Commander Keen - Aurora Bliss (RELEASE)

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Benvolio
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Re: Commander Keen - Aurora Bliss (RELEASE)

Post by Benvolio »

Still slowly but thoroughly enjoying this mod.

HOWEVER

Is anyone else completely triggered by "Ancel Caves"?
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Nisaba
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Re: Commander Keen - Aurora Bliss (RELEASE)

Post by Nisaba »

Benvolio wrote: Sat Sep 03, 2022 15:52 Is anyone else completely triggered by "Ancel Caves"?
I'm a huge fan as well! the quick-time events are absolutely brilliant. Especially the gem door section knocked my socks off. This passage ranks in my top 10 best Keen puzzles list. changing but fair. simple, yet clever. you need to react quick, but it's definitely doable. and most importantly: very rewarding.
it's not an easy task to balance things right. Dave has definitely succeed in doing so. I would like to emphasize again that this is Dave's first mod. Very impressive job!

what about you @Benvolio? What got you excited?
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clump
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Re: Commander Keen - Aurora Bliss (RELEASE)

Post by clump »

I'm just at the beginning, but I really like what I see so far. I especially like the creatures and their descriptions. The story is funny too. If I could make any suggestions, it would be minor typo corrections and fixing inconsistent text formatting, e.g. missing space after punctuation or between paragraphs etc. These are really small things, but as an editor I just see them immediately and tend to correct them.)) If it's something you'd like to pay attention to, I can mark corrections either in screenshots, or directly in the text form (if you have it available, I don't know how exactly modding of the F1 section and crawl text works). Honestly, I'm well aware it's something most people don't notice, but feel free to let me know, I'll be glad to help.
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Dave216
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Re: Commander Keen - Aurora Bliss (RELEASE)

Post by Dave216 »

clump wrote: Wed Sep 07, 2022 9:42 Honestly, I'm well aware it's something most people don't notice, but feel free to let me know, I'll be glad to help.
Sure. I am not a native engish speaker and I don't pay much attention to punctuation while writing. If you'd be so kind PM me whenever you notice this errors, I'd be grateful. The formatting in the text files doesn't really translate well in the game. Screenshots would be more helpful.
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Dave216
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Re: Commander Keen - Aurora Bliss (RELEASE)

Post by Dave216 »

Version 1.1 is out.
Unfortunately, I lack the free time to playtest & hunt for errors as thoroughly as I want. I also don't want to bother other people to do it for me. In the meantime, I'll be working *very slowly* on another Keen project, and play through some mods I haven't played yet. Feel free to let me know if you enjoy the update and if anything needs fixing. I won't do any major changes on Aurora in the future, though.

Have fun! :D
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Re: Commander Keen - Aurora Bliss (RELEASE)

Post by nwe74 »

Thanks for creating and sharing this excellent and enjoyable mod and for releasing an update.

Unfortunately, I have ran into a problem in the Infested Mine level on Normal difficulty. I am trying to climb up to the second green gem holder (the one in an area accessible trough a door) however the platform with the Undead Trapper seems too high to reach using the impossible pogo trick and I see no obvious solution to get there.
I have tried the same level on Easy too - and I was able to reach the gem holder using the impossible pogo trick.

Am I missing something?

Interestingly, the KeenWiki page (https://keenwiki.shikadi.net/i/b/b2/Aur ... vel_10.png) shows four little platforms in this area that are no longer (?) there (I assume the image is from a previous version.)
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Dave216
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Re: Commander Keen - Aurora Bliss (RELEASE)

Post by Dave216 »

nwe74 wrote: Tue Oct 04, 2022 18:38 Thanks for creating and sharing this excellent and enjoyable mod and for releasing an update.
Unfortunately, I have ran into a problem in the Infested Mine level on Normal difficulty.
Thanks for playing it. If it's unreachable in normal, then you're right, it was erased by mistake. I am sorry for the incovnenience. If you finish the game - do please point out if you run across similiar issues so I can fix them all in the next update. Hopefuly the final one :)
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Re: Commander Keen - Aurora Bliss (RELEASE)

Post by Scilicet »

I'm late to the game (heh) and I've found it pretty good thus far. It's the creepiest Keen mod I've seen. I'm playing on normal. I have, however, run into a problem in the Astra Temple. I can't get the second blue gem. I opened the door with the green key, but there are wood blocks at the end of the passage, and the poison slug replacement is in the way without a way to stun it. I looked up the level map online, but I couldn't find any way to get there even then. What should I do?
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Dave216
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Re: Commander Keen - Aurora Bliss (RELEASE)

Post by Dave216 »

As Ceilick mentioned, if you're playing the original version it is possible to do things out of sequence (collecting the green gem at the start of the level). If you're playing the latest update, you'll need to use that same green gem to open the door that's next to the Undead Trapper( slug replacement) and shoot him through the small gap( wood blocks)

TsK posted an excellent playthrough of the entire mod on youtube, so check it out if you run into more trouble.
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Syllypryde
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Re: Commander Keen - Aurora Bliss (RELEASE)

Post by Syllypryde »

Dave216 wrote: Fri Mar 17, 2023 4:07 As Ceilick mentioned, if you're playing the original version it is possible to do things out of sequence (collecting the green gem at the start of the level). If you're playing the latest update, you'll need to use that same green gem to open the door that's next to the Undead Trapper( slug replacement) and shoot him through the small gap( wood blocks)

TsK posted an excellent playthrough of the entire mod on youtube, so check it out if you run into more trouble.
It's been a bit since I played this, but at no point did I find anything impossible, even though there were parts of the game I had trouble figuring out at times. Nothing was impossible, nothing was unreachable.
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Re: Commander Keen - Aurora Bliss (RELEASE)

Post by Scilicet »

I had not realized that there was a gap wide enough to admit a shot at that point in the Astra Temple, as it looked like the way truly was blocked; now that i know it, it seems a neat puzzle. I had to use the jump cheat in the mine to place the second green gem.

I found a bug of sorts in Echo Caverns. I saved near where the Madness was and died. When I reloaded, the screen was centered on another area below where I actually was (where I had been prior). This happened multiple times, so I finally used the invincibility cheat to get through.

I completed collecting parts and saw the ending. The detail in the pictures is wonderful. I liked that it was more of an everyday adventure versus the usual save-some-planet-in-distress plot.

I enjoyed Caged Gardens the most.

I was not able to find the secret level and did not get to all the levels, as I collected parts faster than I anticipated.

Comments regarding creatures:
Ruri - I enjoyed having inhabitants that weren't lethal
Rimmer - Cool thing, but it took me a little to warm up to it. The facial expression is a bit sleazy-looking, and that amuses me. It seemed more prominent than Bounders in Keen 4.
Madness - This thing was terrifying and the main reason why I have not yet completed the color level.
Ventabilis - Perhaps even scarier than the Madness. I still think I don't have the best handle on its behavior, as it could kill me in the middle of my salvo.
Fake roses - I love the idea behind this enemy and how two-faced it is. I would not have considered putting flower gardens in a Keen game, so I'm glad you did.
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Dave216
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Re: Commander Keen - Aurora Bliss (RELEASE)

Post by Dave216 »

I found a bug of sorts in Echo Caverns. I saved near where the Madness was and died. When I reloaded, the screen was centered on another area below where I actually was (where I had been prior). This happened multiple times, so I finally used the invincibility cheat to get through.
Ah, I see what happened there. You've saved your game while clinging on to the chains, right? It seems the camera gets confused after loading, since there is the 'camera blocker thingy' right above it. I didn't know that could cause problems. I will try to avoid it in the future. Thanks for reporting this! 
I had to use the jump cheat in the mine to place the second green gem.
It seems the older "updated" version is still floating around, or you just downloaded the game quite some time ago? This was fixed in the latest version. That darn  green gem holder will haunt me for the rest of my life.   :lol 

EDIT: Ah-a. It seems KeenWiki latest version download features that version.

I am glad you've enjoyed it despite my many flaws as a playtester and a level designer :D

I will possibly update Aurora before releasing my new project.
The camera thing seems like an easily fixable issue, + some grammar errors and text formatting that hurt my eyes whenever I return to it. 
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Quillax
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Re: Commander Keen - Aurora Bliss (RELEASE)

Post by Quillax »

Dave216 wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 17:06 It seems the older "updated" version is still floating around, or you just downloaded the game quite some time ago? This was fixed in the latest version. That darn  green gem holder will haunt me for the rest of my life.   :lol 

EDIT: Ah-a. It seems KeenWiki latest version download features that version.
Yeah, looks like the KeenWiki download hasn't been updated in a while. I just went to the KeenWiki article, set that download link aside and added your Dropbox download link. For now, there's no main download link. I contacted Nisaba about the outdated KeenWiki download (not just for this mod, but also OSI), so hopefully this problem will be fixed soon!

I'm starting to wonder if we should make something, where people can post about outdated/missing KeenWiki downloads, that would be easily noticeable by those who have access to KeenWiki's FTP server. Like maybe a PCKF thread...

By the way, I want to say that this mod is definitely up there on my imaginary, ever-growing "Mods to Play" list! From what I've seen of it, it looks REALLY good! :) I really love the eerie atmosphere you've crafted!
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Nisaba
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Re: Commander Keen - Aurora Bliss (RELEASE)

Post by Nisaba »

Quillax wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2023 7:52 I'm starting to wonder if we should make something, where people can post about outdated/missing KeenWiki downloads, that would be easily noticeable by those who have access to KeenWiki's FTP server. Like maybe a PCKF thread...
Yes please! would make it so much easier to keep track for me.
Quillax wrote: Tue Mar 21, 2023 7:52 Yeah, looks like the KeenWiki download hasn't been updated in a while. I just went to the KeenWiki article, set that download link aside and added your Dropbox download link. For now, there's no main download link. I contacted Nisaba about the outdated KeenWiki download (not just for this mod, but also OSI), so hopefully this problem will be fixed soon!
@Dave216:
The numbering of your versions is a bit inconsistent. Therefore the question: is your last update to be understood as v1.1.1 or v1.2? Here is the current list:

--> AB v1.0.1 (2022-08-01)
--> AB v1.1 (2022-09-21)
--> AB v1.2(?) (2022-10-14)
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Dave216
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Re: Commander Keen - Aurora Bliss (RELEASE)

Post by Dave216 »

The numbering of your versions is a bit inconsistent. Therefore the question: is your last update to be understood as v1.1.1 or v1.2?
I was thinking v.1.1.1. Mostly because I didn't change the loading window to 1.2

There should be just one more update to this, which would be 1.2. I am mostly doing it just so it will show a bitmap or two and some information on the sequel, plus fixing some minor stuff.
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