Keen 13: The Ultra Omegamatic Version 2 released

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DarkAle
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Re: Keen 13: The Ultra Omegamatic

Post by DarkAle »

K1n9_Duk3 wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 21:58 I'm sorry, but I can't quite understand what youre trying to say here:
Alessandro wrote: Tue May 19, 2020 19:47 but I made the possible for delete it and I failed
Let's go through it again step by step. Your patch script is overwriting parts of the string "Borland C++ - Copyright 1991 Borland Intl." with the following patch command (line 172):

Code: Select all

%patch $30340 "Keen attacks a" $0A "Fuse Quantum" $00
This patch command places your new string at offset 0 in the data segment. The Borland C++ library code performs a checksum test on these bytes when exiting back to DOS and if the checksum test fails, it will print the "Null pointer assignment" error message. Because unless you hack the executable with patches, the only reason why this checksum test would fail is that the code tried to write a couple of bytes to a Null pointer (i.e. offset 0 in the data segment).

I guess I am repeating myself here, but I'll write it anyway: This error message would normally be a sign of something going terribly wrong while the program was running. If you ever see this message, then there's something wrong with the code and you should not release your product to the public in this state. You should definitely not release it as a "finished" mod.

You might think that since the error occurs because the string was altered by a patch and not by an actual Null pointer problem, you could just leave it alone and tell people to ignore that message. You would be wrong. There are a few bugs in Keen 5 that cause it to read from a Null pointer, so replacing the copyright string with something else may cause some seemingly unrelated parts of the code to start behaving differently. Any way you put it, you're just asking for trouble by doing this.

Okay, now that it's clear that the aforementioned string should not be placed anywhere near offset 0 in the data segment, where do we place it? Well, of course we move it into the area that we have freed up by disabling the EGAGRAPH.CK5 merging code with the patch I gave you. Line 172 of your patch file should be changed to this:

Code: Select all

%patch $30425 "Keen attacks a" $0A "Fuse Quantum" $00
This change alone is not enough, though. We also need to update the pointers for this string. To do this, we basically search for any occurence of "$30340000RL" and replace it with "$303400E5RL". Just in case: the line numbers are 106, 111, 118 and 119.


On a somewhat related note, the "Protection Gallery" string overwrites parts of the "High Scores" string. The status window would just say "ry" instead of "High Scores" in the high score level. It's not a big deal, since nobody should ever play that level, but just in case, I'll let you know how you can fix it. Change the offset in line 109 from "$201E0" to "$201E3", so the line looks like this:

Code: Select all

%patch $201E3 "High Scores"
Then change the pointer in line 86 from "$201E0000RL" to "$201E0003RL".
Sorry, but English is not my first language and sometimes I make errors. Thank you for this tutorial because I'm not an expert like you
Commander Keen in... Robot Apocalypse!
Episode 13: The Ultra Omegamatic viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6802
Episode 14: Secret of the Sorcerer viewtopic.php?t=13031
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DarkAle
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Re: Keen 13: The Ultra Omegamatic

Post by DarkAle »

Final Version
Version 1.5

http://www.mediafire.com/file/dabsgfatw ... 2.rar/file

This version features:
  • The Robot Attack title screen
    Bugs fixed
    Tileinfo problems fixed
    Null Pointer Assignement... fixed
P.S My version 1.3 was like the v.1.1. because I was distracted because I was also busy with another mod
And also sorry because I don't fix the Ampton bug in Gallery A2. In version 1.3 was fixed, but in this version I taken v. 1. 2.1's Gamemaps
Commander Keen in... Robot Apocalypse!
Episode 13: The Ultra Omegamatic viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6802
Episode 14: Secret of the Sorcerer viewtopic.php?t=13031
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DarkAle
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Re: Keen 13: The Ultra Omegamatic Version 2 released

Post by DarkAle »

The version 2 is finally finished :O
Check the first post
Commander Keen in... Robot Apocalypse!
Episode 13: The Ultra Omegamatic viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6802
Episode 14: Secret of the Sorcerer viewtopic.php?t=13031
gui_tarzan
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Re: Keen 13: The Ultra Omegamatic Version 2 released

Post by gui_tarzan »

I really like this!!!

Bravo!
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DarkAle
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Re: Keen 13: The Ultra Omegamatic Version 2 released

Post by DarkAle »

Thanks so much for enjoying the mod(Grazie anche per l'italiano) :D
Commander Keen in... Robot Apocalypse!
Episode 13: The Ultra Omegamatic viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6802
Episode 14: Secret of the Sorcerer viewtopic.php?t=13031
zemla79
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Re: Keen 13: The Ultra Omegamatic Version 2 released

Post by zemla79 »

Hello DarkAle, I would like to contact you, but I am not allowed to send you private messages via this forum. Can you please send me your email? Thank you very much . :helmet
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DarkAle
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Re: Keen 13: The Ultra Omegamatic Version 2 released

Post by DarkAle »

Okay. I'll send you it in a private message since I can write them
Commander Keen in... Robot Apocalypse!
Episode 13: The Ultra Omegamatic viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6802
Episode 14: Secret of the Sorcerer viewtopic.php?t=13031
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Re: Keen 13: The Ultra Omegamatic Version 2 released

Post by proYorp »

Are Meep-rank users no longer allowed to send private messages? I had a PM from a scammer once.

Remember to be careful about who you give your email address to. Stay safe...
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DarkAle
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Re: Keen 13: The Ultra Omegamatic Version 2 released

Post by DarkAle »

proYorp wrote: Sun Jul 04, 2021 7:11 Are Meep-rank users no longer allowed to send private messages? I had a PM from a scammer once.

Remember to be careful about who you give your email address to. Stay safe...
Don't worry. I have one in reserve :lol
Commander Keen in... Robot Apocalypse!
Episode 13: The Ultra Omegamatic viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6802
Episode 14: Secret of the Sorcerer viewtopic.php?t=13031
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Re: Keen 13: The Ultra Omegamatic Version 2 released

Post by Soul Monster »

proYorp wrote: Sun Jul 04, 2021 7:11 Are Meep-rank users no longer allowed to send private messages? I had a PM from a scammer once.
I just joined the forums recently, and to answer your question: No, Meep-rank users are unable to send PMs.
"Remember to be happy, and keep smiling, and have hope, and know that there's sunshine everywhere. Just look around, and you'll find it."
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Re: Keen 13: The Ultra Omegamatic Version 2 released

Post by Nisaba »

...which is a necessary evil to overcome the huge amount of incoming bot spam on a daily basis...
out now (link) : Image
Hisymak
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Re: Keen 13: The Ultra Omegamatic Version 2 released

Post by Hisymak »

Hello, I just finished playing through this mod and I'd like to give my thoughts and feedback.
Overally, this was one of the less great mods from those I've played so far, my ranking is unfortunately only 2 stars of 5, as this mod had several issues I'd like to describe.

1. The absolutely most frustrating part of the game was in level 22 Fuse Quantum: The central part with droppable-through platform and Fire Helixes (https://keenwiki.shikadi.net/i/c/cf/The ... vel_22.png). Going down was easy and straightforward, but going back up was, eh, a real hell. The Fire Helixes are exactly 2 tiles above those jump-through platforms, and when you want to go up, you need to make PIXEL PERFECT precise jump so that you don't touch those hazard tiles with head, but must still jump high enough to actually get above the platform. I spent so much time trying to get past this part - at least I did not discover any other way around. Lot of game reloads and frustration. Eventually I got up without using cheats, as I always want to avoid using cheats for all costs.

2. There are some places, where you must jump very high to reach a platform, but that's higher than what is the maximum jump height on normal and hard difficulty. I was playing on normal, so I was not able to jump high enough to progress. One example is the small light blue platform in top-left corner of level 11 (https://keenwiki.shikadi.net/i/a/a4/The ... vel_11.png) but there were more such places, especially in the last level.
How I am supposed to jump so high on normal difficulty? Is there some trick I am missing? In original levels, I remember there were just a few optional places like that - the great secret in Keen5's first level, and a small optional room with a few score items in some keen6 level.

3. I was very disappointed about music. There were just a few tracks which were cheap remixes of original Keen5 songs. One same song was playing in most of the levels, and the remix playing in Fuse Center levels was annoying so I turned music off, and kept it like that for most of the game. The last level had some custom song, but that was nothing special.

4. The graphics was really low in variety - there were just plain light blue and red walls and platforms in all levels, nothing else. The background had some more variety through.

The level design was probably the most interesting part of the game - some levels were poorer, but there were also some levels I liked, for example the Greenland Base, which was one level which brought some more variety.
I still enjoyed the game and finished it all the way to the end, which is a good sign. Also I ran into some bugs, but they were not major and game-breaking, not a big deal here.

Just to summarize, here are the Keen5 level packs I played so far:
1) The Alphamatic: 4/5
2) The Armageddon App: 5/5
3) The Ultra Omegamatic: 2/5
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DarkAle
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Re: Keen 13: The Ultra Omegamatic Version 2 released

Post by DarkAle »

Well, when I released this mod I was so happy because I thought it was quite nice, but now I almost finished its sequel I changed my opinion, so I accept your 2 stars
Commander Keen in... Robot Apocalypse!
Episode 13: The Ultra Omegamatic viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6802
Episode 14: Secret of the Sorcerer viewtopic.php?t=13031
Hisymak
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Re: Keen 13: The Ultra Omegamatic Version 2 released

Post by Hisymak »

DarkAle wrote: Wed Nov 10, 2021 21:26 Well, when I released this mod I was so happy because I thought it was quite nice, but now I almost finished its sequel I changed my opinion, so I accept your 2 stars
I'd like to ask you to comment back on my points, as I'm quite curious especially about point 1 and 2. How you playtested your levels? That central platforming part in level 22, you were able to pass through it without frustration? Maybe there exists some good way how to manage the pixel perfect jumps, or there is some other way I completely missed? And those high jumps that are not possible on normal and hard difficulty. Did you play through your levels only or easy, or on normal and hard as well? I just can't understand how I'm supposed to progress through the game without jump-cheating.
As for music, if you're not much into composing your own music, you might have done better if you used more of the different original tracks for more variety (I see there's even one unused track in the game) and did not remix "Spiro Grip Me Tighter", which was annoying to listen and I kept music off for the most part.
Thanks
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Re: Keen 13: The Ultra Omegamatic Version 2 released

Post by DarkAle »

For that I made a video on YouTube. Check on my channel. Its name is DarkAle
Commander Keen in... Robot Apocalypse!
Episode 13: The Ultra Omegamatic viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6802
Episode 14: Secret of the Sorcerer viewtopic.php?t=13031
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