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Bip

2009-07-26T09:36:48Z

Adurdin: Added note about Bipidri from Anachronox

{{Creature Infobox
| Appears = [[Keen 6]]
| Shots = Can be squashed
}}

[[Bip]]s are very small yellowish creatures. They are unobtrusive and do not worry Keen when controlling moving platforms; however, when piloting [[Bipship]]s they can be deadly. Once the [[Bipship]] is shot down they become harmless and are easily squashed underfoot. While controlling moving platforms they cannot be shot or exterminated in any way and appear in many levels and places in [[Keen 6]].

[[Image:Bip-ingame.png|frame|A [[Bip]] in [[Keen 6]]]]

The intelligence of [[Bip]]s is debatable; while they do little more than sit and observe, they do so while riding on, and possibly controlling, a large number of devices such as moving platforms. It is thus possible then that they had a hand in their construction, or may be slaves to their constructors. It is said that they "happened to hook up with the Bloogs," implying that their species do not form solid alliances. It is then unknown whether they will continue to serve the Bloogs, or will move on to other worlds.

Bips are probably related to the '''Bipidri''', a race of very small yellowish (or, very rarely, red) creatures found in the Anachronox universe, who are kept for pets, workers, or even food by the larger races. [[Tom Hall]] was the designer of Anachronox.

[[Category:Keen 6 creatures]]
[[Category:Creatures]]

Standard Galactic Alphabet

2007-01-31T18:57:21Z

Adurdin:

The [[Standard Galactic Alphabet]] (SGA) is the "language" used throughout the Commander Keen series. The language is actually American English, where each letter has been substituted with a different symbol.

[[Image:tom-sga.jpg|thumb|[[Tom Hall|Tom Hall's]] reference translation]]

== Official Translations ==

The most important message written in SGA is [[The Mortimer Letter]] that can be read by player in the ending sequence of [[Keen 5]].

TODO: Images of the SGA translations found in the official Keen games.

== Debate ==

[[Image:Pogo_sign.png|frame|Sign from the [[:Image:Ck1lv05.png|Pogo level]]]]

There is some debate over the shape of some of the letters, such as the Z. In the reference translation above (which is remarkably similar to the translation found in [[Keen 3]]), it is shown as two vertical bars with a horizontal bar connecting them at the top. In [[Keen 6]], the translation image is much smaller so each "bar" appears only one pixel wide/high. This gives the impression it should be a rounded shape, like an upside down U. However because of the increased resolution in the Keen 3 version, one could argue that it is not supposed to be rounded, otherwise it would contain curves like the letters N and O do (or even the top of the letter A.)

=== Omissions ===

The Standard Galactic Alphabet has a few notable omissions - there are no numbers, and apart from a full stop, (.-. used to end phrases.) and quotation marks, (Seen surrounding the word POGO on the sign right.) no punctuation. For this reason numbers are normally spelled out in words, and although not listed in any of the official translations, what could be described as SGA quotes were used in the [[Keen 1]] Pogo level (as shown in the image on the right.)

== Resources ==

=== Fonts ===

There are a few SGA [[Wikipedia:TrueType|TrueType]] fonts available, which allow you to write SGA text quite easily.

[[Image:Adurdin_sga.png|frame|left|Andy's font in use.]] [http://andy.durdin.net/keen/sga2.zip An SGA font by Andy Durdin]

TODO: Add links to SGA fonts (with small preview images for each font)

== External Links ==

* [[Wikipedia:Standard Galactic Alphabet|SGA entry on Wikipedia]]
* [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/sga.htm|SGA entry on Omniglot]

[[Category:Keeniverse]]

Standard Galactic Alphabet

2007-01-31T18:56:56Z

Adurdin: Added omniglot link

The [[Standard Galactic Alphabet]] (SGA) is the "language" used throughout the Commander Keen series. The language is actually American English, where each letter has been substituted with a different symbol.

[[Image:tom-sga.jpg|thumb|[[Tom Hall|Tom Hall's]] reference translation]]

== Official Translations ==

The most important message written in SGA is [[The Mortimer Letter]] that can be read by player in the ending sequence of [[Keen 5]].

TODO: Images of the SGA translations found in the official Keen games.

== Debate ==

[[Image:Pogo_sign.png|frame|Sign from the [[:Image:Ck1lv05.png|Pogo level]]]]

There is some debate over the shape of some of the letters, such as the Z. In the reference translation above (which is remarkably similar to the translation found in [[Keen 3]]), it is shown as two vertical bars with a horizontal bar connecting them at the top. In [[Keen 6]], the translation image is much smaller so each "bar" appears only one pixel wide/high. This gives the impression it should be a rounded shape, like an upside down U. However because of the increased resolution in the Keen 3 version, one could argue that it is not supposed to be rounded, otherwise it would contain curves like the letters N and O do (or even the top of the letter A.)

=== Omissions ===

The Standard Galactic Alphabet has a few notable omissions - there are no numbers, and apart from a full stop, (.-. used to end phrases.) and quotation marks, (Seen surrounding the word POGO on the sign right.) no punctuation. For this reason numbers are normally spelled out in words, and although not listed in any of the official translations, what could be described as SGA quotes were used in the [[Keen 1]] Pogo level (as shown in the image on the right.)

== Resources ==

=== Fonts ===

There are a few SGA [[Wikipedia:TrueType|TrueType]] fonts available, which allow you to write SGA text quite easily.

[[Image:Adurdin_sga.png|frame|left|Andy's font in use.]] [http://andy.durdin.net/keen/sga2.zip An SGA font by Andy Durdin]

TODO: Add links to SGA fonts (with small preview images for each font)

== External Links ==

* [[Wikipedia:Standard Galactic Alphabet|SGA entry on Wikipedia]]
* [[http://www.omniglot.com/writing/sga.htm|SGA entry on Omniglot]]

[[Category:Keeniverse]]