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Commander Keen Level Maps

commander-keen.com

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Re: Commander Keen Level Maps

#61
Man oh man. I was born in '91; Keen has a special place in my heart.

I remember when my father — a field-service engineer for then Digital (more server hardware than anything software) — brought home an early release of Windows 95 from a MSFT buddy. It was around this time of year, 1995.

I managed to install it on whatever hardware we had laying around the house. Cool beans.

Then I installed Keen. But the sound didn't work.

I asked father dearest. He fuddled around and couldn't figure it out. I tried a different pair of Soundblaster Speakers (looked like these https://iak.olx.ph/images_olxph/834942014_1_1000x700.jpg?buc...), but no dice.

Then I realized that it wasn't the speakers but the game, because the sound worked otherwise! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miZHa7ZC6Z0

I took my father's pager and scrolled through, looking for the MSFT guy. I called him at 9am the next day. "Hi msft guy my name is joshmn I am guy-from-digital's son; I have a question about the operating system I have on this disk. Do you have a moment?"

I remember my mom standing in the kitchen saying "what are you doing joshmn?" "Mom please one moment I am talking to the msft guy"

She almost died laughing.

I explained my issue with Keen and sound. I can only imagine he was amused.

Luckily for me, his son had the same issue! It required a simple change in a text file somewhere, I can't remember where, but after an hour I finally figured it out.

Same guy traded a SEGA Genesis for a whopping 23" CRT a few years later.

My mom says I was a smart kid. Sure, maybe, but little does she know about how I couldn't find the second DOOM floppy for the installer. To replace it, I took a Windows 95 floppy, put a different sticker over it, and tried my hardest to write (physically, on the label) the same exact design/letters/words of the other DOOM floppy, changing the 1/x for 2/x.

Re: Commander Keen Level Maps

#62

OMG I didnt know about Keen 1, 3, 5 and 6! Will have something to do in the weekend. I first played Keen 4 on floppy disks installed on Win 98.

I played Keen 1 first, and Keen 4 a couple of years later. We might've had at least the first one before we even had Windows 3.1. I remember the clamshell package that shareware kinds of games used to be sold in, because after installing Keen4, that package sat on the hutch above the computer desk for a long time, and I touched it every time I reached up to turn on the speakers.

I knew about Keen Dreams at some point in my childhood. 2, 3, 5, and 6 were unknown to me for a long time (might've been in college in the early 2000s before I knew of them?)

Re: Commander Keen Level Maps

#64
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Commander Keen 4 and Duke Nukem 2 with a Gravis joystick of some description.

This one maybe? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravis_PC_GamePad

Yes, that's the one! You could even screw this little stick into the d-pad and use it like a joystick, or like me, as a child you just broke it off in the hole and never told mom.
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