Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

I seem to have a knack for starting things and never completing them. One of those uncompleted things was an interview I did with Cell about 3 years ago. Only now, with real questions and much better writing skills, have I dared to face up to the task of re-interviewing Cell. I think the whole thing went quite smoothly, Cell gave all the good answers I was looking for and, of course, I hope that those who would like to know what’s in Cell’s mind will find this interview very useful. :-)

START OF INTERVIEW:

White Rabbit: Can we start?

CelL: Yeah.

White Rabbit: I’ll make a big line…
———————————————————————————————START
Hmm… wait, I haven’t thought about my questions

CelL: ;P Ok.

White Rabbit: How long have you been playing Jazz2?

White Rabbit: Answer today, please.

CelL: Hm.. I’ve been playing online for about 3 years now, though I got the game a year earlier.

White Rabbit: And when did you start level-making?

White Rabbit: Again, answer today, please.

CelL: The very day I got the game ;) My first levels sucked though.

CelL: Try giving me time to think of an answer. ;P

White Rabbit: Cool. :D

CelL: It took me about 2 days to figure out how to put events ;P

White Rabbit: So, you’ve been making lvls ever since you got the game, but when do you think was the time when you were churning out high-quality lvls at a rate of 3 lvls per week? (All right, perhaps a bit exaggerated…)

CelL: Um.. dunno really. A year or so ago, maybe.

White Rabbit: Ok. And what is your favourite tileset? You know, the tileset which you like working best with?

CelL: I have a few favorites, but I think the one I like working with most is DethMan’s MeZmErIzE. I don’t try to use tilesets too much though.

White Rabbit: You’ve also been doing a lot of JJ1 tileset conversions. But have you ever tried to actually make a tileset?

CelL: Yes. I made several atempts, which mostly included tilesets that were more then half ripped, from a number of sets ranging from Labrat to Kejero’s Egypt. None of which have ever been released ;P My only “real” set would be cybernetical world. It isnt that good imo

White Rabbit: I remember that, I reviewed it. It was a bit too “red” though, hehe. ;)

CelL: ;P

White Rabbit: Enough about tilesets. What is your favourite lvl? Including your own and other ppls.

CelL: I’d say my favorite levels are BloodBunny’s Lair and stripe’s Happy Semiconductor.

White Rabbit: And what about the lvls you made yourself?

CelL: Zaitox, and some of the JJ1 levels for the OLC project. And some more stuff.. dont remember the names, heh

White Rabbit: Ok. :) Right, more personal questions… How old are you? (stupid question, but I gotta know)

CelL: Too old ;-P

White Rabbit: How old?

CelL: 14

White Rabbit: Ok. And where do you live?

CelL: Behind the computer

White Rabbit: In what country?

CelL: The Netherlands ;P

White Rabbit: How come I have never heard you speak Dutch?

CelL: Kind of a habit, heh.

White Rabbit: Useful? Like, if you pretend you can’t speak Dutch you’ll be able to eavesdrop. ;)

CelL: ;P Nah.

White Rabbit: Many ppl do that, I was just wondering, you see.

White Rabbit: Anyway, next question.

White Rabbit: Do you think you look like Harry Potter?

CelL: :P

White Rabbit: Many people seem to think so (not including me ;)).

CelL: ;P That’s their problem.

White Rabbit: Yes or no?

CelL: No. ;P

White Rabbit: Ok, problem’s solved. goes back to the JCF thread about Harry Potter and posts the answer Just kidding. :-)

White Rabbit: This isn’t exactly how you do an interview, with all this topic changing, but which level do you hate? And answer without saying Battle1. Everyone knows about your relationship with battle1. ;)

CelL: Battle Game (the first one).

White Rabbit: Foo. Erm… nevermind. Anyway, what’s your favourite and least favourite game modes in Jazz2? (Including, tests, assault, hide and seek and so on).

CelL: Favorite=CTF. Least favorite=Co-op, because its screwed up and doesn’t work.

White Rabbit: Have you ever thought about quitting lvl creating? I mean, don’t you think it’s tiring to make so many lvls so fast? And you also play so much Jazz2 and review so many things too.

CelL: Um… no. I dont really review that much these days.

White Rabbit: Ever been afraid of getting blind becuase you’re sitting in front of the PC all day? ;)

CelL: YES YES YES IT IS MY WORST FEAR TO WAKE UP ONE MORNING AND THINK IT IS STILL NIGHT

White Rabbit: Ok, I see.

White Rabbit: I’ve run out of questions, so tell me what you want me to ask you or what you think other people would want to know about you.

CelL: Dunno.

White Rabbit: Well, you’re certainly enthusiastic, aren’t you? ;P Come on, anything.

CelL: No ;P

White Rabbit: ARE YOU A KANGAROO?!

CelL: NOT, DARNIT!!!!!!!!!11

White Rabbit: I was hoping for yes, but there you go…

CelL: WHAT KIND OF AN INTERVIEW IS THIS?

CelL: G8IKJHIO,.SRJT!

White Rabbit: Well, I guess this is it. ;P

CelL:;P Ok.

White Rabbit: I’ll have to censor this heavily…

CelL: Haha.

White Rabbit: Well, thanks for the interview. Bye.

White Rabbit: —————————————————END

CelL: Cya.

White Rabbit: —————————————————END

CelL: END END END!

White Rabbit: (Forgot to put in your ‘Cya’).

CelL: ENDNDND.

CelL: BYE.

White Rabbit: Hmm…

White Rabbit: Cell? Are you there? You DO know that was just a practice interview and that the real thing is starting NOW?

White Rabbit: Er… I don’t think he’s coming back! :O

Cell: Yes, I am back. Please try to conceal your disappointment.

White Rabbit: Phew, I was worried there fore a second. :)

White Rabbit: So how old are you really?

Cell: I’m currently 16 years old.

White Rabbit: Ok. And since it has been several years between these 2 interviews, I’d like to know if your favourite levels and tilesets have changed or not?

Cell: I don’t really have any current favorites as to levels or tilesets. Let’s just say I know what I like.

White Rabbit: You’re obviously less active making levels now but do you still have any “big” plans? CTF packs? Battle packs? Or have you decided to just continue with single levels?

Cell: You’ll just have to wait and see. ;)

White Rabbit: No, I really can’t wait… argh! tries to refrain himself from doing drastic things

Cell: Heh, sorry if I made a typo or two. I usualy type quite quickly, so while I notice most mistakes I slip up here and there.

White Rabbit: Considering the fact that JJ2 is dying knocks on wood, there are fewer newbie level creators out there. Would you like to enlighten us and give us 4 of your top tips for level creators?

Cell: Uhh… that’s a tough one.

Cell: 1. Well… always have other people test your stuff, unless you’re someone like Blur. 2. Try to be original, it’s better to make one innovative level than ten using the same type of layout. 3. This doesn’t really apply to battle but with CTF, try and put some thought into balancing your level, especially if you’re going for a non-symmetrical layout. 4. And try to make good eye-candy. And try to find a new use for the tileset; if your level ends up looking the same as every other level using the same tileset, it generally won’t catch much people’s attention.

White Rabbit: Great stuff. I could use some of this too. :)

Cell: Oh.

White Rabbit: So, you are currently making us wait for your secret levels… what about your actual JJ2 “life”? Getting bored of our green friend yet? :)

Cell: I’ll be here for another while. ;P

White Rabbit: Deny this as much as you can, but word on the street says that you’re pretty good at JJ2. ;P Since when did you start playing more JJ2 than spending time with JCS? Or has the time always been shared equally?

Cell: I don’t play barely as much as I used to, but still… meh, can’t say. Don’t exactly keep track of such things.

White Rabbit:: And what do you think of JJ2WC?

Cell: You mean the past one? Not much to say about it. Was fun to play in. Have to give it props for being the first clan tournament that really worked out properly.

White Rabbit: Did you think that you could have won versus DM? I mean, you lost by having less points than them, but you did win a game. Do you think FoR can achieve the same feat again this year? Or even do more?

Cell: We might have won, had I not sucked. But seriously, we just had some bad luck I guess.. In my opinion, the match was pretty much equal. As for the future, time will tell. The main concern right now is getting another member to be active so we’ll actually have a warteam.

White Rabbit: Good luck. :) I hope you’ll let TF share the champagne or something, if you win…

Cell: Thanks. =) Hope TF will let us share the champagne too, if they win too. Hehe.

White Rabbit: About FoR, how devoted are you to it? You’re probably quite proud about being in such a great clan but do you feel that most of its members are neglecting it?

Cell: Hard to say. Personally I feel I’m quite devoted to it, but on the other hand I don’t do much for the clan, which goes for most members. Like DM, we just are.. we don’t have a website or anything to update (well, there were/are plans for one, but I’m not sure where that stands), just the occasional clanwar and stuff.

White Rabbit: What do you think of its members in general? And also, I’d like to ask where you think all the inactive members (e.g. Rage and Darkshadow) have gone?

Cell: Can’t say anything negative about any FoR members. They’re all great people. Though I would like it if everyone was active, I can’t blame them for not playing this silly little bunny game; they’ve probably got more interesting or important stuff to do.

White Rabbit: Please remind me of how many clanwars you have played for the clan. Have they all been successful? (Ok, I know that you lost one, but I will try not to rub it in :P).

Cell: I’m not sure off the top of my head.

White Rabbit: Ok.

White Rabbit: Ahh, nostalgia time. You used to be >CelL< but not it’s just plain old (or new) Cell. I didn’t quite understand what the > and the < were for, nor do I understand the name-change when the old name was, in my opinion, perfectly fine. What made you to dump the old orange/red colours and swap to white (++white fur names, btw). :)

Cell: Meh, I remember it didn’t go well with the clantag, and I started prefering plain vanilla names. Also, colored names mess CTF up. As for the arrows… emphasis? Decoration? Had those for quite a while…

White Rabbit: Yes, coloured names are annoying, especially if you don’t use Gamma, which for some reason I am still too lazy to use :D

Cell: Gamma didn’t really exist back then. ;P

White Rabbit: eats Eagle

White Rabbit: I think that something a lot of people would like to know is: Why exactly the name ‘Cell’? What does it mean? What does it represent?

Cell: You know, cells. Those little things you have inside your body in millions.

White Rabbit: And can you explain the occasional switch to ‘Cel’?

Cell: It’s the Dutch spelling of cell. Go figure. =)

White Rabbit: I always thought it had to something to do with Dragonball Z. :D So, you are a cell, then? :) I know what it is now, but I still don’t know why you chose it.

Cell: Can’t really remember. Been carrying this name around for about 7 years now, I think.

White Rabbit: A long time. :D I can’t remember why I chose my name either.

White Rabbit: Ok, moving away from JJ2.

Cell: Follow the white rabbit… thwack

White Rabbit: Lol. :D

White Rabbit: What are your hobbies? (Simple question :)).

Cell: Hrm. I play a few trading card games (M:TG, YGO) from time to time. I’m also into anime and manga, and have recently taken up drawing, though I’m still mostly an amateur at it.

White Rabbit: This may be a bit of a personal question, but every Cell-fan out there would obviously want to know this: what kind of career are you aiming for in the future?

Cell: Career… no idea yet. =/

White Rabbit: Pretty good. ;D But can you explain M:TG and YGO?

Cell: Explain? What, you want the whole rulebook or just a basic outline of what it’s about?

White Rabbit: No, just the outlines, and, of course, what those letters stand for.

Cell: Well, M:TG stands for Magic: The Gathering, probably one of the oldest and most popular trading card games there is. YGO stands for Yu-Gi-Oh, which means King of Games in Japanese, and is based on a card game featured in the anime/manga series of the same name.

White Rabbit: I thought YGO was just for 7-year olds. :) If you play it, I assume it’s pretty complex? ;)

Cell: Both games require you to have your own deck of cards (60 in M: TG, 40 in YGO) to play against an opponent. In YGO, both players start with 8000 life points, and can summon monsters to attack each other, which can be supported by magic and trap cards. Whenever a player reaches 0 life or has no cards left in his/her deck, he/she loses. Also, if you attack an opponent, he/she can choose to block you with one of his/her creatures, while in YGO you have to destroy all your opponent’s monsters before you can attack him/her. Much like spells and traps in YGP, you have artifacts, sorceries and enchantments in M: TG.

White Rabbit: Ok, that pretty much answers my question about complexity and kinda makes we wanna start too. Lol. :D

White Rabbit: Do you have an online gallery where you upload all your art?

Cell: As for the art gallery: http://cell1337.deviantart.com/ =)

White Rabbit: L33t address for l33t art. ;P I’ll make sure that I check in from time to time. :D

White Rabbit: I know that we are moving away from JJ2, so I hope that you are treating the JJ2 community differently from the game. Anyway, what kind of role do you see yourself having in the community? (Or are you just “one in the crowd”?)

Cell: One in the crowd, basically… I don’t think I serve any distinct purpose. ;-P I post in the forums some times, I talk to people, etc.

White Rabbit: Man, the community’s Cell-fans will have plenty of reading material tonight. This has been an excellent interview. :D

Cell: (I have fans? =\)

White Rabbit: Thanks a lot for your time, Cell. The interview will be posted immediately. :) Bye.

Cell: Sure, was a pleasure, or something. Hehe.

END OF INTERVIEW

If you have any comments/suggestions/CONSTRUCTIVE criticisms of this interview, the best place to post them is right under this interview (in the little white box :-)) so that everyone can share in your wisdom. If you’d like to be more private, throw me a PM on JCF or just send me an e-mail at whiterabbit.tf@gmail.com. I hoped you’ve enjoyed the interview and, above all, gained some insightful knowledge from it..er…whatever, hehe. :-D

Cheers,

White Rabbit.