[Fantinaikos]

From now we can discuss of Commander Keen and related stuff in this dedicated thread.

As we know in the very first 90s before Wolfenstein 3D and DOOM, in an era where much software houses were not very different from a group of indie guys that have their office into a friend garage and the copyright laws were not quite yet defined, Apogee and ID realized their influential EGA/CGA platform in exclusive for PC inspired by Supermario and pop culture references: The adventures of the 8 years old Billy Blaze a kid with an IQ of 314 that fight against any kind of menace towards the universe. Even if objectively the real success arrived in 1991 with the graphic restyling of Keen Dreams/Keen 4, If you say "Commander Keen" to someone that it is the first that generally comes in mind.


Official chapters developed by Apogee-ID software (GBC created in collab with ACTIVISION but not considered canonic by Tom Hall itself)

Invasion of the Vorticons saga

Commander Keen 1: Marooned On Mars

http://www.shikadi.n...arooned_on_Mars
Shareware Licensed Download: ftp://ftp.3drealms.com/share/1keen.zip

Commander Keen 2: The Earth Explodes

http://www.shikadi.n..._Earth_Explodes

Commander Keen 3: Keen Must Die!

http://www.shikadi.n...:_Keen_Must_Die!


Keen Dreams

Commander Keen 3,5: Keen Dreams

http://www.shikadi.n...iki/Keen_Dreams


Goodbye Galaxy Saga

Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle

http://www.shikadi.n...t_of_the_Oracle

Commander Keen 5: The Armageddon Machine

http://www.shikadi.n...ageddon_Machine


Aliens Ate My Babysitter

Commander Keen 6: Aliens Ate My Babysitter!

http://www.shikadi.n..._My_Baby_Sitter!


Keen GBC

Commander Keen GBC:
http://www.shikadi.n...y_Color_game%29


Fan Mods

Universe Is Toast Saga by Ceilick & various Commander Keen fans

Based on the originally planned but then dropped ID Software idea for 1992 Christmas which is supposed to have been the last trilogy of entire franchise. Since the great quality, in a partial AscendedFanon trope manner, CK community consider them a natural continuation of the series and use their events as a base to time-placing the plot of most mods.

Commander Keen 7: The Keys of Krodacia (Requires KEEN 4)

http://www.shikadi.n...eys_of_Krodacia
Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2009-03-14.zip

Commander Keen 8: Dead in the Desert (Requires KEEN 6)

http://www.shikadi.n...d_in_the_Desert
Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2011-11-23.zip

Commander Keen 9: Battle of the Brains (Requires KEEN 5)

http://www.shikadi.n...e_of_the_Brains
Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2011-11-23.zip


Useful Links

Public Commander Keen Forum
http://pckf.rigeltechnical.com/

The Commander Keen Forum managed by CK fans as well as the best modders.

Commander Keen.Com
http://www.commander-keen.com/

"This website is made and maintained by a bunch of Commander Keen fans, who are trying to provide the best information and media for all the Commander Keen episodes. You can start navigating on our site by clicking on one of the links found from the left."

Dopefish.Com
http://www.dopefish.com/

EVERYTHING you want to know about one of the most iconic CK enemy.

Commander Genius
http://clonekeenplus...e.net/download/

"Commander Genius is a software piece that interprets the Commander Keen Invasion of the Vorticons and Galaxy series. As fans and developers we try to implement new features, improve the gameplay and give players an experience that feels like playing the original game but a bit more refreshing.
Not just Windows, Linux, and MacOS but other platforms are supported as well!"

It even works with some mods (consult the table http://www.shikadi.n...ommander_Genius) and it is provided of an High Quality Pack https://sourceforge....26.zip/download that improves visual and acustic experience.

[Lunick]

I prefer Omnispeak to Commander Genius http://pckf.rigeltec....php?f=4&t=4032

Also PCKF has a Discord server now https://discord.gg/6TAcfjX

[MrFlibble]

Recently my interest rekindled in source ports/ engine recreations of DOS games, and I learned about two Keen-related projects not listed here:

Chocolate Keen is a reimplementation of the Vorticons trilogy which aims at maximum accuracy in recreating the experience of playing this on a real DOS machine.

Reflection Keen is a source port of Keen Dreams which to the best of my knowledge is so far the only opens-source title in the series.

I haven't heard about Omnispeak yet, apparently it's the product of reverse-engineering. Nice!

BTW, does anyone know if any of Keen Dreams code has been used in the engine recreation projects of Keen 4 to 6?

[Fantinaikos]

Masterpieces for the Galaxy engine games.

Marooned on Mars - Galaxy mod by Dr. Colossus (remake in galaxy engine of Commander Keen 1, despite "Beta" you can totally finish the mod without encounter any tedious bug, requires KEEN 5)

http://www.shikadi.n...rs_-_Galaxy_mod
Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2017-04-08.zip

Stay also tuned for his upcoming remake of Keen 2
http://pckf.rigeltec....php?f=2&t=4024
Demo Download: https://www.dropbox....eenTEE.rar?dl=0

Keen Meets the Meats by DoomJedi, Szemigi, Levellass, troublesomekeen and VikingBoyBilly (Based on the only idealized ID software Keen Dreams sequel, requires Keen Dreams iself)

http://www.shikadi.n...Meets_the_Meats
Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2015-05-21.zip

The Eight Accumulators by Bubbatom (requires KEEN 4)

http://www.shikadi.n...ht_Accumulators
Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2011-12-13.zip

Commander Keen's Valentine Bash by Levellass (Horror Valentine day crossover between Commander Keen and Monster Bash, requires KEEN 4). Ending directly implies that we should have a sequel called "Where Is Everybody?" but still in hiatus or abandoned

http://www.shikadi.net/keenwiki/Commander_Keen's_Valentine_Bash
Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2013-01-04.zip

Atroxian Realm by Gridlock (requires KEEN 4)

http://www.shikadi.n.../Atroxian_Realm
Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2016-01-16.zip

The Terror from Outer Space by Dr. Colossus (requires KEEN 4)

http://www.shikadi.n...rom_Outer_Space
Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2013-09-29.zip

Episode 58 - The Ruin of Roib by Bernie (Setted in a possible dark future, despite says "Beta" you can totally finish the mod without encounter any tedious bug, requires KEEN 4)

http://www.shikadi.n...he_Ruin_of_Roib
Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2013-07-01.zip

Episode 59 - Underworld Ultimate! (Setted in a possible dark future, despite says "Beta" you can totally finish the mod without encounter any tedious bug, requires KEEN 4)

http://www.shikadi.n...rworld_Ultimate!
Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2014-05-06.zip


Map Editing Tools and Tutorials

Abiathar Galaxy engine+Dreams editor
http://pckf.rigeltec....php?f=4&t=3023
Dowload: https://abiathar.kee....8/Abiathar.zip

AbiathRPC: real-time Internet level editing
http://pckf.rigeltec....php?f=4&t=4031
Download: https://abiathar.kee...g/AbiathRPC.zip

Keen Galaxy Modding Tutorial by Ceilick (It also indicates a lot of other tools)
http://www.shikadi.n...28by_Ceilick%29

Patching Tutorial by Levellass
http://pckf.rigeltec....php?f=3&t=3614

[K1n9_Duk3]

MrFlibble, on 29 April 2017 - 02:26 AM, said:

BTW, does anyone know if any of Keen Dreams code has been used in the engine recreation projects of Keen 4 to 6?

From what I've heard, the recreation projects were based on the Catacomb 3-D source code (as far as the ID Engine part of the source is concerned). I don't think any of the game side of the code has was taken directly from the Keen Dreams source code, since the only thing Dreams has in common with Galaxy would be the basic movement code (gravity, acceleration and clipping against tiles or other actors) and the Omnispeak source code uses its own function naming scheme, even though the code itself should be identical.

My guess is that these recreations are based on some disassembling that was done before the Keen Dreams source code was released. I remember that someone gave me a partial disassembly/C-port of Keen 4 way back in 2007 or 2008. The fact that the Cataomb 3-D source was GPL'ed before the Keen Dreams source might also have had some impact on this. Edit: According to Github, the Omnispeak project started in 2012, but the Catacomb 3-D source wasn't released until about two years later, in 2014.

By the way, I remember posting on the PCKF that reverse engineering the Keen 4-6 source code would be possible, given that the Catacomb 3-D and Keen Dreams source codes were released and that they had a lot of code in common with Keen 4-6. But now I realize that this was long after the work on Omnispeak started.

[oasiz]

I remember modding Keen1 some years ago, was pretty fun but only got a few levels in with some "unique" ideas implemented in (as far as I know).
Had pretty ambitious plans for some of the levels but just moved on to other stuff.

I'll just drop a dump from one of the maps and a video that shows it for those who are interested.

Spoiler

[MrFlibble]

K1n9_Duk3, on 29 April 2017 - 12:50 PM, said:

By the way, I remember posting on the PCKF that reverse engineering the Keen 4-6 source code would be possible, given that the Catacomb 3-D and Keen Dreams source codes were released and that they had a lot of code in common with Keen 4-6. But now I realize that this was long after the work on Omnispeak started.

Wikipedia mentions that Bio Menace runs on the licensed Keen engine. Is that true? Have there been any attempts to write an engine recreation/reverse engineer that game? It appears that the recent reverse-engineering projects of this kind are pretty successful.

Can anyone please outline the differences between Omnispeak and Commander Genius? It is my understanding that the former is more accurate due to the reverse engineering part?

[Fantinaikos]

Quote

Wikipedia mentions that Bio Menace runs on the licensed Keen engine. Is that true? Have there been any attempts to write an engine recreation/reverse engineer that game? It appears that the recent reverse-engineering projects of this kind are pretty successful.

If you consider making both a Commander Keen x Bio Menace mod on Galaxy engine and a demo of a gritty Commander Keen on Bio Menace engine as first attempts, that seems to be quite true. Unless it's all about a simple patching but there must be a little more.

Commander Keen X Bio Menace by Szemi (requires KEEN 4)

http://www.shikadi.n...en_X_Bio_Menace
Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2016-02-16.zip

Keen Crisis Earth DEMO by Paramultart and Ceilick (requires Bio Menace)

http://www.shikadi.n...en_Crisis_Earth
Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2012-12-25.zip

Quote

Can anyone please outline the differences between Omnispeak and Commander Genius? It is my understanding that the former is more accurate due to the reverse engineering part?

In case you mean in which way they apply their concept of balance between fidelity, features and eventually improvements read the wikis should be enough to make yourself an idea.

If you want to get more technical, there is some (I suppose related) documentation.

Commander Genius

Building CG using LLVM and the Clang compiler
http://donpcde.ddns....with-llvmclang/

Building CG for Windows
http://donpcde.ddns....nder-windows-7/

Omnispeak

Source Code
https://github.com/sulix/omnispeak

[Hendricks266]

MrFlibble, on 30 April 2017 - 03:49 AM, said:

Wikipedia mentions that Bio Menace runs on the licensed Keen engine. Is that true?

It definitely is. The main menu, pause screen, and dialogs all resemble each other. Beyond that, I can confirm that friends have explored the game's executable and found it to be based on Keen Galaxy.

I have heard similar claims about the game ScubaVenture but nothing substantial.

[K1n9_Duk3]

Hendricks266, on 30 April 2017 - 11:14 AM, said:

I have heard similar claims about the game ScubaVenture but nothing substantial.

Nope, ScubaVenture uses the F.A.S.T. engine (written by Gerald Lindsly), which is also used by Monster Bash. The documentation that was released among with TED (the editor by John Romero that was used for most Id software games up to Wolf3D) claims that TED was used to create maps for ScubaVenture, but I strongly doubt this is true. The F.A.S.T. map format has absolutely nothing to do with the formats handled by TED. I wrote a level viewer for Monster Bash & ScubaVenture, so you can take my word on that.

And yes, BioMenace definitely uses the Keen Galaxy codebase, with some parts of Keen Dreams as well (the grenades in BioMenace use the same bouncing physics as the flower power balls in Keen Dreams).

[Hendricks266]

Thanks for the correction. Damn my memory.

[Fantinaikos]

Some good mods for Vorticon engine

A New Dope by KeenRush (Rated as one of the best for quality and challange, requires KEEN 3)

http://www.shikadi.n...wiki/A_New_Dope
Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2007-03-14.zip

See also the levelpacks Some Dope Levels by CK Guy and A New Dope Levelpack by shikadi


Alternative "The Universe is Toast" saga by different authors

Commander Keen Episode X by Xkylyr Rauh (requires KEEN 1)

http://www.shikadi.n...nwiki/Episode_X
Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2002-06-30.zip

See also the levelpack: Community Keen X Levelpack

Commander Keen Episode Y: Extra Dark by Grelphy (requires KEEN 1)

http://www.shikadi.n...nwiki/Episode_Y
Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2003-06-19.zip

Commander Keen Episode Z by Ceilick (requires KEEN 1)

http://www.shikadi.n...nwiki/Episode_Z
Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2009-01-30.zip

Commander Keen Episode Null by Xky Rauh (Events takes place between Episode X and Episode Y, requires KEEN 2)

http://www.shikadi.n...ki/Episode_Null
Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2004-03-11.zip


Episode Dash by Xky Rauh (Based on timed levels so you have to rush to the exit or you will die [there is a time-increasing bonus along the road anyway], requires KEEN 3)

http://www.shikadi.n...ki/Episode_Dash
Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2004-10-22.zip


Aqua Keen trilogy by Dawg (Underwater adventures of a Twelve Billy Blaze)

Aqua Keen 1: Red Tide (requires KEEN 1)

http://www.shikadi.n...een_1:_Red_Tide
Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2012-10-29.zip

Aqua Keen 2: Seas Will Cease (requires KEEN 1)

http://www.shikadi.n...Seas_Will_Cease
Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2012-11-20.zip

Aqua Keen 3: Doomsday: 12-21-12

http://www.shikadi.n...msday:_12-21-12
Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2013-04-03.zip


Community bugfixes and improvements for the original games

Keen 1, 2, 3 Bug Fix Versions by Mondae Sundae (requires original KEEN 1, 2 and 3)

These patched version of the first 3 Commander Keen games are ridded of all bugs and flaws, they should be compatible with the mods and recognized by Commander Genius/Omnispeak. You can even decide if replace some level of KEEN 2 and KEEN 3 with an easier or an harder version.

Download KEEN 1 Bugfixed: http://www.mediafire...Keen1BugFix.zip

Download KEEN 2 Bugfixed:
http://www.mediafire...Keen2BugFix.zip

Download KEEN 3 Bugfixed:
http://www.mediafire...en3BugFixV5.zip

Changelog post: http://www.pckf.rige...opic.php?t=3746


Keen Dreams Plus by Ceilick (It improves Keen Dreams replacing two enemies and adding four new levels, requires to be applied on standard Keen Dreams)
http://www.shikadi.n...een_Dreams_Plus
Dowload: http://www.shikadi.n....2011-02-15.zip


Keen 5: The Armageddon Machine Deluxe Edition by Nisaba (it vastly improve the KEEN 5 experience fixing bugs, art and grapich errors and reintroducing missing contents. Further details in the included .PDF, requires to be applied on standard KEEN 5)

Dowload: https://storage.driv...1fe8471.9.6.zip

[MrFlibble]

Fantinaikos, on 30 April 2017 - 05:49 AM, said:

In case you mean in which way they apply their concept of balance between fidelity, features and eventually improvements read the wikis should be enough to make yourself an idea.

Thanks, but the Commander Keen Wiki doesn't really go into that much detail. In fact, the page for Omnispeak seems to be outdated as it only describes the project as

Quote

a game engine created by sulix, with the assistance of NY00123 and lemm. It is billed as 'A Commander Keen 5 Reimplementation' and has allows you to completely play through Keen 5 and Paddle War.

Whereas at this stage Omnispeak appears to support the entire second trilogy (yeah, I know trilogy is not exactly correct, but you know what I mean, Keen 4-6).

Anyway, from what I gather Omnispeak aims to accurately recreate the originals, warts bugs and all, on modern systems while Commander Genius is stated to be less conservative (and also it supports the Vorticons trilogy as well). What I wanted to know though, if I play let's say Keen 4 through Omnispeak and CG with no enhancements, will the experience be any different? If I want some of CG's enhancements, will there be any deviations from how the game plays compared to the original and/or Omnispeak? That's the kind of answers I'd like to know.

[Fantinaikos]

The only thing that Commander Genius add independently in every case are more options in the ingame menus to give you choices that was not possible do in the original keen games which alter the vanilla gameplay experience, for the rest I can say that if you decide to not change any option or parameter, it should act same as Chocolate Keen/Omnispeak (maybe just a smoothest transition when you enter/exit levels and screen fading). But the latest versions need SDL 2.0 to work.

Personally, play the first 3 Keen games without change at least some hud options and use the HQ pack it's very hard to me. The original jump sound in particular makes the ears bleed.

[Marphy Black]

Some guy on Ebay is selling some original id Software developer floppies from 1990 of what are purportedly "original graphics" from Keen 1 through 3:
http://www.ebay.com/...0-/262966170711

John Romero has confirmed their authenticity:
https://twitter.com/...048100253106176

[Fantinaikos]

Those floppys could be the best discovery since Romero published a tech demo video of what should have been the real KEEN 7:

"In early January 1992, before we decided to make Wolfenstein 3D, we planned on making the third Commander Keen trilogy, "The Universe Is Toast!". This is the VGA parallaxing technology demo that used VGA versions of Keen 4's background texture. The project was actually seriously underway with entire directory hierarchy and 230 files in it before we decided to make Wolfenstein 3D instead.
The demo only shows one level that we made with parallaxing graphics. We only worked on this project for a couple weeks before switching to Wolfenstein 3D"

Topic of discussion
http://pckf.rigeltec....php?f=1&t=3834

Video
https://vimeo.com/148926335

Conversation with Tom Hall on twitter about it
https://twitter.com/...294626289778688

[Lunick]

Keen Dreams has been removed from Steam due to the "developer" misbehaving https://www.reddit.c...om_steam_store/

[Player Lin]

Lunick, on 19 July 2017 - 07:48 PM, said:

Keen Dreams has been removed from Steam due to the "developer" misbehaving https://www.reddit.c...om_steam_store/

......I can only say......

What's wrong with the developer?

[MusicallyInspired]

Do owners still have access to the game?

[Sledgehammer]

Player Lin, on 20 July 2017 - 04:37 AM, said:

What's wrong with the developer?

Mental illness is a very strong disease.

[Fantinaikos]

Ye Olde Pirate Modde by Levellass, original alpha by Ceilick (requires Keen 3. Since the memory is pushed to the engine limits, it is recommended to play only on Dosbox. However errors could occur sometimes)

Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2013-07-15.zip
Download without music (less buggy): http://www.shikadi.n....2013-07-15.zip

Commander Keen Xmas 2010 by Szemigi, Ceilick and Levellass (requires Keen Dreams)

Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2011-01-12.zip

Foray in the Forest by Mr.M & Nisaba, intended to close the gap between Keen Dreams and Keen 4 (still a DEMO but just for the fact that is partially based on the 1992 Keen 7 Tech Demo material Romero published it's worth playing)

Download: http://www.shikadi.n....2017-03-14.zip

Suburb Shenanigans by Bubbatom (requires Keen 5) Apparently the first of a trilogy.

Download: https://www.dropbox.....v.0.3.zip?dl=1 (This is a fixed and stabilized version by Nisaba and others actually, original is very bugged. Worth to mention that Nisaba also released an updated version of Dr. Colossus Keen 1: Marooned on Mars - Galaxy mod.
http://www.shikadi.n....2018-10-10.zip)

Only for coherency obsessors: Bubbatom seems to have taken too much liberty and forgotten that the mod should be setted in 1991 given the story states that Billy is still 8 year old but there are elements that look too modern for the 90's. The best thing to do, since is quite clear that he lives in a particularly wealthy neighborhood, is to think that those Widescreen looking TVs are parodies of expensive Fujitsu Full-color Plasma Hybrid Display (even if they seems blatantly bigger than 21-inch/53 cm), collocating the mod in 1992. Obviously before his Birthday, which wouldn't be on 14 December corresponding to the first Commander Keen game release. Other things like CFL lights and Robot Vacuum Cleaners may be rationalized with the fact that the neighbors are so rich that they can afford prototypes not yet released on the market, but this is more an exercise of mental gymnastics.

Commander Keen - Doom of Mars by Dr. Colossus (crossover sidescrolling shooter made in Game Maker)

Download: http://www.shikadi.n...oomOfMarsV2.exe

Dropped DOOM 4 DOOM mod Dopefish addon by Major Cooke. Only belching audio demos are present.
https://forum.zdoom....hp?f=43&t=55858

DN3D recreation map of the first level of Keen 1 by sirhenryjonesthe8th, Keen's Raygun replace RPG.
https://forums.duke4...mander-keen-3d/

Benvolio's Workbench Blog. A bunch of good mods for Keen1, Keen2 and Keen4.
http://www.maguidhir...fionn/benvolio/

A cool video of the 3D printing artist Andrew Sink where he prints out a Commander Keen Railgun.

[NY00123]

There's now an official Switch port of Keen Dreams:

It has new remastered music and sound effects. Interestingly, the button originally used to toggle the PC Speaker sound effects was re-purposed for the AdLib effects. The AdLib one was re-purposed for the remastered effects.

According to Nintendo's game page, Lone Wolf Technology LLC is the developer and publisher of this port: https://www.nintendo...n-dreams-switch

Other details can be found in this PCKF thread: https://pckf.com/viewtopic.php?t=4827

[Marphy Black]

NY00123, on 09 February 2019 - 02:29 AM, said:

new remastered music and sound effects

[Zaxx]

Interesting but I do wonder how long this port will be available without Bethesda / id's involvement. I know that Keen Dreams was originally developed for SoftDisk so it's basicaly not part of the "original" Keen series but the Steam version of it was removed too. Buy it on Switch while you still can I say.

[K1n9_Duk3]

The steam version was removed because the person who own the rights to Keen Dreams misbehaved on steam. That said, id / Bethesda applied for a new trademark for "Commander Keen" in late 2018, so maybe they could sue?

[Mack]

New Commander Keen game for mobile devices announced by Bethesda.

https://www.gokeen.com

Tom Hall responds to the annoucement:

https://twitter.com/...907336750567424

https://twitter.com/...892418773065729

[ReaperMan]

Well, that looks like shit.

[Zaxx]

What the fuck have these executives done again? You can smell the "okay what do we have we could use for mobile, we need mobile shit" incentive on the whole thing. What a fucking disgrace.

[MusicallyInspired]

Commander Keen: The Nickelodeon Mobile Game.

Nuh uh.

Just let these old franchises die. It's clear nobody can bring them back in the way they deserve. Except Doom, apparently. Though we'll see if all this expanded lore in Doom Eternal is actually good for the franchise or not. I'm currently excited. This looks like crap. though.

[Mack]

https://twitter.com/...922262831702017