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Continuing the improvements from the previous release that added Linux support, the Modern "Jedi Engine" replacement supporting Dark Forces, mods and in the future Outlaws - The Force Engine has a new release out with lots of upgrades.

Here's what's in the latest update:

  • Implemented midi device types to support system midi as well as midi synthesis.
  • Implemented support for midi synthesis using Sound Fonts (sf2).
  • Implemented support for midi synthesis using OPL3 emulation and the iMuse OPL driver.
  • Implemented the ability to change midi devices and outputs during gameplay, the game music is restarted as needed.
  • Added Roland SC-55 and AWE64 sound fonts.
  • Added support for 800p in the resolution list for the Steam Deck.
  • Update the Readme to reflect that external midi is no longer required on Linux.
  • The midi device now defaults to OPL3.
  • Reduced stack size requirements in the audio system to fix issues on Steam Deck.
  • Linux/CMake: also install the Mods and SoundFonts folders.
  • Linux/Paths: look for support data in the executable directory too.
  • CMake: gitVersion: do nothing if Git is not available.
  • Linux: name executable "theforceengine".
  • Add comments categorizing keywords and noting those which are not implemented.

Check it out on GitHub. You do need the data files which you can get from GOG.

If you've been playing it, be sure to leave a comment letting readers know what you think. I haven't had a chance yet, but I am itching to try it out. Just wonderful to see more open source releases like this, helping classic games pretty much live forever on modern platforms.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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30 comments
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Avehicle7887 Feb 16, 2023
I'm ashamed to say that as a 90's kid I only had ever played the first level back in the day, I guess I wasn't a big Star Wars fan. The game looks amazing at high resolution, I've been playing it for several hours and thoroughly enjoying it.

Supports ultrawide too

!link
emphy Feb 16, 2023
Great!

This game happens to be March's game over at www.dosgameclub.com , so I may actually check it out ^_^
rcrit Feb 17, 2023
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  • Supporter Plus
I just finished the fourth level (Research Facility) and it plays fine. It's been decades since I last played it last so I can't say it's exactly the same. The AI doesn't seem particularly aware at all times.
PoliticsOfStarving Feb 17, 2023
I really want to play Outlaws lately but haven’t been able to get it working properly under wine.
Linuxer Feb 17, 2023
ok so the packages here https://github.com/luciusDXL/TheForceEngine/releases/tag/v1.09.100 are

TheForceEngine-v1.09.100.zip 7.8 MB 2023-02-16T19:55:02Z
Source code (zip) 2023-02-16T19:48:03Z
Source code (tar.gz)

but which one do i choose?? the top one is much smaller than the others? why is that? the size is also not indicated on the "source code" ones either? (but they are larger size) why is this? is the 7,8 mb version some sort of "light version"?

what exactly do i do?

Edit: i downloaded the TheForceEngine-v1.09.100.zip and there is an EXE file?? And no Linux .sh or anything? Now i'm even more confused. This is a Wine wrapper?


Last edited by Linuxer on 17 February 2023 at 1:39 pm UTC
whizse Feb 17, 2023
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ok so the packages here https://github.com/luciusDXL/TheForceEngine/releases/tag/v1.09.100 are

TheForceEngine-v1.09.100.zip 7.8 MB 2023-02-16T19:55:02Z
Source code (zip) 2023-02-16T19:48:03Z
Source code (tar.gz)

but which one do i choose?? the top one is much smaller than the others? why is that? the size is also not indicated on the "source code" ones either? (but they are larger size) why is this? is it some sort of "light version" or what?

what exactly do i do with all this?
The first one is Windows binaries.

Sourced code almost always takes more space than a compiled binary.

(You are allowed to download the files and check yourself )
Linuxer Feb 17, 2023
ok so the packages here https://github.com/luciusDXL/TheForceEngine/releases/tag/v1.09.100 are

TheForceEngine-v1.09.100.zip 7.8 MB 2023-02-16T19:55:02Z
Source code (zip) 2023-02-16T19:48:03Z
Source code (tar.gz)

but which one do i choose?? the top one is much smaller than the others? why is that? the size is also not indicated on the "source code" ones either? (but they are larger size) why is this? is it some sort of "light version" or what?

what exactly do i do with all this?
The first one is Windows binaries.

Sourced code almost always takes more space than a compiled binary.

(You are allowed to download the files and check yourself )
ok so the packages here https://github.com/luciusDXL/TheForceEngine/releases/tag/v1.09.100 are

TheForceEngine-v1.09.100.zip 7.8 MB 2023-02-16T19:55:02Z
Source code (zip) 2023-02-16T19:48:03Z
Source code (tar.gz)

but which one do i choose?? the top one is much smaller than the others? why is that? the size is also not indicated on the "source code" ones either? (but they are larger size) why is this? is it some sort of "light version" or what?

what exactly do i do with all this?
The first one is Windows binaries.

Sourced code almost always takes more space than a compiled binary.

(You are allowed to download the files and check yourself )

yes i edited the post now and downloaded and extracted but got even more confused.

i downloaded the "source code" ones now but there is no Linux binary either.


Last edited by Linuxer on 17 February 2023 at 1:42 pm UTC
Klaas Feb 17, 2023
what exactly do i do with all this?
The first one is probably a precompiled version for Windows.

The other ones are automatically generated (by github) source code packages. They are always there for each tagged release of every project. The sizes has never been indicated since they were introduced – I assume it's because they don't really exist until the link is clicked.

You either have to compile the Linux version yourself following the instructions or wait until someone else does it for you.
whizse Feb 17, 2023
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yes i edited the post now and downloaded and extracted but got even more confused
Yeah, so a binary Linux release is still on the TODO:

"In addition, a Flatpak/snap (or similar) package is planned for version 1.10, alleviating the need to manually compile the project. If you don’t want to compile the code, it might be better to use Windows for now or wait for version 1.10."

From: https://theforceengine.github.io/downloads.html
Klaas Feb 17, 2023
Or take a look at the second comment https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/02/star-wars-dark-forces-source-port-the-force-engine-adds-linux-support/


Last edited by Klaas on 17 February 2023 at 1:46 pm UTC
Linuxer Feb 17, 2023
yes i edited the post now and downloaded and extracted but got even more confused
Yeah, so a binary Linux release is still on the TODO:

"In addition, a Flatpak/snap (or similar) package is planned for version 1.10, alleviating the need to manually compile the project. If you don’t want to compile the code, it might be better to use Windows for now or wait for version 1.10."

From: https://theforceengine.github.io/downloads.html

phew ok. well no i don't want to (or be able even) to compile anythin and no i dont want to use windows either for now or ever again

edit: so i suppose we dumbasses just have to wait to get it run


Last edited by Linuxer on 17 February 2023 at 1:49 pm UTC
Linuxer Feb 17, 2023
Or take a look at the second comment https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/02/star-wars-dark-forces-source-port-the-force-engine-adds-linux-support/

oh thanks but i guess i'll just wait. those coding things really give me an instant headache.
Cyril Feb 17, 2023
Or take a look at the second comment https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/02/star-wars-dark-forces-source-port-the-force-engine-adds-linux-support/

oh thanks but i guess i'll just wait. those coding things really give me an instant headache.

Meanwhile in Arch-based, we have a beautiful AUR package ready to do it for you.
Linuxer Feb 17, 2023
Or take a look at the second comment https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/02/star-wars-dark-forces-source-port-the-force-engine-adds-linux-support/

oh thanks but i guess i'll just wait. those coding things really give me an instant headache.

Meanwhile in Arch-based, we have a beautiful AUR package ready to do it for you.

but i'm not on arch. can i still click it and it installs??
Avehicle7887 Feb 17, 2023
Here's a portable pre-compiled binary of the latest version. I tried to include all the important dependencies however you may still require to install some of them for your distro. You can run the "depcheck.sh" file, it will print all the libraries the game is still missing.

Game files are not included of course.

Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dVs5JKw8anUcDprJ9KXRXnWa1fmZAuFB/view?usp=sharing
Linuxer Feb 17, 2023
Here's a portable pre-compiled binary of the latest version. I tried to include all the important dependencies however you may still require to install some of them for your distro. You can run the "depcheck.sh" file, it will print all the libraries the game is still missing.

Game files are not included of course.

Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dVs5JKw8anUcDprJ9KXRXnWa1fmZAuFB/view?usp=sharing

oh nice! now we're making progress but are you the developer??
Oet_ Feb 17, 2023
I'm ashamed to say that as a 90's kid I only had ever played the first level back in the day
You and me both. Played a lot of first levels of games as a kid. We had a short attention span back then, like all children.

Glad midi support is improved, because that was the only thing I was struggling with before.
The SF2 sounds better, but OPL3 is how I remembered the music from back in the 90s.
The Force Engine however crashes when I switch back to System midi (during gameplay). Maybe because I have no configuration for System midi:
corrupted size vs. prev_size
Aborted (core dumped)
dziadulewicz Feb 17, 2023
Or take a look at the second comment https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/02/star-wars-dark-forces-source-port-the-force-engine-adds-linux-support/

I can't get it to install either.

The output:

 
git clone https://github.com/luciusDXL/TheForceEngine.git
Cloning into 'TheForceEngine'...
remote: Enumerating objects: 19062, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (661/661), done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (390/390), done.
remote: Total 19062 (delta 397), reused 484 (delta 264), pack-reused 18401
Receiving objects: 100% (19062/19062), 48.32 MiB | 1.04 MiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (14354/14354), done.
cd TheForceEngine
~/TheForceEngine $ mkdir build
~/TheForceEngine $ cd build

~/TheForceEngine/build $ cmake ..
-- The C compiler identification is Clang 14.0.6
-- The CXX compiler identification is Clang 14.0.6
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info - failed
-- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/clang
-- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/clang - broken
CMake Error at /usr/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/CMakeTestCCompiler.cmake:69 (message):
  The C compiler

    "/usr/bin/clang"

  is not able to compile a simple test program.

  It fails with the following output:

    Change Dir: /home/user/TheForceEngine/build/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp
    
    Run Build Command(s):/usr/bin/gmake -f Makefile cmTC_772f0/fast && /usr/bin/gmake  -f CMakeFiles/cmTC_772f0.dir/build.make CMakeFiles/cmTC_772f0.dir/build
    gmake[1]: Entering directory '/home/user/TheForceEngine/build/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp'
    Building C object CMakeFiles/cmTC_772f0.dir/testCCompiler.c.o
    /usr/bin/clang    -MD -MT CMakeFiles/cmTC_772f0.dir/testCCompiler.c.o -MF CMakeFiles/cmTC_772f0.dir/testCCompiler.c.o.d -o CMakeFiles/cmTC_772f0.dir/testCCompiler.c.o -c /home/user/TheForceEngine/build/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp/testCCompiler.c
    Linking C executable cmTC_772f0
    /usr/bin/cmake -E cmake_link_script CMakeFiles/cmTC_772f0.dir/link.txt --verbose=1
    /usr/bin/clang CMakeFiles/cmTC_772f0.dir/testCCompiler.c.o -o cmTC_772f0 
    ld.lld: error: cannot open crtbeginS.o: No such file or directory
    ld.lld: error: unable to find library -lgcc
    ld.lld: error: unable to find library -lgcc
    ld.lld: error: cannot open crtendS.o: No such file or directory
    clang-14: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation)
    gmake[1]: *** [CMakeFiles/cmTC_772f0.dir/build.make:100: cmTC_772f0] Error 1
    gmake[1]: Leaving directory '/home/user/TheForceEngine/build/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp'
    gmake: *** [Makefile:127: cmTC_772f0/fast] Error 2
    
CMake will not be able to correctly generate this project.
Call Stack (most recent call first):
  CMakeLists.txt:11 (project)


-- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
See also "/home/user/TheForceEngine/build/CMakeFiles/CMakeOutput.log".
See also "/home/user/TheForceEngine/build/CMakeFiles/CMakeError.log".
Avehicle7887 Feb 17, 2023
oh nice! now we're making progress but are you the developer??

No, but I love compiling stuff whenever I can
Linuxer Feb 17, 2023
oh nice! now we're making progress but are you the developer??

No, but I love compiling stuff whenever I can
oh nice! now we're making progress but are you the developer??

No, but I love compiling stuff whenever I can

i thought to try it out and i can see the file and the main page but when i try to download it doesn't:

The page isn’t redirecting properly

An error occurred during a connection to drive.google.com.

This problem can sometimes be caused by disabling or refusing to accept cookies.

now what
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