Atroxian Realm

You can discuss anything about fan-made Commander Keen games here.
Gridlock
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Post by Gridlock »

So... haven't had time to work on this over the last few months. I've got a week of free time, so hopefully I can some more stuff done before college resumes. I'll try to finish up most of the remaining level work and maybe get a few enemies and story images done.

Anyway, happy Keen Day! If anyone is interested, I could post a few screenshots, but I really don't have anything else to show.
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bp
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Post by bp »

... I'm interested!
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Post by T-Squared »

I'M INTERESTE--oh wait, I'm working on the art for the game.

Never mind! :p
Cosmo II: HUMANIZED!!! Progress:
Graphics: 15% Complete
Story: 100% Complete
Music: 5% Complete
Programming Modifications: 5% Complete (FINALLY! SOME PROGRESS!)

http://www.tsqproductions.com
Gridlock
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Post by Gridlock »

Wow, I'm amazed how much time has passed since the holiday season. I'm starting to feel pretty out of the loop with everything. Since I'm doing an intensive double major (interactive media and computer science) and putting all my free time into assignments and portfolio projects, I haven't had time to work on this since late January.

Jumping back in after such long delays is never easy, and I can't remember a lot of the things that still need to be done. I also have no idea if some of the people I need help from are still around.

Despite these challenges, I intend to finish the project this summer, whether it's ready or not. I have many other endeavors that are more important than this one, but I am determined not to let all the years of work go to waste. By the way, it has been 5 years since this project began. :eek

I'll have more time than expected this summer because an internship I was going to get fell through, but I've still got to do a few summer classes and learn some C++ and C# as well as Unity.

I hope to share more progress updates soon. I'll be out of town a bit over the next two weeks, but I hope to get the AR work pipeline flowing again soon.
_______________________________________________________________

Finally, I have a new demo video to share with you. Check it out here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qDauBU ... e=youtu.be

A few things shown in the demo aren't quite finished or still need some tweaking, but this shows the level of polish I've been working towards over the last few years. Enjoy!
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szemi
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Post by szemi »

Nice blue tiles.
Yeah, piece of cake!
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Post by Keening_Product »

Every time I see an update on this project I get something of a tingle. It's amazing, and I'm excited to hear you've set something of a release schedule.

Just one point though: those larger spider-like things with the unfinished ko sprites seem remarkably easy to kill for something of their size. I don't know if this is an unfinished thing or not or intentional given potential weaknesses to phasers etc etc, but thought you might be interested in hearing that.

EDIT: Wait, is that a God mode thing? Also, I now realise that's no spider haha.

Also, I hope there will be a soundtrack release alongside the mod release :drool

EDIT 2: That central lift thing is neat too. Great level.
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Post by Bubbatom »

I've watched this a couple of times over the past few days and can safely say this is top notch stuff!

I really like the tileset and the fact that most of it is transparent. The way in which most of the background is just solid black rather than patterned is actually really effective, it gives a sense of extreme depth that patterned tiles just couldn't manage to do. Also, Gamebird's score really complements the level!

Keep up the great work, it's really inspiring and I find I'll sometimes have a quick look back at earlier posts before I begin a big chunk of my own project!
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Gridlock
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Post by Gridlock »

Just one point though: those larger spider-like things with the unfinished ko sprites seem remarkably easy to kill for something of their size. I don't know if this is an unfinished thing or not or intentional given potential weaknesses to phasers etc etc, but thought you might be interested in hearing that.
The way it currently works is that the splider (that's what I'm calling it) is only vulnerable when it does that slide attack towards you and opens its fangs. I have thought about giving it more health, but patching is really tied up right now, so I probably won't be able to do it.
Also, I hope there will be a soundtrack release alongside the mod release
That's the plan ;)
Keep up the great work, it's really inspiring and I find I'll sometimes have a quick look back at earlier posts before I begin a big chunk of my own project!
I'm glad to hear that! I'll often look back at past replies here to find my own inspiration/motivation to keep working. When you've been working on a project for 5 years, it's nice to see that people care.
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Post by Keening_Product »

Gridlock wrote:The way it currently works is that the splider (that's what I'm calling it) is only vulnerable when it does that slide attack towards you and opens its fangs. I have thought about giving it more health, but patching is really tied up right now, so I probably won't be able to do it.
Oh, I hadn't realised that. That's really cool as-is then! :)
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Post by Gridlock »

So, there's been a major change in development. Thanks to the incredibly hard work of lemm, AR is being transitioned to a new engine of sorts. The engine is being created from code from different sources like Omnispeak and Netkeen. It still runs in game like a regular mod, but now behaviors are based off of C code.

Why is this being done? First, this allows us to bypass the limits of patching. Rather than rely on the tricky process of modifying original code, it can be entirely rewritten, allowing for more flexibility and polished behaviors. We had reached a bit of a dead end with the code for certain things like the final boss, and this should help us finish those.

Second, it means that we can improve performance and reduce memory problems in the game. Those of you who have played recent Keen mods know how volatile they can run on different systems (crashing, music not playing, memory issues, etc). For some people, AR has been problematic with memory, and I think it really detracts from the experience. The hope is that this will reduce those issues.

Third, it means that I can do a few more of the things I want in the game. For example, the Keen engine has a lot of limits with things like text, and it was limiting what I could do with in-game dialogue and story. This should allow me to expand upon the story and make the experience closer to what I have envisioned.

The current build is still in an early state, but lemm is quickly adding functionality for things. I've gotten a chance to try out the physics and overall feel of the engine, and it's an almost perfect replica of the original game. I think most people would have a hard time differentiating between the two. There may be some slight differences, but I'll do my best to find anything that doesn't feel right.

As for other aspects of the project, I'm working on a bunch of miscellaneous tasks. Level revisions are, for the most part, complete. I just have some small things to change and add. Sprites and story art still need a lot of work, a few songs would benefit from instrument revision, and sound effects need some attention.

Since I'm trying to balance a lot of things, I would really appreciate if anyone would be willing to help with a few small things like sprites. I've had some help in the past, but I'm currently on my own. Given that sprite art isn't my greatest strength, having some help would really help me meet my release goal.
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VikingBoyBilly
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Post by VikingBoyBilly »

That all sounds extremely cool. A first real, super-keen fangame with no limits.
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Post by Roobar »

New engine?:eek Awesome!
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Post by lemm »

wiivn wrote:New engine?:eek Awesome!
It's really just the same engine. But I'll release the source code to AR when I'm done with everything.
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Post by DoomJedi »

Sounds really cool :)
This can bring the same modding revolution as Wolf4SDL brought to Wolf3D modding...
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Post by VikingBoyBilly »

lemm wrote:
wiivn wrote:New engine?:eek Awesome!
It's really just the same engine. But I'll release the source code to AR when I'm done with everything.
Same engine, as in a recreation? I don't recall the Keen 4 source being found/released, all we got is Keen Dreams, which is pretty close, but not the same thing.
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