Buried in Oblivion

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Nisaba
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Re: Buried in Oblivion

Post by Nisaba »

Tesseract wrote:So, I finally got some time for keening again and played through @Nisaba 's Buried in Oblivion compilation mappack. Pretty strong levels overall!
Some of the pyramids were true challenges with very intricate layouts - just how I always remembered the vanilla ones (even though in reality, the originals were pretty easy).
Notable mention goes to excellent Nisaba's large cavern level, where you hunt for 4 keys to assemble the inchworms.
The combination of Miragia with underwater section was neat too, even though it seemed there are some areas where you cannot return back from.
Ultimately, only really weak spot I saw was on the worldmap - you can get stuck on the right part of the map if you don't realize you can walk through the caverns. If new version would be released at some point, I recommend moving the exit from the caverns much closer, so it is on screen.
Also, I got around to play Sunnylands - in case someone haven't played it yet, Quinton managed to absolutely perfectly match Keen 4 difficulty level there, which is IMO very rare.
thanks for your detailed feedback. I appreciate your suggestions. But please tell me: which version did you use for you play through? v.1.0 or v.1.1? I'm asking cause I fixed a couple of things, for eg the points of no return in 'Miragia'...
I see what you mean with that worldmap issue. Would you say that the Princess Lindsey hints are way too cryptic to understand what's going on there?
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Nisaba
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Re: Buried in Oblivion

Post by Nisaba »

Dear Community,

Buried in Oblivion v.1.2 is out now:
http://www.shikadi.net/wiki/files/Packs ... -10-10.zip

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Log:
  • reduced backtracking / better door placement
  • precaution to prevent a possible Bounder-Pole-Door-Glitch
  • bug fixes (dead end traps)
  • typo

have fun!

ps.:
on request I'm happy to fix mods from other members as well... just saying.
Last edited by Nisaba on Thu Oct 10, 2019 9:53, edited 1 time in total.
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banana
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Re: Buried in Oblivion

Post by banana »

Very nice package. I've played through it on Hard difficulty a couple of times and most of the levels are really well done, especially the pyramid levels and Chiropody. I also really like Palm Tree Oasis and the Mires of Peril. I do have some commentary though:
  • The first couple of levels are particularly scarce in ammo for Hard difficulty and you have to avoid shooting the majority of Poison Slugs and Licks to prevent running out of ammo. Ammo scarcity adds a lot to the difficulty of the earlier levels, while once you can reach Palm Tree Oasis the ammo scarcity is essentially gone since there is so much ammo in that level.
  • If you die in "Gallery of Fame" and choose to return to the overworld map, it doesn't appear to be possible to re-enter the level to try again later, because completing the underwater portion already adds the level-completed flag in the overworld.
  • Desert Town seems particularly easy for a level unlocked later on in the playthrough, I would personally recommend swapping it with the "First Ever Modded Level"
  • In the Pyramid of Maze, the vast majority of the level can be completely skipped without cheats. The pathway to the blue key, the entire portion underneath the starting area with the first yellow key and the blue gem-door, collecting and using the red key, the entire poison-tar basement portion, all of that can be skipped, and I'm not sure if that is intended. By jumping (or impossible pogo jump) immediately at the start of the level, you can reach the top section of the pyramid with the four Wormouths, you can jump off the entry door before falling if you pre-load the jumping action. Then once you reach the other side you can climb down the pole half-way and then jump off left into the secret area. By following the secret area you can end up very close to the end of the level. All you need to do from there is go up with the platform and finish the level normally by collecting the yellow and green keys, activating the platform near the red key, then close the floor near the green gem door, go through the door there, then go around and reach the end. I'm not a speed runner but I could do the entire level in a couple of tries in about 80 seconds on Hard difficulty.
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Nisaba
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Re: Buried in Oblivion

Post by Nisaba »

hey there banana & welcome to the forums
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I'm glad you enjoyed playing this levelpack. it was a whole lot of fun building it and I'm more than delighted to see that this little mod can grab some attention.
your constructive criticism is very welcome. feedback like this helps me a lot to improve my level-designing skills. I'm really thankful for every comment, especially in-depth feedback like yours.


here is a quick reply to your feedback:
  • True. The first couple of levels are indeed scarce in ammo for hard difficulty. The idea behind this is, that one has to economise with the amount of Neural Stunners available. This means for e.g. to avoid enemy contact, or to show some jumping skills et cetera. For a better balance throughout the game I'd love to limit the ammo for other levels on hard difficulty as well, but unfortunately this would have an impact onto the medium and easy level of difficulty as well.
  • The re-enter issue for the "Gallery of Fame" is a known issue. Unfortunately I haven't figured a suitable solution for that. To reduce the disadvantage I decided to make both levels optional, so one can still finish the game. But yea, it would be nice to have a fix for that.
  • I'm not quite sure what you mean by unlocking the "Desert Town". There is a secret level somewhere in that area, but it's not located in the desert, even though it might look like it has run dry...
    But I assume you are talking about the area behind the mountainous ridge in general. Those four levels are split on the one hand into two kinda challenging pyramids which get contrasted by two more easy going sections. But of course I get your point that you prefer to have an increase of difficulty throughout the game.
  • "Pyramid of Maze" jump-off-the-entry-door-before-falling: Oh, wow! I didn't knew that this was even possible. Even though it's kinda hard to reproduce this, it's still possible to skip nearly the whole level. Interesting find. Thanks for the hint. I might have to lower the entry door by one tile to fix this... need to check things.
    The second skip option on the other hand is indeed intended. If you find this secret passage it is possible to bypass the tar area entirely.
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banana
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Re: Buried in Oblivion

Post by banana »

I'd say lower the entry door all the way to the floor with the blue bridge to be safe, you can also impossible pogo jump off the entry door and you don't even need to grab the ledge if you do it that way on hard mode (but you do need to have a precise landing to avoid hitting the poison slug). Jumping off the entry door does need a little bit of timing but in my experience it's far easier than the bullet tricks from keen 6. What I'm saying is, you can get so much height with this trick a single tile isn't going to cut it.
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Nisaba
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Re: Buried in Oblivion

Post by Nisaba »

if you could, please post a video recording of this trick. I'm curious.
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banana
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Re: Buried in Oblivion

Post by banana »

Here's a video of the trick with the pogo jump, this is on Hard mode. You don't really even need timing for it, you can hold the jump, pogo, and right-direction buttons down from the moment the "Keen dares to enter the Pyramid of Maze" message pops up in the overworld map.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lzjck9v29h55r ... e.avi?dl=0
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Nisaba
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Re: Buried in Oblivion

Post by Nisaba »

banana wrote: Wed Sep 18, 2019 14:00 Here's a video of the trick with the pogo jump, this is on Hard mode. You don't really even need timing for it, you can hold the jump, pogo, and right-direction buttons down from the moment the "Keen dares to enter the Pyramid of Maze" message pops up in the overworld map.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lzjck9v29h55r ... e.avi?dl=1
mmmhhh... this is indeed a problem. thanks again for the hint.
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Syllypryde
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Re: Buried in Oblivion

Post by Syllypryde »

Nisaba wrote: Thu Sep 19, 2019 7:00 mmmhhh... this is indeed a problem. thanks again for the hint.
Yes, it is a problem. Once you go across the top, go down a pole, go through the secret passage that drops down to a corridor. Go down another pole, hit the switch, rising goplat takes you to the yellow and green gems. Hit a switch or two after that and you have an open path to the council member. I don't remember being able to do this in Gridlock's original version of this level. Maybe you still can.

Edit: Actually you can still jump from the beginning door up to the top. But in Gridlock's original design, he makes it nearly impossible to bypass sections of the level without cheating, so this "cheat" does nothing to allow you to complete the level without doing the intended solution.
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Nisaba
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Re: Buried in Oblivion

Post by Nisaba »

Syllypryde wrote: Thu Sep 26, 2019 21:47 ↑ [...]
thanks for the explanation, guys. I managed to rearrange this area a bit without losing too much of the spirit. by now the door-vs-pogo-trick not lead to a shortcut anymore. the fix will be included in the text update. did you come across something else noteworthy?
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Nisaba
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Re: Buried in Oblivion

Post by Nisaba »

Dear Community,

Buried in Oblivion v.1.3 is out now:
http://www.shikadi.net/wiki/files/Packs ... -10-10.zip

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Log:
  • rearranged the entry section of level 8 in order to prevent short-cutting a vast part of the level by using the door-vs-pogo-trick (still possible in easy-mode though, but that's intentionally)
  • adjusted worldmap environment graphics
  • fixed misplaced worldmap tiles, which caused glitches
  • fixed the Miragia-walk-on-water-bug
  • level 17 / 18 ("Gallery of Fame") can now be re-entered after dying
  • added a screen update code which fixes bugs like: jerky scrolling, sprites becoming invisible for one frame, sprites hidden behind foreground tiles becoming visible
Thanks to everybody for pointing out bugs, glitches, suggestions and feedback.

Special thanks goes out to K1n9_Duk3 for contributing a load of patches which allowed to address/fix most issues mentioned above.
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Tormentor667
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Re: Buried in Oblivion

Post by Tormentor667 »

Fun fact: it’s exactly one year later :)
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Roobar
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Re: Buried in Oblivion

Post by Roobar »

That screen update code fix is neat... I think this is so significant change that now this screen update code must be applied to all major galaxy mods.
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55Aavenue
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Re: Buried in Oblivion

Post by 55Aavenue »

This is a nice update, this pack feels a lot more polished now. Its cool you made this so that these levels didn't just get lost and...buried in oblivion. Also that screen update code is amazing and now I can't live without it.
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Nisaba
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Re: Buried in Oblivion

Post by Nisaba »

hey guys,
one year has passed and it is about time to go for another update.

Buried in Oblivion v.1.4 is out now:
http://www.shikadi.net/wiki/files/Packs ... -10-10.zip

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Log:
  • equipped the first level with the obligatory Life-Up secret. (How could I have overlook that all these years?)
  • fixed a couple of tile misplacements which might cause certain glitches. (Slowly but surely I should have detected all of them by now. Hopefully.)
  • readjusted areas where the Bounder could cause the so called Shelly Door Bug.
  • did a few minor level design updates plus a couple of graphic adjustments.
  • added an optional memory check code made by K1n9_Duk3.
Thanks again to everyone who pointed out out bugs, glitches, suggestions and feedback. And thanks to everyone who is still having fun with this levelpack and sending me warm and encouraging feedback. Feels good to know that I can sweeten a few minutes of leisure time with this mod.
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