Marta 1: Lunar Quest

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.
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Paramultart
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Post by Paramultart »

Lass wrote:Second up, ******** level, wut?
SSSSHHHHHH!!!! Please edit your post and remove the spoiler.
Third, you should have tweaked the highscore graphics a bit including the game over, they're so jarring ont he much darker base of the mod itself. (And those black squares! Why didn't you patch them out?)
Fourthly, same goes for the F1 bitmap, did we even need it anymore?
Fifthly, and those ^v arrow square things, they should have had a black background, they stick out too:
Yeah, most of the issues you listed and more I had listed on a more extensive "to-do" list last month when I played through it... Probably should have reviewed over that before the release. Ah well, there's always the revision.
Finally, these flame circles don't animate:
Pfft... Silly girl. :p You're playing the outdated copy that you gave to Flaose. I posted the update specifically to fix that as well as a few other little things. See? This is what happens when crappy versions start floating around.
All in all while well done it still feels slightly rushed, unfinished. There are things that could have used a little more effort and polishing.
Yeah, it was pretty rushed, but I figured the smaller details, like kinks in the menu and whatnot, could all be worked out later. The important thing is that the game itself is pretty solid; probably not much will change in the levels and gameplay in future revisions.
Bubbatom wrote:Nice work! I'm looking forward to future work that you guys produce, well done!
Benvolio wrote:I could go on describing what I've seen in the first few minutes of playing but instead I'll go play some more!! Well done Para+VBB, or as you call yourselves seemingly, "Zapado".
Thanks guys. Yeah, VBB and I seem to enjoy working together, so we decided to come up with a team name that wasn't "VBBTART" that we could tag on all of our projects.
We're hoping to get a site up so we can retroactively release all of our old projects as "Zapado" projects, and hopefully start churning out some non-Keenmod games soon.
Tulip wrote:Man, this is what I call a perfect mod.
Considering you're like the authority of "Vorticon mods", that means a lot to us. :)
StupidBunny wrote:Anything from you guys with a 3-year development time must be incredible. I'll play it when I can give it the time, attention and love I imagine it deserves.
Bear in mind that "3 years of development heck" does not mean "3 years of focused, intensive modding". A good half of the game's content was created in the spring of 2011. If I recall correctly, this mod was meant to be a quickie for Keen day that year. Boy, time flies.


By the way, VBB would like to hold a contest to see who can name the three or more references that aren't acknowledged in the end text.
"Father Mabeuf was surveying his plants"
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Roobar
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Post by Roobar »

I found one very interesting easter egg (or reference if you will) at which I was like :eek whaat? And one more reference. So 2 in total and I'm halfway through the moon.

Awesome mod btw.
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Levellass
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Post by Levellass »

You obviously didn't redownload after the fix by Paramultart.
Actually I did, but due to his damn folder-in-zip thing it didn't end up in my play directory, overwriting the broken files. Instead it was in a subdirectory so I continued playing the broken version. This is what happens when you put folders in zips.
What you really need, not what you think you ought to want.
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KeenRush
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Post by KeenRush »

Loving this mod, great work guys! I'm about half way through at the moment. I think the overall design of the mod is so good: amazingly old-school, I often feel I'm playing a NES game. The graphics make me feel the same.

Indeed, it's pity that so many people don't care about Vorticon mods. :no They're the best and most inventive mods around and take huge efforts to make as well.
My newest mod - Commander Keen: Sunset: viewtopic.php?t=8568 | codename H.Y.E.N.A.
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Paramultart
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Post by Paramultart »

KeenRush wrote:I think the overall design of the mod is so good: amazingly old-school, I often feel I'm playing a NES game. The graphics make me feel the same.
You can thank VBB for that. There was a brief period of time where I was pressuring him to let me redo all the moon tiles because the texture banding (the visual repetition of patterns) was irking me, but then I came to terms with his vision and realized that a lot of old games had similarly obvious tiling, so I left it alone.
Indeed, it's pity that so many people don't care about Vorticon mods. :no They're the best and most inventive mods around and take huge efforts to make as well.
Yup. I think the 2.5D perspective just sucks the fun out of level and tile editing for me. That's partially why production halted on Shmaynoria 2. (Shame, too... I was quite liking the direction it was heading)

Speaking of that, if anybody else is interested in helping finish that project, let me know.
"Father Mabeuf was surveying his plants"
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szemi
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Post by szemi »

I must say now you totally amazed me! Will you make Marta2 and 3?
Yeah, piece of cake!
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Paramultart
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Post by Paramultart »

szemi wrote:I must say now you totally amazed me! Will you make Marta2 and 3?
Thanks, Szemi. You'll have to ask VBB, as he's the mastermind behind these.


I just remembered that I forgot to announce the new update:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zfwqxvc4zlf69 ... 1_v1.3.zip

Made some alterations to the world map, "press F1" graphic, game over, and a few more level tweaks. Nothing worth replaying the game over if you happened to already play an old version. (Although the very first version I uploaded had an inaccessible secret area on the blue moon level due to an improperly linked bridge)
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Captainkeen
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Post by Captainkeen »

Turned out the file wasn't damaged it was my mistake I tried to click the link and safe target as and for some reason this creates a bogus version of the zipfile. Really enjoying this mod so far, it's got a good athmosphere and I even like the music. It's maybe a bit slow paced for my tastes but I assume it gets more exiting in later levels. Am I the only one wondering how you got a dying frame for the yorp garg vorticon and butler replacement?
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Levellass
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Post by Levellass »

Whenever you get a tiny broken downloaded file, open it in a text editor. You'll usually see an error message coded in.

Yup. I think the 2.5D perspective just sucks the fun out of level and tile editing for me. That's partially why production halted on Shmaynoria 2. (Shame, too... I was quite liking the direction it was heading)

Speaking of that, if anybody else is interested in helping finish that project, let me know.
I DID A MOD WITHOUT THE 2.5D! It was widely hated. If you don't like the perspective, no need to include it. Look at Biomenace after all.

I'd help but I doubt there is much I can do of value.
What you really need, not what you think you ought to want.
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MoffD
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Post by MoffD »

Paramultart wrote:
"Hey guys, I played level 1 and I was like 'Oh, it's a Vorticons mod' then closed DosBox"

You betcha this is a Keen 1 mod, and proud of it! Perhaps I should have clarified that in the first post as to scare away 80% of the Keeners here.
80% won't play it?
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Captainkeen
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Post by Captainkeen »

Clearly you mean this:

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accepting challenges before it was cool.
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MoffD
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Post by MoffD »

Darn it! That makes mine lame :(
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DoomJedi
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Post by DoomJedi »

I'm still playing this, but decided already to post some feedback.

This mod is so much fun and brings me some good sweet retro memories....
This is one of the best Keen1 mods I've played, so creative, so retro-ish...this is so inspiring - I've never been so inspired to make Keen 1 mod....

Love the enemy replacement....yes, some guys can do some cool code patches and it's cool....but for me - to find creative theme-fitting replacement for an enemy without tweaking his code too much - it's the fun of modding for me...and it's done so well.
Love the bunnies :)

Good vision behind the mod....purple cave needs to get a special Keen Modding Achievement Award for one of the coolest visions and ideas implemented in Vorticons engine. Top notch of modding and making your concept to cross the screen and submerge a player into it.
I'm not sure I know how to advance from the first area though....

Yes, cheese pattern is a bit too tile-obvious than I couldv'e been...but it's has it's charm. So much cool ideas and this mod, and easter eggs...

One "bug" is a bit annoying - the fact that if you get "egged" just above the bunny shooting up - you get endlessly stuck in easter egg.

This has such a Keen feeling to it this mod...such a female touch too... Solitude feeling, 90s feeling you get from this mod - is priceless.

This mod is so inspiring.
Benvolio
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Post by Benvolio »

DoomJedi wrote:One "bug" is a bit annoying - the fact that if you get "egged" just above the bunny shooting up - you get endlessly stuck in easter egg.
Hmmm... be patient my dear fellow... if it's in the level I'm thinking of, then just give it time!
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DoomJedi
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Post by DoomJedi »

There is also a bug where I can't get into a piramid on the worldmap...got to at once....but not after I restored a game....It doesn't let me enter the level.

Love the music, so great :)
Piramid tiles/bricks are cool too.

Purple cave reminded me of NES StarWars games...cool
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