O-Mega-Matic is here!

[SodiumtheGlitcher]

And here it is!

The O-Mega-Matic Community Levelpack!

Thanks so much to all the contributers! I'm still waiting on a few levels, but I'm releasing it anyway.

Contributers (including the ones I'm waiting for):

Me (4 levels)
DarkAle (2 levels)
gabriel cheat man (1 level, not yet included)
Gridlock (1 level)
Dave216 (1 level)
Fleexy + Markeen (1 level, not yet included)
szemi (1 level, pending)
SupFanat (1 level, not yet included)
Mark the Candyjunk (1 level, not yet included)
World map by me.

Note that not all levels are replaced. In the update, all original levels will be replaced. Also, levels by SupFanat and the Candyjunk were taken without permission, because neither users are active anymore.

And a shoutout to nwe74 for his awesome demo patch! I would give you a spot in the high scores, but I ran out of room

Another shoutout to Fleexy for creating the export/import feature in Abiathar, and for letting me use one of his Markeen levels! Another spot in the high scores, just for you (and Markeen!)!

Special thanks to Gridlock especially for creating such a great level, and for inspiring me to make one of the levels I made. Thanks, Gridlock, for being such an inspiring creator!

Please report any crashes you may experience. Levels like System Control were very pushed to the limit, so in that one, try not to make Robo Red shoot at you as that might crash the game.

Have fun!

[Dave216]

Well, I've played through the first two levels. I am guessing these are yours, SodiumtheGlitcher. They are big indeed; the second one might be too overcrowded, as it did crash once on the saving-loading part. No free spots in Objarray.(Too much infoplane in the level)

I did really like the part with the green gem in the second level, where once you collect it, you circle around and return to the middle section without backtracking. That was neat.

That first level with 2 Robo Reds seemed too difficult, but I did enjoy figuring out how to bypass them to get to the gems. The layout of that part was interesting.

I really liked some closed-in sections, and some enemy combos, like Robo Reds and little Amptons climbing a bunch of poles, were a nice challenge.

Some things I found odd:
•There is some peculiar design with placing gems next to doors for some reason.

•One thing that really bothers me is the background. I do understand using single 4×4 tiles and covering the entire level with those same tiles, but why use air vents and non-seamless decor tiles as filling tiles for entire rooms? Not only does it take you out of the experience, but it looks quickly slapped together and not very nice. Some rooms do look nice and feel right, but as soon as I'd entered that part with the goplats and endless tiles (I am unsure what they are in-game; they look like an oven or a garbage chute?), I couldn't wait to get out. It just looks strange, and yeah, I get that this is a level pack. You can pretty much only repeat what the original game does. Using Keen5's corridor layouts for backgrounds without adding new graphics; there isn't much room for making a new style, but this just seems odd.

•Also, I don't quite get placing a truckload of candy throughout the main routes to the exit. I think players will be more inclined to collect them if they are sparsely distributed throughout the level or at least in optional areas.

I'll play some more some time later.

[SodiumtheGlitcher]

Well, I've played through the first two levels. I am guessing these are yours, SodiumtheGlitcher. They are big indeed; the second one might be too overcrowded, as it did crash once on the saving-loading part. No free spots in Objarray.(Too much infoplane in the level)

I did really like the part with the green gem in the second level, where once you collect it, you circle around and return to the middle section without backtracking. That was neat.

That first level with 2 Robo Reds seemed too difficult, but I did enjoy figuring out how to bypass them to get to the gems. The layout of that part was interesting.

I really liked some closed-in sections, and some enemy combos, like Robo Reds and little Amptons climbing a bunch of poles, were a nice challenge.

Some things I found odd:
•There is some peculiar design with placing gems next to doors for some reason.

•One thing that really bothers me is the background. I do understand using single 4×4 tiles and covering the entire level with those same tiles, but why use air vents and non-seamless decor tiles as filling tiles for entire rooms? Not only does it take you out of the experience, but it looks quickly slapped together and not very nice. Some rooms do look nice and feel right, but as soon as I'd entered that part with the goplats and endless tiles (I am unsure what they are in-game; they look like an oven or a garbage chute?), I couldn't wait to get out. It just looks strange, and yeah, I get that this is a level pack. You can pretty much only repeat what the original game does. Using Keen5's corridor layouts for backgrounds without adding new graphics; there isn't much room for making a new style, but this just seems odd.

•Also, I don't quite get placing a truckload of candy throughout the main routes to the exit. I think players will be more inclined to collect them if they are sparsely distributed throughout the level or at least in optional areas.

I'll play some more some time later.

You're right that they're both mine, but I've never had the game crash there. I was really pushing the limit with that level. I think if I added 1 more sprite the game would instantly crash on Hard.

Yeah, I'm very proud of that part. I wanted a shortcut, so I got creative.

You just need to have good key control. The second one is not that hard to get past.

Adding Little Amptons with Robo Reds is how the original game does it, and those two enemies go together very well.

That whole deal with the background was because the level's called System Control, so I added a bunch of those things for that background to make it look like a control room. (I personally like the room with all the TVs, it looks like one of those rooms where you can see all the security footage at one time.) But I get if it looks weird to you. Although, some of the oddities in the background are there because I was inspired by your level As for that particular area, it would probably look a little better with the pink goplats, but there are no diagonal rails, and those platforms look weird without the rails. I agree that that section looks weird.

I'm not good at point distribution, and the first level was intended to have a lot of points. It might have too many, but I'm not good at designing point layout.

[Quillax]

Only played a little bit of this. Just a bit of the first level and then warped to the final level for a quick preview of that. I'll have to do a serious playthrough of this at some point. It's been a while since we had a community levelpack! When Gridlock sent in a level, I knew this project would be worth playing, and from what I've seen of that level it looks very promising (apparently I'm not the only one who thought of making a pyramid level for Keen 5...). The first level also looks good too, even if a bit basic, some parts of it remind me of Operation Station Infiltration. One problem I noticed is that when you start the game, it says Keen is in Korath III, but yet he's in the Omegamatic. There's a patch that lets you adjust how far Keen can go down until he's "in" Korath III:

Code: Select all

#Korath base text
%patch $6210  $64    #Vertical location for difference

Do you plan on giving people a way to know who made what level? Community levelpacks in the past would include a list in a text file showing that, or in the case of Buried in Oblivion the authors are directly credited in the level names. Some of the competition levelpacks didn't include such a thing so people wouldn't hold any bias towards a certain person when voting, but the list would be posted online (and this levelpack doesn't appear to be a competition anyway).

[SodiumtheGlitcher]

I couldn't find a patch that did that, since I have like no patching knowledge, but I can use that patch if it gives the proper location.

I thought people would have fun guessing who made what level, but this isn't a competition. (If it were, I think Gridlock would've won already!) I'll say who made what levels eventually.

[Quillax]

I did a little more looking around, and in the KeenWiki article Patch:Korath there's a patch that you might want to use instead:

Code: Select all

#Vertical position of Korath base
%patch $6210  $64 $76 #Returning to map
%patch $7CE8  $64 $76 #Level name

The first value for each line ($64) represents how far down Keen must be in order for the name and entry text to change.

As for your second point, that's a valid approach. It would be fun to go through all the levels and try to figure out who made what. Kind of like what happened with the Dead in the Desert community levelpack.

[SodiumtheGlitcher]

I used your first patch you gave, changed the value, made the world map even bigger for more space, and it worked!

The Dead in the Desert levelpack was where I got the idea for guessing who made what. Dave216 already got that I made the first two levels, it's kinda obvious

[Dave216]

Alright, I'll give some thoughts; I still haven't finished it yet, but I'll elaborate on that further that down.

Tunnel Putzl—Absolutely brilliant level throughout. It was so higly enjoyable to play through. Every time I've entered a new door, I was begging for it to not be over. The puzzles, the variety of ideas, and the different challenges kept me engaged throughout. So far, my favorite level of the pack. The best part was the pacing; as soon as I found the last bridge puzzle, I was thinking, 'Welp, I hope that was the last one, because I feel a bit burned out,' and the new section was something else entirely. Really kind of level I like making, and this one really sits well with me.

Tunnel Cranmore—Not enough cranberries, dagnabbit.

Maze of Madness—When I saw the title, I was terrified it was going to be tedious and a slog to get through. Surprisingly, it was quite the opposite. Good design; it felt both linear and open at the same time. It felt so big that as I was progressing, I got terrified of the idea that I would reach a dead end and it would require me to backtrack all the way back. But that wasn't the case. Maybe I got lucky and found the gems at the right moment, but if that's the case, it's obviously well thought out as well as it has good player guidance; I never felt I got lost or didn't know where I was. There was even optional candy behind gem doors, which you don't see very often; also, another idea I really like.

Tunnel Aqaxz—This one started so well. I was already thinking, we've got another top-tier level right there. Especially, I personally like difficult sections and multiple hazards, enemies, and lasers shooting you at the same time, so there was that at the beginning, and I was hyped. Then, there was the bridge puzzle, which was also very nice. The part with poles and rotating whatchyamaycallit hazards was good, but I think it went for too long. The one thing I don't quite understand in this level is the last part.

The part I don't understand:

The last door. So, when I encountered that door for the first time, I quickly made a note in my brain: okay, so this is obviously a door designed to get me back to the conclusion of the level when I switch that bridge over there. Got it. Now, maybe I've missed something or maybe there was some clever twist I didn't see, but that was not the case. You reach the end, open the yellow door, return back to the hall, and the bridge that you're supposed to jump through is now blocked. I don't like that at all. It's like trolling the player and saying, 'Welp, guess you'll have to backtrack, buddy.' I am sure that this was not the intent, but it sounds a bit mean spirited. I did find the secret, and it revealed who designed it, which also cut back on some backtracking, but everything besides that part was very highly enjoyable. The last bit, nope. But then again, maybe I've missed some clue or something, so I apologize if I sound frustrated, but that was my experience anyway.

Now for the reason I didn't finish this in one sitting…

Armageddon Fortress

Now it started out fine, but it began adding things that I feel are there just to troll the player, or maybe for the fun of it? The amazing single goplat that does endless circles around, and you have to watch it and wait for it so long, and then jump on it and watch Keen ride that same goplat for way longer than it needs to be. And there were these massive halls with goplats, which I do get the appeal in making, but as a player, I do not see or know how big this massive hall is, and I am not motivated to explore it, as jumping from these goplats usually results in my death.

And then there was the invisible floor part. First I got angry when I realized what you did, then I figured, 'Oh, the candy shows where you can land,' but there are problems with this idea. If I want to explore this area and collect this candy, how could I remember where these floors are if there is no more candy to show my safe passage? And not only that, I think it requires you to backtrack through that hall because you need to place a bunch of gems there and return to the right to progress. And then on top of all that, these tiles are solids. Meaning I oftentimes bump my head into nothingness and fall into my death. These just feel like trial and error; even though the idea wasn't all that bad, I don't like the execution of it.

And later on I got to the switch next to the Spindred staircase, and I am unsure whether you're expecting me to ride that goplat back up and hope to god that I can jump back through those openings between the spinny hazards all the while pressing down and not being able to see where I am supposed to jump. This is where I got overwhelmed and decided to pause for today, anyway.

I am sorry if I don't sound too harsh or discouraging. I am just being honest, and if I sound bitter, it's mostly just this last part that annoyed the hell out of me.



And, some errors/probles I've stumbled into:
You can get stuck in here:


Moved through the door tiles:

[SodiumtheGlitcher]

As for Aqaxz, that door problem was unknown to me until I tested the level. And originally, if you entered the door, you were stuck because of a bridge. Sorry if that part frustrated you. (EDIT: This area has been reworked and will be released in the update.)

In the invisible room in Armageddon Fortress, there is a very small change in the background that tells you where to go. It's not great, but whatever. (EDIT: There are SGA letters there now, so it's much easier.)

In that part, you don't have to look down, you just can't look up. You're going to have to ride on the platform a few times around before you can get on the top one. This got nerfed in the update.

How on earth did you get in there?!?!?!?!?!? There should be no way for that to happen! In that case, just climb up, and Keen will zoom away into the room with the door. (EDIT: I tested this bug, and I had no clue that Keen's clipping worked like that on bridges! Fixed in the update.)

The walking through door tiles is a known bug, but I can't find a good way to fix it, so it's staying as is.

Thanks for the feedback! I'm working on an update, but I still need more levels. (EDIT: All level slots are taken, but I still don't have szemi's level. I just don't want to keep bugging him.)

[SodiumtheGlitcher]

Just giving an update:

More levels are in the works! Fleexy agreed to let me use one of his levels, and my little brother is going to expand another level he made for Christmas. Also, I took some old levels made by Mark the Candyjunk and SupFanat, so all the level slots are filled in!

Level design changes:

• The end section of Aqaxz has been redone. The troll door is gone, just the switch is left. Also, the secret it changed to marshmallows for an actually reasonable point count.

• Parts of Armageddon Fortress have been nerfed and edited to prevent possible crashes. Also, the 6 extra lives are now accessible.

• Mega Entry has some points removed.

• Other things I can't remember.

This update is not available yet, but should be soon!

[Dr.Schlauch]

I am really struggeling with Armageddon Fortress, still can't find the exit.
Could you please upload a map of this level?

[SodiumtheGlitcher]

The level map for that level is uploaded to the Wiki. Here's the wiki page.

Please note that the level map you see is an updated version that has extra detail not found in your version.

[Dr.Schlauch]

Thank you, that really helped!
Didn't find the last switch - now I can see it!