The Ocflore Project

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Bernie
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Post by Bernie »

heh actually thats a really good point. but you can't blame people for that really. making mods for a game like this is, in the end, a pretty thankless task (doubt a DayZ thing would happen with them. sigh).
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Post by Levellass »

So... so beautiful.

*Cries*
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Nospike
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Post by Nospike »

This is majestic. The second BotB in terms of great-looking-ness. I'd never have the nerve or time to draw such brilliant graphics and come up with a sensible plot. I've also immediately thought of Mass Effect, just like Ceilick.

Art-wise, there is nothing not to love about this. If you really want to keep the entire game as keenish as possible though, I suggest that you also keep the story simple to understand and enjoy like the original Keen games.
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Bubbatom
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Post by Bubbatom »

Cheers guys!

In regards to having the option of what side (good/evil) the player can choose, I reckon you're on the right track Ceilick, and I reckon this'd be an appropriate change to my original idea! I do have an idea for a level that will 'mesh' really well with having the big decision in the middle of the game!

Also thanks, for the recommendations on this new enemy Ceilick! I'll definitely be considering some of these aspects!

DoomJedi wrote:Pics look fantastic! Sea looks mesmerizing.
Lacks shading though.
You'd be right DoomJedi! Currently the water in the foreground animates, but I can't decide whether or not to have that stuff in the background animate or leave it static. If I leave it without animation I may fill in that big chunk of pure blue.

As for your comment on the story Nospike, I intend to simple some aspects of the story down. At the moment the story is rough and not definite, but it does give a general idea.


Lastly, if anyone has creature ideas, send me a PM! If they're up to scratch (and I don't have too much trouble getting them into keen-form) I might consider them for the mod. As of now I have very little ideas for creatures as I have just been thinking about the setting and the feeling I want the player to experience. If you do want to share something, make sure it is pretty alien! I'm not really after some kind of enemy that is just a human with a fish head etc.

Thanks to everyone! Stay tuned!
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Bubbatom
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Post by Bubbatom »

Not so much of an update, although I do have something to share in a little bit.

I was just wondering if anyone reading this'd be up for a bit of composing for this project. I'd be glad to have thehackercat back after Suburb Shenanigans, but I'm not sure about his situation at the moment and whether he'd be prepared or not.

Other than thehackercat, I can't think of anyone who'd be prepared to compose for me. I know that some people (Paramultart and Bernie in particular and possibly Levellass?) compose for their own mods and may not be interested. _mr_m_and GameBird both seem to be caught up in life and aren't around much anymore.

If it helps, I do have some tunes and snippets from various songs and music that'd fit, but would need a conversion and some small alterations.



Other than that, not too much to update on, I reckon a small three level demo would be nice to show everyone sometime, (I've been playing the Atroxian Realm demo again today and really like the idea of releasing a small portion of the product).



I do have a word document with details on a some of the key elements in the mod, including background on the alien races (now named the "Enkri", "Dorsal", "Savanaks" and "Ormch"), and the precious substance that underlines the plot, "Ostrum" and a small amount of history of Ocflore itself.
I've already shown this to a couple of people (troublesomekeen, lemm) but I reckon it's good to show anyone else interested.

Here it is:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/531 ... round.docx


Cheers guys, Bubba
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Post by Gridlock »

although there are several documented places in the Universe where these exist
Sorry, couldn't help pointing this error out.

It does seem that the community is short on composers at the moment. Mr. M, Zidane A, and Gamebird seem out of the picture right now. I know various community members have plenty of unused midis lying around, so maybe somebody will have something you could use. Maybe see if anyone who contributed songs, used or unused, to Keen 9 would be willing to help. I'd offer some of my midis but they're not very good :dopekeen

That's an interesting document you have. I've always liked the idea of a 'super substance' that can be used as an important plot point. This background information will definitely be too complicated for most players, though. I would find ways to simplify anything you can. Also, if you can spare in-game text boxes, you could make some of this lore for the player to discover.
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Armageddon Begins Again. The Alphamatic has arrived.

Atroxian Realm: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3536
The Alphamatic: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4086
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Bubbatom
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Post by Bubbatom »

"Time for an update?"

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"Yeah, I think so."

(That big guy is an "Enkri")

Been off school for the past two weeks and I'm going on the school's annual "SkiTrip" for the next one, so what better time to update?
I've done plenty on the mod over the past two weeks, as well as some Krile designs for Atroxian Realm for Gridlock.
Let's list some stuff:

-Convinced the amazing Gamebird to compose at least a few pieces of music for the game (he's working on those now).

-I've got a few enemies done, and ideas for some more (although most lack any new behaviours in the way of patches as Levellass seems to have vanished over the last couple of weeks (this fact has also prohibited Suburb Shenanigans from being finished)).

-Roughly four levels done (all using a similar tileset, although I have another that I still need to implement).

-Point items and life water drop replacements are all done!

-Secrets everywhere, slamming keen's head into rooves and sliding his body against walls reveals tonnes of goodies!

-I've nailed the basic story and much of the in game dialogue.

-I may have a name for the mod, but I'll need to research further and then decide.


As well as all this boring reading material, I've also selected a number of screenshots to further advertise the project as well as some details about what's going on in them:

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A screenshot showcasing the jam-ball doughnut point item, as well as the small white jellyfish acting as the Schoolfish replacement.

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Two "Feathered Vendrizi Grubs" on a small island. The plan is that when two of these guys meet, a menacing Arachnut replacement spawns, with each of the grubs acting as eye stalks.

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An "Enkri Meager" floats by as Keen stands in it's nest. These guys are the baby versions of the Enkri, which may or may not be an actual enemy (I'm yet to decide whether my current sprite is too big!)

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Two different screens showing off the new keygem door-pole (an idea by TroublesomeKeen). The pole is only semi-visible until a diamond is placed on the holder, in which case the pole lights up and is climbable!

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A column of Ostrum (the lifewater replacement) featuring a whopping six frames of animation!

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One of the Ormch's Ostrum collection towers spaced around Ocflore. This thing sucks in Ostrum ready for the Ormch to collect at a later date.


That's about it folks! In the spare time I have over the next few months (hopefully more than last semester!) I'm going to put a fair bit of effort into constructing enemies, hopefully big, tile-heavy backgrounds (probably some forests/jungles) and let's not forget working away on Atroxian Realm!

Feel free to throw any constructive criticism at this! I'd love to here from you! BUT! Not about the lack of points in those screenshots, it just so happens that most of them lack points at the moment! Also, I need to work on the shading in some of the water, so leave that alone too.

Thanks for you time,

Bubbatom

PS: Added this update to the initial announcement post.
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Tormentor667
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Post by Tormentor667 »

This is absolute art!
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Post by Gridlock »

Glad to see more of this. The concept for this project sounds very intriguing. I like the look of these outdoor-styled levels. From having to be so conservative with tile use in my own modding, it's neat to see all these ambitious outdoor designs.

As far as art style goes, some things almost seem to clash a bit. There's stuff with dithered shading, stuff with solid colors, and stuff with more complex and randomized pixel designs. I suppose art style is always a bit of a debate in mods, and it's hard to get something to look just right. The clean dithering seems to fit this best, and I would almost suggest making more use of it for things like the stone background in the 5th screenshot. I'd recommend against using too much hyper-detailed stuff like the bird's nest. It is much more time consuming to make graphics like that, and they can clash with less-detailed elements. Plus, with so many layered elements, it might look better to keep things clean. At parts it looks like it could be hard to differentiate between the background and foreground.

The idea with the pole is awesome. I actually had tried to do something similar with Atroxian Realm but had to scrap the idea, so I'm glad to see it here.

As you said, the water could probably use some more shading. Here's a thought, though. There are plenty of places where tiles seem to disappear as they pass through the animating water surface (understandable, as making animated water tiles for each background would be absurd). However, have you considered making that water using transparent blues? Then you could have background tiles behind them and get a really neat underwater effect.

Excellent work Bubbatom, on this and Atroxian Realm. I look forward to seeing more :drool

Oh, and the prospect of hearing some more Gamebird tunes makes me really excited!
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Armageddon Begins Again. The Alphamatic has arrived.

Atroxian Realm: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3536
The Alphamatic: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4086
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Post by KeenRush »

I love it all. I love the seaside views, especially the second screen.

That big Enkri sprite is probably the coolest sprite ever in Keen mods.

Also, a great idea with the pole. How's it technically made? Is it door tiles replaced or just bunch of voodoo-hoodoo patching?
My newest mod - Commander Keen: Sunset: viewtopic.php?t=8568 | codename H.Y.E.N.A.
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Roobar
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Post by Roobar »

Wow! A mighty update indeed! Love the tileset. At least someone is spending time well :).

I'm doing a beach tileset myself and have been thinking how to implement water at slopes. You've managed to do it well.

The tower roof needs more editing. I don't know how to fix this, but it needs fixing.

Also, I'm glad Gamebird is doing well, since someone wrote a long time ago that he wasn't well.

I don't think Enkri fits this keeniverse, but oh well.
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cyber zero
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Post by cyber zero »

This looks AMAZING!!!
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Post by Keening_Product »

Dat pole. Dat tower. Dem poles.

:drool
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Bubbatom
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Post by Bubbatom »

Tormentor667 wrote:This is absolute art!
cyber zero wrote:This looks AMAZING!!!
Thankyou both!

Gridlock wrote:From having to be so conservative with tile use in my own modding, it's neat to see all these ambitious outdoor designs.
I'm actually quite surprised at the lack of tiles I've filled up so far. Of the foreground tiles, only about a quarter is filled and for the background, only an eighth. Plenty of space left!
Gridlock wrote: I'd recommend against using too much hyper-detailed stuff like the bird's nest. It is much more time consuming to make graphics like that, and they can clash with less-detailed elements.
I actually knocked that nest up in about 15 minutes just before this update. While it appears very detailed, the texture was just a heap of randomized lines placed in a doughnut shape, then outlined and then given a mask. I was very pleased with the time it took!

You are right about the clashing though. I will either need to tone the detailed back, or bring the less detailed up to scratch.
Gridlock wrote:have you considered making that water using transparent blues?
I've considered it, but I haven't done any experimenting yet, so it is a possibility. I initially decided against it, as some colours turn out looking pretty bad when paired with a different one over the top, but I may revisit the idea.

KeenRush wrote:Also, a great idea with the pole. How's it technically made? Is it door tiles replaced or just bunch of voodoo-hoodoo patching?
No special patching required! All it is is three tiles, a string of the top tile, and one middle and one bottom. The bottom is the 'glow' and isn't visible in the first screen.
KeenRush wrote:That big Enkri sprite is probably the coolest sprite ever in Keen mods.
wiivn wrote:I don't think Enkri fits this keeniverse, but oh well.
Those contradict each other, don't they?
In regards to them not fitting the Keeniverse, I'd have to agree with you wiivn. Not many of the enemies in this mod possibly won't. That's not a bad thing, they'll fit very well with the mod, but not the rest of the Keeniverse necessarily.
wiivn wrote:The tower roof needs more editing. I don't know how to fix this, but it needs fixing.
It's probably the dithering. I myself aren't that pleased with it. I will be adding animation to the spike on the top as it is an Ostrum collection point. This may or may not help the look of it.
wiivn wrote:Also, I'm glad Gamebird is doing well, since someone wrote a long time ago that he wasn't well.
Yeah, I thought the same, I think he was just going through a rough patch or a busy patch in life. He went to Disneyland a week ago!
Keening_Product wrote:Dat pole. Dat tower. Dem poles.

:drool
Cheers for that constructive feedback Keening_Product!

Thanks guys, stay tuned for more!
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Keening_Product
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Post by Keening_Product »

*Dem CLOUDS. Whoops. :dopekeen
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