Terror from Outer Space

Here is where to post about the latest Commander Keen fangame or modification you've finished, a new website you've made, or another Keen-related creation.
Hagel
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Post by Hagel »

Hej Richard, I just finished playing your game for the first time.

You made a very well, astonishingly keenish Mod which fullfilled the high expectations I had after having played each of your fangames.

The levels have a nice design, great graphics and almost no free unused space.

There are certain spots which semt quite unfair to me: e.g. the bottom right angle of the radar station, where it took me a lot of tries to get on the elevator without getting killed, or some spots in the secret cloning lab, where the blue spiderrobots could get stuck on an edge.

Being grown up in Germany I loved the way you integrated motives of Music everybody of my age knows into a keen game.
But I would have prefered to see a greater variety of songs; E.g. something more mystical for the secret lab, or something heavier for the volcano.

Playing your game reminded me of a lot of other games (e.g. Keen 2,3,5, UFO Enemy Unknown and Metroid). Probably that´s why searching the different laboratories in the game made me expect to find a metroidesque twist in the games story (e.g."It was the vorticons who cloned the bleeches as a bio weapon", "they´re made from keen´s DNA because of his intellect" or "Somebody tried to clone Chtulhu").

To be honest I was kinda dissapointed when I saw the tons of lab equipment but didn´t find anybody to tell me a mind blowing story wtf is going on here (e.g. more grunts or your main villain via camera as seen in Duke Nukem). Especially the one room in the Radar Station or the cloning lab could be more rewarding ;) (Btw. are the Bleeches clones or hybrids ;) )?

I do not know much about patching but talking about the gameplay it would have been great to be able to smash the eggs with your pogostick so they do not hatch. Or as in Keen 1-3 being able to stop a shot fired at you by shooting it.

Finally talking about your main villain, the ending kinda dissapointed me. Seeing how he appears as a mad leader on numerous screens found in the game I would have loved to see him more furious - shouting at keen enraged that this eight year old nerd dares to endanger his macchiavellian utopia unable to see the beauty of his purulent alien creations. Looking at the very end where it comes clear that he still is willing to pay the highest price for his insane plan, he furthermore should act less thunderstruck and more "prepared" facing keen.

Last but not least I am not sure about his motives. Being an evil mastermind driven by the mad idea tho change the universe, playing god in a frankensteinian way (in contrary to mortimer who is driven by arrogance and hate). I would have given him more of a pseudoreligous touch. E.g. as the mutant leader in Fallout 1.

It would make him a lot more credible if he´d seek UNITY and the suppression of emotional/intellectual weakness (in a nietzschean way) instead of PEACE.

All in all congratulations on this cool mod. I would love to see you to keep working on computer games. Thumbs up ;)
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Post by Plasma Captain »

Very impressive so far! I've played in four different levels now. I don't have any problems with the music. The background used in the Trogg Pod is quite busy, as someone mentioned, but it's not terrible. I don't take issue with the difficulty.

I do have a minor problem to report, though, that I don't believe to have been brought up yet, and that is that Keen still says "I can't swim" if he reaches space without the space suit.
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Levellass
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Post by Levellass »

I didn't have any problem with space-Keen.


Finished the rest, much fewer bugs further on.

There were two levels that on hard I got 'not enough memory for background music' errors in.

This green thing on the pink tiles, its bottom is cut off:
Image

I can see the sky from the stone and the stone from the sky in the volcano:
Image
Image
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Bernie
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Post by Bernie »

i should mention that I think that enemy 'Bleech Crawler' is a real pain :( espeically on the level 'Trogg Pod' where they're in some low ceiling hallways, which makes them basically invincible. imo its best to have them mostly in bigger open areas (to give the player a chance to kill them).
up to you ofcourse.
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Dr.Colossus
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Post by Dr.Colossus »

Update:
TTFOS_BetaV2.zip

Things I have changed:
- hope all Bugs are now fixed (Tiles, Music, ...)
- Added a new "Level one", the old one is now an optional level.
- Cave Trogg is now stunnable (it needs a second shot when it's stunned)
- removed some enemies to make it easier
- and it's a .zip file :P
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tulip
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Post by tulip »

I still resist the temptation to play this in beta state. Man this looks soo tempting. But I want my first impression of this as complete as possible.
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DoomJedi
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Post by DoomJedi »

tulip wrote:I still resist the temptation to play this in beta state. Man this looks soo tempting. But I want my first impression of this as complete as possible.
Yes, I'm tired lately of those betas....want to play the real thing.
This is why I'm not downloading a fix.

IMHO - if you want us to be a beta testers - you can PM people and collect beta testing team more privately. I'm against fully public betatesting...ruins the experience, older saved games won't work, no surprises later.... less fun, and why should it be tempting to us? We are patient...fix this - and release the final thing.
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Eros
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Post by Eros »

DoomJedi wrote:IMHO - if you want us to be a beta testers - you can PM people and collect beta testing team more privately. I'm against fully public betatesting...ruins the experience, older saved games won't work, no surprises later.... less fun, and why should it be tempting to us? We are patient...fix this - and release the final thing.
Yeah! Let people (like me) who want to ruin their experiences do so privately!

:p
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Plasma Captain
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Post by Plasma Captain »

Levellass wrote:I didn't have any problem with space-Keen.
Really? I checked the patch file and there is definitely a patch ("I can't go there!"), but it is commented out with a pound for some reason.

The new first level does seem more appropriate. I kind of liked the song that you used for the old first level better in this case, though that's just personal preference (it was more light-hearted, like the songs that are tied to the first levels of the other Keen games). Though, with that being said, I like all of the music that I've heard so far. It doesn't seem repetitive or annoying in any way; it's quite pleasant.
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Dr.Colossus
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Post by Dr.Colossus »

tulip wrote:I still resist the temptation to play this in beta state. Man this looks soo tempting. But I want my first impression of this as complete as possible.
The mod is finished. I just call it beta because there may still occur some bugs I didn't noticed. Or I still have to rewrite a few sentences.
Levellass wrote:I can ride on the orange shots, sometimes right across the level:Image
Happens this only if you have the God mode turned on, or even without? (I'm always died when I tried this)
Levellass wrote:Finally your story could really use an English speaker looking over some of the grammar, it's minor things, the English equivalent of the sentence Die Zeit fliegt wie ein Pfeil, Frucht fliegt wie ein Banane.
If you think that I should rewrite a few (or all :P) sentences, I would be grateful to you if you send me your suggestions.
Hagel wrote:Being grown up in Germany I loved the way you integrated motives of Music everybody of my age knows into a keen game. But I would have prefered to see a greater variety of songs; E.g. something more mystical for the secret lab, or something heavier for the volcano.
I know. I had three problems.
1. Limited songs
2. I can not compose music, and therefore had to take given midis.
3. Matching songs which I think they would be great, have sounded terribly after I've converted to the IMF format.
Hagel wrote:(Btw. are the Bleeches clones or hybrids ;) )?
Colossus found an organic lifeform called the "Proto Bleech" on a distant planet. It has the ability to stun its prey by fixing himself at their head. By the penetration of its tentacles into the brain it forces the victimto lie still. Now the Bleech can sip the internals in peace.
The Doctor discovered the mind-stunning ability of this creature and he began to develop this attribute by cloning and crossbreding. Thus the first Bleech was created.
Hagel wrote:I would have loved to see him more furious - shouting at keen enraged that this eight year old nerd dares to endanger his macchiavellian utopia unable to see the beauty of his purulent alien creations.
Yes, I know. I wanted to let him appear more insane. But writing is not my best feature. And the translation certainly not. (I do not even know if I've written this sentence correctly)
Hagel wrote:Last but not least I am not sure about his motives. Being an evil mastermind driven by the mad idea tho change the universe, playing god in a frankensteinian way (in contrary to mortimer who is driven by arrogance and hate).
You are right. About his motives, I would have gone closer in the next part of the series. I wanted to create a different type of villain. As you already said, Mortimer is arrogant and filled with hatred.
Colossus loves the universe but he hates it as it is.
It is his opinion that the only way to make it a better place is to do it by force. He thinks that all other species are arrogant and don't want to live in peace and therefore he must force them to their happiness.
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Roobar
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Post by Roobar »

Btw because of your forum name and because that's the evil guy in your mod, do it represent part of your personality in some way? :)
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Dr.Colossus
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Post by Dr.Colossus »

Plasma Captain wrote:I do have a minor problem to report, though, that I don't believe to have been brought up yet, and that is that Keen still says "I can't swim" if he reaches space without the space suit.
Fixed. I will update this on Beta_V3 (hopefully the final version)

wiivn wrote:Btw because of your forum name and because that's the evil guy in your mod, do it represent part of your personality in some way? :)
Yes, I hate the world and everybody shall burn in pain! :mortlol

JK. I only like this Simpsons Character.
Plasma Captain
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Post by Plasma Captain »

There seems to be a misspelling in the SGA text on the last display screen in the secret level; it says "OBEY MY BRDRS".

EDIT: Also, there's a tile glitch in the edge of the floor here in Three Towers:

Image

EDIT 2: Also also, in the Explorer stage, when Keen first enters the ship (the larger portion), if he does the Impossible Pogo Trick to the right, he can grab the green gem and completely bypass the rest of that area leading up to it.
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Levellass
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Post by Levellass »

Yes, I'm tired lately of those betas....want to play the real thing.
Note to self: Don't release betas or teaser videos.

Also also, in the Explorer stage, when Keen first enters the ship (the larger portion), if he does the Impossible Pogo Trick to the right, he can grab the green gem and completely bypass the rest of that area leading up to it.
For future reference, my upcomming mods contain lots of things like that, be tricky and you can skip stuff. These are not bugs.

Happens this only if you have the God mode turned on, or even without? (I'm always died when I tried this)
You need to fall onto the shots and make sure they don't push past you (and kill you) so it's a rare error and now you mention God Mode, that makes thing so much easier. It shouldn't be a problem to change the sprite's type to fix that bug.
If you think that I should rewrite a few (or all) sentences, I would be grateful to you if you send me your suggestions.
Revised story file: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/394 ... XT4740.TXT

Revised enemies file: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/394 ... XT4741.TXT

Revised about me file (Notably changed 'oversee mistakes' into 'overlook mistakes'): https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/394 ... XT4742.TXT

Revised winning file: (Losing freedom is a price,not a prize!): https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/394 ... XT4743.TXT

No spell checking has been done, just grammar. (I do not know if you use British or American spelling.)

1. Limited songs
2. I can not compose music, and therefore had to take given midis.
3. Matching songs which I think they would be great, have sounded terribly after I've converted to the IMF format.
I have a selection of unused song from my last mod if you want to give them a poke, don't think they'll fit the mood, but you never know: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/394 ... lymorn.zip (If you use any credit Barry Taylor.)

Colossus found an organic lifeform called the "Proto Bleech" on a distant planet.
If this isn't story for the sequels then you could possibly use up some of your unused tile with say SGA explaining this in some levels. Or add it to the story.

Yes, I know. I wanted to let him appear more insane. But writing is not my best feature. And the translation certainly not. (I do not even know if I've written this sentence correctly)
If you write it in German I can translate then you can look over it and see if that is any better. I have found in working with people that do not have English as a first language that it often works best if a person who knows English and some x works with someone who knows x and some English.

Colossus loves the universe but he hates it as it is.
It is his opinion that the only way to make it a better place is to do it by force. He thinks that all other species are arrogant and don't want to live in peace and therefore he must force them to their happiness.
Why do you fight? Why do you resist? Can't you see I'm making things better? Surely a child as intelligent and capable as you can appreciate the simple beauty of my plans? I do not destroy, I create! I do not hurt, I heal! The galaxy would be so much BETTER if everyone just did as i said!
What you really need, not what you think you ought to want.
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Flaose
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Post by Flaose »

Here's a revised Star Wars text scroll (which I've learned is a huge hassle to modify). I tried to keep your original intent while making it seem a little more natural.

Code: Select all

%patch $1EE40
"Commander Keen" $0A $0A

"The Terror" $0A
"From Outer Space" $0A $0A

"The asteroids that" $0A
"surround the planet" $0A
"Phaelox are known for" $0A
"their richness in rare" $0A
"Cratom crystals." $0A $0A

"This source was" $0A
"first discovered" $0A
"by the Vorticons" $0A
"who s" $0A

%patch $1EF0A
"oon began" $0A
"mining them." $0A  $0A

"Several decades ago," $0A
"with the Cratom source" $0A
"nearly depl" $0A

%patch $1EF59
"eted," $0A
"the Vorticons powered" $0A
"down their equipment" $0A
"and left." $0A $0A

"But now, years later," $0A
"the outpost has once" $0A
"again begun operation." $0A $0A

"The reasons for this" $0A
"are as yet" $0A
"unknown." $0A
$00
I would also recommend replacing "Goodbye, Galaxy! / Episode IV: Secret of the Oracle" from the initialization screen, despite the fact that you have -nowait enabled
Cerebral Cortex 314 - For All of your Commander Keen Needs.
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