LGR - Commander Keen: Keen Dreams Re-Release
Added 2015-01-02 17:08:14 +0000 UTCI just noticed that none of my replies to comments have gone through on the past few videos here. They appear to post on my end, but when I go back later they're gone. Argh! Is anyone seeing them? I've replied to almost every comment! :/
Comments
Thanks for the video (and the show generally — I've been a very happy patron). I'm actually the programmer on this port, and it's great to see it reviewed. Accuracy to the original game was the watchword on this port: I went back to the original data files and source code, and even had to use all of the original DOS editing tools to rebuild graphics, as well as architecting the replacement sound format to work internally as closely to the original as possible. Indeed, we're even doing things like making the motion "jerkier" in CGA mode to match the original and using a special scaling algorithm to preserve pixel shape as well as possible. I've not got any control over pricing (or any of the storefront/marketing pages for that matter), but I will point out that the game is currently in the "Bundle in a Box 2" here, for as little as $1: <a href="https://groupees.com/biab2" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://groupees.com/biab2</a> I haven't seen the crashes in windowed mode you've been getting, but I can have a guess at their cause: Keen Dreams (and Keens 4-6) use some pretty crazy EGA hardware hacks to speed up screen scrolling, and we're doing some rather interesting things to trick the operating system into using a similar memory layout. This works really well on Linux, but it appears that some windows graphics drivers are struggling with it. The "/COMP" command-line argument makes the game use a workaround for some SVGA cards, which might also fix this issue. If you could let me know (email me at david@ingeniumdigital.com) if this fixes it and what graphics card (and OpenGL driver version, if possible) you've got, that'd be really swell. Cheers, — David BTW: I've got a (somewhat less complete) reverse engineered port of Keen 5. Some things (the status menu, save/load, story screen, etc.) are not quite finished, but the actual gameplay is, after a huge amount of effort reproducing the exact causes of physics bugs, certified pixel-perfect to the original game. You can check it out here if you're interested: <a href="http://davidgow.net/keen/omnispeak.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://davidgow.net/keen/omnispeak.html</a>
David Gow
2015-01-03 14:47:40 +0000 UTCThese videos are perfect for viewing during breakfast, instead of the news which only consist of worries and concerns. Makes you start the day with a calm smile on your face.
Daniel
2015-01-03 13:21:30 +0000 UTCAs a backer of the aforementioned project, thanks for the video! Have you done a review of Aliens Ate My Babysitter?
Steven Zakulec
2015-01-03 04:30:47 +0000 UTCY'all need to relax!!!
RetroSwim
2015-01-03 00:28:01 +0000 UTCwow still no comments by Clint.. I think he really is starting to hate his fans *lol* my patreon payment went through though so YAY
Sterling Treadwell
2015-01-02 22:28:41 +0000 UTCKeen Dreams is not that good of a Keen game but for Keen fans like us, it's fascinating at the least.
Alyxx the Rat
2015-01-02 20:31:26 +0000 UTCThe first Keen I played was the original, which I stumbled across on a demo disk and was floored at the smooth scrolling NES-like platformer I discovered. A few years later I was round my older cousins house and was thrilled to find they had Keen 4 on their PC. What a fantastic leap forwards in graphics and gameplay! Unfortunately when I next visited with a 5.25" floppy disk in hand to get a copy of that gaming gold, they could only find Keen Dreams. After glimpsing Keen 4, I was left playing something that looked a bit like it but missed the gun and pogo stick. I've got fond memories of playing this game... mixed with some disappointment! :)
Peter Bridger
2015-01-02 20:16:21 +0000 UTCI didn't see any comments :( I figured you were just too koool to talk to us fans or something. Or you had to pee and got your junk stuck in yer zipper.
Sterling Treadwell
2015-01-02 17:50:07 +0000 UTCI don't see anything either, at least not since your Santa's Rampage post on Patreon.
Lindsay Michelle
2015-01-02 17:37:29 +0000 UTCOn your last video about Europa Universalis, I see NO comments from you at all. Also, KEEN!!! EDIT: Also... if it helps, you can email me when you comment here and I can verify whether it shows up here or not. ZLHysong@gmail.com
Zem Hysong
2015-01-02 17:31:11 +0000 UTC
