Raven Releases Jedi Outcast and Academy Source Code

[Andy Chalk]

Raven Releases Jedi Outcast and Academy Source Code

LucasArts may be gone, but Raven Software is doing what it can to ensure that a couple of Jedi Knight games live forever.

Disney pulled the plug on LucasArts yesterday [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/123055-Disney-Closes-LucasArts], a genuinely sad moment despite being an almost inarguably sound business decision. But some little bit of good has come out of it, as the closure of the studio has prompted Raven Software to finally release the source code for Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy.

"Raven is sad to hear about the closing of LucasArts today, we respected them and enjoyed working with them over the years. We wish the best for all the talented people who were let go and hope they find good work in studios in the industry," Raven told Kotaku Australia.

"We loved and appreciated the experience of getting to make Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy for LucasArts," it continued. "As a gift to the persistently loyal fanbase for our Jedi games and in memory of LucasArts, we are releasing the source code for both games for people to enjoy and play with."

For those unfamiliar with the concept of source code, this isn't something you can just download and run, and making it work on modern systems (these games are a decade old, remember) and with "retail assets" will probably take some doing. But in the hands of dedicated modders, great things can, and hopefully will, be done with it.

The Jedi Outcast source is available here [http://sourceforge.net/projects/jedioutcast/].

Source: Kotaku Australia [http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/04/in-tribute-to-lucasarts-raven-releases-the-source-code-for-jedi-knight-ii/]


Permalink

 

[josemlopes]

So can now a bunch of fans make a Battlefront mod? The game already has jedis, weapons and vehicles, you only need to create bigger maps and add loadouts.

 

[Chessrook44]

I decide to see how people are thanking them for giving out the source code to great games, and the first thing I see is whining for Battlefront 3.

Jeez people...

Captcha: Heavens to Betsy
Yeah I agree.

 

[Absolutionis]

Jedi Outcast was probably one of the best Star Wars games created aside from KOTOR. Their precursor DF2: Jedi Knight got me into FPSs. Good to see the games aren't forgotten.

It's also interesting to note that one of Jedi Academy's multiplayer modes was basically the precursor to Battlefront with better controls but wonky gameplay.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

The modders are gonna go crazy! AWESOME!

 

[GAunderrated]

This was a very classy move by Raven, I am sad to see them go.

 

[Webb Myers]

That's nice of them to release the code for the engine, but there are better FPS engines out there these days (no offense intended). The source doesn't seem to include any art or sound assets...which is smart since that's all still property of Disney...so don't expect the games to instantly appear as "free" versions.

 

[Imre Csete]

Oh nice, my Jedi Outcast play disc fails to register on Win7 somehow (had no problems installing though), time to replay an old classic!

 

[Ukomba]

Anyone else read that as "'Revan' Releases Jedi Outcast and Academy Source Code"?

 

[caleb451]

What's everyone all excited about? I mean, it's great that these games are open now, but they've been available on Steam since 2009. It's not like they'll magically vanish now that LucasArts is no more.

 

[UNHchabo]

That's nice of them to release the code for the engine, but there are better FPS engines out there these days (no offense intended). The source doesn't seem to include any art or sound assets...which is smart since that's all still property of Disney...so don't expect the games to instantly appear as "free" versions.

The same thing happened with id Software's open-source releases; the maps, textures, and sounds even for Quake 1 are still under copyright -- only the source code has been released.

 

[Blindrooster]

These were easily some of the best games of my childhood. Here's to Kyle Katarn living on

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I decide to see how people are thanking them for giving out the source code to great games, and the first thing I see is whining for Battlefront 3.

Jeez people...

Captcha: Heavens to Betsy
Yeah I agree.

Seriously. I've been whining for Dark Forces 5/Jedi Knight 4 for a heck of a lot longer than you whippersnappers have been whining for Battlefront 3, dagnabbit. Battlefront is a great multiplayer series, but it doesn't hold a candle to the Jedi Knight Games when it comes to single player. What little multiplayer I've had a chance to play on these games was pretty freakin' awesome too. Come to think of it, there's probably still people playing Academy and Outcast online. I bought 'em on steam a couple years ago (growing up, I only had the first two), was saving them for a chance to play through the entire series starting with Dark Forces, but I totally forgot how good the multiplayer was in this series. I may need to install them and go online.

About the source code itself: isn't it a modified Quake 3 engine? I could have sworn it was modified iDTech 3. Granted, those modifications can make a big difference. Technically the Source Engine is a descendant of the Quake 1 engine, which was the base for GoldSRC, and the engine the CoD games are running on started out life as a modified iDTech 3 engine itself, in the first game. The games since have all been running on that same codebase, just updated periodically to keep up with current hardware capabilities.

Edit: By the way, for people who don't think the release of the source code is a big deal, take a few minutes to watch the following videos:

<spoiler=Things done with the Quake 1 Source>




<spoiler=Freespace 2, open source>

The real time stuff starts at 6:18.

Can't find any videos of the original graphics, but GoG has some nice screenshots: http://www.gog.com/gamecard/freespace_2

Also, regardless of whether we get some purdy graphical upgrades or new games made out of it, it'll keep these games running on new hardware for however long there's people out there that care enough to play them. That alone is worth something.

Bonus points: Check out what some dedicated fans managed to do with the original Jedi Knight and X-Wing Alliance despite not having access to the source code:

<spoiler=Jedi Knight>


^Modded to heck and back


^Stock

<spoiler=X-Wing Alliance>


^Stock


^modded.

So yeah, if this kind of thing was done without the ability to dig in the guts of the engines, imagine what a talented group of modders could do with the full source code.

Shame that the source for the Jedi and Sith engines (which were in-house Lucasarts engines developed for Dark Forces and Jedi Knight, respectively) is lost. It'd be really nice to get source ports for those games as well, and I'm not talking about the XL Project, which while awesome, would be my go-to for vaporware jokes in this post Duke Nukem Forever world if anyone else would understand what I'm talking about. Besides, the guy doing that is having to reverse engineer everything, and that's never as good as having access to the actual source code.

 

[Scars Unseen]

What's everyone all excited about? I mean, it's great that these games are open now, but they've been available on Steam since 2009. It's not like they'll magically vanish now that LucasArts is no more.

To see what the big deal is, look at what has been done with the FreeSpace 2 source code since it got released. If software is clay that modders work with, Raven just gave us the recipe to Play-Doh.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Bonus Points: I just looked at some of the code, and its fully commented. Most helpful of them.

 

[punipunipyo]

Jedi Knight2 and Jedi Knight Academy are two of the best Star Wars games I play, for it's action oriented approach to the whole Jedi Knight Myth...

To be able to hot key all the power and activate them on the go is something Bio Shock (and other similar) still can't achieve yet... left/right weapon switch and then fire your plasmid is just slow as hell... I wanted to fire my "bucking bronco" up on pressing the damn key!

Jedi Knight2 Jedi Academy had a greater in sight to the Jedi Academy (than any movies they mustered) and how one Jedi is trained and chooses evil/good path, REGARDLESS what type (dark/light) of force he/she trains on (yep, the Gray Jedi...). I always wonder... why Lucas haven't get on to the magic/mystical/psychic school train, and make a Harry Potter of the Jedi Academy movie/book/TV series yet... I mean.... now with the source code FREE, why not take look at the story, and make a TV series of Jedi Academy based on Kyle's story as he trains new spadawans and follow them in to become Jedi/Sith? who knows... it might just start a new giant franchise all on it's own... I for one had been tired of the "cannon" by far right after EP2("Romio+Julet" bull crap, and "Emo turn Evil in 5 minutes" of EP3).

Yeah, those I think were the highlight of Star War to me...

 

[Doom972]

I love the Jedi Knight series. Before KOTOR, Jedi Academy was my favorite Star Wars game.

I hope some modders will do something amazing with the source code. I remember Jedi Academy used to have some excellent multiplayer mods.

We need a Jedi Knight 4.