Keen Dreams, bad graphical glitch on ET4000/W32 \ VOGONS

Keen Dreams, bad graphical glitch on ET4000/W32

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First post, by Ahrle

Posted on 2026-06-20, 07:29

Ahrle Offline

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Rank: Newbie
Posts: 78
Joined: 2023-04-09, 00:37

Got a Gainward ET4000/W32 off eBay. Seemingly working well in all games, except Keen Dreams.
Menu and everything loads fine, then when starting the game:

The attachment keen1.JPG is no longer available

While starting to climb, you "pass by" the glitch:

The attachment keen2.JPG is no longer available

Another level above, it re-appears:

The attachment keen3.JPG is no longer available

On death, it disappears

The attachment keen4.JPG is no longer available

As well as when restarting the level, until walking a few steps or so.

The attachment keen5.JPG is no longer available

Just wanna check whether it's software or a potential hardware problem?

Project 357575: ECS U4914-G | i486DX2-66 | ET4000/W32 | CT3900
Main: IBM PC300PL | PIII 750 | Viper AGP + V2 SLi | CT4500

Reply 1 of 4, by MagefromAntares

Posted on 2026-06-20, 07:38

MagefromAntares Offline

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Posts: 251
Joined: 2026-04-28, 00:23
Location: Hungary

Hi,

While the pattern of the graphical corruption looks very similar to memory errors if it is only happening in one game it is most likely an issue of how that game handles the display. Note that Keen Dreams was developed by ID Software to fulfil a commitment to Softdisk, so it is less well tested than the other Commander Keen games in regards of HW compatibility and it is missing the compatibility switch that Keen4 and later has in their options.

You can still do checks with programs using similar video modes, note that this game uses EGA graphics, so if you wish to do further checks you should do it with other EGA programs.

"A process cannot be understood by stopping it. Understanding must move with the flow of the process, must join it and flow with it." - Dune

Reply 2 of 4, by hxt59

Posted on 2026-06-21, 07:52

hxt59 Offline

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Joined: 2026-06-21, 06:45

Is this Keen Dreams Shareware 1.13? Try running the game as:

1kdreams.exe detour /comp

The screen update code of Keen Dreams (and Commander Keen 4-6) has issues with some old SVGA cards mainly ones with Tseng chips. The developers have added a workaround for this (see quote by John Carmack here). On Commander Keen 4-6 this option is available in the settings menu as "SVGA compatibility" but it is probably missing in the menu of some Keen Dreams versions. It can be activated using a command line switch (/comp).

Reply 3 of 4, by MagefromAntares

Posted on 2026-06-21, 09:39

MagefromAntares Offline

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Location: Hungary

hxt59 wrote on 2026-06-21, 07:52:
Is this Keen Dreams Shareware 1.13? Try running the game as: […]
Show full quote

Is this Keen Dreams Shareware 1.13? Try running the game as:
1kdreams.exe detour /comp
The screen update code of Keen Dreams (and Commander Keen 4-6) has issues with some old SVGA cards mainly ones with Tseng chips. The developers have added a workaround for this (see quote by John Carmack here). On Commander Keen 4-6 this option is available in the settings menu as "SVGA compatibility" but it is probably missing in the menu of some Keen Dreams versions. It can be activated using a command line switch (/comp).

Thank you for sharing this, I was unaware of this switch, the versions of Keen Dreams I have doesn't mention this flag in the documentation, and neither have the options in the in-game menu.

"A process cannot be understood by stopping it. Understanding must move with the flow of the process, must join it and flow with it." - Dune

Reply 4 of 4, by theelf

Posted on Today, 15:52

theelf Offline

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Posts: 1394
Joined: 2011-09-25, 19:39

MagefromAntares wrote on 2026-06-21, 09:39:
hxt59 wrote on 2026-06-21, 07:52:
Is this Keen Dreams Shareware 1.13? Try running the game as: […]
Show full quote

Is this Keen Dreams Shareware 1.13? Try running the game as:
1kdreams.exe detour /comp
The screen update code of Keen Dreams (and Commander Keen 4-6) has issues with some old SVGA cards mainly ones with Tseng chips. The developers have added a workaround for this (see quote by John Carmack here). On Commander Keen 4-6 this option is available in the settings menu as "SVGA compatibility" but it is probably missing in the menu of some Keen Dreams versions. It can be activated using a command line switch (/comp).
Thank you for sharing this, I was unaware of this switch, the versions of Keen Dreams I have doesn't mention this flag in the documentation, and neither have the options in the in-game menu.

You will have same issues with dangerous dave haunted mansion and others

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