Commander Keen Heptalogy% speedrun

This video showcases the full DOS library of Commander Keen games, in chronological order, complete with commentary. Each game is completed using strategies that attempt to reach the end state of the game as fast as possible (whether they be glitches or just optimal methods), all of which is described as they're done.
I perform this run every Sunday night (EST) on my twitch channel (twitch.tv/capnclever) so feel free to come on in and ask me stuff! You can also ask via comments in this video, I'll do my best to answer anything.

[@FutureHouseRecords]

Thank you so much! This video is perfect for my childhood nostalgia. Your commentary and speedrunning is brilliant too!

[@Joey007ist]

I rewatch this every now and then. Very nostalgic and calming to watch.

[@nataliapockets]

I friggin love the sounds in the commander keen series

[@SilentMott]

One of the first video games I ever played, hearing the sound effects puts a nostalgic tear in my eye.

[@Devilot91]

Dude your skills on Aliens Ate My Babysitter with magic bullet were simply amazing, most of the bugs and tricks you used (even thought I knew just few) I never saw them before, watched whole video and you're really good! Nice run :)

[@CharliesMaidenCovers]

this is way too epic sir. Watched this yesterday before sleep instead of movie. Great stuff

[@GAnimeRO]

Commander Keen is one of the coolest DOS games imo. I spent sooo much time playing Marooned on Mars.

[@IprenKills]

I wish there were more commentary videos like this one, would love to see one for Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure

[@xxxvertigoxxx]

Check out GDQ if you haven't.

[@Dosgamert]

I love the commentary. I'm a big fan of your content Cap! Love your runs. Keep up the good work. I once made it to 19th place on un-intentionally on Keen1, but it was fun running Keen.

[@RNorthex]

This is a nigh perfect showcase; excellent commentary and information. Would absolutely love to see future commentated DOS games, the keen ones are definitely my favorite.

[@jhawley031]

Fun fact: the cyphers in commander keen are also use as the enchanting table language in minecraft

[@codyreynolds2400]

I wish more runners made content like this. Props, my friend and great run.

[@GetlemanNightmare]

oh childhood memories. my father had this whole games to my cousing who was 9 years older than me and when I was small I played these at my grand dad's compure. and that was year 1999 :D

[@TheBlackClockOfTime]

Thank you for making this video. It was incredibly interesting, in-depth and brought back some great memories from childhood! :)

[@kennyearthling7965]

That was amazing dude, so much fun seeing you do glitches in the 6th one. I've loved these games since they came out. (I was totally shouting Nospike! Nospike!)

[@qlfnj1845]

Awesome content, great job man

[@otoelpilot0]

Man I loved this video, thanks for the nostalgia!

[@GloriousForce]

verry well made video of a loved old masterpice - loved your video!

[@TimDoherty]

Epic video. Just missing a 21-0 paddle war win

[@davegar1816]

Thank you for doing this run. It was something that I really wanted to see.

[@troublesomecorsair]

Very entertaining, I found! Thank you, and well done!

[@Kepesk]

Gotta love Capn. RIP speedruns tho.

[@andrewkinsey8754]

Nice, thank you very much for making a video covering all these games, you got a new sub :)

[@MelodicTurtleMetal]

Loved these games as a kid. Honestly though, episode 2 doesn't look all that familiar to me. Perhaps I somehow didn't play that one, despite playing 1 and 3 so much

[@d.w.stratton4078]

THE DOPEFISH LIVES!!!!!!!!!!

[@msElboim]

Amazing job. This run should be on GDQ!

[@plasmavortex5388]

Amazing! Relived all my childhoodmemories in 45 mins! Great commentary aswell! Thanks a lot!

[@MegaChickenfish]

Without this I never would've known the SGA sign I translated in the "Terror from Outer Space" commander keen mod talking about "this is not the caves of oblivion" was a subtle commander keen 3 reference. The level even looks similar!

[@keen7youtubeistoast796]

Absolutely amazing commentary! :)

[@techrakatt]

Praise be to Dopefish! The one true God!

[@sleven8013]

This is dope(fish). The games I like the best are 1, 2, 4 and 5.

[@lunalamiah1986]

you are really amazing. I'm from Italy, and I have been surprised seeing your fast, fast videos! I play Commander Keen since I was 9, but I am not fast as you. By the way, I have a question for you, about a level from Commander Keen 4, but before I watch all your videos, maybe you have showed how you can get the bottles of water (for extra life) in the "lifewater oasis" level, when you see all those bottles under water...

[@CapnClever]

To my knowledge, the 1-UPs at the bottom of Lifewater Oasis are unreachable: they're only placed as a reference to the level's name, showing that all the water down there is the same stuff you pick up throughout the game. Incidentally, if you use death-reloading to get down there anyway, you don't even bounce on the bottom of the screen! That's pretty rare in my experience.

[@MegaChickenfish]

37:23 Not only did I not know about the mashing thing (would've been very useful getting past those dopefish, they were the bane of my existence) _I think I spacebarred past that absolutely golden dialogue._

[@magnusm4]

Sad we never got a sequel taking down Mortimer again.

[@yuraretz2379]

Can you make a commented glitchless speedrun of parts 4, 5 and 6?

[@stew8483]

You could shave even more time of CK1, if you use the hold shift-Tab when walking towards world one and the green level before the teleporter. You pass right through the leveL

[@Reikis645]

Finally found your channel!

[@itstumtums]

I still feel like Ranger is Commander Keens older brother due to the helmets looking similar. Referring to Rangers legendary football outfit in Quake Champions

[@DVal-bl7hm]

36:24 Imagine if they made an entire Commander Keen game with levels like this one. Constant mashing, no shooting, and no pogo-stick... The crazy thing is I'd probably still play it.

[@nanotektor]

Hi! What software do you use to record the game plays? I have tried to use DosBox but I think I've misconfigured it. Nice gameplay!

[@CapnClever]

This video in particular? This is a local recording using Open Broadcasting Software (obsproject.com/). Despite the name, all of its broadcasting/streaming tools work just as well in a recording context. Most of my speedrun videos, however, use DOSBox's internal recording solution (www.dosbox.com/wiki/Recording_Video), which is then converted to an AVI using whatever video-editing software you decide to use (I go with VirtualDub as I don't mind the hands-on approach).

[@lichtetredgeenachternaamop2312]

36:47 "Dopefish" reminds me of the dutch comicbook character 'Dirkjan" dirkjan.nl/

[@MegaChickenfish]

How'd you rebind the keys? I know I'd be a lot better (maybe not great, but better) at keen if I could move the keybinds off the somewhat awkward ctrl-alt-spacebar setup. Human hands are not shaped like that, Keen!

[@CapnClever]

Key bindings in the Keen games after the Vorticon trilogy are accessible from the game menu: Configure > Use Keyboard, then select the category to define buttons. In the Vorticon games, press F3 to bring up the configuration window.

[@johnhealy6490]

will you do a review of commander keen?

[@Lasse_kreikemeier]

keen 4

[@doginboat]

I love your voice

[@RealKamuiShiro]

17:30 - why do you keep on standing under the falling Vorticons while you could as well walk left and play it safely? :P

[@CapnClever]

Habit, plain and simple. It should be noted that I don't particularly care about getting a good time during this run: indeed, wasting time happens to provide me with more opportunity to explain things!

[@DogmenHardcastle]

Who is the yellow guy at 37:33 ? Always thought he looked cool and was intrigued by him as a kid.

[@CapnClever]

That's a Council Page. You can see more of him in the game's introduction story (hit F1, then select "The Story").

[@DogmenHardcastle]

@@CapnClever thanks dude, your lore knowledge stands out in the play through and makes the universe way more interesting.

[@joeilya]

Heh, an entire franchise in less than an hour.

[@klaud7311]

the statue of liberty is not in london

[@IapetusStag]

Plot twist: Keen is just a smart 8 year old kid who is playing in their backyard, imagining that he is on Mars, Vorticon VI etc. That would leave a bitter taste to all fans if id confirms this theory as canon.

[@garethdean6382]

Whoah, once a week?

[@MegaChickenfish]

I never played the original 3, I just couldn't get a hang of the more clunky controls.

[@jessebillson]

this game appears to suck