Coming summer 2018: Keen Modding Live!
Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2018 12:07
I've been too busy recently to prepare any Keen Day releases, so here's a status update on a work-in-progress.
A while back, I proposed a system to catalyze the creation and consumption of new single levels. A few months back, I started working on it. I call it Keen Modding Live and it's coming along nicely. Here's how it works so far:
Authentication is handled entirely with Keen Modding credentials. There's a distinction between accounts and credentials so I could theoretically add non-KM-linked login later, but so far your Keen Modding forum account is your Keen Modding Live pass. To prevent spam, linking a Keen Modding account requires at least two published posts. This is only checked at registration, so by tweaking the database (or eventually through some sort of administrative action) non-forum-users can be allowed in.
You can upload levels for any of the original games. For Galaxy and Vorticons, the uploader takes the GameMaps/MapHead(/MapDict) files and assumes that the level is in slot #1. The web player works for all episodes, immediately entering the level and restarting it with reset stats upon death or completion. (Thanks to Levellass for some patching assistance here.) When created, levels can be assigned a "zone" corresponding to how completed they are -- this allows people to publish betas or WIPs without players stumbling upon them in the showtime zone and thinking they're finished. The API allows searching for levels by a variety of properties, but there is zero web UI for this or any kind of level browsing yet. The API also lets you rename/rezone/delete levels and upload new revisions of a given level (which includes publishing unofficial derivations of other people's levels), but again, there's no web support there yet. The UI in general is currently extremely minimal.
For a smooth authoring process, I'm working on an Abiathar extension, Abiathar Live Studio. It can automatically set up a development environment for Galaxy episodes and Dreams, or turn an existing level into a Keen Modding Live project. You never need to fiddle with patches or batch files -- it provides a Test command that launches DOSBox straight into the level you're working on. When you're ready to go live, you can publish the level to the web, all without leaving Abiathar. The project file then remembers the Keen Modding Live association, so subsequent publishes add new revisions. A properties window allows you to rename and rezone the level. There are still some things left to be implemented, like the ability to find and clone/fork an existing level from the web, but I think the UX is pretty nice.
I'm aiming for a release late this summer. Let me know your thoughts and if you'd be interested in some beta testing. The testing phase will probably begin in mid-summer but possibly earlier, especially for the level creators' side. Status updates and sneak previews might turn up in the #keenmodding Discord from time to time.
Happy Keen Day 2018!
A while back, I proposed a system to catalyze the creation and consumption of new single levels. A few months back, I started working on it. I call it Keen Modding Live and it's coming along nicely. Here's how it works so far:
Authentication is handled entirely with Keen Modding credentials. There's a distinction between accounts and credentials so I could theoretically add non-KM-linked login later, but so far your Keen Modding forum account is your Keen Modding Live pass. To prevent spam, linking a Keen Modding account requires at least two published posts. This is only checked at registration, so by tweaking the database (or eventually through some sort of administrative action) non-forum-users can be allowed in.
You can upload levels for any of the original games. For Galaxy and Vorticons, the uploader takes the GameMaps/MapHead(/MapDict) files and assumes that the level is in slot #1. The web player works for all episodes, immediately entering the level and restarting it with reset stats upon death or completion. (Thanks to Levellass for some patching assistance here.) When created, levels can be assigned a "zone" corresponding to how completed they are -- this allows people to publish betas or WIPs without players stumbling upon them in the showtime zone and thinking they're finished. The API allows searching for levels by a variety of properties, but there is zero web UI for this or any kind of level browsing yet. The API also lets you rename/rezone/delete levels and upload new revisions of a given level (which includes publishing unofficial derivations of other people's levels), but again, there's no web support there yet. The UI in general is currently extremely minimal.
For a smooth authoring process, I'm working on an Abiathar extension, Abiathar Live Studio. It can automatically set up a development environment for Galaxy episodes and Dreams, or turn an existing level into a Keen Modding Live project. You never need to fiddle with patches or batch files -- it provides a Test command that launches DOSBox straight into the level you're working on. When you're ready to go live, you can publish the level to the web, all without leaving Abiathar. The project file then remembers the Keen Modding Live association, so subsequent publishes add new revisions. A properties window allows you to rename and rezone the level. There are still some things left to be implemented, like the ability to find and clone/fork an existing level from the web, but I think the UX is pretty nice.
I'm aiming for a release late this summer. Let me know your thoughts and if you'd be interested in some beta testing. The testing phase will probably begin in mid-summer but possibly earlier, especially for the level creators' side. Status updates and sneak previews might turn up in the #keenmodding Discord from time to time.
Happy Keen Day 2018!