Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Good Morning Turtleville! Single player, by RSGDB, requires The Secret Files, with JJ2+

• Rating: 7

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Description

Originally completed on 21.03.24.
The file shows a different date because of an error made after the fact.

My second original level, urm, sort of.
The geometry in the very first section of the level is taken directly from DanX’s unfinished Turtleville CTF map. Basically this entire project originated from me challenging myself to take this unfinished MP map and turn it into a full fledged single player level – which then ballooned into something much larger than I planned. The name of the level is a tribute to this origin.
There is also a section halfway through that’s heavily inspired by (but not identical to) a bonus area from 5 Alive by mârtin aka partydude.
The rest of the level is completely original, and I am overall much happier with it compared to my last one.

The tileset itself is a combination of Town House 2 with Town Day Snow by Arclite288 (with a handful of elements from other official tilesets and a little bit from Holiday Hare Fix v2.) I wanted a version of Town House that took place in the daytime and this was the closest I could find. Unfortunately the winter theming meant all the plant life was blue so I ended up importing and mixing and matching the tilesets together.
In addition to the set used in the level itself (TownDayEx) I ended up with two other tilesets: Town House Day (essentially Town House 2 with a blue sky) and Town House Morning (which is just Town Day Snow with green plants).

Update:
1. Changed the location of a certain trigger crate so that you won’t be able to jump up to the bridge above it and added some trigger arrows next to the nearby building. This one change won’t address all of the issues people may have with the level overall, but after receiving feedback and taking a closer look this particular crate really stuck out to me like a sore thumb in how confusing and unclear everything around it is.
2. Changed the color of the spikes in the vine section as the previous one made them blend into the scenery.
3. Made some minor changes to the tileset itself, none of which actually affect the level.
I decided to keep the old file versions for posterity.

[Not sure if this is a “major” or “minor” update,I decided to label it as “major” just in case it might be of interest. I apologize in advance if it’s considered minor and I just sent out a bothersome PM]

Credits & Acknowledgements

Arclite288, DanX, Martin, Feaw

Contains 9 Files

TownS - old.j2l	Good Morning Turtleville!	42.12 kB
TownS.j2l	Good Morning Turtleville!	44.63 kB
TownDay.j2t	Town House Day	208.65 kB
TownDayEx - old.j2t	Town House Day Extended	470.79 kB
TownDayEx.j2t	Town House Day Extended	471.01 kB
TownMorn.j2t	Town House Morning	216.03 kB
shalam1.s3m	Shalame	620.92 kB
shalam2.s3m	Shalame	620.91 kB
shalam3.s3m	Shalame	622.89 kB

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Reviews and comments

Violet CLM 17 Apr 2024, 19:23

It's challenging to review this because it switches gameplay styles so completely, repeatedly, that it feels like several levels in one. The starting area would indeed be a dubious match for CTF, but it's fine here (though the rest of the level never manages to make Townhouse look quite so good as DanX did). Some plausible enemies, a pretty cool horizontal spring segment.

Then the level turns into trigger crate hell for much too long. Barely-visible walls block arbitrary sections of the level, and you must find trigger crates (sometimes in secret areas) and smash them in an unclear, unguided order before you can finally progress. And then you have to do that same thing again, but worse.

Then the level gets more experimental, with an airboard collectathon, some basic level design, a kind of interesting float-up area, a mandatory secret area, and an area I actually rather like, where you're on an airboard again but this time you're collecting gems as the wind moves you along. There's some confusing eyecandy in this section, and it would be nice if the camera weren't so centered on the player, but otherwise it feels fresh and fun.

Next up is a vine platforming area, and I'm a sucker for vines, although it's kind of messed up by the fact that Spaz can skip through parts of it with his double jump. Also the trigger crate hunting returns for no real reason, and there are a lot of invisible spikes.

The rest of the level is a bit cramped but notable mostly for introducing ice tiles (complete with the Slide event, I think) to Townhouse. It's okay but doesn't really play to the tileset's strengths.

Enemy placement's generally fine, nothing too out-of-keeping with the environment. There doesn't seem to be any ammo at all, though… it's generally thought to be good to give the player strategic options, not to mention it's just fun to be able to switch guns. A missed opportunity. Checkpoints feel about right, though inherently limited because of the trigger crates.

I like some parts of this level. I dislike others. Hard to get more N/A than that.



Superjazz 1 Mar 2025, 08:42

7

Good morning Jazz2Online (at least at the timing of writing this review)! I had a go at this level a few weeks back and quite soon after entering into the level, I found out that it is a vanilla SP level with a fairly classic style gameplay. What in my opinion was not quite as classic, was the way the level environments changed suddenly by unexpected warps, but I got used to it by some point and managed to find my way around the level.

The level is also just pleasant to look at, although nothing is exceptionally visually outstanding. I don't typically create or play a lot of levels using Townhouse tileset, so I'm a bit unfamiliar with the standards, but at least it seems like the background skyscrapers are done with care and there are even some shapes that seem original. The only thing is that some of the horizontal layer speeds seem too fast, as is the case with many classic levels using Townhouse.

Maybe the level is a bit too platformy for my tastes, especially considering those thin floating platforms on the air. But strangely enough I did like some of those trigger crate puzzles around the level, even with the mile-long vine-hanging areas. I suppose overall this is around the average quality you could expect from a vanilla level and it was worth the try for me. I guess whether or not you'll like it depends a lot on what you expect from the level, so to whomever is reading this, consider giving this one a try as well!