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Commander Keen: Aliens Ate My Babysitter!

2014-08-21T18:42:38Z

CapnClever: /* Impossible Bullet Trick */ typo fixes

Commander Keen Episode 6: Aliens Ate My Babysitter! (or simply Keen 6) was developed by iD Software and published by FormGen. It is a stand-alone episode, having both a demo version containing a portion of levels and a paid version with all of them. Having bested the Shakadi in the "Goodbye, Galaxy!" games, Keen is stuck home one day when he learns that his babysitter, Molly McMire, has been kidnapped by the giant bird-like species of Bloogs: he travels to Fribbulus Xax, homeworld of the Bloogs, in order to find Molly and prevent her from becoming supper. Though this is definitely a challenging game played normally, this Galaxy games features a unique bug that gives Keen the opportunity to finish levels in record time, completing all ten required levels in less than four minutes.

== Overview ==

In order to win the game, Keen must find (and collide with) Molly, triggering the end-game sequence. Molly is found in the Bloog Control Center, and there are a number of gateway levels and required items to be used on that map in order to reach that level. Specifically:

* The grappling hook and rope found in the First Dome of Darkness is used to cross a chasm
* The "Stupendous Sandwich of Chungella IV" found in Bloogfoods, Inc. is used to feed a giant creature that otherwise forbids passage
* The Bloogstar Rocket Passcard found in Bloogton Tower is used to ride a rocket

Including Bloog Control Center, there are ten levels in all. There is no known way to break the map itself to approach the end-game faster: therefore, the primary objective is to find ways to either complete levels as fast as possible, or reach the necessary item in the level as fast as possible. Thanks to the bullet collision bug in this game, however, Keen can exploit a number of other glitches that achieve this much faster than simply making his way through each level.

=== Categories ===

This game is run using version 1.0. This version allows for extra glitches and provides better performance for a number of wall-clips. If necessary, there are ways to downgrade a legit copy of the game from 1.4: you can find patches for that [http://dosclassics.com/keen/dl.php?id=of here].

The '''any%''' run is played on Easy difficulty. Due to the glitches used, fewer enemies and more shots per ammo pickup makes the run as fast as can be.

The '''glitchless%''' run is defined as using no unintended skips caused by various glitches. This includes all of the Impossible Bullet Trick variants, gem storage, death-exiting, and any map clipping errors. Currently, the run has been routed for Hard difficulty, which is marginally faster than Normal difficulty: Easy may be faster than either, but Hard showcases a lot of special movement and challenge that would be otherwise omitted.

== Glitches ==
[[File:Keen6 glitch bullet collision.gif|framed|right||Bullet Collision Glitch]]

This section addresses game-specific glitches only. For glitches spanning the entire Galaxy set of games, check the [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Glitches|Galaxy engine page]]. Similarly, are glitches specific to a level are addressed in the appropriate section.

=== Gem Storage ===

Any gems (colored keys) picked up but not used in a level are kept by Keen until they are either eventually used or Keen dies. This also includes collecting a gem and restarting the game (a very important point if you're attempting glitchless runs!!). Only one gem of each type can be stored in this way.

=== Bullet Collision Bug ===

Bullets are considered solid at the very top of their sprite: this includes both Keen's own bullets and laser bullets that emit from gun hazards. The cause of this is unknown, but may be related to the collision used in this game's switches or by the Gik enemy.

== Impossible Bullet Trick ==

In many ways, the Impossible Bullet Trick (hereafter referred to by its abbreviation, IBT) isn't a single glitch but, rather, a collection of glitches. It is also usable in a variety of ways, and therefore it warrants a separate section dedicated to explaining the practical applications in detail.

=== Setup ===

At its core, the IBT is typically a combination of two glitches:

* Bullet Collision Bug, found only in this game
* [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Platform Teleporting|Platform Teleporting]], occurring in any Galaxy game

To make use of this glitch, use the following procedure:

# Jump straight up in the air
# Shoot down about two-thirds to Keen's terminal velocity
# If #2's timing is correct, Keen will land on top of the bullet for a brief instant:
## For a vast majority of uses, the bullet will be timed such that it hits the ground just as Keen lands on the bullet. This produces the IBT most are familiar with, and is used with rocket jumps and stepladders.
## Rarely, the bullet will instead be jumped upon before it collides with terrain. This is the IBT setup required for double jumps.

Technically, this can also work while Keen is moving sideways, but the perceived timing (and correct line-up of where Keen needs to be) can make this more challenging to do.

The timing of the IBT is much easier to realize on Easy difficulty than on Normal or Hard, thanks to the former's lesser gravity, though it is important to note that it also takes longer to set it up for the reason. Optimization of IBTs requires that the player jump as low as possible, further increasing the challenge of timing.

=== Execution Types ===

There are three variants to IBT. Each has its own uses and all should be learned and understood.

{| class="wikitable"|style="margin: 1em;"
! Execution Type
! Graphical Description
|-
| The '''rocket jump''' is the most common usage of the IBT, and also the most spectacular to behold. After setting up on the ground, shoot up to perform the rocket jump: this teleports Keen to the bullet he just shot, traveling at a high speed upwards for as far as the bullet can go. This is the IBT used to exit levels quickly, in combination with other glitches. || [[File:Keen6_IBT_rocket_jump.gif|frameless|center|Rocket Jump IBT]]
|-
|The '''stepladder''' is a smaller trick but is useful as a setup for rocket jump IBTs. Set up on the ground next to a wall, then shoot at the wall: this causes a shot to fire and immediately explode, and the explosion lasts long enough to act as a platform that Keen is then teleported to. || [[File:Keen6_IBT_stepladder.gif|frameless|center|Stepladder IBT]]
|-
|The '''double jump''' is by far the most difficult IBT to perform, requiring a very different setup in its practical applications. While high in the air and timing the bullet, hold the jump button (with or without pogo, depending on what's needed) to have Keen jump on the bullet. For vertical distance this is useless, as the rocket jump is faster, but the double jump can allow Keen to traverse large horizontal gaps. The setup for a horizontally-moving double jump is as follows:

# Use an IPT to jump as high and as far as you can
# As Keen reaches the highest part of the jump, halt Keen's horizontal motion
# Shoot downwards with the same timing as before
# Prepare the pogo and/or hold jump
# Immediately as Keen begins to jump, begin moving Keen horizontally again
# If needed, repeat steps 2-5 until Keen arrives at his destination

As implied above, it is possible to chain double jumps together. This is never required in any of the speedruns and is exceedingly difficult to pull off anyway.
|| [[File:Keen6_IBT_double_jump.gif|frameless|center|Double Jump IBT]]
|}

=== Applications ===

The Impossible Bullet Trick, by itself, gives Keen the capacity to cross large vertical (and sometimes horizontal) distances far faster than normal. The most prominent example of this is the First Dome of Darkness, in which the grappling hook and rope are picked up without the use of activating an elevator. It is also necessary to skip most of the Bloogton Tower.

However, there are plenty of instances where simply moving fast is not enough. None of the Guard Post levels need to be crossed vertically, only horizontally, and often involving gem-door fetch quests. To break these levels, we look to the [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Clipping Through Walls|wall clip]] and [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Exiting Out of Bounds|out of bounds]] glitches. An example of the process is given below:

# Upon entering Guard Post One, hug the right edge of the map and perform a rocket jump IBT.
# As Keen is moving up with the bullet, hold down to place Keen in a crouching position.
# Once Keen reaches the top of the map, the bullet squishes Keen into the ceiling.
# Because Keen is moving way faster than he should be (in pixels per frame), the game mistakenly puts Keen's hitbox into the wall.
# Wall clipping forces Keen to move upwards and to the right until he reaches a non-empty space, which is out of bounds.
# Keen entering out of bounds of the level automatically ends the level.

Many applications of the IBT are performed in this way: using a rocket jump to collide with terrain, clipping through the terrain, and making Keen's way out of bounds. In some cases, the stepladder IBT works to properly set up for a rocket jump clip. All IBTs will be explained in sufficient detail whenever they are used.

Commander Keen: Marooned On Mars

2014-06-10T16:04:20Z

CapnClever: fixed link

Commander Keen Episode 1: Marooned On Mars (or simply Keen 1) was developed by iD Software and published by Apogee Software. It is the first in the "Invasions of the Vorticons" trilogy of games and was distributed as shareware. In this leading adventure, Keen finds himself stranded on the planet of Mars after the dog-like species of Vorticons steals vital component of his Bean-with-Bacon Megarocket. In order to leave, he must find the pieces that have been scattered across the alien world. Like other games from the [[Commander Keen: Vorticons|Vorticon series]], the any% is primarily execution and an excellent helping of luck, although one major glitch is used to save a fair bit of time.

== Overview ==

In order to win the game, Keen must find and collect the four necessary components stolen from his ship: a joystick, a car battery, a vacuum cleaner, and a bottle of Everclear. These are found in various levels across the overworld map, with each item found at the end of a level guarded by a Vorticon enemy. Other than leveling involving the items, there are two gateway levels required to reach them: thus there are six levels in total to complete. Primarily, as there are very few glitches capable of breaking the game, the speedrun focuses on playing as optimally as possible: taking the fewest jumps, using [[Commander Keen: Vorticons#Slide Shot|slide shots]] wherever possible, and relying on some luck to avoid the Vorticons without wasting time killing them.

=== Categories ===

Generally, this game is played using version 1.32 shareware. There are no known variations in gameplay due to version differences that would cause the game to play faster, and version 1.32 is the version available from Steam. All in all, it shouldn't matter which version is used, so long as it's noted in some way.

The '''any%''' run is the six levels only.

The '''100%''' run of this game is defined as having completed all levels, regardless of order, in addition to completing the game according to its intended objective. This includes completing the secret level, which is only known to be accessible through a secret exit from another level: note that finishing said level through its secret exit does NOT complete it, and has to be entered a second time.

Commander Keen: Marooned On Mars

2014-06-10T16:03:56Z

CapnClever: Created page with "Commander Keen Episode 1: Marooned On Mars (or simply Keen 1) was developed by iD Software and published by Apogee Software. It is the first in the "Invasions of the Vorticons..."

Commander Keen Episode 1: Marooned On Mars (or simply Keen 1) was developed by iD Software and published by Apogee Software. It is the first in the "Invasions of the Vorticons" trilogy of games and was distributed as shareware. In this leading adventure, Keen finds himself stranded on the planet of Mars after the dog-like species of Vorticons steals vital component of his Bean-with-Bacon Megarocket. In order to leave, he must find the pieces that have been scattered across the alien world. Like other games from the [[Commander Keen: Vorticons|Vorticon series]], the any% is primarily execution and an excellent helping of luck, although one major glitch is used to save a fair bit of time.

== Overview ==

In order to win the game, Keen must find and collect the four necessary components stolen from his ship: a joystick, a car battery, a vacuum cleaner, and a bottle of Everclear. These are found in various levels across the overworld map, with each item found at the end of a level guarded by a Vorticon enemy. Other than leveling involving the items, there are two gateway levels required to reach them: thus there are six levels in total to complete. Primarily, as there are very few glitches capable of breaking the game, the speedrun focuses on playing as optimally as possible: taking the fewest jumps, using [[Commander Keen: Vorticon#Slide Shot|slide shots]] wherever possible, and relying on some luck to avoid the Vorticons without wasting time killing them.

=== Categories ===

Generally, this game is played using version 1.32 shareware. There are no known variations in gameplay due to version differences that would cause the game to play faster, and version 1.32 is the version available from Steam. All in all, it shouldn't matter which version is used, so long as it's noted in some way.

The '''any%''' run is the six levels only.

The '''100%''' run of this game is defined as having completed all levels, regardless of order, in addition to completing the game according to its intended objective. This includes completing the secret level, which is only known to be accessible through a secret exit from another level: note that finishing said level through its secret exit does NOT complete it, and has to be entered a second time.

Commander Keen: Galaxy

2014-06-03T18:22:57Z

CapnClever: /* Glitches */ fixed link

This page discusses features found in Episodes 4-6 and Keen Dreams of the Commander Keen series. For game-specific routing, check the appropriate game page:

[[Commander Keen: Secret of the Oracle]]

[[Commander Keen: The Armageddon Machine]]

[[Commander Keen: Aliens Ate My Babysitter!]]

[[Commander Keen Dreams]]

== Game Control ==

If we compare to the Vorticon engine, the Galaxy engine is a large improvement in terms of control: more responsive, smoother, and not bogged down by limited commands (i.e., two-button firing). This means that maneuvers are a lot more flexible, especially when handling enemies. It does, however, mean that the speedrun is expected to perform far more optimally, and the current Keen runs are well-optimized. Some of the expected optimizations will be discussed in this topic, although they will be mentioned on a per-level basis as well.

=== Horizontal Movement ===

On the ground, Keen has no momentum: pressing left/right makes Keen move right instantaneously and at maximum horizontal speed, and switching direction incurs no time penalty.

In the air, Keen's momentum from the Vorticon engine returns: it takes time to build up to maximum speed and to switch directions. It is, however, not nearly as slow to do so, and so maneuvering in mid-air is quite doable (and sometimes necessary).

'''Slopes:''' There are two types of slopes, gradual and steep, and they affect the speed at which Keen walks. Specifically, Keen's speed changes by 1/6 on gradual slops and by 1/3 on steep slopes, either decreasing when walking up the slope or increasing when walking down the slope. Thus, Keen should always jump/pogo up slopes (thereby ignoring the speed change) and walk down slopes (taking full advantage of the faster movement).

=== Vertical Movement ===

Entering the air, whether through a jump or a pogo bounce, takes three frames. Generally this isn't of great importance, but it's a good rule of thumb to only jump when necessary.

'''Jumping:''' Keen's jump has no preparation time, and the height can be controlled for as long as roughly the first half (in time, not distance) of the ascent. The gradation of variability is very small, meaning you can time jumps almost to any pixel height: for normal jumps this isn't often an issue but it can be useful for jump shots (see "Firing").

'''Pogoing:''' Similar to the normal jump, except that Keen achieves a much greater height and has a significant fixed-height minimum. The pogo can be activated and deactivated at any time: activating on the ground automatically begins a pogo jump. As in the Vorticon engine, pogoing preserves horizontal momentum: unlike the Vorticon engine, continuous pogoing does not take extra time to start and therefore doesn't lose horizontal momentum at all, so if you need to jump somewhere you can gain a small amount of time pogoing the entire way there rather than jumping after landing.

Keen's hitbox is slightly shorter when pogoing, which can occasionally be taken advantage of during constrained jumps.

'''Impossible Pogo Trick (IPT):''' Pogoing then jumping from the ground, at about the same time, causes you to jump slightly higher than a full-height pogo jump normally would allow. This is an extremely important trick as the developers intentionally included quite a few shortcuts that are only possible with the IPT. There are two variations:
* A moving IPT is done while walking: the timing is loose enough that you can actually press both pogo and jump at the same time and still pull off the IPT.
* A standing IPT is done without any horizontal movement: the timing is far more precise, though it's used less often. (Based on the game help, this variant wasn't intended, which may explain why it's harder to do.)

'''Chaining Jumps:''' Since Keen's vertical momentum is very gradated, it's actually possible to land on a floor from below without "falling" onto that floor: in other words, spending zero extra time in the air. Jumping vertically from platform to platform is a very tricky maneuver and optimizing the height of these jumps is very important, as you'll be doing it often and the time adds up quickly. This is most noticeable (and used) on platforms you can jump through.

'''Grabbing Ledges:''' If Keen is next to but below a ledge in mid-air, pressing the direction towards the ledge will cause Keen to grab that ledge: pressing up or same direction will then cause Keen to climb up to the floor above, while pressing down or the opposite direction will cause Keen to fall instead. As with chaining jumps, there is a pixel-perfect height at which Keen will grab the ledge without extra air time, though this doesn't occur as often. Generally, however, grabbing ledges should be avoided whenever the ledge can be cleared entirely in order to reach the floor itself, since climbing the ledge takes time.

=== Firing ===

Keen can fire in any cardinal direction: left/right, up, and down (in the air only). Similar to the Vorticon engine, firing halts horizontal momentum, but it takes roughly a quarter of a second in the Galaxy engine so it is less significant. Furthermore, there's no mid-air firing stance, so you can keep moving in the air without losing any momentum.

'''Jump Shots:''' Ideally, you should always be in the air when firing. This leads to jumping from the ground in order to shoot, usually considered a "jump shot" since it's different from shooting while you happen to already be in the air. Making sure a jump shot works means the shot has to fire before you land: if you're beginning to fire but no shot occurs, you'll be stuck landing and entering firing stance, wasting time. Depending on the enemy's height, jump shots can be easy, hard, or impossible.

== Glitches ==

The most interesting glitches in the Galaxy games are actually game-specific, so check appropriate pages to learn more. The glitches detailed here apply across all games and all versions (or specific versions as noted).

=== Corner Boosting ===

Moving/landing onto the edge of a platform in a precise manner allows Keen to clip through a little bit of the platform, boosting his movement for an instant. Because of the precision involved this is typically unintentional but has practical applications in some specific cases.

=== Clipping Through Walls ===

Throughout the Galaxy games, there are instances of poorly-placed terrain and collision detection such that Keen can either move entirely or partially clip through supposedly-solid walls. Useful instances of such terrain will be explained on a per-map basis.

When clipping through solid walls, the Galaxy engine chooses to prioritize moving Keen up and to the right to find a non-solid space to occupy.

Another wall-clipping possibility has to do with Keen's sprite positioning. Depending on his animation state, Keen's collision box can be different: when applied from the looking-down state to the falling state, for instance, Keen's collision box will shift upwards. If Keen is pushed into a ceiling while looking down, he will enter his falling state but be stuck inside the wall, at which point clipping movement rules apply. This can be similarly done during the first frame of Keen's walking state.

=== Exiting Out of Bounds ===

Levels automatically include exit-level triggering just outside the viewable level boundaries on the left and right sides. In some levels this is an important feature as it's the intended way to leave the level. While not useful by itself, there are a few ways of glitching out of bounds that will thereby allow Keen to trigger the exit of a level prematurely. Note that exiting a level this way does not trigger anything else such as gaining items or rescuing people.

=== Wrong Door ===

Walking through a door places Keen at a particular coordinate, not to a particular door/object: the default coordinate is the upper-leftmost point on the map. Although most doors are assigned a new coordinate, there are a few doors in the Galaxy games that have no such assignment (perhaps due to not expecting Keen to be able to use those doors). Consequently, the upper-leftmost point on the map is always out of bounds, so Keen automatically finishes the level. This is only seen in Keen4 but can theoretically apply to other cases.

=== Death No-Clip ===

Also known as the "save/load glitch". When Keen is struck by an enemy, his "death" flag is set and, among other things, he ignores terrain collision while moving horizontally. By saving after Keen is struck but before the game's restart dialog is opened, then reloading the game from that point, Keen's death is reset but is otherwise unchanged: his horizontal, terrain-ignoring self can then be used to go out-of-bounds and (with the above glitch) exit the level.

Part of dying includes a sound effect: this sound effect is forced to end before exiting the menu (accessed when saving/loading). To minimum time spent in the menu, it should be accessed late into the sound effect so that no time is wasted waiting for the sound to end. As a rule of thumb, wait until Keen is lower than he was when he died before going to the menu.

=== Platform Teleporting ===

Whenever Keen is standing upon a platform (that is, the specific sprite type that acts like terrain), his state is tied to that platform. If, in the extremely rare case, the platform Keen is currently standing on disappears from the map, Keen will be instantly placed (or teleported) on the next available platform that occupies the same vertical position that the old platform used to be.

By itself, this has no apparent application in any of the games. However, this teleportation also appears to apply to Keen's bullets and enemy laser bullets, leading one to the conclusion that such bullets are considered platforms for the sake of this glitch. It is also the basis of the [[Commander Keen: Aliens Ate My Babysitter!#Impossible Bullet Trick|Impossible Bullet Trick]] in Keen6.

Commander Keen: Aliens Ate My Babysitter!

2014-06-03T18:21:06Z

CapnClever: better usage of GIFs

Commander Keen Episode 6: Aliens Ate My Babysitter! (or simply Keen 6) was developed by iD Software and published by FormGen. It is a stand-alone episode, having both a demo version containing a portion of levels and a paid version with all of them. Having bested the Shakadi in the "Goodbye, Galaxy!" games, Keen is stuck home one day when he learns that his babysitter, Molly McMire, has been kidnapped by the giant bird-like species of Bloogs: he travels to Fribbulus Xax, homeworld of the Bloogs, in order to find Molly and prevent her from becoming supper. Though this is definitely a challenging game played normally, this Galaxy games features a unique bug that gives Keen the opportunity to finish levels in record time, completing all ten required levels in less than four minutes.

== Overview ==

In order to win the game, Keen must find (and collide with) Molly, triggering the end-game sequence. Molly is found in the Bloog Control Center, and there are a number of gateway levels and required items to be used on that map in order to reach that level. Specifically:

* The grappling hook and rope found in the First Dome of Darkness is used to cross a chasm
* The "Stupendous Sandwich of Chungella IV" found in Bloogfoods, Inc. is used to feed a giant creature that otherwise forbids passage
* The Bloogstar Rocket Passcard found in Bloogton Tower is used to ride a rocket

Including Bloog Control Center, there are ten levels in all. There is no known way to break the map itself to approach the end-game faster: therefore, the primary objective is to find ways to either complete levels as fast as possible, or reach the necessary item in the level as fast as possible. Thanks to the bullet collision bug in this game, however, Keen can exploit a number of other glitches that achieve this much faster than simply making his way through each level.

=== Categories ===

This game is run using version 1.0. This version allows for extra glitches and provides better performance for a number of wall-clips. If necessary, there are ways to downgrade a legit copy of the game from 1.4: you can find patches for that [http://dosclassics.com/keen/dl.php?id=of here].

The '''any%''' run is played on Easy difficulty. Due to the glitches used, fewer enemies and more shots per ammo pickup makes the run as fast as can be.

The '''glitchless%''' run is defined as using no unintended skips caused by various glitches. This includes all of the Impossible Bullet Trick variants, gem storage, death-exiting, and any map clipping errors. Currently, the run has been routed for Hard difficulty, which is marginally faster than Normal difficulty: Easy may be faster than either, but Hard showcases a lot of special movement and challenge that would be otherwise omitted.

== Glitches ==
[[File:Keen6 glitch bullet collision.gif|framed|right||Bullet Collision Glitch]]

This section addresses game-specific glitches only. For glitches spanning the entire Galaxy set of games, check the [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Glitches|Galaxy engine page]]. Similarly, are glitches specific to a level are addressed in the appropriate section.

=== Gem Storage ===

Any gems (colored keys) picked up but not used in a level are kept by Keen until they are either eventually used or Keen dies. This also includes collecting a gem and restarting the game (a very important point if you're attempting glitchless runs!!). Only one gem of each type can be stored in this way.

=== Bullet Collision Bug ===

Bullets are considered solid at the very top of their sprite: this includes both Keen's own bullets and laser bullets that emit from gun hazards. The cause of this is unknown, but may be related to the collision used in this game's switches or by the Gik enemy.

== Impossible Bullet Trick ==

In many ways, the Impossible Bullet Trick (hereafter referred to by its abbreviation, IBT) isn't a single glitch but, rather, a collection of glitches. It is also usable in a variety of ways, and therefore it warrants a separate section dedicated to explaining the practical applications in detail.

=== Setup ===

At its core, the IBT is typically a combination of two glitches:

* Bullet Collision Bug, found only in this game
* [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Platform Teleporting|Platform Teleporting]], occurring in any Galaxy game

To make use of this glitch, use the following procedure:

# Jump straight up in the air
# Shoot down about two-thirds to Keen's terminal velocity
# If #2's timing is correct, Keen will land on top of the bullet for a brief instant:
## For a vast majority of uses, the bullet will be timed such that it hits the ground just as Keen lands on the bullet. This produces the IBT most are familiar with, and is used with rocket jumps and stepladders.
## Rarely, the bullet will instead be jumped upon before it collides with terrain. This is the IBT setup required for double jumps.

Technically, this can also work while Keen is moving sideways, but the perceived timing (and correct line-up of where Keen needs to be) can make this more challenging to do.

The timing of the IBT is much easier to realize on Easy difficulty than on Normal or Hard, thanks to the former's lesser gravity, though it is important to note that it also takes longer to set it up for the reason. Optimization of IBTs requires that the player jump as low as possible, further increasing the challenge of timing.

=== Execution Types ===

There are three variants to IBT. Each has its own uses and all should be learned and understood.

{| class="wikitable"|style="background: none;"
| The '''rocket jump''' is the most common usage of the IBT, and also the most spectacular to behold. After setting up on the ground, shoot up to perform the rocket jump: this teleports Keen to the bullet he just shot, traveling at a high speed upwards for as far as the bullet can go. This is the IBT used to exit levels quickly, in combination with other glitches. || [[File:Keen6_IBT_rocket_jump.gif|frameless|center|Rocket Jump IBT]]
|-
|The '''stepladder''' is a smaller trick but is useful as a setup for rocket jump IBTs. Set up on the ground next to a wall, then shoot at the wall: this causes a shot to fire and immediately explode, and the explosion lasts long enough to act as a platform that Keen is then teleported to. || [[File:Keen6_IBT_stepladder.gif|frameless|center|Stepladder IBT]]
|-
|The '''double jump''' is by far the most difficult IBT to perform, requiring a very different setup in its practical applications. While high in the air and timing the bullet, hold the jump button (with or without pogo, depending on what's needed) to have Keen jump on the bullet. For vertical distance this is useless, as the rocket jump is faster, but the double jump can allow Keen to traverse large horizontal gaps. The setup for a horizontally-moving double jump is as follows:

# Use an IPT to jump as high and as far as you can
# As Keen reaches the highest part of the jump, halt Keen's horizontal motion
# Shoot downwards with the same timing as before
# Prepare the pogo and/or hold jump
# Immediately as Keen begins to jump, begin moving Keen horizontally again
# If needed, repeat steps 2-5 until Keen arrives at his destination

As implied above, it is possible to chain double jumps together. This is never required in any of the speedruns and is exceedingly difficult to pull off anyway.
|| [[File:Keen6_IBT_double_jump.gif|frameless|center|Double Jump IBT]]
|}

=== Applications ===

The Impossible Pogo Trick, by itself, gives Keen the capacity to cross large vertical (and sometimes horizontal) distances far faster than normal. The most prominent example of this is the First Dome of Darkness, in which the grappling hook and rope are picked up without the use of activating an elevator. It is also necessary to skip most of the Bloogton Tower.

However, there are plenty of instances where simply moving fast is not enough. None of the Guard Post levels need to be crossed vertically, only horizontally, and often involving gem-door fetch quests. To break these levels, we look to the [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Clipping Through Walls|wall clip]] and [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Exiting Out of Bounds|out of bounds]] glitches. An example of the process is given below:

# Upon entering Guard Post One, hug the right edge of the map and perform a rocket jump IBT.
# As Keen is moving up with the bullet, hold down to place Keen in a crouching position.
# Once Keen reaches the top of the map, the bullet squishes Keen into the ceiling.
# Because Keen is moving faster way faster than he should be (in pixels per frame), the game mistakenly puts Keen's hitbox up and into the wall.
# Wall clipping forces Keen to move upwards and to the right until he reaches a non-empty space, which is out of bounds.
# Keen entering out of bounds of the level automatically ends the level.

Many applications of the IBT are performed in this way: using a rocket jump to collide with terrain, clipping through the terrain, and making Keen's way out of bounds. In some cases, the stepladder IBT works to properly set up for a rocket jump clip. All IBTs will be explained in sufficient detail whenever they are used.

Commander Keen: Aliens Ate My Babysitter!

2014-06-01T04:53:59Z

CapnClever: added some useful GIFs for Impossible Bullet Trick stuff bullet collision glitch

Commander Keen Episode 6: Aliens Ate My Babysitter! (or simply Keen 6) was developed by iD Software and published by FormGen. It is a stand-alone episode, having both a demo version containing a portion of levels and a paid version with all of them. Having bested the Shakadi in the "Goodbye, Galaxy!" games, Keen is stuck home one day when he learns that his babysitter, Molly McMire, has been kidnapped by the giant bird-like species of Bloogs: he travels to Fribbulus Xax, homeworld of the Bloogs, in order to find Molly and prevent her from becoming supper. Though this is definitely a challenging game played normally, this Galaxy games features a unique bug that gives Keen the opportunity to finish levels in record time, completing all ten required levels in less than four minutes.

== Overview ==

In order to win the game, Keen must find (and collide with) Molly, triggering the end-game sequence. Molly is found in the Bloog Control Center, and there are a number of gateway levels and required items to be used on that map in order to reach that level. Specifically:

* The grappling hook and rope found in the First Dome of Darkness is used to cross a chasm
* The "Stupendous Sandwich of Chungella IV" found in Bloogfoods, Inc. is used to feed a giant creature that otherwise forbids passage
* The Bloogstar Rocket Passcard found in Bloogton Tower is used to ride a rocket

Including Bloog Control Center, there are ten levels in all. There is no known way to break the map itself to approach the end-game faster: therefore, the primary objective is to find ways to either complete levels as fast as possible, or reach the necessary item in the level as fast as possible. Thanks to the bullet collision bug in this game, however, Keen can exploit a number of other glitches that achieve this much faster than simply making his way through each level.

=== Categories ===

This game is run using version 1.0. This version allows for extra glitches and provides better performance for a number of wall-clips. If necessary, there are ways to downgrade a legit copy of the game from 1.4: you can find patches for that [http://dosclassics.com/keen/dl.php?id=of here].

The '''any%''' run is played on Easy difficulty. Due to the glitches used, fewer enemies and more shots per ammo pickup makes the run as fast as can be.

The '''glitchless%''' run is defined as using no unintended skips caused by various glitches. This includes all of the Impossible Bullet Trick variants, gem storage, death-exiting, and any map clipping errors. Currently, the run has been routed for Hard difficulty, which is marginally faster than Normal difficulty: Easy may be faster than either, but Hard showcases a lot of special movement and challenge that would be otherwise omitted.

== Glitches ==
[[File:Keen6_glitch_bullet_collision.gif|framed|right|Bullet Collision Glitch]]

This section addresses game-specific glitches only. For glitches spanning the entire Galaxy set of games, check the [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Glitches|Galaxy engine page]]. Similarly, are glitches specific to a level are addressed in the appropriate section.

=== Gem Storage ===

Any gems (colored keys) picked up but not used in a level are kept by Keen until they are either eventually used or Keen dies. This also includes collecting a gem and restarting the game (a very important point if you're attempting glitchless runs!!). Only one gem of each type can be stored in this way.

=== Bullet Collision Bug ===

Bullets are considered solid at the very top of their sprite: this includes both Keen's own bullets and laser bullets that emit from gun hazards. The cause of this is unknown, but may be related to the collision used in this game's switches or by the Gik enemy.

== Impossible Bullet Trick ==

In many ways, the Impossible Bullet Trick (hereafter referred to by its abbreviation, IBT) isn't a single glitch but, rather, a collection of glitches. It is also usable in a variety of ways, and therefore it warrants a separate section dedicated to explaining the practical applications in detail.

=== Setup ===
[[File:Keen6_IBT_rocket_jump.gif|framed|right|Rocket Jump IBT]] [[File:Keen6_IBT_stepladder.gif|framed|right|Stepladder IBT]] [[File:Keen6_IBT_double_jump.gif|framed|right|Double Jump IBT]]

At its core, the IBT is typically a combination of two glitches:

* Bullet Collision Bug, found only in this game
* [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Platform Teleporting|Platform Teleporting]], occurring in any Galaxy game

To make use of this glitch, use the following procedure:

# Jump straight up in the air
# Shoot down about two-thirds to Keen's terminal velocity
# If #2's timing is correct, Keen will land on top of the bullet for a brief instant:
## For a vast majority of uses, the bullet will be timed such that it hits the ground just as Keen lands on the bullet. This produces the IBT most are familiar with, and is used with rocket jumps and stepladders.
## Rarely, the bullet will instead be jumped upon before it collides with terrain. This is the IBT setup required for double jumps.

Technically, this can also work while Keen is moving sideways, but the perceived timing (and correct line-up of where Keen needs to be) can make this more challenging to do.

The timing of the IBT is much easier to realize on Easy difficulty than on Normal or Hard, thanks to the former's lesser gravity, though it is important to note that it also takes longer to set it up for the reason. Optimization of IBTs requires that the player jump as low as possible, further increasing the challenge of timing.

=== Execution Types ===

There are three variants to IBT. Each has its own uses and all should be learned and understood.

The '''rocket jump''' is the most common usage of the IBT, and also the most spectacular to behold. After setting up on the ground, shoot up to perform the rocket jump: this teleports Keen to the bullet he just shot, traveling at a high speed upwards for as far as the bullet can go. This is the IBT used to exit levels quickly, in combination with other glitches.

The '''stepladder''' is a smaller trick but is useful as a setup for rocket jump IBTs. Set up on the ground next to a wall, then shoot at the wall: this causes a shot to fire and immediately explode, and the explosion lasts long enough to act as a platform that Keen is then teleported to.

The '''double jump''' is by far the most difficult IBT to perform, requiring a very different setup in its practical applications. While high in the air and timing the bullet, hold the jump button (with or without pogo, depending on what's needed) to have Keen jump on the bullet. For vertical distance this is useless, as the rocket jump is faster, but the double jump can allow Keen to traverse large horizontal gaps. The setup for a horizontally-moving double jump is as follows:

# Use an IPT to jump as high and as far as you can
# As Keen reaches the highest part of the jump, halt Keen's horizontal motion
# Shoot downwards with the same timing as before
# Prepare the pogo and/or hold jump
# Immediately as Keen begins to jump, begin moving Keen horizontally again
# If needed, repeat steps 2-5 until Keen arrives at his destination

As implied above, it is possible to chain double jumps together. This is never required in any of the speedruns and is exceedingly difficult to pull off anyway.

=== Applications ===

The Impossible Pogo Trick, by itself, gives Keen the capacity to cross large vertical (and sometimes horizontal) distances far faster than normal. The most prominent example of this is the First Dome of Darkness, in which the grappling hook and rope are picked up without the use of activating an elevator. It is also necessary to skip most of the Bloogton Tower.

However, there are plenty of instances where simply moving fast is not enough. None of the Guard Post levels need to be crossed vertically, only horizontally, and often involving gem-door fetch quests. To break these levels, we look to the [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Clipping Through Walls|wall clip]] and [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Exiting Out of Bounds|out of bounds]] glitches. An example of the process is given below:

# Upon entering Guard Post One, hug the right edge of the map and perform a rocket jump IBT.
# As Keen is moving up with the bullet, hold down to place Keen in a crouching position.
# Once Keen reaches the top of the map, the bullet squishes Keen into the ceiling.
# Because Keen is moving faster way faster than he should be (in pixels per frame), the game mistakenly puts Keen's hitbox up and into the wall.
# Wall clipping forces Keen to move upwards and to the right until he reaches a non-empty space, which is out of bounds.
# Keen entering out of bounds of the level automatically ends the level.

Many applications of the IBT are performed in this way: using a rocket jump to collide with terrain, clipping through the terrain, and making Keen's way out of bounds. In some cases, the stepladder IBT works to properly set up for a rocket jump clip. All IBTs will be explained in sufficient detail whenever they are used.

File:Keen6 IBT double jump.gif

2014-06-01T04:47:10Z

CapnClever: Visual description of the "double jump" variant of the Impossible Bullet Trick, found in "Commander Keen 6: Aliens Ate My BabySitter!".

Visual description of the "double jump" variant of the Impossible Bullet Trick, found in "Commander Keen 6: Aliens Ate My BabySitter!".

File:Keen6 IBT stepladder.gif

2014-06-01T04:44:39Z

CapnClever: Visual description of the "stepladder" variant of the Impossible Bullet Trick, found in "Commander Keen 6: Aliens Ate My BabySitter!".

Visual description of the "stepladder" variant of the Impossible Bullet Trick, found in "Commander Keen 6: Aliens Ate My BabySitter!".

File:Keen6 IBT rocket jump.gif

2014-06-01T04:42:10Z

CapnClever: Visual description of the "rocket jump" variant of the Impossible Bullet Trick, found in "Commander Keen 6: Aliens Ate My BabySitter!".

Visual description of the "rocket jump" variant of the Impossible Bullet Trick, found in "Commander Keen 6: Aliens Ate My BabySitter!".

File:Keen6 glitch bullet collision.gif

2014-06-01T04:39:57Z

CapnClever: Visual description of the "bullet collision glitch" found in "Commander Keen 6: Aliens Ate My BabySitter!".

Visual description of the "bullet collision glitch" found in "Commander Keen 6: Aliens Ate My BabySitter!".

Commander Keen (series)

2014-05-30T22:26:29Z

CapnClever: fixed link to PCKF

[[Category:Games]]
[[Category:PC]]
This page discusses the Commander Keen series as a whole. Topics specifically related to a particular engine or a particular game should be addressed in the appropriate page (see "The Series" below).

== The Series ==

Commander Keen games include:

* [[Commander Keen: Vorticons|Episodes 1-3]], also known as the "Invasion of the Vorticons" trilogy (or "Vorticons" for short)
** Episode 1 is [[Commander Keen: Marooned On Mars]]: speedrun time is just under 4:00.
** Episode 2 is [[Commander Keen: The Earth Explodes]]: speedrun time is about 7:00, although as low as 6:20 is achievable with the current route.
** Episode 3 is [[Commander Keen: Keen Must Die!]]: speedrun time is just under 2:00.
* [[Commander Keen: Galaxy|Episodes 4-6]], including the "Goodbye, Galaxy!" pair and "Aliens Ate My Babysitter!" (collectively called the "Galaxy" games)
** Episode 4 is [[Commander Keen: Secret of the Oracle]]: speedrun time is about 10:30, although 10:20 is doable with the current route.
** Episode 5 is [[Commander Keen: The Armageddon Machine]]: speedrun time is about 2:30, with 2:10 being ideal with the current route.
** Episode 6 is [[Commander Keen: Aliens Ate My Babysitter!]]: speedrun time is around 4:00, with 3:35 considered a flawless time with the current route.
* [[Commander Keen Dreams]], sometimes known as Keen 3.5: speedrun time is under 5:00, with 4:45 being reasonably optimized.

== Recording Setup ==

Games in the Commander Keen series should be speedrun using DOSBox. Technically you could record the output of a DOS-based PC: however, DOSBox is well-supported emulator (verified to play Keen games virtually the same as on a DOS-era computer) and comes with built-in, lossless recording<ref name="DOSBox recording" />. It's recommended that you use the latest version, as this will likely provide the greatest compatibility.



== Major Game Features ==

There are two major game engines used in the Keen series. The first is used in Keens 1-3: this is dubbed as the "Vorticon engine". The second is used in Keens 4-6: this is dubbed as the "Galaxy engine". Keen Dreams is technically an incomplete Galaxy engine, so there are a couple differences that matter, but for the most part it controls the same.

Although there are differences between Keen engines, a number of features exist throughout all games and learning their subtleties is incredibly important to speedrunning each game.

=== Blaster ===

Keen's typical method of disabling enemies (and very rarely anything else) is to shoot them with his blaster weapon (or, in the case of Keen Dreams, throw Flower Power). Depending on the enemy, it will require one or multiple shots to permanently defeat them, temporarily stun them, or be completely useless.

Using the blaster always requires an amount of time to fire, which can affect the timing of other actions. In general, it is better to fire while in the air, as this allows Keen to continue moving while he shoots. Learning how to shoot in such a way as to avoid dying from enemies while still maintaining movement through a level is critical to getting good times in these games.

=== Pogo ===

With the exception of Keen 1 (which only matters in the first level) and Keen Dreams, Keen is able to equip a pogo stick throughout each game. The pogo has the following properties:

* Jumping while on the pogo increases jump height.
* Moving while on the pogo preserves momentum. Whereas Keen normally accelerates when the left/right buttons are pressed and stops when released, Keen will instead continue in the same direction without extra input. It's simple enough to get used to, but switching to and from pogo can cause strange changes in speed so it's important to be deliberate with pogo movements.
* Pogoing and jumping in quick succession results in the "Impossible Pogo Trick" (or IPT for short). Whereas in the original trilogy this was basically just a way to use a full-height pogo jump from the ground, in the Galaxy games this actually provides a slight boost, allowing you access to many areas faster or at all. While the IPT exists in every game that contains the pogo, it is executed differently depending on the engine, so further details will be given on the appropriate pages.

=== Overworld Map ===

Each Keen game contains a relatively non-linear overworld from which the game levels are accessed. Movement on these maps is handled with a supremum metric: that is, diagonal movement is the sum of horizontal and vertical movement. Although this makes mapping the fastest route from one level to the next rather simple, there's often bad collision detection on the map (usually in later games) that can trip up the player: knowing where these are is important so that you're not losing time in an otherwise-trivial part of the game.

Actions can be buffered to and from the map. In general, you'll always want to buffer directional movement in both cases, and occasionally additional buttons (which will be explained on a per-level basis). Note that in Keens 1-3 you can only buffer one command: pressing two buttons at the same time is the same as pressing nothing.

== Additional Resources ==

[http://www.dosbox.com DOSBox] In case you don't already have it!

[http://www.pckf.com Public Commander Keen Forum] This forum contains an active community of players of the Commander Keen games.

[http://www.shikadi.net/keenwiki/Main_Page KeenWiki] This is the Commander Keen wiki, and is the inspirational source for much of the information found here.

== Notes ==
<references>
<ref name="DOSBox recording">Video is encoded using ZMBV, a format specifically designed to handle low-color output. See [http://www.dosbox.com/wiki/Recording_Video Recording Video - DOSBoxWiki] for details regarding recording and playback.</ref>

</references>

Commander Keen: Aliens Ate My Babysitter!

2014-05-30T22:23:30Z

CapnClever: Created page with "Commander Keen Episode 6: Aliens Ate My Babysitter! (or simply Keen 6) was developed by iD Software and published by FormGen. It is a stand-alone episode, having both a demo v..."

Commander Keen Episode 6: Aliens Ate My Babysitter! (or simply Keen 6) was developed by iD Software and published by FormGen. It is a stand-alone episode, having both a demo version containing a portion of levels and a paid version with all of them. Having bested the Shakadi in the "Goodbye, Galaxy!" games, Keen is stuck home one day when he learns that his babysitter, Molly McMire, has been kidnapped by the giant bird-like species of Bloogs: he travels to Fribbulus Xax, homeworld of the Bloogs, in order to find Molly and prevent her from becoming supper. Though this is definitely a challenging game played normally, this Galaxy games features a unique bug that gives Keen the opportunity to finish levels in record time, completing all ten required levels in less than four minutes.

== Overview ==

In order to win the game, Keen must find (and collide with) Molly, triggering the end-game sequence. Molly is found in the Bloog Control Center, and there are a number of gateway levels and required items to be used on that map in order to reach that level. Specifically:

* The grappling hook and rope found in the First Dome of Darkness is used to cross a chasm
* The "Stupendous Sandwich of Chungella IV" found in Bloogfoods, Inc. is used to feed a giant creature that otherwise forbids passage
* The Bloogstar Rocket Passcard found in Bloogton Tower is used to ride a rocket

Including Bloog Control Center, there are ten levels in all. There is no known way to break the map itself to approach the end-game faster: therefore, the primary objective is to find ways to either complete levels as fast as possible, or reach the necessary item in the level as fast as possible. Thanks to the bullet collision bug in this game, however, Keen can exploit a number of other glitches that achieve this much faster than simply making his way through each level.

=== Categories ===

This game is run using version 1.0. This version allows for extra glitches and provides better performance for a number of wall-clips. If necessary, there are ways to downgrade a legit copy of the game from 1.4: you can find patches for that [http://dosclassics.com/keen/dl.php?id=of here].

The '''any%''' run is played on Easy difficulty. Due to the glitches used, fewer enemies and more shots per ammo pickup makes the run as fast as can be.

The '''glitchless%''' run is defined as using no unintended skips caused by various glitches. This includes all of the Impossible Bullet Trick variants, gem storage, death-exiting, and any map clipping errors. Currently, the run has been routed for Hard difficulty, which is marginally faster than Normal difficulty: Easy may be faster than either, but Hard showcases a lot of special movement and challenge that would be otherwise omitted.

== Glitches ==

This section addresses game-specific glitches only. For glitches spanning the entire Galaxy set of games, check the [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Glitches|Galaxy engine page]]. Similarly, are glitches specific to a level are addressed in the appropriate section.

=== Gem Storage ===

Any gems (colored keys) picked up but not used in a level are kept by Keen until they are either eventually used or Keen dies. This also includes collecting a gem and restarting the game (a very important point if you're attempting glitchless runs!!). Only one gem of each type can be stored in this way.

=== Bullet Collision Bug ===

Bullets are considered solid at the very top of their sprite: this includes both Keen's own bullets and laser bullets that emit from gun hazards. The cause of this is unknown, but may be related to the collision used in this game's switches or by the Gik enemy.

== Impossible Bullet Trick ==

In many ways, the Impossible Bullet Trick (hereafter referred to by its abbreviation, IBT) isn't a single glitch but, rather, a collection of glitches. It is also usable in a variety of ways, and therefore it warrants a separate section dedicated to explaining the practical applications in detail.

=== Setup ===

At its core, the IBT is typically a combination of two glitches:

* Bullet Collision Bug, found only in this game
* [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Platform Teleporting|Platform Teleporting]], occurring in any Galaxy game

To make use of this glitch, use the following procedure:

# Jump straight up in the air
# Shoot down about two-thirds to Keen's terminal velocity
# If #2's timing is correct, Keen will land on top of the bullet for a brief instant:
## For a vast majority of uses, the bullet will be timed such that it hits the ground just as Keen lands on the bullet. This produces the IBT most are familiar with, and is used with rocket jumps and stepladders.
## Rarely, the bullet will instead be jumped upon before it collides with terrain. This is the IBT setup required for double jumps.

Technically, this can also work while Keen is moving sideways, but the perceived timing (and correct line-up of where Keen needs to be) can make this more challenging to do.

The timing of the IBT is much easier to realize on Easy difficulty than on Normal or Hard, thanks to the former's lesser gravity, though it is important to note that it also takes longer to set it up for the reason. Optimization of IBTs requires that the player jump as low as possible, further increasing the challenge of timing.

=== Execution Types ===

There are three variants to IBT. Each has its own uses and all should be learned and understood.

The '''rocket jump''' is the most common usage of the IBT, and also the most spectacular to behold. After setting up on the ground, shoot up to perform the rocket jump: this teleports Keen to the bullet he just shot, traveling at a high speed upwards for as far as the bullet can go. This is the IBT used to exit levels quickly, in combination with other glitches.

The '''stepladder''' is a smaller trick but is useful as a setup for rocket jump IBTs. Set up on the ground next to a wall, then shoot at the wall: this causes a shot to fire and immediately explode, and the explosion lasts long enough to act as a platform that Keen is then teleported to.

The '''double jump''' is by far the most difficult IBT to perform, requiring a very different setup in its practical applications. While high in the air and timing the bullet, hold the jump button (with or without pogo, depending on what's needed) to have Keen jump on the bullet. For vertical distance this is useless, as the rocket jump is faster, but the double jump can allow Keen to traverse large horizontal gaps. The setup for a horizontally-moving double jump is as follows:

# Use an IPT to jump as high and as far as you can
# As Keen reaches the highest part of the jump, halt Keen's horizontal motion
# Shoot downwards with the same timing as before
# Prepare the pogo and/or hold jump
# Immediately as Keen begins to jump, begin moving Keen horizontally again
# If needed, repeat steps 2-5 until Keen arrives at his destination

As implied above, it is possible to chain double jumps together. This is never required in any of the speedruns and is exceedingly difficult to pull off anyway.

=== Applications ===

The Impossible Pogo Trick, by itself, gives Keen the capacity to cross large vertical (and sometimes horizontal) distances far faster than normal. The most prominent example of this is the First Dome of Darkness, in which the grappling hook and rope are picked up without the use of activating an elevator. It is also necessary to skip most of the Bloogton Tower.

However, there are plenty of instances where simply moving fast is not enough. None of the Guard Post levels need to be crossed vertically, only horizontally, and often involving gem-door fetch quests. To break these levels, we look to the [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Clipping Through Walls|wall clip]] and [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Exiting Out of Bounds|out of bounds]] glitches. An example of the process is given below:

# Upon entering Guard Post One, hug the right edge of the map and perform a rocket jump IBT.
# As Keen is moving up with the bullet, hold down to place Keen in a crouching position.
# Once Keen reaches the top of the map, the bullet squishes Keen into the ceiling.
# Because Keen is moving faster way faster than he should be (in pixels per frame), the game mistakenly puts Keen's hitbox up and into the wall.
# Wall clipping forces Keen to move upwards and to the right until he reaches a non-empty space, which is out of bounds.
# Keen entering out of bounds of the level automatically ends the level.

Many applications of the IBT are performed in this way: using a rocket jump to collide with terrain, clipping through the terrain, and making Keen's way out of bounds. In some cases, the stepladder IBT works to properly set up for a rocket jump clip. All IBTs will be explained in sufficient detail whenever they are used.

Commander Keen: Galaxy

2014-05-30T19:49:46Z

CapnClever: /* Platform Teleporting */ fixed explanation/link a bit

This page discusses features found in Episodes 4-6 and Keen Dreams of the Commander Keen series. For game-specific routing, check the appropriate game page:

[[Commander Keen: Secret of the Oracle]]

[[Commander Keen: The Armageddon Machine]]

[[Commander Keen: Aliens Ate My Babysitter!]]

[[Commander Keen Dreams]]

== Game Control ==

If we compare to the Vorticon engine, the Galaxy engine is a large improvement in terms of control: more responsive, smoother, and not bogged down by limited commands (i.e., two-button firing). This means that maneuvers are a lot more flexible, especially when handling enemies. It does, however, mean that the speedrun is expected to perform far more optimally, and the current Keen runs are well-optimized. Some of the expected optimizations will be discussed in this topic, although they will be mentioned on a per-level basis as well.

=== Horizontal Movement ===

On the ground, Keen has no momentum: pressing left/right makes Keen move right instantaneously and at maximum horizontal speed, and switching direction incurs no time penalty.

In the air, Keen's momentum from the Vorticon engine returns: it takes time to build up to maximum speed and to switch directions. It is, however, not nearly as slow to do so, and so maneuvering in mid-air is quite doable (and sometimes necessary).

'''Slopes:''' There are two types of slopes, gradual and steep, and they affect the speed at which Keen walks. Specifically, Keen's speed changes by 1/6 on gradual slops and by 1/3 on steep slopes, either decreasing when walking up the slope or increasing when walking down the slope. Thus, Keen should always jump/pogo up slopes (thereby ignoring the speed change) and walk down slopes (taking full advantage of the faster movement).

=== Vertical Movement ===

Entering the air, whether through a jump or a pogo bounce, takes three frames. Generally this isn't of great importance, but it's a good rule of thumb to only jump when necessary.

'''Jumping:''' Keen's jump has no preparation time, and the height can be controlled for as long as roughly the first half (in time, not distance) of the ascent. The gradation of variability is very small, meaning you can time jumps almost to any pixel height: for normal jumps this isn't often an issue but it can be useful for jump shots (see "Firing").

'''Pogoing:''' Similar to the normal jump, except that Keen achieves a much greater height and has a significant fixed-height minimum. The pogo can be activated and deactivated at any time: activating on the ground automatically begins a pogo jump. As in the Vorticon engine, pogoing preserves horizontal momentum: unlike the Vorticon engine, continuous pogoing does not take extra time to start and therefore doesn't lose horizontal momentum at all, so if you need to jump somewhere you can gain a small amount of time pogoing the entire way there rather than jumping after landing.

Keen's hitbox is slightly shorter when pogoing, which can occasionally be taken advantage of during constrained jumps.

'''Impossible Pogo Trick (IPT):''' Pogoing then jumping from the ground, at about the same time, causes you to jump slightly higher than a full-height pogo jump normally would allow. This is an extremely important trick as the developers intentionally included quite a few shortcuts that are only possible with the IPT. There are two variations:
* A moving IPT is done while walking: the timing is loose enough that you can actually press both pogo and jump at the same time and still pull off the IPT.
* A standing IPT is done without any horizontal movement: the timing is far more precise, though it's used less often. (Based on the game help, this variant wasn't intended, which may explain why it's harder to do.)

'''Chaining Jumps:''' Since Keen's vertical momentum is very gradated, it's actually possible to land on a floor from below without "falling" onto that floor: in other words, spending zero extra time in the air. Jumping vertically from platform to platform is a very tricky maneuver and optimizing the height of these jumps is very important, as you'll be doing it often and the time adds up quickly. This is most noticeable (and used) on platforms you can jump through.

'''Grabbing Ledges:''' If Keen is next to but below a ledge in mid-air, pressing the direction towards the ledge will cause Keen to grab that ledge: pressing up or same direction will then cause Keen to climb up to the floor above, while pressing down or the opposite direction will cause Keen to fall instead. As with chaining jumps, there is a pixel-perfect height at which Keen will grab the ledge without extra air time, though this doesn't occur as often. Generally, however, grabbing ledges should be avoided whenever the ledge can be cleared entirely in order to reach the floor itself, since climbing the ledge takes time.

=== Firing ===

Keen can fire in any cardinal direction: left/right, up, and down (in the air only). Similar to the Vorticon engine, firing halts horizontal momentum, but it takes roughly a quarter of a second in the Galaxy engine so it is less significant. Furthermore, there's no mid-air firing stance, so you can keep moving in the air without losing any momentum.

'''Jump Shots:''' Ideally, you should always be in the air when firing. This leads to jumping from the ground in order to shoot, usually considered a "jump shot" since it's different from shooting while you happen to already be in the air. Making sure a jump shot works means the shot has to fire before you land: if you're beginning to fire but no shot occurs, you'll be stuck landing and entering firing stance, wasting time. Depending on the enemy's height, jump shots can be easy, hard, or impossible.

== Glitches ==

The most interesting glitches in the Galaxy games are actually game-specific, so check appropriate pages to learn more. The glitches detailed here apply across all games and all versions (or specific versions as noted).

=== Corner Boosting ===

Moving/landing onto the edge of a platform in a precise manner allows Keen to clip through a little bit of the platform, boosting his movement for an instant. Because of the precision involved this is typically unintentional but has practical applications in some specific cases.

=== Clipping Through Walls ===

Throughout the Galaxy games, there are instances of poorly-placed terrain and collision detection such that Keen can either move entirely or partially clip through supposedly-solid walls. Useful instances of such terrain will be explained on a per-map basis.

When clipping through solid walls, the Galaxy engine chooses to prioritize moving Keen up and to the right to find a non-solid space to occupy.

Another wall-clipping possibility has to do with Keen's sprite positioning. Depending on his animation state, Keen's collision box can be different: when applied from the looking-down state to the falling state, for instance, Keen's collision box will shift upwards. If Keen is pushed into a ceiling while looking down, he will enter his falling state but be stuck inside the wall, at which point clipping movement rules apply. This can be similarly done during the first frame of Keen's walking state.

=== Exiting Out of Bounds ===

Levels automatically include exit-level triggering just outside the viewable level boundaries on the left and right sides. In some levels this is an important feature as it's the intended way to leave the level. While not useful by itself, there are a few ways of glitching out of bounds that will thereby allow Keen to trigger the exit of a level prematurely. Note that exiting a level this way does not trigger anything else such as gaining items or rescuing people.

=== Wrong Door ===

Walking through a door places Keen at a particular coordinate, not to a particular door/object: the default coordinate is the upper-leftmost point on the map. Although most doors are assigned a new coordinate, there are a few doors in the Galaxy games that have no such assignment (perhaps due to not expecting Keen to be able to use those doors). Consequently, the upper-leftmost point on the map is always out of bounds, so Keen automatically finishes the level. This is only seen in Keen4 but can theoretically apply to other cases.

=== Death No-Clip ===

Also known as the "save/load glitch". When Keen is struck by an enemy, his "death" flag is set and, among other things, he ignores terrain collision while moving horizontally. By saving after Keen is struck but before the game's restart dialog is opened, then reloading the game from that point, Keen's death is reset but is otherwise unchanged: his horizontal, terrain-ignoring self can then be used to go out-of-bounds and (with the above glitch) exit the level.

Part of dying includes a sound effect: this sound effect is forced to end before exiting the menu (accessed when saving/loading). To minimum time spent in the menu, it should be accessed late into the sound effect so that no time is wasted waiting for the sound to end. As a rule of thumb, wait until Keen is lower than he was when he died before going to the menu.

=== Platform Teleporting ===

Whenever Keen is standing upon a platform (that is, the specific sprite type that acts like terrain), his state is tied to that platform. If, in the extremely rare case, the platform Keen is currently standing on disappears from the map, Keen will be instantly placed (or teleported) on the next available platform that occupies the same vertical position that the old platform used to be.

By itself, this has no apparent application in any of the games. However, this teleportation also appears to apply to Keen's bullets and enemy laser bullets, leading one to the conclusion that such bullets are considered platforms for the sake of this glitch. It is also the basis of the [[Commander Keen 6: Aliens Ate My Babysitter#Impossible Bullet Trick|Impossible Bullet Trick]] in Keen6.

Commander Keen: Vorticons

2014-05-29T20:12:21Z

CapnClever: /* Glitches */ added "Door Clip", fixed introduction

This page discusses features found in the first three games of the Commander Keen series, also known as the "Invasion of the Vorticons" trilogy. For game-specific routing, check the appropriate game page:

[[Commander Keen: Marooned On Mars]]

[[Commander Keen: The Earth Explodes]]

[[Commander Keen: Keen Must Die!]]

== Game Control ==

The Vorticon engine, in general, has almost paradoxical controlling: on one hand, the movement often feels loose as a result of Keen's momentum; on the other, timing of shots and jumps require a great deal of precision and often rigidly lock Keen into certain positions. Combined, it's the worst of both worlds, and until control is learned you'll feel like the game switches between zero physics and ice physics (not to mention this engine has some of its own ice physics).

For reference, this game is 35FPS for the purposes of input-timing. Processing is done at 70FPS, which can have minor effects on rendering, but doesn't change anything that the player would care about.

=== Horizontal Movement ===

Left and right movement is similar to that of Super Mario Bros 3 (whose own engine was the inspiration for what would become this game): it takes time to build up to maximum speed and it takes time to slow down. Thus you can't immediately change from going left to going right: lining up where you want to be also has to factor in at what speed you want to be when lined up.

Jumping and pogoing briefly pause Keen's horizontal movement, so only do these when it's necessary: excess jumps add up over time.

While pogoing, Keen has less control over his horizontal movement. It's preferable to stop pogoing if you need to adjust a jump in mid-air.

'''Speed Oscillation:''' Every three frames, if Keen is moving left or right, he will move one additional pixel in that direction. For the most part, this is a bad thing, because it means that any closely-timed maneuvers (jumps, pogos) have slightly different timing depending on which frame you do them. Because the oscillation is too fast to keep track in real-time, there's no way to match a "correct" timing, so everything has to be as precise as possible at all times to ensure you're doing what has to be done. Fortunately, most jumps in this game aren't incredibly precise, so there's a little room for error. As such, IPT won't often be stated by name, instead explaining to "pogo from the ground" since it amounts to the same thing in the Vorticon engine.

=== Vertical Movement ===

'''Jumping:''' Keen spends a period of time "preparing" to jump. It's in this period of time that you can vary how high Keen jumps, differing from no movement at all to a full-height jump (a bit more than three tiles high). Jump preparation always takes the same amount of time, so the important factor is determining how high (or how far) you want your jump to be.

'''Pogoing:''' Once Keen equips his pogo stick, he's capable of jumping twice as high, just above six tiles of height, with a minimum height of about two tiles. If on the ground, he'll spend the same preparation time to pogo-jump; if in the air, he'll wait to fall before preparing for the next jump.

It's possible to begin a pogo jump after having completely walked off of a floor. Preparations of pogo-jumps actually preserve horizontal momentum for a very short period, and this can be used to move farther off the edge of a floor than would be possible with only jumping.

'''Impossible Pogo Trick (IPT):''' This is simply performing a full-height pogo jump from standing or walking position. The reason it's considered "impossible" is because of two-button firing (see "Blaster") and therefore requires precise timing. In short:
* Press ALT to begin pogo
* Immediately release ALT
* Press and hold CTRL to increase height
If step two weren't there, you'd end up pogoing and then shoot instead. It's not hard to do consistently once learned, and is very important for a number of confined maneuvers. In fact, you should be using the IPT for almost any jump that requires more height/distance than a normal jump, since there's no reason to be continuously pogoing in this game. (Side-note: this isn't considered a glitch because it was apparently intended by the developers, who gave this trick its name.)

=== Firing ===

In order to shoot, the Vorticon engine uses what is called "two-button firing": both the jump and pogo buttons must be held down at the same time. Note that this does not mean the pressing has to be simultaneous! (It can be and this is ideal but hard to do every time.) You can, alternatively, hold down the jump button and tap the pogo button and you will shoot as soon as the latter is pressed. When shooting, Keen enters a firing "stance" and regular movement can only resume when both buttons are no longer held down. Similarly, this means you must release both at some point: in the previous example of holding down jump and tapping pogo, Keen will only leave the firing stance once the jump button is released.

Having to deal with two-button firing is a huge pain. Under normal (read: casual) conditions you can usually get away with shooting from a standing or possibly a falling position, but for the sake of speedrunning it's imperative to shoot during a jump, usually a pogo-jump. Worse, since shooting has a special stance, it also removes your pogo if you happened to be pogoing at the time. This incurs the following kinds of maneuvers:
* Shooting just before landing followed by an IPT
* Shooting at the apex of a jump combined with horizontal adjustments
* Shooting while avoiding enemies
As a rule of thumb, remembering to use the jump button before pogo when firing is a better process, since pogo can toggle at any point in mid-air but pressing jump during a jump affects nothing. There's also cases where inputs just don't seem to get through, and the aforementioned handling combined with a bad input often equals death. It's frustrating, but enough practice will get it to become consistent.

== Enemies ==

Let's start with two simple rules about enemies:
# Enemies are completely random.
# Enemies cannot be manipulated.
Enemy randomness is only slightly limited in that they can't interrupt themselves mid-action: if an enemy jumps, they can't turn around and/or shoot. Otherwise, they are always capable of performing any action, and there is no fixed-wait time between actions. Furthermore, there are only two ways to affect the RNG that all enemies are attached to: boot time of the computer and, go figure, enemies taking actions. Although the TAS manipulates enemy movements, this is simply not practical to do in a real-time speedrun.

Thus, a large portion of execution and, unfortunately, luck in the Vorticon engine (though it applies to Galaxy as well) is related to avoiding or defeating enemies in the way while losing as little time as you can doing so. If nothing else, this gives the player a lot of variability in runs and doesn't often lose too much time, although some unlucky patterns will simply lead to death no matter the setup. There's also a matter of enemy-specific routing that attempts to compromise time loss and chance to succeed. Much of Keen is about controlling Keen himself, but the rest is all about dealing with the randomness of enemies.

There are some general actions that most enemies can do. They will be listed and described here, although game-specific pages will point out which actions each enemy from that game is capable of. (The Galaxy engine is a lot more versatile in enemy capabilities so enemy actions are left to their game-specific pages only.)

=== Jumping ===

Lots of enemies jump. The most significant enemy type, Vorticons, has a variable-height jump with no preparation time: other enemy types use a single-height jump, again no preparation. If you have the space to do so, you'll usually jump over these enemies in such a way that there is little or no chance for them to collide with you.

=== Scanning ===

Some enemies will stop in place and "think" (not by any physical appearance but that's basically what they're doing). After scanning, the enemy will begin moving towards you, regardless of if they can see you or if you're even at the same height as them. Vorticons usually scan after jumping.

=== Attacking ===

Attacks are almost always in a ranged form: blaster shots, sound waves, fire balls, et cetera. There's always some preparation time before the shot goes off, though in some cases it's not nearly enough to properly react to the blast itself. Ranged attacks are occasionally indiscriminate to who they're hitting, so can be used to your advantage (albeit by luck).

== Glitches ==

Aside from the control tricks mentioned above, there are some unintended bugs that can make speedruns of these games faster, whether it be a second or a minute. Each of these glitches can technically apply to any games using the Vorticon engine, though their actual applications may be more limited.

=== Slide Shot ===

Due to the firing stance, shooting is the same as not moving, so any horizontal momentum is slowed during a shot (halted if you're on the ground). To compensate, we have the slide shot: simply, shoot while moving horizontally and barely before hitting the ground, and you'll preserve horizontal momentum while in the firing stance. This tends to save half a second, otherwise lost from either jumping over the enemy you meant to shoot or shooting him from the ground (and wasting momentum).

=== Air Jump ===

This is a frame-specific, pixel-specific technique that allows Keen to jump immediately after falling off a ledge: when executed properly, he will jump slightly under the ledge in mid-air. Because of the extra speed oscillation (see "Horizontal Movement"), the frame precision reduces the odds of performing this jump to chance, with a 2/3s chance with one timing and a 1/3s chance with another. This is only used in Keen2 but, because it saves about ~40s otherwise used to complete the level normally, is worth the chance.

If you're wondering about the precision of the air jump, you must do the following (can be performed on any floor that has a ledge):
* Stand on the very last pixel before you'd fall from the floor. In terms of alignment, Keen's shoe outline should match the edge of the floor.
* Hold down left/right (whatever direction is away from the floor).
** For normal frames, press jump three frames after the left/right button.
** For speedy frames, press jump two frames after the left/right button.
Technically you don't have to line up with pixel ahead of time, and it's likely that the timing is different in these cases (albeit still off by a frame for speedy oscillations), but it's a lot easier to get into the right spot by stopping before performing the air jump.

=== Clipping ===

There are a couple different clips possible in the Vorticon engine.

'''Ceiling Pogo Clip:''' Jumping into a ceiling, then activating the pogo just before touching it, messes with Keen's collision and allows him to jump right through the ceiling tile. Since it only works on the first tile, it can only be used to clip in cases where there's only one tile between two rooms stacked on top of each other.

'''Level Border Clip:''' It's possible to maneuver Keen along the very edge of the level border. Because of this, Keen can stand "on top" of a level, then jump from tile to tile, with very precise jumping into the border.

'''Door Clip:''' Doors are unique in the Vorticon engine in that they appear to forcibly clip Keen backwards if Keen does not have the appropriate key to open them. Consequently, if Keen is given enough momentum to clip into the door, rather than on its border, he's clipped up and to the right of the door instead of backwards. This can apply in situations where something can push Keen horizontally towards the door, thereby boosting them far enough so that clipping occurs. Known "horizontal boosters" include platforms from Keen3 and Scrubs from Keen2.

Commander Keen: Galaxy

2014-05-11T05:24:22Z

CapnClever: /* Glitches */ added "wrong door" glitch

This page discusses features found in Episodes 4-6 and Keen Dreams of the Commander Keen series. For game-specific routing, check the appropriate game page:

[[Commander Keen: Secret of the Oracle]]

[[Commander Keen: The Armageddon Machine]]

[[Commander Keen: Aliens Ate My Babysitter!]]

[[Commander Keen Dreams]]

== Game Control ==

If we compare to the Vorticon engine, the Galaxy engine is a large improvement in terms of control: more responsive, smoother, and not bogged down by limited commands (i.e., two-button firing). This means that maneuvers are a lot more flexible, especially when handling enemies. It does, however, mean that the speedrun is expected to perform far more optimally, and the current Keen runs are well-optimized. Some of the expected optimizations will be discussed in this topic, although they will be mentioned on a per-level basis as well.

=== Horizontal Movement ===

On the ground, Keen has no momentum: pressing left/right makes Keen move right instantaneously and at maximum horizontal speed, and switching direction incurs no time penalty.

In the air, Keen's momentum from the Vorticon engine returns: it takes time to build up to maximum speed and to switch directions. It is, however, not nearly as slow to do so, and so maneuvering in mid-air is quite doable (and sometimes necessary).

'''Slopes:''' There are two types of slopes, gradual and steep, and they affect the speed at which Keen walks. Specifically, Keen's speed changes by 1/6 on gradual slops and by 1/3 on steep slopes, either decreasing when walking up the slope or increasing when walking down the slope. Thus, Keen should always jump/pogo up slopes (thereby ignoring the speed change) and walk down slopes (taking full advantage of the faster movement).

=== Vertical Movement ===

Entering the air, whether through a jump or a pogo bounce, takes three frames. Generally this isn't of great importance, but it's a good rule of thumb to only jump when necessary.

'''Jumping:''' Keen's jump has no preparation time, and the height can be controlled for as long as roughly the first half (in time, not distance) of the ascent. The gradation of variability is very small, meaning you can time jumps almost to any pixel height: for normal jumps this isn't often an issue but it can be useful for jump shots (see "Firing").

'''Pogoing:''' Similar to the normal jump, except that Keen achieves a much greater height and has a significant fixed-height minimum. The pogo can be activated and deactivated at any time: activating on the ground automatically begins a pogo jump. As in the Vorticon engine, pogoing preserves horizontal momentum: unlike the Vorticon engine, continuous pogoing does not take extra time to start and therefore doesn't lose horizontal momentum at all, so if you need to jump somewhere you can gain a small amount of time pogoing the entire way there rather than jumping after landing.

Keen's hitbox is slightly shorter when pogoing, which can occasionally be taken advantage of during constrained jumps.

'''Impossible Pogo Trick (IPT):''' Pogoing then jumping from the ground, at about the same time, causes you to jump slightly higher than a full-height pogo jump normally would allow. This is an extremely important trick as the developers intentionally included quite a few shortcuts that are only possible with the IPT. There are two variations:
* A moving IPT is done while walking: the timing is loose enough that you can actually press both pogo and jump at the same time and still pull off the IPT.
* A standing IPT is done without any horizontal movement: the timing is far more precise, though it's used less often. (Based on the game help, this variant wasn't intended, which may explain why it's harder to do.)

'''Chaining Jumps:''' Since Keen's vertical momentum is very gradated, it's actually possible to land on a floor from below without "falling" onto that floor: in other words, spending zero extra time in the air. Jumping vertically from platform to platform is a very tricky maneuver and optimizing the height of these jumps is very important, as you'll be doing it often and the time adds up quickly. This is most noticeable (and used) on platforms you can jump through.

'''Grabbing Ledges:''' If Keen is next to but below a ledge in mid-air, pressing the direction towards the ledge will cause Keen to grab that ledge: pressing up or same direction will then cause Keen to climb up to the floor above, while pressing down or the opposite direction will cause Keen to fall instead. As with chaining jumps, there is a pixel-perfect height at which Keen will grab the ledge without extra air time, though this doesn't occur as often. Generally, however, grabbing ledges should be avoided whenever the ledge can be cleared entirely in order to reach the floor itself, since climbing the ledge takes time.

=== Firing ===

Keen can fire in any cardinal direction: left/right, up, and down (in the air only). Similar to the Vorticon engine, firing halts horizontal momentum, but it takes roughly a quarter of a second in the Galaxy engine so it is less significant. Furthermore, there's no mid-air firing stance, so you can keep moving in the air without losing any momentum.

'''Jump Shots:''' Ideally, you should always be in the air when firing. This leads to jumping from the ground in order to shoot, usually considered a "jump shot" since it's different from shooting while you happen to already be in the air. Making sure a jump shot works means the shot has to fire before you land: if you're beginning to fire but no shot occurs, you'll be stuck landing and entering firing stance, wasting time. Depending on the enemy's height, jump shots can be easy, hard, or impossible.

== Glitches ==

The most interesting glitches in the Galaxy games are actually game-specific, so check appropriate pages to learn more. The glitches detailed here apply across all games and all versions (or specific versions as noted).

=== Corner Boosting ===

Moving/landing onto the edge of a platform in a precise manner allows Keen to clip through a little bit of the platform, boosting his movement for an instant. Because of the precision involved this is typically unintentional but has practical applications in some specific cases.

=== Clipping Through Walls ===

Throughout the Galaxy games, there are instances of poorly-placed terrain and collision detection such that Keen can either move entirely or partially clip through supposedly-solid walls. Useful instances of such terrain will be explained on a per-map basis.

When clipping through solid walls, the Galaxy engine chooses to prioritize moving Keen up and to the right to find a non-solid space to occupy.

Another wall-clipping possibility has to do with Keen's sprite positioning. Depending on his animation state, Keen's collision box can be different: when applied from the looking-down state to the falling state, for instance, Keen's collision box will shift upwards. If Keen is pushed into a ceiling while looking down, he will enter his falling state but be stuck inside the wall, at which point clipping movement rules apply. This can be similarly done during the first frame of Keen's walking state.

=== Exiting Out of Bounds ===

Levels automatically include exit-level triggering just outside the viewable level boundaries on the left and right sides. In some levels this is an important feature as it's the intended way to leave the level. While not useful by itself, there are a few ways of glitching out of bounds that will thereby allow Keen to trigger the exit of a level prematurely. Note that exiting a level this way does not trigger anything else such as gaining items or rescuing people.

=== Wrong Door ===

Walking through a door places Keen at a particular coordinate, not to a particular door/object: the default coordinate is the upper-leftmost point on the map. Although most doors are assigned a new coordinate, there are a few doors in the Galaxy games that have no such assignment (perhaps due to not expecting Keen to be able to use those doors). Consequently, the upper-leftmost point on the map is always out of bounds, so Keen automatically finishes the level. This is only seen in Keen4 but can theoretically apply to other cases.

=== Death No-Clip ===

Also known as the "save/load glitch". When Keen is struck by an enemy, his "death" flag is set and, among other things, he ignores terrain collision while moving horizontally. By saving after Keen is struck but before the game's restart dialog is opened, then reloading the game from that point, Keen's death is reset but is otherwise unchanged: his horizontal, terrain-ignoring self can then be used to go out-of-bounds and (with the above glitch) exit the level.

Part of dying includes a sound effect: this sound effect is forced to end before exiting the menu (accessed when saving/loading). To minimum time spent in the menu, it should be accessed late into the sound effect so that no time is wasted waiting for the sound to end. As a rule of thumb, wait until Keen is lower than he was when he died before going to the menu.

=== Platform Teleporting ===

Whenever Keen is standing upon a platform (that is, the specific sprite type that acts like terrain), his state is tied to that platform. If, in the extremely rare case, the platform Keen is currently standing on disappears from the map, Keen will be instantly placed (or teleported) on the next available platform that occupies the same vertical position that the old platform used to be.

By itself, this has no apparent application in any of the games. However, this teleportation also appears to apply to Keen's bullets and enemy laser bullets, leading one to the conclusion that such bullets are considered platforms for the sake of this glitch. Making use of this curious observation, alongside the [[Commander Keen: Aliens Ate My Babysitter!#Impossible Bullet Trick|bullet collision property in Keen6]], produces a very handy glitching of the game. Additionally, by combining this possibility with OOB exits and wall-clipping, many levels can be exited extremely early.

Commander Keen: The Armageddon Machine

2014-05-07T21:35:20Z

CapnClever: /* Overview */ fixed link

Commander Keen Episode 5: The Armageddon Machine (or simply Keen 5) was developed by iD Software and published by Apogee Software. It is the last of two episodes in the "Goodbye, Galaxy!" series of games (the other being [[Commander Keen: Secret of the Oracle|Keen 4]]) and was the non-shareware (i.e., had to be purchased) of the two. After the events of previous episode, Keen makes his way towards the Omegamatic, a massive weapon orbiting Korath III, and searches for a way to destroy it before it destroys the entire Galaxy. In spite of the many challenging levels standing between Keen and his ultimate objective, the any% run breaks the game completely, allowing Keen to access the final level within a minute.

== Overview ==

In order to win the game, Keen must destroy the Quantum Explosion Dynamo (or QED), the Omegamatic's engine found in the QED's titular level. Other than that, the player can do anything they need in order to achieve that goal. For a casual player, this involves:

* Clearing two gateway levels to reach the main hub
* Clearing another four gateway levels, each guarding a "machine level"
* Completing the four machine levels by breaking the machine inside, thereby allowing access to the upper elevator
* Clearing a final gateway level
* Completing the QED by breaking its namesake (game ends)

This is twelve levels in total, and very few are less than a minute long. However, thanks to a very handy glitch, the player can skip from the first level to the secret level, whose exit leads to the final two levels of the game. The secret level itself as a secret exit that completes the level far faster than normal, as well. Finally, the gateway level preceding QED can be completed incredibly fast thanks to the [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Death No-Clip|death-exit glitch]]. Only the QED itself must be completed in whole and, as such, it is the primary factor in a good speedrun.

=== Categories ===

Generally, this game is played using version 1.4: it is the version that comes with the Steam package (currently the only distribution available) and is by far the most widely-used copy. In addition, the wrong warp in the any% run can only be performed in version 1.4, making its usage there mandatory. If other categories benefit from other versions, they may be allowed if the contribution is significant enough.

The '''any%''' run is played on Normal difficulty. This is because the secret level's secret exit cannot be destroyed on Easy difficulty, which would at least double the run's time to complete. Hard difficulty would only make the run more luck-reliant, as well, so the fastest option is to play on Normal.

The '''glitchless%''' run is defined as using no unintended skips caused by various glitches. This includes the wrong warp and death-exit glitches. Potentially, this run can be separated further into Easy, Normal, and Hard difficulties, as the primary action found in the run involves deftly handling enemy randomness: harder runs may take longer but are more impressive in terms of their technical display. Currently, runs of this category are played on Normal as a balance between speed and RNG challenge.

== Glitches ==

This section addresses game-specific glitches only. For glitches spanning the entire Galaxy set of games, check the [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Glitches|Galaxy engine page]]. Similarly, are glitches specific to a level are addressed in the appropriate section.

=== Wrong Warp ===

Also known as the "Shelley door trick" or "secret warp". When Keen accesses the teleporter that leads him to the secret level on the map, he is given a special flag to change how he enters the teleporter (which would otherwise be entered as a normal door). Curiously, this flag is also set when Keen is being pushed by enemies under certain conditions.

There are a few different places where this glitch can be performed: all that's required is an enemy that flags Keen appropriately and a door to enter. While the exact requirements of the flag are unknown, it definitely works in the following cases:

* Entering a door while a Shelley is pushing you (e.g., in Brownian Motion Inducor at the top doors on Hard)
* Entering a door after being pushed off of a pole by a Little Ampton (note that you cannot re-grab a pole as this apparently resets the flag)

The latter case can be done as early as the first level, using the Little Amptons on the bottom half of the map to flag Keen then pogoing your way to the top. This particular instance is the basis of the any% run, allowing the player to wrong warp to the secret level in the first fifteen seconds of the run.

Commander Keen: Secret of the Oracle

2014-05-07T21:33:56Z

CapnClever: /* Overview */ fixed link

Commander Keen Episode 4: Secret of the Oracle (or simply Keen 4) was developed by iD Software and published primarily by Apogee Software. It is the first of two episodes in the "Goodbye, Galaxy!" series of games (the other being [[Commander Keen: The Armageddon Machine|Keen 5]]) and was distributed as shareware. It follows Keen through an adventure to the planet Gnosticus IV, where he must rescue the High Council of the Oracle within the treacherous depths of the Shadowlands. It is the longest any% run in the entire Commander Keen series, with very few glitches to save time and a supreme reliance on execution, anticipation, and a little luck. It is also one of the most contested records in the series, with the best time switching between several runners over the course of a couple years.

== Overview ==

In order to win the game, Keen must find and rescue all eight members of the High Council (hereafter known as "Oracles" as is the slang of these characters) scattered throughout the game, which makes for eight individual levels. Besides this, three additional levels are required to access levels occupied by Oracles. This makes for a total of eleven levels.

For the most part, each of the eleven levels must be completed in full. While there are means to [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Exiting Out of Bounds|exiting levels early]], gatherable components (such as the swimming gear and the Oracles themselves) will not be flagged as acquired unless directly touched. Note also that such items in this game cannot be touched using the [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Death No-Clip|death-exit glitch]], either (though even if it could there are very few instances in which it would be useful in the run). Thus, a great deal of the run has been focused on optimizing the route through each level and executing said optimizations as flawlessly as possible.

=== Categories ===

Generally, this game is played using version 1.0 shareware. Version 1.0 has a slightly different ledge-climbing end state that provides a better setup for certain jumps, and shareware is the most widely available distribution of the game. Although this is often what runners of the game use, if another version is proven to be faster it may be considered acceptable (if the time difference is significant enough).

The '''any%''' run is played on Normal difficulty: this is needed in order to add an enemy in one level to finish it using the death-exit glitch about twenty seconds faster. Playing on Easy difficulty adds no shortcuts to the run, while Hard only makes the game more luck-reliant, so Normal is considered the fastest difficulty from which to approach the game.

The '''100%''' run of this game is defined as having completed all levels, regardless of order, in addition to completing the game according to its intended objective. This includes completing the secret level, which is only known to be accessible through a secret exit from another level (finishing said level through its secret exit completes it).

== Glitches ==

This section addresses game-specific glitches only. For glitches spanning the entire Galaxy set of games, check the [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Glitches|Galaxy engine page]]. Similarly, are glitches specific to a level are addressed in the appropriate section.

=== Exit Sound Override ===

When entering and exiting levels, a brief jingle is played: interestingly, it is considered a sound effect by the game, rather than a music track. Furthermore, there are a limited number of sound effects that can be played concurrently, such that if some sound effects are currently playing, other sound effects will ignored until the first has finished. The combinatory consequence of these engine quirks is that you can override the exit sound with another in order to exit the level slightly faster. (This cannot be done with the entrance sound because there are no sound effects producible from the map that would properly cause this override.)

The most commonly sound effect used to override the exit level jingle is the sound played when pressing the Enter key to access the score/inventory menu. To perform this override using this menu:

# Get very close to the exit (within a Keen width)
# Open and immediately close the menu
# Exit the level

If executed properly, Keen will exit the level without the jingle. (Alternatively you could pogo into the exit, so you don't have to worry about movement after you close the menu.) As the menu takes time to open and close, this isn't a large time-saver, but it will save as much as half of a second per use. Other known sounds that override the jingle are the 1UP sound and the item-get sound (such as the one from the swimsuit, although it does not actually work for the swimsuit since time is stopped when played there).

=== Faster Bouncing ===

Reloading the game while bouncing creatures (Bounders, Mad Mushrooms) are on the screen will occasionally cause their bouncing oscillation to speed up. Similarly, reloading when this bouncing is faster may restore their oscillation to normal speeds.

There is no known use for this glitch in speedrunning.

=== Bounder Leap ===

Most enemies have a very specific momentum when jumping or bouncing and tend to ignore the normal considerations of gravity when doing so. However, when Keen defeats such an enemy in mid-jump, their momentum acts under normal gravity, allowing for the possibility of their corpse to experience an especially high (or long) flight. In the case of the Bounder, on whom Keen can stand, it is possible to use this extra-high jump to reach places otherwise unreachable.

There is no known use for this glitch in speedrunning.

Commander Keen: Galaxy

2014-05-07T21:33:09Z

CapnClever: added/fixed some glitches

This page discusses features found in Episodes 4-6 and Keen Dreams of the Commander Keen series. For game-specific routing, check the appropriate game page:

[[Commander Keen: Secret of the Oracle]]

[[Commander Keen: The Armageddon Machine]]

[[Commander Keen: Aliens Ate My Babysitter!]]

[[Commander Keen Dreams]]

== Game Control ==

If we compare to the Vorticon engine, the Galaxy engine is a large improvement in terms of control: more responsive, smoother, and not bogged down by limited commands (i.e., two-button firing). This means that maneuvers are a lot more flexible, especially when handling enemies. It does, however, mean that the speedrun is expected to perform far more optimally, and the current Keen runs are well-optimized. Some of the expected optimizations will be discussed in this topic, although they will be mentioned on a per-level basis as well.

=== Horizontal Movement ===

On the ground, Keen has no momentum: pressing left/right makes Keen move right instantaneously and at maximum horizontal speed, and switching direction incurs no time penalty.

In the air, Keen's momentum from the Vorticon engine returns: it takes time to build up to maximum speed and to switch directions. It is, however, not nearly as slow to do so, and so maneuvering in mid-air is quite doable (and sometimes necessary).

'''Slopes:''' There are two types of slopes, gradual and steep, and they affect the speed at which Keen walks. Specifically, Keen's speed changes by 1/6 on gradual slops and by 1/3 on steep slopes, either decreasing when walking up the slope or increasing when walking down the slope. Thus, Keen should always jump/pogo up slopes (thereby ignoring the speed change) and walk down slopes (taking full advantage of the faster movement).

=== Vertical Movement ===

Entering the air, whether through a jump or a pogo bounce, takes three frames. Generally this isn't of great importance, but it's a good rule of thumb to only jump when necessary.

'''Jumping:''' Keen's jump has no preparation time, and the height can be controlled for as long as roughly the first half (in time, not distance) of the ascent. The gradation of variability is very small, meaning you can time jumps almost to any pixel height: for normal jumps this isn't often an issue but it can be useful for jump shots (see "Firing").

'''Pogoing:''' Similar to the normal jump, except that Keen achieves a much greater height and has a significant fixed-height minimum. The pogo can be activated and deactivated at any time: activating on the ground automatically begins a pogo jump. As in the Vorticon engine, pogoing preserves horizontal momentum: unlike the Vorticon engine, continuous pogoing does not take extra time to start and therefore doesn't lose horizontal momentum at all, so if you need to jump somewhere you can gain a small amount of time pogoing the entire way there rather than jumping after landing.

Keen's hitbox is slightly shorter when pogoing, which can occasionally be taken advantage of during constrained jumps.

'''Impossible Pogo Trick (IPT):''' Pogoing then jumping from the ground, at about the same time, causes you to jump slightly higher than a full-height pogo jump normally would allow. This is an extremely important trick as the developers intentionally included quite a few shortcuts that are only possible with the IPT. There are two variations:
* A moving IPT is done while walking: the timing is loose enough that you can actually press both pogo and jump at the same time and still pull off the IPT.
* A standing IPT is done without any horizontal movement: the timing is far more precise, though it's used less often. (Based on the game help, this variant wasn't intended, which may explain why it's harder to do.)

'''Chaining Jumps:''' Since Keen's vertical momentum is very gradated, it's actually possible to land on a floor from below without "falling" onto that floor: in other words, spending zero extra time in the air. Jumping vertically from platform to platform is a very tricky maneuver and optimizing the height of these jumps is very important, as you'll be doing it often and the time adds up quickly. This is most noticeable (and used) on platforms you can jump through.

'''Grabbing Ledges:''' If Keen is next to but below a ledge in mid-air, pressing the direction towards the ledge will cause Keen to grab that ledge: pressing up or same direction will then cause Keen to climb up to the floor above, while pressing down or the opposite direction will cause Keen to fall instead. As with chaining jumps, there is a pixel-perfect height at which Keen will grab the ledge without extra air time, though this doesn't occur as often. Generally, however, grabbing ledges should be avoided whenever the ledge can be cleared entirely in order to reach the floor itself, since climbing the ledge takes time.

=== Firing ===

Keen can fire in any cardinal direction: left/right, up, and down (in the air only). Similar to the Vorticon engine, firing halts horizontal momentum, but it takes roughly a quarter of a second in the Galaxy engine so it is less significant. Furthermore, there's no mid-air firing stance, so you can keep moving in the air without losing any momentum.

'''Jump Shots:''' Ideally, you should always be in the air when firing. This leads to jumping from the ground in order to shoot, usually considered a "jump shot" since it's different from shooting while you happen to already be in the air. Making sure a jump shot works means the shot has to fire before you land: if you're beginning to fire but no shot occurs, you'll be stuck landing and entering firing stance, wasting time. Depending on the enemy's height, jump shots can be easy, hard, or impossible.

== Glitches ==

The most interesting glitches in the Galaxy games are actually game-specific, so check appropriate pages to learn more. The glitches detailed here apply across all games and all versions.

=== Corner Boosting ===

Moving/landing onto the edge of a platform in a precise manner allows Keen to clip through a little bit of the platform, boosting his movement for an instant. Because of the precision involved this is typically unintentional but has practical applications in some specific cases.

=== Clipping Through Walls ===

Throughout the Galaxy games, there are instances of poorly-placed terrain and collision detection such that Keen can either move entirely or partially clip through supposedly-solid walls. Useful instances of such terrain will be explained on a per-map basis.

When clipping through solid walls, the Galaxy engine chooses to prioritize moving Keen up and to the right to find a non-solid space to occupy.

Another wall-clipping possibility has to do with Keen's sprite positioning. Depending on his animation state, Keen's collision box can be different: when applied from the looking-down state to the falling state, for instance, Keen's collision box will shift upwards. If Keen is pushed into a ceiling while looking down, he will enter his falling state but be stuck inside the wall, at which point clipping movement rules apply. This can be similarly done during the first frame of Keen's walking state.

=== Exiting Out of Bounds ===

Levels automatically include exit-level triggering just outside the viewable level boundaries on the left and right sides. In some levels this is an important feature as it's the intended way to leave the level. While not useful by itself, there are a few ways of glitching out of bounds that will thereby allow Keen to trigger the exit of a level prematurely. Note that exiting a level this way does not trigger anything else such as gaining items or rescuing people.

=== Death No-Clip ===

Also known as the "save/load glitch". When Keen is struck by an enemy, his "death" flag is set and, among other things, he ignores terrain collision while moving horizontally. By saving after Keen is struck but before the game's restart dialog is opened, then reloading the game from that point, Keen's death is reset but is otherwise unchanged: his horizontal, terrain-ignoring self can then be used to go out-of-bounds and (with the above glitch) exit the level.

Part of dying includes a sound effect: this sound effect is forced to end before exiting the menu (accessed when saving/loading). To minimum time spent in the menu, it should be accessed late into the sound effect so that no time is wasted waiting for the sound to end. As a rule of thumb, wait until Keen is lower than he was when he died before going to the menu.

=== Platform Teleporting ===

Whenever Keen is standing upon a platform (that is, the specific sprite type that acts like terrain), his state is tied to that platform. If, in the extremely rare case, the platform Keen is currently standing on disappears from the map, Keen will be instantly placed (or teleported) on the next available platform that occupies the same vertical position that the old platform used to be.

By itself, this has no apparent application in any of the games. However, this teleportation also appears to apply to Keen's bullets and enemy laser bullets, leading one to the conclusion that such bullets are considered platforms for the sake of this glitch. Making use of this curious observation, alongside the [[Commander Keen: Aliens Ate My Babysitter!#Impossible Bullet Trick|bullet collision property in Keen6]], produces a very handy glitching of the game. Additionally, by combining this possibility with OOB exits and wall-clipping, many levels can be exited extremely early.

Commander Keen: The Armageddon Machine

2014-05-07T18:54:16Z

CapnClever: Created page with "Commander Keen Episode 5: The Armageddon Machine (or simply Keen 5) was developed by iD Software and published by Apogee Software. It is the last of two episodes in the "Goodb..."

Commander Keen Episode 5: The Armageddon Machine (or simply Keen 5) was developed by iD Software and published by Apogee Software. It is the last of two episodes in the "Goodbye, Galaxy!" series of games (the other being [[Commander Keen: Secret of the Oracle|Keen 4]]) and was the non-shareware (i.e., had to be purchased) of the two. After the events of previous episode, Keen makes his way towards the Omegamatic, a massive weapon orbiting Korath III, and searches for a way to destroy it before it destroys the entire Galaxy. In spite of the many challenging levels standing between Keen and his ultimate objective, the any% run breaks the game completely, allowing Keen to access the final level within a minute.

== Overview ==

In order to win the game, Keen must destroy the Quantum Explosion Dynamo (or QED), the Omegamatic's engine found in the QED's titular level. Other than that, the player can do anything they need in order to achieve that goal. For a casual player, this involves:

* Clearing two gateway levels to reach the main hub
* Clearing another four gateway levels, each guarding a "machine level"
* Completing the four machine levels by breaking the machine inside, thereby allowing access to the upper elevator
* Clearing a final gateway level
* Completing the QED by breaking its namesake (game ends)

This is twelve levels in total, and very few are less than a minute long. However, thanks to a very handy glitch, the player can skip from the first level to the secret level, whose exit leads to the final two levels of the game. The secret level itself as a secret exit that completes the level far faster than normal, as well. Finally, the gateway level preceding QED can be completed incredibly fast thanks to the [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Death Flag Clipping|death-exit glitch]]. Only the QED itself must be completed in whole and, as such, it is the primary factor in a good speedrun.

=== Categories ===

Generally, this game is played using version 1.4: it is the version that comes with the Steam package (currently the only distribution available) and is by far the most widely-used copy. In addition, the wrong warp in the any% run can only be performed in version 1.4, making its usage there mandatory. If other categories benefit from other versions, they may be allowed if the contribution is significant enough.

The '''any%''' run is played on Normal difficulty. This is because the secret level's secret exit cannot be destroyed on Easy difficulty, which would at least double the run's time to complete. Hard difficulty would only make the run more luck-reliant, as well, so the fastest option is to play on Normal.

The '''glitchless%''' run is defined as using no unintended skips caused by various glitches. This includes the wrong warp and death-exit glitches. Potentially, this run can be separated further into Easy, Normal, and Hard difficulties, as the primary action found in the run involves deftly handling enemy randomness: harder runs may take longer but are more impressive in terms of their technical display. Currently, runs of this category are played on Normal as a balance between speed and RNG challenge.

== Glitches ==

This section addresses game-specific glitches only. For glitches spanning the entire Galaxy set of games, check the [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Glitches|Galaxy engine page]]. Similarly, are glitches specific to a level are addressed in the appropriate section.

=== Wrong Warp ===

Also known as the "Shelley door trick" or "secret warp". When Keen accesses the teleporter that leads him to the secret level on the map, he is given a special flag to change how he enters the teleporter (which would otherwise be entered as a normal door). Curiously, this flag is also set when Keen is being pushed by enemies under certain conditions.

There are a few different places where this glitch can be performed: all that's required is an enemy that flags Keen appropriately and a door to enter. While the exact requirements of the flag are unknown, it definitely works in the following cases:

* Entering a door while a Shelley is pushing you (e.g., in Brownian Motion Inducor at the top doors on Hard)
* Entering a door after being pushed off of a pole by a Little Ampton (note that you cannot re-grab a pole as this apparently resets the flag)

The latter case can be done as early as the first level, using the Little Amptons on the bottom half of the map to flag Keen then pogoing your way to the top. This particular instance is the basis of the any% run, allowing the player to wrong warp to the secret level in the first fifteen seconds of the run.

Commander Keen: Secret of the Oracle

2014-05-05T20:23:36Z

CapnClever: Created page with "Commander Keen Episode 4: Secret of the Oracle (or simply Keen 4) was developed by iD Software and published primarily by Apogee Software. It is the first of two episodes in t..."

Commander Keen Episode 4: Secret of the Oracle (or simply Keen 4) was developed by iD Software and published primarily by Apogee Software. It is the first of two episodes in the "Goodbye, Galaxy!" series of games (the other being [[Commander Keen: The Armageddon Machine|Keen 5]]) and was distributed as shareware. It follows Keen through an adventure to the planet Gnosticus IV, where he must rescue the High Council of the Oracle within the treacherous depths of the Shadowlands. It is the longest any% run in the entire Commander Keen series, with very few glitches to save time and a supreme reliance on execution, anticipation, and a little luck. It is also one of the most contested records in the series, with the best time switching between several runners over the course of a couple years.

== Overview ==

In order to win the game, Keen must find and rescue all eight members of the High Council (hereafter known as "Oracles" as is the slang of these characters) scattered throughout the game, which makes for eight individual levels. Besides this, three additional levels are required to access levels occupied by Oracles. This makes for a total of eleven levels.

For the most part, each of the eleven levels must be completed in full. While there are means to [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Exiting Out of Bounds|exiting levels early]], gatherable components (such as the swimming gear and the Oracles themselves) will not be flagged as acquired unless directly touched. Note also that such items in this game cannot be touched using the [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Death Flag Clipping|death flag glitch]], either (though even if it could there are very few instances in which it would be useful in the run). Thus, a great deal of the run has been focused on optimizing the route through each level and executing said optimizations as flawlessly as possible.

=== Categories ===

Generally, this game is played using version 1.0 shareware. Version 1.0 has a slightly different ledge-climbing end state that provides a better setup for certain jumps, and shareware is the most widely available distribution of the game. Although this is often what runners of the game use, if another version is proven to be faster it may be considered acceptable (if the time difference is significant enough).

The '''any%''' run is played on Normal difficulty: this is needed in order to add an enemy in one level to finish it using the death-exit glitch about twenty seconds faster. Playing on Easy difficulty adds no shortcuts to the run, while Hard only makes the game more luck-reliant, so Normal is considered the fastest difficulty from which to approach the game.

The '''100%''' run of this game is defined as having completed all levels, regardless of order, in addition to completing the game according to its intended objective. This includes completing the secret level, which is only known to be accessible through a secret exit from another level (finishing said level through its secret exit completes it).

== Glitches ==

This section addresses game-specific glitches only. For glitches spanning the entire Galaxy set of games, check the [[Commander Keen: Galaxy#Glitches|Galaxy engine page]]. Similarly, are glitches specific to a level are addressed in the appropriate section.

=== Exit Sound Override ===

When entering and exiting levels, a brief jingle is played: interestingly, it is considered a sound effect by the game, rather than a music track. Furthermore, there are a limited number of sound effects that can be played concurrently, such that if some sound effects are currently playing, other sound effects will ignored until the first has finished. The combinatory consequence of these engine quirks is that you can override the exit sound with another in order to exit the level slightly faster. (This cannot be done with the entrance sound because there are no sound effects producible from the map that would properly cause this override.)

The most commonly sound effect used to override the exit level jingle is the sound played when pressing the Enter key to access the score/inventory menu. To perform this override using this menu:

# Get very close to the exit (within a Keen width)
# Open and immediately close the menu
# Exit the level

If executed properly, Keen will exit the level without the jingle. (Alternatively you could pogo into the exit, so you don't have to worry about movement after you close the menu.) As the menu takes time to open and close, this isn't a large time-saver, but it will save as much as half of a second per use. Other known sounds that override the jingle are the 1UP sound and the item-get sound (such as the one from the swimsuit, although it does not actually work for the swimsuit since time is stopped when played there).

=== Faster Bouncing ===

Reloading the game while bouncing creatures (Bounders, Mad Mushrooms) are on the screen will occasionally cause their bouncing oscillation to speed up. Similarly, reloading when this bouncing is faster may restore their oscillation to normal speeds.

There is no known use for this glitch in speedrunning.

=== Bounder Leap ===

Most enemies have a very specific momentum when jumping or bouncing and tend to ignore the normal considerations of gravity when doing so. However, when Keen defeats such an enemy in mid-jump, their momentum acts under normal gravity, allowing for the possibility of their corpse to experience an especially high (or long) flight. In the case of the Bounder, on whom Keen can stand, it is possible to use this extra-high jump to reach places otherwise unreachable.

There is no known use for this glitch in speedrunning.

Commander Keen (series)

2014-04-09T06:28:14Z

CapnClever: started "Recording Setup" section: will uncomment rest after discussion in forum is settled

[[Category:Games]]
[[Category:PC]]
This page discusses the Commander Keen series as a whole. Topics specifically related to a particular engine or a particular game should be addressed in the appropriate page (see "The Series" below).

== The Series ==

Commander Keen games include:

* [[Commander Keen: Vorticons|Episodes 1-3]], also known as the "Invasion of the Vorticons" trilogy (or "Vorticons" for short)
** Episode 1 is [[Commander Keen: Marooned On Mars]]: speedrun time is just under 4:00.
** Episode 2 is [[Commander Keen: The Earth Explodes]]: speedrun time is about 7:00, although as low as 6:20 is achievable with the current route.
** Episode 3 is [[Commander Keen: Keen Must Die!]]: speedrun time is just under 2:00.
* [[Commander Keen: Galaxy|Episodes 4-6]], including the "Goodbye, Galaxy!" pair and "Aliens Ate My Babysitter!" (collectively called the "Galaxy" games)
** Episode 4 is [[Commander Keen: Secret of the Oracle]]: speedrun time is about 10:30, although 10:20 is doable with the current route.
** Episode 5 is [[Commander Keen: The Armageddon Machine]]: speedrun time is about 2:30, with 2:10 being ideal with the current route.
** Episode 6 is [[Commander Keen: Aliens Ate My Babysitter!]]: speedrun time is around 4:00, with 3:35 considered a flawless time with the current route.
* [[Commander Keen Dreams]], sometimes known as Keen 3.5: speedrun time is under 5:00, with 4:45 being reasonably optimized.

== Recording Setup ==

Games in the Commander Keen series should be speedrun using DOSBox. Technically you could record the output of a DOS-based PC: however, DOSBox is well-supported emulator (verified to play Keen games virtually the same as on a DOS-era computer) and comes with built-in, lossless recording<ref name="DOSBox recording" />. It's recommended that you use the latest version, as this will likely provide the greatest compatibility.



== Major Game Features ==

There are two major game engines used in the Keen series. The first is used in Keens 1-3: this is dubbed as the "Vorticon engine". The second is used in Keens 4-6: this is dubbed as the "Galaxy engine". Keen Dreams is technically an incomplete Galaxy engine, so there are a couple differences that matter, but for the most part it controls the same.

Although there are differences between Keen engines, a number of features exist throughout all games and learning their subtleties is incredibly important to speedrunning each game.

=== Blaster ===

Keen's typical method of disabling enemies (and very rarely anything else) is to shoot them with his blaster weapon (or, in the case of Keen Dreams, throw Flower Power). Depending on the enemy, it will require one or multiple shots to permanently defeat them, temporarily stun them, or be completely useless.

Using the blaster always requires an amount of time to fire, which can affect the timing of other actions. In general, it is better to fire while in the air, as this allows Keen to continue moving while he shoots. Learning how to shoot in such a way as to avoid dying from enemies while still maintaining movement through a level is critical to getting good times in these games.

=== Pogo ===

With the exception of Keen 1 (which only matters in the first level) and Keen Dreams, Keen is able to equip a pogo stick throughout each game. The pogo has the following properties:

* Jumping while on the pogo increases jump height.
* Moving while on the pogo preserves momentum. Whereas Keen normally accelerates when the left/right buttons are pressed and stops when released, Keen will instead continue in the same direction without extra input. It's simple enough to get used to, but switching to and from pogo can cause strange changes in speed so it's important to be deliberate with pogo movements.
* Pogoing and jumping in quick succession results in the "Impossible Pogo Trick" (or IPT for short). Whereas in the original trilogy this was basically just a way to use a full-height pogo jump from the ground, in the Galaxy games this actually provides a slight boost, allowing you access to many areas faster or at all. While the IPT exists in every game that contains the pogo, it is executed differently depending on the engine, so further details will be given on the appropriate pages.

=== Overworld Map ===

Each Keen game contains a relatively non-linear overworld from which the game levels are accessed. Movement on these maps is handled with a supremum metric: that is, diagonal movement is the sum of horizontal and vertical movement. Although this makes mapping the fastest route from one level to the next rather simple, there's often bad collision detection on the map (usually in later games) that can trip up the player: knowing where these are is important so that you're not losing time in an otherwise-trivial part of the game.

Actions can be buffered to and from the map. In general, you'll always want to buffer directional movement in both cases, and occasionally additional buttons (which will be explained on a per-level basis). Note that in Keens 1-3 you can only buffer one command: pressing two buttons at the same time is the same as pressing nothing.

== Additional Resources ==

[http://www.dosbox.com DOSBox] In case you don't already have it!

[http://www.pckf.org Public Commander Keen Forum] This forum contains an active community of players of the Commander Keen games.

[http://www.shikadi.net/keenwiki/Main_Page KeenWiki] This is the Commander Keen wiki, and is the inspirational source for much of the information found here.

== Notes ==
<references>
<ref name="DOSBox recording">Video is encoded using ZMBV, a format specifically designed to handle low-color output. See [http://www.dosbox.com/wiki/Recording_Video Recording Video - DOSBoxWiki] for details regarding recording and playback.</ref>

</references>

Commander Keen (series)/Keen4ConfigFile

2014-04-09T05:43:33Z

CapnClever: Created page with "This page contains an exact copy of the DOSBox configuration file, labeled "keen1.conf", that comes with the Steam version of the games. The other config file that uses the [[..."

This page contains an exact copy of the DOSBox configuration file, labeled "keen1.conf", that comes with the Steam version of the games. The other config file that uses the [[Commander Keen: Galaxy|Galaxy engine]], "keen5.conf", is identical to this one. '''Note that these settings are based on DOSBox version 0.71 and are not necessarily compatible with other versions. Do not replace this configuration file with a dosbox.conf running with a later version.'''

For the purposes of standardization, these configurations should also be used with [[Commander Keen 6: Aliens Ate My Babysitter]] and [[Commander Keen Dreams]], even though these games are not part of the collection of Keen games bought from Steam.

<pre>
[sdl]

fullscreen=true
fulldouble=true
fullresolution=800x600
windowresolution=original
output=ddraw
autolock=true
sensitivity=500
waitonerror=true
priority=higher,normal
mapperfile=mapper.txt
usescancodes=false

[dosbox]

language=
machine=vga
captures=C:\Users\User\Videos\DOSBox
memsize=16

[render]

frameskip=0
aspect=true
scaler=none

[cpu]

core=auto
cycles=auto
cycleup=500
cycledown=20

[mixer]

nosound=false
rate=44100
blocksize=4096
prebuffer=30

[midi]

mpu401=intelligent
device=default
config=

[sblaster]

sbtype=sb16
sbbase=220
irq=7
dma=1
hdma=5
mixer=true
oplmode=auto
oplrate=22050

[gus]

gus=true
gusrate=22050
gusbase=240
irq1=5
irq2=5
dma1=3
dma2=3
ultradir=C:ULTRASND
[speaker]

pcspeaker=true
pcrate=22050
tandy=auto
tandyrate=22050
disney=true

[joystick]

joysticktype=auto
timed=true
autofire=false
swap34=false
buttonwrap=true

[serial]

serial1=dummy
serial2=dummy
serial3=disabled
serial4=disabled
[dos]

xms=true
ems=true
umb=true
keyboardlayout=none

[ipx]

ipx=false

[autoexec]
</pre>

Commander Keen (series)/Keen1ConfigFile

2014-04-09T05:19:54Z

CapnClever: added extra page to reference Steam config file for Keen 1-3

This page contains an exact copy of the DOSBox configuration file, labeled "keen1.conf", that comes with the Steam version of the games. The other config files that use the [[Commander Keen: Vorticon|Vorticon engine]], "keen2.conf" and "keen3.conf", are identical to this one. '''Note that these settings are based on DOSBox version 0.71 and are not necessarily compatible with other versions. Do not replace this configuration file with a dosbox.conf running with a later version.'''

<pre>
[sdl]

fullscreen=true
fulldouble=true
fullresolution=800x600
windowresolution=original
output=ddraw
autolock=true
sensitivity=500
waitonerror=true
priority=higher,normal
mapperfile=mapper.txt
usescancodes=false

[dosbox]

language=
machine=vga
captures=capture
memsize=16

[render]

frameskip=0
aspect=true
scaler=none

[cpu]

core=auto
cycles=auto
cycleup=500
cycledown=20

[mixer]

nosound=false
rate=44100
blocksize=4096
prebuffer=30

[midi]

mpu401=intelligent
device=default
config=

[sblaster]

sbtype=sb16
sbbase=220
irq=7
dma=1
hdma=5
mixer=true
oplmode=auto
oplrate=22050

[gus]

gus=true
gusrate=22050
gusbase=240
irq1=5
irq2=5
dma1=3
dma2=3
ultradir=C:ULTRASND
[speaker]

pcspeaker=true
pcrate=22050
tandy=auto
tandyrate=22050
disney=true

[joystick]

joysticktype=auto
timed=true
autofire=false
swap34=false
buttonwrap=true

[serial]

serial1=dummy
serial2=dummy
serial3=disabled
serial4=disabled
[dos]

xms=true
ems=true
umb=true
keyboardlayout=none

[ipx]

ipx=false

[autoexec]
</pre>

Commander Keen (series)

2014-04-07T18:51:48Z

CapnClever: added categories

Commander Keen Dreams

2014-04-07T16:43:46Z

CapnClever: Created page with "'''Commander Keen: Keen Dreams''' was developed by iD Software and published by Softdisk. Often known as "Episode 3.5", the setting takes place between the Vorticon and Galaxy..."

'''Commander Keen: Keen Dreams''' was developed by iD Software and published by Softdisk. Often known as "Episode 3.5", the setting takes place between the Vorticon and Galaxy trilogies, where Keen must fight in a world inhabited by anthropomorphic vegetables and defeat the tyrannical King Boobus Tuber. It uses a less polished version of the [[Commander Keen: Galaxy|Galaxy engine]] that includes one subtly-unique difference to get through levels a good deal faster in the speedrun. The lack of pogo makes this a lackluster episode compared to the rest of the Galaxy games, but is nevertheless a challenge to properly optimize.

== Overview ==

In order to win the game, Keen must destroy Boobus Tuber, found in the level "Boobus's Chamber". Boobus Tuber can only be damaged with Boobus Bombs, scattered across the rest of the levels: it takes twelve bombs to destroy Boobus Tuber. Thus, routing this game is based on finding ways to gather the twelve Boobus Bombs as fast as possible.

Due to the key storage glitch (see below), it's also possible to carry keys from one level over to the next. This is used to get through the second gateway level, "Castle Tuberia", which requires two keys: one is collected quickly but the other takes a great deal of time to reach, and it has been determined faster to pick up a key elsewhere.

This game follows a route identical to the TAS, which can be found [http://tasvideos.org/2531M.html here]. Theoretically it plays the same, although the randomness of enemy movement affects several areas of the run that can affect time significantly.

=== Possible Categories ===

The any% run is played on "Hard" difficulty. While there are no differences in ammo gained, enemy placement, gravity, or damage taken by Boobus Tuber, difficulty affects the time enemies are stunned (harder difficulties stun enemies for less). Since the first level's skip depends on stunning an enemy, playing on Hard minimizes the wait time on the stun, thereby making it the fastest.

100% run of this game would most simply be to complete all levels. Possibly, since there a maximum and countable number of Boobus Bombs, "all Boobus Bombs" could be another category (or just lumped into 100%).

=== Differences from Galaxy engine ===

Instead of the Neural Blaster, Keen uses "Flower Power", collected in the form of either individual pellets or a flower pot that holds five pellets. When an enemy is hit with Flower Power, they are stunned in place for a period of time (determined by difficulty: harder is shorter), temporarily changed into a flower. As such, no enemies in Keen Dreams can be outright defeated (though they can sometimes be moved off the level, see "Stun Drop").

This game features no pogo stick. This means any tricks or maneuvers involving the pogo stick are not a part of this run.

Keen cannot grab or climb ledges. In fact, should Keen barely miss a platform, he'll lose all of his horizontal momentum and fall straight down: this is important with regards to optimization.

There are some very subtle differences in how Keen moves and interacts with the terrain. It's difficult to describe them all, so be aware that the handling in this game will be different compared to the Galaxy games.

== Glitches ==

=== Death Exit ===

As opposed to the standard Galaxy engine's death procedure, Keen's death in this game is much simpler. As a result of this difference, however, any death occurring on the very left or right of the level border immediately clips Keen out-of-bounds and, therefore, the game ends the level. It is much more convenient than in Galaxy games, requiring no trip to the menu.

=== Key Storage ===

Dying with keys automatically removes them from Keen's inventory: exiting a level, however, ignores this removal and stores the keys instead, to be potentially used in a later level. This could be argued intentional, but considering that Boobus Bombs are more appropriately stored (only those collected in that level are lost if you die), key storage is far more likely unintended.

=== Stun Drop ===

If an enemy is on the exact edge of a platform when stunned, their new sprite positioning moves them off the platform entirely and they will fall. Potentially it can be used to remove enemies from a dangerous area, or out of the level entirely.

=== Short Jump ===

Under certain, currently-unknown conditions, Keen's jump will be shorter than normal. The only known incidence of this occurring is in Apple Acres when jumping to the bottom-left of the map, and is especially frustrating because the pole leading out of that area can only be reached from the ground with a maximum-height jump.

Commander Keen: Galaxy

2014-04-07T15:53:59Z

CapnClever:

This page discusses features found in Episodes 4-6 and Keen Dreams of the Commander Keen series. For game-specific routing, check the appropriate game page:

[[Commander Keen: Secret of the Oracle]]

[[Commander Keen: The Armageddon Machine]]

[[Commander Keen: Aliens Ate My Babysitter!]]

[[Commander Keen Dreams]]

== Game Control ==

If we compare to the Vorticon engine, the Galaxy engine is a large improvement in terms of control: more responsive, smoother, and not bogged down by limited commands (i.e., two-button firing). This means that maneuvers are a lot more flexible, especially when handling enemies. It does, however, mean that the speedrun is expected to perform far more optimally, and the current Keen runs are well-optimized. Some of the expected optimizations will be discussed in this topic, although they will be mentioned on a per-level basis as well.

=== Horizontal Movement ===

On the ground, Keen has no momentum: pressing left/right makes Keen move right instantaneously and at maximum horizontal speed, and switching direction incurs no time penalty.

In the air, Keen's momentum from the Vorticon engine returns: it takes time to build up to maximum speed and to switch directions. It is, however, not nearly as slow to do so, and so maneuvering in mid-air is quite doable (and sometimes necessary).

'''Slopes:''' There are two types of slopes, gradual and steep, and they affect the speed at which Keen walks. Specifically, Keen's speed changes by 1/6 on gradual slops and by 1/3 on steep slopes, either decreasing when walking up the slope or increasing when walking down the slope. Thus, Keen should always jump/pogo up slopes (thereby ignoring the speed change) and walk down slopes (taking full advantage of the faster movement).

=== Vertical Movement ===

Entering the air, whether through a jump or a pogo bounce, takes three frames. Generally this isn't of great importance, but it's a good rule of thumb to only jump when necessary.

'''Jumping:''' Keen's jump has no preparation time, and the height can be controlled for as long as roughly the first half (in time, not distance) of the ascent. The gradation of variability is very small, meaning you can time jumps almost to any pixel height: for normal jumps this isn't often an issue but it can be useful for jump shots (see "Firing").

'''Pogoing:''' Similar to the normal jump, except that Keen achieves a much greater height and has a significant fixed-height minimum. The pogo can be activated and deactivated at any time: activating on the ground automatically begins a pogo jump. As in the Vorticon engine, pogoing preserves horizontal momentum: unlike the Vorticon engine, continuous pogoing does not take extra time to start and therefore doesn't lose horizontal momentum at all, so if you need to jump somewhere you can gain a small amount of time pogoing the entire way there rather than jumping after landing.

Keen's hitbox is slightly shorter when pogoing, which can occasionally be taken advantage of during constrained jumps.

'''Impossible Pogo Trick (IPT):''' Pogoing then jumping from the ground, at about the same time, causes you to jump slightly higher than a full-height pogo jump normally would allow. This is an extremely important trick as the developers intentionally included quite a few shortcuts that are only possible with the IPT. There are two variations:
* A moving IPT is done while walking: the timing is loose enough that you can actually press both pogo and jump at the same time and still pull off the IPT.
* A standing IPT is done without any horizontal movement: the timing is far more precise, though it's used less often. (Based on the game help, this variant wasn't intended, which may explain why it's harder to do.)

'''Chaining Jumps:''' Since Keen's vertical momentum is very gradated, it's actually possible to land on a floor from below without "falling" onto that floor: in other words, spending zero extra time in the air. Jumping vertically from platform to platform is a very tricky maneuver and optimizing the height of these jumps is very important, as you'll be doing it often and the time adds up quickly. This is most noticeable (and used) on platforms you can jump through.

'''Grabbing Ledges:''' If Keen is next to but below a ledge in mid-air, pressing the direction towards the ledge will cause Keen to grab that ledge: pressing up or same direction will then cause Keen to climb up to the floor above, while pressing down or the opposite direction will cause Keen to fall instead. As with chaining jumps, there is a pixel-perfect height at which Keen will grab the ledge without extra air time, though this doesn't occur as often. Generally, however, grabbing ledges should be avoided whenever the ledge can be cleared entirely in order to reach the floor itself, since climbing the ledge takes time.

=== Firing ===

Keen can fire in any cardinal direction: left/right, up, and down (in the air only). Similar to the Vorticon engine, firing halts horizontal momentum, but it takes roughly a quarter of a second in the Galaxy engine so it is less significant. Furthermore, there's no mid-air firing stance, so you can keep moving in the air without losing any momentum.

'''Jump Shots:''' Ideally, you should always be in the air when firing. This leads to jumping from the ground in order to shoot, usually considered a "jump shot" since it's different from shooting while you happen to already be in the air. Making sure a jump shot works means the shot has to fire before you land: if you're beginning to fire but no shot occurs, you'll be stuck landing and entering firing stance, wasting time. Depending on the enemy's height, jump shots can be easy, hard, or impossible.

== Glitches ==

The most interesting glitches in the Galaxy games are actually game-specific, so check appropriate pages to learn more. The glitches detailed here apply across all games and all versions.

=== Corner Boosting ===

Moving/landing onto the edge of a platform in a precise manner allows Keen to clip through a little bit of the platform, boosting his movement for an instant. Because of the precision involved this is typically unintentional but has practical applications in some specific cases.

=== Exiting Out of Bounds ===

Levels automatically include exit-level triggering just outside the viewable level boundaries on the left and right sides. In some levels this is an important feature as it's the intended way to leave the level. While not useful by itself, there are a few ways of glitching out of bounds that will thereby allow Keen to trigger the exit of a level prematurely. Note that exiting a level this way does not trigger anything else such as gaining items or rescuing people.

=== Death Flag Clipping ===

Also known as the "save/load glitch". When Keen is struck by an enemy, his "death" flag is set and, among other things, he ignores terrain collision while moving horizontally. By saving after Keen is struck but before the game's restart dialog is opened, then reloading the game from that point, Keen's death is reset but is otherwise unchanged: his horizontal, terrain-ignoring self can then be used to go out-of-bounds and (with the above glitch) exit the level.

Part of dying includes a sound effect: this sound effect is forced to end before exiting the menu (accessed when saving/loading). To minimum time spent in the menu, it should be accessed late into the sound effect so that no time is wasted waiting for the sound to end. As a rule of thumb, wait until Keen is lower than he was when he died before going to the menu.

Commander Keen: Galaxy

2014-04-03T20:31:23Z

CapnClever: Created page with "This page discusses features found in Episodes 4-6 and Keen Dreams of the Commander Keen series. For game-specific routing, check the appropriate game page: [[Commander Keen:..."

This page discusses features found in Episodes 4-6 and Keen Dreams of the Commander Keen series. For game-specific routing, check the appropriate game page:

[[Commander Keen: Secret of the Oracle]]

[[Commander Keen: The Armageddon Machine]]

[[Commander Keen: Aliens Ate My Babysitter!]]

[[Commander Keen Dreams]]

== Game Control ==

If we compare to the Vorticon engine, the Galaxy engine is a large improvement in terms of control: more responsive, smoother, and not bogged down by limited commands (i.e., two-button firing). This means that maneuvers are a lot more flexible, especially when handling enemies. It does, however, mean that the speedrun is expected to perform far more optimally, and the current Keen runs are well-optimized. Some of the expected optimizations will be discussed in this topic, although they will be mentioned on a per-level basis as well.

=== Horizontal Movement ===

On the ground, Keen has no momentum: pressing left/right makes Keen move right instantaneously and at maximum horizontal speed, and switching direction incurs no time penalty.

In the air, Keen's momentum from the Vorticon engine returns: it takes time to build up to maximum speed and to switch directions. It is, however, not nearly as slow to do so, and so maneuvering in mid-air is quite doable (and sometimes necessary).

'''Slopes:''' There are two types of slopes, gradual and steep, and they affect the speed at which Keen walks. Specifically, Keen's speed changes by 1/6 on gradual slops and by 1/3 on steep slopes, either decreasing when walking up the slope or increasing when walking down the slope. Thus, Keen should always jump/pogo up slopes (thereby ignoring the speed change) and walk down slopes (taking full advantage of the faster movement).

=== Vertical Movement ===

Entering the air, whether through a jump or a pogo bounce, takes three frames. Generally this isn't of great importance, but it's a good rule of thumb to only jump when necessary.

'''Jumping:''' Keen's jump has no preparation time, and the height can be controlled for as long as roughly the first half (in time, not distance) of the ascent. The gradation of variability is very small, meaning you can time jumps almost to any pixel height: for normal jumps this isn't often an issue but it can be useful for jump shots (see "Firing").

'''Pogoing:''' Similar to the normal jump, except that Keen achieves a much greater height and has a significant fixed-height minimum. The pogo can be activated and deactivated at any time: activating on the ground automatically begins a pogo jump. As in the Vorticon engine, pogoing preserves horizontal momentum: unlike the Vorticon engine, continuous pogoing does not take extra time to start and therefore doesn't lose horizontal momentum at all, so if you need to jump somewhere you can gain a small amount of time pogoing the entire way there rather than jumping after landing.

Keen's hitbox is slightly shorter when pogoing, which can occasionally be taken advantage of during constrained jumps.

'''Impossible Pogo Trick (IPT):''' Pogoing then jumping from the ground, at about the same time, causes you to jump slightly higher than a full-height pogo jump normally would allow. This is an extremely important trick as the developers intentionally included quite a few shortcuts that are only possible with the IPT. There are two variations:
* A moving IPT is done while walking: the timing is loose enough that you can actually press both pogo and jump at the same time and still pull off the IPT.
* A standing IPT is done without any horizontal movement: the timing is far more precise, though it's used less often. (Based on the game help, this variant wasn't intended, which may explain why it's harder to do.)

'''Chaining Jumps:''' Since Keen's vertical momentum is very gradated, it's actually possible to land on a floor from below without "falling" onto that floor: in other words, spending zero extra time in the air. Jumping vertically from platform to platform is a very tricky maneuver and optimizing the height of these jumps is very important, as you'll be doing it often and the time adds up quickly. This is most noticeable (and used) on platforms you can jump through.

'''Grabbing Ledges:''' If Keen is next to but below a ledge in mid-air, pressing the direction towards the ledge will cause Keen to grab that ledge: pressing up or same direction will then cause Keen to climb up to the floor above, while pressing down or the opposite direction will cause Keen to fall instead. As with chaining jumps, there is a pixel-perfect height at which Keen will grab the ledge without extra air time, though this doesn't occur as often. Generally, however, grabbing ledges should be avoided whenever the ledge can be cleared entirely in order to reach the floor itself, since climbing the ledge takes time.

=== Firing ===

Keen can fire in any cardinal direction: left/right, up, and down (in the air only). Similar to the Vorticon engine, firing halts horizontal momentum, but it takes roughly a quarter of a second in the Galaxy engine so it is less significant. Furthermore, there's no mid-air firing stance, so you can keep moving in the air without losing any momentum.

'''Jump Shots:''' Ideally, you should always be in the air when firing. This leads to jumping from the ground in order to shoot, usually considered a "jump shot" since it's different from shooting while you happen to already be in the air. Making sure a jump shot works means the shot has to fire before you land: if you're beginning to fire but no shot occurs, you'll be stuck landing and entering firing stance, wasting time. Depending on the enemy's height, jump shots can be easy, hard, or impossible.

== Glitches ==

The most interesting glitches in the Galaxy games are actually game-specific, so check appropriate pages to learn more. The glitches detailed here apply across all games and all versions.

=== Corner Boosting ===

Moving/landing onto the edge of a platform in a precise manner allows Keen to clip through a little bit of the platform, boosting his movement for an instant. Because of the precision involved this is typically unintentional but has practical applications in some specific cases.

=== Exiting Out of Bounds ===

Levels automatically include exit-level triggering just outside the viewable level boundaries on the left and right sides. In some levels this is an important feature as it's the intended way to leave the level. While not useful by itself, there are a few ways of glitching out of bounds that will thereby allow Keen to trigger the exit of a level prematurely. Note that exiting a level this way does not trigger anything else such as gaining items or rescuing people.

=== Death Flag Clipping ===

Also known as the "save/load glitch". When Keen is struck by an enemy, his "death" flag is set and, among other things, he ignores terrain collision while moving horizontally. By saving after Keen is struck but before the game's restart dialog is opened, then reloading the game from that point, Keen's death is reset but is otherwise unchanged: his horizontal, terrain-ignoring self can then be used to go out-of-bounds and (with the above glitch) exit the level.

Commander Keen: Vorticons

2014-04-03T15:17:22Z

CapnClever: added "Glitches" section: moved some information from "Game Control" into it (better organized)

This page discusses features found in the first three games of the Commander Keen series, also known as the "Invasion of the Vorticons" trilogy. For game-specific routing, check the appropriate game page:

[[Commander Keen: Marooned On Mars]]

[[Commander Keen: The Earth Explodes]]

[[Commander Keen: Keen Must Die!]]

== Game Control ==

The Vorticon engine, in general, has almost paradoxical controlling: on one hand, the movement often feels loose as a result of Keen's momentum; on the other, timing of shots and jumps require a great deal of precision and often rigidly lock Keen into certain positions. Combined, it's the worst of both worlds, and until control is learned you'll feel like the game switches between zero physics and ice physics (not to mention this engine has some of its own ice physics).

For reference, this game is 35FPS for the purposes of input-timing. Processing is done at 70FPS, which can have minor effects on rendering, but doesn't change anything that the player would care about.

=== Horizontal Movement ===

Left and right movement is similar to that of Super Mario Bros 3 (whose own engine was the inspiration for what would become this game): it takes time to build up to maximum speed and it takes time to slow down. Thus you can't immediately change from going left to going right: lining up where you want to be also has to factor in at what speed you want to be when lined up.

Jumping and pogoing briefly pause Keen's horizontal movement, so only do these when it's necessary: excess jumps add up over time.

While pogoing, Keen has less control over his horizontal movement. It's preferable to stop pogoing if you need to adjust a jump in mid-air.

'''Speed Oscillation:''' Every three frames, if Keen is moving left or right, he will move one additional pixel in that direction. For the most part, this is a bad thing, because it means that any closely-timed maneuvers (jumps, pogos) have slightly different timing depending on which frame you do them. Because the oscillation is too fast to keep track in real-time, there's no way to match a "correct" timing, so everything has to be as precise as possible at all times to ensure you're doing what has to be done. Fortunately, most jumps in this game aren't incredibly precise, so there's a little room for error. As such, IPT won't often be stated by name, instead explaining to "pogo from the ground" since it amounts to the same thing in the Vorticon engine.

=== Vertical Movement ===

'''Jumping:''' Keen spends a period of time "preparing" to jump. It's in this period of time that you can vary how high Keen jumps, differing from no movement at all to a full-height jump (a bit more than three tiles high). Jump preparation always takes the same amount of time, so the important factor is determining how high (or how far) you want your jump to be.

'''Pogoing:''' Once Keen equips his pogo stick, he's capable of jumping twice as high, just above six tiles of height, with a minimum height of about two tiles. If on the ground, he'll spend the same preparation time to pogo-jump; if in the air, he'll wait to fall before preparing for the next jump.

It's possible to begin a pogo jump after having completely walked off of a floor. Preparations of pogo-jumps actually preserve horizontal momentum for a very short period, and this can be used to move farther off the edge of a floor than would be possible with only jumping.

'''Impossible Pogo Trick (IPT):''' This is simply performing a full-height pogo jump from standing or walking position. The reason it's considered "impossible" is because of two-button firing (see "Blaster") and therefore requires precise timing. In short:
* Press ALT to begin pogo
* Immediately release ALT
* Press and hold CTRL to increase height
If step two weren't there, you'd end up pogoing and then shoot instead. It's not hard to do consistently once learned, and is very important for a number of confined maneuvers. In fact, you should be using the IPT for almost any jump that requires more height/distance than a normal jump, since there's no reason to be continuously pogoing in this game. (Side-note: this isn't considered a glitch because it was apparently intended by the developers, who gave this trick its name.)

=== Firing ===

In order to shoot, the Vorticon engine uses what is called "two-button firing": both the jump and pogo buttons must be held down at the same time. Note that this does not mean the pressing has to be simultaneous! (It can be and this is ideal but hard to do every time.) You can, alternatively, hold down the jump button and tap the pogo button and you will shoot as soon as the latter is pressed. When shooting, Keen enters a firing "stance" and regular movement can only resume when both buttons are no longer held down. Similarly, this means you must release both at some point: in the previous example of holding down jump and tapping pogo, Keen will only leave the firing stance once the jump button is released.

Having to deal with two-button firing is a huge pain. Under normal (read: casual) conditions you can usually get away with shooting from a standing or possibly a falling position, but for the sake of speedrunning it's imperative to shoot during a jump, usually a pogo-jump. Worse, since shooting has a special stance, it also removes your pogo if you happened to be pogoing at the time. This incurs the following kinds of maneuvers:
* Shooting just before landing followed by an IPT
* Shooting at the apex of a jump combined with horizontal adjustments
* Shooting while avoiding enemies
As a rule of thumb, remembering to use the jump button before pogo when firing is a better process, since pogo can toggle at any point in mid-air but pressing jump during a jump affects nothing. There's also cases where inputs just don't seem to get through, and the aforementioned handling combined with a bad input often equals death. It's frustrating, but enough practice will get it to become consistent.

== Enemies ==

Let's start with two simple rules about enemies:
# Enemies are completely random.
# Enemies cannot be manipulated.
Enemy randomness is only slightly limited in that they can't interrupt themselves mid-action: if an enemy jumps, they can't turn around and/or shoot. Otherwise, they are always capable of performing any action, and there is no fixed-wait time between actions. Furthermore, there are only two ways to affect the RNG that all enemies are attached to: boot time of the computer and, go figure, enemies taking actions. Although the TAS manipulates enemy movements, this is simply not practical to do in a real-time speedrun.

Thus, a large portion of execution and, unfortunately, luck in the Vorticon engine (though it applies to Galaxy as well) is related to avoiding or defeating enemies in the way while losing as little time as you can doing so. If nothing else, this gives the player a lot of variability in runs and doesn't often lose too much time, although some unlucky patterns will simply lead to death no matter the setup. There's also a matter of enemy-specific routing that attempts to compromise time loss and chance to succeed. Much of Keen is about controlling Keen himself, but the rest is all about dealing with the randomness of enemies.

There are some general actions that most enemies can do. They will be listed and described here, although game-specific pages will point out which actions each enemy from that game is capable of. (The Galaxy engine is a lot more versatile in enemy capabilities so enemy actions are left to their game-specific pages only.)

=== Jumping ===

Lots of enemies jump. The most significant enemy type, Vorticons, has a variable-height jump with no preparation time: other enemy types use a single-height jump, again no preparation. If you have the space to do so, you'll usually jump over these enemies in such a way that there is little or no chance for them to collide with you.

=== Scanning ===

Some enemies will stop in place and "think" (not by any physical appearance but that's basically what they're doing). After scanning, the enemy will begin moving towards you, regardless of if they can see you or if you're even at the same height as them. Vorticons usually scan after jumping.

=== Attacking ===

Attacks are almost always in a ranged form: blaster shots, sound waves, fire balls, et cetera. There's always some preparation time before the shot goes off, though in some cases it's not nearly enough to properly react to the blast itself. Ranged attacks are occasionally indiscriminate to who they're hitting, so can be used to your advantage (albeit by luck).

== Glitches ==

Aside from the control tricks mentioned above, there are some unintended

=== Air Jump ===

This is a frame-specific, pixel-specific technique that allows Keen to jump immediately after falling off a ledge: when executed properly, he will jump slightly under the ledge in mid-air. Because of the extra speed oscillation (see "Horizontal Movement"), the frame precision reduces the odds of performing this jump to chance, with a 2/3s chance with one timing and a 1/3s chance with another. This is only used in Keen2 but, because it saves about ~40s otherwise used to complete the level normally, is worth the chance.

If you're wondering about the precision of the air jump, you must do the following (can be performed on any floor that has a ledge):
* Stand on the very last pixel before you'd fall from the floor. In terms of alignment, Keen's shoe outline should match the edge of the floor.
* Hold down left/right (whatever direction is away from the floor).
** For normal frames, press jump three frames after the left/right button.
** For speedy frames, press jump two frames after the left/right button.
Technically you don't have to line up with pixel ahead of time, and it's likely that the timing is different in these cases (albeit still off by a frame for speedy oscillations), but it's a lot easier to get into the right spot by stopping before performing the air jump.

=== Clipping ===

There are a couple different clips possible in the Vorticon engine.

'''Ceiling Pogo Clip:''' Jumping into a ceiling, then activating the pogo just before touching it, messes with Keen's collision and allows him to jump right through the ceiling tile. Since it only works on the first tile, it can only be used to clip in cases where there's only one tile between two rooms stacked on top of each other.

'''Level Border Clip:''' It's possible to maneuver Keen along the very edge of the level border. Because of this, Keen can stand "on top" of a level, then jump from tile to tile, with very precise jumping into the border.

=== Slide Shot ===

Due to the firing stance, shooting is the same as not moving, so any horizontal momentum is slowed during a shot (halted if you're on the ground). To compensate, we have the slide shot: simply, shoot while moving horizontally and barely before hitting the ground, and you'll preserve horizontal momentum while in the firing stance. This tends to save half a second, otherwise lost from either jumping over the enemy you meant to shoot or shooting him from the ground (and wasting momentum).

Commander Keen: Vorticons

2014-04-02T21:56:05Z

CapnClever: messed up link titles

This page discusses features found in the first three games of the Commander Keen series, also known as the "Invasion of the Vorticons" trilogy. For game-specific routing, check the appropriate game page:

[[Commander Keen: Marooned On Mars]]

[[Commander Keen: The Earth Explodes]]

[[Commander Keen: Keen Must Die!]]

== Game Control ==

The Vorticon engine, in general, has almost paradoxical controlling: on one hand, the movement often feels loose as a result of Keen's momentum; on the other, timing of shots and jumps require a great deal of precision and often rigidly lock Keen into certain positions. Combined, it's the worst of both worlds, and until control is learned you'll feel like the game switches between zero physics and ice physics (not to mention this engine has some of its own ice physics).

For reference, this game is 35FPS for the purposes of input-timing. Processing is done at 70FPS, which can have minor effects on rendering

=== Horizontal Movement ===

Left and right movement is similar to that of Super Mario Bros 3 (whose own engine was the inspiration for what would become this game): it takes time to build up to maximum speed and it takes time to slow down. Thus you can't immediately change from going left to going right: lining up where you want to be also has to factor in at what speed you want to be when lined up.

Jumping and pogoing briefly pause Keen's horizontal movement, so only do these when it's necessary: excess jumps add up over time.

While pogoing, Keen has less control over his horizontal movement. It's preferable to stop pogoing if you need to adjust a jump in mid-air.

'''Speed Oscillation:''' Every three frames, if Keen is moving left or right, he will move one additional pixel in that direction. For the most part, this is a bad thing, because it means that any closely-timed maneuvers (jumps, pogos) have slightly different timing depending on which frame you do them. Because the oscillation is too fast to keep track in real-time, there's no way to match a "correct" timing, so everything has to be as precise as possible at all times to ensure you're doing what has to be done. Fortunately, most jumps in this game aren't incredibly precise, so there's a little room for error. As such, IPT won't often be stated by name, instead explaining to "pogo from the ground" since it amounts to the same thing in the Vorticon engine.

=== Vertical Movement ===

'''Jumping:''' Keen spends a period of time "preparing" to jump. It's in this period of time that you can vary how high Keen jumps, differing from no movement at all to a full-height jump (a bit more than three tiles high). Jump preparation always takes the same amount of time, so the important factor is determining how high (or how far) you want your jump to be.

'''Pogoing:''' Once Keen equips his pogo stick, he's capable of jumping twice as high, just above six tiles of height, with a minimum height of about two tiles. If on the ground, he'll spend the same preparation time to pogo-jump; if in the air, he'll wait to fall before preparing for the next jump.

It's possible to begin a pogo jump after having completely walked off of a floor. Preparations of pogo-jumps actually preserve horizontal momentum for a very short period, and this can be used to move farther off the edge of a floor than would be possible with only jumping.

'''Impossible Pogo Trick (IPT):''' This is simply performing a full-height pogo jump from standing or walking position. The reason it's considered "impossible" is because of two-button firing (see "Blaster") and therefore requires precise timing. In short:
* Press ALT to begin pogo
* Immediately release ALT
* Press and hold CTRL to increase height
If step two weren't there, you'd end up pogoing and then shoot instead. It's not hard to do consistently once learned, and is very important for a number of confined maneuvers. In fact, you should be using the IPT for almost any jump that requires more height/distance than a normal jump, since there's no reason to be continuously pogoing in this game.

'''Air Jump:''' There is a frame-specific, pixel-specific technique that allows Keen to jump immediately after falling off a ledge: when executed properly, he will jump slightly under the ledge in mid-air. Because of the extra speed oscillation (see "Horizontal Movement"), the frame precision reduces the odds of performing this jump to chance, with a 2/3s chance with one timing and a 1/3s chance with another. This is only used in Keen2 but, because it saves about ~40s otherwise used to complete the level normally, is worth the chance.

If you're wondering about the precision of the air jump, you must do the following (can be performed on any floor that has a ledge):
* Stand on the very last pixel before you'd fall from the floor. In terms of alignment, Keen's shoe outline should match the edge of the floor.
* Hold down left/right (whatever direction is away from the floor).
** For normal frames, press jump three frames after the left/right button.
** For speedy frames, press jump two frames after the left/right button.
Technically you don't have to line up with pixel ahead of time, and it's likely that the timing is different in these cases (albeit still off by a frame for speedy oscillations), but it's a lot easier to get into the right spot by stopping before performing the air jump.

=== Blaster ===

'''Firing Control:''' In order to shoot, the Vorticon engine uses what is called "two-button firing": both the jump and pogo buttons must be held down at the same time. Note that this does not mean the pressing has to be simultaneous! (It can be and this is ideal but hard to do every time.) You can, alternatively, hold down the jump button and tap the pogo button and you will shoot as soon as the latter is pressed. When shooting, Keen enters a firing "stance" and regular movement can only resume when both buttons are no longer held down. Similarly, this means you must release both at some point: in the previous example of holding down jump and tapping pogo, Keen will only leave the firing stance once the jump button is released.

Having to deal with two-button firing is a huge pain. Under normal (read: casual) conditions you can usually get away with shooting from a standing or possibly a falling position, but for the sake of speedrunning it's imperative to shoot during a jump, usually a pogo-jump. Worse, since shooting has a special stance, it also removes your pogo if you happened to be pogoing at the time. This incurs the following kinds of maneuvers:
* Shooting just before landing followed by an IPT
* Shooting at the apex of a jump combined with horizontal adjustments
* Shooting while avoiding enemies
As a rule of thumb, remembering to use the jump button before pogo when firing is a better process, since pogo can toggle at any point in mid-air but pressing jump during a jump affects nothing. There's also cases where inputs just don't seem to get through, and the aforementioned handling combined with a bad input often equals death. It's frustrating, but enough practice will get it to become consistent.

'''Slide Shot:''' Due to the firing stance, shooting is the same as not moving, so any horizontal momentum is slowed during a shot (halted if you're on the ground). To compensate, there's a glitch that makes it possible to shoot just before landing and still keep moving, named a slide shot. Simply, shoot while moving horizontally and barely before hitting the ground, and you'll preserve horizontal momentum while in the firing stance. This tends to save half a second, otherwise lost from either jumping over the enemy you meant to shoot or shooting him from the ground (and wasting momentum). It is primarily a technique in Keen1 to handle Yorps.

== Enemies ==

Let's start with two simple rules about enemies:
# Enemies are completely random.
# Enemies cannot be manipulated.
Enemy randomness is only slightly limited in that they can't interrupt themselves mid-action: if an enemy jumps, they can't turn around and/or shoot. Otherwise, they are always capable of performing any action, and there is no fixed-wait time between actions. Furthermore, there are only two ways to affect the RNG that all enemies are attached to: boot time of the computer and, go figure, enemies taking actions. Although the TAS manipulates enemy movements, this is simply not practical to do in a real-time speedrun.

Thus, a large portion of execution and, unfortunately, luck in the Vorticon engine (though it applies to Galaxy as well) is related to avoiding or defeating enemies in the way while losing as little time as you can doing so. If nothing else, this gives the player a lot of variability in runs and doesn't often lose too much time, although some unlucky patterns will simply lead to death no matter the setup. There's also a matter of enemy-specific routing that attempts to compromise time loss and chance to succeed. Much of Keen is about controlling Keen himself, but the rest is all about dealing with the randomness of enemies.

There are some general actions that most enemies can do. They will be listed and described here, although game-specific pages will point out which actions each enemy from that game is capable of. (The Galaxy engine is a lot more versatile in enemy capabilities so enemy actions are left to their game-specific pages only.)

=== Jumping ===

Lots of enemies jump. The most significant enemy type, Vorticons, has a variable-height jump with no preparation time: other enemy types use a single-height jump, again no preparation. If you have the space to do so, you'll usually jump over these enemies in such a way that there is little or no chance for them to collide with you.

=== Scanning ===

Some enemies will stop in place and "think" (not by any physical appearance but that's basically what they're doing). After scanning, the enemy will begin moving towards you, regardless of if they can see you or if you're even at the same height as them. Vorticons usually scan after jumping.

=== Attacking ===

Attacks are almost always in a ranged form: blaster shots, sound waves, fire balls, et cetera. There's always some preparation time before the shot goes off, though in some cases it's not nearly enough to properly react to the blast itself. Ranged attacks are occasionally indiscriminate to who they're hitting, so can be used to your advantage (albeit by luck).

Commander Keen: Vorticons

2014-04-02T21:55:35Z

CapnClever: first draft, but I think it covers everything important to the "engine": anything game-specific only truly belongs on the game page

This page discusses features found in the first three games of the Commander Keen series, also known as the "Invasion of the Vorticons" trilogy. For game-specific routing, check the appropriate game page:

[[Commander Keen: Marooned On Mars]]
[[Commander Keen: The Earth Explodes]]
[[Commander Keen: Keen Must Die!]]

== Game Control ==

The Vorticon engine, in general, has almost paradoxical controlling: on one hand, the movement often feels loose as a result of Keen's momentum; on the other, timing of shots and jumps require a great deal of precision and often rigidly lock Keen into certain positions. Combined, it's the worst of both worlds, and until control is learned you'll feel like the game switches between zero physics and ice physics (not to mention this engine has some of its own ice physics).

For reference, this game is 35FPS for the purposes of input-timing. Processing is done at 70FPS, which can have minor effects on rendering

=== Horizontal Movement ===

Left and right movement is similar to that of Super Mario Bros 3 (whose own engine was the inspiration for what would become this game): it takes time to build up to maximum speed and it takes time to slow down. Thus you can't immediately change from going left to going right: lining up where you want to be also has to factor in at what speed you want to be when lined up.

Jumping and pogoing briefly pause Keen's horizontal movement, so only do these when it's necessary: excess jumps add up over time.

While pogoing, Keen has less control over his horizontal movement. It's preferable to stop pogoing if you need to adjust a jump in mid-air.

'''Speed Oscillation:''' Every three frames, if Keen is moving left or right, he will move one additional pixel in that direction. For the most part, this is a bad thing, because it means that any closely-timed maneuvers (jumps, pogos) have slightly different timing depending on which frame you do them. Because the oscillation is too fast to keep track in real-time, there's no way to match a "correct" timing, so everything has to be as precise as possible at all times to ensure you're doing what has to be done. Fortunately, most jumps in this game aren't incredibly precise, so there's a little room for error. As such, IPT won't often be stated by name, instead explaining to "pogo from the ground" since it amounts to the same thing in the Vorticon engine.

=== Vertical Movement ===

'''Jumping:''' Keen spends a period of time "preparing" to jump. It's in this period of time that you can vary how high Keen jumps, differing from no movement at all to a full-height jump (a bit more than three tiles high). Jump preparation always takes the same amount of time, so the important factor is determining how high (or how far) you want your jump to be.

'''Pogoing:''' Once Keen equips his pogo stick, he's capable of jumping twice as high, just above six tiles of height, with a minimum height of about two tiles. If on the ground, he'll spend the same preparation time to pogo-jump; if in the air, he'll wait to fall before preparing for the next jump.

It's possible to begin a pogo jump after having completely walked off of a floor. Preparations of pogo-jumps actually preserve horizontal momentum for a very short period, and this can be used to move farther off the edge of a floor than would be possible with only jumping.

'''Impossible Pogo Trick (IPT):''' This is simply performing a full-height pogo jump from standing or walking position. The reason it's considered "impossible" is because of two-button firing (see "Blaster") and therefore requires precise timing. In short:
* Press ALT to begin pogo
* Immediately release ALT
* Press and hold CTRL to increase height
If step two weren't there, you'd end up pogoing and then shoot instead. It's not hard to do consistently once learned, and is very important for a number of confined maneuvers. In fact, you should be using the IPT for almost any jump that requires more height/distance than a normal jump, since there's no reason to be continuously pogoing in this game.

'''Air Jump:''' There is a frame-specific, pixel-specific technique that allows Keen to jump immediately after falling off a ledge: when executed properly, he will jump slightly under the ledge in mid-air. Because of the extra speed oscillation (see "Horizontal Movement"), the frame precision reduces the odds of performing this jump to chance, with a 2/3s chance with one timing and a 1/3s chance with another. This is only used in Keen2 but, because it saves about ~40s otherwise used to complete the level normally, is worth the chance.

If you're wondering about the precision of the air jump, you must do the following (can be performed on any floor that has a ledge):
* Stand on the very last pixel before you'd fall from the floor. In terms of alignment, Keen's shoe outline should match the edge of the floor.
* Hold down left/right (whatever direction is away from the floor).
** For normal frames, press jump three frames after the left/right button.
** For speedy frames, press jump two frames after the left/right button.
Technically you don't have to line up with pixel ahead of time, and it's likely that the timing is different in these cases (albeit still off by a frame for speedy oscillations), but it's a lot easier to get into the right spot by stopping before performing the air jump.

=== Blaster ===

'''Firing Control:''' In order to shoot, the Vorticon engine uses what is called "two-button firing": both the jump and pogo buttons must be held down at the same time. Note that this does not mean the pressing has to be simultaneous! (It can be and this is ideal but hard to do every time.) You can, alternatively, hold down the jump button and tap the pogo button and you will shoot as soon as the latter is pressed. When shooting, Keen enters a firing "stance" and regular movement can only resume when both buttons are no longer held down. Similarly, this means you must release both at some point: in the previous example of holding down jump and tapping pogo, Keen will only leave the firing stance once the jump button is released.

Having to deal with two-button firing is a huge pain. Under normal (read: casual) conditions you can usually get away with shooting from a standing or possibly a falling position, but for the sake of speedrunning it's imperative to shoot during a jump, usually a pogo-jump. Worse, since shooting has a special stance, it also removes your pogo if you happened to be pogoing at the time. This incurs the following kinds of maneuvers:
* Shooting just before landing followed by an IPT
* Shooting at the apex of a jump combined with horizontal adjustments
* Shooting while avoiding enemies
As a rule of thumb, remembering to use the jump button before pogo when firing is a better process, since pogo can toggle at any point in mid-air but pressing jump during a jump affects nothing. There's also cases where inputs just don't seem to get through, and the aforementioned handling combined with a bad input often equals death. It's frustrating, but enough practice will get it to become consistent.

'''Slide Shot:''' Due to the firing stance, shooting is the same as not moving, so any horizontal momentum is slowed during a shot (halted if you're on the ground). To compensate, there's a glitch that makes it possible to shoot just before landing and still keep moving, named a slide shot. Simply, shoot while moving horizontally and barely before hitting the ground, and you'll preserve horizontal momentum while in the firing stance. This tends to save half a second, otherwise lost from either jumping over the enemy you meant to shoot or shooting him from the ground (and wasting momentum). It is primarily a technique in Keen1 to handle Yorps.

== Enemies ==

Let's start with two simple rules about enemies:
# Enemies are completely random.
# Enemies cannot be manipulated.
Enemy randomness is only slightly limited in that they can't interrupt themselves mid-action: if an enemy jumps, they can't turn around and/or shoot. Otherwise, they are always capable of performing any action, and there is no fixed-wait time between actions. Furthermore, there are only two ways to affect the RNG that all enemies are attached to: boot time of the computer and, go figure, enemies taking actions. Although the TAS manipulates enemy movements, this is simply not practical to do in a real-time speedrun.

Thus, a large portion of execution and, unfortunately, luck in the Vorticon engine (though it applies to Galaxy as well) is related to avoiding or defeating enemies in the way while losing as little time as you can doing so. If nothing else, this gives the player a lot of variability in runs and doesn't often lose too much time, although some unlucky patterns will simply lead to death no matter the setup. There's also a matter of enemy-specific routing that attempts to compromise time loss and chance to succeed. Much of Keen is about controlling Keen himself, but the rest is all about dealing with the randomness of enemies.

There are some general actions that most enemies can do. They will be listed and described here, although game-specific pages will point out which actions each enemy from that game is capable of. (The Galaxy engine is a lot more versatile in enemy capabilities so enemy actions are left to their game-specific pages only.)

=== Jumping ===

Lots of enemies jump. The most significant enemy type, Vorticons, has a variable-height jump with no preparation time: other enemy types use a single-height jump, again no preparation. If you have the space to do so, you'll usually jump over these enemies in such a way that there is little or no chance for them to collide with you.

=== Scanning ===

Some enemies will stop in place and "think" (not by any physical appearance but that's basically what they're doing). After scanning, the enemy will begin moving towards you, regardless of if they can see you or if you're even at the same height as them. Vorticons usually scan after jumping.

=== Attacking ===

Attacks are almost always in a ranged form: blaster shots, sound waves, fire balls, et cetera. There's always some preparation time before the shot goes off, though in some cases it's not nearly enough to properly react to the blast itself. Ranged attacks are occasionally indiscriminate to who they're hitting, so can be used to your advantage (albeit by luck).

Commander Keen (series)

2014-04-01T23:39:18Z

CapnClever: whoops forgot to finish a sentence

This page discusses the Commander Keen series as a whole. Topics specifically related to a particular engine or a particular game should be addressed in the appropriate page (see "The Series" below).

== The Series ==

Commander Keen games include:

* [[Commander Keen: Vorticons|Episodes 1-3]], also known as the "Invasion of the Vorticons" trilogy (or "Vorticons" for short)
** Episode 1 is [[Commander Keen: Marooned On Mars]]: speedrun time is just under 4:00.
** Episode 2 is [[Commander Keen: The Earth Explodes]]: speedrun time is about 7:00, although as low as 6:20 is achievable with the current route.
** Episode 3 is [[Commander Keen: Keen Must Die!]]: speedrun time is just under 2:00.
* [[Commander Keen: Galaxy|Episodes 4-6]], including the "Goodbye, Galaxy!" pair and "Aliens Ate My Babysitter!" (collectively called the "Galaxy" games)
** Episode 4 is [[Commander Keen: Secret of the Oracle]]: speedrun time is about 10:30, although 10:20 is doable with the current route.
** Episode 5 is [[Commander Keen: The Armageddon Machine]]: speedrun time is about 2:30, with 2:10 being ideal with the current route.
** Episode 6 is [[Commander Keen: Aliens Ate My Babysitter!]]: speedrun time is around 4:00, with 3:35 considered a flawless time with the current route.
* [[Commander Keen Dreams]], sometimes known as Keen 3.5: speedrun time is around 5:00.

== Major Game Features ==

There are two major game engines used in the Keen series. The first is used in Keens 1-3: this is dubbed as the "Vorticon engine". The second is used in Keens 4-6: this is dubbed as the "Galaxy engine". Keen Dreams is technically an incomplete Galaxy engine, so there are a couple differences that matter, but for the most part it controls the same.

Although there are differences between Keen engines, a number of features exist throughout all games and learning their subtleties is incredibly important to speedrunning each game.

=== Blaster ===

Keen's typical method of disabling enemies (and very rarely anything else) is to shoot them with his blaster weapon (or, in the case of Keen Dreams, throw Flower Powers). Depending on the enemy, it will require one or multiple shots to permanently defeat them, temporarily stun them, or be completely useless.

Using the blaster always requires an amount of time to fire, which can affect the timing of other actions. In general, it is better to fire while in the air, as this allows Keen to continue moving while he shoots. Learning how to shoot in such a way as to avoid dying from enemies while still maintaining movement through a level is critical to getting good times in these games.

=== Pogo ===

With the exception of Keen 1 (which only matters in the first level) and Keen Dreams, Keen is able to equip a pogo stick throughout each game. The pogo has the following properties:

* Jumping while on the pogo increases jump height.
* Moving while on the pogo preserves momentum. Whereas Keen normally accelerates when the left/right buttons are pressed and stops when released, Keen will instead continue in the same direction without extra input. It's simple enough to get used to, but switching to and from pogo can cause strange changes in speed so it's important to be deliberate with pogo movements.
* Pogoing and jumping in quick succession results in the "Impossible Pogo Trick" (or IPT for short). Whereas in the original trilogy this was basically just a way to use a full-height pogo jump from the ground, in the Galaxy games this actually provides a slight boost, allowing you access to many areas faster or at all. While the IPT exists in every game that contains the pogo, it is executed differently depending on the engine, so further details will be given on the appropriate pages.

=== Overworld Map ===

Each Keen game contains a relatively non-linear overworld from which the game levels are accessed. Movement on these maps is handled with a supremum metric: that is, diagonal movement is the sum of horizontal and vertical movement. Although this makes mapping the fastest route from one level to the next rather simple, there's often bad collision detection on the map (usually in later games) that can trip up the player: knowing where these are is important so that you're not losing time in an otherwise-trivial part of the game.

Actions can be buffered to and from the map. In general, you'll always want to buffer directional movement in both cases, and occasionally additional buttons (which will be explained on a per-level basis). Note that in Keens 1-3 you can only buffer one command: pressing two buttons at the same time is the same as pressing nothing.

== Additional Resources ==

[http://www.pckf.org Public Commander Keen Forum] This forum contains an active community of players of the Commander Keen games.

[http://www.shikadi.net/keenwiki/Main_Page KeenWiki] This is the Commander Keen wiki, and is the inspirational source for much of the information found here.

Commander Keen (series)

2014-04-01T23:38:13Z

CapnClever: Created page with "This page discusses the Commander Keen series as a whole. Topics specifically related to a particular engine or a particular game should be addressed in the appropriate page (..."

This page discusses the Commander Keen series as a whole. Topics specifically related to a particular engine or a particular game should be addressed in the appropriate page (see "The Series" below).

== The Series ==

Commander Keen games include:

* [[Commander Keen: Vorticons|Episodes 1-3]], also known as the "Invasion of the Vorticons" trilogy (or "Vorticons" for short)
** Episode 1 is [[Commander Keen: Marooned On Mars]]: speedrun time is just under 4:00.
** Episode 2 is [[Commander Keen: The Earth Explodes]]: speedrun time is about 7:00, although as low as 6:20 is achievable with the current route.
** Episode 3 is [[Commander Keen: Keen Must Die!]]: speedrun time is just under 2:00.
* [[Commander Keen: Galaxy|Episodes 4-6]], including the "Goodbye, Galaxy!" pair and "Aliens Ate My Babysitter!" (collectively called the "Galaxy" games)
** Episode 4 is [[Commander Keen: Secret of the Oracle]]: speedrun time is about 10:30, although 10:20 is doable with the current route.
** Episode 5 is [[Commander Keen: The Armageddon Machine]]: speedrun time is about 2:30, with 2:10 being ideal with the current route.
** Episode 6 is [[Commander Keen: Aliens Ate My Babysitter!]]: speedrun time is around 4:00, with 3:35 considered a flawless time with the current route.
* [[Commander Keen Dreams]], sometimes known as Keen 3.5: speedrun time is around 5:00.

== Major Game Features ==

There are two major game engines used in the Keen series. The first is used in Keens 1-3: this is dubbed as the "Vorticon engine". The second is used in Keens 4-6: this is dubbed as the "Galaxy engine". Keen Dreams is technically an incomplete Galaxy engine, so there are a couple differences that matter, but for the most part it controls the same.

Although there are differences between Keen engines, a number of features exist throughout all games and learning their subtleties is incredibly important to speedrunning each game.

=== Blaster ===

Keen's typical method of disabling enemies (and very rarely anything else) is to shoot them with his blaster weapon (or, in the case of Keen Dreams, throw Flower Powers). Depending on the enemy, it will require one or multiple shots to permanently defeat them, temporarily stun them, or be completely useless.

Using the blaster always requires an amount of time to fire, which can affect the timing of other actions. In general, it is better to fire while in the air, as this allows Keen to continue moving while he shoots. Learning how to shoot in such a way as to avoid

=== Pogo ===

With the exception of Keen 1 (which only matters in the first level) and Keen Dreams, Keen is able to equip a pogo stick throughout each game. The pogo has the following properties:

* Jumping while on the pogo increases jump height.
* Moving while on the pogo preserves momentum. Whereas Keen normally accelerates when the left/right buttons are pressed and stops when released, Keen will instead continue in the same direction without extra input. It's simple enough to get used to, but switching to and from pogo can cause strange changes in speed so it's important to be deliberate with pogo movements.
* Pogoing and jumping in quick succession results in the "Impossible Pogo Trick" (or IPT for short). Whereas in the original trilogy this was basically just a way to use a full-height pogo jump from the ground, in the Galaxy games this actually provides a slight boost, allowing you access to many areas faster or at all. While the IPT exists in every game that contains the pogo, it is executed differently depending on the engine, so further details will be given on the appropriate pages.

=== Overworld Map ===

Each Keen game contains a relatively non-linear overworld from which the game levels are accessed. Movement on these maps is handled with a supremum metric: that is, diagonal movement is the sum of horizontal and vertical movement. Although this makes mapping the fastest route from one level to the next rather simple, there's often bad collision detection on the map (usually in later games) that can trip up the player: knowing where these are is important so that you're not losing time in an otherwise-trivial part of the game.

Actions can be buffered to and from the map. In general, you'll always want to buffer directional movement in both cases, and occasionally additional buttons (which will be explained on a per-level basis). Note that in Keens 1-3 you can only buffer one command: pressing two buttons at the same time is the same as pressing nothing.

== Additional Resources ==

[http://www.pckf.org Public Commander Keen Forum] This forum contains an active community of players of the Commander Keen games.

[http://www.shikadi.net/keenwiki/Main_Page KeenWiki] This is the Commander Keen wiki, and is the inspirational source for much of the information found here.