Atroxian Realm (Version 1.2 Released)

[Plasma Captain]

I'm experiencing some serious lag in some places, which has killed me a fair number of times. I assume it's due to memory issues. Just earlier, the game completely froze up at this place, right after I'd collected a gun. I had to just shut it down. This is the only time it has fully locked up, so I'm not sure if it's something specific to this stage (too much stuff going on in it?) or just an unlucky coincidence.



I have a lot of good things to say about it though; I'm waiting until I've finished the game to say anything more.

[Grimson]

I checked on that as well. no need for any worries. you can select both keys without having any disadvantages (video). Gridlock & co just did a heck of a job.

Cool, I didn't even notice that. Too bad the menu still shows them as one, so if the player forgets they have already collected both, it might throw them off.

As for getting stuck in the wall chamber, I experienced the same problem in Cargo Transit A, though I forgot to take a screenshot of it. It happened on the edge of one of the conveyor lines; jumping towards a corner on the ceiling caused Keen to go through it and get stuck.

[NY00123]

So yeah, after having a little break through one other thing or more, I'm now back to AR. Currently in Crystallite Cavern, the first map other than the BWB not present in the AR demos.

I could be wrong, but I think it's the first time I see the thing about walking behind the (foreground) walls. Guess it shows there may still be something new when you don't expect it!

I think that I've spotted a mapping bug, as I've mistakenly climbed to a place I cannot escape now (I've already used the checkpoint and the nearby door):



I'm sure there's clearly more to see!

UPDATE: Just found out that it's possible to skip a great deal of the map, by climbing to the right and above the door, after going through it.

[Nisaba]

I think that I've spotted a mapping bug, as I've mistakenly climbed to a place I cannot escape now.
...
UPDATE: Just found out that it's possible to skip a great deal of the map, by climbing to the right and above the door, after going through it.

[F10] + [N] ? ur trolling, ain't ya! none of this can be done without the no ceiling cheat

[DoomJedi]

I'm on level 2.

Love this mod much, beyond the obvious respect for a project that took more time to make than any of my Wolf3D mods ever. Such dedication and love put into it for so long.

This is a whole new world planned that feels like an actual place, very original setting, attention to detail, creative ideas...such creations is why I love retro-modding in general, and admire Keen modding in particular.
Top notch. Really commercial quality.

Love to see my french fries and kebab got a use

[Dig386]

But yeah, 32-bit protected mode would solve everything memory-related. Maybe the Doom engine could be modified to run Keen.

I've looked at Omnispeak, Keen Dreams and Atroxian Realm sources a bit. From my viewpoint a lot of code doesn't depend on memory model at all (e.g. about monsters, Keen movements, level maps etc.).

And I think that these engines are not very mod-friendly, contain mixture from several Galaxy games and probably require remastering. But Omnispeak and Atroxian Realm engines are really impressive work of coders and reverse engineers, thanks to them! They feel much more closer to the original Keen 4-6 than e.g. Commander Genius.

[Plasma Captain]

Spoilers, probably.

(This is probably going to be a jumbled mess of thoughts.)

Alright, so I've completed the game on normal difficulty. Back when I played the demo, I really didn't believe I'd be this blown away. I was vaguely aware that some feat of technical ingenuity was going on in the background, or something, but what could you guys possibly be up to that would require such drastic measures? Surely nothing seen in the swamp levels - they were interesting, and I would definitely want to play it when it was completed, but honestly I figured it was just another good Galaxy mod.

I was wrong.

Thinking back to those first stages, it took a moment of consideration for me to decide that, yes, those were a part of this particular game. Though it has been less than two weeks since I started playing, it feels more like I've completed a very long journey. There's a clear sense of progression in both environments which, combined with the sprawling world map, is far more atmospheric and involving than even the original Keen Galaxy games.

Keen literally starts off crawling out of a swamp, beaten and battered, and ends up ascending a technological fortress that rises into the sky. There's a distinct feeling of accomplishment involved. This is one of the subtler positive aspects that I'd like to mention as it will probably be overlooked in most comments. It's not a problem with other Keen games, it's just something that I personally haven't noticed in a Keen game before.

Atroxus itself is really interesting. Using a machine as the primary antagonist is risky, due to the lack of personality, but this is a good implementation. Atroxus' appearance is really bizarre, almost grotesque, and that, combined with the music that plays during Keen's various encounters with it, makes it actually intimidating. It doesn't have to have a personality. It is a cold, efficient murder machine intruding upon a universe known for being colourful and silly (Atroxus even snuffs out the colour from the world, as if to make a statement). It elicits more emotions through its derisive yet matter-of-fact calculations than it could have if you'd given it a voice of its own. When Keen stumbles upon the horrific results of its directives late in the game, it solidifies the veracity of its monotone promises, providing an even more compelling reason to prove it wrong and take it down from its high perch. Atroxus makes Mortimer McMire seem like little more than a punk kid. I suppose it's appropriate given that Keen is two years older in this game. He's growing up and facing more grownup challenges.

By the way, in those "aftermath" levels I mentioned... There's a real keen attention to detail in them, aside from the muted music and, well, obviously the graphics. The broken switches and keygem holders and doors actually made me stop and wonder "what the fucl?" a couple of times, the second being that time when you pick up a red gem and then the next red door is completely broken and inoperable. That was a great moment. Also, the distinct lack of point items not only makes the place look like it was seriously raided, but it removes that cheery element of the game entirely, and that's really interesting.

I haven't even started talking about the gameplay itself. First of all, these levels are huge. I know that one problem with designing Keen levels is utilizing their key-and-switch-based mechanics without introducing too much backtracking, and you've managed to solve this problem. The level design here is way above par. The only time I ever got frustrated with backtracking was in a specific portion of the Catacombs, I believe. In the rest of the game, compact "puzzle" areas within much larger maps and exit-only doors and the like are used with supreme effectiveness. There's this one stage, I don't remember the name of it, wherein a bunch of work done in various areas creates a bridge that permits access to a bunch of previously-inaccessible rooms between those areas; it's a rather ingenious use of space. If you don't do level design professionally, you probably should.

Tied into that, the checkpoint system is pretty much the best "new" feature implemented in Keen in years, in my opinion. This might be the first time I've ever completed a Keen Galaxy game without saving within a level even once. The challenge certainly shot up as a result of that. There were some moments when I wondered, "Am I actually not that good at Keen, and I just haven't noticed because I've been saving whenever I like?" I'm just going to assume that I was rusty when I started playing Atroxian Realm, in order to salvage what remaining dignity I have after the serious beatdown it gave me.

About the new elements... I'll just list what comes to mind:

* "Translucent" Walls - Wow, how has this not been done before? It offers, for the first time in Galaxy, the ability to have Keen pass through left-side walls without looking stupid. It's also just aesthetically neat, with bonuses visible in the walls and hiding behind large minerals and the like.

* Locking/Unlocking Switches - A simple way of making Keen's puzzles more intricate without breaking from the format... and it works superbly. Kudos.

* Switch-Activated Spikes - It's another very simple tweak, but it brings a fresh twist to the table. The spickets fall into a similar category here, though they are less interesting than the spikes, being simply dangerous walls.

* Cargo Drafts - They're like the logical progression of the one-way doors in Keen 3. More than just another simple blocking/maze mechanism, they require both strategy and reflex to solve.

* That Tube Puzzle - It only appeared once, but it sure was cool. It's the diversity of puzzles that really makes this game stand out amongst other Keen games. I am legitimately inspired by the diversity alone.

Any more commenting on the puzzles would be redundant. Suffice it to say that everything you've done with the puzzles is, collectively, a great step in the evolution of Keen's gameplay.

* Enemies that require other NPCs to defeat - The late introduction of this element really shows that you wanted to keep things fresh until the very end.

* Enemies - I assume that, by not relying on patches, you've of course managed to solve the problem of modified enemies heavily resembling the enemies they were based upon. The Atroxians themselves were, by far, the most interesting foes in the game - stun them momentarily, or waste at least 11 shots to obliterate them? And even to accomplish that, their changing pattern requires some thinking, dropping them in a prime location before you blast off their wings.

Final Word - The Boss.
I lost most of my lives in the final few stages of the game, so I only had 7 going into the last level. The level itself is challenging without being too long; it's perfect for a stretch leading up to the boss (additionally, I like how you shunted the player into a second boss stage in order to create a seamless "save point"). I got my first game over the first time through, and ended up losing around 10 lives to Atroxus itself.

Atroxus is a prime example of how to design a good boss battle. Its movement pattern is simple enough to understand, without throwing out cheap shots, it changes tactics midway through, and it requires strategy and reflex, the two key elements of Keen, to defeat. Once you know what Atroxus is capable of - and there's ample warning for its attacks - the only fault for losing against it rests on the shoulders of the player, and that's how it should be. It becomes a matter of figuring out how to deal as much damage as possible while preventing Atroxus from cornering you or catching you off-guard. It's appropriately difficult as an end boss without needing tons of flashy attacks. In fact, it's so much fun that I'm probably going to go back at some point, make a secondary save point, and just play it some more. Congratulations, you've made the best boss in a Keen game thus far. I honestly wasn't sure if it could be done without breaking the flow of the game, but here it is.

This is... a massive message... and there's likely a lot of stuff I wanted to say but forgot about, but I'm going to leave it there. I think I hit the most important points. I would offer criticism, but it's mostly just bug reports (already mentioned) and that minor qualm about the spike tunnels in the Catacombs, and some artistic things and typos that really aren't important.

This is a solid offering.

[Levellass]

*Looks at above post*


Whelp, no need to post positive stuff, seems to be covered. And now, some of the issues I have found:

It can be real hard to see ground sometimes, the dithering is nice, but it's not very clear.




When returning to this door Keen appears 1 tile too high, falling out instead of being level with the ground:




I can climb all the tiles in this secret area:




The tile below me here is a pole instead of one-way-up, don't know if this was purposeful but it makes it very, very hard to enter that secret place. (try it!)




The floor is missing here. The stunned enemy seen here flickers back and forth spasmodically, I never would have noticed bar a fortunate shooting.




You cannot enter either of these doors:




I died... and got candy in the floor. I couldn't get to it while alive though, try though I might. Defeated I went to Abi and saw this, is that impossible candy? I beg of you, tell me its secret:

[Grimson]

So, I have beaten the game on hard difficulty. I have some more feedback that I wanted to mention (not in any particular order, I'll write as I remember things. You can blame me for not taking notes ):

• The Great Ziggurat is a fantastic level. I love how relatively easy and straightforward it is compared to the previous levels, yet it's still challenging, despite the lack of enemies. In my opinion, having an easier level between two more difficult levels is important, as it allows the player to recover and keep up the spirit to continue. In addition, it fits the position as the penultimate level (if you don't count the boss as a level), as it builds the players' determination to face and defeat Atroxus. Most importantly, it keeps the game enjoyable. Nontheless, this level offered enough challenge for me to lose a few lives, especially the red and blue zones (I had to get all the candy!) were tough.

As with the Crystal Shrine, I like the overall idea of different zones for the four different colours/elements, it adds a nice sense of variation to the level (as opposed to a level having a single, uniform theme).

• The Catacombs level was spooky. Again, the music fits spot-on. Despite being a rather simple tune, it definitely sets the mood for this level. I like the dark setting, though - if possible - I would've used an alternate sprite for Keen where his colours are darker, or the contrast is stronger (e.g. this scene in Undertale, when they normally look like this), so he woul've fit better with the environment.

• Despite being a huge fan of this game, there are a few things that bother me. I think what bothers me most is Keen's behaviour. He witnesses Krilean (did I spell that correctly?) massacre in the ruins, yet that doesn't seem to weigh on him at all. I mean, he's just a kid! He should be terrified and traumatized by something like that. I know that in the first three games Keen was a brutal serial killer with no emotion, but that doesn't mean modders/fangame-makers need to continue that trait Also, the use of blood doesn't really fit the Keeniverse in my opinion. It is possible to make a dark, retro game without the use of blood (e.g. Earthbound and Undertale, though the latter shows blood on some scenes depending on how you play).

Aside from that, how come the walls in the ruins are still tinted with blood? From what I understand, the actual battles between the Krile and Atroxians were fought quite some time ago, long enough for the Atroxians to build their massive facilities. Shouldn't the blood have dried and the corpses decomposed?

• Finally, the Krile scientist guy (yes I forgot his ridiculously long name, did you honestly expect me to remember? ). Unless the Krile are not very advanced on the field of quantum mechanics, he doesn't really convince me of his status as a scientist Afterall, he's concerned when Keen mentions about the Atroxian mining operations, yet he seems confused when Keen elaborates on the possible uses of quantium (or whatever the element was called). Other than that, he's a nice guy. When I first started playing AR, I initially expected a plot twist at some point where the Krile, or part of them, are revealed to have been the creators of the Atroxians or at least plotting with them. Too bad I was wrong, though in the end I didn't mind the lack of plot twists.

[Gridlock]

I've uploaded my playthrough of Atroxian Realm v1.0 on youtube:

I enjoyed watching these. You found quite a few secrets, though there are still plenty more to find. Thanks!

The only time I've experienced any technical problems with the game was when I approached the yellow sewer sludge(?) in Kridonea Gateway, causing the game to freeze.

Hmm, I did experience this once or twice while playing through on hard as well. No idea how to reproduce it or what's causing the freeze, though.

I'm experiencing some serious lag in some places, which has killed me a fair number of times. I assume it's due to memory issues.

This is a pretty elusive bug that seems to be happening. I used to think it was related to sound effects playing, but it's very hard to figure out the cause. Hopefully it's not too intrusive.

Keen literally starts off crawling out of a swamp, beaten and battered, and ends up ascending a technological fortress that rises into the sky. There's a distinct feeling of accomplishment involved. This is one of the subtler positive aspects that I'd like to mention as it will probably be overlooked in most comments. It's not a problem with other Keen games, it's just something that I personally haven't noticed in a Keen game before.

First of all, I want to say thanks for taking the time to make such a detailed and thoughtful post. I really enjoyed reading all these insights, and I'm glad to hear that many of my ideas paid off.

As for the journey within the game, it wasn't a conscious decision at the time I started, but I think many aspects of the game mirror various elements of storytelling conventions such as the three-act structure or even moreso the hero's journey (Joseph Campbell's monomyth). This is something I feel had been lacking in previous Keen games.

I would offer criticism, but it's mostly just bug reports (already mentioned) and that minor qualm about the spike tunnels in the Catacombs

I might go back and alter that section with the spikes. Originally in the design, you didn't have to backtrack through all of them. With some last minute changes, however, I took out some doors that linked back to one of the starting rooms in the green section of the Catacombs.

You cannot enter either of these doors:

I think you may have posted the wrong image here.

I died... and got candy in the floor. I couldn't get to it while alive though, try though I might. Defeated I went to Abi and saw this, is that impossible candy? I beg of you, tell me its secret:

Just a tiling mistake. You're supposed to be able to reach those points through the secret passage to the right of the right door.

I like the dark setting, though - if possible - I would've used an alternate sprite for Keen where his colours are darker, or the contrast is stronger (e.g. this scene in Undertale, when they normally look like this), so he woul've fit better with the environment.

Interesting idea. I'm not sure how feasible this is, but it might be possible with the new engine. Maybe for a future project? I doubt it'll be implemented here.

Despite being a huge fan of this game, there are a few things that bother me. I think what bothers me most is Keen's behaviour. He witnesses Krilean (did I spell that correctly?) massacre in the ruins, yet that doesn't seem to weigh on him at all. I mean, he's just a kid! He should be terrified and traumatized by something like that.

This is definitely one of the trickier aspects that I faced with the writing, and it's not perfect. Keen did originally react a lot more, and several pages of cut ending text showed a lot more of this. But, it just got wordy and unnecessary, and I felt the story would flow better without it. Plus, I didn't want to drive home the darkness any more than the levels already did.

Also, the use of blood doesn't really fit the Keeniverse in my opinion.

Yeah, I can definitely understand that perspective. I put it in to add to the atmosphere, environmental storytelling, and shock factor of those levels. But it certainly is a radical departure from Keen.

Aside from that, how come the walls in the ruins are still tinted with blood? From what I understand, the actual battles between the Krile and Atroxians were fought quite some time ago, long enough for the Atroxians to build their massive facilities. Shouldn't the blood have dried and the corpses decomposed?

Actually, the battle took place very recently, as evidenced by the fires that are still burning. Though the Atroxians landed on the planet quite a while earlier and built their structures/created the atroxian realm, they didn't attack the Krile until shortly before Keen arrives on the planet.

Anyway, thanks for all the bug reports, constructive criticism, and positive feedback, everyone! It really means a lot to me. I'll try to get as much of this fixed as I can for an updated release, though I'm not sure how long that'll be given my own lack of time. Plus, I don't want to clutter things up with an unnecessary number of different releases.

[Nisaba]

...what about the keenwiki then? this pre-eminent mod is absolutely worthy to be well presented over there as well.

Tried to make a Keenwiki page for it but [...] Abiathar: *Screams in terror and crashes*

I'm not sure whether or not this the current state. but if so, I did put some marginal things together... just a tiny little bundle over here (characters, points, items, maps... supplements are possible, if needed)

[Benvolio]

I just threw together a rudimentary Keenwiki article for Atroxian Realm there. Plenty more work needed, e.g. I lifted point items from 'Help' but someone's gonna have to extract the graphics to isolate those sprites!

Anyway... still thoroughly enjoying the mod (slowly but surely). Everything about it is exquisite.

[Nisaba]

... but someone's gonna have to extract the graphics to isolate those sprites!

click me!

(Edit: links now to the Wiki)

[Roobar]

Some may disagree, but I want this Keen to be the official Keen 10: Atroxian Realm. The official successor to the unofficial TUIT made by Ceilick. Who's with me on this?

[Grimson]

click me!

That reminds me, are those enemies met in the Sky Sanctum possessed or mutated/augmented Krile? After the Realm Reactor is destroyed, what happened to them?

Some may disagree, but I want this Keen to be the official Keen 10: Atroxian Realm. The official successor to the unofficial TUIT made by Ceilick. Who's with me on this?

Wait for it...