Public Commander Keen Forum

New Build: http://www.josephmcarney.com/test/KeenTest15.html

Fun fact: Wheeled vehicles are a lot harder to animate than hovering ones. So I ditched the wheels in favor of anti-gravity whatevers.

So now there's even more activity going on back there. Probably enough for now

I'm running through that level for my life, afraid to be crushing by something! Aw well, such is the busy, bustling day-to-day life of the Yorps.

New Build: http://www.josephmcarney.com/test/KeenTest17.html
Effect update! Re-modeled the items and added some fun effects to make collecting them even more fun .

You'll notice I replaced the raygun item that gives you ammo with a little bulb. If you look at Keen's raygun, it's the same little bulb on the end of the weapon. It's the energy source!

I'm liking that idea!

Looks good, an there may in fact be enough going on in the background now for that level.

One thing I noticed is that the behaviour of the yorp doesn't seem right. it's not interested in you anymore.

Bugs:If you hit spacebar several times quickly, it opens several info windows over each other which open and close alternatively blocking the screen and pausing the game indefintiely

Shot fired at start wall turns sideways? starts vibrating and never goes away

Will post more bugs if I find them.

Looking good

New Build: http://www.josephmcarney.com/test/KeenTest19.html
Check out the new laser effects
I also revisited the background buildings, spiced them up a bit.
It was suggested to me that instead of gray-boxing I try coloring certain assets gray, orange and white like what Valve does during prototyping. It's not too weird I hope?

One thing I noticed is that the behaviour of the yorp doesn't seem right. it's not interested in you anymore.

Did the Yorps in Keen 1 actually go after you? I'm not sure I ever noticed that. But I'd take your word for it.

Bugs:If you hit spacebar several times quickly, it opens several info windows over each other which open and close alternatively blocking the screen and pausing the game indefintiely

Ooo, good find. Definitely will squash that bug next build.

Absolutely love where this is going. But, the jumping seems screwed up at the moment (I think it was like this last build too). Even when I hold the jump button, Keen rarely does a full jump. It's like the engine thinks I'm only tapping the button to do a small jump. Sometimes by tapping the jump button I was able to pull off a larger jump, but it was very finicky. Also, can you make both control buttons work for jumping? Currently only the left one on my keyboard works.

I almost think the background of the level is too busy. I like seeing all those extra details, but in beta form they can sometimes be overly distracting. I think the hoverlift would look much better if you slowed it down quite a lot.

I'm loving the way the yorps look, but I also think you should slow them down a bit and give them occasional idle animations. I also noticed one time near the end of the level where a yorp was able to jump onto another yorp and get over a block (though it only happened once).

I'm glad you've got the patience to work through all these little hitches. I'm so excited to see where you take this once the engine bugs are worked out.

I'm loving the way the yorps look, but I also think you should slow them down a bit and give them occasional idle animations. I also noticed one time near the end of the level where a yorp was able to jump onto another yorp and get over a block (though it only happened once).

They should idle more, I agree. I'll look into them being able to jump on each, though that doesn't particularly bother me

But, the jumping seems screwed up at the moment

I'm not having any trouble with the jumping at all :/ . Is anyone else having this problem? The jumping works fine on my personal and work computers, in the Unity editor or through the build link.

I almost think the background of the level is too busy. I like seeing all those extra details, but in beta form they can sometimes be overly distracting. I think the hoverlift would look much better if you slowed it down quite a lot.

I think it's reached the optimal amount of busy-ness. The lift does need slowed down though, I agree!

Ronnie wrote:

But, the jumping seems screwed up at the moment

I'm not having any trouble with the jumping at all :/ . Is anyone else having this problem? The jumping works fine on my personal and work computers, in the Unity editor or through the build link.

I thought it was just me, but yes I have that problem too.

I have to stand still and single tap to full jump otherwise he doesn't jump all the way

This is awesome! Can't believe I've somehow completely missed the existence of this project until now.

I always imagined the surroundings of Keen 1 to mostly be barren, desolate Mars with a few mountains and nearby domes, but I really like all the busy city things going on in this game. It kinda reminds me of the background stuff on some of the worlds in Ratchet and Clank (and of course the 2.5D games you mentioned earlier).

MoffD wrote:

Ronnie wrote:

But, the jumping seems screwed up at the moment

I'm not having any trouble with the jumping at all :/ . Is anyone else having this problem? The jumping works fine on my personal and work computers, in the Unity editor or through the build link.

I thought it was just me, but yes I have that problem too.

I have to stand still and single tap to full jump otherwise he doesn't jump all the way

In the previous version it was just the floating platforms and when underneath a platform jet that I couldn't do a full jump. Now that seems I can only jump 1 block high, and when I'm in front of a floating platform I can't even jump to the next one up without fighting it. So I can't get past the first 2 block high obstetrical.

The game is really fun though otherwise.

Ugh, well thanks for letting me know, folks. The next build I'll try some things. You can't really enjoy Keen if you can't jump!

What would really help if someone could make a quick video of them playing the current build, I might be able to glean something from it.

I second this. I myself have no way to video my performance.

I'm on it. Oh golly. My browser is lagging like a sleeping slug. Video is uploading but Youtube doesn't recognize the format. I will re-upload if that's a viewing problem.
http://youtu.be/OVIOSPhiaYw