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-8: Jan 31, 2003 Working Title: AEWorld (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/cknews/ Newsletter Index: [1] Featured Articles [1.1] Interview with MRC Marky [1.2] Interview with KeenGamer [2] Fan Game Reviews [2.1] NORP THE YORP in... DIFFUSION [3] Website Reviews [3.1] Maximum Commander Keen [3.2] Commander Keen Outpost [3.3] Pac-Keen Website [4] Monthly Fiction [4.1] Chapter 3 of Chris' Story [5] Keen Community News [5.1] Mods coming/done!! [5.2] Not iD project... [5.3] Some Java Keen engine news! [5.4] A cool Keen game box! [5.5] Some cool Keen bugs! [5.6] Can You Do The Same? [5.7] UnFleexable Software! [5.8] Dopefish project! * swim swim hungry * [5.9] Commander Keen Secret Area Giveaway Guide! [6] Miscellaneous Stuff [6.1] Fan Art [6.2] Announcements [6.3] 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 MRC Marky CK-Newsletter: Well, could you tell something about yourself (who you are, where you live etc..)? Marky: Appearing on behalf of AEWorld Interactive, This is MRC Marky as your guest tonight, good evening Keeners around the globe. I'm a Finnish abiturient/student, doing my last year of high school. Question: What's your favourite food? Answer: Ceilick noodle soup, and sourgrape-pepper Trout over smoked Bobba (bomped by a Bloog chef), served with a variety of delicious rare greens such as broccoli, asparagus and mashed taters. This along with a bottle of fine rotten apple wine from the cellars of Tuberia. Have you ever tasted "Poi'Son-Slushy"? the food is delicious, but highly poisonous. If the harmful substances dont get extracted properly, the side-effects are terrifying (extreme diarrhea) . Question: Why do you like Keen? Answer: Commander Keen 1 was the first PC game I established a concrete connection with (you know, actually playing it as the first game, and not watching bigger dudes playing it on their computers and not allowing individuals of lesser importance touch their machine). Soonafter, I discovered Keen 4, which was amazingly entertaining compared to games in general that were flowing from friend to another during those days.. early nineties, that is. Perhaps I could say, that it was the Goodbye Galaxy series that I thought of as the best game series ever. Commander Keen games have a certain kind of an atmosphere that appeals to me. Maybe it's the warm colours and the comic-styled graphics combined together, with a pinch of "Sci-finess" and supernaturalities, still the game itself remaining relatively friendly and moody. Humor is also one factor. These are the reasons that still I find Commander Keen enjoyable. Question: How did you find the Keen community, and when you found it? Answer: I haven't kept an account on the time.. But I used to work on the Isis team for half a year, my first "official" unofficial Keen activity. Back then, it seemed like an honour to be allowed to that team, which was working on an unofficial Keen episode. And it would still be, if time was more allowing. After..uh.. laying myself off, I stumbled across the board, which had already moved under the current ezboard service. It might have been during early 2000 when I joined the PCKF. Question: What is your favourite thing in Keen? Answer: Well.. I don't fancy him =P.. but I respect his intelligence and willingness to fight for freedom and help those in trouble, not to mention his adventurous nature =). Getting carried away, if you ment if I happen to like his pogo stick or the pink shirt. Nope, that stick would break after my very first performance. Question: Well, I have heard that you are working with a Keen fan game, could you tell some details about it? And who are in the team? Answer: We are working on a fan game, titled "Call Of The Milky Way". It is being programmed by "F.D. Gorf", a friend of mine. I'm the graphic/tile (and music) artist, and the almighty head of the project. The whole process is being handled by the two of us for now. The game is being programmed from scratch using C++/Allegro/Mingw32. It will be a windows-based application to avoid common hassles. The original game resolution, 320x200 will be kept in the solo mode. Our attempt is to keep the original art style, but bring new dimensions to the gaming experience. For example, the engine itself can handle more than just one game. We attempt to create a much longer episode than the original Keens used to be. So instead of 16 levels and one world map, there might be two or three maps and a whole big bunch of levels. In a single episode that is. If we end up deciding to make a sequel, it will be available as a mod file, that can be used under the same engine. Some other new features are companions and the ability to fly with "BWB II". That's the most that Gorf allows me to say at this point. Question: How long you have worked with the game? Answer: The fan game project was started as early as in 2001, but it has changed a lot from the original draft. Back then, we were going to keep the original game locations and expand them (for example, you would have seen Princess Lindsey's royal palace, and a world map of the ancient Gnosticene City & the "Thingamabodder". Who knows, you might still see them at some point). Now our objectives have undergone changes. The storyline is more complicated than in the beginning, and it will involve new characters, both fair and foul, in some of which I promise you all will fall in love with =). Question: What programs you use for making graphs, what language for coding it? Answer: The graphics are made in various ways. I draw the foes with hand, and then afterwards animate them with Photoshop. So far, I've drawn most of the background pictures with a free hand in Photoshop. Tile creation is one of the hardest parts, but being the former tile artist of Isis II, over time I've discovered several methods that make the process less complicated. We also use 3d-studio for some buildings and locations that need architectural designing. Although the game itself will be in pixel arts, just as the original Keens. Having a complete three-dimensional model of a certain location makes the 2d-drawing easier. Question: Any good tips for other Keen fan game makers? Answer: Well, depending on the project, You should design for a long time, thoroughly, before start working on the game itself. Of course, this doesn't apply to quick KNP minigames. But find someone to help you out with programming the engine if you don't find yourself an experienced programmer at any level. I just noticed that If we had started last year, the contents would probably not have impressed me at this point.. and it would have been a bit late to customize the engine. That's called "Gorf-torturing". You have devote yourself, to have objectives and a good plot. It is also recommended that you use new characters. That way both you and the audience will enjoy the final piece. CK-Newsletter: Thanks! Marky: You're welcome! ---------------------- [1.2] Interview with KeenGamer CK-Newsletter: So -- who's the guy behind the title KeenGamer? Please tell us about yourself, :) KeenGamer: Answer To Guestion 1 : My Name Is Rorie, I Am 19 Years Old & I Live In Australia Question: You make Keen related fan games in CNC, what's your impression of the software? Answer: I Am Actually Using Game Maker But I Am Considering Using The Games Factory Question: Do you think that the recent MOD popularity in the Keen Community is bad for the CNC/TGF type fan games? Answer: Don't Know I Don't Visit The Keen Forum Much Anymore As I Only Have Access To The Net 3 Days A Week. Question: Can you tell us about your fan game Pac-Keen? Answer: Since I Downloaded Game Maker & Soon Discovered Commander Keen Fan Games Were Keeping The Spirit Alive. I Decided To Make My Own Fan Game But I Decided To Sharpen Up My Skills First & So I Decided To Do A Simple Commander Keen Pac-Man Game. Question: When will Pac-Keen be finished? Answer: Don't Know But For Updates Go To http://www.freewebs.com/pac-keen Question: After Pac-Keen is finished, what will you do next? Answer: Like I Said Before Don't Know But I Might Do A Game Called "Commander Journey's Through Time" Which Might Be A Game Which Revisits The 1st 7 Dos Games. Keeners Will Just Have To Wait. To See What I Come Up With. Question: What's you favorite Commander Keen fan game? And what's some stuff you like about Keen? Answer: Day Of The Alien. I Just Like Playing Keen. Question: Do you enjoy playing games other than Commander Keen? Answer: Sure Deus Ex, Star Trek Voyager, and Elite Force. Question: What kind of music do you listen to? Answer: I Like Listening To 1950-1990 Music. But I Have Been Listening To A Lot Of 1980s & Early 1990s Music. I Mosty Refuse To Hear Anything New Question: In your free time what do you do to relax? Answer: Relax On My Bed. CK-Newsletter: We've loved doing this interview with you, goodbye! KeenGamer: Anytime Forge. ----------------------------------------------- [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] Elf Land Game Rating: Excellent Quality - 9/10 Originality - 10/10 Keenishness - 7/10 Overall - 9/10 About as crazy as the first ‘Norp the Yorp’ game, ‘Norp the Yorp in Diffusion’ has exceeded it’s former self and become even Keener. The improvements were mainly in use of art and somewhat in level design. I’m very happy about the fact that there are no insurmountably big levels! Okay lets just get real now. Level design is creative and original, it’s well varied and has some of the expected reminders of techniques used in many other games. Such as I’ve played many a sidescroller that starts you off falling down a tunnel of sorts etc.. This reuse isn’t stale in fact it just shows how varied and experienced it’s creator Xtraverse is with the subject of platform games. The game is highly creative in concept of graphics and level design. Two levels which took place in the water, and they were unbelievably well done. Xtraverse extended himself a bit and did a piece of key artwork, *show off* it was a tree. When you see it in the game you have the appreciate that it was done in an EGA engine (only 16 colors). The rest of the art was well proportioned and the levels didn’t run dry with repetitive reuse. The story was and is in my opinion, a littler lacking, however overall concept and with almost every level original in some way made this game great. Be forewarned that it’s not an easy game and you may have quite a bit of difficulty beating certain areas. - 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] Maximum Commander Keen http://www20.brinkster.com/te87/ Site Rating: Good Quality - 10/10 Originality - 9/10 Keenishness - 8/10 Overall - 8/10 Zorath's Commander Keen site is very simple but still has a very nice design. Organized into sections to make it easy to find what you're looking for. Also the colors are nice and easy on the eyes. The main attractions on the site are the mod page and the projects page. The mod page has an extensive listing of the various mods and graphical remakes that keen fans have done. The projects page has the intergalactical version of Keen 1 where the menu and all that is written in SGA for all you aliens out there. Also there are two winamp skins which I think are nice, especially the keen one. For download there is a Commander Keen Quake skin and The Dopey Game made with the games factory. Worth checking out to see what little projects Zorath has going. - Yorpy ---------------------- [3.2] Commander Keen Outpost http://home.student.utwente.nl/r.m.spruijt/outpost/outpost.htm Site Rating: Okay Quality - 8/10 Originality - 7/10 Keenishness - 8/10 Overall - 7/10 A basic Commander Keen site with all the common information. Though it does seem complete. The colors and graphics on the site are nice and pictures mix with the text well in the different sections. Sections on the site include cameos, cheats, dowloads, a faq, secrets, stories, links, and interviews (apparently ripped off from CC314). There is also a Dopefish part of the site with some info and downloads of cursors, icons, music and the such. Its an okay site. I didn't see much I didn't already know but it looks like a lot of time was put into the design. - Yorpy ---------------------- [3.3] Pac-Keen Website http://www.freewebs.com/pac-keen Site Rating: Okay Quality - 6/10 Originality - 8/10 Keenishness - 7/10 Overall - 7/10 This is Keengamer's website for his Pac-keen fangame. I found the frames on the site to be slightly annoying. And the pics page doesn't even work. I do like the menu on the side and the way the options change from SGA to normal when you put your mouse over them. So the part of the site with the most to offer is the downloads page. There you can download the shareware keen games, The Game Maker which is what is being used to make Pac-keen, startup/shutdown screens, and the Shadowlands Screensaver. For Being A Site For A Fan Game I Found It Hugely Lacking In Any Real Information About The Game Itself. - Yorpy ----------------------------------------------- [4] Monthly Fiction [4.1] Chapter 3 of Chris' Story Chapter 3 Keen was kneeling on the ground, gasping for air. His Ankh-Bubble without power, he resigned himself to his fate, and breathed in the harsh oxygen-poor atmosphere of Io. Nothing happened. Keen exhaled, then inhaled again, still without any harmful side effects. Odd, Keen thought, the Bean-with- Bacon had scanned Io’s atmosphere several times so that he could set the frequency of his Ankh-Bubble… there’s no way a human could possibly breathe here! Of course, Spot didn’t have a problem with it, but that’s because he has a different body structure… Keen paused. "Of course!" Keen yelled. "My torso area is green now, which means that some of my internal organs have been replaced by Spot’s, including my lungs! I can breathe in any atmosphere that Spot could!" Keen considered this for a moment. "I’m beginning to like this partnership!" Commander Keen walked back to his ship. "No more idle chit-chat, I gotta head out and find Mortimer! No telling what cruel plan he has to destroy the galaxy!" Keen’s stomach gurgled. "Boy, these adventures sure work up an appetite. I wonder if I have time to grab a bite to eat? I sure could go for a Brussels sprouts and broccoli sandwich… or even one of mom’s turnip cakes!" His stomach gurgled again, but loudly this time. "Settle down in there! Sheesh, a universe to save, and here I am craving vegetable dishes." Keen’s eye suddenly widened. "Wait a second… vegetable dishes? I hate vegetables!" Keen pulled up his shirt and looked at his green chest again. "Spot, on the other hand, loves them. Ugh… don’t tell me I’ve inherited Spot’s appetite, too!" Perhaps I should put a small note here… although yorps are fairly easy pets to train, and one of the most intelligent aliens inside our solar system, a yorp’s appetite is not something to be messed with. A yorp can’t go more than a few hours without devouring a third of its body weight. On Mars, a yorp’s diet consists mostly of the leaves of the mincachia plant, which Keen nicknamed "glowing yorp cabbage" after the plant’s strange ability to glow in the dark. On earth, however, mincachia doesn’t grow too well, and Keen can’t go blasting off into space every day, so Keen’s made do with the food scraps from his uncle’s restaurant. (Incidentally, there’s a pretty interesting story about the time when Spot tried a dish called "French Fries" for the first time and broke out in a nasty rash, but that’s not important right now.) "If I have Spot’s appetite, that means I’ll have to bring along enough food to feed myself for the journey. Spot never could stomach the candy bars and Vorti-Cola I normally take on these trips. And Mortimer didn’t even have the decency to tell me where he was going! He could be trying to destroy the galaxy from… anywhere! I could be on this trip for days… even weeks!" Keen sighed. "And even after I find Mortimer, how will I be able to return myself to its normal state. Will I ever be able to get Spot back?" Keen sat for a moment, then smiled. "I might not know where Mortimer is now, but I know where he’s been. He got that Merger thing from Dimorphius II. All I need to do is go there, find the person that sold him that device, and follow the trail from there!" Keen stomach rumbled. "But first… head to Mars and get some of that glowing yorp cabbage. I’m starved!" TO BE CONTINUED… (c) Chris Hendricks ----------------------------------------------- [5] Keen Community News Hi all, the new year has started! Well, here's the news for this month too... [5.1] Mods coming/done!! Seems that many Keeners have started making mods. And some finished their mods too! There's lot of mod related topics this month. Check out them: Planet Destruction mod for Keen 2 is released! Read more: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpubliccommanderkeenforumothercommanderkeenstuff.showMessage?topicID= 567.topic Some talking about mods: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpubliccommanderkeenforumothercommanderkeenstuff.showMessage?topicID= 568.topic Some info about Commander Keen: The Cartoonrealm. Sounds pretty cool! http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessage?topicID=684.topic Some more mod talking... Interesting reading material! http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessage?topicID=683.topic Who's making mods? http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessage?topicID=689.topic Norp the Yorp: Brain Damage screenshots and info! Xtraverse has done again some very cool work with Keen: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessage?topicID=687.topic 'CK in The CartoonRealm : The 4 Golden Crystals' released: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessage?topicID=690.topic Hope that's all! ---------------------- [5.2] Not iD project... If you have spare time and you would like to take a part in a Keen fan game creating, maybe this topic is just for you: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessage?topicID=665.topic ---------------------- [5.3] Some Java Keen engine news! Keener called paradox has some neat looking pics and info about his Keen engine. Check out his topic: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessage?topicID=685.topic ---------------------- [5.4] A cool Keen game box! Neat looking Keen game box, check out this topic: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpubliccommanderkeenforumtheoriginalcommanderkeenga.showMessage?topicI D=514.topic ---------------------- [5.5] Some cool Keen bugs! Want to know some odd bugs for Keen? Check out these topics: Cool Keen 6 bug by Xtraverse: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpubliccommanderkeenforumtheoriginalcommanderkeenga.showMessage?topicI D=502.topic Odd gik stuff by Scizor CT: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpubliccommanderkeenforumtheoriginalcommanderkeenga.showMessage?topicI D=501.topic Bug Tally topic by Too Much Spare Time: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpubliccommanderkeenforumtheoriginalcommanderkeenga.showMessage?topicI D=505.topic ---------------------- [5.6] Can You Do The Same? Check out this Keen topic and try the same! http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpubliccommanderkeenforumtheoriginalcommanderkeenga.showMessage?topicI D=507.topic ---------------------- [5.7] UnFleexable Software! Keener called 0 UNFLEEXABLE 0 has opened a cool site that will feature his mods and other stuff. Check the site out here: http://keenco.cjb.com/ ---------------------- [5.8] Dopefish project! * swim swim hungry * Our mate TMST has started something cool dopefish themed. Find more details from this topic: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpubliccommanderkeenforumothercommanderkeenstuff.showMessage?topicID= 580.topic ---------------------- [5.9] Commander Keen Secret Area Giveaway Guide! Keener called Grelphy has started cool project that aims to show you all the Keen secret places! Find more from this topic: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpubliccommanderkeenforumothercommanderkeenstuff.showMessage?topicID= 587.topic ---------------------- Well, see you in the next issue! - KeenRush ----------------------------------------------- [6] Miscellaneous Stuff [6.1] Fan Art Well this month we got a new box of sorts for Goodbye Galaxy. It’s actually a paper cover for a disk, normally I might ignore something like this – but it’s sooo – nice! Unfortunately we don’t have that good a good scan of it at the moment, we should be getting a better one in due time but that is still time. No link to the current picture exists since we’re changing hosts and the website wont be updated till after this transaction. You can get more on this in the announcements section. ---------------------- [6.2] Announcements Our website or in general all of “commanderkeen.net” will be down for a couple days, so no links to the website are included in this issue. Why? We’re changing hosts, the new host offers better features, features we need at the moment; such as more disk space, you wouldn’t believe how little we have left at the moment! The website might still be up for a day or two before it goes down, so don’t think that if you see it up tomorrow we’ve made the switch. Once we’re at the new host the stuff from this issue will be uploaded, such as fan art and downloads. - Forge315 ---------------------- [6.3] Credits Too Much Spare Time: some Proofreading KeenRush: The news and an interview MRCMarky/AEWorld: internal comments guy, and interviewed Yorpy: Website reviews Forge315: Newsletter composition Other thanks: KeenGamer, MRC, and Chris, we love you guys, *hug* ----------------------------------------------- "Swim swim hungry, swim swim hungry. Burp!"