The Crazy Komet

[Nisaba]

you're welcome.
please make sure to edit your previous post and replace the old with the new download link.

at first glance I gotta say, this demo looks really awesome! splendid work so far. noticed a couple of bugs, which is no big deal at the state of this mod. but boy, those graphics! astonishing. really beautiful, with so much character! hopefully I can find some time by the end of this week to dive even deeper into this Crazy Komet. more feedback will follow...

[Awesome-Keener]

please make sure to edit your previous post and replace the old with the new download link.

Did, and done.

[K1n9_Duk3]

#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Customized Screen Update Code For KEEN4 v1.4 (EGA)
# Copyright (c) 2019 K1n9_Duk3
#
# This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied warranty. In
# no event will the authors be held liable for any damages arising from the use
# of this software.
#
# Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any purpose, including
# commercial applications, and to alter it and redistribute it freely, subject to
# the following restrictions:
#
# 1. The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must not claim
# that you wrote the original software. If you use this software in a product,
# an acknowledgment in the product documentation would be appreciated but is
# not required.
#
# 2. Altered source versions must be plainly marked as such, and must not be
# misrepresented as being the original software.
#
# 3. This notice may not be removed or altered from any source distribution.
#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Awesome-Keener]

Ok. Sorry. My bad.

I accidentally gave Nisaba the wrong folder, I meant to give Nisaba the demo folder that I had been working on for a couple of days.
Instead I accidentally gave Nisaba the folder I had been working on previously, and not the demo folder.

In the demo version I had fixed many bugs and mistakes that were in the real version I am working on,
Including adding the rest of the copyright stuff in the code made by K1n9_Duk3,
I did not mean to imply that I had made the code myself.
And I am greatly sorry for that, please forgive me I'm still getting used to all of this.

[Awesome-Keener]

Ok the download links have been updated and now contain the correct demo of the Crazy Komet,
and not the unedited and full of small bugs real version.

[Nisaba]

Ok the download links have been updated and now contain the correct demo of the Crazy Komet,
and not the unedited and full of small bugs real version.

just grab a copy of the updated version and let the fun begin: The Crazy Komet v.0.2

[K1n9_Duk3]

I forgive you and I thank you for putting the notice back into your patch file.

I can't predict which sources other modders may use for their projects. So when somebody looks at your patch file and just sees the code without the notice, things get complicated.

I had written another set of patches for the screen update code before this one. The entire point of those previous patches was to make Keen 4-6 more playable on some DOS PCs that suffered extremely choppy scrolling when using the orignal (unmodified) executables. I later found out that somebody had taken that fix (which was never supposed to be used in DOSBox) and included it in one of his/her mods - not as an option for people who want to play on one of the systems the patch was created for, but as the default scrolling code - even though it was painfully obvious that the code didn't fix anything while playing in DOSBox (it actually made things worse).

[Awesome-Keener]

but as the default scrolling code - even though it was painfully obvious that the code didn't fix anything while playing in DOSBox (it actually made things worse).

So are you saying that it would run better without the code in the patch file?

[K1n9_Duk3]

So are you saying that it would run better without the code in the patch file?

The patch you're using in your mod and the "previous" patch I was referring to above, are two completely different patches.

The patch you're currently using is the best solution for playing your mod (or any Keen 4-6 mod) in DOSBox. If you remove the patch, you will get nasty graphical glitches every once in a while.

[K1n9_Duk3]

I've played the first couple of levels now. Some of the things that bothered me:

• There are some clipping errors in the secret that leads to the 3UP in level 1. If you jump to the left after climbing the up the first pole, parts of Keen's sprite become visible the further you go to the left. If you jump, Keen ends up on the other side of the slope.
• The jump that you have to make in that secret might be a little too tricky. I know: it's a secret. But the way it is right now, I believe there is no way that anybody will be able to reach the 3UP without opening the level in a level viewer/editor that can display tile properties (i.e. the collision grid).
• The sprite that floats up after touching a 3UP is blocked by the blocking tiles in the level (can be observed in level 1). The 3UP object should be spawned in noclip mode to avoid this.
• Creatures that need to be shot multiple times to stun/kill them should flash white after every hit, like in Keen 5-6, or provide some other kind of feedback to indicate that the shot did indeed cause some damage. I think that makes it easier to figure out which enemy types are totally immortal and which ones just need to be hit multiple times. Keen 4 didn't have such enemies, but the code for drawing the shape of the sprite in white does exist in Keen 4's code. The second to last parameter in the RF_PlaceSprite call must be a 1 instead of a 0 to use this drawing method. If you need some help with this, let me know.

[Awesome-Keener]

There are some clipping errors in the secret that leads to the 3UP in level 1. If you jump to the left after climbing the up the first pole, parts of Keen's sprite become visible the further you go to the left. If you jump, Keen ends up on the other side of the slope.

Fixed.

The jump that you have to make in that secret might be a little too tricky. I know: it's a secret. But the way it is right now, I believe there is no way that anybody will be able to reach the 3UP without opening the level in a level viewer/editor that can display tile properties (i.e. the collision grid).

Fixed.

The sprite that floats up after touching a 3UP is blocked by the blocking tiles in the level (can be observed in level 1). The 3UP object should be spawned in noclip mode to avoid this.

Don't know how to fix.

Creatures that need to be shot multiple times to stun/kill them should flash white after every hit, like in Keen 5-6, or provide some other kind of feedback to indicate that the shot did indeed cause some damage. I think that makes it easier to figure out which enemy types are totally immortal and which ones just need to be hit multiple times. Keen 4 didn't have such enemies, but the code for drawing the shape of the sprite in white does exist in Keen 4's code. The second to last parameter in the RF_PlaceSprite call must be a 1 instead of a 0 to use this drawing method. If you need some help with this, let me know.

Don't know how to fix.

[K1n9_Duk3]

Don't know how to fix.

Well, in that case the obvious follow-up questions are: "Do you want to fix that?" and "Do you want me to help you fix that?"

I'm guessing from the context that you didn't write your patches all by yourself. So you probably can't explain what each patch does beyond what's already explained in the comments in the patch file. So it would be nice if you could tell me which enemies need to be hit multiple times to be killed and therefore need to flash white after being damaged. And I would also like to know in which user variable they store their health and which user variables (if any) are still unused.

Also, I noticed that the KEEN4E.EXE that comes with your mod is not the original KEEN4E.EXE. The file that comes with your mod has a different EGADICT in it, without which your mod won't work. I'm not sure if this is intentional or if that's just an accident that happened during this mod's development.

I always thought that the entire point of using CKPATCH and patch scripts was that the mod didn't need to be distributed with a modified executable. This is a violation of the terms and conditions for redistributing the shareware version (see VENDOR.DOC that comes with the shareware download of Keen 4). But then again, almost every mod of Keen 4 is a violation of those terms, since the graphics and/or level files are not the original ones. I'm not sure by which "rules" this community operates when it comes to stuff like this.

[Awesome-Keener]

Well, in that case the obvious follow-up questions are: "Do you want to fix that?" and "Do you want me to help you fix that?"

I guess if you want to you can try and fix the 3UP Sprite problem.



As for this.

So it would be nice if you could tell me which enemies need to be hit multiple times to be killed and therefore need to flash white after being damaged. And I would also like to know in which user variable they store their health and which user variables (if any) are still unused.

This just looks like to much trouble, so I think I'll just leave it like it is for now.

Also, I noticed that the KEEN4E.EXE that comes with your mod is not the original KEEN4E.EXE. The file that comes with your mod has a different EGADICT in it, without which your mod won't work. I'm not sure if this is intentional or if that's just an accident that happened during this mod's development.

I always thought that the entire point of using CKPATCH and patch scripts was that the mod didn't need to be distributed with a modified executable. This is a violation of the terms and conditions for redistributing the shareware version (see VENDOR.DOC that comes with the shareware download of Keen 4). But then again, almost every mod of Keen 4 is a violation of those terms, since the graphics and/or level files are not the original ones. I'm not sure by which "rules" this community operates when it comes to stuff like this.

Is this something I need to worry about?

[K1n9_Duk3]

Is this something I need to worry about?

I'm not a lawyer, so I can't say much about the legal stuff.

The modified executable itself is a minor issue that should at least be mentioned somewhere. If somebody tries to replace the KEEN4E.EXE that comes with your mod with the original one (to save disk space or whatever), then your mod will stop working. Or if somebody tries to copy your KEEN4E.EXE into another mod (because that mod didn't come with the executable file), then that mod is most likely not going to work either, due to the modified EGADICT and possibly other changes in your executable.

Shameless plug:
If you're going to distribute the mod with a modified executable anyway, you might as well stop using CKPATCH and use my patching utility instead. This parses the patch file and creates a fully patched executable that can be run directly without having to use CKPATCH.

The benefit of using fully patched executables is that you don't need to load the CKPATCH program into memory anymore, so you'll have about 20k more memory available for your mod.

The downside is that my patching utility doesn't handle some of the game-specific commands. That means the %maphead and %egahead commands (in general: everything except %patch and %patchfile) must be replaced with plain %patchfile commands with the correct offsets. For Keen 4 v1.4, that would be something like this:

Code: Select all

%exefile KEEN4E.EXE 251712

%patchfile $21080 egahead.ck4
%patchfile $24830 maphead.ck4

#... all the other patches ...

%end

This should be all you need for your mod. Your patch script already uses %patchfile for AUDIOHED.CK4 and AUDIODCT.CK4 and the %gamemaps command is pretty much useless in your mod, since the gamemaps file name is still GAMEMAPS.CK4.

Save the fully patched executable as KOMET.EXE to avoid confusion and you're ready to go.

[Syllypryde]

I have played all the available levels, even the levels not included in the demo, via the F10-W cheat. I will start with the levels included in the demo. Here are a few observations:

Your BWB, Rocky Road, Mountain, and your Lifewater Oasis replacement levels work just fine. A polite suggestion would be to come up with less generic names for the levels. In the end, that is your decision.

Struct1 is unsolvable for two reasons. First of all, the G-switch that is supposed to drop the spikes does, but the very tips of the spikes are still in the foreground, despite the spikes dropping into the ground. This makes it impossible to flip the E-switch without dying. Secondly, when you pass the green gem door and go into the black shaft, there is no escape or ending to the level. There is a modified Lick at the top. I noticed him in several levels. I assume this is supposed to be your future Council Members modifications? I did happen to run into insufficient memory in a few levels, which means the music does not play.

Now for the other levels:
Your Perilous Pit replacement level works just fine. The Cave of the Descendants replacement level is unsolvable. Flipping the E-switch is supposed to drop the spikes in order to get the green gem. Again, the spikes stay up making it impossible to get the green gem without dying. Your Hillville replacement level is unsolvable because once you get to the modified Lick section, just like Struct1 there is no way to end the level. I also have to point out that this level is very difficult ("good luck" written SGA kind of gave that away). When I say difficult I mean Keenrush and Fleexy difficult! Your Sand Yego replacement level works for the most part. There is a horizontal goplat that moves left taking you to a dropping goplat with a switch above it. This section does not work right and means certain death for Keen. However, this switch activates a vertical goplat that goes to the 3up. This switch is optional and does not affect the solvability of the level, but still, I would assume this is an issue you will want to fix in the future.

I do not really intend to mention the rest of the levels because they are clearly incomplete and you are obviously still working on them. But I do have concerns about your Dopefish replacement. Just to be very honest, I do not like it AT ALL! The significant increase in his speed, follows Keen literally everywhere because he can pass right through walls, this will make your replacement level here too difficult and maybe next to impossible. I think this enemy needs some tweaks.

This is a beta of course, so you are obviously still working on it, and for the most part I really enjoyed most of the levels so far. The new graphics and music is all good, especially when the music sounds evil. I like most of your enemy replacements too. They are similar enough to the originals that we know what they are replacing, but slightly different enough to make them somewhat unique.

I am looking forward to playing this full mod when you finish it. I have to say this is all amazing work for your first mod. Keep up the good work!