Keen 3 mod: Episode -

Showcase your completed mod here!
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XkyRauh
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re: construction

Post by XkyRauh »

Hehe true, true, I just can't help but feel that there was some way to do it all better...

There are three secrets in level05... Upper left, middle right, and lower left. :-) Originally that level was intended to be the sorta homeland of the Spadlings, so that was where ALL their nests would go... but I thought they looked good enough to warrant using wherever Spadlings appeared. (Always in mountains--Spadlings are not grassy plains types!)

I guess my enthusiasm for this mod kinda hit a wall yesterday... I'm glad you all like it, but I think I'm about done with it. :-P

--Xky
Ezjay
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Post by Ezjay »

Don't be so negative xky, this is probably the best Keen mod yet. Or isn't that enough?

I love the timer, it ads a whole new layer to the gameplay. It's like playing the same game under different conditions. But as mentioned before, its mostly the enemy's that kill me rather than the time (except for lvl 16). But then again, perhaps they would have never got the change if wasnt rushing this much.

Found all those secrets btw.
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ckguy
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Post by ckguy »

Yeah, I felt this had an *entirely* different feel than every other Keen mod I've ever plyed. One of the things I liked about XkyKeen2 was the graphical details, and all the little fancy "garnishing" tiles. The graphics in XkyKeen3 were excelent (well, the tiles were, I didn't particularly like the Spadling's cartoon-y teeth) but I felt as though I could not enjoy them as much as I could in XkyKeen2 (or XkyKeen1, for that matter, although it has been since been blown-away graphics-wise).

And did I here you say XkyKeen4? That sounds great! Even if it's not for a while, a Keen 4-6 mod would be great (I'm not counting birdman mini-mod).
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XkyRauh
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re: modding

Post by XkyRauh »

Yeah--I'm excited about Keen:Galaxy modding, too. From what I heard in this topic at the PCKF, it seems that Xtraverse is pretty far along with Norp4, which is great news, and I'm positive there's at least SOME behind-the-scenes work going on that we don't know about. Like I said in that topic, I would suspect JosephBurke to be doing something (he was pretty active on the TED5 board here) but he's left the community.

The problem is trying to come up with a good way to deal with the enemies! Fortunately, Ilsoap's one step ahead of me. I've got a couple ideas already, but the hardest part for me is going to be making a tileset! I had a hard enough time working with the Keen:Vorticons tiles and keeping things interesting... Now I've gotta figure out whole new worlds! Ouch!

--Xky
Quirky Moron
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Post by Quirky Moron »

I added a reveiw for it on spatang:
This mod is one of the best ones out there! (if not the best:-) ) However, the stop watches are a bit annoying. But the way the Spadlings shoot is cool, and the Trininjas are really cool. But one of the coolest parts is the volcano, which is a clever replacement for the vortikid. However the meep replacement is a bit weird. But, I really like the end screen.

Rating:

Story: 9/10: An intergalatic game show? That's a bit weird in my opinion, but hey, it's pretty darn original.
Graphics: 10/10: Man, those graphics are good, and the sky effect is pretty cool, but the trees are really cool, and the same for the Trininjas, Spadlings, and the grunt replacement ( I forgot the name- D'oh!).
Levels: 9.5: Really wacked-out levels and cool ideas and designs. Not to mention the volcano level :-).
Keenishness: 8.75: Some how, keen participating in a game show doesn't quite seem keenish. But hey, the rest of it is quite keenish.
Total:9.3152/10 closest equivelent:9.25/10
Benvolio
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Post by Benvolio »

This is by far the best mod so far. It is absolutely perfect and flawless. It has a different feeling and atmosphere in it to any other mod or pre-1993 game. I really love the dithered backgrounds. Any dithered backgrounds I've tried to make just make Keen barely visible, but in KeenDash you can easily see Keen, maybe beacuse there is not much black used in the dithering.

The levels are wonderfully restrained and subtle in design. Every area seems carefully measured out for difficulty and each level (except level 16) is really equal in difficulty and balanced in rewards and penalties.

I have been playing in Normal mode- just running Xkykeen3.bat. I was able to complete all the levels up to level16. However, after 200 attempts I still haven't completed the game. I think the last level is disproportionally hard in comparison with the other 15. Yet the placement of sprites creates extreme challenges for me without going overboard on quantity. The enemies that I die from most often are the two Vortninjas (sorry, I don't know their proper name) before the green key.

So I think KeenDash is really delivering the most magical game-playing experience that could be got from a mod, and contains probably the most sophisciacted and life-like graphics that could be created in EGA.
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XkyRauh
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re: Benvolio

Post by XkyRauh »

I've been drooling over Spleen's shots for Essence of Mayhem lately, and it really strikes me how powerful the color black can be. The only place I used black in Episode Dash was to outline Keen, sprites, and points... while Mayhem uses it everywhere at once. Two drastically different styles. :-)

I never change the cheat-codes when I make a mod, so if you've really tried it 200+ times and can't beat it, please, by all means, cheat so you can see the ending. Usually I got past those Trinin by spamming shots as I jumped into the area. Just be thankful they only take 1 shot instead of the usual 4! O_o;;

Since the mod's been out for a while now, has anybody found the secret behind the target in the last level? :-)

--Xky
Benvolio
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Post by Benvolio »

The closest I got to completing the level was when I ran out of time around five tiles from the green and yellow doors with both keys.

I tend to prefer outlined things to things with no outlines. In my Exiting Epsilon mod, I used dark grey outlines for points. I think this looks better against a dark background than no outline (i.e. a black outline). Things with no outline are hard to tell apart from the background.

Also, if you have a dark purple background, you can only put in a dark purple item if it has an outline.
KeenRush
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Post by KeenRush »

It isn't that hard; keep trying man! :) Just first search the keys, then play the way you get the both, keep eye on time and collect the timers -- that some cave level (was it 15?) is far harder than that one. :)
Since the mod's been out for a while now, has anybody found the secret behind the target in the last level? :-)
Not before you mentioned it now -- nice place.
xtraverse
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Post by xtraverse »

I got sick of level 15, and while toying around in level 16, I stumbled into that secret Xky. Nice hide!
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XkyRauh
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re: level 15

Post by XkyRauh »

So what exactly makes level15 so hard compared to the others? There's a TON of time to get, enough ammo to keep you stocked, and the Spadlings are all blocked by rocks (except for the 2 up top and 1 down at the bottom who traps himself half the time)... The biggest thing that killed me when I was playtesting the level was if I rushed and tried to do everything TOO fast. If I just sat back and said "Okay, I've got all the time in the world," then the level was easy (but longer than any other).

--Xky
KeenRush
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Post by KeenRush »

Mostly I die there to the things Spadling cause/throw and the killer sign-waves the green things send.
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XkyRauh
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re: green birds

Post by XkyRauh »

Oh, yeah! I forgot about those green bird guys... they can be murder if you try and take the lower route. Come to think of it, I never really went along the bottom after the initial jump into the cave--I always went over the top and just dodged the two Spadlings up there, then scooted across the platforms and ignored the ammo beneath them. :-) That bottom area doesn't have much to make it worth your while, anyway.

--Xky
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levellord
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Post by levellord »

I tend to prefer outlined things to things with no outlines. In my Exiting Epsilon mod, I used dark grey outlines for points. I think this looks better against a dark background than no outline (i.e. a black outline). Things with no outline are hard to tell apart from the background.
I did the same thing, I think any item on a simalarly colured background looks more 'gettable' if it has a dark outline.

XK4 should be absolutely mind blowingly awesome.
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XkyRauh
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re: expectations

Post by XkyRauh »

I dunno... :-) I feel as if I've underwhelmed expectations with XkyKeen3; I don't feel that it's really a worthy game to follow XkyKeen2... so I'm more than a little nervous about XkyKeen4. I'll do my best, but I've definitely lost that "I'm good at this" confidence I had going into XkyKeen3.

--Xky
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