"Gorgeous" is a great word from minmay for this, but the other word I’m leaning toward is "natural." It’s easy for CTF levels in particular to feel very deliberately crafted, to maintain balanced gameplay—which is not itself a bad thing, as the crafting can produce very elegant results—and this is not that. Nor is this the opposite extreme where a level is completely devoted to being a picture with zero concern for playability. Instead Timberland somehow achieves the impossible of an asymmetrical, playable, utterly natural level to which nothing can be added and from which nothing can be taken away. Alcoves and slopes abound throughout the map. Powerups and ammo are sufficiently out in the open to seem as if they grew there naturally. The tileset—the truly incredible conversion work, blending Diamondus and Inferno to an impossible degree, with a perfect palette—is so organic that it is often difficult to believe the level is composed of tiles at all. The grid is invisible, the walls full of what looks like they must be nonce or bespoke connections. An absolute delight to play, an honor to experience.
Timberland
Capture the flag, by Loon,
requires 
The Secret Files with JJ2+
Description
Hey everyone,
My ‘latest’ creation, as it is 8 months upload ready. I Don’t know why I kept postponing it, but here it is, nevertheless.
It’s a medium/large sized CTF map. Probably works best for 4v4 and upward.
Enjoy, and expect more from me (possibly even this year ;o)
EDIT 2023-04-08:
Added a more complete tileset with add ons. I never knew why I didn’t export those either. It is a bit messy.
I’ve also noticed a very minor tilebug, that has been fixed.
Credits & Acknowledgements
Contains 7 Files
 xlmtimber.j2l |
Timberland | 133.40 kB |
 Timberlandv2.j2t |
Timberlandv2 | 439.31 kB |
 NicoStaf_WalkingInTheSky.mp3 |
5062.54 kB | |
 xlmtimber.j2as |
15.04 kB | |
| MLLE-Include-1.6.asc |
23.90 kB | |
| xlmtimber-MLLE-Data-1.j2l |
MLLE Extra Data | 18.21 kB |
| xlmtimber-MLLE-Data-2.j2l |
MLLE Extra Data | 16.30 kB |
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Reviews and comments
Violet CLM 15 Mar 2023, 07:32
minmay 8 Dec 2022, 06:33
Gorgeous looking level. You somehow made a Diamondus/Inferno wall mashup look so natural that I didn’t even consciously think about it when I first played it. The large crystals from Ceramicus in the foreground do look a touch out of place with their lack of detail. But that’s more than made up for by screen-filling parallax background layers that give the sense of an expansive landscape behind the sprite layer – moreso than any other JJ2 background I’ve seen.
In gameplay, it’s a traditional CTF level and wears that on its sleeve, no wacky gimmicks. But I always like when levels are asymmetrical and I always like when carrots are placed in out-of-the-way areas, and this level has both of those things so I like that.
Besides, there’s next to nothing to actually complain about here: balance seems good, the level flows pretty well thanks to extensive usage of One Way events, and both flag bases are interesting to approach and defend.
Definitely looking forward to seeing more, and being doubly impressed if you do pull out another great level within 23 days!