Return to the Shadowlands

[Ceilick]

Introducing: Commander Keen in "Return to the Shadowlands"











This will be a levelpack/mod in the style of Bubbatom's Eight Accumulators and 55Avenue's Short Circuit Oracle.

Featuring:

An all new story taking place after Goodbye Galaxy: The oracle council need Keen's help once again, but not for the the reason you might think...

All new levels: Journey to the western Shadowlands that reach out beyond the ruins of Sand Yego. Will you make it past Glacier Gate to the icy north, journey through the jungle and survive the Pyramid of Fear, or discover the isles of Bubblegum Lake?

Some new graphics: New story images, level entrances, new backgrounds, graphic recolors, demo tiles, and other misc additions.

Current Progress:
-9/18 Levels ready for beta testing.

To-Do:
-9 Levels
-Level Testing
-Story Images
-Text Files
-Loading Screen

Look for this project's release in April 2021!

Special thanks to:
Nisaba for graphics, ideas, and being a positive influence.
K1n9_Duk3 for patching guidance.
55Avenue for letting me use some graphics.

[Nisaba]

Dang!
The rumors have come true. A Ceilick original! This is going to be exciting.

[szemi]

Cool sauce mod!

[Nospike]

Sounds fantastic. Looking forward to this one. Good luck in development.

[DarkAle]

Nice! I'm looking forward to its release

[Gridlock]

That's exciting to hear about, Ceilick. I wonder if you were feeling what I was feeling when I made The Alphamatic? Wanting to just make some Keen levels without the stress of having it be a fully overhauled mod with new... everything.

To-Do:
-9 Levels

Look for this project's release in April 2021!

Wow, 9 levels in 1-2 months? That's crazy levels of productivity I couldn't even dream of. Well, if you want help with anything, feel free to reach out.

[Ceilick]

Thanks guys!

This project started in the final week of February, so those first 9 levels were in 3 weeks

What started as just an impulse desire to create a new world map with Keen 4's tiles evolved into a plan for a full levelpack, which then transitioned to a minimod.

Of the 9 levels remaining, 3 are about 50% complete: the Whispering Woods, the Sunken Sinkhole, and Bounder Town.

My levels aren't particularly complex, as I generally aim for a feeling similar in style to the original games, and that may have something to do with my productivity haha. Also the fact I haven't done any level testing yet. There will definitely be a testing and tweaking period, and hopefully no significant redesigns.

Gridlock, your Alphamatic was among the projects that inspired this. I actually have plans laid out for a full minimod/levelpack trilogy, and should that come to fruition, I hope for your permission to utilize some Alphamatic assets for the keen 5 installment if/when the time comes.

[Gridlock]

My levels aren't particularly complex, as I generally aim for a feeling similar in style to the original games, and that may have something to do with my productivity haha

Haha, that definitely helps. For context, I think I likely put at least 100 hours of work individually into each of the The Alphamatic expansion levels (definitely at least Space Port Tehlah and Mars Machineworks). But those are among the most complex levels I've ever designed, since I was purposefully pushing myself to see how far I could take things. I'm sure it goes faster when it doesn't take around 45 minutes to finish playtesting your own level .

Gridlock, your Alphamatic was among the projects that inspired this. I actually have plans laid out for a full minimod/levelpack trilogy, and should that come to fruition, I hope for your permission to utilize some Alphamatic assets for the keen 5 installment if/when the time comes.

Absolutely, you're welcome to use anything. I imagine tiles like the diagonal platforms tracks could be especially useful, since those were a pain to draw and line up in the tileset. And if you want to use things like conveyor belts, steep slopes, toggle pistons (from the expansion), or anything else, I think that'd be neat. With version 2, my background and foreground tilesets are nearly crammed to capacity with various tiles.

[Tormentor667]

The screenshots are very promising

[_mr_m_]

This. Is. Neat.

I adore the idea of "back to basics" modding (e.g., minimal graphical additions). I hope this helps rekindle your passion for Keen modding and your interest in Sign of the Vool

I assume the fact that you posted this teaser on Mort day is just a coincidence and not a clue as to why Billy has returned to the Shadowlands...

[Ceilick]

I'm sure it goes faster when it doesn't take around 45 minutes to finish playtesting your own level

Dude I was already intimidated to try the update

I hope this helps rekindle your passion for Keen modding and your interest in Sign of the Vool

I assume the fact that you posted this teaser on Mort day is just a coincidence and not a clue as to why Billy has returned to the Shadowlands...

Ha, last minute rush to complete the title screen held me back!

You wouldn't happen to have any interest in composing a tune or two for the shadowlands, would you?

That goes out to anyone else interested in composing music as well; I'd love to include some original songs in this project. Maybe a more upbeat "Too Hot", something silly along the lines of "Kick in the Pants, maybe a more downbeat "Oasis", another blub blub like "eat your veggies".

Re Sign of the Vool: I'm hoping these mini projects will help get me back in the swing of it. We'll see, certainly something playable will be released once I get back to it.

[DarkAle]

I'd like to compose something. Now I can't because I haven't got a good software, but on 30th March, my birthday, I'll buy one

[55Aavenue]

Id be willing to compose a couple songs if you'd like!

[Ceilick]

Thanks guys! PM me any songs you'd like me to consider!

[Ceilick]

It's been a few weeks so I thought I'd throw out an update. Progress has been slower than I'd like, I hit a slump in level design inspiration, but things are still moving.

10 Levels at 100% testing ready
2 Levels at 50%
3 Levels at 15%
3 Levels at 2%

All texts and story images are complete except for the end sequence.

The loading screens are complete.

I've had one song submission from DarkAle. I hope to hear more in the coming weeks! If not, I plan to work with some midis from various bands.