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 In the far off year of 1990, John Carmack succeeded in creating smooth horizontal scrolling using EGA. They worked on creating a PC port for Super Mario Bros. 3 and created the first level, pixel by pixel in preparation for a demo for Nintendo and to save time animating Mario, they used the main character from the 1988 game Dangerous Dave and it worked a charm. They realized their engine was valuable and so left Softdisk to create iD Software, but were unsuccessful in their Mario port pitch, unsurprisingly. So, for the next three months, they worked on their next project, with a very simple prospect: "Billy Blaze, eight-year old genius, working diligently in his backyard clubhouse, has created an interstellar starship from old soup cans, rubber cement, and plastic tubing. While his folks are out on the town and the babysitter is asleep, Billy sneaks out to his backyard workshop, dons his BMX bike helmet, and transforms into... COMMANDER KEEN--defender of justice! In his ship, the Bean with Bacon MegaRocket, Keen dispenses justice with an iron hand! In this episode, aliens from the planet Vorticon VI find out about the eight year-old genius and plan his destruction. While Keen is out exploring the mountains of Mars, the Vorticons steal his ship and leave pieces of it around the galaxy! Can Keen recover all the pieces of his ship and repel the Vorticon invasion? Will he make it back before his parents get home? Stay tuned!" The games were very successful and spawned another trilogy in late 1991, as well as an in-between game in summer 1991, Keen Dreams, since they were still bound contract wise to create games for a Gamer's Edge disk. The company moved onto Wolfenstein 3D and never continued the cliffhanger ending of Keen 5, despite promising a release for Christmas 1992. And since Keen 6 was released before Keen 5, it couldn't really expand on it. (This is also why it's hard to obtain Keen 6, since it was released in stores instead of online, so isn't included in the full Goodbye Galaxy package, it's annoying) Thankfully, in 2007, a fan by the username of Ceilick modded Keen 4 to create Keen 7, a continuation of the series and finished, in 2012, with Keen 9. I will be LPing all of these games, but not all at once, that's too much Keen. So, for now, we'll be covering the original trilogy in all of its 2D glory. Joining me on this space faring adventure is the grumpy space cadet Dirty Deeds Done, so buckle up, it's time to kick some alien behind! (And yes, most of what I say in the first video about the development is wrong, I was working from memory. My bad)  Part 1: Pogo to the Stars Part 2: Shrine Time in the Cities Part 3: Secret City and Commander's Castle  Part 1: Brought to You by ACME Part 2: Mind Control My Bullet To Yo Face Part 3: Limp Back to Your Own Planet  Part 1: Start of Something Swell Part 2: This Video is a Real Dick Part 3: Oh For Fort Sake Part 4: The End for Commander Clown  Part 1: You've Got to Eat Your Vegetables Part 2: Boobus Bombs Near! Part 3: More Bang For Your Boobus Buck To any of those curious, here's a mostly full run down of the series' development And the development of Keen Dreams And even though we won't cover it until the next thread, here's how the sequel trilogy was developed And to anyone that wants to learn the Standard Galactic Alphabet And of course, we know that someone else has played these games before me, love him or hate him, raocow LPed the first four games blind (and Keen Dreams), in case you want a 2008 perspective. Crosspeice fucked around with this message at 20:50 on Feb 20, 2015 |
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Jan 29, 2015 01:17
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| # ? May 11, 2024 09:28 |
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I grew up on Commander Keen back in the early 90s. We used to have a 386 with loads of classic DOS games including the Keen series. Concerning the OP, what about Keen 6? We only had the shareware version of it and I never got through the whole game. Does it not resolve Keen 5?
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Jan 29, 2015 02:07
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90S KIDS WILL REMEMBER THIS
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Jan 29, 2015 02:53
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Tom Hall was the keynote speaker at a game design convention in Milwaukee a couple years ago. He barely mentioned Doom or Wolfenstein, but talked at length about the development process for Commander Keen. Apparently their Mario pitch actually got all the way to the top at Nintendo, but got shot down in the end because they didn't want to go into PC gaming.
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Jan 29, 2015 03:04
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hey now, I used to have every inch of these games memorized backwards and front. good stuff OP
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Jan 29, 2015 03:04
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I enjoyed playing this, Keen 4, 6, and Dreams but I was never any good at them.
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Jan 29, 2015 03:05
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gently caress yeah, Commander Keen!
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Jan 29, 2015 08:01
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What do you mean they didn't resolve all cliffhangers?
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Jan 29, 2015 08:30
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You've already killed three Yorps and two Vorticons? You monster.  Also, you say there were five official Keen games - weren't there seven? The original trilogy, the two Goodbye Galaxy episodes, Aliens Ate My Babysitter and Keen Dreams.
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Jan 29, 2015 17:14
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Tiggum posted:You've already killed three Yorps and two Vorticons? You monster. Keen don't take no prisoners.  Tiggum posted:Also, you say there were five official Keen games - weren't there seven? The original trilogy, the two Goodbye Galaxy episodes, Aliens Ate My Babysitter and Keen Dreams. Yes, I mention Keen Dreams in a future video, which is why I thought I'd already mentioned it and didn't really elaborate on Keen 6, I'll put it in. It's also because I've said all of this in the videos, but I haven't uploaded them yet, whoops. Carbolic Smokeball posted:Concerning the OP, what about Keen 6? We only had the shareware version of it and I never got through the whole game. Does it not resolve Keen 5? It was developed around the same time as Keen 4 and came out in between that and Keen 5. So, while it kinda moved the story along, it didn't resolve anything and so the cliffhanger of Keen 5 remains. klafbang posted:What do you mean they didn't resolve all cliffhangers? Kinda funny in hindsight, since Tom Hall no longer owns the rights to Keen and so he would conclude the story if he ever got them back. They would've been 3D platformers a good two years before Mario 64. Ah, if only. And of course, John Romero got a bit sick of Keen games and since they made Wolfenstein and Doom afterward, he definitely wanted to do more gory, adult stuff.
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Jan 29, 2015 18:07
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I made the mistake of clicking on "Let's Play Commander Keen: Marooned on Mars [Part 2]" in the related videos without realizing it wasn't by crosspiece. Those are 2 minutes of my life I am never going to get back...
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Jan 29, 2015 20:27
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Does the raygun ammo stack when you pick up a new one while you still have some left?
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Jan 29, 2015 21:38
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Carbon dioxide posted:Does the raygun ammo stack when you pick up a new one while you still have some left? Yes. Although, I'm not sure there is a limit to how many you can stockpile.
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Jan 29, 2015 21:59
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syzpid posted:I made the mistake of clicking on "Let's Play Commander Keen: Marooned on Mars [Part 2]" in the related videos without realizing it wasn't by crosspiece. Those are 2 minutes of my life I am never going to get back... Problem solved! Part 2: Shrine Time in the Cities Jobbo_Fett posted:Yes. Although, I'm not sure there is a limit to how many you can stockpile. I'm tempted to say 999, since you can go over 100, so maybe 200. It'll take a while with 5 ammo a pop, though.
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Jan 29, 2015 23:14
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Good poo poo, OP. I love these games.
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Jan 29, 2015 23:17
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This might be literally the first video game I played.
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Jan 29, 2015 23:30
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So much of my childhood spent playing this.  Serves you right for running out of ammo after you shot all those poor innocent yorps!
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Jan 30, 2015 00:02
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ZOT Anyway, could you leave those hint statue messages up a bit longer? I like to read them without pausing the vid, even if they're stupid.
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Jan 30, 2015 00:08
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Carbon dioxide posted:ZOT ZAP Sorry, the next (and last) video is all done and recorded, but something similar appears in Keen 2, so I'll make sure to keep that extended. Is the length of the translated messages long enough for everyone? Poil posted:Serves you right for running out of ammo after you shot all those poor innocent yorps! He jumped over my shots and when a Vorticon gets close I get scared and fumble my keys, wasting more shots.  Lustful Man Hugs posted:This might be literally the first video game I played. 
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Jan 30, 2015 00:21
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I think the inclusion of Immanuel Kant's books as point-pickups is supposed to reference Keen's genius-level IQ (since German philosophy is Pretty loving Dense).
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Jan 30, 2015 02:52
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Jobbo_Fett posted:Yes. Although, I'm not sure there is a limit to how many you can stockpile. I think the limit is 99, but the only way you can actually get that much ammo (at least in the first game) is to cheat.
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Jan 30, 2015 03:00
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this LP has taught me that the books you pick up are Immanuel Kant...jesus I haven't played these games in like 8 years, in fact the old 286 laptop that we played this and Duke Nukum (yes that's how it was originally spelt) and all those other old DOS games is still somewhere in my house. Did Commander Keen ever have actual sound effects that weren't through the PC Speaker?
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Jan 30, 2015 06:36
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Music suggestions? You could put some spacey 1960s-esque tracks in, to fit the setting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSUwFaqwDVI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h41AAtYQnOw
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Jan 30, 2015 07:42
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Oh my everliving God, it's my childhood right there. On a pogo stick! I keep remembering how awesome that pogo stick was when you first got it; YOU MEAN I CAN JUMP HIGHER?!? 
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Jan 30, 2015 15:42
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Aces High posted:Did Commander Keen ever have actual sound effects that weren't through the PC Speaker? Pretty sure the later games (4-6) support Sound Blaster, etc.
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Jan 30, 2015 18:09
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they definitely do https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9w3yoIOK-9U
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Jan 30, 2015 18:24
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Tiggum posted:I think the limit is 99, but the only way you can actually get that much ammo (at least in the first game) is to cheat. You can cheat, definitely, but if you stock up lives you can keep on killing yourself in Red Maze City and get 15 ammo each time. Or, if you don't have lives, go through the secret teleporter, then use it again to come back out and go through the level again. It's time consuming, but it's possible. John Liver posted:Music suggestions? You could put some spacey 1960s-esque tracks in, to fit the setting: Ooh, I definitely like those, I'll be able to fit them in somewhere in Keen 3 and KD, since I haven't edited those just yet. Just something to put in the background and not bring too much attention to is perfect, since the focus needs to be on my incorrect commentary. JFairfax posted:they definitely do  I know what I'm putting into KD's opening, holy poo poo.
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Jan 30, 2015 19:24
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How about some zabutom for music? Delicious chiptuney goodness to fit the era.
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Jan 30, 2015 22:55
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Thanks for all the music suggestions, I will be putting them in the videos starting from Keen 2. So today's the last video of silence! Part 3: Secret City and Commander's Castle That's all for the first game. It is pretty short and it is pretty easy, but drat is it a lot of fun and I've played it so much in my life that this was really easy to record and stuff, even if I don't have all the details correct. But, it's not my favorite out of the classic Keens. Oh no, we're only just getting started, really.
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Jan 31, 2015 00:08
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Best pet ever. 
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Jan 31, 2015 00:47
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Commander Keen is good. That is all.
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Jan 31, 2015 01:07
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I have no idea how this double post happened.
SirSamVimes fucked around with this message at 01:25 on Jan 31, 2015 |
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Jan 31, 2015 01:07
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SirSamVimes posted:I have no idea how this double post happened. Because the game is good enough to deserve two posts.
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Jan 31, 2015 01:30
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Assuming you didn't miss any shots, you CANNOT kill the Vorticon Commander in normal play! You unloaded a full 96 shots on him after Cheating, since you had 4 shots left, and hit him with 10 shots before Cheating. So you'd need a capacity of 106 shots, and the game caps at 100.
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Jan 31, 2015 02:30
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According to the Keen Wiki (which may be wrong), he takes 105 shots. So if you came into the level and landed all 100 shots, then went back to the only Raygun in the level and hit the last 5, then you can kill him legit. Or you can jump over him, or run under him when he jumps and complete the game that way, since he acts exactly like a normal Vorticon. No I'm not doing a pacifist run of these games, there will be murder, much, much murder. (I think I also missed a fair few shots as well, but I did only cheat the once)
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Jan 31, 2015 02:36
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JFairfax posted:they definitely do DOPEFISH   That just shows how long it's been since I a) played these games on a computer that HAD a soundcard (our first desktop had Keen 4 ) and b) played these games period
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Jan 31, 2015 06:57
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I just checked that Keen wiki and it says there's a Keen gameboy game? How does that tie in with anything?
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Jan 31, 2015 10:07
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Carbon dioxide posted:I just checked that Keen wiki and it says there's a Keen gameboy game? How does that tie in with anything? I'll probably stick a video of this sometime in the next thread. It's bad, very bad. It controls poorly, it looks bad and I just can't seem to get my head round it and play it. It was also released a month before the GBA and it doesn't make use of the GBC hardware very well. I really don't think it's canon.
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Jan 31, 2015 21:40
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Figured you were doing this based on that line at the end of the Grinch LP. Oh, and funny you should mention the idea of a 'reboot' of Commander Keen. Sadly the Kickstarter failed. Wasn't there some issue with Keen Dreams that got into legal trouble because some farmer had copyrighted/trademarked vegetables with eyes, or something? I remember something about that, and how one of the creators regretted even making it because of that. Something about losing the rights to Keen? Could be misremembering though. Or it could have been an April Fool's prank that I stumbled upon much later.
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Feb 2, 2015 04:22
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Kgummy posted:Wasn't there some issue with Keen Dreams that got into legal trouble because some farmer had copyrighted/trademarked vegetables with eyes, or something? I remember something about that, and how one of the creators regretted even making it because of that. Something about losing the rights to Keen? Could be misremembering though. Or it could have been an April Fool's prank that I stumbled upon much later. This is definitely the first time I'm hearing about this. Tom Hall has indeed lost the rights to Keen for whatever reason and would make new games in a heartbeat if he got it back. The only Keen game with legal problems is Keen 6, since it was a commercial release and had limited online release, to the point that nowhere on the internet sells Keen 6 anymore, so you need to get it second hand, or have bought it when it came out, something I was lucky enough to have, but because my mother didn't know too much about the series, she didn't buy them in order, so the only Keen games I played for a long time were 1, 4 and 6. You can download the demo, but that's about it. Keen Dreams is interesting in that it was only made because the guys who left Softdisk to make iD Software kinda forgot about their binding contract so they had to keep making games for them until it ran out. Keen Dreams was one of them and it was really a test for their new engine for Keen 4 onward. And it shows, but it's still a fine game and a breath a fresh air after Keens 1-3. I'm editing the Keen 3 footage now and I am just sighing internally. And I haven't even gotten to the worst of it yet!
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Feb 2, 2015 07:03
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