The Ocflore Project

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Bubbatom
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The Ocflore Project

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THE OCFLORE PROJECT (working title)

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Christmas 2K15 Update

Merry Christmas everyone!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuWoj0B4lAg

I've put together a one level demo video for this Christmas update for everyone to check out. Without a composer I chose to add some background music that adds to the atmosphere - that being the soundtack to "Children of Dune" by Brian Tyler.

This mod is coming together quite nicely. He's a few figures, mainly to make myself feel good about how much I've done Cheeky
Levels - 12 in states of near-completion
Tiles - 80% done, just one platform style to finish and then world map stuff
Music - none
Sounds - none
Enemies - getting there, maybe 50%
Story - 50%
Patches - coming together, requesting as I need them

I haven't had as much time to work on this project this year as it was my last year of school, but these holidays I'm finding I can really get to work on it.

Enjoy the video and Happy Holidays!

Keenday 2015 Update (3-13)

Too much on tomorrow, so I thought I'd do the Keen Day update tonight.

One demo level (Pelagic Pillars) and some story snippets in the story section in F1 help menu:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/531 ... 20Demo.zip

I've given the level a small clean up, but it's definitely not done!

Enemies are lacking, partly because I haven't finished enough behaviours and partly because Levellass has gone walk about (probably more computer issues?) with fixing existing patches. You can point out issues, but I probably already know about them and just couldn't get around to fixing them before today.

The level is really just a taste of what's to come.

Please enjoy what's there!




The "Merry Christmas Update" (12-25)

Merry Christmas! Sorry I didn't get around to an update earlier as I suggested I would!

Lots of stuff has been done since July, but not much has been implemented, if you know what I mean?


The map is rather lacking at the moment. I haven't finished that many tiles for it and have no definite level order or layout as of yet. Here are some entrances that I have put together though (for some reason this image doesn't display on the forums properly):
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Here is a shot of some rugged pillars in a cave level.
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Further into the cave. Complex door designs within a level will indicate required paths key to completing the level, rather than basic rectangles cut into walls.
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Inside the Enkri Sanctuary. I drew some inspiration from Paramonia from Abe's Oddysee for this level.
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A recolour of an earlier enemy idea. This time it is more than just a mockup, though further patching is required.
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The result of two Vendrizi grubs combining on one branch.
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I recently finished this jungle background and alternative earthy tiles. I need a hand deciding whether the blue highlights on the hills in the back look alright, or whether I should revert back to light green. The light green seems to blend in a little too much to the tree tops.
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So there is my update. I've actually had a lot on over the last few weeks, which is odd considering I usually get heaps of work done on modding during the holidays. This is the primary blame:
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Hopefully I can get some more done on Ocflore along with some Atroxian Realm stuff I promised to do ages ago for Gridlock.

Thanks guys! Merry Christmas!

Tom






The "Whopping Mid-Year Update" (7-11)

"Time for an update?"

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"Yeah, I think so."

(That big guy is an "Enkri")

Been off school for the past two weeks and I'm going on the school's annual "SkiTrip" for the next one, so what better time to update?
I've done plenty on the mod over the past two weeks, as well as some Krile designs for Atroxian Realm for Gridlock.
Let's list some stuff:

-Convinced the amazing Gamebird to compose at least a few pieces of music for the game (he's working on those now).

-I've got a few enemies done, and ideas for some more (although most lack any new behaviours in the way of patches as Levellass seems to have vanished over the last couple of weeks (this fact has also prohibited Suburb Shenanigans from being finished)).

-Roughly four levels done (all using a similar tileset, although I have another that I still need to implement).

-Point items and life water drop replacements are all done!

-Secrets everywhere, slamming keen's head into rooves and sliding his body against walls reveals tonnes of goodies!

-I've nailed the basic story and much of the in game dialogue.

-I may have a name for the mod, but I'll need to research further and then decide.


As well as all this boring reading material, I've also selected a number of screenshots to further advertise the project as well as some details about what's going on in them:

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A screenshot showcasing the jam-ball doughnut point item, as well as the small white jellyfish acting as the Schoolfish replacement.

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Two "Feathered Vendrizi Grubs" on a small island. The plan is that when two of these guys meet, a menacing Arachnut replacement spawns, with each of the grubs acting as eye stalks.

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An "Enkri Meager" floats by as Keen stands in it's nest. These guys are the baby versions of the Enkri, which may or may not be an actual enemy (I'm yet to decide whether my current sprite is too big!)

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Two different screens showing off the new keygem door-pole (an idea by TroublesomeKeen). The pole is only semi-visible until a diamond is placed on the holder, in which case the pole lights up and is climbable!

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A column of Ostrum (the lifewater replacement) featuring a whopping six frames of animation!

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One of the Ormch's Ostrum collection towers spaced around Ocflore. This thing sucks in Ostrum ready for the Ormch to collect at a later date.


That's about it folks! In the spare time I have over the next few months (hopefully more than last semester!) I'm going to put a fair bit of effort into constructing enemies, hopefully big, tile-heavy backgrounds (probably some forests/jungles) and let's not forget working away on Atroxian Realm!

Feel free to throw any constructive criticism at this! I'd love to here from you! BUT! Not about the lack of points in those screenshots, it just so happens that most of them lack points at the moment! Also, I need to work on the shading in some of the water, so leave that alone too.

Thanks for you time,

Bubbatom






The Initial Announcement (3-14, KEENDAY!)

Hello, once again.

To start off, here is my little rant about how nothing ever gets done;

I would've loved to have Suburb Shenanigans (one of my other mods) done by now (or one and a half years ago) but I don't. It's been almost done for quite some time now, and I did have plans to have it done for this Keen Day (but Levellass, who is my patcher, hasn't been on the forums for over two weeks now and thus, hasn't received a message I sent her). Due to the slow pace of finishing the project up, I made a start on my next project at the start of the year.

I've had ideas for what sort of mod I'd really like to make for a while now (before I even started Suburbs), so I've had a good two years to ponder on the subject. I've come to many conclusions on what the setting and plot will be like and the sort of level design I'd like.




Basically, I've decided to create a Keen 4 mod that sticks closely to the way keen 4 works. Keen 4 was the best of the Keen games in my opinion, so I'll be trying to keep level structure new and exciting, enemies with a similar amount of difficulty attached to them and one killer story idea among other things.

I've asked troublesomekeen to join me on the project, so he'll be helping with ideas for enemies, level design and tiles offering me with constructive criticism along the way. I'd also love to have thehackercat do me another soundtrack for this mod, as I am (and you will be too) very impressed with his work on the SS soundtrack. _mr_m_ also did a wonderful job, but it seems he's really caught up in life at the moment, only dropping me a message every three months or so.



I'm actually hoping for a patch that will allow for alternate endings in Keen 4 (similar to Keen 5) and I have heard that Levellass did accomplish such a patch a few weeks ago (but, I'll have to do some research). The reason for this I'll explain in a little bit.

The Plot

The not-so-basic outline for the plot is that an alien race has been conducting "The Ocflore Project" in which a planet called 'Ocflore' is being used by this race to conduct one big planet-sized experiment.

The experiment revolves around said alien race constructing a vast array of animals and then placing them on Ocflore (similar in theories of ancient astronauts) for some kind of benefit to the aliens (such as some kind of substance the animals produce or I was thinking something like magic that these animals possess). The animals gradually evolve over millions of years to become intelligent beings which is when the aliens are able to extract this benefit from them.
But, after too long the inhabitants of Ocflore invent their own means of space travel and work out the whole plot the aliens have and work out how they are being used.

When Keen becomes involved, The Ocflore Project is up to it's third run through, with two previous intelligent species becoming involved in war with their creators and ultimately being wiped out completely. The current inhabitants of Ocflore are only at the 'caveman' stage of intelligence and the aliens decide it would be a better idea to wipe them out than having to go through yet another war.
The aliens want Keen to board a spacecraft that hovers over Ocflore that was constructed by Ocflore's last inhabitants (from the project's second run through) that has the ability to destroy all life on Ocflore without ruining the planet for the fourth run through.

The reason I want two different endings is because I want the player to have the option of either helping the aliens, or saving Ocflore from total annihilation.

Setting
Because the player can decide between two different objectives there will be two main settings.

-The spacecraft that ancient Ocflorians (I'll have to change this, it just sounds bad) built if the player decides to choose to be with the aliens

The spacecraft will probably be in tradition of Keen 5 levels. And seeing as the player has given into the 'bad guys' the game will only last about five or six levels.
I haven't started work on anything for this part of the game. Nothing.

-Ocflore

Ocflore will be the main game and the part most people will consider to be the "official unofficial" path to take, plot wise.
The planet is almost completely covered in sea, which means keen will get lots of use out of his wetsuit.
I'm not sure how long the Ocflore section will be but hopefully somewhere between 14 and 16 levels.
I've got a lot of tiles done for Ocflore and two levels done so far.



I haven't decided on a name for the mod yet, so I haven't really got anything for the title screen or help sections, yet.

Another thing to mention is the inclusion of a new color, that being coral / salmon that is replacing that dirty horrible blue cyan (take a look at the screen shots below).

Now, prepare yourself for a big long list of drawings and screenshots from the mod.


First up, my level that I entered in the level drawing competition nearly two years ago (this is the first level in the mod, although there are some small adjustments).
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/531 ... mp%201.jpg

Another illustration that I did almost as far back as the level entry.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/531 ... 3B27PM.jpg

Some tile ideas I drew before making.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/531 ... B17PM2.JPG

Some world map level drawings.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/531 ... B01PM4.JPG

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/531 ... B01PM3.JPG

And two character designs, one is a potential 'Ocflorian'.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/531 ... 3B17PM.JPG

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/531 ... shaded.tif



Here are some screens from the first two levels (notice that beautiful new brown!);

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Well, I reckon I've spoken enough now, I'll let you get back to your Keen Day festivities. I'm quite looking forward to playing some of these new mods!

Thanks guys, I'll see you later!
Last edited by Bubbatom on Fri Jan 10, 2020 23:11, edited 9 times in total.
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Ceilick
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Post by Ceilick »

Wow, lots to comment on:

The Plot

I like the idea that this time it is the 'bad guys' who contact Keen and make him aware of the situation.

The plot is extremely familiar to me in the form of the Mass Effect series (the first two, anyway), which, with some differences, took the idea of seeding sentient life and subsequent harvest to a galactic level.

Ideas for the Ocflore project that come to mind:

Is what the Aliens require inherent to the planet Ocflore alone? Think of Frank Herbert's Dune and spice, or the relationship between Gnosticus IV and life water.

Do organic creatures inadvertently collect or absorb what the Aliens require from Ocflore? Perhaps they refine or process this substance within themselves as they reproduce and evolve. Is the substance something they are aware of utilize for themselves, or are their bodies simply creating or housing it? Does the substance have an effect on Keen?

Are the Aliens indifferent to their creations becoming sentient? Are they actively trying to design organics that can complete their process without becoming intelligent? Is being sentient a part of the process? Presumably even if they don't want their creations becoming sentient, they will eliminate those that do out of necessity to preserve the planet for their needs.

If having a story similar in style to the original games is a goal (you mentioned using Keen 4 as a model and I'm unsure if this includes story), streamline as much as you can. What's here already sounds like the scope of a Keen series in a single game. Be aware of just how many new elements to the Keen universe you're showing the player all at once, or if the story is being told throughout the game, how you're measuring it out.

The element of choice in who to side with is interesting, I'm not quite sure how to take it. At what point in the game does the player dedicate their choice? It's sounding like the middle? What is motivating this element? Does the story you want to tell demand it, is it because you want drastically different endings, or do you just want the player to have decide between two different ways to play?

Setting

I love the tropical polynesion setting, beautiful balance of color and the new brown is an excellent choice. The graphics are a beautiful blend of Keen Dreams and Keen 4. I hope we get to see tropical palm jungle islands as well. I'm particularly fond of the ocean waves and the dirt platform set.

I LOVE the design of that grey thing. Utterly alien and brilliant.

One major issue I'm seeing, however, is problems with the depth of field. This is most abherrant in the second screenshot. Objects near to Keen (the wall behind him) and distant (that lump of green on the left that is, I think, supposed to indicate Keen is on a plataeu of some size). The surface angles and depth of the green compared to the depth of the wall (as measured by the round tops/caps) seem all out of proportion.

It's two hours past my bed time :bloody
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Post by Paramultart »

These screenshots made my pants tight.

Can't wait to play this thing. (You can interpret that however you'd like)
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Post by guynietoren »

Wow this really pokes at the spirit of Keen 4 had with me. Seeing things that you can only wonder how to reach, but excited to find out how at the same time. The artwork is really great!
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Post by Roobar »

Really cool!!! I really like the world map concept from the second drawing.

Oh I forgot to mention that the drawn level is fully playable from a long time ago... Only a few water animations are left, but I've been... lazy and busy with other stuff :(.
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Post by troublesomekeen »

Bubbatom wrote:I have something quiet big to show (don't I TK?), but unfortunately it won't be Suburb Shenanigans
Yes, yes, you do. And this is it! The Ocflore Project! Bravo! The Ocflore creatures themselves look amazing. Their heads are like half-moons, their bodies a thanksgiving turkey, a row of stones for a spine, and reindeer antlers for their legs! So unique! Yessiree, Ocflore is smashing good! But what to do about "Ocflorians"? Hmm... Let's see...
Ocflorites
Ocflonese
Ocfloers
Ocfloders
Ocflosians
Ocfloricans
Ocflorimites
Ocflorltes
Ocflorbs
Ocflobers
Ocflomers
Ocflombers
Ocflores
Ocflorns
Ocflorembers
Ocflocks
Ocflorocks
Ocflerds
Ocflemmings
Ocflice
Ocflamers
Ocfledges
Ocflings

And lastly,

Ocflorescents :slug
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Post by Captainkeen »

pretty cool graphics
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Post by T-Squared »

Yeah. Almost puts my mod's graphics to shame... (Then again, you have the luxury of isometric animated map graphics, while I don't. :P)

Also, your drawings really reminded me of the same thing I need to do for my mod to make ideas.
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Post by Bubbatom »

Thanks for all of the feedback guys!

Forgot to mention that the new brown is thanks to lemm, who sorted it out with me one Saturday afternoon. I'm lucky because before that I was using the light red for all of the brown.

I also forgot to mention in my first post is how, Suburbs was more of a project I'd slave over in any spare time I'd have and I reckon it was having a bit of a negative impact on my social life. I don't want that with Ocflore, so sometimes I'll have got a lot of work done in a very small amount of time, and other times I'll have nothing to show for several weeks (which has been the case for the last two weeks).
Ceilick wrote: The plot is extremely familiar to me in the form of the Mass Effect series (the first two, anyway), which, with some differences, took the idea of seeding sentient life and subsequent harvest to a galactic level.
Wow! I actually haven't played any of the Mass Effect games, although I have taken small bits and pieces from other things.
Ceilick wrote: Is what the Aliens require inherent to the planet Ocflore alone? Think of Frank Herbert's Dune and spice, or the relationship between Gnosticus IV and life water.
Yeah, I was thinking something along the lines of that, I'm just not quite sure what the relationship will be yet.
Ceilick wrote: Do organic creatures inadvertently collect or absorb what the Aliens require from Ocflore? Perhaps they refine or process this substance within themselves as they reproduce and evolve. Is the substance something they are aware of utilize for themselves, or are their bodies simply creating or housing it? Does the substance have an effect on Keen?
I'm thinking that I might replace the life water with this substance, so it will have an effect on keen. At least a couple of the enemies will use the substance in one way or another in there sprite behaviors, I reckon.
Ceilick wrote: Are the Aliens indifferent to their creations becoming sentient? Are they actively trying to design organics that can complete their process without becoming intelligent? Is being sentient a part of the process? Presumably even if they don't want their creations becoming sentient, they will eliminate those that do out of necessity to preserve the planet for their needs.
I'm planning on only having one of the many creatures being sentient and there'll be some kind of back-story to why that is. I've also got two levels that will be villages of the "Ocflorians". I have been thinking that only the sentient creatures will posses the substance and that possibly the "sentience" of the creatures may be the precious substance.
Ceilick wrote: The element of choice in who to side with is interesting, I'm not quite sure how to take it. At what point in the game does the player dedicate their choice? It's sounding like the middle? What is motivating this element? Does the story you want to tell demand it, is it because you want drastically different endings, or do you just want the player to have decide between two different ways to play?
So far I've planned to have the aliens have Keen land on Ocflore in the sea, swim to the first level and then a teleporter / spacecraft (which will probably be the foot replacement) will take him to the "battle ship" above Ocflore. If the player decides against this then they will just continue on.
Ceilick wrote: I LOVE the design of that grey thing. Utterly alien and brilliant.
Cheers! I woke up one morning with the image in my head and sat down and drew it. I'm not 100% happy with how it looks in that screen though. I don't actually have any sprite behavior for it yet, although I was thinking of replacing the Lick and having slug slime appear underneath it's mouth (if you noticed the mouth was on the foot) everytime it touches the ground.
Ceilick wrote: One major issue I'm seeing, however, is problems with the depth of field. This is most abherrant in the second screenshot. Objects near to Keen (the wall behind him) and distant (that lump of green on the left that is, I think, supposed to indicate Keen is on a plataeu of some size). The surface angles and depth of the green compared to the depth of the wall (as measured by the round tops/caps) seem all out of proportion.
I haven't quite worked out just how I'll pull off these grassy sections yet, but thanks for noticing.



Cheers for those recommendation TsK! I'll have to write them all down and cross all of them out until I come to the perfect name. "Ocflemmings" will be the first I cross out!

T-Squared wrote:Also, your drawings really reminded me of the same thing I need to do for my mod to make ideas.
Yeah, drawing is something I'm good at, but half the time it is much easier just to jump in and make the graphics. Sometimes the finished graphics will be pretty disappointing compared to the original drawing!
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Post by Ceilick »

So far I've planned to have the aliens have Keen land on Ocflore in the sea, swim to the first level and then a teleporter / spacecraft (which will probably be the foot replacement) will take him to the "battle ship" above Ocflore. If the player decides against this then they will just continue on.
The decision is relatively at the very start of the game then? Personally, for the player choice mechanic to be successful, I think the player should be able to observe certain factors on Ocflore on which to base their decision; in other words, the player shouldn't have to base their decision on the information of the introduction story alone. Allow the player to learn, perhaps over the course of the first half of the game, various things about the natives, information on previous Ocflore cycles, and the alien masterminds involved.

The player starts the game with limited knowledge of the situation, only what the alien masterminds reveal in the intro (probably the basics of what they want Keen to do). The player explores and learns the greater details. The player can then make their decision based on all kinds of factors: they believe the Aliens lied to them, or they believe the aliens are morally wrong/right, they find the native ocflorians unworthy of being saved (can totally see this if the natives end up being some annoying enemy), etc
I don't actually have any sprite behavior for it yet, although I was thinking of replacing the Lick and having slug slime appear underneath it's mouth (if you noticed the mouth was on the foot) everytime it touches the ground.
Lol, this is almost exactly what I intend for one of my SOTV creatures. I like the slime idea, for the jump though, possibly consider something very springy to the degree of Keen's pogo (the body joints look very powerful). To balance this huge jump, perhaps it stays on the ground a relatively long period of time before bouncing: sniffing, flexing, blinking, sliming, or whatever alien behavior this thing has.
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Post by KeenRush »

The quality of your plans and sketches is amazing. As is the actual Keenized product. There is nothing in this preview that I don't like. :)

This creature with the half-moon head is scary as garg. :eek Great job!
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Post by Dynamo »

Really cool preview :) Definitely looking forward for more
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Post by Bernie »

you might finish projects if you stopped taking all that time talking about the project's current status. :p

but anyways, sounds interesting.
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Post by DoomJedi »

Pics look fantastic! Sea looks mesmerizing.
Lacks shading though.
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Post by Paramultart »

Bernie wrote:you might finish projects if you stopped taking all that time talking about the project's current status. :p
Also, wasn't it scientifically proven that showcasing unfinished projects lessens the likelihood of finishing said product, because it grants the person a false sense of accomplishment?

Citation: :moon
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