Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

I’m still not crashing after typing anything while using Carrotade, so for the moment I can’t make any fixes. And the last access violation mentioned in this thread isn’t of any immediate help. So it would really help me if anyone with the problem (such as Pisarz, masterrokusho, and Critz) would give me a lot more details of what happened before the crash, including what programs other than JJ2 and Carrotade were running, what operating system you are using, what version of JJ2 you are using, when you loaded Carrotade (such as on the menu screen or after the server started), and if the crash ALWAYS happens right after you type something.

I suggest making your reply in the JCF thread I just mentioned instead of here to ensure I read it as soon as possible, and it’ll make it easier for me to give a response.

Previous comments:

Thanks for the comments. I updated the description so that it can be a little more useful (I have a bad tendency to be vague with certain things). I would guess that if you put the dll and exe in your JJ2 folder and you have 1.23 or TSF and it still doesn’t work, it’s because your JJ2 is using some patch (like the “1.25” patch UNKNOWNFILE made) which is interfering with Carrotade. At the moment I have no plans to support older patches, but support for the patch Grytolle is working on is a different story. If Carrotade doesn’t work for some other reason, PM me here or on MSN and I’ll see what I can do.

The rest of what I have to say addresses Overlord’s comments:

1. Yeah, Neobeo did some of the best work this game has ever seen, to say the least.
2. If what you said is true that PC 4.1 shouldn’t interfere with Carrotade, then I find that particularly good news (I admit I still use PC 4.0 for certain functions).
3. I should probably change this behavior but I’m not in any particular rush. UPDATE: Apparently NeoAC has the same issue, so it’s probably not caused by something I added later on in development. I have an idea for how to fix it, but it seems all that is needed for the program to work (to some degree) is the dll in the same directory as a JJ2 exe.
4. Same issue as above. I originally made it work this way as an easy fix (curse my poor programming habits).
5. What level was that in? If you made the level, have you seen the Pit Level example yet? It has a few guidelines within text signs not mentioned in the readme. I would highly advise making levels where the lowest platform next to a pit is at least 8 tiles high. Sucker tubes can help. I’m still working on the functionality though.
6. Right now it’s just based off the names gip scripts use for joining servers. I would probably have to rewrite a few things to get your method to work (which would mean ditching the overcomplicated system I used where I modified existing hooks), so I’m not too eager to make the change. If I run into a lot of problems with the method I’m currently using, I’ll definitely have to try your method.
7. I’m not sure what I was thinking when I came up with that name, but I thought it had a nice ring to it.
8. That might be out of my scope at the moment, but I’ll see what I can do.

Edit: Hitch, you managed to read Overlord’s comments, but what about mine? I specifically mentioned the issue of pits in this post, and in addition to that, I specifically addressed the issue in the readme AND in a text string in the Pit Level example. As with the other “bug” (also mentioned in my comments), it’ll be fixed soon. But anyway, thanks for the review, I appreciate it.

Looks like Blacky uploaded the diamdust file I didn’t want the public to have. Hooray.

If I was relatively new to JJ2 and I was entering a contest, I wouldn’t submit a level that uses a game mode I’m unfamiliar with. But that’s irrelevant. Here’s my review:

GAMEPLAY:

The symmetry is slightly off, but I’d be the only one that cares about it. The flow is a bit bumpy in places, such as with the narrow passages to different parts of the level. The top half of the level consists mostly of huge sloped platforms and cramped spaces here and there. What I disliked the most was how the bottom half of this level was designed. The design allows for players to take advantage of camping at certain spots. An extra route up and/or a +1 carrot added at the top would solve most potential problems.

EYE CANDY:

The eye candy is a little random in places, but it’s more or less average, which can be expected with levels using JJ1 tilesets. Of course, typical eye candy means no bonus points in creativity, but the eye candy does do its job.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

The full energy carrot should’ve been made a little easier to reach, but it’s not too bad as it is. Certain strategic moves can be used where the carrot is placed, such as shooting the carrot down after using the warp at the top middle. Still, I think the full energy carrot should’ve been complemented by a +1 carrot. The powerups used (which is the final proof that my Security Breach level influenced this level in one way or another) were placed well enough, but I wouldn’t say the ammo placement is near perfect.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Rarely at the most. 7.

I’m sure a lot of people will use these MIDI files for their websites to annoy visitors to death.

If I was relatively new to JJ2 and I was entering a contest, I wouldn’t submit a level that uses a game mode I’m unfamiliar with. But that’s irrelevant. Here’s my review:

GAMEPLAY:

I can’t say I like the gameplay. The flow isn’t that good in a lot of places, and the level doesn’t look all that balanced. The routes from base to base seem rather restricting. The start positions need work. The Jazz Level Start event allows blue team too easy access to red team’s flag. Moving on, the maze-like routes and the long empty straightaways at the bottom of the level were my least favorite parts.
I also found the thing that animates at pos 32,41 to be an unnecessary obstacle.

EYE CANDY:

I found the tiles in layer 1 to be pretty annoying. In the other layers, the eye candy is about as plain as can be in 90% of the level. There are a few innovative uses of eye candy here and there, but it’s not an excuse for all the places that have almost no eye candy whatsoever.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

The two +1 carrots and the four useful powerups are placed much closer to red base than blue. These should’ve been placed around the entire level. A full energy carrot or two should’ve been used instead of the +1 carrots. Ammo wasn’t distributed evenly as well, which can be seen in the vast empty spaces throughout the level. Also, the ice ammo and powerup seem to be a pointless addition to this level.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Nope. Not the worst first CTF level I’ve seen. The theme of the level is the best part IMO. Still, gameplay is the most important part of any level, so 5.7 is my rating.

This review will be rushed, guaranteed. Also note that I’ve never played JJ1 before.

Statiscape

GAMEPLAY: Okay, but I don’t particularly like it.
EYE CANDY: Good for the given tileset.
CARROT PLACEMENT: Decent.
AMMO PLACEMENT: Decent.
HOST THIS OFTEN? Maybe a few times.

Letni is a freaky place

GAMEPLAY: Somewhat hard to maneuver in places.
EYE CANDY: I suppose it’s good.
CARROT PLACEMENT: Decent.
AMMO PLACEMENT: Decent.
HOST THIS OFTEN? Several times.

Botanica

GAMEPLAY: Innovative, but somewhat unfriendly layout.
EYE CANDY: Good enough and a bit original, but 8-bit background could look better.
CARROT PLACEMENT: Decent.
AMMO PLACEMENT: Decent.
HOST THIS OFTEN? On occasion.

Scraparap CTF

GAMEPLAY: Moderately ordinary. Narrow in several places.
EYE CANDY: Typical.
CARROT PLACEMENT: Decent.
AMMO PLACEMENT: Decent.
HOST THIS OFTEN? Not all that often.

This level is….cold! COLD!!

GAMEPLAY: Simple yet strategic.
EYE CANDY: Average I’m guessing.
CARROT PLACEMENT: Decent.
AMMO PLACEMENT: Decent.
HOST THIS OFTEN? Perhaps for the a few duels.

Sluggion CTF

GAMEPLAY: A bit small, but not bad. Keep X-Speed springs may get annoying, though.
EYE CANDY: Good enough.
CARROT PLACEMENT: Decent.
AMMO PLACEMENT: Decent.
HOST THIS OFTEN? A few times.

Temple Stuff with Levels

GAMEPLAY: Small and simple. May be chaotic, though.
EYE CANDY: Nice atmosphere.
CARROT PLACEMENT: Decent.
AMMO PLACEMENT: Decent.
HOST THIS OFTEN? Maybe a few times for some small games.

Gold level with gold

GAMEPLAY: Actually, annoyingly simple and small.
EYE CANDY: Alright.
CARROT PLACEMENT: A little evil and inconvenient.
AMMO PLACEMENT: Decent.
HOST THIS OFTEN? Perhaps once.

Stone Ways

GAMEPLAY: Not too innovative, but decent. Could be easier to get around.
EYE CANDY: Alright, except for horrible 8-bit background.
CARROT PLACEMENT: Decent.
AMMO PLACEMENT: Decent.
HOST THIS OFTEN? On several occasions.

Ancient Wasteland

GAMEPLAY: Could be hard to decipher. Trigger thing could get annoying.
EYE CANDY: Alright, but background sand doesn’t help.
CARROT PLACEMENT: Decent.
AMMO PLACEMENT: Good enough.
HOST THIS OFTEN? Maybe once or twice.

Frosted Cake

GAMEPLAY: Interesting trigger concept. But base placement discourages gameplay in the left side of the level, and I’m not found of the routes base to base.
EYE CANDY: Looks like typical eye candy from what I can tell.
CARROT PLACEMENT: Decent.
AMMO PLACEMENT: Decent.
HOST THIS OFTEN? Maybe a few times after truly understanding how this level works.

Overall review: I can’t say I hate any one of these levels. I was expecting something a little better, but the pack in all is good. My biggest gripe would have to be with the size of a lot of these levels. I’m not much of a fan of small levels anymore, but I won’t let that affect the rating. Also, I was really expecting FireSworD’s One Spot Extended level to be in this pack. But anyway, I liked most of the levels in this pack, and I might actually host the pack from time to time, so an 8.5 will be my rating.

I get to review two Mez levels in a row. Life is good.

GAMEPLAY:

At least the level is symmetrical so at least I don’t have to complain about the balance. The routes from base to base aren’t good at all. Players would just run back and forth up and back and forth down. Nothing strategical about it. The layout is pretty empty—just a few springs and several other events. I wouldn’t know how anyone could enjoy a level like this. I can’t really complain about a layout that has nothing in it, so I’ll just leave it at that.

EYE CANDY:

Not particularly good, especially compared to all of the other levels I’ve seen using this tileset. At least there aren’t many tiling errors, but something more creative could’ve been done.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

The +1 carrots actually can be pretty useful here, since there aren’t any powerups. However, there barely is any ammo in this level. As for the little ammo that is there, it was poorly chosen. TNT and ice? How are those suppose to be useful? At least there’s toasters and bouncers, but it’s not enough for the entire level. The ammo needs to be distributed better. The pepper spray doesn’t regenerate by the way.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

No. Feel free to guess why. 5.5 is my rating.

The Edit: The new layout is a little better, although the flow needs some work. The ammo placement isn’t great, but at least there is some ammo. The one way events seem to have been placed in excess, and the carrots are oddly placed. I don’t like how far up the RF powerup was placed, either. Furthermore, the RF powerup doesn’t respawn, the ice ammo is nearly useless, and the start positions aren’t team based. In fact, red team wouldn’t even be able to join the game at all. Overall, the new version of this level is better, but not by much. 5.7 would’ve been my new rating, but it’s now a 4.5 because the bad start positions make this level unplayable.[This review has been edited by BlurredD]

This is yet another late review.

GAMEPLAY:

The flow isn’t horrendous, and the symmetrical layout means it’s balanced. But the layout is rather linear leaving limited room for strategy and it’s too simplistic to be fun everytime it’s played. The horizontal springs aren’t necessary; they only get in the way. As for the springs at the bottom middle, only the blue one is needed.

EYE CANDY:

The eye candy isn’t bad, but I don’t like it all too much. I wouldn’t advise using solid sprite layer tiles in the background too often. Blandness and possible confusion are the only two major problems though.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

I can’t say anything about the full energy carrot, but the +1 carrots and the two powerups should’ve been placed a little further from the bases. The small patches of ammo aren’t enough, and the events should probably respawn slower like at a speed of 20. Also, I don’t see any uses for the ice.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

No. While there isn’t anything that makes this level unplayble, it’s nothing that couldn’t be made in half an hour. I’m giving this a 6.7 just because.

This is another late review.

GAMEPLAY:

Here’s another symmetrical level. The base placement is certainly different from the last few levels I’ve reviewed. The flow is decent, but the layout needs a few extra routes for getting around the level. Not being able to move around fast enough would have to be the biggest problem. Everything else about this level is typical. I feel no need to go into details.

EYE CANDY:

The eye candy is a little original in places, like with the falling snow. I liked it for the most part, but I prefer the eye candy in a few other levels using the Inferno tileset.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

The only carrot, I believe, is in a pit at the bottom middle, which can also be a death trap on occasion. Powerup placement is good enough, with the three powerups placed far away from each other. This could be good or bad from time to time. Ammo is placed well enough, and that’s all I have to say.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Maybe host this a few times if bored. I can’t find anything horribly wrong with it. 7.5 is my rating.

This is a late review.

GAMEPLAY:

The layout is pretty generic. It isn’t bad or especially good. I might’ve liked it more if this level was a bit bigger. The flow is decent, except it depends on tubes a little too much. A few more springs should’ve been used instead of all of those tubes, especially when most of the tubes serve no purpose. The bridges aren’t particular useful, so I wouldn’t recommend using them as they were in this level. On a side note, avoid using horizontal springs since players stuck may occasionally get stuck in them.

EYE CANDY:

From what I could tell, the tileset was used well enough, although it’s a little confusing in the beginning. Too bad the textured background looks horrible in 8-bit. After playing the level for a bit, I found that the bright orange made it a bit harder to see a few things, which could be a problem.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

At the bottom middle there’s a full energy carrot, and at the top is a +1 carrot. So the placement of the carrots isn’t a big problem. The placement of the seeker powerup is fine since it is only accessible through a coin warp placed in the middle. I just didn’t like how the toaster powerup was placed; it felt like it was a little too far to the right. In regard to the ammo placement, I can’t say I hate it. However, I would prefer if so much of the ammo wasn’t placed on the ground.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

This level isn’t bad, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to host it more than once. 7.0 is my rating. And make sure to the loop the level to itself next time.

I don’t know what to think about the theme. It seems a bit odd.

GAMEPLAY:

Neglecting the placement of the coin warp and the carrot barrel, which isn’t too useful anyway (read below), the balance isn’t that bad. Although this isn’t that big of a level, it could use more coins since it’s hard enough to get 20 coins without interference from other players. This level is playable, but more springs should’ve been added so that I don’t have to jump in so many places. I don’t see myself using the poles at the bottom of the level too often just to get one coin. Furthermore, I wouldn’t recommend using bridges too often if they don’t help gameplay all that much.

EYE CANDY:

While I disliked the way some parts of this level looked, the eye candy is overall good. The waterfalls were used well and everything, but I don’t really like all of the ground and tube tiles in the background. Everything else I can live with.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

The barrel carrots are useless to everyone but the server since they give clients fake health. Carrots in barrels are always a bad idea. So pretty much the only useful carrot is in the coin warp. In addition, the only powerup is in the coin warp, so either gameplay will be slow and boring at the beginning or extremely biased towards those who get the seeker powerup first. Ammo placement is okay, but it could’ve been distributed more evenly, and I can’t find the purpose of the TNT ammo.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

I can’t say yes. It’s a TSF level (which doesn’t look like it has to be one), and it has rather ordinary gameplay. It’s nothing special and has several bugs, so 6.7 is my rating.

At first glance of this level: looks like this is going to look like EvilMike’s Cavern CTF level, won’t it?

GAMEPLAY:

I wasn’t too wrong about my assumption. It has the same feel of Cavern CTF, except this level is in more of a square shape. I can’t say I hate the flow, but it feels a little off in places like at the bottom left and right, and some places might be hard for Jazz players to reach without running. And in the way the passageways are designed at the bottom and middle, it’s easier to kill and get killed when trying to navigate the level. Aside from that, the level doesn’t leave much room to move in a lot of places, so gameplay is often limited.

EYE CANDY:

The eye candy is somewhere between decent and semi-original. It’s not exactly easy to come up with innovative eye candy in this set nowadays, and this level proves just that. I liked the lighting the least, though. Lighting normally doesn’t look too good with this tileset. Moreover, the top edge of the level seems too flat.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

There’s the one full energy carrot at the top middle, which I have nothing against. Powerup placement is fine, although typical. At least the seeker powerup is only accessible with EB’s. However, the ammo seems excessive and too close together especially at the bottom middle.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Not often, no. I can learn to like it, but I can’t see myself playing in this level on occasion. 7.2 will be my rating, so happy birthday.

I’m guessing I won’t want to review this.

GAMEPLAY:

This certainly doesn’t look like a CTF level, or a JJ2 level for that matter. I’m going to try to list some of the things that were done wrong:

• This level has no name, no music, and no next level setting. These can be changed by clicking on Tools at the top left, then Level Properties.
• Putting a warp near one base that places players right next to the other is definitely not a good idea for a CTF level.
• There aren’t borders around the entire level to prevent the flag bug (I’m not going to get into that right now).
• An event, and in this case a warp event, was placed at the far right. Events don’t work on the last tile on the far right or the very bottom (not that events should be placed there if a border was used).
• The blue springs placed on all those platforms are unneeded. Even if they were red springs, it would be pointless to have it on every single one of those platforms.
• Hurt events were added. These shouldn’t be used in multiplayer levels, since they only affect the server.
• The events regenerate too fast. A speed of 20 would be a good start.
• A shield was added. It’s best not to use shields at this point of level making.
• The coins are placed in an odd formation. They could’ve been spread throughout the level instead.
• Fast feet, a 1up, and gems were included, which are completely useless for CTF.
• The wind events server no purpose. Those shouldn’t have been added in the first place.

I don’t really want to get into all of the CTF basics since this doesn’t even meet basic level making standards. To make things worse, a gun crate crashed my server. I’m not going to explain exactly why this happened, so get someone who knows what they are doing in JCS to point out other things I may have missed. But I am surprised this has team based start positions.

EYE CANDY:

The eye candy isn’t any good at all, and yet I have seen worse. I wasn’t expecting to see that the background tiles are tiled, several layers are resized, and the animations actually work. Of course a lot of other tiles were used improperly, so I would advise either looking at some good levels that use this set, or choose an easier tileset to use such as Castle.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

Well, there isn’t much to point out. There aren’t any powerups, and the ammo was randomly placed. There is a carrot crate, which doesn’t regenerate, but it would give fake health to anyone except the server anyway. A simple full energy carrot at the center of the level would be a good start.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

To put it bluntly, not a chance. My advice would be to start with battle levels instead of CTF levels. This is a 2. I could rate lower, but I’m not. On a side note, only “SwampsN.j2t” should have been included in the zip.

It feels kind of wrong that a TSF level uses a tileset that was recently converted to 1.23 from TSF.

GAMEPLAY:

Aside from the confusing eye candy, the first thing I noticed was the missing borders at the top. No borders around the level mean flag bug whenever a player with the flag touches the edge. Flag bug is when “ captured the flag” keeps repeating on the screen. Flag bug is not a good thing, by the way. Fewer sucker tubes should have been used, especially on the sides of this level. The tubes with the ceiling springs at the top middle aren’t useful at all. Perhaps the events should regenerate slower. The flow isn’t horrible, but I didn’t like it in a few places, like the bottom middle. Overall, this level feels like a rip off of Super Jazz’s Dark Graveyard level except not quite as good.

EYE CANDY:

It was pretty confusing the second I started hosting this level. While the eye candy isn’t that bad, it’s rather distracting so it gets in the way of gameplay, which is more important in a level. In addition, a few more tiles with shadows on them should have been used.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

Even though the coins aren’t that hard to reach, I would like it more if the full energy carrot wasn’t in the coin warp room with the seeker powerup. The powerup placement isn’t bad as it is, but the ammo placement could be a little better in a few places.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Nah. 6.2 is my rating.

One thing I hate about music from DreaMSectioN is that it never repeats. But anyway, my review:

GAMEPLAY:

Here’s another symmetrical level, so The flow isn’t atrocious, but needs improvement. Several of the springs weren’t needed, though, and spring placement could be more sufficient. And the some of float ups need better placing. The thing that I dislike the most is the tubes at the top middle since they aren’t particularly useful. They aren’t much of a shortcut, and they could possible help players get killed faster since they won’t be able to fight back while in the tube. I kind of liked the copter above the seeker powerup, although I think it could regenerate a little faster. The level in general isn’t very original, but it’s decent.

EYE CANDY:

The atmosphere and everything is good and I haven’t noticed any major tiling errors. The 16-bit textured background could look better, though.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

Apparently a +1 carrot is suppose to be enough. Maybe if there weren’t three powerups it could be. I still wouldn’t really like it, though. A full energy carrot would’ve been a lot better. Powerup placement is alright, and ammo placement is good enough. I don’t feel the need to go into detail with anything else.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Perhaps once or twice. I liked this level more than everyone else in the server I was hosting. 7.2 is what I’m giving this.

The Edit: Adding the full energy carrot helped in two ways in that it allows players to actually get full health, and it gives the tubes at the very top middle a purpose. The horizontal tubes near the seekers there still aren’t too useful but don’t necessarily have to be taken out. This is only a 7.5, though, since much of the spring placement still needs work.[This review has been edited by BlurredD]

I was actually expecting good music to go with a title like that.

GAMEPLAY:

The level looks typical at first glance. There are two forts that face each other, each containing a base—a cliche but a classic. The layout isn’t too unbalanced, although the peasant fort on the right is a lot smaller than the knight fort on the left. Yes, I realized it’s for the theme, but balance would be more important. The level is a little wide, but has little playing space; it’s mostly just huge open areas at the top with a few misshaped platforms here and there. As for flow, it’s not too easy to get around the level, especially since there are no slopes. I know I would never make a CTF level with a tileset that has no slopes, but that’s just my (along with many others) preference. The shark pit obstacle is pretty pointless since it’s not that easy to fall into the water. Five coins can save me the trouble of waiting in case I actually do fall in the pit, but those coins are better spent on getting one of the carrots in the coin warps. A lot of the events should generate slower, and the top of the level could use a border.

EYE CANDY:

The eye candy is decent, although with some extra effort, it could be a little better. But I can’t say for sure, because this tileset has almost nothing to offer. At least tilesets like Medivo and Castle have slopes.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

There is the +1 carrot at the top, which is a bit closer to blue base and can be shot down into the shark pit. It is only a +1 carrot so it wouldn’t be worth getting if it fell into the pit. The full energy carrots, on the other hand, are worth getting assuming you can find the warps. Powerup placement is alright, but there isn’t enough ammo in places, and its placement seems sporadic. Also, the ice and the tnt don’t seem too useful.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Nope, especially if you don’t want people trying to speak in Old English in your server. I decided 6.5 will be my rating.

The Edit: I’m not going to bother changing the rating since every edit wasn’t a major change in gameplay.[This review has been edited by BlurredD]

Huzzah.

The music doesn’t fit in as well as it should.

GAMEPLAY:

The layout isn’t all that bad, but it looks kind of odd. I didn’t like how the springs and the platforms were placed on the side of the level; it’s a little restrictive. Other than that, most of the spring placement is decent and the flow isn’t horrendous. The layout in general should be more open so that players will actually be able to dodge some shots from opponents. Everything else in this level is just the same old thing I’ve seen a million times before.

EYE CANDY:

The eye candy isn’t the worst I’ve seen, but it isn’t anything that good. It’s pretty much mostly the mud tiles with a few bricks, like in Distruct’s example level with this set except maybe a little more bland. Disguise did a lot better job with the eye candy in his level with the same tileset. Also, the atmosphere for the level could be better. For something named Bricky Town, this doesn’t seem too bricky. And some of the wrong tiles were used, like with the edges of the unmasked bricks around the RF and bouncer powerups.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

I can’t say anything bad about the carrot and powerup placement, except maybe the RF and bouncer powerups and the full energy carrot are too close to one another. And the area around the seeker powerup should have been made so that it’s less in the way. The ammo is placed well enough, but I didn’t particularly like how it was all in long lines.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Not really. But I’m giving this a 7 since this level isn’t too bad.

I will indeed feel free to rate.

GAMEPLAY:

The layout isn’t complicated, though it does have a nice feel to it. I noticed that in this version of the level, there weren’t invisible masked tiles at the top middle anymore, but instead wind events at the egde—something I think was a big improvement. Getting around is easy enough, and the layout is symmetric so balance is not a problem. The level may not be extremely original, but it does have good gameplay in it and several places for some nice strategic moves.

EYE CANDY:

Should’ve yelled at Pyro more to fix the textured background, though. Other than that one detail, I liked the eye candy. The background doesn’t seem confusing as it looks like it should be, and it even helps out the atmospere a lot. The tiles in the 3rd layer didn’t get in the way too much, and I can’t complain how most of the tiles in the sprite layer were placed.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

For carrot placement, the +1 carrots on the side were a good idea, especially since the full energy carrot in the middle may be too risky to get most of the time. I can’t say I hate the seeker powerup placement, although I know a certain other who would probably complain about it. I liked the tube near the bouncer and RF powerups, which were nice choices for powerups by the way. Ammo placement is alright, although all those crates aren’t really needed, and some Electro Blasters could’ve been useful.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

On occasion. Although the size is adequate for duels, I wouldn’t recommened it for them. It’s best for 2on2’s and 2on2’s alone. Bonus points for making a level that’s Bob’s weakness. 8.

The Edit: Okay, so maybe I was a bit too eager to rate this an 8 after realizing Bobby aka Dizzy wasn’t that good in this level—at least this is what I think. It’s really not too different from a lot of other levels, so I’m making 7.7 my new rating. It’s still a good level, though. By the way, I can barely hear the new music while I’m playing the level. The old music was good enough as it was.[This review has been edited by BlurredD]

The description already has my hopes down. Let’s see what I’ll give this.

GAMEPLAY:

The level didn’t look bad at first sight. But then I started exploring the level. And I must say, I don’t know how this level is suppose to be balanced at all. On the right side of the level, there’s a warp to the carrot, and where that carrot is are warps to both red and blue base. If the layout was ever balanced at any point, the carrot room warp would’ve killed it. As for the flow, it needs a lot of work. A lot of the springs could have been placed in a way so that they are actually useful all of the time. I advise not using “bridge holes” so often. Also, the start positions need to be fixed (use the Multiplayer Level Start events only with 0 for blue and 1 for red), and I found the airboard and the destruct/buttstomp scenary to be unnecessary events. Overall, there isn’t anything in the layout that could convince me to play this again.

EYE CANDY:

The eye candy could’ve been average, but there are so many avoidable small mistakes with basic tileset use. Just compare this level to one of the Epic levels with the beach tileset. The animating tiles in the water at the bottom of the level didn’t add much of anything. I found the animations in the background layer to be especially pointless.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

I already mentioned some of my thoughts on the full energy carrot placement. And to make things worse, the carrot can be shot down. Perhaps so much focus to adding so many powerups shouldn’t have been used; three powerups would have been enough. I also wouldn’t recommend hiding powerups. Maybe make them a little hard to access, but don’t just hide them. And two blaster powerups aren’t needed. Ammo placement isn’t flattering; it’s just there so that players can get ammo, and it doesn’t matter what kind of ammo it is. Ice isn’t particularly useful in this level, but TNT can be used to destroy the destruct blocks. Of course, the destruct blocks shouldn’t have been added in the first place. At this point, I didn’t feel like searching for any more secrets, but I doubt there is anything that could save this level.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Simply, no. All of the flaws add up in the end, so 5.7 is my rating. The beta testers could’ve done a better job.

The Edit: The new start positions help a lot. But the new one ways I noticed didn’t make a significant difference. Nevertheless, I’m changing my rating to a 6.[This review has been edited by BlurredD]