Dark Forces Remaster Announced

[Circa]

Today Nightdive Studios in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games officially announced they are remastering the original game from 1995 that began Kyle Katarn's journey, Dark Forces. No strangers to remastering classic 90's shooter games, Nightdive has System Shock and Quake II under their belt showing they know what they're doing when it comes to modernizing these games, while keeping their identity and charm in tact.

This is a remaster, rather than a remake, using original assets and code where possible while implementing modern controls, upscaling textures and sprites, 4k resolution, and widescreen support. Nightdive prides themselves on what they call their "KEX Engine" for these projects.

Dark Forces Remastered will be released on PC, Xbox One & Series X|S, PlayStation 4 & 5, and Nintendo Switch. According what Nightdive's Larry Kuperman told IGN, the game will be competitively priced around the $20-$30 USD range and a release date is expected for 2024. An official release date will be announced later this year.

The first question many people will ask, especially in this community, is how likely are we to see the rest of the series get remastered, especially Dark Forces II, and the answer is: very unlikely. The sequel uses a completely different engine which may mean Nightdive's KEX engine wouldn't support it easily, etc. It is not impossible, but I don't think one remaster automatically confirms the whole series will get touched, especially since Outcast and Academy got console releases so recently.

The game is looking great, and I'm looking forward to playing it again, as someone who has tried to play the original many times but gets frustrated with the controls, this remaster is a much welcome release and is another example of Lucasfilm not completely letting their legacy content completely be forgotten.

Star Wars: Dark Forces has a release date: February 28, 2024. That’s for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, and Nintendo Switch.

UPDATE: The game is out and can be purchased on Steam, Xbox Store, PlayStation Store, or Nintendo eShop.

Source: IGN

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[GamerRedNeck]

I'm hyped.  Nightdive has a pretty solid track record (I personally loved Blood: Fresh Supply).  I'll probably commit a cardinal sin and pre order this.

[undeadslayer]

Interesting, so does that mean that anyone who might be working on a level from this game, has to cease and desist their work?

[Circa]

3 hours ago, undeadslayer said:

Interesting, so does that mean that anyone who might be working on a level from this game, has to cease and desist their work?

Why would you think that?

[NumberWan]

I feel odd a bit about this one. On one hand, I'm glad, an old classic gets a new look so that the fans who care about – could relive it once more with a crispy, fresh appearance and designs. On the other hand, the game remains to be old even with this remaster and most people would most likely say, that the game didn't age too well even with all the changes...

As for myself, I don't feel bad about Pixel graphics and Pixel art, my problem with Dark Forces is perhaps, that the general atmosphere towards the end of the game is more and more repetitive as I remember it from the original.

Some of the people I know voiced an opinion, that it would be far better to release a real remake with Unreal Engine and all the cutscenes done in 3D. But I would most likely try the remaster version.

[undeadslayer]

4 hours ago, Circa said:

Why would you think that?

Disney is no stranger to shutting down fan projects that interfered with their potential income. Three instances come to mind:

1.) Someone was trying to remake Rogue Squadron in unreal engine free of charge, they got a cease and desist from Disney then Squadrons came out shortly after that.

2.) Someone was trying to remake Episode 1 Podracer in unreal engine free of charge, Aspyr announced they were releasing a port to ps4 and Switch and  they too got a cease and desist.

3.) Finally, A group of people were working on a Knights of the Old Republic remaster, Aspyr announced that they are in the works of a remaster version of that game and another cease and desist was handed out.

Call me crazy but I think Disney has a problem with their Star Wars fans making better games than they do.

[Circa]

2 hours ago, undeadslayer said:

Disney is no stranger to shutting down fan projects that interfered with their potential income. Three instances come to mind:

1.) Someone was trying to remake Rogue Squadron in unreal engine free of charge, they got a cease and desist from Disney then Squadrons came out shortly after that.

2.) Someone was trying to remake Episode 1 Podracer in unreal engine free of charge, Aspyr announced they were releasing a port to ps4 and Switch and  they too got a cease and desist.

3.) Finally, A group of people were working on a Knights of the Old Republic remaster, Aspyr announced that they are in the works of a remaster version of that game and another cease and desist was handed out.

Call me crazy but I think Disney has a problem with their Star Wars fans making better games than they do.

Your question only mentioned “levels” which I assume means mods, which Lucasfilm has always allowed, as long as content remains non-profit and requires the original game to function.

If you meant fan remakes, they usually strike those ahead of announcements like with the KOTOR one, so if they haven’t already then I doubt they will bother. The person behind the Force Engine project for Dark Forces is actually an advisor on this remake too which is pretty cool.

[undeadslayer]

11 hours ago, Circa said:

Your question only mentioned “levels” which I assume means mods, which Lucasfilm has always allowed, as long as content remains non-profit and requires the original game to function.

If you meant fan remakes, they usually strike those ahead of announcements like with the KOTOR one, so if they haven’t already then I doubt they will bother. The person behind the Force Engine project for Dark Forces is actually an advisor on this remake too which is pretty cool.

The fan remakes are exactly what I mean, their was absolutely no reason to strike the Rogue Squadron remake. If anything Squadrons played like the flight section of the more recent Battlefront games. I'm surprised they even let the guy behind the force engine on the remake project. It just seems like Disney doesn't understand Star Wars at all.

[Circa]

47 minutes ago, undeadslayer said:

The fan remakes are exactly what I mean, their was absolutely no reason to strike the Rogue Squadron remake. If anything Squadrons played like the flight section of the more recent Battlefront games. I'm surprised they even let the guy behind the force engine on the remake project. It just seems like Disney doesn't understand Star Wars at all.

It's not a Disney-specific issue. Lucasfilm has been doing that since games have been a thing. Its just that now anyone can make a game these days so it is more common, because people don't seem to get the hint that using a major corporation's intellectual property without consent is literally against the law, and the more popular it gets, the more likely they are to notice and take actions. There have been cases where projects are communicated through the proper channels and get a pass, like many fan films have done. I'm not sure how many fan games have done that, but I can't recall many that have until they have already gotten a cease & desist already, like with the Battlefront 3 fan game or the KOTOR Apeiron game, they already started work and gained a lot of attention before they even reached out to Lucasfilm, which most likely soured their reputation in the eyes of the lawyers.

These projects also never have their own legal teams or budget to fight the action in a court of law to argue fair use or anything, and until that happens and some sort of mandate is set for this sort of thing, it'll keep happening.

To be clear, I'm not saying I think it's necessarily right. All corporations like Disney, Lucasfilm, Marvel, Nintendo, etc. should be much more open to allowing their IP's be used by their fans like that when possible.

Also, just another reminder that Disney has almost 0 input on what goes on at Star Wars outside of budget and distribution. If you want people to blame for that, blame the executives at Lucasfilm. And I don't just mean Kathleen Kennedy, she's only one of many that have anything to do with any of it. (just a peeve of mine)

Back on track though, this Dark Forces remaster's demographic is console players and people that have never played it before, so any modding or engine projects done by fans are assumed to be PC only and catered towards people that already have the game and want to mod it. I think of this release similar to the JK2 and JKA console releases, even though it is also getting a PC release because the original is kind of a pain to run and get working with modern hacks like the Force Engine and whatnot. That's my theory on why they wouldn't bother striking those projects for this.

[GamerRedNeck]

Just picked it up on Switch.  It's $30 USD, so a little steep for a remaster.  That said, I'm enjoying it very much.  The game holds up well and the tune ups are very welcome.  I recommend it.