(Link to video)
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This is an any% tool-assisted speedrun of Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle.

Grab the encodes: primary 10bit444

  • Plays on the hardest difficulty
  • Takes damage to save time
  • Uses death to save time
  • Abuses programming errors
  • Manipulates luck
  • Aims for fastest time
  • Genre: Platform

Movie information

JPC-RR v11.6 was used to make the movie.
This TAS uses v1.0 of the game. You can locate a copy of it here.
Here is JPC-RR's ImageMaker's report on the disk image used: 
Type               : HDD
Tracks             : 16
Sides              : 16
Sectors            : 63
Total sectors      : 16128
Primary extent size: 2544
Storage Method     : 3
Sectors present    : 1514
Calculated Disk ID : FF45457A0E2AE9A817B95EB2A44269EF
Claimed Disk ID    : ff45457a0e2ae9a817b95eb2a44269ef
Comments section:
Entry: N/A            N/A                                       7 /
Vname: 19900101000000 N/A                                       0 c
Entry: 19900101000000 125c93a549a3e5b2ab4c6c6ec1ad3e7d      33325 /AUDIO.CK4
Entry: 19900101000000 82fa7b42df7da01d802ed7f72c11ca04      24507 /CATALOG.EXE
Entry: 19900101000000 f730032798569853a2c9132e1d890623     487332 /EGAGRAPH.CK4
Entry: 19900101000000 9e1811deb429f7edc6bffa5bb786ebb4      99040 /GAMEMAPS.CK4
Entry: 19900101000000 fed774926e64d10fa0cf7704313f4013     102355 /KEEN4E.EXE
Entry: 19900101000000 df62dc64c0873b510a983e52776d8833       2346 /ORDER.FRM
Entry: 19900101000000 d73b76127b79fc88735300cfee1a3780       1590 /README.DOC

Tricks used

Impossible Pogo Trick

Tapping ALT and CTRL near-simultaneously while holding Left or Right allows Keen to perform a higher-than-normal pogo jump.

Continuous Vertical Pogo

When approaching a static soft platform from below under certain conditions, Keen can land on it without having to wait for gravity to deplete her vertical momentum.

Cornerboosting

Landing on corners and hitting them in midair can slightly boost Keen forward.

Slope mechanics

Keen moves forward 7/6 times faster when traversing a downward slope. When traversing a sharply downward slope, she moves forward 1/3 times faster. Conversely, she moves forward 5/6 times slower when traversing an upward slope and 2/3 times slower when traversing a sharply upward slope.

Death flag glitch

Saving and reloading a game causes the "you are dying" flag to be reset while still leaving Keen in the dying animation, allowing her to clip through walls. This is beneficial when done near the vertical edge of a level, as touching one will complete the level. Oracles and swimming gear cannot be touched with this glitch.

Midair Pogo

Pogo activation and deactivation in midair allows for greater control over jump height. Keen's pogo hitbox is shorter than her jumping one, which can enable her to jump farther and higher in constrained spaces.

Stage by stage commentary

Shadowlands

Cornerboosting is possible even on the world map.

Border Village

Optimal bounder positioning is accomplished with luck manipulation. Bounder speed is equal to that of Keen, but walking on top of the two Bounders is still faster than pogoing and walking through the level.

Slug Village

Jumping allows Keen to reach a better subpixel position. The save glitch is used to skip nearly all of the level.

Miragia

The CVP and the Midair Pogo are featured on this level.

Lifewater Oasis

This level is unique in that it has significant in-level lag. For unknown reasons, this run avoids most of it. Near-optimal oracle positioning is attained.

Pyramid of the Gnosticene Ancients

The shortcut used was discovered by Cosmo. Moving platforms are deterministic; therefore, less than optimal movement does not cause time loss.

Pyramid of Darkness

This level features tons of snails that will cost time if badly positioned in addition to the volatile Oracle. Spike hazards and laser cannons have highly misleading sprites; their hitboxes are massive, which is why some parts may seem unoptimal to the untrained eye.

Crystalus

This is the highlight of the run; it features extensive CVP usage and a zip that only has useful application in this level.

Cave of the Descendents (sic)

Much like its kin, this shaft looks good. Unfortunately, the rest of the level is very dull.

The Perilous Pit

A level design error allows Keen to reach the top of the level in just a single elevator cycle, saving gobs of time.

Isle of Fire

The Berkeloid in the middle is manipulated to behave optimally in record time while also having excellent Oracle positioning.

Well of Wishes

Dopefish placement and movement patterns are constant. The second Dopefish is manipulated to turn around two frames earlier; all other Dopefish will gladly have Keen for breakfast while ignoring appeals.

Ending

The ending is reached before the 10-minute mark, but input is required in order for it to complete. Input is ended on the high score screen.

Special thanks to

  • Ilari: for making this run possible, writing the fabulous script, providing advice on JPC-RR usage, and following progress with devotion.
  • Cosmo: for discovering the PoGA shortcut and providing insightful feedback.

Suggested screenshots

[dead links removed]
I like Dopefish. Also, getting decent screenshots of Keen 4 is surprisingly difficult.
Nach: Great run, great audience response! Accepting for first run of this game.
Nahoc: Processing!

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Posted: 2/19/2012 10:12 PM
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TASVideoAgent
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Location: 127.0.0.1
This topic is for the purpose of discussing #3467: turska's DOS Commander Keen: Episode 4 - Secret of the Oracle in 10:28.28
Posted: 2/19/2012 10:27 PM
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hegyak
Editor
Joined: 3/31/2010
Posts: 1466
Location: Not playing Puyo Tetris
Oh boy. I can't wait to see this. I had to figure out how to actually run a DOS TAS to see the WIP. Use VLC 2.0 not 2.0 RC1 to watch the encode from Dropbox. The Perilous Pit = Awesome. If you think you are missing out on story elements when Keen gets to the Oracles, your not really. Each one says, "I will return to the oracle chamber."
When TAS does Quake 1, SDA will declare war. The Prince doth arrive he doth please.
Posted: 2/20/2012 1:00 AM
(Edited: 2/20/2012 1:48 AM)
Post subject: Re: #3467: turska's DOS Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle in 10:28.28
Quote
mklip2001
He/Him
Editor
Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 2227
Location: Georgia, USA
turska wrote:
Keen's pogo hitbox is shorter than his jumping one, which can enable her to jump longer and higher in constrained spaces.
I sense some confusion about Commander Keen's gender here ;-) Anyway, thanks for providing a downloadable encode! I'll definitely watch this a little later and post some comments here. I'm really looking forward to Commander Keen goodness. EDIT: Wow! This is basically everything I've wanted out of a Commander Keen run. There were stages with lots of shooting, stages with lots of precise jumping, some glitchy behavior here and there, and a whole lot of stage variety. It looks really good. I'm very happy to give this a Yes vote. Would you be interested in doing a Commander Keen 3 run? Nitrogenesis had a submission for that game some time ago.
Used to be a frequent submissions commenter. My new computer has had some issues running emulators, so I've been here more sporadically. Still haven't gotten around to actually TASing yet... I was going to improve Kid Dracula for GB. It seems I was beaten to it, though, with a recent awesome run by Hetfield90 and StarvinStruthers. (http://tasvideos.org/2928M.html.) Thanks to goofydylan8 for running Gargoyle's Quest 2 because I mentioned the game! (http://tasvideos.org/2001M.html) Thanks to feos and MESHUGGAH for taking up runs of Duck Tales 2 because of my old signature! Thanks also to Samsara for finishing a Treasure Master run. From the submission comments:
Shoutouts and thanks to mklip2001 for arguably being the nicest and most supportive person on the forums.
Posted: 2/20/2012 1:28 AM
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Nach
Emulator Coder
Joined: 3/9/2004
Posts: 4588
Location: In his lab studying psychology to find new ways to torture TASers and forumers
For some weird reason I was under the notion that you would need several quarters of an hour to beat this. Nice for doing it well below even one.
Warning: Opinions expressed by Nach or others in this post do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or position of Nach himself on the matter(s) being discussed therein.
Posted: 2/20/2012 2:29 AM
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CoolKirby
Editor, Experienced player (570)
Joined: 11/8/2010
Posts: 4037
Exotic platforms TASer of 2014 NES TAS of 2013
Thank you for uploading a YouTube encode, turska! I wouldn't have been able to watch the run otherwise. Nice run! Lifewater Oasis, Crystalus, and The Perilous Pit were all really good. Voting Yes!
Posted: 2/20/2012 7:44 AM
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FractalFusion
Editor, Expert player (2079)
Joined: 6/15/2005
Posts: 3282
Glitchy TAS of 2013 Gameboy TAS of 2013 PSX TASer of 2010
Good job turska. The best one to me is the Isle of Fire. It's hard enough not to die there, and the route you used seems so impossible unassisted. That said, I'm surprised you managed to deal with JPC-rr enough to pull off 50K rerecords. It's not easy to use at all.
Posted: 2/20/2012 8:06 AM
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Baxter
Skilled player (1410)
Joined: 5/31/2004
Posts: 1821
TAS of 2013 SNES TAS of 2013 Speedy TAS of 2007 Innovative TAS of 2007
Very nice TAS, voting yes.
http://tasvideos.org/Baxter.html
Posted: 2/20/2012 8:18 AM
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Fabian
Former player
Joined: 6/15/2005
Posts: 1711
Sweet run, nice work!
Zoey Ridin' High <Fabian_> I prett much never drunk
Posted: 2/20/2012 9:26 AM
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Dada
Joined: 11/22/2004
Posts: 1468
Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Great work, absolute yes vote. What was it like dealing with JPC-RR? I heard it's not the easiest to deal with (I've used it a long time ago, dunno how much it changed since then).
Posted: 2/20/2012 9:57 AM
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XTREMAL93
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Joined: 1/6/2012
Posts: 586
Location: Azerbaijan, Baku
nice work! YES
Posted: 2/20/2012 11:05 AM
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Patashu
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Joined: 10/2/2005
Posts: 4045
There are lots of little things about this that I love. Shooting things because you can, riding the Bouncers, the ending of Perilous Pit where you decide not to die, that one tiny zip, racing upwards through vertical shafts, the many narrowly avoided deaths on Isle of Fire, the expert pogo manipulation. It's a short and sweet run. Could you do Keen Dreams?
My Chiptune music, made in Famitracker: http://soundcloud.com/patashu My twitch. I stream mostly shmups & rhythm games http://twitch.tv/patashu My youtube, again shmups and rhythm games and misc stuff: http://youtube.com/user/patashu
Posted: 2/20/2012 11:20 AM
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Ilari
Emulator Coder, Skilled player (1113)
Joined: 5/1/2010
Posts: 1217
Rookie of 2010 New systems TASer of 2010 New systems TAS of 2010
Patashu wrote:
the ending of Perilous Pit where you decide not to die
The "die and complete level" trick can only be used on levels that don't have oracle, and PP has one. In general, using glitched level exits on levels with oracle in will make the game uncompleteable. Also, dying and falling on the oracle won't work. There is also another known glitched level exit: Enter invalid door (if door is on air, it is most likely invalid) and keen teleports to (0,0) and the level will end.
Posted: 2/20/2012 11:23 AM
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Svimmer
Joined: 9/27/2011
Posts: 207
Location: Finland
I'm guessing the save file is created in-game after all. At first I thought there was a pre-existing save file in the "rom" you were using but then I realized it's a pc run so you can type fast. Nice run, I'm starting to see that PC games are way too well programmed compared to a lot of console games, i.e. seems the glitches aren't as spectacular when you're used to seeing the backwards super jumping of Mario 64. But definitely a yes. Whoa I just realized what you did in the Perilous Pit :)
Posted: 2/20/2012 11:46 AM
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wicked
Joined: 1/22/2008
Posts: 319
Location: Brasil
i remember playing this demo, keen4e.exe, in 1995 when this floopy disk came with may soundblaster kit. voting yes
Run..Run...Run.....
Posted: 2/20/2012 12:53 PM
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Patashu
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Joined: 10/2/2005
Posts: 4045
Ilari wrote:
Patashu wrote:
the ending of Perilous Pit where you decide not to die
The "die and complete level" trick can only be used on levels that don't have oracle, and PP has one. In general, using glitched level exits on levels with oracle in will make the game uncompleteable. Also, dying and falling on the oracle won't work. There is also another known glitched level exit: Enter invalid door (if door is on air, it is most likely invalid) and keen teleports to (0,0) and the level will end.
I didn't mean it like that, just the way the flames don't seem to kill you despite clearly going through you.
My Chiptune music, made in Famitracker: http://soundcloud.com/patashu My twitch. I stream mostly shmups & rhythm games http://twitch.tv/patashu My youtube, again shmups and rhythm games and misc stuff: http://youtube.com/user/patashu
Posted: 2/20/2012 1:14 PM
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MUGG
Editor, Expert player (2330)
Joined: 5/15/2007
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Gameboy TASer of 2015 NES TAS of 2013 Gameboy TASer of 2011 Gameboy TASer of 2010
I remember playing this game when I was still a little kid. I never completed it but I remember many levels shown in this run and it certainly is very nostalgic for me to watch both Cosmo's livestreams of this game and this TAS.
Youtube • Livestream • Progress 11th TASer of the Decade 2010-2019 !
Posted: 2/20/2012 6:46 PM
Post subject: Re: #3467: turska's DOS Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle in 10:28.28
Quote
deuxhero
Joined: 8/7/2011
Posts: 166
mklip2001 wrote:
turska wrote:
Keen's pogo hitbox is shorter than his jumping one, which can enable her to jump longer and higher in constrained spaces.
I sense some confusion about Commander Keen's gender here ;-)
Also a "she" in the slope mechanics section. Any reason the donut isn't grabed at 3:26 given you have to wait for the platform anyways?
Posted: 2/20/2012 8:43 PM
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turska
Experienced player (764)
Joined: 6/17/2008
Posts: 146
Computer TASer of 2012
deuxhero wrote:
Any reason the donut isn't grabed at 3:26 given you have to wait for the platform anyways?
Score was completely disregarded throughout the run. I didn't even notice the donuts when redoing PoGA for the umpteenth time.
Keen Dreams, Keen 3
Improving the Keen 5 glitched any% is what I'm currently planning. I might take a look at the first trilogy sometime in the future and if I'm going to do any of them, it'll probably be Marooned on Mars. Keen Dreams never pleased me too much; the lack of a pogo stick makes both playing and TASing the game a chore.
The best one to me is the Isle of Fire. It's hard enough not to die there, and the route you used seems so impossible unassisted.
The Berkeloid positioning achieved is indeed quite unlikely. When testing if the route was even possible by hanging from the ledge and letting the emulator run freely, the Berkeloid behaved as desired after around 80 seconds had passed. I was extremely lucky when manipulating the Isle of Fire - optimal Berkeloid behaviour and excellent Oracle positioning was achieved with minimal delay.
Posted: 2/21/2012 2:23 AM
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CosmoZSR
Joined: 11/2/2009
Posts: 44
Location: Chicago, IL
Great work on this!
Posted: 2/21/2012 8:06 AM
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Dwedit
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Posts: 692
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Commander keen's name is Billy Blaze. Word of God says he's the grandson of B. J. Blazkowicz from Wolfenstein 3D. He's not a girl :)
Posted: 2/21/2012 1:24 PM
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DrJones
Joined: 4/3/2005
Posts: 575
Location: Spain
You did an amazing job! I remember when I played this as a kid, I didn't know you could swim faster in the Well of Wishes!! The only way I could pass the dopefish was by recruiting all those tiny fishes so that the dopefish spent just enough time eating them to give me time to escape. I enjoy how you play with death so many times in the run, and the isle of fire part is the most impressive of the entire run.
No.
Posted: 2/22/2012 5:53 AM
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PotatoHandle
Joined: 7/30/2010
Posts: 16
Childhood ruined? Check. Within one frame of death several times? Check. Rode the awesome red bouncy dudes? Check. Awesome TAS!
Posted: 2/22/2012 8:13 AM
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True
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Joined: 1/18/2008
Posts: 663
Billina Blaze gets a sexchange operation and saves the world in 10 minutes FTW.
true on twitch - lsnes windows builds 20230425 - the date this site is buried
Posted: 2/22/2012 11:38 AM
Post subject: Re: #3467: turska's DOS Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle in 10:28.28
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Radiant
Player (26)
Joined: 8/29/2011
Posts: 1206
Location: Amsterdam
Very nice work! Highlights are quickly getting up any vertical screen with lots of platforms, the gross behavior abuse in the Well of Wishes, and how amazingly fast you get through the Isle of Fire (which is one of the hardest levels in the game normally). Also, some nice ammo management especially at the beginning. Definite yes vote. Can we please have a 100% run in the future?
Indie game developer
Posted: 2/22/2012 10:19 PM
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Time/SpaceMage
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Posts: 128
Location: Virginia
One of my favorite games as a kid. I'll watch the rest later but looks really cool!
Working on a mod of an old favorite in my spare time. PM for updates!
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