Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Stronghold is the latest contribution to the JJ2 scene by veteran JCSer and player Superjazz (also known as Vivando), produced as a result of the recent JJNet Season 8 CTF contest. Such contests have been responsible for some of the finest new levels to date, and Stronghold does not divert from this trend.

Whilst this isn’t a technical marvel in the visual department, it’s still among the best looking levels in recent years. The tileset usage has managed to convey the theme of the level without resorting to the typical eyecandy spam in order to effectively “rape” the tileset. Conceptually, this level features a fortified castle situated in the middle of the desert. I love the clean look that this level has – the tile usage is mostly very similar throughout the level, yet there is enough variety to keep things from getting too homogenous. It definitely has a more polished and professional feel than SJ’s other Deserto level, The Sun Fired Blanks. The .j2as file included provides a visual enhancement by altering the background colour to a “diamondus blue”, which is rather pleasant considering the lack of colour variety in the tileset, giving this level a more vibrant feel without detracting from the theme. It also matches the colour of the aqueducts in the level corners.

Master Sven’s notion that this level is “nothing special” perplexes me, as I found this to be one of the more interesting levels out there. Although it contains no completely original elements per se, the overall build of the level is quite unique. Despite the large size of 160×70, the actual playing area and the style of the layout are more suited to smaller games, although the level can most likely accomodate games up to 4vs4 (or more perhaps). There is essentially a division of the layout into a lower and an upper section, with most of the action centered around the middle section – the “stronghold” as per the namesake, if you will. A lone Full NRG carrot resides here – it’s fairly easy to defend due to the limited number of approach routes (two to be precise), but it’s also more attackable than in other one-carrot levels like Jungle’s Edge, Galactic Warfare and All Your Base CTF, because you can use EB as a counter-camp tactic. Such a carrot concept makes this level unsuitable for dueling in because you can stay at the top and hit anyone coming up from below infinitely, but it is good for team games because it encourages good communication and timing to control effectively. The top part may be a little too easy to DD in though, but it’s not a major issue. At least camping in the carrot platform itself can be dealt with by bouncer spam.

The base areas are one of the more interesting aspects of the level. As they’re very open, they’re easy to defend yet also vulnerable to attack due to the lack of cover. Being RTS can sometimes be quite challenging as dodging bullets is difficult here, and so airhits may occur, but approaching the base can also be difficult, especially from below where a rain of bouncer fire can virtually deny entry to the base. Thankfully, SJ added an extra route in the most recent update, making it more feasible for players to attack the base from the upper level, without having to traverse the potentially risky carrot area. Below each base is an escape route tunnel, which is a useful feature, enabling you to avoid much of the crossfire. There’s also definitely a risk-reward element associated with them however, as you’re left momentarily vulnerable as you exit the escape tunnel, so use them with care.
The weapon placement is well thought through and balanced. As this level is symmetrical, team imbalance is not really an issue, and the power-ups that are present (Bouncer, RF, Toaster) all have their fair share of uses. I find I have just a sight preference for bouncer in this level due to the importance of the y-axis in this level, although RF is still incredibly useful for chasing players along the bottom level, and for performing tricks (such as jumping up to the bases from below, a useful tactic in order to make a surprise score). I’m glad SJ did not place a seeker PU here, because the open nature of the layout would’ve led to a high lag factor. Ammo is rather plentiful here, which helps the level support larger games and reduces the chance of tedious blaster wars breaking out.

All in all, this is a high quality level by one of the top quality JCSers out there. It may take a little time to adjust to the style of the layout, but this has the potential to provide tactical, enjoyable gameplay for competitive and casual matches alike. Don’t be misled by MS’ questionable review – downloading and playing this online is strongly recommended.

Raised the rating after further contemplation.

Useful, but I think you should add something more. ^–

The concept was a nice thought, but just doesn’t work well in practice. What results is a painfully slow paced level where blaster skirmishes are frequent. The level tries hard be different, and I agree that ammo spamming should be discouraged. It may live up to it’s name, but the point is that this level is just not fun to play at all.

Gameplay: 2.1 / 3.4

Placement: 0.6 / 0.8

The powerups are placed on the outer parts of the level, which makes players go there more often, that has been done well. I think there are too much ammo pickups though, especially toaster and fireball.

Flow: 1.2 / 2.6

Before your update there were mostly only 2 ways to go, which would result in very monotonous gameplay. The update couldn’t improve everything that much though. There is still nothing special about it and there are many areas where it’s hard to have a decent combat. The only way to get up here is either with springs or going through cramped tunnels, which are also present in the bottom middle of the level. They said they were gonna watch gameplay the most, therefore I can’t believe they made us be stuck with this one in the mappool. The gamplay in Blackjack was way way better.

Eyecandy: 2.3 / 3.3

The eyecandy is the best thing of this level, although it doesn’t really matter while playing it. I still say there is nothing special about it though, the most remarkable things are how the different layers are overlapped by eachother and how the background is structured.

Originality: 0.5 / 3.3

As I said before, there is nothing special about this level and that’s also the only thing I can say about it’s originality. Im sure SJ could’ve done better, but don’t expect his work to be good instantly.

Final Grade: 4.8

EDIT: rating (4.8) removed – do not rate a level based on its creator, but on its own merits, and either way “nothing special” doesn’t quite match the 4.8 rating -Stijn

EDIT: I have not rated based on its creator but just explained that one shouldnt always expect high quality stuff from him.’ Ok, a definitely playable level, which is big and spacy’ doesn’t match a rating of 9.0 either, so either you are gonna check all reviews of all levels or you will give me the right to review the level based on it’s gameplay, eyecandy and originality. -MS

This level comes back often at JDC events and when it does, it is very fun to play. That said I also think this level plays best with many people. I’m not sure if this level would work with 3v3 or maybe even 2v2, but I’d love to try some time. On to the reviewing.

Gameplay – 52/65
First thing I noticed about this level is that it is very open. Because of this you’ll move around fluently and won’t bump into stuff easily. Also springs and vines are used well to let the player go quickly up and down. The warp is usefull to go up and get higher ground since it’s risky to go up the slopes at the right top of the level. The warp back down leads to a +1 carrot, it’s a bit more risky though. At the start the warps felt a bit useless but I think it’s something you got to learn in this level.

Another good thing about the gameplay in this level is that rf, bouncer and toaster are ballanced in this level. There are enough slopes and edges to prevent shooting rf’s too far and making bouncers more usefull. Besides that I think fire is most usefull in the vertical parts. I think the area at 61, 60 should be easier accessible. This is not because it is a campy area but I think making the passage one tile bigger will make it less bumpy. You could for example move the entrance down a bit so you can still have a safe area at the top. One more thing is the tube at the middle. I think this can be very usefull but the only problem is that it’s a bit hard to see it’s there, not a problem if you learn the level though.

The ammo is well spread through the level and there is plenty of it. The only area that seems empty is the left upper warp. A total of 4 carrots with small delay is probably the main reason this level is better with more people. The placement of the middle one and the right bottom one is excellent. Putting seekers at the right top one could make it campy, but I in this case it can be easily countered with bouncers and rf’s. I think the carrot in the water shouldn’t be in a dead end or at least make it a bigger area, it’s already in the water which makes it already risky enough to get it. Also the seekers at the right bottom in the level are a bit too hard/risky to get. Besides that I think the right side of the level seems to be a bit more filled with good pu’s/carrots than the left side, this isn’t that bad though. The bouncer PU is hard to get with normal bouncers, also I think in a tense battle it’s kinda hard to see but eventually you will know where it is.

Eyecandy – 23.5/25
Well there isn’t much too say about the eyecandy, it’s just great. Layer’s 1 to 3 and 5 are used very well to created nice decorations in the walls. Because most of this decorations are in the walls it isn’t distractive for the gameplay which is ofcourse a big plus. I was thinking about more decorations at layer 5 that are not in the wall, but I’m not sure how much this would improve the level and the background is good enough (and original too!). The tileset has been used before but not with this palette. The palette is pretty dark but I together with the music this increases the atmosphere. The level is open enough to not let the darkness become overwhelming.

Originality – 7/10
I don’t think the gameplay in this level is something completely new. One thing that adds to the originality is the water, not just because it has water but also because the gameplay around it is good. About the eyecandy, I think the background is very original and adds to the atmosphere. Besides that the good quality of this level’s eyecandy is not something most level makers can reproduce.

Total: 84.5/100
This level is definatly one of the better battle levels on j2o. Like I said it is used much in JDC events and I bet it will be used many more times in the future. Download recommended ofcourse!

Note that this rating is lower than my quick reviews, this is not because the level is worse but because I’m a bit more critical.

Raneforus V, the tileset that has been barely used in general, has been used really well for the theme that the level here uses, the level that was chosen for the JJNet ladder’s mappool. The theme in ‘Canyon Grove’ is indeed well executed, although cause of the theme, the level’s name could as well be ‘Jungle’s Inside’(reference to ‘Jungle’s Edge’.)

However the level of course is more than just a jungle, as it’s more like a ruined temple in the jungle. The background consists of the tileset conversions’ classic JJ1 background tiles and it fits just well in my opinion, as it’s been all done in detail like the rest of the level. The tileset of course hasn’t been used to it’s fullest potential, as only tiles that were necessary for the theme were used. However, the amount of visuals is just brilliant and there is certainly no need for more of them, as it would make the eyecandy rather excessive and distracting if all the tiles in the tileset were used, even when they weren’t really needed.

Now, the level design itself is what completely surprised me when I saw it the first time, as it’s really ideal for CTF with still a lot of room to make various plays. The designing is partly the type of designing that I would expect to see from the legendary BlurredD himself. It may at first seem overly complex, but really, in the end it all just makes sense. There is a good mix of solid and thin walls/platforms, and there are many corridors where a player can hide, but with the wise usage of ammo the level won’t turn into a campfest either. There is also enough space to shoot, and yet there aren’t any too open areas which would increase ‘lag-dependency’ in online games. I really do like the design around bases especially.

One of the questions may be that; Is this level too big for normal games? Well, certainly not for typical 3on3 games and bigger. I tried one here and it played really well in my opinion, there was enough scoring and roasting. However, I’m not yet certain about duels or 2v2 games, as I’ve tried out neither of them, but at least the long spawn-times of carrots (25-30) should make them plausible.

One of the major concepts here concerns the ammunition, for which some AngelScripting has been used. The script will never let you have more than a maximum of 25 seeker ammo at once, which discourages massive seeker spamming in the level wherever you go, and forces to make wise use of them instead which is a good thing. The other part of the concept is the power up placement. In the latest JJ2+ there is the new type of ammunition; Fireball which replaces Pepperspray(Gun8) which all JJ2+ users should know by now. Since the Fireball deals damage value of 2 when powered up, it makes for an equal alternative for the RF power up. Since pepperspray power up deals always a damage value of 1, powered up or not, that would certainly be too underwhelming against the RF power up. As these 2 power ups have been divided among the team sides, the script prevents the disable of Fireball, which ensures fair games in all cases.

I’m now sure that this is my favourite level of PurpleJazz so far, as it shines of sheer brilliance in both gameplay and visuality. There are only a couple of minor flaws that I would complain about, one being the flow error at the level edges, requiring a player who comes from the bottom of the level to jump by the bases’ platform to get up to the spring that takes you to the next level. The other flaw being the slightly confusing use of One way events, since there is no clear logic which of the thin platforms have it and which not, except that it’s somewhat obvious under the bases and wherever springs make the flow. Well, I guess it also helps to counter camping with the seeker ammo. Also, whether or not this level works well in duels/2v2 is yet to be seen for me. But at least the level is ideal for 3on3 games and JDC Events.

Too long/Didn’t read/Summary part: Here is a very high-quality level by PurpleJazz that offers exotic gameplay in exotic environment(cheesily said.) Download this!

This tileset is a bit overrated. The quality is decent and all, but it uses too much dithering, and lacks versatility. Some of the colours are close to the rabbit pallette, like the pavement/stony ground and greenery, which could’ve been used for efficiency so you can sneak more colours in, allowing to make it even smoother.

Arcane Observatory

Someone cycled to the level and people started to criticise it, what i will use in my review.

Theme

Arcane Observatory, this name refers to WarCraft 3’s building where there are these magical floating stuffs in a building. What can I say, this level is totally based around that thing, thus there is the big building made of floating platforms, with a dark forest at the background, raining heavily with the really nicely fitting music (what is made by Alexander Brandon who made the musics for jj2 too), that adds a lot to the feeling while being at the this level. I feel like I was at a mediveal, magical sorcery place, genious, I love the Theme of the level.
[18:07:20] RabRabCC: the theme of the level is nice though
[18:07:25] PurpleJazzCC: well yes

20 out of 20

Eyecandy

Mainly it’s dark over there, it’s relaxing for the eyes. I especially like the background, even though it’s the basic offering of the tileset. There are some nice background parts, many windows, it’s simple but natural, what means you’ve put there the right amount of decoration. There aren’t confusing things, except for the BNC PUs, they are a little hidden but once you found them it’s no big deal, I mean, a part of them is visible. This amount of Eyecandy is really right for a CTF level (or anything else basically). It’s definietly nice.

20 out of 20

Layout

Well after all these nice points, I’m sad about it, but i have to say that the level is a little too much focused on the Theme and the look, what causes the level’s gameplay and layout to have problems.
Firstly I would explain it’s simplified layout: Bases in the middle routes side by side, Powerups at the 4 corners of the level, carrot in the middle. That sounds allright, it’s obviously balanced, fairly easy to understand. The carrot’s box is problematic though, since there is only a full carrot, and it’s really campy. The entrance of the carrot is campy, the box is a trap, and the exit of the box is also very campy, this makes a larger team game carrotless, as the flagholder can’t risk going to the carrot , because he/she has hardly any way to get out with more health. Moreover in these two critical places, the entrance of the carrot box and the exit from the box are the two ways where you can go to the other side, and they have seekers close so they are ultimate camp places. That is bad.
[18:05:45] -t3’: this dead end is a terrible design decision
[18:06:07] -t3’: it could just have a passage to the other side
He is talking about 69 23 to 73 25. I have to agree with him, there is a solution with triggers, so that the person can go up with the tube (or if he/she wants to get out he can get out by buttstomping) and the person who wants to go to the other side has one other nice way to do so.
[18:11:41] PurpleJazzCC: i don’t really like the platformish layout
Well In my view of things, being platformish isn’t an issue of layout, but okay, the level is platformish, I will come back to it at the gameplay section.
The layout is simple anyway, there aren’t many tactical issues, you can’t really chase else than in liner paths when the enemy isn’t far, you can rather camp.
It’s unique so that’s a good point.

16 out of 30

Gameplay

Duels work, since there is only one carrot, maybe in duels the carrot problem i explained right above is nonexsistent. It’s quite big though, so it might take a lot of time if someone decides to run around and hide. The size suggests 3v3, but the carrot and it’s campyness suggests 2v2 rather. In 3v3 it becomes a carrotless map, it might still be fun it does work then too, but it’s somewhat bad. The RF is crucial, BNC is useful too, and as there are both of them in both sides, it gives enough supply. The BNC’s dead-end is a bit dangerous, but I don’t think it’s a problem. The ammos are allright, they are functional in the level, yet there could be some non powerupped toaster, they might had some use. Ah and EB seems to be a little useless, there are no walls you could use it on else than the carrot box. The ammo placement is a bit agureable, you shouldn’t put seeks close a campy place.
Pits:
[18:06:20] PurpleJazzCC: i think the pits here are annoying and
[18:06:23] PurpleJazzCC: unnecessary
[18:06:46] PurpleJazzCC: they were fine in coffee
[18:06:52] PurpleJazzCC: but here they just seem really random
[18:07:12] PurpleJazzCC: a bit of a risky design choice considering this
[18:07:18] PurpleJazzCC: was to make a new mappool level
Many people (excluding me) hates pits. PJ is right, these pits aren’t carrying something tactical or intended, they are just there, like “why not?”. I can assume, the reason why the pits are there is the name, the theme’s concept, and now comes back what I said earlier, the theme is more in the focus than the gameplay. The base areas are neat, they can be approached from many ways, can be defended with seeks or something.
[18:09:52] Kenny-CDF-: i dont really like its flow :/
[18:12:20] PurpleJazzCC: yea lots of jumping required here
That’s true, you gotta jump a lot, but mainly the flow is allright I mean you don’t crush to unexpected obsticles, if I ignore occasionally falling down.
As the last thing about the gameplay I will say, the platformish layout. There are plenty of ways you can go on, you can always change direction, there aren’t anything to control your movement, like you needn’t go up, in the route you can just go right along, and this makes the players be very unexpectable, you can’t really predict where to go, and if you even could, you can not get in front of your enemy, or you can’t shoot him from a place. The carrot box and the middle place is an exception to this said, but I already told what’s bad about them.

14 out of 30

Conclusion

This is a nice level, it’s pretty, has a catchy feeling, yet the gameplay is dull, not too tactical, with a campy carrot box. What advice i would give is that, you need to plan the gameplay ahead and then decorate the level, what you, comrade, do quite right.

-RabidRabb

Although the level has a high overall attention to detail (the background looks great), the amount of layer 4 eyecandy can be distracting at first. Not sure if I like the repetition of the 3×2 leaf clusters. However, the level has a very solid layout and hence is fun to play. It might be slightly too large for 2vs2, but 3vs3+ works well here.

I know a charity worker that often visits Africa to build on a children’s school. They got a laptop sponsored, I might just pre-apply this patch and burn a copy of JJ2 and ‘sponsor’ it to them. lol

Awesome work though!

reg ;)

http://www.microsoft.com/Language/en-US/Search.aspx?sString=joystick&langID=af-za

:-)

“joystick” is “speelstang” in Afrikaans? This is wonderful…

the level looks fun, and the tubes are great fun to run around in (seriously really fun, cool idea), however i didnt like the powerups being gun9-only, the campy campy c, and the fact that it takes 3 seconds to go from base to base :(… some of the passageways on the bottom don’t flow amazingly either and could be improved x

Yet another level using a battleships-tileset by rag, and that just tells you can expect high quality. The level is still very innovative with a good-looking palette which I haven’t yet seen for this tileset, and the gameplay isn’t too mainstream with the extra passages that become available for you when you obtain certain types of ammo. DL rec.

Overall, this isn’t as good as the 2nd pack. Some levels are cool, while some are just bad, lasting a lame 3 seconds. Infected is the worst level, with everyone annoylingly pushing because of the same start pos, dying there out of your own control, as well as being far too small and risky for seekers. I will make a longer review later.

Before reviewing, I’d like to say that I didn’t actually host this level or participate in an actual multiplayer session. I merely observed the layout from the perspective of both bases and the road to back and forth, including ammo etc. Still, my opinion should be taken with a grain of salt. :P

First thing I noticed was that the gameplay is very speed-based and there’s little room for camping, except maybe in the middle-down area that is only accessable by tubes. Next there’s the obvious (and intended) lack of serious ammo placement and PU’s. I got to say that it’s an unusual design choice but could be interesting especially for 3v3 games that are normally very hectic.

The upper vertical pathways involve sucker events that pull you up, which took me some time to get used to. It feels rather gimmicky to me, and I’d rather see small platforms there. It does however allow you to carelessly hop up allowing for easy speed and flow of the game.

And lastly, the eyecandy and overall look of the level is plain and simple, but OK for the kind of gameplay it’s intended for. The rain/lightning background is dark but pretty original (though I say it, who shouldn’t :P).. There’s little that reminds you it’s actually a Tubelectric level, and the blocky diagonal platforms are ‘foregrounded’ to (again) allow for more speed.

Overall a simple yet original level ideal for a no-nonsense match as the title of the level suggests, but don’t expect a miracle in CTF land. Download recommended, and I think a 6.7 is a good rating here. Don’t take this the wrong way, you should really give this level a go for the purpose it was made for: No-nonsense skill testing, especially for movement speed and team coordination!

Very fitting climax music. Easely something Robert Allen could’ve mixed in. The added guitar tune blends in perfectly with the ending music that is to come.

Gameplay: 2.1 / 3.4

Placement: 0.3 / 0.8

Although the powerups are placed nicely, perhaps you could have placed at least one above, as they are all on the bottom of the level. The carrot slightly compensates it, though it can fall down easily. Ammo pickups are placed nicely and don’t think there is a lack of them.

Flow: 1.8 / 2.6

This level consists out of many small areas. They are however, big enough to have nice individual combat there. Also little springs are used, players can gain altitude by jumping on higher platforms or using vines, those are actually the only 2 ways in this level. Both teams have a warp to get to the bottom of the opponents base, though you can move through the carrot area only from one base, so that’s a bit biased. If this level had some spectacular original gameplay it would have been even better.

Eyecandy: 2.3 / 3.3

The background looks very detailed and certainly adds to the feeling the level gives you. The platforms all look much alike, of course you are bounded to the tileset though. Not much foreground to be seen here, you could’ve decided to add the things hanging from the ceiling to the foreground.

Originality: 2.0 / 3.3

As said before, this level lacks real inventive gameplay. Though the layout doesn’t really look much like other levels. Also the potential carrot area is quite a big part of the level, you did a good job there. I also like the hollowed out dead end at the toaster PU which causes the dead end to be not much of a problem.

Final Grade: 6.4

Can’t touch this!

Im not sure what u mean with the foreground.

The level doesn’t have a lot of ammo because normal ammo is regarded the same as a powerup here. If you would have actually played it in a game you would have seen that it respawns way faster than most ammo in other levels.