A fan-made mod makes the seminalStar Wars: Dark Forcesplayable at 4K alongside other modern conveniences. The project to rebuild one of the original engines used forStar Warstitles has been ongoing for years, and version 1.0 arrives with completeDark Forcessupport.
Star Warsvideo gameshave been considered at the forefront of the industry for decades, and “Doom clone"Dark Forceswas one of the first first-person shooters ever made. Despite the “Doom clone” label that would have a less-than-favorable implication today,Dark Forcesintroduced a variety of mechanics and functionality absent from the originalDoomthat modern gamers could likely not fathom to be without, notably the ability to move on a vertical axis, crouch, and jump. However, built using the Jedi EngineDark Forcesreleased in 1995 and remains difficult to play using modern hardware due to the lack of any official remaster or remake. An endeavor titled The Force Engine seeks to rectify this and has been in development for the past three years.
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Documentation for The Force Engine, designed to “reverse engineer and rebuild the Jedi Engine for modern systems,” details that the goal is for the project to “act as a viable replacement for DosBox,” the current emulator used by players which “only supports resolutions up to 320x200.” The Force Engine “replaces the executable, not the game,” meaning that a copy ofDark Forceswill be required for those interested. Although manyattempts to updateDark Forceshave been showcased, The Force Engine is by far the most promising to date.
The glory days ofDark Forces,Knights of the Old Republic, andRepublic Commandoironically began to fade at a time of freshly instilled hope for the franchise when new IP owner Disney signed an exclusive contract with Electronic Arts. A promising third-person action gameStar Wars: 1313was canceled, and fans would have to wait years beforeStar Wars:Battlefront. EA took years to find its stride with the sequel, which was lambasted for egregious monetization at launch, and fans believeBattlefront 2was abandoned after so much had been done to salvage its reputation.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Orderwas Respawn Entertainment’s diamond in the rough, and a sequel titledStar Wars Jedi: Survivoris due to release on March 17next year. The original offered a competent and fun action adventure that happened to be one of the bestStar Warsgames released in nearly a decade. Now that EA’s exclusivity period has come to a close, and with severalStar Warsprojects in the works, it is a good time to be a fan of the galaxy far, far away.
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