That one looks alright, I think it has some potential.

Looks amazing. I can't wait too see it, Street Fight is my favorite custom gametype.

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A Battle level I started last night entitled 'Psychoactive'. The level is still far from complete, and the eye candy is currently very plain, but I felt like getting some opinions.

I can't really make a decision here. If the entire layout is done, could you show it? What I'm seeing is very little (basic eyecandy and bits of the level layout that don't really show the whole level).

Sorry, the layout isn't even finished yet. I do, however, have a fair idea of where it's going so the basic layout shouldn't take long to complete.

Try brightening up the background. The foreground gets swallowed by it.

The platform endings on the right side are pointing the "wrong way."

The tileset doesn't allow for that. D:

That tileset SUX then. Get a better one. D=

It just doesn't have that much of a good 3D perception.

I'd say overused.

Xobim: both styles work fine. Most official tilesets use the one you seem to point out as being the wrong one. The problem with that christmas tileset isn't the perspective, it's just ugly.

How is it ugly? I don't think it is.

I find its use of gradient pillowshading (as per many olden JJ2 tilesets) to be quite offputting though in my opinion slightly charming in its own right.

Personally I felt all of Cracco's tilesets were derivative and mediocre at best, especially when they modified the sprite pallete.

@ Odin: Some of them are quite decent, however.

That doesn't mean that one should consider what is possibly the worst christmas tile set that's been made so far, decent enough to make a level with.
Especially not if you're going to abuse your rights and upload the level.

The worst Christmas tile set is Holiday Hare '98. I speak with experience.

I will confess to having no idea why those modifications occurred. CB'd just give me an image, ask for it to be made JJ2 compatible, and then provide a list of sprite colors he'd want swapped or otherwise changed. It was always interesting, anyway, if not necessarily great art.

Really? That's quite surprising to me. Most of Alexander Brandon Nick Stadler's! tilesets in JJ2 seem to use the second perspective...

Both can be found in masses and they both work just fine.
Although I enjoy tile sets that don't have a horizontal 3D-look at all, the most.

Nick Stadler's.

Gah, I'm stupid. Fixed...

Jimbob polar icecap looks great.

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That looks real nice, Violet.

Nice Violet, the only thing I can complain about is that the leaves has tilebugs. I know most people think it's the tileset's fault but I know how to prevent it. Maybe flipping some tiles would fix it... :-)

If you mean stuff like the messed-up lower leaf slopes on the floating bit, yeah, I notice instances of that and fix them sporadically. If you know a way to make working inside corners, though, that would be great, though even the original levels couldn't find a way to make those look right...

Nice idea for an obstacle but what the heck is that border?

The border doesn't ruin anything, at least.
I think it's a good idea.

Whoa, that's very impressive...

The level I'm working on is nothing compared to that...

Violet's level looks amazing, and Xobim's is good too, just needs a bit of work. The background firstly, it catches my eye, but it kinda looks wrong, generally darker backgrounds work better with this set. Also, this is a useful comparison for you, as you can refer to Violet's for ideas to see why his might look better. I'm not saying yours is bad, I'm just saying, with a bit of work, it can look better than Violet's. I'm not saying copy Violet's work either, I'm just saying try to see what his has that yours lacks.

One reason as to why his might look better, is that the leaves are inappropriately placed on yours, where as they are placed very cleverly on violet's (even though I spot tilebugs in his and not yours). Violet's level also has pickups and monsters, they can always make the level look more lively. I think what really goes wrong there, is the background, it should be dark in my opinion, but then again, others may like it.

Take no notice of what I'm saying if it bothers you, but I guess criticism usually helps. (Other than what I said, everything looks fairly in order, (Very good)). Violet's also using the IC version of the set, which has more EC to offer, so try using that instead of the Epic one.

Also, in referance to this, long time ago, I made a Scraparap and Megairbase thing (JJ1 levels in JCS for JJ2). I wonder if I still have them. -rumages through old stuff-

I am NOT. :( The IC version doesn't even offer that palette as one of its versions.

That would be nice... the non-Turtle Terror planets don't get nearly enough conversion love.


Anyway, a lot of the comparison between the two screenshots is a bit off because one is inside a cave and the other is outside... here's a shot of something closer, though unfortunately it's the daytime palette.

Moving beyond the fact that my leaves still have tile bugs... notice that they resist the urge to be squared off, and go for more curvy, random shapes. Also there's a lot of variation in the exact leaf tile, though you're good at that in all but the smallest cluster. Also I throw as many tiles as I can pretty much all over the screen in hopes that they'll look good. Jungle makes this easy as the tileset is naturally beautiful - the hanging leafy things that can have DANGER signs on them are good candidates for making anything look more interesting. Then there are also background layers, trees and bushes and things - if possible, use them.
As for the background, it's not so much that it's dark, I think, as blue just doesn't make SENSE there. The skies are red in Jungle Night. Why would they fade to blue? It's a very pretty blue, but it doesn't work in that context.
I'm liking the bottom right corner of your shot. It looks complex, which is good. I'm a little concerned because I know the text sign masking is screwed up, but hopefully you found some way around that.

Oh wow, woops. ;P Sorry, I just assumed because I saw a tile that I recognised from the IC set. My silly assumptions. Anyway, you're using a darker background are you not? ;P

Take no notice to what I said, his advice is better. ;D.

When I took the screenshot I noticed the tilebugs too. The background was the first thing I made with this tileset. I had less experience back then. :P
I am using the background trees and bushes, but they only appear when the player is getting near the bottom of the level. I can fix that if it'll make the map look better. The blue background color is somewhat of a problem since the scene is set during mid-day and the sky is red. Maybe I can switch to the daytime palette.
Thanks for your advice, I can use it.

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I made a red circle around the parts that I know how to fix. Also, I really like it, seems like fun with good atmosphere.

Tilebug is a myth. Leave the preety level alone.

You missed a few!

and anything similar to that. :rolleyes:

I wonder why the tileset has leaves flipped the other way...

It's hard to say... we really have no clues to suggest when the tile-flipping functionality was added to JJ2. It was in 1.00g and even diamsecr, so it's got to be pretty old, but it's impossible to say if it postdates the Jungle tileset. Simple answer, though, one way or another, Nick wanted to add more potential variety to leaf appearances and didn't consider the fact that it would mess up the tiling.

I'm currently working on a small, open, fast-paced ctf lvl (similar to knightmare castle, but slightly bigger and with more small corridors as well as a different base positioning, so it will be suited for 3v3+ as well). Screenshots etc will follow tomorrow when i'll finish the alpha version :D