I found these among some old game idea/design documents and thought at least someone might enjoy them. (one doc in this post, one in the next)

-Nag

---

Jazz Jackrabbit 3

Original Treatment

Abstract
Jazz Jackrabbit 3 (Jazz3 or J3) will finally start to realize the full potential of the side-scrolling platformer genre. It will follow in the footsteps of its predecessors, Jazz Jackrabbit (Jazz1 or J1) and Jazz Jackrabbit 2 (Jazz2 or J2) with fast-paced action at its core. However, Jazz3 will draw players deeper into the Jazz universe with an in depth storyline and much further developed characters. The game will be designed to cater to both young and old.

Characters

• Jazz Jackrabbit is of course the star of the game. He will return with his signature uppercut and helicopter ears, and will also be equipped with new hand-to-hand combat attacks and defenses.


• Spaz Jackrabbit will also come back with his side kick and double jump moves as well new hand-to-hand combat attacks and defenses.


• Lori Jackrabbit will be returning with an improved spin kick and helicopter ears. She too will have several hand-to-hand combat attacks and defenses.


• Razz Jackrabbit will be introduced as Jazz’s, Spaz’s, and Lori’s cousin. He will have a powerful stomp move, that will harm any nearby grounded characters, and will also have a rocket jump maneuver that will allow him to jump into the air and then travel a great distance to the left or right. He too will be equipped with hand-to-hand combat attacks and defenses.
• 
  
• Damon Shell, Devan’s rebellious son, will hurl himself toward enemies, tucking his head in and dealing damage like any turtle shell. He will also have spring-loaded legs, allowing him to jump great heights, along with the standard hand-to-hand combat attacks and defenses.

Every character in the game—including baddies and bosses—will actually be playable, but the storyline only allows those five.

Storyline
Jazz Jackrabbit returns to Castle Carrotus from his and Eva’s first wedding anniversary on the planet Tropicus. Upon their arrival, they are bombarded not by turtles, but by their own loyal subjects! Sensing something is amiss, Jazz quickly fights through his servants—taking care not to harm them—to find that Devan Shell is back and has taken control of planet Carrotus! This time, he’s developed a mind control device and has taken prisoner nearly every Carrotus citizen.

Before he can make his attack, Devan warns that he has placed several well guarded laser cannons throughout the galaxy, all pointing straight at Carrotus. If anything happens to Devan, BOOM! Confident in his cronies, Devan tells Jazz the location of each laser cannon and has challenged him to defeat each guard.

Jazz must locate and destroy each of the laser cannons, defeating any baddies or bosses that get in his way, before he can reclaim Castle Carrots and defeat Devan once and for all.

Throughout the game, Jazz may find and recruit other playable characters. At any time, players will be able to switch to any obtained character. Once a character’s health has been exhausted, they are immediately warped back to mission control and must rest until the completion or cancellation of the current level. Once warped back, another character may be selected to take their place. If all characters have been defeated, the level is canceled and the player must start from the beginning.

Once all laser cannons have been destroyed, Team Jazz returns to Carrotus to find that Devan has pulled out all the stops. He’s packed out Castle Carrotus with his goons to stop Jazz at all costs. He must fight his way through the baddies to finally face Devan himself.

Once defeated, Devan explains that he has rigged the mind control device to self-detonate. Damon tends to his father while the player locates and destroys the device. Upon destroying the device, the portion Devan is wearing malfunctions and explodes. Furious about his father’s death, Damon swears vengeance on Team Jazz and teleports away.

The day is saved and Carrotus is safe once again—for now, anyway.

Gameplay
After the introduction, players will be taken to the level selection area, where they can choose their route. Do they first stop by to recruit Spaz, or do they jump right in and go for the first laser cannon? At any time during a level, the player may switch the character he is controlling.

Enemies
Both baddies and bosses will be controlled by scripted AI. Enemies will be highly intelligent, making decisions based on their current position, condition, and situation. They will also be able to navigate levels more affectively, allowing them to chase after players or take cover when in trouble. No more mindless drones! Enemies in J3 will attempt to preserve their own lives.

Environment
Jazz3 will take place on several different planets, allowing a broad range of rich environments from swamps and lakes to jungles and forests to deserts and wastelands. Tilesets will be much larger than has been possible with J1 and J2, allowing for much more detail and variation within levels.

Internet Play
There will be three types of internet servers: public, private, and closed. Public servers will allow any player to join at any time, much like a typical server in Jazz2. A private server corresponds to a Jazz2 server protected by a password. Only certain players will be permitted to join. A closed server is one where all players join prior to the start of the game. Once all players have joined and settings have been selected, the host begins the game and no new players may join.

Bots
Multiplayer games will be more exciting than Jazz2, as Jazz3 will support scripted bots. The AI will follow general predefined behaviors coupled with scripted strategies to simulate formidable opponents. Bots will learn as they play, making them even more affective against human players. For example, even if a bot was not programmed with the location of a secret power-up, it will automatically learn the location if it sees that all other players know about it, or if it sees a nearby player get it. Players will be able to define the most common routes through levels that the bot uses, as well as general strategies it uses.

Level Editor
Players will be able to create their own levels and episodes with the included editor. Virtually every aspect of the game will be customizable via scripting. The editor will include features for creating any type of level or episode as well as palettes, tilesets, music libraries, ambient sounds, custom events, and much more.

Copyright © 2003, Brandon Gano
Jazz Jackrabbit is a trademark of Epic Games.

Jazz Jackrabbit 3

Game Specification

Features

3D Sound Effects
There will be many more sound effects than in J1 and J2. These effects will serve to warn players what awaits them on the next platform. If there is a battle nearby, players will be able to tell what weapons are being used and in what direction the action is. Additionally, players will be able to hear enemies as they approach them, allowing them to plan their attack.

Background Music
Each level can be linked to one or more music files to help establish the setting. These music files—or tracks—can be faded in and out or switched at any time via scripting. This allows for the music to become dramatic when a boss approaches or creepy when in dark places. It will help to set and change the mood within a level.

Artificial Intelligence
Enemies will be artificially intelligent both with predefined—instinctual—behaviors and scriptable actions. They will be able to navigate levels just like the player, and will be more likely to give chase than in previous games. Enemies will be self-aware, meaning they will attempt to preserve their lives if possible. They will communicate with one another and react to what is going on around them. If they run into trouble, they’ll call for help, or sometimes offer to help you in exchange for their life.

Vehicles
Players will be able to control various simple vehicles. These will include old favorites like the airboard and copter, as well as new things like tanks, submarines, and rubber tires.

Scripting Language
Everything from in-game events to enemy behavior will be completely scriptable. The scripting language will likely be based on JavaScript.

Idle Animations
All characters (good or bad) will have various idle animations for different positions they’re in. For example, they might have a few animations while standing, a couple while hanging from a rope, and one while riding in a vehicle. Baddies will have idle animations that can only be seen by sneaking up on them unnoticed.

Ambient Sounds
Each level will have its own distinct set of ambient sounds. For example, on a beach you might hear roaring waves, while in a jungle you would hear birds and wild animals. These sounds occur randomly, but can be scripted to occur with more or less frequency as desired. They can also be filtered in various ways. Additionally, it will be possible to specify multiple sets of ambient sounds to be played at different locations within a level.

Palette Switching
Via scripting, it will be possible to swap out palettes for both sprites and tilesets. This will allow transitions from day to night, or otherwise allow scripted events to affect the appearance of an entire level.

Creatures
In addition to the player’s characters, baddies, and bosses, there will be various neutral creatures throughout the game. These creatures can be attacked, and some will attack back, but most will simply run away.

Effects
Dozens of special effects will be scriptable. These include particle and ray explosions, light effects, smoke, fire, bubbles, etc. Each effect will be extremely customizable to achieve limitless results.

Gameplay

Movement
Players will be able to move very quickly, as in J1 and J2. However, Jazz3 will also provide the option to move slowly to allow for easier control during hand-to-hand combat. All players will of course be able to stand, duck, walk, run, and jump, as well as the additional moves explained below.

Special Moves
Each character will have a special attack, and a special jump. The attack is performed by ducking and pressing the jump button, while the special jump is performed by pressing the jump button while in the air. These moves will be unique, but well balanced, so as not to give one character an unfair advantage.

Hand-to-Hand
Each character will be able to perform various hand-to-hand combat attacks and defenses when they aren’t holding a weapon. By pressing the space bar, players can punch or perform a general attack. By holding down and pressing the space bar, players can kick or perform a low attack. By holding up and pressing the space bar, players can perform an upward attack. By holding the shift key while performing any of these moves, the user instead attempts to block or deflect an attack.

Weapons
Several weapons can be collected during gameplay, each of which has unique benefits and drawbacks. Some classic weapons will return, and some new ones will appear also. Returning weapons include the Blaster, Blue Bullet Bouncer (improved explosion), RF Missiles, Seekers (updated to reduce effectiveness), Toaster, and Freezer. New weapons include the Pulsar Mines (affects everything in a large blast radius), Shard Mines (sends shards in random directions after explosion), and Contact Grenades (explode on contact).

Projectiles
In addition to the standard weapons, many objects can be picked up and thrown. While this generally does little damage, it can be used to egg someone on or throw them off as to your location. For example, if you throw a rock over someone’s head, they might hear it and go to investigate. Projectiles are picked up by holding down over the object and pressing space. Objects can be thrown by simply pressing space. Holding shift and pressing space will attempt to catch a projectile that has been thrown at you.

Objects
Many objects can be collected and used during gameplay, including shields, lights, homing devices, etc. Objects are selected using the [ and ] keys and used with the ~ key.


Interface
There are four main game interfaces: main menu, mission control, level, and cinematic. The main menu will provide the player with options to save, load, quit, or adjust game settings. In mission, control, the player must select a character to use and a path to follow. Within a level, players can perform moves, switch players, view items, and perform various other actions. During cinematics, players are provided only the option to watch or skip the movie.

Main Menu
The main menu is what the player will see every time he launches Jazz3, ends a game, or presses escape during a game. It provides the player with the following options: Start Game, Load Game, High Scores, Options, and Quit.

Mision Control
Mision Control is a simple interface that displays the status of all team members and provides the option to view the team inventory or begin one of the available paths. Each path is complete with a description of the environment, and the details of the expected opposition.

Level
During a level, the user may press escape to activate the main menu, or some other key to display inventory items. They may also press the tab key to switch characters, or any of the others keys mentioned in the Gameplay section to run, jump, shoot, etc.

Cinematic
Sometimes, at the beginning and end of a path or between levels within a path, cinematic sequences will be played. These sequences serve as rewards to the player, as they will reveal key portions of the storyline. If a player wishes to skip a cinematic sequence, he can press the space bar any time after it starts.

Rules

Members of Team Jazz do not die. If their health runs out, they are simply teleported back to mission control and replaced by another member of the team. Once defeated, team members must wait through a period of healing until the current path has been cleared or canceled.

Players may switch their current team member at any time during a level. All weapons and goodies are available to all members, regardless of who collected them.

Multiplayer games will support only a single character controlled by each player. These characters can then be teamed up in any way desired.

Level Design

Levels will be designed in such a way that provides a great deal of variation between difficulties. On the easiest setting, for example, goodies will be more plentiful, baddies and bosses weaker, and in some cases, entire portions of levels will be cut out.

Levels will be very large, taking time and effort to complete. Within a single level, the player can be both inside and outside several buildings on the ground, underground, and in the air. There will be several different paths players may take, each varying in difficulty and reward level.

Levels will be played in groups. For example, when the player chooses a path from mission control, he will be required to play several sequential levels in order to continue to another path.

Levels will not contain dead ends. While everything the player does within a level has consequences, they will never get the feeling they’ve made the wrong choice and have to start over. While they may make things more difficult for themselves, they will always be able to complete the level regardless of their actions.

Secret levels will be made. These levels will provide weapons and goodies that cannot be found on the normal levels.

All levels will be replayable at any time. Even after the player has completed a path, he may still return to the path and try to discover secret levels or other bonuses. Levels will maintain some level of state once completed. For example, you will be able to challenge baddies and bosses again, but once destroyed, a laser cannon will never come back. Additionally, some goodies may not reappear once a path has been cleared.

Copyright © 2003, Brandon Gano
Jazz Jackrabbit is a trademark of Epic Games.

OMG JJ3 IZ COMING FINALLY wait no

thanks for sharing gets my approval.

Awesome, thanks for the info mate.

Levels will not contain dead ends. While everything the player does within a level has consequences, they will never get the feeling they’ve made the wrong choice and have to start over.

Sounds a bit like Sonic Advance 3, which is the one reason why that game has a huge replayabilty factor: The levels are essentially huge playgrounds with multiple different(key word. We're not talking TSF here) paths that all lead to the exit.

Really neat stuff Onag, what'd you come up with this for specifically?

Confident in his cronies, Devan tells Jazz the location of each laser cannon and has challenged him to defeat each guard.

I thought Devan was supposed to be smart...and perhaps learn from the past?

Originally Posted by White Rabbit

I thought Devan was supposed to be smart...and perhaps learn from the past?

They're obviously prepared to destroy him. Not that it works...

Originally Posted by White Rabbit

I thought Devan was supposed to be smart...and perhaps learn from the past?

He may have been ingenious enough to have led an army of hundreds of thousands in vain against a couple of rabbits, construct a cloning machine and a machine capable of warping space-time...

But Devan's still our beloved cliched video game bad guy. You know, the kind that could invent anything if the story demands, but couldn't tell his (-) from his elbow when it came to common logic?

Originally Posted by Sucka_Tube

You know, the kind that could invent anything if the story demands, but couldn't tell his (-) from his elbow when it came to common logic?

Uh... no, I don't. That would defeat the purpose of Devan being an evil genius. He's brilliant, but his plans are thwarted by a trio of rabbit siblings. With big menancing guns. If you were in that position, you'd probably get beat up a lot too.

Originally Posted by Sonyk

Uh... no, I don't. That would defeat the purpose of Devan being an evil genius. He's brilliant, but his plans are thwarted by a trio of rabbit siblings. With big menancing guns. If you were in that position, you'd probably get beat up a lot too.

Perhaps you would, but I wouldn't. I mean, what use is a pea-shooter when you're facing a member of our highly menacing human race?

Humans = Scary stuff.

Originally Posted by Bobby aka Dizzy

Really neat stuff Onag, what'd you come up with this for specifically?

A while back, there was talk of a community effort to make a fan-based JJ3 (big surprise). I put that together and forgot about it, I guess.

And Sucka_Tube is right: by definition, an evil genius is always overconfident. He's so caught up in his ingenious plans, he doesn't stop to think how insane they are.

-Nag

A fan-made JJ3? Would it ever work? Who has knowledge of 3D game creation? Who would create the characters? Who would create the levels? Where would the sounds come from? Who would be asking all the questions?!?

Originally Posted by Sucka_Tube

A fan-made JJ3? Would it ever work? Who has knowledge of 3D game creation? Who would create the characters? Who would create the levels? Where would the sounds come from? Who would be asking all the questions?!?

http://www.jazz2online.com/jcf/forumdisplay.php?f=12

Originally Posted by Sucka_Tube

Would it ever work?

Probably, the community is big enough and we need a jumpstart.

Originally Posted by Sucka_Tube

Who has knowledge of 3D game creation?

Plenty of people. See the community's collection of 3D games.

Originally Posted by Sucka_Tube

Who would create the characters?

They're already created.

Originally Posted by Sucka_Tube

Who would create the levels?

We have plenty of active level makers as it is.

Originally Posted by Sucka_Tube

Where would the sounds come from?

We have plenty in JJ2, and it's not like it's that hard to record our own.

Originally Posted by Sucka_Tube

Who would be asking all the questions?!?

You're doing a bad job of it as is, so it'd be better if no one did.

Originally Posted by Sonyk

(Merciless dissection of my poor and innocent post)

We really have that many ressources, aye? I guess then we can all expect it by fall 2009! I can't WAIT!

Actually, despite having all the resources, we have no one who has the willpower to use said resources.

Try right before the last trump, and theres a fanmade JJ3 release date if I ever saw one.

noob...you sound educated ;P

Interesting read... especially after I just finished playing the JJ3 Alpha :P

josh...you sound noobish ;P

Originally Posted by Onag

By definition, an evil genius is always overconfident. He's so caught up in his ingenious plans, he doesn't stop to think how insane they are.

Which makes you wonder, why is it always an evil genius? Once, just once, I'd like to fight an evil idiot. Would be a nice change of pace.

Dark Shell was a definite Evil Idiot.
He had his evil plan written on a napkin which he nearly lost, told Jazz the location of his secret hideout before realizing that wouldn't make it "secret", his pants could fall down during his boss fight, and his video of his "evil plan" according to Margsly contains a whole 5-6 minutes of him just standing there laughing maniacally.

Too early...

How can I not have noticed this earlier?

That's really nice, Onag. Awesomesauce at its best.

Awesome Onag! I could use this info for a Jazz site I'm currently working on.