SaberForge
Lightsaber combat with blade clashes, projectile deflection, Force abilities and cooling scorch marks.
A real blade clash: the guarding saber meets the incoming swing, with sparks and contact feedback.
A finishing strike splits the defeated target along the last blade contact, with heated cut edges that cool over time.
A non-fatal blade contact leaves a heated scar on a living target. Recorded Minecraft gameplay with the shader setup listed in the description.
Scripted demonstration: the blade follows a curved path across an iron wall, using the same contact and scorch system as gameplay.
Description
SaberForge brings lightsabers, Force abilities and blade-based combat to Minecraft Java Edition 1.20.1. Choose your weapon, build your moveset and take it into a fight, with sparks at blade contact and glowing scars left behind by a hot cut.
Your hilt and fighting style are separate choices. Pick from ten lightsaber styles without swapping out the saber in your hand, then select the abilities you want to use. Your character keeps your Minecraft skin, with body and weapon animations for attacks, guards, movement and abilities.
Combat revolves around where the blade actually meets its target. Catch an incoming saber with your own, deflect arrows and blaster bolts, and manage your stamina while holding a guard. Time a perfect block to stagger the attacker and create a short opening for a stronger counterattack. Blade clashes have contact sparks, sound and a brief pause in the motion.
Cuts leave evidence. Moving a lit blade across a block leaves a mark along its contact path. Hits can also scorch a living target without killing it. Fresh marks and wound edges glow brightly before cooling into darker scars. When a finishing strike cuts a mob apart, the pieces follow the plane of that final blow.
Force jumps, directional dodges and rush attacks give you ways to close distance or get out of trouble. Throw your equipped saber and catch it on the return, or use Force lightning against a guarding opponent: the electricity gathers on their blade with sparks along its length. E-11 and A280 blasters add ranged combat alongside the sabers.
For a compatible build, use Minecraft 1.20.1, Java 17 and Forge 47.4.10 or a later 47.x release. Install the same SaberForge version on the client and server. Weapons are available in the SaberForge creative tab.
Default controls: left click to attack or fire, right click to guard or aim, R to ignite or retract the blade, V to choose your style and abilities, G to dodge, and Z / X / C to use the selected abilities. Hold the jump key with a lightsaber equipped for the Force-assisted lift; release it to stop the extra lift. Keys can be changed in Minecraft's controls menu.
SaberForge is still in development. Combat timing, animations and compatibility are being refined; support for arbitrary modded entity models and multiplayer latency has not been comprehensively tested. The first public build is an alpha.
The gallery and video were recorded in Minecraft using Complementary Reimagined r5.9.3, Oculus 1.8.0 and Embeddium 0.3.31. Lighting depends on your shader pack and settings. The opening targets in the test arena have reduced health to demonstrate finishing cuts; the curved wall drawing follows a scripted blade path through the same contact system.
Watch Lightsabers That Leave a Mark, or join the SaberForge Discord to follow development, share gameplay and report bugs.
SaberForge Team
