I just received the following
message from Steven, who received it from AstroniA:
All times are Eastern Standard Time Zone
| 11/7/98 - 5:07 - Bad news from AstroniA |
I just received the following
message from Steven, who received it from AstroniA:
Hi Wakeman, it's AstroniA here I'm afraid I have some bad new for you to post. The Jazz 2 Bot project has been cancelled. The reason for this being that the Bots were too buggy. I admit I'm still a bit of a beginner as far as writing progs go, so they've been scrapped. These were some of the bugs I could not resolve: *) When starting a server, some Bots would not spawn, despite the settings, causing weird things to happen. *) Couldn't figure out how to get a Client-side Bot to join a server properly. Could cause the game to crash. *) Had hassles coding the Bots to "understand" CTF properly. They seemed to be more interested in roasting than capturing their enemy's flag. *) Had hassles coding the Bots for Treasure. Bots could die when shot, and sometimes didn't drop gems when shot. Also, Bots would crash game if they tried to exit. *) Bots would sometimes just stop playing. They would also just jump around in one spot like an idiot and shoot like crazy. *) Bots sometimes fired 3 weapons at once! And other misc. techie bugs. Sorry about it. I know a lot of people were looking forward to it. Oh well. Hey Epic, what do YOU make of it? (hint hint :)) Please post this up. Thanks -------------------- AstroniA
| 11/2/98 - 3:14 - dOh! |
Well, it seems that in all
of my on-line updates, I have forgotten to update J2C news with my competition...thanks
for the reminder, DethMan. :) Anyway, follow the link to learn all about
the latest JCS competition: Try
Me Comp. -Onag
| 10/31/98 - 12:50 - Wait...yes, we have one more... |
There's a new tournament
on its way! The Rattie Kid
is orgainizing Rattie's Great Jazz Tourney (RGJT), and it
will take place when enough people are interested. Currently, there is
no prize. If you are interested in more information on this, email
Rattie. -Onag
| 10/30/98 - 8:50 - StevenT Needs Your Help! |
If you know CGI, know anyone
who knows CGI, know anyone who knows anyone who knows CGI, or if you can
make good web graphics, please go
here! Jazz Central is at a stage now where StevenT needs scripts and
graphics. I know there's a ton of people out there who love this sort of
stuff, so get going
already! -Onag
| 10/25/98 - 10:41 - JJ2 Ranks in Top 20 on ZDNet |
This excerpt from the Gathering's
news (10/27/98):
Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Shareware: The Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Shareware
ranked in the top 20 of ZDNet's 50 most popular downloads! [more
info]
| 10/25/98 - 10:41 - New MOD2J2B! |
There's a new MOD2J2B converter
availible on www.jazzjackrabbit.com!
And they didn't announce it in their news
page ;-) For some of you, this is VERY cool, for others, you're like: "Who
cares?" =) Click here to download
it from jj.com.
| 10/25/98 - 10:40 - Uh.. hehe :) |
Slow updating again, I could
slap myself. More from lack of news tho ;) Anyway, to get to the point:
Steven's working on a new downloads layout, which will be pretty cool for
the new j2c. Unfortunatly, this does mean we won't be moving all the old
levels to the new layout (too much of a pain, we'd have to re-rate them,
etc.) But, never fear, Steven is ALSO working on an "Old Levels" section,
which will include all our "previous" (they're current right now ;) levels.
No, we're not as idle as we look.. far from it :-) Now, there isn't much
news, but some of you might find the above interesting.
| 10/20/98 - 3:35 - Bluez Still Alive |
Bluez might be having trouble
with his modem and JJ2, but he's far from dead... he's going to be making
ToDs
off and on for us, and given his pretty extensive knowladge of CTF,
he's a good choice. I was running out of ideas anyway ;-)
| 10/20/98 - 3:34 - Onag Continues work on JCS Ref and uNc |
Onag has been working hard.
Besides helping with the new look of J2C, he's also been working on JCS
Ref, and uNc (United In Christ). You can get a totally awesome preview
of JCS
Ref's setup... and answer a short questionaire concerning the site.
You'll want to check out uNc
too.
| 10/20/98 - 3:32 - Onag Posts Nick's Art |
Onag has posted some 20 images
that were drawn by Nick Stadler himself. About half are colored, and the
other half scetches.. there are some really cool ones in there. All of
them have never before been seen before! This is a must see.. check
it out.
| 10/20/98 - 3:30 - Late Night Update =) |
Well, I'm up pretty late,
but then I also haven't updated J2C in a while.. I figured I'd better keep
you guys informed :) I've been really trying to work on the new J2C layout
(in between KHG anyway ;-), and so far it's looking good.. the new layout
is not just a simple graphics change like our last overhaul, but it deals
with navigation, and a lot of other cool things (like new sections, etc).
This means a lot more work, and more-or-less updating each little tiny
html file with some miniscule change to fit the new look. Anyway, as I'm
sure you do NOT understand, it's a lot of work :) But we're trying. Even
at 3-4 am :]
Enough of this.. you want news, you got it. Look up.
| 10/16/98 - 10:10 - jj.com Stuff |
Jazzjackrabbit.com
was updated to include instructions on how to use the language filter!
Click here
to read the instructions.
| 10/15/98 - 12:05 - Colored Stuff |
Many of you have noticed
that the "Colored Stuff" list doesn't have all the links working... my
apologies. I have finally fixed those links, so.. uh... yeah, well, like..
it works now, aren't you happy?
| 10/15/98 - 12:03 - Onag Decides The Fate Of JazzNET |
A couple days ago, Onag decided
the fate of JazzNET in a
MMB post. It's been decided that JazzNET will not be rebuilt.. but
the JazzNET News (online JJ2 magazine) will be rebuilt, and "published"
under a different name. Not only that, but Onag stated he was going to
work on a JCS site; Onag is known for putting elbow grease in his work,
and we can definately expect to have a major JCS resource site when he's
done.
| 10/12/98 - 13:11 - QoB Released! |
QoB has finally been released,
after so long in developement. QoB was originally one level, but expanded
to include several levels in a short "single player episode." Queen Of
Board (QoB) boasts some interesting levels, including the main attraction,
a level that spans 700x700 tiles large! (the LARGEST level up-to-date ever
even attempted) Although not all of this space is used, it burns
pretty close. Another interesting fact is that Mystic Legends managed to
make the first level extremely annoying and hard, while at the same time
keeping enemies completely out of the level. Hmm.. promoting our own levels
(even though they are cool ;) on my site should not become a standard for
me... so, we'll let other people speak their wisdom on the case:
"...QoB will redefine the way we look at JCS..." - Onag
"Cool! This is fun!" - Bugs
"Preeetty big." - PaG
"QoB is a well put together episode. It has all the elements
of Jazz Jackrabbit 2 in one! Action, strategy, puzzle, and fun all
in one! It also has graphics that you'll look at all day and music
you must have for your self!" - JJF
Currently QoB is availible at www.mofo.co.uk/mystic/.
(the Mystic Legends' homepage) The file size is aproximately 1.5mb.
Click here
to download it from ML (not availible on J2C yet.. not that we, in our
current state of lagecy, would give you a better speed =).
| 10/9/98 - 10:09 - We are gathered here today... |
To say farewell to a dear
friend of ours.. Vigilantly. I'll skip the longer part, and get to the
point. Vigalently, the long-time player of JJ2, part of the clan of GG,
and one of the greater warriors in our time.. is dead. Not just in the
virtual world, but in the physical one as well. We'll all remember the
impact Vig had on us for the short time that we knew him. I sincerely hope
he was a Christian, so I can meet him once again in Heaven..
I'll always remember Vigil as the cool guy he was.
-DethMan
| 10/9/98 - 10:09 - Mystery Of JJF |
JJF has been posting "clues"
on his site, which are quite interesting. He's been working on a project
for a while now.. you can get the "clues" by clicking
here.
-DethMan
| 10/9/98 - 10:09 - Counter Mistake |
The counter we currently
use was down for a day or two (not sure of the exact times) b/c I forgot
to stuff some cgi code into this html file. Anyway, be happy, it's working
again (not that you really care, but we're here to make you care =). -DethMan
| 10/9/98 - 17:43 - Another Cool Review |
www.intelligamer.com
posted a review
of Jazz 2. The verdict is, quote:
"...This
is, hands down, the
best
side scroller I've ever played and just might
be
on more than a few ballots when the voting for
'game
of the year' comes around. It's that good."
-DethMan
| 10/7/98 - 10:09 - LA Times Talks Jazz |
The LA
Times posted an article
that talks about three Parent/Kid friendly games; one of them is Jazz Jackrabbit
2. Here's the news
excerpt from jj.com.
L.A. Times Article
Fun That Parents and Kids Can Agree On is an article that the L.A. Times have just published.
Jazz Jackrabbit 2 is one of three titles talked about in the article!
| 10/6/98 - 20:36 - ToD |
As usual, I forgot to put
in another update for ToD.. by the time you see this, it will be up. Sorry
about that =] -DethMan
| 10/6/98 - 20:30 - Onag Remains Undecided.. (shift his oppinion!) |
In other news, Onag still
remains undecided about the fate of JazzNET and JNN. We don't want Onag
to give up! Please email him (telling
him to continue the project), or reply to the thread "Death of a Dream
(birth of a nightmare)". Thank ye =] -DethMan
| 10/6/98 - 20:28 - Add-On Pack Officially Announced! |
Jon Maclellan officially
announced both the add-on pack, and the Jazz Christmas '98 edition, which
were previously unknown to most everyone. Unfortunatly, the add-on pack
won't make it for a Christmas release, but Jazz '98 *should* work out fine.
Here's Jon's post:
Here's the situation to clear up all the confusion/questions/what if's/I
wonder/but will it be free questions :p
We are making an addon level pack. No more details yet but it will be more
than just a level pack I can assure you of that. We'll have new tiles,
new
enemies, new music as well as an engine upgrade with new events and also
the ability to have up to 4 times the amount of tiles per tile set which
will allow
for more detailed and varied levels. We should hopefully see this in the
New
Year in around January. We had hoped for an Xmas release but that seems
to
be slipping away.
In the mean time all our effort will now be concentrated on Holiday Hare
'98.
We'll release this in the same style as before - a free download from our
web
site. Most likely we'll go with the same style as the J2 shareware version
with
single player levels and some Party Mode maps. Same as before with the
shareware version being unable to download new maps from the web etc...
Numbers across the board are undecided. We don't know yet how many
levels, enemies, tile sets etc... will be used but we'll announce these
as they
get decided.
What we're thinking right now is that Holiday Hare '98 should use the 1.23
engine (or whatever version we're up to at that point), with the addon
pack
supporting all the new features, bells and whistles.
So, how far along are we with Holiday Hare '98? Well I got the first few
pages
of Xmas artwork from Nick only a few days ago and it looks kick ass. He'll
be
providing more updates in the near future. Music is being planned as well
as
some of the J2 characters being "Xmas-ized" with cute little Santa hats
and
stuff Don't expect screen shots for a while yet... as I said I only
just got
artwork and we have no content yet but we're all excited about this project
so
as soon as we can release some kick ass shots then we will.
Hope this clears up a few issues.
Hey, don't worry Jon.. this'll prolly give them more questions than answers =] -DethMan
| 10/4/98 - 17:03 - JazzNET Finished!? |
Well, if you've already read
it on the MegaBoard, then you know. JazzNET may be done...done for, that
is. Check the Death of a Dream (Birth of a Nightmare) thread on
the MegaBoard for more details. -Onag
| 10/3/98 - 12:50 - Daring Feats Slow Down |
Well im sorry to say, i have
slowed down a bit too. I have been going to school which doesnt give me
much time to update the Feats, surely but slowly im getting all the stories
on the feats file so when I finish all the stories will be up instead of
just one, im trying to get as much time in this as i can but just like
Steven, school popped up and knocked us off our feat with homework(well
thats actually for me, for steven im not sure so i have a 50/50 chance
of being right.) anyway, im done adding bluez and ZZTPyro/Jazz1 bb's story
on my file. All the stories will be up in a week (give or take a few days)
alright keep writing. -Mattimeo
| 10/2/98 - 15:05 - Older News |
For those of you who don't
already know, CoC, the famed competition that all clans and people alike
have gathered around, was announced delayed a while back. It is the intent
of the designers to hold CoC around Christmas time, so hopefully people
who have school will be able to play on a day off. The leaders of CoC wouldn't
say much about this, except that they are considering the different prizes,
and working on the levels to be used in CoC. As I said before, this is
older news, but some of you may not have seen it. -DethMan
| 10/2/98 - 15:01 - Inflow of Levels Slowing? |
Recently, there haven't been
quite as many new levels posted each week at j2c.. the reason? Probably
due to most people going to school or college, and overall, they are probably
working on better levels.. and quality takes time. Fear not however, ELM
is currently working on a couple projects, as is ML.. I imagine the rest
of the level groups also have projects under their sleeves.. not to mention
several people I know that are working alone (not part of a level group).
I would say we should be expecting some cool levels very soon.. =] -DethMan
| 10/2/98 - 14:57 - Workin' hard.. ;) |
We're working hard on new
look of J2C.. it's not just the new look we're working on, but the new
navigation, and the additional pages.. stay tuned =] -DethMan
| 9/30/98 - 15:19 - Chris Creates JCS Page! |
Chris Adkins, from the Gathering
Of Developers, made a new JCS page; it has links to numerous tutorials,
event lists, etc. One of the most outstanding features of this page is
the fact that you can click anywhere on an image of JCS and get information
about it. Visit his
page, it's very nicely done. -DethMan
| 9/30/98 - 15:17 - House Craze :) |
Recently, there has been
a strange craze in the making of levels, which I have tagged as the "house
craze." It's basicly a level where a person makes areas designated
as someone's "house" or "zone," having the names of numerous players..
Like Xeno's house level in Colonius, or Speedy's zone level in Diamondous,
these levels are quite different from most.. although I'm not sure if it's
for better or worse ;] -DethMan
| 9/28/98 - 13:14 - Daily Updated :) |
For those of you who don't
know, the Daily Carrot was updated a couple days ago with the following:
Jazz 2 on World Opponent Network!
Looking for a good multiplayer game of Jazz Jackrabbit 2? Now you can play over the Internet via World Opponent Network. With the new WON Chat area you can find other Jazz Jackrabbit 2 fans and set up games over the Internet.
Click HERE
to visit the World Opponent Network's Jazz 2 page!
| 9/28/98 - 13:11 - As Usual :] |
As usual, there really isn't
anything new to report.. I've been working pretty hard lately on the new
look of J2C, the QoB pack, and other stuff.. besides which, I came down
with a cold a couple days ago, and that slows down my brain some (if that's
possible =P). This is just to let you know I'm still here ;-) -DethMan
| 9/23/98 - 16:14 - ML And Others Get Noticed |
The The
Gathering Of Developers site had this on their news
page:
Jazz 2 Level Teams: The webmasters at The Daily Carrot recently noticed a number of teams dedicated to making maps for Jazz Jackrabbit 2! Here are three such teams: Mystic Legends, JoLT & EliteMappers.
Also, the official Jazz Jackrabbit page, Daily Carrot, had this on their page:
The Dawn of Jazz 2 Level Teams...
Over the last few days we've been striving to keep our Links
page up to date with details of all the
kickass Jazz 2 fans pages out there. But, on our travels we've
found something new and exciting
forming in the already buzzing Jazz 2 community... Level Design
Teams.
Jazz 2 fans uniting and forming teams in an effort to create
the best user maps possible. Each member
may have JCS
qualities they excel at and so can help out others and work on levels together.
Of
course, on the Battle
Field the competition is as fierce as before but its nice to see everyone
coming
together to make the community better than ever!
Some team sites to check out are: Mystic
Legends, JoLT
& Elite
Mappers.
| 9/23/98 - 13:27 - JD On Hold, Not Cancled? |
Onag states that Judgement
Day can't be what it originally was. Originally it would be a group of
players vrs the developers of JJ2. Unfortunatly, the developers are busy,
and the fact is you couldn't select a group of people to play them, without
having a million other people complain about it. Onag says he doesn't have
time to reorganize it, but if there is someone willing to take over, they
can email him. -DethMan
| 9/20/98 - 23:10 - Queen of B o a r D Nearing Release! |
QoB is "nearing" release,
according to DethMan of ML! (me =P). However, this is just a hint of it's
release date, the official one is still "when it's done." QoB promises
to be great though, despite it's long time in developement. It's definately
anticipated.. and, as Onag (president of the leading JJ2 online magazine,
JNN) states, "...QoB will redefine the way we look at JCS..." This has
been a teaser, now you must hold your breath waiting =] -DethMan
| 9/20/98 - 23:09 - Been Busy =P |
Sorry for not updating much,
but I've been working on QoB, and painting my very large barn, without
much help. =P (see above). -DethMan
| 9/20/98 - 23:08 - Steven Announces Slowdown! |
Steven Wakeman (our downloads
expert) has announced that he's simply too bogged down with work. He's
now updating the downloads page once every week.. but, this won't slow
down the news any :-) -DethMan
| 9/20/98 - 23:07 - I'm Back =] |
For those of you who don't
know, my main computer is working again (relatively speaking), there are
a few things I have yet to reinstall though. -DethMan
| 9/20/98 - 23:00 - ToD Back |
Our good buddy ToD is working
again, back from the hospital ;-) -DethMan
| 9/16/98 - 23:51 - Major Changes Underway for J2C!!!! |
There are some MAJOR
changes ahead for J2C, and the possibilty of another overhaul is not all!
We're planning on having some more cool stuff in the future, to further
your experience of Jazz (no, I won't say any more). But.. MOST importantly
of all, we are changing servers! Our site
won't be lagged anymore! With the power
of DUAL T1s behind it, web space in the extreme,
and very reliable CGI* support, you
can expect to get MORE news, FASTER
news, and BETTER news than ever before! More
levels! More information! MORE STUFF! Who's
hosting it? The one and only, the hailed mapmaker and CTF master, BloodBunny.
Let's all give a round of applause to him :-)
We'll let you know when the server has changed (although you'll probably notice from the lag difference :-), in the meantime you'll have to put up with our lag for just a little bit longer. -DethMan
* This
should mean we'll be able to get our top ten thing up now :-)
| 9/16/98 - 23:44 - JoLT Level Group |
JoLT is a new level designing
group by theFire, another group dedicated to better levels. You can visit
their page by clicking
here. -DethMan
Note: I don't really intend to put up news about any more
new level designing groups.. just to let you guys know :)
| 9/16/98 - 23:34 - MMB Down |
The MMB appears to be either
down or extremely slow today.. it seems to load the first page alright,
but not the rest. -DethMan
| 9/16/98 - 15:30 - USA Today rates JJ2 high |
Here's the link to read USA
Today's short "review" of JJ2. (taken from g.o.d.'s page). Click
here. -DethMan
| 9/13/98 - 12:43 - USA Today rates JJ2 high |
Taken from Epic's homepage:
September 11, 1998
USA Today Gives Jazz 2 4/4 Stars
Have you played the game USA Today said is an "..addictive
game with great control, incredible graphics and awesome sound effects.."?
Download the Jazz Jackrabbit 2 shareware NOW and see for yourself how fun
a wild hare can be!"
-DethMan
| 9/12/98 - 18:36 - Patch Problems... |
The 1.23 patch does have
problems, although they are very few, and insignificant. From what I can
tell (from other people, my computer IS down :-P) for one there is a secret
level problem: when you finish a secret level it simply restarts the secret
level, instead of sending you back to the normal level. (I've heard that
from a couple people having the problem in Gargoyle's Lair).
Also, the J2B format doesn't work anymore, although all other formats
(s3m, xm, it, etc) still work. This hardly matters, since converting to
J2B only compresses the music for a lower filesize. -DethMan
| 9/12/98 - 18:35 - WON stuff... |
Taken from the Gathering:
September 10, 1998
WON gets
Jazzy!: GameSpot
posted Play
Jazz 2 on WON concerning Jazz 2's inclusion on
WON. If you're
interested in playing Jazz Jackrabbit 2 online for free, check out WON's
Jazz
2
page. Multiplayer Jazz 2 is just a click away!
Also, for those of you who don't know, there was a CGO review of Jazz
2 posted a couple days ago..
-DethMan
| 9/10/98 - 21:14 - More trouble... |
Well, my main computer is
dead again.. I've jury rigged my old computer to do some updating to J2C,
but I can't do much. Anyway, for those of you who care (hmm.. what would
that be.. prolly one.. me. ;-) And for those of you who don't care, I'm
just letting you know ;-p -DethMan
| 9/8/98 - 9:06 - New Level Designing Group |
There's a new level designing
group that was just formed, shortly after the announcement of ML. The new
group is named "Elite Mappers," and currently consists of 6 members, among
of which are some good level designers, like BloodBunny, and his notorious
CTF levels. So far there is no "official" page, but for a general
page about EM, along with their goals, currently at Jazz
2 Stuff.
-DethMan
| 9/5/98 - 10:04 - Mystic Legends! |
The first ever level designing
group, Mystic Legends, is here! Read an article
from JNN (JazzNET News) on this cool group, which promises quality levels.
Or visit their website,
and download their latest level, Sting In Your Tail. :-) -DethMan
| 9/4/98 - 16:26 - The Curse Of Lag |
Just wanted to say a quick
note that I've been having lag in the extreme lately, mainly on JJ2.. I
won't really play much until I've got it fixed, but everything else relatively
works (aside from numerous probs lately w/ my motherboard and gfx card
:) -DethMan
| 9/4/98 - 14:55 - TriggerZone Tutorial! |
We now have a complete tutorial
on making triggerzones! Click here
to read it. -DethMan
| 9/4/98 - 14:54 - Another review |
W.O.N. posted a short review
of Jazz 2.. click here
to view it. -DethMan
| 9/4/98 - 14:39 - 1.23 Is Out! |
The latest patch, 1.23 is
out! Fixing several bugs and problems with the 1.22 (store retail) version,
and allowing everyone on the internet to download it. There is a patch
for both shareware and registered JJ2. Click here
to go to the specs page on www.jazzjackrabbit.com.
Our downloads
page isn't updated yet, so we won't have a link to download it. But if
you don't want to "search" the official site, click here
to immediatly download 1.23. -DethMan
| 9/1/98 - 13:05 - Has Epic crossed the line? |
Most people have noticed
that everyone's IP address and server router have been revealed in each
post.. this is cleary a violation on Epic's part. But this turns out to
have been a mistake. Lots of thanks to Dave at www.planetunreal.com
for pointing out this post from Mark:
"Oops, Sean misunderstood my instructions. The IP addresses were
only
supposed to be viewable only by administrators who click on the
IP button
and provide a valid password. This change is underway. "
Thanks again Dave. -DethMan
| 8/31/98 - 20:24 - Weird Colored Fur |
Well, I'm back (DethMan) and
with me comes a Colored Fur/Skin/Whatever tutorial! This tutorial is very
easy to follow, unless you really want to get down deep and do some serious
color changing.. if you do however, we have information on that too, even
though it's a bit confusing. It also includes a complete hexidecimal/decimal
chart for colors. (Sorry, no binary conversion :-p) Click here
to begin the colored journey!
Also, if you're new, don't forget to check out these tutorials:
Colored
Names Tutorial
Colored
Server Names Tutorial
Btw, sorry about ToD, I'll try to have some new ones tomorrow :-) Oh
yeah, and everyone give something to Onag, for being nice enough to have
mercy on me, spending his hard earned free time in updating this page =)
-DethMan
| 8/30/98 - 11:21 - You might miss the thunder, but you CAN'T miss this! |
DethMan took a time-out to let
me know there's yet another review for Jazz2. You can check this one out
by searching through DEOL's homepage
or clicking here.
And, as always, you can thank G.O.D. for the news about this review.
(DethMan may have had a little to do with it too,
but that has yet to be proved. ;) Anyway, I guess I'd better link
to it (the Gathering page) too. -Onag
| 8/30/98 - 10:30 - The "Storm" has passed. |
I just received an email from
ThUnDeRsToRm indicating that he has played Jazz2 far too much and has grown
tired of it. As he put it, "I've played JJ2 so long I'm officially sick
of it." Because of his departure from the JJ2 community, his former clan,
the Storm Clouds, will now be led by Bart. Another side-effect will be
the cancelation of his ToT tournament.
What can I saw ThUnDeRsToRm, half of the community is happy to see you go, and the other half would love you to stay. I hope you enjoy your life of StarCraft as much as you did that of JJ2. Good bye, and good luck. -Onag
| 8/30/98 - 1:38 - Reconsideration |
Spaz has done a bit more thinking
about his tile set competition, and had decided against the Banjo-Kazooie
restriction. He has decided to accept any kind of tile set you want to
submit. -Onag
NOTE: I would strongly advise against attempting to submit a "Spaz tile set" as your own, as I think you'll probably be caught by the judge.
| 8/29/98 - 13:59 - New Tileset Competition |
That's right, Spaz is heading
a tile set competition. Here's what he had to say about it:
tileset competition! email your tilesets to: tdunbar273@aol.com and ill judge :) and the theme is Banjo-Kazooie likeish tilesets! the winner will get my ICQ number :) and a new episode from me!-Onag
| 8/28/98 - 12:24 - Some good G.O.D. news! |
On the 21st, the Gathering posted
the following in their news:
| Jazz 2 Wins The Gold! |
A great side scroller on any platform, Jazz rules!More Jazz: Gamespot posted an article titled Inside Jazz Jackrabbit 2. This interview with Robert Allen and Jay Wilbur talks about the leap from Jazz 1 to Jazz 2.
| 8/28/98 - 8:21 - We aren't dead yet! |
Despite what you have heard,
the Man of Deth and I (Onag) aren't dead. You know I'm not dead, because
I'm actually updating, and you know he's not dead, because I'm telling
you. Uhh, yeah, we're still here. The thing is, I'm extremely busy, and
Deth's computer "whacked out" so if the news comes a little slower than
normal...complain to Steven. ;)
Anyway, have a nice day, and don't forget to fold the bag down in the ereal box. -Onag
| 8/26/98 - 12:33 - Colored Server Names |
I apologize for not updating
earlier.. as usual, I've been pretty busy :) Anyway, TheFire (also known
as Peter) submitted a tutorial about colored servers.. amazingly enough,
his use of the previous tutorial format, was a conversion quite smooth..
it has been accepted, and for those of you who want to know how to make
colored server names, click here.
-DethMan
| 8/24/98 - 15:44 - Patch being delayed? Maybe not.. |
Is the patch really being
delayed? Maybe not.. the EB date was the 15th, but then that was also the
store date, and was basicly on time.. so why do people think it's delayed?
Well, the rumor was spread that the PATCH would be released for download,
but that isn't the case.. 1.22 is still availible in the stores, but we
have to wait to download 1.23 (which fixes some small bugs in 1.22). There
were NO dates on 1.23, so is it really delayed? Nope.. -DethMan
| 8/24/98 - 15:34 - New MMB Forum |
Jon MacLellan saves the day
again! To help destroy the clutter of clan recruiting, making, disbanding,
blah blah, he has made a new Clan Forum under JJ2! Now if you want to know
about clan stuff, go there.. if not, then you'll be free of it! What?!
YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE FINDING IT? Well.. GAH. Click here
then you.. you.. YOU! -DethMan
| 8/24/98 - 15:32 - Thank you! |
Because of the people visiting
our site, the numbers increasing, and getting a certain amount of people
this month; we got a discount on our domain price! Thank you very much
for your (each and every one of you ;) continued support. (this also means
we got atleast 2000 INDIVIDUAL visitors this month... hooray). Now, what
should I get with that extra money.. :-) -DethMan
| 8/22/98 - 11:19 - Ad in mail.. |
Well, I thought everyone got
a mail advertisement, but I guess not, so that's why I'm posting a picture
of the ad Epic sent out (I got it a while back, ya shoulda told me to post
it :-) Here it is:
The only part missing is the bottom, and that was just the orderform :-) -DethMan
| 8/21/98 - 10:24 - A use for useless CDs.. |
Ever had one of those useless
CDs? The ones you didn't really want to get rid of, but do something usefull
with? Well, besides using it for a coaster, we found another good idea..
a target. This works especially good for AOL cds.. don't ask me why, they
just seem to be... better at dying :-) Below I've shown what is the best
use for your commonly useless AOL cd:
-DethMan
| 8/21/98 - 9:57 - ToD stuff |
Oh yeah, and we re-updated ToD..
we're also working on a list of previous ToDs for your convience. However,
this list will only be posted once a month (most likely). -DethMan
| 8/21/98 - 9:56 - Magazine Ad |
Also, JJF posted a picture of
an advertisement (from a magazine) on his site; click
here to view it (from his page).
| 8/21/98 - 9:55 - Reviews |
Ok, first, GameCenter posted
a review. Taken from g.o.d. page: -DethMan
Epic has pieced together an artistic, intriguing, colorful, and, at times, purely psychedelic level design that often will have you wondering which direction you should head next--when you're not busy gaping at the pretty sights.
Also GamesMania posted a review of JJ2.. taken from www.jazzjackrabbit.com:
Well repected gaming site Gamesmania have just uploaded an AWESOME review of Jazz 2 and have awarded the game their Gamesmania Award of Excellence!
Click HERE
to read the full review!
| 8/21/98 - 9:55 - Arg again :-) |
Well, I was kinda afk for about
a day n half... guess a lot happened, sorry about that. -DethMan
| 8/19/98 - 18:30 - Quiz Results |
Well, I must admit.. I'm amazed.
Dino, of all people, was one of the least I expected to win Steven's quiz
:-)
1st: Dino 90% correct
2nd: Electrap 87% correct
3rd: Gizmo 87% correct
-DethMan
| 8/19/98 - 11:41 - More Gathering Stuff |
I try to search for the most
news, and yet I keep failing to check g.o.d's site.. :-) Here's a news
bit from the 17th: -DethMan
Jazz gets Product of the Week!: Our favorite rabbit is the star in this week's Computer Retail Week! Jazz2 is Computer Retail Week's "Product of the Week."
More Jazz: GameSpot posted a review of Jazz Jackrabbit 2. Jazz scored an impressive overall score of 8.5 earning a 9 in gameplay. Here's the opening paragraph of the review:
Jazz Jackrabbit 2 is a shot in the arm of 2D gaming. With smooth control, two distinct characters to play, and some of the funniest and freshest 2D level designs, monsters, and power-ups since Earthworm Jim, fans of the traditional side-scrolling platform game will not be disappointed.
| 8/18/98 - 10:36 - Happy Birthday!! |
Jon MacLellan, the webmaster
of www.jazzjackrabbit.com, 404 file not found, previous Jazz 2 Warhouse
(too bad he didn't keep it, it was twice as good as this page :), the mega
good level designer, and many other amazing feats of daring due.. has his
birthday today! I believe he is now 21! Let's all congradulate him; and
send him a couple million dollars. (well it could happen! :-) -DethMan
| 8/18/98 - 10:33 - Delays, delays... |
The patch continues to be delayed...
this can only mean one thing: it's gonna be good. -DethMan
| 8/17/98 - 11:11 - Great Response Time! |
The lists are back up! World
record for fast response from Epic :) -DethMan
| 8/17/98 - 10:55 - List Servers Down AGAIN!? |
The list of servers are DOWN
AGAIN. This is the second time Epic's server messed up. All we can do is
hope they fix it again soon :) Also, moved a large portion of the news
to the archives. -DethMan
| 8/16/98 - 10:53 - Another Competition... |
ThUnDeRsToRm is doing another
competition! Here are the preliminary outlines:
Tournament of ThUnDeR
In the ninth day of the ninth month of the year 1998, a tournament
will be held.
The "Tournament of ThUnDeR" will last a number of days, and incorporate
several events, in order:
Day 1:
Capture the flag, where the winner is the "Team captain" of the winning team, e.g. the guy who tells everyone else what to do, for example: "Nix, go defend the base", Speedy, kill ThUnDeR", etc. First team to 10 flags wins.
Aquatic battle, a battle under water. There is water over the entire level, and the one who can think logically in 8 directions rather than 2 will probably win. First one to 15 roasts wins.
Day 2:
Normal Battle, a battle with no surprises. weapons aren´t hidden, but they are semi-hidden, e.g. on a high platform above a spring or similar. First one to 15 roasts wins.
Aerial battle, where each player is given an airboard and flies around a small arena. This is usually rather chaotic, so homing missiles will doubtless be necessary. First one to 15 roasts wins.
Day 3:
Treasure hunt without weapons, anyone caught firing will be proclaimed a cheater. Simple, first one who finds 100 of the extremely sparse, well-hidden, but nevertheless plentiful gems and makes it to the exit wins. 5 rounds will take place, as treasure mode is rather fast. If tied, 1 roast battle on battle1 using elimination process takes place. 1 on 1, Dethman´s duel rules.
Treasure hunt with weapons, firing is allowed and encouraged, same as above but with the added spice of combat.
Day 4:
Aquatic treasure hunt, should be interesting. firing not allowed,
otherwise same as above.
Aquatic CTF, possibly a bad idea but an intriguing prospect nonetheless.
Day 5:
Duel Dethman, that is if he signs up on this event... 1 on 1 fights
vs. the Dethster, anyone who can beat him on an official battle level (he
chooses which one) gets the title of semi-legend, I think... ask Deth or
Steel Talon, they know.
Best 3 out of 5 (first to 3 roasts wins).
Duel ThUnDeR, feeling lucky punk, well are ya, if so take a shot at me, title of semi-legend awarded to anyone who beats me on battle1 with Dethman´s duel rules. best 3 of 5 (first to 3 roasts wins).
Day 6: Winner of most events is proclaimed grand champion of the Tournament of ThUnDeR, and anyone who isn´t in a clan and won an event is offered to join the StormClouds. They may of course decline if they wish.
You may sign up on any of these days, however on CTF there can only be 3 sign-ups as we only have time for two rounds. Players in CTF are random joinees who are divided at random as well. So if you fancy that CTF trophy SIGN UP NOW! Note that you may not sign up on individual events, you must sign up for the entire day.
All levels will be made by me, ThUnDeRsToRm, but for the sake of fairness they will be posted on Jazz 2 City in a special pack so all you signees can practise them.
No swearing is tolerated, megaboard style. Anyone can sign up. Dethman is especially asked to sign up, as otherwise I´ll have to cancel the "Duel Dethman" event (I´m not signing up for that one though, uh-uh, no way man). These events are special, the ones on day 5 are indiviDUEL! Ahaha. A tad of humour there.
That is all for now... signing OFF.
Most interesting... :-) -DethMan
| 8/16/98 - 10:35 - JJ1 Not Included in Retail Version! |
MrCoyote emailed us about some
interesting news...
I have news about the Retail version of Jazz2.
It does not include Jazz1 as stated on the box.
What's going on here with the misleading advertisment?
I just emailed Epic to see what's going on.
Cactus then informed us that Epic made a mistake....
In our box we got a slip of paper saying they made a mistake and
didn't put Jazz 1 on
the first batch of CD's. But they gave a number to call and have
Jazz 1 express
shipped to us. Sure you didn't just miss this paper?
| 8/14/98 - 17:03 - News spreading.. |
On g.o.d.'s site, the following
was posted on their news page, about the spreading of JJ2 :)
Jazz news spreads: There's no new information in these articles, but the news of Jazz Jackrabbit 2's release is spreading. Here are a few of the many articles being posted on gaming news sites.
All About
Games posted Jazz
Jackrabbit 2 hops on shelves.
GameCenter
mentions the release of Jazz 2.
Electric
Games posted news
of Jazz Jackrabbit 2's release.
Next-Generation
Online posted Jazz
Jackrabbit 2 Ships.
Fastest Game
News Online mentioned Jazz Jackrabbit 2's release in today's news.
The NGO link was apparently mixed up :) If you'll notice, the link says
"I was never really impressed"
haha :) -DethMan
| 8/13/98 - 17:57 - Setting up JJ2 over ICQ |
Arg! I tried searching through
our archives, and noticed.. yep.. the icq JJ2 setup was not listed! So,
thanks to Coolmon for figuring it out again, we have it. Here's his message
on the MMB:
You go into prefs, Internet Telephony/Games/Chat, click new External and
enter the
fields listed.
The Command Line should be -CONNECT%i
Then press Client-Server Application.
Enter in External Application Server Excecutable where JJ2 program is.
In Server Command Line I put:
-server -player 1 -capture -maxplayers 10 -counts 12 sharectf
it has player 1 as character, capture as game, maximum players 10, you
have to score
12 points, shareware game
It starts as IP so its great for duels
WARNING: this is only in Beta testing, I'm not sure, but this won't do
anything bad to
your computer. And try different settings
If you have any questions, why don't ya contact Coolmon?
hehe :-) -DethMan
| 8/13/98 - 13:55 - Ultra Detailed Colored Name Tutorial!! |
We just finished a very detailed
tutorial on how to make colored names! (also includes instructions on making
ascii names like ЈHMÂÑ). Includes 7 DETAILED
pictures, explaining just what to do.. no more worry of messing up your
registry! ** Click HERE
to open the tutorial. -DethMan
** Note: we are not responsible if you do mess
up your registry, make a backup first.
| 8/12/98 - 14:29 - Clan Support Revealed!! |
The details of clan support
in the patch have been revealed! When joining a game, on the selection
of your charactor, you can select default team, red team, or blue team.
Cool huh? Even though this allows for possible "cheating" so to speak,
the kicking/banning will offset that. -DethMan
| 8/12/98 - 14:04 - New Title Image! |
Yet ANOTHER new title image!
Is it better than the last? PLEASE send your oppinion on it, since I'd
like to know if I'm doing better, or worse :) Just email
me, and make everyone happy :) -DethMan
| 8/12/98 - 12:39 - 10,000 reached! |
The 10,000 visitor mark has
been reached on J2C! I wonder who the 10,000th was.. :-) -DethMan
| 8/12/98 - 12:34 - JJ2 ships! |
Jazz Jackrabbit 2 ships to
the stores in the USA! From the Daily Carrot: -DethMan
Jazz Jackrabbit 2, the sequel to the 1994
Arcade Game of the Year is now shipping to
stores nationwide! Featuring 640x480 hi-resolution
graphics, multiplayer on the same
machine or over the internet and the Jazz
Creation Station, an easy to use level editor
that lets you create your own levels!
Jazz Jackrabbit 2 is available NOW in stores,
or you can purchase it online by clicking
HERE!
| 8/11/98 - 10:42 - Nearing 10,000! |
We're nearing our first 10,000
visitor mark! We're currently above 9,800! -DethMan
| 8/11/98 - 10:42 - Reviews |
A couple new reviews, one we've
prolly all seen before, but it wasn't mentioned earlier, by www.happypuppy.com
(click
to go to review). A surprisingly positive quote from happypuppy, says:
As a final note, it's refreshing to see that one of Gathering of Developers' first games is something so bright, fun and worthy of a family's time and money. In these heady days of Lara Croft and Quake 2, games that can appeal equally to adults and children are a breath of fresh carrots in an otherwise Jessica Rabbit world (sorry, I just couldn't help it).
Also, OGR has posted a review of JJ2, with a rating of 8! Click here
to check it out. -DethMan
| 8/10/98 - 11:35 - Is the truth out there? |
Rumors have been confirmed!
Epic is making a 1.23! Upon questioning Epic, a spokesman for Epic said:
"The
truth is out there...." and shortly terminated the discussion. The
questions still remain.. Is Epic hiding something?
| 8/8/98 - 18:38 - Super Quiz |
Steven is using a QUIZ
instead of a poll this time around, how much do you REALLY know about Jazz
2.. more than people who have been around 3 years in JJ2? Go answer it!
http://www.cet.com/~wakeman/j2stuff.htm
| 8/6/98 - 14:31 - Mega Problem Fixed |
Well, the account disappearing
situation is over.. for those of you who haven't already read it, here's
a post from Jon MacLellan (moderator) from this morning: -DethMan
Hi,
The user accounts disappearing situation should be over.
After hassling the Ultimate BB people all last night we finally got word
of
an update which reverted back to the old accounts
system.
There are 2 drawbacks, which shouldn't be too major if you do one of the
2 things below:
1) People will now have to use their _original_ accounts from the old board.
If you lost your account and made new ones,
they're gone. By going back to
the old accounts system, we still had all
the old account files backed up and
intact.
2) Any NEW user who created an account after the new board went live will
need to register their account again as they
wouldn't have had an account file
from the old board.
| 8/5/98 - 16:57 - Mega Problem |
There is a serious problem
with the accounts on the new Epic Megaboard.
"Something is seriously wrong with the MegaBoard.
Accounts just seemingly vanish for no
reason. Users can sign up for new accounts instantly
but we're not sure why this happens.
We're looking into it. For now either refrain
from using the board or just apply for a new
account if you find yours gone."
-Steven
| 8/4/98 - 18:48 - MegaBoard Notes |
As you know if you've
ever been to this site before, the Epic Megaboard is
Also, several people are wondering about HTML and UBB script. They have
both been
diabled. There has been no word on whether or not they will be made
accessable in the
future, so keep your eye on the JJ2 forum for that. If either are made
available, we will more
than likely get a "striped down" version containing limited capabilities.
Due to the many past
problems with HTML capabilities, I doubt Epic will be very soft toward
our complaints. =D
Lastly, the question of smileys seems popular, so I'll post it here.
There are 5 different
"smileys" you can use that will be transformed into actual images.
They are listed below:
:)
;)
:D
:(
:O
-Onag
| 8/4/98 - 11:09 - MMB Back Up |
Welp, the new MMB is back up..
and as usuall, we have a link up there to take you directly to it. Want
to know what's changed? HAH! Go see yourself :) -DethMan
| 8/3/98 - 11:55 - MMB Upgrading.. |
Well, the MMB is currently under
construction! (thanks to PaG and Coolman for telling me :)
Coolmon: will all the messages be kept?
and profiles?
Evil Bill: profiles yes... messages not right now.. the conversion program don't work properly.
Here's the lowdown direct from Jon, the admin of the JJ2 MMB:
1) User Accounts will stay.
2) Message base will go (conversion program sucks)
3) Think of a 4th.
<DethMan> Is it the JK board?
"Well its UltBB 5.02 - I havent been to the JK board... so I dunno."
Now we wait.. :)
-DethMan
| 8/2/98 - 15:10 - Chug.. chug... |
Well, I've been really busy
JCSing and stuff the past couple days, and there hasn't been really any
important news.. I'm working to implement some advertising stuff soon (MEGA
thanx to BadSC, this wouldn't be possible w/o him). Otherwise, things have
been pretty quiet lately..
| 7/30/98 - 12:33 - ToD -is- working :) |
No, the ToD is not broken..
I'm working on new tips for it, and you'll see some tomorrow :) Just so
you guys know :) Oh yeah, there's also a new webpage (it's ok.. I'm only
listing it b/c it has a sub domain) at www.jazz2.dynip.com. -DethMan
| 7/30/98 - 9:44 - New MMB? |
StudBagel pointed out something
pretty cool, from www.jediknight.net!
(also on www.planetunreal.com)
Here's what they have to say:
Epic MegaGames' Mark Rein stopped by the JediKnight.Net
Forum Center
this morning and liked it so much, the
new Epic MegaBoard is likely to
be modeled after our own... a high compliment
indeed. Here's Rein's post
regarding his thoughts on the JK.Net forum
system after it was brought
to his attention by reader "Half-Life" via his
forum post.
You're definitely right that board is WAY better
than ours. I'm going to
email Sean right now (just before I go to sleep)
and ask him to look
into that version.
I also like what they've done with their sections
and I LOVE the idea of
an announcements area that's one-way but still
has the ease of use of
this type of board. I'm not into having my own
web page (I'd never find
the time to keep it up) or a .plan file but having
an announcements
section where our guys could post news tidbits
or support answers is a
GREAT idea!! I like that admins can close threads
too. That means a good
thread can stay around without the risk of it
being so large that it
consumes way too much bandwidth which is is a
problem we have on this
board.
Thanks for pointing me there. I wish I had gone
and looked the first
time somebody pointed it out to me.
Does this mean a new MMB? We'll find out... -DethMan
| 7/29/98 - 16:35 - Up, Down, Up.. |
"What goes up must come down"...
or was that "What goes down must come up?" :-) The MMB is back up.
-DethMan
| 7/29/98 - 15:45 - MMB Down! |
Also, the MMB appears to be..
guess.. DOWN again. :-) Several people have been unable to connect since
this morning. -DethMan
| 7/29/98 - 15:45 - JJ2 Up! |
JJ2 server list is back up,
as of around 12pm EST today.. I'm late, but I was busy.. :) Thanks go to
Gole-X for dutifully checking :)
| 7/28/98 - 12:42 - JJ2 Down??? |
Well, the JJ2 server list is..
yep, you guessed it, DOWN. Along with the server list on the official site
(got that from Stryker, thanx). This is seriously bad, I hope it's back
up soon.. In the mean time, we can always set up IP games via ICQ :)
-DethMan
| 7/27/98 - 19:33 - New Title Image |
Well, it's overdue for a new
(atleast a little new ;) look.. so I've changed the title! (come on, I
know someone is cheering out there.. :) So, there it is.. above.. a little
hard not to notice :P -DethMan
| 7/27/98 - 15:19 - Full patch stuff |
Here's the lowdown on the patch,
straight from the cool guys (you can guess about that) :)
- Fixed repeating "<name> captured the flag"
messages
- Teamplay/clanplay
- New event: Trigger zone
- When server stops, display "server stopped'"
is shown correctly now...
- Music files don't have to be .j2b anymore
- Ban/filter lists
- Fixed joystick setup
- Added joystick checks (might fix sidewinder
problems)
- Fixed savegame multiplayer vs single player
bug
- Fixed multiplayer commandline bugs (-player2,
etc wouldn't work)
- Can select local splitscreen level from menu
- Fixed some sticky keyboard buffer problems
(server prob)
- Can't get more than 50 powered-up missiles
any more (bug)
- Bug fixes in JCS for certain masks
- Level passwording
| 7/27/98 - 12:09 - CoC and JD Interview |
Well, I'm a little late, I know..
here's the answers to CoC and JD questions:
Champion of Champions:
<DethMan> Why is there a CoC? Some people think they already know who the best is.
<StevenT> I think having another competition is a good idea. Not to see who's the best but just to have a fun time playing Jazz 2.
<HiDDeN> I think no one has any idea who the best is. The majority says MErlin but I'm not sure.
<StevenT> Also, noone knows who the best Jazz 2 player is. We all have our different oppinions. Some think Dethman is the best. I know he isn't %Þ
<DethMan> What is the elimination proccess for CoC?
<HiDDeN> It is 2 game elimination. Like in soccer.
<DethMan> So you plan on having a team competition, not really an individual one?
<StevenT> We will be having a form on Jazz 2 Empire soon where people can register. You can sign up for Team Battle, Team CTF or Everyone For Themselves battle.
<DethMan> Ok, so you're basicly saying you can sign up as a "Clan" or for yourself? (or both)
<StevenT> Clan's can sign up as teams but we would just group everyone together until we have even teams. We won't have all the good players on one team and the bad players on another. We'll try to mix them up a little.
<HiDDeN> See, Team games and clan games are totally separate. Someone can be in team games or clan games.
<DethMan> Who exactly is going to organize all this? It seems like a lot of work..
<StevenT> HiDDeN and I will be doing C OF C and Onag will be doing Judgement Day. I don't know if he has a helper or not.
<DethMan> So you and Hidden will stand by to 'judge' the competition, while hidden hosts it?
<StevenT> That's about it, we still have to discuss how we will judge it. We have a general idea but nothing solid.
<DethMan> Ok, what about the levels? Assuming they are new, what if they are terrible levels, hard to navigate, or too simple?
<StevenT> I think HiDDeN will make the levels or get someone to do that. I don't know what he has planned for the levels.
<HiDDeN> Levels will be very well made with a lot of time spent on it. Maybe even an offical level or two.
<DethMan> Ok, so do you know if outsiders will test them, to see if the levels are good enough?
<StevenT> No, I don't know. If 'Outsiders' do test them they won't be allowed to give them out or to tell anyone about them and what they are like. That way everyone will be introduced to a new level at the same time. No unfair advantages.
<HiDDeN> I think 'Outsiders' testing is a bad idea. That definately can't happen.
<DethMan> Electrap asks: Will anyone mention chickens or cows? :-)
<StevenT> I hope not, that's getting VERY old and boring.
<DethMan> What is the max player limit for CoC server sessions? Not including you and Hidden.
<StevenT> That depends on how many people join. If alot of people join the teams will grow in size and the max # of players will change.
<HiDDeN> If a lot of people join there will just have to be a lot of teams.
<DethMan> So, it is possible that there will be a fair share of badly lagged games?
<StevenT> HiDDeN has a very fast modem. If one team get's too big we'll have to split it. I hope to have no more than 4-6 players per team.
<HiDDeN> 5 players I think.
<DethMan> So, we're assuming a max player limit of 12, plus two judges, making 14?
<StevenT> I guess so. Since HiDDeN and I won't really be playing, just watching it will be about 12. I don't think that will create too much lag. (I hope)
<HiDDeN> If lag gets bad I'll just minumize and StevenT will judge alone.
<DethMan> What is the reward for winning any of those competition partitions?
<StevenT> That's another thing we have to discuss.
<DethMan> Will it be something like, being able to brag "Ha ha, I'm the best" =)
<StevenT> I don't think so, I think there will be alot more Jazz 2 competitions.
<DethMan> Alright, what about these maps.. don't you think people should be able to view them atleast a week before the competition? (wouldn't it be unfair to go in blind?)
<StevenT> It wouldn't be that unfaire since it's a new map noone has seen before, we might release a picture on the level (Birds-Eye View) so team can study it, not play in it.
<HiDDeN> I think the bird's eye view idea.
<DethMan> So they won't be able to really study the level, they'll just be on their wits, and ability to learn areas fast?
<StevenT> Sort of, like a test in school. You have the material but not the exact questions. Same here, you'll know what the map looks like but not be able to practice in it.
<DethMan> When will this picture be given out.. a week, like in the afore asked question? (a week before the competition)
<StevenT> I think a week before that level is used is what we'll have to do. Any longer and people will totally memorize them, any shorter and people won't be prepared.
<DethMan> Are you getting bored of these questions? :)
<StevenT> Not really, it gives me an excuse to not doing my chores right away %Þ
<DethMan> Thanks for answering these questions.. we'll probably think of more after this interview ;-)
<StevenT> N/P
StevenT,
Jazz Central,
jazz_central@hotmail.com
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arena/8474
Judgement Day:
<DethMan> When is JD going to happen?
<Onag> JD will take place sometime after the patch comes out. I won't have a definate date until the patch is released, and I know the capabilities of the clan features.
<DethMan> Ok, so who's making the levels?
<Onag> I will be designing and creating all of the levels using registered tile sets and music.
<DethMan> Who will test the levels, to make sure they are better than the junk that is already out there?
<Onag> I will be doing the primary testing of all levels. After I have gone through them several times, I will more than likely "hire" a few people to playtest them. These people will not, however, be participating in the final competition.
<DethMan> Who's going to host the servers? And will you be participating?
<Onag> I have not yet decided on a host(s). Becasue hosts will not be participating in the competition, I will probably need to have more than one so they can switch off.
<Onag> I will not be playing in the competition, although I may drop in from time to time to see how things are going.
<DethMan> Who will judge the competition?
<Onag> That has yet to be decided. Again, the judging depends on how, exactly, "teams" will work with the patch. I'm not sure if I will simply declare either the fans or the developers better, or actually recognize individuals. (more than likely individuals, because there are far more fans than developers, making it a bit uneven)
<DethMan> So, this will most likely be an FFA battle?
<Onag> For the Battle levels, yes. There may be times where teams are assigned, but for the majority of the Battle time, it will be free for all.
<DethMan> So you'll also have CTF?
<Onag> Yes, there will be 3 levels of CTF, and 3 of Battle.
<DethMan> Isn't that a lot of work for you to design alone?
<Onag> Yes, it definately is. That's why I began working on the design of the levels about the same time I took on the responsability of Jazz2 Judgement Day.
<Onag> I didn't actually begin to make them in JCS that early, but I had several ideas of what the levels would be like.
<DethMan> Just what exactly IS Judgement Day (JD) anyway? Is there some kind of full explanation availible somewhere?
<Onag> Not exactly. I think the actual explanation has evolved since the first mention of such a competition before the game was even released. While the game was still in developement, the players started harassing the developers for taking so long. They said the developers were only practicing so they wouldn't lose against all of the fans. Because of this, it was set that there would be a competition between fans and developers. No one had any idea it would take this long though. =)
<DethMan> Hehe. So, are all the developers going to be there, blasting away in a major event of the JJ2 community since the ice age, or only a couple? (not that the ice age is any referance ;)
<Onag> As far as I know, most of the developers really want to be a part of the competition. I'm not sure if their feelings have changed now that the fans have gained so much skill, but I guess we'll find out. I plan to ask around and see just who all will be participating in the next week or two.
<DethMan> Are you enjoying this? :)
<Onag> Oh yes, definately :)
<DethMan> Can you think of anything else to ask yourself? Something someone, somewhere, someplace, would want to know? =)
<Onag> Hmm, I'm sure some people would like to see a screen shot of one or more of the levels that will be included in the competition...but I'm not going to show anyone that =)
<DethMan> What is the elimination proccess in JD? Or is it just a "bang bang" whoever wins wins.
<Onag> That hasn't been decided yet. Because there are currently 45 people signed up (not including developers), there will have to be at least 2 rounds.
<Onag> I will more than likely split the players into two or more groups to battle it out on two servers...I'm not sure. As for actually eliminating players after they lose, I'm not sure. Those details are being worked out as we speak...not literally, as I can't chat and think of these things at the same time.
<DethMan> Hmm... I can't think of anything else to ask, other than "Why is Spaz so wacky?" =)
<Onag> Hehe, I don't have time to go into that ;)
<DethMan> Thanks for your time Onag...
Onag
Jazz 2 City, JazzNET, JazzNET Magazine
lgano@premier1.net
| 7/27/98 - 11:43 - MMB Up? |
The MMB is up this morning..
we have yet to see if it'll go back down :) -DethMan
| 7/26/98 - 17:00 - Exclusive to J2C only! Gathering sends 1.22 to duplicators! |
The Gathering Of Developers
just sent the USA version to the duplicators! (for the stores.. v1.22).
Cool huh? Now all you people who can't use a credit card can go to the
mall and buy it! (Well.. soon anyway.) -DethMan
| 7/26/98 - 16:34 - Gathering Site 'n stuff |
I guess we all forgot about
the Gathering of Developers, that is publishing JJ2 in the US! They have
an official site, up on June 25th (wow, long time ago), it's pretty cool..
click
here to go there. Also, JJ2 made it to New York Times! (on the 25th..
-rolling eyes-) Yay. And the new york times site needs you to be a member,
and pay $$.. so don't bother going there. :) -DethMan
| 7/26/98 - 16:34 - MMB Down.. AGAIN. |
The MMB is down AGAIN today
(has been for hours).. guess we gotta wait till the morning, or late at
night. -DethMan
| 7/26/98 - 9:33 - MMB Down.. |
The MMB was down since the night
before last.. we're not sure when it came back up, but it is up now :-)
-DethMan
| 7/26/98 - 9:26 - CoC Forms |
Forms up.. click here
to signup for CoC. (CoC questions will be answered soon..) -DethMan
| 7/25/98 - 13:49 - We're growing! |
Mattimeo has joined the J2C
team and is helping out with the Daring Feats section. We're glad to have
you Mattimeo, welcome to the city! -Onag
| 7/25/98 - 13:00 - JCS Competition |
Spaztic needs help! He needs
someone to TAKE OVER the large JCS Competition... otherwise he'll trash
the whole thing! Email him and offer
to take care of it :) -DethMan
| 7/25/98 - 12:54 - Names Names Names and Colored Servers! |
Ahg, all this name news is crazy!
Well, now something else.. Colored Servers! (hehe).
Same as before, go in the regedit and go to "hkey-users" then
"default", then "software", "epic megagames", "jazz jackrabbit 2", "1.21",
"game"
Now, once you're there, edit the little thing called NetServerName.
And put some "|"'s in it. Voila.
Thanks go to Arven. -DethMan
| 7/25/98 - 9:57 - Blank Names |
An anonymous person submitted
the following help, to get blank names on JJ2! -DethMan
To do so, you go to the place where you
make your colored name in the first place. Then, in the name space, make
a white name, but don't insert a name, just pipes in the name space. Go
into the game, and you should see nothing in the name space. Then, to check,
you go into where you'd insert a regular name and pick colors for your
character, and if you see the dots in the name place, you still have to
have a name.
| 7/25/98 - 8:56 - Colors for Names |
Having trouble with getting
the right colors on your name? No more. Colors are organized in an interesting
way.. one is green, two is red, three is blue, and so on. So, to make a
green and blue name, you would make your name like this:
|Weir||do
The first is green, and the other two are "added on" and make blue.
Maybe a little confusing, but you'll get used to it.
The colors are below:
-DethMan
| 7/24/98 - 14:06 - Colored Names |
Well, the information has finally
been spilled (I don't like it, but here it is). To make colored names:
(thanks go to Unknown SC) -DethMan
I contacted the game's programmers and they said you
had to use the
registry editor of Windows 95. Open the registry entry for
Jazz2 and add
pipe characters to the names of the players. That's it....If
that sounds
too technical for you, don't start experimenting, cause
using the registry
editor without technical knowledge can be quite
dangerous.......
Have fun
When in "regedit" open hkey-users, then default, then software, epic megagames, jazz jackrabbit 2, 1.21, player0.
Edit the "name" and put "|"'s next to the letters for colors.. multiple
|'s DO change to a particular color.
| 7/22/98 - 14:55 - Is it cold in here, or is it just me? |
We got Ice! That's right, Ice
recently joined the J2C team and is helping with downloads and miscelaneous
stuff. Welcome aboard Ice! -Onag
| 7/22/98 - 13:58 - Strategy Section Shaping Up |
I have completed the walkthroughs
and CTF sections, so they are currently "on-line". You can also check out
the many thousands...well, the many tutorials DethMan has now completed
as well. Soon to come: ...the rest of the strategy section. Go
there now! -Onag
| 7/22/98 - 15:51 - MIDI converter! |
Stripe has found a midi converter!
(available at maz-sound.com).
Since it takes a long time to set up (putting in the samples 'n stuff),
he's offered to convert midis that you can send him via email!
Quote: "Just so you know, it doesn't exactly sound,
uhhhh, perfect, so don't expect that much... "
Thanks stripe. -DethMan
| 7/22/98 - 11:02 - JazzTrek |
Jazz 2 Stuff (by Steven) just
put up a weird, strange humor like (somehow :) story called JazzTrek. :-)
I liked it, click
here to read it... -DethMan
| 7/21/98 - 16:47 - Brief Downtime |
Jazz 2 City went down temporarily
around 4:00pm PST (7:00 EST) today. We're sorry if this caused any...hmm,
how often does a fan site going down really cause any problems? Anyway,
we're back in business, and if it happens again...you'll get to read another
cool update like this! -Onag
| 7/21/98 - 15:42 - GMTA? |
I just checked out the Epic's
"newsflash" and noticed that they had the same heading as I chose for the
homepage update... Oh well, I guess great minds think alike (GMTA). =)
-Onag
| 7/21/98 - 15:33 - Epic Gets a Facelift! |
Have you checked out the Epic
MegaGames Homepage lately? I actually though I had entered the wrong
URL when I visited, as it was quite different. CHECK IT OUT! -Onag
| 7/20/98 - 17:40 - JJF Jazz2Site Exclusive |
Check out JJF's
Jazz2Site for some exclusive info on a project (one of many) I'm working
on. -Onag
| 7/20/98 - 16:50 - Aaron's "different" episode! |
Steven has a "preview" of Aaron's
new "episode," that has a totally new feature! Quote, "...Aaron
has added 'cutscene levels.' During cutscene levels you just sit,
watch, and listen as you hear the plot of the episode being unravelled..."
| 7/20/98 - 16:50 - Ack! |
Sorry for not posting anything
for the last couple of days.. I was kinda busy, forgive me! =) -DethMan
| 7/20/98 - 16:50 - Profiles page! |
For those of you who don't
know, Steven has his Profiles (on Jazz 2 Stuff) page up! (has a list of
emails, homepages, interests, the works!). There are tons of people already
listed, so just give your info to be added! Click here
to view the page. -DethMan
| 7/20/98 - 16:50 - Retail Box |
Jazz 2 Empire (StevenT) has
a full picture of the Jazz 2 (g.o.d. version) box. Click here
to view it. -DethMan
| 7/16/98 - 15:33 - Patch Release Date! |
The g.o.d. version is scheduled
to be released to the stores on August 11th, according to EB. (www.ebworld.com).
That means either 1, the "patch" we can download will be sooner (they'll
have to copy and send the cds), or 2, it'll be around the same time...
-DethMan
| 7/16/98 - 13:51 - Interview with Michiel Ouwehand! |
Here's an interview with one
of the main programmers (second to Arjan), Michiel Ouwehand! -DethMan
>Was it hard trying to program Jazz 2?
We've had our share of problems, of course, but
we've managed ok. The
biggest problem was time, there was simply soo
much to do on this game with
so little resources that we really had to pull
through to get it done.
Technically speaking we've had some problems to
tackle (network support,
optimizations, video routines, etc.) which is
simply a lot of work when you
want to do it right, but Arjan and I working
together means you *can* get a
lot done :)
>Was there ever a "cliff hanging" implement being considered?
Yes, and it even was in the game for a while,
but it causes some really
weird AI decisions because your body is moving
(possibly into a wall) while
you are "cliff hanging". In the end we decided
against it because it's a
visual aspect and we still had more important
things to program, like
network support. We really wanted to do that
and I think our time on network
support was well-spent, considering that it has
become one of the important
aspects of the game, along with the editor.
>What inspired the team to include Spaz?
Spaz was in the design from the beginning on.
I think he was in the first
design sketches drawn by Nick just after Jazz
1 was released, when the plans
for Jazz 2 were beginning to shape up. Simply
speaking: Jazz needed a buddy
and giving him a wacko' little brother seemed
like the right thing.
>Why was the name competition cancelled so long ago... what made you
>decide the word Spaz wasn't offensive? =)
The name competition wasn't very productive. There
were some submissions,
but no name could really compete with 'Spaz'.
In the end, when we hadn't
gotten a suitable alternative, we just decided
to go for it. We checked with
some people around the world and nobody really
cared or thought the name to
be offensive enough to remove it.
On a side note: We did get one negative reaction
from one person I know of,
but that's about it. Spaz's name isn't intended
to be offensive, but funny
and I hope and think most people will interpret
it like that..
>Are you going to be working on Core?
Yes I will.. I have been working on Core on and
off since Jazz 2 was
released. Right now I'm working on the Jazz 2
1.22 patch and preparing the
American release, but I'll be back on Core ASAP.
Even though we've just
started, it's really beginning to shape up quickly.
Hopefully, people will
try to make a Core-killer one day.
>Do you hate questions like these? :)
Naahhh... I hardly bother to respond to questions
I don't like, besides:
it's for the fans :) (yes, you guys!)
| 7/16/98 - 19:51 - JD + CoC questions |
Jazz 2 Empire has a form up
to submit questions about Judgement Day, and Champion of Champions! Go
here
to submit your questions (they'll be sent to me, and I'll have an interview
with Hidden, StevenT, and Onag). -DethMan
JD and CoC are both large tournaments to "see who's the best" basicly. Click here for description of CoC.
| 7/15/98 - 19:51 - Tutorials & Hotkeys |
4 new tutorials have been added
to the tutorial section..
PLUS a hotkeys list, with a couple of hotkeys that were never in the manual!
-DethMan
| 7/14/98 - 18:31 - The Big One... |
Ready for the big one? The
patch we've all been waiting for? Perhaps you've about to pull your monitor
apart?
Well, everything seems to be back in the works, the new version is getting
great. Among the new features is one you've never heard of before...
Passwords.
Besides the fix (working now :) on the passworded games, there is also
a password on editing levels! Now no one will ever steal your levels again.
The old j2l files work fine with the new version of JCS, but the new j2l
files don't load in the old version (surprise, surprise :)
Now you can churn out levels, and people have to play them to find
out any secrets... or anything.
Clan's are back in, a touchplate is being worked on (limited and untested right now)...
But wait, that's not all (you knew I'd say that), the new g.o.d. version has a slightly changed logo! We go an special peek at it.. sent only to JJF at the same time besides us! Shown below!
(without the black surrounding it, the text is the logo we got)
The patch is well on it's way.. Jazz 2 is going to be published in the
stores by g.o.d... new features are popping up all over (some we can't
mention, sorry), and Orange Games dropped 3 billion dolors into our lap!
(I hope you didn't believe that) What more could you want? -DethMan
| 7/14/98 - 14:15 - CliffyB.. in full color! |
CliffyB.. in full color! I'm
not sure who gave me this URL (please tell me), but here is a picture of
CliffyB (the main "idea" behind JJ2, and the lead level designer). Click
here
if you're having trouble viewing the pic. He also has a homepage at: Unreal
Nation -DethMan
| 7/14/98 - 13:47 - JCS Tutorials section! |
JCS Tutorials section up!!
Click here
to view your common problems (and answers) to JCS. (only 3 right now, more
to be added very soon, just wanted it up today). -DethMan
| 7/13/98 - 16:22 - Top Secret News! |
I just received the following
ICQ message:
This is JJF's Jazz2 homepage, and it's the top secret project we've all been waiting for! Visit it at http://www.inficad.com/~absolutesound/ovjazzjackrabbit2.html
Coolmon
Thanks for the tip Coolmon! Click here to check out the site now. -Onag
| 7/12/98 - 22:29 - Spoof-B-Gone |
During an extremely short, hardly
even noticable, and certainly not worth mentioning here, Tip of the Day
down period, a few people suffered from a lack of Jazz2 playing strategy,
and in turn were roasted by the Black Wolves testing team, and turned down
for the current position. However, because the damage was minimal, and
the problem was corrected so quickly, no appologies will be made at this
time. -Onag
| 7/11/98 - 16:50 - You can't handle it! |
Have you seen the poll at Steven's
Jazz 2 Stuff? I just took it today, and I was shocked (startled, not...)!
It is by far the best poll (and story) I have ever seen. I strongly (doesn't
that make it sound better?) reccomend you click
here, fill out the poll, and read the story. -Onag
| 7/11/98 - 16:08 - New F.requently A.sked Q.uestions! |
Ice just came out with a new
version (v1.3) of the Jazz2 FAQ. You can download it by clicking here.
It's got a ton of info you absolutely MUST know! Well, it would be nice
to have it anyway. -Onag
| 7/11/98 - 15:13 - New Tile Set |
Mez just finished a new tile-set!
It's pretty cool (special thanks to Steven, he found it!), and the best
user made we've seen yet. Go to the downloads
section to get it. -DethMan
| 7/11/98 - 15:05 - Black Wolf |
The first ever clan (elite
in every way, and so far "unbeaten," so to speak) is now hiring a final
6th position. Anyone who thinks they are good enough can try and join...
(votes/candidates must be on the MMB)
Perhaps other clans don't like me "promoting" BW, but seeing as it's one
of the largest threads on the board, I figured it would probably be important
news. (in other words, if another clan does that, same thing; if it is
a large thread, blah blah blah).
In short, it's news, so be quiet :-) -DethMan
| 7/9/98 - 10:48 - Patch Info |
Some people still don't know
about the patch, so I thought I'd post about it.
There is a patch coming soon, 1.22. It could possibly be here next
week (disputable). -DethMan
So far it includes:
Clan Support.
We have a general idea of what the clan support will be, but we can't
tell anyone right now...
Filter:
Fully customizable language filter. On your computer, so it can't be
"cracked." Includes names.
IP Viewing:
Pressing F9 a couple times will give you everyone's IP address.
Banning+Kicking:
Allows you to kick or ban a player from your game by IP#.
Quote from Michiel Ouwehand (part of the JJ2 team, a programmer):
"...We fixed a bug which will allow J2 to run through firewalls. also included will (hopefully) be a new soundsystem (Galaxy 4.0) which will fix some problems with some soundcards.
I've also put some extra checks in some places to see if this fixes some of the problems people have been having with sidewinders.
we also plan on making this patch a h*ll of a
lot smaller and easier to install.."
| 7/7/98 - 2:22 - New Epic cool guy! |
Scotty, from the MegaBoard,
now has his own Epic Indicator symbol. I guess this means he's officially
part of the group. Many of you don't know, but Scotty is (was?) Dean Dodrill's
apprentice. He actually did a little work on the cinematic animations for
JJ2! Anyway, he'll now be "officially" answering your JJ2 questions. -DethMan
| 7/6/98 - 2:41 - Guess who made another great tile set! |
Spaz has finished his 3rd tile
set. This one is called Haunted, and is his best yet. You can get it here
or go to the downloads
section to get some other great stuff. -Onag
| 7/6/98 - 2:09 - All New Tip of the Day! |
As you may have seen, J2C has
a new feature. You can expect a new playing tip (and occasionally design
tips) every day. If you haven't seen it yet...look up.
**Special thanks to DethMan for the idea and Onag for the script**
| 7/5/98 - 17:04 - A tip from Bart |
I just got an email from Bart.
Here's what he has to say. -Onag
Its the``Old get the gold coin out of the hole``Stradegy Its a simple stonage fact that nothing is special about it but its a way to easily pay the warp to do that you just gotta get i bomb item go to the left or the right of the tube piece sticking up then set a bomb there. When the bomb is set go to the other side or you will have to put in series of bombs then go to the top oval part then duck shoot or stand and duck rapidly. -Bart
| 7/5/98 - 15:02 - New Jazz FAQ! |
Ice just submitted a new Jazz2
FAQ. It's got a lot of the strategies and walkthroughs found on J2C, plus
a ton of other stuff like weapons and enemy information. You can check
it out here. -Onag
| 7/5/98 - 14:30 - More Dueling Rules?! |
Electrap has just submitted
some dueling rules of his own. Wow Deth, you really started something.
I think from now on, we should just post our rules on the MegaBoard. -Onag
In answer to Thunderstorms more unethical duel rules, here are mine. :) Ok these are my dueling rules, tell me what you think: 1. We play on official levels, I'm not going with custom made levels. 2. I hate shields. No shields. Shields have no justice. 3. My duels are played without guns. You can only use kicks, uppercuts, and buttstomps. Any shots shall dishonor you! 4. If you are part of a clan, you cannot have people help you kill me! Tis' not good for thy reputation. 5. Any bad words mouthed shall turn this into a cuss battle, and believe me, I'm no dickhead, but still i have many retorts up my sleeve. 6. People may come in and play, but they should not kill the official combatants, or the duel starts over. 7. Whoever kills the other player 15 times first wins. 8. Dickhead or muff master coming in will stop the battle, we shake hads (literally) and we both help kill the stupid guy. 9. There is a time limit of 10 minutes. The battle ends when someone reaches 15 roasts or when the 10 minutes are over, whichever comes first. At the end of the 10 minutes, whoever has the most roasts wins! 10. To pause, press "P". You cannot do this before someone is just about to kill you though. 11. I either battle on the registered levels or "Diamondus Warzone". So like em or lump em, ok? Electrap
| 7/4/98 - 12:13 - More Dueling Rules |
ThUnDeRsToRm decided he should
have a few rules of his own, so here they are (taken straight from the
email). -Onag
In answer to Dethman´s clearly unethical duel rules, I´m depositing my own set, in case anyone (including Deth) wants to duel me. I have no interest in dueling mr. Tiberious. Unless he´s willing to challenge me on my own terms, where it is uncertain whether he´ll win or lose... Hahahahahaha!!!!! -ThUnDeRsToRm ThUnDeRsToRm´s duel rules: I meet my foe on one of my own levels. I never play "official" levels. I do not collect ammo or powerups until whoever I´m dueling gets there. I do use my knowledge of the level against him/her. I do not tolerate interference. Anyone stupid enough to enter, other than my fellow Jaguars, will remain motionless. I am not bothered by my fellow Jaguars pounding my opponent. If one of them shows up, he/she should feel free to help me slaughter my opponent. I make new levels daily, so attempting to learn one is futile. There will be no advantage there. Other than for me. In other words, if you think you can beat me in my own level, along with any other Jaguars that turn up, Then drop me a mail or ICQ. -ThUnDeRsToRm
| 7/4/98 - 12:02 - SSG Disbanded. |
SpaceJazz just wanted to
inform everyone that the clan of SSG has been disbanded.
| 7/4/98 - 11:38 - Problems fixed? |
As you may have noticed,
a lot of the older news (and below where the counter was) was messed up...
I believe we've fixed that now (I re-did the upper part of the news and
threw some of the messed up stuff in the archives; don't worry, you can
still read it, but it's annoying :). We're sorry if this is any inconvience,
it was due to a bad formatted update. -DethMan
| 7/3/98 - 23:59 - Whew...barely made it! |
The Strategy section is coming
along nicely. I should have it up next week. I'm also in the process of
making levels for my first tile set. (Cheq doesn't count, because it wasn't
a real tile set.) That should also be available later next week, but no
promisses. I'll keep you posted.
- Onag
| 7/2/98 - 19:40 - Dueling. |
DethMan has made up a set
of "Dueling Rules." Quote,
"These rules may not be considered a standard set of rules or anything,
but if anyone wants to duel me, they follow this set of rules. Period."
- DethMan
|) u e l i n g |\ u l e s:
Well, here they are, for all those guys who keep asking to duel me :)
First, they are challenging me, so I host.. if I challenge someone else,
they can host (up to them).
Second, we ONLY play on official levels; no user made levels, I don't
care if it won the world trophy :)
Third, as soon as you join, you will see me say "Go." At that time,
the duel begins, so don't type.
Any talking will be done before hand on ICQ.
If you leave during a duel and the score is 0-0, you default at a loss.
If you leave during a duel and the score has progressed to 5 or above,
the person with the most kills defaults to a win.
If you wish to pause a game, this is acceptable, but only if you notify
in yelling words that you're afk. This does not apply to "checking your
mail" or multitasking. If you do not honor the pause and say "Go." before
you start moving, you default to a loss.
The death limit is negiotiable, but I usually set it to 5-10 if you don't say anything.
Email negiotiations or dates is usually not acceptable. It's the "Here And Now" or we wait until we see each other again.
Bystanders will not be considered valid kills. On my server, no more than 1 bystander is allowed. Bystanders must stay in their exact position, and not move an inch. If they get killed or attack (even on purpose) they are NOT to defend, or move out of the way, but just sit there.
SHEILDS ARE NOT ALLOWED. Any use of sheilds will give you a DEFAULT LOSS.
Last, but not least, you MUST HAVE THE REGISTERED version of Jazz 2 in order for us to play on battle mode. If you don't, the duel is off until you have the registered version, and notify me.
If a challenger doesn't agree to follow my rules, then I consider that he is just wasting my time, and isn't really serious about dueling (doesn't default to loss :).
Dat's how I play, and how you play, if you play me, and we play to play,
and only play. :)
Contact DethMan at:
______________________________________________________
URL: www.jazz2city.com (visit daily ;)
Email: dethman@jazz2city.com (no spam)
UIN: 1558106 (authorization required)
___________________________________________
"A legend is forever... the person isn't."
"Life is gonna end sooner or later... care to scream thereafter,
or live in luxery?"
| 6/30/98 - 17:22 - Calling all artists! |
Anyone who has artistic talent,
and has time to work on a tile set please contact OMEGA
MAN. OMEGA MAN has got a great idea for a tile set, but doesn't exactly
have the time or energy to do it all. If you're interested...aw, you already
know. Click the link up there.
- Onag
| 6/30/98 - 15:07 - Strategy section under construction |
I'm in the process of reworking
the entire strategy section to be a bit easier to navigate. I'll post as
soon as I get it up and running, so you can go take a look. I will also
update the strategy section with the latest tips and tricks as soon as
I get the new layout completed.
- Onag
| 6/29/98 - 16:30 - CliffyB Revealed |
PaG just found a picture
of Cliffyb, which was just shown on GameSpot.
Check it out below.
- Steven
PaG just found a picture of
Cliffyb, which was just shown on GameSpot.
Check it out below.
- Steven
Mattimeo tells us how to get
the most out of your powerup!
"For Power-ups
Hehe i think not to many people know of this, but hey i could be wrong. " - Steven
Well, I'm back. I'm still catching
up on everything that has happened, but I am here. :)
After staying up some 30+ hours, I finally went to bed and slept until 3pm EST :-) Blah blah. Onag will still help with news (he's doing such a good job, don't you think?), and Steven will still be doing the levels. - DethMan
You've heard of the Championship
of Champions, you're ready for Jazz2 judgement day, but prepare for an
all new competition led by Spastic. He is in the process of organizing
a JCS single player level design competition. Translation: He is in the
process of organizing a JCS single player level design competition. For
more information on this, click
here. - Onag
There have been so many new
levels lately (new ones every day), that I have decided to stop updating
the news for each new downloads update. The only way you'll hear about
new levels on the news section is if a level gets a perfect score. Until
that happens, you'd better start checking the downloads section every day
or two. :) - Onag
There has been a significant
increase in both the popularity of Clans recently. Of course, at the same
time, the skeptics have been quite wide-spread as well. To get the full
story on clans, and all that's going on with them, check out the Jazz2
MegaBoard. - Onag
I've just uploaded a new battle
level, The Amazon, and
episode, Devan Bites Back,
by Martin. Check out the downloads
section for more levels. - Onag
Apparently, *someone* screwed
up. This whole Championship of Champions thing wasn't Hidden's idea to
begin with (as Ona...erm, *someone* said). StevenT came up with the whole
thing, but Hidden is helping organize it and stuff. Sorry StevenT =) -
Onag
Steven's been hard at work adding
new levels to the downloads section. Here are the latest additions:
Operation: Clone Kill, Aaron, Single Player
What are you waiting for? Go get them now!
As many of you probably noticed,
there was no Hidden's Hideaway server this weekend. Of course, that is
old news. It was delayed mainly because of the problem with passworded
servers. i.e. He couldn't do any play-testing...yada yada yada. However,
the server may be up this Thursday. Keep your eye(s) on the MegaBoard for
more information on this.
A new tournament is in the works.
Yesterday, Hidden released information on his upcoming tournament for which
there will be a sign up after the judgement day competition right here
on J2C. Anyone who has the registered version will be able to participate
in the tournament. To learn more about the Championship of Champions, click
here.
Steven has finally completed
his first single player level, Carrot Cream. Check out the downloads
page or visit Jazz
2 Stuff to download the file now.
Steven uploaded the first two
user-made tile sets today. Click
here to get Spaz's giant2 and Onag's Cheq.
Also note that we are currently working on getting the Super Shots section up, which will contain screen shots and fan art. Because we have limited space on the server however, we cannot accept every image that is submitted.
A new fan art/screen shots section
is in the works. We've had several submissions, so we decided we need to
do more than just put them all in the news. Other than that, nothing much
new has happened. I believe the "struggle" on the MegaBoard has died down.
If you don't already know about it, click
here. Also, some of you may be happy to hear, I'll be adding the entire
thread to the Daring Feats section as soon as this whole thing is over.
Last weekends levels are finally
available for download here at J2C! You can click here
to get the file directly, or visit the downloads
page for more levels. Please note that due to a slight problem, there has
been a delay of any further Hidden's Hideaway server games. Check out the
MegaBoard
to learn more.
Merlin has sent me a bit of
advice for when playing Diamondous Warzone. This is one strategy Merlin
has used himself in battles. You may want to take notes. ;)
If you are chasing someone and you are having a hard time staying on them long enough to finish them, I have a little trick that works almost every time. First, if you dont' already have them, get the gold homing missiles. Then, all you have to do is zoom by the person and wound them with one- it only takes one to do the job, but if your quarry has really quick moves it might be a good idea to unload about ten. As soon as you have done that, DON'T FOLLOW HIM- GO STRAIGHT INTO THE CARROT BOX. Anyone who has been hit with a gold missile will be itching to get in there and refill himself. The trick is you have to get there before he does- it shouldn't be too hard cause you will have it planned that way beforehand. Then all you do is blast him when he comes in. This trick has worked for me on many hard-to-catch people. -MErlin
Hidden's Hideaway was quite
a success after it got started. At first, there was quite a bit of confusion
as to who the host was, so at times there would be 2 servers at once. Of
course, even when the correct server was chosen, he had to leave for a
while, which started the whole thing over again. I believe the server restarted
something like 20 times while I was there. Anyway, the levels were great,
the server started with Under Siegeness, then moved on to Death Trap, Bobo
Meets Royalty, Bobo Goes to the Jungle, Bobo's Happy House of Death, No
Where to Hide, Tube Way, Cheq, and ElectriChaos. This was definately quite
a run. Of course, the majority of the evening playing Undersiegeness and
Deth Trap due to the server problem.
You will find all of the above levels zipped up along with any necessary tile sets or music here tomorrow or Monday. Also, there will be no HiDDeN's HiDeAwAy next Saturday, because it will more than likly be held in the middle of the week with an entirely new format. You will hear more about that on the MegaBoard.
Epic has just received the all-new
Jazz T-shirts. You can be the first to have one by ordering
yours now!
Don't forget to join the HiDDeN's
HiDeAwAy tomorrow at 7:00-11:00 central (5-9 pacific; 6-10 mountain; 8-12
eastern). So far, there are 9 levels planed. 2 by Hidden, 2 by DethMan,
2 by Onag, 2 refinished levels, and possibly one level by Bart. This number
may increase if more people submit their battle levels.
A big thanks to Andre for another
great Jazz 2 City image. Check it out below.
Bart released a 12 level episode
called Devan's Revenge yesterday. I would have updated the news yesterday,
but it was late and I was tired. Anyway, check it out on the downloads
page. You can also download the episode directly by clicking here.
The Heck Barren level should
unzip fine now. If you would like, you can download the file again here.
If you haven't downloaded it yet, do it now!
I just received a small preview
of JJF's upcoming tileset, Twisted. Below you will see a brief description
of Twisted, and a few tiles he has completed.
_________ ___ _ _ _______ _________ ____ _______ _ |___ ___| \ \ ___| | |_| / ____ \ |___ ___| | __| | ___ | | | | | \ \ / | | _ | |____\_\ | | | | | | / / | | | | \ \ / /| | | | | \_____ | | | | |_______ | | / / | | | | \ \| | | | | | | | | | | | _______| | |/ / |_| | | \ | | | | | | ____/ / | | | |_____ | / _ |_| \___| |___| |_| |_____/ |_| |_______| |__/ |_| __ ____ ___ _ _ ___ _ _ | \ | \ | _| \\ | | | _|\\ _| | | | \ | |\ \ | |__ \\ | | | |__ \\ | | | | / | |_| / | __| \\ | | | __| \\ | | | | / | / | | \\ | | | | \\ | | | | | | |\ \ | |___ \\| | | |___ \\| | | |_| |_| \_\ |_____| \__| |_____| \____| By JJF About: The Twisted tileset was started on June 2, 1998 by JJF and is still being worked on. These tiles are just a preview of the entire tileset that may be done and available for use by June 25, 1998 (if JJF recieves JJ2). Tileset Tips: Some tips on making a good tileset are the following: 1. Think of a good idea for a tileset 2. Be creative 3. Try to make tiles that go really well with each other 4. Try to make a lot because that way, when you try them on JCS, you'll be able to choose from a lot of ideas 5. Make the tiles interesting so that people like 'em! ________________________________________________________________________________ If you have any questions or comments e-mail me at: ovijr@iname.com     
There's a brand new Battle level
by Bart called Heck Barren. You can get it now by clicking here,
or go to the downloads
page for more levels.
The links page has also been updated, thanks to Steven. In other news, Andre (_3DArtist) made a cool graphic for Jazz 2 City. You can check it out bellow.
You can contact Andre on ICQ. His UIN is: 10662203.
Well, I just received the response
from an email interview with Arjan, the lead programmer of Jazz2. Here
it is (J2C in red, Arjan in blue):
yo my man, here it is. anything else, just ask PaG: What had to be changed in the original design for the game to go over 3 years in development? we redid everything graphics/programming wise. coding the windows stuff and getting the graphics to work at the highspeed took time, and not having a compact and close together team and not having good financing made us not spending 100% time on the thing. (all of the team members did other things next to the jazz2 project) This is not a situation we want again, so we only do stuff with local teams and good financing DethMan: Are there any plans for a Jazz 3, or a level pack? yes, levelpack definetely for xmas time. jazz3D: nothing solid yet, but we're talking about it DethMan: Do you plan to make any kind of a really hard difficulty setting in the future? want to do this for the levelpack or even in a new patch, after all you guys asking for this. We had the turbo setting in jazz1 which added 1 hp to all monsters and added the timelimit, something like this probably. DethMan: If you had to do it all over again, would you? yes, but differently, with one team in one place with a budget and a cool publishing deal from the beginning or so DethMan: Did you enjoy it? yea. we've had harder times, but it was still fun to code this and find the problems etc. Some people might think this is super easy to program, but it's not. try to get the speed we're getting, try to add in all the functionality and effects, and you've easily lost a year of hard work. This is a lot of code. DethMan: Do you secretly play JJ2 on the 'net to see what people think about it? :-) yes :) although the last few weeks I haven't had time to play much DethMan: Why can't we use ambient lighting in hardware mode? the thing is: hardware mode uses the 2d video hardware to draw the tiles in your video memory. to light these tiles afterwards means getting the tiles back over the bus to local memory, shade them, and write them back to video memory again. This is really expensive (slooow) even though we did some optimizations by only reading blocks etc. It can work, but it was too slow for release work, so we've turned it off by default. DethMan: Why isn't there a true 16bit support for the tile-sets? (they're only 8 bit) we didn't need it for jazz2, and the problem is that you have to play in 16bit then (can't easily or nicely scale it back to 8bit anymore). There's no program limitation here, we can actually do everything fully in 16bit DethMan: How bad was your average day during the development of Jazz2? :) how bad? you mean timewise? Well, we've had days of 16+ hours of course, but I'm quite used to that after 8 years (or whatever) PaG: How was E3? ok, the coolest thing was that the first game I saw at E3 was Jazz2. It was in Intel's connected Car PC, with blazing audio and a lot of monitors. that was cool. I didn't see much things which really blew me away, there are games with a lot of effects but the gameplay still sucks big chunks. We plan to fix that with our upcoming game. PaG: What's Core and why should we look up to it? it's our new 3D game project, where we combine a highly powerful 3D engine with a strong gameplay base. 3rd person camera views, controlling multiple guys, lots of weapons and stuff, and user customizable. We want to do large scale internet gaming with it (like UO) but this depends on which publisher is going for it. Technology is going beyond Quake2/Unreal, we're doing a lot of things that you've not seen yet. I'll let you know when we have more info up on the website -arjan ...Did he say, "yes, levelpack definetely for xmas time"?
() ()()() ()()()
______________________________________
Bosses will NOT work unless you place an "activate boss" event.
__________________________
This is an interesting fact, for those of you who can't get hurt
events
________________________________________________
Well, here's how to make a block that can be destroyed with
___________________
Another common problem is for people to get "stuck" in their level.
________________________________
Well, some events Epic put in, but didn't quite finish. For example,
the
___________________
If you're making a set of springs to shoot you through a passage,
it's
wall2
If wall 1's corner is too close to the spring, the spring will get
you
______________________________
A -VERY- common problem is the infamous "scenery triggers" problem.
First block: Scenery before destroyed.
The first block of any animation will automaticly be 2, so don't
_________________________
Ah yes, another common problem is with the tubes (like in tube-electric).
_____________________________
The only way to make timed hurt events (like in Psyched) is to make
___________________
Several problems occure when trying to use warps.. first, sometimes
These are only some of the common problems we face today.. if you
find
This is only a small FAQ because people deserve to know things as
we
This small FAQ was created by: DethMan With major JCS help from: Jon
____________________________________________________________________
"A legend is forever... the person isn't."
Bringing you the fastest, best, coolest news since 1997, along with
everything else you need to know!
(well, I had to try for something like that :)
|
. |
| 6/5/98 - 9:47 - New Battle Level |
Jon MacLellan posted a new
Battle level called "Under Siegeness." You can go to the downloads
section, or click here.
It has a cool difference to it, from the boring monotonous battle levels
of today :)
| 6/5/98 - 9:47 - JCS Tips! |
Gizmo just made a JCS info
page! It has some neat little tips. The main page seems to have problems
accessing (with Netscape, IE is fine) but you can go directly to the info
page, and it works.
| 6/5/98 - 9:45 - Hidden's Hideaway |
Previous levels from Hidden's
Hideaway posted in
a zip.
| . |
| 6/3/98 - 15:07 - NiGhTmArE! |
NiGhTmArE! is currently in
beta testing! This mega hard single player level will challenge even the
greatest warriors, such as Merlin, Alex, PaG, Onag, and many others. When
it is finished, there is only one thing to do...
Prepare for your worst NiGhTmArE!
| 6/3/98 - 9:09 - Level pack link - fixed. |
Sorry about the missing link
on the level pack, it's fixed now.
| . |
| 6/2/98 - 10:37 - Level Pack! |
Aaron has released a battle
pack, called ABC. It includes 3 battle levels. (over-all, not that bad
of levels)
Go to the downloads
section to d/l it.
| 6/2/98 - 10:37 - MMB problems gone! |
Well, the MMB has been fixed!
| . |
| 5/31/98 - 11:07 - MMB problems back |
Well, the MMB problems are
back! Several people have had their accounts crash today, unable to post
or even register a new nickname. It's possible everyone has had this happen,
since no one is posting on the MMB :)
It's POSSIBLE that the MMB may allow us to register new accounts later
on today, but somewhat unlikely.
Looks like we're looking at the possibility of being stuck until Jon
comes home :)
| . |
| 5/30/98 - 17:12 - Server |
Here is a picture from a
level on Hidden's Hideout:
| 5/30/98 - 15:12 - Server |
Hidden's Hideout will be
up today from 8:00 PM to 1:00 AM EST (5-10pm PAC, 6-11pm Mountain, 7pm-12am
Central), don't miss out!
- DethMan
| 5/30/98 - 9:29 - Judgement Day |
Judgement Day is going to
be coming up (possibly next month, maybe July, date is undecided; Onag
doesn't have full version yet). We're all looking forward to it.. and we
thank Onag for putting together something great!
- DethMan
| . |
| 5/29/98 - 18:55 - Secrets |
Well, I realize I should've
posted this stuff a LONG time ago, and I'm sorry... but a lot of the secrets
are easy to find :) Anyway, here is the secrets list for the first level.
I did NOT use JCS, as I didn't want to do that.. kinda makes me feel like
I'm cheating :) If you find any that are missing, let me know.
At 55,14 run left into a transporter. It will take you to 52,3 with a box of bouncers.
At 88,12 run and jump to the right, and shoot. It may take a couple of tries, but once you shoot the walls there is an extra life inside a crate.
At 149,41 jump to the right to get two gold coins.
At 176,37 move to the left (whie the spring jumps you) and you will fall down. Move to the right and grab a LOT of coins, then be bounced back up. If you let the bounce take you all the way up, there is an extra life.
At 222,35 jump up to get some gems.
JCS was not used in ANY of these levels to find
secrets.
If there are any others, please let me know.
- DethMan
| 5/29/98 - 18:55 - E3 |
For those of you who don't
already know, the Epic guys have left for E3 (I believe thhey left a couple
days ago, if I remember correctly). They'll be back in a couple of days,
but until then we'll have to fend for ourselves :-)
Also, Prima is going to do an official strategy guide for JJ2.
- DethMan
| 5/29/98 - 18:55 - Server up soon :-) |
J2C's sponsered server, Hidden's
Hideaway will be up officially in the next couple of days. One of the new
levels has a new music file, and if you'd like to get it you can right
here.
-
DethMan
| . |
| 5/28/98 - 18:14 - Server up |
J2C's officially sponsered
server is up! It's named Hidden's Hideaway, and will be useing different
all new levels while it is up. If your level is good enough, submit it
and you have a chance of it being used. It is currently up during
the weekends, and sometimes during the week.
Original idea by Hidden, server hosted by Jazz.
- DethMan
| . |
| 5/26/98 - 16:10 - All new levels! |
TWO ALL NEW LEVELS for multiplayer!!
I personally made these, one was finished a day or two after the game came
out, but I haven't posted it until now. One is a small CTF level called
"Don't
Choke," the other is a small fast-and-furious Battle level called "Death
Trap." Both of these are not rated, since it would probably end up
as a biased rating, after all, we made them :)
But don't worry, I think they're great, hehe.
Any levels ppl make, send them to me, and if they are good I'll post
them.
One last thing, anyone with a 56k modem or higher, if they have JJ2, would they be willing to host a weekend server at certain times for a couple of hours, email Sabaka. P.S. Earlier the levels were unable to download, they should work now.
Enjoy! - DethMan
| . |
| 5/24/98 - 19:37 - Music |
For those of you who don't
know, there are a couple of extra JJ2 music files included with JJ2 (regd)
among of which are: bonus2, bonus3, fastrack, etc.
| . |
| 5/23/98 - 10:02 - ***SPOILER!***. |
Even though we haven't posted
the secrets list or anything, I thought that we should go ahead and post
how to get to the secret level "Gargoyles Lair" (made by Jon ;-) This is
a big SPOILER, so don't read it unless you're lame <G>
At 173,30 (Medieval Kineval) run to the right as hard as you can, and
jump. You might have to use Jazz and hover, not sure.
Really cool level btw Jon :)
| 5/23/98 - 9:18 - Delays, delays.. |
We're going to be working
on making a secrets list for the different episodes of JJ2, but it'll take
a while: don't hold your breath :-)
JCS takes a while to make (and figure out) stuff sometimes, so Warped
will probably be delayed. :-(
| . |
| 5/21/98 - 12:57 - JJ2 Recieved!!! |
DethMan just recieved a copy
of Jazz 2! Before even INSTALLING it, he went to the trouble of taking
a picture to post here! Now, let's let him install it :)
| . |
| 5/20/98 - 18:23 - MMB problems due to stop! |
The Mega Message Board problems
are due to a halt in one or two days!
Jon MacLellan, the head of the JJ2 MMB (and a big html programmer for
Epic) said, quote:
"We have a brand spanking new P2 300 dedicated to the MegaBoard which is being set up as we speak.. ..give us a day or so..."
Well, this is great news indeed!
| 5/20/98 - 17:50 - JJ2 ships! |
JJ2 ships in the USA! Check
the Daily
Carrot for more information.
Also, Game
Power and HotGames
did reviews of JJ2.
| . |
| 5/19/98 - 16:55 - JJ2 server |
In other news, we're negotiating
a sponsership of a cool server with a cable modem that always has a new
level every week on it.We're still talking about it, but wouldn't that
be cool?
Btw, the server is in the US.
| 5/19/98 - 16:52 - BatteryCheck! |
Orange Games has released
BatteryCheck! Using the JJ2 Engine, this game is quite interesting, but
kind've buggy. Go check
it out.
Having trouble getting the Orange games page to load? Click here to
just d/l the
game. (2.5 mb)
| 5/19/98 - 15:47 - Mega Problems with the Mega Message board! |
For two or three days now
the MMB has been almost constantly down, unable to allow hardly any users
to view the contents. I have heard of a couple people being able to get
in, but have been unable to get in myself.
Jon, the administrater and html programmer is really mad (not to mention me :)
I would quote him, but I don't think he'd like me to quote him when
he's in such a
bad mood :-)
In other news today, rumor has it that the people who ordered with FedEx
might be seeing
JJ2 pretty soon. Some (normal, not Epic:) people say it could even
be this week.
We'll see if that is the case..
| 5/19/98 - 10:59 - #1! |
JJ2 number #1 in holland sales!
Click here
for details (from Daily Carrot).
| 5/18/98 - 18:03 - Nothing? |
Well, as far as I know there's
nothing new.. I haven't been able to get into the message board, and most
of the Epic cool guys are away, so that's all I know :)
| . |
| 5/15/98 - 15:31 - High Res Cinematic! |
The high-res intro cinematic
was just released on Daily Carrot! Go download
it!
| 5/15/98 - 15:19 - Beating the evil jerk.. |
Mr. Bafford gives us his way
to beat the witch in the third level of JJ2 (sw).
With Jazz: Save the freeze shots from the start
of retro rabbit and
shoot the witch with these, then simply do Jazz´s
special move right
under her to kill her.
With Spaz: Same as above, although it´s
much harder since Spaz moves in
a vertical line... hint: if you´re about
to get toadied, jump into the
witch (you´ll lose a heart but you don´t
get toaded).
| . |
| 5/14/98 - 16:43 - Gathering to publish JJ2! |
Gathering of Developers to
publish Jazz Jackrabbit 2 in U.S.! Here's a copy of the jazzjackrabbit.com
news: (go ahead and check out the site, I didn't include everything).
Gathering of Developers, a developer-driven computer and video game publishing company, today announced the company will publish and distribute Epic MegaGames' highly anticipated Jazz Jackrabbit 2 worldwide, with Project 2 distributing the game in Europe and Australia. The sequel to the best-selling and award-winning shareware hit Jazz Jackrabbit, Jazz 2 is a state-of-the-art side-scrolling arcade-style game for the PC and is scheduled for release this fall. The game is being co-developed by Orange Games. Epic MegaGames, a founding partner of The Gathering, released the first Jazz Jackrabbit in 1994.
"Early reviews have called Jazz 2 the best game of its kind ever to hit the PC," said Jay Wilbur, Imperial Advisor of Epic MegaGames. "Jazz 2 has a definite cool attitude of its own and adding multiplayer and level editing options brings even more entertainment value to this renowned series."
In Jazz Jackrabbit 2, gamers jump into a cool animated world with the wacky green rabbit Jazz and his crazy brother Spaz, as they take on a bevy of dangerous turtles, bats and other enemies. The game centers around Jazz and his arch enemy Devan Shell, who has stolen the wedding ring of Jazz's future wife, Eva Earlong. With the ring, Devan will be able to complete his top-secret time machine, go back in time and make sure Jazz is never born. And, without the ring, Jazz won't be able to marry Eva.
Jazz 2's technologically advanced features list includes MMX enhancement and split screen network play that offers "party-mode" play for co-op and deathmatch modes for the Internet, as well as Capture the Flag, race and treasure modes. A level editor allows players to customize existing levels and create new ones. Gathering of Developers is supporting Jazz 2 with a major retail marketing campaign including print and online advertisements and promotions.
"Jazz 2 offers gamers of all ages something they are always asking for...a technologically advanced PC game, but with instinctive gameplay and a sense of humor," said Mike Wilson, CEO of Gathering of Developers. "Epic MegaGames has delivered in spades with a state-of-the-art action/arcade game that you can still deathmatch your kids on in good conscience."
Epic MegaGames Inc. is a privately held company based in Rockville, Maryland with offices in the U.K. Established in 1991, Epic produces, markets and distributes cutting-edge PC games. Best known for Jill of the Jungle and Epic Pinball, the company has over 20 products in release. Epic distributes its products directly to end users using the shareware model and through worldwide retail distribution with major retail companies including Spectrum Holobyte and GT Interactive. Additional company information can be obtained through Epic's World Wide Web site at http://www.epicgames.com.
Founded in Dallas, TX in December 1997, Gathering of Developers is a developer-driven computer and video game publishing company. The company's mission is to be the worldwide leader in the development and delivery of commercially successful computer game software designed for a range of platforms. The company's pioneering partners are industry leaders and proven hit makers 3D Realms, Epic MegaGames, PopTop Software, Ritual Entertainment, Terminal Reality Inc and Edge of Reality. For more information visit Gathering of Developers Web site at >http://www.godgames.com.
Hmm.. I think I'm supposed to say something here... like "we got the
news first"?
Okay, maybe that was a bad idea.. but I had to try ;-)
| 5/14/98 - 11:58 - Alas.. |
I forgot something else to
add.. I was searching through some work, and I found a message from Onag
telling me another secret in Darn Ratz. I guess I can't get em all on time
:)
At 76,35 stomp to get some red gems.
| 5/14/98 - 10:44 - Walkthrough 3 |
We're late in posting this,
and I apologize. Here's Steven's third walkthrough:
Shareware Level 3 - Frog Stomp - Vs. 1.0
------------------------------
NOTES: This walkthrough was done using the character Jazz in Medium
difficulty level. In this level you may get the Sugar Rush powerup
if you have collected 100 fruits, cakes, tomatoes, and chips in Frog Stomp
and the last two levels in the shareware. The Sugar Rush powerup
gives you invincibility to all enemies, blocks, etc. for exactly 20 seconds.
I will mention about this powerup in the place where I think you might
get it, although it's likely that you will get it before or after that
spot, or maybe in the level before. Some enemies may give you powerups
(such as gems, carrots, or Fast Fast guns) which will not be mentioned
in this walkthrough because they will not always give you the same powerup.
Also, there is destructable scenery in this level, which will also not
be mentioned.
When using this walkthrough, I would suggest keeping this and Jazz
2 in windows so you can read the walkthrough while you play. To convert
Jazz 2 to a window, press "Alt+Enter"
------------------------------
From the beginning of the level, Jazz will be dropped down to
the a grassy platform. The first thing you will notice will be a
witch, located a little to the right of you. If you come too close,
she will turn you into a frog. The witch is very hard to destroy
using normal weapons. I will explain an easier way to destroy her
later.
Press "F9" twice to view the position you are at. From
the beginning of the level, go right a little bit and you will be in front
of a sign at position 8, 26. Whenever you see a sign like this, pass
by it and words will be displayed at the top of the screen. This
sign will read "Beware the witch! She can turn you into a frog."
As you are reading this sign, you will probably be turned into a frog like
the sign said. If you haven't been turned into a frog, just approach
the witch and she will turn you into one. (You don't have to get
turned into a frog if you're fast, but I suggest that you do so that the
first part of this walkthrough will make sense.) When you are a frog,
the only things you can do are run, jump, and shoot your tongue left, right,
and up. You cannot use weapons. Also note that you cannot destroy
enemies with your tongue, although you can grab fruits and powerups using
it.
After you have been turned into a frog, continue to the right.
Go past all the hills and to the next sign at pos. 40, 26. This sign
will read "If you are turned into a frog Eva Earlong can help!" This
information will prove useful soon. To the left of the sign you will
see some platforms in the air. Ignore these for a second. Instead,
continue going right and down the hill. At the bottom of the hill
you will see 4 light grey blocks with a star on each. Whenever you
see a block like this, you can destroy it with any weapon, or by using
the buttstomp or Jazz's and Spaz's special moves. However, you cannot
destroy the blocks when you are a frog.
From the position of the four grey star blocks, go back up the
hill a little and jump onto the purple branch that is hanging horizontally
on the wall to the right. From this branch, jump up to the next grassy
platform to the right. Run all the way to the end of the path and
against the puple wall. You will be at positon 84, 27. From
here, look up and you will see a red spring on a purple branch. Jump
up to get onto the spring.
Now you will see a network of branches with many lemons.
I would advise for you to Not get the lemons right now. You will
see why a little later. You may accidently get a few, but try to
stay away from them as much as possible. From the red spring, use
the it to go left and land on the next purple branch, which should have
4 lemons above it. Go to the left hand side of this branch and get
onto the red spring at the end. Use this spring to get onto the next
one that is just a little above and to the left. Now, use this red
spring to get onto the grassy platform to the left.
Once you are on the grassy platform, continue to the left and
you will come to another red spring at pos. 61, 9. Use the spring
to get onto the next green platform above. Once again, don't get
the lemons above the platform. Keep going left and drop down to the
platform below. Look to the right and you will see Eva Earlong.
Approach her and she will kiss you, turning you back into Jazz.
After you are Jazz again, look to the left and you will see 4
light grey blocks with an exclamation mark on each. Whenever you
see a block with an "!" on it, you can break it by stomping on it or using
Jazz's and Spaz's special moves. (To do a buttstomp, press "down"
while you are in the air.) You do not actually have to break the
blocks now. In fact, I would advice backtracking to the right so
you can collect the lemons. The reason why I suggested that you didn't
collect the lemons before was because, as you collect them, you may get
the Sugar Rush powerup. When you have this powerup, it is really
easy to destroy the witch. All you need to do is jump into her and
she will be destroyed. It's better to be Jazz when you have the powerup,
which is why it's good to collect them after Eva has kissed you.
Before doing this next part, read the next paragraph. Otherwise
you won't have enough time to use the powerup. If you have already
had the powerup in the level before, or if you can't get it by collecting
the lemons as described below, then just skip the next paragraph.
Start collecting lemons until you have Sugar Rush. Once
you have it, quickly go left and back to where you first saw the witch.
When you see her, immediately jump into her and see will be destroyed.
Remember, she can turn you into a frog when you have Sugar Rush, so be
careful that she doesn't do this. For now on, I will not mention
about getting turned into a frog. If you getted turned into a frog
again, just follow the same steps you did before and then continue reading
below.
Everybody will be at different spots now. Wherever you
are, return to the second sign at position 40, 26. This next part
is hard to do if you didn't destroy the witch, but it still is possible.
From the sign, go left a little bit and you will see some platforms
hanging in midair, which I mentioned earlier. Jump back and forth
onto each of the five platforms until you get to the top. Jump onto
the grassy platform to the left that has two crates on it. Stomp
on them or shoot them to destroy the crates. The one on the right
is a weapon crate. Depending on which weapons you have, it will give
different things when it is destroyed. However, it will only give
a total of 8 weapons, no matter what you already have. Each of these
is worth 3 rounds of the weapons, giving you a total of 24 rounds.
The second crate will hold 4 red gems. If you collect 100 of these
gems and the green and blue ones you will get an extra life. Red
gems are worth 1 gem, green 5, and blue 10.
Drop down from the platform you are on and go right again.
Return to where the lemons are and collect the ones that you haven't gotten
yet. There will be 16 lemons above the tree branches and 6 above
the area where Eva is. I'm not going to mention just exactly how
to get them all because some people will have collected different ones.
After you have all the lemons, return to the 4 grey star blocks that I
mentioned earlier.
Now that you are Jazz, you can destroy the blocks. Immediately
after the blocks are gone, destroy the turtle enemy. It will take
a different amount of shots to destroy him, depending on what weapon you
have. After he is destroyed, stand in front of the shell and either
do Jazz's special move or do a buttstomp to destroy the shell. (To
do Jazz's special move, press "down" and press the "jump" button.)
It isn't necessary to destroy the shell, but it does give you an extra
100 points.
If you look a little to the right, you will see a hole with two
carrots above it. In the hole will be several white outlines of blocks.
You will need to find a metal crate that you can destroy to make blocks
appear where the white outlines are.
Before you go down the hole, jump over it and onto the next platform
to the right. You will be able to get 2 carrots as you jump across.
Each carrot will restore one heart of you health if you have lost any.
Once you have jumped over the pit, continue a little to the right and you
will see 4 lemons. Jump up to collect these. Then, continue
to the right and drop down into the area that has white outlines of blocks
above it. Run down the hill and across the grassy path until you
reach a purple wall. (pos. 94, 44) From this wall, jump up and hold
down the "right" button and you will go into the wall. When you are
in the wall, go right and you will drop down the wall. Then, go left
and onto the next platform. While you are in the wall, you will be
able to collect 9 red gems.
Now, Jazz will be in a small room with a green spring and a black
screen that has a picture of fire on it. First, stomp on or shoot
at the black fire screen to destroy it. This will give Jazz a fire
shield. The fire shield will not only protect you from enemies, but
will also give you an unlimited amount of fire weapon. (Use the number
"1" key on the keyboard to access the weapon.) The catch is that
you only get it for 40 seconds, so use your time wisely.
After you have the powerup, continue to the left and run onto
the green spring. This spring will bounce you back up to the grassy
platform above. From there, back track to the left and go back up
the grassy hill. Once you are at the top, drop down the pit that
I mentioned earlier.
When you reach the bottom of the hole, you will land on top of
a blue box with a checkmark on it. (pos. 75, 52) Whenever you see
a blue box with a checkmark on it, pass by it and a white bunny will pop
out. If you die, this is the spot you will start at instead of having
to play the whole level over again.
From the position of the checkpoint, go left and up the grassy
hill. At pos. 66, 49 on the hill, you will see 8 flamethrower weapons
above you. Collect all of them for a total of 24 rounds of the weapon.
After you have done that, keep going left up the hill and you will come
to a turtle enemy. Destroy him.
Continue going left and drop down to the next platform.
This platform will also have a turtle enemy on it that you need to destroy.
If you have ambient lighting on, as you drop down to this platform the
whole screen will turn dark except for a small circle arond Jazz, which
will still be light. Whether you have ambient lighting or not, continue
to the left and up the hill. At the top of the hill will be four
lemons. Collect these. Now you will notice that there is a
platform above and to the right of you. However, do not jump on this
yet. Instead, continue to the left and down the grassy hill.
At this point, some flies may start chasing you. Kill each
fly as you see him. Continue to the end of the path and you will
be at position 28, 48. From this postion, jump up and to the left
and you will see a brown crate. Shoot or stomp this and inside will
be a 1-up that you can collect. Just a little to the right of this
1-up, you will see a small platform that is floating just a little ways
off of the ground. Jump onto this and you will be at pos. 31, 45.
Now, duck and press the jump button to break the grey "!" blocks above.
Above the 3 "!" blocks will be 6 red gems. Collect these. If
you are using Spaz, you will not be able to collect these.
After getting the red gems, backtrack to the right and back to
where the four lemons were. (pos. 44, 44) Jump onto the platform
above and to the right of you that I mentioned earlier. After you
are on this platform, immediately destroy the fly enemy to the left. (Note:
Some of the fly enemies that I mention in this paragraph and the next one
you may have already destoryed.)
From the platform you are on, jump onto the next grassy platform
to the left. Just like before, you will need to immediately destroy
the fly enemy to the left of the platform. After the fly is destroyed,
jump onto the bigger platform to the left and destroy the fly enemy there.
At the end of this platform, you will see what looks like steps.
Jump onto the first step and destroy the fly enemey there. Then,
jump onto the top step at pos. 25, 34.
Continue to the left and walk onto the grey "!" blocks.
If you didn't destroy the witch, be careful because she can still turn
you into a frog when you're around this area. If she does, you will
have to die and restart at the checkpoint. To do so, press "F9" twice
(it you already haven't) and type in "jjk"
To break the blocks, just do a normal buttstomp. I would
advice that you stand in the middle of the blocks so that Jazz will destroy
both sides instead of just one. There really isn't a purpose for
destroying all the blocks, but you do get quite a few extra points.
After you have broken the blocks, you will fall onto a grassy
platform below. When you land, immediately destroy the turtle enemy
to the right. However, instead of continuing to the right, go left
and run up against the purple wall. You willl be at pos. 22, 60.
Now, jump up and hold down the "left" button and Jazz will walk through
the wall and onto a purple branch on the other side of the wall.
In this room you will find a square of 16 lemons. In the middle of
the square will be a 1-up. Collect all of this and leave through
the same wall you came in through.
After you have left the area described above, go right to about
the middle of the purple branch you are standing on, at about pos. 27,
60. Above this position will be a slanted platform. Jump onto
this and go up to the top of the platform. Here, you will find a
blue gem. Collect this and drop down from the slanted platform.
Immediately after you have dropped down from the blue gem, destroy the
fly enemy to the right.
Once the fly is destroyed, go up the grassy hill. At the
top of the hill will be four lemons. Collect these and continue to
the right and down the hill. On your way down, destroy the two fly
enemies.
At the bottom of the hill will be a turtle enemy. Destroy
him. If you had ambient lighting on, about when you reach the bottom
of the hill, at pos. 57, 60, the screen will turn bright again. After
the turtle is destroyed, continue to the right and at pos. 67, 60 will
be the metal crate I mentioned earlier. Stomp on this and purple
blocks will appear some ways above you, at the top right hand corner of
the screen. After the metal crate is destroy, run toward the right
to the end of the path. Here you will find 3 green springs.
Use these to get to the platform above.
You will notice that now you are at a place where you have already
been. It is the pit that you fell into. Now that the blocks
have appeared in the pit, you will be able to work your way back up the
hole. Since you've already passed by the checkpoint box, you won't
have to worry about doing that.
Jump up the entire pit using the aid of the blocks. When
you reach the top, jump onto the platform to the right. There may
be one or two carrots at the top of the pit if you didn't already get them.
After you are on the grassy platform, go right and cross the bridge of
purple blocks. At the end of this will be two carrots. Each
of these will restore one of your health hearts if you have lost any health.
From the position of the carrots, (pos. 94, 36) jump up to the
next grassy platform to the right. Here you will find another blue
checkpoint box at pos. 98, 33. Pass by this. From where the
checkpoint is, jump onto the next platform above and to the right.
Then, jump onto the next hill to the left. Run toward the left and
to the top of the hill, so you are right against the purple wall.
Now, do a small jump and hold down the "left" button and Jazz will go into
the wall. Run left when you are in the wall and you will drop down
out of the wall and onto the bridge that had the two carrots on it below.
On your way down, you will collect about 6 red gems. When you are
out of the wall, you will be at position 89, 36.
Go right and run across the bridge again. Go back up to
the checkpoint, to the platform above the checkpoint, and onto the hill
to the left and you will be back where you were before you collected the
red gems. From this hill, jump onto the next grassy hill to the right.
Run toward the right and up the hill. At the top, destroy the turtle
enemy that will be there.
From the position where the turtle was, (position 109, 20) look
up and you will see a purple vine. There are two ways you can get
onto this vine. First, you can just duck and press the jump button
when you are under the vine. This will make Jazz jump higher so he
can reach it. Or, you can jump onto the the grassy hill to the left
and get onto the rope from there. To make it across, you will need
to either press the jump button many times so Jazz will twirl his ears
and jump farther, or you will need to use the "Shift" button on the keyboard
to make Jazz run faster and jump higher and further. When you are
on the next platform, simply make Jazz do a normal jump to get onto the
rope above.
Once you are on the purple rope, move Jazz to the middle of it
and jump up to grab the 5 lemons hanging above you. After you have
collected these, go right and to the end of the rope. Once you are
at the end, jump off and onto the grassy platform to the right.
Immediately after you are off of the rope, destroy the 3 bees
to the right. The bees are worse than flies because they are faster
and more aggressive, so be quick about destroying them. I would suggest
using the pee-shooter to destroy them so that you can get the bees from
a distance.
After the bees are destroyed, continue to the right and down
the grassy hill until you get to the very bottom of the hill at pos. 126,
15. At this position, do a butt stomp and many red gems will pop
out of the ground. Collect these quickly before they disappear.
After collecting the gems, continue to the right and up the grassy
hill. At the top of the hill, you will come to a tunnel that will
blow you to the left. Run through this tunnel and, at the end of
the tunnel, jump up and to the right onto the next platform.
You will be at position 145, 8. Now, drop down to the green spring
below and let it bounce you through all the springs and grey "!" blocks.
When you have passed all of this, you will be at pos. 147, 30.
From that position, go right and destroy the turtle enemy.
Keep going right and go down the hill. You will see 6 orange fruits.
Collect these. After that, destroy the sign that says "Rabbits Stink"
by shooting it once. Then, continue to the right and up the hill
and destroy the turtle that is half way up the hill.
Run to the top of the hill and destroy the next turtle enemy
there. After he is destroyed, keep going right and to the end of
the platform. Here you will find a green spring at pos. 183, 28.
Use the spring to get the 5 lemons above it. Then, use the green
spring to get onto the purple branch to the left and collect the 9 red
gems there. Finally, use the spring to get onto the next grassy green
platform to the right.
Go down the entire hill, collecting the 3 red gems on your way.
At the bottom of the hill, roast the two turtle enemies. Then, run
to the end of the platform and use the red spring (pos. 207, 22) to get
up to the next platform above and to the right. Here you will find
two more turtle enemies. Destroy them both, but be careful that you
don't have any stray shots. This is because right up ahead, at pos.
224, 16, is a tree that can collapse if you shoot it. You don't want
it to collaspe because if it does you will not be able to get the three
red gems on the other side of the tree. To access the gems, jump
and hold down the "right" button when you are by the tree and you can hop
through the middle. Collect the three red gems and get out the same
way you can in. After you have collected the gems, you can shoot
the tree to make it collapse.
You will now notice that there are two carrots that you can collect
if you have lost any health. To get the one on the tree, you will
need to get a running start and jump up or you can just duck under the
tree and press the jump button to make Jazz jump higher to get up there.
The other carrot is pretty straight forward, as it is just by the sign
that says "Exit"
Wherever you are, go to the Exit sign at pos. 230, 14.
Before you continue to the right, I would suggest to save the game right
here because, to finish this level, you will need to defeat a boss.
Although he is relatively easy to destroy, it's good to have the game saved
just so you don't have to replay one third of the level to get back to
the boss if you die. If you do not know how to save a game, press
the "Esc" button and choose "Save Game" Then, choose the slot you
would like to save your game in, press "Enter, type in a name for the saved
game, and press "Enter" again.
HOW TO DEFEAT THE BOSS:
First of all, I suggest that you start out by using any of the
flamethrower weapon you have left because it is the most affective weapon
against the boss. So, before you go toward the right from the Exit
sign, select this weapon, if you have any left. (The flamethower weapon
is number "6" on the keyboard.) I wouldn't worry about using the
ice or launcher weapons, because they are pretty useless for this boss.
If you have full health, a good strategy that you can use is
to shoot the carrot by the exit sign toward the right. This way,
if you start to run out of health while you are fighting the boss, you
can grab the carrot.
Once you're ready, continue to the right from the Exit sign.
Go down the hill a little and the screen will move to the right and the
music will change. You will see a small red devil on the screen and
a health meter for the boss at the top of the screen. He is your
target. Aim your weapon...and fire.
STRATEGIES OF THE BOSS:
*Hops around a lot.
*If you are far away from him, the boss will do a whirlwind move and
come at you very quickly.
*If you and the boss are on the same level, the boss will shoot fire
out of his mouth at you.
STRATEGIES YOU CAN USE:
*Never stay in one spot. The more you jump around, the harder
it is for the boss to get you.
*Hold down the fire button the whole time. Although this uses
up ammo quickly, you want to make sure that you can get as many hits in
on the boss in the shortest amount of time that you can. By now you
should have enough Fast Fire guns that you will not need to rapidly press
the fire button to be able to get a steady stream of weapon fire.
*If you shot the carrot into the boss screen like I described above,
get this when you are running out of health.
*Only use weapon fire at the boss, don't try to stomp him or do any
other special move against him.
*Never stop moving!
Below is the number of shots it will take of each weapon to destroy
the boss:
Blaster (weapon 1) -- 93 shots
Launcher (weapon 2) -- 93 shots
Flamethrower (wepon 6) -- 15 shots
Once you have defeated the boss, it will say at the top of the screen
"You made it! This is the end of the shareware version." After
these words leave the screen, wait a few seconds and Jazz will exit the
level.
------------------------------
If I missed something in this walkthrough, or if you have any comments
or questions, please E-mail me at wakeman@cet.com.
| . |
| 5/13/98 - 17:26 - Hacker Breaks Into JJ2! |
Here is the post from Hidden:
Ok first of all this is against my better judgement becuase
I dont want good players to be accused of cheating just
becuase they are amazing (IE Merlin looks like he is
cheating, you ever even see him you just die):). There is a
program that basically makes you godlike in JJ2. I have it,
and no one else does to my knowledge and also no one
else will have it. I dont give it out or use it so dont bother
asking for it or how it works or anything. If you want a
demostration I can do one when I'm not busy playing. My
server is HiDDeN's HiDeAwAy. No password. I have used
the program once when someone was using shields when
I told them no shields in my server and they were cursing
everyone off. Many of you already know about this, so I'm
just telling you to b**** like hell to Epic or Orange or
anyone who can do anything saying listen to me. I sent an
email to tech support like 3 days ago just basically
outlines how the program works and stuff but didnt send
the program. And I got nothing back, I didnt send the
program with it because I wanted to see if they would
blow me off and not listen to me which it seems they
have. All 3 days were business days so I should have
gotten a reply. Umm I'm just going to stress this I'm not a
KwElDooD or anything and I never use my program,
besides showing people it and stopping people from
ruining my server. I dont give it out becuase i don't think
all of you would be as responsable (IE diablo or Fuse for
UO). Ok umm if i sent my email to the wrong place can
someone tell me where I should. If I didn't lets all send
emails to all the address we can find and all the game
pages telling them about it, see if we can force them to
listen to me.
| . |
| 5/11/98 - 16:23 - Cheats |
Here is the complete list
of cheats (from Onag):
jjguns
jjgod
jjk
jjkill (not possible to use, because of jjk, but it exists)
jjd
jjcolor
jjrush
jjshield
jjbird
jjmorph
jjinv
jjcpu
jjq
jjfly
jjnowall
jjammo
jjcoins
jjb
jjfire
jjlight
jjgems
jjpower
jjnxt
jjnext
| . |
| 5/9/98 - 18:20 - Music Released |
Scratch that, just checked,
and StevenT released some MP3s (not the best of sound quality, but you
can't expect anymore with what he had to work with). Click here
to go directly to his downloads page. Or click here
to go to the main page.
Thanks StevenT for taping those MP3s.
| 5/9/98 - 18:03 - Nothing again |
No news for the past couple
days (atleast nothing significant)...
| . |
| 5/7/98 - 15:49 - Europe |
Even though I think a fair
amount of you already know about this, I thought since jazzjackrabbit.com
posted this, I might as well :)
You can now find Jazz Jackrabbit 2 in your local computer game store throughout mainland Europe courtesy of Project 2 Interactive B.V.!
Black Friar, who are distributing Jazz Jackrabbit 2 via retail in the United Kingdom expect copies to appear on store shelves towards the end of May.
Other than this, no news today..
| . |
| 5/6/98 - 18:02 - Success! |
JJ2 is a big success! Read
about it here!
| 5/6/98 - 18:02 - Official FAQ! |
OFFICIAL JJ2 FAQ released!
Click here
to read it.
| . |
| 5/5/98 - 10:04 - US goes GOLD! |
Craig tells us a general release
date by this post!
Just wanted to let everyone who has been waiting know
that Jazz Jackrabbit 2 (US version) has gone GOLD and
has been sent to the duplicators. When I know an exact
date we will have it to start shipping I will let everyone
know, but we will ship all pre-orders out the day we get
the CDs back from the duplicators. Thanks for the
patience, I think you will find it worth the wait!
| . |
| 5/4/98 - 15:52 - Nothing |
So far, no news today.. thought
I'd go ahead and post this though, just so you know I'm still updating
daily :)
| . |
| 5/2/98 - 10:06 - Secrets list! |
Secrets list for Chemical
Warfare posted! Go to the tips section under Strategy:Multiplayer.
Or click here.
| 5/2/98 - 10:06 - Framerate help |
For all of you who have slow
frame rates (press f9 to check), here's a message Jon wrote:
There are a number of things you can do to improve your
frame rate, though on a P100 640 x 480 is pushing it.
Another important factor is how much memory your video
card has.
This list is in no particular order:
- Go to 8 bit colour.
- Reduce the Sound Quality to Medium or Low.
- Turn off Textured Background.
- Turn of Ambient Lighting.
- Run in Low Detail.
- Try running DirectSound instead of WindowsMM.
- Try running both Hardware Mode and Non-Hardware
Mode.
The Hardware mode is a tricky one. Some video cards run
better in Hardware Mode than in Non Hardware and vice
versa.
One card which runs better in Non Hardware Mode which
we know of is the Matrox Millenium 1 4Mb. We also know
that Cirrus Logic cards don't run Jazz 2 too well either.
Try experimenting with different settings.
Getting a good framerate on a P100 _is_ possible tho
providing your video card is fast. I used to have a P120
w/64Mb RAM and a 4Mb STB Velocity 128 video card and I
could get 50-60fps in 640 x 400.
| . |
| 5/1/98 - 16:07 - Patch Released |
SW Patch released! Includes
new lag code and new level among other things.. click here
to d/l it from Epic Megagames (US).
| . |
| 4/29/98 - 16:17 - 404 File Not Found |
Jon updated his page
with a cool note: (late on this, about a day or two.. sry :)
"I also just finished working on a new Shareware
CTF map called
Chemical Warfare. Thanks to Noogy,
PaG, Onag, Dethman,
Scotty and San for testing it with
me!"
:-)
| . |
| 4/28/98 - 11:47 - Review of SW! |
Here's a direct quotation
from the official Jazz Jackrabbit site:
Aaron Mitschelen was so impressed with the Jazz Jackrabbit 2 shareware version, that he sent us this fantastic review!
So suffice it to say, I was immediately hooked. More astonishing than the jaw dropping intro, though, was the fact that the rest of the game lived up to it in every respect. From it's gorgeous high resolution, high color graphics to its music (which is worthy of being sold on its own), everything about Jazz 2 is of the absolute highest quality. The gameplay is no exception, which is something I'm sure surprised a great number of players. After all, the platform genre is dead, and has been for quite some time now. Somehow, though, Epic managed to come up with a magic pill, and saved the genre, to the delight of all the gamers rapidly becoming weary of one first person 3d shooter after another. They even added Internet multiplayer capabilities to the mix, something new to this style of game.
The first time I played Jazz Jackrabbit 1, the feeling that struck me was that it was a lot like Sonic the Hedgehog, brought to the PC. It didn't take me too long to realize that Jazz 1 was a great deal better, both in level design and actual gameplay, but Jazz 2 never suffered from such comparison. It's noticeably better in every facet of gameplay than any other platform game I've ever seen, including its predecessor, which was no slouch. From balance of shooting versus puzzles to the correct amount of run and jump the game is perfect. Epic even managed to include the careful jumps from ledge to ledge so characteristic of platform games without overdoing it to the point where it becomes no fun, which I personally believe played no small part in the fall from glory of platform games. Another round of applause to the Jazz 2 team for providing enough options to allow the game to run beautifully on slower machines, while still providing owners of faster machines the fancy bells and whistles they bought their hardware for. The ambient lighting in Jazz 2 is very impressive, but without a fast machine and a decent video card, it can really slow things down. But if it causes you trouble, just turn it off. Still too slow? Drop the resolution from an impressive 640x480 to a more moderate 512x 384, or 320x240. Or lower the color depth from 16 bit to 8 bit. Jazz Jackrabbit 2 even takes MMX capabilities into account for those with MMX enabled processors in their machines, pulling out all the stops for the highest possible performance on any given machine. In fact, by turning off enough bells and whistles, I managed to get smooth animation while connected to the Internet, running Pegasus Mail, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Front Page, all at once! Without all these things running, I easily pull 30 frames per second, which is smoother than most Saturday morning cartoons.
Jazz Jackrabbit 2, in addition to its amazing technical achievements, throws another character into the fray. I've you've looked around this site at all, you know that Jazz is the green rabbit, and the hero of the story, but you've also got Spaz, Jazz's little brother to play as. Slightly cracked, Spaz is fun just to sit and watch, but in addition to another set of sprites, Spaz provides actual gameplay changes. Each rabbit has his own pros and cons. For example, while Spaz can't use his ears as a propeller to considerably increase the length of a jump, he's got a mean karate kick that Jazz just can't touch. Spaz is also a little easier to control for clumsy players, while Jazz keeps the edge on maneuverability, giving any player reasons to try both. As I mentioned earlier, Jazz 2 has Internet multiplayer capabilities, something no other game in the genre has even attempted before. Called "Party Mode," this multiplayer system allows play both over the Internet and head to head, through a split screen. With up to four people per machine, and eight machines per game, you've got the potential for a thirty-two player Jazz-fest! Party mode is certainly an appropriate name!
Yet another thing in Jazz's favor is that it doesn't rely on blood and gore to rivet its players, something the computer gaming industry is doing too much of lately. This makes Jazz Jackrabbit 2 (and Jazz 1 for that matter), a perfect choice for younger players.
As anyone who knows me will tell you, I'm a great complainer, and even with Jazz 2, I could find one complaint. On a 15 inch monitor, high resolution (640x480) left the graphics a tad small, but detail was certainly still visible, and, as I said, the resolution can easily be slightly reduced (512x384 fixed the size problem, and is still a good resolution). On larger monitors, the problem doesn't even exist.
Jazz Jackrabbit 2 has features galore, outstanding gameplay for both single players and large groups, and that certain "something" that so many games lose when throwing in the eyecandy. It's is the first real winner in a long time. Epic has done a great job adding new things, and I can't wait for their next release in the Jazz line-who knows that they'll do next? Maybe add a third character to play as(Eva Earlong?). Maybe not. But whatever they do, if they stay on this track, they're certain to please. One thing's for sure: In his quest to stop Devan Shell, Jazz (or Spaz!) will never get bored; there's always something new if you just scroll a little to the right. I personally can't wait for the commercial version to leave the duplicators.
| . |
| 4/26/98 - 13:15 - Delayed! |
Due to a secret project,
Warped has been delayed! DethMan said, quote, "I will not discuss anything
about it."
| . |
| 4/22/98 - 15:45 - No news! :) |
There has been no real news
for the past couple of days.. however, I have posted the walkthroughs for
SW lev 1 and 2 that were made by Steven.
| . |
| 4/18/98 - 10:07 - Epic Newsletter |
Due to popular demand, I've
posted the newsletter Epic wrote out (seems some people didn't get it).
Here it is:
Epic MegaNews Flash!!!
The shareware version of Jazz Jackrabbit 2, the
sequel to the
PC Format 1994 Arcade Game of the Year, has been
released!
Travel back in time with Jazz Jackrabbit to stop
the nefarious
turtle Devan Shell from ruining Jazz's future,
and his life with
Eva, the damsel he saved from Devan in the original
Jazz Jackrabbit.
Visit http://www.jazzjackrabbit.com for a list
of sites from which
you can download the shareware version of Jazz
Jackrabbit 2.
The shareware version features three single player
levels, one
Internet playable multiplayer level, and one
local machine or
local area network multiplayer level.
Jazz Jackrabbit 2 features:
- All new character: Spaz, Jazz's spaced out brother.
- Over 1500 frames of animation per character.
- Up to 640x480, 16-Bit color, eight-layer parallax
scrolling graphics.
- CD-quality sound and music.
- Over 28 different levels featuring changing
backgrounds, snow,
rain, wind and other weather effects.
- Engrossing game environment that features animated
backgrounds,
ambient sound effects and destructible scenery.
- Deliriously fun Party Mode: Jazz up your social
life with four-mode
multiplayer gaming: two to four players on one
screen; up to eight
players on two screens via modem; up to 32 players
on eight
screens via lan or the Internet.
- More then 10 weapons, most of which can be
powered up!
- Special moves unique to each character give
the game awesome
replay value!
-Optimized to provide enhanced sound and graphics
if you have a
processor with MMX(tm) technology by Intel.
What, you're still reading this? Go download Jazz
Jackrabbit 2 now,
you won't regret it!
You can now place your credit card pre-order for
the full version of Jazz
Jackrabbit 2 via the Internet at https://www.epicgames.com/JazzShop/,
or by phone:
- in the USA or Canada, call 1-888-689-JAZZ or
- in Europe, call +44 1202 52 10 11
- elsewhere, call our USA office at (301) 468-6012
The direct-order price is only $34.95 in the USA or £29 in Europe.
Jazz2 will also be available soon in retail stores
in Europe and Australia
courtesy of Project 2 Interactive.
Jazz 2 requires:
Pentium 90 or higher PC with 2X CD Rom.
16 Megs of Ram.
Windows 95
28.8 modem and Internet connection for Internet
play.
Be sure to hop over to www.jazzjackrabbit.com
for the latest
Jazz 2 news and info.
Craig Lafferty
Public Relations Manager
Epic MegaGames
http://www.epicgames.com
| . |
| 4/17/98 - 16:33 - Scotty Graduates! |
Scotty, Dean's assistant
in art and animates (a major help in other words :) is graduating from
college today! Perhaps slightly out of topic, but I wanted to mention it
:)
| . |
| 4/14/98 - 16:22 - Preview! |
Unreal Nation does a preview
of Jazz 2! They hit it right on the dot! Check
it out!
| . |
| 4/13/98 - 16:46 - Warped! |
DethMan announces production
of Warped tile-set...Warped will be worked on in general until JCS comes
out. When the regd version is out, it shouldn't be too long until it's
done.
| 4/13/98 - 13:44 - Forgot |
Forgot one secret...
Level 1:
Secret 5:
At 140,20, jump up and to the right, there is a gold coin there.
| . |
| 4/12/98 - 13:49 - Special Co-Op mode! |
I would like to thank Arma
a LOT for telling me this... I'll let him explain:
I don't know if this is a SECRET,
but I'll shoot.... In the
shareware version of JJ2, Start a 1 player game
and save it. Then start
a new game on a computer that's multiplayer.
(Of course you have to
pick treasure hunt and you may have 1-4 players)
While playing the
battle... hit escape and pick load game.
Load up your 1 player game and
voila! There you all are! You can't
interact with eachother (shooting
eachother, jumping on eachother, etc.) But it
sure is a lot of fun!
Player one will be the saved charactor.... (Regular
colored Jazz or
Spazz) I hope you post this trick. Thank
you for reading my letter.
| . |
| 4/11/98 - 16:52 - Secrets |
I know some of these secrets
aren't really secrets, but I put them in anyway. Here's the third level:
SPOILER!
Level 3: Frog Stomp
The beginning with the two crates will be explained in the walkthrough.
Also, earlier in Level two, I talked about a secret I couldn't get
to.. I found out it was Spaz's starting point.
Secret 1:
At 72,35, there are two carrots, and a pit down. Jump over the pit, and drop down into the next one (83,36). It might seem like there's nothing here, but that's too obvious. Jump to the right, and you'll get inside a tunnel (95,42). The tunnel is full of gems (unkown ammount). At the end is a fire power up.
Secret 2:
This one is almost too obvious. At 22,60, you can see an extra life to the left (probably not in 320x480). Simply jump to the left, and get the life (13,61).
Secret 3:
Again, a half secret. At 184,16, jump to the left and get the red gems
I know I probably missed a secret or two, so if anyone finds any, let
me know.
Also, I forgot to poste in my last update, in order to get the coordinates
up, press "F9" twice.
Have fun!
| 4/11/98 - 13:35 - Secrets |
Okay, I've run out of time,
but I'll post the secrets I've typed up so far. Here they are.
WARNING! SPOILER BELOW, SECRETS BELOW!
Alright... here's the lowdown on the secrets... Steve's going to do the walkthrough, just thought I'd get this up quick.
Level 1: Darn Rats
Secret 1:
Not EXACTLY a secret.. but more out of the way. There is an extra life
in this one.
At 20,44, jump up and get on the hook, then jump over to the ledge
(15,38). From here, jump again, still to the left, and get on top of the
pipes (9,36).. jump yet again to the left, onto the ledge sticking out
of the wall.. (5,34) Then stomp the crate at (1,32) to get an extra life.
Secret 2:
Position: 68,42
Just after the sign that says "Coins give you access to the warps that appear later", there is a spring (68,42). Jump on, or over the spring and hold down the left walk key, you will go inside a passage (66,41). Keep moving left, and you will drop down. There are four coins (66,51) and a crate (75,49) that contains 3 (maybe four, don't think so tho) gems.
Secret 3:
Again, not exactly a secret.. but I thought I'd put it in anyway. At
the sign that says "To pass this area, stomp the secret metal crate" (106,17)
don't. Go to the right and fall down.
Get the six coins (108,27) and move to the right at the sign that says
"Stomp in the right place, and you will find a surprise!" (118,27) keep
going to the right, in the middle of the red lights. Jump up and stomp,
making gems spray out (120,27).
Secret 4:
At 134,20, you'll be given a choice of three tubes. There is also an extra life to the right. If you're space, point towards it, then press and hold down, and press jump. This will make Spaz do a karate kick. In the first tube you get 8 gems (red 135,20), in the second there are several enemies (rats 137,20). In the third tube is a bird.. (chuck or flip, unsure.. 139,20).
Secret 5:
Again, another "out of the way" secret. At (190,34) there are two blocks,
and gems above them. If you are Jazz, press and hold down, then press jump.
This will stomp-up. (it also jumps higher).
Level 2: Retro Rabbit:
Secret 1:
At 64,53, there is a cheshire cat.. this is a joke really.. :) Anyway, jump up and grab hold of the cat. It will bring you up, and (I play on hard, not sure about easy) there will be a mosquito.. kind've annoying, but not hard to get past. At 60,41 there is an extra life.. just jump off the cat (who should be blinking by now) and get it.
Secret 2:
Okay, at 102,36, there is a ledge. Directly to the right, (108,33) there is a tree. If you are Jazz, you can hold down shift (run key) and jump at the edge of the tree, while going left.. then use your ears to hover. If done right, you'll land on a ledge (86,30) where there is a badguy.. shoot him, and grab the two red gems to the right. Then jump on the different ledges to the left, grab another two red jems, and keep going (70,31). Once you reach the end, there is a crate with a carrot in it (57,31).
Secret 3:
At 141,50, there is another cheshire cat. Jump up and grab hold. There are two gems, get them.
Secret 4:
Ok, not exactly a secret, we'll whip through this. At 193,50, there are a bunch of ledges, jump up, then get on top of the organ, and stomp the crate to the right (215,29). This'll open the blocks. There are coins to the left in the passage.
There is a secret near secret 2 that I don't know how to get to yet..
and I've run short of time, so I'll just post what I have right now.
| . |
| 4/10/98 - 18:03 - Late.. sorry :-) |
Sorry it took me a little
while to post this, but I was having so much fun playing JJ2.. :) It's
out, go d/l it. Also, you can pre-order JJ2 by calling 1-800-972-7434.
As soon as the regd version is out, and we have it, we'll try to get out
walkthroughs etc..
Now let's have some fun!
| . |
| 4/7/98 - 10:01 - To be... or not to be. |
Well, Epic Megagames has
put a sign on their main page that says "They're Coming!" This could mean
only one thing.. it's almost here.
| . |
| 4/6/98 - 16:16 - All formats of music listed! |
Well, here's the list of
ALL the music formats that can be converted and used for JJ2.
Composer 669
.669
Galaxy Music System 3.x .AM
Farandole Composer 1.x .FAR
FastTracker 1.x
.MOD
FastTracker 2.x
.XM
Impulse Tracker 2.x
.IT
Multi Tracker 1.x
.MTM
Poly Tracker 1.x
.PTM
ProTracker 2.x
.MOD
Scream Tracker 3.x
.S3M
Scream Tracker 2.x
.STM
TakeTracker 2.x
.MOD
Ultra Tracker 1.x
.ULT
Unis 669
.669
| . |
| 4/5/98 - 11:35 - Posted.. |
Dean posts an important message
about tile-set making:
Just a word of advice to all of you creating your own
tilesets...
The images must conform to a certain palette that Jazz
requires, so don't do a whole lot till you know what this
palette is (which will be made available upon the release of
Jazz)...
Each tile is 32x32 pixels, at 10 tiles across and however
many tiles down (I believe the limit of tiles per tileset is
1024, but better get Michiel for the actual number)...
Make sure your tiles fit eachother, so you get smooth
platforms and stuff..
In order to create a mask you have to have a black and
white image, the white being the solid part of the tile...
There are more things, but I can't remember them all. Jazz
2 will come with info about creating tilesets and all, and
how to bring them into the JCS. Hope that helps for now.
And yes, it is incredibly cool to play a level that you either
created the artwork for or designed :) JCS Rulez!!!
| . |
| 4/3/98 - 14:52 - Jon caught with too much time! |
Jon MacLellan has been cought
red handed! A picture was taken of his connection to the internet, which
listed -83- hours straight. That's way too much extra time, and too good
of a connection! :) Click here
to go to Jon's page with the picture. Of course, this news is in no way
related to Jazz 2, but then there hasn't been any Jazz 2 news worth noting
anyway.
| . |
| 3/31/98 - 13:45 - J2W officially closed. |
Jon MacLellan has officially
announced that Jazz 2 Warehouse, that great old site that had all the latest
greatest stuff during the summer, is now down for good. Promising before
to update it, Jon decided he just wouldn't be able to keep up with all
the work for the site, and other projects he has to work on, quote: "...I
just don't have the time to devote the attention a site like that needs."
We all wish he would've kept the site going, since it was indeed one of
the best Jazz 2 sites. Never the less, Jon promised he'd be making Jazz
2 levels anyway, "I'll make any Jazz 2 levels I design
available for download on my personal home page..." Read his entire
message below:
Hi Guys,
Probably should have written this message a _long_ time
ago, but anyway here goes:
I've officially decided to close the Jazz 2 Warehouse for
good. It's been sitting on the Games Domain servers since
last July doing nothing in the hope I'd update it again.
With current workloads and possible future projects, I just
don't have the time to devote the attention a site like that
needs. I know I've told most of you I'd be redesigning, but
even that now is no more.
I'll make any Jazz 2 levels I design available for download
on my personal home page (which I will redesign) after
Jazz 2 is released.
I'd just like to thank all the people who supported and
visited the J2W, it was really appreciated.
If you've got links to the J2W on your web pages then I'd
appreciate it if you could remove those.
| . |
| 3/28/98 - 17:20 - Another preview! |
GameSpot does a preview
of Jazz Jackrabbit 2!
| . |
| 3/27/98 - 12:30 - Big update |
Well, I've changed the title
again, and the little thing that said "Jazz" next to each news piece, and
updated the downloads section to include the individual music files, and
the background. Steven has also updated the links page to include JazzNET.
Things are looking up... :)
| 3/27/98 - 10:51 - EpicTrak! |
An amazing new feature has
been added to the megaboard!! I'll let Jon explain:
Guys,
We've just added an exciting new feature to the
MegaBoard!
On the top right hand side links section of every forum
there is a link in bold named "EpicTrak".
EpicTrak is our new system to help you guys track down
posts from Epic employee's and contracters.
Basically, EpicTrak makes it a lot easier to catch up on your
daily dose of Epic posts.
Not only can you read the posts in various different ways
using EpicTrak, you can also sign up to have your email
address added to a list which is sent a digest of Epic posts
every day.
We really hope you all benefit from this service.
As a sidenote, we're having a lot of problems keeping up
with the mail that's sent to megaboard@epicgames.co.uk -
I'll be doing my best to get a lot of the backlog cleared
over the weekend.
I'd like to make it clear that megaboard@epicgames.co.uk
is ONLY for questions regarding the board/problems with
your accounts/bug reports etc..
Please DO NOT email megaboard@epicgames.co.uk with
any tech support questions/orders etc.. these only slow
down people with problems on the board.
Thanks for your co-operation!
| . |
| 3/26/98 - 23:26 - Background made |
Also, DethMan made a new
background for 800x600. Here's the thumbnail (will post it in downloads
section when I do the songs, click here
to d/l it).
| 3/26/98 - 23:21 - Daily Carrot upgraded |
Oh, the official Daily
Carrot changed it's "Top Stories" headline thingy, so it displays the latest
news (i.e. news not posted on the front page). Just thought some of you
might want to know :)
| 3/26/98 - 13:40 - CD music availible! |
We finally got the Jazz
1 CD music! MANY special thanks go to FireBall for giving it to us. I don't
really have time to put up all the songs in the downloads page, since I've
gotta go out in a few mins, so I'll post the .zip of the files. Also note
that two songs are either the same or very much like songs we've already
heard (Christmas bonus level, and the first level of the 6th episode, if
I remember correctly). Click HERE
to get the cd music.
Disclaimer:
Please remember that all these songs are copyrighted
by Epic, and are for your listening pleasure ONLY. Before you download
these you should already own a copy of Jazz, and you should only be downloading
them to listen in windows. Do NOT distribute these files!
Let's all thank Epic and Robert for not getting down
our necks for posting these :-)
| . |
| 3/25/98 - 16:48 - All new shots! |
Well well, good 'ol
Epic decided they would release a few more screen shots after all! Here
are some ALL NEW screenshots, never before seen! (also on official
page)
(Please note that all these screen shots were taken from
the official JJ2
page, if you click on them they will view Daily's
large images, thank you.)
| . |
| 3/24/98 - 22:25 - PCGamer does a preview... |
PCGamer
has made a preview on Jazz Jackrabbit 2! Not as good as Adrenaline's, but
not too bad.
| 3/24/98 - 12:43 - Strategy Section! |
Our Strategy Section
is up! Of course, nothing's exactly working there, but it is up!
| . |
| 3/22/98 - 16:48 - All new... |
We have an all new title
picture and background! The background could use a little work, so we're
working on it.
Also, make SURE to check out JazzNET
if you haven't already. Another GREAT site about Jazz Jackrabbit 2.
| . |
| 3/19/98 - 14:20 - Avault does a preview! |
Ack, I was late... for
once I missed the news :-( Anyway, here's Dean's message:
The Adrenaline Vault, an up to date and informative
gaming site have just posted a preview to Jazz Jackrabbit
2. Take a look, and see if the reviewer was somewhat
interested :)
BTW, I believe that the build that he previews was a bit
older, but you get the idea. Enjoy!
http://www.avault.com
| . |
| 3/17/98 - 14:29 - Counter added. |
Oh yeah, I added a counter
at the bottom of the page, but I still have to reset the number from my
last page. Even though it's possible 1000 people have already visited ;-)
| 3/17/98 - 14:13 - Megaboard experiences problems.. |
Several people lost
their profiles, due to Epic's Megaboard running out of space, to quote
the JJ2 board's Administator:
As some of you may have noticied, this morning (and
possibly last evening) the MegaBoard suffered some
problems.
Basically it was due to a full disk :)
The damage isn't too great, we've lost all the old Epic
Indicators, and a few user profiles.
If the following users could contact me at
sean@epicgames.co.uk, emailing me the email they
recieved during the registation process which contained
their activation code I will fix up their accounts.
Here's the list of everyone we lost:
Dean Dodrill
Lennart Sas
stab
jolsson
Skullman
Balin
Milkbar
Luke W
Raptor
Dive
morphis2
ninjagod
Dumbass
Hopefully now we can resume normal service :)
| . |
| 3/16/98 - 16:26 - Beta still going... |
As near as I can tell
the JJ2 beta has been going on for about 20 days (that's 3 weeks, and don't
quote me on that) Now it's been my observation that a typical beta lasts
about 3-6 weeks (I've tested several other games). Now, assuming this is
true, I would have to say that the beta is about over, and they are about
ready to release the shareware (allowing correction for the other 3 weeks).
That's good news! :)
| . |
| 3/10/98 - 13:40 - Competition winners announced! |
The winners of the holiday
competition have been announced! Go to:
http://www.jazzjackrabbit.com/headline.htm
Alas, I didn't win a signed copy, but I did get a t-shirt :)
| . |
| 3/6/98 - 10:44 - Meeting tomarrow |
For those of you who
don't know, there's another meeting this Saturday at 3:00 PST. (I think
this meeting is going to be weekly btw :-)
| . |
| 2/28/98 - 12:23 - Meeting for today!! |
Ah yes, I almost forgot
to tell you people. There's a meeting on IRC DALnet, in #jazzjackrabbit
at 4:30 pm PST, 7:30 pm EST for today. Apparently some Epic guys are gonna
show up and answer questions etc... be there for some fun!
| . |
| 2/24/98 - 16:50 - Shareware version is in final testing! |
Jon MacLellan has announced
the fact that the Jazz Jackrabbit 2 shareware version is in FINAL TESTING
with the registered version, and is being sent to the beta testers! That
much closer to it's release... yay!
| 2/19/98 - 16:00 - Messaging setup revealed! |
Querried about the messaging
system, Jon MacLellan answers!
At present you press T to chat in the public channel
and
Ctrl T to send team messages.
Shots will fire off the screen as long as thats not past the
level boundary :)
Quoted from speaking to Jon MacLellan:
"the text string appears at the bottom left.
You can tell who replies as you get little jazz and spaz heads
in the players chosen colours next to their chat message line."
| 2/19/98 - 11:54 - Possible competition announced! |
Michiel Ouwehand has
announced a -possible- competition for when the shareware is released!
Of course, it's probably a joke... and they might not do it... but you
never know... :-)
Okay guys, let's settle this: on the day that Jazz2
(shareware) is released, we're going to do a CTF game, the
Jazz2 developers vs. the MsgBoarders :)
| 2/17/98 - 14:52 - Ultimate Weapon revealed! |
Michiel Ouwehand reveals
the truth!
Hija all,
Yes, there *is* an ultimate weapon. It's not actually called
The Ultimate Weapon in the game, but it is pretty ultimate
(anything it touches will meet its maker).
It's just a big bad gun and it's not easy to get..
| 2/17/98 - 14:47 - Questions re-answered.. |
Jon
MacLellan has answered some of the more complicated questions concerning
JCS.. (in the previous set of questions)
Ok, I've played about with JCS so I can answer some
questions as well.
- The levels sizes are usually between 10-15k for single
player levels and less than 10k for multiplayer. The "art"
you're refering to is the tile set. If you haven't got a tile set
on your machine then it'll download it for you (about
200k). Likewise if someone is using an edited tile set,
you'd need that as well.
- No enemies in any Party Modes except of course co-op.
We have a list of "Evil Events" which are events that are
likely to de-sync some Party Modes. This list includes all
enemies.
| 2/16/98 - 17:05 - Questions answered.. |
A
set of questions on the message board has been answered by Dean Dodrill!
- What about the parralex scrolling backgrounds? How big
do they have to be? I imagine you'll have them linked, and
they'll probably be slightly bigger than 640x480, but I'm
not sure.
- How about the levels? I heard you guys had (amazingly)
narrowed down the size from, like around 700k, down to
10k, but that would have to mean you aren't going to
automaticly send any new art for that level; so, would
another person be able to download the level (while
joining) except without the art? (viewing old art in it's
place).
- Is it possible to have enemies in a death match level?
- Is it possible to have more than one boss in a level?
- Is there a way to make your own "episodes"? I.e. a co-op
mode with a set of levels you made?
- Will there be a cool intro, or just something like in Jazz 1?
And the answers...
-The different levels can be however big (or small) you
want them. Say for instance you create a small
background of only 2x2 tiles. You then tell the layer to tile
this background. It is very easy. (what can I say, it's JCS :)
-Yes, the levels are TINY now, I'm not exactly sure how art
will work though. I personally haven't messed with it yet.
-I think you could put enemies into a DM level, but I'm not
sure if they would respawn or anything like that.
-You could prolly put all the bosses on one level if you
wished (I think) The important thing would be to define
what happens after the last boss of the level dies.
-After you create your levels, you link them in the JCS, so
in a sense you are creating episodes.
-I'll see what you think of the intro (it was my honor :)
| 2/15/98 - 18:30 - No news... :-( |
Well,
there has been absolutely no important news within the past couple of days...
I suppose it's just as well, since I've been sick with the flu for most
of this week, unable to get outta my terrible bed :) Keep an eye on the
message board people.. who knows.... :-)
| 2/11/98 - 18:17 - Arjan reveals feature! |
Posted
just about 5 minutes ago on the message board, Arjan tells us something
new!
o yeah, I forgot to tell you all: jazz2 has full auto
downloading. People can run games with their own levels
and tilesets, and when you join such a game the level +
tileset is uploaded to you (it checks if you already have it,
etc). This is supah cool, and works good. we've been using
it ourselves (hey, check out this level... then you just join
and check it out!)
| 2/10/98 - 21:03 - Info on all new CTF mode! |
Also posted on the message
board, we have here the info on the new CTF mode from Jon MacLellan.
You can get a full explanation for all the Party Modes from:
http://www.jazzjackrabbit.com/sport.htm
I haven't added Capture the Flag information yet so let me
give you some info:
You have 2 teams. The object is to get your opponents flag
back to your base a set amount of times.. default is 5 but
you can go higher.
You get 1 point for each time you get the opponents flag
back to your base. BUT...
If the opposing team gets your flag while you're out
getting their's then you can't score the point until your own
flag is back in your base. This adds a cool element to the
game as you have to use team tactics..
i.e. Hide the guy with the flag while the other team
members go get your own flag back :)
The full array of weapons and power ups are available in
each level.
| 2/10/98 - 13:57 - News from Arjan! |
For those of you who
haven't noticed, Arjan has posted a message containing vital informarion!
:)
hey guys,
we have been playing J2 on internet a lot lately. This is
totally cool! For the heck of it I added a CaptureTheFlag
gamemode which instantly became our favorite gaming
mode. Anyway, things are going really good, release
should be now within weeks instead of months!
| 2/10/98 - 11:38 - Epic's Message Board Up!!!!! |
Epic's
ALL NEW message board is now UP! (finally eh? :) Go to the
message board and sign up!
| 2/9/98 - 22:06 - Site completely re-done! |
Our
site has been completely re-done! Look around, see the sights, and have
fun ;) Mega special thanks to Brandon, who did almost all of the frames
art, and thanks to Steven for doing the links section for us. Now we're
ready for Epic... bring on the game! :) Also note that all old news has
been moved to the archives section... and will continue to be moved at
the end of every week.
| 2/3/98 |
| 11:51 - Christmas Competition.. |
<<>> Well, you'll notice I said "should"
below.. it would appear that the announcement has been delayed... for reasons
we can't tell you. But we're hoping that Epic won't take long to finish
what they're doing, and we'll have the winners.
| 1/30/98 |
| 12:29 - News on the Christmas Competition! |
<<>> Great news, just in! I've heard
that the winners of the Christmas Competition should be announced
this Monday! Yahoo!
| 12:11 - New Background from Brandon! |
<<>> Got a new background
from Brandon! And, I've decided to put up thumb prints of the backgrounds...
so you can see you're getting something way better than you thought :-)
Click here
to go the the downloads page.
| 1/27/98 |
| 13:44 - Orange Games Website Up! |
| 13:28 - New Webpage Layout! |
| 13:36 - Epic's Message Board.. Special Preview! |
| 13:22 - Europe Publishers! |
<<>> Project
2 Interactive, a publishing company, has decided to publish Jazz 2
in Europe and Australia! Also included in with the game will be the full
version of Jazz 1! www.jazzjackrabbit.com
has a little more extensive note about this, check it out :-)
| 1/19/98 |
| 14:54 - After.. |
<<>> As soon as we finish with our
updates, we'll try to be updating atleast daily... (if not more) but until
then, we'll probably only update every other day or so.. :-)
| 14:49 - Almost there... |
<<>> We're almost done with the main
part of reconstructing the site! (Well... kinda like the JJ2 programmers...
almost done thing.. ya know? give it a couple days hehe) Beware... it will
blow your mind ;-)
| 1/11/98 |
| 18:32 - Re-Construction! |
<<>> Welp, we've decided to re-do
our site layout... it'll look a lot better. But other than that, I can't
tell you anything :-)
| 18:29 - Message board... good news! |
<<>> I got an email from Epic a day
or so ago, saying the Epic Mega Message board would be up, hopefully this
week (next week at the latest). It's going to be an "all new" message board...
Go Epic!
| 18:28 - Message board... sigh |
<<>> Well, sorry for not updating
this for a couple days, but my computer was out for a two days... you get
the idea :)
| 1/11/98 |
| 21:28 - Message board... sigh |
<<>> Well, Epic's message board is
still down.. but interestingly enough, you can still access messages! E.g.
http://www.epicgames.co.uk/wwwboard/messages/21000.html
Is one about Jazz 2.. but that'll get really annoying.. I mean, 21,000
is a lot of msgs, and there won't be anything new, and you can't post anything.
Still, it's interesting :-)
| 20:50 - New member! |
<<>> Walkthrough Wakemen has been
added to our group! Wakeman has been with JJ2 news since October '96. He's
going to do the Strategy section for us (walkthrough's, tips, etc). Welcome
aboard Steve! (he's labor, we're management :-)
| 1/10/98 |
| 22:29 - Archives |
<<>> Ok, the Archives
section is really up now.. but that's all it has :)
| 21:27 - New information on Jazz 2's competition! |
<<>> Brandon, our Co-President strikes it again! Here's the details of Jazz 2 and Claw, quote:
Captain Claw
Jazz2's only real competition
is Monolith's new release,
Captain
Claw. Let's take a look at what Claw has to offer. Below is a chart
comparing Claw to Jazz2.
| Claw | Jazz2 |
| 2 playing modes | 5 playing modes |
| 1 playable character | 2 playable characters |
| 2 small level demo | 2 full sized level demo |
| 14 registered levels | 42 registered levels |
| unregistered, unsported editor | registered, fully supported editor |
| 21 enemies | at least 30 enemies |
| 7 bosses | at least 15 bosses |
| 64 player support | 32 player support |
| 4 different attacks | 14 different attacks |
| 3 power-ups for sword | 1 power-up for each of 12 guns |
| 21:12 - Background Crazy! |
<<>> Ok, maybe I'm over doing it
heheh, but I enjoy it, and there isn't any other news at the moment.. so..
here's our fourth background; a picture of Jazz with Spaz glinting in his
eye. Go to the downloads
page as usual :)
| 19:08 - Third background |
<<>> Ok, got a 3rd background for
ya.. this one's made by Brandon! Go to the downloads
page.
| 13:08 - Saturday! |
<<>> Yay! Saturday! But alas, the
message board is still down.. and the Christamas Competition hasn't announced
their winners..
| 1/9/98 |
| 14:18 - Jazz '94 and '95 music added! |
<<>> Go to the downloads
page for the Jazz Christmas '94 and '95 music! (in .s3m format)
| 10:35 - New Background |
<<>> Well, we've got a new background
made for you guys... basicly the same idea as the last one, but this is
in true 800x600, not 800x400. It's in a .zip format on the downloads
page. Or you can get it right from here.
| 1/8/98 |
| 15:59 - Competition.. |
Advantages:
Good "movie" animations (from what I've seen of the screen shots)
Large enemies make it easy to see who you're going to kill.
Disadvantages:
At the time I d/led it, even then, it didn't have half the features,
or look half as good as JJ2, and JJ2 STILL isn't out; doesn't that say
something?
Choppy jumping - I hate sidescrollers that don't have smooth and correct
physics. This is (to me) a major draw-back.
Bad animations - Some "charactors" looked good, while others seemed
totally out of place, and were a sloppy job.
Everything was too large.. you couldn't see left-right-up-or-down without
looking.
The feel was bad... if you're an experienced gamer, you know what "the
feel" is.. if you're not, well, take my word on it, it's an important part
of the game.. over-all, this game had some potential, the programmers just
didn't spend the time on it. (Thank goodness JJ2 is taking a while to come
out, all the better!). One last note, a pal of mine got a copy of the "beta/alpha"
version of JJ2 from Epic... he also played Claw.. he also noted that Claw
had a long way to go, many other people I've asked said the same thing.
Ah well, we'll just have to wait..
| 15:58 - As Always.. |
<<>> As always... JJ2 msg board down,
no winners.. (boring :) Oh yeah, no news yesterday.. plus the fact I wasn't
on much :)
| 1/6/98 |
| 19:07 - As Always.. |
| 19:07 - New Title! |
| 1/5/98 |
| 11:42 - "Contact Us" |
<<>> "Contact Us" section up!
| 10:19 - :-) |
Looks like Jazz is waiting
for his game too... :-)
| 09:57 - Still no word on the contest... |
<<>> Epic still hasn't told us who
won the Christmas contest... maybe they really are spending 100% of their
time on making the game :-)
| 09:54 - Epic's Message board still down! |
<<>> Epic's Mega Message board is
still down! No one can message Epic or anyone else, even in the Unreal
board.. well, let's hope they get it fixed soon.
| 1/4/98 |
| 16:46 - First time up! |
<<>> Hurray! We're finally on the
'net.. please note that the only link that works currently is the downloads
section, of course we'll have everything else working soon, but right now,
downloads is not only the only one used, it's the only one we have up :)
Also note that 09:37's log entry for today is not complete, due to the
fact that Epic's msg board is not up yet (the information is on there also).
| 10:01 - Epic's Message Board Under Construction! |
<<>> Epic's Jazz Jackrabbit 2 message
board is under reconstruction! Go Epic! :-) (Note: Unable to post anything
till they're done... awee, rats)
09:41 - Music Player found!
| 09:53 - Download the music! |
<<>> For all you people who don't
have the time to convert those files, don't have the Jazz 1 CD or the like,
we're listing -ALL- the Jazz 1 (episode 1-6, the rest will come later :)
music files in .S3M format under our Downloads
page! Don't miss them!
| 09:41 - Music Player found! |
<<>> Hurray! Now we can finally play
Jazz 1 music files thanks to the converter below, and this music player!
Supports .MOD, .S3M, and .XM. Go to http://www.maz-sound.com/
to get Music Maniac.
| 09:37 - Converter found! --------------- |
<<>> Many thanks to our good friend
".." for finding us a converter for those annoying Jazz 1 .PSM files! Go
to www to convert your files (supports conversions from New .PSM, Old .PSM,
DSM, RIFF DSM, MTM, MOD, and S3M to S3M, and DSM) Go to " " to get
it!
| 1/3/98 |
| 15:08 - Our Merge is.... |
<<>> Merge successful! Brandon, our
new co president of this site will be a big plus to helping bring a better
site to you!
| 15:07 - Construction Re-Opened! |
<<>> Construction of this site has
been re-opened!
| 1/2/98 |
| 1/1/98 |
| 22:20 - Construction Halted! |
<<>> Construction of this site has
been halted until we get word from our proposed merge. Sorry.
| 22:18 - Nothing Much New :-) |
| 22:06 - First News Bit |
<<>> Well, it's a new year, and Jazz
2 still isn't out... however, don't get too down, the JJ2 team is
