RETRO GAMER CHATS TO NIGHTDIVE’S LARRY KUPERMAN AND MAX WAINE ABOUT THE STUDIO’S DARK FORCES REMASTER
“The original game [Dark Forces] was one that I played when it first came out,” remembers Larry Kuperman, director of business development at Nightdive Studios. “I was not playing it with my dad, but with my son, which was kind of the opposite end of the spectrum. It was the first game that really thrust me into the world of Star Wars. I really felt like I was part of that.” Larry also recalls the many technological advantages that LucasArts’ game made over its competitors. “There was nothing quite like it technically – Irecall the sense of being immersed in that world,” he says. Committed to creating updates of classic retro games, Nightdive had already successfully updated Nineties games such as Quake II, Blood and System Shock; now its attention has turned to the LucasArts best-seller that helped propel Star Wars games to the masses. “[Dark Forces] was on our list as being a legendary game and deserved of remastering and brought to a new audience,” Larry continues.
While Larry fondly looks back at Dark Forces, project lead Max Waine has a different perspective on the acclaimed game. “I was not born when Dark Forces first came out,” he explains. “It’s very interesting coming to the game [now]. Of course, I’m a big fan of the classic Doom games and I feel Dark Forces offers something very unique compared to those games.” Despite coming to the game very late, Max clearly understands what makes Dark Forces so special. “I’ve come to have a great appreciation of the game having worked on it. It’s a small technical marvel, what they managed to do at the time,” he says. “It’s a lot more of an immersive experience, I think. It really does feel like you’re in different locations of the Star Wars universe.”
Nightdive is promising a remaster of Dark Forces that, while bringing some aspects into the 21st century, retains the original’s exact level layout and spirit. “It’s really important to us that we remain faithful,” says Larry, “In terms of changing the basics of the game, we stay away from that. We want people to enjoy the game as it was, under modern conditions.” To satisfy the contemporary gamer, Nightdive is focussing on giving Dark Forces the 4K and widescreen treatment and refining its controls. “You don’t paint a moustache on the Mona Lisa,” grins Larry. “The game was complete and important as is.”
Also included in the remaster will be newly rendered cutscenes. “The cutscenes have been re-rendered. They are faithful, they are a one-to-one duplicate of the original cutscene
