Commander Keen
| Commander Keen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio | id Software , Softdisk , David A. Palmer Productions |
| Publisher | Apogee software |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
December 14, 1990 |
| platform | PC ( MS-DOS ) |
| genre | Jump 'n' run |
| Game mode | Single player |
| control | Keyboard , joystick or gamepad |
| system advantages preconditions |
CPU : XT PC 286; RAM : 565 KB; HDD : 3 MB; |
| medium | 5.25 "and 3.5" floppy disk , download |
| language | English |
Commander Keen is a side-scroller - computer game series developed by id Software , in which the player character Billy Blaze, an eight year old boy, according to history, numerous adventures in space experienced. Most of the time he has to save the earth or the whole galaxy from destruction.
history
The Commander Keen series was developed by id Software as a side scroller . The player controls the protagonist and can let him carry out actions such as “walking”, “jumping” and “shooting”. A specialty of Commander Keen is his pogo stick , with which he can master particularly high jumps. With these options, the player must overcome obstacles such as abysses and monsters in order to reach the end of the level. As soon as a level is completed, the player can choose the next level himself from a number of given options on an overview map in the Commander Keen row.
Since 1990, seven official parts of the Commander Keen series have been published. Fundamental changes to the game principle did not occur.
Since sidescroller due to the poor ability of the then PCs , raster graphics moves represent the home computers and game consoles were reserved, the first part of the Commander Keen series was a revolution in the PC game industry. Co-founder and programmer of id Software John Carmack used the limited memory of the graphics cards of the time so skillfully that the slow transfer of graphics from the main memory to the graphics card only had to be carried out relatively rarely. Objects that were just outside the visible image section to the left and right were also transferred before they actually had to be rendered. This made a fluid display possible.
List of games
-
Invasion-of-the-Vorticons series
- Episode 1: Marooned on Mars (1990)
- Episode 2: The Earth Explodes (1991)
- Episode 3: Keen Must Die (1991)
- Keen Dreams (1991) - Keen Dreams is also Episode 3.5 or The lost episode (German: The Lost Episode ) named because this issue is between the two series, without belonging to a.
-
Goodbye Galaxy! -Series
- Episode 4: Secret of the Oracle (1992)
- Episode 5: The Armageddon Machine (1992)
- Episode 6: Aliens Ate My Baby Sitter! (1992) - Originally planned as the third episode of the second trilogy, episode 6 was released as a single title.
- Commander Keen (GBC) : In 2001, another version of Commander Keen appeared on the Game Boy Color . Many characters from episodes 4 to 6 can be found in this game.
action
Episode 1: Marooned on Mars
In the first episode, Billy Blaze aka Commander Keen lands on Mars for the maiden flight of his secretly built spacecraft while his parents go out in the evening. Parts of his spaceship are stolen there by the alien Vorticon and must be retrieved. In the first level he only has the option to run and jump. Only in further levels does he find a pogo stick and a laser pistol.
When Commander Keen has found all the parts and starts his return journey to Earth, he notices a huge spaceship moving towards Earth.
Episode 2: The Earth Explodes
In the second episode he lands on the spacecraft controlled by Vorticon and prevents it from destroying the earth. On board he learns that the Vorticon are being manipulated by the Grand Intellect against their will .
Episode 3: Keen Must Die
In the third episode, Commander Keen visits the home planet of the Vorticon. There he meets the Grand Intellect, who turns out to be Mortimer McMire , his eight-year-old rival from Earth. He puts it in his fortress and destroys it and his mind control machine. Commander Keen is made an honorary citizen by the people of the planet and just manages to fly home before his parents return.
distribution
The Invasion of the Vorticons trilogy was distributed according to the shareware model common for Apogee games : the complete, unrestricted episode 1 can be freely distributed in unchanged form and downloaded free of charge from the Internet. Episodes 2 and 3, on the other hand, must be purchased through a "registration" fee and may not be distributed.
The Goodbye Galaxy was distributed according to the same principle ! -Series. Episode 4 may be distributed free of charge and is in no way restricted or abridged. Episode 5 is only available after paying for a registration.
Episode 6 is the only title that was not distributed as shareware. Instead, a free demo version with 3 playable levels has been released, which is therefore much shorter than the complete free episodes 1 and 4. The title was commissioned by FormGen Corp. created, the rights are therefore not with Apogee . Since FormGen no longer exists, there is currently no way to purchase this episode.
Keen Dreams was also a contract project, the marketing rights of which do not belong to Apogee. The original DOS version was distributed by Softdisk Publishing and exists in a chargeable, registered version as well as a shareware version, which prompts you to register at startup, but is otherwise in no way restricted and in particular all levels of the registered version are playable. The original version can no longer be purchased, but there is a true-to-original remake for Windows, which was available for some time from September 28, 2015 via the digital gaming platform Steam . The game is currently not available there. In addition, a new Android implementation called "Commander Genius" is available via Google Play , which contains the shareware episodes (see above) and Keen Dreams. With this program, owners of the paid episodes can also play them on the Android platform by copying the original files of the game to the platform.
The paid episodes 2, 3 and 5 are still sold today; Although they are erroneously offered for free download from many abandonware sites , such a distribution constitutes a copyright infringement. Today's rights holder 3D Realms offers Inversion of the Vorticons and Goodbye Galaxy! separately for purchase. A complete package of episodes 1 to 5 with a preconfigured version of DOSBox can be purchased via Steam.
See also
Web links
- History of origins ( Memento from October 18, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- Commander Keen Wiki (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Windows remake of Keen Dreams on Steam
- ↑ Commander Keen in Keen Dreams. In: www.keendreams.com. Retrieved August 22, 2013 .
- ^ "Inversion of the Vorticons" (episodes 1-3) in the 3D Realms webshop. Retrieved November 18, 2014 .
- ↑ "Goodbye Galaxy!" (Episodes 4 and 5) in the 3D Realms webshop. Retrieved November 18, 2014 .
- ↑ Commander Keen on Steam. Retrieved on August 22, 2013 (German).