DarkXL - GPU Accelerated DarkForces Extended

Very impressive! You guys have come a long way just by reverse engineering the engine. I'll have to give this a try when I install Dark Forces again. :)

Also yay on the built-in level editor. :D Will you guys eventually reverse engineer the Outlaws engine, too? Or is it too different from the Dark Forces engine?

Thanks for the comments.

Outlaws uses the same engine as Dark Forces (Jedi) with enhancements. However I have no plans for Outlaws support so far but its not ruled out either - so we'll see. :) There is a lot to do before I even think about Outlaws. For example, once the core game is complete - i.e. the base game works correctly and all the user mods work, then multiplayer support will be added among other things.

I had to delay the development of DarkXL for a while (about a month or so) due to business reasons but I've recently gone back to work on it. On the forums I put up an update showing a new feature for the next build, so here it is:

Well in addition to the dynamic lighting, portal rendering enhancements, editor, reticles and so on there is one surprise feature that will be in the next build that I haven't shown yet, as seen in these screenshots:










Basically only the "emissive" (or full bright) pixels glow so you get nice contrast - it doesn't just blur the screen. The amount of emissiveness determines the strength of the glow, so when you make custom textures (for DarkXL mods) you'll have control over the effect.

There is still a little more polishing to do on this effect - its not finished yet.
As usual any comments are welcome. :)

lucius said:

there is one surprise feature

Well, no longer. :p


Also, damn. Every time you bump this thread I expect it to be with news of a release!

Gez said:

Also, damn. Every time you bump this thread I expect it to be with news of a release!

Likewise.

The screenshots look good though. Love the lighting effect. :)

aaaaah i'm gonna cry. how did i miss this, df was my first true love, then years later i had to switch to doom because lack of modern ports :)

i played the academy mod (a few years back already?) and it just doesn't compare. level3 was waaaaay easier. SO looking forward to this...

I hope this is all optional. I don't want to play Doomsday Forces.

leileilol said:

I hope this is all optional. I don't want to play Doomsday Forces.

Of course, the lighting and glow are both "extended" features. There will also be other extended features but they are all optional. I personally think that features like these enhance the graphics rather then making them look too different - but I understand that not everyone feels that way. :)

In order to help people choose the best defaults for them, beta builds and beyond will have options to set the game for "classic" or "extended" mode. That sets all the defaults and then you can go in and tweak things beyond that. "Classic" mode will default to all the optional features disabled, except high resolutions and color depth. "Extended" mode will default to most of the "extended" features enabled for those that want the eye-candy in addition to the classic gameplay. This way people get the experience they want out of DarkXL with little fuss.

The level editor is also designed so you can make levels for Dark Forces and will even support optional features (even including whole new or different sections of the level) that only get loaded when running in DarkXL (rather then Dark Forces - this is done by writing the DarkXL data in a way that Dark Forces will ignore).

Anyway, thanks for your interest. :)

You're too damn polite for someone complaining about some fucking lights that look great.

leileilol said:

I hope this is all optional. I don't want to play Doomsday Forces.

DOSBox

Holy wow, this looks awesome! I really like the looks of the editor too. :D

Man, I really want that editor. The one that I remember was not the easiest thing to use and I never really got into it.

Excellent job with this!

There's a fresh batch of screenshots, showcasing the lighting effect as well as another optional feature not shown previously shown, the large selection of crosshairs.

After a hiatus, DarkXL is back on track. Part of this process has been moving to a new website in order to make keep it updated and organized easier and less time consuming. Check out the new DarkXL website on wordpress! Let me know what you think. You can also browse the FAQ, download the latest version and check out lots of screenshots in the Media section.

Should DarkXL work on Vista 64 bit? I'm having difficulty getting it to run. I double-click it, I get a window which then goes to full screen and then... it hangs, just sitting their apparently waiting to start but it never does. :(

Don't know if it helps but here's my DXL_log.rtf:

DarkXL Alpha, Build 8.05
<System::InitLogFile 81> Log File Open
<WinMain 213> Initialize Game.
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 109> Using Hardware Vertex Processing.
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 120> Using Pixel Shader 2.0+.
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 141> Video Mode Count [X8R8G8B8]: 58.
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[0]: 640 x 480, Ref: 61, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[1]: 640 x 480, Ref: 60, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[2]: 640 x 480, Ref: 72, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[3]: 640 x 480, Ref: 75, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[4]: 720 x 480, Ref: 61, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[5]: 720 x 480, Ref: 56, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[6]: 720 x 480, Ref: 72, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[7]: 720 x 480, Ref: 75, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[8]: 720 x 480, Ref: 60, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[9]: 720 x 480, Ref: 59, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[10]: 720 x 576, Ref: 61, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[11]: 720 x 576, Ref: 56, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[12]: 720 x 576, Ref: 60, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[13]: 720 x 576, Ref: 72, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[14]: 720 x 576, Ref: 75, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[15]: 720 x 576, Ref: 50, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[16]: 800 x 600, Ref: 61, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[17]: 800 x 600, Ref: 56, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[18]: 800 x 600, Ref: 60, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[19]: 800 x 600, Ref: 72, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[20]: 800 x 600, Ref: 75, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[21]: 1024 x 768, Ref: 60, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[22]: 1024 x 768, Ref: 70, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[23]: 1024 x 768, Ref: 75, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[24]: 1152 x 864, Ref: 75, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[25]: 1280 x 720, Ref: 60, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[26]: 1280 x 720, Ref: 59, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[27]: 1280 x 720, Ref: 50, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[28]: 1280 x 768, Ref: 60, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[29]: 1280 x 768, Ref: 75, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[30]: 1280 x 800, Ref: 60, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[31]: 1280 x 800, Ref: 75, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[32]: 1280 x 960, Ref: 60, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[33]: 1280 x 960, Ref: 75, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[34]: 1280 x 1024, Ref: 60, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[35]: 1280 x 1024, Ref: 75, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[36]: 1360 x 768, Ref: 60, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[37]: 1360 x 768, Ref: 59, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[38]: 1360 x 768, Ref: 61, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[39]: 1360 x 768, Ref: 50, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[40]: 1600 x 900, Ref: 60, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[41]: 1600 x 900, Ref: 59, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[42]: 1600 x 900, Ref: 61, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[43]: 1600 x 900, Ref: 50, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[44]: 1600 x 1024, Ref: 60, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[45]: 1600 x 1024, Ref: 59, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[46]: 1600 x 1024, Ref: 61, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[47]: 1600 x 1024, Ref: 50, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[48]: 1600 x 1200, Ref: 60, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[49]: 1680 x 1050, Ref: 60, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[50]: 1680 x 1050, Ref: 59, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[51]: 1680 x 1050, Ref: 61, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[52]: 1680 x 1050, Ref: 50, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[53]: 1920 x 1080, Ref: 60, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[54]: 1920 x 1080, Ref: 59, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[55]: 1920 x 1080, Ref: 61, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[56]: 1920 x 1080, Ref: 50, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 170> Mode[57]: 1920 x 1200, Ref: 60, format: 22
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 204> Direct3D Device Created.
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 312> Fonts created.
<Driver3D_DX9::Init 325> Line drawing system created.
<Game::Init 244> Initializing Sound System.

It looks like it probably died initializing the Sound System. The most likely cause is that you didn't update your OpenAL driver. Get the Driver here, choose the OpenAL Installer for Windows oalinst.

Thank you kindly. I thought that my OpenAL install was up to date. Apparently it wasn't. DarkXL starts now. :)

Argh! Forget that. It starts but when I click "OK" to start a mission, it crashes. :(

Log file:

<Game::Init 244> Initializing Sound System.
<Game::LoadMap 361> Loading Map: SECBASE.LEV
<GOB_Reader::OpenFile 74> Failed to load ZWIMP10L.BM from "C:/Doom/DARK/TEXTURES.GOB"
<GOB_Reader::OpenFile 74> Failed to load ZWIMP11.BM from "C:/Doom/DARK/TEXTURES.GOB"


That looks like the kind of error that I might expect with a corrupt file, but it works on my old XP system and I have just tried copying textures.gob from that to my Vista machine with the same result.

I'm glad that fixed your OpenAL problem.

As for the other issue, I'm pretty sure DarkXL works on Vista 64. I know that it works on Vista 32 and of course XP. Anyway, make sure that your Dark Forces directory structure is the same, including things like the LFD directory. A full install of Dark Forces is required.

Those textures that are missing are always missing - I'm pretty sure they are referenced by some helper sectors that you never actually see. Although I find your Dark Forces pathe interesting: "C:/Doom/Dark"... (that should not cause a problem though).

I have installed it fully and I have also tried it in c:\dark rather than c:\doom\dark. The result was the same.

As I said, exactly the same files work fine on my XP machine but it doesn't work on my Vista one. I don't have DF installed on a Vista 32 machine ATM but I might be able to get around to trying that too.

Is there anything else that I can do to give you information about what it's doing and why it might be crashing?

(BTW, the reason for the odd path is that I have set DOSBox to automatically mount c:\doom as a C: drive when I use it so most of my DOS based games are in there. )

Ok, I'll look at it later when I get home and see what I can figure out. Thanks for trying it out and helping me figure out the problem.

This looks really good. im impressed, Ive been developing a df mod for gzdoom and likewise ports for a few weeks now, but i plan to include multiplayer. thats one thing i always felt this game was lacking.

Doom64Marine said:

This looks really good. im impressed, Ive been developing a df mod for gzdoom and likewise ports for a few weeks now, but i plan to include multiplayer. thats one thing i always felt this game was lacking.

I will be adding multiplayer support to DarkXL once the beta is complete. There will be more details about this later. :)


Also there is a new post on the DarkXL Blog. Check it out and let me know what you think!

How many players? i plan to optimize for at least 4. i also plan to make a coop mission pack called 'tremble' for 8 players, but that's a secret, and also a Death match map pack.

Also, how do you plan to do it without a player sprite? unless you want to make one. DarkXL looks good.

Doom64Marine said:

How many players? i plan to optimize for at least 4. i also plan to make a coop mission pack called 'tremble' for 8 players, but that's a secret, and also a Death match map pack.

Also, how do you plan to do it without a player sprite? unless you want to make one. DarkXL looks good.

As for the number of players, the plan is 2-16 initially. The first test will probably be with 2-4 players, then moving up to 16 for team based game modes. The plan is to support cooperative, death match, team death match, objective based team missions (steal the plans, destroy the shield generators, etc.) and more. You'll be able to play a rebel (Kyle plus other characters that the community is willing to make) or an imperial (Storm Trooper, various droids, Officer, Boba Fett, etc.).

As for the player sprite, that will be fan made. We've already begun discussions about it and some work has been done, as multiplayer gets closer I'm sure that it'll get done. The community has some talented artists.

I tried it out its very good, music on level 3 is 110% annoying X)

I've started a "Screenshot of the Day" on the blog, which 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.

I'm following your project since the first beta you threw out, and i am impressed. Even back, with only the first level, it runs like the original.
What i may ask is, what are your plans for the networking? A p2p mode or a C/S mode? I would love to play it in ccop with some friends over the net.

cybdmn said:

I'm following your project since the first beta you threw out, and i am impressed. Even back, with only the first level, it runs like the original.
What i may ask is, what are your plans for the networking? A p2p mode or a C/S mode? I would love to play it in ccop with some friends over the net.

I'm planning on using a client/server model. I plan on supporting more players in the future (based on popularity), so I need a networking model that can scale well. Initially the server will be automatically run by one of the players but at some point a dedicated server will also be supported.

Are you aware of Doom Builder? It's arguably the most advanced Doom editor and also happens to be open source. I assume Dark Forces maps use similar concepts as Doom maps do, so it may be a good reference or source of ideas for your editor.