Oh yeah, 1 other thing could someone kindly tell me how do I extract textures and or sounds fron dark forces II(as in what tool do I use, where do I get it, stuff like that), it would be much appreciated as i could get to work and send in some samples

The tools you need to extract files from DF II are called ConMan and/or JK Gob both can be obtained at www.massassi.net)

ok thanks Sith_master, I got jk gob but couldnt find anything called ConMan. Anyway I extracted all the files but ive got another problem, first there are .spr files which photodeluxe dosent detect and therefore wont open(the file type is not in tools/folder options/file types, but they seem to only be weapon/force/other projectile fx anyway given the names which could be recreated from scratch and probably wont be assigned to me), also there are .3do files which i cant open but if I'm not mistaken those are models and dont concern me, now without any further ado my REAL problem is that the textures are in .mat format and PhotoDeluxe dosent even display them when I go to open file and set it to display all formats, I tried to tell the computer to open them with photodeluxe to no avail, I dont know if I need a plugin or what. If anyone can help with this problem I would appreciate a response ASAP, thank you.

You need the program MatMaster or Mat 16 to convert them into .bmp files. As for the 3do's to open them just use a text editor (eg wordpad or notepad.) I have no idea what .spr files are and I'm not sure why you can't find ConMan but if you want it give me your e-mail and I'll send it to you.

Oh wait when you said "ConMan" were you referring to Container Manager cus if so I did see it, I just might not have realized you were abbreviating. And its just a guess but i think .spr files are sprites, BTW how do you post screenshots or picture files (.bmp ect.. you know)

You have to host your image at another site eg. http://imageshack.us)
Then click the IMG button above the 'post comment' writing area and type in the address for you image. Also ConMan is Container Manger sorry for not pointing that out. Hope that helps :D .

Oh well I dont think ill be having a site host pictures but the one I was going to post is from level 10 where a weird glitch occurs which freezes every frame if stand in the right place, when you swing your saber a couple times it freezes the frames and makes it look like there are hundreds of sabers sticking out in all directions.

Yes I did get ConMan and I did convert the files but 1 problem that no one can help me with is that I need to get used to photodeluxe, all ive dome for the most part is energy textures(lightsabers and the like), so now what I need to do is figure out all the tools and work out several HUNDRED techniques for texturing, which will probably take weeks, but i catch on pretty fast and this mod will most likely take a few years anyway so I think I will still be useful. Anyway thanks for the pointers Sith_master2000.

I'd guess that that strange glitch is caused by somehow getting the camera outside a wall. I haven't seen that in any of the JK games, but I know it can happen in the Half-Life engine (which I think is actually the Quake engine, which the JK engine imitates) if it's set up a certain way.

Probably, but it still looks pretty strange and cool. But speaking of engines, have you ever noticed in the unreal engine(I believe thats what its called)which Americas Army and rainbow six 3 are based on I think, and also quake 3 games in some cases(dont know if this applies to other engines), have this thing with the fog that the area near the edge of your screen isnt as fogged up as the rest, so if you turn to the side so that the area you want to see is near the edge of your screen, you will be able to see it better than looking directly at it.

I have a few questions, anyone who can answer them please do.

1- I have PhotoDeluxe Business Edition 1.0(now discontinued), is it possible using this tool to recreate DF2 textures in JO level of detail, most importantly is it possible to bevel(I think thats the right word) the edge of part of a texture and if so how difficult will it be?

2- If this tool is not suited or incapable of the job of texture recreation on the level of jedi outcast, which tool would you reccomend, where can i get it and how much will it cost?

3- If I can not get a new tool at this time, is there anything I can do in the meantime to try to make do with what I have?

Hi, I'm new here!

I'm realy looking forward for to the Dark Forces Mod and when I heart about a DF 2 Mod, I thought: Well, maybe you can be of some help!

I have already mailed the guy from the inofficial page, but dunno, if he recieved my mail. So here is my offer!

I'm a member of the X-Wing Alliance Upgrade Team. I'm working on models, textures and Opting there. So far I have done some ships, including:
Modular Conveyor
Containers F-K
Modified Corvette

As we from the XWAU team do kind of recreating the old somewhat crappy original models and textures to something more nice for your eyes! So I think I'm also able to recreate textures from DF2, too.

BTW, here is a image from the recent finished Modified Corvette:

http://home.arcor.de/gringlas/bilder/MCRV3.jpg)

Just let me know, how you like it!

BTW I have nearly no experience in Jedi Knight Editing! I have done some first steps in Radiant and the Old DF2 editor, but its not much! But I'm willing to learn!

Gen. Armageddon: If money is no object then get Photoshop, otherwise I would highly recommend the Gimp (www.gimp.org) as it can do pretty much anything Photoshop can do with the exception of CMYK (unless you were planning on doing DF2: The Book, of course ;)).

Gringlas: Nice pic! Could you send some representative texture samples to df2modtryouts@yahoo.com?

Speaking of which, the silence at that email address is deafening! Even though I put that contact info on the unofficial web site and here in this forum. Like I said before, if you're interested in helping the Mod, that's the point of contact...

Other than that, I'm hoping to have a nice update in the next day or so. Stay tuned! ;)

Odd, I already sent you a mail last week.

Ok, sent one again!

Well money IS a bit of an object, my brother and I are planning to upgrade our computer as its getting a little outdated in some areas (only 1 gigahertz processor which is first on the list, but vid card is still ok), should have the processor upgraded by christmas and so with birthday money in march I could get photoshop, but until then ill try gimp.

and 2 questions- I only got internet access 2 years ago so im not so great with some acronyms, anyway whats CMYK and what do you mean by "doing DF2: The Book"?

CMYK stands for Cyan Magenta Yellow blacK, and is generally used for digital images that will be fixed in some sort of print process--hence the reference to DF2: The Book. ;) For just about everything else, The Gimp works very well and won't cost you a single thin dime. :) You would do well to master this tool.

Your DF2 mod is friggin awesome.

ignoring all previous posts i'd like to throw in one of my own thoughts...

After taking a look at your website, i was wondering if there is a way where you can keep the same old textures/models of the old game, but with using the improved gaming engine of Jedi Academy...

I guess what I'm thinking is just a quicker way to get the gameplay we want, except with the good old retro-style look of the old Jedi Knight that we've all grown to love so very much...

just my thoughts on this mod, i'll try not to bother anyone else with any more of my random ideas:D

what were aiming for is to remake all the original textures so that they look the same only better(higher resolution, added detail, overall better quality), there was never any intention to use the existing JA textures (maybe some more basic ones), but if you were talking about using the originals over recreated ones, everyone has a right to an opinion but that I just dont understand.

OK, now that I've finally gotten enough time to actually do something, I've made a *small* update to the unofficial website (it may become official soon, if Mr. Katarn doesn't come back ;)).

The One: Once the demo is out, would it be possible to set up the DF2 forum (or whatever it was that we talked about)? I'm not trying to be pushy--believe me, I know what it's like to be busy. :p

Shamus,

Excuse me if this sounds a bit too green, but can the textures not be larger than the orginals but maintain their aspect ratio? I'm making this speculation based upon previous texture recreation projects I've come across, such as the quake and doom ones.

Also, probably another stupidly obvious question, if we are also to improve the architecture somewhat, for errors in the original map or just to improve it and make it 'fancy', will creating some textures be a wasted venture if there will be no surface to use them on?

I hope this all makes sense. I'm not knocking the venture at all, I'm just keen to see it completed. I'm going to post the news on Mapcore as there's some pretty nifty talent over there. I don't know if anyone saw their HL texture recreation thread, but it was mighty impressive.

edit: typo

Hey Disco, there's no such thing as a stupid question--to me anyway. ;)

As far as upping the resolution on textures goes, it's not only possible but desirable. The original textures were tiny and it would show badly if we didn't uprez. And as far as textures being "wasted," I wouldn't worry about it. Almost all of the textures are used multiple times in multiple places. The level designers were very clever with their use of the texture set. ;) So even if we obscure a wall with new architecture, the texture on that wall is most likely used elsewhere, and to good effect. :D

And thanks for the mention on Mapcore--the more talented people we can get involved, the better. :) I will be putting up textures for the rest of the mod, but only after I weed out the duplicates... I'm mulling over the possiblity of doing the same thing with the reference maps--but I'm not so sure about that.

Ok, waste nothing sounds like a good plan to me. :)

Have you considered asking modelers out there, who have already remodeled some of the JK characters, about using their work? Hapslash ( http://www.hapslash.com/base.html) ) has done some notable work in that area and I'm pretty sure he's on the Dark Forces team, so he may not have a problem with other teams employing his talents. Just a quick look at his site shows two models that you would need: Gamorrean Guard & IG-88 (could be modified to be 8T-88).

http://www.hapslash.com/wip_sw6_gamorrean.html)

http://www.hapslash.com/wip_sw5_ig88.html)

One other thing, I noticed the texture page on your homepage but it seems to be running awfully slowly. It's not the speed that worries me, but more that I feel like I'm personally slashdotting you every time I look at it. If it's not putting excessive strain on your server then that's fine, but I'd feel bad if you got cut off for excessive bandwidth use :(

Anyway, all the best with this.

edit: typo

I know about Hapslash and his incredible modeling ability--I've already downloaded his improved Stormtrooper model and was waiting for him to finish up a few others before I nicked 'em. ;) BTW, Hapslash, did I mention that your models are brilliant? ;)

As far as the textures page goes, don't worry about it. The thumbnails are probably weighing in around a whopping 12K or so per page, so I don't think I have to worry about bandwidth limits just yet. :) The reason that it's slow is that it's running a perl script on an old 486 running at an astonishing 75 MHz (at least it was astonishing 10 years ago). :p In other words, don't sweat it.

No offence to Hap Slash but appart from his improved stormie I haven't known him to release his models. (Or maybe it's just me :confused: )

an old 486 running at an astonishing 75 MHz (at least it was astonishing 10 years ago).

Wow, my family's old 486 is just a 33 Mhz and it's not hooked up to the Internet anymore. My dad's been saying we should either get rid of it or use it to mess around with Linux, but it's been a couple years now and it's still just sitting around.

I was just wondering: Shamus, are you looking for someone to be webmaster for your mod? I'm not saying your page is bad or anything, and I'm not really volunteering either, as I don't technically even have time to post this right now. Just curious, really.

then what are you asking slicerdude?:confused:

I'm asking if Shamus would like someone to be webmaster for the mod. I just have no real reason for asking, that's all.

Madjai modeled and Inbredyokel skinned these characters from DF2, Jerec and Maw. These are rather good, you might be able to contact the authors to have them used for the mod.

http://jediknight2.filefront.com/file/Jerec;8532)

http://jediknight2.filefront.com/file/Maw;3961)

Slicer: No, not looking. Having to host the mod myself has forced me to learn a lot about the subject that I'd been to lazy to learn before, so I'm not too sorry about it. :D

blah2k4: Those models look pretty good! Too bad they're hosted on filefront. :( I haven't been able to download anything from their crappy web interface (every time I click on the "download" button it just reloads the damn download page :mad: ).

The texture recreation seems to have gotten a shot in the arm with some courageous volunteers stepping up to the plate, and the work they've done is quite good. :) More later...

Originally posted by Shamus
blah2k4: Those models look pretty good! Too bad they're hosted on filefront. :( I haven't been able to download anything from their crappy web interface (every time I click on the "download" button it just reloads the damn download page :mad: ).

I have both those models so I could send them to you via e-mail if you wanted. (Of course we'd need the authors permission first).

I have a question, should textures be the focus when mapping seems like a larger ordeal? I'm not trying to criticize, I'm sure you are very much in the right as to how things should be conducted. I'm a huge fan of DF2, I was hoping the JO mod DF2 Enhanced would have come to light, but to no avail. I sent an e-mail to the DF2 Enhanced mod leader inquiring if there are any remnants of the mod that might be useful for you guys, hopefully I hear something back.

ok I downloaded gimp 2.05 but ive been doing some other stuff and only got around to testing it now and it seems pretty good and easy to use but one question wasnt answered, can I create the appearance of beveled edges with gimp and if so how.

about your question blah2k4, modelling, mapping, and texturing are all very important and LOTS of work, and though ive never had any experience mapping or modelling(30 seconds of seeing gmax in use is all), if im not mistaken only 1 person can work on a specific map or model, but textures number in the thousands and are much easier to do, at least the tools are more accessible, so naturally more people are going to work on textures.

What is the program for mapping like? Is it like AutoCAD? Cause I am attending ITT now for CADD (Computer Assisted Design and Drafting). And I was wonder if maybe I could help if the programs are alike.

Gen. Armageddon: Can the Gimp do beveled edges? That and much, much more. As to exactly how... Well, that I don't know offhand, but I'm sure you can find something through Google... ;)

ION1022: We're using GTKRadiant which is nothing like AutoCAD (the authors of GTKR are actually trying to get it more like Maya). From what I understand, 3D Studio Max is more like a stripped down version of AutoCAD (made by the same company, BTW) but I wouldn't want to map with it. Modeling, maybe. :p But definitely not mapping.

Ok I was just wondering, thx.

I just Remembered (this may heve been completely covered) but the original Mod leader before Mr. Katarn was Reaper over at NWO2K.net. I was nosing around last night looking but didn't feel like regestering with the NWO ('cause it didn't have jack to do with rasslin') Maybe you can get a whole lot of needed material from him. I remember he had screens of the Nar Shaddaa level and it looked friggin awesome, and he stayed to the original maps which was most impressive, so I know some Real Progress had been made at one point. I think maybe the entirety of the project got to him which is why he stopped. Any way, get with him, maybe this will end up being a lot easier with the addition of his files. PEACE

this thread has been unstuck.

Please see my thread in the forum about our 'gift' to the Dark Forces 2 mod team . . .

any updates?

(-windy sound- this forum has an eerie, uncomfortable quiet to it)I realize that this is probably thinking 24-30+ months ahead, but there are 2 things that I would like to see in the battle with Jerec. 1st, in the extracted voice files from JK there is one Jerec clip that goes "the force is strong with you", I believe the file labeled i00je02z . wav (on a side note that I would like you to consider, I have a tool that would easily allow me to add katarn so that it would say "the force is strong with you katarn" which I think sounds better, and I assure you it would sound exactly like it was what was recorded in the first place), anyway I dont know if it was just coincidence but I never heard it in game(couldnt beat in my first game as the dark side but I whooped his butt in my next light side and and have done so ever since as either side on any difficulty), anyway I think it would be cool if he said it in the mod. The 2nd thing is the music, I dont believe there was any music in the original game in that level for some reason but I think that the most fitting music for that level would be the one from jedi outcast in assets0. pk3\music\yavin_final called yavfinal_explore. mp3 or part of that clip mixed with other clip segments but still including the part of the music that you heard when Luke was fighting with Vader on the death star in RotJ, which i think just goes with the situation best, it just gives that sense of depth and seriousness that obviously applies to the battle with Jerec given what you are fighting for. Anyway thing about these ideas and tell me what you think.

also I would like to say that if there are ANY sounds, voice clips or music clips that you want me to touch up or edit i can(ive only had sone practice but I can cut pieces out of clips and splice them into other clips from the same characters while altering pitch/volume/other to make it sound just like a sentence as long as the words or possibly even just the syllables exist), i know that you probably wont even need this give that the music and voices in JK(perhaps not so much sounds) are high enough quality to keep, saving us the trouble that the DF mod team had but if there IS anything in the sound department to do let me know and ill give it a try, just a thought.

Hi,

I've studied Rich Diesal's tutorial page on mapping, but where do I go from there to learn more? Apparently he quit writing, and doesn't plan on starting again. I've decided to wait on level 19 of JK1, and see if it's possible to take over the "Legacy of Yun" project (this time for academy), which was unfortunately terminated :( .

'Nother idea: why can't you "borrow" some textures for Nar Shaddaa from outcast/academy? Not ALL of them, but enough to blend the games just a little, so they seem to fit each other. Frankly, Outcast Nar Shaddaa and Dark Forces 2 Nar Shaddaa seemed to me to be completely seperate planets, they looked so different. Like you said, you're not trying to just "copy" what LEC did in DF2.

Also, could you put up a "percent of demo finished" thing on your website, like the DF mod team did? Even if it keeps getting delayed like for them, it gives us something to look forward to, and hold our interest. And it gives you something to post updates about!

Thanks,
The Saxman

by recreate and not copy I believe that they mean make textures better and perhaps a little customized, add some custom details to the maps, ect.. ect.. though someone else should answer this

as for the progress indicator on the website I think its a good idea but (a)im not sure if this is the final website but Shamus is the best person to answer this, and (b)I dont think that there is enough progress at this point to make a progress indicator.

Is it just me...or does the site appear to have disappeared? It says the domain can't be found - unless the address has changed. Anyone?

Stormhammer: The site is still up--maybe there was some network congestion on your end of the connection? :confused:

Gen. Armageddon: Thanks for the suggestions--I think we're OK as far as sounds go. ;)

Saxman: All I can suggest is to study other people's work and ask questions in the JKA mapping forums (that is, after you've read them ;) ). The example maps that come with GTKRadiant's JA pack have a lot to show you. :)

Yeah music and voices were already high quality in DF2, but I do think that we should use the JO/JA weapon sounds for weapons like the crossbow, blaster rifle, brayer pistol ect.. ect.. . And I still would like to see the suggested music in the battle with Jerec.

Shamus, now I've set the team forums up for you; you should get your team over to register - then we can finally ditch this thread ;)

I've notified 'em, so I think we can safely close this thread. ;)

Where is the new forum?

TheOne and Shamus are talking of the TEAM FORUM for the DF2 mod.
If the DF2 mod wants a public forum,
they either keep this thread or have a totally separate forum on LucasForums.

Shamus, just a quick little suggestion: could you put the link to the DF2 Mod website in your signature? That would make it a lot easier for new people to get to it and be able to access it regularly.

If you look under my posts, there's a little button labeled "www" for you to click on. ;)