_______ __ | _ | .-----. .--------. .--------. .---.-. .-----. .--| | .-----. .----. |. 1___| | _ | | | | | | _ | | | | _ | | -__| | _| |. |___ |_____| |__|__|__| |__|__|__| |___._| |__|__| |_____| |_____| |__| |: 1 | |::.. . | `-------' ___ ___ | Y ) .-----. .-----. .-----. |. 1 / | -__| | -__| | | |. _ \ |_____| |_____| |__|__| |: | \ |::.| . ) `--- ---' ______ __ __ __ | _ \ .-----. .--.--.--. .-----. | | .-----. | |_ | |_ .-----. .----. |. | | | -__| | | | | |__ --| | | | -__| | _| | _| | -__| | _| |. | | |_____| |________| |_____| |__| |_____| |____| |____| |_____| |__| |: | | |::.| | `--- ---' Commander Keen Newsletter Issue 22, "Ted Stuff" (c) 2002-2003 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.spatang.com/cknews/ ========================================>>>>>>>> >> In this issue << [1.0] Articles [1.1] TED 5: The Strange and Unusual [2.0] ReviewCorner [2.1] Website Review: The Commander Keen Web Page [3.0] KeenFiction [3.1] Chapter 11 of Ilsoap's fan fiction [4.0] Keen news [4.1] New Keen 5 level pack! [4.2] Treasure Eaters? [4.3] 60 years on... [4.4] Very Keen stuff. [4.5] Spleen modding [4.6] Keen quiz [4.7] It's Keen Awards soon! [4.8] Game news & New games [5.0] Miscellaneous [5.1] Announcements [5.2] Credits ========================================>>>>>>>> >> [1.0] Articles << ---- [1.1] ~TED 5: The Strange and Unusual~ TED5, the level editor for Commander Keen 4 through 6, as well as Wolfenstein 3D and numerous Apogee games, unlike popular belief, is quite easy to use--once you get used to it's unusual interface. Coupled with various fan-made utilities, Keen fans are now able to build custom levels for Keens 4 through 6. Recently, fans, while in the process of making custom levels, have stumbled across some unusual bugs they can exploit in their levels. Sample a few of these... -Impossible Bullet in Keen 5?- Free falling platforms, by nature do not care if a solid (foreground block) is in the way or not; without an Info-layer, "B" tile, a falling platform will happily drop for the rest of it's life--even through solid foreground tiles! Unfortunately, once it drops off the bottom of the level, it ceases to exist. Yet the in-game ?object? remains, and is happy to stay exactly where it was last used--granted a certain super-hero is still standing on it. Keen, on the other hand, has a moral obligation to NOT go through solid foreground blocks, such as the bottom of the level, unless specifically asked to. Therefore, in such a case, the blockless platform drops off the map, and Keen is left standing on the first solid block he meets in his descent, the in-game platform ?object? waiting patiently beneath his feet. An excellent time to do Impossible Bullet! Impossible Bullet can be achieved by either Keen firing upwards, or letting a gun,directly below keen, fire. Aesthetically speaking, a platform that falls through a hole in the floor instead of through a solid floor is preferable, but of course, it's up to you, the level designer. -The Matrix "close the door and it opens to someplace else" trick- Yes, my friend, you can copy parts of the Matrix in your favorite side-scrolling PC game. Here's how. Things you'll need: a slider switch and a whole lot of tweaking. If a switch is linked to the bottom left block of a door (not the door frame--the black part inside the door), Keen, instead of exiting in the original addressed location, will exit in an entirely different place--when the you flip the switch. Apparently, the original and modified exit locations pivot around coordinates ($xxxx, $000F/$002F/$004F...). When the original is above one of these y coordinates, the modified exit will be below it, and vice versa. It seems that the farther away from the pivoting y coordinates the original exit is, the farther in the opposite direction the y coordinates for the modified exit becomes. Currently no explaination for phenomenon has been worked out, so we are reduced to the primitive method of trial and error when using it. -the QED, it doesn't break when it explodes!- Fact one: the damage tiles for the QED will only show up in one location in the level ($0010, $000B)--it's hard coded into the game. Fact two: the QED does absolutely nothing in any level other than level 12; it simply won't blow up anywhere else. Given those two facts, it is easy to figure out how to trigger the endgame sequence. On a side note, you CAN place the QED anywhere in level 12, and it WILL trigger the endgame sequence when a Shikadi mine explodes nearby. It just won't show any damage unless it is located at ($0010, $000B). -h4x0ring the Level map- The four elevator doors pose a problem when creating a custom level map. While you can create perfect elevator shafts anywhere in the level map, the four original doors will always exist, and if you put foreground tiles where they were in the original map, it is likely they will make an appearance, as gaping black holes, or some other combination of un-wanted tile, at some point in the game. Actually, the foreground tiles at($0000, $0000) ($0000, $0001), ($0001, $0000), and ($0001, $0001) are blocks that show up. To prevent such a disaster, keep the foreground tiles in the top left corner blank, and make sure you have only background tiles where the original elevator doors were. The original elevator door locations are (top left corner): lower elevator: $0018, $004C middle left elevator: $0016, $0037 middle right elevator: $001A, $0037 top elevator: $0018, $001E Keep track of those locations in your level map and you'll be fine. -Miscellaneous stuff- Flip a switch and diamonds and hazards disappear! Walk on thin air! Here are a few other clever things you can do. Fire spinners (for lack of a better name) can be switched off using a slider switch. Make sure there are at least 9 blocks between the switch and the fire spinner, if the spinner is above keen; ten blocks between the switch and the spinner if placed horizontally, and 12 blocks if the fire spinner is below keen--you get the point, right? The spinner must be out of sight when the switch is flipped. Alternately, you can use a combination of a slider switch and a button switch--both linked to the fire spinner--then the spinner can be in plain view. All the fire spinners in the whole level must be aiming in the exact same direction for either of these tricks to work. Try this: Place a full key-gem holder in your level, and link it to a door. Now link a button switch to the key-gem holder. When you press the button, the key-gem holder empties. OMG! Sure, keen can walk on air, but not without the help of foreground tile number $03FC (located directly above the blue Tart Stix in the foreground block selection), keen would plummet. Don't be mean: give the player some kind of a clue where the invisible floor ends. Levels that are 16 blocks tall will shake; this could be useful for an earthquake scenario. Take the "BLOCK" tiles out of the border or else you'll see them in the game. There is nothing like designing complex combinations of info-layer arrow paths for volte-faces and platforms. Arrow directions can be reversed using a slider-switch. Keep in mind that the route must describe a complete circuit at all times, or be terminated by an arrow pointing in the exact opposite direction as the one preceding it. Oh the joys of totally confusing players! Using a clever combination of "B" tiles and switches, you can move the location slicestars bounce. Slicestars look for "B" info tiles just like falling platforms. Without "B" tiles, a slicestar travels up or right (depending on which kind it is), till it reaches a solid foreground block; at which point it embeds itself in the wall--not a pretty site to be sure! Using a slider switch to turn off a "B" tile will result in an identical tragedy, unless there is another "B" tile located farther on. By turning off a "B" tile, allowing the slicestar to pass that location, then turning it back on, the player can effectively change the location the slicestar bounces, opening up otherwise impossible to reach places in the level. (Thanks to James aka Dr. Witherstone for finding most of these bugs) --Br1ck ========================================>>>>>>>> >> [2.0] ReviewCorner << ---- [2.1] Website Review: The Commander Keen Web Page http://www.angelfire.com/hi5/justinj88/ Site Rating: Okay Quality - 8/10 Originality - 5/10 Keenishness - 2/10 Overall - 5/10 A rather generic looking site but it has some decent things in it. There are tips and cheats, an sga font, the scoring with pictures for all the games, some pictures of a keen 6 box and a flyer of some sort made to advertise Keen Galaxy and Babysitter. There are also downloads which include a zip of midis. The biggest thing wrong with the site is that its boring looking. It has a generic backround and not very exciting buttons for the navigation on the side. Something more colorful and Keenish would have added to the site a lot. --Yorpy ========================================>>>>>>>> >> [3.0] KeenFiction << ---- [3.1] Chapter 11 of Ilsoap's fan fiction PFFFF-PSHHHH! The entrance hydraulic lines of the Bean-with-Bacon Megarocket whistled slightly as the door opened. Keen and K-2, or as we really should call him, Mortimer, stepped out of this ship. Norp just fell asleep on board, and they decided it was best not to wake him. The walked onto the Korath landscape. "I don't think I've ever seen planet so dominantly yellow before." Mortimer said, admiring the scenery. "And what's the funny droning sound?" "The bagpipes? You get used to them." Keen replied. He pointed to a large warehouse just ahead. "That's our destination." "There?" Mortimer asked. "What's in there?" "You'll see." Keen stopped just outside the door and spoke to the dwarf-like guards in front of the building. "Excuse me, but I was wondering if you'd let me and my one-eyed friend here into your warehouse." The guards grabbed their weapons, startled. "Why should I?", one of them asked. Mortimer imposingly stepped forward. "Because he's Commander Keen, defender of the universe." The guards squinted to get a better view of Keen's face, then shrunk back, muttering to each other, "It IS him... that's Keen... we'd better let him in... don't you have the key?... I gave you the key!... oh, right sorry, here it is..." The guard fumbled for the key, then unlocked the door as fast as he could. "My apologies, Commander. We're under strict security here." "I can understand why. The Shikadi still might want it back." Keen replied. "Thanks for your assistance, gentlemen." The two walked inside the warehouse, where a massive spaceship was resting, with an unsettling blue glow. Mortimer was dumbfounded. "What is this thing?" "A Shikadi Blitz Cruiser, model AX-B2-6. Remember those glowing energy beings those mossy guys talked about? This is one of their ships, the only one I've ever been able to capture." Keen explained. "I don't suppose we have time to hear the back story behind how you managed that." Mortimer suggested. "No, I can give you a brief version," Keen said, as they walked towards the glowing ship. "Mortimer... or rather, G.I., I guess, had his first plan to take over the galaxy, and had a race of beings called the Shikadi help him. The Shikadi were stationed here, constructing a machine capable of destroying the entire Milky Way galaxy. I stopped them, and managed to also destroy an electrical circuit that gave their ship a malfunction. The Shikadi couldn't leave the planet, and when their ship ran out of energy, it powered down, and they disintegrated." "The Shikadi can't survive without their ship powered up?" Mortimer asked. "Nope." Keen answered. They were at the door of the ship. "When I heard from those mossy guys that the Shikadi were involved, I was hoping that this ship could tell us where to finally find G.I. and that Merger." "How?" "I need to go inside and tap into the guidance system. It's connected with the other ships, so hopefully there will be a clue to tell me which ship to look for. It could take a while, though." "Oh." Mortimer said, looking down. "I won't be much help to you, then." "There must be something you can do." Keen scratched his head. "Well... when G.I. left the planet after I stopped his plan, he escaped somehow, but left all his stuff behind. Everything he left is over in that corner." Keen pointed to three small cardboard boxes at the far, shadowy end of the warehouse. "They might help you learn more about G.I. and fill in the gaps in your memory. Most of it is in some strange code that I haven't broken... you might have more luck." Keen stepped inside the glowing ship. Mortimer turned, and slowly walked towards the boxes. "Keen's really been a friend to me," he thought. "Probably more than I would have been to him. He's spent the last 2 years cleaning up my mess..." Mortimer arrived at the boxes. He hesitated, before slowly opening the lid of the first one. It contained mostly maps of space and the Milky Way, along with plans for a large device that looked like a giant propeller, complete to the last detail of ventilation, electrical conduits, and robot maintenance. "This was his first plan to destroy the galaxy." Mortimer thought. He pushed it aside, and opened the second box. It contained a large book, almost larger than an entire set of encyclopedias, with all the words inside of it in a strange code. "Hmmm... this looks familiar." Mortimer rummaged through it. "Of course! The original G.I. and I had a written code worked out so that we could pass messages back and forth for only us to understand. This is written in that code! And from what I can understand, this contains every command line and coded item in his entire brain! If I can find the commands for his basic functions, I might know how to shut him down!" Mortimer turned back to the first page. It was mostly blank, except for these two phrases in the very center: "All those mental wimps deserve to die." "Commander Keen must die." Mortimer shook his head. "Everything G.I. does is based on those two commands, and those were both things that I said. I had no idea I talked about hating Commander Keen so much back then." Mortimer turned to the third box, and opened it up. Inside was a black and red object that reflected the glow of the ship behind him almost perfectly. "Well, I'll be..." Keen reappeared from the Blitz Cruiser. "Hey Mort! I'm done searching! We can track the ship G.I. is in now!" Mortimer didn't answer. "What's the hold up? You find something over there?" Mortimer stood up, and stepped out of the shadows. "How do I look?" Mortimer was wearing a football helmet, with the letters "MM" on the side in red. "It still fits!" "I thought you might enjoy seeing that again, Mort." Keen smiled. "Brings back memories." "I found this big book in one of the boxes. It's a printout of G.I.'s program. We can probably use it to defeat G.I." Mortimer explained. Keen had a puzzled look on his face. "What?" Mortimer asked. "You do want to get rid of the Grand Intellect, don't you?" "Yeah." Keen replied. "Just trying to get used to the idea of us being a team again." --Ilsoap ========================================>>>>>>>> >> [4.0] Keen news << Ah, we have got some very nice stuff this month. Lot's of new Keen patches, and even one great level pack for Keen 5! But besides that, we don't have much more new. And it has also been quite quiet in the forums. Well, let's hope that things will speed up in the future. People are (probably) pretty busy lately. Or just lazy, like I am. Well, anyways, that has affected on the news too, I don't have so much to provide. Can't wait to see all of those new mod releases (when they are released). Oh, and it's soon my favourite season of the year, Christmas! PS. Be sure to buy the new Scooter single 'Jigga Jigga' on 8th December 2003... ;) ---- [4.1] New Keen 5 level pack! This is pretty neat! KeenCommander and friends have done an awesome level pack for Keen 5. It goes with the name Commander Keen 5: Keen Asylum. Read more on this topic: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpubliccommanderkeenforumothercommanderkeenstuff.showMessage?topicID=779.topic You gotta play it! :) There's a lot unique, never-seen-before features. It can be pretty challenging on hard, even in medium. ---- [4.2] Treasure Eaters? I think this one's quite interesting topic. Check it out, there's pic and info about a game called Naughty Boy, where seems to be somekind of enemy that looks pretty same than the thing in Keen 4 that can grab some treasures before you! (It's that big red fish looking thing, which disappears with a cloud of smoke.) http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpubliccommanderkeenforumtheoriginalcommanderkeenga.showMessage?topicID=657.topic ---- [4.3] 60 years on... What will be the future of Keen community? Maybe you will find it out here: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpubliccommanderkeenforumothercommanderkeenstuff.showMessage?topicID=780.topic Well, let's enjoy this while it lasts. ---- [4.4] Very Keen stuff. Of course a lot has happened in Keen: Modding forums too. There's been some discussion about Commander Keen 4-6 editing, and even one new program has been released. CK Guy has made a tool that allows you to change Keen 4-6 tile properties. More here: http://durdin.net/andy/keen/modding/viewtopic.php?t=139 Also, Spleen has written another great article about modding. No, it isn't tutorial, there's more than just editing the game in the art of modding. ;) Here: http://durdin.net/andy/keen/modding/viewtopic.php?t=144 Also, remember to check out the patch sections. *drool* ---- [4.5] Spleen modding CommanderSpleen has posted some nice new screens from his Keen 1 mod. Here: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessageRange?topicID=813.topic&start=41&stop=45 I hardly can wait it. :) ---- [4.6] Keen quiz Some Keen questions, let's see if you know the answers: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpubliccommanderkeenforumtheoriginalcommanderkeenga.showMessage?topicID=655.topic Hopefully we can get discussion about Keen's pockets. [haha and his bulge er... you didn't see this] ---- [4.7] It's Keen Awards soon! The yearly (Well, they haven't been so many years, but...) Keen Awards are here soon once again. This time they are in December. I hope we can expect some nice mod releases before those awards. :) Read more about them (Awards) here: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpubliccommanderkeenforumothercommanderkeenstuff.showMessage?topicID=782.topic ---- [4.8] Game news & New games Pac-Keen is almost finished! It only needs the sounds! :) Yeah! Read: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessage?topicID=849.topic Keener pacdan729 has started to work on a Keen fan game called Commander Keen 2004. It will be a remake of Commander Keen 2000. Read more here: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessage?topicID=847.topic Dude with name memsys is working on a fan game too, called Commander Keen and the Mythical Stones series. Let's see how it turns out. Here's one of the topics: http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessage?topicID=839.topic --KeenRush ========================================>>>>>>>> >> [5.0] Miscellaneous << ---- [5.1] Announcements Well so another month has passed by. The Keen 5 level pack that was released is very cool and will hopefully lead to more stuff being done with the later Keens. Also much has happened in the forum. Flaose has left his position as an administrator and xtraverse has replaced him and Snaily and Ilsoap have become moderators. Flaose was a great admin and a cool guy and we wish him well. Next month is Christmas! We are planning to have some sort of special issue and the website has been... GASP! updated! There's a neato winter header now on the main page. --Yorpy ---- [5.2] Credits Yorpy - website reviews, composition MRC Marky - website, graphics KeenRush - news xtraverse - hosting, working on HTML issues Forge315 - started this newsletter ========================================>>>>>>>> * swim swim hungry *