Operation Station Infiltration

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Ceilick
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Operation Station Infiltration

Post by Ceilick »

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This will be a source mod in the style of a levelpack for Keen 5 and will be the sequel to Return to the Shadowlands.

Featuring:
A continuation of the story: Keen must infiltrate and disable the Shikadi's defensive station, the Omegamatrix.

All new levels: The world map will be similar to the Omegamatic, but with a twist. It will also feature a Bean-with-Bacon level, and a larger level count than Keen 5.

New graphics: Currently this will be primarily new platform sets, but I may include graphical recolors of backgrounds, some material from the Shikadi zones of Battle of the Brains, new fuse machines, and other misc additions. I've also included some material from Gridlock's Alphamatic, Nisaba's Keen 5 Deluxe, and 55Avenue's Armageddon App. I may tap into the resources of some other mods as well, but always with the intention of keeping it to a minimum so as to preserve the uniqueness of those other mods.

New Enemies: The current roster of new enemies I'd like to add includes: Big Ampton, Sparky Jr., Robo Blue, Robo Green, Battle of the Brain's Vlorg (with new behavior). I have ideas for a couple other robots and creatures, but I don't want to crowd out the original cast of enemies either.

Current Progress:
-2 additional platform sets added
-A lot of tile work
-Complete world map
-Complete BwB level
-Animations for Big Ampton, Sparky Jr., Robo Blue, Robo Green, and Vlorg.

I'm hoping to release this in September/October, but there are a few factors I can't yet account for.

If you've played Return to the Shadowlands, you have an idea of the kind of mod/levelpack I want this to be. With that in mind:

What worked or didn't work in Return to the Shadowlands that you want to see again or want to see improved? Things such as level size/design, creature additions, utilization of old graphics and/or creatures, story, maximum score, difficulty, warning signs, secrets, etc. How can I improve your experience?
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DarkAle
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by DarkAle »

I've already used the name Robo Green for a recoloured Robo Red in a mod called The Armageddon Continues, but since I didn't like it, you can use that name
Commander Keen in... Robot Apocalypse!
Episode 13: The Ultra Omegamatic viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6802
Episode 14: Secret of the Sorcerer viewtopic.php?t=13031
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proYorp
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by proYorp »

I think Commander Spleen's Mondochrome also had a RoboGreen if I'm not mistaken. I guess there's only so many variations one can make on Robo "Red". :crazy
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by Tormentor667 »

Any chance of some screenshots? :)
Ceilick
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by Ceilick »

Right now there isn't really much to show other than enemy designs, which I'm torn between spoiling or not.

Re Robo Green, mine will share the name of these others but will use an original design based on a modified robo red (similar to robo blue's difference to robo red). I think I shared the design on the forum years ago, but I'm not sure.

I would like to have one additional robo color so that I can have each model uniquely guarding each of the four defense halls and machines protecting the elevator shaft of the station. But, I don't have a color or settled behavior for this last robo. For reference, reach different colored robo is intended to behave slightly different from Robo Red and features a different weapon (new weapons so far are keen seeking missiles and a flame thrower).

I'm playing with the idea of a Robo Yellow, Robo Pink, Robo Fuchsia, or Robo Teal. Robo Yellow would be nice as another primary color, but it has the least interesting name to me.

Thoughts and ideas on the color and behavior are welcome.
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

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DarkAle
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by DarkAle »

Ceilick wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 13:16 I would like to have one additional robo color so that I can have each model uniquely guarding each of the four defense halls and machines protecting the elevator shaft of the station. But, I don't have a color or settled behavior for this last robo. For reference, reach different colored robo is intended to behave slightly different from Robo Red and features a different weapon (new weapons so far are keen seeking missiles and a flame thrower).

I'm playing with the idea of a Robo Yellow, Robo Pink, Robo Fuchsia, or Robo Teal. Robo Yellow would be nice as another primary color, but it has the least interesting name to me.

Thoughts and ideas on the color and behavior are welcome.
I like Robo Blue, Robo Teal and I'd like to propose Robo White
For Robo Blue: Since it's blue, make him shoot water beams
For Robo Teal: It can generate an electrical barrier where Keen is
For Robo White: As the clouds have a gaseous consistency, this robot can disappear from time to time and reappear after a few seconds (Ops... spoiler of Keen 14)

Hope these suggestions helped you :D

Edit: Since you asked about how to improve my experience, I would like an Omegamatic that is more different in design, like the one from Mink's Puzzle Pack
Commander Keen in... Robot Apocalypse!
Episode 13: The Ultra Omegamatic viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6802
Episode 14: Secret of the Sorcerer viewtopic.php?t=13031
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proYorp
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by proYorp »

Wow when I said there's only so many variations on Robo Red I wasn't expecting that you'd be using all of them haha.

Ceilick wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 13:16 Robo Yellow would be nice as another primary color, but it has the least interesting name to me.
Robo Gold?


...
Nisaba wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 16:22 [power rangers]
:lol
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by Gridlock »

I had an idea for a series of Robo type bosses in Voyage to Veota that would be a nod to RGBA in the color space. Robo Red, Robo Green, Robo Blue, and finally Robo Alpha. Robo Alpha would actually some kind invisibility/camouflage power. You could probably pull off something like this in the Keen engine with transparent colors and a careful choice of background. I don't know if it would make as much sense in the context of a Keen 5 mod, but you're free to use the idea if you want.

For Voyage to Veota, I had imagined either them being minibosses to test different playable characters (ex: Spot uses a special vision ability to see Robo Alpha), or maybe a "Robo RGB" gank boss battle where you have to fight all three variations at once.

I haven't had a chance to play Return to the Shadowlands, so I don't have any other suggestions yet. I'm definitely looking forward to it, though! I'm curious what mechanics, if any, you might borrow from The Alphamatic.
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Armageddon Begins Again. The Alphamatic has arrived.

Atroxian Realm: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3536
The Alphamatic: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4086
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by Soul Monster »

For the follow up mod, I would say keep doing what you did in Return To The Shadowlands, where you kept the look of Keen 4, but you added new
content, creatures, graphics etc. that tried to capture the look and feel of the classics. Like I said, the new creatures fit in nicely and retained the
style of the classic creatures, and the music perfectly replicated Bobby Prince's style and arrangements. I also liked the idea of resetting the score to a
previous state when the player dies. It makes points seem more valuable and makes it easier for players like me whose goal is to obtain everything in
the stage to better keep track of what's left to collect.

The warning signs were also a nice touch. I know there's other mods out there that do this as well (Mirror Menace comes to mind),
and it's a nice indicator for when you're given the option to enter certain parts of the stage, while also letting you know when to keep
your guard up or save.

The difficulty wasn't too bad either. I'll admit it is a little disorienting playing new stages without any walkthroughs (I generally stay away from those
anyway), so on a first try there can be a few beginners traps, but I found a lot of the more frustrating stages to be a lot easier on my second try.

I don't have much in the way of criticism, but if I had to give some, it would be that there were a couple stages that dragged on a little too long. I
noticed a lot of people in the RTTS thread mentioned a few specific stages where they had a problem with getting lost at times, so I would say keep
some bigger complex stages in the sequel, but try to incorporate something that keeps the player interested in getting to the end.

Overall, I would say just do what you did last time, where you tried to replicate id's style, but also make it our own. Just my 2 cents, but I hope you found this helpful.
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by Ceilick »

Robo Gang

Image

Thoughts? Yellow or Teal? Any ideas for how yellow/teal attacks?
DarkAle wrote:I would like an Omegamatic that is more different in design, like the one from Mink's Puzzle Pack
The world map is already done...and it's on the simple side like the Omegamatic, which I'm pretty happy with, sorry! lol
Soul Monster wrote:I noticed a lot of people in the RTTS thread mentioned a few specific stages where they had a problem with getting lost at times, so I would say keepsome bigger complex stages in the sequel, but try to incorporate something that keeps the player interested in getting to the end.
After reading some folks' thoughts in the Discord, I think I'm going to challenge myself with more linear level design while also seeking ways to make it engaging and nuanced. This already makes sense in terms of defense tunnels, a staple of Keen 5, but I'm also going to try to emulate some of Keen 5's smaller rooms and smaller areas of exploration while on a single path. No more multiple paths to the same area or big path breaks, huge open areas, and mandatory backtracking. That'll be my philosophy starting out, anyway, and we'll see how it develops.
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by DarkAle »

Ceilick wrote: Sat Jul 03, 2021 1:58 Robo Gang

Image

Thoughts? Yellow or Teal? Any ideas for how yellow/teal attacks?
I really like Robo Yellow / Robo Teal, I like Robo Green and I quite like Robo Blue. Two of them (yellow and teal) remind me of The Alphamatic :lol

I prefer Robo Yellow. About the behavior: it can pause from time to time, like Robo Red, and generate two rays that extend up to the walls for 5 seconds. So Keen will have to duck to dodge them
Commander Keen in... Robot Apocalypse!
Episode 13: The Ultra Omegamatic viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6802
Episode 14: Secret of the Sorcerer viewtopic.php?t=13031
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by Nisaba »

Ceilick wrote: Sat Jul 03, 2021 1:58 Robo Gang

Image

Thoughts? Yellow or Teal? Any ideas for how yellow/teal attacks?
We definitely need a strong recoil impulse to make the yellow/teal robos move their position. I imagine them to be stationary and only the blowback will make them move. Could be an interesting mechanic to build a level around...
EDIT: and don't forget to make them narrow their eyes to a slit while they fire a salvo at Keen
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by DoomJedi »

Cool robot edits, great work!
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Re: Operation Station Infiltration

Post by Soul Monster »

Ceilick wrote: Sat Jul 03, 2021 1:58 Robo Gang

Image

Thoughts? Yellow or Teal? Any ideas for how yellow/teal attacks?
I like the idea of Robo Yellow more, just to keep it to the primary colors. I'm trying to think of a method of attack, and I might have an idea.
Not sure if you know from the Godzilla films, but there's this monster called MOGUERA from the series that has an attack called the Plasma Laser Cannons that it fires from its eyes, and I picture Robo Yellow firing something similar, and in the same method of firing in bursts of 3 shots at a time.
Here's a link to MOGUERA's bio on Wikizilla, which has a gif of it firing its eye lasers:
https://wikizilla.org/wiki/MOGUERA

Also, Robo Green's eyes kind of remind me of Gigan's visor:
https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Gigan
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