The Force Engine Version 1.0 Release

[Vermil]

Congratulations on the release.

[lucius]

6 hours ago, david_a said:

Very excited that this is a reality!

 

Looking forward to the Mac version since my Windows machine is ancient. I assume there will also be an Apple Silicon native version?

The plan is to support M1/M2 Macs.

[Slipgate Tourist]

Impressive work Lucius.

[Urthar]

Oh boy! I guess I know what I'm doing today then.

[DuckReconMajor]

This is incredible news and I'm still immeasurably happy you picked this project back up.

[Kroc]

Just completed Dark Tide Ep.1 The Wasteland Survivor with TFE and everything worked!

 

PSA: If you want to try something new for DF, this map is highly recommended:

https://df-21.net/downloads/levels.php?view=dt1se

[Jello]

I just want to give you an enormous pile of kudos @lucius. I've been kind of following this off and on since you started it, but it seems like you're always releasing a new update. It's been a few releases since I've tried it, and everything seemed to be working more or less fine back then, but I kind of stopped because I realized it wasn't fully done; so I'm really looking forward to playing through the full game in the 1.0 release. 

 

It's amazing, the dedication to the project, and the constant progress updates, it clear this is a labor of love. It's been a quarter of a century since I've played through Dark Forces in it's entirety, but I think it'll be fun.

 

Also, as a weird aside, there's a newsfeed I have on my phone where some random things crop up. And this came up from Engadget: 

https://www.engadget.com/star-wars-dark-forces-the-force-engine-202808132.html

And I thought "Hey... I know of that person. Neat!"

 

But seriously, congratulations, and thank you for doing this.

[Kroc]

Minor bug report:

Some kind of line-ending mishap with Dark Tide II (I & III are fine)

 

 

[Kyle07]

Congrats to the full version release!

I played the Jedi Academy demo of Dark Forces maybe around 2008. In September 2009 I bought the original DF on Steam and then I played it. I almost wanted to play DF again, but now this will not happen with DOSBox anymore.

 

The German news website / magazine GameStar wrote an article, that a "modern 4K remaster" was released as a fan project:

https://www.gamestar.de/artikel/4k-remaster-perfekter-zeitpunkt-fuer-star-wars-dark-forces,3388130.html

Edited December 21, 2022 by Kyle07

[lucius]

8 hours ago, Kroc said:

Minor bug report:

Some kind of line-ending mishap with Dark Tide II (I & III are fine)

 

 

Yeah, the mod loader is trying to guess how to parse the various different styled text files and metadata - and sometimes gets it wrong. :)- I will look into improving it in the future.

[lucius]

4 hours ago, Kyle07 said:

Congrats to the full version release!

I played the Jedi Academy demo of Dark Forces maybe around 2008. In September 2009 I bought the original DF on Steam and then I played it. I almost wanted to play DF again, but now this will not happen with DOSBox anymore.

 

The German news website / magazine GameStar wrote an article, that a "modern 4K remaster" was released as a fan project:

https://www.gamestar.de/artikel/4k-remaster-perfekter-zeitpunkt-fuer-star-wars-dark-forces,3388130.html

People who wrote those articles didn't bother to get in contact with me or other people in the know - so some of them get things wrong. But that is just the way modern journalism works, I suppose.

 

Anyway, thanks. :)

Edited December 21, 2022 by lucius

[AmethystViper]

I've been looking at this project on and off when it started out as XL Engine and I'm happy to see this source port reach its completion! I can't wait to pick up Dark Forces to experience the game with all the new enhancements it has to offer! Thank you and congrats on the release!

[lucius]

Thanks, AmethystViper.

[Rudolph]

I have already tried release 0.9 and while I ended up not liking Dark Forces very much, I am still glad that The Force Engine exists, as it is the next best thing to a proper remaster, which games, regardless of their flaws, absolutely deserve for the sake of future generations.

 

So congratulations on going gold, leader! :D

Edited December 21, 2022 by Rudolph

[lucius]

Version 1.01 Release
This version improves on several deficiencies found in the initial release. This includes improved source data path robustness, crash fixes, deadzone options for controllers, and numerous bug fixes.

TheForceEngine-v1.01.001.zip : theforceengine.github.io/downloads.html

Changes
* Improved robustness against sound system setup errors.
* Added –nosound commandline to disable digital sound (music still plays).
* Draw “no data” message in large red letters so it is obvious.
* Changed the name of the file the the Browse dialog asks you to point to from DARK.EXE to DARK.GOB to reduce confusion.
* Steam path detection is now more robust and should handle libraries on different drives than the base Steam install.
* TFE will now find the game source data if it is in the same directory as TFE.
* TFE now supports putting the game data under the TFE directory, under Games/Dark Forces/* and that case will be autodetected.
* Source data path validation is now more robust.
* Fixed a bug where the ‘settings.ini’ failed to parse, messing up settings.
* Shows a configuation menu on the first run where you can set either Vanilla or Modern defaults.
* Fixed Escape Menu background stretching when using the GPU Renderer with widescreen disabled.
* Fixed divide by zero crashes in the projectile code.
* The GPU Renderer now honors fullbright and opaque/transparent flags for signs and sign textures.
* Fixed a flags issue in the explosion code, where explosions could effect some things they are not supposed to.
* Fixed the thermal detonator damage the player takes, they were taking too much.
* Added a custom deadzone setting and proper deadzone sensitivity scaling.
* Fixed a lighting bug with the muzzle flash being too dark.
* Fixed sprite culling using the GPU renderer close to the camera.

Edited December 23, 2022 by lucius

[taufan99]

I have two suggestions, one earnest and another tongue-in-cheek.

Quote

• Add software MIDI synthetizer support such as TiMiDiTy++
• (Only after 2.0) If the port reads both Dark Forces and Outlaws, add a unique game mod that allows players to play as Katarn in Outlaws and Anderson in Dark Forces, with several custom spawners/flags/etc.

 

[lucius]

The first suggestion is being added in early 2023, it is needed for proper cross-platform support.

And you might actually get a bit of the second option - early versions of Outlaws support might use Dark Forces physics and movement (maybe even weapons) before that part of the code is reverse-engineered and integrated - in order to get things up and running quicker.

Edited December 24, 2022 by lucius

[knifeworld]

Dark Forces was the first FPS game I ever played so this is amazing to see!

[lucius]

I have written a blog post about the 2022 TFE Retrospective and project plans for 2023. https://theforceengine.github.io/2022/12/24/2023Dev.html

[taufan99]

1 hour ago, lucius said:

I have written a blog post about the 2022 TFE Retrospective and project plans for 2023. https://theforceengine.github.io/2022/12/24/2023Dev.html

Love this write-up. I like how you nailed that robust save system by making the port load every single piece of information from the save, instead of loading directly from the original data's level. I imagine that must've been tricky to pull out.

[Gez]

On samedi 24 décembre 2022 at 1:34 AM, lucius said:

The first suggestion is being added in early 2023, it is needed for proper cross-platform support.

Would ZMusic be of interest? It's a crossplatform library that encompasses a variety of different software synthesizers, in addition to tracker module music (through DUMB) and a large number of legacy console formats (through Game Music Emu).

[lucius]

12 hours ago, Gez said:

Would ZMusic be of interest? It's a crossplatform library that encompasses a variety of different software synthesizers, in addition to tracker module music (through DUMB) and a large number of legacy console formats (through Game Music Emu).

I'm probably going to start with a simpler and more integrated approach. But there is a lot here that can be useful, so I will keep this in mind. Thanks for making the suggestion.

[kimfff55]

when will the second version come out?

[Kinsie]

1 hour ago, kimfff55 said:

when will the second version come out?

If you count DarkXL, Lucius's quest to a complete Dark Forces source port took at least 13 years. Likely longer, but the oldest post I could find was from 2009 and it mentioned working on it "for a while" beforehand. I feel like immediately responding to the culmination of such a long and tempestuous journey with "so when's the next one" is a little bit distasteful, TBH.

 

But to answer your question: Probably some time before December 2035.

[Dzierzan]

Well, the main engine is there and a lot of stuff required for Outlaws is there as well. Obviously Outlaws will require reverse engineering. However lucius did mention (on Discord server) that getting Outlaws working should take less time.

 

Also mind that TFE will get some upgrades like true color rendering, voxel support, HQ sound support, further bug fixes for Dark Forces, level editor (kinda like the modern Doom one), Linux and Mac support and more. Yeah, there's plenty of that. And that stuff also takes time.

 

Lucius wrote that Outlaws support might happen in late 2023 but personally I totally don't believe in that date and I prefer to just wait, as I did with full Dark Forces support. Lucius might like giving himself some kind of deadlines, but considering it's fan-made project, we all shouldn't expect those dates to be fulfilled in time.

Edited December 31, 2022 by Dzierzan

[irukanjji]

On 12/20/2022 at 1:23 AM, lucius said:

Thanks, everyone, I'm glad TFE is working well for most people (even though there are some hiccups here and there). :)

Yep, for me when i click mods menu, it opens and freeze, i have to brute force shutdown the engine, and run it again, the game seems to work very well, but in some areas, when you must jump, the game crash, but not in the same areas, it seems its alleatory way, but anyway amazing job, thanks m8

[lucius]

On 12/30/2022 at 6:47 PM, Kinsie said:

If you count DarkXL, Lucius's quest to a complete Dark Forces source port took at least 13 years. Likely longer, but the oldest post I could find was from 2009 and it mentioned working on it "for a while" beforehand. I feel like immediately responding to the culmination of such a long and tempestuous journey with "so when's the next one" is a little bit distasteful, TBH.

 

But to answer your question: Probably some time before December 2035.

While I do appreciate the time frame skepticism and general message - I want to note that once DarkXL development stopped, there was no development for Dark Forces until TFE development started. TFE was a fresh approach and new project, not a continuation of DarkXL. It took 3 years, not 13. (Even if you count DarkXL, it is still a much shorter amount of time, given gaps in development, etc.).

 

But otherwise, the message itself - that it will take time to fix bugs, implement desired TFE features (such as Linux support), get the level editor up and working again, and various other plans. Before running off to add support for the next game, I need to make sure the foundation is solid and that some minimal visual/quality of life features - such as true color rendering - are implemented.

Edited January 1, 2023 by lucius

[lucius]

On 12/31/2022 at 5:17 AM, irukanjji said:

Yep, for me when i click mods menu, it opens and freeze, i have to brute force shutdown the engine, and run it again, the game seems to work very well, but in some areas, when you must jump, the game crash, but not in the same areas, it seems its alleatory way, but anyway amazing job, thanks m8

It sounds like you are having some serious issues, please post a bug report on GitHub or the forums. You can get links from the website: https://theforceengine.github.io/

Edited January 1, 2023 by lucius

[lucius]

On 12/30/2022 at 10:41 PM, Dzierzan said:

Well, the main engine is there and a lot of stuff required for Outlaws is there as well. Obviously Outlaws will require reverse engineering. However lucius did mention (on Discord server) that getting Outlaws working should take less time.

 

Also mind that TFE will get some upgrades like true color rendering, voxel support, HQ sound support, further bug fixes for Dark Forces, level editor (kinda like the modern Doom one), Linux and Mac support and more. Yeah, there's plenty of that. And that stuff also takes time.

 

Lucius wrote that Outlaws support might happen in late 2023 but personally I totally don't believe in that date and I prefer to just wait, as I did with full Dark Forces support. Lucius might like giving himself some kind of deadlines, but considering it's fan-made project, we all shouldn't expect those dates to be fulfilled in time.

To clarify, I do think Outlaws will be at least partially playable in 2023 - but I don't think it will be "done" until 2024. Mainly because the first part of 2023 will be spent on Dark Forces issues, and TFE features, as discussed above. But, as mentioned above, that is only a vague estimate - I will have a better idea after focused development is under way.

[irukanjji]

On 1/1/2023 at 10:04 AM, lucius said:

It sounds like you are having some serious issues, please post a bug report on GitHub or the forums. You can get links from the website: https://theforceengine.github.io/

here is the log file

the_force_engine_log.7z