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Enhance your Dark Forces 19 Sep, 2009, 02:44 / 14 comments

By jp-30


It's not yet completely finished, but if you have Dark Forces lying around (or just bought the Steam release) and want to make it a smoother, less pixellated and have mouse-look enabled, check out the latest build of the project that renders the game using OpenGL in a brand-new custom coded engine:

Accelerated Dark Forces Extended

Works a treat on my Vista setup, but I had to copy the game directory from the Steam default to a C:DARK directory.

Brilliant! Also if you want more Enhanced Dark Forces experiences, there's a Dark Forces mod for Jedi Academy here that recreates the first 6 levels.

Source: DarkXL

14

14 Comments

  • TestType on 20 Sep, 2009, 16:17…
    This does look nice! I'll give this a try if I ever get the Jedi Knight bundle on steam, or dig up my white label copy of Dark Forces that I think I have in a box somewhere.
  • Laserschwert on 20 Sep, 2009, 14:50…
    I assume this does work with the recent Steam re-release?
  • jp-30 on 20 Sep, 2009, 19:33…
    I did mention that twice in my news post.
  • Laserschwert on 20 Sep, 2009, 19:48…
    D'oh.
  • Ascovel on 19 Sep, 2009, 07:08…
    meh, it's best to go for the original authentic experience.
  • jp-30 on 19 Sep, 2009, 07:17…
    It's not a remake, it's the same game on a new engine. Err...
  • clone2727 on 20 Sep, 2009, 02:23…
    And there's no non-Windows port (and it probably doesn't support the Mac version, I didn't see any mention of it though).
  • jp-30 on 20 Sep, 2009, 08:36…
    Q: What platforms does DarkXL support?

    A: Right now DarkXL only supports Windows XP and Windows Vista. Support for other platforms is planned but not until later. Possible platforms include: Linux, Mac (with a volunteer since I don’t own a Mac), XBox 360 (using XNA) and a possibility of a 2.5D version on the DS if I’m feeling up to it (rendering in software similar to the original game). The DS version would be last if done at all – it’ll really depend on the demand and if I still want to do it after all the other versions. :) Also I’ll probably do the Linux version myself (and all non-Mac versions), which will make porting to the Mac pretty easy I think.
  • clone2727 on 20 Sep, 2009, 16:15…
    No, the Mac version of Dark Forces, not a Mac port of DarkXL. I did read the FAQ (and hence I mentioned about no Windows platforms, I guess one day...).
  • clone2727 on 20 Sep, 2009, 16:24…
    Oh, and it's not open source, which greatly bothers me. Even if I wanted to add stuff, I couldn't...
  • jp-30 on 20 Sep, 2009, 19:42…
    Q: Is this project open source? Will the source code be released?

    A: DarkXL is not open source at this time and the source code is not available. However the source will be opened up down the road, mainly so that others can maintain and extend the project once I’m “finished” (i.e. my goals are met and I’m not going to work on it much any more). I have reservations about standard open source projects (for reasons I really don’t want to repeat here) and really want to avoid excessive forking and fragmenting of the community (how many Doom source ports are there?). On the other hand I don’t want the project to die when I won’t/can’t continue it, which is why I’ll release the source anyway before then. So in summary the source code will eventually be released but not any time soon.


    Sounds reasonable to me.
  • clone2727 on 20 Sep, 2009, 21:22…
    I disagree with his points. It's different when a company open sources their product (in which the community then takes an fragments into various projects) and when an individual or small group brings their project out into the open. I have found that in the latter situation, the source generally tries to stay with the original as much as possible. However, it is up to him in the end, and I respect his decision.
  • jp-30 on 20 Sep, 2009, 22:58…
    He's written the code. He owns it. If he wants to finish up what he started before releasing his source code, I don't see what the issue is.
  • clone2727 on 21 Sep, 2009, 00:37…
    I understand it's his code and it's what he wants to do with it, hence I respect his decision.