Public Commander Keen Forum

[Fleexy]

Aaand... it's done!

Keen has just left Cromaj when he received a distress call from the planet. Six nuclear bombs have mysteriously appeared on the planet surface. The planet has rotated since he left, so Keen ends up landing on the other side. Can you save the planet Cromaj and the Cromaj race from destruction?

Download Keen -5

Thanks to Ally (my sister), Mink, and Syllypryde ( ) for testing.

-Fleexy
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[Gridlock]

Even with savestates this is really tough (but I'm not very good at Vorticons mod). My biggest complaint is that it is hard to tell what Keen can land on/what he can't and what kills Keen/what doesn't.

Also, it took me a long time to figure out that those grey blocks are actually a bridge that you have to activate. When I see a block like that, I generally assume it is solid. Without savestates to save me, this mod would be a nightmare to play through.

I haven't gotten far enough into the mod to make many other comments, so I'll keep playing for now.

[Fleexy]

Oh oops, I was going to change that Redownload at original link.
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[StupidBunny]

I spent my four lives on trial-and-error trying to figure out what was an item, what was a block, what was lethal and what was decoration. You really need to make it more obvious what does what. As it is, there is no intuitive way of knowing what a lot of these tiles do and that makes gameplay immensely frustrating.
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[Ceilick]

My experience is pretty much the same. I got my first game over before completing a single successful jump. I quit after that, but figured I owed it another try awhile later and managed to complete the first level.

To be honest though, the lack of creatures, the rather featureless world map, and the story that doesn't feel particularly exciting aren't really motivating me to push on

[Gridlock]

I hate to say this Fleexy, but I just can't enjoy this mod. If anything, the 2nd level is more frusterating than the 1st. I died like 5 times before I could figure out what was killing me. And the later parts of that level are absolutely impossible. I cheated ahead to see some of the later levels but wasn't all that impressed. The bombs were a rather simple Keen 2 machine, nothing spectacular.

I feel bad saying this, especially because I can tell you put work into this, especially the attention to detail. Don't take this as an insult to your modding abilities, I really think you have a lot of potential. Maybe you could try Galaxy modding instead? Using the 2.5D platforms helps keep your level design in check and usually helps keep things from getting too cluttered. Please don't give up modding just because of this.

Edit: Remember, I'm a Galaxy mod person, not Vorticons. So maybe some of the more hardcore Vorticons crowd will think differently.

[Fleexy]

Could you please tell me exactly which tiles are confusing? If I know that, then I can fix it (hopefully).

But yeah, I rushed through making the last level and some of the graphics.
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[StupidBunny]

*I don't know whether that gray thing moving up and down will hurt me (plus it looks like it should be a platform, and even though I knew there wouldn't be a platform moving like that I'm still drawn to jump for it)
*That white right-angle thing looks like it should block.
*The point items look like they could be platforms, or else kill me.
*The blocks actually contrast less than a lot of the background tiles, meaning they stick out less.
*That vertical flashing line looks like it might kill me.

A lot of the background tiles generally stick out too much, distracting from the blocking/lethal foreground tiles which often contrast too little. It makes the level confusing and cluttered to look at and makes moving quickly through the level impossible. It actually helps a LOT to be able to pick out the foreground tiles without having to stop and consciously parse out the level.
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[Gridlock]

Here is an example of how the tiles are confusing. These were my first thoughts while playing level 1. Keep in mind I already know the answers now, but I didn't when I started.



Furthermore, it is impossible to know what kind of ice properties each tile will have until you land on it, at which point it can already be too late to save yourself. This stuff seems obvious to you, the creator, but other people come into this without a clue as to how things work.

If you want, I can do the same thing for level 2, but that's a lot of work. Hopefully you get the point I'm trying to make.

Edit: Stupidbunny got here first. I 2nd the part about the flashing vertical line though.

[Fleexy]

Here's a rule of thumb that I tried to apply (but didn't quite suceed): If it doesn't have a black outline, it doesn't block. Hazard tiles will have a black outline as well. In brown-background areas, hazards are green. In blue-background areas, hazards are red.

I'll make some tile and level adjustments and reupload. Thanks for your input!

EDIT: Made adjustments. Point items are less sharp, hazard tiles outlined, point items denoted by a sign, background stuff denoted by a "OK" SGA sign, dangers denoted by a "DIE" SGA sign. Various graphics tweaked and levels 1-3 adjusted.
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[StupidBunny]

Better...I think the point items would be better if they still had black outlines, as they look like background decoration now. Also, I'll insist that those gray signs still stick out too much, which makes it look like it should block. The gray moving thing is much improved. I think you might want to make that white line narrower, or else darker, it still looks like it might block.
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[Fleexy]

I'm trying to fix those numbers in the bottom-left corner of the status box... they seem to be a byproduct of some other patch I used.

This mod, IMHO, would make excellent levelpacks. The tileset is almost full of versatile hazard, decoration, and block sets. There's even one platform style that I never used
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[mortimer]

I always think mods of any game should have a "trial" level separate to the real game where you can figure these things out for yourself.
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