Operation Station Infiltration

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Ceilick
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by Ceilick »

Announcement:

Xky, who composed music for Return to the Shadowlands, has agreed to return for Operation Station Infiltration! I'm really looking forward to the Keen 5 inspired soundtrack he'll come up with.

Update:

Multimania has been hard at work bringing my graphics to life and I'm ecstatic over the results so far! Robo Blue is complete, and Robo Green, Robo Yellow, Big Ampton, and Sparky II are close to finished. Sound effects have been created for all new creatures. Graphics are complete for all creatures (although they may get tweaked as things develop).

Four new fuse machines have been designed! I haven't tested the animations on these yet, so some some finalization still needs to be done.

The intro and ending stories and graphics are nearly complete! A few graphics are in the final stage and just need some touch ups. There's only one image I haven't started and I'm kind of dreading putting it together and may opt out on including it. If anyone wants to help, I could use a sketch or concept art for an advertisement for "The Big Bloog-Day Picnic".

What's Next?

Enemies:
Sparky MK III, Sparky Jr, and the Vlorg have not yet been implemented.

Graphics:
The QED replacement machine: Defense Grid Control. This machine will be different, simpler design than the QED it is replacing, as well as the other fuse machines. I've got a loose vision for it but haven't started drafting.

Tile Properties:
I've done quite some rearranging of tiles since last time I had these completed, so there is more to do, specifically for the new Fuse Machines, QED elements, and I've brought in Keen 6's conveyor belts.

Levels:
Development still hasn't resumed since I want to wait on the new enemies and finalizing the tiles.

Related to the QED, I've decided I'll probably stick with the Shikadi Mine method of destroying the machine, but intend utilize the Shikadi Master better as an obstacle to this task (hopefully through level design featuring a netkeen-like arena and teleportation optimization--we'll see!).
Ceilick
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by Ceilick »

Update:

Things are coming along well! The new enemies are all implemented to a testable state, the new QED machine is complete, and lots of miscellaneous work has been done.

At this stage, 3 things are happening:

1. Levels

I have resumed level editing. Of the 18 total levels, I have 2 completed and 6 in various states of completion. My goal is to have 10 completed by the end of the month.

2. Game Engine Modifications

Multimania is working through my list of code modifications. This includes making final adjustments to a few enemies and a variety of other small changes.

3. Music

Xky has produced some excellent tunes in the spirit of Keen 5 so far! Just a few more and the soundtrack will be complete.

What's Next?

Some significant things that still need to be done:
  • Everything related to the secret level: how to get there and whether this level will use unique physics.
  • Everything related to the Shikadi Master: if and how it's teleportation will be adjusted.
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Tormentor667
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by Tormentor667 »

Awesome, thanks for the news update :)
Ceilick
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by Ceilick »

Gosh I nearly forgot, how about some screenshots!

Image
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DarkAle
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by DarkAle »

Well, what do we have here? OMG, screenshoots! let's take a look at it:
First one: I love the recoloured path!
Second one: Those Sparky Jrs are so cute and again, I like the recoloured path
Third one: It's my favorite! I eagerly wait to play that level section with the Vlorg!
Fourth one: Please, give us a video of Robo Yellow in-game, it's so beautiful!
Commander Keen in... Robot Apocalypse!
Episode 13: The Ultra Omegamatic viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6802
Episode 14: Secret of the Sorcerer viewtopic.php?t=13031
Ceilick
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by Ceilick »

November Update:

Things are developing well, lots of level progress and engine development. Sorry, no videos or additional screenshots at this time!

My goal is to complete the levels Photochromatic Emitter and Plasma Conduction Center by this weekend. After that, the goal is to have all levels ready for beta testing in December. If everything comes together the way we hope, this will be a mid December release. That said, we are approaching the business of the holidays, so things might get delayed into January.

Here's how the levels are looking:

Bean-with-Bacon: 100%, tested
Cold Storage: 100%, tested
Robotics Lab: 100%, tested
Sec Ops 1: 100%, untested
Defense Tunnel Shoxi: 100%, untested
Ion Injection System: 100%, untested
Defense Tunnel Eblon: 100%, untested
Magnetic Field Manipulator: 100%, untested
Defense Tunnel Zoff: 100%, untested
Photochromatic Emitter: 50%
Defense Tunnel Vorth: 100%, untested
Plasma Conduction Center: 25%
Crew Quarters: 0%
Electro Kennels: 0%
Sec Ops 2: 0%
Defense Grid Control: 0%
Secret Level: 0%
Ceilick
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by Ceilick »

I want to give a brief update to mention a few developments:

Levels:

Plasma Conduction Center: 100%, untested
Crew Quarters: 90%
Electro Kennels: 25%
Sec Ops 2: 0%
Defense Grid Control: 25%
Secret Level: 0%

The secret level will feature low gravity. The level hasn't been designed yet, but after a physics test I'm feeling excited to make this happen. The low gravity is fun!

Creatures:

Some modifications have been made to the original creature behaviors. These are:
  • A minor change to the Shikadi's electricity on poles: it animates now (this appears to have been what was intended in the original game, but for some reason it didn't do that).
  • A minor change to the Spirogrip: it rises from the ground a slightly shorter distance than originally (it moves the original distances from the walls and ceiling). This makes level design for them easier and they are more functional is smaller rooms.
  • A major change to the Shikadi Master: the master will now have designated teleportation locations and will choose these locations more intelligently. This is to prevent the master from teleporting to locations where Keen isn't, and to better facilitate a 'boss battle'.
I'd like some input on how I use the Shikadi Master:
  • Should the Master be limited to a final boss chamber that Keen must reach?
  • Or should the Master present himself throughout the final level, teleporting around, culminating in the final arena?
  • Should the Master show up in any other levels?
One idea is for him to be present in the second to final level, teleporting throughout that level, and then for him to appear again in the final level but only in the final boss chamber.
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Syllypryde
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by Syllypryde »

Easy- Master in the boss chamber
Normal- Master in penultimate level and boss chamber
Hard- Master in penultimate level, boss chamber and throughout final level
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selbbarcs ssensuoicsnoc
rehgih a ekil smees
Ceilick
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by Ceilick »

Thanks for the input, Syllypryde! After hearing from you, and folks on discord, I think that will be the general concept: on harder difficulties the Master shows up in some levels prior to the final level's boss chamber. He will likely only appear in the boss chamber of the final level due to the way he's coded for use in other levels. This could be worked around by creating a second type of Master sprite as the final boss, but I think the way I have designed the level, it will be most rewarding to work your way to him.

Levels Status:

Crew Quarters: 100%, untested
Electro Kennels: 100%, untested
Sec Ops 2: 0%
Defense Grid Control: 50% (boss chamber and the general platform skeleton is complete)
Secret Level: 90% (point placement remaining)

Levels should be completed by the end of next week and then testing will commence!
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by Ceilick »

December Update:

All levels are 100% done and a little over half have been tested by me. There is a significant bug that is holding me back from testing the remaining 7 levels, but I'll be right back to it once it is resolved! My remaining test run and fixes ought to be about a day's work.

There are a few other bugs to be addressed and potential code improvements to implement. Also, we’ve been developing the project in Omnispeak, so it will need to be converted to DOS. This will all depend on Multimania’s schedule.

The soundtrack is 100% complete. Thanks, Xky!

There are a couple minor tasks for me to take care of, the most significant of which is recording and importing demos, which I try to save to the very last. These things should be about 2 hours work.

I will be handing the game over to a beta tester, Roobar, before release. Testing will depend on their schedule and fixes will depend on the number and severity of problems. I’m hoping this will take a few days to a week, but it could take longer.

We’re weeks away, guys, and I’m very eager to get this into your hands! :)
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by proYorp »

Christmas release? :disguised

You won't be getting any deadline pressure from me though. I still haven't played the first part yet, to my own disappointment... :o Somehow feels like such a big endeavor, all the levels and new fancy source stuff to contend with. Maybe I'll get to it after I win Back to Fribbulus Xax.

edit: my 400th post yey
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Ceilick
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by Ceilick »

Hoping for before Christmas, but we'll see!
proYorp wrote:I still haven't played the first part yet, to my own disappointment... :o Somehow feels like such a big endeavor, all the levels and new fancy source stuff to contend with.
I'll be updating the first episode later this week, so it'll be the perfect time to start! These mods barely touch the possibilities available through source modding (OSI more so than RttS), which is to say, I designed with the intent that the experience be no more daunting than Keen 4 and 5 themselves if they were played for the first time. And I should mention, in both Return to the Shadowlands and Operation Station Infiltration, I encourage normal difficulty for a classic Keen experience--I've learned from my previous work that hard should not be the intended difficulty :o
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by Roobar »

That's good, Ceilick. When designing levels and playtesting them several times, I get good at them and many times I'm trapped by thinking they're easy, while making them much harder than they really need to be. So, often I revisit some places and reduce the difficulty or build them them with medium difficulty in mind from the beginning. Yes, players will pass through them faster, but at least they won't get bored or quit the game. Of course, challenge should still be a thing and when I like some challenge, I try to make optional harder puzzles or levels.
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proYorp
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by proYorp »

Very well articulated Roobar, couldn't have said it better myself! I think that's an important thing modders should be aware of. Just about every time I've seen any modder estimate the difficulty of their own production, it's at least 3x harder than that. It's amusing to me how consistently this plays out.
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Ceilick
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by Ceilick »

I agree with you both. While testing levels for OSI, I've been thinking, "Jeez these are pretty short and mostly pretty easy", and as a designer it's hard to resist the desire to make levels long and challenging for myself (with the expectation that other players will have a similar experience). But as proYorp said, levels I design myself are likely to be 3x harder for others and it seems to me that this just comes down to designer foreknowledge giving a grossly underestimated advantage.

Speaking on OSI level design philosophy, one thing I did to hopefully help ensure the difficulty level I desired in terms of length was to make a concerted effort to retain the same level borders as those found in the original Keen 5. For reference, that's about 80x80 tiles or less for most levels and 200x24 for a defense tunnel. My levels tend to always be at least slightly larger (I really don't know how they managed to design such great levels in such a small amount of space in the original games!), but this goal really pushed me to work on my design approach, and the final version of most levels meet the specifications.

Another objective was to try to never use more than 3 key gems in a level, again with the intention to prevent levels from being too long by reducing the number of exploration zones and time backtracking. One of my "Ten Commandments of Galaxy Level Design" is to never use more than four key gems, but I've come to believe that even four is excessive for the most part. I was somewhat successful with this goal, because even when using less gem doors, I found myself creating the same kind of obstacle using retractable bridges or switchable goplats instead in some cases.

Boxy interior levels like Keen 5 are actually my least favorite kind of level to make, so between that and the above constraints I placed on myself, I really had to get creative with this project. I'm looking forward to seeing how these levels are received!

----------------------

Status Update:

Multimania has fixed several bugs and I've completed my run through of the game on normal mode, making all the fixes and changes I wanted.

I've taken care of the minor tasks I mentioned before and have recorded the demos (although these may have to be redone if beta testing reports require I modify the levels that were recorded).

There are a few other things in the code that still need to be addressed, as well as the conversion to DOS, before beta testing can start; my test run was through Omnispeak and I would like beta testing to be done on the DOS version. We plan to release both a DOS and Omnispeak version of the mod for players to choose from.

Question: If, for whatever reason, a DOS version is delayed, how receptive are you all to an initial Omnispeak release and a later DOS release?
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