Greetings from Fribbulus Xax

A general chat area, here you can post anything that doesn't belong in another forum.
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keenmaster486
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Greetings from Fribbulus Xax

Post by keenmaster486 »

So I'm new here, even though I've lurked around for years (as you can tell from the fact that I'm currently writing this under the shadow of the Grabbiter). I want to get more involved in Keen modding and fangame-making than I have been; I tried making a Keen 4 mod a few years ago and it didn't go well (read: I discovered I'm a terrible pixel artist).

I've been working on a little project over the last month or so. Hopefully there'll be a demo out soon! :evil

Since I got on this forum I discovered Abiathar, and it's so much better then TED5, it's a shame. I'll never be able to mod on anything slower than a dual core @ 2 GHz again. Why oh why did you have to make it so good and so demanding at the same time? :stunned And I won't be able to use it on Windows 98 either...

Oh well. I guess my user name is waaaay too cliched and boring for this forum, but that's what it is over at VOGONS and I can't think of anything better.

Quick question: Is it possible to use the source code from Netkeen to "recompile" the original Galaxy engine and recreate Keens 4,5,6? If we could do this, would it eliminate the need for patching? Just wondering. Or maybe we could all sign a petition for id to release the Keen source code.

Anyway, I'm glad to be here. I can do programming or level design if anyone needs help! I'm also going to try to get my sister to join; she's a brilliant pixel artist and level designer, and since she found my MIDI sequencer I've discovered she's a great composer too. :)
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Roobar
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Post by Roobar »

Interesting, interesting! Slowly, but surely everyone who is visiting our forum is joining (sooner or later lol).

So welcome. Do you have any particular plans for a mod? Why do you want Abiathar for Windows 98?
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troublesomekeen
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Post by troublesomekeen »

Hey there, keenmaster486.
Welcome to dah forums.

It would be a shame of Abiathar wasn't better than TED5, considering the difference of age between the two.

There's a few source code threads in the Release Forum. Dunno about NetKeen.
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Commander Keen in... Canteloupe Quest!
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keenmaster486
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Post by keenmaster486 »

There's no legitimate reason why Abiathar should run on 98, really. I just have a few retro Windows 98 machines around that I want to mod on. But yeah, Abiathar is great. Keengraph is great too; back when I was making that Keen 4 mod for some reason I was using ModKeen, which doesn't make much sense because I was continually fussing with those danged tilemasks.

So, mod plans: The Keen4 mod I was making was titled "Commander Keen in Zoobian Attack" or something like that, and it chronicled Keen's voyage to Planet Zoob to stage a preemptive strike against an evil alien who had amassed an invasion fleet. The alien's brother had come to Earth to warn Keen and gives him advice through the game. It was really horrible; I'm sure I could do better now if I really tried. :)

EDIT: Changed my avatar. That thing was way too big. Boring old mushroom for now...
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Post by Melierax »

Hi brother and y'all! So, at keenmaster486's (my brother's) request, here I am.

Generally, modding isn't my main hobby, but it's up there on my list of things to do. I mainly work on graphics and music, although I'm also my brother's adviser. It's nice to see others with the same hobby! :)
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troublesomekeen
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Post by troublesomekeen »

Oh heeeeeeeeeeey there!

That's a much better username than you-know-who. :p

Tag-team champs of the new keening generation present and accounted for!

Hope you folks have gotten a chance to play all of the Keen mods, including some of the fan favorites like:

The Eight Accumulators
Commander Keen - The Terror from Outer Space
MrBlackPack v4
Commander Keen's Valentine Bash
Commander Keen Xmas 2010
Zoltan's Revenge
Commander Keen Episode 58 - The Ruin of Roib
Commander Keen Episode 59 - Underworld Ultimate!
Marooned on Mars - Galaxy mod

Episode X
Shadow Jack
Extinction
and many, many more...

http://www.shikadi.net/keenwiki/Main_Page
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Post by Fleexy »

Welcome! It's great to see new people joining.

I am the author of Abiathar, and it's nice to see people using it! The reason it can't run on Windows 98 is that it's compiled for .NET 4.0, the runtime of which only works on Windows XP and above. I chose .NET because of its robustness and effectiveness, though those values do come at the price of speed. I've been making improvements, and hopefully it will keep getting better.

If you're interested in source modding, you might try poking around with the source release of Atroxian Realm.
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keenmaster486
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Post by keenmaster486 »

We've played all the original Keen games plus TUIT till we can't see of course.
And I recently scanned the wiki for mods and picked up Valo Keen and, of course, Atroxian Realm.
But I did not know that Atroxian Realm is compiled, from what I can tell, from the Keen Dreams + some Wolf3d code! That is just plain awesome. When I got it I was 100% convinced it was just another Keen 4 mod, so I was extremely impressed with the "extensive patching" they must have done to modify the game so much.

But here's another thing: 10 minutes ago I loaded Atroxian Realm up on my retro rig (Pentium/100 w/DOS 7.1 - smoking hot!). All of the other Keen games, including all the mods I've tried on it, have given me the infamous and superbly annoying "jerky graphics" bug (even with the various compatibility settings enabled), which happens on almost any ATI video card (I have a Mach64). But Atroxian Realm seems to be 100% immune to this bug! :D What sorcery is this? Has Gridlock et al managed to fix that bug in the source code? And is there a patch to fix this for the other games & mods? Because I really want to play them on that retro rig. Mega kudos to Arealm developers for their achievements, I can tell that game is awesome even though I haven't gotten through much of it yet. I'm also working my way through Valentine Keen which is excellent too. I have The Eight Accumulators though I haven't had time to play it yet; I'll have to try to make some time for that (not at the expense of school of course... :p
I'm going to poke around that Atroxian Realm code. Are there plans in the works to produce, using that code base, a "generic" Keen Galaxy engine (which can be easily adapted to use Keens 4,5,6 etc.)? Or is that even possible at this point? Man, I wish id would release those coveted "Keen Sources". :x :o
EDIT: Apparently I don't know how to spell "Atroxian". :P
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Post by Levellass »

So then, what we have here is a power duo, an artist and a levelbuilder. I expect great things (Or at least things) from you two.
What you really need, not what you think you ought to want.
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keenmaster486
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Post by keenmaster486 »

Yes - "things" are what you should expect. ;) That I can guarantee, at least. There is a project in the works, and we're getting closer to a demo! :D
I flermmed the plootash just like you asked.
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lemm
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Re: Greetings from Fribbulus Xax

Post by lemm »

keenmaster486 wrote:
Quick question: Is it possible to use the source code from Netkeen to "recompile" the original Galaxy engine and recreate Keens 4,5,6? If we could do this, would it eliminate the need for patching? Just wondering.
Yes. See Here
keenmaster486 wrote: Or maybe we could all sign a petition for id to release the Keen source code.
Id will surely deliver. Let us just wait...
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Post by Levellass »

keenmaster486 wrote:Yes - "things" are what you should expect. ;) That I can guarantee, at least. There is a project in the works, and we're getting closer to a demo! :D
Well, if you need any help in the realm of patching, I'm your lass.
What you really need, not what you think you ought to want.
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Post by Nisaba »

hey there, the two of you (Mad Mushroom and Song Hawk). Welcome to PCKF!

if you are about to use your win98 machine, then try fleexy's Abiathar Online: the web-based Keen Galaxy level editor
keenmaster486 wrote:Apparently I don't know how to spell "Atroxian".
well, fleexy might help you out with that as well. check his Atroxian Realm youtube playtrough (spoiler!)


happy modding!
out now (link) : Image
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Post by MoffD »

Nisaba wrote: if you are about to use your win98 machine, then try fleexy's Abiathar Online: the web-based Keen Galaxy level editor
My version of IE doesn't support HTML5 and some of the javascript... :(
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http://www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/ro ... windows-os <-- the heathens don't list past IE6 and XP
mortimermcmirestinks wrote: Now I wish MoffD wasn't allergic to me.
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Nisaba
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Post by Nisaba »

... mhh, if I do remember this correctly, I once checked AbiatharOS and Win98 on my VM. But not so sure about that anymore... maybe XP? who knows...

instead: it's TED5 then
out now (link) : Image
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