Greetings.

I see HoT[uhexen2.sourceforge.net] getting a lot of praise around here, rightfully so, but I'd like to also tell you about jsHexen2 - another wonderful project with the goal to visually "modernize" Hexen II.

Whenever I think about playing Hexen 2 again, this is what comes to mind first. It might be the closest thing to a remaster of this game. Not many seem to know about it, so here we are.

 

• Probably the easiest way to set up & enjoy the game. Doesn't require console manipulations and most of the things can be customized within the menu.
  
  
• This is a standalone project. Meaning you don't need the Steam version for it. Don't install it over anything, don't install anything over it.
  
  
• Was in development since 2009. Last update was in 2015 (Project Release v38, Game Version is still shown as 1.21). The project is no longer in the works, BUT it's more than enough to enjoy Hexen II, Portal of Praveus and its multiplayer. Source code is publicly available.
  
  
• It's made for Windows OS and should work fine on the latest Windows 10. I have no idea if it works on Linux / Mac through 3rd party software. If you succeed in making it work- let me know!
  
  
• Doesn't offer mod support and focuses only on the base game and its add-on.
  
  
• FoV gets smaller the higher your screen resolution is. Engine limitation.
  
  
• I'm not the creator. All credits go to Jeank. I am merely translating and forwarding the information to the community.

 

Originally posted by jeank (2010):

Hello everyone.

I began working on this project at the end of 2009, back then it was only about improved textures for Hexen 2. As a result, about 500-600 textures were overhauled.

Then, little by little, I started modding other aspects of the game.

Today I have a redesigned jsH2 engine with external texture support for almost any object (tga, jpg, png, pcx formats, and for version 1.21+ - dds), Lit files for colored lighting, music in mp3 and ogg formats, addition of light effects, bloom, interpolation of object movement, chrome effects, etc.

The build contains the full Hexen 2 game, including the Portal of Praevus add-on, improved textures, lit files for colored lighting on all levels, textures for additional effects and music from the original discs in .ogg (Thanks to comrade wafee for the original tracks).

The menu track is produced by Javier Navarette ("The Fairy & The Labyrinth" / "Pan's Labyrinth" OST).

I hope there are enough fans of old games around here. Maybe this project will motivate someone to make further improvements for it.

• Includes the original game and its add-on. Allows playing the base campaign as a Demoness.
  
  
• Interpolation of object movement - results in the smoothest animations. I believe no other port does this.
  
  
• Multiplayer possible via any LAN emulators (I. E. Hamachi) . TCP/IP option.
  
  
• Updated textures + external texture support- higher quality, more formats. Basically anyone can retexture jsHexen2. Includes custom blood overlays and other stuff.
  
  
• Graphical features: updated lightning, bloom, glows, gloss, reflections, fog etc.
  
  
• FMOD powered audio support. Original MP3 soundtracks available (CD RIP).
  
  
• Highly customizable. You can set everything to your own liking. Includes menu scaling. FoV can't be adjusted but it's modified based on the resolutions and is pretty good with its current values.

• Yandex Disk link to the latest release (standalone).[yadi.sk]
  
• Yandex Disk link to v1.21 source code[yadi.sk].
  
• Original author (jeank)'s site (russian).[hexen2retex.narod.ru]

 

Recorded a couple videos:

• The port has russian language enabled for quest dialogues by default. Switch that back to English in Options -> Sub-Menu: Misc -> Ingame Language
  
  
• Make sure the game has Vsync or FPS cap on. Uncapped FPS mess up the engine logic making it behave in weird ways.
  
  
• 48000khz soundmode isn't implemented even though selectable. Do not change to that and stay on 44100khz.
  
  
• Hero portraits may look out of place. To restore the default ones navigate to \Hexen II\DATA1\gfx\menu and delete/rename all 5 pictures.
  
  
• Enabling "Always Run" will not let you "walk" when shift is held. You will literally always run unless crouched.