First Keen mod you played

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Quillax
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First Keen mod you played

Post by Quillax »

A common topic in a gaming forum is "What is your first game?", but I've never seen one for Keen mods. Let's see how this goes!

From what I remember, the earliest mods I've played were Crash on Gobo III, Merry Keenmas, and Return of the Gaurdians. I remember for the latter two I didn't know that you had to run the .BAT file -- I was running the .EXE file and thus found them really weird and difficult to play. :lol Not too long after playing those mods I played The Keys of Krodacia. I played so many mods back then, but those are the first ones I remember playing.

What about you Keeners? What was your first mod? Is it Ceilick's unofficial The Universe Is Toast? Or KeenRush's Yorphius II? And yes, levelpacks count, so maybe your first is The Ice Factory? Feel free to say what it is! :)
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Nospike
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Re: First Keen mod you played

Post by Nospike »

Yup, first mods I'd played were The Keys of Krodacia and Dead in the Desert. If I recall correctly I joined the PCKF a couple months before Battle of the Brains came out. I was 10 or 11 at the time and replaying a lot of old DOS games I used to have and love, mainly Keen of course. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that modding was a thing, and that many mods were already on the same level of quality as the original games. :)
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Re: First Keen mod you played

Post by Nisaba »

it was Ceilicks fine mod The Keys of Krodacia that caught my attention somehow in late 2006 I believe. I was immediately hyped that there was a way to interact with new and yet unseen species on a far distant planet. I was super excited just like in the early days when the original series got released. this mod made a huge impact on me and I was even dreaming about it back then.
and as I realized that it was possible to create Commander Keen mods I knew that I had to create my own mod as well some day. I always wanted and will give back the joy all those mods gave me over the years. this dedicated community, as small as it might be, became a reliable companion full of surprises, creative power and a fine humour. And for me it all started with Ceilicks modding passion
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Ceilick
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Re: First Keen mod you played

Post by Ceilick »

Yorphius II for me! I remember what really astounded me about that mod was the color scheme, and the art style (a lack of black outlining) being so different from Keens 1-3; it really made it feel alien and new! The level design was great as well; the difficulty felt on par with the original games. Discovering Yorpohius II, after playing a lot of Keen fan games, holds a similar 'legendary' place in my memory as discovering Keen Dreams. It might as well have been an official title for young me.
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Re: First Keen mod you played

Post by DarkAle »

The first mod I played was Keys of Krodacia. It was so cool that I considered it as an original Keen game
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Re: First Keen mod you played

Post by Soul Monster »

The first mod I played was The Keys Of Krodacia. I still remember how I found out about the mods too. Back in like 2010-2011 I was browsing the Keenwiki for something, and I remember anytime I'd go on I'd see this purple squid creature that I usually overlooked, until one day I decided to find out what it was from, so I clicked on the picture and it showed me to the Keys Of Krodacia page. I couldn't believe someone made a Keen 7! Then I found out about Keen 8, and Keen 9 (which was still in the works at the time).

So on one August evening, I downloaded the games off a few different websites, and got to play them for the first time. It changed everything for me as a Keen fan. Sure they were technically mods, but it gave us the conclusion that Keen fans had wanted for years. After that, I began exploring other mods people had been making, and found out just how much I'd been missing out on, and also I began keeping up on releases for a lot of new ones coming out, often coming here to read updates and people's thoughts on the game (if I was thinking, I would have joined this forum a LONG time ago, but that's another story).

Anyway, that summer day all those years ago changed everything, and lately I've been using my downtime to catch up on some mods that I missed out on back then. There's a lot to play through, and it's great that there's such a dedicated fanbase that continues to make these awesome mods!
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Re: First Keen mod you played

Post by Benvolio »

I started out with Xky's Episode X. It would have been the start of 2003. It blew me away. I hadn't even played Keen2 or Keen3 at that point, but X just oozed quality and defined modding as a platform for polished productions rather than trivial efforts. Of course, people like me soon tarnished that standard!

I guess when KeenX came out there were very few mods in existence. Of course Yorphius II was one of them but it actually took a while before I played it. Other early favourites of mine were KeenY and the Norp series (especially Norp2 which was one of the first ones I played). Those early classics really created such excitement - to simultaneously witness talent and have the platform within reach.

I just love reading about how many people entered the community and/or became mod fans at different eras. It sort of goes to prove Keen's lasting appeal, that the community is more than just nostalgia on the part of original fans from the early 90s. I do hope that the fans who jumped in with the great Galaxy titles have been able to appreciate the classics of the early era too.
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Re: First Keen mod you played

Post by Pandakeen »

Dead in the Desert (Keen 8 ) back in 2010 or so. We played that before Keys of Krodacia because we thought Keen Dreams was Keen 7. A few years later we got Keys of Krodacia, Battle of the Brains, Keen Dreams Plus and XMAS 2010. Around that time I started plotting my own Keen 5 mod: The Moon Explodes. Once we got some modding utilites in 2014 I immediately started making it. I never made any levels, but what I did make is hilariously bad, so maybe I'll post it someday once I scrub all personal information from the About Me section :lol
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Re: First Keen mod you played

Post by Syllypryde »

1) CK Guy's Keen5 level pack in 2005
2) Episode X a month or two later and
3) The Keys of Krodacia shortly after it was released
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Re: First Keen mod you played

Post by DoomJedi »

I wish I could remember.
I only remember first Wolf3D mods I played, even not first Doom mod.
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Re: First Keen mod you played

Post by Multimania »

I think it must have been Yorphius II. Though it might've been XkyKeen1, too: I recall downloading both of them at the same time. The Norp the Yorp ones were also really impressive.
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Re: First Keen mod you played

Post by proYorp »

Ceilick's Dead in the Desert, summertime 2010. A friend either emailed it to me or sent a link to the KeenWiki page so that we could get my dad to download it if we asked real nice.

Soul Monster wrote: Tue Oct 05, 2021 18:09 if I was thinking, I would have joined this forum a LONG time ago, but that's another story.
I'd be interested to hear what made you realize you could join. At any rate, I'm glad you did! :) You seem pretty chill for a monster. ;)
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lemm
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Re: First Keen mod you played

Post by lemm »

I think it would have been Dead in the Desert, because that was the big mod when I first joined the PCKF oh so many years ago.
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Re: First Keen mod you played

Post by krivulak »

My first mod I played was The Ruin of Roib. And lemme tell you - I HATED IT SO FRIKIN' MUCH! :D
The whole idea of the mod was just so awkward to me, it didn't felt right at all. Everything broken, Keen as an awful adult. Don't get me wrong, the artwork is awesome, my perspective changed with the years, I was 15 at the time, didn't get what that mod is about. It actually managed to almost scare me off of mods. Luckily - it didn't and I managed to find Dead in the Desert couple months later, which totally showed me what modding is about and what I fell in love with.
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Re: First Keen mod you played

Post by Soul Monster »

proYorp wrote: Fri Oct 08, 2021 5:59 I'd be interested to hear what made you realize you could join. At any rate, I'm glad you did! :) You seem pretty chill for a monster. ;)
That really means a lot to me. Thank you. One of these days I'll have to share my story.
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