JCS Awards 2018
 

On PurpleJazz's behalf, I'm posting the 2018 awards thread. As per my new favorite film, "same rules apply!"

You must read the rules before voting. They are as follows:

1) In the past you were only allowed to vote for one nomination per category. However, in order to allow more levels to get the chance to be appreciated this time around, you are now also allowed, but not obligated to vote for your second and third choices, which respectively have x0.5 and x0.25 the weighting of your main vote. You do not have to vote in every category if you wish not to do so.
2) You are not limited to voting within the nominations, but you are advised to at least check these levels if you haven't already, in order to make your vote fair. Also, unreleased/unfinished levels cannot be voted for; they must be available for public download.

3) Votes are to be kept private until announcement of the overall results. This is to raise the tension, and also to prevent bandwagoning. In order to vote, post your votes here and then delete the post after you have submitted it, and a moderator will undelete it after the deadline. Alternatively, if you prefer, you are allowed to PM them to Stijn, but bare in mind that your choices will be announced in public once the voting stage is over. Any votes left public will be forcibly deleted by moderation, and your vote may not count.

4) Voting closes on 3rd February at 23:59 GMT+1. Votes made promptly after this deadline may still be counted but as soon as a moderator undeletes the posts, any subsequent votes will be ignored.

Best CTF of 2018:

Battle of Waterloo 1835 - Seren
Carrot Farm - Loon
Cleanse - Seren
Fishing Village - PurpleJazz
Giant's Steps - PurpleJazz
Mt. Cider - PurpleJazz
Nidavellir - Toni
Orbital IV - FawFul
Painted Garden - PurpleJazz
Red Rose - Blckrosz
Sparkling Illusions - Warren
The Crackdown - cooba
The Dragon Eyrie - PurpleJazz

Best Battle of 2018:

Academy - Superjazz
Bastion Keep - Snooze
Chasing the Stars - cooba
Nocturne - Blackraptor
Press Garden - Smoke
Relic Valley - HyperJazz
Rúnheimr - Seren
Thermae - Jelly Jam
Water Processing Plant - DarkSonic

Best SP Release of 2018:

Aztec 2 - Blade
Devan's Revenge (Intro) - sAlAmAnDeR
EmeraldusV - Violet CLM
Foo Single Player 2/14: Electric Foorufoo: BunnyLover 2018: This Time It's Personnel, Kid - Violet CLM
Infiltration Mission - happygreenfrog
Maze of steel - Nys
Mystery of the Four Artifacts - chandie
Operation Cleanup: Turtle Terror Revisited - happygreenfrog
Psychomondus - Bloody_Body
The Cave Offensive - Slaz
Ürdüng Chronicles #2 - FarkasUrdung
Welcome to Chaostopia - happygreenfrog
What in the blazes? - happygreenfrog
Xenobiotic Xeranthemum - Archon
Yamato Castle - Violet CLM

Best Level Script of 2018:

Academy - Superjazz
Chips Challenge - Violet CLM
Cleanse - Seren
Devan's Revenge (Intro) - sAlAmAnDeR
EmeraldusV - Violet CLM
Fishing Village - PurpleJazz
Fooball Field - Violet CLM
Forlorn Planet Ex - Violet CLM
Lori on Ice - Violet CLM
No Smoke Without Fire - Violet CLM
Psychomondus - Bloody_Body
Relic Valley - HyperJazz
The Crackdown - cooba
Thermal R.7 - Violet CLM
Umbral Arena >2k18< - Violet CLM
Valen Village - Violet CLM

Best Tileset of 2018:

Alien Palace - Sir Ementaler
Aztec 2 - Blade
EmeraldusV - Violet CLM
RainV - Violet CLM

Best Remix of 2018:

Between Fire and Steel (Medivo remix) - SIDNIFY
Bonus Stage - Bitrotator
Carrotus - Vincenzo
Crysilis remix on Nintendo Switch - Luigi Elettrico
Dark Groove - Gridscape
Jazz Be Damned - Ziona
Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Theme - Zyrit
Labratory Level - SIDNIFY
Pull Back the Bass - BPStudio
Tubelectric - Megahit
Water Level - BPStudio

Best JCSer of 2018:

Archon
cooba
chandie
happygreenfrog
Jelly Jam
Loon
PurpleJazz
Seren
Violet CLM

My votes:

CTF:
1) Cleanse
2) Giant's Steps
3) Orbital IV

Battle:
1) Bastion Keep
2) Runheimr
3) None, sorry.

SP:
1) Mystery of the Four Artifacts

Script:
1) Devan's Revenge
2) Academy
3) Cleanse

Tileset:
1) Aztec 2

Remix:
1) Pull Back the Bass
2) Dark Groove
3) Carrotus

Best JCSer:
1) PurpleJazz

Best CTF

1) Cleanse
2) Carrot Farm
3) Orbital IV

Best Battle

1) Relic Valley
2) Chasing the Stars
3) Bastion Keep

Best SP Release

1) Boy's Love 18+
2) Aztec 2
3) The Great Cave Offensive

Best Level Script

1) Umbral Arena >2k18<
2) Academy
3) Devan's Revenge (Intro)

Best Tileset

1) Aztec 2
2) Alien Palace
3) RainV

Best Remix

1) Dark Groove
2) Between Fire and Steel
3) Jazz Be Damned

Best JCSer

1) Seren
2) Violet CLM
3) cooba

Updated the OP with the proper deadline (February 3rd).

CTF
1. Carrot Farm - Loon
2. The Dragon Eyrie - PurpleJazz
3. Orbital IV - Fawful

Battle
1. Relic Valley - HyperJazz
2. Academy - Superjazz
3. Bastion Keep - Snooze

Single Player
1. Foo Single Player 2/14: Electric Foorufoo: BunnyLover 2018: This Time It's Personnel, Kid - Violet CLM
2. EmeraldusV - Violet CLM
3. Aztec 2 - Blade

Tileset
1. Aztec 2 - Blade
2. Alien Palace - Seren
3. RainV - Violet CLM

Remix
1. Laboratory level - SIDNIFY
2. Between Fire and Steel (Medivo remix) - SIDNIFY
3. Water Level - BPStudio

Creator
1. Violet CLM
2. Blade
3. cooba

Re-posting the CTF list since now I know we're not limited to just the nominations in this thread:

1. Carrot Farm - Loon
2. Butrinti - Loon & Smoke
3. The Dragon Eyrie - PurpleJazz

CTF:
1. Fishing Village
2. Mt. Cinder
3. Carrot Farm

Battle:
1. Thermae
2. Bastion Keep
3. Relic Valley

Level Script:
1. Academy
2. Umbral Arena >2k18<
3. Devan's Revenge (Intro)

Tileset:
1. Aztec 2
2. Alien Palace
3. EmeraldusV

JCSer:
1. Violet CLM
2. PurpleJazz
3. cooba

Best Battle of 2018:
Academy - Superjazz

Best SP Release of 2018:
Aztec 2 - Blade

Best Level Script of 2018:
EmeraldusV - Violet CLM

Best Tileset of 2018:
Aztec 2 - Blade

Best Remix of 2018:
Between Fire and Steel (Medivo remix) - SIDNIFY

Best CTF Level: 1: The Dragon Eyrie, 2: Mt. Cider, 3: Sparkling Illusions
Best Battle Level: 1: Nocturne, 2: Thermae, 3: Academy
Best SP Release: 1: Foo Single Player 2/14: Electric Foorufoo: BunnyLover 2018: This Time It's Personnel, Kid, 2: Mystery of the Four Artifacts, 3: Psychomondus
Best Level Script: 1: Chips Challenge, 2: Umbral Arena >2k18<, 3: Devan's Revenge (Intro)
Best Tileset: 1: Aztec 2, 2: Alien Palace, 3: RainV
Best JCSer: Violet CLM

CTF:

1. Carrot Farm by Loon - Although flawed in my opinion, this is a level I'd pick for a "default" jj2 ctf level, because it's mostly solid overall.

2. Giant's Steps by PurpleJazz - Almost made 1 on my list, but I think it's somewhat lacking in terms of sprite-layer eyecandy and varied gameplay.

3. The Dragon Eyrie by PurpleJazz - Another mostly solid level.

4? You mean Orbital IV? - Sorry Faw!

The other ctf levels are mostly nice in my opinion though, so no offense to the others.


Tileset:

1. Aztec 2 by Blade - Quite flexible set, but it's missing certain shadow tile variations etc. I wouldn't trust many jcsers to use it for mp levels.

2. Alien Palace by Sir Ementaler - Also quite flexible, but it's advisable to use tiles from other sets, especially for the bg.

3. EmeraldusV - by Violet and sSEGAa - Definitely a set for Sonic lovers, and probably terrible for most mp level designs.

Best CTF:
Mount Cider
The Crackdown
Sparkling Illusions

Best Battle:
Relic Valley
Nocturne
Therame

Best SP:
Foo Single Player
EmeraldusV
The Cave Offensive

Best Script:
EmeraldusV
Academy
Devan's Revenge

Best tileset:
Aztec 2
Alien Palace
RainV

Best Remix:
Between Fire and Steel

Best JCSer:
Violet CLM
PurpleJazz
Loon

Bumping this thread to remind people there's still 4 days left to go to vote.

best ctf carrot farm loon
best battle academy superjazz
best sp release aztec 2 blade
best level script academy superjazz
best tileset aztec 2
best remix water level
best jcser loon

Best CTF of 2018:

1. Orbital IV
2. The Dragon Eyrie
3. Butrinti

Best Battle of 2018:

1. Relic Valley
2. Bastion Keep
3. Thermae

Best SP Release of 2018:

1. Foo Single Player 2/14: Electric Foorufoo: BunnyLover 2018: This Time It's Personnel, Kid
2. EmeraldusV
3. Psychomondus

Best Level Script of 2018:

1. Umbral Arena >2k18<
2. Relic Valley
3. Fooball Field

Best Tileset of 2018:

1. Aztec 2
2. Alien Palace
3. EmeraldusV

Best JCSer of 2018:

1. Violet CLM
2. PurpleJazz
3. Loon

Violet CLM

MaxGamez, thank you for not reading the rules (leaving your post undeleted).

Bastion Keep - Snooze

REENTERED VOTE:


CTF VOTE:

Mt. Cider - PurpleJazz
Carrot Farm - Loon


BATTLE VOTE:
Bastion Keep - Snooze
Press Garden - Smoke

SP Release:
Devan's Revenge (Intro) - sAlAmAnDeR
What in the blazes? - happygreenfrog

Scriptys:
Chips Challenge - Violet CLM
Lori on Ice - Violet CLM

Tileset:
RainV - Violet CLM
Alien Palace - Sir Ementaler

Remix:
Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Theme - Zyrit
Labratory Level - SIDNIFY

best jcser:
Violet CLM
PurpleJazz
happygreenfrog
Jelly Jam
Loon

Giant's Steps, Press Garden, BunnyLover, Devan's Revenge, Aztec 2, Laboratory Level (in that order!)

On second thought, I'm changing my Best Remix vote to Pull Back the Bass.

Best SP Release: Foo Single Player 2/14: Electric Foorufoo: BunnyLover 2018: This Time It's Personnel, Kid, EmeraldusV
Best Level Script: EmeraldusV
Best JCSer: VioletCLM

Best CTF:
1. Cleanse - Seren
2. The Dragon Eyrie - PurpleJazz
3. Carrot Farm - Loon

Best Battle:
1. Bastion Keep - Snooze
2. Chasing the Stars - cooba
3. Press Garden - Smoke

Best SP Release of 2018:
1. Foo Single Player 2/14: Electric Foorufoo: BunnyLover 2018: This Time It's Personnel, Kid - Violet CLM
2. Devan's Revenge (Intro) - sAlAmAnDeR
3. Psychomondus - Bloody_Body

Best Tileset of 2018:
1. Aztec 2 - Blade
2. EmeraldusV - Violet CLM
3. Alien Palace - Sir Ementaler

Best JCSer of 2018:
1. Purplejazz
2. Seren
3. cooba

We've got the results!

Best CTF Level of 2018

[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_gold_3.png[/IMG] Carrot Farm - Loon [4.25]
[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_silver_1.png[/IMG] Cleanse - Seren [3]
[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_silver_1.png[/IMG] Mt. Cinder - PurpleJazz [3]
[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_bronze_2.png[/IMG] The Dragon Eyrie - PurpleJazz [2.5]

To be quite frank, we were spoiled for choice in 2018 when it comes to high quality CTF levels. Carrot Farm may have just missed out being an entry on the JJnet contest, but nonetheless it has gained quite some exposure through worth of mouth, and for good reason - it's an incredibly solid level with some rather pretty visuals and a well designed layout that offers plenty of fast-paced tactical gameplay. The joint runners up, Cleanse and Mt. Cinder, offer a different type of gameplay catered more towards the chaotic action typical of larger games. Overall, a fantastic year for CTF!

Best Battle Level of 2018

[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_gold_3.png[/IMG] Bastion Keep - Snooze [4.5]
[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_silver_1.png[/IMG] Relic Valley - FireSworD [4.25]
[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_bronze_2.png[/IMG] Academy - Superjazz [2.75]

A really close call, but Bastion Keep just pips ahead of Relic Valley to take the top spot for Best Battle of 2018, effectively ending what would've been FireSworD's three-year streak for this award. Well worth it checking out - Snooze's usual flair for level design is in full force, offering a tantalising combination of creative visual design and modern gameplay with a bit of a retro feel! Relic Valley and Academy on the other hand make imaginative use of script to provide a twist on more typical Battle gameplay.

Best SP Release of 2018

[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_gold_3.png[/IMG] Foo Single Player 2/14: Electric Foorufoo: BunnyLover 2018: This Time It's Personnel, Kid - Violet CLM [8]
[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_silver_1.png[/IMG] Aztec 2 - Blade [2.75]
[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_bronze_2.png[/IMG] Devan's Revenge (Intro) - sAlAmAnDeR [1.5]
[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_bronze_2.png[/IMG] EmeraldusV - Violet CLM [1.5]
[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_bronze_2.png[/IMG] Mystery of the Four Artifacts - chandie [1.5]

I guess no one is suprised by the result here - BL18 is a creative tour de force that powerfully showcases how far level design has come in the last few years as a result of AngelScript. Absolutely recommended if you haven't played it yet, and doing so would seem appropriate with Valentine's Day just around the corner! Props to Aztec 2 for offering a great vanilla experience, which in some sense was refreshing despite all of the modern innovations that scripting has brought.

Best Level Script of 2018

[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_gold_3.png[/IMG] Academy - Superjazz [3.5]
[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_silver_1.png[/IMG] Devan's Revenge (Intro) - sAlAmAnDeR [3]
[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_silver_1.png[/IMG] EmeraldusV - Violet CLM [3]
[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_silver_1.png[/IMG] Umbral Arena >2k18< - Violet CLM [3]
[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_bronze_2.png[/IMG] Chips Challenge - Violet CLM [2]

The Best Level Script often ends up splitting the votes more or less evenly as what consistutes a "good script" is highly subjective depending on the individual. However, there was a winner this time, and I doubt anyone can deny that Academy is one cool level. It's both very impressive from a technical standpoint and a hell of a fun time to mess about with all of the different types of magic. Well worth dipping your toes into some SP this year too if you want to see a good idea of what AngelScript was all about in 2018!

Best Tileset of 2018

[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_gold_3.png[/IMG] Aztec 2 - Blade [9]
[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_silver_1.png[/IMG] Alien Palace - Seren [3.25]
[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_bronze_2.png[/IMG] RainV - Violet CLM [1.5]

Another landslide victory that will surprise no one. We finally got Blade's highly anticipated 14th tileset in 2018, and boy did it blow away our expectations. It has the rare combination of being brilliant on both an artistic and technical level, and comes packed with a lovely example level that masterfully shows off the potential of the tileset. Well done to Seren for making a tileset that's completely unlike any other tileset to date, and that manages to be surprisingly flexible despite being made under strict limitations.

Best Remix of 2018

[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_gold_3.png[/IMG] Between Fire and Steel (Medivo remix) - SIDNIFY [3]
[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_silver_1.png[/IMG] Labratory Level - SIDNIFY [2.5]
[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_bronze_2.png[/IMG] Dark Groove - Gridscape [1.5]

Double whammy victory for SIDNIFY - go check out their remixes on their YouTube channel! The whole of the Jazz Jackrabbit 2 20th Anniversary Tribute Album is also well worth a listen.

Best JCSer of 2018

[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_gold_3.png[/IMG] Violet CLM [7.5]
[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_silver_1.png[/IMG] PurpleJazz [4]
[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_bronze_2.png[/IMG] Loon [1.5]
[IMG]http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/media/icons/award_star_bronze_2.png[/IMG] Seren [1.5]

Violet CLM had a bit of a bumper year in 2018, with a no-modest list of accomplishments - he only had a behemoth SP episode, two tileset conversions and a previously unreleased SP level. No doubt in my mind that his 1st place is thoroughly deserved - congratulations! I'm honored to be the runner up this year and hope to bring you plenty to look forward to in 2019. :)

Thank you to everyone who made 2018 such a wonderful year! Now get out there and make stuff, and who knows, maybe 2019 could be your year. ;)

Man im so happy! Thanks to everyone who voted for bastion keep!!! I want to congratulate all the winners and especially SuperJazz and Blade, my flagbrothers!

Congrats to all of the winners!

I agree with most of them, but I don't think "Best Script" is a very fair category, and you may want to revise that for future jcs awards.

I also agree on the CTF winners, but I think a lot of the levels that didn't make the top 3 in that category could've won as well.

Congrats to all the winners!

I've been sick so I haven't been able to write a good reply here, but many thanks for all the kind votes, and congratulations to all the other winners as well--this was an exciting year, and I look forward to seeing what all happens in 2019!

Hello all and sorry for this mega belated post!! I've been intending to write here for months now.

Congratulations to all the winners. So much talent here! Also, my heartfelt thank you for voting Aztec 2 as the best tileset of 2018 and voting the accompanied level as the second best SP release of 2018.

I do all of my tileset and level work for the love of Jazz Jackrabbit 2, Jazz2Online and its community. Thank you for the honor here. You are the best.