Summary: An faq dealing with the Apogee Commander Keen games Keywords: Apogee, Commander Keen, Billy Blaze X-Last-Updated: 1997/9/18 Archive-name: msdos/games/keen-faq Version: 2.0 Last-modified: 19 February 1995 Changes: 2/9/94 - added topic 0 - updated episode descriptions 6/8/94 - repost 8/21/94- post to alt.games.apogee 2/19/95- minor changes 9/18/97- major revision 2.0 Topics: 0. Why still have a Keen faq? 1. Who is Commander Keen? 2. What Commander Keen games have been issued? 3. Is Apogee on the World Wide Web? 4. Where can I get shareware copies of Commander Keen games? 5. What is anonymous ftp? 6. How do I download a game? 7. What does .zip mean and how do I install the game? 8. How do I get enough memory to run Apogee games? 9. Who are the creatures in the games? 10. Give me some hints, please. 11. How do I register the shareware version? 12. How do I obtain non-shareware episodes? 13. Where do I go for help? 14. How do I run Keen games under Windows 95? 15. Other Keen WWW sites 16. Will there be any more Keen episodes? 17. What is the Dopefish? 18. Has Keen appeared in any other games? 19. SPOILER Section 20. How do I enter the cheat mode? 21. KEEN4 Tricks 22. KEEN4 Walk-Throughs 23. KEEN5 Questions/Answers ===================================================================== 0. Why still have a Keen faq? Yes I admit that I have not been faithfully posting this faq over the past few years. I have been receiving E-mails from several folks, though, and have responded as best I could. Like many of you, I have added a Pentium with Windows 95 and have enjoyed several of the new generation, video intensive games. Nevertheless, I still hold a fond affection for that first fantastic, EGA platform game - Commander Keen. I still see postings to this newsgroup on Keen. If my work environment is any indication, I suspect there are still several 386 PCs out there - I know I gave mine to one of my sons. I still go back and play Keen now and then. So here is a major re-work of my original faq. I have added some walk-throughs I generated when answering pleas for help. Plus, I added my experiences in trying to get the Keen games to run under Windows 95. I would like to thank Joe Siegler, Apogee's on-line support guru, who has been a great help and inspiration. Yes Joe, I still don’t forgive you for giving up your Dopefish signature. I have re-published it in this faq for those who never saw it years ago. Finally, I know I have not always responded to those many E-mails. I have fallen victim to majordomo- itis - sometimes I have over 1000 unread E-mails. So I apologize to those folks I have not replied to. Please post your comments, requests, and recommended additions to the alt.games.apogee newsgroup. I do read this group and scan for "keen" in the subject line. ===================================================================== 1. Who is Commander Keen? The following description is extracted from the Apogee catalog and other documentation that comes with the Commander Keen games. "Commander Keen is the alter ego of Billy Blaze, eight year-old kid genius who builds an interstellar ship when not working at home on his college fast-track degree. Among other household objects, Billy uses his Nintendo joystick for flight control and his mom's vacuum cleaner (heavily modified) for his ship's ion propulsion system (with pile height adjustment). At the hint of galactic trouble, Billy dons his brother's football helmet and becomes "Commander Keen" defender of Earth! Ever on the side of justice, fairness, and high calorie junk food, Keen dispenses justice with an iron hand." ===================================================================== 2. What Commander Keen games have been issued? There have been four series of Keen games issued, with seven (7) missions or episodes. They are: First Series: Invasion of the Vorticons (12/90) Keen #1 - Marooned on Mars Keen #2 - The Earth Explodes Keen #3 - Keen Must Die Second Series: Goodbye Galaxy (6/91) Keen #4 - Secret of the Oracle Keen #5 - The Armageddon Machine Special Edition Series: Keen #6 - Aliens ate my Babysitter! (11/91) "Lost Game Collection of Id Software" Series from Gamer's Edge: Keen Dreams (9/92) aka Keen 3.5 A very comprehensive explanation of the history of the Keen series is found in "The Official Apogee FAQ." This was provided by Joe Siegler, the Apogee "netspokesman." Joe provided the following details [updated 15 Aug 1997]: "Episodes 1-3 are collectively called "Invasion of the Vorticons," and are published by Apogee Software. This series of Commander Keen was released on December 14th, 1990 according to Tom Hall (Ion Storm), and at the time, Creative Director of id Software. Episodes 4 & 5 are collectively called "Goodbye Galaxy," and are also published by Apogee Software. This series of Commander Keen was released somewhere around June of 1991. There was also a special CGA edition of Keens 4-5 made. The game is functionally exactly the same as the standard EGA version of the game, but the graphics are in CGA. Episode 6 is a "stand alone" game, and is entitled "Aliens Ate my Babysitter." From its inception in 1991 until 1996, it was distributed by FormGen. In 1996, FormGen was bought out by GT Software, and as such, Apogee was left with only what stock we had at the time of the game. It was never actually an APOGEE game, it was a FormGen game that Apogee distributed. In August of 1997, Apogee’s stock of the game finally ran out, and as such, Keen 6 is no longer available from Apogee. As of now, the only way to get Keen 6 now is as part of the package "The id Anthology" (more info later) from GT Software. Two side notes to this: first, for some reason, only the CGA version of Keen 6 is on the CD, and second, for awhile, FormGen distributed a playable 3 level commercial demo of Keen 6. Keen Dreams has kind of an interesting story. This is referred to as the "Lost Episode" of Commander Keen. I like to think of it as "Keen Episode 3.5." The reason for that is that Keen Dreams falls in between Vorticons and Galaxy, both in terms of technology and storyline. Before the id guys actually formed id, the majority of them worked at Softdisk, a computer software publisher in Shreveport, LA. The founding members of id Software left Softdisk to do the Vorticons series of Keen for Apogee Software. However, they were contractually obligated to deliver another game to Softdisk, and since development had started on the Galaxy series, they threw together a Keen game for Softdisk, and Keen Dreams was born. This game is not sold by Apogee Software, nor does Apogee have anything at all to do with it. You'd need to contact Softdisk for any further information regarding Keen Dreams. In December 1996, id Software published a package called The id Anthology. This is a product that contained every single game that id Software ever made, as well as some others that were made by id people for other companies like Softdisk. In this package are all 7 Commander Keen games mentioned above. As a side note, for some reason, the person at id Software who put the package together put in only the CGA version of Keen6. Why they did this, we don’t know. For more info on the id Anthology, contact id Software (Apogee has nothing to do with the id Anthology)." ===================================================================== 3. Is Apogee on the World Wide Web? Yes! Thanks to Joe Siegler, Apogee has a home page at: http://www.apogee1.com/ ===================================================================== 4. Where can I get shareware copies of Commander Keen games? Only three of the seven episodes of Commander Keen plus a three level demo of Keen #6 are available as shareware (you can legally upload and download these anywhere): Keen #1 ("Marooned on Mars") Keen #4 ("Secret of the Oracle") Keen Dreams (Keen #3.5) Keen #6 (3 level demo) Note that all other episodes (2, 3, 5, and the full version of 6) are commercial software and should not appear on any BBS, online service, or sold by other than authorized sellers of these games. There are many anonymous ftp servers on the Internet that mirror the Commander Keen games (as well as several other excellent games such as Halloween Harry, Duke Nukum, Cosmo's Cosmic Adventures, and Doom). An Altavista search reveals 39 sites hosting "4keen.zip." Apogee’s Official FTP site is at Washington University in St. Louis, MO at URL: ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/systems/msdos/games/apogee/share/ At this site, you will find the following Keen games: 1keen.zip (Keen #1) 4keen.zip (Keen #4 EGA version) 4keenc.zip (Keen #4 CGA version) Apogee maintains a web page pointing to their games on wuarchive at: http://www.apogee1.com/files.html Another good server for freeware, shareware, demos and cheats is Lord Soth’s site at: http://happypuppy.com/lordsoth/ ===================================================================== 5. What is anonymous ftp? The file transfer protocol (ftp), a part of the application layer of the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), is the most common method of moving files around on the Internet. As a courtesy to all users, many server sites allow access to controlled portions of their hosts without prior arrangement to establish an account and a password. This general access, when used to transfer files, is termed "anonymous ftp." Typically, you issue the ftp command on your Internet host (e.g., ftp ftp.uml.edu) and, when prompted to login, you enter "anonymous." Internet convention ("netiquette") usually calls for you to enter your e-mail name as the password to provide statistics for usage tracking by the server site administrator. Upon completion of login, you should read whatever "readme's" are indicated in the welcome message. You may then navigate through the authorized directories using the change directory command (cd). Use the directory listing command (dir) to view accessible files. Use the get and put commands to receive or submit files. Ftp will then transfer the specified file to or from your own host system. With the advent of the World Wide Web, I wonder how many of you still use UNIX Internet hosts? You can easily access anonymous ftp servers from your web browser by entering a URL like ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu - all the logon handshaking is done automatically by your browser. Likewise, as long as your browser has mime type association for saving .zip or .exe files to disk, when you click on the desired download file, transfer to your hard drive will occur. For Netscape, select Options/General/Helpers and look for mime type application/octet-stream. Note the file extensions of exe and bin. If “save to disk” is not selected, do so. Likewise, look for mime type application/x-zip-compressed. You should see file extension of zip and the “save to disk” option selected. ===================================================================== 6. How do I download a game? This section may be OBE if you are using a Web browser. See the previous section. Otherwise, if you must use a UNIX Internet server first and your Internet Service Provider restricts you to shell accounts, read the next paragraph. Following transfer of a game to your Internet host, the next step is to download it to your home computer. Several protocols can be used to accomplish this. Your communications software most likely supports the more common protocols such as xmodem, ymodem, zmodem, and Kermit. Use the protocol supported by both your communications software and your Internet host. Here is an example using xmodem to transfer a game from a UNIX host to a PC running Procomm Plus: on UNIX host % xmodem -sbk 4keen.zip [this instructs the host to send a binary file using xmodem protocol and 1K packets] on PC [this brings up the file transfer menu] o [this selects xmodem 1K packets] c:\keen\4keen.zip [this points to the directory into which the file, 4KEEN.ZIP, will be transferred] The next step, after logging off your Internet host, is to uncompress the game. Note that the .zip file extension indicates that the game is compressed using a utility available from PKWARE. To expand the game into its full distribution, you must use the shareware program, PKUNZIP, as follows: >pkunzip 4keen You will see several files displayed as they are "inflated." If no errors are displayed, copy the .zip file to a floppy diskette and delete it from the hard disk to conserve disk space. Read the documentation files and information on registering the shareware version. ===================================================================== 7. What does .zip mean and how do I install the game? The shareware versions of the Keen games are archived in compressed form. The file extension .zip indicates that the compression format used is from the PK company. To uncompress the game, you must run the PKUNZIP utility (or Winzip). The entire distribution is archived in the self-expanding archive program PKZ204G.EXE. Obtain this shareware package from http://www.pkware.com. PKZ204G.EXE is also a compressed form; however, the .EXE extension indicates that you merely execute this archive and it automatically uncompresses. Following that, you will see several files, including the PKUNZIP.EXE utility as well as information for registering (and paying for) this program. A great Windows GUI application for performing file compression and uncompression is the WinZip utility (see http://www.winzip.com). This program greatly simplifies archival operations, particularly when you must span multiple floppy disks! ===================================================================== 8. How do I get enough memory to run Apogee games? If you are running Windows 95 - no problem! See section 17 below for configuration settings. If you are still suffering under the DOS memory management nightmare, here is a condensed version of the CONFIG.SYS file I used for practically all my DOS games on my old PC. Note that I ran DOS 6.22 on a 386/33 system with the SoundBlaster 16 sound card and 8MB RAM. Use MEMMAKER.EXE to fine tune your CONFIG.SYS (particularly to determine the memory exclusions for your specific configuration). I get 613K of conventional memory free to run my Apogee games with this configuration. In my AUTOEXEC.BAT I include a line that displays all the game choices - type c:\games.txt|more. Each game is launched by a simple code such as k4 which executes a k4.bat batch file containing the following lines: cd \apogee\keen\k4 keen4e /comp/nomouse cd \ ##CONFIG.SYS Format (note-remove the X= field in the DEVICE line and the L: field in the DEVICEHIGH line - memmaker will set these fields for your system): DEVICE=C:\DOS\himem.sys stacks=8,256 lastdrive=I fcbs=20,0 [menu] menuitem=full, Load all drivers for Windows and CD-ROM menuitem=apogee menucolor=15,1 menudefault=full,15 numlock=off [full] rem lines eliminated for clarity [apogee] DEVICE=c:\dos\EMM386.EXE NOEMS HIGHSCAN X=C900-C9FF BUFFERS=15,0 FILES=8 DOS=high,UMB DEVICE=C:\DOS\ANSI.SYS /X DEVICEHIGH /L:1,26928 =C:\SB16\DRV\CTSB16.SYS /UNIT=0 /BLASTER=A:220 I:5 D:1 H:5 [common] break=on ===================================================================== 9. Who are the creatures in the games? KEEN4: DOPEFISH MAD MUSHROOM MIMROCK SCHOOLFISH SKYPEST SLUG KEEN5: QED ROBO RED SLICESTAR VOLTE-FACE KEEN6: BABOBBA BIP BLOOG BLOOGLET BLOOGUARD BLORB BOBBA CEILICK FLECT FLEEX GIK MOLLY NOSPIKE ORBATRIX VIVA ===================================================================== 10. Give me some hints, please. KEEN #4: - Level 1 has 7 free Keens - At the Pyramid of the Moons, you can get to the top on the outside - At the top of the Cave of the Descendants, there is a hidden area - Princess Lindsey appears twice - A slug in the Chasm of Chills holds a secret - In Hillville, there is "stuff" hidden - In Miragia is a free Keen - In the Pyramid of the Ancients is a free Keen - On the Isle of Fire is a free Keen - In the Pyramid of Shadows are 7 free Keens - You can get to the secret pyramid with something in the Pyramid of the Moons (see the spoiler section) - Dopefish will eat the small schoolfish that follow you - Push the key to swim faster - Jump on skypests with your pogo stick to squash them - Only shoot mimrocks when they are jumping at you - Mad Mushrooms leap higher on the third bounce - Stand on the little moon on the floor in the Pyramid of the Moons for an interesting display - In the tunnel under the houses of the first village by the lava pool there is a hidden gap (revealed by the F10 J cheat) you can jump through (with the F10 J cheat) to get 9 free Keens. Note you can also enter the gap without cheating. Pogo into the gap using an extended jump (pogo then jump quickly to get the maximum height). When just below the gap, pogo again and push left to enter the special area. KEEN #5 - Level 1 has 9 free Keens - Level designers Tom Hall and John Romero have hidden their names in two of the levels - Near the start of Defense Tunnel Sorra are 30,000 hidden points - Pogo on the fuses to break them - The Gravitational Damping Hub contains the way to the secret level. Look down and translate the message. - Find someone or something to destroy the QED. - Duck under Slicestars and Volte-faces but not Robo Red. - You can stand right next to Robo Red and not get shot. ===================================================================== 11. How do I obtain non-shareware episodes? The simplest way is to call Apogee at 1-800-APOGEE1 (1.800.276.4331) or 1-800-3DREALMS (1.800.337.3256) to order any of their games. Check out http://www.apogee1.com/misc/order.html for ordering information or any changes (e.g., Keen 6 is no longer available). Current pricing is as follows: Invasion of the Vorticons (Keen 1-3) $29.95 Goodbye Galaxy series (Keen 4-5) $34.95 Aliens Ate My Baby Sitter (Keen 6) is no longer available from Apogee (see paragraph 2). ===================================================================== 12. Where do I go for help? Your best resource for help is this newsgroup (alt.games.apogee). The Apogee WWW page has a help link for customer support, including instructions for a Windows 95 boot environment, E-mail support, and a one-way mailist. See http://www.apogee1.com/tech/index.html. ===================================================================== 13. How do I run Keen games under Windows 95? Check out the section of the Windows 95 FAQ dealing with DOS games. Bottom line - never re-boot your Windows 95 system in DOS mode. Rather, use a PIF file to configure the system environment. Here is a short summary from the FAQ (please read the full FAQ): - Right click on the KEEN executable, select Properties, select the Program tab, add additional command line fields as needed - Select the advanced button and select "Prevent MS-DOS programs from detecting Windows" - Select the memory tab and configure the type of memory (I’m still optimizing this section - for now, I just use the auto mode) - Select the Screen tab and disable "Dynamic memory allocation" and "Fast ROM emulation." (I’m also playing with these settings too - I can’t stop a jittery display with my Matrox Millennium video board - HELP anyone?) - After you exit, note the MS-DOS icon shortcut - this is your PIF file. Start the game by double clicking on the PIF file, not the actual executable. I am still refining this section. Any contributions would be greatly appreciated. ===================================================================== 14. Other Keen WWW sites Our game playing mates in Australia have a great web site containing lots of graphics, "The Intergalactic Alphabet" to help translate those secret messages, a Commander Keen FAQ with additional information not in this FAQ, and links to Dopefish sites. Thanks to Geoff Sims - Check out: http://www.users.fl.net.au/~simsy/keen/keen.htm http://www.users.fl.net.au/~simsy/keen/inter.htm [for IG Alphabet information] Also, for hints and cheats in German, check out: http://home.t-online.de/home/meyer.karl/ckindex.htm Joe Siegler hosts "The Official Dopefish Homepage" at: http://www.dopefish.com Samual Stoddard maintains an Apogee FAQ that includes information on Keen as well at: http://www.apogee1.com/faq/apfaq61.txt ===================================================================== 15. Will there be any more Keen episodes? Joe Siegler passed on the following information: "If you played Keen 5, there was a screen that said something to the effect of "Join us in December 1992 for the greatest Keen adventure yet." There was a picture of Keen smiling, with a Santa Claus hat on. At the time, id Software was intending to do a third series of Commander Keen, tentatively entitled "Commander Keen: The Universe is Toast". However, other projects came up (Wolfenstein 3D, Spear of Destiny, and later, Doom). There are no serious plans now to do more Keen. The main reason is that id Software owns the rights to Commander Keen, and any new project would have to be either done by them directly (EXTREMELY unlikely), or at least approved by them. At this time, there are no Keen games under development by either Apogee, id, or Ion Storm (where Tom Hall & John Romero now work as of 1997). If and when there ever is more Keen, it will be state of the art of whatever technology is current at the time." I sure hope Keen returns. I’ll even be happy with a SVGA version! These new generation games with hours of Quicktime movies and high resolution graphics still don’t give the same playing satisfaction of those early Keen games. ===================================================================== 16. What is the Dopefish? Years ago, this was Joe Siegler’s signature block: ------------------------------------------------------------------- | Joe Siegler - Apogee Software | _|\_ | | | \ / \ Pisces Swimeatus | | joe.siegler@swcbbs.com | |>< |> OO The Dopefish | | apogee@delphi.com | / \___/UU | ------------------------------------------------------------------- He now uses a different signature; however, many of us still love that Dopefish character. See the following URLs to learn more about him: http://www.apogee1.com/faq/apfaq61.txt [go to section 2.4 of this Apogee and 3D Realms FAQ] http://www.apogee1.com/dopefish.html [The Well of Wishes, The Official Dopefish Homepage] http://www.apogee1.com/catalog/keen4/dopelinks.html [Dopefish links] ===================================================================== 17. Has Keen appeared in any other games? Commander Keen has made guest appearances in the following games: - In Paganitzu, Keen’s helmet makes an apprearance in a hidden area. - In Bio Menace episode 2, Keen appears as one of the hostages you need to rescue. - Four Keens made an appearance in a secret level of id’s Doom II. - Keen’s helmet appeared in a level of Crystal Caves. [thanks to Joe S. for this info] ===================================================================== 18. SPOILER Section WARNING - Don't read this section yet. You should really keep trying to solve the puzzles in the game first for the maximum enjoyment. Likewise, I reluctantly include the instructions on how to enter the CHEAT mode - this really ruins the thrill of discovering those hidden passages and other tricks. Don't worry, there is nothing past this point except spoiler items. The walk- throughs and questions/answers are not complete. These are responses I have made to various gamers who have E-mailed me asking for help. ^L ===================================================================== 19. How do I enter the cheat mode? The cheat mode is also known as the debugging mode. It is typically used by software designers to assist during a game's final testing phase. The code is often left in when the program goes to full scale production (e.g., Microsoft programmers have left some personal touches in Windows to display the programming team and show a cartoon destroying IBM). In the Invasion of the Vorticon series (Keen #1 - #3), press C, T and SPACE simultaneously. You will receive the pogo stick, all key cards, and lots of ray gun charges. While at the map level, pressing SHIFT and TAB will allow you to bypass a city. Press G, O, and D simultaneously to get the jump cheat. This is an early implementation of the more complete debug mode found in the next Keen series. In the Goodbye Galaxy series (Keen #4 and #5), press B, A, and T simultaneously to enter the cheat mode. This gives you additional shots, gems, and an extra life. Also in Goodbye Galaxy, push A 2 ENTER at the same time to enter the debugging mode (used during beta testing). Then the following codes can be used to cheat or gather information (hold down F10 and push the letter key): B - Set border color (1-15) C - Number of active/inactive objects in the level D - Record a demo E - End or finish the current level G - God mode (you can't die) I - Free items (add 3000 points and 99 shots) J - Jump mode (you can fly anywhere) M - Memory usage display N - No clipping (fall through ground) S - Slow motion T - Sprite test display V - Add 0-8 VBLs W - Warp to any level Y - Reveal hidden areas (shown in normal color) Note that several of the above codes also work in Keen Dreams and Aliens Ate My Baby-sitter (particularly the God and jump modes). ===================================================================== 20. KEEN4 Tricks POGO/CLIMB TRICK: Hit ALT (pogo), hold down CTRL (jump) until you jump up as high as possible, quickly push ALT (to stop pogoing) and left/right arrow to climb left/right. To get to the secret pyramid (the one with the hand on it), go in the Pyramid of the Moons. Take the yellow diamond and go down. Use the diamond on the second yellow keyhole. Assemble 12 of the little yellow worms in one place. They will turn into a giant foot. Jump on the foot to go to the secret pyramid. You can not get to the raindrops and lifewater flasks floating over the underground river in Lifewater Oasis (it's just a tease). In the Pyramid of the Moons, stand on the moon drawing on the floor in the upper right portion of the game level. Wait for a while - Keen will "moon" you. ===================================================================== 21. KEEN4 Walk-Throughs NOTE: In all these walk-throughs, it is assumed you will avoid/shoot dangerous creatures-I won't give you warnings here. Also, it is assumed you will gather all objects you find and explore rooms not mentioned below. Level 15 (Isle of Tar) Go right - get guns in house - continue right - drop down pit - go left - jump up on platform - jump up and left - climb up - pogo/climb up to right (see pogo/climb trick above) - go right avoiding tar pits - fall down, hugging the right wall - turn on switch then continue falling down - jump up to level just below and to left of platform - go left - notice platform going up and down - stand on edge and jump up and left onto platform [if you miss, hug the right wall going down and try again: go right, enter door, enter door again, go left back to edge] - jump up to right at highest point platform rises - get red diamond and go back down on platform - TRICK: jump on left edge of platform to fall under it - fall down, hugging right wall [NOTE: you can skip the first right exit and enter the next - do not fall all the way down or you will hit a spike!] - go right - enter door - enter door again - go right - pass trap door and continue right - climb down pole - go left and drop down - turn on switch - jump onto platform - go all the way up - get yellow diamond - go back down and get off at middle level - climb up 2nd pole (same one you came down) - go back left - keep going, down ramp - go through door using yellow diamond - go down and turn on switch - go right through secret passage in wall - go right and through door - go left and fall down - go right - jump to get blue diamond - BE CAREFUL, jump from platform to platform to the right quickly before falling into tar pit - climb up pole - go left - go up on platform one level - go right and climb up 2nd pole again - go right through door using blue diamond - go up on platform - climb up to left - pogo up to right and EXIT ===================================================================== 22. KEEN5 Questions/Answers - Where are the 9 free Keens in level 1? They are at the bottom right, outside the OmegaMatic. You get to this location through a secret tunnel at the top left, immediately to the left of the laser gun. Pogo jump up then go all the way to the right and down. - What does the secret message say in level 11, the Gravitational Dumping Hub? It tells you how to get to the secret level: "Jump down at arch." This is the arch just before the exit door. -- Bill Amon The MITRE Corporation