I've been playing around with making a new CTF level. I'm mainly done, but have had absolutely no beta testing yet, so there's a chance that it's going to have awful gameplay or something, and I'll have to pretty much throw out the whole thing. And the eyecandy is somewhat silly, inspired by swiss cheese almost.

[IMG]http://www.majhost.com/gallery/troglobite/JazzDarkForest/trogsalvation1.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.majhost.com/gallery/troglobite/JazzDarkForest/trogsalvation2.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.majhost.com/gallery/troglobite/JazzDarkForest/trogsalvation3.png[/IMG]
There are a good number of springs and suckers, so (in theory) being able to predict your enemy should allow you to hurt him pretty easily in some areas. However, there are enough different ways to get to the flags, carrots, and power-ups that hopefully it won't simply degrade into a game of camping.

Also, the level has pits. But I know how frustrating pits are, so there is a coin warp over the pits, and if you manage to grab enough coins, and not fall too much, you can avoid this annoyance. Unless, of course, your enemy hits you with some freezers at the wrong time.

Land of Mirages
 

[IMG]http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/1111/miragew.jpg[/IMG]

Troglobite: Looks good, no complaints here. And the swiss cheese eyecandy looks totally original. I love it.

snz: Was the mid-air green waterfall(?) intended? It looks a bit odd I think.

what do you mean?

I think he is talking about the yellow object. As of far i'm not sure whether I like it or not. Game play I cannot put into consideration at this moment for obvious reasons. The tileset is a bit confusing, It doesn't seem to fit with other tiles.A comparison would be hell containing icebergs and water. You should alter the colors in my opinion. Good luck.

The background is way to empty.. And I don't like the mix, it's just not looking right. But who knows, maybe the final product will look better:+

yeah well, like ive said most of the stuff what you see in my screenshots will change in the final ver. and i didnt even start doing the background yet, im mostly just experimenting with different techniques.

yeah well, this level, if it ever makes it past this stage, is meant to be a level which doesnt really make sense, which is why i put lots of different things into it. :P

[IMG]http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/6554/pic14ek.th.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/9294/pic11d.th.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/1293/pic13q.th.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/2/pic8at.th.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/6948/pic4z.th.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/2378/pic16tv.th.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/3783/pic1xxz.th.jpg[/IMG]


uploaded some pics of this a few years back, and its finally finished.

go download it =] ---> http://www.jazz2online.com/downloads/5784/dreamscape/

Cool.

I hope it gets featured download for Jan, although it has some pretty fierce competition. Big SP releases are so rare.

Yeah, it's almost as if the last one doesn't have any reviews.

Damn, I dont know how I missed that one. It should be given a belated featured download or something, now I'm all depressed :(

Going to have to do something about that no reviews thing, at least.

I'm feeling inspired or something, because I'm actually motivated to make levels again, it seems. I did a little testing of the level from my previous post, and it seems the pits are rather too easy to fall into, until you learn the level fairly well. This learning curve may discourage people from playing it, but I still think it has potential.

But anyway, I whipped up a level that's rather the opposite. There are really no secrets, four power-ups, two full NRG's and every type of ammo except freezers, for fast, chaotic, easy-to-learn gameplay. The eyecandy's probably a bit simple, but I like the tileset, and think it works.

[IMG]http://www.majhost.com/gallery/troglobite/JazzDarkForest/xx.png[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.majhost.com/gallery/troglobite/JazzDarkForest/xx2.png[/IMG]

Looks really awsome Blackraptor :)

[IMG]http://www.majhost.com/gallery/troglobite/JazzDarkForest/trogsalvation1.png[/IMG]

Errr, Typo... :p

What set is that you've got there, Troglobite?

Oops, thanks for catching that, Puffie.

I'm using BattleShipsBL for the swiss cheese level, and Zodiac (I'm assuming this is the one you're asking about) by Chiyu for the other one.

I also started another level with Diamondus ß Scorch, but the current total lack of eyecandy has dissuaded me from posting any screenshots yet. I wasn't really planning on anything, but it looks like a little CTF pack may be in the works now, if my motivation to JCS doesn't disappear as suddenly as it came.

Sorry for the double post, but my next level is now ok looking enough for a picture or two, although still unfinished and untested.

[IMG]http://www.majhost.com/gallery/troglobite/JazzDarkForest/trogvision1.png[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.majhost.com/gallery/troglobite/JazzDarkForest/trogvision2.png[/IMG]

This level is a bit more standard than my last two, in my opinion. It contains Toaster, RF, and Seeker power-ups, as well as two plain carrots and one full energy (unless I change my mind). Flags are captured in two tall sucker tubes at either side of the level. However, each base, and the ceiling spring required to get the seeker power-up can easily be shot from the side, allowing one to hurt opponents trying to get either a flag or the seekers.

Interesting gameplay, but make sure you work on the background. The first screenshot is particularly drab and doesn't have much to show. This isn't totally just to make the level prettier either: right now, all I see there is a blue spring and a large mass of grey. There's nothing to indicate where that blue spring actually goes.

Thanks you very much for the advice. I changed the background a bit, to hopefully make it a bit more varied, and better-looking. And now that you point it out, I do realize that there isn't much explanation for where things lead. I had kind of assumed that people would figure out how to best use it after playing around on the level for a while, but this is the kind of assumption I don't think I should make as a level designer. I noticed that on the swiss cheese level, from the short amount of testing I did do, everyone else fell in the pit very much, and didn't seem motivated to play the level enough to figure out how to avoid this. Since I knew the level, I knew several different ways to get anywhere, and figured these paths would become apparent much more easily to players unfamiliar with the level than they did. I will have to get in the habit of making my levels more friendly to those who don't know them.

Oh, and I started a level with a Bloxonious tileset that's got some fun trigger stuff. I think I'll have to use Reworder for some of it, and hopefully i get it to work right.

[img]http://filedump.stantastic.nl/desolation.png[/img]

Haha, awesome!

I kind of ran out of steam again, and it doesn't look like anything else I was working on is going to get finished in the near future. However, I did complete the three levels that I posted screenshots of here, and uploaded them. Go download them, and have fun.

[IMG]http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/5033/netherbg.png[/IMG]
Neat, huh? It will be part of my tileset.

O.O

Background only?

stupid question, i mean, look closely, and you can see that it loops flawlessly.

and it looks great :)

That just shows you're not being very creative here. I cannot know about the final result of the tileset, since I am not the author, so nothing wrong to ask there.

About time someone converted that. looks very nice :)

Lookin' real reggae! :D

J!zzzz in my pantsssss

And this is how my tileset appears with all layers:
[IMG]http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/7695/nether2.png[/IMG]

That looks pretty nice. The foreground does look a bit too similar to the background though, and it could be a hair confusing to play. Maybe you could darken the background a bit or something?

Oh, about me losing inspiration again:
Looks like I lied.

[IMG]http://www.majhost.com/gallery/troglobite/JazzDarkForest/fluxions.png[/IMG]

I had been frustrated with my inability to figure out reworder, but then decided to switch tilesets and simplify, and so far the I'm enjoying the level. Oh, and part of the level reminded me of a big rabbit's head or something, which I thought was funny. This may or may not be in the final version of the level.

[IMG]http://www.majhost.com/gallery/troglobite/JazzDarkForest/seekers1.png[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.majhost.com/gallery/troglobite/JazzDarkForest/seekers2.png[/IMG]

These are from a bit of an anti-level I whipped up really quickly. Nothing but seeker ammo is available, and the majority of walls are one way, so the seekers are even more deadly. I hate this type of seek-spam favoring gameplay. However, I know not everyone shares my opinion on seekers, so I figured I should make a level that people who aren't me would like.

If you want help with Reworder, let me know.

Thanks. In the current form of the level, reworder really won't help. But next time I want to try something that requires it again, I'll be sure to come to you for advice.

First half of act 1.

For JJ1 I presume? Looks good either way.

You crazy multitasker you!

[IMG]http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/9343/nether3.png[/IMG]
Is that better?