Bananasauros Rerelease

Here is where to post about the latest Commander Keen fangame or modification you've finished, a new website you've made, or another Keen-related creation.
User avatar
VikingBoyBilly
Vorticon Elite
Posts: 4158
Joined: Sat Jan 05, 2008 2:06
Location: The spaghetti island of the faces of dinosaur world for a vacation

Bananasauros Rerelease

Post by VikingBoyBilly »

Image

For anyone who missed the first release, I've been hard at work on a higher quality revision to make Bananasauros a much more enjoyable experience.

EDIT: reuploaded new version that fixes a level that was once impossible without the pogo.
EDIT 2: Another upload. Just a couple little map fixes. Now it's impossible to jump over the pyramids :mort
[http://www.zero1productions.com/billy/v ... os1.22.rar]Link[/url]

On moddb (currently pending for authorization): http://www.moddb.com/mods/bananasauros/ ... auros-v121

Many additions and improvements have been made, and hours of painstaking effort has gone into perfecting the difficulty of the levels to make sure they're fun and no mandatory challenges become overwhelming or unfair.

I extend gratitude to Paramultart, Tulip, and Mink for their contributions and all the time they put into reviewing every last pixel to find the most obscure (or glaringly obvious :o ) problems and report them in detail. They have been a marvelous quality assurance team, and you'll even be seeing some new artwork by Paramultart. The theory thread on Keen Modding also had a large impact on the redesign.

Without further ado, enjoy.

EDIT: I put together the soundtrack, in MIDI format!

Bananasauros Midi Soundtrack
Last edited by VikingBoyBilly on Fri Aug 05, 2011 21:03, edited 4 times in total.
Image
"I don't trust players. Not one bit." - Levellass
User avatar
Fleexy
Tool Smith
Posts: 1432
Joined: Fri Dec 12, 2008 1:21
Location: Abiathar C&C

Post by Fleexy »

Woo! Downloading NOW. (and installing WinRAR)
User avatar
Grimson
The Dragoner
Posts: 1833
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 6:55

Post by Grimson »

Cool, Bananasauros (-saur? -saurus? Oh well...) is a neat character. I did play the first version, but it tended to get boring after awhile. I guess there wasn't enough variation between the levels.
"All those thousands upon thousands of junk foods made for me on the various planets I explored make me wonder how I'm still alive."
User avatar
VikingBoyBilly
Vorticon Elite
Posts: 4158
Joined: Sat Jan 05, 2008 2:06
Location: The spaghetti island of the faces of dinosaur world for a vacation

Post by VikingBoyBilly »

You may be disappointed, I'm afraid. They're the same levels with a makeover.
Image
"I don't trust players. Not one bit." - Levellass
User avatar
tulip
Flower Pot
Posts: 2520
Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2008 12:50
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Contact:

Post by tulip »

Mod of the Year
Anyone disappointed by this will have to answer to me personally. :celtic

Also Fleexy, why bother with WinRar when you can 7z (it unpacks rar without problems)
Image You crack me up little buddy!
User avatar
Paramultart
VBB's Partner in Crime
Posts: 3004
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2010 8:36

Post by Paramultart »

This is going on my DOS computer. Too good for an emulator.
"Father Mabeuf was surveying his plants"
User avatar
Grimson
The Dragoner
Posts: 1833
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 6:55

Post by Grimson »

Oh man, I couldn't complete the Volcano level because I hadn't got the "Spring-beanosaur" yet >: You should propably fix that, so none of the levels (before the one where you obtain the pogo-replacement from) require it to be completed.
"All those thousands upon thousands of junk foods made for me on the various planets I explored make me wonder how I'm still alive."
User avatar
VikingBoyBilly
Vorticon Elite
Posts: 4158
Joined: Sat Jan 05, 2008 2:06
Location: The spaghetti island of the faces of dinosaur world for a vacation

Post by VikingBoyBilly »

Wow. Sorry I didn't catch that. I re-uploaded Bananasauros with a fix to the map (now it's called version 1.21). I want to upload the midi soundtrack soon, if I can find where I scattered all the original midis between my two PCs.
Image
"I don't trust players. Not one bit." - Levellass
User avatar
_mr_m_
Vortimaestro
Posts: 431
Joined: Mon May 11, 2009 23:14
Location: Quetzalacatenango

Post by _mr_m_ »

The opening screen is all wrong. It should say "a VBB MASTERPIECE of a mod"

This deserves to be its own game, not just a mod of an existing game..

Anyway, I quite enjoyed this; I stayed up late just so I could finish it.
I only had one real problem, though (thankfully I had saved my game prior to entering the level): In the pyramid level, the ice shooter replacement caught me in mid jump, trapping me between the floor and ceiling with no hopes of getting out..I can post pictures if you like.

Other than that, this mod was great!
"I just drew this stupid little fish." -- Tom Hall
User avatar
Grimson
The Dragoner
Posts: 1833
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 6:55

Post by Grimson »

tulip wrote:Mod of the Year
But but...BOTB?
"All those thousands upon thousands of junk foods made for me on the various planets I explored make me wonder how I'm still alive."
Ceilick
The Dude
Posts: 1670
Joined: Mon Sep 22, 2008 20:10
Location: Seattle

Post by Ceilick »

I'm three levels in but I can already tell what a vast improvement this is over the first version. Excellent level design and the colors and atmosphere is great.

This is easily one of the best Keen: Vorticons mods.
User avatar
Eros
Cybloog Slayer
Posts: 536
Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2010 20:59

Post by Eros »

Grimson wrote:
tulip wrote:Mod of the Year
But but...BOTB?
best vorticons mod, perhaps?
StupidBunny wrote:
kuliwil wrote:I wish that oa;fdjgnae;ogubneaogiearh;igbnerfgoajfsgoefnh
Granted. You have just had a severe stroke.
Ceilick
The Dude
Posts: 1670
Joined: Mon Sep 22, 2008 20:10
Location: Seattle

Post by Ceilick »

Woo just completed it!

The graphics are awesomely, but what I really like is how the style mixes between a very tiled look in some cases (the square-ish look) and in others is does not have this tiled appearance. The balance between these comes together well: it looks great and gives the gameplay a really classic feel.

The level design is fantastic. Very straightforward but with optional places to investigate that don't deter off the main path too far. I always had a distinct sense of direction while playing; I knew when I was making progress toward the end of the level and when I was just exploring for the heck of it.

Difficulty was handled perfectly. I died often enough that there was some challenge, but much more frequently there were instances where I was struck by near death or feared how I'd get by a particular obstacle—even though I made it out of these unscathed, since often they weren't that difficult, they were exciting to get through nonetheless.

Where the level design and the graphics came together is with the shear amount of simple detail objects and tiles that livened up the atmosphere. The stone tiles, the cave drawings, the random clutter; it all made exploration not only worthwhile but something I was actively interested in. Feels like forever since I've been motivated to do more than find the exit when playing a level.

I've yet to find the secret of the pyramid, although I did a fare bit of exploring so Iâ€￾m not sure how I missed it. Will investigate further later.

As others have said, this is a masterpiece.
User avatar
Grimson
The Dragoner
Posts: 1833
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 6:55

Post by Grimson »

Yeah, I completed it too. I left a quite few levels to finish, though. Pretty much what Ceilick already said about difficulty and level designs.
"All those thousands upon thousands of junk foods made for me on the various planets I explored make me wonder how I'm still alive."
User avatar
neek
Vortininja
Posts: 46
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2011 18:47

Post by neek »

I originally refrained from playing this 'cause I thought I wouldn't like it.

I WAS WRONG!!! :p
Post Reply