This has got to be not just the best SP episode of 2009 but possibly also the BEST SP EPISODE I EVER PLAYED!
The whole episode took me over 5 hours.

I might post a review when I have enough inspiration to write up one.

Could you tell me which level it occurred in, and perhaps which spot? It was probably just a random fluke, since JJ2 does like to crash sometimes for no apparent reason, but it's possible that I make a mistake with one of the levels. If you can't remember it's ok.


As cooba said it's because the death pits use "bees" events, which are required to cause a life to be lost. Hurt events don't work in death pits. And if I used something else like spikeballs, you wouldn't get stuck, but you'd die without losing a life. So, my rather cheap solution is to just force the player to wait it out. The best thing would be to use JJ2+ death pits, but I want all of the episodes to be compatible with every version of JJ2, and more importantly, with each other.

It was in the island level, near or in the test to get the blessing of fire. I assume just a fluke since I'd swum by that spot many times before.

Hmm yeah there's nothing there that would obviously cause a crash. There IS a shield in that level though, and if you have a shield, there is a bug in JJ2 which can rarely cause access violations. JJ2+ fixes it, I believe.

That has to be very rarely then. Been playing JJ2 since the first days after release and never had an Access Violation with a shield in both SP and MP.

Why do people host this online...?

To offer a co-op situation of EXTREME DIFFICULTY.

...I doubt co-op-ing this pack would actually work well, by the way.

If you could get hurt online etc etc...

It doesn't work, because only the host can take damage, there's a bunch of stuff that breaks with more than 1 player (like one level which requires you to get 50 out of 60 coins - what happens if both players get half the coins?) and of course death pits which do not work AT ALL if played online.

Of course, it's up to players how they choose to play it. Still, it's a very strange way to play, and probably not even possible in some levels.

Probably a fetish or something, I guess...

Anyway, I've played your final episode, and hated it. The story is very nice, and was also the main reason why I downloaded the final part.
But it seems I haven't played JJ2 in a long while. I died a bazillion times, and lost my savegame when I overwrote it from the first boss level (small level, but still an access violation, unfair!).
I'll try it on easy the next time, and see how far I get.
From what I've seen, I find Deserto Orbital base the coolest level you've made. The fortresses were just as big and complex, but they didn't really have the atmosphere I found in the orbital base.
Overall, a good job on a very special episode. I'm glad you've finished it.

I agree, deserto orbital base is the best level I ever made. And the reason is simple: the tileset allows for massive versatility and originality in the level design.

That access violation in the boss level is annoying but unintentional. It's also the reason why I made the warning a bit more prominent in the ep5 download... there is no way to fix it unless JJ2 itself is fixed.

Overall there are 8 points in the episode where you can save safely guaranteed (cutscenes or transition levels).

As for the difficulty level, it's definitely not for everyone. If it's so much that you hated it, well I'm sorry to hear that. However, playing on easy mode probably won't make you like it more. In fact, you should just not play it at all. Play something you enjoy instead: there's no reason to put yourself through a several-hours long episode if you know you don't like it.

I thought the last episode should the most challenging and varied one, though. And easy mode does help a bit (but the death pits will still get you). If you're dying due to falling, easy isn't going to change a lot. What easy mode adds is carrots (about double the amount). Funny thing is quite a few people criticized ep4 for being too easy. You can't please everyone, I guess. It's a good idea to play the other episodes and get used to those.

Notice how the average rating raises by 0.1 with each episode from the first to last. However, seems like there was something wrong with EP4, since it differs from this formula.

Well, you see, EP4 had its moments, like the mine (made with a Carottus tileset, I mean, WOW? That looks really good!) and the (what I call) "Distopia levels"... but, the thing that differed was that EP1, 2 and 3 had A LOT OF moments, if not one big moment, and EP4 just didn't have that... at least that's what I think.

(EvilMike don't kill me. D: )

Being a well known person and a decent creator doesn't automatically give you a higher rating than your previous work, yes. :P

I personally consider 4 to be the weakest one, and I also didn't enjoy making it very much.

Top3 is indeed an extremely useful tileset, but the ambience in the level is what attracted me the most. However, everyone who tries to make a spacebase with that tileset from now on will get that "you're cloning evilmike"-look, unless they make something just as impressive. (Well, that's my idea, actually. The real world will probably react differently.)

Without the amnesia errors, the game would be indeed a lot easier. Surprisingly, I was able to save at the beginning of the fortress of storms, but after the first two rooftop jumps the game would crash if I saved and loaded there.

Well, maybe hating was a bit of a strong term. After a while I just got annoyed with all the traps and used cheats to get past them. I was still eager to know what kind of horrors my little rabbit awaited in the next level. And I wanted to know how the story continued, so I played on. You've always got some nice ideas in each level, and I don't want to skip that as well.

I'm open to giving it another chance. Now that I know what I can expect, I might have a bigger chance of surviving out there. :)

Deserto Orbital Base is definitely one of the best levels I've ever played. Although I think my favorite may be something from Episode 5 now. I've been on vacation and still sort of am, so I haven't gotten to play as much as I'd like. I've made it to Blight, and got to the third set of rocks before losing all my lives. I think my favorite levels so far have got to be Deluge, Blight, and Fortress of Floods. The gameplay on each is quite unique, and the fact that they're way too difficult for me makes it more fun when I finally do win. I think Fortress of Floods alone took me three or four hours.

Anyway, I've really been enjoying this episode, and it seems like a more-than-worthy ending for an already amazing series.

Woah. I actually double-posted beat it?! Without cheating?! Up to Fortress of Decay, it took me forever to beat some levels. But the last couple levels on easy actually seemed quite reasonable. Maybe even almost easy. Like Oasis? After all the moving platforms and collapsing bridges and horizontal springs (I never want to see a horizontal spring again after playing fortress of decay) and pits, I felt like I could have beaten Oasis with my eyes closed. I even beat Devan first try, although this involved a lucky kick right as he was changing that insta-killed him. The rocket turtle wasn't as bad as I expected either, mainly because I repetitively froze (Hurray for gun 3!) and stomped him. I can't believe its over. I guess I could go back and beat the earlier episodes without cheating. Or follow the advice in the level properties of the credits level.

Shameless Plug

I haven't had the time or urge to play fortress of ruin, so I'm only up to deluge currently (yes, at the part with the shield). So far I consider it better than 4. It pretty much forces you to lose health and even die, so it's definitely a challenge as everything isn't logically placed this time.