Dead in the Desert Community Levelpack

Here is where to post about the latest Commander Keen fangame or modification you've finished, a new website you've made, or another Keen-related creation.
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Paramultart
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Post by Paramultart »

Say what you want. My serious attempts at level design will BLOW YOU AWAY!

MY LEVELS WILL BLOW....


... YOU AWAAAAAAAYYYY
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GARGapplesauce
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Post by GARGapplesauce »

Aquatic Ruins is certainly not mine. Its way too good for me to have made it XD
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NY00123
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Post by NY00123 »

Alright, I think that I can now write something, after completing the pack (an initial revision of it, if one wonders).

Good job to anybody involved in some way! Nice to see all levels constructed independently of each other (or at least in small independent groups), available under a single pack!

* SPOILERS WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILERS ARE EXPECTED! *

I've liked the few tiny things that, lets say, may seem unusual or so; Some examples: (Apologizes if I've missed any!)
- Switches and Btiches: From the little additional patch actually letting one have a goplat following a path in Keen 8 (Hint: Lemm is probably responsible for the patch... and the level?), to the bridges+goplats puzzle; And finally, the "hidden corridor" section! As already mentioned, a similar thing has already been seen in Shikadi's "Rapid Level Pack" for Keen 6. As done over there as well, I've simply done what seems to work and...sorta be alright: Use game saving :). However, I've possibly realized just now what Syllypryde seems to have figured out: The hidden area is a structural clone of the other ("non-hidden") one! I must say, this is a truly brilliant idea.
- Aquatic Ruins: It's clear that different kinds of environments (tiles) are used altogether. One unique thing is the little trap at some point :) The bridge, of course. Well, actually, if you mistakenly activate the bridge, there is still a chance to get to the top of it, taking advantage of a little glitch with the vertically moving goplat. (Has it been done intentionally...?) Keen would still be trapped, though.
- Stalagburn Caverns: The long bridge and the red gem, of course! Also, good use of the sloped floor in a hidden path (not secret, although Keen can't been seen while walking on it). And then there's the "one way" switch with the bridge right below it; Not indefinitely "one way", though...
- ***SPOILER WARNING - SECRET LEVEL COMING!*** Spikard Tank: A level truly unique in its design. Playing on hard, it does have what I see to be a quite tough section - but hey, it's a secret level after all! There aren't many kinds of hazardous creatures/robots - probably done on purpose. The level has got a quiet/deep atmosphere. It's also a proof that music can be used differently than in the original Keen 8! (As, within Keen 8, the track is used in mountain-themed levels only.)
- The Volcano: I like the way the background is used on the bottom of the level. I've been sure that the "factory" music track (as used in an earlier revision of the level pack) is not a mistake at all.
- Impossible Palace: Well, that's clearly not an easy one. From the Hydro Cannons, to the Retractable Stalagmites and the Spikards, and up to the final area with the lava. It does have a little shortcut, though :)
- Hydro Pumping Station: Is it just me, or that level is the savior of the Loquax? (And no, I'm not referring to the Imposter Commander Keen.) Oh and another bridge-related trap :)
- The Boring Desert: Hey, it's a desert after all! It has got a bit uncommon use of decoration as told before. As a quite uncommon thing (at least within the Keeniverse), it makes sense that ones think it's some kind of a secret path.
- Warm Sands: All silent. Possibly abandoned, but there are a few nice bonuses if you're looking for these...
- Farts: Why am I not surprised when I read that Paramultart is behind this level :) You can see the tiles are mixed in purposed(?) unfitting ways; Somewhere Keen wan walk on the bottom while somewhere else Keen would die as a result... And then, there are topmost platforms, leading to the nice bonuses of... a couple of 100 points items?
- Hydro Battle: I like the (proper) way it begins! I consider that a unique thing. The behavior can probably become permanent with a simple patch.
- Love Shack: Someone surely "loves"...to confuse Keen :) The exit is no exception to that...

Apart from these, I also like to see how, given the limitations of the Keen 8 tileset, ones could still merge different environments in a proper way. World Between Worlds is a clear example of that. So is Warm Sands with the foreground tiles. Don't get me wrong, though. It's nice to see the other levels merging different environments, too!

Again, apologizes if I haven't mentioned others things or levels!

Truly, the original release has had some glitches, but it's still better to have it than never :)

******
Just a few technical notes, regarding things mentioned by vbb and Gridlock:
- Currently just for Keen4: I've seen a patch, used to modify which levels can be entered more than once. Guess a similar patch can be done for Keen6. Reference: http://www.shikadi.net/keenwiki/Patch:B ... Megarocket
- Regarding the demo playback and the high scores table, it can simply be relocated to a new map slot, numbered 19. Now just re-record a demo and it wouldn't mess with any of the submitted levels.
- When it comes to level names: This is a bit more tricky, but, if one makes one level's name shorter, it should theoretically be possible to make a different level's name longer. While Keen 4 only at the moment, look for "Level Name Pointer Lists" on: http://www.shikadi.net/keenwiki/Patch:Levels
In fact, even if one is out of room for level names, there might still be some unused space (with unused text?) that can be taken advantage of, for a level name and other kinds of texts.

And, again, the Imposter Commander Keen can probably be patched so it always rushes to the right after a level is loaded.

Thanks to anybody who's made this pack possible!
NY
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Eros
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Post by Eros »

if the room where the ICK is shorter on the left side, he will have to run to the right, i think.

also, why does keen always jump into whatever hazard is there in the demos? :confused
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Post by TerminILL »

I don't think anyone bothered recording new demos. As such, Keen acts as he would in the original levels, which brings him to a swift death.
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GARGapplesauce
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Post by GARGapplesauce »

@Syllypryde I only wish I could have designed a level as intricate as scorch valley when this was made. (My level was really rather bland).
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Syllypryde
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Post by Syllypryde »

GARGapplesauce wrote:@Syllypryde I only wish I could have designed a level as intricate as scorch valley when this was made. (My level was really rather bland).
I know for sure that Gridlock did Stalagburn Caverns, Spikard Tank, The Volcano, and Hydro Battle, Fleexy did Impossible Palace, Mr_M did Hydro Pumping Station, Paramultart did Farts, and VikingBoyBilly did World Between Worlds and Love Shack. Everything else is a guess.

Edit: New guesses

Switches and Btiches- Keenfan
Aquatic Ruins- Ceilick
Scorch Valley- Lemm
Stalagburn Caverns- Gridlock
Cacti Caverns- GARGapplesauce
Sandipstick- Tulip
Spikard Tank- Gridlock
Pit of Shanking- Kuliwil
The Volcano- Gridlock
Fusion Chambers- Neek
World Between Worlds- VikingBoyBilly
Impossible Palace- Fleexy
Hydro Pumping Station- Mr_M
Boring Desert- Neek
Warm Sands- Mink
Farts- Paramultart
Hydro Battle- Gridlock
Love Shack- VikingBoyBilly
World Map- Mink
.niarb ym fo
snoitulovnoc eht tuaba
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rehgih a ekil smees
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Grimson
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Post by Grimson »

"Is this a joke?"

That was my first thought when I played one of the first levels on the worldmap. I don't know who made it, but it had wrong use/lack of tiles everywhere. Walls and floors were too thin, and lacked the proper edges. Also, sand tiles on top of the giant cacti? What is this?

As I continued further, I realized that to my horror, this level wasn't an exception. Most had poor level design and/or execution, some had complete lack of points/enemies (Para's was an obvious joke). Standard K8 levels are superior when compared to these. Were these left incomplete or what?
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kuliwil
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Post by kuliwil »

I thought that most of the levels were really well done!

Bear in mind that this was the first time some of us (at least me - I'm sure there are others) had ever made a Keen Galaxy level.
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TerminILL
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Post by TerminILL »

The point of a community level pack is that it's made by, well, the community. And we don't restrict "the community" to "the level designers within the community". Anyone can/could send in a level, and they were included without extra polish applied. Personally, I never found too many glaring issues in what I've played of it.
Even if they're not perfect, people put hard work into these (except maybe Paramultart, and even then an entirely special kind of hard work may have been put in).
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Scarlet
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Post by Scarlet »

I found which level is VBB's. It has his name on it, hehe, in water drops.
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kuliwil
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Post by kuliwil »

TerminILL wrote:...and even then an entirely special kind of hard work may have been put in).
I was thinking the exact same thing.
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Mink
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Post by Mink »

Oh hey marginally speaking of which:

Ceilick: scorch valley
Fleexy: impossible palace
GARGapplesauce: cacti caverns
Gridlock: stalagburn caverns, spikard tank, the volcano, hydro battle
Keenfan: aquatic ruins
Kuliwil: fusion chambers
lemm: switches and btiches
me: world map, warm sands
_mr_m_: hydro pumping station
Neek: sandipstick, pit of shanking
Paramultart: farts
Tulip: boring desert
VBB: world between worlds, the love shack

So the sheer size of this list is, like, incredible, especially compared to the paltry turnouts for the Xkykeen2/Xkykeen1/Legokeen packs of yore, I'm going to assume just going by my memories of said packs since I'm way, way too lazy to dig up those old threads and actually check.
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Keenfan
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Post by Keenfan »

Mink got mine right. :-)
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VikingBoyBilly
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Post by VikingBoyBilly »

Keenfan wrote:Mink got mine right. :-)
Of course he did. Mink and Gridlock are the ones you PM'd your map to. :p
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