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☖ Forums → Discussion Forum → Disney shuts down Lucas Arts (not an April Fools joke, check the date)
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Disney shuts down Lucas Arts (not an April Fools joke, check the date)
2013-04-03, 10:46 AM #1
And cancels all current projects: http://kotaku.com/disney-shuts-down-lucasarts-468473749

On one hand, I'm sad that the studio that created Full Throttle, Dark Forces and Jedi Knight, and many other games from my childhood is gone. On the other hand, they haven't made a great game in a very long time. Even The Force Unleashed was just okay, but not stellar.
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2013-04-03, 10:55 AM #2
[http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/garosaon/waste/jctear_zpsc5992190.jpg]

I'm not gonna lie, I feel bummed, flabbergasted and shocked. LEC's games have been an integral part of my life since the very beginning of my actual gamer era (Nov 1997 onwards). In fact, if it weren't for Shadows of the Empire on N64 I might have got interested in computer games way later than I did (and might not have ended up editing JK) - possibly never.

RIP.

(PS. Don't forget to play TODOA if you still haven't! )
Star Wars: TODOA | DXN - Deus Ex: Nihilum
2013-04-03, 11:19 AM #3
The last Lucasarts Game:

ᵗʰᵉᵇˢᵍ๒ᵍᵐᵃᶥᶫ∙ᶜᵒᵐ
ᴸᶥᵛᵉ ᴼᵑ ᴬᵈᵃᵐ
2013-04-03, 11:20 AM #4
Quote:
the studio that created Full Throttle, Dark Forces and Jedi Knight, and many other games from my childhood is gone.


I wonder how many of the 150 people who just got laid off worked on Full Throttle, though.
"it is time to get a credit card to complete my financial independance" — Tibby, Aug. 2009
2013-04-03, 11:30 AM #5
It was to be expected since the buyout that they planned, at the least, to gut the place...

http://forums.massassi.net/vb3/showthread.php?60903-Disney-buying-Lucasfilm-Episode-7-on-the-way&p=1164310&viewfull=1#post1164310

Not that I care, so long as it remains impossible for them to retroactively cancel Dark Forces I & II.
2013-04-03, 11:33 AM #6
Such exquisite foresight there, CavEmaN. Caitian_Tourist.
Star Wars: TODOA | DXN - Deus Ex: Nihilum
2013-04-03, 11:40 AM #7
Looks like there may be a new hope for 1313: https://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/04/03/lucasarts-rep-says-star-wars-1313-might-be-saved.aspx my only concern is that disney will quickly palm it off on another developer, force them to rush it out and we'll get a half-finished mess of a game.
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2013-04-03, 11:45 AM #8
Looks like the current turn of events isn't an entirely new phenomenon for LEC;

Originally posted by Lewisham:
FWIW, this is not the first time LucasArts existed as a licensing arm and not a development house. For much of Jim Ward's tenure in the mid-2000s LucasArts was essentially what Disney is positioning it as now. LucasArts as everyone knew it died a long time ago, the most upsetting thing was that the company that was left had no vision past the Star Wars license, leaving all the other IP to rot.

My hope is that Disney actually has a more holistic view on the LucasArts properties, because it's used to managing many diverse properties in a way LucasFilm was not. Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle etc etc might actually get released out to those who want them. This might be the best thing that has happened to LucasArts and its fans, but of course the job losses are disheartening.


(from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5487879)
2013-04-03, 11:49 AM #9
Sad day, but I do love that RIP image:

My favorite JKDF2 h4x:
EAH XMAS v2
MANIPULATOR GUN
EAH SMOOTH SNIPER
2013-04-03, 12:01 PM #10
I realise their most recent endeavors were terrible, but it feels like a large part of my childhood died. Monkey Islands, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Sam and Max, Full Throttle, Dig, Day of the Tentacle, Jedi Knight.... oh man.

I almost feel like crying, lol.
Was cheated out of lions by happydud
Was cheated out of marriage by sugarless
2013-04-03, 12:06 PM #11
Originally posted by Reverend Jones:
Looks like the current turn of events isn't an entirely new phenomenon for LEC;



(from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5487879)


That's true, Connection Problem, but this is still the moment when the original LEC has been shut down. Maybe it'll come back as an Atari-like zombie, though, but we all know it won't be the same anymore.

(Still annoyed that they nearly made a book sequel to Republic Commando, but were prevented from doing so since LEC owned the license to the game and thus (apparently) the story as well. Boh.)
Star Wars: TODOA | DXN - Deus Ex: Nihilum
2013-04-03, 12:13 PM #12
Perhaps it was naivety on my part, but I honestly thought the studio was heading towards some sort of redemption with the impressive-looking 1313 in development.

I'm now expecting more ****e tie-ins with Angry Birds, LEGO etc and more Kinect crap. Well done, Disney. What sort of message does that send out?
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2013-04-03, 12:17 PM #13
Originally posted by AKPiggott:
Perhaps it was naivety on my part, but I honestly thought the studio was heading towards some sort of redemption with the impressive-looking 1313 in development.

I'm now expecting more ****e tie-ins with Angry Birds, LEGO etc and more Kinect crap. Well done, Disney. What sort of message does that send out?


Undoubtedly one to shareholders and Disney princesses worldwide. Our EU-savy generation surely is too nerdy with an unmarketable appetite for obscurantism. Remember folks, Star Wars has always been for kids. Just because we've taken it seriously long since then doesn't mean everyone else in Disney's market has as well.

Could it have been different? Of course, if Lucas never decided to cash out and throw the EU and anything else that appeals to mature adults out of the window when he made the prequels. When you get as rich as he became after RotJ, though, ask yourself if idealism really makes sense in the world we live in (as opposed to endless partying, yachting, etc.)

(Sorry, that turned into a bit of a rant.)
2013-04-03, 12:22 PM #14
Originally posted by Reverend Jones:
Undoubtedly one to shareholders and Disney princesses worldwide. Our EU-savy generation surely is too nerdy with an unmarketable appetite for obscurantism. Remember folks, Star Wars has always been for kids. Just because we've taken it seriously long since then doesn't mean everyone else in Disney's market has as well.


And even still, most of us hate where the EU has gone in the last 10 years.
2013-04-03, 12:49 PM #15
That's a shame I guess. Most of my gaming nostalgia comes from Lucasarts, Westwood, and Apogee...this sort of feels like when Westwood was shut down. Disappointing, but at the same time not a huge deal and life goes on.

The first LEC game I played was Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, followed by The Secret of Monkey Island, and then the DF demo (I mostly played demos because as a kid I couldn't afford a $50 or $60 game).

So yeah, too bad but they were most likely never going to create games like the ones I played as a kid. Just a reminder to enjoy things while you have them, I guess. :)
COUCHMAN IS BACK BABY
2013-04-03, 2:41 PM #16
Originally posted by Jon`C:
And even still, most of us hate where the EU has gone in the last 10 years.


I tried really hard to get into the New Jedi Order. I couldn't get past the 3rd book or so.
2013-04-03, 3:06 PM #17
Nooooooooooooooooo
一个大西瓜
2013-04-03, 3:26 PM #18
Really saddened by this for some reason. Even though I haven't played a new Lucasarts game since......I don't remember the last one. So many memories are thanks to them.


At least we got Kyle Katarn. You did good, kid. You did good.
2013-04-03, 3:38 PM #19
welcome to massassi, mr ed! internets #1 source for jedi knight!
COUCHMAN IS BACK BABY
2013-04-03, 4:06 PM #20
...soon to be shut down by the Mickey Mouse® corp.
2013-04-03, 4:16 PM #21
Originally posted by EAH_TRISCUIT:
Sad day, but I do love that RIP image:



LEC stopped using the classic purple L logo a few years ago, actually. It was a travesty.
But then again, LucasArts actually died in 2004. (This was pretty much the attitude among the entire Monkey Island/Mixnmojo community at the time.)

Quote:
In March 2004, however, quite far into the game's development, Sam & Max: Freelance Police was abruptly cancelled by LucasArts, citing "current market place realities and underlying economic considerations" in a short press release.
I'm just a little boy.
2013-04-03, 4:28 PM #22
Good. What a bunch of worthless, incompetent morons. It really killed me to see them flush so many amazing opportunities down the toilet, and still manage to keep afloat because they were sitting on one of the best franchises in the industry. I'm sure Disney will license out Star Wars games in a much more profitable manner.
2013-04-03, 5:46 PM #23
If it makes you guys feel better, JO and JA were just open sourced under GPLv2 on SourceForge by Raven. I'm serious.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/jedioutcast/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/jediacademy/
Bassoon, n. A brazen instrument into which a fool blows out his brains.
2013-04-03, 6:39 PM #24
let the mods begin!
COUCHMAN IS BACK BABY
2013-04-03, 7:00 PM #25
That's semi-sweet news. I would more fully crap my pants, though, if they released the Sith engine.

Now that LEC is officially deceased, and the IP in JK is safely no longer very usable in current games anyway, perhaps it would be a good time to petition for the source code.
2013-04-03, 7:02 PM #26
Okay, actually, one thing I've always wanted to see was Jedi Outcast running on the Doom III engine, so that the saber battles would have really, really sweet shadows going everywhere. This should be totally possible now that both are open source. Then we just have to port Saber Battle X.
2013-04-03, 7:02 PM #27
Originally posted by Emon:
If it makes you guys feel better, JO and JA were just open sourced under GPLv2 on SourceForge by Raven. I'm serious.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/jedioutcast/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/jediacademy/


That's cool, of course no JKDF2 love.
My favorite JKDF2 h4x:
EAH XMAS v2
MANIPULATOR GUN
EAH SMOOTH SNIPER
2013-04-03, 7:09 PM #28
Originally posted by Reverend Jones:
That's semi-sweet news. I would more fully crap my pants, though, if they released the Sith engine.
idk. If they released the Infernal Machine code there might be something salvageable.
2013-04-03, 7:39 PM #29
Originally posted by Jon`C:
idk. If they released the Infernal Machine code there might be something salvageable.


I'm not sure that the code would be so instructive, but if somebody could produce a build of JK that would run standard levels and mods, a lot could conceivably be done to remove various restrictions and such. Unless its limitations are deeply embedded in the design of the thing.

Actually, I'm mostly thinking about the network code and how horrible a problem the latency was. And with the Zone gone, it would benefit from an in-game multiplayer search.
2013-04-03, 7:56 PM #30
Personally if they put the JKDF2 code out there my first thought would be to port it to consoles as homebrew. I'm not much of a PC gamer these days, but I miss playing as Kyle.

I can't imagine the source still being around, but one can hope. I remember rumors back in the day that some ex-LA employee told a Massassian at a convention that it was sitting on his laptop.
-There are easier things in life than finding a good woman, like nailing Jello to a tree, for instance

Tazz
2013-04-03, 8:40 PM #31
I wonder if the issues explained here have become moot in any way now that Disney and LEC are one and the same? (Not that anybody should care too much at this point.)

Emphasis is mine.

Originally posted by Jon`C:
Why it's not going to happen:

First of all, JK code has migrated into many other projects. We know for a fact that this list includes the later 3D SCUMM games (Escape from Monkey Island, Grim Fandango), Droidworks and Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine.


Droidworks was done by a different company within Lucas' empire and it's not known if they would offer resistance to the release. Probably not, since it could easily be argued that the source code would serve as an educational aid.


The main problem here is actually Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine. Unlike Star Wars, LucasArts does not have unfettered access to the Indiana Jones copyrights: all Indy merchandise must also be approved by Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford. The release of IM was conditional based on a software license forbidding third party modification and technical measures designed to enforce the license.


A source code release of JK would never ever happen because it would make reverse-engineering and modification of IM possible.


Beyond that, the last time I heard anything about the original Sith code it didn't actually exist in a compilable form anymore. Even if LucasArts decided to release the code they probably wouldn't be able to get it out to us.


Regarding the Indiana Jones IP, from wikipedia:
Quote:
In October 2012, The Walt Disney Company agreed to acquire Lucasfilm, granting Disney ownership rights to the Indiana Jones and Star Wars franchises.[1][2] However, although Disney owns the intellectual property, Disney CEO Bob Iger says that Indiana Jones was not initially factored to its equation during the deal, as Paramount Pictures continues to retain certain rights to future film installments of Indiana Jones.[3][4][5]
2013-04-03, 8:54 PM #32
Release of the JKDF2 source code has nothing with the fact that anyone actually cares about the rights to these old games. It has everything to do with the fact that getting people to go through the contract law, certify everything and package it up would cost a lot of money and only matter to a fan base small enough to be irrelevant. It's not even worth the time of a PR guy to look into it.
2013-04-04, 12:43 AM #33
Originally posted by Emon:
If it makes you guys feel better, JO and JA were just open sourced under GPLv2 on SourceForge by Raven. I'm serious.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/jedioutcast/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/jediacademy/


Finally, that Matrix mod for Jedi Academy can be released!

-Ah, remember those days?
2013-04-04, 12:45 AM #34
paging dr. cazor
I had a blog. It sucked.
2013-04-04, 12:50 AM #35
Holy Moses. Really hoping that someone will make a good use out of those!
Star Wars: TODOA | DXN - Deus Ex: Nihilum
2013-04-04, 2:37 AM #36
Originally posted by Jarl:
Finally, that Matrix mod for Jedi Academy can be released!

-Ah, remember those days?


TMU?
nope.
2013-04-04, 4:37 AM #37
I really wonder how many The Matrix projects with the acronym 'TMU' there were for JA. You had Cazor's and Thrawn42689's The Matrix Unplugged but apparently The Matrix Unleashed also existed - and who knows which project used these models.

(JK3Files has been really buggy for two years now, if the files don't show up you have to reload the page a few (hundred) times)
Star Wars: TODOA | DXN - Deus Ex: Nihilum
2013-04-04, 7:00 AM #38
I'm guessing Star Wars 1313 will be put on hold.

TBH, the concept was cool. But the brief videos showed a picturesque environment with the world's most boring gameplay. And with the Force Unleashed 2 disaster and that Kinect game... I'm thinking nothing of value (now) was lost.

Having other studios use the license exclusively does seem like a good conclusion of all this. Its hard to feel sad for the developer house when we have to remember back 10+ years for the "good stuff."
SnailIracing:n(500tpostshpereline)pants
-----------------------------@%
2013-04-04, 9:01 AM #39
You have failed me for the last time, LucasArts.
? :)
2013-04-04, 9:46 AM #40
FU2 disaster?

great gameplay and a solid story it's biggest flaw was that it's a short game.... not even close to disaster
eat right, exercise, die anyway
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