Jedi (Game Engine)

Jedi
Original author(s)	Ray Gresko
Developer(s)	LucasArts
Written in	C
Operating system	MS-DOS, Mac OSSony PlayStation
Type	Game engine
License	Proprietary

Short description: Game engine developed for LucasArts

Jedi is a game engine developed primarily by Ray Gresko for LucasArts.^[3] It is very similar to the Build engine used in Duke Nukem 3D. While not a true 3D engine, it supported a three-dimensional environment with no limitations in the 3rd dimension (Z). In Doom, environments or levels were limited to existing in the X-Y plane only – levels were laid out two-dimensionally: while floor and ceiling heights could differ, areas could not overlap vertically. The Jedi Engine had support for areas or rooms (called "sectors") on top of one another, a trait that it shared with the Build engine.^[2] In the Dark Forces revision of the engine, the renderer could not display two rooms situated on top of each other simultaneously. This capability was added for Outlaws.^[4]

The Jedi Engine also included the ability to jump and crouch, the ability to look up and down,^[3] and atmospheric effects (achieved by careful manipulation of 256-color palette files).^[5] The engine is limited in its rendering capabilities, however, and used two-dimensional sprites (pre-rendered in different angles) for most of its object graphics.^[4] Other LucasArts techniques such as the iMuse sound system were incorporated.^[1]

Its lifetime was short-lived, being used in two titles, Star Wars and Outlaws.^[6] The sequel to Dark Forces, Jedi Knight, used the Sith engine.

There have been attempts of open source game engine recreations based on reverse engineering the original source code.^[7]

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 "Byte.com article on Dark Forces and the Jedi engine". http://www.byte.com/art/9512/sec10/art1.htm.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 "Star Wars: Dark Forces". https://ivglib.com/editions/sony-playstation-star-wars-dark-forces.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Jedi at MobyGames
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Lampert, Guilherme. "Reverse engineering LucasArts Outlaws". http://glampert.com/2015/10-10/reverse-engineering-lucasarts-outlaws/.
↑ John, Papadopoulos. "The Force Engine is a source port of the Jedi Engine, will support Dark Forces & Outlaws". https://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-force-engine-is-a-source-port-of-the-jedi-engine-will-support-dark-forces-outlaws/.
↑ Paul Lilly (2009-07-21). "Doom to Dunia: A Visual History of 3D Game Engines". maximumpc.com. Maximum PC. http://www.maximumpc.com/doom-to-dunia-a-visual-history-of-3d-game-engines/#page-2.
↑ Dawe, Liam. "The Force Engine is a fresh attempt to rebuild the Jedi Engine". https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2020/05/the-force-engine-is-a-fresh-attempt-to-rebuild-the-jedi-engine.

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[byte-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 "Byte.com article on Dark Forces and the Jedi engine". http://www.byte.com/art/9512/sec10/art1.htm.

[ivgl-2] 2.0 ^2.1 "Star Wars: Dark Forces". https://ivglib.com/editions/sony-playstation-star-wars-dark-forces.

[moby-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Jedi at MobyGames

[Lampert-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Lampert, Guilherme. "Reverse engineering LucasArts Outlaws". http://glampert.com/2015/10-10/reverse-engineering-lucasarts-outlaws/.

[5] John, Papadopoulos. "The Force Engine is a source port of the Jedi Engine, will support Dark Forces & Outlaws". https://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-force-engine-is-a-source-port-of-the-jedi-engine-will-support-dark-forces-outlaws/.

[maximumpc-6] Paul Lilly (2009-07-21). "Doom to Dunia: A Visual History of 3D Game Engines". maximumpc.com. Maximum PC. http://www.maximumpc.com/doom-to-dunia-a-visual-history-of-3d-game-engines/#page-2.

[7] Dawe, Liam. "The Force Engine is a fresh attempt to rebuild the Jedi Engine". https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2020/05/the-force-engine-is-a-fresh-attempt-to-rebuild-the-jedi-engine.