Key points
- Use DOSBox 0.74-2 or newer on Windows 8 and later to avoid temporary pauses during transitions.
- Level 2 of Orbitus is pretty much impossible to beat in the 1.3 version of the CD release (fixed in GOG release[2]).
General information
- GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
- GOG.com Support Page
- Official site for game series from Internet Archive
- Hardcore Gaming 101 - Comprehensive feature
- Jazz2Online - A fan site for game series
- Version differences
Availability
- A shareware episode was released.
- Two free Christmas episodes were released: Holiday Hare and Holiday Hare 1995. See DLC and expansion packs.
Version differences
- Jazz Jackrabbit CD-ROM includes three bonus episodes with new music and additional animated cutscenes.[3] Later releases also include the Christmas episode Holiday Hare (1994).
DLC and expansion packs
| Name |
Notes |
|
| Holiday Hare |
Standalone expansion released in 1994. Included in later releases of Jazz Jackrabbit CD-ROM version. |
|
| Holiday Hare 1995 |
Standalone expansion. The levels and music are different from Holiday Hare (1994). |
|
Essential improvements
Run in DOSBox
To run correctly in DOSBox set cycles=max, gus=true and timed=false. Leave all other DOSBox settings at their defaults.[4]
Use DOSBox 0.74-2 or newer on Windows 8 and later to avoid temporary pauses during transitions.
Configure Gravis Ultrasound (GUS)
- This game takes advantage of the Gravis Ultrasound sound card's hardware mixing capabilities for higher quality music and sound effect playback; comparison.[5]
- Follow this guide to configure the GUS drivers for use in DOSBox.
- The stable version of DOSBox has a bug that results in GUS audio being played back in mono; this is fixed in certain SVN builds.[citation needed]
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
- It's unknown whether this game follows the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux. Please fill in this information.
Save game data location
Video
Input
Audio
| Audio feature |
State |
Notes |
| Separate volume controls |
|
Music and Sound FX. |
| Surround sound |
|
|
| Subtitles |
|
Everything is text-based. |
| Closed captions |
|
|
| Mute on focus lost |
|
For DOSBox change the priority background value in the DOSBox configuration file. |
Localizations
| Language |
UI |
Audio |
Sub |
Notes |
| English |
|
|
|
|
| Czech |
|
|
|
Fan - 1 |
Issues fixed
Game temporarily pauses during transitions
- This issue occurs with the official DOSBox builds before 0.74-2 in fullscreen mode on Windows 8 and later due to the game changing the resolution and refresh rate between menus and levels.
Runtime error 200
- This error occurs due to a higher speed processor running the game natively.
- This fix is not needed when running the game using DOSBox (see Run in DOSBox).
|
Use the TPPATCH fix[8]
|
- Download the TPPATCH fix here.
- Place the files in the installation folder.
- Type: TPPATCH file0001.exe in the prompt.
- Holiday Hare '94 and '95 also requires the patch: type TPPATCH jazz.exe for this.
|
Level 2 of Orbitus is almost impossible to beat
- An error exclusive to the 1.3 version of Jazz Jackrabbit CD.
- While it is possible to beat it using the Slo-Motion Mode (with T), this is not recommended.
- Fixed in the GOG release since 2021.
|
Use the airboard cheat[9]
|
- Press P
- Press ← Backspace
- Enter
CSTRIKE
|
Other information
API
| Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
| DOS video modes |
VGA |
|
- Open source re-implementation
System requirements
| DOS | Windows | macOS (OS X) | Linux |
| DOS |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
| Operating system (OS) |
5.0 | |
| Processor (CPU) |
Intel i386 33 MHz
| Intel i486 |
| System memory (RAM) |
4 MB | |
| Hard disk drive (HDD) |
13 MB | |
| Video card (GPU) |
VGA | |
| Sound (audio device) |
|
Gravis Ultrasound, Sound Blaster, Sound Blaster Pro, Sound Blaster 16, Pro Audio Spectrum 16 |
| Controller |
|
Gravis Gamepad or generic joystick |
| Windows |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
| Operating system (OS) |
7 |
8.1, 10 |
| Processor (CPU) |
1.8 GHz | |
| System memory (RAM) |
512 MB |
1 GB |
| Hard disk drive (HDD) |
1 GB | |
| Video card (GPU) |
DirectX 7 compatible
| DirectX 9 compatible |
| macOS (OS X) |
|
Minimum |
| Operating system (OS) |
10.9 |
| Processor (CPU) |
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz |
| System memory (RAM) |
1 GB |
| Hard disk drive (HDD) |
1 GB |
| Video card (GPU) |
64 MB of VRAM |
| Linux |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
| Operating system (OS) |
Ubuntu 14.04 |
Ubuntu 16.04 |
| Processor (CPU) |
2.0 GHz | |
| System memory (RAM) |
1 GB | |
| Hard disk drive (HDD) |
1 GB | |
| Video card (GPU) |
OpenGL compatible
256 MB of VRAM | |
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 File/folder structure within the installation folder reflects the path(s) listed for DOS game data. For the GOG.com release, file changes in DOSBox are redirected to
<path-to-game>/cloud_saves/ even if GOG Galaxy is not used (this folder contains all redirected files, so some files in the cloud_saves folder might be temporary files or other files that do not contain saves or settings).
- ↑ This appears to be used to force 60 Hz output on original hardware to avoid screen tearing. It also has the side effects of resulting in being displayed with square pixels on original hardware and having an issue where the game hangs when changing between menus and gameplay in DOSBox.[6]
References
