Want an easy way to get The Force Engine on Linux to play Star Wars: Dark Forces (and eventually Outlaws too)? Well, now it's available on Flathub. No more needing to manually compile it from source like we're back in the dark ages, making it much easier to do on Steam Deck too!
Current features of The Force Engine:
- Full Dark Forces support, including mods. Outlaws support is coming in version 2.0.
- Mod Loader - simply place your mods in the Mods/ directory as zip files or directories.
- High Resolution and Widescreen support - when using 320x200 you get the original software renderer. TFE also includes a floating-point software renderer which supports widescreen, including ultrawide, and much higher resolutions.
- GPU Renderer with perspective correct pitch - play at much higher resolutions with improved performance.
- Extended Limits - TFE, by default, will support much higher limits than the original game which removes most of the HOM (Hall of Mirrors) issues in advanced mods.
- Full input binding, mouse sensitivity adjustment, and controller support. Note, however, that menus currently require the mouse.
- Optional Quality of Life improvements, such as full mouselook, aiming reticle, improved Boba Fett AI, autorun, and more.
- A new save system that works seamlessly with the existing checkpoint and lives system. You can ignore it entirely, use it just as an exit save so you don’t have to play long user levels in one sitting, or full save and load with quicksaves like Doom or Duke Nukem 3D.
- OPL3 emulation and Sound Font 2 midi synthesis support.
- Optional and quality of life features, even mouselook, can be disabled if you want the original experience. Play in 320x200, turn the mouse mode (Input menu) to Menus only or horizontal, and enable the Classic (software) renderer - and it will look and play just like DOS, but with a higher framerate and without needing to adjust cycles in DosBox.
There's also the Nightdive Studios remaster on the way which releases February 28th, that the developer of The Force Engine mentioned they were helping on in a "technical advisory role". But that hasn't stopped future plans to keep on improving The Force Engine.
Check it out on Flathub. You do need to own the original which you can buy easily on GOG or Steam.
Also, in case you missed it: STAR WARS: Battlefront Classic Collection announced with Steam Deck support.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Quoting: dziadulewiczDARK.GOBEw!
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Cloversheen Feb 29
Quoting: dziadulewiczThis is very bad if another app is needed to make the main one to run and with additional tweaks there. New comers can't know these things or most of the time will not bother. That auto detection of the installations should just be polished to work... Maybe it's not impossible even in a sandboxed flatpak.I agree. Though given how flatpak is designed, I don't think there is a good solution so far.
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Cloversheen Feb 29
Quoting: Stoney_FishAlso this was useful to get flatpak support in gnome-software (not just snaps)Yeah that is due to Canonical not liking competition, https://www.phoronix.com/news/Ubuntu-No-Flatpak-By-Default
sudo apt install --install-suggests gnome-software
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dziadulewicz Mar 5
Quoting: CloversheenQuoting: dziadulewiczThis is very bad if another app is needed to make the main one to run and with additional tweaks there. New comers can't know these things or most of the time will not bother. That auto detection of the installations should just be polished to work... Maybe it's not impossible even in a sandboxed flatpak.I agree. Though given how flatpak is designed, I don't think there is a good solution so far.
In other words, we still don't have a simple and sane way to use The Force Engine. Ok, now it is easy to install but it all ends pretty much there for normal user as not even the installed Dark Forces game path does not register
Don't know whether a snap package would work better for this, as AFAIK it would be more flexible in its permissions if needed.
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dziadulewicz Mar 7
TFE is getting a Snap package now. Let's hope it'll work as intended unlike the Flatpak one. This thing doesn't has never built from source for me, for the record so we need these simple sane package solutions (as long as they're made propetly and work).
https://forum.snapcraft.io/t/the-force-engine-to-play-classics-like-star-wars-dark-forces-in-modern/33799/8
https://forum.snapcraft.io/t/the-force-engine-to-play-classics-like-star-wars-dark-forces-in-modern/33799/8
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