[Dzierzan]

Quote

Will the maps made with the built in level editor be vanilla compatible?

I hope so! I wouldn't also mind if the level edtor had some kind of indicator which would tell you if the map is vanilla compatible. Something what XMAPEDIT for Blood does considering it had lot of raised limits which won't make it compatible with DOS if one of the limits is exceeded.

[luciusDXL]

Sorry, I haven't been keeping up with this thread.

MetHy, on 03 November 2020 - 01:01 AM, said:

Will the maps made with the built in level editor be vanilla compatible?

The editor will be able to generate maps that are vanilla compatible. However, I have put some thought into a forward compatible and extensible level format for future mods using the engine. To this end, when you create a new level in the editor you will choose your target: Dark Forces (vanilla), Outlaws (vanilla), and TFE which will allow for enhanced features and Outlaws features in Dark Forces. The editor will work in the "super-set" format and then export to vanilla formats as needed - so it can be used to make maps that work with the original executables.

You can also start playing the game from any point in the level in "Classic" mode which has the same limits as the original so checking for issues/HOMs/etc. is pretty easy.

You can see an early draft of the TFEM (“TFE Map”) format - though it still needs further work.

[luciusDXL]

I have posted a project update on the TFE blog:


TFE Project Update

It is time for another, long overdue, project update. The project went through a “slow period” of about a month after a flurry of work on the Classic Renderer but progress resumed about a week ago in earnest. This post will go over some of the work done so far, the current state of the project, and the next steps.


Read the post here: https://theforceengi...ect-Update.html

[MetHy]

Those widescreen shots and the level editor look pretty good.

[luciusDXL]

I have written another project update on the blog:

Adjustable HUD

Last post I talked about the remaining work for the Classic Renderer and the next steps. In the meantime, based on feedback regarding widescreen, it came to light that just moving the status HUD elements to the edges of the screen in widescreen may not be ideal - especially for ultrawide resolutions. So I decided to implement some basic HUD options, including the ability to move the HUD elements away from the edges. This, of course, appears unnatural since the graphics were designed to sit at the edges of the screen. “Dzierzan” - a member of the discord server - quickly made some art to fix these cutoff edges so I spent a little bit of time to implement an adjustable HUD.

. . . .

Read the post here: https://theforceengi...stable-HUD.html

[Fantinaikos]

It's not a priority, but one of the old tools that you should have in the compendium pack I've uploaded called WDFUSE got a cool unfinished feature that turns a Dark Forces map into a vanilla DN3D map (as well as another to convert a DOOM map into one for Jedi Engine). Practically no one of conversion of the logics was completed, apart from a type of door, but it's possible assign different textures and sprites associations modifing .WDF data files. That was very useful to try to use a Dark Forces level under Duke Forces but only texture, sprites and enemies works, the rest like buttons, elevators, etc. cannot.

I wonder if it's possible soon or later to insert and complete the same functionality in new tools you and your team is developing, to use Jedi Engine maps with DOOM/DN3D, without forgetting the possibility to customize sprite and texture associations (however this detail could be achieved simply relocating them with the new mapping tool as appropriate). And even to DOOM/DN3D to Jedi Engine maybe but I don't know how much would be useful.

[luciusDXL]

Fantinaikos, on 11 December 2020 - 07:26 PM, said:

It's not a priority, but one of the old tools that you should have in the compendium pack I've uploaded called WDFUSE got a cool unfinished feature that turns a Dark Forces map into a vanilla DN3D map (as well as another to convert a DOOM map into one for Jedi Engine). Practically no one of conversion of the logics was completed, apart from a type of door, but it's possible assign different textures and sprites associations modifing .WDF data files. That was very useful to try to use a Dark Forces level under Duke Forces but only texture, sprites and enemies works, the rest like buttons, elevators, etc. cannot.

I wonder if it's possible soon or later to insert and complete the same functionality in new tools you and your team is developing, to use Jedi Engine maps with DOOM/DN3D, without forgetting the possibility to customize sprite and texture associations (however this detail could be achieved simply relocating them with the new mapping tool as appropriate). And even to DOOM/DN3D to Jedi Engine maybe but I don't know how much would be useful.

Interesting idea, I will put it on the back burner for sure. Obviously, though, that kind of feature will be a ways off.

[luciusDXL]

TFE One Year Anniversary

The Force Engine started out life as DarkXL 2 on December 21, 2019. Two months later, the project was renamed to The Force Engine, in order to encapsulate the intent of the engine, and put up on GitHub. After another month of work, about 3 months from the beginning, The Force Engine was announced on DoomWorld.

. . . .

Read the post here: https://theforceengi...E-One-Year.html

[luciusDXL]

TFE Classic Renderer Complete

The 3D Object rendering system, derived from the original DOS code, is now working in both 320x200 (fixed-point sub-renderer) and at higher resolutions and in widescreen (floating-point sub-renderer). This completes the Classic Renderer reverse-engineering and integration project, allowing me to move on to reverse-engineering the INF system.

. . . .

Read the post here: https://theforceengi...r-Complete.html

[MusicallyInspired]

Congrats on that milestone!

[MrFlibble]

Thank you for doing this!

If only the Daggerfall Unity team shared your ideals. When I asked them if there was any intention to reverse-engineer the XnGine renderer, I was told that this is not going to ever happen because there would be no point in playing that when Unity offers a "smoother" experience as one developer told me.

[Phredreeke]

Lucius posted this in the Discord last night. Texture perspective correction has been added for 3D objects.

[NightFright]

Wow. Those warped 3DO textures were a real visual annoyance, I remember them well. Fixing that is already a considerable improvement. It's great to see real progress being made with the port after such a long break.

[jkas789]

That is a thing of beauty.

[Dzierzan]

There's a new blog post: https://theforceengi...2021-Plans.html

And to stay ahead of the facts:

[Fantinaikos]

You will need to code a maphacks equivalent of Force Engine to get around that common, unavoidable problem of static objects doing unwanted compenetrations with the walls caused by tridimensional transition.

[Dzierzan]

Yeah, that's for the future. DF VP isn't done yet and I still would love to update some my current voxels to increase the quality. Either way, it's cool to see them in game.

[luciusDXL]

You can find more details in the blog post, but the current voxel implementation is in the "experimental branch" - basically this means that it is an experimental feature that isn't production ready - a way for me to test out new features when I need a break, get feedback and then port over to master and get finished when the time is right. And these experiments need to be limited in scope (as much as they can be) to avoid disrupting the currently scheduled work. That said, writing an efficient software voxel renderer from scratch that fits in well with the Jedi engine took a fair amount of effort, but it was fun.

[Phredreeke]

I asked if the discord if TFE has blast processing. It appears the answer is yes

[luciusDXL]

Phredreeke you did say you were going to screenshot it.

In other news, I put up a new blog post:

INF System and TFE Progress

In the last post - TFE Update and 2021 Plans - I talked about the INF & Classic Renderer release which was to be followed by a “Player Control & Physics” release later in the year. Due to the way the renderer, INF and player controller are connected there has been a change of near-term plans. This post will go over those changes, talk about how the INF system works internally and provide a general update regarding the progress towards this year’s goal of reaching the 1.0 release.

. . . .

Read the rest of the post here: https://theforceengi.../InfSystem.html

[Phredreeke]

It was too funny not to

[luciusDXL]

I put up a new blog post:

TFE Foundation and Test Release

The Jedi Renderer and INF System have been completely reverse-engineered and the collision detection system is almost complete. But a new problem looms on the horizon.

. . . .

Read the post here: https://theforceengi...Foundation.html

[luciusDXL]

I published a new blog post:

Closing the Game Loop

The previous blog post talked about refactoring the code so that the reverse-engineered INF system, collision system, and renderer can all use the original, fixed-point level data. Another goal was to enable caching for systems, like the floating-point high resolution renderer, that need to transform the data in some way. It illustrated the connected nature of the core game and engine code

. . . .

Read the post here: https://theforceengi...2/GameLoop.html

[jkas789]

[Fantinaikos]

The the reincrease of interest due to the work on Force Engine and the DF-21 Discord community it's beginning to give concrete effects. After years, a brand new level for Dark Forces has been released: Among The Shadows II: The Lava Planet, sequel to Among The Shadows: Fortress Quadrigon. They also starting to fixing and updating some old levels, Fortress Quadrigon itself received an upgrade.

[William Beavis]

Can't believe I missed this thread. Lots of nostalgic games.

[luciusDXL]

Game Loop Progress


The shape of the core game loop is now clear, so this post will go over its structure and also talk about any changes being implemented for TFE. It will also talk about progress towards the next test release and what has been accomplished so far.
. . . .

Read the post here: https://theforceengi...opProgress.html

[luciusDXL]

Progress Update And Plans

As The Force Engine (TFE) approaches the Core Game Loop Completion milestone, I thought it was time for another update and to talk about plans for reaching TFE version 1.0 and beyond.
. . . .


Read the post here: https://theforceengi...teAndPlans.html

[luciusDXL]

The Core Game Loop release has been a long time coming. Most of that time has been occupied reverse-engineering the original code, but the integration process (integrating the code into TFE, testing it, refactoring, fix bugs) has been proceeding quickly.

The plan is for the "Core Game Loop Release" to be available in late September, which will complete the core loop - meaning being able to start a new game and play through all of the levels with full weapons, enemies, and level functionality.

The original placeholder code has been removed, this video shows The Force Engine (TFE) running the reverse-engineered Dark Forces code, starting with main. It shows using save game data, launching a level, and playing until the end. AI is not yet functional but should start coming online next week.



Here are some of the features and systems shown:
0:00:04 Agent Menu, using the original save game data.
0.00:15 Sliding on Ice, and water with a current.
0:00:18 Weapon fire and hit effects.
0:00:28 Hitting F7 to disable and enable the HUD.
0:00:39 More ice physics and the Cleats.
0:01:00 Running and walking (moving slower than normal).
0:01:12 Pickups with effects, changes to the HUD, and associated on-screen text.
0:01:25 Water current.
0:01:35 Conveyor Belts.
0:02:13 Shootable Switches.
0:02:36 Damage Floors.
0:02:52 Crushing Damage.
0:03:08 Standard Switch.
0:03:34 Cycling Weapons.
0:03:45 Red Key Door.
0:03:52 Me fumbling to enter the LAUNLOCK cheat to get the red key. Note that the message wasn't displayed because the Red Key message has a higher priority.
0:04:18 Damage Sector.
0:04:23 Gas Mask.
0:05:05 Night vision googles.
0:05:10 Head lamp.

[jkas789]