JK2: HD

[eezstreet]

So uh, yeah. I've been working on this project for a long time now. Figured I might as well make a WIP post about this.

I've been working on a secret underground collaborative project for quite some time now, and many people have had some knowledge of this project. Since I'm effectively trying to steer away from the JKA community as a whole, I figured I would announce this project to the general public. It'll likely be one of my last projects, as I'm kinda losing faith in the JKH API (not the difficulty, but the gains/losses aren't really cutting it for me) and I've retired from JKG due to the imbalanced workload.

 

Anyway, onto the general project:

 

JK2:HD is a mod which improves on JK2 in every way possible: graphics, sound, and gameplay. In addition, I will be attempting to restore whatever lost content I can that was stripped from the final game. This will be targeting SP primarily but there will be at least 2 maps released for MP which were cut from the final game.

 

Background:

I played and loved JK2. I still do. I loved the singleplayer, the absolute depth of the storyline (and I'm still finding new layers in it which make it comparable to the original SW movies), and I loved the online community aspects as well. I would rather be modding for JK2 if the engine was better developed and people were a bit more open-minded. But I digress.

 

A few years ago, I discovered something interesting in the Dynamic Music files. As it turned out, there were two levels which contained music entries, but those levels did not exist: cairn_stockpile and cairn_dock2. A few emails to Raven Software indicated that these levels were cut from the development. Bummer. It seemed as though some of the assets were lost entirely in the process of developing the game, and there was nothing left of those levels but a few vague pieces of concept art. Their reasoning for cutting these levels was just: "We felt that the Cairn missions had dragged on for too long and it really began to get boring in those levels" ¹ For a while, things seemed to get a bit stale. I wanted to poke around and make the game better in any way that I could. So, I did the best thing I could do. I reverse-engineered Jedi Academy and allowed it to run the Jedi Knight 2 levels with little problems. Of course, there were a few minor issues. Waypoints were goofy, so a few map mods were needed. Nothing fantastic. Widespread tests revealed bugs and glitches, and there were some definite issues which couldn't be resolved so easily (such as the water in yavin_swamp). I think I got it all the way to doom_shields before I encountered any serious, project-stalling bugs (game crash on gravity change). I didn't modify any scripts. I only modified a few maps (VERY few.).

 

But then QFX came out. God was that enlightening. But it was buggy. A few of the shaders in QFX were really problematic, such as the ones used for color grading. I sought to correct those using some online resources and some know-how. I also consulted with Scooper and added in motion blur (it was really mostly his work, he did a phenomenal job). I was originally going to include QFX with this mod, but that's a different story entirely. I still enjoy Googling "QEffects Pro" and seeing the positive reactions that people have to the mod.

 

I decided to contact Raven Software again, to see if I could pressure them into releasing source code again. While I would eventually succeed (probably more so due to the LucasArts closing ), I did however get some really cool stuff from them..

 

cairn_stockpile.map.

 

Holeee shiet.

I almost immediately compiled the map and took some screenshots of it. While it was definitely incomplete, it had some really neat ideas in place.

I also received some more .map files, design documents, and the original script for the game. It was some really cool stuff, and I could have written a book with all the behind-the-scenes information that I obtained. Did you know that Tavion was supposed to be male, and his/her model eventually became the Jedi Trainer model? (As an aside, it's kinda interesting to note how original press releases for the game showed Kyle fighting a Jedi Trainer with a red saber...this would have been Tavion in that build of the game )

 

I'm not a book writer however. I'm a coder. A modder.

 

So instead, I've decided to make JK2 better in every way possible, and stick very true to the original material for ultimate nostalgia. I'll also be including fully-finished versions of the original cut levels, and improving on the gameplay (How about Mind Trick not being useless? Or those metallic bolts in Nar Shaddaa Starpad being actually useful?) and sound effects. Once rend2 makes it to SP, I'll also see what I can do about improving the graphics of the game using rend2 as a base.

 

Confirmed Features:

• Play through the lost mission (cairn_stockpile)²
• Runs on OpenJK. JK2 is required to play.
• A new never-released MP map: ffa_trench³
• Some changes to the original missions
• Some added "improved" player models (I will be looking around, and try to include stuff like DT's stormtrooper if I have permission)
• Weapons have been very heavily tweaked. In addition to new weapon models⁴, there are new sounds, meant to make the guns more satisfying to use. The progression has also been tweaked as well (No det packs/trip mines until after receiving lightsaber, receive Repeater on NS_Starpad, ...)
• Gameplay tuned and improved upon, requiring some new strategies
• Enemies have more variety (Trandoshans appear on more than one level!).
• New music, and improved musical moments in the cutscenes
• Text crawl has been completely redone. Completely remastered audio (now in stereo!) and visuals.
• Lots of minor continuity corrections (Prisoners now use bowcasters as well as blasters, ...)
• New Custom Games option allows for multiple interesting playthroughs, all with their own unique settings.

Probable, eventual features:

• Improved AI (this is the big one)
• Use rend2 (needs to be ported first. this will be BIG FEATURE number 1 when this happens)
• Possibly a new weapon or two?
• use JKA skeleton (which has JK2 anims in it), add in A FEW reborn with dual sabers or staff on "higher than JM" difficulty

 

Some screenshots of stuff so far:

Original version of cairn_stockpile:

 

 

Note that these are old and use QEffects

 

 

 

New Cvars

I've added new Cvars, all of which will be available for use in Custom Games. [] for default, () for other options. All are boolean (1/0) unless otherwise stated.

 

Items

• g_pullitems: Can pull items? [On]/(Off)
• g_pushitems: Can push items? [On]/(Off)
• g_gripitems: Can grip items? (On)/[Off] (Warning: buggy, items will jitter once they are un-gripped, not immediately fixable)
• g_sentryinfiniteammo: Do sentries have unlimited ammo? (0: You only)/(1: You and NPCs)/(2: NPCs only)/[3: No]
• g_sentryexplode: Do sentries explode when they run out of ammo? (0: You only)/(1: You and NPCs)/(2: NPCs only)/[3: No]
• g_sentryrate: Do sentries (for you) use MP's firing rate? (On)/[Off]
• g_npcsentryrate: Do sentries (for NPCs) use MP's firing rate? (On)/[Off]
• g_sentrycheat: Can push sentry guns over? (0: You only)/(1: You and NPCs)/[2: NPCs only]/(All other options: No)
• g_maxsentries: Maximum number of sentry guns in inventory [Default: 5]
• g_maxseekers: Maximum number of seekers in inventory [Default: 5]
• g_medpacheal: Medpac heal amount <<Slider, default at 25>>
• g_medpacgrunt: Play bacta's/Force Heal's "grunting" sound effect on medpacks: (0: Always)/(1: Only when healing for max amount)/[2: Never]
• g_medpacmpsound: Play MP sound effect for medpacks: (0: Always)/(1: Only when healing for max amount)/[2: Never]
• g_medpacdoomsound: Play Doom's sound effect for medpacks: (0: Always)/(1: Only when healing for max amount)/[2: Never]
• g_armormpsound: Play MP sound effect for armor pickup: (0: Always)/(1: Only when healing for max amount)/[2: Never]
• g_armorlgoverflow: Allow large armor packs to take you over maximum? (On)/[Off]
• g_armoroverflowdown: How many ms to take away an armor over max -- 1000ms = 1 second [0: Don't take away]/(1000: 1 second)/(1500: 1.5 seconds)/(2000: 2 seconds)
• g_armorsmamount: Small armor pickup amount <<Slider, default at 25>>
• g_armorlgamount: Large armor pickup amount <<Slider, default at 50>>
• g_ammompsound: Play MP sound effect for ammo pickup: (On)/[Off]
• g_bactaheal: Amount healed by bactas [Default: 25]
• g_bactagrunt: Play "grunting" sound effect on bacta use: [0: Always]/(1: Only when healing for max amount)/(2: Never)
• g_bactampsound: Play MP sound effect for bacta use: (0: Always)/(1: Only when healing for max amount)/[2: Never]
• g_bactadoomsound: Play Doom's sound effect on bacta use: (0: Always)/(1: Only when healing for max amount)/[2: Never]
• g_maxbactas: Maximum number of bactas in inventory [Default: 5]
• g_maxkeys: Maximum number of keys in inventory [Default: 5]
• g_keysused: Number of Supply Keys used on crates [Default: 1]
• g_binocgivebatteries: Do binocular pickups give you batteries? (0: Never)/[1: Always, not including first pickup]/(2: Always)
• g_binocrestrict: Are you not allowed to pick up extra goggles if you are at full batteries? [On]/(Off)
• g_binocdrainrate: Binocular battery drain rate <<Slider, default at 1.0>>
• g_binocrandomrate: % chance that battery spawn will be changed to electrobinocular spawn <<Slider, default at 0>> (This includes ones spawned with the /spawn command)
• g_lagivebatteries: Do LA goggle pickups give you batteries? (0: Never)/[1: Always, not including first pickup]/(2: Always)
• g_larestrict: Are you not allowed to pick up extra goggles if you are at full batteries? [On]/(Off)
• g_ladrainrate: LA goggle battery drain rate <<Slider, default at 1.0>>
• g_larandomrate: % chance that battery spawn will be changed to LA goggle spawn <Slider, default at 0>> (This includes ones spawned with the /spawn command)

Weapons

• bg_repeaterrate: Repeater uses MP firing rate? [On]/(Off)
• g_repeaterspread: Repeater spread (0: No spread)/[1: Half of normal spread]/(2: Normal spread)
• cg_sfxSabers: SFX sabers (On)/[Off]

Display

• cg_displayWeaponNumbers: Display ammo numbers on HUD? <<Mask>>
• cg_hideDepletedWeapons: Hide X weapons when their ammo is depleted <<Mask>>

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug where Force Jump audio would get cut off when jumping in low areas
• Holding down inventory or force select buttons no longer BREAKS YOUR FUCKING EARDRUMS
• Battery pickups don't actually function as the developer intended. Originally, they were meant to be so that if you didn't use the whole battery, it would remain in the world, but have less batteries to give you later. This has been fixed.

 

What I could use help with

Texturing models, mostly.

If you want to help me out, feel free to post in this thread.

Also poke people with a stick to get rend2 ported to SP. I really don't care about weather. I want to toy around with lighting, shadows, PP and things of that nature.

 

References

^{1 - ~Mike Gummelt, Raven Software}

^{2 - Don't recall original artist at Ravensoft, remade version by @@MoonDog}

^{3 - Also don't recall original artist. This one is all-original with some modified textures.}

^{4 - Created by @BlackResuru and @@Silverfang. Textures TBD}

 

If a moderator sees this as more appropriate for a sub-forum, please don't hesitate to mention this in the thread and I will try to work something out via Steam.

Edited February 9, 2014 by eezstreet

[Circa]

Wow. I'm impressed and very excited to see this develop.

 

We can get you a sub forum if you'd like.

[DT.]

Use rend2 (needs to be ported first. this will be BIG FEATURE number 1 when this happens)

 

Yeah I know what you mean, I'm desperately wanting rend2 for DF2 Mod before a lot of models & textures are made for the sake of not redoing it all later.

[eezstreet]

Wow. I'm impressed and very excited to see this develop.

 

We can get you a sub forum if you'd like.

It's not necessary at the moment, but it might be good later on down the line (like when I release)

[eezstreet]

Added new Cvars to the OP. Many more will be added.

[Boothand]

Very excited about this. Nice work.

 

You've said before JK2:HD will contain JKG's (or similar) saber combat system, but didn't mention it here.

[Omicron]

Good to see it is still in development.

[MoonDog]

You can add these to your post if you want. First areas after I retouched them. I wish I had pictures of what it looked like before

 

 

 

 

 

[eezstreet]

Very excited about this. Nice work.

 

You've said before JK2:HD will contain JKG's (or similar) saber combat system, but didn't mention it here.

Yup, it probably will include some version of it, but all cvar'd because people might not want it.

I'll likely include a feature where you can start the game using some custom game settings for this reason. I wanted to make the game highly customizable.

 

@@MoonDog: I'll probably include whatever resources I have with the mod, including the original version of the map. (I'll update the OP when I get a chance, currently on a cell phone)

[Boothand]

Yup, it probably will include some version of it, but all cvar'd because people might not want it.

I'll likely include a feature where you can start the game using some custom game settings for this reason. I wanted to make the game highly customizable.

 

Cool. Any multiplayer support for those cvars?

[eezstreet]

Cool. Any multiplayer support for those cvars?

Nope. I'm only targeting SP. No point in targeting MP as people will play mods anyway.

[TheWhitePhoenix]

You're quite the daredevil, Eez. I'm eager to see this when it comes out.

[hleV]

Cool. Replaying the same old JK2 has gotten old. How's widescreen support (HUD, cutscenes)?

[eezstreet]

Cool. Replaying the same old JK2 has gotten old. How's widescreen support (HUD, cutscenes)?

Yes, thank you, I will likely be adding support for this as well. Completely forgotten about it.

 

EDIT: I'm thinking about taking a hint from Rapture and re-doing all the menus using Awesomium, that way they're compliant on all resolutions.

[eezstreet]

Added on to the OP, with new information about the text crawl, Custom Games and new cvars.

[Asgarath83]

WOW!! nice project, eez! I hope yu have success with the project! Will be hard to wait for the reelease!

[minilogoguy18]

Got a idea pitch, how about calling the new highest difficulty setting "One with the Force"?

 

I'm wondering about the prisoners having bowcasters since it was an imperial installation and E-11's seem like a logical thing to have laying around for the prisoners to use since imperial troops never used bowcasters.

[eezstreet]

Got a idea pitch, how about calling the new highest difficulty setting "One with the Force"?

 

I'm wondering about the prisoners having bowcasters since it was an imperial installation and E-11's seem like a logical thing to have laying around for the prisoners to use since imperial troops never used bowcasters.

I envision the New Game process being a two-step process. First, you select either Classic, HD (some minor changes in game play) or Custom Game. In HD and Classic, you have the standard four difficulties. In Custom, you pick a pre-made game set, for example, I was going to make a custom "eezstreet's choice" custom game as a template for others to work off of. I kinda wanted to see what kinda awesome stuff people could come up with. Some of the custom stuff could increase difficulty, so perhaps a new difficulty level would be a game set.

 

On artus_mine (first level of artus set), you first encounter a bowcaster in the cliffs, on the corpse of a prisoner. You never see any prisoners armed with bowcasters. Furthermore, they stock bowcasters in the installation in several areas, yet never actually use them. It just seems random, in hindsight.

[Circa]

Seems silly to have bowcasters in an imperial establishment anyway. It's a Wookiee weapon, and imps would have never used them. Some should have the imperial pistol instead. My 2 cents.

 

 

I like the idea of a custom option.

[eezstreet]

I was thinking about making binoculars and LA goggles more useful. I'm thinking for the LA goggles, you could pick up more of them later on, and when you pick them up, you effectively "upgrade" the goggles and binoculars, making them better. Some ideas of the levels:

 

Binoculars Level 1 - Basically same as base

Binoculars Level 2 - Brighter display, allowing for some light amplification

Binoculars Level 3 - ???

 

Goggles Level 1 - Basically same as base

Goggles Level 2 - Press Attack to toggle vitals display. In addition to giving you a small amount of light amplification, this mode also displays the health of humanoid targets, but drains more batteries

Goggles Level 3 - Press Alt Attack to toggle heartbeat sensor. In addition to giving you a small amount light amplification, this mode also pulses and displays enemies through walls

 

just some ideas

[Circa]

Binoculars Level 3 could be thermal view. Or a sonar sort of deal that behaves similar to Force Sense in JKA.

[eezstreet]

Binoculars Level 3 could be thermal view. Or a sonar sort of deal that behaves similar to Force Sense in JKA.

Right but I'd want to make that sorta thing toggleable, but there really isn't a way to do that with binoculars, unless maybe if you pressed the button to activate goggles again. Not sure. But both of those suggestions are kinda close to the goggles. I don't know if you can do a thermal view really well without rend2.

[Circa]

I feel like the goggles and binocs could be combined if you figure out a toggle sort of deal.

 

 

Also, I always thought the goggles seemed like they were a little too cumbersome. They take up too much room on the screen and are unappealing to use. 

[eezstreet]

Yeah, oddly enough the binoculars have the same world model as goggles do, which make things weird with g_binocrandomrate, and probably this RPG system. I don't think they could or should be combined, the binoculars were in Ep4 and they aren't really the same, plus the view is really different.

 

If someone wants to make me a goggle overlay that looks better, I'll have no opposition to including a new one tbh. I just ask that they keep the same style and make it higher-res than the current one.

 

BTW, I updated the OP with some new cvars + stuff. Still no word on a release timeframe. I need some assets finished.

[Circa]

If someone wants to make me a goggle overlay that looks better, I'll have no opposition to including a new one tbh. I just ask that they keep the same style and make it higher-res than the current one.

I'm going to look into that.