Pyramid of the Forbidden

Vitaminzach · Post by **Vitaminzach** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 14:49

For the somewhat older crowd - those who played Commander Keen a lot before, say 1995, how long did it take you to find the way to the secret pyramid in Keen 4?
I believe there were more than 3 years from the time I knew it was possible before actually playing the level.

The game hints never made any sense - I never had reason to assume there would be a floating foot involved.
And the Pyramid of Moons had several hidden passages/doors/things that open, so I always figured there was some other unfound hidden pathway. It wasn't until Keen information became more readily available on the internet that I found out how to get there.

mortimer · Post by **mortimer** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 15:25

Grimson · Post by **Grimson** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 18:26

I remember the pyramid well from when I first played Keen 4 somewhere in the mid-90's. I didn't know any of the cheats except for the item cheat, which is why I never found the access to the pyramid until a lot later in the 21st century.

TerminILL · Post by **TerminILL** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 22:55

Way back when I knew how to get into PotF with the warp cheat.

StupidBunny · Post by **StupidBunny** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 23:23

Basically, I was just like "I'm going to gather all of the inchworms into a pile for lulz", without any expectation whatsoever that something cool would happen, and--what do you know!--a giant stone foot materializes in the air. It was something I never would have discovered if I weren't weird and didn't try things like that for no reason.

That along with the secret levels in Keens 3 and 6 were the only ones I found on my own...the others I had to look up.

Syllypryde · Post by **Syllypryde** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 23:45

Most of the time I found the paths to the secret levels by dumb luck. In the Pyramid of the Moons I found it strange having all those inchworms on the bottom and using a gem to open a door to a switch that extended a bridge that had no purpose whatsoever. As for Chasm of Chills I did not realize for a long time that Keen could walk on top of the grass at the top of the level. I thought it was background. One day when I was playing that level on normal and used the impossible pogo to dodge a blue bird, I accidentally pogoed up to the grass where I found Princess Lindsey. She says, "The way to the Pyramid of the Forbidden lies under the Pyramid of Moons". I assumed "Pyramid of the Forbidden" was the inaccessible pyramid, so I went back to Pyramid of the Moons in order to find out how to get there once and for all. Upon doing so I found three secrets:

1) Found a secret pole in the ceiling that lead to a door that leads to the Lifewater Flask. I tried damn near everything to get to this extra life, and now I had finally figured it out.

2) Another secret passage that led to a group of ice cream cones and another door.

3) This door led to the outside of the pyramid.

Even after finding these secrets I still could not figure out how to get to the secret level. Out of complete frustration I was going to give up and then I remembered the inchworms and the "worthless" bridge. So for my own amusement, I decided to collect all of them. You cannot even imagine my surprise when that foot appeared!

Another example of dumb luck is how I found Blooglab Space Station in Keen 6. When I played Bloog Control Center for the first time, I did not realize Keen could walk through the dome. I was totally confused on what the hell to do and could get nowhere in the level. I was about to give up when I remembered there were still a few levels I did not complete. (Because I have to complete all available levels in the game.) So when I went to go back to The Bloogdome I accidentally hit the up-arrow and walked right through the dome to the railing. I did not think anything of it at the time and left Keen there while I left to go to the bathroom. When I came back Keen was standing on some kind of space station. So I wondered how the hell did he get there? Soon as I asked myself that question the satellite came back, picked up Keen and carried him back to the railing where I had left him. It is amazing the things you can learn while you are taking a leak!

Scarlet · Post by **Scarlet** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 3:55

Heh. I had no idea how to get there and it bugged me a lot.

One day in 1998 or 1999 - maybe even 2000, but I doubt it was that late - I was down in some city for some event. And... low and behold some people there had keen on a laptop. It was amazing, for I rarely met anyone who played keen. They told me how to get there.

lemm · Post by **lemm** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 4:25

StupidBunny wrote:Basically, I was just like "I'm going to gather all of the inchworms into a pile for lulz", without any expectation whatsoever that something cool would happen, and--what do you know!--a giant stone foot materializes in the air. It was something I never would have discovered if I weren't weird and didn't try things like that for no reason.

Haha, this was also the case for me. Then the help menu dialog suddenly made sense.

kuliwil · Post by **kuliwil** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 8:56

(1995/6)

My sister and I spent ages trying to get to it from the map screen - I developed the hypothesis that if you got there you could then get to the water stretch underneath... hillville I think. Not sure. The one with all the drops and lives. Back then, I didn't know that the levels were all separate files.

DaVince · Post by **DaVince** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 12:56

StupidBunny wrote:Basically, I was just like "I'm going to gather all of the inchworms into a pile for lulz", without any expectation whatsoever that something cool would happen, and--what do you know!--a giant stone foot materializes in the air. It was something I never would have discovered if I weren't weird and didn't try things like that for no reason.

Same here. I just wanted to see 'em together!

Post by **tulip** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 13:34

I never found it on my own, I only found the secret levels in Keen 1 and Keen 3, and the admittedly worst hidden secret level of Keen 6.
Finding the Keen 1 secret was the biggest thing for me.

RoboBlue · Post by **RoboBlue** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 16:54

I figured out the clue and gathered most of the inchworms, but I must have missed one at the time because the foot didn't appear. After that I gave up and didn't find it until the arrival of the internet.

Nospike · Post by **Nospike** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 17:12

tulip wrote:and the admittedly worst hidden secret level of Keen 6.

Why? The Keen 6 secret level is hidden exactly like the Keen 3 one, except for the fact that you have no graphical clue telling you it's possible to walk through the dome to the railing, while in Keen 3, no other islands had a "beach", so it was pretty obvious that the one on Mort's island served a purpose.

Post by **tulip** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 17:51

well, you answered your own question: exactly like in Keen 3. once you've found the Keen 3 one (which I did before) there's no way you miss the Keen 6 one, and yes, there is a graphical indication (the platform behind the last level)

Nospike · Post by **Nospike** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 18:27

Well, then it depends on whether you played Keen 3 or Keen 6 first. In my case, it was Keen 6.