The Earth Explodes! - Galaxy

[K1n9_Duk3]

Here's another bugfix release for you:

The Earth Explodes - Galaxy Version

This is a fully playable version of Dr. Colossus' take on what Keen 2 would have looked like if it was done in the Galaxy engine.

There are still a couple of imperfections with the current state of this mod. Perhaps the biggest one is that the Earth doesn't actually explode in this mod. There is no way to "accidentally" fire the Tantalus rays and the Game Over sequence is just the vanilla Keen 5 galaxy explosion. The second biggest one is that there is no new music in this mod. All levels use their standard Keen 5 music, which doesn't always fit the mood.

I still have plans for an improved version with working Tantalus rays, light switches, cutscenes and all that. But before I tackle that, I thought I should release the fully playable version of the original mod first, to preserve the original design before I start adding my own ideas.

One of the aspects I want to change are the sprites of the Vorticon Elite. The help texts specifically state that they had their ears clipped to show their loyalty to the Grand Intellect, but their ears look exactly the same as the Grunt's ears in the current version. Pixel art isn't really my area of expertise, so if anybody wants to give it a try and come up with a revised version with clipped ears, I would appreciate that.

For the music, my idea was to use something that represents the target city for each of the Tantalus levels. The Moscow level, for example, could use the Tetris music and maybe I could add a visual Tetris reference to the level as well. This is pretty clichee, but it's a good example for the kind of musical association I have in mind. If anybody wants to contribute, let me know.

[dark]

Very cool! As a latecomer to this forum I didn't even know this mod existed! I've played a few levels just now for testing and look forward to spending more time with it!

[Toothpick]

I vaguely recall some mention of this being converted to a source mod, but it seems we're sticking with Keen 5 after all. I honestly don't know a whole lot about Keen modding, but I hope it's possible to accomplish what needs to be done within Keen 5's limitations. I'm just glad to see this project is still alive. I'll definitely share my thoughts once I get around to playing this.

EDIT: Having played through the entire mod, I now have some thoughts to share.

First of all, fantastic pixel art! The level art in particular is some of the most visually appealing art I've ever seen in a Keen mod, and that's counting Foray in the Forest. Whoever did the pixel art did an amazing job bringing out the look of Keen 2 in the Goodbye Galaxy style. Extremely well done.

There were some oddities here and there that I'm sure will be fixed in due time. Keen's sprite overlaps some of the walls when sliding down poles, specifically over walls that would normally hide Keen. I was also surprised to find that Vorticon Youths kill Keen in this mod when they only stunned him in the original Keen 2. I honestly hope this isn't intentional and they end up only stunning Keen in the final version of the mod.

Speaking of the Vorticons, I really think the Vorticons in both the Marooned on Mars Galaxy Mod and this one need a re-sprite to better reflect the source material. A re-sprite of the base Vorticon sprite could also help with the whole ear situation for the Vorticon Elites. Whenever I have time, I could offer my shot at a re-sprite since I'm a pixel artist myself.

[Frankeen]

Nice, going to test it!

[Benvolio]

Just downloaded and played a bit. I don't recall playing any earlier version of this though I could be wrong. It's really beautiful, the graphics including sprites are outstanding. It definitely carries that Keen2 vibe which I love.

Obviously there is some work to be done on it and I'm glad you have motivation in the tank to proceed. I hope someone helps you out with the pixel work. Unfortunately my pixel skills are dire so it won't be me! I note Toothpick's point about re-spriting the vorticons and the elites. All progress is worth considering but I actually think they already look great, and their cartoonish exaggerated appearance for me only serves to tie in with the overall cartoon-inspired aesthetic of Keen, which I always thought was an idea they progressed significantly in the Galaxy engine era, compared with Vorticons.

To add a small thing to your snag list, "Exit to Armageddon" should change to "Exit to Mothership".

But my main question is: how likely is it for us to see full scrub wall-walking implemented in Galaxy. I appreciate it's undoubtedly an immense effort, so my question is moreso is it even possible at all?? It would be absolutely mind-blowing if it was done!

[Dynamo]

This is very cool. Just out of curiosity, are there long-term plans for a Keen 3 galaxy remake as well? That would fully complete the trilogy, and would be great to see. But for now, thank you for releasing this.

[K1n9_Duk3]

I vaguely recall some mention of this being converted to a source mod, but it seems we're sticking with Keen 5 after all. I honestly don't know a whole lot about Keen modding, but I hope it's possible to accomplish what needs to be done within Keen 5's limitations. I'm just glad to see this project is still alive. I'll definitely share my thoughts once I get around to playing this.

This version is still a Keen 5 mod because it's just supposed to be a bug-fixed version of what Dr. Colossus has put together. The "Enhanced Edition" (or whatever I end up calling it) will be a source code mod. It will still be a 16-bit DOS game, so some technical limitations will remain. But adding new behavior like light switches and a temporarily stunned Keen will be a lot easier for me to implement.

The problem with Keen's sprite being drawn in the foreground should be fixed in the next update.

It's not obvious if the Youths killing Keen was by design or if it was just because the base Keen 5 game doesn't have a stunned Keen state. Battle of the Brains was also based on Keen 5 and it had a stunned Keen state, so it would have been possible to take the patches related to that and incorporate them into this mod. The Vorticon Elder messages in this mod use patches that are similar to the messages for Keen's friends in BOTB, so Dr. Colossus might have taken the patches from that mod. If he did, he could have copied the stunned state patches as well if he wanted to. That's why I left it unchanged in these bugfix releases.

To add a small thing to your snag list, "Exit to Armageddon" should change to "Exit to Mothership".

But my main question is: how likely is it for us to see full scrub wall-walking implemented in Galaxy. I appreciate it's undoubtedly an immense effort, so my question is moreso is it even possible at all?? It would be absolutely mind-blowing if it was done!

I will change that string in the next update. Thanks for that.

The scubs shouldn't be a big problem. The crabs in FITF are already using similar behavior.

[Toothpick]

Obviously there is some work to be done on it and I'm glad you have motivation in the tank to proceed. I hope someone helps you out with the pixel work. Unfortunately my pixel skills are dire so it won't be me! I note Toothpick's point about re-spriting the vorticons and the elites. All progress is worth considering but I actually think they already look great, and their cartoonish exaggerated appearance for me only serves to tie in with the overall cartoon-inspired aesthetic of Keen, which I always thought was an idea they progressed significantly in the Galaxy engine era, compared with Vorticons.

Yeah, like I don't think the Vorticon sprites being used in these mods look bad or anything. They are recognizably Vorticons and the quality of the sprites themselves are actually very good. I would just prefer it if the Vorticons looked as cute and silly as they did in the original games, but amplified by Goodbye Galaxy's cartoonish art style. I always liked that funny zombie walk cycle they would do, especially knowing they were brainwashed and all. That having been said, the Vorticons in these mods look cool and the sprites being used serve their purpose well.

This version is still a Keen 5 mod because it's just supposed to be a bug-fixed version of what Dr. Colossus has put together. The "Enhanced Edition" (or whatever I end up calling it) will be a source code mod. It will still be a 16-bit DOS game, so some technical limitations will remain. But adding new behavior like light switches and a temporarily stunned Keen will be a lot easier for me to implement.

The problem with Keen's sprite being drawn in the foreground should be fixed in the next update.

It's not obvious if the Youths killing Keen was by design or if it was just because the base Keen 5 game doesn't have a stunned Keen state. Battle of the Brains was also based on Keen 5 and it had a stunned Keen state, so it would have been possible to take the patches related to that and incorporate them into this mod. The Vorticon Elder messages in this mod use patches that are similar to the messages for Keen's friends in BOTB, so Dr. Colossus might have taken the patches from that mod. If he did, he could have copied the stunned state patches as well if he wanted to. That's why I left it unchanged in these bugfix releases.

Thanks for clarifying all that! In that case, I certainly look forward to seeing what becomes of the Enhanced Edition. In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy this bug-fixed version of what Dr. Colossus put out. It turned out wonderful and I'm glad to see it continued.

Additional thoughts: As cool as it would be to see the original wall-climbing behavior of the Scrubs, I always felt the puzzle-solving aspect of it involved a bit too much waiting in the original Keen 2. I'd be content if maybe there were a separate set of Scrubs that scaled walls vertically in addition to the horizontal Scrubs that patrol the floors. I wonder if it would be easier to code that.

[K1n9_Duk3]

I have updated the files (same link as before). The foreground priority bug and the "exit to ..." text are fixed now.

[Toothpick]

Does Keen have unlimited ammo for anyone else? I forgot to point this out after my first time playing and I don't know what's causing that.

[K1n9_Duk3]

Yes, it looks like the infinite ammo patch is still active. Oops