Modulation

Anything related to Keen Modding.
stayfrosty82
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Modulation

Post by stayfrosty82 »

Long time lurker.

For me personally, the early 90's, 386 days was when I first played Keen 4-6. The music, the feel of the Galaxy series is still fantastic to me! I've gone on to play Keen 7-9 as well!!

Now, I've always wanted to edit the levels of keen 4, 5 and 6, create my own spin-off, and I've got TOM.

Things were fine; I opened up the GAMEMAPS.CK6 file and started a new level. I deleted the Bloogtown Crossing (the first level of Keen 6) first and made a whole new level. 57x28. Small level.

Looks pretty nice!! :P

But from there I'm having trouble trying to play test it. I'm getting the error message:
Map too tall!

Something like that. Also happens when I edit the existing level.

I'm following the modding advice txt file


I'm not looking to change anything at all EXCEPT the level design.
The world map will be the same, same creatures, same tile types, same story,
Thanks :)
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Flyingmouse
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Post by Flyingmouse »

Are you using a patch file to playtest? I'm not familiar with Galaxy, but I think

Code: Select all

%maphead maphead.ck6
is what you need.
levellass
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Post by levellass »

Indeed, the levels must be patched in to the game. A fully moddable TOM-setup example folder can be downloaded here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/394 ... Setups.zip
stayfrosty82
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Post by stayfrosty82 »

Yes it works!

I understand it. :) :cheers:

And now to create my first mod of Keen 4...

KEEN 4.5150 - Where is Eddie Van Halen?!

Objective: Rack up the album sales whilst trying to find Eddie Van Halen, who is lost in his own private studio compound. But beware of sharks and other pitfalls in the music business.

Level: Easy - Play as David Lee Roth; fast-talking and coke-snorting with acrobatic aerials that will score you big.
Level: Normal - Play as Sammy Hagar; the tequila salesman and red rocker that can deliver the mainstream hit.
Level: Hard - Play as Gary Cherone; where it just isn't fair.

Points (or records sold)
**These items help you sell records**
5000 - Donuts frosted with cocaine.
2000 - Microphone.
1000 - Video camera.
500 - Radio.
200 - Weed.
100 - Beer.

lifewater - groupie sweat
extralife - groupie

Some ideas anyway.
Benvolio
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Post by Benvolio »

Haha I like it, kind of a Leisure-Suit Larry flavoured rock 'n' roll adventure. We haven't had any more adult-themed mods yet! There was talk of one being developed, I cannot remember who by, and it would be distributed by e-mail rather than general release. But maybe it is already out and I wasn't emailed :P. Probably not. Good luck stayfrosty82!
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Gridlock
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Post by Gridlock »

Sounds like an interesting concept. Good luck with the modding. If you want, I'll give you my modding advice.

Before you dive into a project, you should spend some time familiarizing yourself with everything. It's great that you've already made a small level, and I'd encourage you to do more of that to familiarize yourself with tiling and gameplay mechanics. There's a significant learning curve with Galaxy modding, but if you're patient and take it slowly you should be able to figure it out. My advice: think small-- galaxy modding is a lot of trial and error, and you're skills will improve over time. We're here to answer any questions.

I'm not sure if you're already using it, but if not this tutorial should be immensely helpful: http://www.shikadi.net/keenwiki/Ceilick ... g_Tutorial

My first thought about your ideas is that you won't be able to have different characters for each difficulties. As far as I know, it is not possible to patch multiple player characters into Keen Galaxy, so you'll have to pick just one.
stayfrosty82
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Post by stayfrosty82 »

Thank you \m/

This is a mountain of a challenge. One tile at a time.

Some more ideas.....

Keen stuns enemies with his finely polished charisma gun, and his pogo is a microphone stand.

Enemies:
Bounder = Brown M n M
Wormouth = Shark fin
Lick = A dollar coin with a dollar bill tongue.
Skypest = Guitar pick
Poison Slug =
Mad Mushroom = Ed's excited guard dog.
Arachnut = The stalking fan that never gives up.
Berkeloid = Eddie Clone. Just another 80's guitarist. Don't go near him.
Moving rocks = Moving mushroom.
Inchworm = same

And for the classic jacuzzi level
Dopefish =
Sprite = Bikini babe. Blows electric kisses.
Schoolfish =

Council member = Eddie? Oh damn, it's only "CC Deville" "Vito Bratta" "Steve Vai" "Steve Stevens" etc.
Princess Lindsay = Alex Van Halen, who may know where his brother is.

Moving platforms = Records

Any suggestions welcome.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I do have one thing...
I can copy and paste in Ted from the tileset to my level, but if I want to clone a piece from my level, I can't seem to do it. I can highlight the square, just can't work out the next step.
stayfrosty82
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Post by stayfrosty82 »

Gridlock wrote: My first thought about your ideas is that you won't be able to have different characters for each difficulties. As far as I know, it is not possible to patch multiple player characters into Keen Galaxy, so you'll have to pick just one.
That's no problem, I thought so anyway. But may I ask if it is possible to modify Commander Keen himself?
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Gridlock
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Post by Gridlock »

I can copy and paste in Ted from the tileset to my level, but if I want to clone a piece from my level, I can't seem to do it. I can highlight the square, just can't work out the next step.
First, I'm assuming you mean TOM, not Ted (TED5), right? TED5 is a really outdated editor and I hope you're not using it.

Cloning a piece of a level should be as simple as copying with 'C' and pasting with "P." I'm not sure I understand what you're having trouble with.
But may I ask if it is possible to modify Commander Keen himself?
Yes, it is. When you extract the game graphics you'll see several Keen sprites. You can edit and import these sprites to change the player character. I will warn you though, there's around 75 different sprite frames, and editing them could be tricky. If you do, I'd recommend modifying the Keen sprite that's already there rather than trying to draw an entirely new one.
stayfrosty82
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Post by stayfrosty82 »

I will go back to using TOM then.

It's a lot of fun but I feel you need to start each level fresh. I've just made a couple in a row, but they're similar. I'll no doubt learn new ways as I steal ideas from the existing levels.

I will say one problem I have in my second level is, when you press up next to one of my "inside a room" doors, the level will finish and keen will be in the Shadowlands. I did not put an XY coordinate there for a link.

I'm tempted to make a maze of doors level too and was wondering perhaps, what is the biggest level ever made in the galaxy series? Length by width. How big can you possibly go?
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troublesomekeen
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Post by troublesomekeen »

Quite right. If Keen enters a door without specific coordinates telling Keen where to appear next, Keen will be teleported to 0, 0 thus ending the level. One example would be the "Chasm of Chills door trick."
http://www.shikadi.net/keenwiki/Keen_4_Bugs
Sometimes it's actually intended that Keen finishes the level in this manner, like certain levels in Keen 5 and 9.
Also, I'm not sure what's the biggest Galaxy level, but keep an eye on limits. This page might have some good info:
http://www.shikadi.net/keenwiki/Patch:Game_errors
stayfrosty82
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Post by stayfrosty82 »

Just having some trouble on switching to TOM from TED.

When I open up TOM and select GAMEMAPS.CK4, do I choose the one in my modding folder /or the maps file in my TOM directory?

After editing and saving, what other step do I need to take?

Do I still run instantcarma and then run my GO4.exe file?

I have edited level 3 (perilous pit) in TOM, the first two levels in TED, and when I play test I can only play the first 2 levels, Perilous Pit remains unchanged, yet in TOM it has the changes.
stayfrosty82
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Post by stayfrosty82 »

*had the changes.

I'm going to reinstall the keen 4 folder and start fresh in TOM this time.
levellass
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Post by levellass »

It is possible to have Keen spawn in different locations on different difficulties, similar changes can be made, but large scale alterations of Keen with difficulty quickly run into problems.
stayfrosty82
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Post by stayfrosty82 »

I have downloaded the file from the link provided above.

I have taken the keen 5 folder out and copied it in a new keen folder.

I have downloaded TOM.

I have run TOM and selected the maps and bmps from my new keen 5 folder.

I don't see the world map like I saw in TED5. Is this normal?

I check in the menu, all the levels are there.
I click number 1 (the first in-game level) and place 3 chocolate shakes above Keen. Then save all levels.

I run instantcarma and then drag the go5.bat file to dropbox.

Play level 1 - The level remains unchanged. I cannot see the added candy.

It works for me in TED5, but TED5 isn't as user friendly as TOM.

What step am I missing?
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