When it comes to mid-90s FPS games, "Doom" is undoubtedly the king...
but "Dark Forces" always came a close second, as far as I was
concerned. And as much as I love "Doom", "Dark Forces" is by far the
more modern of the two games, with its more 'realistic' level design
and story-based adventure hearkening to what "Half Life" would later >standardize.
"Dark Forces" was never a 'lost' game; although a DOS game, it was
always fairly easy to get it running, either in Win9x directly or
later through DOSBox on NT-era machines. But while it was technically >runnable, its engine and controls were increasingly dated. Designed
for 4:3 monitors and before mouse-look was common, the original feels
cramped and claustrophobic compared to modern titles.
There have been attempts to modernize the engine - DarkXL was one such >project; another attempted to port the game to the Unreal engine - but
they never gained much recognition. TheForceEngine >(https://theforceengine.github.io/) is the latest, and here's hoping
it has better longevity.
This iteration is off to a good start; I gave it a test run through a
couple of levels and it's running pretty well. The wide-screen mode is
very welcome, but not nearly so much as the smooth mouse control. Of
course, being able to pinpoint headshots from across the level by
dropping the mouse cursor on a stormtrooper's noggin does take some of
the challenge away from the game.
Although it's not yet implemented, "Outlaws" is expected to be
supported by this engine as well. TheForceEngine also has support for
mods too, so hopefully graphic enhancements aren't too far behind
either.
Anyway, seeing as DarkXL is nearly impossible to find, TheForceEngine
is probably the best way to play "Dark Forces" nowadays. If you've
been hankering to replay this old classic, give it a try.
On Thu, 13 Jul 2023 12:18:11 -0400, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
There have been attempts to modernize the engine - DarkXL was one such >>project; another attempted to port the game to the Unreal engine - but
they never gained much recognition. TheForceEngine >>(https://theforceengine.github.io/) is the latest, and here's hoping
it has better longevity.
Thank you. Always looking for new ways to play old games, and Dark Forces
was a good one.
This iteration is off to a good start; I gave it a test run through a
couple of levels and it's running pretty well. The wide-screen mode is
very welcome, but not nearly so much as the smooth mouse control. Of
course, being able to pinpoint headshots from across the level by
dropping the mouse cursor on a stormtrooper's noggin does take some of
the challenge away from the game.
Although it's not yet implemented, "Outlaws" is expected to be
supported by this engine as well. TheForceEngine also has support for
mods too, so hopefully graphic enhancements aren't too far behind
either.
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote in news:u380bi9cral98ouq3gmdcsuq98na1b3ivs@4ax.com:
This iteration is off to a good start; I gave it a test run through a couple of levels and it's running pretty well. The wide-screen mode is
very welcome, but not nearly so much as the smooth mouse control. Of course, being able to pinpoint headshots from across the level by
dropping the mouse cursor on a stormtrooper's noggin does take some of
the challenge away from the game.
Although it's not yet implemented, "Outlaws" is expected to be
supported by this engine as well. TheForceEngine also has support for
mods too, so hopefully graphic enhancements aren't too far behind
either.
Thanks very much for this. Dark Forces and Outlaws were two of my favourite games back in the 90s. I still have the boxes on my shelves. I also bought them on Steam, trying to recapture the magic, but I never managed to get them to run very well. TheForceEngine seems to run well and does the trick for me,
Mark P. Nelson <markpnelson@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote in
news:u380bi9cral98ouq3gmdcsuq98na1b3ivs@4ax.com:
This iteration is off to a good start; I gave it a test run through a
couple of levels and it's running pretty well. The wide-screen mode is
very welcome, but not nearly so much as the smooth mouse control. Of
course, being able to pinpoint headshots from across the level by
dropping the mouse cursor on a stormtrooper's noggin does take some of
the challenge away from the game.
Although it's not yet implemented, "Outlaws" is expected to be
supported by this engine as well. TheForceEngine also has support for
mods too, so hopefully graphic enhancements aren't too far behind
either.
Thanks very much for this. Dark Forces and Outlaws were two of my favourite >> games back in the 90s. I still have the boxes on my shelves. I also bought >> them on Steam, trying to recapture the magic, but I never managed to get them
to run very well. TheForceEngine seems to run well and does the trick for me,
Both were great games. I remember Outlaws' multiplayer too.
On Sat, 15 Jul 2023 21:33:43 +0000, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:
Mark P. Nelson <markpnelson@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote in
news:u380bi9cral98ouq3gmdcsuq98na1b3ivs@4ax.com:
This iteration is off to a good start; I gave it a test run through a
couple of levels and it's running pretty well. The wide-screen mode is >> > very welcome, but not nearly so much as the smooth mouse control. Of
course, being able to pinpoint headshots from across the level by
dropping the mouse cursor on a stormtrooper's noggin does take some of >> > the challenge away from the game.
Although it's not yet implemented, "Outlaws" is expected to be
supported by this engine as well. TheForceEngine also has support for
mods too, so hopefully graphic enhancements aren't too far behind
either.
Thanks very much for this. Dark Forces and Outlaws were two of my favourite
games back in the 90s. I still have the boxes on my shelves. I also bought >> them on Steam, trying to recapture the magic, but I never managed to get them
to run very well. TheForceEngine seems to run well and does the trick for me,
Both were great games. I remember Outlaws' multiplayer too.
Sadly, TheForceEngine doesn't yet run "Outlaws". It's a planned
feature, but not yet implemented. The GOG version of the game
fortunately runs well enough on modern operating systems, but I'm
eager to see the game running in wide-screen mode. And maybe get
updated with some visual flair.
That said, as much as I loved parts of "Outlaws", some its level
design was attrocious, incorporating the worst lessons from late-90s
FPS games. Too many of the levels (in particular, the canyons, the
mines and the sawmill) were attrociously maze-like. You'd scour the
map looking for a hard-to-see switch that would open a door on the
other side of the map. And then - after finally noticing the
difference and entering the new area - you'd have to repeat the
process again and again before coming to the end of the level.
The combat, the atmosphere, the controls, the visuals, the music (the
music!) were all excellently done... but that level design? Argh.
There have been attempts to modernize the engine - DarkXL was one such >project; another attempted to port the game to the Unreal engine - but
they never gained much recognition. TheForceEngine >(https://theforceengine.github.io/) is the latest, and here's hoping
it has better longevity.
On Thu, 13 Jul 2023 12:18:11 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
There have been attempts to modernize the engine - DarkXL was one such >project; another attempted to port the game to the Unreal engine - but
they never gained much recognition. TheForceEngine >(https://theforceengine.github.io/) is the latest, and here's hoping
it has better longevity.
Meanwhile, an official remaster has just been announced: "Dark Forces Remaster" (see the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b9TTurkH4c)and as excited as the
unofficial ForceEngine remake made me, this one just makes me
depressed.
Partly because I know this is going to doom all the unofficial
remakes, because those are now competing with an official product.
We'll see how quick the publishers are to 'Fox'* the fan-projects lest
they cannibalize sales of their Remaster. There was a lot of love and
effort put into those fan-projects, and it's all going to have to be abandoned just to leech some more money from our wallets. You can bet
that owners of the original game aren't getting the Remaster for free.
Worse, the fan-remakes were helping to ensure that Dark Forces would
remain a viable game not only for the current generation of gamers,
but for future gamers too. I doubt that we'll see ports of the
official remaster to x128 chips or Winux 2045 or whatever OS/hardware
we're using twenty years down the line. But with fan-projects? It's
well within the realms of possibility.
More, the ForceEngine remake actually looks BETTER than NightDive's
official remaster. Nightdive is once again using their KEX engine and
redoing all the models and textures, and - by doing so - the game has
lost a lot of its grungy look. The fan-mods look a lot more colorful
too.
Finally, I have a continuing issue with publishers constantly pushing
out remakes. It's one thing if fans do it; it's a love-letter to old
games. But publishers are callously commercializing our nostalgia, and
I'd much rather their resources be put to actually creating something
new.
Well, I hope the ForceEngine team keeps working on their port up and
until they get the inevitable cease-and-desist arrives in their
post-box, adding as many new features and patching out as many bugs as
they can in the limited time they have left. Because I'd much rather
play their remake than buy a game I've paid for four times already.
* sing out if you remember the origin of this obscure term
Fans' remakes looked better especially in the newer Unreal engine.
On Thu, 13 Jul 2023 12:18:11 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson ><spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
There have been attempts to modernize the engine - DarkXL was one such >>project; another attempted to port the game to the Unreal engine - but
they never gained much recognition. TheForceEngine >>(https://theforceengine.github.io/) is the latest, and here's hoping
it has better longevity.
Meanwhile, an official remaster has just been announced: "Dark Forces >Remaster" (see the trailer here: >https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b9TTurkH4c)and as excited as the
unofficial ForceEngine remake made me, this one just makes me
depressed.
Partly because I know this is going to doom all the unofficial
remakes, because those are now competing with an official product.
We'll see how quick the publishers are to 'Fox'* the fan-projects lest
they cannibalize sales of their Remaster. There was a lot of love and
effort put into those fan-projects, and it's all going to have to be >abandoned just to leech some more money from our wallets. You can bet
that owners of the original game aren't getting the Remaster for free.
Worse, the fan-remakes were helping to ensure that Dark Forces would
remain a viable game not only for the current generation of gamers,
but for future gamers too. I doubt that we'll see ports of the
official remaster to x128 chips or Winux 2045 or whatever OS/hardware
we're using twenty years down the line. But with fan-projects? It's
well within the realms of possibility.
More, the ForceEngine remake actually looks BETTER than NightDive's
official remaster. Nightdive is once again using their KEX engine and
redoing all the models and textures, and - by doing so - the game has
lost a lot of its grungy look. The fan-mods look a lot more colorful
too.
Finally, I have a continuing issue with publishers constantly pushing
out remakes. It's one thing if fans do it; it's a love-letter to old
games. But publishers are callously commercializing our nostalgia, and
I'd much rather their resources be put to actually creating something
new.
Well, I hope the ForceEngine team keeps working on their port up and
until they get the inevitable cease-and-desist arrives in their
post-box, adding as many new features and patching out as many bugs as
they can in the limited time they have left. Because I'd much rather
play their remake than buy a game I've paid for four times already.
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