Stepping away from PR2 development

[bls1999]

After 8 years, it's time for me to officially say goodbye to PR2 development.

The obvious question many of you will ask is "duh, where have you been?" I want to make it clear that my inactivity was not by choice. Without getting too specific, my employer has pretty strict guidelines on open-source contributions. Behind the scenes, for the past couple of years, I've tried my very best to get back to a place that allowed me to continue regular PR2 development, and if that does happen, I'll post a jubilant update; however it's becoming increasingly clear that won't happen in a way that allows me to make meaningful changes moving forward.

It's been an absolute blast engaging with this community in such a sacred way; curating and preserving a piece of internet history we all love dearly. I couldn't be more thankful to Jacob for taking a chance on me back in 2018 and letting me take the reins on his magnum opus. Working on PR2 provided me a creative outlet that made me a better programmer and allowed me to escape from the world when I needed it the most. I can confidently say that I owe much of my real-world success to this project. Put simply, it changed my life for the better.

To the community that accepted me along the way: thank you. None of this would've been possible without your incredible suggestions, activity, participation, contributions (special thanks to the folks who provided music and vector graphics!), etc. It really warms my heart to think of everyone that's had a chance to influence the game. Whether that's something as small as adding pages for the campaign tab, or as medium as finally adding the cheese hat, or as large as adding block options and teleport blocks, all of you were integral to changing PR2 for the better.

As for the future of development, I've transferred the PR2 client repo to Jacob. I believe he intends to make it public, so you can see all of my crazy comments and additions along the way. I'm excited at the prospect of a public PR2 client source codebase inspiring a new generation of PR2 development and, who knows, maybe teaching another aspiring programmer to code.

I want to be clear that this isn't goodbye from the community. I'm not retiring from being an admin, nor am I shutting down JV. Additionally, all closed-source development (JV, Discord, other games, etc) and community curation (streaming!) is fair game. So, I'll still be around. Can't get rid of me that easily!

Thanks again for all the memories. I'll be seeng you around…

[Minimania]

Thank you for giving so much to this community and this wonderful game. I hope you find much success in the places your future carries you.

[Ashley766]

Thank you for making the game so great! Brought back many memories. I enjoyed being a beta tester and appreciate your input that you bring to this community. I’m not as active anymore but still lurking around

[AppleDon]

Sad to hear. Thank you for your work and we hope to see you soon! Much love to you! <3

[Kursed]

I gotta say Bls, the fact this game is still running in 2026 is ridiculous.

It is very clear how much passion you've had for this game/community from how much work you've done to keep it alive this long. I think everyone can respect that.

So thank you for all the work you have done on this game, and I hope things with your personal life and work go well!

[Chocnoon]

thank you for developing pr2 throughout these years! i hope pr2 gets bigger even tho im not active at all 

[Vaza]

I may not have played or made levels for a while, but seeing you adding many new game changing features into the game in addition to just keeping this game alive is truly worth all the respect. Wish you luck in your future, and I will also continue keeping myself closely informed with all PR2 future news. Long live Platform Racing!

[Stunt]

Thanks for all of your contributions BLS. Crazy it has lived so long. Disappointing to hear you are stepping away, but exciting to hear the possibility of the repo becoming completely public, there are many passionate coders who have tried to replicate the game for years without being able to. The physics are special.

[EpicMidget]

After returning to PR2 in October of 2023, I was amazed to see that the game had been steadily developed over the years. I'm very sad that I joined just late enough to miss the beautiful period where you were allowed to harnass your passion for this game and community to its fullest through all of your contributions. Your love for this game is contagious, and it's clear that Jacob trusted the right person. Thank you very much for everything that you've done for PR2 BLS.      Stay Epic!

[Camer the Dragon]

Thanks for all of your time and contributions to Pr2 bls!
If it weren't for your Motley Monday vids, I may not've found Pr2 again and it's awesome to have seen the game still get updated all of these years later
Public Pr2 client repo would be really cool as well if that's the decision taken!

[Mia]

I'll be honest, I didn't really know you too well until Acid Forums shut down. I had over 350,000 posts over there, just because I loved chatting with people and having that sense of belonging. That community meant a lot to me, and when it shut down, it tore me up a bit. I still think about it on occasion, since it was a big part of my life for a few years.

I was aware of this community at the time it shut down, but it was difficult transitioning to this one after having all of my posts essentially nuked. I even remember certain people on Acid Forums making you out to seem like a bad guy for "taking over Jiggmin's game" and I'll admit, I got sucked into it a bit too. Once I saw all of the great stuff happening in this community, particularly with all the creative ideas and contests, it made me appreciate what you were doing.

When I saw how much you and others were giving back to the community, it inspired me to host a contest of my own. I still really appreciate that tool you coded for me to randomly generate points for the RNG F@H Contest. I had a blast hosting that (and I quite enjoyed the commentary from @TRUC). You also inspired me to get back into PR2 again. It was a joy to come up with those ideas for PR2, and I got excited seeing you add them in! Seeing my own ideas in my childhood game was really cool. Now, admittedly, I'm not as active here as much as I used to be, I do still lurk and see what people are up to. I still really care about this community, and the people in it. I'm just glad that this place and PR2 are still around, cause it feels like a piece of my childhood gets to live on.

Thank you for everything you put into this community, and for continuing Jiggmin's legacy.

[Dangevin]

I appreciate all the contributions you made to PR2 and the effort you've put in on so many things in the background for staff and community alike. Thank you for all of it Bls

[Different]

8 years is a long time, my friend. I think we can all agree that if it weren’t for you, Jiggmin Village and Platform Racing 2 would not have survived any longer after Adobe Flash player reaching its EOL. One of the most admirable things about you is that your tenacity and perspicacious behavior has paved the way for you to keep this community strong. Your inactivity is understandable because as human beings, we’re not infallible. So as you linger on prosperity with your new job, your contributions and accomplishments in this community are far from ever being forgotten.

Yes, we’ve had our differences in the past, but I’m not one to hold a grudge on people because life is too short to squander in abundance of our time having animosity towards one another. This is just the early beginning of a new journey for you as you approach 30 in 3 years because while you’re an adult who will face adversities, struggles and obstacles in life, you’re learning to adopt the mental fortitude to let go of something that stuck by you for nearly 10 years.

Even though there were times where it seemed like the forum had reached its final declivity (metaphorically speaking), and the silence of the 'General Chat' became a steep slope that sent even the most loyal members sliding toward the logout button, you’ve still managed to keep things intact. Good luck, man. It’s been a blast having you as part of the development team in this community.

[Addy]

after spending half my life in the JV community; whether that is spamming on the million thread, hosting/participating in a contest, or simply lurking, this place has always had a place in my heart. i cannot live a day in my life without checking this website and refreshing the page feels so good for an unknown reason. Thanks for all your help with my account PR2 "Addy888*" and all of that crazy witchcraft lore that you had been sucked into when you first started doing this. Its awesome to know that i had an idea to have saved accounts in pr2 and you have worked your magic to make it happen!

honestly, ive been working hard on trying to be in the Hall of Fame here in JV, without that dream i probably wont be still active here. so please, do a 2026 update on that so i can get back to thinking of what to do next to enhance my resume for that


cheers to another 8 more years of Pr2!

[Adulock77]

Aw man... i somehow foresaw a thread like this coming a few months ago, and... here we are... 😔

Words cannot describe how eternally grateful i am for everything you have done Ben! 

Like... literally the goat, the hero, and the ALPHA AND THE OMEGA of the community who kept us all platfomers from... jumping on... platforms for so many years, waaaaaay after the disappearance of the Avatar- I MEAN jiggy man jigs.

The incredible hard work you made possible to the game is nothing short of spectacular! And the fact that it help you get better at doing what you love the most says quite a lot about you as person... you are someone who has a really deep and meaningful love for this super old, 2008 flash game as we all do and that is something that makes you very special. Not a whole lot of people have that same level of passion and that is something that i hope you keep in all your future plans! That is what makes you who you are... that attitude... is what makes you who you are Ben 😎

Still can't believe one of my doopie goopie songs is in the game xD 
And it was all thanks to you!

I wish you nothing but success with everything you do from this point forward.

I was hoping for one last PR2 livestream but... i guess... not anymore, huh?  Oh well 😥

[David]

You've done an amazing job with PR2, JV2, and other projects so thank you for all your hard work. If it weren't for you I don't know if I'd still be a part of this amazing community and I'm sure the same is true for many others.

It's sad to see you step away from PR2 development but I'm really glad you'll still be sticking around as well as continuing to contribute outside of PR2. Hopefully Jiggmin does make the client repo public, it'll be very exciting to see what comes of that and I may dabble with it a bit myself (programming isn't my strong suit but I do want to learn more)

🥂 Here's to many more years of PR2 and this incredible community as well as the future of the franchise, and thanks again bls1999! 🥂

[TRUC]

Thanks a whole lot Ben, not much more else to add on top of all the amazing things the folks before me have said, a lot of things have happened since those late 2016 / early 2017 days when you were merely considering the possibilty of this happening via Tony (:

We may not be as active as before, life tends to get in the way, but you've achieved great things for the game and this place, from restoring a surviving forum to rebuilding games while updating the main stuff regularly all in between. Hope you continue to make great things in the future, glad I was able to witness it and crossed fingers that you're still not too hurt after the Superjump Theory

[Legend]

Thank you for your commitment to keeping this community going for all of these years. Without your support, Pr2 and JV would be distant memories for all of us.

[tadtad]

Thank you for everything you've contributed to PR2 over the past 8 years! You've done so much to keep this game alive and thriving long past what anyone thought it would realistically last. You really turned the game and its community around for the better.

[AlphaZ]

Thank you for your time and contributions to the game/community. The people that are still around after all these years have recognized how special PR2 is, and you have helped to preserve that. I'm not sure that PR2 would still be around if it weren't for you. Thank you.