If Keen got a new game, what would you want in it?

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King_Gargs_Revenge
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Post by King_Gargs_Revenge »

Here's my answers, by the way.


-2D. 3D only if it had Windwaker graphics.
-One hit deaths.

-A couple of different types of ammo. All equally powerful in terms of base damage but certain types could gain increased effectiveness against certain enemies. The game would keep track of your stock of alternate ammo and you could cycle through them at any time.

-Whether Keen's main weapon is the Neural Stunner or a Hyper Pistol, he should retain and be restricted to using some sort of raygun.

-As a new piece of equipment, I would propose what I call the Safety Belt, which would basically provide Keen with an insta-shield. I'll describe this in more detail below.

-Keen would start the game in his pajamas from Keen Dreams, but soon gain his classic outfit, casual/street clothes . On finishing the game, a newly designed space suit befitting the commander of keeness himself would be unlocked. All outfits would be purely cosmetic, meaning they would provide no benefit to the actual gameplay.

-Keen would be the only playable character. However, a new addition to the game would be a simple sort of pet and monster hunting mechanic. Under this system, the occasional alien such as a Yorp might be recruited to join Keen. He can have one pet active at a time and it will follow him around, allowing Keen to command the pet to perform a sole special ability that aids him in some way.

-Vehicle travel between worlds would be the game's version of fast-travel. The maiden voyage to each new world would be marked by a brief horizontal or vertical scrolling "shump" section with asteroids and alien spacecraft.

-Initially, there will be no overworld map when Keen arrives on a new planet. There will be a series of interconnected, fully playable levels like the ones you'd expect of a Keen game, and even the grasslands/plains/fields/whatever "connecting" them will, themselves, all be fully playable levels, albeit less richly designed, more generic ones. Upon completing all the "actual" levels on a planet, the player will finally unlock the overworld map. Essentially, this will serve as a scaled-down version of interplanetary fast travel.

-There should be at least one non-hostile location, even if it's just the inside of Keen's ship or his backyard club house on Earth, where he can go to do various things not directly related to the core gameplay, like enjoying a game of pong, switching outfits or pets, or equipping mods (see below).

-For RPG-elements, I propose the mods system whereby Keen can customize and fine tune his gear. For example, while exploring a level Keen might find a mod chip which, when equipped, will enable him to bounce on enemies' heads with his pogo stick, momentarily stunning them. Mods would be well hidden, giving players greater incentive to explore. Alternately, some might be purchased at the non-hostile area using points Keen accumulates through the usual means of collecting... well... points. There should be some limit to the maximum number of mods Keen can equip at once, either per piece of gear or in total, or both.


Now, about the Safety Belt:
Fashioned from one of the mind belts which Mortimer McMire invented and used to control the Vorticons. Keen found this old, spare one lying around one day and repurposed it to suit his own needs. Now it works like an instant-shield: when Keen hits the button on the buckle, he's enveloped in a spherical force field that protects him from most types of damage. Unfortunately, due to the massive power consumed to generate it, the protective shield has a very short duration -- roughly half a second -- and suffers from limited usability, requiring time to recharge in-between uses.

Essentially, this equipment = dynamic, versatile I-frames in a Keen game. Because I-frames are fun; everybody loves I-frames (right...?). Just because Keen has 1-HKO doesn't mean he shouldn't be able to benefit from I-frame-based gameplay. I'm not sure how the recharge/cooldown/"ammo" would work, exactly. The shield, which I call the Flash Shield, might be limited to as little as 1-3 uses per level; or, maybe it could only be used while jumping, but the cooldown would reset on touching the ground, granting unlimited uses.

Mods for this item stack and include:
-Lower recharge time (more uses per level)
-Slightly increase duration of the shield (more i-frames)
-Reflect projectiles hit by the shield
-Increase the size and range of the shield
-Heavily damage enemies hit by the shield
-Instantly restores a charge whenever an enemy is defeated using the shield
-Gain a small, short movement speed bonus whenever an enemy is defeated using the shield
-Shield no longer stores charges, instead consumes a large number of weapon ammo each use
-Disable normal shield functionality but gain a persistent elemental shield that insulates Keen from extreme heat or cold, negating damage from related environmental hazards, such as flames.
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Levellass
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Post by Levellass »

That sounds very juicy indeed. And possibly moddable with our source code mods now.
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Post by Benvolio »

For me it's gotta be a TUIT-style progression from Galaxy - essentially of the technological standard of a 1993 or 1994 game but of the artistic standard we expect of Commander Keen. I don't care that it's 22-odd years down the line, I still would be less happy with any more contemporary type of Keen game being released, at least until an official TUIT (or equivalent) were released.

More specifically...

1. Two dimensional
2. Either a health bar or one-hit-death would be acceptable, I think. The multi hit deaths system of Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure, for instance, was quite elegant. Particularly the idea of the hamburger giving the potential for extra health, I always thought that was really neat.
3. Definitely can innovate with the power ups - there were new things added within trilogies as well as between them and that was part of the spirit of early id games.
4. Likewise a new weapon (or even multiple weapons if done tastefully) is to be encouraged.
5. The pogo is key to the keen image so while of course other motility devices could add a lot to a new Keen game, I would hate for them to outshine or replace the pogo. Classics from the early 90s include that controllable moving platform in Cosmo, and the grappling hooks in Duke.
6. Well, we already had the swimsuit... why not expand on this idea? Space suit, biohazard suit, the possibilities are myriad.
7. Hmmm meh, I would reserve multiple playable characters for multiplayer modes personally. Why not have multiplayer and single player options (perhaps based in totally separate sets of levels, such as in Halo).
8. Vehicle travel between worlds, maybe? YEAH!!
9 Definitely overworld map. This could be incorporated into the between-world travel.
10. Non-hostile (or less hostile) locations have always been a staple of Keen right from day one.
11. RPG-elements? Well, let's keep it nice and simple, driven by the highest quality gameplay known to man rather than overdoing the complexity of the storyline.

There you go, yet another set of opinions!!! We live in eternal hope! :dopefish
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Post by KeenEmpire »

King_Gargs_Revenge wrote: -Whether Keen's main weapon is the Neural Stunner or a Hyper Pistol, he should retain and be restricted to using some sort of raygun.
Low/High Chaos, like in Dishonored.
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Roobar
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Post by Roobar »

Ok, look at how Commander Keen would look in 3D, it it was made by Interceptor:

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Notice how the Neural Stunner looks like it's made from wood and looks like a toy...
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Post by Keening_Product »

*looks at plain white shoes*

https://youtu.be/IK0t38Al4_E
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IceDuck347
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Post by IceDuck347 »

i was trying to make a keen game using the gamemaker 8.1 engine, but if you ask me about a dream, i really really REALLY want....... a movie :love
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Nisaba
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Post by Nisaba »

(gamemaker) a little something like this:
Image Image
out now (link) : Image
Keening_Product
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Post by Keening_Product »

Oh, nice Nisaba. That deep border on the path in the first shot is a really cool feature.
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Post by Nisaba »

@Keening_Product: you better thank Dr.Colossus for that:
shikadi.net/keenwiki/CK - Heart of Darkness
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Levellass
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Post by Levellass »

That never ceases to amaze me.
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_mr_m_
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Post by _mr_m_ »

What would I want in a new Keen game?

DLC and micro-transactions. Lots of micro-transactions.
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Post by Keening_Product »

"Keen must rebuild his pogo stick. Search The Shadowlands for parts, or visit the store to buy a new one. (12,000 Keen Kredits.)

Also, hi _mr_m_.
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Levellass
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Post by Levellass »

PURCHASE:

* Joystick -$2.99
* Battery - $4.99
* Vacuum - $4.99
* Whiskey - $5.99
* Combo Pack -$29.99
What you really need, not what you think you ought to want.
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Post by nanomekia »

Whiskey? Isn't Everclear vodka? :P
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