JED vs ForceBuilder
Ever since the release of Jedi Knight, and even before, many people have been getting excited over the release of an editor for the Sith engine. And two groups have taken action and began to study the engine so that we can create our own levels in Jedi Knight. The first is the Code Alliance, the group that brought us (W)DFUSE, the most popular Dark Forces editor created. The group, led by Alexei Novikov, is creating an editor called JED. On the other side is Mattias Welander, who is single-handedly taking on the task of writing ForceBuilder.

The editor that you will be playing around with first will more than likely be ForceBuilder. Mattias is going to be releasing a preview version in a few weeks (maybe days). Whenever he makes a significant change in the program, he will post another preview release on the ForceBuilder homepage. He is hoping that the full version will be available for beta testing in a few months. Until then, we will have to be content with the periodic previews.

ForceBuilder texture selection screen

We will have to wait a little longer for JED, which will appear within a month (hopefully). JED will face a similar predicament as ForceBuilder. The demand for an editor will produce a restricted version with limited capabilities, but the editor should be sufficient to create a passable level.

Alexei does plan to reach a final version. His basic philosophy is, "programs should not be developed past some point. They will only get bloated :-) " And, he hopes that the program will be quite close to that 'critical mass' by the time the JK level pack is due for release:-)

ForceBuilder follows a layout with one main editing window layout with additional windows for texture and placement. The main editing window is be viewed and navigated from one of three directions, and the user will be able to change the view using a keystroke. Also included in the editor will be a preview window of the level, fully textured and lighted.

ForceBuilder will be using Direct3D for the 3D graphics. So, in a situation that is becoming fairly common, people with 3D accelerator cards have an advantage over those who don't (like me). The editor is not picky over what 3D card is used, but the only card officially supported is the 3DFX Voodoo Rush chipset.

On the flip side, no extra hardware will be necessary for running JED. Direct3D is not supported. However, OpenGL will be required to run the program. But fear not, the program is easily downloadable from the JED homepage. If you are familiar with the layout of the Code Alliance's Lawmaker, you kind of know the feel for how JED will operate. The Code Alliance will be using a layout loosely based on Lawmaker. This also means that the layout will be remotely familiar to WDFUSE users.

ForceBuilder layout

As for the actual way of creating levels, Jedi Knight editing, on the surface, does not appear to be that different from Dark Forces editing. The four modes are very much similar, with Sector, Surface, Vertex, and Object. The Surface replaces the Wall mode. This is where much of the transition takes place. Since the engine operates in three dimensions, the programmer has to define the surface in three dimensions. Needless to say, Jedi Knight editing can become very tedious. Also, vertexes in JK fit the definition of "vertex," while in Dark Forces, the vertex could be classified better as "edge." And lastly, the way sectors are used is significantly different than the previous way. While in Dark Forces, a whole room was usually constructed with one sector, Jedi Knight rooms are made up of a multitude of smaller sectors.

Packaged with ForceBuilder, there will be a converter to allow you to extract Mat files (the Jedi Knight bitmaps) into Windows .bmp files, and vice versa. There will also be a BM (Dark Forces) to Mat converter. Mattias will also integrate his 3DO viewer (which has already been released at the ForceBuilder homepage) into the program. However, he will not be including a 3DO editor, because he believes that there will be plenty of other programs to cover that task.

JED will not come with any external tools. It will eventually feature a DF to JK converter, but that will not likely be implemented into the premiere version.

On a final note, There is a full interview with Alexei Novikov in Interrogation Room C this month. Jeff pulls out all the stops and leaves no stone unturned in getting everything out of his victim. So go there to see him confess all the things that may not be in this article.


Back to D A R K N E S S   F A L L S