_______ __ | _ | .-----. .--------. .--------. .---.-. .-----. .--| | .-----. .----. |. 1___| | _ | | | | | | _ | | | | _ | | -__| | _| |. |___ |_____| |__|__|__| |__|__|__| |___._| |__|__| |_____| |_____| |__| |: 1 | |::.. . | `-------' ___ ___ | Y ) .-----. .-----. .-----. |. 1 / | -__| | -__| | | |. _ \ |_____| |_____| |__|__| |: | \ |::.| . ) `--- ---' ______ __ __ __ | _ \ .-----. .--.--.--. .-----. | | .-----. | |_ | |_ .-----. .----. |. | | | -__| | | | | |__ --| | | | -__| | _| | _| | -__| | _| |. | | |_____| |________| |_____| |__| |_____| |____| |____| |_____| |__| |: | | |::.| | `--- ---' Commander Keen Newsletter Issue 20, "The Stuff Issue" (c) 2002-2003 by Joseph Burke, all rights reserved. All trademarks are properties of their respective owners. WARNING: This document may not be distributed without permission. Check out also our site at http://www.commanderkeen.net/cknews/ ========================================>>>>>>>> >> In this issue << [1.0] Articles [1.1] Game Review: Super Keen Fighter 2 [1.2] Game Review: Super Keen Fighter 3: Mortimer's Return [1.3] Game Review: Keen's Watch [2.0] ReviewCorner [2.1] Website Review: Yorpology [3.0] KeenFiction [3.1] Chapter 9 of Ilsoap's fan fiction [4.0] Keen news [4.1] Keen Modding [4.2] Starring The Grand Intellect [4.3] Test your Keen skills! [4.4] A new Keen mod [4.5] Keen fan games [4.6] Another mod started! [4.7] Isis II source [4.8] Commander Keen Community Mod [4.9] Yet Another source release! [4.10] Dopefish in Tiny Toons [5.0] Miscellaneous [5.1] Announcements [5.2] Credits ========================================>>>>>>>> >> [1.0] Articles << ---- [1.1] Game Review: Super Keen Fighter 2 Quality - 1/10 Originality - 4/10 Keenishness - 2/10 Overall - 3/10 Download here: http://spatang.com/files/games/2skf.zip Created by: Nickssoft This game does not appear to have been designed with quality in mind, but it is a somewhat original concept. The idea is that some random characters from the Keen games are fighting each other for no apparent reason. There doesn’t appear to be any story line that ties the game together though. It’s a pretty bug-ridden game too. The movement is horrible, animations of characters are speedy and random, and shots go in seemingly random directions, so it’s hard to control them. Shots don’t disappear when they hit an obstacle or creature, so it’s not entirely clear when something takes damage, especially since I don’t see any health bars. Sometimes one of the players seems to be invincible, and all in all every playfield is just a random graphic ripped from an original Keen game with two buggy characters that are supposed to fight each other in it. Every one of the six characters seems to have different keys for shooting their weapons as well, and sometimes they are the same keys the other player needs to use in order to move. Nothing more needs to be said about this game, except that I definitely would not recommend anyone to waste his or her time with it. Pros: *thinks* ... it is a little original I guess. Cons: bug-ridden, in fact it’s so full of bugs that it’s hard to notice anything else while trying to play the game. ---- [1.2] Game Review: Super Keen Fighter 3: Mortimer's Return Quality - 3/10 Originality - 6/10 Keenishness - 3/10 Overall - 4/10 Download here: http://spatang.com/files/games/3skf.zip Created by: Nickssoft This game is a slight improvement on its predecessor. I’ll admit that choosing a character to play looks slightly nicer and better laid out. The game also offers more options, you can now have four-player multiplayer modes. The game also provides short stories to describe why certain creatures came to this "tournament." The game loses some of the bugs that brought down SKF2, but many are left in. Each player now has two different keys that they always shoot with so no need to memorize thirty different ones. Added in the levels are time limits and health bars. However, horrible movement, speedy animations, weird shooting, and ripped graphics are still present in every part of the game. The new multiplayer modes Capture the Flag, Team Play, and Death Match are intriguing, and could’ve been a lot better than they turned out. The guns don’t seem to have any effect in Capture the Flag, and the Vorticon seems to constantly try and move right in all of these. For some of the players in these multiplayer games, the same key is used to shoot and jump, making it impossible to move correctly. Pros: a large improvement on the previous game. Cons: still hard to escape from the ever-present bugs. The creator requested me to mention an easter egg included in the game. At the start, simply go to Vs. mode and click on the Vortininja in the center of the screen before it blows up. You will be taken to weird arena with a Robo Red and some Apogee cameos. ---- [1.3] Game Review: Keen's Watch Quality - 1/10 Originality - 6/10 Keenishness - 2/10 Overall - 3/10 Download here: http://spatang.com/files/games/kw.zip Created by: Nickssoft This is sort of a pack of minigames with a primitive encyclopedia. At first I really liked the idea, but as with other Nickssoft games, it is too full of bugs to appreciate. Most of it takes place on Keen’s watch that is featured in Keens 4-6. This offers paddlewar along with blocks, space war, and space race. The paddle war is enough to make one sick, both the players and the ball can move anywhere on the whole screen, the ball bounces weird and unpredictable, and the whole thing is unplayable. Also, if you are playing two-player mode, be warned that by default the game gives players 1 and 2 the same keys, so you have to change this manually to actually have two people play. The one player mode has a computer that just randomly moves back and forth, and sometimes stops for no apparent reason. The Blocks game appears to be a primitive form of breakout. Once again the player and the ball can move anywhere on the screen, and once again the ball bounces horribly. All beating it requires is destroying the top block, and when that happens another ball is created. Space war and space race are both games that involve the Bean-with-Bacon Megarocket. Amazingly, you ship is forced to stay inside the play area in space war, where you just try and shoot your opponent ten times before he or she shoots you. Wow, the fun never ends. In space race, there is a large pink square that I think is a track and a white and black square that makes an 'Awwww' noise every time you touch it. That’s kind of what I though about the game. Keen’s Watch also include two "mini adventures" which are a challenge for the player to make it through without chest pains. Need I say more? The last thing in the game is a type of encyclopedia, which just basically has info about the official Keen games, like the items, enemies, cheats, etc. It’s not put together very well either. Pros: not much, I suppose it is a little original Cons: boring, full of bugs --xtraverse ========================================>>>>>>>> >> [2.0] ReviewCorner << ---- [2.1] Website Review: Yorpology http://www.commanderkeen.net/keencyclopedia/archive/yorpology/index.htm Site Rating: Okay Quality - 7/10 Originality - 8/10 Keenishness - 5/10 Overall - 7/10 This is a site dedicated to the study of yorps. It tells about the anatomy of a yorp, the history of yorps and how they were freed from their slavery to the gargs, what games yorps have made an appearance in, and the religion of yorps. Also there is a Yorp FAQ with a bunch of goofy questions in it and a downloads page with a game called Yorp Wars. The site is sorta plain. A lot of the images don't work but that's to be expected since this is an archived site. Some sort of background image or a more interesting navigation system would have made this site much more appealing to the eye. --Yorpy ========================================>>>>>>>> >> [3.0] KeenFiction << ---- [3.1] Chapter 9 of Ilsoap's fan fiction Dimorphius II gradually got smaller as the BwB left the planet's surface. Norp gazed out the rear window back at it. "I hope we're able to help those little moss guys. I'd sure hate to have whatever happened to them happen to me." "Yes, you would." K-2 stated, as he put the ship on autopilot. "Remember, that DID happen to me." Keen nodded. "Good thing the solution to all of this should be somewhere around Korath III." "Actually, I was wondering about that," K-2 said. "Why are we going to this Korath III place?" "What do you mean?" Keen asked. "Well, I've never heard of it, and those moss creatures never said anything about it. What makes that the best place to look for Mortimer?" Keen smiled. "K-2, you have no idea how pleased I am that you asked me that." K-2 looked confused, and Keen continued, "K-2, I have some good news. I can answer pretty much every question about what happened to you... how you and I can exist at the same time, where your fake ship came from, everything." "What? Really? Tell me!" "Well... the bad news is, you're not going to like the explanation." K-2 was determined. "I've been through a lot of really strange events in the last 24 hours, I think I can handle the truth." Keen grimaced. "Okaay... you might want to sit down for this." "I CAN HANDLE IT STANDING UP!!! TELL ME!!!" "You sure?" "YES!!!!!" "K-2...," Keen said slowly,"... you ARE Mortimer McMire." K-2 sat down. There was about fifteen seconds of silence in the cabin of the Bean-with-Bacon Megarocket, except for the fan of the hyper-vacuumic pump whizzing the ship through space at hundreds of lightyears-per-minute. Keen knew that there was nothing he could say to him at this level of shock, and Norp was too confused to know what to think. All eyes were on K-2. He spoke quite slowly, still taking it all in. "Keen... please be joking." Keen sighed. "I'm not, K-2. It's the only explanation that makes sense." "But... I HATE MORTIMER!!! He's an egomaniacal jerk who will stop at nothing to obliterate the entire universe!!! To him, the entire universe is nothing but billions of square lightyears of mental wimps, incapable of any thought besides instinct! I AM NOT MORTIMER!!!" "Being Mortimer isn't as bad as you think, K-2. If you'll give me a moment, I can explain why." K-2's eye looked as though it was going to explode from his head. Beads of sweat almost seemed to vaporize off of his face. Keen tried to remain calm. "Look, K-2, I wouldn't have suggested something like that unless I was convinced that it was true. Will you at least listen to my evidence?" K-2 scowled at Keen, but mechanically nodded his head. Keen sat down, and began listing his reasons. "First, remember when you came into my clubhouse, and I asked you those questions, trying to prove whether or not you were really me?" "Of course I do! And up until now, I thought that it proved that I WAS you!!!" "I understand, but please bear with me here. Do you remember what the first question I asked was?" "Sure! It was the question about what type of pogo stick you have, and I know I got that one right!" "Wrong, K-2. I asked what my IQ is." "Well, yeah, ok," K-2 stammered, "but I got that one right too! Your IQ is 314!" "No, it isn't," Keen replied. "When I was eight, my IQ was 314, but I'm almost eleven years old now, and I've taken a lot of IQ tests since then. On the last test I took, my IQ was 329." K-2's face went slightly pale. "I assume you have more evidence than that." "I do. When you parked the fake BwB, you came out with a bleeding arm. When I wiped it off with the paper towel, I took the paper towel inside and started a blood test. Unfortunately, blood tests take several hours, so I had to leave the machine running when we left earth. I checked on it after we finished the Yorp-to-Terran-Translate-a-Tron." Norp piped up. "Thanks for building it, by the way." K-2 glanced over. "Don't mention it." Keen continued. "The blood test stated that your human DNA didn't match mine at all, but it was 97% certain that your DNA was a match with Mortimer's. As for the yorp DNA, it didn't match Norp's either." "Who's DNA did it match?" K-2 asked curiously. "I don't know. Norp's DNA is the only yorp I have on file. All I know is that whatever yorp you merged with was not related to Norp." "Well, duh, I could have told you that." Norp stated. K-2's eye widened. "Why didn't you?" "Nobody asked! And when you were telling your story to Keen, you were talking in his language, and I couldn't understand a word you were saying! Besides, every yorp has the ability to smell whether or not another yorp is a close family member, I assumed that you could too!" "Sorry, I must not have developed a yorpian nose." K-2 replied, sarcastically. "This is ridiculous, Keen! Blood test or not, there's no way I could be Mortimer!! If I was Mortimer, why would I merge myself with a yorp? And how could I have done all those things to those moss creatures we just visited?" Keen breathed in slowly. "Ok, this will get a bit complicated, but I'll try to explain the best I can. When I asked you the question about my IQ, and you answered '314', instead of asking you questions about my galaxy-saving missions and other universe-changing events, I asked you questions about my childhood, and you got all of those questions right. But let me ask you a few more questions. What pops into your mind when I say the word 'Bloog'?" "Um... not much comes to mind." K-2 stammered. "No? How about 'Robo Red'?" "Nothing." "All right, how about 'Isonian'? "Nada." "'Quaterniax'? 'Dumarp'? 'Boobus Tuber'?" "Zip. Zero. Zilch. Can I ask where this is going?" "Simple," Keen replied. "All of those names are names of aliens that I have had to defeat in order save the world, the galaxy, or the universe within the last two and a half years. Now, here's another question, and I want you to say the first thing that comes into your mind. Ready?" K-2 was flustered, but mumbled "Ready". Keen paused, then quickly said "How old are you?" "Nine." K-2 immediately answered. "But, K-2, I just told you, I'm almost eleven." Then his eye widened. "That's... right! Why would I think I that I'm nine? Our birthday is the same... if you're ten, I should have said ten too." "Just as I suspected." Keen said. "Not only are you Mortimer McMire, but you've had over a year of memories wiped out of your mind." K-2 was sweating. The whole thing was difficult to accept, but he eventually said what he knew to be true. "I... am... Mortimer." Keen looked over at him and nodded. "Keen," K-2 said, "If you can somehow explain all of this to me, I think I'm ready to hear it." "Okay, here goes." Keen began his explanation. TO BE CONTINUED... ========================================>>>>>>>> >> [4.0] Keen news << Keeners of the universe, this is the month of modding! :) There has been so many cool new mod things, that I can hardly breathe. This month's even better than previous one! Oh, and did you notice? Winter is one month closer again! ---- [4.1] Keen: Modding This is a forum of my dream come true; entirely forum just for Keen modding! And guess what, the best thing is that it's run by the famous Keen tweaker adurdin, who has also done there extremely big set of cool Keen editing things! Thanks to him, it's now possible for example to change palette, cheats, item properties, make teleports inside the level... The list goes on and on! Grab your pogo and jump over to: http://www.durdin.net/andy/keen/modding/ And check out the PCKF topic about it too: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessage?topicID=821.topic ---- [4.2] Starring: The Grand Inttellect That's right, Dr. Villain has released an alpha version of his very cool mod. In this mod, you control Mortimer McMire that is going to bring the Commander Clown down. :) It's pretty cool, go here to read some more: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessage?topicID=809.topic And visit it's official web site too: http://www.freewebs.com/drvillain/ ---- [4.3] Test your Keen skills! Eazyjay's little bro is quite a Keen leveller, he has done pretty cool and HARD Keen level pack that let's you test your Keen skills. Levels get harder and harder, and the last one is really tough one. I have tried to beat it for many many hours already, I wish I can complete it next month... :) He has also released some other levels, you can find three more there, on this topic: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessage?topicID=824.topic ---- [4.4] A new Keen mod Heh, pacdan729 has started a new Keen 1 mod titled "Commander Keen in The Stupid Adventures: Episode 1 - Idiot World". Hmmm, I wonder what this mod will be about... Well, read more here: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessage?topicID=829.topic ---- [4.5] Keen fan games Also, seems that we have heard some news about Keen fan games, so, those aren't totally replaced by mods... Just yet. ;) TCL999 has started interesting sounding Keen fan game. Read more here: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessage?topicID=825.topic Keener therealdopefish has started to make special extended edition of Commander Keen: Attack of the Cones. This will be called Commander Keen: Reloaded. Read more about it here: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessage?topicID=822.topic There has been some new pictures of 3D Keen 4 posted on it's long long topic: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessage?topicID=750.topic ---- [4.6] Another mod started! Or to be more exact, mod trilogy. :) That's right, Keener keen online has started to make a trilogy called Commander Keen in Keen Noir. Sounds interesting, check out the topic right here: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessage?topicID=830.topic ---- [4.7] Isis II source The source code of some time ago stopped project Isis is now on the web. If you're interested, take a look. Maybe you can get good tips for your own Commander Keen fan game programming. ;) Here: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessage?topicID=832.topic ---- [4.8] Commander Keen Community Mod Ah, finally a project that many Keener will take a part, a Keen mod trilogy which will be made by group of Keen modders. We do it's planning work on the new Keen: Modding forums where we have own category for it. Go to check it's home place out: http://durdin.net/andy/keen/modding/viewforum.php?f=14&sid=de2ad4cdf1d960d42ab6c54ddc411dfc ---- [4.9] Yet Another Source Release! Keener adurdin has released his Keen level editors' source. You can download both of those, DOS and Windows ones' source, right here: http://durdin.net/andy/keen/modding/viewtopic.php?p=422 Tip for level editor coders. ;) ---- [4.10] Dopefish in Tiny Toons If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go to check following topic: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpubliccommanderkeenforumothercommanderkeenstuff.showMessage?topicID=750.topic That fish is popular. :) --KeenRush ========================================>>>>>>>> >> [5.0] Miscellaneous << ---- [5.1] Announcements So things came together and we had a chapter of Ilsoap's fanfiction this time. And once again we have some game reviews for you people to check out. One of these days we'll get to work on the website. As the community mod moves along we will probably have quite a bit of news and info on it. Anyways, I think that's it. --Yorpy ---- [5.2] Credits Yorpy - website review, composition MRC Marky - website, graphics KeenRush - news xtraverse - working on HTML issues, game reviews Forge315 - started this newsletter ========================================>>>>>>>> * swim swim hungry *