COMMANDER KEEN!!! Commander Keen 4 Walkthrough Guide Version 0.15 - 9-01-2001 Under Construction. Created by Ęther SPOON!, aetherspoon@hotmail.com ______________________________________________________________________________ | Table of Contents | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Section 1..(Not in final form)...............................Table of Contents Section 2..(Complete)..........................................Version History Section 3..(Not complete)..........Introduction to Myself and Commander Keen 4 Section 4..(Not in final form)........................................Bestiary Section 5..(Complete)....................................................Candy Section 6..(Complete)..............................................Other Items Section 7..(Not complete).................................Complete Walkthrough Section 8..(Complete)...................................................Cheats Section 9..(Not started)...............................General Tips and Tricks Section 10.(Not complete)................................................Other ______________________________________________________________________________ | Bestiary | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BOUNDER According to Commander Keen 4, Bounders are red, friendly, bouncing guys that are annoying, but can be helpful too. It is a non-combatant enemy (you can shoot it, but it will not kill you), although it CAN kill you (of course, you would need to be immensely stupid to be killed by it) by being on the bounder as it falls into a pit. It is mainly there to help you. Since you do not get points for shootings things in this game, it is useless to kill it unless you are in a rather sadistic mood :) There are a couple of exceptions though ... you can be pushed by them into a pit. Locations: Mainly outdoors levels. POISON SLUG According to Commander Keen 4, Poison Slugs are the most common creature in the Shadowlands, and can kill you two ways, either by its "remains", or by it's touch. Poison slugs are probably the slowest creatures that you will ever find, and they are pushovers. They tend to... um.. excete some form of green poison... excrement that goes away after around 5 seconds. They are also deadly to the touch, so be careful. Since they are so slow (and stop when they fart to... um... excrete), it is easy to jump over them. If you are an experienced CK player, there is no need most times to even shoot them. Locations: Damn close to every level in the game. LICK According to Commander Keen 4, Licks are blue beanbag-like monsters that breathe fire, and that is just what they are. Not too hard to kill, but they are fast. Touching them will NOT kill you, but their fire will. Locations: Hardly anywhere in easy, everywhere in hard. SKYPEST YE GODS these things are annoying... According to our intrepid hero, these are virtually immune to all attacks... the secret is when they are on the ground- your pogo stick can kill them believe it or not... They kill by touch, unless they are on the ground and you pogo them. Locations: Mainly outdoors levels. MAD MUSHROOM The second type of non-combatant creature, these things kill you with there touch, but you can't kill them.... your only chance is timing. They will bounce three times, then do a high bounce (sometimes landing on a different platform in some cases!), then repeat. Just time it right. Locations: Almost everywhere, with the first level being one of the few exceptions. WORMOUTH Only a tad annoying, you should be able to dodge these green thingies. In their "seeker" state, they look like a green pellet. When they come after you, they look like a green hungry hand puppet (well, that's what it looks like.... don't ask how I came up with that). You can only shoot them in their "hungry" state, and they only come up for that when you are on top of them. Occasionally they do come up. My suggestion is (most times) just to jump over them. Locations: Unknown. INCHWORM These are non-combatants. They do absolutly NOTHING other then follow you. They are only found in the Pyramid levels. Well, they DO do something, but... Locations: Temple of the Moon and Hillsville. PRINCESS LINDSEY Yet another non-combatant friend, she will give you a little help on how to do things.... I'm much better help in this FAQ though :) Locations: Hillsville and Chasm of Chills. FALSE ROCK For some odd reason, the Commander Keen 4 help files never mention this fiend, but he exists all right... killable, but also easily avoided. He can only hit you while launching himself in the air (his method of attack) and you can shoot him there. I just walk past them most times. He reacts to you like the ghosts in Mario do- if you look at him, he won't move. Locations: You hardly ever see him in easy (Hillsville being the first), but he is almost EVERYWHERE in hard other then the first two levels. Pretty much, he can be in every level with a rock in it. ARACHNUT "Insane, green, crab-walking creatures with two dangerous mouths." Okay, these monsters are hard to deal with. They CANNOT DIE. They can, however, be stunned. When you shoot them twice (yes, twice), they fall to the ground. After about 4 seconds, they will start to get back up, then come back up to fight again. Kills by the touch only, so you can pogo above it (sorta- it's tall). BERKELOID Immortal creature, throws fireballs, kills with touch. 'nuf said. Avoid. Locations: Isle of Fire. COUNCIL MEMBER Non-combatant friend (yes, friend). These guys are immortal, and are almost literally walking exit points. You need to rescue all 8 of these members to beat Commander Keen 4. Locations: Perilous Pit, Cave of the Descendents, Isle of Fire, Crystalus, Well of Wishes, Lifewater Oasis, Pyramid of the Shadows, and Pyramid of the Gnosticene Ancients. COUNCIL JANITOR Tee hee hee :) Location: Pyramid of the Forbidden DOPEFISH (May the Dopefish be with you!) These creatures are legends in their own right. Although they only appear in Commander Keen 4 (and one level at that), these are the only creatures that are actually worshipped outside the keen universe. These are the second-dumbest creatures in the universe, and the thought patterns are "swim swim hungry, swim swim hungry" (kinda like me :)). They are immortal since they are fish.... and you can't shoot anything in that level that they are on. They also have the COOLEST theme song in Commander Keen- "Eat your veggies." The only way around them is to make "sacrifices". They are also rather funny. They can only kill you by eating you. On easy, you will only ever find TWO Dopefish. On hard, there are 7 Dopefish. Location: Well of Wishes, and the fan pages of hundreds of thousands of people everywhere :) EAGLE EGG A simple egg... until you step on it. See EAGLE SPAWN for more details. Locations: Crystalus, Chasm of Chills. EAGLE SPAWN Yipes! One shot takes down these FLYING AND WALKING creatures, but they come back up in 4 seconds. They most times come from eggs, but some levels on hard have the eagles pre-hatched. Locations: Crystalus, any level with Eagle Eggs that have been hatched. MAGES I have no idea what to call these things, but they steal items! Location: Pyramid of the Gnosticene Ancients MONTY PYTHON FOOT What, you didn't think Apogee had a sence of humor? Locations: Pyramid of the Moon and Pyramid of the Forbidden. SCHOOLFISH Non-combatant, but useful "Follow the leader"s. These are the things you use as sacrifices to the Dopefish. Location: Well of Wishes. SPRITE No, this is not the drink made by Coca-Cola :) These are devils underwater. They can actually shoot you (unfair... a monster can shoot but you can't:( ) .... Death by shooting or touch. Location: Well of Wishes. THUNDERSTORMS Yet another creature they left out of the help... they shoot lightning bolts and follow you. Unkillable, can only kill you with a lightning bolt. Locations: Anywhere where there are clouds. ______________________________________________________________________________ | Version History | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 9-02-2001 Version 0.15- Outlined my route for beating the game and ALL enemy statistics! Everyone should cheer now or something :) Also worked on Beastiary. 9-01-2001 Version 0.11- Finished Level 3 Easy. Yeah, I'm working on easy for now, I'll get back to Normal soon enough, then hard. Submitted to GameFAQs, but may not be posted because 0.15 was so close to it. 7-07-2001 Version 0.10- Found an error inside the FAQ (why doesn't anyone tell me these things?!), and finished Level 2... easy. 6-16-2001 Version 0.09- Corrected two cheats, fixed one spelling error and one VERY large formatting error (seems I was doing 80 characters per line instead of 79... odd.), added Version History and intro. Posting on GameFAQs and RPGInsider.com. Plugged my HTML version of this FAQ (finally remembered...) FAQ Denials- Cheating.de has been denied access to my FAQ. I don't like spammers. 4-20-2001 Version 0.08- Started second level walkthrough, posted on GameFAQs (unknown dates) Version 0.07- Finished most other sections. Version 0.06- Added other sections Version 0.05- Finished first level walkthrough, posted on GameFAQs Version 0.04- Started first walkthrough Version 0.03- Continued organization Version 0.02- Organization of FAQ Version 0.01- Start of FAQ ______________________________________________________________________________ | Introduction to Myself and Commander Keen 4 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hello. I'm the almighty Ęther SPOON!, sometimes known as aetherspoon (on the GameFAQs boards), Ęther SPOON! (on the RPGInsider.com boards), and on the rare occasion, Spoon (on the RPGInsider.com website). I'm a rather well known... -being I guess you could say- on the GameFAQs boards, former IRCop there back when the chat existed. I'm also Co-Webmaster for RPGInsider.com (that's why I allowed my FAQ to go there :P), so I'm kinda well known/notorious there too. I have a web version of this FAQ stored on my personal website (www.aetherspoon.cjb.net it SHOULD be assuming cjb ever works...), and that is also incomplete, but has some nice introductory work including things that this FAQ will never cover, and has screenshots too! I use two computers for this game- my 80386 PS/2 machine and my P3-850 machine ... running the preview version of Connectix Virtual PC (no, that's not a plug, I just like the program...) so I can actually take screenshots! More on the game itself later, but my HTML FAQ has the basics of the game down pat... and it looks soooo pretty! :) This game has the time honored tradition of being the game that peaked my interest in Commander Keens, and the cause of me purchasing Commander Keen 6 (my favorite Keen). ______________________________________________________________________________ | Candy (aka Points) | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shikadi Soda (100 Points) Three-Tooth Gum (200 Points) Shikkers Candy Bar (500 Points) Jawbreaker (1000 Points) Doughnut (2000 Points) Ice Cream Cone (5000 Points) ______________________________________________________________________________ | Other Items | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Raindrops: (NOTE: I refuse to call them raindrops, they are tear drops darn it!) "Floating in the sky are raindrops. Since the water of Gnosticus IV has a life-sustaining energy, if Keen collects a hundred raindrops, he gets an extra life!" - Okay, get 100 and it does the same thing as having a lifewater flask. Neural Stunner: This is ammo for your weapon. 'nuf said. Gems: These things open doors.... at least this isn't Keen 6 where you have to kill Blooglets to get them... Lifewater flask: 1-up. ______________________________________________________________________________ | Complete Walkthrough | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _______________________________________________ | Shadowlands | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you really want to, you can visit the Bean-with-Bacon MegaRocket, but where you need to go is Border Village, which is above the MegaRocket. _______________________________________________ | Bean-with-Bacon MegaRocket | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Difficulty of level: -1/10? :) ****** *Easy* ****** No enemies, no way of dying, no items. ******** *Normal* ******** Nadda. ****** *Hard* ****** You get the idea. _______________________________________________ | Shadowlands | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now goto Border Village (above the Bean-with-Bacon Megarocket _______________________________________________ | Border Village | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ************ *Statistics* ************ Okay, here is your first real level. The whole object of this level (as well as many levels in CK4) is to reach for the exit, which is placed on the left side of the level (unlike almost every other platform game in existence, you can start off on the right side of the level). Walkthroughs: 1 combined one (not much difference between the levels). Number of Exits: 2 Difficulty of level: 1/10 ************ ****Easy**** ************ Combatant Creatures: 2 Poison Slugs Non-combatant enemies: 2 Bounders 24 Ammo Found Total Lives- 7 Bonus Lives can be found. ************ ***Normal*** ************ Combatant Creatures: 3 Poison Slugs Non-combatant enemies: 2 Bounders 15 Ammo Found Total Lives- 7 Bonus Lives can be found. ************ ****Hard**** ************ Combatant Creatures: 3 Poison Slugs 2 Licks Non-combatant enemies: 2 Bounders 15 Ammo Found Total Lives- 7 Bonus Lives can be found. ************************ **Combined Walkthrough** ************************ When you enter, above you are 2 arcs (small formations of items that can be grabbed with one stroke) of teardrop crystals. These can be obtained with or without the help of the bounder, but if you do not use the bounder, make sure you at least use the pogo stick... This is also a great location to get used to grabbing these arcs since there are no enemies in the intro area other then the bounder. The first enemy you run across is a bounder. ***BOUNDER BIO*** According to Commander Keen 4, Bounders are red, friendly, bouncing guys that are annoying, but can be helpful too. It is a non-combatant enemy (you can shoot it, but it will not kill you), although it CAN kill you (of course , you would need to be immensely stupid to be killed by it) by being on the bounder as it falls into a pit. It is mainly there to help you. Since you do not get points for shootings things in this game, it is useless to kill it unless you are in a rather sadistic mood :) There are a couple of exceptions though... ---END BOUNDER BIO--- Anyways, immediately after the hill (around the starting location of the bounder) is a small arc of Three-Tooth Gum (200 points each, 800 points total). If you continue down the path, you will see a little hut (well, it's just past the candy arc... hard to miss). If you press up, you will enter the hut. The first hut has 4 Shikadi Sodas in it (100 points each, 400 points total), and NOTHING else... very small room if you ask me. Be careful though... when you leave the hut, you may have a poison slug right next to you. Speaking of the slug, this is the first thing that can kill you here. ***POISON SLUG BIO*** According to Commander Keen 4, Poison Slugs are the most common creature in the Shadowlands, and can kill you two ways, either by its "remains", or by it's touch. Poison slugs are probably the slowest creatures that you will ever find, and they are pushovers. They tend to... um.. excete some form of green poison... excrement that goes away after around 5 seconds. They are also deadly to the touch, so be careful. Since they are so slow (and stop when they fart to... um... excrete), it is easy to jump over them. If you are an experienced CK player, there is no need most times to even shoot them. ---END POISON SLUG BIO--- Anyways, since you are playing this game on easy, I would suggest you shoot the poor little thing. When you reach the next house, this is where the path splits. You can either 1) go into the house, or 2) stay on top. I suggest doing both for the points, although it doesn't really matter too much if you are on easy anyways.... *****PATH DIVERSION 1: inside the house.**** On Easy, this is the harder of the two routes, on Normal they are about the same difficulty, but on Hard, it is the easier of the two. When you enter the house, you'll see two blasters to your left (bringing your blaster count to 20 on Easy), and two sticks of gum (200 points each, 400 points total) to your right. Below the sticks of gum is the fire poll down to the level below. The easiest way to go down polls most times is to go down partially, then quickly jump and fall the rest of the way down, but in this case, that is not necessary. On your right are two Shikkers Candy Bars (400 points each, 800 points total). Continue to the left until you reach a green pool of acid (deadly). You'll see a rather odd looking arc of points: two rows of soda, and one row of jawbreakers (100 points each for the two rows of soda, 1000 points each for the row of jawbreakers, 2400 points total). This arc is possible on one pogo-assisted jump (and if you are good, one normal jump), but I would advise against it unless you are very good at this game since you CAN do two jumps.... Right after the statue of the slug is the exact opposite pattern (100 points each for the two rows of soda, 1000 points each for the row of jawbreakers, 2400 points total). At this point, you can continue on to the left until you reach another fire poll, and go back up to the end of the diversion, which has 4 sodas in the room (100 points each, 400 points total). *POINT SUMMARY FOR THE END OF DIVERSION 1* Points: 7800 Teardrops: 8 Blasters: 15 for Easy, 9 for Normal and Hard Keens: 0 *****PATH DIVERSION 2: outside the house.***** You should notice that there are some pits here with spikes on the bottom: remember what I said about bounders falling into these things? Well, many times they will fall in this first one, other times they will go over it. The spikes are just long enough to hit you with a bounder in there.... and spikes will kill you of course. Anyways, there is another small teardrop arc here, and you can get the entire arc by jumping over the spikes. The next 2 sets of spikes have 3 tear drops in a row above them- if you aim for the middle one, you will get all three. On hard, you get to meet your next enemy: Lick ***LICK BIO*** According to Commander Keen 4, Licks are blue beanbag-like monsters that breathe fire, and that is just what they are. Not too hard to kill, but they are fast. Touching them will NOT kill you, but their fire will. ---END LICK BIO--- To be honest, I never even shoot the lick. I get out of its way, and it ends up falling into the spikes. Immediately after the spikes is another poison slug. This one I do suggest killing, as it is in a rather inconvenient spot. There is a house here with a blaster inside. If you have used two shots (one for each slug), you should have 8 or 11 after getting the blaster (each blaster gives 8 shots on easy, 5 on normal and hard). Now, notice another bounder here.... when you are on the hill, look up. You'll see an arc of gum high up (200 points each, 800 points total), and 2 teardrop arcs (bringing your total teardrops to 26). The teardrop arcs do not need the bounder, nor does the gum arc, just use your pogo stick. On hard, you will find another lick here, and I always use the bounder to go past him- I never touch him. Sometimes the slug is here in Normal and Hard (see below after the diversion), which I do shoot. You should reach the house and exit sign now. *POINT SUMMARY FOR THE END OF DIVERSION 2* Points: 2000 Teardrops: 26 Blasters: 6 for Easy, 3 for Normal and Hard Keens: 0 --END DIVERSION-- Right at the last house there is a slug in Normal- kill it. Grab the teardrop arc now. After you grab the arc, you should decide on going back to do the other path (I will assume you do). At this point, after you go back and do the other path, you should have: Points: 8600 Teardrops: 30 Blasters: 22 for Easy, 12 for Normal and Hard Keens: 0 If you want, you can go to the exit now, however, there is a secret (and somewhat hard to reach) exit as well. *****PATH DIVERSION 1: Normal Exit.***** Left of the "above world" section. Just keep going left and you'll reach it. *****PATH DIVERSION 2: Secret Exit.***** Go underground (I suggest going through the exit from the underworld since it is most likely closer to where you are), and go to the slug statue area. If you stand right at the left-most torch (the big one) and look up, you will see a section of the ceiling longer then the rest... Pogo to it, and release the pogo when you reach it. There is a itty-bitty ledge there for you to climb on. NOTE: For Normal and Hard (since the pogo doesn't go as high), you will have to pogo off of the lip of the green acid lake to this. It's just a tad harder :) Now, you will see a elevated platform (that falls when you touch it). I suggest starting up your pogo stick on the ledge, and make sure it reaches the maximum height (about 3 pogos) before you move and pogo onto the elevator. Keep the pogo stick on and go up and left, and you will see SEVEN life flasks, bringing your keens up to 10. When you get all 7 flasks, go to the door up towards the top on the right (directly above the slug statue) to exit. EXIT- ****SUMMARY: This level's stats**** Points: 8600 Teardrops: 30 Blasters: +22 for Easy, +12 for Normal and Hard (15 if you wanted to shoot the licks, but that is not necessary in my opinion) Keens: 7 _______________________________________________ | Shadowlands | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Current Status: Points: 8600 Teardrops: 30 Blasters: 27 for Easy, 17 for Normal and Hard Keens: 10 Now, you will have a choice. You can either: 1) Goto The Perilous Pit (and rescue a council member) 2) Goto Slug Village 3) Goto the Water. If you go to the water, young Billy Blaze will say he can't swim- we'll get to that later. I'm not going to The Perilous Pit because I'm going to do all the council members LAST. Guess what that leaves? Slug Village.... Slug Village looks identical to Border Village, and is just a tad north of Slug Village (if you miss it, you are blind :)). _______________________________________________ | Slug Village | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ************ *Statistics* ************ Now we are getting somewhere, your first somewhat-difficult level... Only two major paths, and no secret exits.... Kinda straight forward, don'ts think? :) Number of Exits: 1 Difficulty of level: 1/10 for easy, 2/10 for hard. ************ ****Easy**** ************ Combatant Creatures: 4 Poison Slugs 1 Skypest Non-Combatant Creatures: 4 Bounders 1 Mad Mushroom ********************** **Walkthrough - Easy** ********************** Start off with grabbing the 5-tear arc at the beginning. If you mess this up , go back to playing Mario Brothers :P Anyways, it's time for another patented CK4 path diversion! *****PATH DIVERSION 1: Top of the world***** Note: I do not suggest taking this path at all, I NEVER do. EVER. My suggestion is go diversion 2, 3, 4, then 1 backwards. Jump over the first pit- that's the path of diversion two.... anyways, the tiny arc of 3 tears does require a pogo boost. The next set is 4 teardrops in a row, which also requires a pogo boost: watch out for the bounder and slug (which should be shot) though... You should see the path start to go down hill and a small teardrop arc, but be careful- there is another slug there. I suggest luring it to the top of the hill, then shooting it. After it's "stunned", take a normal leap to get the drops. You'll see a path above. Go there, but watch out for this new and unique creature- the Skypest. Although this is the end of the diversion, sometimes the Skypest interferes with this path. ***Skypest Bio*** YE GODS these things are annoying... According to our intrepid hero, these are virtually immune to all attacks... the secret is when they are on the ground- your pogo stick can kill them believe it or not... They kill by touch, unless they are on the ground and you pogo them. ---End Skypest Bio--- *POINT SUMMARY FOR THE END OF DIVERSION 1* Points: 0 Teardrops: 11 Blasters: 0 Keens: 0 *****PATH DIVERSION 2: Underground***** You now are going to get a glance at what most of CK looks like- underground . When you reach the first pit, go down and immediately to the RIGHT. You'll enter a secret passage (there are two of them on this side, one further up then the other). Inside the top secret passage is two candy bars (500 points each, 1000 points total), then go down to the left to get the Jawbeaker (1000 points each, 1000 points total), then right again to the other secret passage. Keep going right, and you'll fall down a firepoll. Down below is an icecream cone (5000 points each, 5000 points total) and and a blaster. Go all the way up the poll for six teardrops and two Jawbreakers (1000 points each, 2000 points total). Anyways, go back down the poll part way and do a short jump, holding down left at the same time (trust me, it's easier then that). For now on, I'll refer to that move as a polejump. Anyways, go left (out of the secret path) until you reach a pit and go down. Down here is your first encounter with the ever-so-famous "Mad Mushroom." ***Mad Muchroom Bio*** The second type of non-combatant creature, these things kill you with there touch, but you can't kill them.... your only chance is timing. They will bounce three times, then do a high bounce (sometimes landing on a different platform in some cases!), then repeat. Just time it right. ---End Mad Mushroom Bio--- To get everything (you may want to save here... kinda tricky), you need to go under the mushroom, get all the stuff, then jump OVER the mushroom and get the rest. Do NOT use a pogo stick here, just a normal jump. All in all , there are eight teardrops and 3 Jawbreakers (1000 points each, 3000 points total). Go back left again (using the pogo stick to get back up to the main level area again) and go up to get the two sticks of gum (200 points each, 400 points total). Fall down the next pit and get the two candybars (500 points each, 1000 points total). Jump towards the right to go into yet another secret passage. Go right until you fall down. Then go left.... WAAAAY left. You'll go to a small room with three blasters, two Jawbreakers (1000 points each, 2000 points total) and an Ice Cream cone (5000 points each, 5000 points total). Go back right until you reach that hidden pit again, then pogo back up to the other pit (too many pits :) ), then pogo back up to the path again. Grab the small arc of gum (200 points each, 600 points total), then go down to get the other two sticks of gum (200 points each, 400 points total). Continue left, being grateful along the way for the fact that you chose easy instead of hard, and you'll see a firepole. Go up it. Now, you have ANOTHER diversion. Path three will bring you to the rest of the points, path four brings you to the end of the diversion. If you go to path three, you have to come back and do path four to finish the level. *-*-*PATH DIVERSION 3: Lower Slug Village part two*-*-* Grab the arc of teardrops (4), and kill the slug. Then grab the huge amount (9) of teardrops above the bounder, and enter the little area. Here is your first look at a switch. Hit up to switch it, which activates the extended area of the platform. See what's below the platform? Fire. Guess what happens when you fall in it? :) Anyways, there are three sticks of gum (200 points each, 600 points total) above the platform, but make sure you are confident in your jumping and pogoing, since the last piece needs a pogo boost. My hint on that is to wait until the platform is moving RIGHT, then pogo, hit the candy, and move a bit right. The platform will be right below you when you land (most times). Keep following the path, picking up three more sticks of gum (200 points each, 600 points total). At the end of the path is your reward: 2 Doughnuts (2000 points each, 4000 points total) and a blaster. Return to the location of the pole again and start diversion 4. Curiously enough, if you have gotten every- thing at this point, you will have 35000 points even.... odd :) -POINT SUMMARY FOR END OF DIVERSION 3- Points: 5200 Teardrops: 11 Blasters: 8 Keens: 0 *-*-*PATH DIVERSION 4: Returning to the Skies*-*-* Oh gee, this is real hard. If you can't figure out where to go when you go right, you need more then this FAQ :P Grab the arc of teardrops (3) to the right, and you've finished the diversion. Yep, that's it. Although this is the end of the diversion, sometimes the Skypest interferes with this path. -POINT SUMMARY FOR END OF DIVERSION 3- Points: 0 Teardrops: 3 Blasters: 0 Keens: 0 *POINT SUMMARY FOR END OF DIVERSION 2* Points: 26400 Teardrops: 30 Blasters: 40 Keens: 0 (I am not counting keens from points and teardrops) *****DIVERSION REUNION***** This Skypest, however, tends to fly off into the air and leaves the level (oddly enough). Anyways, right after the pest is yet another slug. See the bounder? DO NOT SHOOT IT! Right above the bounder (you can't see it unless you look up) is a rather large area of tear drops and an ice cream cone (5000 points each, 5000 points total). Get the last 5-tear arc, and you are done! Well... assuming you went backwards along the first diversion. :) ****SUMMARY: This level's stats - Easy**** Points: 31400 Teardrops: 70 Blasters: +41 Keens: 0 ************ ***Normal*** ************ Combatant Creatures: 6 Poison Slugs 1 Skypest 2 Licks Non-Combatant Creatures: 4 Bounders 1 Mad Mushroom ************************ **Walkthrough - Normal** ************************ For now on, the Walkthroughs for Normal will be slightly condense compared to the walkthrough for Easy. If you need more details, just read both. :) Anyways, jump over the first slug. Not hard. *****PATH DIVERSION 1: Top of the world***** Right across the gap is another slug. I would shoot this one mainly because he (she? it?!?) tends to be in the way. Further down the path, you'll see TWO more slugs (got the reason why it is called slug village yet?). You should be able to avoid both of them. That's it. Short, eh? :P *****DIVERSION REUNION***** Your standard Skypest (just one), then another slug and a lick. I HATE LICKS!!! This one I killed since the lick is right by the bounder for the hard-to-reach drops/candy. ************ ****Hard**** ************ Combatant Creatures: 10 Poison Slugs 2 Skypests 6 Licks 5 Wormouths Non-Combatant Creatures: 3 Bounders 1 Mad Mushroom ********************** **Walkthrough - Hard** ********************** To be completed.... _______________________________________________ | Shadowlands | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Current Status: Points: 40000 (HERE 1ups are counted in tallys from score bonuses) Teardrops: 0 (1 keen gained from drops included in tally) Blasters: 63 for Easy, ?? for Normal and Hard. Keens: 13 All right.... you can go almost anywhere now... anywhere but the water. So, I'll bring you to the next easiest (and not required whatsoever) level- Hillsville _______________________________________________ | Hillsville | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ************ *Statistics* ************ Now, this is most likely the first somewhat hard area of the game (using the term "hard" loosely). This isn't exactly a Crystalus or a Well of Souls, but it is STILL hard compared with the two "sluggy" towns. Or is it? Heck, you shouldn't even need to use your BLASTER the entire level... Number of Exits: 1 Difficulty of level: 0/10 if just trying to beat it, 3/10 to get items, 4/10 for hard. ************ ****Easy**** ************ Combatant Creatures: 3 Rocks (yep. That's it.) Non-Combatant Creatures: 1 Bounder 2 Mad Mushrooms 2 Inchworms 1 Princess Lindsey ********************** **Walkthrough - Easy** ********************** First thing you see is your new favorite friend, the Inchworm. ***INCHWORM BIO*** These are non-combatants. They do absolutly NOTHING other then follow you. They are only found in the Pyramid levels. Well, they DO do something, but.. ---END INCHWORM BIO--- Grab first teardrop arc (4 drops), then proceed to the right. There is a Shikkers Candybar arc above the first pit area (500 points each, 2000 points total) and hidden platform to the left of the first pit. You'll see a shiny reflection if you look long enough. To reach it, jump to the highest hill, pogo to it and stop. WAY up and to the left is another platform (this is the short way to reach it, you are actually skipping one). Now you'll see floating platforms above you- DO NOT HIT THE FIRE!. Heck, you can't even walk off the platform as the fire has a radius around it that you can't hit... Immediately to the right of you is another hidden platform, Do a short jump to that, then pogo up to the jet platform. Going left on the jet platforms are a jawbreaker (1000 points each, 1000 points total) and an arc of blasters (4). At the end of the left side is a drop down to the beginning of the level with two doughnuts (2000 points each, 4000 points total). Go back to the jet platforms. Going right from that last hidden platform is another jawbreaker (1000 points each, 1000 points total), 2 doughnuts (2000 points each, 4000 points total), and you'll reach the end of the platform... Or did you? In reality, there is YET ANOTHER hidden platform to your right, and a lifewater flask above and to the right of it. Fall straight down from that flask, landing by ANOTHER inchworm (they are VERY helpful if you couldn't tell.. one where the secret started at, the other where it ended at). Now, backtrack to the left until you reach the point at which you were before (the point where you jumped on the first hidden platform. On your way, you'll see one hill with a teardrop arc (4 drops), and a 'shroom right after. Platform to the left of the shroom has 2 Shikkers Candybars (500 points each, 1000 points total) and another teardrop arc (4 drops). Now you have returned from where you started from, so go back to the right (getting tired of backtracking yet? :P) until you reach a very steep hill. Look up at the top of the hill and go meet her (while getting the 5 teardrops) royal highness, Princess Lindsey. ***PRINCESS LINDSEY BIO*** Yet another non-combatant friend, she will give you a little help on how to do things.... I'm much better help in this FAQ though :) ---END PRINCESS LINDSEY BIO--- Guess what? You get your first in-game conversation now! Yay or something! *****CONVERSATION: Lindsey vs. Keen***** Princess Lindsey: There's gear to help you swim in Three-Tooth Lake. It is hidden in Miragia. Commander Keen: Thanks, your Highness! -----END CONVERSATION----- Go down and flip the switch, grabing both Shikadi Sodas (100 points each, 200 points total) and return to the hill. I'm taking the bottom route first. *****PATH DIVERSION 1: Fury hath no Doughnut***** Ignore the platform and grab the two sticks of gum (200 points each, 400 points total) Now, this is the tricky part- playing with fire. Jump right BEFORE you reach the fire- it is kinda tricky to do. Now, I suggest you save. :) You should see 2 doughnuts there. DO NOT TRY TO GET BOTH AT ONCE!!! You are going to do something else- one at a time. Pogo over the fire while facing the OPPOSITE direction, and try to pogo over the fire completely. Now you should have grabbed one doughnut (2000 points each, 2000 points total) and be facing right. Pogo over the fire AGAIN to grab the other doughnut (2000 points each, 2000 points total) and return to the moving platform and diversion 2. Chances of success of getting it the first time without dying is around 1%. Yes, it is actually possible, I've done it before. This is the only hard part about this level. *POINT SUMMARY FOR THE END OF DIVERSION 1* Points: 4400 Teardrops: 0 Blasters: 0 Keens: 0 *****PATH DIVERSION 2: Elevator Wars***** Jump on to the moving platform. At the apex of the moving platform, you'll see 4 jawbreakers (1000 points each, 4000 points total) and a blaster. Get them (duh), it isn't hard to do. Now, move along the horizontal moving platforms. You'll notice some jets above you- ignore them for now. Get the teardrop arc (4 drops) and move on down. Grab the 2 Shikkers Candybars (500 points each, 1000 points total), going underneath the 'shroom. Now, I kinda lied.... there are THREE diversions. *POINT SUMMARY FOR THE END OF DIVERSION 2* Points: 5000 Teardrops: 4 Blasters: 8 Keens: 0 *****PATH DIVERSION REUNION/DIVERSION 3: Jet Set Platforms Mark II***** Keep going until you reach three rocks and a teardrop- DON'T GET THE ARC YET. First, we'll deal with these "false" rocks. ***FALSE ROCK BIO*** For some odd reason, the Commander Keen 4 help files never mention this fiend, but he exists all right... killable, but also easily avoided. He can only hit you while launching himself in the air (his method of attack) and you can shoot him there. I just walk past them most times. He reacts to you like the ghosts in Mario do- if you look at him, he won't move. ---END FALSE ROCK BIO--- Anyways, I lure them in to that spike pit. If they go in there, they can't jump out, and you won't need to shoot. :) Anyways, to the left of the tear drop arc and WAAAAY up, you'll see a glimmer. Yep, yet ANOTHER hidden platform. How to reach it that high up? Easy- the bounder there. Aren't you glad you didn't shoot this level? :) After you get up there, another hidden platform is above and to the right of it, but we are going to ignore that one to get the next one- WAAAY up and slightly to the left. Two more hidden platforms exist to the left until you reach the jet platforms (again). Go left first and grab the arc of jawbreakers (1000 points each, 4000 points total) and the blaster on the end. Now go to the right and grab that icecream cone (5000 points each, 5000 points total)! Fall back down from the cone. *POINT SUMMARY FOR THE END OF DIVERSION 3* Points: 9000 Teardrops: 0 Blasters: 8 Keens: 0 *****PATH REUNION***** Grab the teardrop arc (4 drops) and Shikkers candybars (500 points each, 1000 points total) and leave the level. That's it! ****SUMMARY: This level's stats - Easy**** Points: 33100 Teardrops: 25 Blasters: +38 Keens: 1 ************ ***Normal*** ************ Combatant Creatures: 3 Rocks 2 Poison Slugs Non-Combatant Creatures: 1 Bounder 2 Mad Mushrooms 2 Inchworms 1 Princess Lindsey ************************ **Walkthrough - Normal** ************************ Not complete! ************ ****Hard**** ************ Combatant Creatures: 3 Rocks 10(!) Poison Slugs 6 Skypests (still counting though, could be more since they fly off...) Non-Combatant Creatures: 1 Bounder 2 Mad Mushrooms 2 Inchworms 1 Princess Lindsey ********************** **Walkthrough - Hard** ********************** Not complete! _______________________________________________ | Shadowlands | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Current Status: Points: 73100 Teardrops: 25 Blasters: 111 for Easy, ?? for Normal and Hard. (Your scorebox will only say 99, but if you hit enter you see the true total) Keens: 14 Now, I haven't finished this part of the walkthrough yet, but I'm going to list the enemy statistics for EVERY level (Easy only), and in order too! :) _______________________________________________ | Miragia | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Difficulty of level: 0/10, 2/10 to get everything, 3/10 for hard. ************ ****Easy**** ************ Combatant Creatures: 7 Poison Slugs Non-Combatant Creatures: 4 Mad Mushrooms _______________________________________________ | Sand Yego | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Difficulty of level: 2/10 ************ ****Easy**** ************ Combatant Creatures: 7 False Rocks 4 Poison Slugs 2 Aracnuts Non-Combatant Creatures: 1 Mad Mushroom _______________________________________________ | Chasm of Chills | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Difficulty of level: 5/10 ************ ****Easy**** ************ Combatant Creatures: 3 False Rocks 2 Licks 2 Poison Slugs Non-Combatant Creatures: 6 Thunderclouds 2 Mad Mushrooms 2 Eagle Eggs 1 Princess Lindsey _______________________________________________ | Pyramid of the Moon | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Difficulty of level: 4/10, 8/10 to get everything and the foot. ************ ****Easy**** ************ Combatant Creatures: 1 Poison Slugs 1 Lick 1 Aracnut Non-Combatant Creatures: 12 Inchworms 1 Monty Python Foot _______________________________________________ | Pyramid of the Forbidden | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Difficulty of level: 7/10 ************ ****Easy**** ************ Combatant Creatures: 7 Poison Slugs 5 Licks Non-Combatant Creatures: 1 Mad Mushroom 1 Council Janitor 1 Monty Python Foot _______________________________________________ | Isle of Tar | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Difficulty of level: 6/10 ************ ****Easy**** ************ Combatant Creatures: 7 Poison Slugs 5 Wormouths 1 Skypest Non-Combatant Creatures: 1 Mad Mushroom _______________________________________________ | The Perilous Pit | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Difficulty of level: 0/10 ************ ****Easy**** ************ Combatant Creatures: None! Non-Combatant Creatures: 3 Mad Mushrooms 1 Bounder 1 Council Member _______________________________________________ | Lifewater Oasis | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Difficulty of level: 2/10 ************ ****Easy**** ************ Combatant Creatures: 2 Poison Slugs 1 False Rock Non-Combatant Creatures: 1 Thundercloud 1 Council Member _______________________________________________ | Cave of the Descendents | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Difficulty of level: 3/10 ************ ****Easy**** ************ Combatant Creatures: 3 False Rocks 1 Poison Slugs 1 Skypest Non-Combatant Creatures: 7 Mad Mushrooms 1 Council Member _______________________________________________ | Pyramid of the Shadows | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Difficulty of level: 6/10 ************ ****Easy**** ************ Combatant Creatures: 7 Poison Slugs Non-Combatant Creatures: 1 Council Member _______________________________________________ | Pyramid of the Gnosticene Ancients | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Difficulty of level: 10/10 to get everything, 6/10 normally. ************ ****Easy**** ************ Combatant Creatures: 7 Poison Slugs 2 Mages Non-Combatant Creatures: 1 Council Member _______________________________________________ | Isle of Fire | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Difficulty of level: 4/10 ************ ****Easy**** ************ Combatant Creatures: 6 Poison Slugs 5 False Rocks Non-Combatant Creatures: 1 Berkloid 1 Council Member _______________________________________________ | Well of Souls | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Difficulty of level: 9/10 for easy, 10/10 for hard. No pogo, no blaster. Oh crap. :) ************ ****Easy**** ************ Combatant Creatures: You can't even shoot, how are you going to combat these things? :P Non-Combatant Creatures: 24 Schoolfish 1 Sprite (not a six-pack) 2 Dopefish (Dopefish Lives! Worship the Dopefish!) 1 Council Member _______________________________________________ | Crystalus | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Difficulty of level: 10/10 for easy, 9/10 for hard. NOTE: IMPOSSIBLE POGO TRICK REQUIRED FOR GETTING EVERYTHING ************ ****Easy**** ************ Combatant Creatures: 3 Poison Slugs Non-Combatant Creatures: 5 Mad Mushrooms 1 Eagle Egg 1 Council Member ______________________________________________________________________________ | Cheats | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Come ON People! You don't need to cheat for THIS.... In case you do though..... (Cheats originally located in the program "Cheat v.26.0" and also at Gamesages) These are not from me, but I do know them by heart, so I could say that they are mine, but I'm honest :) Also, you can get the cheats at http://www.3drealms.com/cheat/keen4.html, that's the official page for them. To enter Debug Mode, hit A+2+Enter. This will activate the Debug Keys. Once you do this, do any of the following codes: NOTE: Cheat keys are not officially supported by Apogee. If you use the debug keys, Apogee cannot provide any support, since this alters game performance to a state where our standard support comments and issues might not apply. In short, using cheat keys can cause the game to malfunction or crash. Use at your own risk! (Excerpt, Apogee/3DRealm's official website) F10 + B = Border color (anywhere from 1-15). Border Colors (only works in the EGA/VGA version, CGA colors vary): 0 = Black (Valid color in CGA version) 1 = Blue 2 = Green 3 = Cyan (default color in the VGA version, valid color in CGA version) 4 = Red 5 = Magenta/Purple (Valid color in CGA version) 6 = Brown 7 = Greyish White (Valid color in CGA version) After 7, they repeat again. These are colors for BASIC if you didn't know. F10 + C = Object count. You get to see the # of Active/Inactive objects in the map. F10 + D = Record a demo. WARNING: This tends to crash. F10 + E = Beat current level. If used in the world map, you beat the game. F10 + G = God Mode. You can't be hit, but you can still die by reaching the bottom of a level... sometimes covered in water or oil. F10 + I = Free Items (3000 points and 99 blasters) F10 + J = Jump Mode. This is a rather useful cheat- you can jump as high as you wish. No pogo needed (CK 1-3 used to need the pogo to do this). There is one side effect though- you need to turn the jump mode off if you wish to jump down from any ledge. F10 + M = Current Memory usage. After you hit enter from the screen, the screen will look messed up- hit enter again to return to the game. F10 + N = No clipping. On the World Map: You can walk ANYWHERE. Well... almost. You cannot walk on any beach (sandy area) w/o the diver suit, and you cannot walk off the edge of the map- it is the only way to actually die on the world map :) If you turn it back on, either you will stay in that terrain, or you will be bumped to a movable path. In a level: You better use Jump Cheat with this.... otherwise you WILL die. If you fall off the bottom of a level, you will die. If you turn this on in a wall, unexpected things may happen. Note that even with God Mode on, you will still die. F10 + S = Slow Motion. Eeep. Slow motion is annoying and useless. F10 + T = Sprite Test. No, this isn't a soda tasting contest :) Hit ESC to leave the test. F10 + V = Add VBLs. I have absolutely no freaking clue what this is. (0-8) Note: According to the 3DRealms/Apogee website, VBL stands for Vertical Blinking Signal, and said that it will do nothign for most users. F10 + W = Level Warp. Here is the list of levels: Level Warp levels. (Possibly the order in which you are to beat them?) Level 01- Border Run Level 02- Slug Village Level 03- Perilous Pit Level 04- Cave of the Descendents Level 05- Chasm of Chills Level 06- Crystalus Level 07- Hillville Level 08- Sand Yego Level 09- Miragia Level 10- Lifewater Oasis Level 11- Pyramid of the Moons Level 12- Pyramid of the Shadows Level 13- Pyramid of the Gnosticene Ancients Level 14- Pyramid of the Forbidden Level 15- Isle of Tar Level 16- Isle of Fire Level 17- Well of Wishes Level 18- Bean with Bacon Megarocket (also the easiest spot to leave) F10 + Y = View Clipping. You get to see where you can walk.... it makes it easier for you to view where secret areas are. Note that this is turned off after you leave the game- you can't turn it off. (Thanks to Global Enemy for the reminder about that!) Non-Debug Mode Cheat: T+A+B (does not require debug mode) = 99 blasters, 4 shells, and a keen. It is also the only way to get shells in the Shadowlands :) F9 = Boss Mode. It will drop you down to what looks like a DOS Prompt Oddly enough, this cheat is NOT mentioned on the Apogee website.... well, I can sort of understand since it isn't really a cheat... Those are the cheats for Commander Keen 4. ______________________________________________________________________________ | Other | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.3drealms.com/downloads.html is the URL where you can download Commander Keen 1 and/or 4 (Shareware) http://personal.mia.bellsouth.net/~spoon42/ <- that is my website, which currently has a version of this FAQ, as well as one in HTML with additional features. FAQ in Progress. Version 0.15 No website other then GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com), RPGInsider (www.rpginsider.com) and my personal website may use this FAQ under any circumstances. If you want to use my FAQ, ask, and I MIGHT give you permission. All trademarks/copyrights are owned by their respective companies, this is not a official walkthrough from Apogee/Id Software. 2001© Ęther SPOON! - aetherspoon@hotmail.com