Keen: Modding

oasiz · Joined: 22 Aug 2010 Posts: 10

Hey,

Not sure if any of you remember but I did a mod for the "Improv" competetion that paramultart held almost two years ago.
http://www.pckf.com/viewtopic.php?t=1393&highlight= Original thread with more info.

Turns out that I managed to churn out some new content for the mod that was simply called "Oasiz's mod". I'll just rename it to something better for now.. hmm.. how about "Vodka" .

Did this thread to release the leftovers that I have for the mod. Not sure if anyone is interested at all but I'll just release them anyway since I just want to release them and not sit on them.
I used to have an older version but not all is lost as I still have an youtube video about the version (And it's only about 2-3 days of work at most I'd say).

In-dev videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vHIXWQTFA8 First video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6vjnAJHJBk Second level (concept)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeXk9sUbpSY Second level (test)
And the last video that has the "lost material" included in:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gUuQ8ST10c

You can find the "lost content" tileset (had a spare copy): http://oasiz.lerppu.net/pic/?b=mapping/random/keenmod
That URL also has screenshots during various stages and concepts (plus you can probably see the inspiration).
I actually lost the sand stuff completely along with levels so I grabbed everything I had done from those old shots and rebuilt the tileset and did a new level as the old one got lost.

Now for the main course: http://oasiz.lerppu.net/2MOD.zip has the project and the files. (extract and run go.bat)

A small level intro is in order I guess:
First level is a generic "all in one" kinda thing, I toned down the difficulty compared to the previous iteration but it should still provide a challenge.
Second level is meant to be a tutorial level (check the video for a better version)
Third (sand) has spikes and not that many enemies, uses in-level teleportation to give the illusion of continous geometry and also tries to fake a situation where "start has water when you enter and when you exit, the water has dried" kind of thing.
Fourth level was meant to be cliffs on both sides, you enter an alternate area VIA teleports that is supposed to be the cave interior, using cave interiors to rise up and zigzagging to the other side of the cliff (enter a cave) while you are outside. All while water is pouring from the top. A pretty far fetch but might have worked.

Again, those levels are best seen on the video.

Gameplay changes:
Won't spoil too much but there are some hacks and "far fetches" to introduce new gameplay gimmicks and mechanics:

- A Continue/checkpoint system that relies on a silver arrow that you find roughly mid-way on the first and the sand map.
- Appearing blocks
- Appearing blocks that demand a certain sphere (or none shall pass)
- Teleportation mid-level to provide some illusions (used in the sand level + checkpoint system)
And some stuff that didn't really make it in code:
- "rotating" squiggly spheres (Let's call them fiery colored tennis balls) that you are supposed to collect in order to unlock some stuff (ideally forced to collect in order to progress).

Remember, this was my first time touching CK1 modding and I mostly improvised all the additional stuff + code hacks so there are bound to be many many errors and quirks. Releasing this "as-is".
You are more than welcome to use all these assets (code hacks or textures) in your own projects.

Thanks, and have fun.

levellass · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 10:00 am Post subject:

*Opens folder*

*Looks at endless list of files*

Good heavens1 It'll take a day just to see what everything does in here! What a mess!

oasiz · Joined: 22 Aug 2010 Posts: 10

levellass · Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 1:59 am Post subject:

It certainly makes me thankful I use backup folders when doing my stuff. I think there's like two mod backups and then several side projects.

oasiz · Joined: 22 Aug 2010 Posts: 10

Yeah, normally I do backups and revisions per levels but this project was an exception. Not that much was lost in here anyway, just a day or two of work at most. I actually managed to lose the backup as well in this case.

Normally I have about 60-100 revisions/copies of a map I am doing so I can always go back and change things I am not happy with (usually up to 3 per day). I mirror my stuff to my home server http://oasiz.lerppu.net/pic/?b=mapping/ quite often.

Anyway, any modder should really be just interested in the code tweaks / graphics / levels (and running go.bat to test) so it isn't really that much of an hassle to slice what you need :)
plus you can get the tile graphic that I lost in the link I provided.
Only thing that was really lost is the start of a one level and cosmetic tweaks to a level or two.

EricMushroomWilson · Joined: 18 Dec 2006 Posts: 78 Location: Limbo

Not sure I have the time to look closely right now, just dropping by (a little late) to say that I heartily encourage this sort of thing. Heck, I'd be pretty thrilled to see a mod come with a little "making of" thing of some sort. If I still had the files I might even make one of my own...

levellass · Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 3:05 am Post subject:

I must say that level with the teleport confused the heck out of me. Well done sir, well done!

oasiz · Joined: 22 Aug 2010 Posts: 10

VikingBoyBilly · Joined: 10 Aug 2010 Posts: 54

I can tell that from a bird's eye overview of the map the space doesn't make logical sense, but ingame the areas would feel seamless.

Nice job, keep workin at it.

Gridlock · Joined: 05 Feb 2011 Posts: 47

I wonder if a trick like this could be patched into Galaxy with some kind of teleport tile? That would have so much potential. Thanks for showing this idea oasiz.

levellass · Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 5:22 am Post subject:

The doors work as a teleport system (Press key when standing on tile type x) and the can be made instant (Or to display a teleport type animation.) so it should be possible. We'd need to co-opt a tile type (Say fuse top) and it'd be hard to fit in the extra option in Keen's tile collision code, but after that was set up, the rest would be a breeze.