This article has a talk page!This is a sub-page of Proto:Jazz Jackrabbit 2.
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This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace. |
The Jun 17, 1997 prototype (Ver 0.98k) prototype of Jazz Jackrabbit 2 is a relatively early (dated more than a year before the final game's release) prototype of the game, containing many differences, the most important being the lack of the shareware episode and level layout differences. The Windows build starts at the 8 bit color mode with a 320x200 dos resolution by default, altough it is possible to play with a 640x480 resolution and 16 bit color by going into windowed mode with alt+enter and switching the settings there. Switching the resolution and color depth mode is possible in the DOS version by setting the configuration file correctly.
The executables#
The folder with the installed game contains two executables. One for DOS and one for Windows 95. It seems as if this game was originally being made for DOS, before switching to Windows and this build is in the middle of the switch. Perhaps the developers even intended to ship the two executables with the final game (Like in eg. Command & Conquer: Red Alert). The Windows version of this build tends to crash after the intro cutscene on some systems and the DOS version tends to crash while entering a level. There do not seem to be any substantial differences between the DOS and Windows executables as of this version.
Title Screen#
When launching the game, instead of the 3D pre-rendered Epic Megagames logo from the final game, this prototype has a hand-drawn logo of the company with Jazz standing on it eating a carrot. The animation of Jazz used which appears here is also used as an idle animation in both this prototype and the final game. The idle animations in this build are the same as the final game.
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0.98k |
Final |
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All the logos that appear before and after the Epic Megagames logo are missing. The intro cutscene is mostly the same, but the sound effects are misisng
The title screen is mostly the same except it's in the DOS 320x200 resolution and it doesn't have the bottom black bar. The shading on the characters and ground is slightly less refined and Spaz has less blood stains in his eyes.
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0.98k |
Final |
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The demos are different with the first one being in one of the castle levels and the second one being in one of the lab levels. There are only two demos.
Main Menu#
The main menu is mostly the same however it is in the 320x200 resolution and the purple animating pattern in the background animates differently. There is no lightning around the logo and currently selected option. There is no "High Scores" button, and in it's place stand one reading "Custom Game", which doesn't do anything. If you go to the options section, "Input" is the only option that does anything and it lets you switch the input bindings.
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0.98k |
Final |
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There is no "Shareware Demo" episode. The Doom-inspired assets are instead used for the episode "Funky Monkeys", called "DOOMED, TOD" in this version. The episode "Formerly a Prince" is called "Formerly Known as the Prince". The logo of the episode "Flashback" has a different font. The episode "Jazz in Time" is called "Jazz to the Future".
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0.98k |
Final |
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Game#
The gems feature a different design. They are simple drawings here, whereas in the final game they are pre-rendered 3D sprites.
The animation after performing a buttstomp appears much more frequently than the final game, where it sometimes doesn't play. Buttstomping however feels much worse, because there is a cooldown put on it.
Collecting 100 gems rewards the player with an extra life
Various Differences#
- The cartoony sound effects while traversing the menus are a bunch of burp, laughing, bird and pendulum noises instead of the bangs from the final game.
- You cannot delete saves, only overwrite them.
- The snowflakes in the level "A Cold Day In Heck" are an on-screen effect and move with the camera. In the final game they are actual particles that spawn in the level.
- Jazz and Spaz make less sound effects.
- Collecting a carrot makes the same noise as collecting a gem.
- Some guns look and behave differently.
- The boss characters have worse AI.
- The loading screen is different, with the character you're playing as performing animations on a black background while the title of the game and level name are displayed. The final game instead uses a screen of Jazz and Spaz pointing at the level name.
- Some enemies, which require multiple hits to kill in the final game, only require one here.
- The range of the flamethrower while running seems to be larger than the final game.
- Generally, the game tends to be a bit easier than the final, likely because of the small screen space and worse buttstomping it is played with.
- There is no exit screen when quitting the game.
- The menus have less fancy animations.
- There is no game over screen.
- The level format the game uses is different.
- After finishing an episode, a screen saying "End of Episode not done yet" is displayed, before the game returns to the main menu.
- The camera is worse than in the final game.