Public Commander Keen Forum

I'm not sure if any of you have heard of this, but I was googling (Googleing? Googling?) and found this... http://clonekeen.sourceforge.net/

Yeah, it's been heard of, and its author even posted something at PCKF if I'm not mistaken. It's pretty well done.

As it appears that the author is not working on the project anymore, I took the liberty to fix some errors and implement joystick feature.

You can download and compile my version at:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/clonekeenplus/

Sorry, it is written for Linux, but maybe it can be compiled under Windows. The old defines are still there. I only am going to maintain it for Linux. Maybe someone wants to do ports for other operating systems.

Have fun with it!

Yes, CloneKeen was well done. However, the physics make it unplayable as a 'clone'. If anyone can fix the jumping and pogoing it might very well become a viable port.

What is wrong about these physics? I don't understand.

If you can tell me, I'm going to fix it!

Mostly it's to do with the jumping. The wind-up seems to be better than I remember, but there are two main things that ruin it:

1. If you let go of the jump key before reaching the maximum height, Keen will launch off at an angle. The jump should start decelerating if the key is not held down.

2. Moving back against the jump is too immediate, it should have an inertia that is fought by moving in the opposite direction. Try jumping on level ground in the original game and then moving back on the jump. You'll find it doesn't change direction until you're close to the ground. Then try the same thing in CloneKeen.

Hmm... I had a strange déjà vu just now. Nice.

Thank you Commmander Spleen. I'm going to check it out, but I cannot guarantee you, that I will fix it soon. There are other things I want to fix first.

By now, There is a new Update. If you manage to compile it, I would be thankful for the feedback.

Here a screenshot of one of my features included:

https://sourceforge.net/project/screens ... _id=249154

Here, you can download it!

https://sourceforge.net/project/showfil ... _id=304312

Tell me, how you like it!

@Commander Spleen: I was checking your two jump issues. I don't understand the first one. When I jump and release in both versions I see the same behaviours.

In the second point I must agree, and I'm going to fix that, as soon, as I get time for it.

I removed something in the new version, and I want to reimplement it as option:

- Two button firing has been removed. I don't know why, but I think it is better to have 4 buttons like it was in Commander Keen 4-6 (Jump, Pogo, Fire, Status)

I meanwhile hope that this doesn't disturb too much.

I want to improve Commander Keen 1-3 with this clone version. So, maybe it will receive a new name. However, it should read the original maps and remain its story. I don't want a remake that frustates, because it's not original. I want to create something like ScummVM, but for Commander Keen. I also want to implement support for Commander 4-6 and Dreams.

So here are my future plans: (Tell me, what you think)
- OpenGL support (No 3D, but cool effects like zooming or lighting, smoother scrolling and less charge for the main CPU)
- Use Joysticks (Partially implemented. One is working)
- Better physics
- Implement music and better sounds in Commander Keen 1-3
- Commander Keen 4-6, Dreams support
- Get graphics of Commander Keen 4-6 in Commander Keen 1-3 (or maybe better) using a special graphics package
- Better saving and loading of games, using preview
- Like in Keen 4-6, mouse should be used for the main menu

I don't know if that's possible for you, but while you're at it, it'd be great if your program could work with ckpatch or the patch files of the mods, so you can use it to play the mods as well. It already works well with modded graphics and levels, but to be able to play the mods it should be able to read the patches (especially because of tileinfo changes in mods).
That would be great.
And in-level saving would be great as well, if possible.
Thanks for working at this promising platform!!

gerstrong wrote:I don't understand the first one. When I jump and release in both versions I see the same behaviours.

Hmm, maybe the second part is what makes this feel wrong. I'm sure there's something out of place here, I'll check again later.

tulip wrote:I don't know if that's possible for you, but while you're at it, it'd be great if your program could work with ckpatch or the patch files of the mods, so you can use it to play the mods as well.

It's impossible to directly use the existing patches, but since ClonKeen is open source we can make the appropriate changes and recompile it. Or someone could invent a scripting language for it so everything is editable without needing to change the source. The former would be the most straightforward at this stage.

I downloaded this a long time ago. From what I remember, it was a pretty accurate clone.

Commander Spleen wrote:

tulip wrote:I don't know if that's possible for you, but while you're at it, it'd be great if your program could work with ckpatch or the patch files of the mods, so you can use it to play the mods as well.

It's impossible to directly use the existing patches, but since ClonKeen is open source we can make the appropriate changes and recompile it. Or someone could invent a scripting language for it so everything is editable without needing to change the source. The former would be the most straightforward at this stage.

I don't think this would be impossible. From what I've seen, the patch files will only change some constants in the game (like jump height, string messages and stuff). It shouldn't be that much of a problem reading the patch files and changing the apropriate values in CloneKeen. Using variables instead of constants in the engine really ain't no big deal with those gigabytes of memory available now.

But it would make more sense to write a script system for use with CloneKeen that makes creating MODs a bit more easy. Plus having a tool to extract any data (graphics, sounds, ) from the original Keens and have CloneKeen use the extracted data by default. This would make it really easy to create MODs.

I will think about your ideas and implement them.

For now, here is a new update, which contains new features.

Have fun and play it loud!

Here I provide a new Website.

It is not much, but It will be improved.

http://clonekeenplus.sourceforge.net/