Keen 3 patch requests and assorted issues

Request patches for Keens 1-3.
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StupidBunny
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Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2008 6:49 pm

Keen 3 patch requests and assorted issues

Post by StupidBunny »

I have a few patch requests and some small problems I'd like to bring up concerning my ever-more-completed Keen 3 mod. A couple of the requests I've brought up in Spleen's thread, but I'll repeat them here.

I would appreciate...
*One-button firing with spacebar, and enter/return showing the status screen
*Score resets (or even sets to zero) upon death
*The VortiPress flashes still happen, but the tiles don't actually change or else change offscreen (UPDATE: I've gotten all but the middle tiles to not change or change offscreen. I can't find any patches for the middle VortiPress tile.)
*Positions of the tiles zapped/zotted when the heart is destroyed

As for issues, these are all relatively minor...for one, I can't get the first line on the story text to appear as the second font. The second and third lines both show the special font successfully but the first one is in the normal, first font...plus it doesn't center.

Also, is there a way to make the story, preview and finale texts longer or shorter than in the original? I'm patching in external .ck3 files and, for some reason, the help text seems a lot more flexible.

If I remember anything else I'll post it here.
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Fleexy
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Post by Fleexy »

1. It's in the Patch Index, I've seen it.
2. Lemm made it, it's somewhere around.
3. Also probably in the Patch Index.
4. KTL.

1. Put a tilde (~) at the start of the line.
2. It doesn't center automatically. They put spaces to do that.

1. You can make them shorter (add an EOF character). Longer texts will overwrite other data, but you could relocate the text (it's in the Index).
StupidBunny
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Post by StupidBunny »

1. I can find this patch for Keen 1, but not for Keen 3 (or Keen 2 for that matter.)
2. I can also only find this for Keen 1, I remember it being posted on the PCKF a while ago. I'll keep looking for a Keen 3 equivalent.
3. As I said, the patch index seems to list patches for every other VortiPress tile but omits that one for some reason. I'm not sure why it'd be the only one without a patch.
4. KTL?

I do have a tilde at the start of the line, as well as the spaces needed to center it (all the other special lines have tildes and centering spaces.) It's only this first line that will not show as the right font, and all those beginning spaces disappear as well as the first couple letters of "Commander".

Okay, I'll look for that patch...in the meantime, I don't know what an EOF character is. :P
levellass
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Post by levellass »

Making a Keen 2 and 3 patch is a trivial affair. This is the patch for Keen 3:

Code: Select all

#Change the controls to: Space, shoot; Enter, status. 
%patch $11AF  $74
%patch $8D6E  $74
%patch $71C9  $90 $90 $90 $90 $90 $90 $90 $80 $3E $91 $52 $00
%patch $72FA  $90 $90 $90 $90 $90 $90 $90 $80 $3E $91 $52 $00
%patch $7461  $90 $90 $90 $90 $90 $90 $90 $80 $3E $91 $52 $00
%patch $7474  $90 $90 
%patch $7515  $90 $90 $90 $90 $90 $90 $90 $80 $3E $91 $52 $00
%patch $76A1  $90 $90 $90 $90 $90 $90 $90 $80 $3E $91 $52 $00
%patch $7750  $90 $90 $90 $90 $90 $90 $90 $80 $3E $91 $52 $00

EDIT: This patch sets Keen's score to zero when he dies.

Code: Select all

#Set score to 0 on death (Change first two to $90 to also clear on exit)
%patch $8DFE $EB $0C $C7 $06 $9D4AW  $0000W  $C7 $06 $9D4CW  $0000W  $E9
                 $FC80W  $90 $90 $90 $90 $90 $90

EDIT 2: This page http://www.shikadi.net/keenwiki/Patch:M ... hoot_heart now has all know MM patches on it, a lot more than you'd think. Down the bottom are the patches for the size of the MM body destruction zone:

Code: Select all

#Size of destruction zone
%patch $50BE $08 #Left
%patch $50EB $10 #Right
%patch $4F2C $02 #Top
%patch $50B2 $13 #Bottom
Go check the page out for neat patches!
StupidBunny
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Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2008 6:49 pm

Post by StupidBunny »

Ahhh, levellass you are brilliance! Now progress on the mod can continue. :) I guess the only unanswered question I have is the tilde thing...I have this written in STORYTXT.CK3:

Code: Select all

~
~         COMMANDER KEEN
~                in
~         THE BOBRICK TOWER
And for some reason, the first line of text doesn't show in special text, and doesn't line up properly either (and the blank line of text isn't there at all.) If I remove the first blank line the same thing happens, except that the first line of text is cut off up to the O. Does anybody have any clue why this is?

EDIT: I tried running the mod with the "set score to 0" patch...it didn't start with the Ws, so I deleted those. Now the mod runs fine except that the game goes to the main menu whenever Keen dies.
levellass
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Post by levellass »

1.) You are using an outdated version of ckpatch, this makes the patch not work, it NEEDS the Ws. Find the latest version here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3940020/Ck3patch.exe

2.) Odd, I can get this to work: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3940020/Screenshot5.png (It's Keen 1, but same engine.) Have you tried leaving a blank line above the three lines?


EDIT: This page now has patches for controlling the tiles and positions of the vortipress, as well as patches to lessen their number. http://www.shikadi.net/keenwiki/Patch:F ... icon_Press

The patches look quite large, but I had to rearrange the code a bit; Levellord did the original patches and they were not written very sensibly. (Also some of the code was not easy to patch.) It should now be a breeze to place the vortipress wherever you want. They can either be moved offscreen (Set their positions to 0,0) or you can just make their tiles the same as the ones they're replacing, so nothing seems to change.
StupidBunny
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Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2008 6:49 pm

Post by StupidBunny »

Thanks a lot. I had to change a lot of patches that used an obsolete (Patchotron) alphanumeric system but now I can do more with them anyway. I still haven't fixed the text problem...I've tried all sorts of things with blank lines, special characters and spacing, and nothing has done the trick thus far.

I have another patch request I'd like to make. This is a much more challenging one, and if you don't think it'd be possible then I currently have the mod built to work without it, but it would greatly improve the ending I think. I'd like so that, after the heart is destroyed, all shooters in the level are also destroyed. (Or at least all horizontal ones in the level; there is only one after all. ;) )
levellass
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Post by levellass »

If you send me your mod setup (You can strip out the new levels and graphics.) I can see if I can fiddle the text file to work properly, I may have more luck.


Also, I thought that when the heart was destroyed ALL sprites in a level were also destroyed? Certainly in the default level the Meep and vertical shooters are destroyed; are horizontal shooters not?
StupidBunny
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Post by StupidBunny »

It does destroy every sprite, it appears, including moving platforms--EXCEPT horizontal shooters (or at least, the one there is in the level.) That is the only thing that doesn't get destroyed, which is very inconvenient for my purposes. :P

EDIT: I just realized I can make vertical shooters fire horizontally, which should solve the problem.

EDIT 2: It didn't solve the problem though the vertical shot now goes right...

I'll try and send you the mod as it is soon.
levellass
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Post by levellass »

Code: Select all

#Swap vertical and horizontal shooters:
%patch $4D68 $22
%patch $4DCF $20

#'Horizontal' shot now goes left
%patch $4DD0 $FE70W

The 'left' part of the patch actually changes the bullet's speed; in this case from +190 to -190 You can make the shot faster or slower if you want. (And have TWO horizontal shooters if you so wish.)
StupidBunny
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Post by StupidBunny »

The problem is that the vertical shooter, whether it fires horizontally or vertically, still doesn't get destroyed when the heart is shot. Is this a version thing? Or does neither one actually get destroyed after the heart is shot?
levellass
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Location: Ngaruawahia New Zealand

Post by levellass »

It seems that some sprite types just aren't destroyed when the MM is, I don't know why.
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