One of the most highly anticipated releases of 1997, HeXen II was the first game from an outside developer to ship with Quake engine technology. The game featured four single player hubs and deathmatch capabilities for 16 players while simultaneously offering four character classes, each with four weapons with dual fire modes for a total of 32 unique weapon effects. In addition, HeXen II was the first 3-D shooter to feature transparent water effects in both hardware and software rendering modes and one of the only fully 3-D games to feature single player cooperative gameplay.

Modified much like its original this game has stood the test of time and has quite a few nifty mods to show for it

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J.A.C.K. editor has been in development for a long time. However, in recent years, all updates and bug fixes were kept in beta status, and were only available to those who opted in the beta program. And now the time has come to publish a major update for all our users!

New Development Platform: macOS

In addition to Windows and Linux, J.A.C.K. now fully supports macOS. Moreover, the editor comes with native map compilers for Quake and Quake II, as well as with an option to download native map tools for Half-Life. Unfortunately, recent macOS versions (e.g. Big Sur) don't support 32-bit apps. This means that, although J.A.C.K. and the compilers will work, to run the old game you will probably have to install a custom 64-bit port. On older macOS versions (e.g. Mojave) everything should work out of the box.

Improved Auto-Configuration Tool

The automatic J.A.C.K. configuration tool has got much more functions, minimizing user intervention. For intance, the editor now automatically unpacks all the necessary resources from the packages, extracts textures for Quake and Hexen II (there was a plugin for those purposes, but not everyone knew it was available), creates a "maps" directory, sets the correct parameters for compile and launch, and much more!

Export Geometry to OBJ Format

Now you can export your level to OBJ format, which can be imported to many modern 3D editors, converted to other formats. Thus your levels can be exported to game engines which are not directly supported by J.A.C.K.. You can export the entire level, only selected objects, or objects within the bounds of the Cordon Tool. Faces with a NULL/caulk texture will not be exported.

Improved Cordon Tool

Now the cordon bounds are initialized not with a point, but with a 128x128x128 box, which makes them easier to edit. In addition, the "Enable Cordon" button now restricts rendering of the objects in the 2D and 3D views - you can see in the realtime which objects are going to be exported. This behavior can be disabled in the config using the parameter: ApplyCord>

User Profile System

J.A.C.K. now supports separate configurations for multiple users (including Steam library sharing mode). Settings are no longer lost after running cache integrity checks.

Creation of an Unwanted Primitive

How many times did you decide to create a block in the Block Tool mode, diligently painted the brush with the mouse, pressed Enter... to discover the unfortunate fact that the selected primitive was actually a cylinder? This is such a common problem that we decided to mention it in the list of major improvements! Now it is possible to undo the creation of the primitive while preserving the selection frame: just hit Ctrl+Z, select another primitive type, and press Enter again.

Xash Engine Support

There are certain improvements that facilitate working with this popular open source engine. For example, there is an option to turn off the studio model pitch inversion (also known as "Stupid Quake Bug"), which is not needed in Xash. In addition, J.A.C.K. now correctly renders studio model files with vertex weighting.


Lots of Improvements and Fixes

The editor code has been ported to Qt 4.8.7, and has been significantly revised. Here is a list of the major changes in version 1.1.2800; many of those were requested by the community:

  • The Entity Report window has been improved: now it is possible to search by value without specifying a key, as well as sorting by clicking the column headers.
  • Pointfile display in editor now uses RGB gradient.
  • Display of the rotation angle value in the Vertex Manipulation mode.
  • Holding the Alt key during Vertex Manipulation snaps to a one-pixel grid instead of the current grid.
  • FGD enhancement: specify the extension of the model and sprite format for specific entity fields (e.g. "studio: mdl" instead of "studio").
  • Introduced a new tool texture filter for AAS (Quake III specific).
  • Added the ability to automatically remove "angles" keyvalue for those objects where it was not explicitly specified in the FGD (you need to edit the config: PreserveImplicitAngles = false).
  • Added physical synchronization when writing files (reduces the chance for damaged maps after sudden reboots).
  • Added hotkey display in context menus.
  • Brackets in "Draw Sizing Info" mode now use dashed lines and made dimmer; you can disable them at all (edit the config: DrawSizingBrackets = false).
  • The editorcloses much faster.
  • The editor loads maps with a large number of models much faster.

Many bugs have also been fixed; here are some examples:

  • Fixed a bug with incorrect unloading of textures, sky and archives.
  • Fixed a bug with incorrect model rendering distance in 3D views.
  • Fixed ASE format support, added vertex colors support (Quake III specific).
  • Fixed non-working right Alt in Russian keyboard layout (e.g. to open Object Properties window by Alt+Enter).
  • Fixed a bug with expert-mode compile configs not saved after renaming or deleting them.
  • Fixed a bug with incorrect "unmatched target field" error detection (if a target is a path created with the Path Tool).
  • Fixed a bug with exporting empty brushes (for example, if the map contains Quake III curves, and it is exported to Half-Life, Quake or Quake II formats).
  • Fixed a bug with loading JMF files with UV-Lock enabled.
  • Fixed a bug with the default room lighting.
  • And much more - this is not a complete changelog!

As always, we welcome your feedback and suggestions here, or on the Steam Community discussions. Thank you so much for making levels for classic games, and for using J.A.C.K. for that!

Hexen 2 - Shadows of Chaos Demo release

Hexen 2 - Shadows of Chaos Demo release

Hexen II - Shadows of Chaos

A demo release of Shadows of Chaos for Hexen 2 is now available!

Hexen II - Shadows of Chaos now on moddb

Hexen II - Shadows of Chaos now on moddb

Hexen II - Shadows of Chaos 4 comments

Hexen II - Shadows of Chaos is a brand new mod/mission pack for Hexen 2 based off of Game of Tomes.

J.A.C.K. 1.1.1212 Available in Steam Store

J.A.C.K. 1.1.1212 Available in Steam Store

News 28 comments

J.A.C.K. (previously known as Jackhammer) is a brand new level editor for games with a quake-style BSP architecture (Half-Life, Quake, Hexen II, Quake...

J.A.C.K. 1.1.1064 Is Out

J.A.C.K. 1.1.1064 Is Out

News 40 comments

J.A.C.K. (previously known as Jackhammer) is a brand new level editor for games with a quake-style BSP architecture (Half-Life, Quake, Hexen II, Quake...

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J.A.C.K. 1.1.3773 (Windows)

J.A.C.K. 1.1.3773 (Windows)

Mapping Tool 10 comments

J.A.C.K. (previously known as Jackhammer) is a brand new level editor for games with a quake-style BSP architecture (Half-Life, Quake, Quake II, Quake...

J.A.C.K. 1.1.3773 (Linux, 64-bit)

J.A.C.K. 1.1.3773 (Linux, 64-bit)

Mapping Tool

J.A.C.K. (previously known as Jackhammer) is a brand new level editor for games with a quake-style BSP architecture (Half-Life, Quake, Quake II, Quake...

J.A.C.K. 1.1.3773 (Linux, 32-bit)

J.A.C.K. 1.1.3773 (Linux, 32-bit)

Mapping Tool

J.A.C.K. (previously known as Jackhammer) is a brand new level editor for games with a quake-style BSP architecture (Half-Life, Quake, Quake II, Quake...

Privateer's Hold

Privateer's Hold

Full Version

My first map ever. An attempt to port the first level of TES Daggerfall to Hexen 2. Big thanks to Hexen and Quake communities for help

Shadows Of Chaos standalone v1.3 (for expansion pack)

Shadows Of Chaos standalone v1.3 (for expansion pack)

Shadows Of Chaos standalone Full Version

A mod for Hexen 2 that adds weapon altfires, stat upgrades, and various balance tweaks, effects, bugfixes, & new features for mappers. Detailed description...

Shadows Of Chaos standalone v1.3

Shadows Of Chaos standalone v1.3

Shadows Of Chaos standalone Full Version

A mod for Hexen 2 that adds weapon altfires, stat upgrades, and various balance tweaks, effects, bugfixes, & new features for mappers. Detailed description...

Post comment Comments  (0 - 10 of 28)
NaliSeed
NaliSeed

Hexen II was for the most part a pretty solid game, but one that didn't manage to surpass its predecessor and was in fact a bit of a disappointment in more ways than one. I loved the first game to death, so clearly my expectations for the sequel were very high. In retrospect, I think that going into fully 3D and running on the Quake engine no less was a tradeoff that didn't quite pan out, and a lot of the greatness of Hexen was lost in the process. This meant among other things a somewhat slower gameplay, less enemies on screen, unrealistic gibbing deaths, lack of atmospheric sound effects, too much reliance on "urban" environments, and restricted use of hazardous terrain. Hexen excelled at doing just the opposite of those things even though it technologically lagged behind, and nowadays it's only gotten better with all the amazing things one can do via modding; Hexen II, sadly not so much. It's all a shame because despite all its shortcomings the game was still great and very enjoyable, and the expansion pack was pretty damn awesome. People can still do wonderful things with the Quake engine, as evidenced by mods like Arcane Dimensions, if you're ok with some very drastic changes, or Copper Quake if you're more into classic Quake gameplay. Unfortunately, much like Hexen doesn't get the same degree of attention as Doom from the modding community, Hexen II likewise is vastly eclipsed by Quake and its myriad of custom maps released throughout the years, with literally thousands of maps hosted at quaddicted.com alone and more coming out regularly. Not to mention dark fantasy first-person shooters are pretty much extinct by now, and a Hexen III ever coming out sounds like the ultimate combination of pipe dream and wishful thinking. More likely we'll end up having another ******* Doom Eternal follow-up, or another Strogg-themed Quake game in the future.

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Guest
Guest

Hexen III would be almost impossible to have the atmosphere of the earlier ones. The creators would have to ignore all the worlds politics and caring to death attitude to make the masterpiece that hexen is. i would want to see it stay to its roots unlike doom with its pop up like nature of kills and just be the standard spray and prey the originals were. Hexed if it were created by modders would likey be like it but not the same franchise.

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michael.lucas.engan
michael.lucas.engan

I'm trying to figure out how to mod Hexen II. I am generally focused on modding the audio aspects of the game.
I've been trying to find what kind of programs to use. Can someone help?

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ETTiNGRiNDER
ETTiNGRiNDER

To look at the structure of how audio is set up in the game, you'd want something that can explore the .PAK archive format. As far as I know the .PAK files used by Hexen II haven't changed format in any way from the ones used by Quake, so Quake .PAK tools should work.

As far as inside the .PAK, I'm pretty sure the sounds and music are just standard wave and midi files. Some ports can also use OGG music as a stand-in for CD tracks but that wasn't standard to the vanilla game.

Your modded stuff would go in a subfolder of the game that can be invoked with the "-game" parameter.

Depending on how extensively you want to retool stuff you might want to look into the HexenC scripting as well but for a simple sound replacement it shouldn't be necessary.

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Avoozl
Avoozl

Hexen 2 is pretty much the best game of the Hexen/Heretic series, Heretic 2 would be the worst game.

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tankman1234567890
tankman1234567890

How and where do I download Hexen II?

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dbaknight
dbaknight

jsHexen - Improved engine for Hexen II. It's amazing and best mod for this game from a russian entuthias, pls add a link and let fans enjoy.
site: Hexen2retex.narod.ru
last version of jsHexen: Narod.ru 1.21.01.rar.html
Thanks to creator, moddb and fans)

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nerdenfromsweden
nerdenfromsweden

HeXen 2 one of the best game ever if u ask me

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Guest
Guest

Great visual / level design

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animastudio50
animastudio50

It's time this game was good today with a better graphic and added more extra idea to the game would be enjoyable. I liked play with this.

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