Star Wars: Dark Forces

To procure the Death Star plans, Kyle Katarn penetrates an Imperial installation situated on the planet Danuta. The Mission to Danuta culminates in the Rebels gaining possession of the blueprints, which are subsequently handed over to Princess Leia, leading to the Death Star's destruction.

Following the Battle of Yavin, Mon Mothma re-engages Kyle, tasking him with probing an Imperial offensive on Talay's Tak Base, involving an unprecedented type of Imperial soldier. Subsequent to the attack on Tak Base, Kyle infiltrates the damaged base, uncovering a dark trooper weapon prototype. The device bears the initials "M.R.", identifying it as the work of Moff Rebus, a notorious Imperial arms developer. This investigation exposes the dark trooper initiative, spearheaded by General Rom Mohc, directing Katarn to Anoat, where he discovers the Moff concealed within Anoat City's sewer system, teeming with Dianoga.

During interrogation, Moff Rebus divulges the whereabouts of a phrik testing site, a mineral crucial for dark trooper construction, located on Fest. After securing a phrik sample, Kyle is guided to the Gromas system, the site of phrik mining and the manufacturing of phase-I dark troopers. Following this facility's destruction, Crix Madine is discovered to be imprisoned by the Empire at a detention center on Orinackra. Upon Madine's rescue by Kyle, he furnishes vital details regarding the dark trooper project.

Kyle proceeds to the Ramsees Hed docking bay on Cal-Seti, a hub for Imperial supply runs to the frozen planet Anteevy, where the second phase of dark trooper development is finalized. By stowing away on an Imperial vessel, Kyle arrives at Anteevy and demolishes the Ice Station Beta facility. This leads him to Nar Shaddaa, where he acquires a Nava card. By this point, the Empire has placed a significant bounty on him, and as he departs Nar Shaddaa, Jabba the Hutt captures the Moldy Crow within the Star Jewel.

Here, deprived of his weaponry, Kyle must engage in unarmed combat against a kell dragon. After reclaiming his arms, he and Jan Ors escape to Coruscant, the sole location where Kyle can utilize the Nava Card in a decoder to unveil data chips containing further intelligence. En route to his spacecraft, Kyle discovers the Crow is missing, with Boba Fett (contracted by Mohc) awaiting him. Following Fett's defeat after a strenuous battle, he journeys to the Imperial Fuel Station Ergo, where he boards the Executor covertly. From there, he sneaks onto the Arc Hammer, the site of the dark troopers' third and final phase of development.

Ultimately, Kyle confronts Rom Mohc, the operation's architect (who is piloting the sole phase-III dark trooper exoskeleton), and triumphs. Kyle then detonates the Arc Hammer and flees. Observing from the Executor, Darth Vader remarks on this "unfortunate setback" and presciently observes that "the Force is strong with Katarn."

In recognition of his valor and accomplishments in the face of adversity, Mon Mothma bestows upon Kyle the Star of Alderaan.

The game's missions are structured around a narrative, occasionally punctuated by video sequences that advance the story. Each mission is introduced with a specific briefing and objective. The level designs aim to authentically represent various bases, mines, facilities, and other recognizable locations from the Star Wars universe, encompassing environments such as Star Destroyer interiors, Jabba's vessel, and Coruscant.

• The Death Star Plans - Operation Skyhook: Part II
• Talay: Tak Base, After The Massacre
• Anoat City - The Subterranean Hideout
• The Planet Fest: Imperial Weapons Research Facility
• Gromas Mines - The Blood Moon
• Imperial Detention Center, Orinackra: Crix Madine's Fate
• Ramsees Hed Docking Port, Cal-Seti - Deadly Cargo
• Robotics Construction Facility, Anteevy - Ice Station Beta
• Nar Shaddaa, the Vertical City: The Death Mark
• Jabba the Hutt's ship: Jabba's Revenge
• Imperial City, Coruscant - The Imperial Mask
• Imperial Fuel Station, Ergo - Smuggler's Hijack
• The Executor - The Stowaway
• The Arc Hammer - The Dark Awakening

Dark Forces began its development when Daron Stinnett joined LucasArts in July of 1993. Stinnett initially considered creating a flight simulation game, but, being impressed by the groundbreaking Wolfenstein 3D, he shifted his focus towards a first-person shooter. Given the genre's nascent stage, the team assembled was selected based more on individual talent than on prior experience. Together with Ray Gresko and Winston Wolff, he initiated the development of the Jedi Engine, the game's 3D engine, in late August. Stinnett also recruited Ingar Shu and Matt Tateishi, architecture undergraduates from the University of California, Berkeley, to serve as level designers. The core team comprised ten young individuals, occasionally expanding to twenty.

The initial concept involved recreating Luke Skywalker's adventures in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, but this was deemed too restrictive and concise. Consequently, an original character, who would become Kyle Katarn, was conceived to embark on his own adventures, albeit within the established canon's framework.

Justin Chin, who became a member of the team in December of that year, believed that the 3D engine could facilitate the telling of new stories. He presented the initial idea of "a special force of Stormtroopers" to Gresko and Stinnett. The first design document outlined the characters and a structure of 32 missions (later reduced to 14), each featuring a distinct objective and set on a different planet, each with its own unique atmosphere and appearance. Chin envisioned Dark Forces as a physically intense adventure that, beyond Star Wars, would incorporate elements from renowned action films. Chin provided level designers with textual notes and conceptual artwork, who then utilized their familiar AutoCAD software.

Five individuals were dedicated to creating textures, sceneries, and surface details, producing thousands of assets and animations, which were organized by Aaron Muszalski. From a technical standpoint, the design required balancing rich visual details that would evoke the recognizable Star Wars atmosphere with the game engine's technical constraints, to ensure speed and fast-paced action.

Initially an experimental venture by a relatively inexperienced team, it was around the 60% completion mark that the team began to solidify their vision, gaining confidence in the final product and deciding on several additions and modifications. Among the later changes were the regeneration of enemy sprites, the development of a new engine for cutscenes, and the introduction of Jan Ors as a character to further the narrative. Additional modifications included the incorporation of extra lives among the power-ups and "restart points" following player deaths, instead of reverting to the beginning of the level. Brett Tosti and his team of playtesters strategically positioned power-ups, enemies, and their AI to enhance the game's challenge and playability.

The original plan included a character named Ruu San as an antagonist, but she was ultimately cut from the final release. Early in the production phase, the player's spacecraft was simply named Crow and was intended to be a Baudo-class star yacht. Furthermore, it was not a 3D polygonal object but a two-dimensional bitmap sprite rendered from various perspectives. The game's initial mission, which involved the protagonist stealing the Death Star plans, was to occur on the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Avenger. This level was showcased as an early demo but was eventually removed during development due to concerns about its difficulty for new players. This level was replaced in the released game with another set on a secret base, and elements of the original level were repurposed in other parts of the game.

The sound design, which included over 300 sound effects, featured signature Star Wars effects provided by Skywalker Sound. These were either used directly (such as for a TIE fighter) or adapted for new elements (like original weapons). Other sounds were sourced from professional sound libraries or from Clint Bajakian's personal collection. Processed in high resolution, these sounds were then carefully downsampled to 8-bit mono, a necessity for gameplay. Voice roles were recorded in a Los Angeles studio, and the digital recordings were then taken to Bajakian's studio.

Bajakian also composed the soundtrack. Given the game's blend of classical and original elements, his goal was to mirror the music from the films while introducing variety and originality. While Darth Vader's appearances in the cutscenes were accompanied by score from the movies, new characters were given their own original themes that were consistent with the established sound by John Williams. Rom Mohc's theme, which plays during the opening credits, is dark and ominous, contrasting with Kyle Katarn's theme, which is closely related but more heroic and upbeat. Familiar motifs such as The Imperial March, the Imperial motif, or the Rebel Fanfare are integrated into the soundtracks of certain missions.

Utilizing the iMUSE technique, the in-game music adapts to the gameplay's action, seamlessly transitioning between two moods: a peaceful stalk music for exploration and solo travel, and a frenetic fight music during attacks or when surrounded by enemies.

While Doom featured shared textures across all levels, a singular objective (simply moving from entry to exit), and maps often designed abstractly with somewhat unrealistic architecture, Dark Forces distinguished itself. The levels of Dark Forces each had their own unique texture sets that were rarely reused, their own briefings and objectives which often varied, and maps which were designed to represent actual bases, mines, facilities, and other known places from the Star Wars universe, like Star Destroyer interiors, Jabba's ship, Coruscant, etc.

Justin Chin, the lead artist and author, revealed that weapons such as the Bryar pistol and Packered mortar gun were named after his personal favorites, namely composer Gavin Bryars and 1950s Packard automobiles, respectively.

All cheat codes in Dark Forces begin with LA- (LucasArts), mirroring the cheat codes in id Software titles, which invariably started with ID-.

A playable demo was showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show, featuring a playable prototype of the game's initial level, set on the Avenger. Screenshots from this level continued to appear in promotional materials even after its removal from the final game.

The initial level was replaced in the published game with another set on a secret base. The new first mission was also released as a standalone demo. The demo's intro differs from the published product by including a Rambo-esque cutscene depicting Kyle preparing his equipment for the mission. This scene was omitted from the final game, though the reason remains unclear, as the files for the sequence are still present on the CD. It is, however, possible to reinsert the missing scene into the game.

The game was officially released on February 15, 1995. Its initial release included a manual containing supplementary backstory text. On April 29, 2015, the game was made available on the PlayStation Network, playable on both the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable.

The game's success led to novelizations and a sequel, Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II. Jedi Knight subsequently spawned a series of games, including the expansion Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith, Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, and Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. With the exception of Jedi Academy, this series centers on the continuing adventures of Kyle Katarn, many of which occur after the events of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.

Many of the core data files within Dark Forces were in plain-text format, enabling fans to decode the formats and develop tools for editing them. These tools have been employed to generate a wide array of new levels for the game. Many of these same fans have since created tools and editors for the later games in the series, with at least two, Yves Borckmans and Don Sielke, joining LucasArts to contribute to Dark Forces II. In 2002, a group of fans initiated the Dark Forces Mod project, aiming to remake the game using the Quake III engine, as utilized in the most recent sequel, Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (later adapted to Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy upon its release). They later announced the project's termination, releasing a final version that included complete remakes of the game's first six levels. Nevertheless, efforts to remake the remaining levels were ongoing as of January 2009.