I made a mod - Keen episode 59: Underworld Ultimate!

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.
Post Reply
Bernie
Vorticon Elite
Posts: 561
Joined: Mon Nov 05, 2012 15:00
Location: Aus

Post by Bernie »

ohh nice ;) thanks.
NY00123
Vorticon Elite
Posts: 508
Joined: Sun Sep 06, 2009 19:36

Post by NY00123 »

I have begun playing this for real yesterday. Comparing to Keen 58, while this mod/game takes place in a different environment, as expected there is similar influence on graphics. Furthermore, there's surely been creativity with the patching again.

[SPOILER WARNING]
Wondering, for any strange reason, if there's a minor influence that the Bio Menace series may have had: Be it the keys used for opening the chests, or the cursed orb (see 12th level in Bio Menace, first episode, for a kind-of similar hazard).

Also a good chance to ask if for each level, the total amount of chests == the amount of keys (this should be the case in every original Bio Menace level). Truly, some chests are empty so maybe it doesn't have to hold.

As expected, there are some problems as well. Apart from ones I've seen reported here, there are also these (let's hope I haven't missed them):
- That worldmap bridge, for which you need to pay with points - Well, after gaining access to it, and moving far enough, it totally disappears, although you can still "walk on it". It also looks like it leads to nowhere, but maybe that's temporary or something's hidden.
- Is it possible to get to the top-left of the Understream without cheating on "War God Mode"? I suppose "yes", just pretty difficult...

EDIT: And yeah, about the underwater sections, apart from the viewport problem that has been mentioned, I think the random behaviors of the creatures can simply make this part of the playthrough annoying and heavily depending on luck (well, at least the total amount of saved game reloading).
[/SPOILER WARNING]

There's still enough that is left for me. Very good job again!
Bernie
Vorticon Elite
Posts: 561
Joined: Mon Nov 05, 2012 15:00
Location: Aus

Post by Bernie »

NY00123 wrote: Wondering, for any strange reason, if there's a minor influence that the Bio Menace series may have had: Be it the keys used for opening the chests, or the cursed orb (see 12th level in Bio Menace, first episode, for a kind-of similar hazard).
no i didnt think about bio menace when making this. i didnt know there was a similar enemy to the 'cursed orb' in bio menace. and the keys unlocking chests thing is just an old standard gaming mechanic.

Also a good chance to ask if for each level, the total amount of chests == the amount of keys (this should be the case in every original Bio Menace level). Truly, some chests are empty so maybe it doesn't have to hold.
yeah theres supposed to be the same number of keys as there are chests. unless i miscounted some.

- That worldmap bridge, for which you need to pay with points - Well, after gaining access to it, and moving far enough, it totally disappears, although you can still "walk on it".
ah crap. i didnt know about that. thanks for pointing it out. i was worried there'd be problems with it.

It also looks like it leads to nowhere, but maybe that's temporary or something's hidden.
yeah thats on purpose ;)

- Is it possible to get to the top-left of the Understream without cheating on "War God Mode"? I suppose "yes", just pretty difficult...
oh i dunno. i basically didn't test the game at all on the hardest difficulty. ain't i a stinker? ;)

EDIT: And yeah, about the underwater sections, apart from the viewport problem that has been mentioned, I think the random behaviors of the creatures can simply make this part of the playthrough annoying and heavily depending on luck (well, at least the total amount of saved game reloading).
oh yeah, those fish can be a huge pain in the butt. im trying to remember now why i didnt give the fish the 'turn back around when hitting wall' behaviour that the cloud enemy has in the original game. hmm. cause im damn sure i tried doing it then had a problem with it or somehting. strange.
User avatar
Eros
Cybloog Slayer
Posts: 536
Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2010 20:59

Post by Eros »

Funny that the empty chests thing should be mentioned, I don't remember if it was mentioned in the F1, but I thought that the empty chests were a huge rage inducer.

The assumption is that there is one key per chest, but the difficulty of getting or even finding some of the keys means that the chests deeper in the game become far harder to touch.

This issue gets amplified by the fact that walking over a chest instantly uses a key. A time when this is extremely relevant is when you die but remember which chest is blank. Accidentally fall on it; you just got shafted.


Not sure if it's possible to code, but if it was required to press UP to open a chest, a lot of treasure rage would disappear, even when the chests are merely point bonuses and 1UPs.

>Merely 1UPs
StupidBunny wrote:
kuliwil wrote:I wish that oa;fdjgnae;ogubneaogiearh;igbnerfgoajfsgoefnh
Granted. You have just had a severe stroke.
Bernie
Vorticon Elite
Posts: 561
Joined: Mon Nov 05, 2012 15:00
Location: Aus

Post by Bernie »

>Merely 1UPs
what more do you want than a 1-UP? also, i was gonna make the chests open more stuff than just points but then it'll seem similar to the potions things so i just made the chests mostly about points.\

and about pressing UP to open chests: again, i was planning to do this, but then i saw the chests in underwater areas and i thought they looked cool, like sunken treature, and i dunno if pressing UP would work when in underwater mode, so i just scrapped it. but actually *just now* as im typing this im wondering what the big deal would be :/ i could possibly give the chests the collision code (when colliding with keen) which activates when the UP arrow is pressed.

guys i was planning to go on with my life, leave this silly Keen stuff behind, but now you're pulling me back in.

lol jokes ;) i still dont care enough to fix the mod.
User avatar
Roobar
Vorticon Elite
Posts: 3267
Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 16:12
Contact:

Post by Roobar »

Bernie wrote: i still dont care enough to fix the mod.
Image
Bernie
Vorticon Elite
Posts: 561
Joined: Mon Nov 05, 2012 15:00
Location: Aus

Post by Bernie »

to be completely honest i only cared for this mod when i first started working on it. most of the time, especially towards the end, i didnt really care about it much at all and was just trying to finish the thing so i can get on with my life.

but who knows maybe one day i'll get into fixing it up.
NY00123
Vorticon Elite
Posts: 508
Joined: Sun Sep 06, 2009 19:36

Post by NY00123 »

Well, as usual, spoiler warning.

I have completed this pack yesterday. One secret level found (McZazgag's), as well as the Scoreboard and two large bottles of booze (unfortunately I didn't grab one of them, saving the game and leaving the bottle to the end for some reason...oh well). I think that I've learnt these three potion formulas.

While Keen 58 has had dynamic changes to the world map, Keen 59 takes these one step further (if not more). The graphics - that's already been said here.

One thing is sure: Given these lasers, I don't think anybody would like to make a speed-run! (Especially with the toughest difficulty in mind.)

It'd be nice if I could manually change the total amount of keys via a cheat, as a workaround for the saved game keys counter bug. That is, if it's much more difficult to properly fix the bug.

Wondering if there's anything to do with the fountain. Maybe I've missed something, but then maybe not. Although you *can* die in that level by looking down (but then there were a few other similar tile clipping issues, from time to time).

Oh yeah, guess it's done on purpose that you can (seemingly) get trapped in the Scoreboard level? (As a side note I've just found out a way to exit it.)

Anyway, another one's done for now!
NY00123
Vorticon Elite
Posts: 508
Joined: Sun Sep 06, 2009 19:36

Post by NY00123 »

OK, now this may be partially related to some of Syllypryde's experiences, when it comes to required vs optional levels.

Launching the game via Keen 59 and beginning a new game in "Adept Mode", try completing these levels in the given order:
- Scoreboard
- Mushroom Mines (first actual non-hidden level)

You should then gain access to the Fountain and more. I'm not sure about the latest levels, though (haven't had enough points to get over that bridge, but a no-clip cheat has shown this section hasn't been revealed).
User avatar
Grimson
The Dragoner
Posts: 1833
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 6:55

Post by Grimson »

Spoilers: I haven't yet acquired all the Golden Booze Bottles, but they appear at the Fountain one by one, once collected. I assume they are the correct way to make stuff happen at the level.
"All those thousands upon thousands of junk foods made for me on the various planets I explored make me wonder how I'm still alive."
Bernie
Vorticon Elite
Posts: 561
Joined: Mon Nov 05, 2012 15:00
Location: Aus

Post by Bernie »

its kinda fun watching people figure out stuff that i made ;)

PS (Spoilers!! perhaps) anyone get to the level thats like some other game?
User avatar
Levellass
S-Triazine
Posts: 5265
Joined: Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:40

Post by Levellass »

I did indeed find the totally 2D other game level.

Bernie wrote:to be completely honest i only cared for this mod when i first started working on it. most of the time, especially towards the end, i didnt really care about it much at all and was just trying to finish the thing so i can get on with my life.

but who knows maybe one day i'll get into fixing it up.
I think this shows in the mod; it has an air about it in places of 'This is neat, but I no longer value it.' It... lacks something ROIB has, an energy, a dynamic continuance.
What you really need, not what you think you ought to want.
Bernie
Vorticon Elite
Posts: 561
Joined: Mon Nov 05, 2012 15:00
Location: Aus

Post by Bernie »

i just think its more bleak in style than ROIB, just caues of where its set. and ofcourse cause of the last few levels. but yeah i think i did have more of a fun time making the ROIB one (mostly cause it was the first time making a platformer mod and, in my mind, 'my own game').
NY00123
Vorticon Elite
Posts: 508
Joined: Sun Sep 06, 2009 19:36

Post by NY00123 »

Just updating that after a more serious playthrough on "War God Mode", I'm now casually playing on "Adept Mode", just to figure out what I've missed, partially based on the comments here.
Grimson wrote:Spoilers: I haven't yet acquired all the Golden Booze Bottles, but they appear at the Fountain one by one, once collected. I assume they are the correct way to make stuff happen at the level.
I have suspected this is the case. Not all of them have been collected so far in my case, either.

On another note, I've just accidentally gotten to see that toy spawning.

In general, I'm wondering if there are some memory variable clashes. Unless some cheat I've activated once (hey it's a casual playthrough now) really messed something up (thought I'd loaded a saved game afterwards), it is the case that:
- I could enter the high scores level in a new fresh again (before the first level as said beforehand), but now I can't seem to do it at all in this playthrough (after completing ~10 levels).
- Kind-of-similar to Syllypryde's experience (if not exactly the same), after visiting the first Drea's Domain, but not the second, the structure with the four circuits (eventually leading to the boss level) can be seen on the world map. I can tell this didn't happen when I originally tried completing the high scores table level, followed by the actual first level (although I did gain access to more levels the way you should by visiting the first Drea's Domain).
User avatar
Eros
Cybloog Slayer
Posts: 536
Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2010 20:59

Post by Eros »

Bernie wrote:and about pressing UP to open chests: again, i was planning to do this, but then i saw the chests in underwater areas and i thought they looked cool, like sunken treature, and i dunno if pressing UP would work when in underwater mode, so i just scrapped it.
Since all chests are on floors, maybe DOWN key, then?
StupidBunny wrote:
kuliwil wrote:I wish that oa;fdjgnae;ogubneaogiearh;igbnerfgoajfsgoefnh
Granted. You have just had a severe stroke.
Post Reply