Sign of the Vool

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Ceilick
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Post by Ceilick »

Is that because he wants to work on the code for it?
You got it. Lots of enemies from scratch and other exciting things.

I'd love to do a demo but right now getting one together would be about as much work as anything else for me. And in addition, some demo content, likely the level design, would probably be a mockup and not included in the final product.

AR's release and your guys' enthusiasm does have me eager to get started again. Going to make a concerted effort to get the ball rolling again at least by keen day. :)
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Nisaba
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Post by Nisaba »

Ceilick wrote:AR's release and your guys' enthusiasm does have me eager to get started again. Going to make a concerted effort to get the ball rolling again at least by keen day.
sweet!!!
so what's the state of development, does things evolve? I'm still pretty excited and my enthusiasm is unbowed! can you announce a smidgen of progress?

shikadi.net/keenwiki/Sign_of_the_Vool
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Ceilick
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Post by Ceilick »

Haha jokes on me, I've done nothing :| :( I really don't know when I'll have time get back to it either. I really want to, but I also want to be able to work on it more than once or twice a month, which is all I could manage right now.

Indefinite hiatus sadly, but I'll update soon as I get it rolling again.
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Post by Nisaba »

oh, that's too sad...

I know that this mod is more like a personal thing to you (in opposite to the 7-9 series). but is there a slightly possibility to outsource on thing or another to some of those excellent and creative people around here?
let's say doing a contest on a random level design with that level building aid (Galaxer1) KeenRush has just uploaded. collecting some of those black shaped level terrains could generate an idea or reference for a level design for example.

... or creature animation or something else (just some random thoughts) ...
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Ceilick
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Post by Ceilick »

If I decide I will never be able to get it done, I will either post what was completed or place it in someone's capable hands.
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Nisaba
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Post by Nisaba »

I hope I do got this wrong and you are not about to give everything up. you aren't, are you?
if you haven't got the space and time for diving into things again, then delegate tasks and assignments in a directing kind of manner to someone competent. as being author or rather director you can make sure that your handwriting will be present even through others push and further things by dint of their own aptitude.
I assume Lemm and Levellass are already on board, aren't they? and you worked with a bunch of people on TUIT, so I think you know best whom to consign graphics, level design or what ever is needed.
It would be a real pity if things would get lost/droped off, 'cause this thread is a pure eye candy!
amen
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Post by Benvolio »

Gosh, this is one of my and most people's most anticipated Keen projects. I do hope you can finish it, or, failing that, can find some hands in which to leave the project, that are both capable and, crucially, not as busy with other aspects of life as you are. I hope that the advances in the Galaxy modding toolkit in recent years might smooth your work on this long-standing project, that you might be able to make a spurt of productivity on it and finish it.
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Post by Ceilick »

Negative, I'm not giving up, I just don't have time right now. I hope that will change this year, but it may not, in which case hopefully next year :p

And unfortunately I feel like I'd have to do a considerable write-up to even direct someone else. Lemm's asked me a few times for some tasks and I've just been unable to deliver.
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Post by Levellass »

I hear ya, I hear ya. So many things also on indefinite hiatus here. Such is life. (Of course I'm always willing to offload.. I mean outsource stuff to other people. Especially level design. Levels, why are you so hard?)
What you really need, not what you think you ought to want.
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Post by KeenRush »

Sigh, I'll have to sign that too... I have so much stuff that's under construction like a 90's web page.

By the way, good to hear that the project is still going on - in its quiet way. :)
My newest mod - Commander Keen: Sunset: viewtopic.php?t=8568 | codename H.Y.E.N.A.
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Re: Sign of the Vool

Post by Ceilick »

Now that it is no longer April Fools, I'd like to announce I'm resuming development for Sign of the Vool! :O

I know I've had a number of false starts the last few years, but this is going to be the final push. I've finished a number of other personal projects recently and this taking top priority.

Right now I'm setting my objectives low, with the intention of releasing a 6 level demo featuring all content developed so far. If I get to the point where the demo is more or less ready but the development process has been smooth and enjoyable, I may withhold it and just finish the whole mod.

Essentially, the development philosophy will be "just get it done" and put aside my perfectionism and attempted grandeur.

What does that mean right now?

1. I'm getting the foreground tiles I've made years ago finished off so that they are useable for level design. Thanks Nisaba for giving me a hand with this! I may or may not spend time developing additional tiles.

2. I've started sketching and implementing levels. Nothing playable yet, but the bones are taking shape. The focus will be on giving a well rounded look at the environments planned for the mod.

3. Most of the enemies are animated and some have been programmed by Lemm. I'll be working with him to get all enemies that have been animated fully implemented. Originally I had intended for a larger cast of creatures but this is unlikely.

4. I am in sore need of background tiles for this mod, particularly for the outdoors. I may design these myself (my skills are unbelievably rusty), but I thought I'd ask if anyone is interested in a contributing role.

Hopefully I'll have updates later this month!
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Nisaba
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Re: Sign of the Vool

Post by Nisaba »

guess who's back?! :mort

a 6 level demo sounds delicious!
this is a project I'm really looking forward to. I'll do what I can to support this fine mod and I'm sure the community wants to contribute with sweat and skill as well. let's come together and serve our Godfather of Keen Modding!
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Re: Sign of the Vool

Post by troublesomekeen »

the download links in the op are broken and i really wanna play this :begging

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Re: Sign of the Vool

Post by Dynamo »

Great news :D I am definitely looking forward to this, it's going to be awesome!
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Re: Sign of the Vool

Post by KeenRush »

That's some great news -- it's good to hear something will come of it yet. Good luck, dude.
My newest mod - Commander Keen: Sunset: viewtopic.php?t=8568 | codename H.Y.E.N.A.
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