Global game speed

Completed patches for Keen4.
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NY00123
Posts: 85
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 8:03 am

Global game speed

Post by NY00123 »

Edit for Mort Day (:O): Well, now that Keen Day is over and I know at least one individual has tried this... I'd reveal what is the patch all about.

Basically, the patch, intended for Commander Keen 4-6 and Bio Menace, lets one change the game speed globally.

For details about the patches, refer to these links:
http://www.shikadi.net/keenwiki/Patch:Game_Speed - For Commander Keen 4-6 (any other patch hasn't been added by me)
http://www.shikadi.net/moddingwiki/Patc ... nace/Speed - For Bio Menace

An example usage is also given below. Note that I've *modified* the default values used, for the original purpose of letting one see what it does.

--- Original post ---

Hey there,

As it's Keen Day now (March 14th, 2012, 0:00, GMT+2 time), I've thought of giving out an example of a small present...

Before I reveal more details, I'd like the ones interested to try out the following:
1. To begin with, have a clean installation of Commander Keen 4, Apogee release, EGA, v1.4. Just in case one hasn't got it, a download link is currently available in the following page: http://www.3drealms.com/keen4/index.html
2. Now, if you haven't got CK4PATCH, look for the most recent unofficial extension to CKPATCH here: viewtopic.php?t=975
Basically, you'd want this: http://www.0x27.com/downloads/ckpatch-0.11.0.zip
3. Even if you have got CKPATCH, there are chances you might still need to obtain a different version, in case you get an error with what's to follow. The above one is known to work.
4. Within the same directory, create a new file named PATCH4.PAT, with the following contents
5. Now you can run "CK4PATCH PATCH4.PAT" within DOSBox. Begin a game so you can see...

Code: Select all

# Patch file for Keen - use with CK4PATCH.EXE

%ext ck4
%version 1.4

%patch $18E79 $02BCW
%patch $18E7E $00AFW

%end
Now, if one wonders what has brought me to this... (not exactly a spoiler...)
Well, some of you may be aware of the IMF format used for in-game music. Ones may also know that a few so-called IMF rates are used, like 560Hz in Commander Keen and 700Hz in Wolfenstein 3D.
So, I've wondered if that speed can be changed in Commander Keen and/or Bio Menace...

Oh yeah: I'm going to reveal what's that soon. A few of you have possibly found the patch on the KeenWiki (for Commander Keen) or the ModdingWiki (for Bio Menace) before. That's all I'd tell for now... ;)
Last edited by NY00123 on Thu Mar 15, 2012 8:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
levellass
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Post by levellass »

If you're going to make a patch topic, you really should make it obvious what the patch does, this is a place for people to get patches they want, not to keep them secret.
NY00123
Posts: 85
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 8:03 am

Post by NY00123 »

levellass wrote:If you're going to make a patch topic, you really should make it obvious what the patch does, this is a place for people to get patches they want, not to keep them secret.
Hey,

Well, this is what I plan to do as Keen Day is over (edit topic & post). For now, though... ;)

EDIT: In fact, if there was a better place to post this topic in (at least while it remains "secret")... a suggestion is welcome. It may easily become irrelevant tomorrow, though.
levellass
Posts: 3001
Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2006 12:03 pm
Location: Ngaruawahia New Zealand

Post by levellass »

For a 'secret patch' I'd probably try the general forum, but again, I'm not sure secret patch stuff blends with the spirit of the community here. Aren't we here to share our patches and help others use them?
NY00123
Posts: 85
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 8:03 am

Post by NY00123 »

levellass wrote:For a 'secret patch' I'd probably try the general forum, but again, I'm not sure secret patch stuff blends with the spirit of the community here. Aren't we here to share our patches and help others use them?
I do agree with you on that point.

And now, as "Keen Day" is over and someone has tried the patch, I've edited the first post (and topic), revealing what is it all about.
Stealthy71088
Posts: 583
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:54 pm
Location: NY

Post by Stealthy71088 »

I read through the Keen wiki article, and it stated that the global game speed for galaxy changes depending on whether music is on or not, I imagine for memory purposes.

I know this value is used to calculate the speeds of everything. Is it possible that we could change this reference so the value isn't used for some things, but is used for other things? We could speed up everything in the game this way except for Keen, without having to rely on patching every little thing. Effectively its a whole new difficulty setting.

What would be even more interesting would be to see if we could create a timer in galaxy that ran at a speed independent of the speed of the game, which gave the player points, an extra life, a swimsuit, or even an oracle member if they beat the level before the time ran out, like the time mechanic from Hocus Pocus. I imagine that the score fields could be used for this.
levellass
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Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2006 12:03 pm
Location: Ngaruawahia New Zealand

Post by levellass »

Notice that the global game speed is used for nearly everything, including in-game timers. When music is on or off doesn't matter for in-game timers because the game compensates for that, thus the two different speeds.

Creating a 'game timer' is simple, inasmuch as it is a complex patch, but not *that* complex; for Keen 1 I have already made one that counts how long you've been in the level then resets at a certain value. All you need is to link it to something like the level loop and get it to go up once each time. The timer can be 'slowed down' by not displaying its value on say, the status window, but its value divided by some number.
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