Didn't Keen Dreams get some sort of new edition?

[dark]

Hmm, could it be the same company? I don't see keen dreams mentioned on the website though.

https://diplodocus-games.de/

[Mobiethian]

Hmm, could it be the same company? I don't see keen dreams mentioned on the website though.

https://diplodocus-games.de/

Yep, that is surely it! Good find! I did find Keen Dreams on there actually. https://diplodocus-games.de/keen-dreams-de/

[Keening_Product]

For anyone who has been here for less than a decade, here's some fun historical drama: https://pckf.com/viewtopic.php?p=71539

And something more recent but still somehow half a decade old: https://pckf.com/viewtopic.php?t=4827

[Mobiethian]

I still think some of the mods here can be ported to Switch, but I gave up hope. Someone else did their own game with KD. And it sucks.

[lestagio]

I seriously hope that one day these mods could get ported to other consoles, or the actual Keen games get ported to other consoles, at least! Maybe get people to stop buying terrible games like this one! It's awful that things like "Keen Dreams - Definitive Edition" exist to just feed off of nostalgia for a profit. If you look closer at the article Szemi linked to: https://www.bonusstage.co.uk/archives/176754, you can tell that the writer got hit by some nostalgia.

[dark]

Does switch have a port of dosbox or another dos emulator, like as a homebrew/hacked console kind of thing? As long as a modern console has a DOS emulator that is functional enough to work with the keen games then imo the mods of the dos Keen games probably ought to work on those machines as well!

As far as releasing keen mods on a retail online store like the Nintendo store or steam, I think there would be some potential for an issue there due to the mod partially relying on code or files or IP of the keen games other than Dreams, owned by Bethesda/Microsoft/whoever owns them at this point.

[lestagio]

Did some searching, and switch definitely does have a DOSbox port of sorts. If you have a modded switch, it seems like you can download retroarch and then install dosbox-pure, which is a dosbox fork.
Also, I found a guide on how to install a version of Ubuntu, which then will allow you to download DOSBox.
Unfortunately, it is quite hard to hack a switch on your own, and I only have one, so I don't dare to hack mine. Especially since it requires a little bit of hardmodding and physical tools iirc. But hey, I have a hacked 3ds with all of the Keen games on it!
Anyway, Keen is most definitely possible on a switch.
"Can it run Doom?" Ah, but "Can it run Keen?"

[Mobiethian]

It's all very interesting stuff and perhaps someone can and will do it someday. I do think that it's a really good conversation.

What I am talking about is an actual release of the mods on Steam, PS4/PS5, Xbox (whatever system), real 'published' digital and/or physical releases.. Switch... And it goes back to what I said years ago about this being done with Sonic Mania. I know chances are very slim, but we can at least try for it?

[Gridlock]

What I am talking about is an actual release of the mods on Steam, PS4/PS5, Xbox (whatever system), real 'published' digital and/or physical releases.. Switch... And it goes back to what I said years ago about this being done with Sonic Mania. I know chances are very slim, but we can at least try for it?

For the official games, it would depend entirely on whether Microsoft people want to make it happen, as they're in control of the IP now (though I'm unsure exactly which titles they have the rights to). They'd need to do it internally or contract out another team to make it happen. Due to the legalities and complex business backend of publishing, there's zero chance of an official release happening on major platforms without them behind it. Especially for consoles, remember that you have to be a legal entity approved by Nintendo/Microsoft/Sony to even get access to dev kits and SDKs under NDAs and other restrictions. I say all this from professional experience.

It's probably a hard sell financially for Microsoft, though it's possible it could happen someday if someone with influence internally champions it. If the opportunity ever arose in my company, I'd love to help make it happen. Extremely unlikely though.

Admittedly, I wouldn't even know where to start on the tech side. My own porting knowledge is mostly limited to Unity and Unreal, so I'm not sure the feasibility of using existing recreations like Omnispeak on console. I could see emulators possibly having licensing issues if you go the direct DOS porting route, so a project like this might require a remake in C++ or a game engine like Unity. Hopefully it'd turn out better than this Dreams project.

As for fangames, most companies don't really want to open that can of worms. Bethesda is more open to modding than most companies though, so idk. I suppose an official Atroxian Realm release could be neat if the legal questions surrounding contributions could be resolved, but I'd never want to claim it as something official.

[lestagio]

Official mods would be kind of cool, but they would have to be done RIGHT. If Atroxian Realm, for example, became official it would probably get screwed over by Bethesda. Get locked behind a big fat amount of money, and the game would probably be messed up in some way. As you can see, I have lost faith in basically every single AAA company these days lol.

[Mobiethian]

This is all cool! It's nice to learn so much from the community, thanks to you all! I really do appreciate it.

We'll see what happens in the future. I'm incredibly impressed by the mods that I have been seeing, even past mods, they all blow my mind!

[szemi]

Another nice one-word critique for the Definitive Edition:

https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/765 ... d/2496830/

[lestagio]

Ah yes... The most amazing game of all time. Of course.

[lestagio]

I'm genuinely laughing right now.
https://vg-limited.com/en/product/vg-keen/
Collector's Edition of this game? AND it's sold out??? For $120 USD?????????
Yikes. This game is so buggy that it is comedic to see this kind of stuff around.

[Mobiethian]

Yeah, it's comedic for sure, but I want all of those accessories so badly, and they're freaken sold out. Bummer though about the accessories all being gone now.