Issue with importing graphics K5
Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 5:41 am
Well, attempting to start my Keen 5 project but ran into an issue I'm kind of stuck on. I haven't even really done any modifications yet just trying to get everything set up and working, following the exact process I did with my K4 mod. I got everything set up in Abiathar and made a few small test edits and made sure the edited game loads via play.bat. It does. Next test graphics modifying, keengraph exports the graphics no problem but after I re-import them (I only modified one point item just as a test), my game will no longer get past the initial loading screen. After the initial loading screen, and you press a key to continue, the screen goes blank. The commander keen text never starts to scroll and it just freezes. Abiathar will show the edited graphics whether I use tile sheet bitmaps or the EGA graphics settings (I tested both ways, same result), but the game will never load again unless I replace the K5 game files with my original ones again and start all over.
I've done a few things to narrow down the issue:
I eliminated Abiathar from the equation. I started a fresh folder with my K5 files no Abiathar or level editing, just UNLZEXE the K5 exe (tested, still working) added keengraph and ck5patch to the folder (still works), exported the graphics with keengraph (still works), imported the graphics and let keengraph generate its own patch file for ck5patch since Abiathar patching is out of the picture for this test and now it doesn't work, exact same issue as before.
Tried the same procedure with a different Keen episode. I did the exact same thing as above (no Abiathar again) just testing exporting then re-importing graphics with keengraph, this time with Keen 6 and ck6patch, and this time, the game loads and plays fine, and will show any graphics I edit.
So the issue happens only after I have imported graphics with keengraph (whether I've edited them or not), and only with Keen 5. At this point, I kind of think the problem is my original Keen 5 files somehow. It is version 1.4, but I had to update it to 1.4 from 1.0 using the updater linked on the Keen wiki, so possibly that could be the issue? I already had Keen 4 and 6 versions 1.4 so I did not have to update those.
Perhaps my next step is to get another version of Keen 5 and try that. I could buy it again off steam I guess(I have my original Goodbye Galaxy disk still and its even version 1.4 but I don't have a 3.5" drive that works anymore), but first I though I'd see if any of you modding experts out have any ideas...I am still new at this so I could be missing something obvious or maybe there's a Keen 5 quirk I don't know about.
I've done a few things to narrow down the issue:
I eliminated Abiathar from the equation. I started a fresh folder with my K5 files no Abiathar or level editing, just UNLZEXE the K5 exe (tested, still working) added keengraph and ck5patch to the folder (still works), exported the graphics with keengraph (still works), imported the graphics and let keengraph generate its own patch file for ck5patch since Abiathar patching is out of the picture for this test and now it doesn't work, exact same issue as before.
Tried the same procedure with a different Keen episode. I did the exact same thing as above (no Abiathar again) just testing exporting then re-importing graphics with keengraph, this time with Keen 6 and ck6patch, and this time, the game loads and plays fine, and will show any graphics I edit.
So the issue happens only after I have imported graphics with keengraph (whether I've edited them or not), and only with Keen 5. At this point, I kind of think the problem is my original Keen 5 files somehow. It is version 1.4, but I had to update it to 1.4 from 1.0 using the updater linked on the Keen wiki, so possibly that could be the issue? I already had Keen 4 and 6 versions 1.4 so I did not have to update those.
Perhaps my next step is to get another version of Keen 5 and try that. I could buy it again off steam I guess(I have my original Goodbye Galaxy disk still and its even version 1.4 but I don't have a 3.5" drive that works anymore), but first I though I'd see if any of you modding experts out have any ideas...I am still new at this so I could be missing something obvious or maybe there's a Keen 5 quirk I don't know about.