Keen 64: Unity (Release 8: Super Keen 64 Jumping II)
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 16:27
Denizens of the PCKF,
I've spent the last 6 days migrating Keen64 over to Unity and I got a basic skeleton of the first level done just in time for Keen Day!
So for this current alpha build, I'd like to ask YOU, the community, two things (*points finger*):
1) Does the game run?
2) Does the gameplay run smoother than the Keen beta that I released before?
How do I mean smoother? Well, with the beta made in Blitz3D, people kept running into problems with the physics and collision detection. So I want to make sure this at least works better than my previous beta, in that regard. Then I'll go in and fine tune the platforming more.
(7-8-2017) UPDATE: Release 8
PLAY DAH GAME (web player build)
Stand Alone Windows Build
Stand Alone Linux Build
(I can also compile a standalone Mac package, if anyone wants \ needs it)
The release style will be like before-- release a trickle here and there and let people try it out. Otherwise these kind of things just become monolithic. So I will update the thread name as I did before, with the main quest still being to remake Commander Keen: Marooned On Mars in full 3D while (reasonably) mimicking the style of the old N64 games.
Also, I said before that Keen will have a new model and be re-animated. This still stands. So the current Keen model is essentially a placeholder.
Current Shots:
So why am I switching over to Unity?
1) Unity 5 was released
With most of it's main features offered for free.
One hurdle I had with moving my projects over to Unity is that the in order to get camera screens mapped to a texture surface, which is a huge deal for a game like SoaceJourney, it required a pro version of Unity (cash I don't have right now to spend on an engine that I know next to nothing about).
So now I realized that moving Keen64 over would be a good exercise in learning how to use Unity.
2) Don't have to reinvent the wheel just to get standard platformer features
I admit my main goal right now is to release levels now and refine gameplay later. Mostly because I feel I spent so much time fine tuning the Keen 64 demo that really went nowhere because I had to recode the whole thing.
Also, there's just alot of things that have been a snag with Blitz3D that should work fine in Unity. Like getting yorps to collide with Keen while moving and the many collision \ physics issues people had that I mentioned above.
3) Keen64 is meant to be the start of a 3D Community
When I started working on the Keen64 demo, I never saw it as just one remake, but rather, I wanted to see an entire Keen 3D community grow out of this.
So if I can get this game finished, I'll release the Unity source files, which will be much easier for other people to modify than thousands of lines of code in a hybird language. In the other case, i.e. if I ever drop this project, whatever I've built so far in Unity will be released anyways. Sounds like a win-win for the Keen Community.
3.14) Many more graphics options
Stuff like cel-shading and bump mapping, if I wanted to go that route, can now be seamlessly integrated.
4) Multi-platform and more flexible.
Now people can play my games in their browser and those who use linux won't have to go through WINE. Also, newcomers will have more motivation to make new 3D Keen games, because their projects will be more accessible.
5) It seemed to work really well for Keen 2.5D
Even though I had made some tech demos prior to Ronnie releasing his game on the forums (I might show some of these projects, one being a Duke Nukem clone and a medieval dungeon demo), seeing this project in action was good to see just how well Keen can work on Unity. If you haven't tried his game, please do so, it's awesome.
Now that's not to say Blitz3D isn't a good platform. It's just outdated. But in using it for the last 8 years, I've learned how to code massive games by hand, like SpaceJourney and even make my own level editors.
Previous (notable) releases:
Release 8 (7-8-2017):
Web Player Build
Stand Alone Windows Build
Stand Alone Linux Build
Release 7 (5-28-2017):
Web Player Build
Stand Alone Windows Build
Stand Alone Linux Build
Release 6 (5-25-2017):
Web Player Build
Stand Alone Windows Build
Stand Alone Linux Build
Release 5 (5-16-2017):
Web Player Build
Stand Alone Windows Build
Stand Alone Linux Build
Release 4 (5-9-2017):
Web Player Build
Stand Alone Windows Build
Stand Alone Linux Build
Release 3.5 (4-23-2017):
Web Player Build
Stand Alone Windows Build
Stand Alone Linux Build
See Also:
Commander Keen 64 Beta (Blitz3D)
Release of Commander Keen 64 "Pogo" Demo
Commander Keen 64 Hub Thread
I've spent the last 6 days migrating Keen64 over to Unity and I got a basic skeleton of the first level done just in time for Keen Day!
So for this current alpha build, I'd like to ask YOU, the community, two things (*points finger*):
1) Does the game run?
2) Does the gameplay run smoother than the Keen beta that I released before?
How do I mean smoother? Well, with the beta made in Blitz3D, people kept running into problems with the physics and collision detection. So I want to make sure this at least works better than my previous beta, in that regard. Then I'll go in and fine tune the platforming more.
(7-8-2017) UPDATE: Release 8
PLAY DAH GAME (web player build)
Stand Alone Windows Build
Stand Alone Linux Build
(I can also compile a standalone Mac package, if anyone wants \ needs it)
The release style will be like before-- release a trickle here and there and let people try it out. Otherwise these kind of things just become monolithic. So I will update the thread name as I did before, with the main quest still being to remake Commander Keen: Marooned On Mars in full 3D while (reasonably) mimicking the style of the old N64 games.
Also, I said before that Keen will have a new model and be re-animated. This still stands. So the current Keen model is essentially a placeholder.
Current Shots:
So why am I switching over to Unity?
1) Unity 5 was released
With most of it's main features offered for free.
One hurdle I had with moving my projects over to Unity is that the in order to get camera screens mapped to a texture surface, which is a huge deal for a game like SoaceJourney, it required a pro version of Unity (cash I don't have right now to spend on an engine that I know next to nothing about).
So now I realized that moving Keen64 over would be a good exercise in learning how to use Unity.
2) Don't have to reinvent the wheel just to get standard platformer features
I admit my main goal right now is to release levels now and refine gameplay later. Mostly because I feel I spent so much time fine tuning the Keen 64 demo that really went nowhere because I had to recode the whole thing.
Also, there's just alot of things that have been a snag with Blitz3D that should work fine in Unity. Like getting yorps to collide with Keen while moving and the many collision \ physics issues people had that I mentioned above.
3) Keen64 is meant to be the start of a 3D Community
When I started working on the Keen64 demo, I never saw it as just one remake, but rather, I wanted to see an entire Keen 3D community grow out of this.
So if I can get this game finished, I'll release the Unity source files, which will be much easier for other people to modify than thousands of lines of code in a hybird language. In the other case, i.e. if I ever drop this project, whatever I've built so far in Unity will be released anyways. Sounds like a win-win for the Keen Community.
3.14) Many more graphics options
Stuff like cel-shading and bump mapping, if I wanted to go that route, can now be seamlessly integrated.
4) Multi-platform and more flexible.
Now people can play my games in their browser and those who use linux won't have to go through WINE. Also, newcomers will have more motivation to make new 3D Keen games, because their projects will be more accessible.
5) It seemed to work really well for Keen 2.5D
Even though I had made some tech demos prior to Ronnie releasing his game on the forums (I might show some of these projects, one being a Duke Nukem clone and a medieval dungeon demo), seeing this project in action was good to see just how well Keen can work on Unity. If you haven't tried his game, please do so, it's awesome.
Now that's not to say Blitz3D isn't a good platform. It's just outdated. But in using it for the last 8 years, I've learned how to code massive games by hand, like SpaceJourney and even make my own level editors.
Previous (notable) releases:
Release 8 (7-8-2017):
Web Player Build
Stand Alone Windows Build
Stand Alone Linux Build
Release 7 (5-28-2017):
Web Player Build
Stand Alone Windows Build
Stand Alone Linux Build
Release 6 (5-25-2017):
Web Player Build
Stand Alone Windows Build
Stand Alone Linux Build
Release 5 (5-16-2017):
Web Player Build
Stand Alone Windows Build
Stand Alone Linux Build
Release 4 (5-9-2017):
Web Player Build
Stand Alone Windows Build
Stand Alone Linux Build
Release 3.5 (4-23-2017):
Web Player Build
Stand Alone Windows Build
Stand Alone Linux Build
See Also:
Commander Keen 64 Beta (Blitz3D)
Release of Commander Keen 64 "Pogo" Demo
Commander Keen 64 Hub Thread