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LucasArts Embraces Game Mod Community
An anonymous reader writes "LucasArts has taken a great step in promoting the modification of their titles and supporting the communities that love them! According to this press release, LucasArts has teamed up with LFNetwork to open LucasFiles.com. The site is dedicated to all files that fall in the LucasArts realm." Given competing games like Neverwinter Nights, which have a phenomenal amount of user-created add-ons, this is a very smart move for LucasArts.
Very smart indeed! Just think about how successful Counter-Strike is. Sierra/Valve doesn't make anything from Counter-Strike but they make boat-loads from the Half-Life game that you need to run Counter-Strike.
FoundNews.com - get paid to blog.,
And the first and highly game mod will be a re-skin for Jar-Jar Binks so he doesn't look like a walking poop-stain!
:)
No. of downloads: 8732
Rated: 10 stars
Description: Highly requested! Jar-Jar replaced with a baywatch babe!
This is not a troll, this is a pleade for it to be done
-Foxxz
The only current game that I can imagine there are fan files for is the Galactic Battlegrounds, an average real-time strategy. Unless LucasArts prepares to release a strong single-player roleplaying game or strategy (single- or multi-player), I see absolutely no reason for them to have a mod community. Why single player, you may ask? Because in the world of RPGs, modding can affect characters in a profound way and can be considered cheating.
Conspiracy theory of the day: Lucasarts puts up a "fan community" site to garner lots of good karma in order to offset the hit it will take when it serves more legal papers to ScummVM (a Lucasarts adventure game interpreter), who just days ago produced another release...
SWG is being developped by Sony Online Entertainment/Verant Interactive, not LucasArts.
/rant off. sorry.
You may remember SoE/VI from the craptacular service they give on Everquest. You'd think that on a company that's pulling $2million+/month profits they'd be able to afford a better support staff.....
But yeah. SWG isn't LucasArts.... For LucasArts... somebody tell me where I can get a nudie mod for Jedi Knight II? Oh yeah... I wanna shoot at naked clones of Jengo Fett....
If you believe everything you read, you'd better not read. - Japanese proverb
(For anyone who doesn't know, ScummVM is a replacement .exe for old games like Day of the Tentacle and Monkey Island; it uses antialiased graphics and hardware MIDI to dramatically improve the picture and sound, and runs on any platform SDL does - unlike the old .exe's that come with the games, which struggle to run on modern machines. LucasArts seem to have mistaken ScummVM with an abandonware site...)
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
NWN, great concept...poor execution.
Until they fix the camera angle, I'm sticking with EQ. Above all I need to be able to play w/o contracting chronic nack/back injuries from trying to see what's 15 feet in front of my character all day.
No, Bioware did not deliver on this one folks. They highly restricted the user environment, and there is very little customizability in the game at all(except hot-swappable keys which have been around almost a decade).
Game mods have been been a huge benefit to gamers(Half-life being the best example). But it's going to be someone else that runs with the fantasy genre.
The government has a defect: it's potentially democratic. Corporations have no defect: they're pure tyrannies. -Chomsky
I mean he's ignored the fans for how long?
But surely this will be the one true mod site. As in, 'If you don't want to play by our rules (No killing Jar^2) or else..
LucasArts doesn't even make games anymore. They throw their name on a product made by another company. Which is why the quality of LA games has changed so greatly since, say the Rebel Assault, era. I really loved the classic lucas arts games. Full Throttle, Loom, Monkey Island are, and will always be awesome.
Why Slashdot is under attack
From http://www.lucasfiles.com/submission.php:
/usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/lucasfiles.com/httpdocs /ssi/right.php on line 10
You hereby grant to LF Network the royalty-free, non-exclusive, transferable right and license to use and exploit all rights in copyright in and to Your Posted Material throughout the universe in all forms of media, whether now known or later developed or created. Accordingly, among other rights, LF Network may reproduce, modify, publish, translate, distribute, sell, perform, and display Your Posted Material alone or as part of other works in any form, media or technology.
Furthermore, the terms of submission incorporate by reference Attachment A, which reads:
Fatal error: Call to undefined function: latest() in
Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the War Room!
I love moddable games. EU2 and HOI from strategyfirst and paradox are the most moddable games I have ever seen. I have been playing games for 20 years and these would be my top 1 and 2. Coming in #3 would be nethack(rogue). These 3 would probably be the top 3 best games I have ever seen, as well as the top 3 most moddable. Coincedence?
Just wait and see what good ol' Georgie's lawyers will say when someone takes Jedi Knight 2 and creates Dirty Wookie Lovin' involving a few dancing blue women, Princess Leia in her sail barge outfit, and one well-endowed Wookie...
I'm totally modding my PC now so I can play burned LucasArts games!
Oh, wait.
That green slime had it coming.
I think the first thing I will do is write a mod to remove the Dewbacks and have a large Ewok celebration everytime I blow up a deathstar. Some things you just shouldn't touch.
Long live the original trilogy, the way it should be.
Friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies.
If this Officially Sanctioned site follows Lucas Arts policy in any way it will be up for grabs once you post. If they borrow from your idea, you won't get anything for it. Sure you might get bragging rights, but that's about it.
Take a look at the Submission Release (.DOC) that you must submit when applying for an Art Position ( FX ARTIST 2 ) with the company.
For those without Word or Open Office:
2. I understand and acknowledge that because of LEC's position (i) it receives numerous submissions of artwork and music from third parties, and (ii) it is constantly developing in-house ideas, formats, stories, concepts, artwork, music, and the like, and that many such submissions and/or developments heretofore or hereafter received and/or developed by LEC may be similar to or identical to those contained in my Submission. I understand and agree that LEC's use of material containing elements similar to or identical with protectible property contained in the Material shall not obligate LEC to me in any manner if LEC shall have developed or obtained such material either heretofore or hereafter independently or exclusively from sources other than from me.
Life moves pretty fast; if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. -FB
Green party and grad students? Ack, what am I then?
somebody tell me where I can get a nudie mod for Jedi Knight II? Oh yeah... I wanna shoot at naked clones of Jengo Fett....
Jengo Fett????
I sense a great disturbance in the force, and i believe it's eminating from a large horde of Natalie Portman fans who are about to vocally let you know the error of your ways!
The starwar's fans will get their collective butts kicked. Though I do admit that a swarm of x-wings could be fairly irritating, photon torpedos travel at warp speeds. Ouch.
shut the fuck up.
A lot of their files were found to be in the "open" already. Granted mostly to collectors and not gamers though.
This could be a cool thing just so long as the lucas guys started to release bonus packs kinda like the Unreal guys, that and if it hasn't already happend a new big fluffy pack(aka bfp3) for jedi knight 2 if there isn't already one......
Why would Lucas Arts pass this out? Can anyone out there tell me how difficult it would really be to make a 1942 esque mmorpg out of Jedi Knight, X-wing series (and follow-ups) and all the other Star Wars games they have released? I can see they don't have the expertise with dealing with a huge number of simultaneous users and running the servers for it, would that really be an issue for them? Finally why can't "universe" games run on a distributed network of servers where anyone can design their own region of space and have it inserted (perhaps based on network geography so if you stay close to home you have more of an advantage)?
Never underestimate the dark side of the Source
Argh! Once again, if my post begins with "In Soviet Russia", it is a troll. The moderation option for troll reads as follows: "Troll".
Personally I'd much rather play D&D with a good dungeon master than EverQuest, so I like NWN. I don't see why the camera angle is such a big deal; I can see more than far enough to cast a fireball without toasting the rest of the party. And I really don't get the "little customizability" comment - I can customize the whole damn game!
It's not EverQuest, and you don't have to like it, but NWN already has about 1800 published mods. Clearly a lot of people think it's a good game for modding.
But not by lucasarts, by whatever copyright they might step on.
New maps, more wookies, flying yodas, etc will probably be tolerated. How would they feel about Jedi Starfighter being turned into a Star Trek game?
But if someone did something like a total conversion mod, say about Dragonball Z or the such, and they gave it some name like Bid for Power, and it was really really cool - much better than any official DBZ game ever created - FUNimation would send out cease and decist orders.
This is a good step, but the modding communities options are still extremely limited.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
I may be alone, but I really liked that game. At first I didn't, but then I bought a cheap steering wheel with pedals and it was great (I think all racing games suck without a steering wheel).
Anyways, I didn't see anything for Racer at the new mod site. Maybe it's time I make the time for it. It was never an 'open' game, but there is very often a way...given persistence. Sometimes all you need is a laid-off engineer. Hmm, like me.
I'd start with figuring out how to add pods (kinda like the car models you can add to 'Need For Speed'). Then tracks and other fun stuff.
I actually bought a stack of those old adventure games *because* of ScummVM. I had played a few of them (Maniac, Monkey Island, Zak McCracken) growing up, but didn't realize how many more of those great games there were.
I bought (just a few months ago) both Indiana Jones games, Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max, a Monkey Island or two, Loom, and I don't remember what all else. But the point is I bought them BECAUSE of ScummVM, and I wish LucasArts would just GET IT and leave the ScummVM folks alone. They're not stealing IP. They're not hurting profits. They're actually contributing to sales of older games. Why are they still being hounded?
Ah, well-- enough ranting. Glad to see the ScummVM folks are sick of waiting for LucasArts to make up its mind, and have gone ahead with the latest release of ScummVM without their permission. Good work, guys!!
Isn't the parent more of a "funny"?
Obviously what's called for here are some high definition Star Trek Mods.
Just imagine Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scotty and Uhura all flying around in an enterprise-skinned millenium falcon. It'll take the concept of nerd-to-nerd combat and make it a high artform:
JARJAR_85
Mesa no lika vulcans.
KIRK_237
Set Phasors to kill.
On another note, surely LucasArts realise that their new MMORPG universe will be 95% populated by naked Natalie Portmans.
You know what the gaming community really needs? Some real-time strategy and strategy dedicated server binaries. EVERYTHING is FPS. A game company releases a RTS, they put up their own "company" servers only and/or peer to peer. Lame. I'm the game server admin for a US national ISP. I have a dedicated subnet with a dedicated OC3 with a bunch of dedicated boxes used only for games. And they're all FPS, because that's all that's out there. Boring. How about a dedicated binary for Galactic Battlegrounds or something George?
Just writing to let those interested know that while LucasArts put out the press release, and supports the site, LucasFiles was conceived and created by, and is and will be maintained by the LucasArts fan community. They didn't make it, they don't run it, and for the most part they don't dictate what we choose to and choose not to post.
Yes, we have been talking to them along the way, and bits of the site was made in a way that would suit the notorious Lucas Legal (most importantly the disclaimers you agree to when uploading and downloading a file). That "little bit" aside, it's our site.
That doesn't mean they can't decide how they're going to promote it. Their press release and the small blurb on the main page of LucasArts.com says that it's "home to mods of LucasArts games," but that's not the limit of the scope of LucasFiles.
In addition to mods, we can also host full-on fangames that don't require, say, Jedi Outcast, to run. Odds are we could host fan games that aren't even related to Star Wars (probably not fan games of the sequel-knockoff variety, I'm talking original stuff)... And, we're also working to reach into the depths of our hard drives and long abandonned file download areas to find some classic stuff that was formerly hard to get your hands on (for instance, old promos and demos relating to Sam & Max hit the road, Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fandango, the Monkey Island series etc etc etc as well as some Lucas titles that are "classics" for entirely different reasons... like Force Commander and Yoda Stories ).
Anyway, by limiting LucasFiles to "another Mod site" or claiming it is LucasArts's own site, made in an attempt to woo you into not noticing some other evil, for one you're wrong, and for two you're really pigeonholeing something the fan community's been after for quite some time. Its amazing to see LucasArts as excited about it as we are (and they are).
Jake
designer, lfnetwork.com
webmaster, mixnmojo.com
p2p-MMORPG with streaming (usermade) content...I've been saying I want one for years now...the closest yet is "Second Reality"...but that's not p2p AFAIK :(
-- Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?
The Dig. I think I'm the only one who liked The Dig. And I'm usually all pissy when games are like interactive movies, but The Dig kicked ass. Maybe it was just a good interactive movie, and that was what did it. Myst with a better story, the liquid terminator and amputations. That had nothing to do with what you said. Whatever. I feel the need to make a techno remix of something with Dig samples.
The TLF (Tighter Leash Factor) is definitely present but that's not the main reason. I mean, two years ago you'd never see LucasArts granting interviews to sites like The Grim Fandango Network and the Clearly Unofficial Monkey Island Website... They have opened up quite a bit (for instance they recently hired someone on full time as an Internet/Fan Community Relations person whose sole purpose is to help out small fansites), though obviously not fully (see: ScummVM). Still, big steps have been made by them. Us fansite webmasters are enjoying it... though its still nowhere near perfect.
LucasArts attitude towards fan developers (who are probably its best customers) is astonishingly short-minded and sometimes insulting.
I'm thinking particularly of their shutting down the Star Wars Modelling Alliance, a fan site devoted to developing (surprisingly good) models of Star Wars characters and creatures. The sheer amount of creative work that came out of people using those models was astonishing. In additional to publishing a lot of great freeware models the site would also post some of the "pictures" and "films" that people had made, etc.. Some were complete gems - one that sticks out particularly in my mind involved a few ATSTs rampaging around urban London.
Perhaps there is someone associated with the site here that knows better, but I was always under the impression that their persistent and long-lasting "hardware difficulties" which started shortly after E1 came out boiled down to letters from the legal department at LucasFilm.
It is a real pity that existing law is structured such that market-regulation can be used to crush non-market creativity.
This is in contradiction with the nwn famous (and infamous) eula. And probably with the licenses of other games the mods are made off.
Soon on El Stupido channel:
Better than catfights in the mud, lawyers fight throughout the universe in all forms of mud !!!
Now that would be cool! Disturbing, but cool.
Ed Wedig
Graphic design services
docbrown.net
If this Officially Sanctioned site follows Lucas Arts policy in any way it will be up for grabs once you post. If they borrow from your idea, you won't get anything for it.
And?
If you create a derivative work based on and requiring use of a LucasArts game, shouldn't LucasArts be the one that stands to benefit financially because of it?
This seems like a pretty standard and harmless working arrangement to me.