Can you find a copy of the source engine?

[Build it Myself]

I'll be upfront, I have no idea about game design...I took a programming course in University and know some binary and C++ and HTML but I can barely make a web page...well, I have Dreamweaver so that's not entirely true, but by hand I can barely make one...

anyway, I was wondering since i just played my Dark Forces game and loved it but I know we'll never see it again since the new crappy star wars games came out...I was wondering if you could, I don't know, "port" for lack of a better word a game like Dark Forces into something newer like the HL2 source engine...

I have no idea what goes into these things and I obviously have no plans to release anything due to the copyrights, but just for personal use I was wondering if it's possible...

I played X-Wing Alliance with the community mods and it really enhanced the graphic feel of the game, bringing it up to, I don't know, 2006 standards, which is very impressive, and that's where I got this idea.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks!

I saw on the free list Atari Lite-C...could I use something like this as well or do you need a game "engine" to build on?

 

[Build it Myself]

Note: it doesn't have to be source obviously, that engine just looks good and it seems a lot of games used it...another engine would work but I don't even know how to get started...can you just download the engines, etc?

 

[Markbnj]

There is a fair bit of information out there on Source. You can download the SDK from Valve's Source site at http://source.valvesoftware.com/ and you can get some background and history at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_engine.

As for enhancing an existing game... a port would require access to the source code and digital assets, and a lot of effort in conversion of code and assets. A better approach might be to create mods that update textures and shaders, for example. There is precedent for that with games like Oblivion, and of course HL2 and many other games have been heavily modded. That's probably the route that's most likely to be successful for you, but will still require a lot of time, education, and effort.

 

[Build it Myself]

Originally posted by: Markbnj
There is a fair bit of information out there on Source. You can download the SDK from Valve's Source site at http://source.valvesoftware.com/ and you can get some background and history at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_engine.

As for enhancing an existing game... a port would require access to the source code and digital assets, and a lot of effort in conversion of code and assets. A better approach might be to create mods that update textures and shaders, for example. There is precedent for that with games like Oblivion, and of course HL2 and many other games have been heavily modded. That's probably the route that's most likely to be successful for you, but will still require a lot of time, education, and effort.

Maybe that's what I'm referring to, a refresh or update rather than a full port...could you give me some directions on where to read up on/learn about this? I'm quick when it comes to stuff like this (building designing patterns, etc.) so where would I begin?

 

[Crusty]

Originally posted by: Build it Myself

Originally posted by: Markbnj
There is a fair bit of information out there on Source. You can download the SDK from Valve's Source site at http://source.valvesoftware.com/ and you can get some background and history at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_engine.

As for enhancing an existing game... a port would require access to the source code and digital assets, and a lot of effort in conversion of code and assets. A better approach might be to create mods that update textures and shaders, for example. There is precedent for that with games like Oblivion, and of course HL2 and many other games have been heavily modded. That's probably the route that's most likely to be successful for you, but will still require a lot of time, education, and effort.

Maybe that's what I'm referring to, a refresh or update rather than a full port...could you give me some directions on where to read up on/learn about this? I'm quick when it comes to stuff like this (building designing patterns, etc.) so where would I begin?

How about the links he posted? Seems like a good starting point to me

 

[Build it Myself]

that was for the source engine...i was referring to upgrading textures...

I was looking at the game on wiki and Dark Forces was not a 3D engine...it says it was a 2.5, with today's technology can that be updated to actually look better or is it stuck with the graphics it has because of the limitations it had (not 3D)?

 

[Markbnj]

Not sure what you mean by "2.5." Before graphics hardware 3D acceleration became fast enough to handle rendering textured 3D models in realtime, there was something called raycasting, a la Wolfenstein 3D. Perhaps that's what you're referring to. Porting anything like that to a true 3D engine would require the original source and lots of time, effort, and knowlege. Read up on some general game modding topics, because I think that's the place to start for you.

 

[pkananen]

Porting a game like that would require a few very experienced people a few months...not exactly a project akin to learning opengl in a weekend