This is a side effect of a patch that prevents Keen from looking up and and avoiding falling when platforms under him change from solid to fall through (like the red flipping platforms in K5 and 6). I may end up removing it though.Is it me, or when you press and hold up for a 2-3 seconds and then release it, keen still looks up for 1 second.
Thanks for reporting. I had not noticed that Keen was no longer being pushed.1) The blue birds in the first demo used to push Keen. In this one they do not. I think it added to the difficulty more when they push him or knock him off ledges.
The problem is, I'm very limited with the kinds of items I can place as secrets. Point items can work, but they are usually placed in groups and require several sprites I can't afford. 1-ups are the simplest thing to put in those secret passages to offer some variety. I can probably reduce a few of them, but I see no reason to change too much. I suspect few players are as thorough as you, anyway, and probably won't find as many. I think Para makes a good point too.2) There are WAY too many extra lives in these levels, especially now that you added the "red star". Just on normal I had 52 lives at the end of the three levels.
I had meant to get around to changing this, but it sort of slipped my mind, so thanks for the reminder.1. Point items are inconsistently highlighted. The spinning animation and lack of highlight cause me to think Kabobs were bizarrely-placed hazards.
I may try out the trick Levellass used in the Valentines mod, where the topmost water tiles didn't kill Keen. I'm always looking for ways to reduce the difficulty without compromising important things.2. Sometimes water hazards are below the ground-line, but not deep enough to grab a ledge without dying. Only really annoying when pole-jumps are involved, since your distance is so highly crippled.
Try four or fiveI love the graphics, and I assume this is only the beginning because I am sure you have at least one or two more tiles sets for the rest of levels along with the current one.
Also, you can thank Gamebird for the music, but imo the best songs haven't even been revealed yet.