Star Wars: Jedi Knight – Dark Forces II

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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 September 30, 1997
 
 
 
 
Star Wars: Jedi Knight
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

Key points

Running the game on AMD using Catalyst 13.2 (or newer) requires a workaround. See 3D Acceleration problems.
Installer is 16-bit only; use the Alternate installer for 64-bit versions of Windows.

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
GOG.com Support Page
Steam Community Discussions
Steam Users' Forums
Wookieepedia - A huge wiki dedicated to the Star Wars universe
JKDF2.NET - A fan site for the game

Availability[edit]

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
 
 Disk check can be skipped with this
 
GamersGate
 
 
Gamesplanet
 
 
Games Republic
 
 
GOG.com
 
 Includes Star Wars: Jedi Knight – Mysteries of the Sith
 
Green Man Gaming
 
 
Humble Store
 
 
Steam
 
 

Downloadable content (DLC) and expansions

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

Version differences[edit]

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

Essential improvements[edit]

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

Skip intro videos[edit]

Delete/rename 01-02A.SMK[5]
  1. Go to <path-to-game>\Resource\VIDEO\
  2. Delete or rename 01-02A.SMK.

Alternate installer[edit]

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

Patches[edit]

Unofficial Jedi Knight patch[edit]

Adds team chat to multiplayer and is required for many mods. Comes with official patch

Game data[edit]

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

Configuration file(s) location[edit]

System Location
Windows HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\LucasArts Entertainment Company\JediKnight\v1.0
<path-to-game>\Controls\

Save game data location[edit]

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\player\

Save game cloud syncing[edit]

System Native Notes
Steam Cloud

Video settings[edit]

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 option Option WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
 
 Screen change is vertical- (FOV is not increased with wider resolutions). Game's HUD may be too small in high resolutions; try the JK HUD mod.
Multi-monitor
 
Field of view (FOV)
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.
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Forcing AF doesn't work, but LOD Mod has similar effect.
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Force in graphics card control panel.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
Enabled by default. Can be forced off in Nvidia control panel.
60 FPS
120+ FPS
Color blind mode

Input settings[edit]

In-game general control settings.
In-game general control settings.
In-game keyboard settings.
In-game keyboard settings.
In-game mouse settings.
In-game mouse settings.
In-game joystick settings.
In-game joystick settings.
Keyboard and mouse Native Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping
Can only detect up to 8 joystick buttons (and dpad).
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion
Additional information
Button prompts
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback

Audio settings[edit]

In-game audio settings.
In-game audio settings.
Audio options Native Notes
Separate volume controls
Music and sound effects sliders.
Surround sound
5.1[6]
Subtitles
Only for cutscenes.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support
A3D 1.0[7]

Localizations

Language UI Audio CC Notes
English
French
There is issue with the second disc of Retail release. It will switch to English voice-over in the cutscenes for no reason.

Network[edit]

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
LAN play
32
Online play
32

Connection types

Type Native Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP (outbound) 2300-2400, 47624-47625
UDP (outbound) 2300-2400, 47624-47625

Issues fixed[edit]

Game won't start[edit]

Game won't start[citation needed]
  1. Go to <path-to-game>.
  2. Delete Jedi.exe.
  3. Change the compatibility setting for JK.exe to Windows XP (Service Pack 3).

3D Acceleration problems[edit]

Running the game with 3D acceleration turned on may cause crashes or graphics problems on some modern machines. If you experience problems, try the following steps (you may have to do this every time you launch the game):

(DirectX 10.1+) Use dgVoodoo wrapper[citation needed]
  1. Download newest dgVoodoo 2.
  2. Extract it to a convenient place.
  3. Start dgVoodooSetup.exe and configure it.
  4. Go to DirectX tab and make sure that Disable a passthru to real DirectX is not checked.
  5. Select Virtual 3D Accelerated Card under Videocard and set its VRAM to 64 MB.
  6. Click OK.
  7. Now go to the MS folder in dgVoodoo's directory and copy files D3DImm.dll and DDraw.dll.
  8. Paste the files into <path-to-game>.
(Alternative) Modifying compatibility settings[citation needed]
  1. Open the advanced graphics settings menu.
  2. Click "Setup", then "Display".
  3. Uncheck "3D Acceleration" and "Backbuffer in System Memory".
  4. Click "Advanced".
  5. Under "3D Devices", select "RenderBot" or "RenderDroid".
  6. Click "OK" to return to the main display settings menu.
  7. Select your desired resolution.
  8. Click "OK" to return to the main menu.

Black screen during menu[edit]

Alt-TAB[citation needed]
  • If you get a black screen instead of the menu, Alt+Tab ↹ away from the game and back.
(Alternative) Start the game in windowed mode[citation needed]
  • Alternatively, run the game with the -windowgui command line parameter.

Seemingly low FPS or stuttering[edit]

The game appears to have an issue where, while running at 60 FPS, it will update camera movement at 30. This gives the appearance of poor performance and can be improved by capping the frame rate below 48.

Cap FPS[8]
  1. Use Dxtory, Nvidia Inspector or similar software that can cap FPS.
  2. Set a cap of 47 (or below).
  3. The camera should now move at the game's reported frame rate and feel much smoother.

HUD does not appear, or screen has black border[edit]

Change the screen size[citation needed]
  • Press - or = to adjust the screen size.

Wrong or missing music (with CD)[edit]

Fix CD Path in registry[9]
  1. Open Registry Editor
  2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\LucasArts Entertainment Company\JediKnight\1.0
  3. Adjust CD Path key value to whatever your CD drive letter is

Music does not loop[edit]

This is a known issue on some Windows Vista and 7 machines

Possible fix[10]
  1. Rip your game CD-ROM's music. .ogg and .mp3 codecs should be fully supported
  2. Install patched _inmm.dll and open its main folder.
  3. Go to <path-to-game> and drag jk.exe on _inmmconf.exe
  4. Open _inmmconf.exe and set DirectShow player for default file type in the method tab
  5. Add your previously ripped audio tracks in the _inmm.ini tab
  6. Press the save button and provide it your <path-to-game>

Notes

This was originally a Quake music fix, but should also work with JK
Further explanations are available on gemot encubed
Pause the game[citation needed]
  • In many cases music will return if you pause the game, alt-tab out or just hold the camera still for several seconds.

Miscellaneous fixes[edit]

Compatibility setting[citation needed]
  • On Windows Vista and 7, try setting JK.exe to run in XP SP2 compatibility mode, with visual themes and desktop composition disabled.
Nvidia profile settings[citation needed]
  • If you are using an nVidia graphics card and the game crashes: Try disabling following settings for JK.exe in graphics card settings:
    • Antialiasing
    • Texture Antialiasing
    • Conformant Texture Clamp

Other information[edit]

Access advanced display settings menu[edit]

Launch the game with -displayconfig parameter[citation needed]

Texture/model enhancement[edit]

Jedi Knight Enhanced is a model enhancement pack which requires the unofficial patch to be installed; an older version of the patch is included in the download.
Installing Jedi Knight Enhanced[citation needed]
  1. Download JK_enhanced.zip from JKHub. If you are having problems running the game with 3D Acceleration turned on, download JKE_8bit.zip instead.
  2. Extract the JKE folder (the folder itself, not just its contents) and JKE.bat into your Jedi Knight install folder.
  3. Add -path JKE to the command line parameters.
  • Jedi Knight Retexture Pack is a texture enhancement pack which can be used alone or in conjunction with Jedi Knight Enhanced. It requires the unofficial patch to be installed.
Installing Jedi Knight Retexture Pack[citation needed]
  1. Download jkr.zip version 0.4 from JKHub.
    • If you are using Jedi Knight Enhanced, extract JKR.gob into the JKE folder in your Jedi Knight install folder
    • Otherwise, extract it into the Resource folder in your Jedi Knight install folder.
  • The LOD Mod prevents NPCs and textures being scaled down in quality as you move away, which is very noticeable when playing in high resolutions. This is recommended regardless of whether you're using the above two graphics mods.
Installing Jedi Knight LOD Mod[citation needed]
  1. Download JK1.rar (for the main game) or JKM1.1.rar (for Mysteries of the Sith) from this thread.
  2. Extract the files within to <path-to-game>\Episode\, overwriting the existing file of the same name.

Notes

This mod requires that you start a new game and prevents old save games from being loaded, as it replaces all of the level files.
Does not currently work on Level 6 of the original game.

JK HUD Revamp[edit]

Jedi Knight's normal HUD is too small at high resolutions. The HUD revamp mod replaces the default GUI and HUD elements with larger, higher resolution alternatives.
jkhud.zip affects the health and ammo readouts, and jkgui.zip the force power and item icons.
Installing the mod[citation needed]
  1. Extract the .gob file from each .zip into your <path-to-game>\Mod\ folder (create the folder if it does not exist).
  2. Add -path Mod to the command line parameters.

Mods and Steam version[edit]

Downgrade Steam version[11]
  1. Download JKSteamFix.zip
  2. Extract it in your <path-to-game>

Notes

Game could fail to launch if you have turned on incompatible overlays and you are using ddraw.dll fix

System requirements[edit]

Windows
Minimum
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

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. ↑ JK Hub - [Tutorials]
  6. ↑ Graphical effects that amazed you - MobyGames Forums
  7. ↑ Press release - Aureal: News (retrieved)
  8. ↑ 30FPS? - Forum - GOG.com
  9. ↑ Missing Music image download - Steam Users' Forums
  10. ↑ How to fix CD audio looping on Windows Vista/7 - Steam Community Guides
  11. ↑ [Modding Guide] Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (Steam/Non-Steam version) - Reddit