’t rate things based on how they look in JCS. Every one of my levels has copied and pasted tiles, but you don’t notice that unless you zoom way out.

I’ll write a proper review if/when I get a chance to play this online, since it’s hard to judge the gameplay of a level by playing it offline. But just for now, I want to say that this level really isn’t as spaz-biased as jgke and millocz seem to think. Jazz and lori can get to all the same spots. This includes the (somewhat weird) top left corner area. Overall this actually looks pretty balanced. Probably deserves higher than 7.0.

As someone who makes single player levels, I have to say that I can’t think of any reason why I’d use this. The game already has a working game over screen.

I’m giving this a 3 (perhaps too generously) because the level can at least be used as a one-screen battle level, and it more or less works. But even then, more effort could have been made, since there’s no ammo or anything else to speak of.

Wow, that’s a really messed up looking preview.

Thanks for pointing out the tilebug. It’s fixed now.

Also, you can easily shoot down the fly carrot with powered bouncers. Don’t use the small gap, just walk right up to the edge of the pit and shoot.

KiMO: You’re right that the carrot is risky, but luck has almost nothing to do with it, at least not in a serious duel. If you can time when the carrot respawns, and have been tracking your opponent, you’ll have enough time to get the carrot. The is especially true if you know how to RF jump, or if you’re skilled enough to shoot down the full nrg and catch it when it’s falling (this is the quickest way to get it). Luck is only a factor if you are lagging, playing in a large game, or aren’t paying attention.

You’re all rating an old version of this tileset.

Which is kind of silly for me to say since the “new” version is like 10 years old.

I don’t even rememeber making this, and I have a pretty good memory for my levels. This is really, really weird.

Actually, now that I have given it a good look, I probably didn’t make it. My levels from 1999 are almost this bad, but the ones from mid-2000 are actually playable.

molto cattivo.

Well that’s a matter of time zones, really. It was ready to be uploaded, so I decided to upload it on the 27th based on CET, since that’s a good a time zone as any. Never mind that I’m 8 time zones behind it.

Mortalspaz: It crashed because the levels are big. That’s why I put a warning in the download info. Sorry. You don’t have to start all over though. You can cheat (jjnxt) to get to where it crashed. It doesn’t really count as cheating if you’re just skipping to where you left off.

This is a very good tileset and one of the best ones I’ve seen in quite a while. I love the style, and I was quite surprised at just how good it was. It’s a definite improvement over your previous tilesets, which had a bit too much of a “paint shop pro” look to them. This one on the other hand, has a very unique and professional look to it. There’s really no fault I can see in it, other than maybe the grass, which is a bit too bright green, like it’s toxic or something. Also, there aren’t really any good “spike” tiles: there are tiles for lava pools, but that’s a bit limited in how it can be used.

I hope by “My last creation.” you mean it’s your latest creation. It would be a shame for such a great tileset like this to be the last one!

One thing that would be nice is a 1.23 version, like dodges suggested. You’d have to cut stuff, but it’s been done before.

I’m giving this a 10 because even though it’s not perfect, it’s close enough. And I love the art style.

hmm….

http://supertux.lethargik.org/screenshots.html

This is a very good upload! So many of these tilesets have hardly been used. Of course, not all of them are great, and a few are tiny or just weird, but overall this is a very good upload and I hope it brings attention to waz. Some of these tilesets (eg Hustar3) would probably get at least 8.5 if released today.

I never realized how good this set is. Waz tilesets have always been a bit underrated but this one in particular is better than most of his others. The theme is fairly typical: it’s your average nature-style set, with some added stuff thrown in for variety. What makes this tileset good is that is is well-drawn, versatile, and easy to use.

I highly recommend this tileset, and if you want the 1.23 version you can get it here: http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/downloads/info.php?levelID=5441