Keen 6 Mini-MOD: Aliens Ate My Babysitter ...Again

[NY00123]

To Syllypryde,

1) Thanks for the response
2) Dunno why, but decided to have the goplat in the background. Doesn't do anything useful.
3) Lets just say this: What you've said makes sense
4) I can say it's quite tricky. 3-5 non-trivial steps to do. It does make sense to be in the same level. At least that's the case with a hint given in another Keen game or MOD.

[Syllypryde]

To Syllypryde,

1) Thanks for the response
2) Dunno why, but decided to have the goplat in the background. Doesn't do anything useful.
3) Lets just say this: What you've said makes sense
4) I can say it's quite tricky. 3-5 non-trivial steps to do. It does make sense to be in the same level. At least that's the case with a hint given in another Keen game or MOD.

Okay, I will try and say this as discreetly as possible so not to spoil others playing AAMBA:

Edit:

I found the area specified in the hint. It took me to a room where something very familiar and out of place was present. Something of value is here. I took that object to a place that opens a not so obvious secret door. This took me to another room similiar to the first mentioned room, only this room is bigger and has a second secret door. I cannot figure out how to open this door!

[NY00123]

OK I see... what can I tell, only one step left
And... once you now how to pass this, you realize it's kinda simple

BTW maybe now after seeing your post (where you did try to not spoil things), please edit it so you censor a few more things (like what's found...lets say)

[Syllypryde]

OK I see... what can I tell, only one step left
And... once you now how to pass this, you realize it's kinda simple

BTW maybe now after seeing your post (where you did try to not spoil things), please edit it so you censor a few more things (like what's found...lets say)

Last step complete and so is the mod on easy.

[NY00123]

Oh nice... BTW, this is exactly why I wondered cheats to be disabled. To hide a surprise, lets say

[sbartus]

Can anyone tell me how exactly I can open this mod? I unpacked the .zip file and then tried to run "ck6patch". It didn't work.

[NY00123]

You should execute AAMBA.BAT. But before that, make sure you've got the KEEN6.EXE file, version 1.4, uncompressed using UNLZEXE.EXE.

[sbartus]

I cannot do this. I copied and pasted the "KEEN6.EXE" file into "AAMBA" folder. Then I opened AAMBA.BAT using DOSBOX. Error message shows (insufficent memory or something).

[NY00123]

Works for me with DOSBox v0.73. I don't remember myself touching the amount of memory, but it's configured to be memsize=16, in dosbox-0.73.conf.
As said, make sure it's version 1.4, but also that the exe is not just copied. It has to be uncompressed using UNLZEXE.EXE.

[sbartus]

What do you mean by "uncompressed using UNLZEXE.EXE"?

[NY00123]

You can get UNLZEXE from here: http://www.dosclassics.com/download/198
You should extract the file UNLZEXE.EXE so it resides in the same folder where KEEN6.EXE resides, in the AAMBA directory.
Then use it to uncompress KEEN6.EXE.

If you can run DOS apps without using DOSBox (like on 32-bit Windows XP), you should be able to drag-and-drop the KEEN6.EXE file into UNLZEXE.EXE.

Otherwise, you need to do it from within DOSBox. These commands should be typed within DOSBox, assuming you installed AAMBA into C:\AAMBA:

mount c C:\AAMBA
c:
unlzexe keen6.exe

[sbartus]

I did everything and it didn't work. I checked and I have Keen 6 1.0 version.
Where can I get version 1.4?

Can this mod be available in the future in a version that just runs when you open it?

Thanks.

[NY00123]

All I believe I can do for now, is link to a website with patches.
Note that these aren't patches officially made by ID or any of the publishers, at least according to my current knowledge.
Link: http://files.keenmodding.org/

According to a few resources, I think you'd want 6keen14.exe.
If I'm not mistaken, it should patch Keen 6 v1.0 to v1.4.

Regarding a release of the MOD so it can already be played, looks like I can't do this legally, as I'd have to include the EXE of Keen 6 (which is technically illegal).
I know Keen 6 can't be bought unless you're very lucky in a place like amazon or ebay (and even then, probably for quite a high price). But, this is it as of today...

[NY00123]

Last step complete and so is the mod on easy.

Here's something I may like to ask you Syllypryde...
Without spoiling anything, what do you think about the idea of disabling cheats, so you wouldn't get disappointed by spoiling a secret level using any cheat?

[Syllypryde]

Last step complete and so is the mod on easy.

Here's something I may like to ask you Syllypryde...
Without spoiling anything, what do you think about the idea of disabling cheats, so you wouldn't get disappointed by spoiling a secret level using any cheat?

I found the disabled cheats annoying at first, but I got used to them. Disabling the cheats did give you an advantage that it does not give to other modders who don't. I am sure there could be a few players who may give up too easy when things get really difficult and want hints given to them when they have not tried hard enough to do anything. Basically, you cannot be sure how much of the game they have really played. With no way to cheat, when a player does ask you for help, you as the modder will definitely know how far they have really gotten, because they will know details of the game itself and the levels they could not possibly know unless they actually played those levels! As the modder, that gives you more power to decide what to reveal and what not to.

Despite your game being more of a levelpack than a true mod, you definitely had some new things included. You did have quite a few tricks up your sleeve. Your idea of having certain parts of a level only accessible during certain skill levels was definitely unique. I had also found this annoying at first, but then I came to appreciate how different it was. I have only played a handful of mods, but I do not remember any other modder using this idea before. The level design was really good and definitely challenging. I actually enjoyed the level design a lot better than the original Keen 6. I also enjoyed there being two secret levels rather than just one.

Right now I am playing the game over on easy because I used the load/save feature constantly in order to get through the game quicker. Using the load/save feature all the time not only means never having to start any levels over, it also completely eliminates the possibility of a game over. So when I had completed AAMBA on easy, I had 50 or more lives! My final score was 732,300 with 236 ammo and all 16 levels completed, including both secret levels. Now I am going to play the game over on easy and only use the load/save either between levels or only when I quit the game. Once I have completed easy this way, I will start playing on normal and then hard.

Now a have a few questions for you. Even though these questions could be about specific levels, they are actually more general questions in which I am hoping for general answers:

1) As discussed earlier, some levels were designed so that only certain sections of levels are only accessible during certain skill levels. Are there any areas of levels that are unreachable regardless of what skill level you are playing?

2) There are 22 (2 unreachable) extra lives available in the original Keen 6. I lost count, but there are 30-50 extra lives available in AAMBA. Are all of these lives reachable?

3) Since you had chosen to recreate Keen 6, I am sure it is logical to assume you have played it and are fully aware of the bugs in the game, including clipping errors and the Impossible Bullet. I found certain areas in particular levels that only seemed to be possible to reach only by taking advantage of these bugs. When you designed the levels did you intentionally design certain areas to only be accessible by using these bugs, or was this just a coincidence?

Patrick