I wanted to bring the following project to the attention of fans of the original Dark Forces (on df-21.net): http://www.df-21.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1187) :D

That is very good resolution for the maps. If only the hud, characters and weapons would follow

Excellent...can't wait!

Haven't played this game in a few years, but this may be a good excuse when he finishes it.

wow... impressive

wow,this looks real good.cant wait to play it!

I'm suprised people still play Dark Forces 1.

not bad ;)

The first alpha demo is released! You can get instructions and downloads here: http://www.df-21.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1211)
Please leave comments in the thread if you try it.

Several releases have been made, up to Build 7f. In addition a big release is in the works that will add a bunch of new features such as more levels, in game menus, front-end and possibly cutscenes. Check out the forums for more details.
http://www.df-21.net/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=7)

The Alpha has been released! The first 3 levels, plus many other features have been implemented.

These include:
*Titlescreen & in-game configuration menus
*Cutscenes.
*Agents & saves.
*Custom gobs (limited support so far).
*Thermal Detonators.
*More enemies (Probe droids, Interrogation Droids, and more).
*VUEs (3D object animation while in level).
*Proper fonts - no more windows fonts.

and much more.:D

You can look at the forum topic here for download:
http://www.df-21.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1339)

I put up some DarkXL movies on www.gameTrailers.com).

Gameplay movies:
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/260658.html)
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/260661.html)
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/260666.html)

Here are 2 movies from the built-in Dark Forces/DarkXL level editor. Its very early in development. It shows the 3D editing mode: drawing subsectors, columns, selecting faces, moving faces (floor/ceiling up and down, walls faces on the horizontal plane). It also shows the projected grid and snap to grid. In the first movie you can also hear the midi music playing. A full build with iMuse will be out soon.
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/265410.html)
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/265590.html)

Any comments are welcome. To get more information on the game go to:
http://www.df-21.net/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=7)

Fantastic, i am so glad you have kept working on this. Looks great.

After some delay in development, DarkXL is continuing. The project is moving over to a new website (http://darkxl.wordpress.com), where you can view screenshots, movies, read development posts, read the FAQ, download the latest version or visit the forums. Check it out and let me know what you think!

After some delay in development, DarkXL is continuing. The project is moving over to a new website (http://darkxl.wordpress.com), where you can view screenshots, movies, read development posts, read the FAQ, download the latest version or visit the forums. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Wow, looks great. BTW, are any Dark Forces mods compatible with this?

Wow, looks great. BTW, are any Dark Forces mods compatible with this?While there are still some issues with many fan levels, ultimately the goal is to have most, if not all, of the fan made levels work correctly in DarkXL. In the new (unreleased) build, even complex levels such as Dark Tide 2, Dark Tide 4 and Harkov's Defection render correctly.

While there are still some issues with many fan levels, ultimately the goal is to have most, if not all, of the fan made levels work correctly in DarkXL. In the new (unreleased) build, even complex levels such as Dark Tide 2, Dark Tide 4 and Harkov's Defection render correctly.

Ah, good. Just wondering as I didn't learn about the DF modding community until about a year ago. Much too late for me, IMO.

Ah, good. Just wondering as I didn't learn about the DF modding community until about a year ago. Much too late for me, IMO.
There's a few people working on levels now and again. If you look at the Screenshot of the Day on the blog (http://darkxl.wordpress.com) you'll see some images from a demo of one of them that was released today. (Click on the image to see the Screenshot of the Day post)

More information about the "Screenshot of the Day" on the blog (http://darkxl.wordpress.com) - it shows off fan made levels and other screenshots using the development build as well as interesting DarkXL screenshots submitted by users. I plan on updating the SotD roughly every day (thus the name), so check it out. :) There's also an archive so you can view previous Screenshots of the Day.

Awesome. I hope it doesn't suffer the same fate as Cybercraft's Dark3D project (ie: developer got angry with people's complaints and quit).

Good to see there's something playable released... that's a great start!

I am watching this with great interest and anticpation. thanks a lot L for the great work on this. Almost all the classics that were in need of updating are now either done or in process in some way or another. Remarkable time for the classic SW games.

I know this thing is a way from completion, but I wonder if you'd consider adding a multiplayer module when it's finished?

You know, something basic, like four player deathmatch through the maps or something. It would seem all you'd have to do is create spawn points and a front and back sprite for multiplayer (of Kyle).

Whoa, I see I missed a ton of updates... Jan 13-Feb 9. Woot! (*reads*)

Some choice shots:

http://darkxl.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/dxl_filtermax.jpg?w=460)
http://darkxl.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/dxl_bloomon.jpg?w=460)
http://darkxl.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/dxl_lightson.jpg?w=460)

Multiplayer? Outlaws support? "Exciting" is hardly the word I would use. ;)

And I see a new version is out (9.02) (http://darkxl.wordpress.com/downloads/). Can't wait to try it (even though it's a long way from complete).

Officially stickied... ;)

Messed around with it for awhile (played levels 1-3 and flipped through the rest). Registered for the DarkXL forum but something seems to be wrong (oh well, I'll mess with it later).

My system specs (yes, this rig is old as dirt now):

ATI AllinWonder 9600 (128 mb vram)
AMD Athlon XP+ (2 Ghz)
Windows 2000 Pro
DirectX 9.0c
256 mb sd pc133 ram
Soundblaster Live!

My impressions so far, since I can't post there yet:

Performance is great. The controls feel a little bit sticky at times (Kyle gets hung up on some walls or drifts around a bit). I remember the movement in the orginal being a little "ice skatey" at times, but not quite this bad. It's not severe though, just a little annoying at times.

A few menu options are missing, like the "blaster shield" option (it's a cheat, I know). It would be nice if you could bind more than one key to a function.

As lucius the author pointed out on the official forums, the player HUD is minimized right now, rather than scalable. You can't destroy the little 3D "mouse droids," to get batteries. :( You can't use secondary fire, and the cheat codes don't work (but you can float and "clip" up one level or through one door at a time with the touch of a button).

I see you can use command line darkxl -x to "unlock" all the levels, but really only the first three are playable, and even the Moff Rebus mission (Anoat City, mission 3) didn't complete, I had to "cheat" to clip through the door doors at the end and it wouldn't finish when I tagged Rebus.

You can't pick up or use any other weapons beyond the ST Rifle and Thermal detonators, and any enemies beyond the three standard imperials, the probe and torture droids, dianogas and grans just stand there and don't attack (and your shots go right through them). The cutscenes sometimes have pauses or stutter between transitions (the music cuts out completely for the opening crawl). The "bonus cutscene" of Kyle "gearing up" from the demo can't be added to DarkXL yet like you can to regular Dark Forces.

So the mouse droids scurry around but can't be destroyed. The other "3D" enemies, that is the laser turrets and "droid welding arms" aren't animated at all and can't be affected, which makes the game a lot easier because you can just waltz past them in complete safety.

On my video card the "bloom" option unfortunately made big black boxes around sprites and made some rooms totally dark (until you picked up a powerup in that room). Turned it off and things were fine.

Still, pretty impressive thus far, it LOOKS GREAT, and having perfect mouselook/mouse aiming really helps and makes the gameplay seem natural and modern in that way without feeling out of place.

Anyway, great so far, keep up the good work!

So how is 9.03 coming along?

Well it's been about a month since the author said this project was "not dead."

Obviously I know what it's like to have delays in a project, so no pressure. ;)

What is the most recent version of this? Has the entire single player campaign been updated to look as great as those screenshots let on? I am about halfway through replaying Dark Forces for the first time in nearly a decade. I had never gotten it to run on Windows XP and just managed to get it working on Windows Vista a few weeks ago. I'll finish this play through but it'd certainly be nice to have modern controls and updated graphics next time I revisit the game!

Wow now that looks pretty impresive !! great job !!

The latest version on the site is XL_Engine_Release_02 and the executable inside the zip archive is dated 6/17/2011.

Here is what the page says:

Important:

* DarkXL is highly playable and mostly complete but it is still an Alpha Build. You may experience crashes or be unable to finish the game.

* This version of DaggerXL is an older version and is very incomplete. You have combat, loot, dungeons and can explore the various cities and other locations. However NPCs, quests, guilds and other game functionality were still not implemented as of this version. However I am currently working on the Beta release that will make the game fully playable. If you download this version be prepared for missing features and bugs.


The first XL Engine release is now available. Contained is DarkXL Build 9.50 and DaggerXL version 0.199:

Download here: XL Engine Release R2

OpenAL Installers

DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer

http://xlengine.com/downloads/)

I don't have Daggerfall or Blood so I can't comment on the progress of those games (and I haven't played Outlaws since LucasArts released the last official XP patch many years ago). I played through Dark Forces in DarkXL and I thought it was great. It felt pretty awesome playing it. It wasn't 100% but pretty close to the original game and looked great, comparable to upgrading the original "Doom" from DOS into 3d-accelerated windows (ZdoomGL, doomesday, etc).

The only thing that really was goofed up was in the later levels when you face the Dark Troopers. Some of them are just standing there like cardboard cutouts. The Final Boss is super, duper easy... pushover easy. And the final door didn't open for me, so I had to cheat to "win." So it was pretty unsatisfying there, but otherwise a very worthy effort.

The official website (and the "blog" where news is posted) was last updated a few weeks ago (Nov 10, 2013) and the latest updates have been about DaggerXL.

On the forum I saw this:

luciusDXL
Post subject: Happy Holidays
PostPosted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 3:17 pm
XL Engine Developer / Site Admin

Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2011 4:05 pm
Posts: 666
I haven't been posting updates in the last few weeks, preparing for the holidays and other personal matters. However I will be posting updates again starting next week (and maybe sooner as time permits).

So Happy Thanksgiving to those that celebrate it. :)

I don't know how many years it will take to finish or even if it will be finished (DaggerFall probably will take the longest) but I wish Lucius luck!