Other Tools

Game Editing

This section is organised by category. If an editor supports more than one type of editing (such as level editing and graphics editing) it will be listed under both sections.

The tools in this section apply to Keen Dreams or other Keen-related programs (not Keens 1-6, which have their own sections.)

DOS Emulators

DosBox

Level Editors

TED5 (DOS) level editor written by id Software
The Omegamatic (TOM) (Win32, WINE) level editor developed by Mink in 2010
Abiathar (Win32, WebInterface) level editor developed by Fleexy in 2014

Graphics Editors

ModKeen (DOS, Source Code), LModKeen (Linux Port) for extracting and re-importing graphics
Keengraph (DOS, Win32, WINE) for extracting and reimporting graphics
TitleBuild a Windows program that turns the 320x200 Keen Dreams bitmap file into KDREAMS.CMP

Sound Editors

KeenWave (DOS, compiled Linux binary) program to import\export sounds and music, currently a beta, comes with an Adlib sound player.

Music Editors

As there is no music in Keen Dreams, there are no music editors. Since the music was removed from Keen Dreams at the last minute, it may be possible to add music back in again, but as yet nobody has tried.

Story / Game Text Editors

ModKeen (DOS, Source Code), LModKeen (Linux Port) for extracting extracting data chunks
Keengraph (DOS, Win32, WINE) for extracting data chunks
Startext (DOS) for editing the 'star wars' story and the Oracle replies
LText (CLI) for scanning and generating a text patch/pointer

Patching tools

KDRPatch (DOS) a CKPatch-based tool for patching the executable files
UNP (DOS) needed to decompress the executable files

Other editors and editing tools

CWSDPMI may be needed to run modkeen and other modding programs.
Galactile (Win32, WINE) a tile properties editor (successor of Ck456Tli and CK456DTli)
GalaxyView (Win32, WINE) a level viewer for Keen Galaxy & Dreams

OS Compatible

Most of the above listed tools are written for MS-DOS or Windows based systems. The bracketed ancillary information show for which operating system (OS) these tools are meant to be. To run these applications one could use the native system they are based on. Alternatively there are ways of emulating the needed OS. For eg. MS-DOS based tools can be run via DOSBox.

For Linux users (Mac-OS?) the usability differs for each application. Those might be either compatible, portable or provide another ability to run them like compiling the source code on a Linux based system. The following footer texts explain the needed requirements:

CLI: Tool is command line based.
DOS: Tool is originally written for a MS-DOS environment and can be emulated by using DOSBox.
Port: A Linux port for this Tool exists.
Source Code: The source-code is available within the download package and can be compiled.
Win32: Tool is native Windows tool. It might be compatible with WINE.
WINE: Tool is a standalone application which just needs the WINE program starter to work properly.

Alternative one could use a Virtual machine to simply emulate the needed Operating System. There are several options to choose from. The most popular might be Virtual-Box, VMware Workstation or QEMU.

Game Information

For details on the file formats used by the games, see the Commander Keen Dreams section on the ModdingWiki.
There is a list of patches that can be incorporated into mods to change the game's behaviour.