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April 14, 2021: Among The Shadows II: The Lava Planet by Oton (fish) Ribic April 28, 2008: The Tower of Doom ![]() by Dirk Destiny and Pumpkinetics February 21, 2008: The Dark Tide: Beyond the Ancient Bonus Material from the Dark Tide Series! (31 MB) by Patrick Haslow, Matthew Hallaron & Barry Brien |
The Force Engine 0.9 Released |
Posted by karjala on 2022-05-17 21:34:42 EST |
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The Force Engine 0.9 - iMuse & Sound Released
After months of effort Lucius has released The Force Engine 0.9. You can download it Here !
The emphasis is on the full reverse-engineering of the iMuse (Interactive Music Streaming Engine) system.
Take a look at the playthrough below: all the audio is now generated through The Force Engine.
Remember that the iMuse is the audio system crated by Michael Land for the game Monkey Island 2: Le Chuck's Revenge It was used in many LucasArts games including Dark Forces.
One of the key features of this system is the ability to switch tracks depending on what is happening in the game. For example, if there is combat or exploration the music transition from one track to another. Take a look at the video below that gives a nice example of iMuse audio transitions in Monkey Island 2 !
Please read the Blog post that details all the changes and drop by TFE discord Here
Patch DetailsFeatures and changes included in the release:
Future Plans for 1.0With version 0.9 finally released, the next major release will be version 1.0 - complete support for Dark Forces in TFE. Unlike the 0.9 release, the plan is to split up the release into several smaller releases. There will be 2 main parts:
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Dark Forces Community Patch |
Posted by karjala on 2022-05-03 21:57:20 EST |
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Happy May the 4th Everyone!
We are excited to announce the release of the Dark Forces Community Patch with over 100 changes. We've been working on it for almost year and this is the first patch released since the game came out in 1995 !
The goal of this patch is to make Dark Forces accessible to new players in 2022.
Installation
The easiest way to install it is through the Dark Forces Launcher For advanced users you can also manually download it Here
For support - please visit our Discord and go to the #support channel.
V1.0 Patch Credits go to Bitcores, SecBase, Jereth and Karjala .
3DOs by Matt Hallaron, Adam Richards and Patrick Hanslow
Patch Logo Design by Tileset001
Screenshots
Retextured Moldy Crow (Based on the Alpha screenshots)
Updated Mission Objectives to make Kyle's goals clearer.
Added new passages, switches and powerups to multiple missions
Updated Sprites
Retextured 3D objects
Vault Puzzle Map now updates the doors as you open them
New Entryways added to multiple rooms
Detention Center Elevators now have dynamic floor indicator Restored cut content such as the Nar Shaddaa Elevator
Patch Details
Secret Base- Changed the Death Star plans to the animated version
Talay- Add objective completion message and audio when power generator activated
- Several map enhancements for visibility of distant buildings
- Texture changes in the central bridge
- Prevent player from entering the underwater tunnel near the hydro power switch
- Added sound to the Talay waterfall
- Added "Unpowered" messages to Talay doors
- Moved powerups in the ruined town so you no loner need to jump on the ledge
- Fixed the bridge rotation doors when pressing multiple times.
- Fixed texture adjoin locking in the water bridge lift.
Sewers- Central puzzle: remove default elevator noises, replace with water noises
- Central puzzle: Slower water level rise
- Central puzzle: Add final gate which opens when puzzle is complete
- Central puzzle: Sewage flows when puzzle is complete
- Fixed a non-scrolling sewage texture (sludge28)
- Add health near Moff Rebus stairs
- Immediately start the sewer waterfall
- Added switch objectives to the mission briefing
- Changed window heights for better visibility over puzzle room
- Brightened the sunken door in passage 3 and added texture lights.
Testbase- Added sound effect for the big 3DO fan
- Made sector 358 (E2S1) darker
- Changes to BDOOR.SW, change switch texture, larger windows
- Add switch to base secret entrance elevator
- Reset base secret entrance elevator position when door is opened
- Notify user that code keys in the PDA inventory when near the code console
- Widened the windows overlooking base entrance
- Changed the texture of the switch overlooking base entrance
- Added flashing console and added powerups on the way to the base entrance.
- Reworked hard-to-see cliff passage leading to the start
- Made the Easter egg room better accessible and added an exit path.
- Muted wind sounds while inside the base.
Gromas- Made the elevator reset to the ground floor to the base entrance
- Raised the platform near the trooper path to make it better visible
- Prevent Boss death through the wall
- Added alarm sound in the exit tunnel
- Added locked messages to various doors.
- Added passage to backtrack after jumping in the main base
- Prevent player from planting multiple charges
- Escape tunnel sequence switch can no longer be triggered from inside the tunnel.
Detention Center- Fixed issue #29 (door getting stuck problem when NPC is blocking it)
- Added looping force field hum (sound effect from JK)
- Elevator position indicator
- Add new path to the yard overlook and placed powerups on top
- Added weapon arsenal in the third floor of the low-sec elevator
- Muted elevators and forcefields when not in the area.
- Overhauled lighting in the force field elevators.
- Added Easter egg to the X-X-X code key.
- Added base-side switch for the main entrance platform
- Fixed the long-crack secret texture
- Allowed the yard bay door to open fully
- Add a switch and a new elevator to control yard entrance
- Added multiple new elevator switches
- Added red highlights to the red-key door
- Updated Crix Madine sprite
Ramsees Hed- Added a sound effect for the engines
- Fixed Kyle/Jan conversation issue
- Added Yellow-Key elevator switch
- Added new elevator to allow for backtracking
- Fixed the secret door near the Red key from causing damage
Robotics- Added conveyor belt sound effect (from JK)
- Revise teleporter chute to reduce damage taken from fall, and make it look more realistic
- Objective complete message and audio when enter facility
- Fix scrolling acid texture
- Added doors to the conveyor belt observation posts
- Widened the window to the extra life room along the conveyor belt
Nar Shaddaa- Fixed the elevator which lets you backtrack near the start
- Turned off light pulsing on inactive forcefields
- Expanded and added powerups and sign textures to the area near the blue key area.
- Created a new passage to circle back to the start after finding the Nava Card switch.
- Fixed the remote getting stuck at mission start.
Jabship- Fixed the invisible revive in secret hot-tub
- Added shootable switch for the hot-tub room secret
- Added alarms for kell-dragon room to signify motion alerts
Impcity- Fix the adjoin bug with the 3 elevators
- Objective complete message and audio for objective 1
- Move several sectors to correct layers
- Revision of the area outside the ISO building so it looks better from the roof; the walls have some thickness.
- Made the Vault puzzle map dynamic showing which doors are open or closed.
- Changed the Vault puzzle map wall visibility to reflect which are open or closed.
- Prevent Boss death through the wall
- Changed roof elev door jammer so it doesnt make the texture move
Fuelstat- Lots of reworking of exterior architecture, to make it look more convincing
- Add extra windows to exterior
- Add 10 seconds of scrolling stars when you launch the ship, so it looks like the ship is turning around
- Add Objective complete and audio messages
- Fixed "open" windows - you can no longer jump out into space
- Added docking arm objective to the mission briefing
- Added audio and text messages during docking arm rotation
- Locked smuggler ship exit doors after launch.
- Retextured confusing elevators and made the command room elevator start from the top.
- Reworked objective updates in the smuggler ship when killing the imperial officer.
Executor- Add TIE fighter sound effect
- Add objective complete messages and audio
- Changed the docking bay elevator heights for better visibility
Arc- Added a switch to bring the conveyor belt elevator back up so you don't have to take a massive fall
- Silenced moving stairs and updated textures
- Added audio and visual notifications when the Arc puzzle is complete
- Added multiple switches to Arc elevators.
- Changed the conveyor escape pit texture to differentiate from the false exits
- Massive texture overhaul all along the conveyor belt
- Updated powerups in the Sequence 2 room secret to make it more valuable.
- Removed unreachable powerups in the fuel storage
3DOs- Added texture mapped and enhanced 3DOs from authors of Dark Tide, and other modders (Crow, TIE Fighter, Welder, Shuttle, etc.)
- Re-did the Ramses Hed engine 3DO
- Texture mapped laser bolts
- Texture mapped mousebot
General- Added universal "objective complete" message and sound effect for previously silent objectives
- Massive texture stitching update for all missions
- Notify user that code keys are located in the PDA inventory
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WDFUSE 2.61 Released |
Posted by karjala on 2022-04-21 16:47:37 EST |
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WDFUSE 2.61 Released
An update to the Dark Forces WDFUSE Editor is now available for map developers. It includes multiple improvements and bug-fixes over 2.60. You can download it Here
Some of the feature highlights are a toggleable ability to see all Wall Lengths
And you can now change a wall lengths right from the wall editor. Simply change the value and it will automatically change a height of your choice!
This will also update the adjoined wall if it exists.
There is now a simple way to access all the Resources in the editor from the Menu
The Resource editor has been enhanced with search filters, automatic texture width mapping, and auto-assignment based on Texture Types (Ex: A Sky sector ceiling would automatically display Sky Textures.)
The Sound editor has been fixed after 25 years, you can now easily convert VOC audio to WAVs !
Additionally, you can now test your level by skipping all Cutscenes and briefings as well as automatically saving your project prior to GOBbing.
Now you have an option to save all your changes without having to press the Commit button. This saves a lot of time!
The INF editor now supports stops without hard-coded duration and start commands. Additionally there is no a Search and Replace buttons along with Sector look-up.
There are many more features listed below. If you get stuck or find a bug post it in the #level-editor channel in our Discord
WDFUSE 2.61
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Projects
1. Added an option to automatically save your project when trying to GOB.
2. You can now skip all cutscenes and briefings and load the level directly.
3. WDFUSE will now warn you if you try to GOB a map when dosbox is already running.
4. Added an option to automatically commit your changes without pressing the Commit button.
5. Added Resource Asset links to the main menu for easy access.
6. Added a warning when a GOB resource is locked
Map Editor
1. Added an option to display Wall Lengths in the editor (L).
2. Added a Sound Editor to WDFUSE.
3. You can now undo Adjoin/Extrude operations.
4. Added an option to search by Sector IDs with (F).
5. Fixed a bug where sectors duplicates were offset with the wrong coordinates.
6. You can now play audio sounds by pressing the Enter key in the Sound Editor.
7. Editor field commits can now be undone.
8. Added texture stitching options to the editor PopUp menu.
9. Fixed a bug where audio tracks never reset after playback.
10. You can now directly edit a Wall's length from the Wall Editor (including the adjoin).
11. Added an asset search component to the resource editors.
12. You can now create subsectors and pits straight from the pop-up menu.
13. Four-walled subsectors are now squares instead of diamonds.
14. You can now toggle Wall Normals (Perpendiculars) On or Off
15. Fixed a bug where all sectors were being drawn in adjoin colors.
16. Fix for Upper/Lower case trigger sector references.
17. Added option to Enable/Disable texture pick-list mapping.
Texturing
1. Fixed a bug where some switch textures would reset to default.
2. Wall offsets will now take a modulo of the texture's dimension.
3. Added texture stitching to the pop-up menu.
4. Switches will now automatically load from the Wall Menu.
5. Ceilings and Floors will now automatically load from the Sector Menu.
6. Skies will automatically be chosen based on your flag settings in the Sector Menu.
7. Added automatic sorting of textures by heights.
8. You can now make the wall editor attempt to automatically choose a best-fit texture.
INFs
1. Errors will now highlight as red in the editor message-box.
2. Fixed a bug where some INF sectors didn't display as yellow.
3. START will now be recognized as a valid command.
4. Added STOP number validation to match the START keyword .
5. Fixed a bug where stops without timers were marked as an error.
6. Default Sector names will be removed if INF logic is also removed.
7. You will now be warned if your sector is missing a name tag while having wall INF components.
8. Added an option to traverse to INFs with an INF Highlight button.
9. You can now automatically refresh the INF window by clicking a sector or wall with INFs.
10. INF button will now be greyed out in the sector and wall editors if they are missing.
11. Added find and replace components to the INF editor.
12. Added better INF caching to improve load times.
- Karjala |
Dark Forces Launcher |
Posted by karjala on 2022-02-12 19:00:35 EST |
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Dark Forces Launcher
The Custom Mission Launcher is ready for release! This tool combines multiple features useful to the Dark Forces Community and will make it a million times easier to play custom missions!
Features
The launcher is developed and hosted by DF-21.net and you can download it Here InstallationYou can read the instructions on our Steam Guide or you can watch the instructional video below. Thank you to PrincessRuri for providing the audio!
But suffice to say you download the zip, extract it, then Right Click on it and choose Run With PowerShell . And if you get prompted about the Execution Policy simply choose [Y]es
Usage
The Main Menu appears like this, you can easily press a letter on your keyboard to choose various options.
But suffice to say, what you really want is to play custom missions so press letter C ! Here you can switch pages with N or P or simply type a number to start playing a mission! To start, we support 50 missions you can find in the Modern Mission Archive . New missions will automatically download for you to enjoy as they become available. Go ahead - give Dark Tide 1 a shot!
BugsThis is the initial release so you are bound to have issues! Please post any problems in the #support channel of our Discord
Enjoy Everyone! Karjala |
The Force Engine Beta |
Posted by karjala on 2021-11-19 02:26:35 EST |
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The Force Engine (BETA)After years in the making Lucius has released a beta build of the The Force Engine . This is a full reverse-engineer of the Dark Forces JEDI engine in C++. The core game loop is now complete and all the AI, Rendering, Physics, Scripting is implemented. Here is how it looks like from the Main Menu.
Here is a video showing off The Force Engine Engine and UI capabilities.
You can also load custom mods that we host here at DF-21 ---> Mods Here is how they look like in The Force Engine!
You can now render in the classic 200 pixel resolution all the way to 4k! Here is a comparison. 200px (Original resolution)
1440px (2k) Resolution.
It really is night and day comparison. Give them a try.
You can even see down the entire GROMAS hallway. No more pixelated silliness!
Give the Beta a try and report all bugs here --> Force Engine Bug Forum
Keep up with TFE's progress by reading the blog at the Force Engine Dev Blog .
Cheers, Karjala |
WDFUSE 2.6 Editor |
Posted by karjala on 2021-09-17 07:27:17 EST |
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WDFUSE 2.6 Announcement (BETA)
Greetings Everyone!
It's been a long time coming, but today, we are excited to finally announce the upcoming release of WDFUSE 2.6 , the updated Dark Forces mission editor. You can get the 3D Preview component Here ! This is something that we've been working on this summer and hoping it would spur folks to make some new maps! =) BackgroundDark Forces Utilities and Editor (DFUSE) is a mission editor created by Yves Borckmans , a programmer from Belgium in 1995. Here is the story of how he created the Windows version of DFUSE in 1996. "Around 1995, when the Dark Forces DEMO came out, I started working on DFUSE (the DOS version, in C). I didn't release it then because it would have been a bit unethical (you could have made levels for the demo, never buying the game). When the full game came out, I did a few quick changes that were necessary (some formats changed slightly), then released DFUSE 1.0 on ftp.cdrom.com This included the first DF specs if I remember correctly. I made a couple of updates if I remember correctly, but nothing much. Later in that year, I also sent a copy of my C code to Brad Oliver, to help him start on the Mac editor (Dark Forge IIRC). Around 1996, I had to learn Delphi for work, so I decided the best way to learn was to use it to make a Windows version of DFUSE, and in a couple of weekends that became WDFUSE 1.0 I released a couple versions, then started preparing to move from Europe to the US to work at LucasArts. I enrolled the help of David Lovejoy, Alexei Novikov and Jereth Kok to help as I was working 2 jobs (my job + LucasArts) + preparing a transatlantic move lol We called ourselves The Code Alliance and they pretty much took over WDFUSE... many other people helped too! "
The editor was very popular in the editing community, even making it to various magazines such as this blurb from PC Zone magazine from August 1995 (page 118).
After Yves left to work for Lucasarts in mid 1996 to work on Jedi Knight, the Dark Alliance continued making updates to WDFUSE until they switched over to editors for Outlaws and Jedi Knight in 1997. And for almost 25 years the code was sitting on their hard drives. When DF-21.net staff started looking for WDFUSE source code earlier this year, the first person we reached out was Yves and unfortunately he lost it in a hard drive crash. The same story was for everyone else we reached out to until eventually, we got a hold of Alexei Novikov who kindly provided us with the source code which can now be found on our GitHub .
The CodeThe code itself, is written in Delphi, an Object Pascal for Application Development. It consists of about 100 .PAS Pascal (Source Code) files and the corresponding .DFM Form ( GUI ) files.
The code, unfortunately, was in an unfinished state as development moved to Outlaws and Jedi knight. Worse, it was no longer compatible with modern systems. After a quarter of a century, basic object definitions have changed (Ex: A CHAR in modern Delphi is 2 bytes while it was 1 byte in the 90s). Throughout this summer we got the code to compile successfully on modern systems and patched every issues we discovered.
Not content with doing the bare minimum we've modernized the editor and added many new features. So what does the editor look like now?
PreviewWith that out of the way, here is what the new version looks like !
New FeaturesThere are many bug fixes and new features that we've made to WDFUSE. Chief among them is 3D Preview provided for us by The MAZZTer , here is how it works in action!
Additionally, we've modernized the Editor to allow you to pan the map with the mouse and even zoom with the mousewheel.
We've added full support for modern storefronts and DosBox. You can now launch the game instantly with your Steam or GOG install!
We've also made it possible to copy and paste level elements between different instances of WDFUSE. This means that your friend can COPY their sectors, send you the text representation of them, and you can then PASTE them into your own map!
We've updated the container management system for LFDs and GOBs to easily drag and drop items of various types.
We now allow you to easily see Palette previews for textures and updated the size limits to 1000% of normal texture sizes.
DownloadThe WDFUSE 2.6 editor can be downloaded here --> Download The 3D Preview component can be downloaded here --> Download Remember, this is a BETA and is bound to have bugs. Please report any issues on our Discord in the #level-editor channel .
When reporting issues please do the following..
Changelist
Projects
Editor
GOB/LFD Container Managers
Sector/Wall/Vertex/Objects
Assets
Misc
Logging
Known Issues
This was a long project in the making but it means that we now have more time to work on other items for the Dark Forces Community! Expect more posts soon!
- Karjala |
May the 4th Be with You! |
Posted by karjala on 2021-05-04 16:26:16 EST |
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Happy Star Wars Day Everyone!
We wish you a wonderful happy May the Fourth! What a year, DF-21 is back from obscurity, we've published a brand new Custom Mission and even Dark Troopers have their field day in the canon universe!
We have a few tidbits to share with you today!
First of all, here are some amazing unboxing photos from our very own Princessruri of the Dark Forces Limited Edition
You can take a look at a video of the Unboxing process here
Additionally we have launched our own YouTube channel, we'll start putting more videos there soon -->DF-21 Youtube
Finally, we would like to announce that we are working on a Fan-made patch. There are many bugs we'd like to fix and features to enhance such as ... 1. Making the Force Fields visible in the Detention Center and many more! If you know Dark Forces editing and would like to contribute please join our Discord to discuss the details. Thank you All - we'll make Dark Forces even better in the 2020s with your help!
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The Laval Planet Releases! |
Posted by karjala on 2021-04-14 07:38:11 EST |
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Fish's Among the Shadows II: The Lava Planet is released!Today is a monumental day, after thirteen years we are once again adding new custom Dark Forces mission to DF-21.net! You can download from our new missions site here --> Download Link
Here are some screenshots from the mission, don't fall in the lava!
Check out this amazing door!
How to play: To start the mission simply extract the contents to your Dark Forces folder and tell DosBox to run start.bat |
Fortress Quadrigon Commentary |
Posted by karjala on 2021-04-11 22:06:31 EST |
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Happy April Everyone! Update: Following the stream, Fish has revealed he is releasing a NEW Dark Forces map Among The Shadows II - The Lava Planet this Wednesday April 14th. We'll have the download link for as soon as it is available. This is incredibly exciting as this is the first new map uploaded to DF-21.net since 2008!
Here are some teaser screenshots!
Original News Story: DF-21.net is expanding with two new sites! We now have out own Twitch channel where we will be streaming custom maps and tutorials. Additionally, we will be hosting Dark Forces videos on our new YouTube channel. Expect to have a good database of walkthroughs!
A few days ago, Fish, the author of Among The Shadows - Fortress Quadrigon, has sat down with DF-21 community and recorded a commentary on his map. It was a blast to hear him talk about the planning that went into making that masterpiece! You can check the video below and download the original map Here . I hope you enjoy the commentary! It was fun. We will be doing more of them with various authors.
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The Force Engine - Release Plan |
Posted by karjala on 2021-03-22 21:15:58 EST |
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Greetings everyone,
Lucius from The Force Engine has another update for us. The Good news is that The Jedi Renderer and INF System have been completely reverse-engineered ! The Bad (not really!) news is that the INF system doesn't play nice with the Floating-Point renderer.
Here is the full progress update in terms of completed systems.
Please read all about it here --> TFE Blog |
Dark Forces Remake in Unreal 4 Interview and Video |
Posted by karjala on 2021-03-17 15:30:25 EST |
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A small UK-based game developer called Shadow Art Games has just released a gameplay video of the Imperial Secret Base on Danuta . Here you can see the first mission in Dark Forces in full 4K resolution with modern graphics, visual and audio effects and new architectural layout. Check out the video below of the team's current progress.
Interview with the Shadow Art Games team.
And as a bonus, we were able to (virtually) sit-down with the team's Ryan and Lewis to discuss the project. DF-21: What got you started on this project? Just fans of Dark Forces? Ryan: So to begin with my friend Lewis was working on creating Dark Forces a while back and started talking to me about it, with us both being fans of star wars I decided to ask if he wanted help as I have a background in 3D art. Several months later it became this full-level project that we both love. Lewis: Yeah big time fan! Dark Forces was pretty much the first game I played as a kid when my Dad brought home a PS1 back around 1997. DF-21: Is this just a single-map remake right? You don't have plans to do other missions? Ryan: Currently yes, but we have talked that if people on our YouTube page and Discord all ask for another level then we might look to do another Lewis: I was always stuck on the Anoat sewers back in the day, still have nightmares! DF-21: Did you guys look at the original sector layout and INF scripting through Dark Forces editors such as WDFUSE or Dark Forge? Or did you come up with an entirely new design from scratch? Ryan: So originally I just was creating the wall panels as that's all I thought I was going to help with at the time. We were originally going to try stick to 1:1 with the original but after seeing JL version with adjustments in certain areas we thought It would be a nice change to just make it our own and add In what we felt worked. Lewis: You know, I personally was inspired by the layout of the Jedi Academy mod, which was super impressive. I guess it was a mix between the original, that mod and Jason Lewis's project Ryan: Thank you, I myself wasn't but I think my friend might have been and again I didn't but Lewis might have haha. Lewis: Unfortunately we were not, I think maybe I was a bit young at the time to discover modding for the original Dark forces, but I am a fan of the custom maps and campaigns, DF-21: Are you familiar with The Force Engine? Ryan: I have heard of it but not actually got around to checking it out. Lewis: Oh wow, yeah very enjoyable! I am looking forward to trying The Force Engine. Recently did a playthrough with Dark XL. DF-21: Did you create all the assets yourself or did you take them from other star wars games or websites? The textures, models and sound effects are straight from the Star Wars universe. Ryan: Rocks were megascan assets as I'm still not fully comfortable with sculpting high detailed rocks, but 95% of the assets I created and some Lewis sourced :slight_smile: Lewis: Not in a professional sense, but I do believe after many years of making hobby projects that I would say now I am somewhat competent? Haha. And definitely, the dream would be to make games with great people. It can be stressful but also so rewarding when you see everything come together just like any creative project. If it wasn't for Ryan's art skills, it would be nowhere near where it is today! DF-21: Thank you and do you have background in game art design? You can do both 3D modeling and animations? Ryan: I studied game art at university but left the animation side of it to Lewis as he decided to animate the simple doors straight in UE4 DF-21: When do you expect to complete the project and release it to the public ? Ryan: Tough but simple question, If it was me It would never be complete ( the curse of being an artist) as I nit pick a lot Lewis: The project pretty much started end of May 2020, so as a fan project goes, I would say we have made decent progress and it is only going to get better. Ryan: Fully playable level, yeah. Lewis: You know plans change could come earlier. The level is fully playable such as is shown on the video. I do need a nice HUD to display (I disabled it in the vid as I am not happy with the current look I have) it just needs a few things to make it really stand out. DF-21: Thank you so much for your time! Lewis: Thanks for taking interest in the project and giving coverage, also thanks for keeping the Dark Forces community alive in the 21st century :smile:
The work so far looks very impressive. You can visit the team on their YouTube channel, Facebook or their Discord |
Dark Forces Playthrough Commentary - Part IV |
Posted by karjala on 2021-03-13 23:01:54 EST |
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It is time for our final episode Dark Forces Playthrough Commentary by Princessruri ! In Part IV of the series, Princessruri infiltrates the Imperial City on Coruscant , the Fuel Station Ergo, Darth Vader's ship The Executor and finally Rom Mohc's Dark Trooper command ship The Arc Hammer .
Did you know that... - If you kill Boba Fett at the beginning of the Imperial City with mines and mortars through the wall, the mission will end and two Moldy Crows will appear on screen? - That the bridge arm on Fuel Station you see outside the control room is fake and that the real bridges are invisible on the map until you hit the switch?
- That the TIE Fighters on the Executor ship are about a third the size they are in the films? And in the game you can control their size as they fly to simulate distance? - That the ARC hammer conveyor belt gives you a hint of which path to take by a chain pattern on the wall? Check out the final video below for more details!
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The Force Engine - INF Update |
Posted by karjala on 2021-03-02 16:30:41 EST |
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Lucius is back with another update to his illustrious The Force Engine In the latest update he discusses the work he's been doing on the game's INF scripting system. Through INF scripts the doors open when Kyle presses a switch, elevators go up when he steps on them, and ceilings collapse on his head when he walks somewhere he shouldn't!
This is a particular interesting update for me as the author learned programming through scripts like these in the 90s. Here is an example of a move floor Elevator script that halts at various stops. The commands are read top to bottom in a loop.
For example at stop 56 it will play the m01kyl01.voc sound and call rickenbacker trigger which could open a door or... spawn a Dark Trooper! Did you know there are 11 core elevator types such as move ceiling or scroll wall ? The latter is used to simulate a waterfall on the Robotics Facility Mission on Anteevy But don't let us bore you with the details, read about it from the source!
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Dark Forces Playthrough Commentary - Part III |
Posted by karjala on 2021-03-01 22:14:55 EST |
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Once again we are back with one more Dark Forces Playthrough Commentary by Princessruri ! In Part III of his videos, Princessruri delves into the frozen Robotics Facility on Anteevy, the vertical ramparts of Nar Shaddaa, the capital of Nul Hutta, and the labyrinthian passages of The Star Jewel Jabba's pleasure Space Yacht.
Did you know that... - Max the rabbit from Steve Purcell's Sam & Max franchise is hidden in the Robotics Facility? Steve joined Lucasarts in 1988 and worked under Ron Gilbert on Monkey Island. He is a beloved character that is also present in Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire and Star Wars: Jedi Knight ! - That originally you could retrace your steps and return to the Moldy Falcon after picking up the Nava Card on Nar Shaddaa but the elevator was disabled for the final release? Here you can see the locked door that leads to the elevator. If we teleport behind the door, we can see the elevator just as the Dark Forces developers originally designed it! - That Dark Forces supports Non-Euclidean geometry? Here you can see that the hallway at the top seems to occupy the same physical space as the the circular stairwell. Groovy!
Check out the video below for more!
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Dark Forces Playthrough Commentary - Part II |
Posted by karjala on 2021-02-20 22:34:34 EST |
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Another weekend and another Dark Forces Playthrough Commentary by Princessruri ! In this Part II video he takes us from the red mines of the Gromas system to the Cal-Seti spaceport of Ramsees-Hed
Did you know that... - The large central pit in the Gromas Mine pits reflect bullets for the same reason Phase 1 Dark Trooper armor is reflective? They are made from the same material - Phrik! - Enemies cannot traverse catwalks because they do not render correctly when on top of 3D Objects? - The first thing you see in Ramsees Hed are the gigantic engines of the ship you are about to enter? - There is a hidden Ewok in one of the crates in the Ramsees Hed docking bay? Click on the video below to continue his adventure!
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Dark Forces Playthrough Commentary - Part 1 |
Posted by karjala on 2021-02-12 15:58:39 EST |
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Just in time for the weekend we are releasing Part 1 of our Dark Forces Playthrough by our very-own Princessruri ! With extensive background in Dark Forces map design and a guru of Dark Forces trivia he brings detailed commentary on Dark Forces missions.
Did you know that... - The Dark Forces map designers had a background in architecture and designed the maps in AutoCad? - The Death Star Plans have an animated version not shown on the first map? - There is a hidden room that hides a miniature Moldy Crow ?
Click on the video below to learn more ! |
DF-21 Discord Officially Launched! |
Posted by karjala on 2021-01-22 18:33:27 EST |
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Hello Everyone! As part of bringing DF-21 even further into the 21st century we are proud to announce today the launch of our official Discord ! This will be the go to place to discuss Dark Forces news, level editing, streaming and showing off your art assets. If you are having issues with your GOBs we have a support channel where you can get help from the community. And we even have a custom discord bot that automatically notifies us when Dark Forces is being played on Twitch! As Lucius' The Force Engine becomes more fully-featured we will have tutorial streams to help you create your own maps. And we will host playthroughs of our favorite maps such as Assassination on Nar Shaddaa, Dark Tide IV and Mines. You may notice that we now have a dedicated "Join Our Discord" button and Daily User Statistics! Come join us today! |
The Force Engine - Experimental Voxel Update |
Posted by karjala on 2021-01-17 18:31:08 EST |
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Lucius is back with a brand new update and a new experimental build of The Force Engine that allows for in-game voxels! In addition to static decor such as tables and chains, there are now fully rendered health and ammo powerups and even interrogation droid enemies remade in shiny voxel graphics by the talented Paweł Dzierżanowski. Go visit his page for more fantastic art. Those of you who are eager to finally see what a Build-engine voxel would look like in a Dark Forces setting, please head to The Force Engine - Experimental Builds page for information. You can download the Experimental build Here And now for for some preview images to satisfy your curiosity!
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Dark Forces DeHacker 1.4 Released |
Posted by karjala on 2021-01-14 07:43:37 EST |
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Today we have great news on modernizing Dark Forces controls. -=CHE@TER=- has released a new version of DeHacker that automates most of the configuration setup. The new program will have you up and running in two button presses. Version 1.4 Improvements
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New Engine and Dehacker Update |
Posted by Taton on 2020-05-20 19:39:43 EST |
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Remember Dark XL, that beautiful hope that burned bright and short in the Mid 2000's? Well LuciusXL has returned after a decade with a new project, The Force Engine. Based off the work for DarkXL, but completely rewritten, The Force Engine is a new attempt to reverse engineer Dark Force's Jedi engine. There's even a playable pre-release version! Keep in mind this is pre-alpha, so don't expect it to replace DosBox quite yet. |
New Version - Dark Forces DeHacker |
Posted by Taton on 2020-03-31 19:24:31 EST |
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Version 1.1 of Dark Forces DeHacker Released! This amazing utility by -=CHE@TER=- that enables Mouselook now does EVEN MORE!
New Features (Slightly Anglicized as English isn't -=CHE@TER=-'s first language) - "IMUSE music MIDI drivers fix" which will patch infinite loop bug in General MIDI and Roland music drivers. (You don't need to disable music to prevent game from hanging) - "Configuration setup" menu where you can configure game controls and assign (bind) the previously unavailable option [Center View] to all three supported devices (keyboard, mouse and joystick) - Unassign unused keyboard keys and set it to <None> (press Escape to set) - Added documentation in "DARKINFO.TXT" file with complete list of all reserved keyboard keys, commandline options, and cheat codes. - Create default configuration by deleting JEDI.CFG before run DeHacker and enter "Configuration setup" menu (dialog will appear to confirm default configuration file creation) - New installation Batch File to easily make fresh installs from CD. - "Weapon AutoMount" will now always work in game (original SETUP.EXE can break this option and render it completely unusable) - You can now assign buttons 3 and 4 when "Standard 4 Button" joystick type selected (this was a SETUP.EXE bug) - Selected mouse sensitivity will be better preserved. (The Original setup.exe behaves improperly). - "System Speed" renamed to "Screen Size" to make to more accurately represent options. No longer limited to four options. Thanks to -=CHE@TER=- and his amazing work. He even let me beta test this one! Source Website (Russian) |
Dark Forces Collector |
Posted by Taton on 2020-03-16 19:29:46 EST |
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Limited Run Games has announced that Dark Forces and Jedi Knight: Dark Force II are both getting Collector's edition releases on March 20th, 2020. Just look at the box on this thing! Dark Forces Collector's Edition -Star Wars: Dark Forces Classic Edition blister pack -Rigid box with foil stamping. -Individually numbered certificate of authenticity. -Booklet of retrospective essays. -SteelBook case. -3 art cards. -LucasFilm USB drive. -Reversible 18" x 24" poster. -Commemorative coin. -Moldy Crow enamel pin
Dark Forces Jedi Knight II is getting a pretty similar treatment. Mysteries of the Sith is included. Jedi Knight Collector's Edition Both games are also available in Blister Packs, similar to how Star Wars action figures were in the 90's. These are limited to 3,000 copies at $29.99 |
HD Crow and Russian Mouselook |
Posted by Taton on 2020-03-10 18:09:02 EST |
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@SecbaseUnLTD bringing us his beautiful "HD" Moldy Crow Model. Uploads aren't quite working at the moment, so here's some external links. The zip contains a small level that shows the different sizes of the model and also includes instructions on how to load the model into the game. Pics (Twitter) Also, JonT forwarded me a shifty Russian link to a Dark Forces DeHAcker. It implements mouselook into the DOS version of the game! It offers some other features that modify how the game works, and even includes the source code. The website linked also features modifications for an eclectic selection of vintage DOS shooters. |
Nightdive Studio Pursuing Dark Forces Remaster |
Posted by Taton on 2019-01-18 17:19:06 EST |
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Nightdive Studio, known for their efforts to remaster classic FPS games has expressed interest in remastering the our beloved Dark Forces. CEO Stephen Kick has tweeted at Disney, hoping to catch attention of Disney. He requests that fans reply to his tweet to show Disney the love for our classic game. |
Unreal Gets More Unreal |
Posted by Taton on 2018-02-11 11:55:47 EST |
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The Secret Base remake by Jason Lewis has been updated recently with more amazing screenshots. You can practically taste the durasteel. Feast your eyes!
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Something Even More Unreal |
Posted by Taton on 2017-11-17 19:52:17 EST |
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Some more fun Dark Force / Unreal news! Jason Lewis from Obsidian Entertainment is recreating the first level of Dark Forces, The Secret Base, in Unreal Engine 4. The level is still WIP, and it is unknown if it will be released to the public. It currently has a very Jedi Outcast vibe, and it''s be great to see where he takes it.
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Dark Forces in Unreal Engine |
Posted by Taton on 2017-06-04 18:37:13 EST |
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Patrick Haslow (Of Dark Tide Infamy) has been working on implementing Dark Forces for Unreal Engine. Check it Out! |
Dark Forces Lore Play |
Posted by Taton on 2017-01-18 21:15:06 EST |
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Star Wars Explains is doing a series on the lore of Star Wars: Dark Forces. Check it out! |
On Social Media and Such |
Posted by Taton on 2017-01-04 20:55:17 EST |
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DF-21 has truly entered the 21st century, as we now have a Twitter account. If that is your kind of thing, follow us @DF21net. |
Happy New Year! + New Forum |
Posted by Taton on 2017-01-01 12:32:26 EST |
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Happy 2017! DF-21 has a forum once again! Hit the button labeled "Forum" of the left hand side to visit it. Come join introduce / reintroduce yourself to the DF-21 community. Introduce Yourself *Bonus Content* Glixel wrote an article on Dark Forces to coincide with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. How a 'Star Wars' Video Game Told the 'Rogue One' Story 20 Years Ago |
Account creation problems |
Posted by jon-t on 2016-11-17 14:20:17 EST |
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Hello All! Its jon-t, your negligent webmaster. I recently discovered a tiny bug in the website that made it impossible for users to create an account. I have fixed it. If you have tried to make an account, but were not able to log in, please try to make your account again. To all of those loyal members of the community who have tried to make an account recently but have not been able to, I sincerely apologize for my negligence. |
The Service Outage |
Posted by jon-t on 2016-10-03 16:20:28 EST |
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My apologies to everyone for the long time that DF-21.net was down. Time for me to write my philosophy paper… |
Site Back Up + John Romero |
Posted by taton on 2016-10-03 08:53:00 EST |
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DF-21 is now back up. Rejoice. A fun little bit of content for y'all. John Romero (of Doom Fame) recently did a walk-through of his recreated level of E1M8. Lots of great stuff for 2.5d level designers. A shout out to Dark Forces was made with a staircase inspired by Jabba's Ship from Dark Forces. John Romero incorrectly describes this staircase as being an illusion created using teleporters. This is misinformation that goes back to the Usenet days, when many people assumed that Dark Forces was incapable of sector over sector geometry. https://vimeo.com/theromero/review/156288044/2ad02ce556 |
Custom Mission Playthroughs |
Posted by Taton on 2016-08-20 02:15:58 EST |
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There is a dearth of quality Dark Forces custom level video content. Here is an attempt to remedy that. Check out Max Duckwell's youtube channel. He posts play-throughs of older FPS game, and has put up quite a few custom Dark Forces missions. From Free Kelly to Discovery at Ironfort, sit back, relax, and enjoy some Dark Forces. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4V3Cs5q0vBvXlcPsLsNJMCMnZt7KxnoQ |
Not Quite Dark3D |
Posted by Taton on 2016-08-10 22:27:11 EST |
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DF-21 is now the proud host of Dark Forces history! Cybercraft CDark, has been uploaded for consumption by the general public. Created by Mattias Welander, famous for working on the Dark3D engine, this is an editor he created that features a full 3D preview system. This is an alpha version of the software, so make backups before you unleash it on any of your projects. Please take this moment and sing the Swedish national anthem, "Du gamla, Du fria". |
DF-21 Subreddit |
Posted by Taton on 2016-07-24 21:00:50 EST |
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I've created a Subreddit that can be used for discussion topics until the forums are up and running. https://www.reddit.com/r/df21/ |
More Levels |
Posted by Taton on 2016-04-09 04:12:48 EST |
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Been a while since the last update! Got some more levels uploaded as an apology: Ruins of Talos Series - A 4 part story driven series with ALOT of custom components. NOTE: The two Reunion levels are completely different and unique. Energy Mine on Parux - Beautifully constructed level set on the precipice of a canyon. It evokes a feeling similar to the "Surface Tension" section from Half Life. Dark Prelude - Nice little prequel duo-logy to Dark Forces chronicling how Kyle Katarn saved Jan Ors. First Level is more fun than the second. (If you like this kind of stuff, you should check out the "Birth of a Mercenary" levels for Mysteries of the Sith) The Rock Episode I - Gandolo IV - This level has great atmosphere. Taking inspiration from the Michael Bay movie of the same name (with less Sean Connery), this a well polished level with great feeling of uneasiness as you work your way through the facility. Most of the good stuff has been uploaded already, but there's a few more gems down the line. |
An on and on and on... |
Posted by taton on 2016-01-17 18:25:53 EST |
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More Goodness for the unwashed masses: Jedi Crystal - The Discovery - One of the newer levels created. A nicely made romp some older players may have never played. Jungles of Caldoun - A nice jungle themed level that centers around deciphering the purpose of a mysterious Imperial Base. Assassinate Darth Vader - Saddened by the fact that Dark forces didn't feature the promised Star Destroyer that Lucasarts showed off a map of? Here's what you've been waiting for! Mines - Every seen the movie "The Room"? It's kind of like that. Only 60 more levels to go folks... |
More Uploads |
Posted by Taton on 2016-01-12 02:43:02 EST |
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More missions have been uploaded. Here's some fun ones to check out and/or revisit. The Hoerby Trilogy - A good solid collection of levels leading up too... Prelude to Harkov's Defection - A Huge and technically brilliant level to explore. Make sure to download the required cutscene! Lahara Hotel - May sound like a boring level, but this was runner of for the Hall of Fame. Discovery at Ironfort - Another amazing level for Kevin Buscemi! May our former webmaster be venerated on high! A special thanks goes out to Graviton, who uploaded some Utilities and Editors. I really need to get a copy of WDFUSE in there (Does Wedit even run on modern windows? I could never get it to work back when it was current!) |
The Continuing Labors |
Posted by taton on 2016-01-07 02:40:33 EST |
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Now that the Holidays are behind us, I've found some time to upload some more levels. The highly venerated Dark Tide series has now been uploaded in it's entirety. If you haven't played them yet, repent of your sins and participate in the sacred quadrilogy! Hey Patrick, I know you've been busy working on Bioshock and stuff, but Dark Tide WAS supposed to have a 5th level... |
Updated Downloads |
Posted by taton on 2015-12-20 05:57:56 EST |
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I couldn't resist making a front-page post with my administrative powers. I'm Taton, and I've been a minor member of the Dark Forces community since the late 90s. I wanted to share with the community the process involved with updating the Downloads sections. Dark Forces has a fascinating, almost continuous history of hosted custom content for over 20 years. Files were downloaded from Star Wars FTPs, Tola Dalton's Site, and eventually DF-21.net. With the source files for DF-21 being lost and apparently unrecoverable, a significant number of files were no longer available. If it wasn't for members of the community, these files may have been lost. There are still some files that may never be recovered. With all this in mind, I have begun archiving and documenting the Dark Forces custom level library. I have been testing and organizing the zip files of levels to ensure that DF-21.net is free of corrupted or outdated files. Level descriptions are being formatted, files are being hunted down in dusty forsaken corners of the internet, and a spreadsheet is being filled to create a master database of Dark Forces content. I am working through the levels alphabetically by zip-file name, and uploading them as they are documented. (I am filled with shame that "Boba Fett's Gone Mental" has been uploaded before any of the Dark tide Series) The level downloads section will steadily be updated overtime, and there's many exciting updates to be made as we enter a new year. |
Uploads are now functional! |
Posted by jon-t on 2015-12-08 20:52:01 EST |
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The uploads page is now working! So, if you've got files for the downloads section that I haven't put up yet (which is most of them), PLEASE, upload them! |
DF-21 Is Back Online! |
Posted by klasodeth on 2015-11-22 07:15:41 EST |
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After extended downtime, DF-21.net is finally back online, though it bears the scars of the chaos surrounding the downtime. So what happened? Initially it seemed to be a simple matter of the domain registration lapsing, as has happened before when the renewal notice was overlooked. However, the site remained offline even after renewing the registration. As it turns out, the provider formerly hosting DF-21.net not only managed to lose the website data, but they lost Lucius' account information, substantially complicating any efforts to resolve the issue with the hosting provider. Ultimately, they were unresponsive and it became necessary to seek out another web host provider. Since I already pay for web hosting that I don't really use, I offered to host DF-21.net. Ideally, I'd have uploaded a backup copy of the website, but unfortunately there was no comprehensive backup of DF-21.net available. The site you're viewing right now is a reconstruction built from data salvaged from JKDF2.com and Wayback Machine. Most of the download links were recoverable, but several were not. The forum was also lost, though the Dark Forces subsection of XL Engine.com continues to be available for Dark Forces discussion. As time permits, I'll do what I can to locate alternate sources for any missing data, though I suspect I'll need help sourcing some of the more elusive files. I also plan to fix or remove the multitude of broken links that have accumulated over the years. And of course, a full backup of the site would be prudent. EDIT: For anyone with questions or comments about DF-21.net, the Contact page has been updated with my contact info. Klasodeth |
Welcome To The New |
Posted by jon-t on 2015-01-03 10:24:11 EST |
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Welcome to the new DF-21.net! |
Instructions to use the new website |
Posted by jon-t on 2015-12-01 17:54:23 EST |
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Ok, i know, i know, WHERE IS THE FORUMS BUTTON? Answer: Its not done yet, so in the meanwhile, just use chat. |
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