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Commander Keen in Keen Dreams

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Commander Keen in Keen Dreams
Commander Keen in Keen Dreams cover
Developers
id Software
David Gow
Linux Ryan C. Gordon
macOS (OS X) Ryan C. Gordon
Publishers
Softdisk
Hard Disk Publishing
Linux, OS X Nightdive Studios
Release dates
DOS 1991
Windows September 30, 2015
Linux September 30, 2015
macOS (OS X) April 19, 2016[1]
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase
Modes Singleplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives Side view
Controls Direct control
Genres Platform
Themes Fantasy
Series Commander Keen
Commander Keen in Keen Dreams on HowLongToBeat
Commander Keen in Keen Dreams on IGDB
Commander Keen in Keen Dreams on MobyGames
Commander Keen in Keen Dreams on Wikipedia
Commander Keen
Commander Keen in Marooned on Mars 1990
Commander Keen in The Earth Explodes 1990
Commander Keen in Keen Must Die! 1990
Commander Keen in Keen Dreams 1991
Commander Keen in Secret of the Oracle 1991
Commander Keen in The Armageddon Machine 1991
Commander Keen in Aliens Ate My Baby Sitter! 1991
Commander Keen: Keen Dreams Definitive Edition 2023

Key points

Also known (unofficially) as Commander Keen: The Lost Episode or Episode 3.5
Game's source code was released by Softdisk. It can be downloaded here.
Despite being listed in settings, support for in-game music was cut prior to release along with digital effects support for the Sound Blaster & Sound Source devices.[2]

General information

Commander Keen wiki
Public Commander Keen Forum
Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
DRM-free
Run in DOSBox.
DOS
Steam (unavailable)
Icon overlay.png
Windows
This game is no longer available digitally.
A shareware version is available here.

Version differences

Steam version is native port (not DOSBox).[3]

Essential improvements

Patches

Unfortunately Keen was from an era of computing before downloadable patches were a norm. Instead, a fully patched version of the game would be sent in the mail. The old version had to be uninstalled and deleted and the updated copy installed in its place. As the update is already the full game, it would be illegal to distribute it. Luckily, Several dedicated fans have made homebrewed patches to update (or downgrade if you want) every official keen game. These patches edit the files to make the changes, no warez used! The original discussion thread for them can be found here.

You could alternatively use the shareware version above, but note that unlike the other shareware episodes, you need the registered version to get the latest version. This episode also has additional nagging ("Don't forget to register your copy!") screens.

Episode launcher

A launcher for the entire Keen series can be found here (runs in DOSBox). For a modified version of this same launcher that also supports this game (for people whom don't have the native Steam version), try the following:

Episode launcher
@ECHO OFF

:MENU

CLS

REM All episodes must be in the same folder contrary

REM to the original launcher this one was based on.

ECHO.

ECHO  ===========================================================================

ECHO  ======================= COMMANDER KEEN COLLECTION =========================

ECHO  ===========================================================================

ECHO.

ECHO         Invasion of the Vortices (1-3):

ECHO.

ECHO     1 - Commander Keen 1 Marooned On Mars (1990)(Apogee Software)

ECHO     2 - Commander Keen 2 The Earth Explodes (1990)(Apogee Software)

ECHO     3 - Commander Keen 3 Keen Must Die (1990)(Apogee Software)

ECHO.

ECHO         Goodbye, Galaxy! (4-6):

ECHO.

ECHO     4 - Commander Keen 4 Secret Of The Oracle (1991)(Apogee Software Ltd)

ECHO     5 - Commander Keen 5 The Armageddon Machine (1991)(Apogee Software Ltd)

ECHO     6 - Commander Keen 6 Aliens Ate My Baby Sitter (1991)(Formgen)

ECHO.

ECHO         Other (The Lost Episode):

ECHO.

ECHO     7 - Commander Keen Dreams (1991)(Softdisk Publishing)

ECHO.

CHOICE /c1234567q/n Choose a number (Press Q to Quit):

IF ERRORLEVEL 8 GOTO EXIT

IF ERRORLEVEL 7 GOTO KEEN7

IF ERRORLEVEL 6 GOTO KEEN6

IF ERRORLEVEL 5 GOTO KEEN5

IF ERRORLEVEL 4 GOTO KEEN4

IF ERRORLEVEL 3 GOTO KEEN3

IF ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO KEEN2

IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO KEEN1

:KEEN1

CLS

ECHO Starting Commander Keen 1...

call keen1.exe

GOTO MENU

:KEEN2

CLS

ECHO Starting Commander Keen 2...

call keen2.exe

GOTO MENU

:KEEN3

CLS

ECHO Starting Commander Keen 3...

call keen3.exe

GOTO MENU

:KEEN4

CLS

ECHO Starting Commander Keen 4...

call keen4e.exe

GOTO MENU

:KEEN5

CLS

ECHO Starting Commander Keen 5...

call keen5e.exe

GOTO MENU

:KEEN6

CLS

ECHO Starting Commander Keen 6...

call keen6c.exe

GOTO MENU

:KEEN7

CLS

ECHO Starting Commander Keen Dreams…

call kdreams.exe

GOTO MENU

:EXIT

CLS

exit
The executable names (keen*.exe etc.) may have to be edited to fit your particular version of Keen. There are many versions. You could also replace the executable calls with CKPatch scripts if you wish to keep a customized aspect of the game always that way when you run it.

CKPatch

CKPatch is essentially a tool needed to load some mods (such as total conversions, or even just simple hacking) into the Keen engine. It does so by "patching" the engine in memory, hence it's name. For simple single script patches for Keen Dreams, look here.

If loading of a mod/script fails, you may have to uncompress the keen executables using UNP or UNLZEXE.

Source ports

A reverse engineered source port is available. Alternatively the game's source is available and you could build you own version.

Reflection Keen

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
DOS
Windows %APPDATA%\Commander Keen\Keen Dreams\
macOS (OS X)
Linux $XDG_DATA_HOME/Commander Keen/Keen Dreams/
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/356200/pfx/[Note 1]
It's unknown whether this game follows the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux. Please fill in this information.

Save game data location

System Location
DOS
Windows %APPDATA%\Commander Keen\Keen Dreams\
macOS (OS X)
Linux $XDG_DATA_HOME/Commander Keen/Keen Dreams/
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/356200/pfx/[Note 1]

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
Steam Cloud

Video

Graphics feature State WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
320x200 only. The Steam version has an option for stretching.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
Only in Steam version. Toggle with Alt+ Enter when using DOSBox.
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Only in Steam version.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Vertical sync (Vsync)
For DOSBox use an unofficial build (see the glossary page for other workarounds).
60 FPS and 120+ FPS
35 fps cap.[4]
High dynamic range display (HDR)

Input

Controls menu.
Controls menu.

Keyboard and mouse State Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Can be disabled using the /NOMOUSE parameter.
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Can be disabled using the /NOJOYS parameter.
Full controller support
Needs to be explicitly selected.
Controller remapping
For DOSBox use the DOSBox Mapper (see the glossary page for other workarounds).
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion
Controller types
XInput-compatible controllers
PlayStation controllers
Generic/other controllers
Additional information
Button prompts
Controller hotplugging
Not supported.[5]
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

Sound menu.
Sound menu.

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Sound Effects can be toggled.
Surround sound
Subtitles
Everything is text-based.
Closed captions
See note above.
Mute on focus lost
For DOSBox change the priority background value in the DOSBox configuration file.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
DOS video modes CGA, EGA Separate game releases with CGA or EGA support.
Compatibility with certain SVGA cards can be enabled using the /COMP parameter. Can also use the /HIDDENCARD parameter to force the game to accept the card if it doesn't detect a supported model.
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux

System requirements

DOS
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 2.0
Processor (CPU) 8088 / 8086 5 MHz
System memory (RAM) 640 KB (560 KB free)
Hard disk drive (HDD)
Video card (GPU) CGA


Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/356200/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (356200) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References