Atmosphere

Discussion and analysis of graphics, story, levels, and so on.
Ilsoap
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Post by Ilsoap »

Just because all of these patches exist in no way means that they ALL should be used in the same mod.

I'd equate it to when I first started surfing the net in 1997, and people were making all sorts of free Java plug-ins that created webpages with lens flares and neon colors jumping all over the place. Just because those things existed didn't make the webpages better. In many cases, it made them much, much worse.

So use patches sparingly, and only when it makes sense, not "Hey, my game needs 30 levels even though I can only think of ten mediocre level designs!" or "Doors within levels! Great, I'll put 100 doors in! Then my level will be AWSOME!!!". (spelled incorrectly on purpose).
KeenRush
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Post by KeenRush »

Pretty true. I just use in my current mod what it needs, and in the next one I'll try teleporters and stuff like that. :)
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XkyRauh
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re: Ilsoap

Post by XkyRauh »

man... you're so eloquent at stating things :-) you said exactly what i couldn't in less than 1/5th the words. thanks!

--Xky
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CommanderSpleen
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Enduring Atmosphere

Post by CommanderSpleen »

As Xky and Ilsoap have said, overuse of any extra tools and features, no matter how nifty, can really drag a game right down if they're not factored into the overall design effectively.

I intend to use as many of these new patch features as possible, because I want to make my mod as flexible, unique and extensive as possible. I like long-lasting games, so the 30 level patch will be useful. I like intertwining plot elements, which will incorporate the doors-on-map patch. I have factored in new scoring elements to suit the nature of the items I have created, which requires patching. And, of course, teleporters... these will be very useful. I only had a vague idea of how I might use teleporting within levels before the patch was created, but now I have a lot of ideas, so some interesting craziness is yet to come. Off the top of my head, that's all that spring to mind at the moment as patches I intend to make use of. And hopefully we'll soon have some useful little patches that will allow modification of the ice launchers (though I can improvise if such a patch doesn't emerge for a while).

So I guess it's really a question of scope... how far do you want to take your mod? As far as I'm concerned, Commander Keen: Monky Business is an entirely new game in and of itself, just using an existing engine. I have working ideas in mind already as to how I can make the game bigger and better, and they may or may not manifest as reality. But if they do, it will be because they are part of the game idea already--not because I've decided, "Ooh! New patch! Must make use of it somehow!" and slapped it into some random corner of the game.

---

I managed to catch a glimpse of the "alien" atmosphere just last night during a 4km walk/run from one pub to another (after having been driven 10km past the latter from yet another to the one I was at, and becoming bored)... I decided I'd attempt to see everything from a different perspective, and indeed suddenly everything looked really cool and Keen6y... like, new, weird and cool.

And this spurred me on to think back over the Keen games (especially Keen1 and 4 which, in my mind, have become particularly stale)... and realised that with a little imagination (ie. forgetting the fact that the level is simply a bunch of tiles, and remembering that Keen's actually a long, long way from home) the game can come alive again.

So I guess there's always the player's state of mind to factor in... if they play the game a number of times, it gets stale, but if they decide to look at it afresh after a while, a glint of the original beauty of the game emerges... but perhaps there's something we can do when designing the game that can give the player an extra incentive to keep working at it...

Myself, I intend to create small interest points throughout the map, and in levels, that the player will likely overlook initially, but will really appreciate after they finally see it. And, rather than making the map a means to an ends, it will become an ends in itself--with new areas to explore, different ways to get to some places, and indeed perhaps a couple of alternative ways to finish the game.

And I also intend to create a 'pre-run' .exe program that asks the player for a code and carries out a couple of modifications to the game before it starts. The player will need to do some work to find these codes, and when they do, they'll be in for all sorts of pleasant surprises. ;) (I'm not entirely certain how I might hide these codes--there are so many back doors that people are likely to use to find them, such as opening the levels up in an editor or reading through patch info... I guess there's only so much that can be done...

The abundance of secret areas in Keen4-6 are perhaps an incentive for a hard-core player to play again and again, but in so doing the game becomes staler and staler each time it's played through... the same graphics, the same events and secrets. There must be something that can be done to keep the player thinking the world around them is real (and I'm starting to believe lately that these worlds are equally as real, if not more real, than the crazy world around us)... even if it's a continuing saga, online support, mini games, etc. Things that keep the player thinking about the game world in different ways. Keen definitely comes alive in the PCKB and K:M, with everyone looking at the game from constantly different perspectives. But does much of the discussion bring back some form of its original atmosphere, or make it feel more and more artificial?

I guess part of the enduring atmosphere could have something to do with the creators' activities... whether they abandon their game or continue to support it. Background information on the creation of Keen and so forth set a certain air of disappointment at the whole 'To the Future' attitude of modern game developers, leaving their old works behind in a vain attempt to appeal to the masses.

The Keen series is in a state of limbo, abandoned by its owners long ago, still awaiting its next order. Yet that very fact has been a key element in forming this community, it seems. I wonder what would happen now if suddenly Keen7 was released...

I guess my analysis of abandonment vs enduring support is inconclusive... it seems the classics are perhaps classics because they are no longer supported in the mainstream. Meh.

Well, there be my scattered thoughts for the moment.

>Commander Spleen
Ilsoap
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Post by Ilsoap »

And I also intend to create a 'pre-run' .exe program that asks the player for a code and carries out a couple of modifications to the game before it starts. The player will need to do some work to find these codes, and when they do, they'll be in for all sorts of pleasant surprises. ;)
So, like, with every code you've found, different things will be patched in?

Wow. That's really cool.
man... you're so eloquent at stating things :-) you said exactly what i couldn't in less than 1/5th the words. thanks!
What can I say, I have a knack.
KeenRush
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Post by KeenRush »

and indeed suddenly everything looked really cool and Keen6y...
Maybe that had something to do with the pub, perhaps? :P

Oh, and I've thought idea similiar to yours Spleeny. Probably I won't make something like that for a long time, but it really can make storyline interesting and add cool secrets.
One way could be that some levels are different and stored in some file pack, and the passworded program would extract them out and replace some original files and so on.. :)
There are many ways to hidden those codes.
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CommanderSpleen
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Post by CommanderSpleen »

So, like, with every code you've found, different things will be patched in?
Exactly. I'm thinking on ways to disguise the information that is to be patched in. There's a lot of cool stuff that I can do with it if I can keep it out of reach of most people's prying hands.
Maybe that had something to do with the pub, perhaps? :P
Could have been, had I been drinking. I haven't had anything to drink since getting trashed about a month ago. So it was pure self-induced trippage.

>Commander Spleen
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Post by guest »

an other element is a really hard, hidden bonus level! Like in keen 4 and 1.
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