A Lucasarts classic has been given a thoroughly modern makeover, it’s received Oculus Rift DK2 support, thanks to the work of coder xLava.

Last year, shortly after George Lucas sold LucasFilm off to Disney for $4.05 Billion, Lucasarts – the interactive entertainment division of Lucas’ empire – was closed. Lucasarts was responsible for a pile of classic gaming franchises, one of which is regarded by many as one of the best made in the Star Wars universe.

jedi-academy-1

Jedi Knight was the sequel to Dark Forces, and spawned two sequels. The third, Jedi Academy, was developed by Raven Software, who upon hearing of Lucasarts’ closure, decided to release the source code.

xLava took this source code and decided to work in virtual reality support and has now released an Oculus Rift DK2 compatible version. What’s more, xLava hasn’t just grafted pre-warping and stereoscopy onto the original game, he’s altered the HUD to be more comfortable in VR and permanent first person mode.

You can the latest build over at the project’s homepage here, including installation and configuration instructions.

We’ve not had a chance to give it a spin just yet. If you do, let us know what you thin in the comments below.

 

This article may contain affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product we may receive a small commission which helps support the publication. See here for more information.


Paul James
Based in the UK, Paul has been immersed in interactive entertainment for the best part of 27 years and has followed advances in gaming with a passionate fervour. His obsession with graphical fidelity over the years has had him branded a ‘graphics whore’ (which he views as the highest compliment) more than once and he holds a particular candle for the dream of the ultimate immersive gaming experience. Having followed and been disappointed by the original VR explosion of the 90s, he then founded RiftVR.com to follow the new and exciting prospect of the rebirth of VR in products like the Oculus Rift. Paul joined forces with Ben to help build the new Road to VR in preparation for what he sees as VR’s coming of age over the next few years.
  • Jacob Pederson

    Getting the old force push or choke is going to be painful in VR. If this is anything like the Quake DK2 mod, running speed and elevation changes are going to be problematic for weak stomachs also. I will give it a try later on. I wonder if anyone is working on Hydra support?

  • Jacob Pederson

    This actually works surprising well, the security camera style cut-scenes are perfect for VR! Lightsaber battles in first person are just as sickening as you’d expect, but its work checking out for sure.