Keen 2 and 3 preview screens in Keen 1

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DoomJedi
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Keen 2 and 3 preview screens in Keen 1

Post by DoomJedi »

Keen 1 was one of the earlier PC games I met, I think years before I had a computer myself I played it and Golden Axe while visiting my relatives in the kibbutz. I think they only had those two games (now as I think of it - most probably Keen 4 as well) so we were playing those alot, especially Keen 1.

It was magic, really, those characters, sounds...
Keen 1 had as sharewares those days - preview screens of Keen 2 and Keen 3...and maaaaan I was watching those over and over and sooo wanted those...And they were timed so you'd need to load them again and again to have a good look.
That feeling of strong desire is part of make that period so magical. We had such strong desires that would later last a lifetime, and we couldn't fulfill those right away so that were building up, accumulating into a huge dreams, nowdays with aliexpress express orders children get what they want almost as the first drop of desire appeared.

Maaan I loves those screens, they were a glimpse of a new desired worlds. Some years will pass till I'll first get my hands on Keen 2 and 3 copies so it was a desire and tease long accumulating.

What was your experience with Keen 1 preview screens?
Was it as strong as it was for me?

Can such feeling be recreated in today's Keen modding? Like preview screens of future mods for modders that make modding trilogies? Can it ever be as powerful as it was then?
Is such magic are only related to a particular period/era? Can it be recreated nowdays or did you felt recently something as close to that?

My Batmod1 Wolf3D mod actually had preview screen of Batmod2, even forgot about it and in recent youtube play just saw it and wow, it was actually a good tease at the end of the game.
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Re: Keen 2 and 3 preview screens in Keen 1

Post by Ceilick »

"I really enjoyed these when I was young too, especially the Keen 2 screen. It seemed full of so many details, and the dead Vorticon Elite in the image held particular focus, my thoughts being what is that thing!? I for sure thought it was some kind of monster rising out of the ground. I recall feeling the Keen 3 screen was just kind of weird and being less enthusiastic for it. I too would repeatedly load them since they were timed :lol I also loved the Keen 6 previews that came with, I believe, Keen 4. I remember just analyzing these for details while my imagination went wild.

Recreating this feeling in modding is tough, since it requires having a future mod in some state of completeness for at least a screenshot mockup. It's hard advertising your future project when you're working on or finishing a current one. That's what I originally did in The Keys of Krodacia, I believe, with a few tiny mockups for Dead in the Desert (well before the art in DitD was finalized). I also did something similar to this in Return to the Shadowlands, which features screenshot adverts for existing mods, as well as some exclusive Foray in the Forest shots. I generally think this is the thing to do if you want to try to recreate this feeling: advertise someone else's project with an exclusive preview.

One obstacle in recreating this feeling is, aside from the obvious that we're no longer young, is that we now have an over exposure to Commander Keen; so many mods and adventures have been released that I think it's dulled the sense of wonder and curiosity toward the unknown we once had. A preview needs to indicate that it's more than just another Commander Keen adventure. Previews need to be visually compelling and show something new that provokes the imagination. You want your audience to think, "What is that thing!?"
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Re: Keen 2 and 3 preview screens in Keen 1

Post by DoomJedi »

Ceilick wrote: Sun Jun 12, 2022 13:30and the dead Vorticon Elite in the image held particular focus
Yes, that was a cool tease.
I recall feeling the Keen 3 screen was just kind of weird
For me it was cool too, especially the "energy egg" Keen was in.
I too would repeatedly load them since they were timed :lol
Yes, it was a cool move on part of the developers, made it so more craved.
One obstacle in recreating this feeling is, aside from the obvious that we're no longer young
This is the biggest challenge, not sure recreatable, the most magic thing of that period were not the game but us. Us of that age ,time, us with our dreams and desires.
Even doing some retro collecting (gum wrappers, stickers, famicom carts etc) it's hard to get to those....strong emotions, desires of that period.
Last edited by DoomJedi on Mon Jun 13, 2022 4:29, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Keen 2 and 3 preview screens in Keen 1

Post by Benvolio »

I did certainly find the preview screens tantalising. They captured the imagination. I really allowed my mind to run wild looking at them, especially the Keen3 one - as I imagined the complexity of interaction with the domestic environment in the Vorticon homes to be much higher than the actual reality turned out to be. I guess the preview text for "The Fight For Justice" further stoked imagination of what the sequels could have in store. You must remember that one was seeing these previews before beating Keen1 so therefore ones imagination was not reined in by the real magnitude of Keen1: instead one really dreamed of these games going on forever, eternally escalating in complexity and exoticness. The reach of these previews was extended for me by the fact that the Keen2 preview was included on the cover of the magazine floppy disk on which I first found Keen. Therefore I was seeing one of the preview images before even playing the game. Now where is that garging disk? Even the link I posted to it before is down.

In mods the previews were often not part of the necessary tools needed by the modder. Mine certainly have invariably been occupied by unnecessary filler. One example, however, of a memorably enticing preview image set was in Orbkeen (beta). This seems to have shown both an image borrowed from KeenRush, and also some really cool graphics in the works for Orbkeen. These images, for me, truly fulfilled the role of preview images and created excitement and anticipation. Some of what was announced in those images is still awaited...
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Re: Keen 2 and 3 preview screens in Keen 1

Post by Nisaba »

DoomJedi wrote: Sun Jun 12, 2022 19:31 [...] This is the biggest challenge, not sure recreatable, the most magic thing of that period were not the game but us. Us of that age ,time, us with our dreams and desires.
[...]
so true, indeed.
out now (link) : Image
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Re: Keen 2 and 3 preview screens in Keen 1

Post by Quillax »

I love those preview screens! Back when we had just Keens 1, 4, and 6 (demo, not full), those previews were an exciting window to more Keen! Some things that particularly stood out include the odd-looking creature in Keen 2 and Keen being trapped by an egg in Keen 3. The Keen 5 preview screens in Keen 4 were even more exciting to me! I remember thinking that Robo Red just stood still and constantly fired, while the QED machine took place in a giant alien's cockpit that's blazing through space! (And yes, I did shoot the glass orb when I first got to that part, to no luck! :lol )
Ceilick wrote: Sun Jun 12, 2022 13:30 Recreating this feeling in modding is tough, since it requires having a future mod in some state of completeness for at least a screenshot mockup. It's hard advertising your future project when you're working on or finishing a current one. That's what I originally did in The Keys of Krodacia, I believe, with a few tiny mockups for Dead in the Desert (well before the art in DitD was finalized). I also did something similar to this in Return to the Shadowlands, which features screenshot adverts for existing mods, as well as some exclusive Foray in the Forest shots. I generally think this is the thing to do if you want to try to recreate this feeling: advertise someone else's project with an exclusive preview.

One obstacle in recreating this feeling is, aside from the obvious that we're no longer young, is that we now have an over exposure to Commander Keen; so many mods and adventures have been released that I think it's dulled the sense of wonder and curiosity toward the unknown we once had. A preview needs to indicate that it's more than just another Commander Keen adventure. Previews need to be visually compelling and show something new that provokes the imagination. You want your audience to think, "What is that thing!?"
I agree with all of what you said there, Ceilick! In The Morticore and The Sunnylands, I just advertised my previous mods plus a few mods released by other Keeners, which seems to be what usually goes into a mod's preview screens. In Mort's Rescue, I didn't even bother to edit the preview screens, even though I could have easily edited them to advertise Flames On Earth and The Sqeek Battle since the whole trilogy was released at once! In some of my mods I'd advertised my upcoming mods (text only, no pictures), a particular one some of you might remember was The Reezy Army trilogy that the Revenge of Mortimer trilogy would keep bringing up in increasing detail. Truth is, I actually completed the first episode, while the second episode was about a quarter way through until I stopped. There was far more done than the Go Keen! Go! mod that The Morticore advertised! After The Morticore, I decided not to advertise any of my planned mods since I don't want to potentially end up creating false hopes.

I remember being really excited by the DitD mockups in TKoK! I kept imagining what would happen in that mod; I even made level maps for it on paper! (I also assumed it was a Keen 5 mod.) Back then I wasn't exposed to as much Keen mods, which might've helped with that excitement. I agree with you that previews should show something new and unusual to retain that excitement; KeenRush's mods, for example, would be great for previews, especially Sunset! I also like the idea of giving exclusive previews for someone else's upcoming mod; that would be a good reward for beta-testers!
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Re: Keen 2 and 3 preview screens in Keen 1

Post by Grimson »

Nisaba wrote: Sun Jun 12, 2022 21:49
DoomJedi wrote: Sun Jun 12, 2022 19:31 [...] This is the biggest challenge, not sure recreatable, the most magic thing of that period were not the game but us. Us of that age ,time, us with our dreams and desires.
[...]
so true, indeed.
As an teenager or adult, when I've rediscovered or re-experienced something I remember fondly from my childhood, it usually felt dull and kinda disappointing. It's as if holding onto the memories is better than revisiting the object itself. Nostalgia is deceiving.

A good example is the Keen 6 previews I saw in Keen 5 when I was a kid. I somehow interpreted the Bloogdome as a giant spiky monster with an ominous red eye. That feeling of curiosity and awe was completely erased when I actually got to play Keen 6 for the first time as a teenager :(
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Re: Keen 2 and 3 preview screens in Keen 1

Post by Pandakeen »

The funny thing is, when I was a little kid we had all the episodes EXCEPT Keen 1 (until we re-downloaded it). So I didn't really feel any excitement towards the previews, although I was confused why the Keen 5 preview showed Keen shooting the QED when you can't do that in-game.
But I've definitely had excitement over preview screens with other games.
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Re: Keen 2 and 3 preview screens in Keen 1

Post by XkyRauh »

Pandakeen wrote: Wed Jun 15, 2022 11:35 I was confused why the Keen 5 preview showed Keen shooting the QED when you can't do that in-game.
Shooting the QED was the first thing I tried, when I got there! "Hey, I recognize this from the preview screen! Now for the big moment! Take this!" *zot* "Erm...!?" :lol
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Re: Keen 2 and 3 preview screens in Keen 1

Post by Hisymak »

Regarding me, I don't really remember watching preview screens in Commander keen Games. But I got exactly the same feeling of excitement when watching screens taken from the next episodes in many other games from the same era, especially Jill of the Jungle!
In Jill of the Jungle, the Epic Megagames went waaay farther: They put a whole DEMO recorded from the next episodes into the first episode! I so much remember watching the demos over and over, and desiring to have the next episodes. I don't think there was anything really new or unique in the next episodes, but it was showing interesting new environments and puzzles... I just wanted to see what's beyond the point the demo ended.
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Re: Keen 2 and 3 preview screens in Keen 1

Post by Benvolio »

Interesting... is the material used in those demos available for a modder to use in Jill? I can only imagine that if either Vorticons or Galaxy had this feature, then Keen modders could have vastly expanded the capabilities of the shareware games - potentially invoking some legal complications that are not present when modding the existing shareware games.

(though... where do we stand on Keen6 demo modding??!?)
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Re: Keen 2 and 3 preview screens in Keen 1

Post by Hisymak »

Actually, all three Jill episodes are very similar to each other. For the most part, the tilesets and sprites are same across episodes, the next episodes have a few new creatures and environments, but basically E2 and E3 feel much more like level packs to E1 rather than completely new games.
I did not go into deep analysis if E1 contains ALL resources available in E2 or E3, but it's quite possible.
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