LucasArts Layoffs Spark Many Rumors, Including KOTOR 3

It seems that LucasArts has laid off somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 employees, sparking all sorts of interesting leaks and rumors. Chief among the rumors seems to be another carrot in the chase for the LucasArts/Bioware MMO project, which according to one employee, will take the shape of KOTOR 3. "Most interesting, however, is the information they provide on how the layoffs leave the company severely short-staffed as they approach a packed development schedule, one which it appears may be increasingly outsourced. Some of the titles they report LucasArts apparently have in this stacked pipeline, whether as publisher or developer, include: KOTOR 3, Battlefront 3, 'The Official Indiana Jones' game, another LEGO based game based on the Indy universe, and 'a lightsaber game for the Wii.'"

KOTOR3

[Anarke_Incarnate]

You get to play as an aging Han Solo who finds an artifact and meets aliens..........wait........redundant?

Meh.

[Fieryphoenix]

I stopped caring about LucasArts when they stopped making space combat simulators.

make a new version of Xwing vs Tie Fighter

[Anonymous Coward]

Amen

They need to make an up to date version of Xwing vs Tie Fighter... Imagine a 20 ship scrum going on with shinny new graphics...

Re:

[Jor-Al]

I'd prefer an update of just the original X-Wing game. I still remember the first time I blew up a Star Destroyer in that game. For all the times I died trying, it was just cool when I finally accomplished it.

Re:make a new version of Xwing vs Tie Fighter

[Prien715]

For what it's worth, X-Wing Alliance was the last game in the series and has actually aged pretty well. Since it's actually entirely 3D, people have created new models for it that are much more complex than the originals and fit in well with the missions provided. Plus, they actually got Mark Hamil to do some of the voice-overs;)

Re:

[antdude]

I think I still have XWA. Where are these enhancements at? I'd love to play again if these enhancements are really good.

I would love to see an online Star Wars space games as a big MMO. Like 100 players in a battle or something.

Re:

[DittoBox]

X-Wing Alliance Upgrade [xwaupgrade.com].

May the!...uhh...oh forget it.

Re:

[antdude]

Thanks. Hmm, there's no one package to download all? :(

Re:make a new version of Xwing vs Tie Fighter

[MBGMorden]

While still fun it it's own right, EVE Online isn't really space combat like Lucasarts did it. That genre of being inside the combat of a "space fighter", in the style of X-Wing, Wing Commander, Descent Freespace, etc, is something that I really miss.

Re:

[drinkypoo]

You can play fs2_open :) I've been playing Vega Strike, it has a broad variety in its spaceflight-based gameplay, but not any story to speak of (I hear a campaign is being worked on now.) I've been hacking around in VS to play with capital ships and it's all great fun.

Re:

[Ihmhi]

The questions I asked my friend who played EVE Online:

ME) Can you, in the event of your weapons being down and severe damage to your shields, gloriously do a suicide run and ram into your enemy and blow him up?
HIM) No.
ME) Can you bump someone into the gravity well of a sun or black hole and laugh as they get sucked in?
HIM) No.
ME) Can you whip around a planet, asteroid, sun, etc. a few times and come flying out at hella fast speeds?
HIM) Oh, you mean a gravity whip?
ME) Yeah.
HIM) No.

It was at that p

Re:

[Jarik_Tentsu]

I started off with XvT and XWA. Great games. There was a massive modifying scene back then and you could unlock all the standard ships, then download all the ships from the EU (which was good fun. Playing as a Tie Defender from the EU was great fun. Damn agile those things - with great deflector shielding too!). There were maps and missions you could download and I used to play with a gameplay mod which made everything faster (Lot more fun when playing multiplayer - lot harder too!).

Even ignoring the modify

Re:

[Fozzyuw]

I'd prefer an update of just the original X-Wing game.

My friend just found his copy of Tie Fighter. I guess that's why I haven't seen him in a long time. He prefers blowing up Rebels.

Re:make a new version of Xwing vs Tie Fighter

[mako1138]

There's a TIE Fighter Total Conversion [gaylenol.com] that combines TIE Fighter with the XWA engine. I haven't tried it, because I still haven't finished XWA!

That site also has ship model upgrades, it seems.

Re:

[STrinity]

Come on, if you want a Star Wars fighter sim, it's Tie Fighter all the way -- blow the crap outta whiney rebel scum!

Re:

[Rhys]

An up to date XvT + MMO (think Planetside, but star wars and in space) would rock so hard.

Targeting locks were for pansies. Real men used blind fire torpedoes. (and still hit!)

Re:

[Hairy Heron]

[Groundskeeper Willy] He's got the Shinning! [/Groundskeeper Willy]

Re:

[moderatorrater]

Agreed. I don't think any game has matched the sheer amount of fun I've had while flying a tie fighter against a bunch of a-wings, x-wings and y-wings. I say this as a man who primarily plays RPGs and RTSs.

Re:

[Ephemeriis]

I stopped caring about LucasArts when they stopped making space combat simulators.

I miss space combat simulators... I really enjoyed the FreeSpace games, and X-Wing, Independence War, and Wing Commander...

Hmmm... Does anybody make space combat sims anymore? I can't think of any in recent history...

Re:

[rtechie]

The best space combat sim in recent years was 2006's Darkstar One [darkstar-one.com]. There was also last year's Spaceforce: Rogue Universe [spaceforce-game.com].

Re:

[bigstrat2003]

Jumpgate Evolution [wikipedia.org] looks pretty intriguing. I'm not sure if that'll scratch my X-Wing itch, but I'm willing to give it a shot, it looks like it has a chance at being good.

Re:

[quanticle]

Not really. Eve Online isn't a flight simulator, its an RPG. You don't have the visceral fun of actually dodging around and flying maneuvers in an effort to get the perfect angle on your enemy. Instead (like in many other MMORPGs) you fly in, select your target and your ship does all the work for you.

The real fun in Eve Online is in outfitting and customizing your ship, which is why many people say that Eve Online is fun if your idea of entertainment involves Excel spreadsheets.

Re:Meh.

[Alinabi]

I stopped caring when they stopped making adventure games

Re:

[Goaway]

Sorry, but it is nothing like the old Lucasarts adventure games. What defined those was far, far more than the interface.

Re:

[Sciros]

Did you ever play Jedi Knight II? Heck of a game on PC, especially with how much work the mod community put into it. Fantastic online multiplayer where I used... Link with the Master Sword (in place of a lightsaber) hehe. That, Shadows, and KOTOR are probably the 3 best SW games I've ever played.

Re:

[ubrgeek]

Oh, I don't know, I'm glad they might be making " the Official Indiana Jones' game." I've felt bad about playing the unofficial versions all this time.

What the hell does the "official" version mean? LucasArts released all of the others, haven't they? Well, with the exception of the truly terrible role-playing game version [wikipedia.org].

NOOOOO!!!!

[Hatta]

KOTOR3 as an MMO? That's awful. KOTOR 1 and 2 were the best adventure games to come out in a long time. That's what I want more of, adventure games.

I want a game with a compelling story, and interesting puzzles interwoven into the plot. I don't think that's possible to do with an MMO. I want to be the (singular)hero, the protagonist to the story. You can't have a compelling story with thousands of protagonists.

This is really bad news.

Re:

[Alzheimers]

Relax -- it'll only be your favorite game for about a year.

Eventually, they'll find some way to cock it up.

It IS Lucasarts, after all -- they have a reputation to uphold!

Re:NOOOOO!!!!

[Taibhsear]

This is really bad news.
I got a bad feeling about this.

Fixed that for you.

Re:

[Colonel Korn]

I haven't played it, but from what I understand Age of Conan actually does do a pretty good job of telling a compelling story in which you are the main character through its lengthy single player segments.

Re:

[sukotto]

I want that too. But I also want to beat the snot out of other people with a lightsaber (and possibly force levitated objects or choking) in multiplayer.

Best of all worlds as far as I'm concerned :-)

Re:

[Hatta]

I also want to beat the snot out of other people with a lightsaber

That's what the Jedi Knight series is for. We need another release of Jedi Knight badly.

Re:

[bigstrat2003]

We really do. Maybe The Force Unleashed will give me an outlet for my lightsaber-wielding needs... only time will tell, I guess.

Also, we need another game in the X-Wing series even worse. I'd pretty much kill for another one of those...

Re:

[aztektum]

I think you COULD have a good story based MMO. Not at first, but over time. My idea is as such...

1. Make WoW with an open static world.
2. Create toolset letting players write adventures (ala NWN)
3. Release game to masses
4. ???
5. Profit111!!

Re:

[Hatta]

What do you mean by an "open static world". You can't have much of a story if the world is static(unchanging).

Re:

[aztektum]

I mean like an "over world". Scripted story parts could unfold in pubs/cantinas in the over world, "meet here to start" type of thing. only people in your group are subjected to an NPC's babble while the rest of the players run around oblivious.

but you also allow instanced dungeons. it would move from between the seamless worlds like WoW/SWG/etc have into instances and back out. but you'd have one main big world is what i meant by "static"

i don't really care very much about the world itself changing. you co

Re:

[Darth]

you left off :

6. Get sued into oblivion by hordes of parents when some jackass creates the "Find the ancient cock sculpture of Algernon" quest.

The idea could work, but there'd need to be a gatekeeper on the content flowing into the game and that would be very hard to implement effectively.

Re:

[aztektum]

you could have a small staff that QA's submitted modules, but really it could be as easy as "deputize" the player base. have random "mod points" given to players (that sounds familiar) and point them at "new" quests/stories submitted to play through for QA to make sure someone isn't gettin' loot called "Elixir of Sum Yung Gai" or "Go here and watch me fuck your mom!" quests.

Re:

[Hatta]

I just don't see it. Only one person can save the galaxy. I don't want to have to compete with thousands of people to be that person.

YESSSSSSSS!

[argent]

Only one person can save the galaxy. I don't want to have to compete with thousands of people to be that person.

Saving galaxies, can you stop at one?

Galaxies, save all you want, we'll make more!

We replaced this young Jedi's galaxy with Folger's Crystals. Let's see if he notices!

****click****VOOOOOOORN****SWISH****THUMP****

Re:

[servognome]

I just don't see it. Only one person can save the galaxy. I don't want to have to compete with thousands of people to be that person.

Didn't you watch the movies? Thousands of people helped save the galaxy, in fact the primary "hero" of the OT didn't even play a major role in the final battle, he was busy having father-son bonding time.

Re:

[drinkypoo]

in fact the primary "hero" of the OT didn't even play a major role in the final battle, he was busy having father-son bonding time.

Do you really think that there's a more important job for a Jedi than keeping both of the last two remaining Sith in the universe busy?

Actually, it's not that stupid

[Moraelin]

Actually, think about it. What made KOTOR probably the best non-flight-sim SW game, or generally movie-based game, was the fact that Bioware chose to just move 5000 years away from the SW story and make their own epic story in that universe. It's technically the same universe, but 5000 years is enough for whole civilizations to rise and fall... repeatedly. So nobody expects it to be an exact clone or rehash of the movie.

I mean, think about, say, Jedi in SWG. They actually launched an official MMO without Je

LucasArts just hasn't been the same...

[Anonymous Coward]

LucasArts just hasn't been the same since the late 90's. Deciding to solely exploit the Star Wars franchise instead of the incredible IP they had built up over the last decade was probably the worst decision they could have made.

Now, we're all a little tired of the endless Star Wars games (and not even the great ones, like Tie Fighter!), and they're laying off staff and outsourcing to continue producing the same Star Wars crud.

Not a good sign for LucasArts' future if you ask me.

Re:

[sukotto]

This new Lucas Arts is more in line with George's original vision. :-(

Re:LucasArts just hasn't been the same...

[servognome]

I think the key problem was once the adventure game genre dried up, Lucas arts couldn't reinvent themselves and ended up with just the Star Wars franchise to exploit.

Re:

[westlake]

I think the key problem was once the adventure game genre dried up, Lucas arts couldn't reinvent themselves and ended up with just the Star Wars franchise to exploit.

Would it have been so impossible to bring to a story oriented RPG or shooter the originality and imagination of Grim Fandango?

Re:

[STrinity]

Deciding to solely exploit the Star Wars franchise instead of the incredible IP they had built up over the last decade was probably the worst decision they could have made.

Yeah, where's "Howard the Duck Solves the Radioland Murders" and "Willow XXVII: The Pooping Pigeons of Pelyndrin"?

Do I have to hand in my nerd badge...

[NewbieProgrammerMan]

...because I have no fucking clue what KOTOR is?

Re:Do I have to hand in my nerd badge...

[Anonymous Coward]

Knight of the Old Republic

Re:

[pluther]

Yes.

For three reasons:

1. Not knowing what KOTOR is. This is, of course, the very least of the un-nerd-like tendencies displayed in your post.

2. Not bothering to look it up. Assuming it stems from laziness rather than a lack of curiosity, this still isn't enough to completely lose nerddom, though it's getting close.

3. Being proud of your ignorance rather than making an attempt at fixing it. Sorry, this is the end for you. Turn in your nerd badge and take those pens out of your pocket. Go buy some beer

Re:Do I have to hand in my nerd badge...

[hidannik]

Yes, violating a cannon is only one of the ways to take liberties with it. But be careful that someone doesn't fire the cannon while you're violating it, or you just might find out how much bigger one of its balls is than yours.

Re:

[RiotingPacifist]

I never got why star wars haven't managed to make a good RPG out of the huge amount of cannon surrounding the film eras.

Shocked to not to see Monkey Island 5...

[stardude82]

Or Grim Fandango 2 on the list. Sigh...

NDAs

[pak9rabid]

I see those NDAs that LucasArts probably made their employees sign went a long way.

Bad news!

[cashman73]

Plans for partnering with 3D Realms to assist in programming Jar Jar Binks as the head "bad guy" to kill at the end of Duke Nukem Forever have been put on hold. Oh darn! =)

dammit

[Shinra]

I don't really care about the other games, but I want a KOTOR 3 dammit! =(

Layoffs; The Remake!

[mandark1967]

When the inevitable happens and a disgruntled former employee goes berzerk when told he is laid off and is then shot by a security guard, you can bet George Lucas will edit the security cam footage to make it appear disgruntled worker shot first.

Deathstar go boom!

[Jackie_Chan_Fan]

I felt a great disturbance in the Force...as if a 100 voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.

Lucas the great rebel... is really just another corporate dick.

Re:

[hostyle]

Using the handle of a whip perchance? Or perhaps a fake hand?

Re:Fuck George Lucas

[D Ninja]

Double bladed lightsaber?

Re:Fuck George Lucas

[Sponge Bath]

The triple bladed light-saber gives a closer shave.

Re:Fuck George Lucas

[ichthyoboy]

Fuck everything, we're doing five blades.

Re:

[hansamurai]

Isn't that essentially what Lucas did with General Grievous?

Re:

[Apathist]

Ah, the good old Gillette 3000... (aussie irreverancy at it's best)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gStI9ysPrhs [youtube.com]

Re:

[jedidiah]

Conjures up some imagery of Diana Jones and the Dungeon of Doom... ....many many whips. ...mebbe even a few snakes for the benefit of the poor victim (Henry Jones Jr).

Re:

[gstoddart]

We call that one the "Darth Rimjob"

No, we call that Darth Goatse. :-P

Cheers

Re:Fuck George Lucas

[plasmacutter]

i'm surprised and delighted to see this concise summation of my opinion given this information.

1 - the guy is not only beating dead horse franchises to powder, but he's going necro too, dragging them up from decades ago for a second round, this time using light sabers to beat the leftover powder into vapor.

2 - he's laying off experienced, skilled american labor who have demonstrated their loyalty for god knows how many years of work to replace them with offshore labor. He doesn't even bother to invent a pretext like "there just aren't enough talented americans". It's like watching your spouse make mad, horny love to whoever theyre cheating with on your dinner table in front of your 5 year old children.

3 - not only is he doing this, but he's adding insult to injury to both his remaining american staff and his customers by cutting this staff from dev and QA, meaning more pissed customers putting dents in the devs' reputations when it was the head honcho himself who overworked, understaffed, and partially repopulated his departments with trainees who in all likelihood barely meet minimum qualifications.

so yeah.. the conclusion.. (explative deleted) george lucas... it's absolutely brilliant. it boils down 3 paragraphs into a 3 word post title.

Re:

[servognome]

he's laying off experienced, skilled american labor who have demonstrated their loyalty for god knows how many years of work to replace them with offshore labor.

Just to play devil's advocate, how many of those employees would have decided to leave and work for a foreign company if they thought they'd get paid more.

Re:

[Dan667]

When they work in a foreign country and their family hates it and they are tired of weird squishy food and odd customs they will wish they had not gone.

The difference for a company is that work will suffer as there are all kinds of new barriers to putting out good work including culture, time zones, and language. It can be done, but generally it is not.

Re:

[ozbird]

When they work in a foreign country and their family hates it and they are tired of weird squishy food and odd customs they will wish they had not gone.

Exactly - no one likes weird squishy food [mcdonalds.com] and odd customs [presidentialelection.com].

Re:

[Dan667]

The HQ can be anywhere, but if the team was in one place and then is distributed (ie outsource pieces of the project), then the project will suffer.

Re:

[Jackie_Chan_Fan]

Just to play devil's advocate, how many of those employees would have decided to leave and work for a foreign company if they thought they'd get paid more.

Just to play devil's advocate... There are plenty of countries that can do just about everything we can, for slave wages. Why not just outsource all of our jobs? It would certainly be more profitable for the wealthy, but I dont want to hear them bitch and moan about walmarts moving into their neighborhoods.

Whats the point of employing people? What is our responsibility to our communities?

Re:

[servognome]

Just to play devil's advocate... There are plenty of countries that can do just about everything we can, for slave wages. Why not just outsource all of our jobs?

Because in many cases it doesn't make business sense. Almost half the time outsourcing fails [bizjournals.com]. And with oil prices rising the ROI for labor cost is becoming negative [google.com]. For the most part, outsourcing is the worker's boogeyman, something that is blown out of proportion.

would certainly be more profitable for the wealthy

Outsourcing is also beneficial f

Re:

[servognome]

On the contrary, offshoring has been part of the steady erosion of the middle class, and it doesn't receive enough attention. During the post-war boom, it was common to graduate high school and make $20 an hour at a unionized manufacturing job. Good luck doing that today; many struggle to make that much with a college degree.

Ahhh the romanticism of the post-war boom. The facts don't support the idea that the American family [bls.gov] was better off in 1950 than it was today, nor does it support that manufacturing ha

Re:

[MightyMartian]

Actually, I thought your post was much more representative, in that sort of rule-mongery whiney "But I've got the +5 sword" kinda way.

Re:Wii, lightsabre game?

[SBacks]

You can make your own now, just strap a bunch of LEDs to a Wiimote and run around hitting people.

Re:Wii, lightsabre game?

[BigAssRat]

The Wii-mote probably would do a great simulation of a light sabre considering both would have about the same balance type. Since a light sabre would not have any weight where the blade would be either. Kind of a cool concept for the wii-mote. And you can sell a light sabre "handle" for the wii-mote to fit in.

Re:Wii, lightsabre game?

[gstoddart]

And you can sell a light sabre "handle" for the wii-mote to fit in.

Already exists. Don't know what games it's for.

As to the weight of the light saber -- have we established it would have no weight? Certainly, any of the scenes in which a light saber flies around, the physics seem modeled to indicate weight.

Not that, in the grand scheme of things, the weight of a light saber is a meaningful discussion. But, you know. It's Friday. :-P

Cheers

Re:

[Jacer]

Several of the books describe it not as a beam of light, but as a plasma circuit that extends one meter and curves 180 degrees back to the base, which is why the tip is round. While not much that would give it some mass. As an aside, it would also be 5000c, hot enough that holding the handle would be a sure fire way to get some serious burnination.

screw books

[unity100]

if you ever take that expanded universe crap seriously, you should prepare yourself to seeing star wars more like a barbara cartland novel than sci fi. ex imperial admirals running away in love, 'hiding' in black holes and whatnot. total crap.

Re:

[geekoid]

In the first movies, the tip was not round, and there was an edge.

The fact that it would need to be 5000c kinda means that's how the must not be doing it, since no one could be near one.

Re:

[Wavebreak]

Only because lazors went out of style when the masses started to realize they don't actually work anything like that.

Re:Wii, lightsabre game?

[oldmacdonald]

I guess the name LIGHT sabre is what confused me.

That just means it doesn't weigh very much!

Re:

[meringuoid]

As to the weight of the light saber -- have we established it would have no weight?

A laser sword has to be a magnetically contained tube of plasma; anything else is clearly ludicrous [darthsanddroids.net]. It cannot have a very high rest mass, and a high enough thermal energy density for it to have a significant weight from the energy... well, that would cook the planet.

However, interesting side-effects might arise from moving such an intense magnetic field at such speed. There should be a current flow. Lightsabers ought to

Re:

[geekoid]

No it doesn't, it could be some technology the we don't have, like most of the god damned movie.

Re:

[Jarjarthejedi]

I know of one book that describes it as having a weight, Darth Bane: Path of Destruction (or something like that). It describes the apprentices (sith) using durasteel (typically presented as pretty heavy) blades to simulate the heft and weight of a lightsaber.

Re:

[neostorm]

Since a light sabre would not have any weight where the blade would be either.

Not true! Their blades are just light-weight!

Re:

[geekoid]

IN an universe where the eing have complete technological control over gravity, I thing your making an hell of an assumption about the weight of the blade. By all visual cues the blade does, in fact, have weight.

However, yes it's going to be damn cool. The Wii Lego star wars game use the Wii motion for light saber action..or so I heard.

Re:

[CannonballHead]

I have always wondered why good swordfighting games have never come out... it's always been just the default moves, combo moves, blah blah blah. Hopefully, since it would use the wii controllers, this will be cool :)

Re:

[Torvaun]

Because the Wii-mote will not stop when it hits their blade. My brother fences, and he assures me that a Wii sword-fighting game would be terrible.

Re:

[CannonballHead]

To a purist fencer (something I'd love to get into, as an aside), or to a gamer?

I'm sure the original SNES "Duck Hunt" with the little gun thing wasn't the most accurate simulation, either, but it was more fun than shooting with a mouse...

Re:

[Torvaun]

OK, but tactile feedback is a very important part of sword-fighting, much more so than recoil is for shooting. Maybe vibration will be good enough, but I'm still not convinced.

Re:

[Kjella]

Yep..... you might do a "repel the blaster shots" game or "fight vs drones" etc. as the light saber seems to slice through them as thin air, but the epic jedi vs jedi light saber duels would be just stupid. Imagine you take a big swing that gets blocked, either you pass right through the opponents light saber (stupid) or the blade is blocked ingame but the wiimote continues onward (stupid) so you have to realign your wiimote with the saber on screen somehow.

Re:

[steveo777]

So... you get penalized for wildly swinging when there isn't an opening. The character reels and you have to get your Wiimote back into position. The faster you do, the quicker the recovery on screen. Just a thought. It's no replacement for real tactile feedback, but without actually fencing, you're not going to get any anyway. Well, maybe if the Wiimote was made from metal and you were standing in a highly sophisticated "magenet room" that could force that thing to stop dead in its tracks. Would be c

Re:

[CannonballHead]

Hmmm. Maybe it'd have to be a two player game then. ;)

Re:

[geekoid]

"OK, but tactile feedback is a very important part of sword-fighting,"
  modern real sword fighting, but not with a light saber. Whose wielders use the force to determine strikes before they happen.

You could pop the control into a plastic sword.

Re:

[Tebriel]

Emperor Palpatine: Nope, she died like a bitch. You hungry? Let's go get a taco.

Re:

[Hoi Polloi]

Emperor Palpatine: Ha ha! Just kidding. No, she got drunk at a clone party and slept with a stormtrooper while you were away. Don't ask me which one, they all look alike to me.

Darth Vader: Ok, NOW I'm going to kill her.

Re:

[servognome]

A few years later: http://www.adultswim.com/video/?episodeID=0fd921112e08096673a1100050fb4df1 [adultswim.com]
Yup Vader is still a whiney little bitch