Release the source code for Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (Sith Engine)

Release the source code for Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (Sith Engine)

Started
November 29, 2019
Petition to
Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC and 1 other
Signatures: 282Next Goal: 500
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Why this petition matters

Started by Jay Atwood

The goal for this petition is to ask of LucasArts to release the source code for Jedi Knight Dark Forces II so that we can learn from and play with it.  The source code could be released under the GPLv2 license.  The source code was developed by LucasArts from 1995-1998.  The source code was used to create other LucasArts games, such as Grim Fandango and Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine.  Once this petition has enough signatures, it will be delivered to Lucasfilm Ltd. and LucasArts Entertainment.

Like many others, I have been inspired from many creations by LucasArts.  The Jedi Knight series was a huge part of that inspiration.  It has inspired me to become a computer programmer, and with the release of the source code for Jedi Knight II Jedi Outcast and Jedi Knight Jedi Academy in 2013, my interest in software development has grown immensely.  There have been many projects that have been created using the source code for these two games that help keep the game running on today's modern hardware and improve the game in both graphics and gameplay.

Like many fans of the first game in the Jedi Knight series, I have often wondered what the status is of the source code that was used to create Jedi Knight.  This source code is also known as the Sith Engine. With the source code for Jedi Knight Dark Forces II, computer programmers could modify the code to help the game run on modern hardware/software, add the ability for players to host a dedicated server, improve the netcode, provide lag compensation, and improve the graphics of the game.  That's just to name a few improvements that could be made as well.

The source code for Jedi Knight has yet to be released, and it is not something that is easy to replicate.  When the source code for Doom by id Software was released in 1997, it brought the fans of the game closer together, and since then, Doom has been modified using its source code to run on anything from a graphing calculator, to an oscilloscope. The source code release for Quake 1,2, and 3 has had the same effect.

The source code for Jedi Knight is not used anymore, and keeping it closed source only damages the community that still plays this game today.  

 

 

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Signatures: 282Next Goal: 500
Support now
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Decision Makers

  • Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC
  • Lucasarts Entertainment Company, LLC