The Alphamatic (Version 2 In Development + Marooned Over Mars Expansion)

[Nisaba]

You can get the newest version from KeenWiki

I believe NY00123's "unofficial" CKPatch is the newest version. Don't know why it's not mentioned on the KeenWiki.

@K1n9_Duk3:
if you could, please share a link including further information on NY00123's version of CKPatch. this would help me update the wiki.

[Gridlock]

Edit: It's done! Get it here: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3536

Nearly there!

I've started releasing a handful of tracks from the soundtrack on YouTube. I'll have the full soundtrack available sometime after release. The final soundtrack has 23 tracks, 22 if you exclude the remastered version of the trailer music.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnx-EJ ... q4roU3NDoA

Oh, and just a heads up: if for some strange reason you don't currently own Keen 5 (needed to play this mod), Steam has the Commander Keen Collection on sale for a paltry $1.24 until July 5. http://store.steampowered.com/app/9180/Commander_Keen/

[Gridlock]

Happy Keen Day! I've got a small announcement: I'm working on an updated version 2 of The Alphamatic.

I don't get the impression that this game was widely played, but from the feedback I did get, it seems like I overshot with the difficulty level. For this next release, I want to further improve the difficulty balancing to make a more enjoyable experience. To that end, I'd be curious about people's general experience with the game's difficulty and how much people would prefer it reduced.

However, there's also slightly more exciting news. I'm working on an expansion to the game called "Marooned Over Mars" that will add three new optional levels to the Mars Station setting. So far, only 1 level is finished. Here's some screenshots:







When will it be released? When it's ready, of course.

[KeenRush]

Good news & looking good!

[Roobar]

This looks most exciting. So is this a stand alone mod or addition to the Alphamatic? As for the difficulty: reduce, reduce, reduce lol.

[Gridlock]

I've been in a Keenish mood lately and have been working on the Marooned Over Mars expansion. It's not dead!

In fact, I've now finished rough versions of all three extra levels. So, I thought I'd share some pics:









These levels are all optional and will be accessible from within the main game via some new additions to an existing level.

I'm not sure when it'll be ready to release. Besides tweaking and improving these new levels, I need to do additional work game-wide to fix some of the previously-mentioned issues and further tweak the difficulty. Some issues may still not be possible for me to fix on my own, such as the finicky shootable QED bug.

[DarkAle]

I've been in a Keenish mood lately and have been working on the Marooned Over Mars expansion. It's not dead!

In fact, I've now finished rough versions of all three extra levels. So, I thought I'd share some pics:









These levels are all optional and will be accessible from within the main game via some new additions to an existing level.

I'm not sure when it'll be ready to release. Besides tweaking and improving these new levels, I need to do additional work game-wide to fix some of the previously-mentioned issues and further tweak the difficulty. Some issues may still not be possible for me to fix on my own, such as the finicky shootable QED bug.

Good work. I'm looking forward to play again your Alphamatic and now I know there will be another version I'm more excited to play it

[Gridlock]

Another update. Thanks to K1n9_Duk3, a few of the game's larger bugs, like the QED fuse not always breaking, should get fixed in the new version. Furthermore, I've been able to add an additional level to the expansion. So, it'll now be 4 new levels instead of 3. There's actually now 25 level slots being used in the Gamemaps, making this mod's level count larger than Atroxian Realm's.

They're all mostly finished, but continue to need further tweaks and polish. Some of them are quite complex and experimental. One that I'm particularly proud of involves an evolution of idea CKGuy explored in his old K5 levelpack, where switches can change door destinations. This time I'm doing it with in-level teleporters.

I'm tentatively thinking of releasing version 2 on Keen's 30th anniversary, December 14. I'm not sure if anyone else has anything planned for that day, so this can at least be something for Keen's big birthday.

[DarkAle]

Another update. Thanks to K1n9_Duk3, a few of the game's larger bugs, like the QED fuse not always breaking, should get fixed in the new version. Furthermore, I've been able to add an additional level to the expansion. So, it'll now be 4 new levels instead of 3. There's actually now 25 level slots being used in the Gamemaps, making this mod's level count larger than Atroxian Realm's.

They're all mostly finished, but continue to need further tweaks and polish. Some of them are quite complex and experimental. One that I'm particularly proud of involves an evolution of idea CKGuy explored in his old K5 levelpack, where switches can change door destinations. This time I'm doing it with in-level teleporters.

I'm tentatively thinking of releasing version 2 on Keen's 30th anniversary, December 14. I'm not sure if anyone else has anything planned for that day, so this can at least be something for Keen's big birthday.

Wow. I'm looking forward this version. I could take inspiration for a new version of The Ultra Omegamatic

P. S. My trilogy comes after your Atroxian Realm series, Gridlock

[TheBigV]

I'm posting another message for proYorp, who still isn't able to log in. The following text is by proYorp:

If you're doing an update, is there any chance that something could be done to equalize the music volume please? Some tracks (like Antigravitational Hub) are way more quiet than they deserve to be (I remember the first time I played this, in a level that had that song I just sat with the status menu open for a minute so I could hear the music without the game sounds overpowering it), and some are quite loud and a little overbearing. (This is especially noticeable when going through the playlist on YouTube, with the amount of times the volume has to be adjusted....) I'd say the songs taken from the Keen 5 outtakes would be a good balance to compare to.

Sorry I don't have anything more to add right now, but this is one nitpick I've had since the start that I probably should have mentioned a long time ago. I know there's some tool somewhere that can edit overall song volume; fairly quickly it sounded like (I think this was done for Suburb Shenanigans IIRC).

P.S. oh yeah, another thing I wanted to give feedback on real quick. I remember whenever I played this I'd be stuck on Mars Station for awhile, I think because it was so large and a bit confusing so it was difficult to figure out where to go IIRC.

[Gridlock]

If you're doing an update, is there any chance that something could be done to equalize the music volume please? Some tracks (like Antigravitational Hub) are way more quiet than they deserve to be (I remember the first time I played this, in a level that had that song I just sat with the status menu open for a minute so I could hear the music without the game sounds overpowering it), and some are quite loud and a little overbearing. (This is especially noticeable when going through the playlist on YouTube, with the amount of times the volume has to be adjusted....) I'd say the songs taken from the Keen 5 outtakes would be a good balance to compare to.

Sorry I don't have anything more to add right now, but this is one nitpick I've had since the start that I probably should have mentioned a long time ago. I know there's some tool somewhere that can edit overall song volume; fairly quickly it sounded like (I think this was done for Suburb Shenanigans IIRC).

Yeah, this is something I've noticed and haven't felt particularly compelled to fix due to the work involved. If a convenient tool does exist for editing IMF track volumes, that would be so much easier than having to re-convert a bunch of midi files.

P.S. oh yeah, another thing I wanted to give feedback on real quick. I remember whenever I played this I'd be stuck on Mars Station for awhile, I think because it was so large and a bit confusing so it was difficult to figure out where to go IIRC.

It's possible I could take another look at this, although any additional details about how you got stuck could make it easier for me to revise.


In case it's not clear, I won't have a revision ready for today. I've been dealing with a decent amount of work stress lately that's taken away my motivation to work on this. For the most part, I'm still in the QA/revision phase with all of these levels, which takes a long time. That's especially true for some of the new levels; one of them in particular may be the longest and most complicated level I've ever made, for better or worse.