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What ever happened to LucasArts?

The Secret of Monkey Island
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
The Dig
Full Throttle
Sam and Max

They were all brilliant. Loved the worlds and characters. I grew up on that genre. More recently they had Grim Fandango and a few decent Monkey Island games. But nothing else.

Anyone know of any new projects?

Its kind of sad that kids these days grow up on Vice City and Quake. All gore and no brains.

lucas arts is owned by george lucas who created star wars
so it does make sense that they have just been concentrating on making some decent star wars games recently and not more games like monkey island i do miss that game they r all classic games

There's plenty of other games out there that require "brains". Prince of Persia: TSOT for example, that's a fairly good puzzle-like game.

I grew up with such games also (especially the input-text-based Quests from Sierra, and a couple of Lucasarts games).

You gotta understand, most of those companies must make games that sell to survive. And if you look good, the game genres evolve in waves. Just look in the past and you'll see usually one major game came out that "revolutionized" the whole game world.

The adventure series � la lucasarts/sierra were very prolific in the early 90's, as were flight sims (the golden days of Microprose). When Myst came out, that was the new genre to beat (all the ripoffs like Lighthouse, Rama, return to Zork). Command & Conquer and Warcraft did the same thing. All of the sudden most games that came out had to be strategic games. Now we're more in the trend of Quake likes and GTA likes.
Before, the console world and the PC world were very separated (they both had their typical games, but the same problem, everything in waves). But once the consoles became more powerful the two worlds came together.

It's very understandable that all those lookalike releases come out, one day people are getting bored of it. And that boredom can last a long time. Without any "revolutionary" new ideas, people are not interested anymore (pff another quake like, pff that just looks just like GTA with other characters...). Except that now, the time between those waves are getting longer, as the advance in technology has been so big just since a couple of years.

I believe that everything goes in cycles. One day the people will get bored with the genres wreaking havoc now, and the programmers will surely find their way back to stuff they already did before (like adventure games for example). But nowadays I'm more worried with what's going on in the heads of the people that make games. When I look at the games released now, I see most of the efforts are done in the graphics/sound/effects area (what I call the packaging). And not in the real content of the game (the gameplay, the fun you can have with it). Recent games are not even remotely as fun as the games I grew up with (the main reason I think the retro game/emulation scene is still as strong). It's been a long time since I've seen a game I thought in myself, damn that's original. Again, this is not the fault of the programmers themselves, as it's the people that ask to be wowed visually/aurally. And seriously, in my opinion this has to change. But, you know, once you got the smell of money, it never goes away. That's why they take the easy route, if it sells, it's ok.

quote:

Originally posted by Dj Thy I grew up with such games also (especially the input-text-based Quests from Sierra, and a couple of Lucasarts games). You gotta understand, most of those companies must make games that sell to survive. And if you look good, the game genres evolve in waves. Just look in the past and you'll see usually one major game came out that "revolutionized" the whole game world. The adventure series � la lucasarts/sierra were very prolific in the early 90's, as were flight sims (the golden days of Microprose). When Myst came out, that was the new genre to beat (all the ripoffs like Lighthouse, Rama, return to Zork). Command & Conquer and Warcraft did the same thing. All of the sudden most games that came out had to be strategic games. Now we're more in the trend of Quake likes and GTA likes. Before, the console world and the PC world were very separated (they both had their typical games, but the same problem, everything in waves). But once the consoles became more powerful the two worlds came together. It's very understandable that all those lookalike releases come out, one day people are getting bored of it. And that boredom can last a long time. Without any "revolutionary" new ideas, people are not interested anymore (pff another quake like, pff that just looks just like GTA with other characters...). Except that now, the time between those waves are getting longer, as the advance in technology has been so big just since a couple of years. I believe that everything goes in cycles. One day the people will get bored with the genres wreaking havoc now, and the programmers will surely find their way back to stuff they already did before (like adventure games for example). But nowadays I'm more worried with what's going on in the heads of the people that make games. When I look at the games released now, I see most of the efforts are done in the graphics/sound/effects area (what I call the packaging). And not in the real content of the game (the gameplay, the fun you can have with it). Recent games are not even remotely as fun as the games I grew up with (the main reason I think the retro game/emulation scene is still as strong). It's been a long time since I've seen a game I thought in myself, damn that's original. Again, this is not the fault of the programmers themselves, as it's the people that ask to be wowed visually/aurally. And seriously, in my opinion this has to change. But, you know, once you got the smell of money, it never goes away. That's why they take the easy route, if it sells, it's ok.

Good points, I would actually agree with you on those. Well I hope we are close to the end of this "cycle" but I fear that the masses are getting "dumber". I see kids these days and no one is reading anything except if they have to. I had read a bucket load of novels by the time I was 16 and these days all you see is thumbs wacking away 24/7. Quite sad.

The only sierra games I got into where Police and Space Quest. Never did like King's Quest; not much of a fantasy fan. I was more into Lucasarts; loved their sense of humour, the characters and the interface.

Ah well, dont have much time for games these days anyways. What did become of Sierra anyways? Were they bought out?

I must agree that Kings quest wasn't my forte either, but Space Quest and Police quest were cool, and not to forget Leisure Suit Larry (Al lowe really had cool humor). But they still exist. But they are part of the big quake like movement. Half life was brought under their wing, No one lives forever, Alien vs Predator, etc... All the Nascar games...

Actually I prefered the original text input interface (like the first three Space quests and Larry's) from Sierra over the point and click interface of Lucasarts. Once they went point and click, their charm was gone for me (that and the fact their stories started to get unoriginal).

I still play lots of games from the old times (both adventure as whack the crap out of your joystick types), as I feel today's games are not worth it anymore.

You might be glad to hear that Leisure Suit Larry and Sam and Max are probably getting a sequal. Still point and click, but fully 3D... There was a sequel planned for Full Throttle also, but it went down.

Larry
http://www.clubic.com/images/shot/g26758.jpg
Sam and Max
http://www.samandmax.net/images/magazinescan.jpg

quote:

Originally posted by Dj Thy Sam and Max http://www.samandmax.net/images/magazinescan.jpg

That Sam and Max news is great! Nostalgia factor is going to go through the roof on that one. Too bad about Full Throttle though. The first one was so well done (albeit a tad easy).

i remember when Police Quest Swat came out which pretty much slammed the nail in the coffin of the police quest series. Rip Sonny Bonds (was that his name?).

The reason why I prefered LucasArts over Sierra was because you could never die (against division policy apparantly) and the character dialouges were more memorable. Here's hoping for more from either of them.

quote:

Originally posted by razmataz Good points, I would actually agree with you on those. Well I hope we are close to the end of this "cycle" but I fear that the masses are getting "dumber". I see kids these days and no one is reading anything except if they have to. I had read a bucket load of novels by the time I was 16 and these days all you see is thumbs wacking away 24/7. Quite sad. The only sierra games I got into where Police and Space Quest. Never did like King's Quest; not much of a fantasy fan. I was more into Lucasarts; loved their sense of humour, the characters and the interface. Ah well, dont have much time for games these days anyways. What did become of Sierra anyways? Were they bought out?

oldschool lucas arts games were great because george lucas wasn't required to direct at all lolz.

I miss these games: The Secret of Monkey Island, Full Throttle

I wish there were games like these but with better graphics

there are already 3 sequels to The Secret of Monkey Island".....
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
The Curse of Monkey Island
Escape from Monkey Island

"At some point in the future, there will undoubtedly be more Monkey Island games. No doubt about that." - LucasArts CEO Simon Jefferey

http://www.scummbar.com/games/monkey5/

quote:

Originally posted by razmataz That Sam and Max news is great! Nostalgia factor is going to go through the roof on that one. Too bad about Full Throttle though. The first one was so well done (albeit a tad easy). i remember when Police Quest Swat came out which pretty much slammed the nail in the coffin of the police quest series. Rip Sonny Bonds (was that his name?). The reason why I prefered LucasArts over Sierra was because you could never die (against division policy apparantly) and the character dialouges were more memorable. Here's hoping for more from either of them.

I just found out that Larry game has gotten a full "Tomb Raider" treatment to please the console guys (those should be shot)

About Lucasarts vs Sierra, it all comes down to personal preference (although I think you could die in some Lucasarts games). Dialogues in Sierra games were great also (Al Lowe games and the Andromeda Guys especially). One of my all time favorites is from Space Quest 4. Roger Wilco is warped through time, and at one point in the game, he returns to a moment/location he visited in Space Quest one. The original space quest one was from the period were EGA was about the mainstream color mode, lot's of people still had monochrome, and VGA, well, that was only for pro's and rich people. When modern Roger walks in the bar, two black and white colored bikers are talking to each other, and notice the colorful Roger. Suddenly, one says full of jealousy : "Hey, look who's there, it's mister Hey-look-at-me-I'm-in-VGA, pfff, showoff". First time I heard that (it was the full spoken version already). Or the time the spaceship captain says he wants to thank all of his crew personally. Then there's about 3 minutes he goes : "thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,...". The kind of jokes you go "what the?", I like those.

quote:

Originally posted by Dj Thy I just found out that Larry game has gotten a full "Tomb Raider" treatment to please the console guys (those should be shot) About Lucasarts vs Sierra, it all comes down to personal preference (although I think you could die in some Lucasarts games). Dialogues in Sierra games were great also (Al Lowe games and the Andromeda Guys especially). One of my all time favorites is from Space Quest 4. Roger Wilco is warped through time, and at one point in the game, he returns to a moment/location he visited in Space Quest one. The original space quest one was from the period were EGA was about the mainstream color mode, lot's of people still had monochrome, and VGA, well, that was only for pro's and rich people. When modern Roger walks in the bar, two black and white colored bikers are talking to each other, and notice the colorful Roger. Suddenly, one says full of jealousy : "Hey, look who's there, it's mister Hey-look-at-me-I'm-in-VGA, pfff, showoff". First time I heard that (it was the full spoken version already). Or the time the spaceship captain says he wants to thank all of his crew personally. Then there's about 3 minutes he goes : "thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,...". The kind of jokes you go "what the?", I like those.

By the time we got our first computer VGA was already mainstream (I'm not that old!). Even better were the Adlib Soundcards. I could never figure out why our 486 had a 66 Mhz turbo button that if you depressed would slow the computer down to 55 Mhz. Who the hell would want to slow down the computer? I guess that innovation didnt last long.

The only Sierra games I finished were PQ 1,2,3 and SQ 1 & 5. I dont know why I never tried the other SQ games but I thoroughly enjoyed SQ 5. PQ was dripping with style though. Coolness personified.

I don't know what it was about Lucasarts. Every character was just so colorful. I still remember when in Monkey Island 1, near the end of the game, you walk Guybrush Threepwood to the edge of a cliff and the ledge crumbles below him. He falls and you get a big "game over-you have died" sign. It was so devastating as you had pulled him through far worse situations without a hitch and you didnt have to walk onto the ledge for any purpose. All of a sudden Guybrush comes flying back from below back onto the cliff, looks around and says "Wow, I never knew rubber trees were made of rubber".

Wat about Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy, those were great

Yeah, those two are really old games

Well, I'm not that old either (turned 23 yesterday), but I started with computers fairly early (20 years ago). I've still known the time where monochrome was the way to go (I'm talking about PC's huh).

About the EGA/VGA question, I'm talking about own experience. The first version of Space Quest 1 was in EGA and was released in 1986. At that time VGA wasn't even mentioned where I lived (it started getting mainstream end '88). SQ1 was rereleased in VGA (the SCI version) in 1991.

But I really encourage you to play the Larry Laffer series, and especially the Space Quest series (as personally, I find SQ5 one of the weakest in the humor department compared to the others).

Ah, and the turbo button, really had a purpose. It was really a slowdown button, but that wouldn't be a good selling argument would it? With turbo engaged, it ran at it's nominal speed... The problem was, at that time they didn't program the same way as now. They didn't really account for faster computers. The programmers made their programs for what gear they had right then. It was especially problematic with games (and as you know, it's a big money industry). Your game ran fine on the older 386, but on your brand new 486 dx2 66, it was unplayable, because it ran way too fast. That's where the turbo button entered. It didn't only slow down the clock speed, but also memory communication (a lot), so it got useable again.

Then they started capping games. Even if you have the most powerful computer on the world, you'll see an increase in performance, but they programmed it that way it's still very playable. So, the turbo button went down.

Theres that new Star Wars game comming out called Republic Comando, Its going to be massive since the game takes place between Attack Of The Clones and Episode 3rd.

quote:

Originally posted by Dj Thy Yeah, those two are really old games Well, I'm not that old either (turned 23 yesterday), but I started with computers fairly early (20 years ago). I've still known the time where monochrome was the way to go (I'm talking about PC's huh). About the EGA/VGA question, I'm talking about own experience. The first version of Space Quest 1 was in EGA and was released in 1986. At that time VGA wasn't even mentioned where I lived (it started getting mainstream end '88). SQ1 was rereleased in VGA (the SCI version) in 1991. But I really encourage you to play the Larry Laffer series, and especially the Space Quest series (as personally, I find SQ5 one of the weakest in the humor department compared to the others). Ah, and the turbo button, really had a purpose. It was really a slowdown button, but that wouldn't be a good selling argument would it? With turbo engaged, it ran at it's nominal speed... The problem was, at that time they didn't program the same way as now. They didn't really account for faster computers. The programmers made their programs for what gear they had right then. It was especially problematic with games (and as you know, it's a big money industry). Your game ran fine on the older 386, but on your brand new 486 dx2 66, it was unplayable, because it ran way too fast. That's where the turbo button entered. It didn't only slow down the clock speed, but also memory communication (a lot), so it got useable again. Then they started capping games. Even if you have the most powerful computer on the world, you'll see an increase in performance, but they programmed it that way it's still very playable. So, the turbo button went down.

Im 22 myself but we got our first computer in 1991/92. I remember it was a shiny Acer 386. Untouchable.

Anyways, I'll try to see if I can find those old Sierra games when I have time. I doubt they sell them anymore. Hmm, maybe this monster that is the internet.

Cheers!

quote:

Originally posted by Stassi oldschool lucas arts games were great because george lucas wasn't required to direct at all lolz.

SO True.

I was hooked on the Kings Quest games as well, I remember when you died if you didn't save it you'd have to go all the way back to the beginning and do everything ALL over again. Those were nail-biting times.

As for LucasArts my favorite game would have to be Tie Fighter. Those missions were so much fun and always intense. Plus the storyline was always great. Haha at the time I also thought the cinematics were really cool, although now I could probably make something similar myself in about twenty minutes.

oh yeah...
The most recent Sierra game that I've heard of would be Outpost 2.
Did they also do the Xcom stuff or no? That was also a fun game.

quote:

Originally posted by razmataz By the time we got our first computer VGA was already mainstream (I'm not that old!). Even better were the Adlib Soundcards. I could never figure out why our 486 had a 66 Mhz turbo button that if you depressed would slow the computer down to 55 Mhz. Who the hell would want to slow down the computer? I guess that innovation didnt last long. The only Sierra games I finished were PQ 1,2,3 and SQ 1 & 5. I dont know why I never tried the other SQ games but I thoroughly enjoyed SQ 5. PQ was dripping with style though. Coolness personified. I don't know what it was about Lucasarts. Every character was just so colorful. I still remember when in Monkey Island 1, near the end of the game, you walk Guybrush Threepwood to the edge of a cliff and the ledge crumbles below him. He falls and you get a big "game over-you have died" sign. It was so devastating as you had pulled him through far worse situations without a hitch and you didnt have to walk onto the ledge for any purpose. All of a sudden Guybrush comes flying back from below back onto the cliff, looks around and says "Wow, I never knew rubber trees were made of rubber".

The turbo button modified your FSB speed to increase your clockrate, it was adjustable because it put more stress on your hardware and there is a greater chance of errors yada yada yada. Basically it overclocked your machine.

big deal when you could count the number of megahertz on you and a few friends finger and toes, wouldn't even notice a few mhz bump.

I PLAYING RIGHT NOW SYBERIA(XBOX) IS VERY GOOD... BUT HOW REMENBER THE NAME OF THE MONKEY ISLAND GUY??.. VERY FUNNY... I PLAY THAT GAME IN AMIGA 2000... IN THAT TIME TE GAME NO COME IN CD AND I ONLY 19 YEAR OLD

So u'r old now, eh?
Guybrush Threepwood is the mighty pirate in the Monkey Island series

aaah, i wish that sum1 could create a mod or addition to it so i could play Monkey Combat ("Escape from Monkey Island") in "The Curse of Monkey Island"

Has everybody forgot this classic, this game was the shitz in 1992 on my old Amiga 500+

quote:

Originally posted by MoonMan Has everybody forgot this classic, this game was the shitz in 1992 on my old Amiga 500+

this
game
rocked

i wonder if i can find it anywhere again?

quote:

Originally posted by Dj Thy There was a sequel planned for Full Throttle also, but it went down.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

what happened??? i went nuts when i found out they were making a new one!


'full throttle' is one of my favourite games ever! me and my dad used to play those adventure games together, it was so fun. i especially remember at the start when ben goes to the barkeep: 'you know what would look good on your face?' 'what?' 'the bar! *smack!* haha i loved it. and the part where you send all the little robot bunnies over the minefield with 'flight of the valkyries' playing in the background, it was gold!

Seems they just cancelled Sam & Max 2 too, there's an online petition going on, but you know in what they usually result (nothing)

What went wrong? Guess they smelled money again and went on focusing further on Star Wars games...

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