Install TaystJK

Windows

Install prerequisites

Use the 64-bit build unless you have a reason not to. A 32-bit process has at most 2 GB to work with, and demanding maps or asset sets can run out of that with any renderer.

Install the latest supported Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for the build you chose:

• the x64 package for TaystJK-windows-x86_64
• the x86 package for TaystJK-windows-x86

The archive already includes the matching SDL 2 and OpenAL DLLs. Keep them beside the TaystJK executable, and do not replace them with DLLs from third-party download sites.

The 32-bit build has one thing the 64-bit build lacks: EAX environmental audio, done in software by its bundled OpenAL Soft and EaxMan.dll, so no EAX sound card is needed. Choose x86 if you want EAX or need another 32-bit compatibility feature, and keep OpenAL32.dll and EaxMan.dll beside the executable. See platform support.

Install TaystJK

This is the simplest layout when TaystJK is your only modded client.

1. In Steam, right-click STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, then choose Manage → Browse local files. Open GameData.
2. Extract the TaystJK Windows archive into GameData.
3. Start the executable for your build: taystjk.x86_64.exe, or taystjk.x86.exe for 32-bit.
4. Optionally create a desktop shortcut to it.

For a non-Steam copy, find the directory that holds base, jamp.exe and jasp.exe. That is the GameData directory.

Optional: update automatically

TaystJK Updater is a third-party launcher by Slash; it is not part of TaystJK. If something goes wrong only when you start the game through the updater, report it on the updater’s repository; if it also happens when you start TaystJK directly, it is ours. Each time you start it, it checks the latest-build TaystJK release, downloads and installs a newer Windows build if there is one, and then launches the game. It also keeps itself up to date.

1. Download TaystJK_Updater.exe from its releases page.
2. Put it in the same directory as taystjk.x86_64.exe or taystjk.x86.exe.
3. Start the game from the updater, or from a shortcut to it, instead of from the TaystJK executable. You can rename the shortcut to TaystJK and pick the TaystJK executable as its icon.

It needs .NET Framework 4.8, which Windows 10 and 11 already include. The TaystJK directory must be writable without administrator rights. Do not run the updater as administrator, because it would then start TaystJK as administrator too.

Arguments after the updater’s name are passed on to TaystJK, so the launch options elsewhere on this page work through it. If the directory holds both builds, or the updater lives somewhere else, give the executable’s path first:

TaystJK_Updater.exe taystjk.x86_64.exe +set fs_cdPath "../JediAcademy"

The updater’s advanced usage notes cover the arguments in more detail.

macOS

Install prerequisites

Take TaystJK-macos-universal2.tar.gz, which runs natively on both Apple silicon and Intel Macs. The arm64 and x86_64 archives each run on one of them.

Nothing else needs installing. The app bundles SDL 2 and the image and compression libraries it uses, so no Homebrew package is required.

Copy the four assets*.pk3 files from any install of the game. If you own it on Steam and have no copy to hand, SteamCMD, which runs on macOS, can download the Windows release:

steamcmd +@sSteamCmdForcePlatformType windows +login <your-steam-name> +app_update 6020 validate +quit

Only the PK3s in GameData/base are needed from that download.

Install TaystJK

This is the simplest layout when TaystJK is your only modded client.

1. Extract the TaystJK archive and copy its .app bundle to a directory you own.
2. Create a base directory beside the app and put the four asset files in it, or point the app at an existing copy with fs_cdPath, as several modded clients shows.
3. Launch the app. Release builds are portable, so configs, screenshots and downloads are written beside the app, in the directory that holds it, not under ~/Library/Application Support (sys_main.cpp); see builds and versioning.

The release workflow ad-hoc signs the app, so it does not need signing again. If macOS refuses to open it because it was downloaded, clear the quarantine attribute from the extracted app:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/path/to/taystjk.app"

You do not need sudo for an app in a directory you own. An update is a fresh download, so you have to do this again after each one.

If the app still will not open, re-extract it from the archive instead of signing it yourself. The moveandsign.sh script in the debugging guide is for builds you compiled, not for releases.

Linux

Install prerequisites

The Linux client uses system-provided SDL 2, OpenGL, JPEG, PNG, zlib, and C++ runtime libraries. For the 64-bit release on Ubuntu 22.04, install them with:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install libsdl2-2.0-0 libgl1 libjpeg-turbo8 libpng16-16 zlib1g libstdc++6

Ubuntu 24.04 names the PNG package libpng16-16t64. Other distributions provide the same libraries under their own package names; for example:

# Fedora
sudo dnf install SDL2 libglvnd-glx libjpeg-turbo libpng zlib libstdc++

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S sdl2 libglvnd libjpeg-turbo libpng zlib

The 32-bit build needs 32-bit versions of the same libraries, and its executables are named taystjk.i386 and taystjkded.i386. Prefer the x86_64 release unless you specifically need 32-bit compatibility. TaystJK’s Linux release job records the libraries the official archive is built against.

If the loader still reports a missing library, run:

ldd ./taystjk.x86_64 | grep "not found"

Install the missing library from your distribution’s package manager instead of copying a loose .so file beside the executable.

Install TaystJK

This is the simplest layout when TaystJK is your only modded client.

1. Create a clean directory such as ~/.local/share/TaystJK and extract the Linux archive there.
2. Create ~/.local/share/TaystJK/base and copy assets0.pk3 through assets3.pk3 into it.
3. Make the client executable if necessary: chmod +x taystjk.x86_64.
4. Launch ./taystjk.x86_64.

If you only have the game on Steam, SteamCMD can download its Windows release, app 6020, after you set @sSteamCmdForcePlatformType windows. Only the PK3s in GameData/base are needed from it.