Christmas Kye
 Christmas Kye (2) This page is about a group of four related Kye versions, three of which have a Christmas theme. They exist as Windows 3.x executables with their own built-in level sets, but the level sets have been extracted and can be played on other versions of Kye, both Classic and modern. All these files are downloadable from links further down the page. BackgroundSkip this bit if you likeThese versions of Kye have some surrounding decoration and (as found) have the levels built into the executable - ie not as separate .kye files. As such they were probably commercial versions. They date from the early 1990s and, like Classic Kye, on which they are clearly based, they need to run on a version of Windows no later than XP. They appear to be Abandonware.Two of them refer to themselves (in the Help area) as "Christmas KYE" and both have graphics with the same Christmas theme. I have called them Christmas Kye (1) and Christmas Kye (2) (and the executable files xmaskye1.exe and xmaskye2.exe). However they do seem to provide different levels from each other, 25 each; there may be some overlap but I have not checked right through. The level names in Christmas Kye (1) have a Christmas theme, but the names in Christmas Kye (2) are merely "One", "Two", "Three" etc. In the graphics there are, for example, gift parcels in place of diamonds, burning Yule logs for black holes, and Christmas bells and trees for monsters. There are some minor differences : in Christmas Kye (2) the one-way doors have an improved graphic and the walls are darker, and I guess this is the later version of these two. The third version is called Kye_jr ; "jr" is probably someone's initials, not "Junior". [In fact there is a reference to "Christmas KYE (KYE_jr)" in the Help of Christmas Kye (1)]. This also has a Christmas theme, and is more similar to Christmas Kye (1) than Christmas Kye (2). It has only 12 levels and some are the same as in Christmas Kye (1). It is possible that this was a development version. The fourth and final version in this group is "Dr Floyd's Kye". This does not have the Christmas theme and uses the Classic Kye graphics with the exception that it uses the improved one-way doors seen in Christmas Kye (2). There is a screenshot of it at the foot of this page. Some of its 25 levels overlap with those of Christmas Kye (1) but with different (non-Xmas!) names, for example "Snow Forts" has become "Pathfinder". It is known to have been included in a set of games called "Dr Floyds Windows Toys" available in the 1990's. There is a demonstration of playing Christmas Kye (2) on YouTube here (Opens in new tab). PlayingThere are two choices for playing these levels.Choice A) Run the executablesDownload the Windows executables from below and run them under a version of Windows no later than XP. You should be aware that when you start to play they will set up an .INI file in c:\WINDOWS\ the purpose of which is to remember what level you have reached through the set and not to allow you to jump ahead. If you do want to jump ahead (like to move on from a level you cannot solve), take a look at the "Jumping Levels" page.Warning : The Christmas Kye (1) and Christmas Kye (2) executables use an .INI file with the same name (c:\WINDOWS\C4WKYE.INI). Therefore when you play one it will overwrite any .INI file created by the other - so your progress in the other one will be lost and you will be back to Square 1. So either play Christmas Kye (1) right through before starting Christmas Kye (2), or back up the .INI files if you switch between them, or refer to the "Jumping Levels" page. Kye_jr and Dr Floyd's Kye have similar .INI files but with different names again (XMASKYE.INI and MPS.INI respectively), so there is no problem with them. Choice B) Use a modern Kye version with the .kye filesThe data from all these versions has been extracted into .kye files, downloadable below just like the level sets found on the "Level Sets" page, some of which are also there. You can then run a modern Kye (Python Kye or XYE) or even Classic Kye, and select the level set file (eg xmaskye1.kye) to run. You will not however see the Christmas graphics this way.
The following screenshots show the full set of levels available in these versions. The full list will only be visible like this after reaching the final level, or after editing the .INI file. Kye JR and Dr Floyd's Kye both have a further "Game Over" display level.
 Dr Floyd's Kye 
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