A new fan project aims to rebuild Bully: Scholarship Edition in Unreal Engine 5.8, and you can download and play it. The project, called Bully Remake, uses new code and tools to bring the classic school game into a new engine. It also adds some new ideas, such as AI-powered chats with students.
The project is still in its early stages. It is not a full remake yet. For now, players can explore the school grounds, try part of the opening story, talk to students, and fight anyone on campus. The team says there is no set date for a full game.
Bully Remake aims to recreate the world of the original game in Unreal Engine 5.8. The goal is to match the original game, but the current build only covers part of the school and its opening story.
The current build lets you explore the school grounds and some indoor areas. You can walk from the front gates to the courtyard, enter the main hall, and head back outside. The map has basic lighting, sounds, doors, and students who walk around the school.
You play as Jimmy Hopkins, the main character from Bully. He can walk, run, sprint, jump, and move through the school. The game also has a third-person camera and basic collision, so you can move around the map.
The remake also has part of the opening story. You can play through the first day at school, follow goals, and take part in fights. A short opening scene plays when Jimmy arrives at the gates. It uses in-game cameras and text, rather than a pre-made video.
The mission system can track goals, show map points, and display prompts on screen. It can also link missions together and give rewards. The team has tested the opening story from start to finish, but it still needs more hands-on testing.
One of the most unusual features lets you talk to students using AI. You can walk up to a student and press T to start a chat. Each student has their own set of traits and a way of speaking.
You can also hold Tab to speak into your mic. The game turns your speech into text on your own computer. The student can then reply with a spoken voice.
The AI can also remember past chats. For example, a student may recall that you insulted them before. This gives each chat a chance to feel more personal over time.
These features need extra services and API keys. Without the required setup, the chat system will not give full replies. Players can change which AI tools the project uses.
The remake also lets you fight any student or bully on campus. Combat has basic combos, blocks, grabs, knockdowns, and knockouts. When you hit a student, they stop what they are doing and fight back.
Students who are knocked out stay down. The system can also make fights draw a crowd, with nearby students reacting to the action.
Combat is still a work in progress. Some moves and animations need more polish, and the team is still testing how the game feels during play.
Since this is a fan project and a demo, you should temper your expectations. There are a lot of bugs and visual glitches. Right now, this is a cool concept demo.
Building the project takes more work than installing a normal game. It can be tricky, and it might put off some of our readers. You will need your own legal PC copy of Bully: Scholarship Edition, Unreal Engine 5.8, Python, and a suitable C++ build setup.
First, download the project from its GitHub page. Then follow the setup guides in the project folder. You must point the tools to your own installed copy of Bully: Scholarship Edition. The tools read the game files on your device and create local files for the remake.
Next, run the import tools to bring in the school map, Jimmy, students, sounds, and other data. After that, build the Unreal project and open it in Unreal Engine 5.8. You can then load the Bullworth map and test the parts that are ready.
The project’s current setup guides are made for macOS. The creator tested the build on Apple Silicon Macs, using a PC copy of the game installed through CrossOver. Other systems may need changes, and the setup is not a simple one-click process.
The project does not include the original game files. You must own the game.
Finally, if you are not in the mood to build the demo of this fan remake, you can watch this video!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
Contact: Email