Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Late CTF Level Review Number 06: The Dark Dream

(Against my better judgment, I will review this level offline. I may later on adjust the rating when I finally get around to hosting this online.)

GAMEPLAY:

edits previous review

To no surprise, this level is also Spaz-biased with bad spring placement. Actually, this is much more Spaz-biased than the last levels. How could anyone play this and not notice the obvious problems with the flow? The flow is a whole lot worse than in the War Time! level, which is easy to tell. I have to say that while balance isn’t the biggest problem for once, the layout is still horrible. This level isn’t even completely symmetrical. There are still the same dead-ends and pointless areas as seen in previous levels, such as much of the bottom area of the level. I should also mention the size of the level didn’t help.

EYE CANDY:

Still bad. It’s still boring. It still completely lacks variety in tiles. The tileset is still used incorrectly. And the background tiles are messed up. Work on this, please.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

Carrot placement is good enough from what I can tell. Ammo placement still needs some work. There are multiple powerups of the same weapon for no good reason, so I advise not to do this. I’m probably making this review too short, but I seem to keep repeating myself with each review.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Not a chance. 5.5, so there.

PS: Either you aren’t listening to your beta-testers, or your beta-testers are doing an awfully bad job at giving good advice. Something needs to change there. And I don’t know where exactly the assault part comes in. I should probably take off points for that, but I won’t.

Late CTF Level Review Number 05: War Time!

(Against my better judgment, I will review this level offline. I may later on adjust the rating when I finally get around to hosting this online.)

GAMEPLAY:

Simply stated: Distopia gone awry. This level is Spaz-biased with bad spring placement. When I say “Spaz-biased,” it means anyone playing as Jazz will have a much harder time getting around the level than if they were Spaz. When I say “bad spring placement,” it either means some springs should be moved, some springs should be removed, some springs should be changed (as to a different color), or some springs should be added. The level is also way too cramped in places, such as at the top right. Running around base to base through all possible routes before uploading this level might have helped to discover these problems with flow. The Blue base is crammed into some tight space while the Red base is in a much more open area—a sign of unbalance. The unevenness of open and cramped spaces here and there makes most of this level unbalanced. The same type of dead-ends as seen in the last level are present here. Also, some of the animating lights have masking problems (meaning that as it animates, the light occasionally becomes solid, which it shouldn’t). I doubt this will ever be fixed, but I said it anyway. In short, use better beta-testers, please. Thanks.

EYE CANDY:

Eye candy is basic, but it still suffers from misusage and tiling errors. There isn’t enough variety in types of tiles used. And near the bottom of the level, I could see the textured background underneath the mountain tiles in the background. That’s a bad thing, BTW.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

The placement of the full energy carrot is decent, but it’s completely dull and all. Ammo placement isn’t improved too much. It still isn’t distributed evenly throughout the level. Powerup placement is almost decent, if the carrot is considered as part of the balance, but I still question it.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

I don’t think so. Reviewing this level made me tired. 5.7 just because.

PS: Do me a favor and make a level without using one dead-end whatsoever. And don’t forget to add a next level setting next time. Some music would be nice as well.

Late CTF Level Review Number 04: Temple of darknes

(Against my better judgment, I will review this level offline. I may later on adjust the rating when I finally get around to hosting this online.)

GAMEPLAY:

The layout is a lot better than I thought it would be. Of course, one could imagine I had very low expectations when I saw the name “Temple of darknes.” The level is symmetrical, or at least it’s suppose to be (I found a missing spring), so I can’t complain about balance too much. The layout is bumpy here and there, and it looks Jazz unfriendly. It’s also too cramp in a lot of places, and some of the dead-ends are annoying. If the dead-ends around the bouncer powerup were shorter, I wouldn’t mind them as much. There are probably too many dead-ends (however small they may be) overall. I can see why most of the layout is the way it is, but I don’t see the point for making those areas with the horizontal springs; they just look pointless to me. From what I can tell, there are a lot of pointless events in this level like springs that could be avoided. In general, spring placement is horrendous. And for the biggest problem of all, there are some missing borders at the top areas which we all know can allow for the flag bug to appear. A two-tile (three-tile recommended) border at the edges of the level would fix this problem.

EYE CANDY:

It could be a lot better in many places. The huge areas of the same tiles look awfully bland. Another thing I dislike about the eye candy is the lighting. The lighting looks horrible outside of the temple, so some “Set Light” events would have been useful here. While I’m on the subject of “outside of the temple,” let me point out that the background is incredibly boring. The last time I checked, EvilMike did include BG tiles in his temple set, so I advise using them. The only thing that makes this eye candy any good at all is the usage of the small brick tiles. Granted it’s a little annoying in the 3rd layer (as it could be confusing), it makes a few areas in the level look a lot less dull. But I have to say, a found a few tiling areas with those bricks.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

I suppose for the size of the level a few extra carrots would be a good idea, but some of them are too close to one another. In regards to the carrot placed above the green-red-green spring combo and to the other carrot near the bouncer powerup, I suggest removing at least one of them (preferably the latter). The ammo could have been distributed better, such as with more ammo in the top and center areas and a little less at the bottom. I should mention that TNT can be slightly useful, such as for getting the bouncer powerup through the wall, but I feel it’s in too large of a quantity and should be closer to the bottom to where that powerup is. As for the ice, I see no use for it unless there’s some secret area somewhere (which I doubt). Also, I wouldn’t advise on multiple powerups of the same weapon.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Nope. I’m thinking 5.7 for my rating.

PS: I don’t know why this is called “Desert Storm” on J2O while its name is “Temple of darknes” in the actually level itself. Some continuity would be nice.

Late CTF Level Review Number 03: Teh Space Station

(Against my better judgment, I will review this level offline. I may later on adjust the rating when I finally get around to hosting this online.)

GAMEPLAY:

Unresized Layer 4: MY FAVORITE. That was just lazy. Let me also mention that this level is mostly linear, so I already disliked gameplay a lot from the minute I started playing this. I don’t think I understand this level. I think the idea was to put horizontal blue springs on the left and a coin warp on the right to make this level even more unbalanced and chaotic. This level reminds me of a BBlair modification gone awry. Did I already mention balance needs work? The flow needs a lot of improvement as well. Linear layouts (which I advise to avoid at all costs) are no excuse for incredibly bad flow. And there are too many obstacles for my taste. decides he doesn’t feel like continuing

EYE CANDY:

The eye candy is probably the best part of this level. Or really, I should say the “atmosphere.” This is the kind of atmosphere I tend to use for a lot of my levels (indoors for the bases and outdoors for the section between the bases). On second thought, I don’t like the eye candy all that much. It seems to be dull in several places throughout the level, and it isn’t all too innovative. Also, the waterfall in the foreground irritated me. I would say the eye candy is average overall.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

The two measly +1 carrots—which are also poorly placed—will surely hinder gameplay. Like always, I suggest a full energy carrot or two. Ammo placement isn’t great. There are too many crates and it isn’t distributed well. And I don’t know what the TNT is for. As for the powerups, its placement also isn’t too great. The RF and Seeker powerups (which just happen to be two of the more powerful powerups) are placed way too close to each other. There are also the two bouncer powerups on the right side for reasons unknown. Furthermore, the blaster powerup and the two toaster powerups also help to make this level unbalanced. The blaster powerup isn’t needed at all. And is it me, or is 15 just seem a tad bit too fast? I still advise at least 20 as the respawn over 15, but I have to say this is definitely not the biggest problem in this level.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Nah. I’ll make my rating a 5.5 for now (and probably later).

PS: Play some more good CTF levels before adventuring into making another one of your own, please. And yes, I will die for not playing this on the internet, although technically I was on the internet when I was playing the level (thanks to my cable modem), so ha. I highly doubt playing this online will persuade me to rate this much higher in any case.

Late CTF Level Review Number 02: Tree CTF

(Against my better judgment, I will review this level offline. I may later on adjust the rating when I finally get around to hosting this online.)

GAMEPLAY:

I can’t say I like the flow from the first five seconds I saw this level.

wonders how fast he can review this

I don’t like this. The flow is too rigid and Spaz-biased. It’s hard to see where I’m going (I blame Disguise for the way the tileset has to be used, but some improvisation could have been applied here). The balance could use a lot of work. The start positions were placed lazily (not even team based). And the one tile border may allow for the flag bug to pop up midgame. Unfortunately, I’m not in the mood to give a lot of advice so I’ll stop here.

But… Let me just ask this: if you know you can get stuck in certain places, why didn’t you try harder to prevent this?

EYE CANDY:

It’s confusing to say it simply. Players might get used to it, but I don’t really want to (to be honest). Actually, eye candy isn’t too bad; I just hate those tree branch thingies in the background. But in all, I have to say good job on actually being able to use this tileset at all.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

No carrots, uneven ammo placement, and questionable powerup usage. I don’t know what to think about the two ice powerups. No wait, I can: they are unneeded and just get in the way. Ice in this level in general is probably not needed at all. I say this from what I can tell, and what I can tell is this level needs a major overhaul.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Don’t. 5.2 and try again. I get to be the first person to actually rate this. Joy.

PS: I am almost sure “Tree.j2l” will be overwritten one day. Anyway, message me if you actually want some real CTF advice.

Late CTF Level Review Number 01: Evil steel cage

(Against my better judgment, I will review this level offline. I may later on adjust the rating when I finally get around to hosting this online.)

GAMEPLAY:

This level sort of confused me when I started playing. It’s pretty straight forward—which I discovered after making a few false presumptions. Albeit, after a while this level reminded me of a few of CelL’s older levels (Factorial Fiasco and The CelLlevator!). The level is symmetrical so balance is not an issue. The flow is just good enough for players to get by (not to say the flow is good). Naturally, getting around would be easier with Spaz. On another note, the size is getting to me. “Please do not lower your rating because of size.” That’s kind of hard to ask for others to do. That’s like saying, “Please don’t fire me because of my incompetence.” Size just happens to be a major part of the level. If it’s too small there may be problems, just as if the level was way too big (like something around 300×200). This is the size of a level I feel is too small for dueling or much of anything else. Lower numbers of people may allow for annoyingly long games. Higher numbers of people may create chaotic gameplay. I doubt many players can have a lot of fun in this level, to be honest. It’s too small to become an addictive level so BIGGER IS BETTER.

EYE CANDY:

The eye candy isn’t bad, but I think a lot more could have been done with it. After seeing this tileset used a few thousand times, I’ve raised my expectations for “average” and “above average.” I think the eye candy here is just about average, more or less. It’s actually a little boring in places. Feel free to disagree.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

For starters, there are the full energy carrots at the sides of the level right above each base. I suppose this could work for this level, if it wasn’t for the weak powerups. There are only the EB and the pepper spray powerups to wreak havoc with, which seems a tad boring. Ammo placement isn’t the greatest in this level, but it might do. Overall, I am not impressed.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Ummm… no. There are probably some other problems or other things I should mention but whatever. 5.5 means try harder next time.

PS: I don’t read anyone else’s reviews until I’m done reviewing, just in case you were wondering.

I find it interesting how CTF levels are released in batches.

GAMEPLAY:

Balance isn’t too much of an issue since the level is more or less symmetrical (aside from a few tile misplacements). The whole area around the carrot should be moved a tile to the right to help symmetry, but it isn’t all that important. Well, unless you’re a perfectionist like me. Anyway, flow isn’t the greatest, but I can live with it. There’s the transporting thing at the bottom of the level which is rarely used in a lot of levels so that’s a good sign. I can’t find anything else horribly wrong with the gameplay. It’s average for the most part (excluding the transporter thing).

EYE CANDY:

Well, it’s decent, but more variety in tiles could have been used. I know I didn’t set up much of a standard with my level, but that’s where Stripe succeeded and I failed. I made some better levels with the set, but I’m still yet to host it. Anyway, the BG isn’t 8-bit friendly at all (unless Textured Background is turned off, but I’d rather not have to do that) and the solid blue tiles in the background (like around 100,35) look rather bland. And there’s the repetitive eye candy in places.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

I can’t argue with the full energy carrot in the center (almost the exact center, but that’s negligible). But I can complain about ammo and powerups respawning too quickly. Is it just me, or does everyone now want to make ammo respawn fast? 20, 25, and 30 are much nicer speeds. Also, there’s probably such thing as ammo which is too easily accessible. IMO, too much ammo is placed closely to the ground tiles. Better distribution could be a good idea. I should also mention that I wouldn’t go inside the deathtrap at 95,33 (which is naturally also on the left side as well) too often just to get some pepper spray ammo. It’s not really worth accessing all of the time, especially when there’s pepper spray in other places or when getting followed.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Sometimes, maybe. 7.2, and not bad for a first CTF leve.

Third CTF review this week. Let’s begin, shall we?

GAMEPLAY:

I’ve seen worse. I can’t say this is much of an improvement. There are once again useless deadends, questionable spring placement, and even more deadends. One can imply that there are more deadends than before. Furthermore, there’s a slight lack of flow, a spaz bias, and a huge empty so. This level reminds me lot of Death Castle CTF which is not really a good thing. Some more variety would be nice, wouldn’t it? There’s still poor base placement (and generally in the same places as before) and it’s still unbalanced. Bases in each corner of the level are hard to balance so I advise avoiding this.

EYE CANDY:

“Explosive Garden CTF” isn’t exactly exploding with eye candy. The eye candy would have been average, but once again the tileset is misused in a lot of places. This is a bad sign. Please take my advice and try to make eye candy like that seen in good levels (not just any level). Also, try not to hide too many things with foreground eye candy. Doing that will annoy players a lot.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

Carrot placement is like how it was before: a full energy carrot in a warp. Not too bad, but it just makes this level more like the last CTF one. As for ammo placement, it seems to be too random. Good thing: ammo placed througout the level for easy access and strategical reasons. Bad thing: ammo placed around the level for the sake of placing ammo around the level. I might have lost a lot of people who are reading this review with those last few lines, but it is true so go ask someone who’s made a lot of CTF levels for a detailed explanation (I’m too lazy to do it now myself, although PMs can be useful). The powerup placement isn’t as bad, though. If the RF was placed a little further to the right, it would have been a little better (assuming there won’t then be an empty space where the powerup was). Of course, they are just out in the open and rather easy to access, so it’s pretty dull and all. Something like a powerup only accessible with some Electro Blasters through a wall is a nice change from the ordinary.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

That answer is still a no. This is worth about a 6.2, so next time try even harder.

is tired of reviewing the same level for such a long time once again

The name alone gave me high prospects (that was sarcasm, by the way).

GAMEPLAY:

I can’t complain too much about balance since the layout is mostly symmetrical. The flow is decent, although it could be a little better in a few places. For instance, maybe a green spring would have been better than a blue one at pos 36,46. Moreover, I’m not too crazy about the one tile wide passage ways, but I don’t hate them too much. Also, the turrets on the top aren’t as useful as the ones closer to the bottom. Come to think of it, why include turrets for such a small level? To add to the random chaos? Everything else in this level seems rather average. On a side note, the level seems too small and basic for me to get too into, but others might like it more.

EYE CANDY:

In the background, it’s a bit original, but it doesn’t look all that good. The eye candy in the other layers are too dull for my liking. In a lot of places, it looks as if it was rushed and not much time was put into it. Maybe less different could be a good idea.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

There are no carrots from what I can tell. I believe this qualifies as a bad idea. It’s CTF, not LRS. I’d like to live for a little bit while I have the flag. Ammo placement is decent and powerup placement is almost good. Too bad all of the powerups are on the routes from base to base. Also, players might be able to get the toaster powerup with powered up bouncers through the wall near those two powerups, although it may be hard to do. And the events seem to be respawning a little too fast. A faster speed wouldn’t be too bad. There isn’t much choice of ammo, but I can probably live with it.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Maybe, if you run out of better levels to host. There isn’t much strategy in this level; just don’t get killed. Not bad but nothing special, so a 7.0 is what I’m giving this.

The Edit: After seeing this level again, I realized a “7.0” was an overrating. This level is worth a 6.0 at best. I don’t know what I was thinking. So there you go.[This review has been edited by BlurredD]

Let me just say that I originated with the Flying Rock (as seen in level 3 of my SP pack) as well as Instant Death (with a little help by Dizzy and EvilMike for an improved version). I don’t really expect everyone has gone out of their way to see my pack since it only has an “N/A” rating (evil Trafton and his evil rule). Anyway, Instant Death was poorly imitated in these 3 train levels as one can plainly see (it’s suppose to actually take players’ lives, not just send them back to the start). And so now you know.

BTW, the “flying blue baddy” is just some old event only for TSF which was found some long while ago.

PS: Don’t review my SP pack if you don’t enjoy a good challenge. It’s meant to be extra hard and not easily beaten in a day. (this has partially been a shameless plug)

This will be interesting. Before I start reviewing this, let me just say this reminds me a lot of Dapete’s level, only smaller.

GAMEPLAY:

tries not to be too harsh

I have to say there isn’t much gameplay in this level at all. I shall list the major problems that needs fixing:

1.). This has horrible start positions. Everyone starts at the top right. Multiplayer (MP) position (pos) events should have been used for each team. 0 is for blue team and 1 is for red team.
2.) There are no border tiles around the level to prevent the flag bug. The flag bug is when a player with the flag touches the edge of the level and every one else sees the text saying that player captured the flag over and over again.
3.) Horrible base placement. The bases are too close to each other. And because all of the the start positions are on the left side, this level has no balance at all.
4.) Hurt events. Don’t use hurt events in multiplayer levels. Hurt events are able to kill the server.
5.) Not much flow at all, or a real layout. This level needs to be a bit bigger (maybe at least 100×60) for starters.
6.) Spring placement probably could be better, although fixing that alone won’t help too much.
7.) This level doesn’t have much of anything else, which is why I have to stop at only seven.

My best adive: look at a lot of good CTF levels and see how well they play.

EYE CANDY:

Let me just say that it didn’t help that the tileset needs a lot of work and the palette is horrendously pink and awfully confusing. A better tileset choice would have helped a whole lot. The tileset might have been used well (not that I can really tell, although I’m guessing it could have been used better), but it isn’t that much of a tileset and thus the rating will suffer a bit (sorry).

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

I don’t recall seeing any carrots or powerups. Not including those things is generally a really bad idea. Also, the ammo placement is too sparce and needs a lot of work. For more CTF advice, read my Dapete review. If you aren’t that serious about making better CTF levels, then maybe you should just work on battle levels or whatnot since they require a little less to make them good.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

If anyone does, then something is wrong with them. 2.7, but keep trying.

Although I could rate this, I think I’d rather file a complaint instead (at least just for now). I don’t think it was a good idea on your part to take away the background tiles in your final version of Wasteland. Just because some people didn’t like it that doesn’t mean nobody used it. Some people had a lot of trouble hosting one of my levels because they replaced their 50KB Wasteland tileset with the 39KB version which came with the EA pack, thus causing the level to give them Access Violations. Not only did that bug me, but you failed to mention this fact in your description nor your readme file; you only mentioned this on your site. I think you should have just kept the larger Wasteland tileset as the official tileset since it isn’t that big and it won’t cause AV problems with any levels anyone has already made.

I have no real system of reviewing tilesets so I’ll just get to the point. I was on the verge of making a level with this tileset until I realized I didn’t like the 4th layer BG tiles (or in other words, the light brown tiles) too much. It’s a shame this tileset is so small. A common flaw in several of Moonblaze’s tilesets is lack of variety in tiles. And what I mean is that most of the ground tiles are just one general color. It would be nice to see a tileset as varied as Tubelectric or something. I wonder if this review made any sense so far. Anyway, it’s a good tileset for it’s size.

8.0 because I’m nicer than Unhit and the BG pwns so much.

Interesting. I would have to say this is much improvement than the last effort to make a CTF level.

GAMEPLAY:

I can almost say the layout is good. This level is somewhat balanced, although not entirely. The flow still needs some work, but at least I can get around easily enough. This level is also a little spaz biased in some places. I can almost like the base placement. One base is placed higher than the other, but the area in between can almost balance it. Too bad it falls short and it doesn’t exactly do just that. The layout leaves red base easier to be attacked than blue base. And before I forget to mention this, I have to say that there is still the whole flag bug issue. I’m pretty sure I mentioned this in my last review, but I feel that I should repeat myself: To prevent the flag bug, you have to place a border around the entire level. The thicker the border, the less likely it will be for the flag bug to occur. I suggest making the border at least 2 tiles (or better yet, 3 tiles) wide.

EYE CANDY:

Eye candy could be much better. The eye candy here isn’t even as good as that which is in battle1. In some places there isn’t much eye candy at all, such as the entire bottom right area. The tileset is missused and eye candy still needs a lot of work.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

Well, this level uses a full energy carrot; it just isn’t centered too well. It’s too close to red base which doesn’t help with balance. Ammo placement could be better and look less bland than the usual rectangle. And there is a seeker powerup on the left side with a bouncer powerup near the top. There isn’t anything on the right side except for the carrot. I never really liked the idea of considering a carrot on one side and a powerup on the other as balanced.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Nope. This has potential, though, which is why 6.2 is my rating.

The Edit: While some things were improved, other things were worsened. There are now some borders on the side (although sadly not on the top as well) which seem to have been added in the laziest fashion. Eye candy and proper tileset use is still needed for most of this level. Spring placement was modified but it didn’t help enough overall. Moving the seeker powerup was a good idea, but it leaves yet another deadend in the level. The bouncer powerup was moved to a place where it’s easier to shoot and get through a wall, and now I think it’s too close to the seeker powerup (especially since players are now able to shoot the seeker powerup with bouncers from where they get the bouncer powerup). Yes, bouncers go through walls in case this wasn’t noticed yet. Bomb scenery is good for preventing this, but use it wisely. Furthermore, ammo placement wasn’t much better, and fast fires should have been placed in corners instead. And I forgot to mention this from before, but there should only be one green spring instead of two near pos 83,45. Anyway, I feel that my rating should stay the same; much work is once again needed. Better luck next time.[This review has been edited by BlurredD]

After a while, I wasn’t expecting this download to get another review ever again.

Stijn aka Fl@$h: Looking back (and after playing some of the levels that would’ve gone into the full version), I have to agree with you on a lot of points. Yeah, they’re probably too hard for their own good, though I wouldn’t go as far as saying they are outright “bad” (that comment still stings a little, but I see your point). I would add a lot more text sign hints and warnings as well as remove excess pits and traps if I ever decided to fix up these levels. I’d need much more encouragement before that happens, though. Anyway, I appreciate the brutal honesty in your review, Stijn.

Previous comments:

I wasn’t going to say anything for a while, but Killerrabbit just got on my bad side. If I had to guess, either you didn’t play all of it or you cheated through most of the levels. I don’t know how this could get a 7.2 for gameplay if jumping from platform to platform is half of the challenge (as in a lot of SP packs) and I did say it would be hard. I don’t know if you played the 4th and 5th levels, but I couldn’t focus on using a lot of pits as the only challenge (as you can clearly see). There are a few puzzles here and there which you somehow seemed to miss entirely. Maybe you should play the entire pack again. If you find it boring, then you’re not one of the people who like a good challenge. And no scenery change? It might not be too drastic in these levels, but it is noticable. So, if you can actually do a much better job with “changes in scenary” then be my guest and show me up. I’d like to see what you can do in JCS.

But I digress. I shouldn’t be too angry. I neglected to add one warning: If you find it too hard to beat or if you had to cheat a lot to get past all of the levels, don’t bother reviewing this pack. These levels weren’t made so that just anyone could be able to beat them.

mikeejimbo: Annoying intro? Maybe because of the short delay at the start or the abrupt level change at the end, but I neglected to fix that before I uploaded the pack (and the latter isn’t easily fixable). I haven’t seen anyone make an intro playble in JJ2 nearly as innovative as the one I made. I was planning on making an entirely different intro for the full pack in any case (and hopefully I’ll find an even better way of doing it).

Inf. Spaz: The 4th and 5th levels might be more like other SP levels, but that’s only because those are less linear. But I did add some interesting challenges to those levels which I have never seen quite like this before in any other pack (the puzzle in the 4th level, for example). And adding vertical play to the first 3 levels wouldn’t make them any more fun to play—just longer. BTW, if you could name several of these train levels that you say you have plenty of, it would be greatly appreciated.

On a side note: Play on Easy mode if you’re having a lot of problems trying to beat the levels. Easy mode is almost like Normal in the typical SP pack. I even added an extra save point in the 4th level, just to let you know.

I had great fun playing this.

GAMEPLAY:

Inspired by DW? Maybe. Gameplay like DW? Hardly. This level has some flow, but not much at all. It’s mostly platforms (and not pretty ones) between each base. Squared-off platforms don’t exactly scream fun. Base placement isn’t the worst I’ve ever seen. It’s just very boring: one route to each base located on each edge of the level. But that’s not the worst part; it’s everything in between the bases. I’ll explain these balance issues later on in the review. Also, there’s one annoying bug which seems to have been overlooked by the beta-testers: players can get stuck in the tube near 64,27. It might be hidden, but it’s not too hard to go into by accident. Fix it, please.

EYE CANDY:

Well, the tileset isn’t bad. However, it lacks a whole lot of variety. As a result, this level looks awfully bland and dull. I can’t say what should be done to improve the eye candy since the tileset is rather limiting, but I suppose it’s good for the tileset.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

At least it uses a full energy carrot. Too bad it doesn’t help enough to make the level balanced. All of the powerups are on the left side while there is a warp to the carrot on the right. There is a way to make this idea of balancing a level work out—just not in this level. I can almost live with the ammo placement, but it seems to be missing RFs. No RFs? That’s insane. There isn’t even any pepper spray. OK, so it’s not the most important thing, but still… I like my RFs.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Host it, if you have much lower standards than me. Otherwise, no (sorry). AvK, Spotty, and Black Ninja could have done a better job beta-testing the level. I’m giving this a 5.7 just because.

The Edit: Alright, so maybe a 6.0 (with the bug fix), but that’s as high as I’ll go. Also, I don’t recall those beta-testers making too many CTF levels in any case (no offense).[This review has been edited by BlurredD]

The second level didn’t seem to change too much, so I’ll just mainly review the first one since I already reviewed the second.

Dark forest terrain

GAMEPLAY: Almost close to balanced. Bumpy flow. Too cramped in places.
EYE CANDY: Somewhere around average. But annoying lighting.
CARROT PLACEMENT: Full energy carrot in middle top. Decent.
AMMO PLACEMENT: I’ve seen worse.
HOST THIS OFTEN? Nah. Like once.

Overall review: Dark forest terrain isn’t a bad level. It’s just not great either. It reminds me of a bad version of Slab Ratz in a way. Players will be able to get around, but the flow could be much smoother and less restricting. And I’m not sure why players have to hit the crate for the fast fire. It seems to be pointless and just another thing that gets in the way. As for eye candy, I hate the lighting in it. It looks bad in 16-bit and worse in 8-bit. I know the lighting is needed to make the name of the level make more sense, but a darker forest tileset would have been a better idea (yes, there are some somewhere). Also, in 16-bit, the bright pink BG is a bit distracting and annoying. As for carrot placement, I suppose I can live with it, although it could be better (and I’m mostly referring to its nearby surroundings). And ammo placement is so-so. As with Snooz’s strange universe, the only thing I see that change was the thin border at the top. It’s not the biggest fix, but it helps. For my rating of this pack, I have to give it a 7, just because. I feel delusional…

BTW, these two levels don’t loop too well. And your description confuses me.

And now, more CTF level reviewing fun. Joy.

GAMEPLAY:

There still seems to be not much of an improvement with flow. And once again, the left side has no easy route up. And to no surprise, it has an unbalanced layout and various areas which may tend to slow down players. This level seems to have a few more useless things like the tube near 24,34. I’m not sure what it’s for, but there isn’t enough reason to use it, plus it might be safer to avoid it. Also, there’s the same start position for each team again, which of course doesn’t help with the balance. Furthermore, the top edges of the level need some border tiles (you SHOULD know why by now), and the bases are placed in the same boring way as in the last level. Please do something different next time. Thanks.

EYE CANDY:

More or less average eye candy. I can’t complain too much, but it is just average. Perhaps TOO average (except for the BG which is almost different but not really). Hmmm.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

The carrot placement is somewhat better than in the last level. And I could almost live with the ammo placement this time. But this level does use the bouncer powerup as its main powerup once again. Argh.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

I still can’t say you should. It feels like these last few CTF levels were made in under a day or something. I’m giving this a 6.7 since I’m not entirely sure of what to give this. What an annoyingly short review I made. Bleh.

Medium sized? Maybe. Really worth a download? The rating tells all.

GAMEPLAY:

This level has some flow but not much in it. At a glance it doesn’t look too balanced and after playing it for a little bit, it still looks unbalanced. Is there a way to get up on the left side of the level? It feels as if a spring is missing. If there’s a blue spring on the right side, why not on the left? There is one way up, and that’s by jumping through the bridge although it is spaz biased (I can visualize jazz players complaining about the unfairness at this very moment). And about that blue spring on the right side, if a player was to jump on that spring an go far left, he/she would have to double jump/copter to make the platform. The ground tiles at 66,35 should have been extented a few more tiles to the right (not that this alone would save the layout, but it’s the little things that help). Other than that, there’s the wide open area on the right side and the closed up area on the left. This isn’t the worst thing, but it certainly could take away from gameplay. Also, the bases seem to be placed too closely together. It feels like a dull dueling level. That means “medium sized” may be an inaccurate description of this level. But at least the start positions are better than the last time, except maybe for maybe what I presume to be a Jazz start position. Use only MP positions unless a neutral start pos somewhat in the center is desired (I really recommend this, though). Too bad that’s not the only problem. In short, general gameplay could be a whole lot better.

EYE CANDY:

The eye candy isn’t bad for a Diamondus level—four years ago. It’s decent, but after seeing like a billion Diamondus levels, it’s nothing too special. OK, little bit different (by the smallest margin), albeit not enough to make the eye candy above average. It may help to use top-notch tilesets.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

The full energy carrot is placed closer to the blue base, while the bouncer powerup is closer to the red base (all in the bottom area). Could be worse, but I don’t like it at all. It unbalances the level a little bit. The ammo placement also isn’t as bad as it could be. I just don’t like it too much either. It also doesn’t look like it was distributed well enough. But do you know what I hate about this level the most? NO SEEKERS. What is with that? Too afraid of seekers? Are you worried that seekers are too hard to dodge? Wimp. The bouncer powerup was the only powerup once again. Nice variety. Not that a seeker powerup is really needed, but at least include seeker ammo. Sheesh (great… You just had to make me say “sheesh,” didn’t you?).

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Don’t, or else. My review tells all. 6.5 and thanks for trying.

I’m wondering how many more levels will be uploaded while I’m reviewing this level.

GAMEPLAY:

There are so many things wrong with this level, I’ll just list them all.

1.) Bad spring place. 2.) Poles which all are unnecessary and take away from the gameplay. 3.) The huge deadend area at the top left. 4.) Too many obstacles (such as unnecessary platforms) which hinder the level’s flow. 5.) Bad base placement (red base is easier to access than blue base). 6.) Horrible platform placement and too many in places. 7.) Horrendous start positions with both teams. 8.) Too many deadends with only ammo or a powerup in them. 9.) No borders on the top and the right sides to prevent the flag bug (the annoying thing where you see the text saying someone captured the flag over and over again). 10.) And various other things expected to be in a first level.

The level’s size would be only be good for dueling levels. I advise getting some more experience while playing many various CTF levels before attempting to make another one. You need to get a good idea of what CTF gameplay is like and how it should be. Actually, you probably should work on battle levels instead since they require much less to be good.

EYE CANDY:

When I first loaded the level, I was hoping low detail was off. And to no surprise, it wasn’t. This level misuses the tileset on almost every layer. The buildings in the background are floating in the air, the wall and the ceiling tiles weren’t used, and some of the tiles shouldn’t even be there at all (like the other building tiles floating behind the blue base).

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

There’s a +1 carrot right next to each base. This is almost always a bad idea. A full energy carrot near the middle of the level or two of these carrots placed far enough from each other and nearby bases would be a much better idea. Ammo is placed too badly for this level to ever work well enough. Powerup placement isn’t all too bad, but that alone won’t save this level. Taking a good, long look at other CTF levels would be well advised.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

If you do, I may have to hunt you down. In other words, no, don’t host this. Ever. Sorry to say this, but this isn’t any good. It’s expected, though, so you shouldn’t feel too bad. And don’t ask me what premise makes this level even close to an 8. This is only a 4.5, but at least it’s not the worst CTF level I’ve ever seen.

The Edit: The new placement of the red base is a little better, but it leaves a small deadend where it used to be. I also noticed the +1 carrots were replaced with a full energy carrot—and I’m assuming that full energy carrot wasn’t always there. The building tiles in the background were fixed a bit but not completely; I could conclude you are playing on a setting less than 640×480, but I cannot determine that for sure. Also, most of the poles and some of the springs were removed which helped a bit. I was hoping you did some other things like fix the eye candy on the 4th layer (there ARE levels that came with TSF which use the Town tileset quite well, so study those), add some tiles around the top and left side edges (at least 2 tiles, but 3 or more is recommended) to prevent the flag bug (although you may have never seen it yourself), and other things like that. BTW, I forgot to mention that all of the 3rd layer tiles in this level don’t completely cover the player and you can see part of the rabbit’s feet. I should have also mentioned you should avoid covering up main routes in the level with 3rd layer (unless, of course, it’s for a sucker tube or something like that). I was going to keep this a 4.5, but I decided to be nice and raise it to a 4.7 since you actually took some of my advice. But don’t think I’ll keep updating my rating for every time you update your level.

The “Return to Reality” Edit: LRK was right. I have to downgrade my rating to a 2.7 since that rating is more reasonable. Sorry.[This review has been edited by BlurredD]