Omnispeak: An reimplementation of "Commander Keen in Goodbye Galaxy!"
Omnispeak is an open-source reimplementation of Commander Keen episodes 4, 5,
and 6. It aims to be a pixel-perfect, bug-for-bug clone of the original games,
and is compatible with savegames from the DOS version.
Omnispeak's homepage, including binary downloads, is available at:
https://davidgow.net/keen/omnispeak.html
Omnispeak's source code can be found on GitHub:
https://github.com/sulix/omnispeak
== INSTALLATION ==
To play, you'll need to include files from the original game.
Omnispeak supports:
- Keen 4 v1.4 EGA
- Keen 5 v1.4 EGA
- Keen 6 v1.4 EGA
- Keen 6 v1.5 EGA
These should be the easiest versions to get. For example, the Steam version and
the GOG.com version are both version 1.4, as are all the previous downloadable
versions from both id Software and 3D Realms / Apogee. Keen 6 is not easily
available, but you should be able to find patches which convert one version of
the game to another. Keen 6 v1.5 fixes a few bugs, so it's probably best to use
it if you can. Note that the game will likely crash if you use any other version,
including the CGA versions and the v1.0 releases, as well as the retail FormGen /
GT Interative versions and the Keen 6 version bundled with the id Anthology.
The shareware release of Keen 4 v1.4 EGA is available here:
https://davidgow.net/keen/4keen14.zip
You'll need to take the following files from your version of Keen, and place
them in the same directory as the 'omnispeak' binary:
* GAMEMAPS.CK?
* EGAGRAPH.CK?
* AUDIO.CK?
You'll also need the files from the 'data' directory corresponding to your
version of Keen.
To run the game, simply switch to the directory with the data files, and run:
./omnispeak
Omnispeak supports several command-line options, some of which are:
/EPISODE <4,5,6,6v14,6v15>
- Runs the given episode/version of Commander Keen
/GAMEPATH <directory>
- Sets the path to the game data files.
/USERPATH <directory>
- Sets the path to the savegame and config files.
/FULLSCREEN
- Starts the game in fullscreen mode
/FILLED
- Starts the game with aspect-ratio correction off.
/NOBORDER
- Starts the game with EGA overscan border emulation off.
/INTEGER
- Starts the game with integer scaling enabled.
/NOJOYS
- Disables Joystick detection.
/NOCOPY
- Bypasses the "Creature Question" screen in Keen 6.
/AUDIOSYNC
- When using SDL-based sound backends, use the audio clock
rather than the system clock. Available as the
'sd_sdl_audioSync' config option.
(Enabling this ensures perfect audio timing, at the expense
of worse frame pacing.)
/DEMOFILE <filename>
- Plays the demo recorded with Keen's F10+D cheat in filename.
== CONFIGURATION ==
Omnispeak can read settings from the 'OMNISPK.CFG' file in the "user path".
This is a simple key/value file which looks something like this:
--8<--
# Graphics settings
fullscreen = true
border = true
integer = false
# The OPL emulator used by the SDL audio backend
# Valid values: "dbopl" (DOSBox), "nukedopl3" (NukedOPL3)
oplEmulator = "dbopl"
--8<--
Modifying settings from the ComputerWrist interface will update this config
file with the new settings.
Note that this file is not episode-specific. The settings are shared between
all episodes.
== COMPILING ==
The source code for Omnispeak is available on GitHub:
https://github.com/sulix/omnispeak
You'll find it in the src/ directory and built with make.
Omnispeak should build fine on most Linux distributions.
You'll need to have the Simple Directmedia Layer 2.0 installed, with the
sdl2-config program somewhere in your path.
When compiled, an 'omnispeak' binary will appear in 'bin/', along with
the files from the 'data' directories.
Cross-compilation for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows targets using MinGW32-Win64
is also supported. Omnispeak can also be compiled using recent versions of
Microsoft Visual C++ using the provided CMake build system.
Cross-compilation for the GCW Zero is possible using the [GCW Zero
toolchain](http://www.gcw-zero.com/develop).
Cross-compilation for 32-bit MS-DOS using DJGPP is available, though the port
is quite buggy. Simply run:
make PLATFORM=dos
A 486 and about 4MB of RAM are recommended to play Omnispeak under DOS.
On Linux, real OPL2 compatible soundcards can be used in place of the Adlib
emulation by building with either the WITH_ALSA=1 option (for most soundcards),
or the WITH_IEEE1284=1 option (for the OPL2LPT). These require libasound and libieee1284
respectively, and must be enabled at runtime by setting the "sd_backend" option
to "alsa" or "opl2lpt". (The ALSA device can be configured with the
"sd_alsa_device" option, and the parallel port for the OPL2LPT can be set with
"sd_opl2lpt_port".)
Packagers should note that it's possible to change the default KEEN and USER
paths with the make KEENPATH= and make USERPATH= options. Similarly, savegames
can be stored in the $XDG_DATA_HOME directory with the make XDGUSERPATH=1 option.
Additional options can be found in the ``src/ck_config.h`` file.
For example, you could build with:
make KEENPATH=/usr/share/omnispeak XDGUSERPATH=1
To see a full list of build options, just run `make help`.
== NEW FEATURES ==
Omnispeak includes a new QuickLoad / QuickSave feature, which allows the game
in the final save slot to be saved and loaded without needing to navigate
the menu. This is done with the F5 and F9 keys by default: they can be changed
in the Keyboard bindings menu.
Omnispeak also greatly expands Keyboard and Joystick configuration over the
original DOS games. Additional keys / buttons can be re-bound, and a 'modern'
mode for the joystick is often easier to use, particularly when moving
diagonally.
== REPORTING BUGS ==
Please report bugs and feature requests on GitHub at:
https://github.com/sulix/omnispeak/issues
Alternatively, you can email me at:
[email protected]
== END OF TEXT ==
That's all! Now go play Commander Keen!
