Posted by karjala on 2021-03-02 16:30:41 EST

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.

item: sector            name: complete
  seq
    class: elevator move_floor
    stop: 55 hold
    stop: 56 hold
      page: 1 m01kyl01.voc
      message: 1 rickenbacker master_on
    stop: 56 4
    stop: 56.5 2
      message: 3 parking_space wakeup
    stop: 57 0
      message: 4 text_boy m_trigger
    stop: 57 complete
    speed: 0
  seqend

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!

The Force Engine - INF System

 

Posted by karjala on 2021-03-01 22:14:55 EST

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!

 

Posted by karjala on 2021-02-20 22:34:34 EST

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!

 

Posted by karjala on 2021-02-12 15:58:39 EST

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 ! 

Posted by karjala on 2021-01-22 18:33:27 EST

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!