Hi folks,
can anyone tell me something about the current status of the "Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight Enhanced"-MOD? I was very excited when I heard about it. It was one of my favorite games, but the graphic quality today is terrible. I hope that there is still someone working on it. I'm looking forward to play that as an Jedi Outcast-MOD (or perhaps Jedi Academy?). Does perhaps a webpage exists for it?

I think its going to be for JA, but here's a link

LINK (http://darkforces.jediknight.net/)

No, that is not the link he's looking for.

Like alot of others, Mr. Bond has gotten DF mod for JO/ JA confused with DF II Enhanced, which is the recreation of Jedi Knight.

This is the link (http://df2e.jediknightii.net/) in the project leader's sig ;)

Thank you Katarn07, and sorry for opening this thread here at the Dark Forces MOD site. But at the moment there is only one page at the Dark Forces II Enhanced site with a huge image, but no link or any information. I hope that there will be more soon.

Do you want to help make it or information?

If you want to join email:

NwO2kReaper1576 at reaper@nwo2k.net

at the moment im waiting to here from the guy working on the site ive been away someone for a week work pc problems and isp problem everything will be moved over for JA

@spsblue
Thank you for your reply. I just wanted to hear some informations. I'm not able to program, so I don't believe that I could help someone. Perhaps you can tell us something more about the current status. I'm looking forward to hear more of this brilliant MOD.

Not sure how much i'm allowed to say. I'm one of the newer members and have only produced a few textures so far.

Originally posted by J_Bond
@spsblue
Thank you for your reply. I just wanted to hear some informations. I'm not able to program, so I don't believe that I could help someone. Perhaps you can tell us something more about the current status. I'm looking forward to hear more of the this brilliant MOD.

OK this is how its coming along we have a few maps near completion. textures are coming along but slowly as the team has more mappers the demo of the first level is still being worked on its just taking its time as i have so much work on at the moment and im mapping when i can along with other projects with microsoft work on the dark jedi is still going on bloodriots had some major PC problems and he was left with out a pc of most of the summer im waiting on the final ok on yun and sariss at the moment i think bloodriots going to work on boc next now that the JA modeling tools are avalible. The valley of the jedi level is looking nice. some team members have been away on holiday so we had a mojor slow down in the summer and now everyones back to uni or collage etc things are gonna start to sort them selfs out slowly. the word on the site i have spoken to the guy working on it and im a bit lost at his awnser so im hoping to have something sorted out soon. We still need mappers codders texture artists and modelers to work on characters and weapons

Thank you, reaper1576. That's nice to hear. Do you know something about the force skills in the game? Would we be able to use the classic force skills, or do you use the same force skills like in Jedi Outcast?

well we will have to see whats possible with JA

I've got JA the legal version and I have to say that it is very impressive however you have to put the gameplay up to Jedi Master because the AI blows donkeys.

After beating Jedi Academy, I went back to the original Jedi Knight, since I never did beat it when I got it, but still have the CDs... so, what the hell, might as well go through it... On level 9 so far, and its good to hear that someone is recreating the game in the Academy engine, since it will be really cool to play it again with the better graphics and saber combat that Academy provides.

One thing im wondering, about force points and stuff, are you still gonna stick with the original design and have to find all the secret areas in order to get all the force points? Its just one of my gripes with Jedi Knight: dark forces 2, and having to find all the secret areas to get a decent ammount of force powers, other then that, the game is brilliant, and still great, even compared to todays games. And its even harder on medium then Jedi Academy is on Jedi Master.

The secret area thing, if possible to incorporate, would be for the better. That way, you have fewer powers and are challenged. If you're lucky to snag all the secret areas, all the more power to you. I replayed JK and got all the secret areas in only about 8 of the 15 levels. The other 6 levels are saber duels and have no secret areas. Not entirely positive all 15 FPS levels had secret areas.

EDIT - Reaps, why don't you move the mod over to JK.net like the DF one? Wouldn't that be better, with them hosting the site and forums on LF? I'd post like crazy for that mod too! :p

Originally posted by Katarn07
The secret area thing, if possible to incorporate, would be for the better. That way, you have fewer powers and are challenged. If you're lucky to snag all the secret areas, all the more power to you. I replayed JK and got all the secret areas in only about 8 of the 15 levels. The other 6 levels are saber duels and have no secret areas. Not entirely positive all 15 FPS levels had secret areas.

EDIT - Reaps, why don't you move the mod over to JK.net like the DF one? Wouldn't that be better, with them hosting the site and forums on LF? I'd post like crazy for that mod too! :p

we are hosted where having alot of trouble with the site and web master at the moment whats peeing me off as untill we have the site up we cant have public forums all the scripts and stuff is in place we just need someone to sort out a lay out etc as ive not heard anything from the guy whorking on it for a few weeks again :( :mad: and its stressing me out as its one more thing to worry about

Well, I hope everything gets straightened out, reaper. I'm in the process of replaying JK right now, and I think the mod would be a great contribution to the community.

Yes, such a mod would also fix one other problem Ive noticed when playing JK after Academy, the lack of a quick load button since, I die or mess up alot...and its just faster to press F9 to reload then wait to die or go to the menu....

Just a crazy thought; a stupid insane thought. I think it would be cool to have the Dark Forces uber mod for JA. Where when all the mods are finished (DF, JK:DF2, MOTS (Is there someone working on MOTS?)) they are all combined into a seamless uber mod. Heck even convert the JO maps to JA (would that really be that hard?) and tag it onto the uber DF mod.

Then again its just a stupid, crazy idea. The mods arn't even finiished yet. Pay this post no mind :-)

Originally posted by Benevolence
I think it would be cool to have the Dark Forces uber mod for JA. What the heck? Dont you know that the Dark Forces mod is going to be for Jedi Academy? You got a lot of catching up to do, bud. :D

I think he knows it's gonna be for JA. I think he means it'd be cool to have them all as one big Dark Forces series mod. I may be wrong though...

Ive actually had the same thought, having all 4 of the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series games playable under one executable would just be very cool, and handy... Though im fine with just being released seperatly simply for the sake of playing through the originals with better graphics and quickload feature and better saber combat in Jedi Knight and stuff...

When will the website be ready for showing for the Jedi Knight enhanced mod? I have it bookmarked, though its still at this point just the coming soon picture, and id just love to see more of the mod whenever possible.

It'd be cool; real cool. No one is working on MotS as of the moment, so I'd rather work get started on that than have this "uber mod" :D

And TK, Benevolence is on the team somehow or another, I think he knows there's a DF mod for JO/JA ;)

I completly forgot about Mysteries of the Sith, someone does need to remake that as well. Im gonna have to see if I can find it anywhere since I dont have my copy anymore, but I still have the original Jedi Knight though.

Well, i just joined the team for DF2E to make weapon models, so at least we are heading in the right dirrection :)

What's about the cutscenes of Jedi Knight? I found these "real" movies pretty cool, but are you able to use them on the MOD, too? Or would you try to make cutscenes by yourself using the game-engine like in Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy?

Originally posted by J_Bond
What's about the cutscenes of Jedi Knight? I found these "real" movies pretty cool, but are you able to use them on the MOD, too? Or would you try to make cutscenes by yourself using the game-engine like in Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy?

ok cutsceens how where going to do them for now

Pre renderd in 3dmax/softimage etc
scripted in game

sorry for the short and sweet awnser im off to get coffee

I'd love to help with the site, but I simply don't have the time. I'm finding it difficult enough to make time for the weekly update on the DFMOD site...

@reaper1576

Originally posted by reaper1576
ok cutsceens how where going to do them for now

Pre renderd in 3dmax/softimage etc
scripted in game

sorry for the short and sweet awnser im off to get coffee


Thank you for your answer, but I didn't understand anything. Please try to give me a much more detailed answere because my English isn't so perfect. What do you mean with "how where going to do for now"? Would you use the movie scenes?

Don't take my word for it, but from what I understand: No.

They will make the movies like they appear in JO and JA, but the ship exteriors and special affects like that will be prerendered in some graphics program. Await confirmation on that before you believe it ;)

I personally liked the movies, but lots of people disliked them. There was discussion on how they should have gotten the actors/ actresses back to reprise their roles for JO.

thx Katarn07! It would be a pitty if the movies weren't be used. I found that they gave the whole game a special atmosphere. But if the cutscenes are going to be recreated it still would be a better solution than no cutscene.

Originally posted by The_One
I'd love to help with the site, but I simply don't have the time. I'm finding it difficult enough to make time for the weekly update on the DFMOD site... its cool man

Originally posted by J_Bond
thx Katarn07! It would be a pitty if the movies weren't be used. I found that they gave the whole game a special atmosphere. But when the cutscenes are going to be recreated with it still would be a better solution than no cutscene.

we will be recreating all the cutsceen as well as possible

Is there perhaps a possibility to extract the movies from Jedi Knight, and to convert them to a standard video format such as MPEG, AVI or MOV? I would like to see them without installing the whole game again.

hmmm think there would be copyright stuff with lec doing that

And and there's no copyright stuff by creating a Dark Forces or Jedi Knight MOD? I think it shouldn't be a problem when I extract these movie files because i own this game, and it shouldn't make a difference if I watch the movies in the game or dircetly via a movie player. I just would like to see the movies without installing the game again thats all.

But if all the people who don't have the original DF/JK/MotS and download a mod that has original content may cause a problem.
Therefore we may only use our own content. Recreating textures makes them partially our property. And you still need the original JO/JA game...

Remember, our primary objective is to recreate the maps using the JO/JA engine, not a total conversion of the whole game.
You could consider the cutscenes - if there be any - as bonus :p

Really, I do understand you, and the last thing I want is that you are getting trouble with copyright issues. But the thing with the movies is just for me. I just want to see the movies alone. Perhaps somebody could help me. And I don't believe that answering on my question could cause any trouble to somebody. I would like to accent that my question doesn't have to do anything with this site or any MOD-Project, it's just personally.

Absolutely, J-Bond. Just get the RAD video tools here (http://www.smacker.com/smkdown.htm) — the movies are in Smacker format (smk files), and the tools will let you convert them to pretty much anything. I too was ecstatic when I found out about this, because if you play your cards right, you can edit them... [evil snicker.] My face on Kyle's body... [Another evil snicker.]

Thank you very much
I.M.H.D.! I will check this tool out soon.

Why they never used the Bink format for Jedi Outcast (and Jedi Academy) is beyond me. Binks are far superior to the dreadful ROQ. format.

@I.M.H.D.
I've installed the RAD video tools, and it worked. I even don't have to convert the movie files, I can play them directly from the CD. Thank you again! Perhaps, the creators of the Jedi Knight MOD could use this program to put the movies in the MOD, if there are no copyright problems of course.

Originally posted by The_One
Why they never used the Bink format for Jedi Outcast (and Jedi Academy) is beyond me. Binks are far superior to the dreadful ROQ. format.

think its some thing to do with the q3a engine as MOHAA uses roq EF1 & 2 also do aswell seems like its the standard for the engine but EF2 dont use manny roq files most stuffs done in engine and that game has some nice sceens

Originally posted by J_Bond
@I.M.H.D.
I've installed the RAD video tools, and it worked. I even don't have to convert the movie files, I can play them directly from the CD. Thank you again! Perhaps, the creators of the Jedi Knight MOD could use this program to put the movies in the MOD, if there are no copyright problems of course.

I am sure there are copyrights on that one, but maybe an instruction readme how to insert them if you are priveledged and own the original game? I don't care, I like it either way :D

As far as I understand, LucasArts doesn't mind the Dark Forces Mod at all, and I don't see why it would be any different for Jedi Knight. If anything, the mods will actually help LucasArts both by boosting sales of JA and reintroducing people to DF and JK. I doubt too many people are thinking about buying the older games now so that the mods would convince them not too, but people playing the mod might think about buying the real game if they don't already have it. Perhaps one of the leaders of the DFMOD knows more about the copyright issues.

Originally posted by SlicerDude
As far as I understand, LucasArts doesn't mind the Dark Forces Mod at all, and I don't see why it would be any different for Jedi Knight. If anything, the mods will actually help LucasArts both by boosting sales of JA and reintroducing people to DF and JK. I doubt too many people are thinking about buying the older games now so that the mods would convince them not too, but people playing the mod might think about buying the real game if they don't already have it. Perhaps one of the leaders of the DFMOD knows more about the copyright issues.

Oh, we know of the legal contracts with LEC and mod making. *thinks back to April 1st* I printed that screen out, by the way. Got it in my desk in a pile of useless paperwork :p

However, we are talking cutscenes LEC had originally made. See my avatar/ icon? Mr. Bond would like those used over newly created ones. I am saying that has to have some copyright issues to it ;)

I guess I forgot to mention that I don't see much difference between remaking the cutscenes and copying them straight from the game. Sure, remaking them takes much more work, but the narrative would remain the same. It's kinda like the difference between photocopying the Lord of the Rings and making a movie of it, except for LOTR. Anyway, like I said, I'm not really an expert on copyright stuff, so don't take my word for it. What they'd probably have to do is ask LucasArts.

That said, even if the cutscenes could be taken straight from JK, they would keep the same, somewhat low, video quality. I personally would prefer the original FMV cutscenes, but I'd also like the video quality to improve with the graphics of the rest of the game. I'd like it best if we got LucasArts to donate higher quality versions of the cutscenes so they can be in the mod-of course, the copyright issue would be solved then. :)

In the end, I think I'll just leave it to the modders. I'm looking forward to seeing the website (eventually). Good luck!

While I like the nostalgia of the original videos, the low resolution video and copyright issues seems to make remaking them, in-engine, a better choice. But, one question, what about voice? Will you have to find people to do the voices, or will you just use text?

@eelektrik1138
That's a very good question! It wouldn't make sense if you extract the voice from the movie, because of the copyright issue. And just using text, I don't know if I would like it. What's about the music? I suppose that you will use the original Star Wars music, but isn't there a copyright issue, too? I hope that you will use the movies anyhow. I don't think that the quality is so bad, and it would be more easier than creating new cutscenes.

@Katarn07
I really like your avatar icon. It looks much better than your old one :)

Thanks Bond. I think all my avatars have been some sort of picture of Kyle from a JK cutscene save for the original Red stormie from the DF box art, that action figure of Kyle, and Cate Archer from No One Lives Forever II :p

Voice acting? The DF mod is using the original voices, not sure about the JK one....

And as for music? The stuff for DF is all recreated and credit is given where due to the composers (John and Clint) so the JK one will have no problem in doing so.

And as for asking LEC? Both mod teams have done that well over a year ago when they started this, but I am under the impression they do no respond. Let a team member confirm that ;)

never had anything back from lec so hey hum katarn glad you liked what you saw ;) i know im lazy with lighting