Posted by karjala on 2023-08-23 05:32:13 EST

Dark Forces Remastered

 

The community's very own Lucius has been working behind the scenes with NightDive Studio to create Dark Forces Remastered. This project shares some code with The Force Engine (such as iMuse) but is using a different code base and is planned to be released Q4 2023. The game is estimated to cost $20-30 upon release. 

New Features

The new version will have many modern comveniences such as...

• 4K resolution
• Up to 120fps
• Advanced 3D rendering (basically: better lighting and effects)
• Gamepad support (there's a weapon wheel, for example)
• Steam achievements
• Remastered cutscenes and "content"

Announcement Trailer 

You can watch the trailer below and read the announcement Here

 

Screenshots

Courtesy of IGN

FAQ

Here is the FAQ regarding TFE and NightDive Studios Dark Forces Remastered project.

• What impact does this announcement have regarding The Force Engine (TFE)? This announcement has no negative impact on TFE, existing development plans - including the level editor and Outlaws support - are continuing as-is.

• What sort of Dark Forces assets (art, etc.) does Night Dive have access to? As seen below, I am not a Night Dive employee and so cannot say.

• Are you a Night Dive employee or getting paid by Night Dive? I am not a Night Dive employee, no money has changed hands, and I have no inside information I can share regarding schedules, other games in development and so forth.

• Does TFE and the Night Dive version share code? While it is true that some TFE code has been shared to help in development, such as iMuse, these projects use different code bases and use different implementations for many components - such as very different GPU renderers. The Night Dive project uses Kex, TFE uses its own framework. I have no access to the Night Dive code base.

• Were contributor assets or code shared with Night Dive? Only code reverse-engineered or written by myself has been shared with Night Dive. I have not shared any code or assets contributed by others with Night Dive.

• When did this partnership begin? While I cannot give exact dates, the reverse-engineering process for TFE and version 1.0 were nearly complete.

• Why agree to this partnership? Did TFE development benefit?

  • There were a number of reasons to agree, and it seemed like a good idea to help TFE be seen in a positive light (and I still think this is true). TFE has also benefited from the exchange of information (such as one of the developers pointing out a bug in iMuse).

  • Night Dive will also be helping me to support the new content they are creating in TFE - though you will be required to purchase the new version of Dark Forces in order to use that content.

  • In other words, this partnership was beneficial for all parties involved.

• Why not mention this before? Mentioning this before the announcement would leak information about the project which I agreed not to do. It’s that simple.

Posted by karjala on 2023-05-04 10:32:41 EST

Happy May the 4th!

On this special Star Wars Day we have a lot of amazing updates for you! 

• Dark Forces Community Patch 3 Release. Download
• WDFUSE Editor Release 3.10 Download
• New Custom mission Coober Revisited Download
• Asset platform release Link
• Levels now include new walkthroughs and reviews  Link
• Dark Forces Walkthrough guy by Max Duckwall Link
• Level Archive Search Program  Link

 

Dark Forces Community Patch

We are excited to release the new version of the Dark Forces Community Patch. Version 3 adds more bug fixes, new visual and audio effects, new objectives, and restored cut content. 

You can Download it Here

There are a lot of new visual additions to make the levels feel more realistic. You can now see Imperial Ships docked around the missions.

 

 

We even have tie fighters patrolling the nearby space! 

 

 

Here are the patch notes:

WDFUSE 3.1 Release

The Dark Forces Editor 3.1 is now released. You can download it here 

 

 

It has a lot more bug fixes and feature. Here are the patch notes. 

 

Coober Revisited Release

Fish (Oton Ribic) has released a new custom mission. Coober Revisited ! It's a fun remake of an older mission.

Kyle realizes that the Coober incident was caused by the Empires spacetime distortion experiments....

Check it out Here

 

 

Asset Platform Release

After many years of work we have finally released the Dark Forces Asset Platform. You can now easily browser for all the Dark Forces Assets!

You can now easily find BMs, WAX, Audio Files, and even Voxels. You can search by custom tags and text!

Here we are searching for Droids. 

It allows you to easily link to each asset and clicking on each item will allow you to get information from it. 

 

Check out the Asset Collection here

 

Level MetaData Updates

We've expanded the level information to include additional meta-data such as creation date, reviews and modern (TFE) wakthroughs. 

New Dark Forces Walkthrough Guide

Max Duckwall was kind enough to record new walkthroughs using The Force Engine. Here is the link to the entire Walkthrough Playlist

 

Dark Forces Map Search

Star Wars: Dark Forces has a long history of talented artists creating custom assets and graphics for custom missions. From bulletin boards and FTP sites, pockets and troves have been passed down and preserved by fans, adding depth and character to Kyle Katarn's adventures.

When we rebuilt DF-21.net a few years ago, we dug through old HDDs and archives, explored ancient corners of Internet archive, and were pleasantly surprised the many places we found assets. Even, so our search continues, and we are calling out for one last great search.

If you have any Dark Forces levels or art assets, we would like to archive them. Even if it was something you never publicly released, we want to preserve that work, adding to the creative tapestry this community has woven over almost 3 decades.

If an item does not appear in our records, it does not exist." - Jedi Librarian Jocasta Nu

We have compiled a list of Star Wars: Dark Forces missions, but are still looking for a few and always on the lookout for something new or unknown.

Level List is here Level Guide

Here you can see exactly what we have on the site. If you have something we don't have please submit it here

 

Happy May 4th to the Star Wars Community! =)

 

 

 

 

Posted by karjala on 2022-12-19 10:42:32 EST

The Force Engine 1.0 Released!

Update:

We are on PC Gamer - welcome everyone!

If you want to play custom Dark Forces missions in The Force Engine (TFE) simply ... 

1. Download a custom mission from the list here
2. Place it in the Mods folder insde your TFE install (You can just drop the zip inside!). 
   
   
   
   
3. Go to the Mods section and select a mod from the list.
   
   
   
   
4. I recommend you try these missions first! The Dark Tide - Part 1 , Lava Planet  or Prelude to Harkov 
5. Finally, if you want to learn Dark Forces Map Making we have a newbie-friendly step-by-step Tutorial .

Original Story

It's been three years since the project started and today is the day when it finally releases to the public! Congratulations Lucius!

Go read the release announcement on The Force Engine's page . 

You can download it here here

 

Here is the Release Trailer! 

 

For those that are not familiar, TFE is a full reverse engineer of Dark Forces code with multiple improvements. It is a successor, of sorts, of the DarkXL project that was abandoned due to the engineering changes of the time. This new version is by far the best way to play the game in 2022. 

 

Feature List

• Full Dark Forces support, including mods. Outlaws support is coming in version 2.0.
• Mod Loader - simply place your mods in the Mods/ directory as zip files or directories.
• High Resolution and Widescreen support - when using 320x200 you get the original software renderer. TFE also includes a floating-point software renderer which supports widescreen, including ultrawide, and much higher resolutions.
• GPU Renderer with perspective correct pitch - play at much higher resolutions with improved performance.
• Extended Limits - TFE, by default, will support much higher limits than the original game which removes most of the HOM (Hall of Mirrors) issues in advanced mods.
• Full input binding, mouse sensitivity adjustment, and controller support. Note, however, that menus currently require the mouse.
• Optional Quality of Life improvements, such as full mouselook, aiming reticle, improved Boba Fett AI, autorun, and more.
• A new save system that works seamlessly with the existing checkpoint and lives system. You can ignore it entirely, use it just as an exit save so you don’t have to play long user levels in one sitting, or full save and load with quicksaves like Doom or Duke Nukem 3D.
• Optional and quality of life features, even mouselook, can be disabled if you want the original experience. Play in 320x200, turn the mouse mode (Input menu) to Menus only or horizontal, and enable the Classic (software) renderer - and it will look and play just like DOS, but with a higher framerate and without needing to adjust cycles in DosBox.

 

Screenshots

 

At DF-21 we will work on embedding custom missions to work with TFE so one can load them instantly. 

 

- Karjala

 

Posted by karjala on 2022-11-01 17:01:29 EST

Mines Level Contest

Now that the WDFUSE editor is modernized with 3D preview it is a good time to de-rust our map-making skills! This is why the staff at DF-21 will be hostnig a level-making contest... with a prize ! 

The Contest Theme

The goal of the contest is the rework of the classic map Mines . What is Mines? Go ahead give it a try ... like now! Mines Download

Important Note:  Please download the MODERN version of the map as it is patched to be compatible with modern editors!

 

All done? Well if you have, you will realize that the map was made by a child, only known as Ari G and is of ... questionable ... quality. 

 

Here is how the mission looks like in the game...

 

This is what it looks like in the editor....

 

And here is the readme... 

 

As much as we may joke about it,  over the years the communtiy fell in love with this mission. There is even a Mines Appreciation Page !

 

Therefore, the theme of the contest is to answer the question of...

 

What is behind the spooky Hall of Mirrors (HOM) wall in the second room of the mission?

 

 

The Contest Rules

You must submit a custom mission of your own creation that adheres to the following rules. 

1. You need to answer the question outlined in the contest. What is behind the Hall of Mirrors (HOM) in the Mines mission?
2. You have to preserve the Mines Geometry and  Objects including the Spawn Point and the Death Star Plans   (You can however, alter the geometry after the mission starts with scripting). 
3. You can add as many objectives as you wish, but you must preserve the original one. 
4. You do  NOT  need to create a mission briefing (i.e. - NO LFDs required)
5. You must submit the mission GOB to DF-21.net with the author template filled out --> Author Template
6. Your submission must be turned by midnight on November 30th 2022 EST -->  Here
7. Most importantly - USE YOUR IMAGINATION AND HAVE FUN !

 

The Contest Prize

The winning map of the contest will be judged by our Discord users with the Member role. The highest voted on map will receive the Dark Trooper Attack Lego Set !

The Lego Set will be shipped to the author's address (even to Australia) after the winner is announced. 

Important Note: DF-21 Staff cannot win the prize. If a staff's submission wins, the prize will be awarded to the second most votes.

 

Useful Tools

If you've never made a mission in Dark Forces before don't worry! 

You can use the modern WDFUSE editor to make your mission. We also have a new step-by-step tutorial found Here .

If you are stuck or havea question about the contest - simply ask for help in our Discord !

Posted by karjala on 2022-07-23 09:20:19 EST

WDFUSE 3.0 Release

We are excited to announce version 3.0 of the WDFUSE - the Dark Forces Editor. This version has multiple improvements that will streamline your map-making experience. 

You can download it from our Downloads section or through a direct link here. 

3D Renderer Updates

A long-requested feature by the community (Ex: Secbase Unlimited) was the realization of a 3D renderer synchronization to visualize editor changes. This day has come and now the editor has live synchronization to the 3D Renderer .

Any change you make in the 2D mode editor will be instantly reflected in the 3D renderer.

 

This includes moving map components such as sectors, walls and objects. For a better understanding of what live-synchronization entails take a look at the video below. 

 

You can now automatically download, install and configure it by pressing the download button in the 3D Renderer Options tab. 

 

This is a seismic shift - gone are the days of launching the game just to see if the texture you moved is now properly aligned with the wall. The changes are instant and work with the largest community-made missions such as the Dark Tide Series or the Assassination on Nar Shaddaa. 

WDFUSE Tutorial Missions

The Editor now includes mission tutorials. They will give you step-by-step instructions on how get started with mission editing. They are geared towards map-makers without any experience. 

You can load them up from the New WDFUSE project window.

The tutorial missions will go over all the Dark Forces editing components in a simple methodical manner. Here you can see the tutorial room on Switches.

Editor Improvements

In addition to the renderer we now fully support the Origin store version of Dark Forces as well as being able to launch your GOBs within the The Force Engine 

We can now drag individual or multiple vertices at once. This will make wall-alignment a breeze.

Here we multi-select vertices and move all of them at once instead of piece-meal. All the adjoining vertices are moved together. 

 

You can now specify colors of any object in the editor. Don't like the defaults? Make all the stormtroopers red!

 

You can now load any recent project you've been working on. This is useful for those of us that jump between multiple projects. 

Full Change List

Projects

• Added ability to load a list of Recent project
• You can now have projects longer than 8 characters long
• Added an option to open the project folder of the current project in explorer
• WDPs should now be auto-associated via the Options
• Added variable back-up limits via Options
• Added 100 vs 125 DPI support
• The Force Engine has been added as a Launch Menu in Options
• Added EA Origin support as an external storefront. 
• Added verification to project assets and added more logging when issues occur
• Added a warning if the GOB assets are locked (Ex: you are running Dark Forces)

Map Editor

• Added real-time sync with 3D Renderer 
• Clicking on Sector Find now updates the INF Editor as well
• You can now update multiple wall lengths at a time
• Sector Heights are now shown in the Wall Editor 
• BOSS and COMPLETE sectors are now different colors (controlled via Options)
• Normals now always show up when single-clicking on a single Wall
• Grid/Scale settings are now stored in the INI file
• Fixed an issue where some objects do not detect the sector they are in
• Bit values now show up in the INF Editor's event_masks
• You can now pan while holding ALT and left clicking
• Added freehand drawing of vertices while holding CTRL button
• Added control over object snapping (Floor/Ceiling/None) 
• Clicking away from objects will now auto commit (if enabled)
• Added support for negative Yaw values (will modulo to 360)
• You can now change the texture offsets using Shift+Arrow Keys
• Added Rotate option to the Pop-Up menu
• Added Flip option to the Pop-Up menu
• You can now change object colors 
• Added ability to move Vertex and Wall multi-adjoins at once instead of individual dragging.
• Deletion of multi-Vertex/Walls added

WDFUSE Assets

• The Asset Toolkit now loads DELT/ANIM filetypes
• Added WAV to VOC converters
• Added PAL/CMP/WAX converter tools from Jereth Kok and Oton Ribic

Misc

• Rewrote CopyFile code so now you get valid stacktrack during issues 
• You can now enable/disable Wall Texture modulo via Options
• Fixed Wall scale calculation where sometimes you could not click on walls that have small deltas (Ex: 0.01)
• Added a WIKI Tutorial as a HELP (F1) guide.

Renderer

• Renderer height and width size is now stored in the registry to persist between sessions
• Holding ALT button now allows you to pan your mouse from 3D renderer to WDFUSE
• Added an option to automatically download and install the renderer from the Options menu.

DF-21 Wiki and WDFUSE Tutorial

Learning WDFUSE has always been a challenge. There were few modern guides explaining how to make custom missions. 

We've taken the time to create an entire Wiki with full an extensive tutorial with example missions to help you get started. 

Check out the modern WDFUSE Tutorial and feel free to expand it with more examples.