openjkdf2_libretro

With enormous thanks to shinyquagsire23 and everyone who has contributed to OpenJKDF2 — the decompilation and reimplementation of the Jedi Knight engine that every line of this depends on. This is a packaging of their work, not a replacement for it.

Star Wars: Jedi Knight — Dark Forces II, and Mysteries of the Sith, as a libretro core. Runs in RetroArch on the gl or glcore driver. Keyboard and mouse, native saves, frontend savestates, in-core audio, fast-forward and slow motion.

You need your own copy of the game. The core contains no game data.

DOWNLOAD 0.1.0 Windows x64 GITHUB

Download

openjkdf2_libretro 0.1.0 pre-release 2026-09-04

Every build, with its notes, is on the releases page.

What you need

  • RetroArch with Settings > Drivers > Video set to gl or glcore — the core asks for an OpenGL 3.3 core context.
  • The Microsoft Visual C++ 2015–2022 x64 redistributable.
  • A writable folder holding episode/JK1.GOB and resource/ copied out of a legal install. Load the .GOB as content; the folder above it is the configuration.
  • Keep OpenAL32.dll beside the core in cores/.

Full instructions: README_LIBRETRO.md

The COG Factory

A content pipeline built to exercise this core, which turned into a body of work of its own: Jedi Knight levels, COG scripts, 3DO models and MAT textures generated from source, then loaded and walked by a headless engine that asserts on what it finds. Every level below was built that way and every one of them is a free download.

Relay WheelRelay WheelImperial OutpostImperial OutpostLathe LoopsLathe LoopsImperial Supply DepotImperial Supply DepotDroid BayDroid BaySmuggler DenSmuggler Den

ENTER THE COG FACTORY →