Foray in the Forest (demo)

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Nisaba
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Foray in the Forest (demo)

Post by Nisaba »

.
Image

Forget about the demo. The full game is out now!
Find out more about it here:
viewtopic.php?p=109329#p109329

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:birthday Happy Keen Day everybody.

Some time ago I was sneaking around older threads and came across an unfinished project. I felt in love with it the moment I saw it.
most of you might remember the original FitF thread by Mr. M: http://pckf.rigeltechnical.com/viewtopic.php?t=823
_mr_m_ wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2009 3:46I am working on my Keen 4 mod that is intended to close the gap in the storyline between Keen Dreams and Secret of the Oracle.
It's final title is Foray in the Forest [...]
And you might also recall the full data loss of all project files, owing by a hard drive crash.


But my excitement about this long-dormant mod was still unbowed!
In fact so much, that I took the time and started to pick up again this abandoned project in order to rebuild everything from scratch. At least that way my goal. The only reference points I had were some low resolution images, a demo video and some posts and irc conversations...
After positive and encouraging feedback from an early sample of my attempt, I've decided to make the announcement:

And guess what? I managed to rebuild what was given and I'm proud to present to you a playable one level demo:


Foray in the Forest -
The Reawakening from the Dream Machine

Image

Download: http://www.shikadi.net/wiki/files/Mods/ ... -03-14.zip
Play in browser: http://jimage.org/keen/playmod/foray.html

The level is really just a taste of what's to come.
Please enjoy what's there!


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Notes
  • I can say that a certain two PCKF denizens have helped me investigate in this case.
  • with the help of Mr M I'm currently working and hopefully progressing this mod.
  • part of the data thought lost might get recovered. this should be exciting!
  • lemm offers to port this mod into the AR-engine. this promises some neat features like checkpoints.
  • a handful of PCKF members already contributed to this rebuild (+ I borrowed a Xky enemy)
that being said I'd like to ask all members of the community to support this mod in order to reawaken it from the Dream Machine.
Last edited by Nisaba on Mon Oct 22, 2018 23:03, edited 1 time in total.
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Commander Spleen
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Re: Foray in the Forest (demo)

Post by Commander Spleen »

This mod has a lot of potential. Glad you decided to resurrect it. It has a great classic Galaxy feel to it, reminding me of my first play through of Keen 4 and a bit of a Keen 6 (Bloogville) vibe with the complex building layout.

I'd contribute to it if I didn't already have so many things still half done. /o\
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Mobiethian
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Re: Foray in the Forest (demo)

Post by Mobiethian »

Wow this is great! Keep up the amazing work my friend. Happy Keen Day everyone!
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Roobar
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Re: Foray in the Forest (demo)

Post by Roobar »

Really nice! I didn't even knew this was being in the works anymore, but you've managed to make it from the ground up, which, by itself, is amazing!
I like the Keen Dreams feel of the world map. It's quite refreshing to see something like this, but it's not either Keen Dreams, nor Keen 4. It's right in-between. Maybe that's exactly what mr. m intention was. I also like that you've implemented something from the Keen Universe Is Toast video. That made me smile. I didn't thought I would see it in a mod so soon (though, technically, your mod isn't finished yet).
I didn't particularly liked the music you used though. The only exception is the world map music, which is awesome.
Also, as a side note, when I thought of this project, I thought of this: http://files.commanderkeen.org/users/_m ... EWTREE.jpg I thought I would see this in the first level. Probably it will be in another level?
And I like the ability and the new trend to play this (and other mods) in a browser. Though I made something stupid like Alt+Enter that actually broke the game and my game progress, so I didn't made it through. But I'll definitely play this again.
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Re: Foray in the Forest (demo)

Post by Quillax »

I gave this a go, and I thought it was a nice experience. ;) The new graphics look nice and I was a bit surprised to see those creatures from a certain fantastic Keen mod (I don't want to spoil it too early for those that haven't gave the mod a chance yet), although it made me wonder what's going to happen to the Licks (I see one in the title screen, so I'm sure it must some sort of part of the mod). The music in the main level felt out of place to me, but I'm assuming that it's a placeholder, is it?

Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing the final version. :)
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proYorp
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Re: Foray in the Forest (demo)

Post by proYorp »

:O I thought this mod was toast! Those cryptic posts, they all make sense now....

I love how it's just like the Keen4 demo. (I was actually thinking of doing something similar for something....)

It's amazing how you recreated everything just like in the old demo video. Really shows the dedication to this project. I know it's gonna be a good one.

This is definitely very exciting news.
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Re: Foray in the Forest (demo)

Post by Zilem »

Oh, i see what you mentioned!, it's like a lick but it licks XD

Funny that there is 100 Droplets like there was in like in some of the console games in the 90's Banjo and Kazooie & Donky Kong
to name a few,will this likely be a pattern in mind for other levels?
(the N64 was my brothers, i preferred the typewriter-spreadsheet-machine)

It's also rather cute that the Larva in the BwB level is synced to the music ^^
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hairmonster12
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Re: Foray in the Forest (demo)

Post by hairmonster12 »

Very cool. I like how there's plenty of ammo on hard difficulty, and that blue guy wagging it's tongue had me laughing! Also cool is how the candy point value seems to be based on which game it came from. Can't wait to play the full mod! :D
'Kay, so...
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Nisaba
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Re: Foray in the Forest (demo)

Post by Nisaba »

Commander Spleen wrote: Tue Mar 14, 2017 13:59I'd contribute to it if I didn't already have so many things still half done. /o\
ah, screw it. put your stuff aside and join in. I'm gonna take care of your unfinished things later on :evil

Mobiethian wrote: Tue Mar 14, 2017 14:04Wow this is great! Keep up the amazing work my friend. Happy Keen Day everyone!
Thanx! I've used some of your stuff in my earlier builds. can you re-pixel those yellow block of stones in a way they gonna match with the moldering pyramid seen on the world map, please?!

Quillax wrote: Tue Mar 14, 2017 18:16[...] I was a bit surprised to see those creatures from a certain fantastic Keen mod [...], although it made me wonder what's going to happen to the Licks (I see one in the title screen, so I'm sure it must some sort of part of the mod).
There will be even more enemies. The licking guy is only a teaser of things to come. speaking of which:

Zilem wrote: Tue Mar 14, 2017 23:03Oh, i see what you mentioned!, it's like a lick but it licks XD

Funny that there is 100 Droplets like there was in like in some of the console games in the 90's Banjo and Kazooie & Donky Kong
to name a few,will this likely be a pattern in mind for other levels? [...]

It's also rather cute that the Larva in the BwB level is synced to the music ^^
thanx a lot for contributing an enemy alteration so quickly! gonna need your help with some other guys as well (pm!).
Nice that you have noticed the 100 Raindrops. it's intended that Keen can reach a certain amount of them each level. collecting them should get the player excited again.
Larva vs music: it's all about details, isn't it?!
proYorp wrote: Tue Mar 14, 2017 20:16:O I thought this mod was toast! Those cryptic posts, they all make sense now....
I love how it's just like the Keen4 demo. (I was actually thinking of doing something similar for something....)
It's amazing how you recreated everything just like in the old demo video. Really shows the dedication to this project. I know it's gonna be a good one.
This is definitely very exciting news.
0088105676908396930156889700560290875693038697014950
A little bird told me that you do have a little experience with pixelart, haven't you?! do you prefer creating creature or fiddling with foreground tiles?
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Nisaba
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Re: Foray in the Forest (demo)

Post by Nisaba »

hairmonster12 wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2017 0:56Very cool. I like how there's plenty of ammo on hard difficulty, and that blue guy wagging it's tongue had me laughing! Also cool is how the candy point value seems to be based on which game it came from. Can't wait to play the full mod! :D
ammo placement... well, well. at some point I need some beta testers especially for things like this. I've got the feeling that I did a Szemigi while placing ammunition...
anyways, thanx for your support! I'm glad you like it.

Roobar wrote: Tue Mar 14, 2017 17:57Really nice! I didn't even knew this was being in the works anymore, but you've managed to make it from the ground up, which, by itself, is amazing!
I like the Keen Dreams feel of the world map. It's quite refreshing to see something like this, but it's not either Keen Dreams, nor Keen 4. It's right in-between. Maybe that's exactly what mr. m intention was. I also like that you've implemented something from the Keen Universe Is Toast video. That made me smile. I didn't thought I would see it in a mod so soon (though, technically, your mod isn't finished yet).
I didn't particularly liked the music you used though. The only exception is the world map music, which is awesome.
Also, as a side note, when I thought of this project, I thought of this: http://files.commanderkeen.org/users/_m ... EWTREE.jpg I thought I would see this in the first level. Probably it will be in another level? [...]
Oh thank you for your compliment. It means a lot to me hearing this from you!
talking about the tech demo: I also fiddled around with the hut but it doesn't seem to fit right. ideas? Image

I was hoping for a recovered music track from the orig FitF right in time. unfortunately I had to use a placeholder instead...
same goes for some levels. but you can F10+D -> 4 into a bg-test. looks something like this.
Image

troublesomekeen wrote:Tue Mar 14, 2017 14:04Special thanks to Mr. M, the original author of the fabled Forest Foray mod project, which was personally my #1 most sought-after mod, and #1 biggest disappointment when the project files were lost. Thanks to Nisaba and others [...], we now have the begins of a real life tangible playable mod, recreated from scratch and restored in glorious EGA color.
thanx for motivating me along the way. without your positive vibes I wouldn't keep doing all this! I'd love to have you aboard with some creature alterations.
Last edited by Nisaba on Mon Oct 22, 2018 23:16, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Foray in the Forest (demo)

Post by Ceilick »

Great Demo! And I love that you actually used the demo features in the game for demo messages, great touch! Playing this reminds me how much I want to get back to my own Keen work!

For the most part, I felt this was a great medley of familiar graphics from Keen 4 and Dreams, a few from Keen 6 and some all new material. I particularly like the wooden log buildings and all the graphics that integrate them into the world. The biggest drawbacks, I feel, are the point items and the world map graphics for the apple orchard and spud city (hoping these are placeholders?).

I think the level design is good; I played on normal and...died more than I should have, I think I'm just rusty though :dead2 I always felt like I knew where to go though. I also wanted to recognize and appreciate the 'logical' use of the doors; I think doors are the most disorienting feature in Keen games and the use of them in this level made sense.

The world map design, on the other hand, feels crammed and linear. Is this a placeholder to showoff graphics?

I agree with Roobar's assessment of the music too; the world map is a great rendition of the classic, but the BwB level feels off, and the outpost level song, while good, doesn't feel like it fits the setting (it feels more keen 6 to me).

Re that hut: Outline those leaves in black or dark grey instead of dark green, add some dark green shading to the existing light green, maybe throw in some brown or grey behind the leaves.

Great progress, keep going!
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Re: Foray in the Forest (demo)

Post by proYorp »

Nisaba wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2017 21:14 A little bird told me that you do have a little experience with pixelart, haven't you?! do you prefer creating creature or fiddling with foreground tiles?
At the moment I think I'm better with tiles than with sprites, but I could still use practice with both.

I'd love to help with this but man there's so many projects I want to contribute to. I've wanted to join the Keen community for so long and there's so much I'd like to help with, but I'm really trying not to get in over my head with too many different things at once.
I think it would be safe to say I can probably do some graphics in April since that's when Doomjedi said the deadline for the 8-directional sprites thing is.

When I do start to contribute you might want to keep in mind, I'm a perfectionist so any graphics I do may take a lot longer than they probably should.
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Re: Foray in the Forest (demo)

Post by Bubzrulz »

looking good

i'll contribute if u give me the tiles and stuff i'd love to do a level for you
bubsy :p :p :p
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Re: Foray in the Forest (demo)

Post by Roobar »

For some reason, the browser version is not working. It's showing only "Downloading..." and stays that way.
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Re: Foray in the Forest (demo)

Post by Keening_Product »

Well this is neat.

I like the design and the music, and don't think the music feels out of place like others have suggested. And yeah, as Zilem mentioned, that dancing larva is super-lovely.

I'm not sure if it was latency caused by browser-based DOSBox, me being generally garg at games, or an actual issue, but the number of times I was killed by a nasty jumping at me from outside the screen was embarrassingly high. Also, I made the mistake of following an arc of bottles and landed in spikes - I guess this is a mod for pixel-perfect players? Which is fair enough, it's just pretty unforgiving.

I'm looking forward to playing other levels :)
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