Keen Creator Explains Story Behind Princess Lindsey and Berkeloid in Keen 4

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Keen Creator Explains Story Behind Princess Lindsey and Berkeloid in Keen 4

Post by clump »

Commander Keen Creator Explains Heartwarming Story Behind Princess Lindsey in Keen 4
https://gamerant.com/commander-keen-cre ... ey-keen-4/
In the past, Hall has revealed that the character of Commander Keen is at least partially based on his real-life brother. Wanting to know more about the other characters, Twitter user Ian Hanschen tweeted to Hall and another Keen alum, John Romero, asking, "did one of you put your then-girlfriend into Keen 4?" in reference to the character of Princess Lindsey.

Hall replied to the tweet, explaining, "That was a Keen fan, Lindsey Velez, who wrote us a fan letter hoping for a female protagonist too!" In the same tweet he also reveals that the fire monster in Commander Keen 4 called the Berkeloid was inspired by a fan named Ryan Berke who had told the Keen team he'd seen a fire creature in a dream.
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Re: Keen Creator Explains Story Behind Princess Lindsey and Berkeloid in Keen 4

Post by proYorp »

Interesting article, though I'm surprised that they present the tidbit about the name origins of Lindsey and the Berkeloid as new information, since that's something that has been known amongst fans for years. It must be more obscure trivia than I figured. 8)

Also Keen is based off of Tom Hall himself, not his brother. :p Perhaps the author had misremembered this quote, which mentions both Tom and his brother:

https://legacy.3drealms.com/keenhistory ... tory3.html
Keen was basically me as a kid. Not that I had an IQ of 314, but I was sorta one of the smart 'n' geeky kids, and kinda ostracized because of that. So I drew a lot, wrote stories and stuff, and sort of escaped into science fiction, into my own little worlds. Keen is sort of who I wanted to be as a kid: brave, not scared. Confident, not awkward. And he wears what I wore and had as a kid: red Converse hi-tops, jeans, Packers helmet...except his shirt was purple, 'cause that was the color left over in EGA. The Packers helmet was a Christmas present from my folks. In Keen, it was his brother's Christmas helmet, 'cause my older brother was much older (11 years), so I looked up to him, emulated him. Of course, now grown up, I realize what a goon he was... (Kidding, Bob! No, I'm not. Yes, I am. Not.)

I wonder if the original Lindsey or Berke has ever been on here. I'd be interested to hear their side of the story. Must've been so cool to find they had influenced the creation of a series they were fans of. :D
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Re: Keen Creator Explains Story Behind Princess Lindsey and Berkeloid in Keen 4

Post by Quillax »

Neat little article, even if the info has been known for years as proYorp pointed out. Nice to see a gaming site acknowledge Commander Keen at least. A fact that very few people may actually know is that Princess Lindsey is supposed to be Hispanic based on her namesake's last name, according to an old interview. I never knew that until I saw The Shadowlands fan-shrine.

It'd be cool if the original Lindsey or Berke were to ever come into this forum to share their side of the story. I wonder if they're still into Keen. :lindsey :) What if they at least played around with modding?
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