Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Laziness stricks back again…

skips half of the review

Overall review: The eye candy is a little better, I suppose. But the flag bug thing has only been partial fixed. There’s still a slight masking problem where you can stand on part of the wall (although the tileset is partly at fault). And some other stuff (which I’m not exactly sure of). 7 since I’m nice.

Argh. I don’t know why I have to be the one to give this tileset it’s current highest rating. But anyway…

With this being the huge tileset that it is, it shows that Disguise put much much much much effort into it. And with this, I’m making a rare exception of using a TSF tileset (just to prove Wisety wrong). But it’s going to take an awful lot of work to misuse the entire tileset. I sorta have a theme in mind, but it’ll probably get warped the more and more I work on my level.

I don’t know if I’m crazy, but I’m giving this 9.2 just because. Now make a night version.

Seeing that the level has been reuploaded, you can forget what I said and just re-download the zip file if the example level you have only works for TSF.[This review has been edited by BlurredD]

Interesting, a story line. That might have raised my expectations too much, though. Let’s see what I truly think.

GAMEPLAY:

This level wasn’t what I expected. That could be a good thing. Or not. The level is a little different for a CTF level. But it takes the idea from the assassination concept (mainly with the spy ability thing). But that’s alright since the whole idea hasn’t really been used in CTF (the closest was the JTF thing or whatever it was called). The ammo place at the start wasn’t covered with third layer, but I can live with it (I suppose). But after getting to the actually playing area, that was when I was truly disappointed. The level wa much smaller than I expected it would be. The flow wasn’t terrible, but the general narrowness, the hidden pole, and some of the springs surely didn’t help. And there may be a flag bug issue with this level.

EYE CANDY:

I suppose it’s good for the tileset, although I’m not too crazy about it. Some tiles in the tileset I’m not too fond of (for example the leaves), but that’s OK since I shouldn’t be rating the tileset. But the tileset you choose to use is an important factor in the end. I would also like to add that the level is a little bit too dark for my taste, though I won’t take off too much for that.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

I saw a +1 carrot and that was enough for me. I’ll just move on to the ammo placement, which is really more complicated than you think. This level has a JAIL mentality that the weapons for each team are balanced. I can’t just tell if they actually are right away, although more problems arise with the fact that players can sometimes shoot through triggers (and I don’t just mean with bouncers and electro blasters) and other spy ability issues. So ammo distribution is a giant question mark. Choose your team at your own risk.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

If you’re bored enough or if you like seeing stuff that’s almost new then maybe host this once. It’s different, sort of, but not necessarily in a good way. I’m rating this a 7.

And some advice: use the @ at least three times in your text strings so that the text it isn’t covered up by the flag count in the top left corner.

The edit: After thinking about it for a little while, a 7.0 does seem a little low. Overall, the good stuff cancels out the bad stuff and the bad stuff cancels out the good stuff, which somehow makes the level average (I wonder if that made any sense). So anyway, 7.5 is my new revised rating, just because I’m nice.[This review has been edited by BlurredD]

Joy.

Crystal Struggle

GAMEPLAY: Lacks flow and I got lost. And slow tubes.
EYE CANDY: Somewhere between average and slightly below it.
CARROT PLACEMENT: Too lazy to find (assuming there are any).
AMMO PLACEMENT: Too many barrels. Some ammo out of the way. A Shield?
HOST THIS OFTEN? Nope.

Flagtopia

GAMEPLAY: Narrow. Lacks flow. Doesn’t look too balanced.
EYE CANDY: If anything, annoying.
CARROT PLACEMENT: A +1 carrot near each base. Argh.
AMMO PLACEMENT: Unevenly distributed.
HOST THIS OFTEN? Probably not.

Overall review: After seeing these two levels, I noticed you have a long way to go. There are a lot of things that need to be fixed. Like in Crystal Struggle: don’t use so many barrels, add tiles to indicate warps, avoid using a shield, use faster tubes (20 is a good speed), and work on the flow (i.e. with more springs and inclined tiles). Also, think twice before putting airboards in your levels. As for the Flagtopia level, avoid using quick-flashing animations, like the one in the middle, since it will annoy a lot of people. Try not to make it so cramped in places and avoid using ammo crates too often. You should also balance each side more and spread the ammo out more evenly. And most importantly, make a border of at least 2 (recommended 3) tiles around the level so that players don’t receive the flag bug. In general, avoid dead ends and be more careful of what ammo you use and where up place it. I probably didn’t mention everything. Anyway, I would’ve given this a lower rating, but I did see you put some effort into the levels so I’m giving this a 6. But try harder next time.

I don’t really know how to rate this, plus I haven’t rated a CTF level in some while so I’ll just make a shortened review.

J1: Warzone v2.0

GAMEPLAY: Not yours.
EYE CANDY: More or less average.
CARROT PLACEMENT: Not yours.
AMMO PLACEMENT: Not yours.
HOST THIS OFTEN? Probably not. Maybe like once.

Overall review: It’s a standard remake and nothing too special. The (few) bug fixes may have been a good idea, but it’s still Diamondus Warzone and thus I still wouldn’t want to play in it. If you like DW a lot, you might want to see this. But if you’re like most older players, then save a few kilobytes and download something else. I’m giving this a 6.7 because I’m feeling a little nice today.

Seeing that many more people aren’t going to review this, I’ll just use my only comment now.

Trafton: Most of the original levels have not changed a great deal, but I did drastically change some levels like “Waste Drain” and “Heaven Sent” which you conveniently ignored. That’s OK, I forgive you (at least for the time being).

Blackraptor: You’ve pointed out something that has been fixed a long long time ago with the original survivor version. First of all, you should have noticed (which you may have completely missed, from what I could tell from your outdated review) that there are lasers that occasional shoot right above the springs. You could get hit by these lasers so you can fall through the springs. Unfortunately, that could take a while, so I created an alternative method. On each side of the level there is a spring with a delay on it. With this, you can jump on it then stomp quickly so you can fall into the warp. Don’t worry; those two springs won’t affect gameplay much at all, which is obvious since you and most others probably didn’t even notice it in the first place.

Violet: I’m surprised you haven’t reviewed this yet. That’s alright. As long as you don’t review it the same way Trafton and Blackraptor did (that is by simply posting your old, unmodified review with the new review of the five latest levels).

I should also point out there is more than you think there is in 4 of the 5 new levels. So you could either waste time opening up JCS and trying to figure it out yourself or you could bug me and I might be nice enough to tell you of it’s secrets (which I did put much effort into making).

I enjoy being sorta credited for something I didn’t really find. I just took the SCE’s from Overlord’s site (http://geocities.com/atlastsome/jj2/guns.htm) and stuff, so there.

For the record, I didn’t say it wasn’t possible, just that it wouldn’t work completely. But I might be jumping to conclusions considering my past experiences with the concept. So yes, I have heard of it and I have seen several versions of it some while ago. I’ve even made a trigger filled, automated version myself back in 2k1. I recall my level didn’t work completely—probably because of lag.

The “CTF” is deceptive, although I do realize it must be played under CTF. This comment will probably get deleted anyway, but the type probably should be “Other” instead. That’s all I have to say (for now).

It’s kinda interesting that Cell is one of the first to use this tileset and he is already trying something different. Kinda like Stripe’s level…

GAMEPLAY:

A Cell level in typical Cell level format. The layout is good. The balance is nice. It’s not too complicated. Players can use some new strategy. I can’t spot any fatal flaws so I don’t have any complaints about the gameplay. I barely played it, but it looks good.

EYE CANDY:

In a word, interesting. But is that a good thing? I don’t even know myself. I’ll just assume it’s better than average (or something).

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

There’s a full energy carrot in the middlw of tehe level. Can’t go wrong with that. The ammo placement is good and so is the powerup placement. There isn’t anything here that I don’t like.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

I dunno. Maybe? The BG is a little strange for my tastes, but whatever (I’m not taking points off for that anyway). I’m rating this an 8.2 just because.

I should have rated this a long time ago. This must be my favorite level that you ever made, at least so far. I’m feeling too lazy for a detailed review (for various reasons) so I’ll just give you an 8.5 and be on my way. Kudos.

A Diamondus level…

GAMEPLAY:

Gameplay is definitely an iffy. While it is simple and it follows the CTF basics, there are several things I don’t like about it. For one thing, the flow is a bit troublesome in several places. Not the biggest problem, but I notice these things. Another thing is the routes from base to base. The layout has the flags located close to each other, but are blocked by a wall and force you to take a longer route. It’s been done before, and with the same exact tileset. Although, that’s not where the problem lies. I find it a little annoying that I can take the upper and lower route from red base to blue base, but only the lower route from blue base to red base. The bridge prevents players from going down on the right side. Unless if I totally missed an alternative route or something to supplement this problem, it’s a major flaw in balance and makes gameplay slightly harder to bear.

EYE CANDY:

I would say typical for a Diamondus level. There’s nothing trully new in this level. It’s average, but at least some effort was put into it.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

I can live with the full energy carrot at the top middle. The ammo placement is a little scarce from what I can tell. The thing that troubles me the most is seeker powerup placement. It makes me wonder why bother collecting coins for the hard to find coin warp when players can just shoot it with some electro blasters. I don’t know if the author really wanted this, but I would advise to get rid of the coin warp and use a regular warp instead. All the other powerups are placed alright or close to it.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Maybe once or twice, only if those bridges don’t annoy you as much as they did me. 7.2 is my rating.

Updated rating: Maybe I should have waited for the reupload. Anyway, I’m revising this to a 7.5 since now players can go from the top to the bottom on the right side.[This review has been edited by BlurredD]

If I could d/l this, I’m sure I would rate this.

I’m feeling a little lazy about reviewing this since I just want to review the CTF levels. But I will try to write as much as possible:

Battle Field 1-5

The first level is a little cramp but with typical gameplay. The 2nd one is a more open version of Battle Field 1 and uses a slightly better looking tileset. The next level is also open but with a slightly different layout compared to the other two. The 4th level might as well be a hybrid of the first two levels. And the last one is like the 2nd one, although I don’t like the tileset as much IMO. I don’t know if that make any sense at all but that’s what I think. But they seem to be somewhat decent so that’s what counts.

Capture Zone 1-3

It seems that the first two levels have similar layouts to the Battle Field 1. I must say the 3rd level has to be the most unique, but that might be because it uses a non-custom tileset. All three levels don’t strive to be too difference from one another or have anything in them that makes you want to play them again. They all seem to be slightly below average CTF levels. I might also want to add placing carrots so close to the bases might be a bad idea. Likewise to hidden powerups.

Race Track 1-2

Two basic race levels. Nothing extraodinanary. I’m not sure if players will run the course like you expected them to. But it’s not the worse thing if players find short cuts so that won’t count against you whether you intended to have them there or not. Anyway, the levels seem to both be little too cramp for my tastes and I’m not to fond of either of them.

Treasure Area 1-2

Last, but not least, the treasure section. I would have to say Treasure Area 1 is my favorite of the pack, but that might just be because of my low standards for treasure levels. I would add it to my Treasure Server if it was 1.23 instead of TSF, but that’s a shame. The second level isn’t too much like the first one. I reminded me of one of the default treasure levels that came with JJ2. I don’t really like it as much as the first (must be the tileset). Still, it’s alright.

I think I violated a few of my ethics with this review. All of the eyecandy is somewhere between below average and average. The pack is alright. I’ll just stop writing now and leave you with your rating. 7.2 just because.

This is a nice tileset by Waz, although there are several things I don’t like about it. Well, it’s probably only one thing, and that’s just because it’s in TSF when it doesn’t have to be. I would consider using it if it was in 1.23 instead, but that’s just me. If you can’t do it yourself, I could be willing to help. In the long run, if you make tilesets in 1.23, it will get more people to use them in their levels. Just something to think about…

Anyway, my rating is a 7.7 only because it’s a good tileset (it’s better than the other ones you’ve made before), but doesn’t go too far with originality. But still, I like it so keep up the good work.[This review has been edited by BlurredD]

There goes my last minute effort to make the pack myself. All I had to make was the stupid little text file that goes with it. I did change a few levels in the pack, but it might not really matter. I think I’ll go bang myself in the head with a heavy object for wasting all that time which could have been better spent.

(and i wasted more time just writing this up. bleh.)

And in other news, I had no idea of how many classic levels to keep. Me personally, I would have had five or less since some of them seem to be getting overplayed, but go figure. Also, I didn’t pick/suggest every level in the pack. In the end, something about someone else’s opinion got in the way so I don’t know and enjoy the levels. And last (but not least), is Security Breach v2. Version 2? I see many disappointed players in the near future. Security Breach just isn’t as fun without the jail. BTW, it uses j1Battleships.j2t.

The joys of rating a first CTF level. Let’s begin:

GAMEPLAY:

Not good at all. No balance, no borders, lacks flow, and too open at the top. The layout is too wide and wasn’t planned too well, and the only start position at the bottom left reflects it. And on top of that, it manages to include some hurt events (which kill the server and no one else).

My advice: Use borders around the level at least two tiles thick (three tiles recommended). This will prevent the flag bug, and even if you don’t know what it is, that’s ok. It could help raise you ratings for CTF levels in the long run. Secondly, use Multiplayer Level Start events only. And place at least one of them near each of the bases. Of course, you’ll have to set them to be the same with the bases. Team=0 is for blue team and Team=1 is for red, although that’s not too hard to figure out. Also, in my opinion if you make some of the tree branches use one ways (which I recommend), you might as well make them all have it. It’s less annoying this way. And futhermore, poles are also annoying so limit the use of them (or better yet, don’t use them at all).

EYE CANDY:

For a first level (or first CTF level, same difference), it’s rather typical. It misuses the tileset in several places and it overloads on the diamond tiles in the walls. And apparently it only uses layer 4 and 8. I could probably assume that you don’t know how to place tiles on other layers well or what not.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

I think I only saw two +1 carrots in the level. Full energy carrots are generally better (preferably one or two spread out), but I’m not going to go into that at the moment. Ammo placement was not that good with some ammo here and there. The powerup placement was worse: just a bunch of powerups placed throughtout the level. And better yet, you placed one of the least useful powerups (the pepper spray one) in a warp. If anything, limit the number of powerups to two or three.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Definitely not. This level needs a lot more work before it can deserve a higher rating. I’m giving this a 3.

My best advice: Read my review for Dapete’s level (http://www.jazz2online.com/downloads/moreinfo.php?levelid=2008) for some more CTF basics. And play some other CTF levels and see what makes them good. You can use some of their features in your own levels. You also might want make your levels loop in the near future. I loathe levels without next level settings.

BTW, the boss2.j2b file you used overwrites the original boss music. But that’s not entirely your fault since XpandoZ is the one to blame with his “Single-Player Time!” pack.

Would have been better to release it near Christmas, but whatever…

Cold Capture 1

GAMEPLAY: Needs a better layout and maybe more balance. Alright flow.
EYE CANDY: More or less average.
CARROT PLACEMENT: Decent, though the carrots may be too close.
AMMO PLACEMENT: Alright, but hidden powerups?
HOST THIS OFTEN? Msybe once or twice.

Cold Capture 2

GAMEPLAY: Same as above, but a little more cramped.
EYE CANDY: Also average.
CARROT PLACEMENT: Two carrots again.
AMMO PLACEMENT: I can live with it.
HOST THIS OFTEN? Not too often.

Overall review: These two levels could be much better. The first thing you should remember to do is put borders along the top of the level (unless you want players to get the infamous flag bug). The eye candy could be more original (by theory), but it’s alright. These levels are an improvement from the other pack you made, though they both need better flow and less objects that get in the way when players are running from base to base. And carrot placement is generally alright, but the carrots may be too close in the first level. In all, these two levels are average but flawed. My rating will be a 7.2 just because.

Before I begin my review, I must tell you that you seem to allows neglect to say that this is a TSF level and not 1.23.

As for the levels, “Get that flag! :P” isn’t too bad for a 1st CTF level. The gameplay is playable; it’s just a little cramped at in places. I never really liked one tile high passage ways. I think the level is too big for just two +1 carrots (unless I neglected to find other carrots). The level’s name isn’t too creative, though, but the level itself is alright.

I didn’t like the next level “Infected” too much because it’s way too cramped. The gameplay is balanced, but it lacks good flow.

The final level “Canyon Capture” is also a tad bit cramped, but I think this is the best levels in the pack. It has the best flow out of all of these levels.

In all of the levels, there is good weapon placement and the eye candy is alright. I don’t know how useful a +1 carrot is, so I would advise using a full energy carrot instead. Nothing too special with these levels, but they all have potential.