Star Wars 1995 "Dark Forces" Level 1 Fan Remake

Jay-Lew

Howdy all! So to be blunt, I am a HUGE Star Wars NERD!!!!! With Disney's acuisition and subsequent "milking" of the franchise after years of my inner nerd child being horribly neglected I have been enjoying a bit of Star Wars nirvana over the last couple of years. Last year, myself and several friends indulged our nerd fantasies by finishing our Mos Eisley UE4 fan project. You can read about that one here:

http://polycount.com/discussion/153396/star-wars-mania-docking-bay-94/p1
https://80.lv/articles/star-wars-scene-production-in-ue4/

So I am probably a glutton for punishment, but myself and a few others have moved on to yet another Star Wars personal side project. Why??? you ask??? Well, because I am, as I mentioned above, a "SUPER NERD" and a bit of a masochist!!! Also there is some more UE4 stuff we are trying to learn that we didn't get to touch on with the last project. So what is our new project??? Well, we are "re-mastering" if you will the 1st level of the classic 1995 Dark Forces FPS. What is Dark Forces you ask???? Well, for those of you who are old like me, and were gamers in the early to mid 1990's, You will most likely remember a ground-breaking little game called DOOM that came out in 1993. Well, 2 years after that, Lucasarts released the First ever Star Wars 1st person shooter using the Doom engine call Dark Forces. Being a Super star Wars & gaming Nerd, I still remember the feeling of gitty joy I had playing that game, and a quick search on the internet reveals lots of people who held those same feelings for that game. So we have taken it upon ourselves to do a fan remake of the 1st level of that game, complete with story and gameplay. ( which is what our Mos Eisley project lacked ) For those of you who are unfamiliar with the original Dark Forces, here is  Wikipedia page, and a youtube video of the original game: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_Dark_Forces
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua-d_E42C7c&t=375s

So I have only been working on it for about a month and a half so far, and like the Mos Eisley project I only get to work on this in my spare time, which I don't have a lot of, but mine and the other's attention spans "SHOULD" hold out long enough to finish it. This one should go a bit quicker than the last project, especially since we have a TON of assets we can steal from the Mos Eisley project.

So here are some screen shots of progress so far ( these are just 3ds Max viewport screen shots as we don't have anything in Unreal yet )
Take a look if you get a free minute and please let us know what you think. Everyone's feedback and encouragement got us through several rough patches on the last project, and we are excited to hear what  you have to say about the new one as it progresses.

Thanks everyone, and happy nerding!!!!!!
"Star Wars is breath! Star Wars is LIFE!!!"

RustySpannerz

Well if the Mos Eisley project is anything to go by this should be fantastic! Really looking forward to seeing where this goes! 

Michael Knubben

Subscribed!
I'm only a 'moderate' Star Wars fan, but I have very fond memories of the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight games, and I'm looking forward to seeing your interpretation.

Prime8

I know already that this will be awesome. 
Though quite different from Dark Forces, I played Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast again recently. It's still fun.
It's great that this games are available again and run on modern systems. 

HowardDay

Muwhahahahahaha. Nice.  

Jay-Lew

Hey everyone!!!! So I had to take a break from my Dark Forces remake for a couple months as things got crazy at my day job for a while there, but now things have died down a bit and I have been able to get back into my Dark Forces Level 1 remake. Got most of the level blocked out and traversable in UE4, along with some basic lighting and some temp texture work on a few things. Still need to build out the basement area and the ending landing pad area. Here are some new WIP screen shots showing the original game, and a corresponding view from the new remake level for your viewing pleasure. Let me know what you all think, and thanks!!!



























Also I have decided to make a new starting area for the level that is a little bit different from the original. Instead of just starting in the base, there is a new canyon area with a small landing pad that Jan and the Moldy Crow drop you off at with a short canyon walk to a bunk that you infiltrate ( a sort of back door to the base ) that then gets you into the base, and the starting point of the original map. ( the Bunker and the Moldy Crow are currently in VERY TEMP art phase )

jewski-bot

Looks like you're off to a great start!  I remember playing Dark Forces back in the day and needing a cheat to break a game destroying bug.  I think it was some impossible jump in the sixth mission where you have to go to an Imperial Prison and bust Crix Madine out of a cell.  I look forward to seeing your progress!

CybranM

Subbed

Chidambhar_Swaroop

This is great....

HAWK12HT

Oh wow, you should post this to 80level looking forward for finished version!! maybe a multiplayer game in this level!!!

EricElwell

I loved that game. You're hitting the marks on the style very well!

CeriseAsCherry

I would love to play at a remastered version of this game with your map! Do you think you will upload your scene once it's finished to gumroad or something similar ? Just for the pleasure to walk in it with the first playable blueprint, it would be super cool !

coolnex28

Hello! Awesome style, I really like it! But I think if you add some interesting tile on the floor, it will be better. The floor looks very smooth now. And you can add more details on the walls may be, I don't know)  

Jay-Lew

coolnex28 said:

Hello! Awesome style, I really like it! But I think if you add some interesting tile on the floor, it will be better. The floor looks very smooth now. And you can add more details on the walls may be, I don't know)  

Thanks for the feedback. Yea, I am planning on adding all that once I finish blocking out the whole level. Right now nothing in the interior has textures, just color and lighting. Eventually when I get to the texturing phase, the floors will have panel seams and roughness variation so that it isn't just one continuous reflective surface.

Thanks - Jason

EvilSylvanas

Looks veeeery impressive, looking forward for this project

PatoGrande

Lookin goood jlew!

wormo

This is really cool! I think it's great how even with the updated visuals the classic style of level design still comes through.

Jay-Lew

Hey guys! So my progress on the level continues. Didn't get a ton done over the holiday as lots of Life was happening, but I did get some stuff done. Will have a new update for the whole level here soon, however in the meantime, here are a few WIP screen grabs of a new asset that I am building to put in the level:

HowardDay

Looove it! So awesome. Cannot wait to see more, and it makes me wat to get back into my old work. :P

Borgleader

Sweet! Insta fav from me

Jay-Lew

Howdy all! So here is another update on my Dark Forces Level 1 remake. Been working on the level itself, which I will post updates on soon, but here are a couple of near finished models for the level, the AT-ST model is done, and the model for Kyle Katarn's ship, The Moldy Crow is done except for the cockpit, which I will add later.



And here is the Moldy Crow:

HowardDay

Hnnnng, that Moldy Crow is fantastic! Nicely done, Sir! 

Jay-Lew

HowardDay said:

Looove it! So awesome. Cannot wait to see more, and it makes me wat to get back into my old work. :P

You should get back to it if you can!!!!! I followed your Dark Forces inspired project for a long time, couldn't wait to see it finished and playable, it was looking awesome!!! I especially loved the design for the Verpine Bastard. In fact your Project was one of the inspirations for me to start the Mos Eisley project back in 2015, and now this one, so I thank you for that!!!

Jay-Lew

Hey everyone! So thank you for all the positive feedback so far, it is most appreciated!!! So I have more updates here. Some new screen shots of the level itself. I have been plugging away at it here and there, when ever my free time permits. Still lots to do, but it is getting there. Also, since the level is done in block-out form, and fully traversable now, and since some people had expressed some interest in contributing to this project, I am finally at a point where I can coordinate it as a group project for anyone who might be interested in pitching in and attaching their name to this project. So if any of you or anyone you know are interested in working in a group side project and you are a Star Wars NUT like me, then please feel free to hit me up. The areas that will need the most help are Asset and Prop creation / Character creation and animation ( these are the BIGGEST areas that will need help as I am not a character modeler or animator ) / also might need some UE4 scripting / blueprint help as well. So if anyone is interesting in helping out, please let me know, in the meantime here are a few new screen shots. Also more more images, feel free to check out my Artstation page:  https://www.artstation.com/jay-lew

MurdochArt

Hello all, I've got the pleasure of helping Jason out with various props you'll see around the level. Here's a dump of what I've made so far.