Many years ago, the Commander Keen series left the fans waiting for the next chapter entitled "The Universe is Toast". Promising the return of Mortimer McMire and most likely a slew of new aliens for Billy Blaze to stun, squash, or just plain avoid on his way to the goal of stopping Mortimer's evil plans. However, as any fan knows, Id software went on to bigger and, technologically speaking, better things. Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake and other games demonstrated that the company was more interested in technology than pure entertainment. Certainly these games were entertaining, but any true Keen fan knows that there was that special something that you just couldn't quite explain, something that added an inexplicable seductive quality that can be described as nothing less than pure fun. Many fans now attribute this quality to the work of Tom Hall, who no longer has the rights to continue the series.

    Since the mid-nineties, there have been many games created by fans, mostly the annoying Klick-n-Play generated material. However there have been a few quality projects, most notably The Mystery of Isis II, with a completely new engine. Sadly, the leader behind Isis dropped the project and moved on.

    Recently, the Commander Keen community has grown and developed a large amount of high-quality material. Fans have found ways to modify all the games, and there are many quality mods for all episodes, especially the Vorticons trilogy. There have been hints of an Isis resurrection, as well as brand new incredible fan games, including a spectacular new engine resembling the Galaxy engine, with far better graphics. Even a couple ambitious 3D games are in development and showing some progress.

    We are in the process of creating our own Keen game, complete with a new in-house DirectX engine. This engine is being designed and developed such that modifications will be relatively easy. (To somebody with a little programming knowledge and an appropriate compiler.)
The game in development here is a completely new adventure, naturally a spin-off of the original series.

Here is the latest tech demo: Technology demo number 11.

Other fun stuff:
The files are now available from one easy-to-use location, the Downloads Page.
Theres a new Screen Shots page with thumbnails and recent shots of the game as it works in development.

    The engine is moving along nicely. The tile rendering is nearly complete, both regular and animated tiles work perfectly. The player can run, jump, pogo, climb ledges and shoot a couple weapons. Projectile weapons utilize the physics engine as necessary. The HUD is working in the early stages. Point and ammo items can be collected. Moving platforms do what you'd expect.

    We are more than willing to accept any help offered! But let's get this clear: This game will not cost anything, do not expect to make any money from this. (See the donations page.) That said, there are specific areas where help would be more appreciated than others. Specifically: Graphics and Sound. Ideas for Actors, Levels and any other creative content are welcomed! (Talk about an easy way to get your name in the credits!)
Zach (the project leader) is the software engineer behind the engine. He claims no artistic abilities, and is nearly desperate for somebody to help out in these areas. Also, Zach isn't particularly interested in writing the input and sound code.
If you're interested in contributing to the project, feel free to contact Zach.
Note: Please make the subject something that will catch his eye. He gets a lot of junk spam in that email address.