Updated- 'The Ruin of Roib' - beta v3

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Syllypryde
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Re: Updated- 'The Ruin of Roib' - beta v3

Post by Syllypryde »

Nisaba wrote: Mon Sep 21, 2020 17:18
Syllypryde wrote: Mon Sep 21, 2020 13:09 I've beaten Keen58 and Keen59 and easy and normal. I've never been able to get very far on hard on either game.
oh, that's interesting. did you manage to beat the game with or without a lot of saving and loading? pls give a little more insights. If I remember correctly you start playing mods at easy difficulty and work your way up, right?
Yes I work my way up. I also try to never use in-level saving in a game. Sometimes I will find myself reaching specific areas of a level that I'm not sure what to do and I die everytime. Instead of starting the level over 50+ times, I will use the in-level saving to work on the section of the level and figure it out. Once I am confident I can do it, then I will purposely die and start the level over to beat it correctly. I never used in-level saving on easy in either game (other then what I previously mentioned). I did several times on normal. I can't remember off the top of my head exactly when.

Like I said on the previous post, I couldn't get very far on hard on either game. On Keen 58 I beat Boom St., Crashed Ship, Wreck City, and Abandoned Tower on hard. When I got to The Vault I kept running out of ammo and couldn't beat it, even when I started the game over to try and use less ammo in the previous levels. On Keen 59, I beat Mushroom Mines, Tunnel Network, Cave of Secrets, and Cave of Illusions on hard. When I got to Understream and Crystal Wonderland! I couldn't get past either one, even when I decided to abandon a lot of the points in the underwater areas.

Some might think playing on easy is cheating in a way. When most of you play a new mod you start on normal and hard, you guys are going at the game blind. By the time I get to normal and then hard I already know the workings of the level, especially where most (sometimes all) the secrets are. The only thing that is new is the added enemies.

On Atroxian Realm I had an added advantage because I helped Gridlock playtest it. So I already knew where all the secret areas were, where most of the hyperstars were likely going to be placed. The in game storytelling, tweaked levels like Hornet Hive and the Boss battle were the only new things to me when I played the original official release. In fact, I actually still have the Alpha copy of the game Gridlock sent me to playtest. I still have it on my computer.
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Nisaba
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Re: Updated- 'The Ruin of Roib' - beta v3

Post by Nisaba »

Syllypryde wrote: Wed Sep 23, 2020 18:38 On Atroxian Realm I had an added advantage because I helped Gridlock playtest it...
going a bit off topic here:
are you interested in playtesting Foray in the Forest at some point in the near future. I like the way you acquire a new mod. I have a couple of playtester aboard all with different focuses and approaches. your way of playing could be an enrichment for me to see how things do or don't work out as intended.

and thanks for your detailed report on Ruin of Roib
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Re: Updated- 'The Ruin of Roib' - beta v3

Post by Benvolio »

Compulsive save and restore play on my part in Galaxy mods has somewhat ruined my enjoyment of them. However my skills at playing them have deteriorated to the point that I have relatively little chance of getting through levels without saving frequently. But it does get a little excessive. I guess the solution is to play more and be in a better state of practice. I guess ones learning curve from age 10 years old won't be of much use twenty years later down the line.
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Re: Updated- 'The Ruin of Roib' - beta v3

Post by Nisaba »

as I remember things my learning curve from age 10 years old wasn't that brilliant at all. but I had so much more patience way back then... sometimes it took me days to beat a level for the first time. but you couldn't lure me away from the telly.
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Syllypryde
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Re: Updated- 'The Ruin of Roib' - beta v3

Post by Syllypryde »

Nisaba wrote: Wed Sep 23, 2020 20:18
Syllypryde wrote: Wed Sep 23, 2020 18:38 On Atroxian Realm I had an added advantage because I helped Gridlock playtest it...
going a bit off topic here:
are you interested in playtesting Foray in the Forest at some point in the near future. I like the way you acquire a new mod. I have a couple of playtester aboard all with different focuses and approaches. your way of playing could be an enrichment for me to see how things do or don't work out as intended.

and thanks for your detailed report on Ruin of Roib
I would be more than willing to playtest this. My "expertise" in playtesting is the structure of the level design and the difficulty. My weakness is noticing tile errors, especially barely noticeable errors such as that.
Benvolio wrote: Wed Sep 23, 2020 21:06 Compulsive save and restore play on my part in Galaxy mods has somewhat ruined my enjoyment of them. However my skills at playing them have deteriorated to the point that I have relatively little chance of getting through levels without saving frequently. But it does get a little excessive. I guess the solution is to play more and be in a better state of practice. I guess ones learning curve from age 10 years old won't be of much use twenty years later down the line.
You have always come across to me as more of a Vorticon Keener rather than a Galaxy Keener, which would explain Galaxy mods being harder to you than they would be to Galaxy Keeners such as me. Unlike many Galaxy Keeners I have played dozens of Vorticon mods and completed most of them.
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Re: Updated- 'The Ruin of Roib' - beta v3

Post by Snortimer »

I didn't actually find the Kreegs the biggest problem in the final levels (playing on Easy). They're terrifying, yes, but I found that I could usually avoid them or jump over them. Sometimes I got them to fall off ledges (I think they move a bit when they begin shooting...). In some ways, they were a relief because they were limited to the ground and they moved in predictable patterns, unlike some of the other enemies. I suppose the one thing I'd change would be to make them wander off in a different direction sometimes if they don't see Keen, rather than ALWAYS following Keen. That trait has caused me to have to restart levels sometimes, because they can trap a player. I think if they were changed to be killable, I'd want to kill them all instead of figuring out how to avoid them.

I played through the mod on Easy without cheating up until the end of the final palace level (where I found that room with all the plants to be impassable, and the later boss fight seemed also impossible). However, there were plenty of levels where I had to use in-level saving a LOT. Especially bad for this were the poisonous river levels where a lot of precise jumping was required, and also one level with a lot of those spitty plants whose seeds sometimes went through walls (bit of a bug there)...

As for Super Dupers, they ARE predictable, though they don't seem so at first, and I found I could avoid them most of the time if I stayed attentive. There was always a risk, though, which was why I'd save frequently.
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Re: Updated- 'The Ruin of Roib' - beta v3

Post by DarkAle »

Syllypryde wrote: Mon Sep 21, 2020 13:09 I've beaten Keen58 and Keen59 and easy and normal. I've never been able to get very far on hard on either game.
I must try to win one of them. I think I can do this
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Re: Updated- 'The Ruin of Roib' - beta v3

Post by DarkAle »

Nisaba wrote: Mon Sep 21, 2020 17:18
Syllypryde wrote: Mon Sep 21, 2020 13:09 I've beaten Keen58 and Keen59 and easy and normal. I've never been able to get very far on hard on either game.
oh, that's interesting. did you manage to beat the game with or without a lot of saving and loading? pls give a little more insights. If I remember correctly you start playing mods at easy difficulty and work your way up, right?
Look that it's not so difficult. I won it at normal just today and I have to say it was just a little bit harder than the other mods. Enemy positioning was pretty good and I get away with it either by always saving a maximum of 10 times per level. The level structure was great. The hardest levels for me were Sick Forest, Palace of Roib and The Opening. I loved that vegetables take away a life from you. It just made me laugh. In my opinion the only difficulty in the game is the behavior of the enemies. The Killaea Keenilia was very difficult to overcome but I found its weakness: Since it doesn't kill Keen directly, I got close to it to avoid its shots. The Ningnong Springship and the Super Duper were also very nasty and I beat them pretty well. The same the Kreegs. At the beginning of the Glass Gardens level there was a Kreeg that gave me the torment. Hours and hours waiting for him to go away. The boss was very hard to beat as he could walk through walls but with only 3 savegames I did it. I have to play Keen 59 in the future

Edit: @Syllypryde I've beaten this mod at hard, too. The ruins levels were very easy (strangely). Probably because I played a lot of mods and I'm now used with the difficulty. The levels between Sick Forest and Border Woods were quite hard. Not very hard but hard :lol . The final levels (between Last Outpost and Palace of Roib) WERE VERY HARD :dead2. Those Kreegs were so annoying. But the most hard level was the Opening. The boss was very hard. I thought the only enemy in the level was that giant dangerous thing but... THERE WERE FIVE DRONES AT THE END OF THE LEVEL. I needed a while to beat it but I've beaten it :mort
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Re: Updated- 'The Ruin of Roib' - beta v3

Post by Nowhere Girl »

I wanted to ask for tips again. ;) I'm at the Abandoned Tower level and I don't know how to complete it. There's no exit at the left edge of the area. I thought that maybe I need to get to the roof of the building - maybe the antenna has something to do with lowering the barriers? - but even with the map, I can't figure out how to get there. There's also a lift I cant power up, to the right in the uppermost section of the building, but it isn't obvious from the map if it has anything to do with helping me get up to the roof.
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Re: Updated- 'The Ruin of Roib' - beta v3

Post by Soul Monster »

Nowhere Girl wrote: Fri Aug 13, 2021 18:31 I wanted to ask for tips again. ;) I'm at the Abandoned Tower level and I don't know how to complete it. There's no exit at the left edge of the area. I thought that maybe I need to get to the roof of the building - maybe the antenna has something to do with lowering the barriers? - but even with the map, I can't figure out how to get there. There's also a lift I cant power up, to the right in the uppermost section of the building, but it isn't obvious from the map if it has anything to do with helping me get up to the roof.
You may have just said where the exit is...
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Re: Updated- 'The Ruin of Roib' - beta v3

Post by Nowhere Girl »

OK, but how do I get there?
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Re: Updated- 'The Ruin of Roib' - beta v3

Post by Soul Monster »

Nowhere Girl wrote: Fri Aug 13, 2021 20:39 OK, but how do I get there?
It's been a while since I played Ruin of Roib, but there should be a switch or a key gem inside the tower that will get you up there.
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Re: Updated- 'The Ruin of Roib' - beta v3

Post by Nowhere Girl »

Another technical question: how to open hatches? For example here, in the corridor right below the isolated little room at top right.
https://keenwiki.shikadi.net/i/5/50/Roi ... _Vault.png
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Re: Updated- 'The Ruin of Roib' - beta v3

Post by Lower IQ than 314 »

It's been a bit since I played this mod, but from what I can recall, the switch in the lower right-hand corner of the level guarded by a Beserky is what opens that hatch.
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Re: Updated- 'The Ruin of Roib' - beta v3

Post by Nowhere Girl »

I guess I need some help aghain. I can't find more levels! I have completed: Boom, Crashed Ship, Wreck City, Abandoned Tower, The Vault, Sick Forest, Resort. Now I have turned off the force fields... and it got me nowhere! I could only get to one new "level": the prophecy stone, but there doesn't seem to be anything to do there. This is crazy, everything in plain view, but not a level in sight!
The author has really made a good job, the graphics are complex, lots of small decorations on the map... but exactly this necessitates marking levels better to distinguish them from decorations!


And I guess I'll ask in advance. It's about some bugs at the end and bugfixes. It's detailed here, for example. But I still don't know which part of the text I should paste. The "1. fix bad jump address etc." too? Or only everything beginning with "%"? It's unclear to players who are not knowledgeable about coding, and hey, it's not required for playing, not knowing coding is not a thing to be ashamed of!
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