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Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II

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Revision as of 05:40, 13 April 2023 by Stuttgart (talk | contribs) (→‎Input: Using powers)
Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II
Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II cover
Developers
LucasArts
Publishers
LucasArts
Disney Interactive Studios
Engines
Sith
Release dates
Windows October 10, 1997
Reception
Metacritic 91
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase, Expansion pack
Modes Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives First-person, Third-person
Controls Direct control
Genres Action, Shooter
Themes Sci-fi, Space
Series Star Wars: Jedi Knight
Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II on HowLongToBeat
Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II on IGDB
Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II guide on StrategyWiki
Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II on MobyGames
Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II on Wikipedia
Star Wars: Jedi Knight
Subseries of Star Wars
Star Wars: Dark Forces 1995
Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II 1997
Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Mysteries of the Sith 1998
Star Wars: Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast 2002
Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy 2003
Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster 2024

Key points

Running the game on modern Windows may require multiple steps and workarounds. See Essential improvements and Issues fixed.
Installer for retail version is 16-bit only. Use the Alternate installer for 64-bit versions of Windows.
Shares many similarities with standalone expansion Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith in terms of its engine and performance. Fixes for one may work for the other.

General information

Official website (archived)
GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
GOG.com Support Page
Steam Community Discussions
The Massassi Temple - Archive of modifications for Jedi Knight

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
Disc check can be skipped.
Windows
GamersGate
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Gamesplanet logo.svg
Icon overlay.png
Windows
GOG.com
DRM-free
v1.01, includes Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Mysteries of the Sith
Windows
Humble Store
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Origin
Origin
Included with EA Play Pro. Not available in certain regions.
Windows
Steam
Icon overlay.png
Windows
A demo is available.

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
Mysteries of the Sith Retail requires base game; digital distribution version is a standalone title.[1][2]
Windows

Version differences

The GOG.com and Steam versions have been patched for compatibility and include working music.[3][4]

Essential improvements

In-game gameplay settings.
In-game gameplay settings.

OpenJKDF2

A reverse-engineered source port of the Sith engine that includes QOL improvements

The port is in beta, it contains some bugs and missing features that the author will address
WebAssembly demo available
Active Development
Built-in jkgfxmod texture pack support
IPv6 Multiplayer support, based on Valve's GameNetworkingSockets
SDL2 controller/joystick support, with up to 32 buttons bindable.
Emissive Textures, Bloom, Screenspace Ambient Occlusion (SSAO)
Menus, cutscenes and the game viewport auto-rescale to the window size, with appropriate aspect ratios (ultrawide, or at least wide-er monitor support).
Game runs at full framerates by default instead of 30FPS/50FPS in Singleplayer
Weapon waggle is scaled properly with FPS
FOV is adjustable in Setup
HiDPI is configurable in Setup
HUD elements are scaled with screen resolution
The game is completable from start to finish
LOD and mipmap distances are scaled with render resolution to ensure textures and models don't degrade noticeably on higher-resolution screens.
Can not use plus or minus to resize the screen
In-game screenshots can't be taken

Alternate installer

Allows the game to be installed from the original CD on 64-bit systems.

jkgfxmod

Allows the game to run properly on modern computers, adds some mod support, improves and includes more graphical options for the game.
Menus suffer from framerates dropping down to single digits on variable refresh (G-Sync/FreeSync) displays; disabling VRR works around the issue
Requires the original, installed-from-CD version 1.0 executable, which can be obtained with jkversions for the Steam and GOG releases.

Peixoto's patch

Alternative to jkgfxmod
Includes an installer for 64 bit systems. Fixes black screen when 3D acceleration is enabled. Fixes a ghosting bug when 3D acceleration is enabled. Forces the game to run at your desktop resolution (Ultra-wide and 4K supported). Disable mode changes when entering the menu. Forces the game to run in 32 bit color depth. Fixes the HUD getting smaller at higher resolutions. Automatic FOV correction in any aspect ratio. Disables the 'manual' mipmapping employed by the game that makes distant textures blurry. Fixes music playback. Better compatibility with Xinput gamepads
Incompatible with most other mods and patches; will break modded installations

Patches

Latest official patch

Updates the game to version 1.01 and fixes some joystick and lockup issues.
Included in digital re-releases.

Unofficial patch

Includes patch v1.01 and adds compatibility for modern Windows, mod support and team chat in multiplayer.
The pre-patched version linked above works with both the original CD and digital releases of the game.
Alternately, the original (non-pre-patched) Unofficial Patch may be used, but it requires the original, installed-from-CD executable.[5]

Skip disc check

Copy JK_.CD[6]
  1. Copy Gamedata\Resource\JK_.CD from the CD to <path-to-game>\Resource.
  2. Navigate regedit to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\LucasArts Entertainment Company\JediKnight\v1.0 and modify SourceDir to reflect your installation directory.
  3. Optionally copy Gamedata\Resource\VIDEO from the CD to <path-to-game>\VIDEO to preserve video playback.

Skip intro videos

Delete/rename 01-02A.SMK[7]
  1. Go to <path-to-game>\Resource\VIDEO\
  2. Delete or rename 01-02A.SMK.

Higher quality music

Replace the music tracks with higher quality ones ripped from the original CD.

Replace .ogg files[8]
  1. Download the High Quality Music.
  2. Copy the *.ogg files to <path-to-game>\MUSIC\, overwriting any existing files.
Requires the music wrapper (winmm.dll) to be in the installation folder.
Can be combined with the wrapper to allow the retail CD release to play music without the CD.

Higher quality graphics

Before and after the High Detail Mod.
Before and after the High Detail Mod.

Make the game always use the highest quality textures and models, instead of using lower qualities the further away they are (and leading to unsightly transitions).

Install the High Detail Mod[9]
  1. Download and extract the High Detail Mod.
  2. Run the installer or copy the files manually.
Doesn't add or replace any textures or models.
Can be used alone or in conjunction with other texture/model mods.

Game data

In-game general settings.
In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\LucasArts Entertainment Company\JediKnight\v1.0[Note 1]
<path-to-game>\Controls\[Note 2]
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/32380/pfx/[Note 3]

Save game data location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\player\[Note 2]
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/32380/pfx/[Note 3]

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
GOG Galaxy
Origin
Steam Cloud

Video

In-game video settings.
In-game video settings.
In-game advanced video settings (only accessible via the -displayconfig command line argument).
In-game advanced video settings (only accessible via the -displayconfig command line argument).

Graphics feature State WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
Screen change is Vert-.
Menus are always 640x480, and cutscenes are prerendered at 640x300.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
Increasing the Field of view (FOV) is necessary to avoid cutting off weapon models in first person mode.
4K Ultra HD
Game's HUD may be too small in high resolutions; try the JK HUD Revamp or scale the HUD with jkgfxmod.
Field of view (FOV)
Can be changed from 90° to 120° through patches.
Windowed
In the advanced display settings menu set the Display Device to DIBsection windowed display. Note: Game will be limited to software rendering in windowed mode. To enable windowed mode with 3D Acceleration, use dgVoodoo 2 or jkgfxmod.
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Use jkgfxmod.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Use jkgfxmod or force through the dgVoodoo control panel.
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Use jkgfxmod or force through the dgVoodoo control panel.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
Can be disabled withjkgfxmod.
60 FPS
120+ FPS
Use jkgfxmod. Has side effects, see Seemingly low framerate or stuttering. May be on by default.
High dynamic range display (HDR)
See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Field of view (FOV)

Field-of-view is hardcoded to 90° in the game.
Patch FOV
  1. Download the IPS patches from this page.
  2. Copy the files JK.DLL and JK-fovX-mipmap.EXE from the Mipmap folder and extract them to <path-to-game>, Launch the game with them.
The executables are prepatched with the unofficial patch.
If you use JKGFX mod you need to edit the .json file to make the game launch with the modified executable.

Input

In-game general control settings.
In-game general control settings.

To use Force Pull, the force power button needs to be held down while targeting an enemy / item; when a blue circle appears on it, target it and release the button.[10]

Mouse Wheel Rebinding

The mouse wheel can normally only be bound to a few movement actions, and cannot for example be used to switch between force powers or weapons.
Install mouse wheel mod
  1. Download "wheelthingy".
  2. Extract files to <path-to-game> and run wheelsetup.exe to configure which keyboard keys will be activated when you scroll the mouse wheel up and down.
  3. Ensure the selected keys are bound to the desired functions in the in-game keyboard settings.

Audio

In-game audio settings.
In-game audio settings.

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Music and sound effects sliders.
Surround sound
7.0[11] with A3D Alchemy.
Subtitles
Only for cutscenes.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support
A3D 1.0[12]
Royalty free audio
Uses audio from the original Star Wars movie trilogy.
Red Book CD audio
On Windows, CD music might not play correctly; see the troubleshooting guide for solutions.

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
French
Some retail version have issue with the second disc that will switch to English during cutscenes.
German
Fan translation, download.
Italian
Polish
Fan translation, download.
Brazilian Portuguese
Retail only.
Spanish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
LAN play
32 Jedi Knight (8 supported, 16 possible)
Capture the Flag (8 supported, 32 possible)
Online play
32 Jedi Knight (4 supported, 16 possible)
Capture the Flag (4 supported, 32 possible)

Connection types

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP 2300-2400, 47624-47625
UDP 2300-2400, 47624-47625
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

Issues fixed

Game crashes at launch

This issue is present in the original CD release and may also apply to re-releases patched with the Unofficial Patch.
Run the game with the -windowgui command line parameter[13]
(Alternative) Use the dgVoodoo wrapper[citation needed]
(Alternative) Change compatibility settings[14]
  1. Delete Jedi.exe (if it exists) from the installation folder.
  2. Change the compatibility settings for JK.exe to Windows XP (Service Pack 3) and, if using Windows Vista or 7, disable visual themes and desktop composition.

3D acceleration issues

Running the game with 3D acceleration turned on may cause crashes or graphics problems (ex. black screens) on some modern machines.

(DirectX 10+) Use dgVoodoo wrapper[15]
  1. Download the latest dgVoodoo 2.
  2. Extract dgVoodooCpl.exe, MS\D3DImm.dll and MS\DDraw.dll to your game folder (all three to the root).
  3. Run dgVoodooCpl.exe from your game folder.
  4. Click on the .\ button in the upper right corner of the dgVoodoo Control Panel to set the config folder to the game folder.
  5. Click on the DirectX tab and disable dgVoodoo Watermark near the bottom.
  • (Optional) For the best image quality, also set Filtering to Force anisotropic 16x and Antialiasing (MSAA) to 8x. Make sure the game works before trying these.
(DirectX 9 and earlier) Use alternate ddraw.dll wrapper[15]

Download and extract this ddraw.dll to the installation folder. If that one doesn't work, try this one.

(Alternative) use DDrawCompat[16]
  1. Download the latest DDrawCompat release
  2. Extract and copy ddraw.dll into the installation folder

Can't start new game on AMD GPUs

This issue is present in the original CD release and may also apply to releases patched with the Unofficial Patch.

Update to the latest AMD drivers[citation needed]
(Alternative) Use the dgVoodoo wrapper[citation needed]
(Alternative) Apply compatibility fix[17]
  1. Download the AMD fix.
  2. Extract JK_AMD_FIX\dll\13.1\atiumdag.dll to the installation folder.
  3. Add parameter -windowgui to your shortcut's Target.

Black screen during menu

Use -windowgui parameter[13]

Run the game with the -windowgui command line parameter.

Seemingly low framerate or stuttering

The game updates camera movement at only 30 FPS, even though the game runs at 60 FPS. If the game is running at 120fps, the camera updates at 40fps. This gives the appearance of poor performance and can be improved by capping the framerate below 49. Additional side effects (such as first-person weapon animation) may also appear with high framerate. If you only have a 60hz monitor you should probably limit the game to 30 fps (you'll at least get proper weapon speeds) or 47/48 fps if you don't mind some framepacing stutter.

Cap FPS[18]
  1. Use a software that can cap FPS. See Frame rate capping.
  2. Set a cap of 30, 40, 47, 48, 94 or any other variable of 47 (or below).
  3. The camera should now move at the game's reported frame rate and feel much smoother.

Notes

This will cause frame pacing issues on non-variable refresh rate monitors, resulting in the game as a whole actually feeling less smooth.

Alternatively, you can patch out the issue by opening JK.EXE in a hex editor and searching for 83 C0 14 3B F0 and changing the 14 to 01 for all three occurrences.[19]

HUD is missing or screen has black border

Change the screen size[citation needed]

Press - or = to adjust the screen size.

Music issues

Music doesn't play (after exiting the bar) or loop or the volume can't be adjusted.
Add/replace music wrapper[citation needed]
  1. Download this fixed music wrapper.
  2. Extract the .dll files to the installation folder, overwriting any that are already there.
  3. Delete winmm.dll and rename winmm_alternate.dll to winmm.dll.[Note 4]
  4. If you don't have a MUSIC subfolder in the installation folder, create one and download the Higher quality music tracks to it. Alternately, if you have an original CD, you can rip the tracks to .ogg files named Track12.ogg to Track32.ogg, yourself.
Works with all releases, even the original CD release.
If the music track ends and does not loop, either pause and resume the game, or use the default winmm.dll.
Disable compatibility settings[20]

Rename JK.exe to something else, like JediKnight.exe. You could also download the fixed music wrapper, use a text editor to read and follow the instructions at the top of the single .reg file and then double-click on the file to import it. You can ignore the other files in the archive.

Either should disable compatibility settings installed by GOG/Steam that interfere with music playback (at least in Windows 10).

Miscellaneous fixes

Nvidia profile settings[citation needed]

If the game crashes with an Nvidia GPU, disable the following settings for JK.exe in the Nvidia control panel:

  • Antialiasing
  • Texture Antialiasing
  • Conformant Texture Clamp

Extreme waggle/swing in first person view

The swing or waggle velocity and movement of the weapons in first person view can be a little extreme and fast, being worse if you are using mods like jkgfxmod, making this a little bit distracting in the game action.

Extract the mod Half Waggle Weapon Speed Mod in the game folder.[21]
It might not work if you load an old save game, but it works with a new game.

Mouse input broken while in-game

Moving the mouse while playing moves the view to extreme angles, making it completely unusable. Seems to mainly occur when using higher resolutions than 640x480.

Use DInputTo8 DirectInput Wrapper[22]
  1. Download the latest release of DInputTo8
  2. Place it's dinput.dll into the game directory

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 5
DirectDraw
Software mode also uses DirectDraw acceleration if available.
OpenGL
Use jkgfxmod.
Software renderer
RenderDroid I (Default) is faster, but renders in 8-bit color depth. RGB Emulation (Access via Advanced Settings) is slower, but renders in 16-bit color depth. Neither use texture filtering.
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Cutscenes Smacker

Access advanced display settings menu

Launch the game with the -displayconfig parameter[citation needed]

Texture/model enhancements

Jedi Knight Enhanced and Retexture Pack

This mod replaces models with higher quality ones taken from Jedi Knight: Jedi Outcast and some completely remade from scratch. It requires the Unofficial Patch and jkgfxmod to be installed.
Install the mod[23]
  1. Download the archive with the modification.
  2. Extract JKE.GOB (or JKE_8bit.GOB, if you're using software renderer) and JKR.GOB to <path-to-game>\Resource.

--or--

  1. Extract JKE.GOB (or JKE_8bit.GOB, if you're using software renderer) and JKR.GOB to <path-to-game>\Mod (create the Mod folder if it doesn't exist).
  2. Add -path Mod to the command line parameters (unless it's already added).
If there are problems with animations during gameplay, then download 'Enhanced and Retexture Pack Animations Fix'.

Jedi Knight Neural Upscale Texture Pack

Vanilla textures upscaled with trained ESGRAN technique. For best results, install after installing Jedi Knight Enhanced and Jedi Knight Retexture Pack.
Requires jkgfxmod.
Textures are raw with noticeable AI artefacting and are intended as a baseline for future texture mods.

JK HUD Revamp

The original HUD is too small at high resolutions. This mod replaces the default GUI and HUD elements with larger, higher resolution alternatives.
Install the mod[24]
  1. Download the archive with the modification.
  2. Extract the jkhud.gob and jkgui.gob files into your <path-to-game>\Mod\ folder (create the folder if it does not exist).
  3. Add -path Mod to the command line parameters.
Jkhud.gob affects the health and ammo readouts and jkgui.gob affects the force power and item icons.
The larger elements are very different than the original designs.

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 95
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium 90 MHz
System memory (RAM) 16 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 53 MB
Video card (GPU) DirectX 5 compatible


Notes

  1. Applications writing to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE will be redirected to other locations based on various criterias, see the glossary page for more details.
  2. 2.0 2.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).
  3. 3.0 3.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/32380/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (32380) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.
  4. The default wrapper starts playing as soon as the game starts, rather than muting while in the bar. The alternative wrapper is more compatible, but does not loop automatically.

References

  1. Is Mysteries of the Sith standalone here on GOG?, page 1 - Forum - GOG.com
  2. is :: Star Wars - Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith General Discussions
  3. Release: Star Wars™ Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, page 3 - Forum - GOG.com
  4. Update :: Star Wars Jedi Knight Dark Forces II General Discussions - Steam Community
  5. The JK Unofficial Patch will NOT work if you have the v1.01 version of JK.EXE - JKDF2.com
  6. The Jedi Order - No CD - last accessed on December 2018
  7. JK Hub - [Tutorials]
  8. Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 Improved Music - GOG.com Community Discussions
  9. High Detail Mod for Jedi Knight DF2 & MotS
  10. https://steamcommunity.com/app/32390/discussions/0/666827315314486129/
  11. Graphical effects that amazed you - MobyGames Forums
  12. Press release - Aureal: News (retrieved)
  13. 13.0 13.1 Issues launching Jedi Knight or Mysteries of the Sith - JKDF2.com
  14. Steam Community - Says to Insert Disk...steam plz..
  15. 15.0 15.1 3D Acceleration Fixes - DirectX Wrappers - JFDK2.com
  16. DDrawCompat GitHub page
  17. AMD Graphics Cards: Will not support Jedi Knight or Mysteries of the Sith UNLESS you use Catalyst 13.1 or PRIOR drivers - JKDF2.com
  18. How to break the 30fps limit while fixing weapon animations - Forum - steamcommunity.com
  19. [1]
  20. Jedi Knight / MotS Hardware Acceleration Graphic Patches for ALL
  21. Make similar weapon waggle (swinging) between DF2 and MotS - jkgfxmod github issue - last accessed on July 2021
  22. DInputTo8 Github page
  23. ModDB - Project: Jedi Knight Enhanced
  24. JK Hub - Project: JK HUD Revamp