While the current run of Star Wars games have their moment of greatness, there’s nothing like celebrating the good ol’ days. And while we wait for the next round of Star Wars games to be playable on Xbox One, a new project has been introduced that brings back another classic favorite — Rogue Squadron!
Videos by ComicBook.com
According to DSO Gaming, a YouTuber by the name of Thanaclara has begun work on remaking the classic Nintendo 64/PC shooter, but utilizing Unreal Engine 4 technology to bring it to life like never before.
Thanaclara has been hard at work on the conversion for about a year now, and while there’s still some work ahead, they’ve managed to put together four levels from the game. They’re not completely polished yet, but you can see the effort being put into the game in the videos below.
First up is this footage from the Search for the Nonnah stage. As you can see, it’s still a little bit choppy, and some of the ship models aren’t as polished as they could be, but it’s a start. And you can see how some of the effects look enabled with Unreal Engine 4, including water reflection and lighting. It makes us wonder what would happen if EA considered an official remake of the game.
Next up, we have another stage, this time the Defection at Corellia level. As you can see, the game runs a little bit smoother here, probably because Thanaclara doesn’t have to worry so much about the lighting, even though we see reflections from lightning. There’s still a little work to be done here, especially with what appears to be flares coming out of your ship. But the detail is impeccable, and shows a wonderful amount of effort — especially with the ship’s headlights shining down on the ground.
Thanaclara still has a ways to go, with some work to be done on remastering the music, as well as making more level samples for the game. He’s also looking to put in a real-time pseudo volumetric cloud system over the course of the game’s development.
There’s no word yet on when it’ll be finished — or if EA will try to shut it down before completion, since they have the rights to Star Wars games — but it’s looking pretty sweet thus far. Here’s hoping that the final product, wherever it is, shows the players just how great Rogue Squadron would look on current hardware.
If you’re yearning to play the original Rogue Squadron, you can find it now on PC/Steam, as well as on the Nintendo 64.
