Keen Dreams somehow makes it to Nintendo Switch

Here, you can get help with anything or just chat about the original Commander Keen games.
Gridlock
Vorticon Elite
Posts: 617
Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2010 2:20

Re: Keen Dreams somehow makes it to Nintendo Switch

Post by Gridlock »

Wow, that's neat to see Tom engaging with fans like that. Most game devs I know like to keep more distance (for understandable reasons). I guess it's neat to see Keen Dreams released on Switch. I don't know that I'd buy it for that price, though I am curious about how it runs and controls.
The thing is we can pull all of our resources together to make a game for Steam or maybe even Switch if it gets that far. In all seriousness, I believe wholeheartedly that we could pull it off.
It would be great to see a Keen-like revival. It's something I've wanted for a long time, and I'll certainly keep my eyes open for any opportunities. Sadly, it's not something that I see having an easy path to getting made. I imagine that it would be very hard to convince a publisher to fund a project inspired by a largely-forgotten IP from the 90s (especially if it's a 2D platformer... that's a genre that's at the breaking point of oversatutation). As a fan project, it's not impossible... but the odds of a project like that reaching the finish line are really slim. Without funding to fuel the game development engine, it's just impractical to ask people to put in the effort of a full-time job for years with no compensation, especially when there are a lot of technical and business hurdles involved. Even indie games are often made by teams of many people working full time, sometimes over the course of many years. As a side note, porting to Switch basically requires that you get your company/project approved by Nintendo so that they send you dev kits.
Image
Armageddon Begins Again. The Alphamatic has arrived.

Atroxian Realm: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3536
The Alphamatic: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4086
jayo
Vortininja
Posts: 37
Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2011 20:32

Re: Keen Dreams somehow makes it to Nintendo Switch

Post by jayo »

Roobar wrote: Thu Feb 14, 2019 9:23 It seems that it started all the way back in 2003 http://www.shikadi.net/keenwiki/Command ... munity_Mod :O
Speaking of the Wiki, could somebody please address this...?

https://safeweb.norton.com/report/show? ... e&ulang=en
User avatar
Mobiethian
Vortininja
Posts: 217
Joined: Sat Jul 25, 2009 17:36
Location: South Fribbulus Xax

Re: Keen Dreams somehow makes it to Nintendo Switch

Post by Mobiethian »

I dunno, I'm just not liking the lack of optimism for a Keen revival made by us. The Sonic Mania team did it! And they were just fans like us from around the world. Why couldn't we do the same to Keen? All hope is lost there apparently. I mean c'mon, lots of people know about Commander Keen.

I just mainly want to say this.. the forum should just be renamed to Public Commander Keen Modding Forum. Because that's just about all you guys do here! Seriously, if some of you can put such amazing skills towards something that could be made for to Steam or something really neat like Switch it's worth it!

Having said such, I'll probably make myself absent from this forum indefinitely. I tried to work with some of you, but you're all just "too busy" for me. Kind regards, I'm out. :dead2
User avatar
Lunick
Vortininja
Posts: 283
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2010 10:37
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Contact:

Re: Keen Dreams somehow makes it to Nintendo Switch

Post by Lunick »

Mobiethian wrote: Thu Mar 07, 2019 13:55 I dunno, I'm just not liking the lack of optimism for a Keen revival made by us. The Sonic Mania team did it! And they were just fans like us from around the world. Why couldn't we do the same to Keen? All hope is lost there apparently. I mean c'mon, lots of people know about Commander Keen.
It's not just "by the fans". It was lead by someone who had already developed 3 ports for SEGA. Zenimax has no interest in a Commander Keen revival.

If you want to see something happen then stop expecting others to do so.
Mobiethian wrote: Thu Mar 07, 2019 13:55 I just mainly want to say this.. the forum should just be renamed to Public Commander Keen Modding Forum. Because that's just about all you guys do here! Seriously, if some of you can put such amazing skills towards something that could be made for to Steam or something really neat like Switch it's worth it!
:bloody
Lunick is Here
User avatar
troublesomekeen
Vorticon Elite
Posts: 1245
Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2012 8:01
Location: Three-Tooth Lake
Contact:

Re: Keen Dreams somehow makes it to Nintendo Switch

Post by troublesomekeen »

szemi wrote: Sun Mar 10, 2019 23:45 You always had problems like "I'm moving to a new place, I'm depressed, etc."
^That has been my keening experience, too. You describe it very well. That's just how it is for some people. Nothing to get angry over. This is completely normal. There's a lot of frustration because there are so many great ideas. We have the knowledge, the power, the tools to make keen dreams come true. It's as Nisaba said before: many of us are loners and find it incredibly difficult to collaborate, or to work at a satisfactory pace.

It's alright if your ideas are never realized into a project, and it's okay if your project is never completed. Everyone has a different way of keening and not all goals can be reached. :smokin
Image
Commander Keen in... Canteloupe Quest!
User avatar
Fleexy
Tool Smith
Posts: 1432
Joined: Fri Dec 12, 2008 1:21
Location: Abiathar C&C

Re: Keen Dreams somehow makes it to Nintendo Switch

Post by Fleexy »

4 posts got pretty heated and were removed. The text TsK quoted was in one of them, in case people are wondering where that came from. I think TsK's response is very well put :)
Keening_Product
Kuliwho?
Posts: 2167
Joined: Fri Jan 20, 2012 7:02
Location: Tied up in the Oracle Chamber's basement
Contact:

Re: Keen Dreams somehow makes it to Nintendo Switch

Post by Keening_Product »

I agree, sensible comments from TsK. Deep breaths everyone - it's just a small forum about a franchise which has been dead on PC for almost 30 years. (Which reminds me, Keen did get a handheld console release on the GBC - how did that do commercially?)
Mobiethian wrote: Thu Mar 07, 2019 13:55 The forum should just be renamed to Public Commander Keen Modding Forum.
In case Mobiethian hasn't stormed out forever, or someone else reading this doesn't know, here's a fun fact: this forum has a modding-focussed twin! You will find Keen: Modding at https://keenmodding.org/

I'll say this though: don't go there expecting everyone to drop their lives, jobs, and personal projects to work with you. Go to K:M (and/or here, depending on whether you just want to mod or if you want to create an all-new game. Feel free to talk about either here too, given the PCKF's active community is larger.) with at very least a vision and a rough plan. Lay out your ideas for a new game, don't just make vague comments about the idea of making one. Start discussion on how it should look and play. Just take stewardship of your idea and lead.

Only you can prevent forest fires... I mean lead creation of your ideal Keen-inspired Switch game.
Keening_Product was defeated before the game.

"Wise words. One day I may even understand what they mean." - Levellass
User avatar
keenmaster486
Vorticon Elite
Posts: 542
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2016 18:29
Location: Tranquility Base
Contact:

Re: Keen Dreams somehow makes it to Nintendo Switch

Post by keenmaster486 »

I've been trying to start development on a new Keen-inspired DOS game for years... :pogo
I flermmed the plootash just like you asked.
User avatar
Snortimer
Vortininja
Posts: 267
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2009 8:04
Location: Toronto, Canada
Contact:

Re: Keen Dreams somehow makes it to Nintendo Switch

Post by Snortimer »

Mobiethian wrote: Wed Feb 13, 2019 16:55The thing is we can pull all of our resources together to make a game for Steam or maybe even Switch if it gets that far. In all seriousness, I believe wholeheartedly that we could pull it off.
Atroxian Realm exists already. It's something you can play today, even if it's not on Steam or Switch.

The sequel, if it ever gets made, looks even more ambitious.

The problem is not lack of talent in this community, and if there is a lack of will, it's beyond our control. The problem is copyright laws and practices that make it an extremely rare occurrence for creators of fangames to release their work commercially and make money doing it. Gridlock brought up that very issue:
Gridlock wrote: Fri Jul 14, 2017 22:50And, I hate to bring this up, but... as passionate as I am about making Keen games, I do have to question whether it's worth spending hundreds and hundreds of hours on a game that will only ever reach a tiny audience. And, it would be nice to be able to make a game that I can actually own and sell. That doesn't mean I won't do it, but I do have to ask myself whether it's worth the time and effort. Will many people even be around to play it several years from now? I hope so. :dopekeen
The only time I can remember it even happening is (the admittedly very successful and profitable example of) Sonic Mania, and even then the bosses made him make half the levels remixes of the classic ones because bosses don't tend to have imagination. More often, you get simple "SHUT IT DOWN!!!" reactions like what Nintendo did to Pokemon Prism.

Some people say that it's justified because it's the law, but I tend to side with Nina Paley's take on the whole copyright thing. The original term was 20 years. Today's life+70 years is obscene, especially since the rights are usually not even held by the original creators, who might conceivably do some good with them.

Besides, even if the original team that made Keen were to team up again, get the rights and make an official sequel, would it be good and would the fans like it? All of them are different people today than they were back then, even if Tom Hall IS enthusiastic about doing a Keen reboot. Skills (such as the skills to make a good Keen game) degrade if not used. The brain changes throughout one's life. Just look at George Lucas and the Star Wars prequels - so much more expensive and yet so much worse than the original trilogy.

Ideally, if there were ever a commercial Keen game again, I'd want the people behind the best recent fan games/mods to be behind it. Otherwise you might just get something lacklustre like the GBC game.

Anyway, I guess the only long-shot chance may be to convince the people who own the Keen rights that they should let the most talented members of the Keen fan community use them because it was profitable for Sega when they did that.
Member since at least 1998 with... ah... some long absences. I was even a moderator at one point. I'll probably keep coming back here and there as long as this place still exists.
User avatar
keenmaster486
Vorticon Elite
Posts: 542
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2016 18:29
Location: Tranquility Base
Contact:

Re: Keen Dreams somehow makes it to Nintendo Switch

Post by keenmaster486 »

It'd be great if we could band together and buy the rights to Keen, but that's unlikely to happen.
I flermmed the plootash just like you asked.
User avatar
Nisaba
Janitress
Posts: 1597
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2016 23:34
Location: The Outpost
Contact:

Re: Keen Dreams somehow makes it to Nintendo Switch

Post by Nisaba »

Snortimer wrote: Tue Mar 26, 2019 3:41
word! I second all this.
out now (link) : Image
Andet
Meep
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Sep 09, 2019 14:37

Re: Keen Dreams somehow makes it to Nintendo Switch

Post by Andet »

Not sure if this is the right thread for this, but did anyone see Keen Dreams was available on PC again for a couple of days? https://www.reddit.com/r/itchio/comment ... ilable_on/
User avatar
RoboBlue
It's that one guy.
Posts: 941
Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2008 10:26
Contact:

Re: Keen Dreams somehow makes it to Nintendo Switch

Post by RoboBlue »

If you're in the US, the game's on sale for a dollar on Switch.

I'd definitely recommend buying it at that price.
Image
User avatar
Lunick
Vortininja
Posts: 283
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2010 10:37
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Contact:

Re: Keen Dreams somehow makes it to Nintendo Switch

Post by Lunick »

This saga is continuing...

Javier seems to have conned another developer/publisher to release Keen Dreams on Switch again, this time with new levels... https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/c ... on-switch/
Lunick is Here
User avatar
Roobar
Vorticon Elite
Posts: 3267
Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 16:12
Contact:

Re: Keen Dreams somehow makes it to Nintendo Switch

Post by Roobar »

Wait... Keen Dreams was removed from switch? :confused

Also, new levels?
Post Reply