Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast gets ported to VR

[AlphaX]

Something to look forward to: Have you ever wanted to play Star Wars in VR? Well, VR developer Dr. Beef has you covered. He ported the popular 2002 game Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast over to Meta Quest 2, and it's available today.

Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast was a highly praised adventure game released in 2002. Players took control of Kyle Katarn and fought through multiple levels spanning various planets in the Star Wars universe. It's commonly referred to as one of the greatest Star Wars games by the fandom, even sparking a re-release on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in 2019.

Fan enthusiasm for the game prompted Simon Brown, also known as Dr. Beef, to port Jedi Outcast to Meta Quest 2. Brown is a recognized name in the VR community, previously moving other classics to VR, such as Quake 2, Doom 3, and Half-Life. His creations are impressive, leading many VR players to consider Brown's ports some of the best VR games available.

Porting a 20-year-old Star Wars game to VR wasn't a simple task. Regardless, Brown not only found a way but also added extra features. There is full-motion first-person control of lightsabers, which on its own is impressive. He also managed to get the lightsabers to deflect lasers and dismember the poor Stormtroopers, the latter of which was not part of the original.

" Jedi Knight: Jedi Outcast VR Mod Early Access Out Today! " @DrBeef's fantastic Jedi Outcast VR mod releases later today in early access on the Team Beef Patreon and runs completely standalone on Quest 2! https://t.co/WRR3Q7BFh3https://t.co/3A883h8AUs pic.twitter.com/iZOqTVr75U

— Flat2VR (@Flat2VR) October 9, 2022

The port is in early access, but the tweeted video above looks pretty polished. It provides a decent demonstration of the motion-tracked lightsabers, lightsaber throwing, deflections, dismemberment features, and a multitude of available levels. Besides the cinder-charred limbs, the port retains the classic Jedi Knight look.

The port of Jedi Outcast is currently in early access and is available to anyone who donates $8+ to the "Team Beef" Patreon page.

Dr. Beef expects to release Outcast VR publicly on SideQuest sometime in 2023. It should look more polished and feature more levels and planets than the current version for Patreon members.

Brown's SideQuest page also hosts numerous other VR projects he has completed for those interested. The Doom 3 port is a fantastic VR experience that deserves a play if you enjoy the Doom franchise.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/96270-star-wars-jedi-knight-ii-jedi-outcast-gets.html

 

[LetTheWookieWin]

This is awesome! Jedi Knight II was one of my all-time favorite PC games (though Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 was amazing for its time).

BTW, the author is incorrect that you couldn't dismember enemies in the original game. The original game would sometimes, rarely show a stormtrooper losing their hand in combat. However, if you went the the console (it's a quake III engine (id tech 3) game), you could enter a cheat code that would allow dismemberment all the time, and I believe it included heads (see https://steamcommunity.com/app/6030/discussions/0/620712999987150052/). I used to fire up saved games where there were a ton of stormtroopers and hack and slash all the while laughing out loud at the hilarious death effects and the entrails. Good times!

One question - is this only for Meta quest, or will it release for Steam VR as well? I refuse to buy anything associated with Meta/Facebook just on principle...

 

[sreams]

This is awesome! Jedi Knight II was one of my all-time favorite PC games (though Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 was amazing for its time).

BTW, the author is incorrect that you couldn't dismember enemies in the original game. The original game would sometimes, rarely show a stormtrooper losing their hand in combat. However, if you went the the console (it's a quake III engine (id tech 3) game), you could enter a cheat code that would allow dismemberment all the time, and I believe it included heads (see https://steamcommunity.com/app/6030/discussions/0/620712999987150052/). I used to fire up saved games where there were a ton of stormtroopers and hack and slash all the while laughing out loud at the hilarious death effects and the entrails. Good times!

One question - is this only for Meta quest, or will it release for Steam VR as well? I refuse to buy anything associated with Meta/Facebook just on principle...

I wonder if Revive will allow this to work in SteamVR. Other Oculus/Facebook/Meta exclusive VR content can work this way.

 

[loki1944]

Vomit train and horrible graphics smashed into your face. But that's par for the course with VR.

 

[emmzo]

Vomit train and horrible graphics smashed into your face. But that's par for the course with VR.

Games that aren't specifically built for VR have most chances to make you sick. I usually can't stand 3d shooters in VR, I get instantly disoriented and dizzy, especially when you run by joystick in game, while you sit still, but I had no problems with HL: Alyx, as you could leap around at will.

 

[MakeMSGreatAgain]

Vomit train and horrible graphics smashed into your face. But that's par for the course with VR.

Well you can either handle it or you can't... I am lucky and can handle full FPS games with joystick movement without issue. I've been playing Quake 1 and 2, Doom 3, and the recent announced Half Life 2 all in VR, and having grown up with these games and now experiencing them in full VR is chuffing amazing. This Star Wars game now joining the classic games to VR world is awesome and I hope it gets released for PC as well.