15th anniversary: Aliens Ate My Babysitter ...Again

[NY00123]

EDIT: The original post was quickly cobbled together while still occurring on September 26 2024 here. More proper post contents follow, with the initial post contents occurring right afterwards.

Download link - see below, might be updated soon.

So, it has arrived, the 15th anniversary of that old level pack I had been working on back in 2009. Yes, there's also the 10th anniversary of my ReflectionHLE project, but that's a separate topic. Was that a coincidence?

And so, I finally got back to the level pack last month. For some reason, I described it as a "Mini-MOD" back then. Expect a bit more to be mentioned, but here are a few highlights:
- You may finally enable cheat codes! (ok, I offered a modified .PAT file somewhere, back in 2013. But, you get the idea.)
- A new warp-only level at slot 19. A few more details are given below. With a few exceptions like the switch signs, I mostly tried limiting use to Keen 6's original tiles. So, you won't find, e.g., AAMBA's one-way arrows. I eventually also decided to have no key gems in this level. The world map, BWB and high scores are the only other levels of AAMBA lacking gems.
- Since AAMBA was originally started as a level pack not using recolored graphics, why not try reverting the impacts? Similar (albeit not identical) experience may be reproduced now via AAMBA_O.BAT.
- In addition to DOS v1.4 of Keen, you may try making a build of Omnispeak from the sources as currently available from GitHub. Alternatively, chances are a binary will be made available relatively soon. There might still be differences in behaviors, with AAMBA being mainly tested with the DOS executable.
- Recolored (again) the background of levels 8-9. It's possible that even around 2009, the combination of Keen 6's dark blue with AAMBA's red shades didn't seem to fit as much.
- Various other touch-ups (often minor ones), following testing of K1n9_Duk3 and mine.

Thanks to K1n9_Duk3 for testing and the feedbacks I've gotten, preceding the last release. Further thanks to Multimania for coordinating on potential support in Omnispeak.

*** ORIGINAL POST CONTENTS FOLLOW:

Hi all,

It's been a while, isn't it? So, guess what? Last month, I've finally had a look at that old Keen 6 level pack of mine from 2009.

https://ny.duke4.net/files/keen/AAMBA15Y-20240926.ZIP

One major addition is a new warp-only level at slot 19. At the time, I had a general idea for the secret level, of using a kind of a metro system, but with goplats. I eventually went in a different direction back in 2009, albeit still leaving the few goplats flying above acid pools.

So, the new level was initially started with this idea again, albeit eventually going for most in a different direction (and separately also still having 2 goplats on acid pools).

You may also try using a git revision of Omnispeak (expect a release soon), and under DOS, also revert to Keen 6 graphics preceding the recoloring.

I plan to edit this post later, but for now: That's been a while again, hasn't it?

[יצחק]

https://tinypic.host/image/%E2%80%8F%E2 ... %29.2kTwc1

[יצחק]

In the picture above. (sorry it's two posts, I just couldn't do it in one post), there is an error when I run the game. So what is missing for it to work properly?

[lestagio]

I got that error at first, but restarting DOSbox did the trick. Then, I got an error about "%abort" being in the file "aamba.pat"
The error was "%abort encountered at aamba.pat:6:1
Patching halted at this point."

I opened the file aamba.pat and removed the line "%abort". The game then starts to load but quickly cuts to an out of memory error. The full error is "MM_getPR: Out of memory"
I'm also wondering if anyone has a fix for this!

[Roobar]

There's no instruction on how to play this,..

[NY00123]

Thanks for giving it a try! The included README.TXT file should have the instructions.

As reoccurring with other ZIP files, it is recommended to unpack the ZIP file into a new empty directory. I actually planned to have the files in a separate directory within the ZIP file itself, but seemed to miss it (I created the ZIP during the very last minutes of September 26 here).

Either way, after unpacking the ZIP file into an empty directory, make a copy of a compatible KEEN6.EXE file (matching EGA version 1.4) in the same directory.

For the ones unaware, unlike Keen 4, Keen 6 (the full episode) was not distributed as shareware, so it was a common convention to not include KEEN6.EXE with Keen 6 modifications like AAMBA.

It is true that source-modding, along with reconstructed Keen 4-6 sources, may seem to make the question of bundling KEEN6.EXE less of an issue in practice. However, at least in the future, it might be possible to run AAMBA15Y with Omnispeak. In such a case, you'll be able to choose between KEEN6.EXE and Omnispeak, and I decided to not include any specific game or source port executable.

[lestagio]

Yeah, I read the README but I was just stupid and ignored the version info. But yep, you MUST have Keen 6 EGA V1.4. I was using a different version. But, using the correct version it now runs!
Question: Is the story actually in the game? Maybe I'm just dumb, but I couldn't find it, so I just opened the file "Story.ck6".
So far, I've only played the first Guard Post and the Confusion Arena, so I will come back if and when I've played more. But so far, I really like it! I did not know that you had released this level pack (mini-mod!) that long ago! Game works good, haven't run into many glitches. I'd like to see more stuff from you! It's interesting how everyone has their own way of taking their mods and fan games.

However, at least in the future, it might be possible to run AAMBA15Y with Omnispeak.

I managed to get it running in Omnispeak (if that's what you are implying) by just copying the AAMBA15Y files into Omnispeak.
https://imgur.com/a/gkLZH7C

[NY00123]

Question: Is the story actually in the game?

Yes. You may see it if you start the demo sequence and watch or skip the first demonstrated level (that differs from the high scores table).

So far, I've only played the first Guard Post and the Confusion Arena, so I will come back if and when I've played more. But so far, I really like it!

Nice, thanks again for giving it a try! I'll just say in advance that AAMBA will probably be more difficult than Keen 6, especially if trying hard difficulty. In fact, it's probably recommended to have the first game of AAMBA on a lower difficulty. At the time, I was often going for limiting access to ammunition on hard difficulty. There are also instances in which you may find difficult-to-pass areas, even without the usual creatures.

Also, seen the recommendation to check the file HINTS.TXT in the control panel / menu? I still recommend checking all hints.

I did not know that you had released this level pack (mini-mod!) that long ago! Game works good, haven't run into many glitches.

Good to see it's been working for you so far. Yes, I did release it back in 2009. One major difference from today, is that it was a time period in which you had various mods / packs for Keen 1-3, but not that many for Keen 4-6. The situation is quite different nowadays. Of course, there's more to it, like having more editing tools, plus having all of episodes 1-6 reverse-engineered. Well, maybe Keen Dreams didn't need such a level of reverse-engineering.

I'd like to see more stuff from you! It's interesting how everyone has their own way of taking their mods and fan games.

Thanks for your interest! Apart from my few past releases, the last one being close was probably what I referred to as "NY00123's tests level", and it was a single level from 2017. What motivated me to get the new release of AAMBA was the 15th anniversary. I guess there's also the fact that AAMBA had the first set of Keen levels released by me; And, as of today, AAMBA still has most Keen levels released by me (unless you also count Bio Menace).

One thing I'm unsure if it was really done after AAMBA again, was the creation of areas in levels accessible only on specific difficulties. The first non-BWB level visited in AAMBA has 3 separate sections, one for each difficulty. Other levels, if they go for anything close to that, generally have a separate section or path for hard difficulty, except for level 14 having a separate path for easy difficulty. The main problem in the 2009 releases, was that there was no clear way to tell that areas were restricted as described here. So, the 15h anniversary release introduced new signs showing difficulty levels. There are still a few instances in which they won't appear near every single such area, but you may conclude the connection to previously visited areas, say ones with key gems or switches.

I managed to get it running in Omnispeak (if that's what you are implying) by just copying the AAMBA15Y files into Omnispeak.

Which version of Omnispeak has been used? Outside of modified builds made for Operation Station Infiltration, the last released version was v1.1. I didn't really bother to test AAMBA15y with this version, as it's missing features that AAMBA15Y depends on. Checked that in the last hours, and support is essentially broken.

If you download the Omnispeak sources from the GitHub repository and make your own binary, chances are it'll work (at least for most). But it's not impossible a new release of Omnispeak is not too far away. There were also a few problems in Omnispeak fixed only after the September 26 release of AAMBA15Y.

[lestagio]

Which version of Omnispeak has been used? Outside of modified builds made for Operation Station Infiltration, the last released version was v1.1. I didn't really bother to test AAMBA15y with this version, as it's missing features that AAMBA15Y depends on. Checked that in the last hours, and support is essentially broken.

Yep, I was using v1.1. It seemed to work but I only played one level inside of Omnispeak. So there wasn't much testing for glitchiness or crashes.

[NY00123]

Yep, I was using v1.1. It seemed to work but I only played one level inside of Omnispeak. So there wasn't much testing for glitchiness or crashes.

Is that level differing from the world map? Because in more than one test of mine, I simply couldn't enter other levels - it's as if Keen's starting position would be (0,0), hence automatically exiting the level right afterwards.

I still suggest to wait for a new binary release of Omnispeak, or use the original DOS executable matching EGA v1.4. As said earlier, another option is making your own Omnispeak binary from the sources on GitHub, but any of the first two options is probably still a better choice.