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MasterSyphadias

DarkXL - GPU Accelerated DarkForces Extended

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Oh cool you're the project leader. Welcome, thanks for dropping in :)

Can't wait to try, but unfortunately I won't have time until the weekend. This'll be fun, I think the last time I played DF was 6 years ago in the pre-XP days. I still remember it like yesterday though.

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Just dropping by to let everyone know that several Alpha Demo releases have been made. In addition a big release is on the horizon that will add many new features such as more levels, proper in-game menus, front-end and possibly cutscenes. So if you're interested in an updated "port" of Dark Forces, check it out :)

Here are the forums: http://www.df-21.net/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=7

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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.:)

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

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This is really great. I've been eagerly waiting for this release. Thanks!

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The project is up to build 8d, which fixes several bugs including a crash at startup that a few people were experiencing. In addition level 4 is now open as an incomplete preview for the next build.

The download/forum link is in the previous post.

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Yay! I just played 2 levels of DF in a Windows executable. At last! A very cool project.

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pilottobombadier said:

Seriously, though, an SS1 port would be great. I think System Shock 2 is playable in XP...oh wait, no it isn't, but it works fine on my W2k machine ;)


Yes it is. You need a replacement exe though.

Haloless0320 said:

Well all I've heard about System shock 2 is a Hi res Graphics replacement.But I don't think theyll be trying to port System shock to run on windows instead of dos.Hell I tried running Marathon 2 through Aleph and it doesnt even work.


They've made half a port of SShock to windows.
As for Shock 2, ever heard of Rebirth?

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Enjay said:

Yay! I just played 2 levels of DF in a Windows executable. At last! A very cool project.


I downloaded it and tried to play it but It wouldnt work...I'm guessing it's Vista's fault.

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Did you get Build 8d? Did you setup your DarkForces directory in the DXL_Settings file? If that doesn't work, can you post your log file?

Thanks.

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kristus said:

You need a replacement exe though.

I didn't. Running and installing System Shock 2 from the real CD in WinXP had no issues for me. Latest patch works too. The 'problems' lies in all those stupid buggy cracked versions every apparent 'big ss2 fan' plays.

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I've cetainly played SS2 under WinXP too. Possibly, like Thief, there could be some trickery required to get it to install and work on an XP machine (same engine IIRC) but once it's working it should be OK.

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The installation runs fine for me in XP. But there's a command line parameter you can use if you get problems.

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Back to DarkXL, this could be system specific I guess but I find the timing of the jump very poor. It makes jumping across to the secrets in the first map, for example, almost impossible. I run at the edge and press jump in a place thet would normally launch me across the gap but, instead, I just end up dropping off and having to go around to try again. One secret in particular - the powerup in the dark cave - I simply haven't managed to get at all yet despite many, many failed attempts.

If this isn't addressed, it will make the level that starts up in the mountains and requires quite a bit of jumping even more frustrating that it was in the original (as I recall, it was a section that was almost enough for me to give up on the game the first time around).

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I put up some DarkXL movies on 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

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Haloless0320 said:

I downloaded it and tried to play it but It wouldnt work...I'm guessing it's Vista's fault.


Are you using a NVidia graphics card? If so, the blame lies with that: the NVidia drivers have been incompatible with the Dark Engine games (Thief 1 & 2, as well as SS2) for quite some time now. There is an 3rd party application available that might fix the problem, which you can grab here. I should note that I've put the word "might" in bold for a reason; it could easily not help at all (it certainly doesn't help my GTX 280 any).

You could build another PC using cheap, old hardware, which should preferrably include an ATI card of some description; if you do use a NVidia card, remember not to upgrade the driver! If you leave Vista for your main PC and install XP (or better yet, 2000) on this secondary system, it could be of benefit for certain other older games, too; I know Unreal Engine 2 games, e.g. Thief 3, don't seem to like Vista very much, for example. If you're anything like me, you may well have a bunch of old components tucked away somewhere in a cupboard, the attic, or the basement, meaning you won't even have to spend any money.

Another option is to downgrade to a old NVidia driver version; I believe the problem started somewhere around version 50.x, so anything before that (i.e. 49.x and less) should be okay. This isn't an option for newer types of NVidia card (as the older drivers don't support them), and it will almost certainly cause problems with more recent games and applications.

Of course, you could also dump your NVidia card entirely and switch to ATI - I hear the 4870 (especially the X2) is very good :).

BTW complaining to NVidia isn't an option. Okay, well it is, but what I mean to say is it won't get you anywhere. Apparently that company only care about ensuring their cards work with games that are major blockbusters released within the past two or three years.

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You know,I've ran into multiple problems with Nvidia.It screws up on Battlefield as well.*Shrugs* oh well,I'll give that program a try.

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NiGHTMARE said:

Are you using a NVidia graphics card? If so, the blame lies with that: the NVidia drivers have been incompatible with the Dark Engine games (Thief 1 & 2, as well as SS2) for quite some time now. There is an 3rd party application available that might fix the problem, which you can grab here.

Can I ask what the symptoms of this problem are, and is it a Vista thing? I've been using Thief 1&2 and SS2 on my XP machine with a GeForce6200 for a year or more now and it's fine. However, I do remember some initial setup problems with the Thief games but I don't remember if I had to use that program or not to fix it. :/

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Enjay said:

Can I ask what the symptoms of this problem are, and is it a Vista thing?


It has nothing to do with Vista; apparently NVidia users have been experiencing various problems with the Dark Engine games since 2003 or so, obviously long before Vista arrived on the scene.

As for the symptons, it depends on the driver version. 53.03 was apparently the first version to display a game stopping problem, and while this was fixed, subsequent driver versions have introduced all kinds of cosmetic glitches, such as odd looking fog and shadows, and funky skies.

If you're using a driver version newer than 169.x, the symptons get much, much worse. In fact, the symptons have killed the patients, i.e. the games no longer work at all. They either crash as soon as they start loading, or when you attempt to play a level.

It could be that certain driver versions in between 53.03 and 169.x are okay; I was an ATI-user up until a year-and-a-half ago or so, so I don't have any experience with older NVidia drivers, and all three games were working perfectly for me back then. What I know about the various problems comes from Googling it, after I recently tried and failed to get the three games running on my current machine (as mentioned, even DDFix didn't help). Most of the info is available on the TTLG forums.

It sounds like the problems may also depend on your specific card, as well as driver version. In fact, according to the DDFix site, ANY DirectX10 card (not just the GeForce 8 series and up, but also the Radeon R600 and up) seems to render everything in 8-bit, as demonstrated here.

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I must just be lucky with my card model rather than the drivers because I am using driver version 175.16. However, the prospect of my computer being "Thief free" when I get around to upgrading is not a pleasant one. :/

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Enjay said:

I must just be lucky with my card model rather than the drivers because I am using driver version 175.16. However, the prospect of my computer being "Thief free" when I get around to upgrading is not a pleasant one. :/


And if you get Vista, even Thief 3 won't work.

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There have been more DarkXL updates.

Here is the current state of the in-game editor - its still early but starting to get useful:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/281777.html

It shows editing in both 2D and 3D, where 2D is mostly used to create sectors and 3D is used to adjust floor and ceiling heights and make a column. For more information see http://www.df-21.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1337&start=30

Also good progress is being made to make all the levels render correctly, including mods. This includes even the weird portal-like mods such as Perplexion:




For more information and lots of screenshots of levels playable in the next build see http://www.df-21.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1360&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Here are two of the level screenshots from the next build:


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NiGHTMARE said:

Are you using a NVidia graphics card? If so, the blame lies with that: the NVidia drivers have been incompatible with the Dark Engine games (Thief 1 & 2, as well as SS2) for quite some time now. There is an 3rd party application available that might fix the problem, which you can grab here. I should note that I've put the word "might" in bold for a reason; it could easily not help at all (it certainly doesn't help my GTX 280 any).


I can't relate to this, I've been using different Nvidia cards for the last 7 years and I never had any problems playing Dark engine games at all. (Or any engine games for that matter) Though, playing SS2 on a laptop with Vista proved nigh impossible.

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kristus said:

I can't relate to this, I've been using different Nvidia cards for the last 7 years and I never had any problems playing Dark engine games at all. (Or any engine games for that matter) Though, playing SS2 on a laptop with Vista proved nigh impossible.


Same here.I tried to play it and I got past the training just to have it crash on me.

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Warning - this post has a lot of screenshots.

Its been awhile since I posted here but work on DarkXL continues. As I mentioned before, DarkXL will have a built in editor which can be used Dark Forces levels (or DarkXL exclusive levels). So I'd thought I'd post some screenshots here of the editor work in progress.

Editor screenshots - these are all thumbnails, click on them to get a bigger view:

This shows the texture palette and Sector dialog in 2D mode.


This shows the texture palette and full grid rendering in 3D mode. You can create sub-sectors, edit geometry, split sectors and so on in 3D mode so an accurate grid is important.


All the 2D editing dialogs are available in 3D mode. This allows you to set flags and other settings through the UI interface and see the results instantly in 3D mode.



Some of the geometry editing controls in 3D mode. The squares are movement handles since the editor uses a stateless editing system (i.e. there is no "sector" mode or "wall" mode).


Geometry palette, showing different shapes that can be applied in 2D and 3D. The default is lines - so you can draw out sectors. Other shapes include points (insert vertices), rectangle, circle, etc. You can create your own sector shapes - essentially prefabs.



Vertex handles were added at this point.


One of the optional 2D rendering modes is shown, floor or ceiling textures can be shown in the 2D view. Other modes include - light level only, and background image.



... continued in the next post...

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And finally here are some screenshots of one of the extended features that will be included in the next build - dynamic lighting. Its a purely optional feature of course.







For more information on how the next build is coming along see this thread:
DarkXL Update 10 thread

Here are the DarkXL forums.

Let me know what you think. :)

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