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Classic platformer 'Keen Dreams' lives again thanks to Nightdive Studios

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Nightdive Studios have managed to rescue classic platformer Keen Dreams [Steam] from oblivion as well as getting it updated. I'm a little late on this (early November), granted, since no one sent it in and I found it while randomly looking around.

It seems the previous owner "Hard Disk Publishing" did some really stupid things and got themselves removed from Steam, so thankfully Nightdive Studios took over and revived it yet again.

Not only that, they pulled in Ryan "Icculus" Gordon (again) to do some polishing work. As a result, they managed to rip out a load of old rendering code which got replaced by SDL 2. They also managed to get gamepad support in a much better state, cloud saves now work properly and more.

I think the work Nightdive Studios do to keep classic games alive is really quite amazing, even if they're not all something I'm interested in, I think it's really important work.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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Liam Dawe Nov 21, 2017
Quoting: GuestHey, didnt NightDive studios also promised the System Shock re-release to come to linux? I believe they answered to you on twitter about that.
Good question, have asked again today: https://twitter.com/gamingonlinux/status/932933737993719808
starfarer Nov 21, 2017
I remember Commander Keen. I loved it when I was a kid. Not sure whether I'd be that keen on playing it again. :E
sr_ls_boy Nov 21, 2017
Where did they get the source code?
Samsai Nov 21, 2017
Quoting: sr_ls_boyWhere did they get the source code?
The code was open sourced a while back. Presumably they used that to update it. https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/commander-keen-in-keen-dreams-has-been-open-sourced.4349
razing32 Nov 21, 2017
Nice they ported it .
Sadly , I recall this one was the weakest in the series.
Pit Nov 21, 2017
Quoting: Samsai
Quoting: sr_ls_boyWhere did they get the source code?
The code was open sourced a while back. Presumably they used that to update it. https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/commander-keen-in-keen-dreams-has-been-open-sourced.4349
Indeed: Github
But it's GPL 2, so if they used it for the Steam version, the source of that would have to be supplied, too....
GustyGhost Nov 21, 2017
Quoting: starfarerI remember Commander Keen. I loved it when I was a kid. Not sure whether I'd be that keen on playing it again. :E

I recently revisited some childhood classics, Cosmos Cosmic Adventure and Monster Bash. Good lord those games did not age well. Honestly, I don't foresee anyone buying such titles unless they too had them as a kid.
starfarer Nov 22, 2017
Quoting: AnxiousInfusion
Quoting: starfarerI remember Commander Keen. I loved it when I was a kid. Not sure whether I'd be that keen on playing it again. :E

I recently revisited some childhood classics, Cosmos Cosmic Adventure and Monster Bash. Good lord those games did not age well. Honestly, I don't foresee anyone buying such titles unless they too had them as a kid.

I remember I had a lot of fun with these games. I think I had a CD with a lot of apogee titles. Commander Keen, Cosmos Cosmic Adventure, Monster Bash, Wacky Wheels. You name it. And I had a lot of fun with them. But I agree with you, I probably wouldn't play them again today. I realised that I have some Commander Keen games in my Steam library. I think I tried to play them a couple of years ago, though not more than for a few minutes. Might try to revisit them again heh.
Pit Nov 22, 2017
Quoting: AnxiousInfusionI recently revisited some childhood classics, Cosmos Cosmic Adventure and Monster Bash. Good lord those games did not age well. Honestly, I don't foresee anyone buying such titles unless they too had them as a kid.

Well, the offer is for those that can value it :D
I still enjoy some Cosmo now and then, as well as Hocus Pocus

Those are really Good Old Games
cRaZy-bisCuiT Nov 24, 2017
You can play all (?) games of the Commander Keen series with the Open Source Engine "CommanderGenius"! It looks and plays exactly like the original one! :)
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