Keys of Krodacia

You can discuss anything about fan-made Commander Keen games here.
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Syllypryde
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Post by Syllypryde »

Ceilick wrote:......This is kind of surprising to me, both this topic and the one about what keen games are on your computer. I hadn't realized the Keys of Krodacia was so popular.
What surprises you exactly about the thread I started called What Keen games are on your computer?? In addition, why would you think The Keys of Krodacia would not be popular? It is very well done and currently the only full Keen 4 mod in existence now and probably for a long time. Not to mention, this game shows how much you have evolved as a designer since Invasion of the Yorps 1: Crash on Gobo III and it has been a very good evolution.

Me personally, I was not impressed at all with Crash on Gobo III or Invasion of the Yorps 2: Planet Destruction. But I am not going to sit here and criticize them either, because those two mods are a lot better than anything I could ever do. Despite my lack of enthusiasm, I can tell you did put a lot of effort into them and for that I applaud you. After I downloaded The Keys of Krodacia and was very impressed, that is when I began downloading some of your other Mods. Your Decree of the Skree trilogy is also currently on my computer, along with Perilous Pursuit and I really like them. Like I said, you have come a long way and it has been a good evolution!

I cannot speak for other Keeners, however "unofficial" it may be, as far as I am concerned The Keys of Krodacia is the "official" Keen 7 and I would love to finally see Keen 8: Dead in the Desert and Keen 9: Battle of the Brains become a reality! Why? Call me a pessimist, but unlike other Keeners, I hold no hope that Tom Hall with get the rights back to Keen. I do not believe it will ever happen, and instead of holding on to a pipedream, I would rather see some of you guys get together and create The Universe is Toast yourselves. Ceilick has Keen 7 done, everyone else could get together and finish 8 and 9. If any of you had any connections to Tom Hall maybe you could get his seal of approval for this group mod and make it official. The only regret I would ever hold is there is nothing I could do to help make it happen, because I have no experience in modding and no creativity as far as graphics and level design. Just another pipedream unfortunately!

I am not trying to pressure you "Dude"! I know this is all a lot of work and you do not have the time to see it through. Unfortunately, time is not on any of our sides! But if someday, Ceilick, you were to stumble upon an unprecedented amount of free time, and you just happen to have a little motivation in the process, it would really be cool to see your UIT trilogy come to life!

Patrick :dopefish
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Post by Commander Spleen »

I hold no hope that Tom Hall with get the rights back to Keen. I do not believe it will ever happen, and instead of holding on to a pipedream, I would rather see some of you guys get together and create The Universe is Toast yourselves. Ceilick has Keen 7 done, everyone else could get together and finish 8 and 9. If any of you had any connections to Tom Hall maybe you could get his seal of approval for this group mod and make it official.
I'd rather not see any particular fanmade production be declared 'official'. As much as I enjoyed Keys of Krodacia, and Xky's Keen:Vorticons trilogy which also used a TUIT inspiration, I do not feel that their storylines are quite as spectacular or epic as the real game would have been.

Instead, I'd rather just take those games as interesting interpretations of the theme, and leave the way open for others to express how they think it would have gone. It's quite an intriguing phenomenon, actually--we have an unfinished series and the mindboggling opportunity to imagine infinite ways in which it could have concluded, or yet continued.

As tragic as the abandonment of the final instalment of the Keen series was, I wonder just what flavour our fandom would be today if it was actually created. It's like Elvis or Kurt Cobain (Oh no he didn't!). They are immortal legends in many people's minds, but who would they be to their fans if they had lived on?
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Post by Ceilick »

I suppose I was just surprised that Krodacia was such a 'must have' mod. You're right though; it's the only full keen 4 mod, why wouldn't it be popular.
I was not impressed at all with Crash on Gobo III or Invasion of the Yorps 2: Planet Destruction. But I am not going to sit here and criticize them either
Thats because they're so bad they're beyond criticism ;) But seriously, in my opinion most of my mods are absolute junk. The only ones I feel any personal pride in are probably Oracle Janitor, Keys of Krodacia, and maybe Perilous Pursuit. Everything else I've done makes me cringe and think, "I really should have put more time and effort into that, could have been a lot better".
I'd rather not see any particular fanmade production be declared 'official'. As much as I enjoyed Keys of Krodacia, and Xky's Keen:Vorticons trilogy which also used a TUIT inspiration, I do not feel that their storylines are quite as spectacular or epic as the real game would have been.
Aye, I felt the same, which is why I deliberately added "unofficial" to Krodacia's title. I think we need a fanmade universe is toast, for the sake of "if it could have resolved this way", but to even try to say its official is going to limit creativity and any other versions of the ending that people might have. Having multiple TUITs would be a good thing, provided they don't suck :p
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Post by Syllypryde »

Commander Spleen wrote:
I hold no hope that Tom Hall with get the rights back to Keen. I do not believe it will ever happen, and instead of holding on to a pipedream, I would rather see some of you guys get together and create The Universe is Toast yourselves. Ceilick has Keen 7 done, everyone else could get together and finish 8 and 9. If any of you had any connections to Tom Hall maybe you could get his seal of approval for this group mod and make it official.
I'd rather not see any particular fanmade production be declared 'official'. As much as I enjoyed Keys of Krodacia, and Xky's Keen:Vorticons trilogy which also used a TUIT inspiration, I do not feel that their storylines are quite as spectacular or epic as the real game would have been.

Instead, I'd rather just take those games as interesting interpretations of the theme, and leave the way open for others to express how they think it would have gone. It's quite an intriguing phenomenon, actually--we have an unfinished series and the mindboggling opportunity to imagine infinite ways in which it could have concluded, or yet continued.

As tragic as the abandonment of the final instalment of the Keen series was, I wonder just what flavour our fandom would be today if it was actually created. It's like Elvis or Kurt Cobain (Oh no he didn't!). They are immortal legends in many people's minds, but who would they be to their fans if they had lived on?
I will nix my suggestion about getting Tom Hall's "seal of approval", but I am still all for the Keen modding community coming together as a team and creating an "unofficial" The Universe is Toast. It is only an idea! None of you actually have to do it! :moon
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Post by Commander Spleen »

but I am still all for the Keen modding community coming together as a team and creating an "unofficial" The Universe is Toast
We've tried a community mod in the past, and there have been several attempts at combining efforts into original fangames, but so far most of these projects have come to minimal functionality at best. The ones that do work have had a single person at the core of the project managing it, but for something to the scale of TUIT it'd take one seriously dedicated person with a hell of a lot of spare time to manage it.

I'd like to see the Community Mod taken back up again, as its story and setting were really quite fascinating, but the purely forum-oriented approach has not worked so far. People used to post new things there every now and then, but we've only got a couple of very drafty tech demos and loosely threaded ideas so far. Maybe a wiki approach might work...
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Post by Syllypryde »

Commander Spleen wrote:
but I am still all for the Keen modding community coming together as a team and creating an "unofficial" The Universe is Toast
We've tried a community mod in the past, and there have been several attempts at combining efforts into original fangames, but so far most of these projects have come to minimal functionality at best. The ones that do work have had a single person at the core of the project managing it, but for something to the scale of TUIT it'd take one seriously dedicated person with a hell of a lot of spare time to manage it.

I'd like to see the Community Mod taken back up again, as its story and setting were really quite fascinating, but the purely forum-oriented approach has not worked so far. People used to post new things there every now and then, but we've only got a couple of very drafty tech demos and loosely threaded ideas so far. Maybe a wiki approach might work...
I guess my pipedreams are a little too ambitious, especially when I am expecting others to do all the work. Believe me, if I had any experience and any "Keen creativity" I would jump right into it, especially now since I have more spare time than probably all of you combined.
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Post by tulip »

Wow, that's a long discussion. I only left a day ago, and now it's already filled another page.
As tragic as the abandonment of the final instalment of the Keen series was, I wonder just what flavour our fandom would be today if it was actually created. It's like Elvis or Kurt Cobain (Oh no he didn't!). They are immortal legends in many people's minds, but who would they be to their fans if they had lived on?
I don't think Keen would have such an original fan community. No other classic game I know has something compareable. If there was a new 3D TUIT, this community would have thousands of members, but about the same amount of real fans. There'd be loads of morons who don't know Jack about the old games.
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Post by Syllypryde »

tulip wrote:Wow, that's a long discussion. I only left a day ago, and now it's already filled another page.

I don't think Keen would have such an original fan community. No other classic game I know has something compareable. If there was a new 3D TUIT, this community would have thousands of members, but about the same amount of real fans. There'd be loads of morons who don't know Jack about the old games.
I agree. Then again, it is like that with TV series, movie franchises, musical groups, and book series as well isn't it? 90% fairweather fans and maybe 10% loyal fans?
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Post by Ceilick »

Was cleaning out my Keen folder, and found some of my early artwork for Keys of Krodacia. Figured I'd share for those who're interested. It really shows the evolution of the graphics.

http://files.commanderkeen.org/users/ce ... rly_on.zip
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Post by Syllypryde »

Ceilick, I noticed you corrected a few of the creature names on The Keys of Krodacia over at the KeenWiki. My apologies my friend. I was the one who added the names. I did my best to list them correctly.

Patrick
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Post by Ceilick »

No problem, thanks for taking the initiative to add them in the first place.
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Krodacia secret level???

Post by Anoba »

By the way, can anyone give me a hint for getting to the secret level in the fun house? i know from the forum that it is here, and from the standard galactic alphabet i know that it is in the bottom right hand corner of the level, presumably by the dancing pink devil and electrically charged ground. Please help.
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Post by Ceilick »

Take a look around the ceiling ;)
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Post by gerstrong »

Has Keen 8 ever existed?

In the Help of Keys of Krodacia, there are 3 screenshots. Does anyone have those resources. Was this mod ever finished? What happened?
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Post by tulip »

If you look at Ceilicks recent patch requests it seems he is still working on the sequels to Keys, but just look at the beginning of this thread...
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