CCCC OOOO M M M M AA N N DDD EEEE RRRR CC OO OO MM MM MM MM AAAA NN N D D E R R C O O M M M M M M M M A A N N N D D E E R R C O O M M M M M M AAAAAA N N N D D EE E RRRR CC OO OO M M M M M A A N NN D D E R R CCCC OOOO M M M M A A N N DDD EEEE R R K K EEEE EEEE N N K K E E NN N KKK E E E E N N N K KK EE E EE E N N N K K E E N NN K K EEEE EEEE N N COMMANDER KEEN NEWSLETTER :) Issue-2: June 22, 2002 Working Title: Mods (C) 2002 by Joseph Burke all rights reserved. All trademarks are properties of their respective owners. Warning: This document may not be distributed without permission. ----------------------------------------------- Newsletter Homepage: http://www.commanderkeen.net Newsletter Index: [1] Featured Articles [1.1] Interview with KeenRush [1.2] Interview with Forge315 [2] Fan Game Reviews [2.1] Yorphius II Demo [3] Website Reviews [3.1] The Commander Keen Vault [3.2] Michael's Commander Keen Info Center [3.3] Cerebral Cortex 314 [4] Monthly Fiction [4.1] Continuing the Story by "Talking Dog" [5] Keen Community News [5.1] Spork The Fan Games! [5.2] Demo To Fan Game Earths Chaos [5.3] A Snowman Keen Slug! Great! [5.4] The SGA In Strange Places [5.5] Cybernetic Dream, A Keen MOD [5.6] Hyperspace Delivery Boy [5.7] Another Keen Community Story [6] Miscellaneous Stuff [6.1] Announcements [6.2] Credits ----------------------------------------------- [1] Featured Articles (We aren't looking for a permanent "Featured Article" writer at this time, but if you want us to publish an article for you, we'd be most obliged. Email us at "info@commanderkeen.net" about this.) [1.1] Interview with KeenRush CK-Newsletter: How did you come to know about Keen and end up here? KeenRush: Well, when I was really young, my dad bought a new computer, it was something 286 if I remember correct. First it hasn't any games, but later I got Commander Keen 1, and I was happy. :) Commander Keen 1 was awesome, all my friend were sitting in front of our comp and playing it. I wasn't then very good at playing, and I was in big trouble when I saw vorticons, or even gargs. I actually was scared when I saw in the first level first time I was playing the game, a yorp! It slowly came and I though something "Eeek! It's going to kill me!". Well, I won't talk anymore about my first keening time, or this would be at least 1000 lines long text.. Well, then I got later the other Keens, and ofcourse played them all many times. I played them long, actually in year 1998 if I remember correct I bought Duke Nukem 3D! I played it and modded it until in year 2002 I was surfing in the web. Well, for some reason Commander Keens came back on my mind. I thought "Could anyone play Keen anymore?". Then I found lot's of Keen sites. I surfed on them and checked lot's of news and other Keen related until I found forum called Public Commander Keen Forum. It was very good find! I started to read topics and thought "It would be nice to talk about Keen.." and registered my name, KeenRush. I have never used it before the forum, I invented it when I was joining, it has been very good name. :) If I remember correct I started in Keen community with post about editing Keen. I had already found level editors and started to play with levels, but I wanted to find graphic editor. Later there came modkeen and modlatch, and in the same day when modkeen came, I started to make Blade styled Keen TC. Well, I stopped it in some days and started to make Yorphius II. That's because I've always dreamed to make my own stuff for Keen when I played it when I was smaller. Question: How long do you plan to be in the C.K. Community? Answer: I think I could stop when I'm 117 years old, not sure. :) I'm here as long as I like Keen. Question: Other than Commander Keen, what other classic games do you enjoy? Answer: Duke Nukum, Duke Nukem II, Cosmo, Wacky Wheels, Supaplex, Dooms, Duke Nukem 3D, GTA, Worms and Wolfenstein 3D. Question: How far has your MOD come from the last incarnation? Answer: Almost done. :) Question: What kind of story or plot have you created for your MOD? Answer: Commander Keen's pet yorp Spot has been captured. Keen doens't know who is behind it, but he finds a clue and soon he is in planet called Yorphius II. Spot must be saved! Question: Will you be making future MODs? Answer: I think so. Next project is new Keen game for Windows with Yorpy. Then the next project it.. Well, it's secret. If one guy does one cool prog, it will be awesome new Keen adventure. :) Question: Why did you start your MOD? Answer: I said something about this already in first question, but I can tell again.. Well, I have always dreamed to make something cool for Commander Keen. When I was young I and my friend planned Keen levels to paper, though we haven't any idea how to make them. And ofcourse papers are lost, they would be cool in Commander Keen Vault's fan art section. :) Question: The levels in the existing demo are short, are there going to be any big levels? Answer: Well, I'm not sure what is big, but some of them are nicely sized. Question: Your artistic ability is good but not great, so if you create future MODs, will you strive to create slightly better art? Answer: Of course, if I only can. My style in the Yorphius II is to draw objects and other things without black lines around them. Question: Any last words? (hype about your MOD etc.) Answer: Try to find me from Yorphius II. I have hided myself there. :) And of course, keep playing Keen! CK-Newsletter: Thanks for chatting with us. :) ---------------------- [1.2] Interview with Forge315 CK-Newsletter: When did you join the Keen Community? Forge315: I didn't actually join, I just started posting; it was back in 1999, I had been reading the messages at the board for months and decided it was time to join. My first post was about the fact that you can kill the Vorticon commander in Keen1, of course they already new that, and the guy who told me that was Louie14. Question: How long to you plan to be in the keen community? Answer: I've left a total of two times so far, the first time for about a month the second for about four; I didn't leave permanently then and I don't think I ever will, but I wont always be around. Question: So how do you feel about this interview? Answer: Hmm … I don't know it's kind of weird because, I'm the one who does the interviews. But at least all the right questions will be asked, or the questions I want to ask. Question: Now to the subject, how did your MOD start; what was the inspiration? Answer: The inspiration was the ease to which I could make something Keenish, it's like putting salad dressing on a great salad. Since the game is already there I only have to rethink it and change it in whatever way I can. Question: What are some ideas you have for your MOD? Answer: I wanted to take Keen place he'd never been, and meet foes he normally wouldn't encounter. More so the levels will be divers ranging from an icy dungeon to a giant beanstalk or a Keenish hell. It's not revolutionary; but I'm hoping that it will be a lot of fun, and that's what weird, because it being fun mainly counts on level design. *Crosses fingers and hopes he can create compelling levels* Question: Above you mentioned that you want to create compelling levels, how will you do this? Answer: I believe a key although not the only thing that goes into a creating a great level is variety; I like going from one atmosphere to another, so each environment will almost always be different or at lest have a different type of level design. So a castle verses a cave or a dungeon will all be different. Question: Will you be making any more MODs? Answer: Probably not to the degree that I'm making this one, but I'll make custom Keen levels with new tiles. Also in future MODs I may explore the possibilities of having a water fallish jungle. Maybe Keen could even ride on a lily pad across a stream, I suppose he could activate it by some magical totem pole; or perhaps a giant monkey could replace the Mangling Machine in such a MOD. Question: What's the plot for your MOD? Answer: When Keen dies in DOOM II, he awaken in a mystical realm where a blue fairy tells him that if he wants to get back to the real world he must get a magical potion on the other side of the land. She tells him that he must climb the giant beanstalk to the east, once at the top he will find a castle and the potion will be within. Keen will eventually use the potion and get transported back to hell, where he will have his revenge. Question: What do you find hard about making a MOD? Answer: Getting the needed elements working right, because I'm trying to flex the game in ways it never has been; I want bigger sprites but there's a limit to their size. And of course animation is always difficult. Also I seem to have trouble coming up with item ideas; but I do want everything to complement each other so getting things right can take time. ----------------------------------------------- [2] Fan Game Reviews (if you want your game reviewed please email "forge315@commanderKeen.net".) Rating System Horrible (1-2) Bad (3-4) Okay (5-6) Good (7-8) Excellent! (9-10) [2.1] Yorphius II Demo Game Rating Excellent! (9/10) Quality - 8/10 Originality - 9/10 Keenishness - 10/10 Overall - 9/10 It's a great day to be Commander Keen, because you get to visit the world "Yorphius II," in this wonderful MOD, Keen must rescue his pet yorp Spot from his horrible kidnapers! What awaits Keen? We don't know, but we do know that you'll face evil Yorps, killer vines, and other scary creatures. The preview demo was a little too short, but we did get to see three different levels, each was really good though a little to short. So we asked KeenRush, the creator of "Yorphius II," about this and he said there would be bigger levels. So this demo was pretty good, and the whole MOD is looking to be great. - Forge315 ----------------------------------------------- [3] Website Reviews (If you want your website reviewed, please email "yorpy@commanderkeen.net") Rating System Horrible (1-2) Bad (3-4) Okay (5-6) Good (7-8) Excellent! (9-10) [3.1] The Commander Keen Vault Excellent! (10/10) Quality - 10/10 Originality - 10/10 Keenishness - 10/10 Overall - 10/10 http://www.commanderkeen.net/keenvault/ I must say I really like this site. It has some very original things and is very well put together. There are directions to find bugs and glitches, fake screenshots, and an interview with Andrew Durdin. The images used on the site also fit in well. The site is nicely designed. It is divided into sections with rather creative names. Updated frequently, the site provides some current news of what is happening in the Keen Community and KeenRush's (the creator of the site) mod. A good resource for those who already have some knowledge of what Commander Keen is and want to find out more. Most definately this site is worth a visit. ---------------------- [3.2] Michael's Commander Keen Info Center Good (8/10) Quality - 9/10 Originality - 8/10 Keenishness - 8/10 Overall - 8/10 http://www.commanderkeen.net/ckinfo/ As the name of the site suggests, it was primarily designed to be a resource of information about the games. There are hints and tricks, info on enemies, cheats, and info on items for all the official games plus Keen 2000. The links are well organized making it easy to find the info you want fast. The site is lacking any hints or tips for Keen Dreams. Also there are no pictures with any of the information but there are descriptions to help identify what is being described. This site is probably best used by someone who needs know some basic info on the enemies and items in the games. - Yorpy ---------------------- [3.3] Cerebral Cortex 314 Excellent! (10/10) Quality - 10/10 Originality - 10/10 Keenishness - 10/10 Overall - 10/10 http://www.classicgaming.com/cc314/ This is probably one of the best known Keen sites around. It has a massive collection of levels, unofficial games, and music from the games. The site also has pictures of every enemy, item, and level. If you're stuck in one part of a game the level pictures can help you. The site has custom graphics that are appealing to the eye. Divided into sections, it is easy to move around the site. The site owns the most active message board in the Keen Community making it a reliable source for news about Keen. If you have made your own game or levels they can be submitted to the site and put up for everyone to download. The only downside is that all files are hosted on FilePlanet, which some people have been known to hate with a passion. - Yorpy ----------------------------------------------- [4] Monthly Fiction [4.1] Story by "Talking Dog" Mortimer was stranded on Vorticon VI's Moon from the explosion of the ship. Keen tried to locate Mortimer but a mysterious wave of power from the moon disabled Keen's radar. Out from behind a tree (as there are trees on the moon of Vorticon VI) came Mortimer and blasted an evil yorp at Keen. TTD appeared AGAIN and turned the yorp into a non-evil yorp, and threw it at Mortimer. Mortimer jumped on the yorp's head. "CONVERT THIS," Mortimer yelled and threw an evil Flying Dopefish (or Flydopefish) at TTD. "Fine, convert it I will," roared TTD and converted it just as he had with the yorp, then sent it back at Mortimer. "WHAT?" yelled Mortimer and threw an evil Flying Sparky (or Flysparky) at TTD. "Robots are just a tiny bit harder," said TTD and converted the Flysparky in about a quarter of a second longer than it took to convert the yorp and the flydopefish. "Mortimer, why don't you try?" said TTD. "CONVERT THIS MORTIMER!" He blasted an energy bomb at Mortimer. Mortimer tried to use his conversion gun that Keen supposed Mortimer used to make the Yorp, Flydopefish and Flysparky evil, but the Conversion Gun had no effect on the energy blast. "AAAAAAAAAAH!" screamed Mortimer and was blasted to pieces. But right before he was blasted to pieces, he admitted: "You fell for it. I am just a clone. Convert THAT!" TTD replied "There's nothing to convert now," and disappeared in a flash of light. Keen flew back to Earth and found Mortimer making another clone of himself. But Mortimer also sneakily managed to make a copy of TTD, except that it was an evil copy. The evil TTD blasted Keen's BWB Megarocket to pieces, and Keen just managed to escape in time. "TTD, why did you do tha..." began Keen. "AAAH, AN EVIL CLONE OF TTD!" The real TTD appeared in a flash. Before Mortimer or the evil TTD could say anything, the real TTD said "Yep, I'll convert that" and converted the evil TTD, then destroyed it. "Alright, attack now!" said Mortimer. Millions of yorps, gargs and Vorticons, all evil, came out to attack Keen and TTD. TTD converted as many as he could, but he ran out of power after a while. "No... I must recharge... do your best Keen..." TTD said and disappeared in a flash of light. Keen said "You get the evil ones, converted creatures!" and the converted ones easily destroyed the evil ones. Mortimer quickly converted the remaining converted ones back to evil. But there were only five yorps, three gargs and one Vorticon. Keen easily destroyed them. Keen detected that this Mortimer was the real Mortimer. So he blasted Mortimer and the Cloning Machine (since it had not yet finished creating the cloned Mortimer) to smithereens. However, it was not over. At the other side of the universe... ... ... ... The ?????????????? were at it again. But what are the ?????????????? or whatever? They're something we all know well, but you'll need to wait until Part 3 to find out exactly what they are. Until then, you'll just be guessing! To be continued... - The Talking Dog ----------------------------------------------- [5] Keen Community News [5.1] Spork The Fan Games! The Spork series fan games are back, get the latest demo bellow. http://pub7.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessage?topicID=448.topic ---------------------- [5.2] Demo To Fan Game Earths Chaos A demo to the fan game earth chaos is now available. http://pub7.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessage?topicID=438.topic ---------------------- [5.3] A Snowman Keen Slug! Great! Thanks to TMST, we now have purhaps the first Keen related snowman! http://pub7.ezboard.com/fpubliccommanderkeenforumothercommanderkeenstuff.showMes sage?topicID=374.topic ---------------------- [5.4] The SGA In Strange Places Keen fan Andrew pointed out that the SGA is located here; interesting... :) http://www.omniglot.com/writing/sga.htm ---------------------- [5.5] Cybernetic Dream, A Keen MOD Get the Keen MOD Cybernetic Dream here, there are no new levels though; but it has good tiles. http://pub7.ezboard.com/fpubliccommanderkeenforumothercommanderkeenstuff.showMes sage?topicID=372.topic ---------------------- [5.6] Hyperspace Delivery Boy A PC demo to Tom Hall's new game, Hyperspace Delivery Boy, is now available. http://www.monkeystone.com/ ---------------------- [5.7] Another Keen Community Story Keen fan KeenEmpire, started a new Community story. http://pub7.ezboard.com/fpubliccommanderkeenforumother.showMessage?topicID=950.t opic ----------------------------------------------- [6] Miscellaneous Stuff [6.1] Announcements In my opinion this is one of the worst issues yet, however we're pushing ourselves harder than ever for the next issue. Also we'd like you to help us, it seems each issue is plagued with little mistakes but we're not really concerned about all of them just the bigger ones. An example would be that in the last issue I forgot to put it the rating system that the fan games are reviewed by, and I didn't even include the rating of RKP2! So if you find some good mistakes (not small ones) email us at "info@commanderkeen.net," and you'll be reward by being allowed to pick one or two questions for future interviews. If you don't know the Newsletter now has an email account that all of us can access, it's, "info@commanderkeen.net". All questions of a technical nature or general suggestion should be sent here. - Forge315 ---------------------- [6.3] Credits Too Much Spare Time: Proofreading Yorpy: Website reviews Forge315: Where's the Coke? Other thanks: KeenRush, for doing a great interview with us, :) Also thanks again "Talking Dog". ----------------------------------------------- "Swim swim hungry, swim swim hungry." Burp!