Thanks for the responses so far, guys!
Lower IQ than 314 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 13, 2023 18:10
Something I'd enjoy seeing in this mod is the Robo-Bloog from GBC, given the proper Galaxy treatment...It kind of fulfills a sort of "heavy-hitter" enemy that Keen 6 lacks... GBC's Robo-Bloog could potentially fill that void, provided it's somewhat reworked in the Galaxy engine -- maybe a final challenging opponent for the mod trilogy?
The main reason I hadn’t already included Robo Bloog in the lineup is because Battle of the Brains’ Cybloog is a direct inspiration from this creature, so I’m somewhat reluctant to do another version of it.
I also do not intend to have a boss battle in this episode; I would like to do a puzzle level similar to Keen 6.
However, you make a good point about Keen 6 lacking a big, scary, ‘heavy hitter’. I’ll get into this below.
Lower IQ than 314 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 13, 2023 18:10
There's the Bobba, of course, but it's too rarely used and often easy to avoid to really fill that role.
I do plan to use the Bobba more, and will see what I can do about making it feel like the heavy hitter, but you may very well be right that it’s just too easy to avoid.
Lower IQ than 314 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 13, 2023 18:10
...the Orbatrix can be easily tricked into getting stuck in walls.
I do hope to have this bug fixed for this mod, but I feel the size of the Orbatrix rules it out as the big scary.
Re: The Heavy Hitter
I feel the Grabbiter is a great candidate for this, but it’s behavior may need to be more aggressive than I had originally imagined to fulfill this role. Would a significant departure from the Grabbiter’s stationary demeaner in Keen 6 be welcome? How would a big scary Grabbiter behave?
I’m also working to sketch a potential large organic creature that could fill this role, some kind of slobbery thing. Nothing that fills the bill yet, but I’ll keep drawing.
Lastly, after considering the heavy hitter concept I did begin to sketch a galaxy version of Robo Bloog, and after several iterations and with the help of the Keen Discord community, we came up with a robotic creature with two potential names: “Bloogborg” or “Robip”:
As you can see, this borrows a bit from the Robo Bloog design but is also a significant departure. This mechanical Bloog is piloted by a Bip, and I imagine these mech-like devices are used by the Bips to better fit into Bloog society. Behavior wise, this creature would be indestructible and unstunnable. They might move around similar to a Bloog, however, they could also shoot their pinchers out to try to grab Keen, and then retract the hands back into themselves, potentially dragging Keen along with which would result in either an immediate death, or possibly a split-second opportunity to escape. What do you all think of this one?
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Gridlock and Mr M, these are great mod ideas! I’ll try to address what seems within the scope of this mod.
Gridlock wrote: ↑Sat Jan 14, 2023 7:13
Blooguards
These enemies were always a bit frustrating because you never knew when they were going to strike. Giving them an additional wind-up frame for a fraction of a second could give the player time to get off the ground, potentially making them feel a lot more fair.
I will run some tests with Blooguard behavior with this in mind.
Gridlock wrote: ↑Sat Jan 14, 2023 7:13
Flect:
The mirror mechanic of reflecting Keen's shots is also really underutilized and something that could be expanded in new ways. For example, it'd be really cool to have a mirror angling mechanic where you could shoot at angled mirrors and the shots travel around the level.
I like the idea of having to angle some kind of mirrors, perhaps with the use of switches, in order to get stunner shots in hard/otherwise impossible to reach places, perhaps activating a different kind of switch or door mechanism. I’m not sure if this is within the scope of this mod, but I will think on introducing something like this. There puzzle potential here particularly suitable to a final level.
Gridlock wrote: ↑Sat Jan 14, 2023 7:13
Switches and temporary tiles:
Keen 6 switches are unique in that you can pogo off of them when they're in the "up" position to use as temporary platforms. Maybe this could be expanded as a platforming mechanic without the switch portion?
This is definitely a possibility. I’m imagining a special kind of platform tile with a bridge-like property that, when activated by a standard switch, can be changed into the solid/not solid state. When in the solid state, it would only remain solid for that first pogo bounce. What would a pogo-only platform look like? Would it make more sense for these to be timed platforms that could be jumped on as well, only remaining solid on a timer?
_mr_m_ wrote: ↑Sat Jan 14, 2023 16:10
Timed big yellow switches, or just timed switches in general?
Definitely doable, and could be utilized in the way mentioned above, or for temporarily turning off hazards, opening doors, bridges, etc.
Aside from coding the timed features themselves, I think this would also require a complimentary system such as an on-screen timer indicating how much time the player has, or a ‘ticking time’ sound effect which speeds up as time is running out.
I’m not sure if this is within the scope of the mod.
_mr_m_ wrote: ↑Sat Jan 14, 2023 16:10
What about power-ups?... Additional neural stunner projectile types?... Throwable projectiles?
I feel these are mostly out of the scope of this project. An Ankh like power-up has precedent and is a possibility, but personally I don’t really like the kind of level design that would support its use. Additional weapons would be fun, and I hope we see this in future source mods, but again, just deviates too much from what I want to do with this trilogy.