Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure II: HUMANIZED!!! (W.I.P.)

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

Finally got off my haunches and started to make items for the episodes. (Which has also helped me fill in some spaces for the tilemap!)

Check the dropbox link for updates from time to time!
Cosmo II: HUMANIZED!!! Progress:
Graphics: 15% Complete
Story: 100% Complete
Music: 5% Complete
Programming Modifications: 5% Complete (FINALLY! SOME PROGRESS!)

http://www.tsqproductions.com
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T-Squared
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Post by T-Squared »

Had to make some vent art today.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0fv9em39lv2pj ... image2.png

It's been 6-1/2 years since I started this mod, and I feel like it will never get off the ground... and I doubt there's any real interest in it. (maybe superficially.)
Cosmo II: HUMANIZED!!! Progress:
Graphics: 15% Complete
Story: 100% Complete
Music: 5% Complete
Programming Modifications: 5% Complete (FINALLY! SOME PROGRESS!)

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

That depends on how you define 'interest'; there isn't a whole lot of interest for anything in the Keen community simply because there's not a lot of community to begin with. I think it has about the same level of interest as anything else here.

Plus, the longer something takes the more interest dies off. (Unless it's DNF.)
What you really need, not what you think you ought to want.
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Post by Paramultart »

I'm interested in it.

Perhaps the reason it's not finished is because you've overextended yourself and lost direction. A good approach to take is bite by byte. Start a level, then make tiles for that level as you need them. Stay focused, working on one part at a time. When you have something a little more solid that you can play through, keep a notepad on hand to jot down all the kinks that need to be worked out.

In this case, it seems you've flat out started an entire trilogy all at once, which is a good way to overwhelm yourself and get burnt out.

From my experience, you can't rely on the hype and enthusiasm of a community to fuel your mod, you need to use your own enthusiasm, focus it, and apply some hard labor.

I hope you finish this mod. I know I'd enjoy playing it.
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Post by StupidBunny »

Paramultart wrote:In this case, it seems you've flat out started an entire trilogy all at once, which is a good way to overwhelm yourself and get burnt out.

From my experience, you can't rely on the hype and enthusiasm of a community to fuel your mod, you need to use your own enthusiasm, focus it, and apply some hard labor.
These are the two truest things I've heard in a long time. I can't tell you how many Keen and Doom projects have died and never seen the light of day (or an "abandoned" release) because I was building them too top-down. You can try and climb the cliff barehanded, or you can take the stairs. One's definitely much less overwhelming.

The latter is definitely something important to take into account as well, though in my own experience the enthusiasm of a given community has generally had very little effect on my actual progress. I've had teasers and screenshots and such receive a fair bit of excitement, only for me to lose motivation or interest (often for the reason above), while in other cases such teasers have been largely ignored or nonexistent and I've still worked zealously on the project.

I'm certainly not the person to talk to about seeing through ambitious projects (one Galaxy mod abandoned, one on indefinite hold, Keen-Doom abandoned, etc.), but I think Paramultart's points make a lot of sense.
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Post by tulip »

I'm looking forward to the finished thing whenever it may be released. I just hope keyboards still exist then...
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Post by troublesomekeen »

I just finished plowing through Cosmo for the first time. Fun stuff! Unique platformer for sure. I'm not sure how to say I'm interested in this project without being superficial, but I want to say the artwork is outstanding! Just look at those Title Screens! Thanks for the original artwork, too. It's the only place where I can find it and I was in need of viewing it.

Q: Is there any place the official names of monsters, machines and creatures are listed? Like in a manual or something?
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Post by T-Squared »

Finally got some interest back, and was able to implement my gameplay mechanic with the giant frogs! (with some totally-revamped art!) It'll take some more game tweaking to get it right. (If possible, Lemm or Levellass will have to help me reprogram just one or two basic functions of the giant flower cannon. Otherwise I'll have to get sneaky with other gameplay workings.)

In the process, I also learned at least one new interesting fact about the Cosmo engine: if you place a masked transparent tile into a map with the foreground bit set in the TILEATTR file, any transparent region in the tile will cause that region overlapping the player sprite to disappear, showing the background through it. In short, you could create a completely transparent tile that would produce an invisibility-cloak effect. (The effect has already been documented on the Modding Wiki.)

In the meantime, I've taken some words from Paramultart to heart. Since I really wanted the frogs to be in the third episode and I've already taken care of the basics for those, I'll focus my attention on the first episode, with a goal of Fall or Winter 2014 for the completion date on Episode 1. (of which I'm currently working on at the moment.)
Cosmo II: HUMANIZED!!! Progress:
Graphics: 15% Complete
Story: 100% Complete
Music: 5% Complete
Programming Modifications: 5% Complete (FINALLY! SOME PROGRESS!)

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

Awesome to see it's still going, and a nifty effect you've discovered there indeed. *Sharpens claws*
What you really need, not what you think you ought to want.
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T-Squared
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Post by T-Squared »

Levellass, I'm genuinely impressed with the effort you put into the COSTILE and COSGRAPH programs. I tested translucency with a level decoration (It's a story spoiler; that's why I'm not specifying what the decoration is.), and I'm surprised at how COSTILE handled the colors I put into it. Wombat Game Tools is good for changing the archive group files, but it doesn't handle translucency very well. (All the translucent areas on the decoration literally went transparent [technically #00FF00] in WGT.)

Even though the GUI in COSTILE is a bit primitive, I think both of these will be of massive use to modders in the future.
Cosmo II: HUMANIZED!!! Progress:
Graphics: 15% Complete
Story: 100% Complete
Music: 5% Complete
Programming Modifications: 5% Complete (FINALLY! SOME PROGRESS!)

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

If there's a demand and I can do something I will. Heck, if more Cosmo mods get made I may even try to put in mouse support or an interface something like galactile uses. I do programs as *I* like to use them but I'm always willing to add extras. (Come to think of it I really should have added a copy-paste option in Costile to copy all the tile properties of a given tile to another.)
What you really need, not what you think you ought to want.
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T-Squared
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Post by T-Squared »

If nobody minds, may I put the real names of each person (with screen name) who contributed to the mod, directly or indirectly, in the credits? (Some probably can't be contacted by email directly, and have already left their real names in programs like Wombat Game tools.)

Things are finally chugging along smoothly. Every day I'm putting together more of the tilemaps for Episode One, and making new items. (IMHO, they look more than Apogee quality, at least to me.) After that comes the backdrops, then the sound (some might be left alone for the sake that they're perfect already, and making new sounds would be a case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it.), and finally the music to tie everything together.

Also, I'm thinking up new ways to make the story intriguing and pull the player into it, using what's leftover from the first game. :P

BTW, I did another test, this time with the hint globe actors. (But it's results are probably already known.) If there is no hint pointer for the specific globe actor, the message is simply blank, with only the attention signal before it. (The ditditdit sound.)
Cosmo II: HUMANIZED!!! Progress:
Graphics: 15% Complete
Story: 100% Complete
Music: 5% Complete
Programming Modifications: 5% Complete (FINALLY! SOME PROGRESS!)

http://www.tsqproductions.com
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T-Squared
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Post by T-Squared »

It seems the most I'm focusing on for episode 1 is the transparent tiles and items, at the moment.

Although I am working on a few backgrounds for the cities in the game.

Here's what I have so far. (Spoilers have been covered by blue squares.)

Item & Bottomless-Pit quotes progress:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ikklgf5g2cqtv ... ogress.png

Transparent Tiles progress:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lldqytegihlma ... ogress.png
Cosmo II: HUMANIZED!!! Progress:
Graphics: 15% Complete
Story: 100% Complete
Music: 5% Complete
Programming Modifications: 5% Complete (FINALLY! SOME PROGRESS!)

http://www.tsqproductions.com
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T-Squared
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Post by T-Squared »

Whew... So far, the Unmasked Tiles have been slow (thinking of various texture tiles is hard!), but the Masked Tiles are pretty universal in their use, so they could be used almost anywhere. :D

As for the Graphics, they work like a charm. Although there is one problem. Actor frame 176-04 (Vine creature frame 4) and a few frames of smoke get corrupted when the sprites are resized.

Also, here's another test level I threw together to show some of the new graphics: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2clx81rafntjv ... l1test.avi
Cosmo II: HUMANIZED!!! Progress:
Graphics: 15% Complete
Story: 100% Complete
Music: 5% Complete
Programming Modifications: 5% Complete (FINALLY! SOME PROGRESS!)

http://www.tsqproductions.com
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T-Squared
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Post by T-Squared »

BREAKTHROUGH!!!!!!!!!

I DID IT AGAIN! I won't go into details, but suffice it to say, after finding a logical calculator online, I hacked one of the levels by hand! (Let's just say I now understand what Malvineous meant by the powers of two and their relationship with binary bit positions, in modifying the environmental aspects of a level.)

It's a small hack, but it made a big difference; I changed the background to not scroll vertically, without causing glitches!

EDIT: Scratch that. :P It was a fluke the first time, but now I have found in the Calculator on my very own MacBook, an invaluable feature: a binary switch converter (that's the best I can describe it). It shows me an expanded binary view of the number in one section, I can click on one of the binary numbers, and it shows me the changed result in hex in the main display, which I just flip around for little-endian, and overwrite the original value in the level file. (The actual concept of which I have a stable grasp of now!)

Even more, I've added more to the test hack. The background doesn't move at all, without glitches, just like I wanted it to! 8) (This means I'll have to revamp the background, because now it doesn't match the proper perspective!)

EDIT: I've been able to repeat the process twice (I got slightly woozy because I modified the background in Episode 1, Level 6, and it doesn't move anymore, unlike how I've known it for the past 20 years! XD)! I need to write an easy method on how to do this for the Modding Wiki!
Cosmo II: HUMANIZED!!! Progress:
Graphics: 15% Complete
Story: 100% Complete
Music: 5% Complete
Programming Modifications: 5% Complete (FINALLY! SOME PROGRESS!)

http://www.tsqproductions.com
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