Source FAQ & Interesting Article

[Fighter]

The following is a FAQ concering the JKO and JKA source code. It will be updated if needed. Also, be sure to scroll down after the FAQ for info about an interesting news article I was sent.

Source Code FAQ

I'm clicking on the SourceForge links to the code, but I'm getting "Whoops, we can't find that page."

Ravensoft requested that SourceForge take down the source code for both JKO and JKA due to legal reasons.

According to @@eezstreet they accidentally kept proprietary code (BINK, Xbox, feelit) in the source code releases, which meant they were accidentally illegally redistributing the code.

It is also believed that a folder called "mp3code" had a GPL'd library in it, which meant that Raven were required to release the source code.

When will Ravensoft put the code back up?

No one knows.

What should I use instead since the source is gone?

It's highly recommended to use OpenJK instead, as it is a fixed and majorly improved version of the code.

Does this source code release mean that the game is now free?

No. This is just the code, not the assets like maps, models, etc. You still need to buy the game in order to have the assets.

Were the assets released along with the code?

See the above question's answer.

How do I use this to play the game?

Do you know how to compile code?

If not so: You don't. Just buy the game and play using that.

If so: If you already have purchased the game and have all of the assets, compile the code and then use that compiled code along with your assets to play the game.

Was this an official source code release, or was it a leak?

It was an official release by Ravensoft employees.

Interesting Article
Now, on to that interesting article I spoke of above. @@Darth_Bothersome sent me an article about game remakes. This article speaks about game remakes, including a person named Darth_Linux who got together a team to remake Dark Forces in JKO in 2002.

He managed to get a ten man team together, which then doubled to twenty when he started releasing screenshots.

He worked for approximately three hours per day managing and doing work on this project. He even managed to get some voice actors for voiceovers, and the actors sounded similar to the original voice actors. The soundtrack was also remixed.

However, in 2004, when the Source engine was released, some felt that the remake was beginning to look dated compared to newer engines. The team even ported everything over to JKA, however they still needed a coder in order to make puzzles.

A coder was never found. The project was officially cancelled in January of 2012.

Nevertheless, be sure to check out that article if you want. It's an interesting read.

Click here to view the article

[Mog]

I'm pretty sure no one has to worry. Ravensoft will place the codes back online as soon as they remove the illegal content, which shouldn't take that long.

[CrimsonStrife]

Not sure if we want to post it here, but I stumbled upon a link to a set of forks to Git Repos of the source.

[Szico VII]

Yeah, post it. @D

[Omicron]

I actually managed to get the first 6 completed levels of the Dark Forces mod, about a week before the site and all the download links went dead. I'm considering about having it uploaded here, but I'm not sure if the creators of it would want it to be put on this site.

[Omicron]

Try and contact them, there should be a TXT file somewhere with information, I used to have it but while i was cleaning some stuff up it got deleted and when i went back to downloaded it the site was already down.

I just sent an e-mail to Darth Linux, so hopefully we can expect a reply saying that it is ok to upload here.

[CrimsonStrife]

Yeah, post it. @D

 

https://github.com/jedis

 

<.<

>.>

[eezstreet]

inb4 CrimsonStrife gets sued

[CrimsonStrife]

inb4 CrimsonStrife gets sued

Considering I am not responsible for said fork, or even using it, that seems highly unlikely.

[eezstreet]

Aha. Nevermind then.

[CrimsonStrife]

Aha. Nevermind then.

I guess saying that I "stumbled" upon it was alluding that I had made it

 

But nope, that is exactly what happened, when I first heard it was taken down I was looking around for an article to find out why, and then poof, found that.

[Corto]

I was one of the modelers, coders and main researchers of the Dark Forces mod (also, some may remember me, I was the first one to introduce new animations into Jedi Outcast using the Raven issued dotxsi plugin together with Wudan and ASk).The problem was not the lack of coders but the lack of SP source code. I managed to reproduce every original Dark Forces weapon behavior (Including the sequential four barreled fusion cutter) but all with the MP code. We knew we could that and much more but only in MP while the mod was being made with the SP client. I would've been easier to add weapon and new creatures code to the SP than adding all the rest to MP (it didn't even have AI). So the feeling of working on a doomed project took over everybody and we finally lost interest. It was a very well organized, well connected and very professional group of work, our motivation rested upon the idea of getting the SP code soon after Jedi Academy was released.

[Guest Kel'ariy Ory'Hara]

actually, it is free. opensource but not free, disinformation, rofl

[eezstreet]

@@Corto, you should totally res the project, simply for its sheer awesomeness.

 

@@Ory'Hara'Hara, please just be quiet if you don't know what you're talking about.

[CrimsonStrife]

@@Ory'Hara'Hara, please just be quiet if you don't know what you're talking about.

I think as usual it is less his lack of knowledge, and more his inability to speak like a somewhat normal individual.

[Corto]

Eez, I seriously couldn't revive the project even if I had the original team at my side. The amount of work that was done just to put together the demos was astonishing. I think another guy tried to pick up where we left, but to no avail. It would require a 100% committed team as if we were making a commercial game to finish it with the standards we were aiming at.

[eezstreet]

Oh, that sucks

[Corto]

Oh, that sucks

Yeah, it kind of does. Nobody felt happy shutting down the project.

[minilogoguy18]

To me the DF mod was probably the closest anyone got to a SP total conversion, playing those levels FELT like a new game. With the source code release it really needs to be picked back up, I'd lend them a hand since if picked up by people who were even close to as dedicated as the original team the success rate would be high.

[Kessno]

 

To me the DF mod was probably the closest anyone got to a SP total conversion, playing those levels FELT like a new game. With the source code release it really needs to be picked back up, I'd lend them a hand since if picked up by people who were even close to as dedicated as the original team the success rate would be high.

 

Agreed. That is probably the only, total conversion as minilogoguy18 suggested, that not only felt like a new game but also had quality work put into it. It's a real shame that it died off after the amount of work that was involved. Also, since the source is released, couldn't it  be made into its own game fairly easily due to the amount of custom assets already being used?

[eezstreet]

I completely agree, and I'd definitely like to help in whatever way that I can.

[Corto]

The most difficult asset to come by are mappers. The custom models that the game needs can be easily tackled by one modeler and couple of painters (who could also redraw the level textures in parallel). The coding side can steadily done by one coder (I honestly lost practice with JA code). But mappers, that's the cornerstone of every total conversion. I think the would need at least three experienced mappers to work on three levels at one time if you want to finish the mod. The things is, most level artists have moved to UDK, Crytek or Unity.

[eezstreet]

Maybe. The source release brought back a lot of people, including BobaFett and DarthLex, which means that all original, key members of JKG are back.

[CaptainChar]

as a mapper, ive been too lazy to move onto newer games and relearn what ive learned for the IDtech series

[CrimsonStrife]

 Also, since the source is released, couldn't it  be made into its own game fairly easily due to the amount of custom assets already being used?

You would still be forced to make it a mod, because you are still dealing with the copyrights on the intellectual property of Star Wars.  Even if it were a non-commercial game, the copyrights would still apply.