3 ms·

While I loved the original games, I did not like this new comic style at all - it is a very different type of humor. Also, the impressions of the new game by th

While I loved the original games, I did not like this new comic style at all - it is a very different type of humor. Also, the impressions of the new game by these trailers were very unsatisfying and not really like a game I would enjoy playing and not at all like the original games. So I wondered, how should a modern reboot of the game actually look like? The graphic style is sth very subjective. I think just keeping the old pixel graphics would not be appropriate. But then what style? Should it be some comic style? Or more realistic? Or maybe sth in between, like GTA? Maybe like Halo? There is a similar discussion around Monkey Island now. I assume it should be a proper 3D game. What type of game? I think this should follow the old style. Ie. some small puzzle elements (but not too hard), some maze-style levels, levels where you do not just go from left-to-right but in any directions, where you collect key cards or whatever, activate some mechanisms etc. Maybe it's a bit like Tomb Raider. The main character should be the same. The setting should be similar, the same, or maybe extended, of course different worlds. I think there should be more and new and different opponents, aliens, etc. I think the kind of humor should be similar. But this is maybe hard to get right because I'm not sure how it fits together with modern graphics. Should it be violent? Should there be blood? Maybe that fits the humor. I don't know.

smcl 4y ago
Yeah I think you're right that they maybe missed the mark with this. I know I'm certainly not the target market (my only experience of Keen was killing him in Doom II) but it looked a bit odd to me. Resurrecting a franchise has to be done with a great deal of care - there has been success with id software games before (Doom and Wolfenstein are good examples) but I guess you're walking a pretty fine line when you try it and there will always be a vocal (minority?) crowd telling you that you're fucking it up. I don't know if the Keen games was popular or interesting enough to warrant a reboot, but I certainly wouldn't envy the team tasked with the purpose of developing it for exactly the reasons you stated.
tetha 4y ago
> What type of game? I think this should follow the old style. Ie. some small puzzle elements (but not too hard), some maze-style levels, levels where you do not just go from left-to-right but in any directions, where you collect key cards or whatever, activate some mechanisms etc. Maybe it's a bit like Tomb Raider. Hm, I've been thinking that some format like Super Mario 64, or Super Mario Galaxy, or A Hat in Time would fit how the Keen games worked very well. Using the Bean'n'Bacon-Rocket to cruise between different planets and space stations, chasing hints for the mighty Mortimer, solving puzzles of some difficulty, possibly with some light Metroidvania elements of upgrading the rocket (naturally with a vaccuum cleaner and booze, as in the first game). Maybe you could go ahead and do some of the interesting ideas Super Mario Galaxy explored, with small, strangely shaped space stations with whacky gravity.

smcl 4y ago

Yeah I think you're right that they maybe missed the mark with this. I know I'm certainly not the target market (my only experience of Keen was killing him in Doom II) but it looked a bit odd to me. Resurrecting a franchise has to be done with a great deal of care - there has been success with id software games before (Doom and Wolfenstein are good examples) but I guess you're walking a pretty fine line when you try it and there will always be a vocal (minority?) crowd telling you that you're fucking it up. I don't know if the Keen games was popular or interesting enough to warrant a reboot, but I certainly wouldn't envy the team tasked with the purpose of developing it for exactly the reasons you stated.

tetha 4y ago

> What type of game? I think this should follow the old style. Ie. some small puzzle elements (but not too hard), some maze-style levels, levels where you do not just go from left-to-right but in any directions, where you collect key cards or whatever, activate some mechanisms etc. Maybe it's a bit like Tomb Raider. Hm, I've been thinking that some format like Super Mario 64, or Super Mario Galaxy, or A Hat in Time would fit how the Keen games worked very well. Using the Bean'n'Bacon-Rocket to cruise between different planets and space stations, chasing hints for the mighty Mortimer, solving puzzles of some difficulty, possibly with some light Metroidvania elements of upgrading the rocket (naturally with a vaccuum cleaner and booze, as in the first game). Maybe you could go ahead and do some of the interesting ideas Super Mario Galaxy explored, with small, strangely shaped space stations with whacky gravity.