Foray in the Forest (development thread)

[Nisaba]

just wanted to let you guys know, that things are progressing nicely. there is still some work to do. but I am proud to announce that most of the heavy lifting seems to be done. big shoutouts to K1n9_Duk3!

[DarkAle]

Do you think it will be released on Keen Day?

[c64cosmin]

just wanted to let you guys know, that things are progressing nicely. there is still some work to do. but I am proud to announce that most of the heavy lifting seems to be done. big shoutouts to K1n9_Duk3!

I see you write C code, do you patch these in the original game? I am baffled a bit.
Excuse my lazyness, but I am super curious what are you doing here.
Did you write a game from scratch or the community managed to patch in compiled ASM?

[K1n9_Duk3]

Foray in the Forest is primarily based on the source modding package that Lemm put together a few years ago. This source modding package is basically a combination of the Keen Dreams and Catacomb 3-D source code with some disassembling and reverse-engineering work based on Keen 4-6. Some parts of the source modding package have been taken from the Omnispeak project and ported back to DOS. Search the forum and/or the KeenWiki if you want to learn more about it.

Yes, this mod is written mostly in C with some assembly here and there. No CKPATCH involved whatsoever. We're compiling a Borland C(++) project, just like id Software did when they made the original Keen games. We didn't really write a game from scratch, but large parts of the AI code are indeed written from scratch. We have "imported" a few Keen 4 enemies, but even those have been altered a bit. The engine has also seen some improvements.

If you're wondering what you can expect from this mod, think about this: Keen Dreams and Keen 4-6 are using basically the same engine, but the engine was a little more advanced when they made Keen 4-6. Our mod is based on a slightly more advanced version of the engine. You will see some new tricks.

[c64cosmin]

Thank you so much for the explanation. I guess I have better keywords to search around now thankfully, wow I am already blasted away, this is neat! I know some info about the timeline of the two engines, but that is mostly what is available on the surface on the forums or on youtube, I was oblivious to the fact that people used the KDreams source code to put together mods in this way. TBH this is no modding, this is like using a game engine to make a game entirely. Due to the compiling of the entire binary, literally there is no limit on what can be done. Kudos to you and the rest of the community.

Also Merry Christmas!

[Nisaba]

time for some updates.
Please share your thoughts and suggestions. I look forward to feedback and constructive criticism.

[szemi]

I could imagine a "?" point item that randomly gives points between 100-5000.

[DarkAle]

Very nice. I love the stone path

[Benvolio]

The quality of your pixel work and use of colour is exquisitely high Nisaba. This is definitely one of the big ongoing projects to watch.

[Gridlock]

These screenshots are gorgeous. I particularly love the first picture with the stone tileset; great use of color and contrast, great three-dimensionality in the tileset, great organic details with the vines... just awesome. I also love in one of the later screenshots how that stone tileset transitions into the standard K4 grass tileset. I'm also pretty intrigued by that screenshot of the grasslands and the platforms you can stand on. I suppose there could be a risk of differentiating which are background and which are foreground platforms, but it's hard to tell just from the picture.

Although I have very little context, the one that that jumps out to me as a bit strange is that single pole tile in the purple area screenshot. In my more recent mods, I usually tried to follow a design rule that poles should be a height of at least two tiles, given that the Keen engine can feel a bit wonky with a tiny pole. But that's definitely me stretching for a critique.

[DarkAle]

Is that stone path a recoloured path of Keen 59?
Look at this: http://www.shikadi.net/wiki/keen/images ... Temple.png

P.S When do you think it will be released? Hope for Keen Day 2021

[Benvolio]

I think DarkAle is correct that it is derived from Bernie's art. Well spotted! But it's more than just recoloured - the art has been truly integrated into a new piece of pixel artwork. Nevertheless for maximal artistic integrity, Nisaba could consider altering the shape further.

[K1n9_Duk3]

the Keen engine can feel a bit wonky with a tiny pole

Two words: source code.
I haven't actually playtested any levels with these poles in them, but there's a non-zero chance that FITF will handle poles a bit differently.

Is that stone path a recoloured path of Keen 59?

A keen eye for detail you have.

Nevertheless for maximal artistic integrity, Nisaba could consider altering the shape further.

[Tormentor667]

This looks absolutely stunning!

[Nisaba]

[...] I'm also pretty intrigued by that screenshot of the grasslands and the platforms you can stand on. I suppose there could be a risk of differentiating which are background and which are foreground platforms [...]

good point. I'm indeed struggling to find a solution for this. I think I need to try to give them a little different shades. maybe some darker sprinkler here and there. but not too much to keep things in balance. This is really a challenge for me. if you have one or two clever suggestions I'm eager to learn about them.