Keen 8 & 9 for Windows 7?

[Rucka]

Sorry, in advance, if this has been answered already. I browsed the forum and am still confused...

I recently discovered Keen 7-9 and was thrilled. I was able to download Keen 7 on Dosomegames.com and it worked easily. I'm halfway through it and loving it.

I have been trying to download Keens 8 and 9, but every download I found doesn't open on Windows 7 after I unzip it.

I'm very un-savvy when it comes to Dos, and have had a difficult time trying to understand how it all works. If anyone can help, I would appreciate it very much. I have longed for these games since I was a kid. Thank you to the creators.

[Ceilick]

Hi Rucka, welcome to the forum. Glad to hear you're enjoying Keen 7!

Are you using Dosbox? Dosbox is a Dos emulator which we use to run Keen and is necessary for playing Keen 8 and 9. You can download it here: http://www.dosbox.com/download.php?main=1

The latest versions of Keen 8 and 9 can be downloaded in the first post here: viewtopic.php?t=2127&start=0

Instructions for running these can be found in the readme files, but I'll reiterate them here: click and drag Keen8.bat or keen9.bat and drop that onto the dosbox icon (Note: before you can do this for Keen 9, you will need to add keen5e.exe to the keen 9 folder). Dosbox will start up and run Keen. To run dosbox in full screen, just press alt and enter. Have fun

[Rucka]

Ceilick,

Thanks for your help! I'm having a couple of issues:

1. When you say "add keen5.e.exe to the keen 9 folder" what do you mean? I don't see keen5e.exe anywhere.

2. I dragged keen8.bat from winzip over onto the dosbox icon on my desktop, and dosbox opened saying "Illegal command."

Thanks for bearing with me. Like I said, I'm very unfamiliar with dos.

EDIT: I downloaded dosbox for Windows, the very top option at the link you provided.

[Pokota]

To play "Keen 9: Battle of the Brains", you need to already have "Keen 5: The Armageddon Machine" somewhere on your computer already, as Keen 9 is a modification of Keen 5 and, as Keen 5 is still sold, it's illegal to include it with the Keen 9 package.

You will need to unzip the Keen 8 and Keen 9 packages into folders (preferably separate folders) and you'll want to put them close to the root to your drive (instead of in your my documents folder - you'll want it to be something like C:\Keen\Keen8 or C:\Dos\Keen9 when you look at the path in the address bar or properties view). The reason you have to do this is because Commander Keen games have to check other files that are referenced by the main executable, which can't be done if they're still compressed in the zip folder.

You should probably look at this tutorial if the drag'n'drop method still doesn't work for you; I prefer command-line execution anyway, but whatever works best for you ^^

[Keening_Product]

2. I dragged keen8.bat from winzip over onto the dosbox icon on my desktop, and dosbox opened saying "Illegal command."

I think it has to be dragged onto the DOSBox executable, so the dosbox.exe file you will probably find by going to (in 32-Bit 7) c:\Program Files\DosBox.

But as Pokota said, unzip the files first. Then drag the unzipped bat to the exe.

[Paramultart]

It doesn't have to be dragged onto the executable itself, but yes, it does have to be extracted. Duh.

The first thing I do when I make a folder for a DOS program, I drag an extra shortcut in there for convenience.

However, I did notice a problem with the drag-n-drop method on my laptop. The problem was that I had appended mounting commands to the configuration file, which came up with an error when I tried dragging an executable onto the shortcut. I removed the additional commands from the configuration file, and now it works fine, although now I am burdened to type "mount c c:\.... c:\...." et cetera every time I need the command line interface.

For some reason, and inconsistencies like this always pester my mind, I have not encountered this problem with my desktop PC.

So yeah. Don't be afraid to use the drag-and-drop method, but if that doesn't work for you, remember what I said about the configuration file.

Good luck!

[DHeadshot]

I stick the mounting commands in the autoexec - it seemed the most sensible thing to do...

[Rucka]

Thank you everyone for your help. I unzipped the folders for both Keen games in Winzip. I also downloaded DosBox. Beyond that, it's been pretty hard to grasp any step of the process. I might actually hire a computer repairman to take on the project.

I don't have Keen 5, as I have been unable to find a version that can be downloaded on Windows 7. I would imagine that the copies for sale are in floppy-disc form, which obviously wouldn't do me any good. On a sidenote, I also can't find Keen 2 or 3 for Windows 7.

I will keep hammering away at this. At least I have Keen 7, for now.

[Keening_Product]

I might actually hire a computer repairman to take on the project.

They won't be able to help if they're above-board. Keen 2, 3, 5 and 6 are all NOT shareware, thus the mods don't contain the files because that would be illegal. You have to own the software or get it some other way (be it on your head.)

There are places you can download the full versions of all the games from, I'm sure someone here would be able to inbox you a link or something (I don't have it - still yet to play Keens 8 and 9). You can also download Keens 1-5 on Steam I understand, though I don't know how accessible the files are.


If you're still finding the idea hard to grasp I'll try it graphically:

Keen 7's ZIP looked like this:
{[MOD FILES] + [KEEN 4 FILES]}

Those are all the files you need; because Keen 4 is free Ceilick has been able to include its files in the mod's zip. You need both the Mod AND the original game files to be able to play.

Keen 8 Looks like this:
{[MOD FILES]}

And Keen 9:
{[MOD FILES]}

Both lack the original game files.

You need to do this to make them work:

For Keen 8 (Replace 8 with 9 and 6 with 5 for Keen 9):

DOWNLOAD Keen 8 Mod
ACQUIRE Keen 6

So you have {[MOD FILES]} and {[KEEN 6 FILES]}

Now make sure both are unzipped, so you have:

[MOD FILES] and [KEEN 6 FILES]

Copy the Keen 6 EXE from [KEEN 6 FILES] into [MOD FILES]

So then you have the working product:

[MOD FILES + KEEN 6]

Plug into DODBox and enjoy!

[Rucka]

Keening_Product thanks for baring with me and breaking it all down. I now understand that the Keen 7 download is much simpler because it involves the shareware Keen 4.

I will attempt to acquire Keen 5 & 6, and then tackle Keen 8 & 9 again.

[Mink]

Another thing to remember is that there aren't specific versions of the Keen games for Windows 7 or anything else like that: you just need to have the original DOS versions and then run them with DOSBox.

(And if you want to find them... check out the Collective. (You'll want version 1.4 EGA for episodes 4 5 and 6, and version 1.31 for episodes 1 2 and 3.) )

[Rucka]

Thanks Mink. I downloaded the suggested versions of all 6 games. However, I'm still having a hard time with Dos. I have all the .exe files saved in a folder in the C: but beyond that, when I do the "mounting" process it doesn't seem to make a difference. I appreciate everyone's instructions. Unfortunately, alot of these steps are Greek to me. I wish there was an instructional video dumbing down the process from A-Z as pertains to Keen 8 &9... It's hard for a simpleton like myself to get this. I will keep reviewing the instructions I got on this forum and try to get all figured out.

[Flaose]

Welcome to the forum Rucka!

I'm glad that you've been enjoying Keen 7, and understand the frustration in getting Keens 8 and 9 to work properly. In order to help you out, I've made some convenient zip files, similar to the installer you found for Keen 7 on DOSome:

Download Keen 8: Dead in the Desert
Download Keen 9: Battle of the Brains

Now, Keen 8 is ready to be played. Because of the difficulty in acquiring the discontinued Keen 6, Ceilick has already included a copy of the required .exe file. All you need to do is unzip the .zip file, open the folder, and run the Keen 8 shortcut (the one with the green-coloured Cactoid icon).

Keen 9, however, will require you to buy a legal copy of Commander Keen 5. I would recommend using Steam. It's (by far) the cheapest way to acquire Commander Keen's 1-5. You can see the storefront page here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/9180/
However you end up getting your hands on Keen 5, you'll need to copy the file keen5e.exe into the Keen9 folder of the .zip file I provided. Assuming that the .zip is extracted onto your desktop, you'll find the folder you need by navigating to Keen 9\Keen9. You'll know you have the right folder when you see the files named AUDIO.CK5, AUDIODCT.CK5, AUDIOHED.CK5, etc. Once you've copyed keen5e.exe to the correct folder, double-click Setup.bat (or, alternatively, double-click RUN FIRST in the main Keen 9 folder). You're now ready to go! If you're not already there, return to the main Keen 9 folder (the one with DOSBox.exe in it) and double-click the Keen 9 shortcut (it has a picture of a running Mortimer McMire). Enjoy the end of the trilogy!

Instructions for finding keen5e.exe with Steam
If you've decided to buy the Commander Keen pack on Steam, you may have a hard time finding keen5e.exe. Here are some step-by-step instructions for finding it:

1. Click the START button, and click "Computer", found on the right side of the Start Menu.
2. Double-click Local Disk (C:) (note, it may be called something other than Local Disk, the important part is the C:)
3. Double-click on Program Files (note, if you are running 64-bit Windows 7, you will see another folder called Program Files (x86), this is the folder that you'll want to double-click)
4. Double-click on Steam
5. Double-click on steamapps
6. Double-click on common
7. Click on the Search bar in the upper-right part of the window and type in "keen5e.exe" It may take a few moments for the file to appear.
8. Right-click on keen5e.exe and select Copy
9. Open up the unzipped Battle of the Brains folder (by default called Keen 9), right-click on the Keen9 folder found within it, and select Paste.
10. You're now ready to run the Keen 9 shortcut and play the game!

If you have any trouble with the zip files I've provided, or with Steam, I'll be glad to help (and everyone else as well, I'm sure)!

[Rucka]

Flaose, thanks so much for your help! Now, I've opened the Keen 8 folder in winzip, and the only green-colored Cactoid icon appears to be an image file. Please advise.

As for Keen 9, I will take your advice and look up the Keen games on Steam.

EDIT: I figured out how to get Keen 8 working. This whole time, I've been trying to open the files from Winzip, instead of "extracting." I truly am an ignoramus, as far as this all goes

[Rucka]

Thanks everybody for your help. Flaose, you are a saint. I now have Keen 8 & 9 at my disposal. Special thanks to the folks that created these newer Keen games... so far, they are as great the official ones.