Commander Keen IV: Secret of the Oracle (DOS)

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Commander Keen IV: Secret of the Oracle
Commander Keen 4 - DOS - USA.jpg
Platform: DOS
Year: 1991
Developer: id Software
For other games in the series see Commander Keen.

Commander Keen IV: Secret of the Oracle is a platform game for DOS where you play the role of Billy Blaze, a boy-genius with a penchant for saving the world. Your faster-than-light radio has intercepted some plans by the Shikadis to destroy the galaxy, so you hop in your Bacon-With-Beans Megarocket and head towards the planet Gnosticus IV where the Oracle will be able to answer some questions about the invasion. Unfortunately, when you arrive the Elders have been kidnapped and taken to the Shadowlands.

It is the first episode in the Goodbye, Galaxy! series and it was a major upgrade from the first Commander Keen trilogy. It has better graphics, improved sound, and many technical enhancements. The game features 8-directional smooth-scrolling EGA graphics, responsive controls, and a crisp look. It could have easily been seen on a console system, but it instead gave merit to the action PC games of the time. You can jump, pogo, shoot, climb, and swim your way through several levels in your attempts to save the Gnosticus Elders.

Screenshots

Commander Keen 4 - DOS - Title.png

Title screen.

Commander Keen 4 - DOS - Map.png

Wandering the map.

Commander Keen 4 - DOS - Border Village.png

Shooting slugs in Border Village.

Commander Keen 4 - DOS - Slug Statue.png

Pogo-sticking in front of the slug statue.

Commander Keen 4 - DOS - Dope Fish.png

Swimming away from the dope fish.

Commander Keen 4 - DOS - Lifewater Oasis.png

Idling in the Oasis.

Music

VGMPF Album Art       Icon-Help.png

Commander Keen 4 - DOS - Album Art.jpg

Commander Keen IVs music fits perfectly with the game. It's lighthearted and upbeat, just like the game itself. Bobby Prince wrote the music from ground up for the Sound Blaster FM synthesizer since the availability of true wave table synthesizers was uncommon at the time. He used Sequencer Plus Gold for the composing itself.

A couple of upgraded higher-quality MIDI files were made available on Bobby Prince's website and are included in the rip download.

The titles were conceived of and verified by Bobby Prince directly. For the unreleased tracks, the titles come from the file names of an archive supplied by John Romero.

Recording

# Title ComposerArranger Length Listen Download
01 Shadows Don't Scare Commander Keen!! Bobby PrinceBobby Prince 0:51
Download
02 You've Got to Eat Your Vegetables!! Bobby PrinceBobby Prince 1:56
Download
03 Too Hot to Handle Bobby PrinceBobby Prince 0:42
Download
04 Tropical Ghost Oasis Bobby PrinceBobby Prince 1:40
Download
05 Welcome to a Kick In Yore Pants In Good Ole Hillville! Bobby PrinceBobby Prince 1:15
Download
06 In a Land of Wonderment and Awe Bobby PrinceBobby Prince 0:35
Download

Credits

(Source)

Game Rip

Format

Download

IMF.png

Download

(Info)


The IMF files were ripped from the Huffman compressed Audio.CK4 file, using the look up stored in the LZ Compressed EXE file. The IMF music was played with AdPlug 1.7, and recorded with Winamp. The order of the music files matches the order in the game rip.

The archive also includes MIDI versions of several songs which are remakes arranged by the music's composer Bobby Prince to try and capture the originally intended sound before the FM Synthesis downgrade.

Audio Devices

Music

Icon - AdLib.png Icon - Sound Blaster.png

Sound

Icon - AdLib.png Icon - PC Speaker.png Icon - Sound Blaster.png

(Sources: Music, Sound)

Releases

  USA.svg   USA
Commander Keen Goodbye Galaxy - DOS - USA - Apogee.jpg
Title: Commander Keen: Goodbye, Galaxy!
Platform: DOS
Released: 1991-12-15
Publisher: Apogee Software, Ltd.
  USA.svg   USA
Commander Keen 4 - DOS - USA.jpg
Title: Commander Keen IV: Secret of the Oracle
Platform: DOS
Released: 1992-??-??
Publisher: Micro Star
  USA.svg   USA
Commander Keen Goodbye Galaxy - DOS - USA.jpg
Title: Commander Keen: Goodbye, Galaxy!
Platform: DOS
Released: 1993-09-??
Publisher: GT Interactive Software Corp.

Links


Commander Keen
Commander Keen: Keen Dreams Platform - DOS.png
Commander Keen IV: Secret of the Oracle Platform - DOS.png
Commander Keen V: The Armageddon Machine Platform - DOS.png
Commander Keen VI: Aliens Ate My Babysitter! Platform - DOS.png
Commander Keen Platform - GBC.png
Notable Songs Too Hot to Handle • You've Got to Eat Your Vegetables!!
Notable Personnel Bobby Prince
Notable Companies id Software • 3D Realms