Mink's Puzzle Pack

[Mink]

After one and a half years, I've finally finished "Mink's Puzzle Pack!"

Just what is it you ask? It's a level pack for Keen 5 with a substantial alteration to gameplay: Keen can now shoot out clones instead of neural zaps, which makes for some nice puzzle opportunities.

I'd especially like to thank the Ceilick, Levellass, Tulip, Commander Spleen and Mr. M for their help.

(And for those of you observant enough to notice that Mr. M is credited as composer in the help screen: he's got some songs planned, but I haven't heard from him about them in months. So think of this as sort of a pre-release, if you will - once he's finished I'll release a new version with his songs. As it is, I haven't done any work on the mod itself in over half a month and figured it would be better to release now than have it sit on my hard drive for who knows how long.)

Edit: Mr. M has sent me the songs, and they are now found in the game. Download release 2 to hear them.

Download: http://aninjaisyou.co.cc/stuff/MinkPuzzlePackr2.zip - new release (Thanks for hosting it, Draik.)
http://aninjaisyou.co.cc/stuff/MinkPuzzlePack.zip - initial release

Screenshots:






Have fun, report any bugs and please let me know what you think!

[TerminILL]

http://aninjaisyou.co.cc/stuff/MinkPuzzlePack.zip

EDIT: Playing. Nifty gameplay mechanic, short & sweet levels, annoying map enemies . Pretty good.

And now, clipping error. Only minor, but still.

[KeenRush]

My garg... I don't use the word much but this thing is just fabulous! Keen modders seem to raise the bar constantly, this is one of the best things I've seen done in Keen. How many levels are there? I'm sure I've already gone through 16! (Edit: Seems there aren't, I'm just crazy.) How did you come up with this? What a great thing to start the year with.

I've died a few times running into danger because I've confused the real Keen with a clone.

[Commander Spleen]

It lives at last! As KeenRush says, it really is an amazing and novel concept.

[lemm]

This is neat!

[Syllypryde]

What program did you guys use to unzip the program? I have used three different programs, Winzip, WinRar and Universal Extractor to extract the Zip file and neither will work.

Edit: I have the game unzipped now. I get to the title screen, but when I try to load the control panel in order to play the game, I get an "out of memory" error.

[shikadi]

Thumbs up (nothing better to say except i that i dind't found any spherefull or spirogribs)

[NY00123]

Just decided to check it out a little. I've used DOSBox v0.73 and the game seems to work there.
I haven't checked it so much, but I do like how can shots be used. Can sometimes be confusing
Also, the 'little' things in the world map...won't mention here but it's a neat thing!
For ppl who've got memory issues while not using DOSBox, try this if your hardware has sufficient power.

[szemi]

Very cool. Keen shoots clones. Excellent!

[VikingBoyBilly]

This is cool and pretty addicting. If it weren't for the notes on the walls I wouldn't have figured out how to make the clones jump, and I was like "Woah cool!" when I did it, but I think that's bad news for people who can't read SGA.

How do you get into the door up there? Does it lead to a secret level or is it fairly insignificant?

[Syllypryde]

Just decided to check it out a little. I've used DOSBox v0.73 and the game seems to work there.
I haven't checked it so much, but I do like how can shots be used. Can sometimes be confusing
Also, the 'little' things in the world map...won't mention here but it's a neat thing!
For ppl who've got memory issues while not using DOSBox, try this if your hardware has sufficient power.

I have DOSBox v0.72, so upgrading to v0.73 will probably solve the problem.

Edit: No, I did not solve the problem. I am still getting the "out of memory" error with DOSBox v0.73.

[_mr_m_]

Just decided to check it out a little. I've used DOSBox v0.73 and the game seems to work there.
I haven't checked it so much, but I do like how can shots be used. Can sometimes be confusing
Also, the 'little' things in the world map...won't mention here but it's a neat thing!
For ppl who've got memory issues while not using DOSBox, try this if your hardware has sufficient power.

I have DOSBox v0.72, so upgrading to v0.73 will probably solve the problem.

Edit: No, I did not solve the problem. I am still getting the "out of memory" error with DOSBox v0.73.

It works for me on DOSBox 0.73. And that's with an edited DOSBox.conf file (DOSBox configuration file).

I quite enjoyed it, Mink! It seems that the first few levels are really easy -- kind of like training levels.

PS - I played the songs I've made alongside the game and they all seem to work quite well. PM me and I'll e-mail them to you with haste.

[Mink]

And now, clipping error. Only minor, but still.

This is actually a side effect of the blocking door on the map being removed when you complete the level. You can actually see this happen in the original Keen 5, specifically after finishing Defense Tunnels Vlook and Sorra.

My garg... Eek! Garg Drool I don't use the word much but this thing is just fabulous! Keen modders seem to raise the bar constantly, this is one of the best things I've seen done in Keen. How many levels are there? I'm sure I've already gone through 16! Crazy (Edit: Seems there aren't, I'm just crazy.) How did you come up with this? What a great thing to start the year with.

Wow, thanks for the praise, and from a Modding Master, too! There are twelve regular levels plus the secret one and the world map. And as for coming up with this, I can't lay claim to that (though I'd love to ); it was actually inspired by a Keen 4 patch Levellass posted on Keen:Modding some number of years ago (three, maybe?). I thought it was great but decided to make the pack in Keen 5 because I preferred the graphics and enemies. Plus, I figured a more technological setting would be a better fit.

Thumbs up (nothing better to say except i that i dind't found any spherefull or spirogribs)

Indeed, I couldn't think up enough good puzzles to use them in. Other enemies that weren't used in their original form: shockshund and volte-face. The latter became the Shikadi Sentry on the map, and shockshunds were extensively modified into the Clone-O-Zappers.

This is cool and pretty addicting. If it weren't for the notes on the walls I wouldn't have figured out how to make the clones jump, and I was like "Woah cool!" when I did it, but I think that's bad news for people who can't read SGA.

How do you get into the door up there? Does it lead to a secret level or is it fairly insignificant?

Wow, you can actually read SGA? And to think I just look at my translation printout (pretty sure most other people do this, too). As for the pic, all I'll say is that there are some SGA hints in a couple of the earlier levels and that it's not an insignificant secret.

What program did you guys use to unzip the program? I have used three different programs, Winzip, WinRar and Universal Extractor to extract the Zip file and neither will work.

That's very odd...did you try unzipping it with the default Windows (you run Windows, right?) extractor (i.e. right click folder, select extract all)? I zipped it with 7zip and haven't had any trouble unzipping. What program finally did the trick?

I have DOSBox v0.72, so upgrading to v0.73 will probably solve the problem.
Edit: No, I did not solve the problem. I am still getting the "out of memory" error with DOSBox v0.73.

Well, I've been using 0.72 the entire time, and it works fine for me. How are you setting up the mod? You should just have to run puzzle.bat with DOSBox and you're set. The problem might lie with your hardware, as others don't seem to be having any trouble, and if so, the only advice I can give you is to look in the DOSBox readme; there's a section about running memory-intensive programs.

I quite enjoyed it, Mink! It seems that the first few levels are really easy -- kind of like training levels.

Thanks, that was the plan; let the player experiment, learn the moves in the early, shorter levels and then string multiple puzzles together for the more challenging later levels.

PS - I played the songs I've made alongside the game and they all seem to work quite well. PM me and I'll e-mail them to you with haste.

Woot, thanks! You're in for a real treat, everyone! I'm adding the songs now and will release the new version in a little while.

[Ceilick]

This is one awesome mod and glad to see it finally released! You've heard most of my praise from beta-testing, but really can't stress enough what a great job you did re-inventing the gameplay: aside from the new puzzles, situations that might be 'standard' in normal gameplay take on a completely different perspective with the way the stunner works and the keen 5 atmosphere fits that well.

Plan to play again soon (how much you want to bet I'll fall for the false green gem holder AGAIN )

[Mink]

I've now added the music, here's the link: http://aninjaisyou.co.cc/stuff/MinkPuzzlePackr2.zip (the songs themselves are also included as midis). Mr. M really went out of his way to make some fantastic tunes; back in August, he said he'd do two or three songs, and he's actually done seven (!) - 5 new and 2 remixes (of non-Keen songs).

Music list:
Misirkeen (by Mr. M): world map
Cool Hand Keen (by Mr. M): Static Confinement, Dynamic Hull Fluctuator
Killer Keen (Killer Joe by Benny Golson, arr. Mr. M): Mechanic Bay Xy, Mechanic Bay Vexim
Keen Cruncher (by Mr. M): Double Toggle, Inertial Amplification Lift
Keen Island (Cantaloupe Island by Herbie Hancock, arr. Mr. M): Structural Supply Deck, Ignition Field Center
Shikadi Rock (by Mr. M): Photon Jump Chamber, Security Hall Ohm, Security Hall Volt
Multiplier (by Mr. M): Secret level

There's also a "new" song in the final level, but I won't mention the name now so as not to spoil the surprise.