Commander Keen 6 not to get legally?

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SupFanat
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Commander Keen 6 not to get legally?

Post by SupFanat »

[quote=http://www.shikadi.net/keenwiki/Keen_6]Unfortunately, this game is no longer legally available anywhere to purchase, unless bought second-hand. Although the other five episodes have been made available for a US$5 download, and Keen 1, Keen 4, Keen Dreams, and a demo version of this episode are available for free shareware distribution, this game is not legally downloadable anywhere at present.[/quote]

Who profits from this problem? Not even ID company...
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Post by Paramultart »

There's nothing left of ID Software. The last founding member (and official dismantler of the company) just quit. All that's left are Kevin Cloud and Tim Willits, and I truly doubt they'll do a good job carrying on the legacy. I mean, ID went from being a small, down-to-earth independent team, to selling out to ZeniMax. All we're going to see from the company now are cheap cash-ins on the games that used to make them great. (Like those horribly ported HD editions of Doom for the PS3)
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SupFanat
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It's even necessary to make old stuff available

Post by SupFanat »

In order to minimize the digital obsolescence.
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Post by Levellass »

Who profits from this problem? Not even ID company...
Selling a product, any product, requires overheads and often legal wrangling if that product was previously sold but isn't any more. The question then becomes whether it is worth a company's while to restart the sale of something. What ID has become has sales measured in multiple digits. Not only is it likely unprofitable for them to sort out the legal process it is almost guaranteed that the additional revenue is insignificant.

It is like lying in bed on a winter's night, your toes are cold and would benefit from you getting up to put on socks, but you are snug and warm and getting up would mean getting all chilly ad then you'd have to warm up all over again, and your toes aren't that cold after all...

Paramultart wrote:There's nothing left of ID Software. The last founding member (and official dismantler of the company) just quit. All that's left are Kevin Cloud and Tim Willits, and I truly doubt they'll do a good job carrying on the legacy. I mean, ID went from being a small, down-to-earth independent team, to selling out to ZeniMax. All we're going to see from the company now are cheap cash-ins on the games that used to make them great. (Like those horribly ported HD editions of Doom for the PS3)


So then... this raises the specter of (another) poorly implemented Keen game?
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SupFanat
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Remake for other OS - I could buy it

Post by SupFanat »

But does it fully replace the DOS versions?

DOS versions have an advantage - they are easier suitable for modding.
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Re: Remake for other OS - I could buy it

Post by SupFanat »

The fact that Commander Keen 6 is excluded from Steam Commander Keen pack can be found on German Wikipedia.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commander_Keen
Die Episoden 1–5 können über Steam erworben werden,[1] Keen Dreams ist über Google Play erhältlich.[2] Episode 6 wird momentan nicht vertrieben und ist keine Freeware.
It means:
"The episodes 1–5 can be bought on Steam,[1] Keen Dreams is available on Google Play.[2] Episode 6 isn't sold at the moment and it isn't a freeware".

Why not add Commander Keen 6 to the Steam pack? Who has made this pack?
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Re: Remake for other OS - I could buy it

Post by Lunick »

SupFanat wrote: Why not add Commander Keen 6 to the Steam pack? Who has made this pack?
id Software did?
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Post by Keening_Product »

It's rather well known it isn't included on the Steam pack. If you wanted to find out more about why, you could've googled "Keen 6 Steam" and got this as the top result: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/s ... p?t=780919
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Post by mortimer »

:garg :garg :garg :garg :garg
Last edited by mortimer on Sun Jul 12, 2020 20:39, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Fleexy »

The first version of Keen 6 I ever saw was named "keen6c.exe" (crack?) and never had this weird on-game-begin check, so I was very confused when I saw people online being sad about it. I'll see if I can dig that up.
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Post by Benvolio »

Or was it perchance c for CGA?

There is a crack. It is a .com file which does away with the "who's that enemy" dialogue. SWIM's copy is dated 12/5/1997 (European date).
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Post by mortimer »

:garg :garg :garg :garg :garg
Last edited by mortimer on Sun Jul 12, 2020 20:40, edited 1 time in total.
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SupFanat
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The trouble is than this regulation with rights...

Post by SupFanat »

...of Commander Keen 6 is no use, not even for the company "ID Software".
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Post by Levellass »

upload this, it must be checked.


It's quite possible that it's not a crack but an application of the various executable switches Keen uses.
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Post by blitter »

There's a KEEN6C.EXE and a KEEN6E.EXE in the tarball I got from Tom, adding to the theory they stand for CGA and EGA, respectively...
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