Jazz Jackrabbit (DOS)

This page details pre-release information and/or media for Jazz Jackrabbit (DOS).

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: Find a good source for the claim that Brussee's original vision involved the player character being Wubbo Ockels (see https://www.jazz2online.com/wiki/Jazz_Jackrabbit_1#h-1)

Jazz Jackrabbit was the result of Cliff Bleszinski applying his design and worldbuilding to Arjan Brussee's buttery-smooth Turrican-style DOS platforming engine. Though Epic's less-than-stellar track record with release dates was reflected in the game's prerelease cycle, the final output gained plenty of praise for what it achieved on its platform.

Development Timeline#

1990

• December 28 - Date of DIET.OVL¹ in the early Universal Game Editor engine by Arjan Brussee that became Jazz Jackrabbit.² This is the earliest file.

1991

• October³ - UltraForce's VectorDemo for PC, whose 3D coding was done by Arjan BrusseeUltra Force Development - Demogroup Downloads

, is released. It ends up getting the attention of Epic MegaGames head Tim Sweeney.⁴ 1992

• Tim Sweeney announces the entirety of UltraForce joining Epic MegaGames in Epic Insider Letter Premier Issue, and that their first games there will be "Klatris, Bart's Law, and Turrikan".⁵ According to Arjan Brussee, only he of the group ends up going on with Epic in the end.
• During English class, Cliff Bleszinski sketches concepts for a game involving a rabbit with blue goggles, a large backpack, and a machine gun larger than himself.⁶

1993

• March 12 - Date of G_MAIN.EXE and G_EDIT.EXE in the early Universal Game Editor engine, which is dated to this month.
• Arjan Brussee emails Cliff Bleszinski a copy of said engine, apparently also titled Vertigo. He subsequently starts modifying its graphics.
• "Within the week" of Vertigo being sent - A "demo of Jazz running around a turtle grassland, blasting goofy amphibians" is created. Cliff Bleszinski sends this to Arjan Brussee, who subsequently decides to make Bleszinski's vision of the game.
• September - Earliest month that Arjan Brussee likely started working on Jazz Jackrabbit.
• October 28 - Epic Pinball for DOS is released.⁷ The in-game readme contains a preview for Jazz with a sliver of an early screenshot.

1994

• Artist Nick Stadler eventually gets brought to the team by Epic to rework the design of Jazz, reworking Cliff Bleszinski's concept for "a classic Warner Brothers animation look". Apparently the enthusiasm for this redesign causes the game to be delayed. Stadler also contributed Eva Earlong and Devan Shell.⁸
• February - A missed launch window for the game.⁹¹⁰
• February 1 - Right above Jazz Jackrabbit, an entry for Vertigo from Epic Megagames appears on an official list of Gravis UltraSound-supported games.¹¹
• March - A missed launch window for the game.¹²
• May 10 - Joshua Jensen, credited for the Sound System in the final game, states that "final beta should be ready very soon for [Jazz]".¹³
• June 11 - Arjan Brussee mentions that Jazz is undergoing "heavy beta testing".¹⁴
• June 15 - Epic mentions the impending release of Jazz Jackrabbit, deliberately leaving out a release date.¹⁵
• July 19 - Joshua Jensen states that Jazz Jackrabbit "is in final beta", and that the release is imminent.¹⁶
• July 30 - Date of JAZZ.EXE in the original shareware release.
• August 1 - The shareware version of Jazz Jackrabbit is released via BBS and FTP, with the full version being available for order.Epic MegaNews #3
• "The shareware version of Jazz will be released today, August 1, to BBS's and Internet sites worldwide!"
• "The five other episodes of Jazz aren't available as shareware. You can buy the collection of all SIX episodes directly from Epic."
• August 10 - Date of JAZZ.EXE in the original floppy distribution of registered episodes 1-6.
• August 15 - Date of the packed install files in the original floppy distribution of registered episodes 1-6.
• August 26 - Arjan Brussee says the CD version is in development, advising those with a CD-ROM drive to wait on buying the registered version.¹⁷
• October 15 - Date of JAZZ.EXE in Jazz Jackrabbit CD.
• October 17 - Date of FILE001.EXE in the original release of Jazz Jackrabbit CD.
• November 21 - Date of the ISO filesystem within the original release of Jazz Jackrabbit CD.
• November 28 - Epic announces Jazz Jackrabbit CD being released, adding three new episodes and additional animations.¹⁸
• December 3 - Date of JAZZ.EXE in Holiday Hare '94.¹⁹
• December 15 - Epic announces the release of the shareware Holiday Hare '94.²⁰

1995

• January 20 - Date of FILE001.EXE in the v1.3 release of Jazz Jackrabbit CD.
• September 28 - Date of JAZZ.EXE in Holiday Hare '95.
• November 8 - Epic announces the release of the shareware Holiday Hare '95.²¹

Game/Character Name#

Cliff Bleszinski has gone on record saying he considered the names Rambo Rabbit and Jaz the Jackwabbit before settling with Jazz Jackrabbit. Arjan Brussee's original engine was also apparently known as Vertigo before the Jazz concept was chosen, and this name even made it alongside Jazz into release listings.

Bleszinski has also said that he got the final name from his own dog, who was named "Jazz" after the Transformers character.²²

Concept Art#

These sketches by Cliff Bleszinski show the title character's earlier depiction of wearing goggles. He also appears to have a more realistic gun.

Screenshots#

Magazine Screenshots#

Power Unlimited May 1994#

These early screenshots of the game show Jazz with the aforementioned goggles in blue, as well as quite different graphics.

Early	Final

Early	Final

Early	Final

Early	Final

Early	Final

Early	Final

CompuServe Magazine August 1994#

Early	Final

Epic Pinball Shareware#

Jazz got an early preview in Epic Pinball's in-game readme.

Screenshot	Jazz text
	THE JAZZ MOTTO: 'WHEN YOU'RE A LITTLE RABBIT, CARRY A BIG GUN!' THIS GAME IS AN ARCADE SPREE FEATURING THE QUICKEST SUPERSONIC ACTION A BUNNY HAS EVER SEEN.

The slide after this one contains a sliver of an early screenshot of Jazz. Both the background and sprite graphics here are quite different from the final game.

Epic Pinball Shareware v1.1	Epic Pinball Shareware v2.1	Final

Color Artwork Disk v1.0, 1994-08-04#

A promotional disk from Epic contained eight screenshots of the game with a blue status bar and the pre-Stadler design for Jazz. Background and enemy graphics are much closer to final now, though.

Color Artwork Disk v1.0	Final

Color Artwork Disk v1.0	Final

Color Artwork Disk v1.0	Final

Color Artwork Disk v1.0	Final

Color Artwork Disk v1.0	Final

Color Artwork Disk v1.0	Final

Color Artwork Disk v1.0	Final

Color Artwork Disk v1.0	Final

References#